"Bae."
"Oh my God," Emmett exhaled, his legs giving out as he dropped down onto the floor with his eyes on the lump that used to be his Pop. Pushing himself away from the disaster that he caused...that I caused...he ran his hands down his face and cried at the blood that he saw on them afterwards. "Oh my God."
Pushing himself off of me, Edward cursed as his eyes met mine. With one of his legs straddling my waist, he leaned down a bit and smacked my face. "Bella, fucking breathe," he whispered, his voice nothing but urgent, "Please, fucking breathe, for me."
That goddamn jovial voice. I want to kill it.
Placing my palms over my ears, I closed my eyes tighter. "Leave me alone, Edward."
The kid has been frolicking about in my bedroom ever since the goddamn birds — that I, mind you, wanted to strangle — started chirping on this bright and early morning. He has been trying to wake me up for the past hour, or so...
Was I waking up? No.
Was he letting it go? No.
Was he out of his goddamn mind? Motherfucking yes. Yes he was.
Around four A-the fuck-M, Edward Anthony Cullen, who I deemed an idiot, strolled into my bedroom and smacked my ass, therefore snapping me out of my dream that consisted of Bill Compton glamouring me into sex, as if it was needed. Ignoring my growl, he announced his presence, acting like I gave a shit about it as he walked into my bathroom and started hammering away.
I guess that it was the perfect time to replace the mirror.
Golden.
Somehow, I fell asleep during his mission, but as soon as I started dreaming of Eric Northman glamouring me into having sex — which again, wasn't needed — I was awoken by someone screaming 'Good Morning, America!' Opening my eyes, I narrowed them at the back of Mr. Fix It's head, finding him sitting down on the carpet right in front of my television set, humming as he started flipping through channels, looking for something to watch. And on every goddamn show that he would pass, he had to act like a fucking critic as he gave me his opinion about the program, like I actually cared.
I mean, did we not have a TV in the living room?
In his own goddamn bedroom, he had a TV the size of my old house.
Was the shit not working to his liking, or...what?
"Bella, come on, wake up," he complained, sitting on my bed. "I'm bored."
I growled, turning onto my other side. "I'm not your fucking entertainment."
The kid must not get it. You don't wake Bella Swan up. Or, try to.
I'm fucking dangerous when I need or want to be, you dig?
My eyes snapped open when Edward slapped my ass yet the fuck again, and after he took a hold of the blankets that were covering my body and yanked them off of me, I mentally prayed for the kid's safety as soon as I heard the fabric hitting the floor, seeing as to how he didn't 'dig.'
Do you not remember how that shit irks my existence, people?
Because if so, I have no goddamn problem in reminding you.
"Jesus Christ almighty!" left the kid's throat in a loud gasp as soon as my flying foot hit his jewels. Hearing the sound of his entire body meeting the floor below me a second later, I rolled over with a snort. "That was fucking dramatic."
I mean…really?
He was shocked?
Sitting up, I smiled as I jumped off of the place where my slumber has been disturbed. After grabbing a hold of the blankets, I walked over to where he was sprawled out and used his shoulders as a side step to get back into bed, earning myself a growl of "Fucking owe," below me as I laid down on my stomach.
With a shrug, I used the arm that was hanging off of the bed to smack the shit out of his ass. "Serves you right, you bastard," I laughed at the hiss of curse words that I heard, "You should be informed that there's consequences on waking me up like that, after all."
"Like what?" he gritted, pushing himself up to his feet.
"Like you were," I answered. He raised a brow, and I rolled my eyes before I clarified. "You being in that grand ass mood in the morning, it irks my goddamn existence."
"You're fucking challenged," he grumbled as he turned around.
As he made his way out of my bedroom, I turned onto my back with a hum and closed my eyes, hoping that I can now maybe catch some sleep since the prick was leaving me the hell alone. As I went to open my mouth to tell him to keep the door open, he slammed it shut behind him.
The fucker knows how I like to sleep with the door open.
I growled, throwing the blankets off of me as I climbed out of bed like a born again predator. While I headed over towards the door, more than ready to throw the hell down, I screamed in some way too high fucking note that had me cringing immediately afterwards.
Did I really just scream like a chick?
Yep.
This is what I'm becoming as of late.
Hearing the prick laughing out in the hallway, I gritted my teeth, ready to give him something to goddamn laugh about as I swung the door open. Seeing him leaning against the wall that was by his bedroom with a grin across his mouth, I placed my arms across my chest. "Ahhh!" he screamed, mocking my previous chick ways.
Hearing the doorbell ring, I pointed at him with a glare. "You're fucking lucky."
He flung his wrist at me as he pushed himself away from the wall. "O.M.G!" he screeched in some goddamn valley girl voice that had me mentally preparing myself for destruction as he strutted down the hallway, swinging his hips side to side. "Like, totally!"
"Oh you little..." I ran back into my bedroom and grabbed a hold of the TV remote before running back out, and as soon as the prick reached the front door to open it, I threw my arm back with a smile and high fetched it at the back of his head. "Totally that!"
His shoulders tensed up a bit from the hit that he so nicely received, and as he swung the door open with a hiss of a "Bitch" that was directed at no one but me, Em raised an eyebrow at him. "Not you," Edward groaned, stepping to the side to let him in as he rubbed the back of his head, "Do you know how fucking difficult it is living with your sister?"
Em laughed, walking into the living room. "You wanted her here, so get used to it."
"I'm serious, man. First of all, Bella is fucking abusive," he started in a complain, causing me to roll my eyes and Emmett to shrug like since when is this new? "The chick lives like a goddamn animal second of all, with how she just leaves all of her shit on the floor. Oh, Oh! And how about the fact of how it's alright for her to jump on my bed in the morning, only to wave her arms up in the air as she wakes me up, yelling some bullshit about how 'It's just a dream, it's just a dream,' but when I try to wake her up, the broad throws a fucking hissy fit."
Em pulled me into his arms for a tight hug. "I'm so proud of you, Kiddo."
"You taught me well," I told my brother with a wide grin as I wrapped my arms around him. Catching Edward behind him with his hands positioned in a choke hold, I pursed my lips together. "I'd be as interesting as an egg without your wisdom, Em."
"An egg that I would love to cook."
"Come again?" Em asked with a glare as he faced Edward.
I smiled, all pleased and what not. "Yeah, Edward. Come again?"
Turning around, the prick threw his hands up in the air, causing Emmett and I to laugh at his over the top aggravated state of being. "You honest to God don't know how fucking irritating you are," he growled over his shoulder as he stomped towards the kitchen, "No goddamn lie, Bella! Beyond irritating!"
When the kitchen door closed behind Mr. Drama Queen after he punched it open and walked in, I shrugged as I turned my attention over to Em. "So, did you eat anything yet?"
"No," he answered, shaking his head, "I uh, actually wanted to ask you something."
"Well, come on then," I started with a nudge to his shoulder as I walked past him. Reaching the kitchen door, I held it open for him to walk through. "I'll get you something to eat and we could talk, yeah?"
He nodded, giving my forehead a quick kiss before walking inside. Letting the door close behind me as Emmett took a seat, I headed over to the counter to disrupt Edward, who was in the middle of pouring coffee into the three mugs that he set aside. Nudging his hip with my own, I grinned at his raised eyebrow. "Go sit. Let me do something for a change."
He smirked, nudging my hip back before moving over. "Just so you know, I'm fucking watching you," he whispered as I reached for the cabinet that held bowls, "If I don't recognize an ingredient, I'm not eating it."
I went to tell him to eat my middle finger, but Emmett's voice interrupted me from behind before I had the chance to give it to him. "Hey, Kiddo...I don't know if you remembered, but today's my Pop's birthday."
"Oh right," I mumbled, giving Edward a quick shake of the head without meeting his eyes as I noticed that he froze up a bit. "Yeah, I kind of forgot about that," I forced myself to continue as I reached for the cereal box, "Thanks for reminding me, I'll uh, give him a call today."
"I was thinking that...if you're up for it, maybe...you can come over to the house with Rose and I," he started again after a few seconds. I tossed the third bowl into the sink, my appetite instantly gone from hearing his suggestion. "We're planning on just having a small dinner, you know, the same shit that we used to do every year."
"Em, I would, but..." I paused to fill up the other two bowls with cereal, trying to think of a way on how to tell him that I didn't want to go, without hurting his feelings. Looking over my shoulder, I shook my head. "I have a ton of shit that I have to get done today, so I really don't think that I'll be able to make it."
"Oh," he whispered quickly, his eyes on his lap, "Okay, yeah, no problem."
Returning my attention back to the counter again, my frown turned upside down as I saw that there was milk in the bowls. After nudging Edward's shoulder in gratitude and having him nudge my shoulder back in response, I turned around and walked over to the table. "Yeah, Em. I'll come. No worries, yeah?"
He smiled as he lifted his head and I nodded as I set one of the bowls in front of him. "Thanks, Kiddo, I really appreciate it. I hate going over there alone with Rosie, she always acts weird around him for some reason." I nodded, hiding the grimace that wanted to make an appearance as I ruffled his hair. Taking a hold of his 'breakfast,' he stood up from his seat. "Alright, I'm going to go out in the living room, the game's on, you know how that goes."
After the door shut behind my brother, I grabbed a hold of the kid's bowl from the table and walked over to the counter again as Edward turned around and leaned against it, placing his arms across his chest. "Bae, I don't think that you should t—"
"Did you not see his face?" I asked with a raised eyebrow, interrupting him. He shook his head and was about to say something as he took a hold of his 'breakfast,' but I continued. "Emmett wants me there, Edward. I can't say no to him when he's like that. He never once did that shit to me when I needed something from him, so...that's that."
He groaned as he turned around. "I can't believe that I'm about to say this, but..." Pausing, he tossed the bowl into the sink and turned on the garbage disposal, letting the sound echo throughout the kitchen. "I don't think that it's a good idea for you to tell him tonight."
"Of course not," I whispered quickly, "No fucking way."
"But that doesn't mean that you don't need to tell him soon, Bella."
"I will," I told him with a roll of my eyes, sick of all of the doubt that I seemed to feel from everyone around me who knew of the situation. Placing my palms on top of the counter as I stood next to him, I shook my head before I lowered it. "Jesus Christ, Edward...this whole thing is getting out of hand. I'm..."
Nudging my shoulder with his own, he raised a brow. "You're what?"
"I'm scared."
He laughed a soothing sound as he brushed my hands away from the counter. Stepping in between the marble and I, the kid pulled me into a hug and I groaned, wrapping my own arms around him as I placed my forehead against his chest. "There's no reason for you to be scared, Bae. That guy who's out there spilling milk and Cheerios all over the couch wouldn't even dream about hurting you, and you know that shit."
I shook my head against him. "No, I know that Emmett wouldn't hurt me, but you don't understand," I told him as I leaned back a bit to meet his eyes, "He's going to kill his Pop, Edward. Fucking literally. I don't think that I can handle that."
"Do you want me there?"
"Hell no," I laughed, letting my arms drop from around him. "You would only make the shit worse by being there. Don't act as if you're a mediator, because we both know that you're not."
He mocked offense and I rolled my eyes at him as I ran my fingers through his unruly locks. "Hey," the kid groaned before taking a hold of my wrists, "Don't touch the goddamn hair."
I pursed my lips together, snatching my hands away. "And you call me a chick?"
