We stared at the screen in sheer startle.

There was no one, nothing related to anything I had experienced, just moments ago. I was all by myself. I knew it was fake the minute I saw it, it should've been, and there was no other possibility for it. I looked back at Edward, wide-eyed, and he gave me a concerned look.

Blinking profusely at the laptop screen, my mind whirred with all the possibilities Hannah could've pulled to try to wrong me again.

"She's making us think that whatever she did wasn't real," I quickly stated, and Edward's eyes shifted to me again. "She's trying to control our perception,"

Edward though, looked all over the place and apprehensive, as if in deep thought, not bothering to say anything. And that only made me want to get into his head and discern his thoughts. A slight frown was etched on his worried face, as he backed into the bed, pushing his hands in his hair. He looked somewhat, devastated and I couldn't exactly put a finger on what was the source of it.

His sad behaviour only erupted the nervousness in me. "Edward, what happened?"

"Nothing." He shook his head slightly, the frown still visible. He looked at me and begun. "Yeah, you must be right. Hannah is trying to get to us. But I don't know how to stop all this." His hand gestured towards the paused video on the screen, and he looked more upset than angry.

I sighed, lost for words, and any coherent thoughts. I knew Edward could only control the situation to a certain extent and I couldn't really blame him. I knew he was doing everything he had inside of him to make everything right, and that only grew my guilt over doubting him. I was so wronged to believe he had any bad intentions for me. Everything he did, he did because he was driven by Hannah and he seemed to be tired of it. I only wish I could take all his pain away.

"It'll be fine Edward, we can get through this," I assured him even though it didn't affect his expression in the slightest. He looked as if he was done with everything now. I wrapped my arms around his heavily breathing body, feeling my eyes sting with emotions at the thought.

"I don't want to lose you, Michelle," I heard him breathe exaggeratedly during the hug, and my heart felt a slight tug at his words. He held my shirt tighter in his grip, pulling me closer to him. I felt his body, breathe shakily, as he held me tight, in the fear of me getting vanished if he let go.

After a while, we pulled away, and I lifelessly lay against the bed, thinking about nothing in particular. Whereas he returned to his laptop, researching different things on the internet. I didn't bother asking what it was and got occupied with my own thoughts instead. We spent the rest of the day together, and Edward made sure he was close by and that nothing harmful happened to me. I stuck by him close, talking about all my problems, my anxiety issues and how loneliness had been bothering me so much lately.

"You won't need any friends when you have me," He cooed knowingly, his lips stretching into a small smile. "It's not safe for you anyways,"

"I don't want to be around people either. They scare me," I admitted truthfully and he slightly nodded his head. "But sometimes it kind of gets very lonely." I sighed heavily.

"I'll always be there for you, so you don't feel that way okay?" He squeezed my hand in a reassuring gesture.

"Thank you," I said, looking at him with sad eyes.

Even if it meant my life needed to be dependent on him, to feel better, then so be it. I was ready to do anything for him because there was nothing much I could do for myself.

"Can I ask you something?" Edward distracted my train of thoughts again, as he snaked his arm around mine, and I looked up to him, nodding, so he continued. "I was thinking... Perhaps we should get married. I think that would change things for the better, and I will always be by your side then. You won't feel lonely anymore," His confession held so much promise and desperation, my feelings couldn't resist them.

"Well..." I trailed off, not really knowing the answer to the sudden question. Marriage was a scary prospect for me ever since I had seen how my parents would fight and argue all day to the extent, of one of them flying off the handle, and leaving the house. Edward, although he was different and protective of me, and letting go was undeniably the last thing I wanted to do to him, I didn't know how the idea of marriage was going to sit with us. "Maybe... I don't know..."

"I do know that it'll be good for the both of us." He wrapped his arms around me, embracing me in a hug, and I let out a breath, nodding in response. "Thank you for agreeing." He nuzzled, breathing in my hair.

"But what about your family..."

"They don't get the right to make my decisions," He said quite seriously. "I love you and no one can stop me from that,"

Considering how traumatic a proposal seemed to me after what Hayden did to me in college, I never thought I'd be able to feel the same butterflies in my tummy feeling again. But here I was with Edward who seemed like a positive filter to all of my traumatic memories, and I didn't feel the jitters in my stomach anymore. Instead, it made me smile.

