The sun peering through the window gently woke me up, a sphere of warmth surrounding me, and it instantly made me hum. I soon realized my personal heater was Lukas, softly spooning me from behind. I bit my bottom lip to contain an everlasting smile. I can't believe last night turned out the way it did. I was disappointed when he said he would take the couch. I was trying to make up a speech on how much I wanted him to hold me when he walked into his room in nothing but his boxers, but it completely took my breath away. He looked so... him... I thought crawling up to his side of the bed would make him realize how much I wanted him next to me, but my heart caved in a little when he closed the door behind him.

I finally called upon my bravery and went to him, telling him exactly what I wanted and when I finally laid in his bed with his arms around me, I felt safe and most of all stronger than ever. We were somewhat us again and nothing better could have happened to me right now than us talking, all the little touches included, each and every one of them making my heart beat quicker and turn my stomach into fireworks.

I enjoyed waking up with him next to me, his arm softly draped over me as our legs were entangled. One of his hands had found its way up under my T-shirt lying flat on my stomach to feel me breathe, as if he was afraid I'd suddenly stop. I smiled at the way we were laying there, both so peacefully sleeping or just waking up. I think we both needed this just as much to heal wounds and talk about our mistakes, because both of us made a few. My heart broke when he thought I could ever hate him... As much as I wanted to after all the hurt, I didn't have it in me to feel even just a little hate for him, because he was so much more than his mistakes and the way he was holding me tonight confirmed all of that. My father was wrong, I am worthy of someone's love... I won.

I pushed myself up against him, feeling his typical morning problem poke me. I nearly chuckled as that hadn't changed a bit. I was actually kind of enjoying pushing myself into it to teasingly wake him up like this. He didn't budge, not even a little and that made me melt into him, enjoying his touch, his warmth, his everything. I missed him so much, everything about him.

After enjoying a few silent moments waiting for him to wake up I got inpatient as I was so excited to tell him good morning. I turned around in his arms, instantly holding in my breath as it felt as if I got hit by a tsunami. Ever muscle in my body hurt, even my face as I put it on the pillow stung. This is the worst I have ever felt physically but in my head I just conquered Goliath by not letting him crush me and on top of that I was facing the person that mattered to me most.

I adored his relaxed face as he was still asleep, his hair a sexy mess as usual and his lips so plump they were asking for me to kiss them. I wanted to as they pulled me in closer. I reached up, delicately caressing his cheek with the back of my fingers. He eased into my touch, unconsciously pushing his cheek into my fingers as his hand grabbed my T-shirt before relaxing again. The wholesomeness of just touching his face made me so happy and fulfilled that I couldn't contain the smile on my face. I won't ever take this for granted. It was something so ordinary but, right in that moment, touching his face like this, watching him sleep, was everything to me.

I magnetically was drawn in by his full lips, wanting to kiss them... Even yesterday when butterflies were turning my world upside down, I wanted to taste them, but our intimacy was so beautiful and heartwarming I didn't want to ruin it by doing something he might regret. Lukas wake up... I pushed my face closer to his on the pillow, softly brushing my nose against his cheek as my hand nestled into his hair at the back of his head. He must have been dreaming still because as soon as I did, he murmured something under his breath while burrowing his face in the crook of my neck, his hand softly squeezing me at my back. "Lukas." I whispered quietly but when he relaxed, I decided it was best to let him sleep. If he had slept just as bad and little as I did the past week, then he deserved every minute of catch up sleep he could get.

Gently I placed a kiss on his cheeks, letting my lips linger for a second as this was by far the best feeling ever, his hot skin against my lips. I tried to wiggle out of her arms and untangle our legs. Crawling out of bed with my feet hitting the hardwood floor was like being brought back to reality, where every bone in my body hurt. Even though my arms felt like jelly I gathered all my strength to pull the cover over him, tucking his shoulders underneath the warmth of his sheets. He looks so adorable, sleeping like this... I swooned for the view before me, his breaths so deep and peaceful, his thick eyelashes fluttering away his dreams.