Holding the door open after reaching it, he winked at me. "After you, princess."
"Princess, my ass," I grumbled before stomping out of the kitchen.
"What?" I shouted, hearing someone knocking on my bedroom door.
"Stop fucking shouting!" Edward shouted, "Your brother is here."
My nervous eyes looked around the room, trying to see if there was anything that I needed to clean, which surprise surprise, there wasn't...what with Edward being in here earlier. "I'll uh, I'll be right out!" I yelled before I added a mumble of "Keep him occupied, or something."
"Bae, the faster you get this over with, the faster you get home."
I groaned, walking up to the door. "I'm ready," I lied as soon as I opened it.
"Maybe you shouldn't go, yeah?" he grimaced, instantly noticing my nervousness.
"Why, is something wrong with my appearance of nonchalance that I'm aiming for?" I asked. The kid's grimace intensified in return, and I turned around with a growl before I started heading towards my bathroom. "I mean, should I wear a fucking dress? Spanks, maybe?"
Standing behind me as I faced the mirror, he shook his head as I hit the back of my own, all the while chastising myself for the words that were coming out of my mouth. "A dress is unnecessary," he whispered, trying to hide his grin as he placed his arms across his chest, "Or spanks for that matter. I meant that I can tell that you're nervous. You're fucking shaking, Bella."
"Shit," I whispered, turning on the sink. "I just...need to calm down, or something."
"I'll be right back," he told me, tapping my side as I washed my face. "Stay put."
As I grabbed a towel to dry off, the kid walked back into the bathroom again and held one of his hands out to me while his other one started filling the glass that his fingers were wrapped around with the water that was still running out of the faucet. "Take it," he told my raised eyebrow before he nodded towards the pill that was sitting on his palm, "This will help calm you down a little bit."
"Are you seriously trying to drug me?"
He rolled his eyes, turning off the faucet. "Yeah, Bae. I'm trying to drug you."
"Coming from you, I honestly wouldn't be surprised," I replied in a mumble, popping the unknown medication into my mouth before chugging the water that he gave me. After pulling the kid out of the area that was becoming smaller and smaller by the second, I smiled in triumph as I led the both of us out of my bedroom. "Alright, I think that I'm ready now. Let's hit the road, Jack, and never come back no more, no more, no more, no more!"
Reaching the hallway, Edward groaned at my expression of complete constipation as he snatched his hand out of my own. "Uhm, Bella?" he started, flexing his fingers that were probably dislocated from the tight grip that my own had around them a second ago, "Are you sure that you don't want to maybe —"
I yelped when Rose ran right into me, causing Edward's question to stop short as he placed one of his hands over my back to keep me upright. "What the hell is your problem?" I asked her in an angry whisper as she wrapped her arms around my shoulders. "Jesus Christ on your football player tendencies!"
"Honey B, I'm sorry," she mumbled into my ear before letting go of me, "God, I didn't think that Emmett would ask you to come along. You don't need to be at the asshole's house, I'll behave myself, I promise."
"Rose, I'm good," I lied out of my ass, "I have no problem with going."
"No," she gritted in response, "You shouldn't have to face him, Bella."
Placing my hands on top of the chick's shoulders as she started pushing me backwards, I stopped her from leading us towards my bedroom. "Rose, I'm going to the house because it's Emmett who asked me, not because of how you are in that asshole's presence. As long as I'm not alone with him, I'll be good."
"But he'll understand," she tried, "I'll talk to him, alright?" Placing my arms across my chest, I shook my head in answer, and as she turned her attention to Edward with narrowed eyes, he raised a brow. "I have a bad fucking feeling about this. Tell her that she can't go."
"No thanks," he laughed in reply with his hands up in the air, "You know how she is, Rose. I have an amazing relationship with my balls and would like to keep it that way...so with that said, I'm good on not telling Bella Swan what she can or can not do."
"Such a good boy that I taught," I told him with a pat to the top of his head. He smirked at the compliment, and I rolled my eyes as I grabbed a hold of Rose's hand. "I take it back, you're nothing but a fucking pig."
Emmett stood up from the couch when we reached the living room and I smiled, seeing how goddamn adorable and handsome the kid looked in the suit that he was wearing. "Are you ladies ready?" I nodded, tugging on Rose's hand when she went to say something. "Alright, let's go then."
Emmett knocked on the front door while Rose and I stood behind him, holding hands. I winced at the killer grip that her fingers held mine with after some time of trying to hide it, and she mumbled an apology as Phil appeared before my brother with a smile. "Look at what we have here!" he shouted, his words slurring a bit. "Welcome home, kids!"
Looks like the party already started, I thought with an internal roll of my eyes as Emmett laughed, returning the hug that the asshole was giving him. "Happy birthday, Pop. I'm sorry that we ran a little late."
He smiled, his eyes on Rose and I as he looked over Em's shoulder. "Thank you, son. It's not a big deal, I'm just happy that you three made it."
Rose stopped me from stepping inside after Emmett by tugging on my hand. Turning around, my brother raised an eyebrow at the two of us while I raised an eyebrow at his woman, not understanding what she had in mind. "Are you guys cool?"
Rose nodded before I imitated the gesture, unsure of what was going on as I returned my attention back to Emmett. "We're good, baby. I just need a minute with your sister, that's all." His eyebrow raised higher, and she grinned. "Girl talk, you know how that goes."
He hid his grimace well while he nodded, and as soon as the door was closed behind the two of them, Rose pulled me down the porch steps, the slight nervousness that I spotted in her demeanor causing my brows to scrunch together. "Uhm, so where are we going exactly? You know that I don't particularly enjoy girl talk, so please don't make me go through all of that bullshit."
Letting go of me when we reached the yard, she shook her head as she started rummaging through her purse. My jaw dropped at the pack of Marlboros that she pulled out. "Here," she growled, shoving a cigarette into my gaping mouth before placing one in between her lips with shaky fingers. "Smoke till you choke. My new motto."
"Rose, you know that I don't sm—hey, when did you start smoking?"
Rolling her eyes, she lit up her smoke. "Last night, Bella." I nodded, ignoring her sarcasm as I placed my palm over her hand when she transferred the fire over to me. "Hopefully the shit will take the fucking edge off, because the one that I'm on right now is crumbling."
So, we just stood there, facing each other as we stared at each other, like complete creepers. I could tell that the broad was anxious as all hell, seeing as to how she started inhaling and exhaling in some rapid kind of a way that should have gave her a headache...yesterday. "Rose," I started after a while with a grin, "We're not in a race, you know..."
"Fuck off," she choked. Literally.
I snorted, patting her back with one hand as I took a hold of her cigarette with the other. After tossing it out into the yard, I dropped mine and stepped on it before I grabbed onto her hand to lead the both of us towards the house. As soon as I opened the door, the chick pulled me through as if a fire just ignited under her ass, bypassing the guys with a quick hi and bye while they looked at her like she was crazy...
Which was certainly true, I thought when she punched the kitchen door open.
I was about to tell her to calm her shit when she reached the refrigerator and swung it open, but after she kicked it shut and turned around, I saw the bottle of grey goose that she was holding. "And that, is why I fucking love you," I whispered with a smile as I started heading over towards her.
After taking a big gulp of the clear liquor, she nodded with a slight grimace hiding underneath her features as she handed me the bottle. Taking small sips, I followed her over to the kitchen table and took a seat next to the newly formed alcoholic. "Let's just do the shit right tonight by getting hammered so that we could at least get through the awkwardness that is sure to take place within the next hour, and then we can go home to pass out, only to enjoy the killer hangovers that will come tomorrow."
I rolled my eyes as I handed the bottle back to her. "Everything is...cool."
Because, it was.
So what if I'm sitting in this kitchen with Phil out in the other room?
He can't do shit.
I grinned at Rose's narrowed eyes. "What's up, you?"
"What did Edward give you?"
My grin widened as I leaned back a bit. "Who knows."
"Before we left, that idiotic roommate of yours told me that he gave you something that would help calm your nerves, but here you are all of a sudden with that dopey goddamn expression over your face, the same one that you get when you're shopping for hoodies, and shit."
I shrugged. "I'm golden."
"You're golden?" she asked incredulously.
I nodded in some distracted type of a way as her hair captured my attention. Running my fingers through the shiny locks that I wanted to rip out of her head and glue to my own, I hummed at the softness. "Hey, what kind of conditioner do you use?"
"Are you really petting me right now?" she hissed, smacking my arm away from her.
I nodded in reply, simply because I so was.
And, I was also cool with that admittance.
Truly, madly, deeply. Savage Garden, style.
As I was getting ready to tell the broad that my hair products sucked ass, Phil and Emmett walked into the kitchen, laughing about something that I honestly didn't care about. With a big smile, I stood up from my seat a bit and waved them over to the table.
They might not know the way, I reasoned with myself.
What?
It's a goddamn possibility, so don't look at me like that.
Wow.
I'm kind of, sort of, type of...arguing with my own self.
Cool.
Actually, I felt powerful, in a way.
Like I was Robert fucking Shapiro, working on OJ's case.
After looking down at my hand, I raised an eyebrow at Rose. "Hey, let me ask you something. What's your take on the glove not fitting OJ Simpson?"
Hissing a curse word that was nearly inaudible, she grabbed a hold of my hand and lowered it down to her lap when I placed it in front of her face to give her a better visual. "Don't worry," she whispered to my raised eyebrow, leaning towards me as Emmett and Phil took a seat across from us, "You did a great job, seeing as to how your boy OJ wasn't found guilty." I winked at her like tell me something that I don't know, and she groaned as she lowered her head, mumbling words about killing a certain kid who went by the name of Edward Cullen.
Turning my attention over to Phil after thinking about possible plea bargains for the soon to be murderer who was sitting next to me, I smiled and narrowed my eyes at him at the same time while Em scratched the back of his head in confusion. "Happy Birthday, Philip McCarty."
I sat up and went to smack his shoulder in a playful 'I'm onto you' sort of a way, but Rose grabbed a hold of my arm and pulled me back down to my seat. "Thank you, Isabella," Phil whispered with a smile as the broad's fingers gripped the shit out of my own.
I nodded like, no. Thank you.
"So tell me, Phil," I started after we cut the cake, "Have you seen Renee?" Emmett's fork froze midway as he looked up from his plate, and Rose stopped eating altogether. "What?" I asked the both of them, "I'm just curious if Phil, her goddamn husband, saw my mom, his goddamn wife?"
Rose whispered my name as she stood up. "Let's go and get some fresh a—"
Phil interrupted her with a wave of his hand. "It's okay, Rosalie." After placing his fork down, he turned his attention over to me as he leaned back into his chair. "Renee hasn't been back home, so no. I haven't seen your mother."
I hummed in angry tune as I shoved a forkful of cake into my mouth. "Well that's weird," I mumbled around my utensil as I raised an eyebrow at the asshole, "Don't you think?"
"Renee left me, Bella. There's nothing weird about th—"
I laughed something beyond obnoxious, interrupting his bullshit as I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand, and as his lip slightly twitched in return, I leaned back into my chair with my arms across my chest. "Oh, but I beg to differ, Phil. Have you filed a missing person report, by any chance?"
"Yes," he answered, picking up his bottle of beer, "I have."
"Oh," I whispered with a nod, playing along with his fucking games as he lifted the bottle up to his mouth to take a swig of the alcohol that I hoped he would choke on. "And who did you tell? Because, you see, I know this cop who goes by the name of Kevin."
