Unintended – A Loss of Faith

Description: When Edward made a bet that he could sleep with the virgin daughter of the pastor, he never expected the outcome he got - her pregnant, a forced teen marriage, and a love he wasn't expecting. But when a scam to get his money causes Bella to doubt, what will bring these two back together?

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

***This is a short ALTERNANTE ENDING to my other story 'Unintended'. For those who didn't like Edward and Bella being separated for ten years, this eliminates that aspect. What would have happened if he stayed? It starts off in chapter 15, so if you haven't read 'Unintended', I suggest reading at least the first 14 chapters there first.

Chapter 15 starts out the same as the original, but doesn't end with him leaving town, so read on to find out the difference and learn how that simple change alters his future.

~Chapter 15 – Tears~

I felt like my heart stopped beating, and I definitely stopped breathing, because when I looked at Bella and saw her staring horrified at the pictures….I knew my life was really and truly over.

"Come on, to the principal with you," the teacher on the scene said to me, but I couldn't just leave Bella there, not like that, not with those vultures.

"Hold up!" Bella said unexpectedly. "What the hell are these?"

"What do they look like?" Vicky said arrogantly.

"They look like photo-shopped crap!" Bella responded strongly.

Holy shit. When I first saw the pictures, I was shocked and in disbelief, but the thought of them being altered didn't occur to me, but it did make perfect sense….Bella always seemed to see through all of life's bullshit, and she caught onto the falsities and holes in their story almost immediately.

"You're calling them a fake?" Vicky said incredulously.

"Yes, I am," Bella said confidently. "I mean come one Vicky, you aren't fooling anyone with this shit. It's widely known that you were trying to get pregnant by any guy with money. You've seen how Edward had accepted my pregnancy so you were just expecting him to do the same with you. But too bad, because I'm not buying it!"

"You said so yourself that he was 'missing' around the time I got pregnant…do you think it's just by coincidence that I got pregnant around the same exact time that he went awol?"

"If he was really with you, then why would you take pictures? People don't do that in normal situations," Bella rebutted. "These are fake; it's as simple as that."

"We both know that Edward denied being the father of your baby too…what makes you so sure he's not lying about me also? What has he ever done to gain this undying faith you have in him?"

Bella shook her head. "He hasn't done anything….and he's lied hundreds of times, but the thing is, when you really know someone the way I know my husband, it's easy to know when they're lying…and he's not."

I couldn't believe that Bella was actually defending me, and I felt a whole new level of gratitude towards her. I didn't deserve her trust, and I couldn't imagine how difficult having accusations thrown at me like that was for her, but I was once again, eternally and irrevocably grateful to have her in my life.

Bella and Vicky continued to argue, but the teacher refused to let me stay and listen. Someone was already escorting James to the hospital, and I couldn't wait until Carlisle got off that night so he could tell me how broken his face was. My knuckles were throbbing, so I smiled at the thought of how bad his face must feel.

Despite knowing two idiots were out to get me, I suddenly felt extreme light knowing I still had Bella. She and our son was all that mattered to me, so as long as I had them, the rest of the world could go fuck themselves.

But as I sat in the principal's office awaiting my latest sentencing, I was calm enough to wonder why the hell James would be so extremely hateful of me, that he would lie like that. Sure, I kissed that disgusting whore in front of him to make him jealous, but really, I just didn't get it. James was always the first guy to step up and protest when we were doing something incredibly fucked up, so how could he be ok with trying to ruin my family?

I sat there for about twenty five minutes, before Esme showed up looking more worried than anything.

"What happened, they said you got in a fight?" she said while grabbing my chin and moving it around to survey for damages.

"Esme, I'm fine," I assured her.

"Well, what happened?" she asked but then sucked in a hard breath when she saw my bloody hands.

"Its fine. James just got in the way of my fists," I said with a chuckle.

"James, your friend James?" Esme asked surprised.

"Yeah, he was trying to turn Bella against me, but it didn't work so everything is fine," I told her calmly.