Our little exchange was interrupted by Mum entering the house, followed by the jingling sound of the keys. We decided to make our way out of the room, to greet her, and probably to let her know about our future plans of staying together. She looked at us, making her way to the couch, and her eyes instantly lit up in happiness.

I didn't know what Edward had in mind, but he seemed quite serious, as I paved my way lazily towards the couch.

"How have you been Michelle?" She chirped as she busied herself in making some tea for all of us, heading towards the kitchen. I knew she was most probably addressing Edward, and asking him about me, but I answered anyways.

"Could've been better. But Edward's a life saviour," I told her and her expression instantly turned into a sweet smile, eyeing my state observantly.

Edward smiled too, sitting on the couch, quietly watching me.

"What's on your mind, Edward?" Mum asked him, as she took a seat on the sofa, waiting for the kettle to whistle.

"I've been meaning to talk about something important. Regarding me and Michelle actually," He stated seriously before giving me an assuring smile.

Mum looked quite surprised and curious, as she waited on him to go ahead.

"We've been planning on getting married, for quite some time," He announced quite straightforwardly and Mum looked at both of us in shock, quite taken aback by the sudden proposition. I was shocked too that I was even agreeing to it, but I let my feelings win this time.

Her shocked expression broke after a while into that of a small smile, that didn't reach her eyes. "I... I don't know what to say," She blurted, her cheeks flushed. "Don't you think that's a little quick?" She quickly added.

"Mum..." I lightly whimpered, and she pursed her lips, as if not believing the moment she was experiencing.

"Are you sure about this Michelle?" She asked all of a sudden, and I looked at Edward and then back to her.

"Of course she is," He replied for me.

"I'm sure," I assured her, quickly nodding.

"You know... Ever since I married Aaron," She begun, sniffing back and reminiscing about a memory, out of the blue. "It was so rushed... No wonder we didn't seem to get along well... I don't think I would want the same thing to happen to you both,"

"Mum-" I whined.

"I understand Rebecca," Edward cut in again. "It won't happen with Michelle,"

"I know you care about her well-being so much... But I want you to re-evaluate your decisions," She spoke quite seriously, and I could make out from the corner of my eye, that Edward wasn't pleased with her words one bit.

The kettle whistled and I went to the kitchen to handle it, just to distract myself from the awkward situation. I busied myself with the tea bags and sugar while the sound of chatter from Mum went on and on about how she thought waiting for things would make everything better and that we needed to be careful.

"But we've planned it for quite long now. We've been dating for more than six months," Edward tried reasoning, but she didn't seem to budge with her firm decision

"Mum the tea-" I intervened, bringing the cups tray and placing them on the table.

"I'll leave you two, to resolve your plans alone. Thank you for the tea Michelle." Mum stood up from her seat, the slight frustration prominent on her face. She took her cup, and headed inside her room, leaving us behind alone.

It wasn't a reaction I was expecting from her. And Edward wasn't ready for it either.

"Well, that didn't seem to go well," I muttered, trying to get Edward to speak from his deep-thinking trance.

"Either way, we will do what we have already planned." He firmly stated, and I sighed not knowing how to respond.

I took a seat on the couch again, looking at Mum's closed bedroom door, and then back to Edward, trying to choose my words carefully. "Edward," I decided to speak my mind to him this time. "Why do you want to marry me?"

"Really?" He asked back, unsure. His eyes gleamed despite the exhaustion in his being, and I stared at him blankly, not knowing how can someone so perfect would like someone like me. "You're questioning this whole relationship,"

"I'm not. I was just curious... I mean what if we really are rushing things," I instantly blurted but regretted it all of a sudden, as I saw the look on his face. "We don't even have our own place to live, I mean,"

"I'll manage that, you don't have to worry about any financial problems," He assured me.

"Okay," I paused, pondering over my words again. "But should we really... I mean-"

"Why Michelle? You're questioning us again? You don't believe me anymore?"

"I'm not questioning-" I begun explaining but he interrupted.

"You are questioning my love," He firmly added. "I love you and that's the only reason why I want to marry you. I want to be with you forever." His blue eyes bored into mine, holding nothing but truth and love.