His fingers tightened around the glass as he laid it on top of the table.
See, man?
This dude would never make it in court.
I placed that little tidbit of information into the back of my head so that later on, I could give my boy OJ a call and ask him if he would be willing to give the rookie some advice.
Placing his arms across his chest, he shrugged. "No, I'm not sure who that is."
Rose's body tensed up a bit next to me as Emmett raised an eyebrow at his Pop. "Well that's kind of weird. I know him from hanging out with the Cullen's, and I remember that he mentioned you before."
Phil shrugged once again, only this time, I knew that he was uncomfortable. That, caused my investigation to continue. "What I also find kind of weird is how Renee up and left, yeah? I mean, the woman just took off without a single word."
"Isabella, are you insinuating that I had something to do with your mother's disappearance?" he asked in a voice that showed the anger that he was trying to hide from the three of us. "That I maybe hurt her in some way?"
I gasped something shocked as one of my hands flew to my mouth, the other on my chest. "Of course not, Mr. McCarty! You, hurt my mother? Hell, hurt anyone? That's fucking ridiculous, and I can't believe that you even thought that!"
He tried hiding his glare, but of course, I saw right through him.
After all, I am Robert goddamn Shapiro, right?
"It is ridiculous," he gritted, "I loved your mother."
"Loved," I snorted with the past tense, "Right."
"Renee and I were meant for each other."
"I don't doubt it," I mumbled with a roll of my eyes before I leaned across the table. As soon as I grabbed a hold of Emmett's bottle of beer, Rose snatched it out of my fingers and gave it to my brother, who took it with scrunched together brows, asking her what was going on. "You and her were perfect for each other, Mr. Past Tense User."
Cocking his head to the side as I sat back, Phil grinned something that I wanted to destroy. "Renee told me so much about you, Isabella."
"I'm sure that she did," I shrugged, remaining cool.
"The stories that she told me about Charlie were so…upsetting."
I couldn't help the growl that escaped my chest as soon as I heard my Pop's name coming out of the asshole's mouth, and when Emmett and Rose both looked at each other with shock across their expressions, I gritted my teeth at the frown that showed up on Phil's features. "Renee told me about how badly your father treated her. It was despicable."
Standing up from his seat when he noticed that my fingers were trembling as I pushed my plate away, Emmett kept his eyes on me while he addressed his father. "Pop, what are you doing, stop."
Phil shrugged, pushing himself up to his feet to join Em as Rose did the same. "It's the truth, son." Looking down at me, he smiled as he placed his arms across his chest. "Your father was nothing but a goddamn rat, Isabella. A good for nothing rat."
Rose grabbed a hold of my arm as I shot up from my seat. "I suggest that we leave," she told Emmett in a whisper, her eyes pleading with his own that didn't understand the seriousness of this situation. "Please, Em. Let's go. Right now."
Looking at me, he frowned as he pushed his chair under the table. "Ki—"
"Stop calling the girl kiddo," Phil snapped in a growl, interrupting his son with a glare. "I'll never understand why you always call her that. It's childish, and should have ended when her dad en—"
"Okaaaay," Emmett interrupted his Pop's sentence, knowing exactly how he was going to finish it. "Excuse my goddamn french but right now, I'm really fucking confused as to what the hell is going on here." Returning his attention back to me after Phil and Rose gave him nothing, he raised an eyebrow. "Bella, please tell me what the hell is going on here."
I looked at Rose and nodded towards the door. "Drop me off?"
She took a hold of my hand in answer, and when the two of us reached the kitchen door, I looked over my shoulder as Emmett grabbed onto my arm from behind. "Kiddo?"
"I just...miss my mom," I whispered, cringing internally at my excuse. Looking at Phil after Emmett nodded in uncertainty, I gritted my teeth at the try of friendliness that was about to leave my mouth. "I'm uh, sorry for...whatever. Happy Birthday."
Phil ignored the sentiment by uncapping another bottle of beer, the fucking alcoholic. After shaking his head as his Pop, Emmett scratched the back of his neck as he walked Rose and I out into the living room. "So, I'll uh, get Jake to come and pick me up when I'm done here. Go home and relax, I guess?"
I nodded as Rose nodded, and after the both of us received a kiss over our foreheads from my brother, we stepped outside in a hurry, more than ready to just get the fuck out of that house. Smacking the dashboard of her car after we got in, I hissed. "What a goddamn asshole, man! I mean, can you believe him? Talking about my Pop like that, and in front of company who doesn't know about the hate that he holds towards him!"
"Shit, Honey B. What the hell were you thinking back there?"
I groaned as I placed my hoodie over my head, thinking about my Robert Shapiro ways. "I don't fucking know, Rose. I shouldn't have taken that pill that Edward gave me earlier. Calm my nerves, my ass."
She pursed her lips together as she started the car, and I grinned a little bit. "You're right. You shouldn't take anything that Edward Cullen offers you, Bella. Or, should I say Robert Shapiro?"
"Shut up," I laughed before shaking my head, "Christ. Robert Shapiro."
As soon as we reached the door to my apartment, I heard music blaring through the thin walls. Shoving one of my hands into my bag to look for the key that I tossed in there earlier, I raised an eyebrow at Rose, who just shrugged in return. After unlocking the place, I swung the door open and narrowed my eyes at all of the bodies that were packed inside, dancing and drinking like complete morons who thought that my living room was a nightclub. The broad who was standing next to me whistled as she placed her hands over her hips, looking around. "Wow," she whispered after a few seconds, interrupting my silent brewing as she nudged my shoulder with her own, "Look at that one."
I groaned as my eyes met her nod. "Oh hell no, man."
Some trick thought that she was a stripper, or maybe she was a goddamn stripper. A stripper who was currently naked. A currently naked stripper who was in the middle of rubbing her ass cheeks all over some dude. Some dude who was sitting down on my fucking recliner. My fucking recliner that should never bare witness to any kind of activity that involved what it was now baring witness to.
Turning my attention over to Rose, I growled as I threw my hands up in the air. "That goddamn prick never told me that he was having people over!" I hissed, more than pissed off. "I mean, seriously, though? What the hell is this shit?"
My best friend's eyes widened as she kept them on my recliner. "Holy..."
And on a serious note, I turned off my goddamn ears with a deep breath.
For the simple sake of my health and the safety of the stripper's life...
Whose body parts were probably now rubbing all up on my recliner...
I decided that it was a wise decision on my part to just...tune it out.
"Hey, bitches!"
Rose and I looked over our shoulders after we heard Pixie's yell, and when I noticed that Jasper was with her as they made their way over towards us, I narrowed my eyes at him. "Did that brain lacking cousin of yours tell you that he was throwing a goddamn rave?"
"That he did not," Blue Eyes answered when they reached us. Looking over our heads, he laughed at the visual of what was going on in my apartment before he took a hold of Pix's hand. "Let's check it out, shall we?" he asked her, pushing Rose and I aside as he pulled his lady love into the living room, "We'll catch you two later."
After Rose and I stepped inside behind them, I immediately stalked up to one of the morons with a growl, not appreciating his cancer stick holding self as he puffed away his lungs, laughing it up with the people who were standing around him. Snatching the cigarette out of his fingers, I shoved in into the beer bottle that he was holding in his other hand. "This is a non smoking environment, you tool. If you want to smoke, go outside to smoke."
He glared at me as he stood up. "I really hope that you didn't just do that."
I laughed at the kid like ha the fuck ha as I placed my arms across my chest. Looking around at his little group of friends, I raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you guys see me do that, because I'm pretty sure that I did just that." Smoker dude's fingers clenched together into fists as everyone remained quiet, and I grinned as I nodded at his hands. "Oh shit, what's this? You're actually planning on hitting a bit—"
"What's going on here?" Blue Eyes interrupted, placing one of his arms over my shoulders as he raised an eyebrow at the dude who was standing in front of me. "Kyle, what's got you looking like you're about to throw down?"
Kyle took a seat, rolling his eyes at Jasper. "You better watch your bitch, Whitlock."
Blue Eyes grinned as he turned his attention over to me. "It's kind of funny that the kid said that, yeah?" I raised a brow. "I'm pretty sure that you're capable of watching your own self, am I right, Brown Eyes?" I nodded, smiling at the wink that he gave me afterwards. "That's what I thought."
Kyle laughed. "The broad is nothing but a fucking bitch, Ja—"
Letting his arm drop from my shoulder, Blue Eyes bent over a bit and grabbed a hold of the kid's neck, interrupting his amusement as he pulled him up from his seat with a grin. "Really, dude. Now, you're getting on my nerves."
"What's your fucking deal, man?" Kyle choked, quickly wrapping his fingers around Jasper's wrist. As he uselessly tried to pull his hand off of his neck, his previous crowd of buddies shook their heads at him, like they all expected that his asshole behavior would make Blue Eyes snap. "Let go, I didn't do anything."
Staying true to family ways, Edward's cousin only laughed in return as he tightened his grip, and when I noticed that the guy started gasping for air, I patted Jasper's back as I tried to intervene. "Blue Eyes, come on, he's as good as done. Let go, already."
"I don't think that he's as good as done, darlin." Looking around at the small crowd that he captured, Blue Eyes raised a brow as he he kept the hold that he had around Kyle strong. "Do you guys think that he's as good as done?"
I tugged on his shirt when no one answered. "Jasper, let the fuck go, now."
"Letting go," Blue Eyes gritted, so not as he tightened his grip even more.
Looking around the room, my eyes searched for Pixie in some frantic kind of a way that practically gave me a goddamn migraine and when they found her standing next to Jake and Rose, I got her attention by yelling out her name. As soon as her gaze fell upon me, I nodded towards her man who apparently lost his goddamn mind a few minutes ago. The cool, calm, and collected broad strolled over to us and took a hold of Jasper's face before turning it in her direction, and when he noticed that it was her, he immediately let go.
The dude fell down onto the couch and rubbed his neck as he took a couple of deep breaths, and when I noticed the roll of the eyes that Pixie gave her maddened cowboy who all of a sudden seemed...cool, my jaw dropped. "Is it over, baby?"
He winked at her with a smile and took a hold of her hand before he kneeled down to Kyle's level. "Let me educate you for a second, man. You see the two ladies who are standing behind me and the one over there?" he asked, nodding towards Rose. Dude nodded, leaning back a bit. "Well, the three of them are girls who I think highly of. You make them feel in any way uncomfortable, and we're going to have a goddamn problem on our hands, yeah?"
"No problem," Kyle whispered, "I didn't know, man. My bad."
Blue Eyes smiled something too menacing for a sign of happiness, giving the kid's back a hard smack that had him grimacing in return as he straightened up again. "Well now you know, Kyle. As you can probably tell from my previous behavior that — keep in mind — I have no problem in repeating if need be, I don't really know how to deal with 'my bad's' all that great, so for your sake of actually making it home tonight and my sake of not getting locked up from the consequences of you not being able to make it home tonight, let's work together and not make that happen. You got me?"
"I got you, Whitlock."
"I'm glad," Jasper replied. "In that case, enjoy yourself, buddy."
So, after that shit, I needed a goddamn drink. Or, a few drinks.