"How was he trying to turn her against you?" she asked confused, but then the principal walked in.

"Edward, I am very disappointed in you," he said sternly. "I just got a call from the hospital and actually spoke to Dr. Cullen. It seems James has a concussion."

Shit.

As much as I absolutely hated the guy right then for what he tried to do, I certainly didn't mean to give him a concussion. Kill him in my fit of blind rage, sure, but not a concussion.

"Sir, he was trying to…" I started but he interrupted me.

"Mr. Masen, it doesn't matter what he was trying to do. We have a zero tolerance for fighting in this school, and I hate to do this because of the situation you're in at home, but you are hereby expelled from Forks High," he said unexpectedly.

"Whoa, that's more than harsh," Esme said quickly. Kids get into fights all the time, and I always see them back here on campus within a couple of weeks."

"Yes, and we've had gang problems so we just passed the 'no tolerance' rule three months ago. But…Edward can go to continuation school, and if he keeps up with his studies, he can still graduate on time."

"Look, I have to be here with my wife," I tried reasoning with him. "I'm sorry for losing it, and I will even speak out against teen violence at an assembly or some shit like that, if that's what you want…but I have to stay here."

But he wouldn't budge. Esme promised me that she'd continue to work on him, but she suggested for me to take the rest of the week off regardless. I hated the thought of leaving Bella at school without speaking to her and making sure she was ok, but I didn't have any other choice, so Esme promised to check on her, which made me feel slightly better.

I borrowed Esme's car and decided to have an emergency meeting with Dr. Amun. I felt fine at that point, but just to be safe, I wanted to get my head examined.

"So, you're positive that they weren't telling the truth?" Dr. Amun asked.

"Definitely," I said confidently. We started discussing Bella's reaction and how it made me feel knowing she still supported me, and then our session ended.

"Hey, you ok?" Emmett asked me the minute I walked into the house.

"Don't you ever have school?" I asked him baffled.

"Winter break, moron," he explained, and then I realized that Rose was there as well. "Mom called and asked if I could bring back her car, and then she told me what happened…..so I assume you got that little punk pretty good, then? I mean, I am impressed that he ended up in the hospital, I would have torn off his limbs and burned him if he did to me what he tried to do to you."

I shouldn't have been surprised that Esme had already found out the exact the cause of my fight, a lot of people did overhear after all, but I was happy that I didn't have to explain it.

"Yeah, well, I would have if people didn't stop me…I'm just grateful Bella didn't believe that shit."

"No kidding…That's the last thing she needs."

But then Rose butted in. "But if you can't remember what happened to you during those days, then…how do you know they're lying. People do really fucked up shit when they're wasted."

"Rose?" Em said incredulously.

"What? I'm just being honest," she said defensively.

Surprisingly, I wasn't angry by Rose's comment…I was terrified. The truth was that she was right, I had no idea what happened those two days, and the only two people who claimed to know, said I did something disgustingly horrible.

Emmett and Rose left to go bring Esme back her car, and then they all returned just over an hour later. Bella and I just stared at each other for an extremely long moment, and like when I came back from my two day disappearance, she walked over to me and hugged me.

"I'm so sorry you had to go through that," I murmured into her hair.

"You've made a lot of enemies, Edward. This probably won't be the last time one of your less than stellar past issues comes back to bite you in the ass," she told me.

"Yes it will, I swear, I…."

"Edward, just stop!" she yelled unexpectedly. "I don't want to hear anymore of those promises, when it's become increasingly clear that you can't keep them," she said before storming up the stairs.

So, of course I followed her.

"Bella, what are you doing?" I asked absently as I walked into the room, and saw her packing clothes into a suitcase.

"I just…need some time," she said without stopping.

"Time? We don't have time, the baby is almost here," I said incredulously.

"Even if it's just a few days…." she responded.

"I thought you said that you believed me?" I asked while my breathing started to speed.

"I do…but…"

"But what? You either believe me and know that those assholes were just pulling a scam, or you don't and think I'm lying. Which is it?" I asked her in a panic.