"Okay. I love you too," I said. "I'm sorry, I don't even know why I asked that." I chuckled guiltily, looking away.

"It's okay. I know you love me,"

I smiled back a bit, and just to distract myself from the uncomfortable situation, I tugged my hand in my back pocket, to take out my phone, which I hadn't used all day. Edward had me occupied since morning, making me forget about all the bad things and making me feel better. I tucked my hand in my front pocket, feeling over my clothes, but couldn't find my phone anywhere, then I remembered Edward had it.

"Edward can you give me my phone for a second," I asked sceptically, while he looked busy in his.

"Why?" He asked.

"Why can't I?"  I scowled.

"No you can't have it," He said with a plain face.

"Edward give me my phone right-"

"Michelle," He interrupted, his expression alarmed. "I am trying to protect you! I don't want you to be bothered by Hayden's texts. It's for your own good," His full attention was on me, as he explained, expecting me to understand. "Hayden is crazy and he's making you crazy!"

I longingly stared at him, searching his face for something else, but it only radiated concern and worry. I blinked at him, a sad expression dawning on my face. I sighed a little and turned away, looking anywhere but him. I didn't know what he meant by protecting me but I didn't argue further. It was true, my phone bothered me a lot at times with the crazy texts I got on Instagram and Facebook, through posts and stories. But still, I didn't need anyone to protect me from anything.

"Michelle..." I heard him sigh and I quickly shook my head, not looking at him. "You can use my phone,"

"What would I do on your phone?" I snapped, turning back at him.

"I don't know... Whatever you wanted to do on yours." He shrugged, a ghost smile on his lips. I rolled my eyes and huffed. I looked at his phone, and it displayed some sort of article.

"What are you doing on that?" I gave him a judgemental look, waiting for him to explain and he sighed.

"I was looking up some things,"

"What about?"

"Oh, just some wedding venues and that kind of stuff." He looked at me, giving me an 'it's pretty self-explanatory', look. "You can come and look with me,"

I sat there stunned at his words, and not knowing how to react. I let out a small grin and nodded at him understandingly. I quietly eyed the pictures and places on the screen as he scrolled past the articles.

After about an hour, Mum decided to order something for dinner, and we all ate in silence, the aura becoming uncomfortable with every passing moment.

I could sense that Edward just wanted some privacy with me, so we finished eating early. The dinner ended, and I picked up the plates, clearing the table, as he helped me with it. He offered to clean the dishes for me and I gave him a pleased smile. Mum didn't seem to mind and got busy with a phone call. I picked up the small mess on the couches and, tiredly decided to go to my room.

Taking a deep breath, I made my way up and inside the bedroom, not closing the door behind me, and keeping it open instead. The latter day had gone quite well, and opposite to the former, and I was glad it was Edward's presence that made it all the better.

I climbed onto the bed and pulled out a cigarette to smoke to ease myself up, smiling to myself at the little memories we had made. Edward made me feel safe and protected, and I couldn't want anything more from him.

I leaned against the bed, lazily exhaling the smoke, and my eyes landed on his laptop. I decided to check it for a bit, wanting to replay the recorded video he showed me today, which piqued my curiosity and fears. Edward had my phone anyways and I was sure he wasn't going to give it back to me, just for my safety. I didn't want to use my phone anyways, the scary threats from Hannah only added to my fearfulness.

Lifting the screen of the silver laptop, I entered the same password, I had assumed was of Edward's phone, and it logged in. There were several tabs open on the browser screen, and all of them were about the same topic.

I adjusted my focus, putting my full concentration on the blogs he had opened, as I hastily shifted from one page to another. They revealed only one word, all of them being relevant to psychological pages.

I felt like my heart had stopped beating at that instant.

All of the sites were labelled with one thing, delusional disorder and schizophrenia.

A sharp panic grew inside of me, my frown deepening, as I hastily switched to the last tab of the browser, which indicated some exchange of texts between Edward, and what seemed like a psychologist or a therapist, I couldn't really tell. I clicked open the text box, and it seemed that he had revealed all my information to the psychiatrist, who tend to have asked him to bring me around to them, for help.

And they also seemed to have stated the possibility, that I could've been diagnosed with delusional disorder.