I walked into the kitchen and froze, seeing Edward in there with that broad who I met at the club sometime ago, the one who had a fucking staring problem. Rolling my eyes at the glare that she was giving me, I headed towards the cabinet that was placed underneath the sink, for it held my goddamn whiskey. "Bae," the rave thrower started, "I uh, didn't know that you were coming home so ear—"
Swinging the cabinet door open with more than enough energy, I interrupted him. "Thanks for letting me know that you were having a fucking get-together," I gritted, grabbing a hold of my bottle, "Nice of you to include me in what's going on in our apartment."
After slamming the door shut, I stood up and narrowed my eyes at him as he grimaced, running his fingers through his hair as he leaned against the counter. "Yeah, about that...I'm uh, having a few people ov—"
"Now?" I interrupted, "Now you tell me, you ass-wipe?"
"Hey now," Ms. Bitch Who Wasn't Involved In Our Goddamn Conversation yelled, pushing herself away from the refrigerator that she was leaning against, "You don't need to be a bi—"
"Call me a bitch," I threatened, interrupting the broad as I slammed my bottle of whiskey on top of the kitchen table. Edward grabbed a hold of my arm from behind and quickly stopped my plan of attack as he placed himself in between us. "Do it," I continued, "I fucking dare you."
"Bit—"
"Sarah, stop."
She rolled her eyes at Edward before she started heading towards the kitchen door. Looking over her shoulder, she nodded at me. "You have a severe problem."
"Yeah, I do. It's called bitches who act like it's cool to stick their goddamn noses into other people's b—"
Her laughter interrupted me as she pushed the door open. "Too long of a sentence, bitch."
I started stomping towards the door after it shut behind her, thinking of a way on how I could get her outside so that I could curb her like some American History X shit. Edward pulled me back into the kitchen as soon as I stepped foot into the living room, and when I turned around with narrowed eyes, he rolled his own at me. "Christ, Bella. Let it go," he told me, ignoring my growl as he led us towards the counter, "You chicks would get along great if you would stop acting like she's the enemy."
"Well who the hell is she anyway, and why the hell is she here?"
He shrugged as I pulled my hand away from his. "Just a friend. And, just to hang out."
I rolled my eyes as I grabbed a hold of my whiskey bottle. "Yeah, well your just friend who is here to just hang out is going to get her ass kicked if she doesn't stay out of my way."
He grinned, snatching the bottle out of my hand when I went to take a couple of gulps of the alcohol that I referred to as as my baby. "How did it go at dinner?" he asked before taking a swig.
I groaned as I turned around. Leaning against the counter, I shook my head at him as I placed my arms across my chest. "I'm never taking any form of medication that you offer me, man. No lie."
Placing the bottle on top of the counter, he smirked. "That bad, yeah?"
"I was actually comparing myself to Robert Shapiro, Edward!"
Laughing, he nudged my shoulder with his own. "Only you, Bae."
I nodded in total agreement as he turned around and leaned against the counter, next to me. "But other than that, I don't think that Emmett suspects anything. He probably just thinks that Phil and I hate each other."
"But you are going to tell him, right?"
"I'm just waiting for the right ti—"
"You didn't tell him yet?"
Edward and I both looked over at the door, and when I saw J standing there as he glared at me, I rolled my eyes. "Jake, I will tell Emmett. I'm just waiting for the right time, and tonight wasn't it."
"Yeah, I fucking heard you." Letting the door close behind him, he placed his arms across his chest. "No time is going to be the right time, Bells. You need to tell him."
With a groan, I ran my hands down my face. "Don't start."
"This is unbelievable, man," he whispered angrily, throwing his hands up in the air. "You have by the end of this night, Bella. I mean, you're my girl and you know that shit, but Em is my boy, too."
"I know," I gritted, "I'm just not ready ye—"
"That's bullshit," he hissed, interrupting me as he started stalking towards Edward and I. "I don't think that you know how serious this whole thing is..."
Placing one of his hands against Jake's chest when he reached us, Edward shook his head as he pushed him away from me a bit. "Come on, man. Chill out. Bella will tell him, just let her do it on her own time."
J pushed his arm away with a laugh. "You know what? I don't believe that she will." Returning his attention back to me as I narrowed my eyes at him, he shook his head. "You're just procrastinating, trying to think of a way to get around it."
"Jacob, what the hell is your goddamn problem?"
Ignoring me, he turned around and headed towards the kitchen door. Once he left, I faced the counter and slammed my palms against it. "This shit is getting out of control," I growled, shaking my head before looking at Edward, "I'm going to tell him. You believe me, right?"
"Of course I believe you," he whispered, looking at me like I was stupid for even thinking about asking him that, "I just think that you should do it soon. For everyone's sake, you know?"
I nodded as I lowered my head, letting it hang between my shoulders. "I will."
As the rave started dying down, I found myself sitting down on the couch next to some dude who I could honestly hold a conversation with. The kid was a friend of Edward's and he was real low key, which surprised me a bit at the beginning as to how I never met him before. I mean, why wouldn't Cullen introduce me to this cat, who I seemed to get along with? At least much better than with his other buddy who went by the name of Sarah Mcfuckingbitch, who he didn't have a problem with me meeting, even when all that I wanted to do was to claw her eyes out.
Bringing the bottle of beer that he was holding up to his mouth, Matt grinned at me. "So, you live with Edward Cullen, am I getting that right?"
I nodded as he took a swig, and when I noticed the smirk that he was trying to hide, I rolled my eyes. "Edward is just a goddamn friend, man. Christ..." Leaning back, I placed my arms across my chest as I shook my head at him. "What is it with people thinking that we're together? I mean, whatever happened to chicks and dicks being able to just be friends without all of that bullshit, nowadays?"
He laughed as he held his hands up in the air, wisely surrendering to my words. "You're right, you're right." Leaning back, he raised an eyebrow at me as he placed his bottle against his chest. "So, tell me how it is living with his ass."
"Oh shit," I laughed, "You sound like you know how he is, yeah?"
He grinned. "Cullen's real fucking peculiar, I know."
I snorted. "Peculiar? No. He has an actual motherfucking disorder."
"He's been like that ever since I've known him. I'm used to his shit."
I hummed, forming a plan. "So, how do you know him, Matt?"
"You don't know?" I shook my head. "Cullen and I work together."
Fucking score, man.
"Oh?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. He nodded. "Well, that's cool. Edward, he's always telling me about how interesting work can be," I lied, "I have a feeling that he really takes pride in what he does."
"We're all take pride in what we do," he shrugged, "And, the kid's right about shit being interesting at work. That's what keeps me in it, you know?"
I nodded, not knowing. "Tell me one of your interesting stories."
"Well," Matt started, so falling into my trap, "There was this one ca—"
"Smith." I narrowed my eyes at Edward as he interrupted the kid who was a second away from cluing me in on what his secret occupation was. Taking a seat on the other side of Matt, he patted his shoulder with a tense smile, knowing exactly what I was doing. "I didn't see you come in, man. When did you get here?"
"Maybe a half an hour ago," Matt answered, leaning back. Keeping his eyes on Cullen, he nodded towards me with a grin. "This roommate of yours, she's a pretty cool chick."
"Yeah, isn't she something?" Edward hummed. "You know her brother."
"Her brother?"
Edward nodded, "Emmett McCarty."
Matt's eyes snapped over to mine for a quick second before he returned his attention back to Edward, who nodded once again. "Oh. Yeah. I uh, didn't know that they were related."
"Why are you two looking at each other like that?" I asked.
"Like what?" they both asked, together.
I narrowed my eyes at the two of them. "Don't play dumb."
"You need a beer, man?" Edward asked his partner in crime.
Matt nodded, standing up after him. "Sounds good, Cullen."
I pushed myself up from the couch with a growl, pissed off with their secretive behavior and the way that they changed the goddamn subject on me. Ignoring their immature laughter when I maturely shoved my ass past them, I headed towards my bedroom.
After taking a shower and getting dressed for the end of the night, I walked out of my bathroom and froze when I saw some unknown dude sitting down on my bed. Looking around, I noticed that he was alone. "So, I don't really know who you are, but if you're one of Edward's buddies, his place of slumber is across the hall."
He smiled, leaning back into my bed. "You're Bella Swan, right?"
"Hm, so you're not here for Edward. Why are you in my room?"
He laughed quietly. "Hey, don't get mad. I'm a friend of James."
"I'll ask you again, since my question was never fucking answered correctly. Why are you in my goddamn bedroom?" He grinned as he stood up and I gritted my teeth as I noticed that my door was closed. "Listen, motherfucker. I open my mouth, and you'll have three dudes on your ass in no time."
"There's no need for all of that," he told me as he walked over to the pictures that were hanging up on one of the walls. Fingering the frame that held a memory of my Pop and Billy fishing, he smiled. "I was sent here to relay a message."
"Sent here? What are you, some kind of a messenger?"
"Something like that," he whispered, looking at me now.
"Well in that case, you're wasting your time."
"I don't think that I am," he replied as he faced me, placing his arms across his chest. I raised an eyebrow, not getting where this whole thing was going. "You seem to be someone who James values, and whoever he values, I have no choice but to value."
"Values?"
"You know James' occupation, correct?" I nodded. "Well, he wants you in."
I laughed. "Wants me in?"
Leaning against the wall, he clarified. "He wants you as one of his partners."
"Okay, can you stop with all of this cryptic bullshit? Partners, though?"
"You have a certain...something, he claims...that would make us crazy money."
"Crazy money?" I asked, "Wait..." I got it now. "He wants me as a drug dealer?" He nodded, all nonchalant and whatnot, causing me in return to laugh. "Yeah, okay. Like that shit is going to happen."
Pushing himself off of the wall, he smirked as he walked over to my bedside table. "I'll let you think about it," he whispered after placing some card on there. Turning around, he looked over his shoulder and winked at me as he headed towards the door. "You'll find my number on that piece of paper. Call me when you're ready to start thinking out of the box that you placed yourself in, Bella. I'll be waiting."
As soon as he left my room, I walked over to my bedside table and picked up the card. "Alex Volturi?" I asked myself in a low whisper, "Who the fuck is this dude?" Shaking my head, I shoved the piece of paper into one of my drawers, already dismissing the idea of actually calling up the number that I was given.
When I entered the living room, I didn't see the mysterious messenger. It seemed as if all of the ravers left except for Blue Eyes, Pixie, and Rose. The three of them were sitting down on the couch, cracking up about something that immediately stopped as soon as my presence was noticed. "What was so funny?"
"Nothing," they all said, together.
I raised an eyebrow and they all quickly looked away before Rose yawned in some dramatic type of a way that had me placing my arms across my chest. "Drive me home, you freak-a-leeks," she told Jasper and Pixie after standing up.
"Hey, where's J?" I asked, not seeing him anywhere in the living room.
Rose shrugged as Blue Eyes pulled her jacket on, like a goddamn gentleman. "I don't know," she answered me, "The dog got a phone call ten minutes ago and took off, talking about how he had some shit that he needed to handle."
I nodded, and after kissing them all goodnight and closing the door behind them, I walked into the kitchen and pursed my lips together when I saw Edward sitting at the table, in the middle of shoving food into his mouth. "Hungry?" I asked with a grin, taking a seat next to him.
"This is fucking amazing," he hummed in contentment, scooping up a good portion of what was in the chinese box before mumbling a "Here," as he shoved the shit into my mouth. "Get a load of the shit."