"It's not that simple," she said heatedly. "Whether or not you did it, the fact that they were after you in the first place just proves…"

"What? Just proves what?" I urged her to continue.

"I don't know what!" she yelled. "All I know is that I can't handle this right now, and I need time to think about everything."

"Well, it's not like either of us are in this marriage by choice, so what makes you think you can just leave because you feel like it?" I asked her. I in no way meant it as a threat, but the expression on her face insinuated otherwise.

"I do not have to be anywhere against my will," she said through gritted teeth. "I chose to marry you because I thought…." She let her sentence trail off again, and then shook her head before slamming her suitcase shut.

"What? I have opened up entirely to you Bella, and told you absolutely everything…but you can't return the favor, can you? Never once have you told me your exact reasons for being here, or what you went through during those first few months of your pregnancy…."

"No, I haven't, but have you ever asked?" she said breathlessly. "I figured that if you really wanted to know, you would have brought the subject up."

"I didn't want to make you feel uncomfortable. I was waiting for you to come to me."

"It doesn't work that way!" she said irately.

"Fine, I'm here now, asking you all those questions, so let's start with the first. Why did you agree to marry me?"

She stared at me, but then shook her head. "None of it seems to matter right now, does it."

"Oh, don't give me that 'too little, too late', bullshit. I'm here, asking you to open up to me the way I have turned myself inside out for you."

"Ok, fine, but first I want to hear you say it," she said unexpectedly.

"Say what?" I asked confused.

"Look me in the eye, and swear to me that there is no way you could have gotten Vicky pregnant," she challenged. "In fact, you don't even have to swear it. Just look at me, and tell me that it is impossible…and I'll unpack my bag right now."

My breath caught, and I suddenly felt like I was falling. I was a good liar, I had to be because if I was honest with everyone, then people would know just how much of a mess I truly was and it would horrify them…but Bella was always different. She could always see right through me, and perhaps that's what this was all about. She knew I couldn't lie to her, and she sensed my uncertainty.

"I don't know what happened," I said brokenly. I could feel myself cracking into a million pieces, but I needed to keep it together, I needed to be strong for her. "But, I would never do that to you on my own free will. You know that. They drugged me, they are responsible for this, and I don't know how, but I will fix it."

A single tear rolled down her cheek, but she quickly wiped it away, and her face stiffened into a hard mask.

"I love you…" she said, taking me aback. Despite feeling it, we had never said those words to each other, except the time she mumbled it before we had sex the first time, and for her to say it in that moment, I knew exactly what would follow. But I couldn't run from it like I did with everything else, I owed it to her to stand there and take it.

"I love you," she repeated. "But all this is wrong. There's a reason why society stopped forcing people to marry because of a pregnancy, and this is the perfect example. We're not ready to be married, we're not ready for any of this."

"Whoa, wait. What the hell are you saying?" I asked, confused by what she meant.

"Who are we kidding anyway?" she said with the tears pouring out now. "We're seventeen years old, we're not ready to be parents."

"Well, it's not exactly up to us. I mean, it's not like we chose this, but it's here."

"But we do have choices," she said with a strained voice.

"Bella?" I couldn't believe what she was saying, and I wouldn't. "You're just upset, after you've had time to think about it, you'll realize what your saying is ridiculous."

"Will I?" she asked me emotionally. She grabbed her bag, and then practically ran out of the room.

Once again, I found myself in a numbing daze as I walked through the next few days. Carlisle and Esme tried talking to me, but I wasn't there enough mentally to give a proper response. Dr. Amun tried to break through to me as well, but he was no help either. I needed Bella, and until I had her back, there was nothing to be done.

The only time I wasn't in my self induced haze, was when the phone rang. I kept worrying that all the stress would put Bella into labor early, so I kept waiting to get that phone call. I did know that Bella didn't go back to her dad's house however, she had been staying with Angela, for which, I was actually grateful. Angela was a good friend to her, and Charlie had never been around enough to give her the support she needed at that time.