I carefully walked to the living room, wiping my eyes. As soon as my hand brush trough my hair it felt weird under my fingertips, a lot less length to touch but I held my head high. Hair doesn't define me, holds me back, decides my goals... It defines the way I look and that only counts for a little of who I am. There's so much more and Lukas loves the new look, so I guess I won again.

The fact I made peace with the new length of my hair didn't take a way that I felt wrecked to the bone. Everything hurts, everything! "You're up early?" Mia spooked me. I oriented myself to her voice and found her having cereal on the couch, stuffing her face as usual.

"Early? What time is it?" I continued to wipe my eyes as I walked over to the couch.

"It's something around eight. Where's my brother?" She pulled her eyebrows up as she watched the empty couch next to the one, we were sitting on. I could tell by the smirk on her face she knew well enough where he was.

"He's still sleeping." I shook my head at her with a smile on my face. "Yes, in his bed..." I rolled my eyes at Mia as she kept staring at me with mischief.

"Mhh I see..." She pulled her brows up once more, the tone in her voice filled with suggestion. "Soooo, all is fine between you two?" Her eyes fell on Lukas's bedroom door and her curiosity made me chuckle.

"We're getting there..." I shrugged my shoulders, the smile on my lips answering truthfully.

She held up her bowl of cereal as if she was making a toast. "It's about time... You two shouldn't fight anymore... Like ever! It's the worst thing to watch... I hated picking a side, I hated watching you two like that, knowing if anyone belongs together it's the two of you. Please promise me that if you ever marry him, I get to be your maid of honor..." She playfully smirked at me again and the thought of her seeing and planning all of it made me laugh. As soon as the laugh made my abs flex, I coughed, feeling yesterday's kick to the stomach as if I was being kicked again today. "Shit are you okay?" Mia asked with instant worry when I grimaced with pain.

"Shit that hurts... Don't make me laugh..." I shook my head at her trying to smile instead of laughing out loud. "Mia? Will you go with me to the police station now? Before Lukas wakes up?" I pulled my brows up at her, hoping she would say yes.

"Bella, don't you think he would want to go with you? I mean yeah sure I'll go with you, but I don't want to double cross my brother on this one." She lightly shook her head before taking another spoon of cereal to her mouth.

I shook my head in return. "I... I really just want to get this over with as soon as possible... I really don't want to wake him up. I need to report this and be done with this... Having Lukas hear all the details won't do him any good. I'll tell him but he doesn't need to hear me dryly stating to the police what happened. I want us to be able to talk about it, not have me spill it and shrug it under the rug." I shrugged my shoulders and Mia's face went from hesitant to understanding really quickly.

She nodded, understanding why I didn't want Lukas to come. If he wanted details, he could ask me and I would tell him everything but I wasn't going to have him hear them in a place we couldn't openly talk about it. It would make him fume with anger if he heard how things went down and I want him to be happy for now, happy I'm still around and we're back to being us against slowly but surely. "Alright then... let's get dressed and report that son of a bitch." She hopped of the couch with her bowl of cereal and her words had me chuckle again as she put the lightness in a heavy situation.

Both of us silently got dressed and when I was in the bathroom I smiled when I found my clothes folded on a little cabinet instead of the pile I left them in yesterday. This is so Lukas... I grinned at the clothes and the smell that still lingered on his hoodie when I put it over my head instantly made me feel complete. I even had to admit, that apart from the bruises covering one side of my face and my short hair that I started to love little by little I looked good... I looked happy and that was a good look to wear.

"Are you ready?" Mia asked as she popped her head into the bathroom, grinning the moment she caught my smile in the mirror.