I was about to yell at the kid for almost choking my ass, but moaned instead as soon as the food hit my taste buds. "Oh God, it is amazing."
He grinned, food in his mouth, as he stood up. "Yeah it is." After walking over to the counter and grabbing another fork, he handed it to me. "Don't fucking eat it all," he told me as he turned on the radio that was on top of the fridge. "I know how you can get."
While I was in the middle of washing the dirty dishes from the day and nodding my head to the music that was flowing from the radio, Edward walked over to the fridge and pulled out two bottles of beer before he placed one of them next to the sink. I whispered my thanks and he grinned in response as he turned around, bobbing his own head to the jams that we were listening to as he leaned against the counter. "Hey, Edward?"
"Hey, Bella?"
I rolled my eyes. "You consider me a friend, yeah?"
"Kind of." I raised a brow. "Obviously, Bae. Why?"
I shrugged as I returned my attention back to the plate that I was washing. "I don't know, I just find it weird that you're all top secret with what you do. I mean, what kind of friendship is that? You go to work almost everyday, and I have no idea of what that even consists of, you know? I just don't get what the big deal is."
He pushed himself away from the counter before I felt him standing behind me, and as he placed his chin against my shoulder at the same time that he wrapped his arms around my waist, I closed my eyes, already knowing that he was going to feed me more bullshit. "You know what I do," he whispered.
"No, I really don't, Edward," I whispered.
"I like this song," his mouth hummed next to my ear as he changed the subject. Taking a hold of the plate that my fingers were tightly wrapped around, he lowered it down to the bottom of the sink, and as his wet palms went to my hips and started slowly moving them back to forth with his own, I shook my head. "You like this song, Bae?"
Pushing the kid's hands away from me, I turned around to face him before I placed my arms across my chest. "You're avoiding shit again, Edward."
Placing his hands on top of the counter behind me, he grinned. "No, I'm not. I just really like this song."
I rolled my eyes. "I bet."
"But you know what I like even more?" he asked, taking a step closer to me. I shrugged, more than tired of the kid not trusting me. "I really like making you nervous."
"Edward, you don't make me nervous. You make me mad. Irritated. Frustrated. Annoyed. Never nervous."
Leaning in, he hummed as he placed his lips right there, one of his hands underneath my chin keeping me from moving away from his vicinity. "No?" I shook my head, not even knowing what the hell the kid was asking me. As soon as I felt his nose softly running itself along the skin that was over my jaw, I stopped breathing. "I think that I just proved my point, Bella."
Leaning away from his space, I narrowed my eyes at him. "You don't make me nervous, you ass. You just do shit that I don't anticipate."
"I like kissing you, you know that shit?" he asked, out of nowhere.
"What?"
He shrugged as his eyes fell down to my mouth. "It's true. I actually like kissing you. In fact, I could do the shit for hours straight, and never get bored."
"Uh thanks, I guess?" I asked, not knowing what else to say.
He grinned, running his thumb against my bottom lip. "And when you bite that fucking mouth of yours, you drive me insane. Did you know that?"
"Edward, are you...drunk, or something?"
"One hundred percent sober," he whispered, hands over my hips.
As the kid's thumbs started running themselves against the skin that wasn't covered by the top of my waistband and the bottom of my hoodie and tee shirt, I pushed him away from me a bit with an awkward laugh. "Alright, you're kind of turning me on with that shit, so I suggest that you stop."
He lowered his head with a soft laugh escaping his throat. "Right." As the music changed to Joe's 'I wanna know,' he went to walk away but I grabbed a hold of his tee shirt. Looking down at my hand, he smirked as he met my eyes again. "What's up, Bae?"
"You, Edward Cullen, do not play fair," I complained as I pulled on his tee until his chest was pressed up against mine. "Do you know that?"
His fingertips tickled the skin that was underneath my shirt as he ran them along my sides. "Did I say something about playing fair?" he asked as I felt a slight tug on the bottom hem of my hoodie. I shook my head with a grin, allowing him to pull it off as I lifted my arms above my head. "Because if so, I apologize for the bullshit lie," he finished, tossing my fabric over his shoulder.
I hummed, pushing him back a bit. After taking off his shirt, I threw it into the sink behind me and ran my hands down his chest, biting my lip at the groan that left the kid's throat when I scratched the skin that was above his waistband. "Playing fair isn't my..." I paused as his hands over my hips quickly pushed me back into the counter, and when his mouth found the side of my neck, I moaned the ending of my sentence, "Forte...it isn't my forte, either."
Moving his lips up my neck while his hips kept still from moving around like they so wanted to do, my entire body shivered when the kid's teeth scraped my earlobe. "Are you cold, Bae?"
I shook my head, answering his stupid question. "Quite the opposite," I whispered as my lips anxiously waited for his own that were currently running themselves against the corner of my mouth, teasing me with their lingering. "God, Edward," I breathed like the impatient motherfucker that I am as I kept my hands over his chest with my eyes closed, "Stop delaying the shit, and kiss m—"
I moaned as soon as his lips finally shut me up, the sound echoing throughout the quiet room. Wasting no goddamn time with bullshit, my fingers found the belt that was keeping the kid's jeans on, and as they argued with it to just fucking come off already, I growled. "Jesus Christ, stupid metal...leave...us...alone!"
He grinned against my mouth before he brushed my hands away, his lips not leaving mine as he yanked the belt off of his jeans himself. When the kid's palms went over my ass after I heard that useless piece of shit metal hitting the floor, I jumped on him and secured my thighs around his waist as I swallowed the groan that he gave me. "Your room. Now. Let's go."
He nodded at my demand, leading us away from the counter as our mouths continued with their super glue behavior of never parting. When his back hit the door, Edward kicked it open with the back of his foot, and as we stumbled throughout the apartment, we hit every single wall that was in our way.
Slamming me against his closed bedroom door when we reached it, he cursed as I bit into his neck and then growled as I soothed the area by sliding my tongue along it. Grabbing a hold of my wrists, he lifted my hands up above my head and told me to keep them there, so I did, my eyes on his hungry ones as they roamed my torso in some 'dinner is about to be served' type of a way, his palms rough as they ran down to my hips. "I owe you a tee shirt."
"Wha—"
Rrrrriiip.
I snorted as he tossed my ripped down the middle tee shirt over his shoulder. "Jesus Christ, Edward." He shrugged, pressing his naked upper body against my semi naked one, transferring his smirk onto my mouth as I mumbled around his own. "You need to sign an IOU after that shit that you just pu—"
Laughing out of breath, he interrupted my words as he placed his forehead against mine. "Shut up, Bae." I groaned at the pressure of his grip as his hands that were over my hips lifted my body up against the door a bit, and when I felt his nose running along the bottom edges of my bra, I ran my fingers through his hair. "You talk too much...you know that?"
I hissed an answer that I couldn't even understand and clenched my eyes shut as soon as his lips over my bra captured one of my too goddamn sensitive nipples. Not being able to take the kid's teasing anymore, I tugged on his hair, moaning at the groaning that it produced. "Let me down, Edward."
While his fingers attacked the straps that were hanging off of my shoulders, my fingers attacked the clasp that was over my back, and as my bra dropped down onto the floor by our feet, he mumbled a curse word that I didn't recognize before his hips that we keeping my body against the door rolled into mine, just once. I pressed my bare upper half over his own, loving the exhale of "Bella," that left his lungs as I wrapped my arms around him, tight.
"Edward, your room, please."
Pulling me away from the door, his mouth easily found my swollen one and remained against it as I started hearing his fingers fumbling around with the knob behind me. After not getting anywhere after a couple of seconds went by, he growled and kicked the bitch open, causing me to laugh in approval as I extracted my lips from his own. "I like how you think, man."
He smirked, tossing me onto his bed. "I'm glad," he whispered as he crawled on top of me. After unbuttoning and unzipping the jeans that were standing in my way, I gave the material a quick and hard tug down that earned me a short groan of "Holyshit" before I ran my feet along it to push it off the rest of the way.
As the kid's fingers started tugging on my waistband while his lips played with my own, I — all of a goddamn sudden — remembered about the marks that Phil gifted me with. Letting go of his shoulders, I brushed his digits away before I wrapped my arms around his waist to pull him down to me. Catching him off guard, I shrugged at the raised eyebrow that I received as he let his elbows support his upper body. "I uh, like this," I whispered in half truth, "The feeling of you on top of me."
"I like it, too...but, I want to see you."
"I'm here," I whispered, trying to pull him back down to me.
Shaking his head, he placed his hands against the sheets that I was laying on top of and straightened out his arms, making my tugs completely useless. "I know that you're here," he whispered. Keeping his eyes on mine, he grinned at the sharp inhale that left my throat as one of his knees rubbed against my sweatpants, in between my legs. "But I want to see you here, Bae."
My hand inched its way towards his boxers. "There's nothing special to see."
"I don't agree," he argued with narrowed eyes, grabbing onto my hand.
I groaned as I placed my arm across my forehead. "Come on, Edward."
"Why are you shy all of a sudden?" he asked in a whisper, "It's me."
"That's the problem," I mumbled, keeping my eyes hidden.
"Proble—"
Banging against the front door of our apartment interrupted the kid's confusion. Lowering his forehead down to my neck, he groaned as I looked at the alarm clock that was placed on his bedside table. "It's almost four in the morning, are you expecting someone?" Rolling off of me, he shook his head as he climbed out of bed, and when I saw him pull a gun out of one of his drawers, I raised an eyebrow. "Uh, what are you doing, you maniac?" I asked.
"I don't know who it is," he replied, tossing me a tee before putting one on himself.
After climbing out of bed, I pulled the fabric over my head before I rolled my eyes at him as he adjusted himself with a frown. "So, do you just go around and shoot whoever you don't know?" I asked, watching him tug his jeans on.
"Yep," he simply replied, making sure that the safety was still on.
"Edward, it might just be a neighbor. Put the gun away, come on."
He rolled his eyes as he shoved it into his waistband. "Satisfied?"
"No."
He shrugged as he walked out of the room, and I groaned as I followed him. When we reached the front door, I noticed that the banging against it got louder, which caused my nervousness about who was standing behind it to elevate. Grabbing a hold of the back of his tee shirt when he went to answer it, I stopped him by pulling him back. "Maybe we should call the cops, or something?"
"Bae, we don't need the cops," he grinned, "Just let me see who it is, yeah?"
"Edward, what if it's some crazy ass psycho who's running around and killing motherfuckers?" I whispered angrily, throwing my hands up in the air, "Come on, let's think rationally about this shit!"
Pulling his gun out of his waistband, he smirked. "Rational thinking, I'm all about it." My fingers took a hold of the back of the kid's tee shirt again after he turned around to look through the peephole. "It's Emmett, Rose, and Jake," I heard him whisper.
"What?"
He looked over his shoulder. "Bae, your brother looks pissed."
"Well let him in," I whispered like duh, pushing him to the side.
After unlocking and pulling the front door open, I stood back a bit when I noticed how Emmett was just staring at me in some type of a way. Rose was next to him, holding his hand as her thumb ran along his fingers, which only told me that something was wrong, the act a clear one of trying to calm him down. When I turned my attention over to J, he immediately looked away from me. I went to take a step towards my brother, but he shook his head at me and I stopped. "Are you...okay, Em?"
He laughed, the sound too menacing coming from him. "Am I okay?"
"What...I don't understand what's going on right now."