But then I couldn't ignore the Vicky problem anymore.

"Edward, you have a visitor," Emmett came to tell me.

"Is it Bella?" I asked emotionlessly.

"Nope," Emmett said quickly.

"Then I really don't care whose here," I said honestly.

"Yeah well, you better come down before she moves all her shit in."

"Huh?" I asked confused.

I reluctantly followed Emmett down, and nearly lost it when I saw Vicky there with two huge suitcases.

"What the fuck are you doing?"

"What does it look like? I heard Bella moved out, so I figured you had an open place for us…and just think, the baby area is already set up and waiting for me, right?" Vicky said with faux innocence. Carlisle and Esme were standing in the kitchen, which was in full hearing range of everything being said between us, so rather that attacking Vicky like I wanted to, I waited for back up.

"Vicky, hi. It's been a long time," Esme said as she rushed into the room.

"I'm just so happy you extended your home out to me, Mrs. Cullen," Vicky said unexpectedly.

"What?" I shouted.

"Calm down, son," Carlisle said calmly as he joined us. "We never said you could stay with us, we simply asked you to come over so we can discuss the situation."

"There is nothing to discuss," Vicky said quickly. "I'm pregnant with you grandchild, and you owe me the same benefits you gave Bella."

"Bella is my wife, you fucking…"

"Edward!" Esme scolded me.

"This is fucking ridiculous, she's obviously lying about the entire thing!" I yelled.

"She is pregnant Edward. She came in last week for her check up," Carlisle said.

"Fine, whatever. Let's do a DNA test then. Right now," I insisted.

"No!" she screamed. "That is too dangerous at this stage."

"See? She's fucking lying because if she wasn't, then she wouldn't have a problem with the test," I said to Esme and Carlisle.

"Well, it is true that a DNA test at this stage could be risky," Carlisle said reluctantly.

"See?" Vicky said smugly.

"But Edward is still married to Bella, so you being here is inappropriate," he added.

Vicky was definitely surprised that she couldn't weasel her way into what she wanted."What? I have no money and no insurance to pay for all my pregnancy expenses…."

"Which is why you're really here," I said irately.

"So, as my baby's father, he needs to step up and pay for it," she said, ignoring my interruption.

"Of course she wants money," I said, but no one was listening to me at that point.

"Until we can get the DNA test, we will cover the cost of your medical bills," Carlisle said, shocking the hell out of me.

"There is no way in hell I'm going to take money from Bella and our baby, to pay for that bitch and her kid which has nothing to do with me!" I shouted.

"Vicky, we will be in touch, but you are not welcome to stay here," Carlisle told her before gesturing for her to leave.

"Well, you can expect me to come after every bit of money that's mine," she said, before turning and walking away.

Carlisle shut the door, and then slowly turned back to me, and I furiously glared at him in return.

"How could you ambush me with that bitch? Why the hell would you ever invite her here?" I asked heatedly.

"We tried telling you that she was coming to discuss all this, but you refused to listen," Esme said. "And for the record, we never once gave her the assumption that she could live here."

"I'm not giving that bitch one dime of my money!" I reiterated.

"Edward, that girl obviously has never had anything in her life. She has no money, and no way to take care of herself little alone a baby. Now, if that is your child, then don't you want to do whatever you can to make sure it's taken care of?" Carlisle asked.

"It's not my child!" I said sternly.

"It's still a child either way. An innocent child, Edward," Esme added.

"Whatever," I said before running upstairs.

The next day was Christmas Eve, and I was absolutely sickened by the thought that I wouldn't be with Bella for the holiday….but then she came.

"Hi," I said, and I couldn't help the way my heart jumped from seeing her, but her expression was cold and hard.

"We need to talk," she said emotionlessly.

"Yeah, of course."

We went up to our room, and I shut the door behind her. I was holding on to the very last ounce of hope that she was there to tell me that she was coming home, but that too quickly died.