"To report the son of a bitch? Like I was born for it." I chuckled at the mere truth in my words. I should have done this a lot sooner. "Wait..." I said as I followed Mia to the front door. "Maybe we should leave a note for Lukas... He's going to worry if we're both gone just like that." I thought and the words came out of my mouth before I knew it. Mia nodded getting pen and paper from her room.

I didn't want to wake you up...You looked so cute. Mia and I are at the police station. Just please be here when I get back... I'll probably want you to hold me some more after this. Bells 

"Huh, so cute." Mia chuckled as she watched me write over my shoulder.

"You think it'll be enough to not make him go nuts?" I smiled at the note on the table.

Mia instantly laughed at my choice of words. "You never know with him but if your intention is to make him melt, I think you're note is gonna do just that. Come now, the sooner we leave, the sooner we're back, and he can hold you." She laughed, signing with her fingers when she spoke the word hold.

We took Lukas's car, praying he wouldn't mind and made our way to the police station. The weather was extremely cold, and I instantly regretted only wearing a hoodie. I never felt colder as Mia parked the car in front of the police station, I had been two time before. Once to report Drew's assault, and the second time to get the restraining order against my parents, for which the police officers mocked me, stating I was nothing but an attention seeker... I wanted to see the looks on their faces now, now mine was all bruised.

Both of us got out of the car and faced the front of the building and chills instantly went over my spine. I'm just starting to feel happy again, I won't let this ruin it! "Are you ready?" Mia whispered as she grabbed my hand, both of us slowly walking towards the entrance.

"More than ever." I said confidently, meaning every word coming out of my mouth, the confidence with which surprising me.

As we waited other people gazed at my face and it made me feel awkward and uncomfortable. "Hi Mia." A blonde nice-looking officer walked over to us and I supposed it was Ben's mom. Yeah that's her, it's the female version of Ben. "I'm so glad you came!" He sweet voice accompanied her kind demeanor. Now I know how Ben's such a good guy.

"Hi, Loren... Officer Stevens I mean." Mia gibbered, standing up as she came toward us.

"Please, Loren is fine. You must be Bella?" She looked at me, her face instantly falling as she witnessed the bruises on my face. "Good lord..." She went speechless for a second, knowing my own father did this to me and I nodded at her. "Uuhm, follow me..." She said lowly, signing for us to come with her. Mia and I looked at each other, both of us nervous. She opened the door to what I guessed was an interrogation room. "I came in today on my day off, hoping you would follow up on my advice and I personally could take the case." She looked at me kindly as she let us in the room. "Girls, just sit down and I'll go get officer Trenton who was on your case with the restraining order." She nodded towards the table and chairs.

As soon as she disappeared, I turned to Mia. "That's the officer that told me I was overreacting last time!" I said angerly shaking my head. I can't wait to see the look on his face now... Overreacting my ass... None of this would have happened had they taken me seriously.

"Bella calm down... Ben's mom is here now; she has your best interest at heart... She's a good cop and that other guy sure isn't going to make the same mistake twice when he sees you now." Mia said softly, knowing it was wrong to even have to say this.

"I sure hope so!" I hissed at the air in front of me before taking a seat.

Both of us just sat there nervously tapping our nails on the table until Ben's mom and another officer walked in. "So, Bella, you have met officer Trenton?" She asked the question deliberately, trying to make her colleague face it, I was sure of it.

"I sure have. I came here a couple of weeks ago trying to avoid all of this... Guess it was a waist of time." I shrugged my shoulders, giving the officer an angry look.

Both of them took a seat, officer Trenton barely having a look at me. Loren opened her laptop and wrote something down before smiling at me. "First, I want to apologize on behalf of my colleagues you saw last time." She spoke politely and compassionately. I pulled up my brows, gazing at officer Trenton and the now defeated look on his face. Sucks, having to admit to your negligence, doesn't it? "Why don't you tell me what happened last night and then we'll slowly start going over the pictures you took if that's okay?" She nodded, urging me to tell the story.