"You and I need to talk," he gritted, "Right now, we need to talk."
I stepped away from his tone, and as soon as my back hit Edward's chest, Rose put herself in between my brother and I. Running her hand that wasn't holding onto his own up and down one of his arms, she shook her head. "Baby, you need to just...relax, for a second."
"Relax?" he shouted, narrowing his eyes at her, "You can't be serious!"
"I am. Look at your sister. You're doing nothing but scaring her."
As soon as the words left her mouth, Jake took a hold of Rose's hand and pulled her away from my brother, who growled as his eyes met my fear ridden ones before he threw his fist into the wall with all of his might. I yelled his name, my entire body in shakes as I went to take a step towards him. Edward grabbed onto my tee shirt from behind and pulled me back into the living room before standing in between us. "Emmett, man...what the fuck is your deal?"
His lip twitched a little as he glared at the kid. "You know what's going on, huh?"
My fingers that found themselves inside his waistband kept him in place as he went to take a step towards my brother. "Look, why don't you guys come inside," Edward suggested in a low whisper as he looked around, sensing that our neighbors were seconds away from coming out to investigate all of the noise that we were creating, "Let's just all...relax, yeah?"
"One more time someone tells me to fucking rela—"
"Emmett," J spoke up. Finally. "Let's go inside."
My brother nodded something tense, listening to his boy as he walked into the living room. Jake followed a second later, shaking his head at the glare that my roommate was giving him. I stepped forward and grabbed a hold of Rose's hand, and when I turned around and saw Edward blocking the both of us from joining the three boys, I raised an eyebrow. "Just stay out here for a second, alright? Let me talk to him, try to calm him down a little bit."
We both nodded and stepped back before he shut the door in front of us. Tugging her down the hallways so that we wouldn't be heard, I asked her what the hell I wanted to ask her minutes ago. "What...the...fuck?"
Letting go of my hand, she ran her own down her face. "Honey B, please tell me that J doesn't know about what was going on with Phil." I grimaced, and she closed her eyes with a groan of "Shit" as she lowered her head. "It makes perfect sense, I should have known."
"What?"
Meeting my eyes again, she frowned. "I think that he told Emmett."
"No," I shook my head, "Jake wouldn't do that to m—"
"Oh get real," she hissed quietly, interrupting me as she threw her hands up in the air. "Did you honestly expect Jake to keep this from him? Especially when it's you who's hurt?" I closed my eyes as I lowered my head, this whole thing now hitting home. "All that I know is that Emmett disappeared for a couple of hours tonight, and not long after, Jake got that phone call that I told you about. He left the apartment anxious as a motherfucker, and shit on my life...I didn't think anything of it."
"What are we going to do?"
"Deny it." I lifted my head at her words, kind of shocked. "Don't tell him that Phil had anything to do with whatever he found out. We'll take care of that asshole ourselves by calling the cops, or something. B, if he finds out that it's his Pop, the kid is going to go rampage and kill him. You and I both know that."
"I know," I whispered, pulling her into a hug that she seemed to need, what with the way that her body started shaking. "Okay. If he asks, I'll just admit that I got attacked my someone. That I don't know who it was simply because I couldn't see him. It was too dark, and all of that bullshit. I'll make it up along the way, depending on what he tells me he knows."
After she nodded against my shoulder, I leaned away and took a hold of her hand to pull her down the hallway. Reaching my apartment door, I opened it and stepped inside with Rose behind me after I noticed that Emmett seemed a bit calmer, sitting down on the couch as Jake and Edward sat across from each other on the recliners.
Letting go of her hand as I heard her shut the door behind us, I walked over to Emmett and knelt down a bit so that we were eye to eye. "Em, can you talk to me?" Leaning back into the couch, he rubbed his temple at my words, as if they were giving him a headache. "Please?"
"I went to the house tonight."
I nodded, waiting for him to continue. "Okay..."
"Renee was there, Kiddo."
I inhaled, leaning back a bit. "Renee was there?"
Pushing himself away from the back of the couch, he laid his elbows on top of his knees, which placed his face a lot closer to mine. "You see, I was cleaning up my apartment earlier and noticed that I was missing one of my baseball caps. I figured that you probably stole it some time ago, since you always do shit like that, so I went by the house. When I walked into your old bedroom, I found your mother in there looking around. After getting over the shock of actually seeing her there, the both of us got to talking, and the shit that she told me..."
"Emmett, I don't know what's going o—"
"Don't fucking lie to me, Bella!" he shouted, interrupting me as he grabbed a hold of my arms and pulled me up to my feet at the same time that he stood up. Noticing that Edward was about to break it up, I shook my head at him as I pulled myself out of my brother's hold. "I never lied to you before, so don't do that shit with me!"
"Bells, just tell him."
"Fuck you, Jacob!" I hissed, "I don't know what you're talking about."
He narrowed his eyes at me, standing up. "See, man! I knew that you would do this shit! Don't you dare act like you don't know what's going on, because you know damn well! Tell him, or I will!"
I ignored him as I returned my attention back to Emmett. "I can't believe that you actually listened to anything that she said to you, what with the way that she up and left my ass without a second thought! Whatever that sad excuse of a woman told you, Em, it's fucking bullshit!"
"I'm really, really, tired of you telling me that it's bullshit," he gritted.
I started backing away from Em when he started stalking towards me. Rose quickly stepped up, placing herself in between us to block his advance, pointing at him with one hand as her other one grabbed a hold of my arm to keep me in place. "Emmett, stop."
His jaw dropped. "Rosie, are you behind this, too?"
"I'm not behind anything, baby...but you're freaking out. Let Bella tell you what's going on, because you don't know the whole story."
"Let go of her hand, Rose."
"No," she whispered, her body becoming brick in front of mine.
"Come on, Emmett," Edward tried, "Let Bella explain her story."
Keeping his attention on Rose and I, Em nodded at J. The chick who was standing in front of me immediately noticed it as her narrowed eyes snapped in his direction. "If you fucking touch me, you're going to regre—"
Her words were cut off as Jake and Emmett came running towards us, the both of them pushing Edward out of their way. J grabbed a hold of Rose and lifted her up into the air, causing our fingers to slip away from the grip that we had on each other as she started thrashing around. My attention was on them as Emmett tackled me down onto the floor, the force so goddamn hard that I ended up crying out his name before he straddled my body with his own, the heaviness of his weight preventing me from being able to say anything but a gasp of "Jesus Christ!"
Edward snapped out of it as he saw my brother pinning my arms down, above my head. Grabbing onto his shoulders from behind, the kid tried to pull him off of me but he wasn't budging, at all. Taking a hold of one of my hands after tugging it from Emmett's grip, he tried to pull me out from underneath him, but still...it was a wasted effort. "Let go of her, McCarty," he gritted, "You're fucking hurting her."
Jake came out of nowhere and shoved the kid away from us, and after his knees went over my arms to keep them both down against the floor, I honest to God started freaking out, feeling one of his hands on the bottom hem of the tee shirt that I was wearing. "Stop!" I shouted, "Em, please stop!"
But, he didn't.
I closed my eyes as I heard him gasp the word "No," his breath caught.
Rolling over as soon as his weight left me, I avoided my brother's eyes as I quickly pushed myself up to my feet with my fingers over the scarred skin that his own exposed after ripping the fabric that was covering it down the middle.
When my back hit the door, I felt the pounding that Rose was giving it on the other side and shook my head at Jake, who now looked a bit shocked with what just happened a minute ago. As soon as I let her in, she gaze went to my lower abdomen that I was trying to hide before we both looked at Emmett, who kept repeating the same word over and over again.
When my back hit the door, I felt the pounding that Rose was giving it on the other side and shook my head at Jake, who now looked a bit shocked with what just happened a minute ago. As soon as I let her in, she gaze went to my lower abdomen that I was trying to hide before we both looked at Emmett, who kept repeating the same word over and over again.
Edward pushed J away from him before he started heading over towards Rose and I, all the while taking off the tee shirt that he was wearing. Standing in front of me when he reached my frozen form, he blocked my brother's vision as he shoved the fabric over my head and pulled my arms out before tugging it down my torso. "Shit, Bella," he whispered in a tone that only my ears were able to hear, "I...I didn't fucking know."
"Let's go!" Emmett growled, standing up from the floor, "Now!"
Edward turned around with a low growl and walked up to him before pushing him back, not stopping until he fell down onto the couch. "Fucking quit your shit," he hissed, "We're not going anywhere with you acting like this."
He laughed, placing his arms across his chest as he leaned back. "Is that right?"
"It is right, Emmett. You need to fucking breathe, man. We're not leaving this goddamn apartment until you calm your shit." Turning his attention to Jake as he stood up from the recliner, he shook his head. "You see what you fucking did, Black? All of this shit could have been avoided if you would have just let Bella talk to her brother, like she asked you to...but no, you had to go and break whatever news you broke to him, like a little goddamn bitch."
"I didn't...I didn't know...that it was this bad."
"Well now you fucking do," Edward spat, "All that she needed was time, a—"
"Time, my ass, Cullen!" Emmett shouted as he stood up, "This is my fucking sister! You know what? Fuck this scene," he growled as he started heading over towards me, "I don't know why the hell I'm still here, sitting around and doing nothing but wasting my goddamn time with all of this bullshit when I can just handle it like I need to. Jake, Let's go."
Reaching me first, J placed himself in front of me. "Emmett, man...maybe..."
"You too, motherfucker?" Em asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Of course not, Em. Let's just...not go there, alright? We'll call the cops."
Edward groaned at the same time that Emmett laughed, pushing Jake away from me before grabbing a hold of my hand. After pulling me out into the hallway, my brother turned us around and nodded. "You're right, J. Go ahead and call the cops, I'm sure that they'll help you in some tremendous way. In the meantime, Bella and I are going to the old house, for there is someone there who I would like to have a word with."
Shoulder shoving J out of the way, Edward placed himself in front of us and shook his head as he grabbed a hold of my other hand. "Emmett, I can't let you do that."
The hand that wasn't holding mine pulled a gun out of one of the pockets of his sweatpants, and as he aimed it at Edward's forehead with a grin over his face, I froze, completely. "You can't let me do what, Cullen?"
Edward narrowed his eyes at him. "Really, McCarty? You're going to shoot me now?"
"It depends. You try to stop me, and I could have this shit empty within two seconds."
"I'll go!" I yelled, letting go of Edward's hand before placing it over the barrel.
"Emmett McCarty," Rose growled as she joined Edward by standing next to him, "I swear it...if you step one foot out of this goddamn apartment building, we're fucking over. You and me, we'll be done before you can even think about speaking the word."
Placing the gun back into his pocket, Emmett lowered his head. "I'm...sorry, baby."
I closed my eyes. "Emmett, you don't mean that," I gritted, "Please, think of w—"
"I can't let this happen," he interrupted, "I just...can't. And, I'm sorry for that."
Meeting Rose's tears when I opened my eyes, I closed them again. "Emmett..."
He pulled me down the hallway, done with the words that shouldn't have been said.
When we reached the passenger side door of his truck, he pulled it open and nodded for me to go in. "Em, can we just talk for a second, please?" I asked in a whisper, "Just for a goddamn second, let me say something."
Shaking his head, he looked away from me. "Get in, Bella."