"I've spent the last week really thinking about everything….and I tried to weigh all of our options….Edward, I think it would be best to end this now," she said coldly, but I could hear the trace of sorrow that she was trying to hide.

"But…we're a family," I told her, feeling like there was a lump in my throat.

"No, we're just two immature kids that have no business being married or raising a child together."

"Bella, I know that I fought this for a long time, but I want to be a father now, and I can't just let you push me out of our son's life."

Her face broke momentarily, but she quickly recovered herself and refastened her features into a hard mask. "Edward…I want to do what's right for our son. I love him more than anything, and I want to give him the best possible chance at a happy normal stable life. Edward…we can't give him that," she whispered at the end.

I shook my head, not wanting to believe what she was telling me.

"So what then, what are you planning to do?" I asked anxiously.

"I've been looking into…adoption," she said quietly.

I shook my head again. "I don't believe this."

"Edward, I can't do this. I fooled myself into thinking that I could, and despite what I want, I have to think about what he needs. There are so many couples out there who are desperately longing for a child, and can be that stability that we're just not ready for. I've already spoken to an agency, and they said we can be as much a part of the process as we want…"

"I can't believe this," I said again.

"I'm not going to do anything against your will, but you really need to think about it," she said with strain heavy in her voice. "I'll leave the papers that you would need to sign downstairs…and the divorce papers as well. Just think about it, and let me know what you decide," she said before walking back towards the door.

"Bella!" I called after her. She stopped and turned back towards me, and then waited. "I love you," I told her and couldn't help the tears from escaping down my face.

"I love you too….I only wish it was enough," she said before leaving.

I stood there like an idiot, and then I broke and fell to my knees, bawling hysterically. I hadn't cried since before my family was massacred, and I hated that I was doing it then, but I couldn't stop. Every inch of my body ached for the loss of my family for the second time, and as the tears continued to break free, I knew all my soul was escaping with them.

I always assumed that my dad had killed my spirit when he murdered my mother and sister, but I realized then that all he did was weaken it, because that was the moment I truly lost everything inside of me.

"I'm so sorry," Esme's gentle voice said as I felt her arms encompass me.

"I don't know what to do," I said shattered as I let her hold me.

"Everything will be ok, you'll see," she said while shedding her own tears.

"Nothing will ever be ok again," I mumbled.

She rubbed my head and began humming a comforting tune, but I didn't want to be comforted, so I managed to find the hole I had buried myself in for so long, and I crawled back inside.

"Esme, I think I just need some time alone," I told her calmly.

She nodded. "I'll set up an appointment with Dr. Amun for you as soon as possible, ok?"

"Ok," I said vacantly.

She kissed the side of my head, and then left me alone.

I sat in my room, and just stared blankly into my multiuse closet for hours. It was still full of baby clothes, and was all that was left of the family that I never really got a chance to have.

I spent a few minutes just festering in my fury about the entire situation. I hated Bella, and I seriously thought about finding a gun and killing everyone who had ever wronged me, but that was the moment I finally understood my father. Taking their lives would be easy, gratifying, and I wanted it….but then the feeling past and I knew I had no choice.

I had no idea why, but I grabbed the newborn elf costume out of the closet, and stuffed it into my backpack. I took a few changes of clothes and the money I had in my wallet, and then I waited until everyone else was sleeping, before quietly going downstairs. I would have just gone out the window like I had so many times before, but I had to do something before I could leave.

I quietly went into the kitchen, found a pen, and signed all my rights away. Bella was right after all, no kid needed a fuckup like me in its life, so giving him to a family who could safely love him, was the best thing I could possibly do.

I didn't look back as I walked out the door, but I did make one last phone call, and thankfully, this time, he answered.

"I just need a ride to the bus station," I told Garrett over the phone.

"Ok, I'll be right there," he said supportively.

I would have just walked, but it was freezing out and I wanted to let someone know what happened to me, just in case the Cullens worried.

***NEW***

"You sure about this?" Garrett asked me concerned as I got into his run down car.

