“Why do you do that?” I whispered as I stared into her deep brown eyes.

“Do what?” she asked looking confused, yet still keeping Lily as her shield from the nearest mirror.

“Hide from the mirrors. I noticed it the first time we went shopping. Emmett blocked them all.”

Bella immediately looked down at her feet and her grip on Lily tightened infinitesimally. I gently pushed her chin to make her meet my eyes and felt pained when I saw the tears pooling in her pained eyes. I didn’t want to make her cry. She’d shed enough tears for several lifetimes. She’d been through enough pain. I didn’t want to cause her more, but she intrigued me and I felt this consuming need to get the answers to my questions.

“It bad to look in mirrors,” answered Lily before giving me a bright smile that I couldn’t help but return; she really was the sweetest kid ever.

My eyes flickered to Bella and I felt concerned when I saw her stare at her daughter; fear being the main emotion in her eyes.

“Baby, how do you know that?”

“I heard Daddy tell you that one night.”

“Did you hear anything else?”

Lily shook her head. “Muuuuuuummy…” she dragged out and looked at her mother with an innocent pout.

“What?” Bella smiled down at her.

“Can I get a new dolly? Paul broke my last one,” her innocent pout turned into an annoyed glare that made both Bella and I chuckle.

“C’mon Lily! I can help you get a new dolly while your Mummy gets some new clothes,” Alice suddenly reappeared and quickly disappeared with Lily in tow.

“Jacob used to say it was vain to look in mirrors. If he caught me looking in them he’d throw me into one. It’s how I got some of the scars in the back of my head. He’d also tell me there was no point in looking in a mirror as it wouldn’t change how I looked; I’d still be ‘plain ole Marie’.”

“Marie?” I asked in confusion.

“My middle name. He thought it was funny, a great pun. Marie is similar to Mary which has connotations to virginal and I’m anything but.”

The acceptance on her face pained my very soul. I immediately took her into my arms and held her tightly, never wanting to let go. As we stood in that shop I realised that I was slowly falling in love with her and surprisingly I didn’t really care.

“Now when I look in a mirror I see and hear him. I feel him on me,” she whispered into my chest, her voice thick with the tears she was trying to hold inside. “I also see how dead I am. The only thing keeping me going is my little girl. She is my only light. Mirrors show how dead my eyes are. They show that he killed what and who I was.”

“You’re not dead Bella, you’re just a little lost and I’ll help you find your way back. I promise,” I whispered into her ear before kissing her forehead, revelling in how right it felt to have her in my arms and to comfort her. “And you are most definitely not plain, you’re one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever met. But your beauty is different and better from others because its not only on the outside with your features, but its also on the inside and that shines through. You’re almost ethereal.”

Bella chuckled and pulled back slightly to look up at me. A small smile was playing on her lips. There were no more tears in her eyes. Her eyes shone up at me and I was able to see what she meant by the deadness of her eyes, but I could also see that my words had extinguished some of the darkness and brought back some of her light.