"This is your life!" I whispered angrily, grabbing a hold of his face to turn it in my direction. "I mean, look at what happened back there with Rose...she's your fucking everything, Emmett! If we go there, you're going to do something that will ruin it for you. You don't even know what's really going on, it's not what you thin—"
Pushing my hand away from him, he narrowed his eyes at me. "Are you trying to tell me that what I found a few minutes ago isn't a big deal? My goddamn father's name carved into your skin is nothing, is that what you're saying right now?"
"I did it!" I blurted out.
"You did it?"
"Yes, Emmett! I fucking did it, okay!"
He rolled his eyes at me. "That's cute. Does my Pop know about it?"
I nodded as I lowered my head. "He was pissed off about it, but —"
"That's great and all, but let's be done with wasting all of my goddamn time," he hissed, interrupting me as he grabbed a hold of my waist to throw me inside, "I want the truth, not some bullshit about how he's cool with marking his step daughter's skin."
"Looks like we have company," Em whispered with a grin as we pulled up to the house a few minutes later. I looked out of my window and shook my head when I saw Edward, Rose, and J leaning up against the kid's car. "The more the merrier."
Stepping out, I noticed that all of the house lights were out.
Thank God, I thought, hopefully no one's home.
Emmett stomped up to the porch with Edward and Jake right behind him. When my brother reached the front door, he didn't even knock, he just kicked the bitch open. "Jesus Christ," Cullen mumbled, looking over his shoulder as Em stalked through, "Stay here, yeah?" I grabbed a hold of Rose's hand before I pulled her up the steps, looking at him like yeah the fuck right, ignoring his groan of "Of course not," as we pushed ourselves past him.
"Pop!" Emmett shouted, walking into the kitchen with all of us hot on his heals as he tossed everything off of the counter, "Wake up, I need to fucking talk to you!"
When we went back out into the living room again, Rose pulled me over to the front door, her fingernails digging into the skin that was over my palms as J stood in front of us while Edward followed Emmett around as he continued to throw shit. "What the hell is going on down there?"
Emmett smiled at the same time that I groaned, hearing Phil's voice that was coming from upstairs. As he walked over to the banister to wait for him, Edward followed while he looked around the living room, running his fingers through his hair. "Pop, good fucking morning!"
Walking downstairs, Phil froze as he saw all of us standing around. "What's everyone doing here, and so early in the day?"
Placing one of his arms over his Pop's shoulders, Emmett led him down the stairs. "Well, you see, we have a little situation that's going on," he started as Phil ran his hands over his eyes to wake up, "This situation is one that has been plaguing my goddamn nightmares for a while now." After letting go of him, Em took a hold of the center table and threw it off to the side, "Take a seat," he whispered, nodding towards the couch, "We need to talk."
"Okay," Phil whispered with an awkward laugh, his eyes on his son as my brother took a seat across from him on the other couch, staying away from the recliner that his father calls his own, "So, there's obviously something that is wrong, I take it?"
Emmett grinned, leaning back. "Oh you got that right, Pop."
Mimicking his position, Phil nodded. "What's got you like this, son?"
"Some time ago, Bella came over to my apartment and I noticed something that bothered me," Em started, placing his arms across his chest, "As a matter of fact, the shit still bothers me to this day, if I'm being frank about it." Phil nodded, waiting for him to continue. "You see, my sister was hurt. Someone laid a goddamn ha—"
"Isabella always gets herself hurt," Phil interrupted with an uncomfortable grin, trying to lighten up the tense mood that made itself known, "It's not something that's new, son."
Emmett looked around the room with irritation evident on his face. "Was I done talking?" he asked Rose and I before returning his attention back to Phil, "Because I'm pretty sure that I was mid fucking sentence," he continued, bringing out his gun and laying it on top of his lap, "I find it highly rude, how you can just interrupt me like that, don't you agree?"
Edward walked over and stood on the spot where the table should have been placed. "Emmett, come on. There's no reason for the gun, so why don't you just put it away, yeah?"
"Oh, man, this kid right here," Em smiled, leaning forward a bit so that he could pull Edward down onto the couch with him, "Anyway, as I was saying," he started as Cullen patted his back to try to calm him down a bit, "Someone laid a goddamn hand on Bella. Now, do you think that I take to that shit lightly, Pop?"
Phil shook his head, placing his arms across his chest. "I would imagine not."
"Your imagination is correct," he whispered in a tense voice that had Rose lower her head next to me, "But, I mean, you know Bella, how she's always trying to protect everyone who's around her. She didn't tell me shit."
"That's Isabella," Phil laughed, looking around the room.
"It's fucking Bella," Em gritted, his eyes a shade darker as he placed his elbows on top of his knees, leaning forward a bit. "You know how she hates being called Isabella, and you still do it. Why is that?"
"I didn't notice," Phil whispered before looking at me, "I apologize."
"Don't you fucking look at her," Em growled as he stood up and walked over to him, and when he grabbed a hold of his neck and pushed his Pop's head into the back of the couch, I exhaled the breath that I was holding onto as Edward and Jake quickly made their way over to them. "You hear me?" he hissed as his grip tightened, "Keep your eyes to yourself!"
"Emmett!" Rose cried out, "Please, stop!"
Instantly letting go of him as Phil started choking, my brother groaned, running his palms across his eyes as he angrily brushed away the tears that fell from them. "I can't...believe that this is —" he moaned, his words cut off as he clenched his fingers together and apart, as if he couldn't decide what to do with them.
As Edward and J patted my brother's back in comfort, Rose and I looked away from the scene with wet faces, Emmett's crying a rarity that we couldn't handle. Seconds passed by before he was led back to the couch by the other two men, and when I returned my attention back to them, I noticed that Phil seemed even more unsettled for the whole thing to continue, to which my brother had no problem with doing. "Bella has some kind of marks on her stomach, Pop. You know about them?"
Phil swallowed, a gesture that was noticed by only me. "Son, whatever you have against me all of a sudden, it has nothing to do with Isa..." he paused to correct himself when Emmett lifted his head that was lowered, "It has nothing to do with your sister."
Em groaned, running his hands down his face. "Don't fucking lie to me, dad."
"Jesus Christ!" Phil shouted, his eyes losing the calm that they held throughout this entire encounter as he quickly stood up to his feet, "What is it with you goddamn kids, nowadays?"
"Bella, come here."
Edward stood up at Emmett's order. "Man, come on with this bullshit." My brother narrowed his eyes at him, and the kid rolled his own before he nodded towards the gun that he grabbed a hold of again. "Put it away, at least."
"I'm not going to fucking shoot her, for Christ's sake. Relax."
"I'll relax when you put the shit away, McCarty."
Jake nodded in agreement with Edward's words as he stood up, telling him that the gun's presence was unnecessary. After he shoved it into his waistband with gritted teeth, he nodded at me as he pushed himself up to his feet. I shook my fingers out of Rose's unwilling to let go grip and walked over to my brother, who took a hold of one of my hands while my other one searched for Edward's as I stood in between them. Easily finding it after a second, the kid started running his thumb along my knuckles, ignoring the glare that he was receiving from Emmett when he noticed it.
If we were in any other situation, I would've rolled my eyes and told my overprotective brother to grow the hell up and deal with the shit, but we weren't in any other situation, so my fingers tightened their grip around Edward's as I remained silent.
"Lift up your shirt, kiddo."
My breathing stuttered for a second before I shook my head, looking at him. "Emmett, I did it," I whispered in a small voice, "Just let it go. I don't even know what we're doing here."
"If you don't do it, I will."
"Baby, it wasn't your father," Rose whispered as she walked up to us, ignoring the pointed look that I was trying to give her, "It was someone else, okay? I mean, Bella doesn't even know who it was because it was too goddamn dark to see what he looked like."
Emmett laughed in an unpleased type of a way as I lowered my head with an internal groan. "You see, this is the shit that I'm talking about, man. Always with the goddamn lies, you two." Rose raised an eyebrow at me as I returned my attention back to her. "Bella told me a different fucking story, nothing about some dude who she couldn't recognize."
"What?"
Emmett let go of my hand as he ignored her question, and before I could even think about stopping him, he pulled on the shirt that I was wearing and raised an eyebrow at Phil, whose eyes remained calm as if he was expecting the shit. "What's this, Pop? How the fuck did your name find itself on her skin, can you tell me?"
"Well I didn't do that, Emmett."
Emmett nodded as he let my shirt fall to place his arms across his chest. "Well I find that hard to believe, Pop. You see, I'm not stupid, contrary to what some people may think. I found out that Bella was in the hospital a few months ago, admitted for multiple stab wounds and excess blood loss, which brings me to the next question that has been boggling my fucking mind. Who in their right mind, would do that shit to my goddamn sister?"
I looked at J with wide eyes and he shook his head at me, the movement too small for Em to notice as he kept his attention on Phil. Turning my own to Edward, I narrowed my eyes at him and he narrowed his own right back at me. "I don't get what this has to do with me, son. I'm sure that if you let Bella talk, she can tell you that I had nothing to do with anything that put her in that hospital."
Emmett grabbed a hold of my face and turned it towards his, tilting it up a bit so that he could look into my eyes as I let go of Edward's hand. With his thumbs, he gently wiped away the tears that never stopped flowing from the start of his own making an appearance. "Kiddo, I need you to ignore all of the people who are in this room for a second, and listen to me. Can you do that?" I nodded, wrapping my fingers around his wrists. "You swear to me...swear on my life...that Phil had nothing to do with putting you in that hospital."
It seemed like hours passed by, as we stared into each other's eyes.
Thinking of all of the things that this kid has gotten me through.
How he took care of me and looked after me without a single effort.
I shook my head as I closed my eyes. "I can't do that, Em."
Time seemed to slow down as I felt his fingers against the skin of my cheeks tense up. When they left their spot, I opened my eyes only to have them widen as I saw Em grab a hold of his gun and aim it at Phil, who immediately raised his hands up in the air, looking around the room in some frantic kind of a way as if any escape was deemed impossible. Pushing me aside, Edward placed himself in front of my frozen body as he, Rose, and Jake tried to talk to Emmett, but his eyes...
They were done.
No coming back.
"How long?" Emmett asked in a whisper, his voice unrecognizable to me. "Tell me how fucking long you've been beating on my goddamn sister." Phil shook his head and my brother growled as he tightened the grip that he had around the weapon that shouldn't have been in his hand. "God help me, I better hear something in the next goddamn sec—"
"A couple of years," Phil whispered, looking at his son.
Emmett's lip curled. "What's a couple of years?"
"Since you left for college."
Emmett's entire demeanor tensed even more at his Pop's answer, and when he noticed that Phil's previous apprehension diminished, what with the way that his eyes brightened a bit as they started roaming my body, he growled an inaudible sound that was too loud for my ears. "Did he ever fucking...touch you?"
I couldn't move or even...talk.
And he got his answer a second later.
As soon as I heard the safety click off of the gun, I ran into the middle of the room and placed myself in front of Phil as I faced my brother, who kept his aim as if he didn't notice me at all. I raised my hands up in the air, the movement catching Edward's attention. "Lower the fucking thing, McCarty!" he yelled, his voice instantly breaking Emmett out of his thoughts as he let his arm fall down, "Bella, fucking move!"