"Yes," I responded, but there was no confidence in my voice whatsoever, and Garrett heard it.

"There's gotta be another way than just skipping out of town," he said as he drove towards the location I requested.

"What the fuck do you want me to do? I was expelled from school, my wife is divorcing me and putting our baby up for adoption…there's nothing left for me here," I said irately, but really, I was trying like hell to not break down again the way I had in my bedroom. There was no way in hell I going to cry like a fucking pansy in front of Garrett. I was done crying, and I swore I'd never do it again.

"Ok…it's your life," Garrett said and then drove the rest of the way to the bus station, before pulling over to let me out. "If you ever need anything…I'm here."

"Yeah, thanks," I said quietly, before getting out of the car, and going inside the building to purchase my ticket. I had no idea where to go, so I just bought a ticket on the bus that would take me the furthest away, which unfortunately wasn't nearly far enough; nowhere was far enough to fully escape the pain I'd be leaving behind.

My bus wasn't until the next morning, so I basically sat on a bench and waited. I tried not to think about anything, because every time I did, I just got more and more upset; so like any other time in my life when things got too hard, I buried all my feelings and locked them away as deep as they would go. I didn't need Bella or the baby, I didn't need anyone.

But as I sat there and worked on building that familiar wall around myself that I had grown to rely on for survival, I must have fallen asleep, because the next thing I knew, Carlisle was there.

"What are you doing here?" I asked bitterly.

"I got a tip that you were here," he said with his face set in an unreadable mask.

Fucking Garrett.

"Edward, leaving isn't the answer," Carlisle said evenly.

"Why not? I have nothing left, I can't even fucking graduate," I spat.

"Esme and I fully plan to petition the principal's decision on that matter, and if they don't allow you back, I will bring in my lawyer."

I thought about it for a moment, and then shook my head. "It doesn't matter. Nothing matters anymore," I said quietly.

Carlisle came to sit next to me on the bench, and then took a deep breath. "Edward, I know that what happened with Bella was tough, but you have to remember that she is in an extremely emotional state right now, and she doesn't have any one to turn to."

"So, what are you saying?" I asked confused by his direction.

"I'm not saying anything…but, don't count out the possibility of her changing her mind. She has loved that baby for months, and never once thought about giving it up until now. Who knows how she'll feel when she actually sees him for the first time."

"So… there's still a chance?" I asked feeling like an absolute moron for not thinking about that fact.

"There is always a chance. Now, I haven't spoken to her about it, but I sure would hate for you to leave and never know."

I nodded. "I never thought about that….but Carlisle, I can't just stand by and watch her give my kid to strangers. I may have not cared before, but things are…different now. So, I'll come back, but if…"

"Whatever she decides, then we can deal with that when it comes."

"Deal with it?" I asked sourly.

"What I mean is that Esme and I will discuss the next step."

"I still don't understand?" I asked starting to get a headache from trying to figure the man out.

"Edward, you have rights too. If Bella wants to terminate hers, that doesn't mean you have to. Esme and I will help you if that's what you want. And if you don't…we can even adopt the baby ourselves, that way you can be as involved as you'd like… Perhaps with time, Bella would want to be a part of the baby's life again, and we would welcome that."

"I signed the papers," I said absently.

"But they're not filed. In fact, they're still sitting at the house, and we can rip them up as soon as we get back," Carlisle pointed out.

I thought about it for a moment, but it was all too much to decide on that quickly because there were just too many uncertainties to sort out. But there was one thing that I was sure of, Carlisle was a good man.

"Thank you," I said sincerely, although, I still wasn't exactly sure of what I was thankful for. Nothing was really better, but at the same time, those uncertainties wouldn't allow me to go ahead with my plan to leave. At the very least, I needed to figure out who was going to end up raising my son.

****More to come with an ALL NEW chapter!

Do you like the change so far, or do you prefer the original? If you haven't read the original and opted to go this way, then I'd really like to know your thoughts

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