Confidently I started going over the details of last night's events... as I told the story my confidence slowly started to evaporate as it brought me back to the beating, fear of my life and my attempts to fight back. Mia was a sobbing mess hearing everything he did to me and even more so when we went through the pictures she took last night. I wanted to blame officer Trenton for not preventing this, for not believing me, for just classifying my allegations and concerns against my parents as a cry for attention. however, the look on his face told me he deeply regretted every decision he made last time, and for me that was enough.

"So, what do I do now? He's never going to stop coming after me and another restraining order isn't going to do much!?" I shrugged my shoulders as a tear slipped away from my eyes... I tried so hard not to cry anymore, to leave it behind. This was the place I was going to throw all of it off my shoulders and walk away with my head held high.

"There must be something you can do?" Mia pleaded with desperation as she held my hand the whole time for comfort.

"You are absolutely right... A restraining order isn't in place here..." She shook her head while she seemed to have been disturbed by a pinging sound coming from her computer, her brows instantly being pulled into a frown. "Uuumh Isabella, Mia will you excuse us for a moment." She nodded at Trenton who took a look at the screen. "We'll be right back..." She nodded and both of them quickly disappeared from the room.

"What the hell is that all about." Mia frowned at me, trying to wipe away the tears from her cheeks.

"I don't know." I pulled my shoulders up as I gazed at the desperate look on her face. "Are you okay?" I whispered as she squeezed my hand.

"Am I? Are you kidding me? I should be asking you this! I can't believe that son of a bitch did this to you! I mean... It's so brutal, I can't even imagine anyone doing this to another person. I hope he goes to jail for this fucking shit! I don't care if he's your dad or not, but I hate him! I hate him!" She raised her voice with desperation before she started sobbing again.

"He's not my dad. He's the reason I'm on this planet, but he's certainly not the reason I am who I am, neither is my mom. I raised myself and I'm proud of that." I said before taking a deep breath and smiling at Mia. Fuck this is the truth right here.

Her face instantly lit up as a chuckle escaped from deep within. "I'm so so proud of you, you have no idea." She smiled, as she rapidly pulled me into a hug. "You know you have another family who has missed you. Lukas, my parents, me... We all missed you at Thanksgiving... Like our family wasn't complete anymore without you there." I pulled her into the hug tighter and the thought of belonging to a family filled my everything with happiness. Family is more than genes; family is people that surround you with unconditional love, related or not.

"I missed you too, all of you." I whispered as I hugged her tightly.

"I bet you missed Lukas more." She laughed and sobbed at once, gently letting go of me.

"Maybe." I smiled, biting my bottom lip as I waited her response.

"Oh well thanks." She snarled playfully as she crossed her arms in front of her chest. I couldn't help but giggle at the look on her face and she shook her head as she wiped away the last of her tears.

Seconds later Loren walked back in without the presence of officer Trenton. "What's going on?" Mia asked without hesitation as Ben's mom wore a worrisome look on her face.

She took a seat before her eyes finally fell on me. "Bella, none of this is your fault okay. That, I need you to remember. I regret the fact you weren't taken seriously before and that was big mistake on our side. You did a good thing coming in here today to report this after losing faith in the system. This will only help build the case against your father. You see, I walked out here to verify something that popped up when I put your father's name through the system and I had to make some calls. "A few days ago, your mother was found unconscious and bleeding by a worried neighbor... She was severely attacked to the point she had to be taken to the hospital with serious injuries." What? For years she let the same thing happen to me, for years they wouldn't allow me to go see a doctor or go to the hospital, not even if after I had been unconscious for an hour. I'm glad she got to go to a hospital, I'm glad the neighbor found her, but that doesn't mean I'm jumping with joy to visit her, or that I even feel sad for her. She should have stopped him, she should have left him and taken me with her. She never protected her own child, not even when that child was suffering terribly.

"He did it..." I blankly stated as Mia placed a comforting hand on my shoulder.