I shook my head at Edward. "I can't just let him do thi—"
My breath caught, my words interrupted, as I was lifted up into the air from behind, one of Phil's arms tightly wrapped around my waist as it held my back against his chest, my feet dangling. Both Edward and Emmett had their guns out and aimed a second after I felt sharp metal over my temple. "Kiddo," my brother hissed with a shaky hand as Edward's remained nothing but steady, "What the fuck were you thinking?"
"I can't..." I gritted my teeth and clenched my eyes shut at the feeling of Phil shoving the barrel of his goddamn gun into the side of my head, "I can't let you do this, Emmett. This isn't you."
"You'll be long dead before your finger makes it to that trigger."
Phil ignored Edward's threat with a small laugh before he clicked the safety off of his gun, the sound loud against my ear as I opened my eyes. "Son," he murmured, "I'm beginning to think that you don't know how to handle your weapon, what with the way that your hands are shaking."
"Let. Her. Go," Emmett growled, straitening out his arms.
Slowly lowering me down onto the floor as he brushed my hair out of the way with his nose, he smiled against my ear as one of his hands went underneath my tee shirt. "I don't think that I can do that," he hummed, the tips of his fingers running along the bottom of my breasts making my entire body tense up.
Emmett went to take a step forward as soon as he noticed what was going on, but Jake held him back by grabbing a hold of his shoulder. "Fuck," Edward hissed, his finger twitching against the trigger of his gun, "I'm really going to enjoy what happens to you when this shit is over with."
Phil laughed, instantly making me nauseous as I felt his hot breath hitting the skin that was over my cheek. "Isabella feels so good," he continued, ignoring Emmett's now steady aim as his fingers traveled down my stomach, stopping their descent when they reached the marks that they placed over my lower abdomen, "Edward, you should know exactly how good the girl feels, right?"
"You're fucking sick," Edward gritted, his top lip twitching in rage.
And he got his answer a second later.
As soon as I heard the safety click off of the gun, I ran into the middle of the room and placed myself in front of Phil as I faced my brother, who kept his aim as if he didn't notice me at all. I raised my hands up in the air, the movement catching Edward's attention. "Lower the fucking thing, McCarty!" he yelled, his voice instantly breaking Emmett out of his thoughts as he let his arm fall down, "Bella, fucking move!"
I shook my head at Edward. "I can't just let him do thi—"
My breath caught, my words interrupted, as I was lifted up into the air from behind, one of Phil's arms tightly wrapped around my waist as it held my back against his chest, my feet dangling. Both Edward and Emmett had their guns out and aimed a second after I felt sharp metal over my temple. "Kiddo," my brother hissed with a shaky hand as Edward's remained nothing but steady, "What the fuck were you thinking?"
"I can't..." I gritted my teeth and clenched my eyes shut at the feeling of Phil shoving the barrel of his goddamn gun into the side of my head, "I can't let you do this, Emmett. This isn't you."
"You'll be long dead before your finger makes it to that trigger."
Phil ignored Edward's threat with a small laugh before he clicked the safety off of his gun, the sound loud against my ear as I opened my eyes. "Son," he murmured, "I'm beginning to think that you don't know how to handle your weapon, what with the way that your hands are shaking."
"Let. Her. Go," Emmett growled, straitening out his arms.
Slowly lowering me down onto the floor as he brushed my hair out of the way with his nose, he smiled against my ear as one of his hands went underneath my tee shirt. "I don't think that I can do that," he hummed, the tips of his fingers running along the bottom of my breasts making my entire body tense up.
Emmett went to take a step forward as soon as he noticed what was going on, but Jake held him back by grabbing a hold of his shoulder. "Fuck," Edward hissed, his finger twitching against the trigger of his gun, "I'm really going to enjoy what happens to you when this shit is over with."
Phil laughed, instantly making me nauseous as I felt his hot breath hitting the skin that was over my cheek. "Isabella feels so good," he continued, ignoring Emmett's now steady aim as his fingers traveled down my stomach, stopping their descent when they reached the marks that they placed over my lower abdomen, "Edward, you should know exactly how good the girl feels, right?"
"You're fucking sick," Edward gritted, his top lip twitching in rage.
He hummed in reply, his fingertips tracing over his name. "I am?"
"That night in the parking lot, what did you want, Phil?"
Emmett's eyes moved over to Edward after the question that left his mouth before he quickly returned them back to where they were, behind me. "I had so many plans for us," Phil whispered into my ear, "I still have so many plans for us, Isabella."
Edward moved his gaze to the left, so faintly that I was the only one who seemed to notice as he continued talking to the asshole who was holding my body against his own. "Time, Phil. I gave you fucking time, but you didn't listen to me, did you?"
Something about the way that Edward was looking at me...
The way that his eyes were begging me to understand...
But, I just couldn't get it. I didn't even know where to start.
"I warned you to keep your hands to yourself," he continued in a soft whisper, his eyes on mine as his aim stayed on Phil. "I gave you three goddamn seconds to let go of her that night, but you didn't fucking listen. You kept your hands on this hard headed chick who can't walk a straight line without falling down to the ground." I raised an eyebrow at the kid, but he just kept his gaze on me as Emmett kept his own on the person who was behind me. "Three fucking seconds," he gritted in repetition, until...
I finally got it.
Pointing down with my eyes, I held out three of my fingers.
Edward's lip twitched in acknowledgement, his eyes now on Phil.
"That night in the parking lot, what did you want, Phil?"
Emmett's eyes moved over to Edward after the question that left his mouth before he quickly returned them back to where they were, behind me. "I had so many plans for us," Phil whispered into my ear, "I still have so many plans for us, Isabella."
Edward moved his gaze to the left, so faintly that I was the only one who seemed to notice as he continued talking to the asshole who was holding my body against his own. "Time, Phil. I gave you fucking time, but you didn't listen to me, did you?"
Something about the way that Edward was looking at me...
The way that his eyes were begging me to understand...
But, I just couldn't get it. I didn't even know where to start.
"I warned you to keep your hands to yourself," he continued in a soft whisper, his eyes on mine as his aim stayed on Phil. "I gave you three goddamn seconds to let go of her that night, but you didn't fucking listen. You kept your hands on this hard headed chick who can't walk a straight line without falling down to the ground." I raised an eyebrow at the kid, but he just kept his gaze on me as Emmett kept his own on the person who was behind me. "Three fucking seconds," he gritted in repetition, until...
I finally got it.
Pointing down with my eyes, I held out three of my fingers.
Edward's lip twitched in acknowledgement, his eyes now on Phil.
Three.
Two.
I clenched my eyes shut and used all of the force that my entire body was capable of as I quickly flexed my neck before I extended it, letting the back of my head connect with Phil's nose in a satisfying crunch. He hissed in pain, and as soon as I heard his gun drop down onto the floor, I fell onto my knees and crawled away from the hell that broke loose, gun shots flying up into the air above us.
After finally regaining my senses, I pushed myself up to my feet when I noticed that Rose was being held back by J, her eyes frantic behind me as she struggled to get out of his unyielding grip. "Emmett, no!"
I turned around and gasped something that took my breath away, seeing that my brother had Phil pressed up against the wall with one hand over his neck while his other one had the barrel of his gun shoved inside of his Pop's mouth. "You're fucking dead."
"No! Emmett, no!" I cried as I started running towards them, only to get right there before I was once again lifted up into the air. Looking over my shoulder, I growled at the kid who was holding me back from preventing a mistake that my brother was about to make. "Edward, stop! Stop him, please! Don't let him do this!"
"McCarty!" Edward shouted, trying to get his attention as he struggled with keeping me away from them as I started thrashing around, "Look at your sister! Fuck, Emmett! Look at your sister!"
"Son, let's be honest about this situation that we have found ourselves in," Phil mumbled around the steel before he turned his head, making it drop out of his mouth. Em hissed in return, shoving the barrel underneath his chin. "You can't stand here and tell me that you're ready to shoot your own fa—"
After finally regaining my senses, I pushed myself up to my feet when I noticed that Rose was being held back by J, her eyes frantic behind me as she struggled to get out of his unyielding grip. "Emmett, no!"
I turned around and gasped something that took my breath away, seeing that my brother had Phil pressed up against the wall with one hand over his neck while his other one had the barrel of his gun shoved inside of his Pop's mouth. "You're fucking dead."
"No! Emmett, no!" I cried as I started running towards them, only to get right there before I was once again lifted up into the air. Looking over my shoulder, I growled at the kid who was holding me back from preventing a mistake that my brother was about to make. "Edward, stop! Stop him, please! Don't let him do this!"
"McCarty!" Edward shouted, trying to get his attention as he struggled with keeping me away from them as I started thrashing around, "Look at your sister! Fuck, Emmett! Look at your sister!"
"Son, let's be honest about this situation that we have found ourselves in," Phil mumbled around the steel before he turned his head, making it drop out of his mouth. Em hissed in return, shoving the barrel underneath his chin. "You can't stand here and tell me that you're ready to shoot your own fa—"
His sentence was cut short as Emmett pulled the trigger.
Edward's hands quickly went up to my eyes to cover them before he pushed me down onto the floor and placed his body on top of mine as more and more and more gunshots rang out throughout the living room.
His try of hiding everything from me was a wasted effort.
Because I saw everything, and in slow fucking motion.
The blood that painted Em's face. The color red so...cruel.
The expression of pure shock that followed. The holy shit.
The gun falling from his fingers. How it didn't belong there.
The way that Phil's body slid down the wall. Its liquidity.
The sound of Rose's knees hitting the floor. Unforgettable.
The uncertainty that Jake had as he stood in front of her.
He didn't know what to do, and no one could blame him.
Edward's hands quickly went up to my eyes to cover them before he pushed me down onto the floor and placed his body on top of mine as more and more and more gunshots rang out throughout the living room.
His try of hiding everything from me was a wasted effort.
Because I saw everything, and in slow fucking motion.
The blood that painted Em's face. The color red so...cruel.
The expression of pure shock that followed. The holy shit.
The gun falling from his fingers. How it didn't belong there.
The way that Phil's body slid down the wall. Its liquidity.
The sound of Rose's knees hitting the floor. Unforgettable.
The uncertainty that Jake had as he stood in front of her.
He didn't know what to do, and no one could blame him.
"Oh my God," Emmett exhaled, his legs giving out as he dropped down onto the floor with his eyes on the lump that used to be his Pop. Pushing himself away from the disaster that he caused...that I caused...he ran his hands down his face and cried at the blood that he saw on them afterwards. "Oh my God."
Pushing himself off of me, Edward cursed as his eyes met mine. With one of his legs straddling my waist, he leaned down a bit and smacked my face. "Bella, fucking breathe," he whispered, his voice nothing but urgent, "Please, fucking breathe, for me."
I couldn't.
I didn't...
Want to.
I turned my head to the side and stared into Emmett's eyes as he did the same with me, his gaze and mine holding so much guilt yet innocence at the same time. Black spots started appearing behind my vision, and they pissed me the fuck off, because I didn't want to break the connection that we shared, at least not right now.
As the room spun around me, Edward grabbed a hold of my face...
And his own was the last thing that I saw before blackness took over.
Want to.
I turned my head to the side and stared into Emmett's eyes as he did the same with me, his gaze and mine holding so much guilt yet innocence at the same time. Black spots started appearing behind my vision, and they pissed me the fuck off, because I didn't want to break the connection that we shared, at least not right now.
As the room spun around me, Edward grabbed a hold of my face...
And his own was the last thing that I saw before blackness took over.
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