a/n- This is a very serious story, very unlike me. I hope you enjoy.
But- I don't own Jacob….or his actions….
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The clock ticked annoyingly as the seconds passed. Look at me- maybe she'll be home soon, it taunted. Bella was on one of her rare visits to visit Jacob at the forbidden La Push. She had left six hours, two minutes, and forty-seven seconds ago.
Suddenly, my cell phone rang in the loneliness- it wasn't a number I recognized, so I answered cautiously.
"Hello?" I asked.
"Mr. Cullen?" a female voice replied in an excitedly scandalous voice. "This is Shirley with the Forks City Police Department. We have a Miss Bella Swan in custody, and she's asked that you come and get her."
My jaw dropped- Bella in jail? There had to be some mistake- a girl with the same name, or an impostor. But then, I realized something- only Bella and my family knew this number.
"May I ask what happened?" I said, my voice a false tone of calm- I was really panicked. Was she injured? Scared? What kind of people was she being held with?
"I have her booked for fighting with a La Push resident."
I gulped- Leah. She didn't like Bella and often went out of her way to show it. Had things boiled finally boiled over?
My thoughts were a worried, jumbled mess as I sped toward the tiny concrete building. It reminded me of the two-cell jails you often see in old western films- yet this one held an astonishing thirty.
Everyone looked up as I pushed open the revolving door. I marched up to the receptionist, identified by a name tag as the 'Shirley' I had spoken to on the phone.
"I'm here for Isabella Swan." I informed her.
That was fast. She thought, looking up from a stack of papers on the desk. Jesus H. Christ! He's gorgeous!
I rolled my eyes mentally.
"Y-yes. Of course" she stuttered. She handed me a release form- I didn't bother to act human, filling out the form in under a minute, sliding it across the counter along with the $150 necessary for Bella's bail.
"She'll be right out." she assured me. I suddenly heard two sets of footsteps- on burly, loud, the other softer- Bella.
She came around the corner with a guard, and I gasped; she looked awful. She was still handcuffed, her eyes hollow and her face ashen. She had a cut on her cheek, but luckily it had stopped bleeding. But my hands clenched into fists when I saw her right eye- it was circled in a terrible shade of blackish blue, and it was swollen half shut. The venom in my veins boiled; who had done this to her?
The officer uncuffed her, and she turned to hug him. He gave her a pitying smile.
"Now, I don't wanna hear about you getting into any more trouble, ya' hear?" he said seriously.
She smiled half-heartedly and nodded before walking over to me, eyes downcast.
"Let's go." she muttered, passing me. She pushed the door open roughly, very uncharacteristically not bothering to hold it open for me. I opened the passengers side door for her, trying to kiss her cheek as she slid in; she blew me off completely, sliding into her seat without so much as a glance at me. (a/n- Poor Edward- I'm being so mean to him lately)
I shut the door, feeling dejected as I walked around to my side. I glanced at her from the corner of my eye- her face was cold, emotionless… so unlike her.
She was silent as I drove surprisingly slow, crossing and uncrossing her legs- waiting for me to question her. We'll get to that. I reminded myself.
I let her settle in the living room, not wanting to take her home, in case Charlie was home. Her breathing was even as I drew her a bath- she was covered in dirt, and more likely, bruises.
Her heart beat evenly as she sat silently on the sofa. I would give anything to hear her thoughts right now.
Suddenly, her cell phone vibrated- I heard her flip it open, and her breathing and heart rate spiked. If I didn't know better, I would think she was having a heart attack.
"Bella?" I asked, flashing to the doorway. She was standing in the middle of the room, reading the tiny screen- she began to wobble.
She was going to fall.
I caught her in one arm, and her cell phone in the opposite hand. I read the screen in less than a second:
New Text Message from Jacob:
Hey- thanks to you, I have to go to court tomorrow. Could be going to jail for a year. Couldn't you keep your mouth shut???
That's when she started to cry; big, loud sobs shook her body- and broke my heart.
"You fought with Jacob?!" I gasped, shocked and enraged- he had done this to her. She wailed.
I carried her to the bathroom and began to remove her clothes, leaving her in her underwear to give her some dignity. I was to distracted by my fury and screaming curiosity to notice that she was half-naked in front of me.
She didn't object as I lowered her into the tub, the water line rising slightly as I rolled my sleeves up to my elbows.
"Tell me what happened." I demanded, looking repulsively at the finger-shaped bruises on her upper arms.
She sniffed. "I went up there, and everything was great for a couple of hours, but then…" she trailed off, biting her full lower lip.
"Go on." I murmured, inspecting her blue and purple rib cage with a knot in my stomach.
"He started to talk really bad about you, so, I defended you, naturally."
I almost smiled.
"He stopped, and I told him about our…plan."
"Why?" I demanded, cringing. Black knowing about our plans for intimacy… The idea sickened me.
"He asked. I told him, and he called me a bad name and slapped me." my eyes widened, and I grabbed onto the side of the bathtub for support. But I grabbed too hard, and came away with a handful of granite. But she went on.
"I wasn't going to take that, and someone called the cops when it got bad."
" Where does it hurt worst?"
"My back." she cringed.
I turned her around effortlessly and almost screamed- the usually smooth canvas of her back was now covered in deep purple bruises and red welts. I thoughtlessly brushed my fingers across them; she screamed, and a few of the welts began to…bleed.
The delicious elixir cascaded down her back in tiny red rivers. Venom flooded my mouth.
"Oh God." I choked, running my fingers across her back; they came away covered in blood. I brought them to my face, almost putting them in my mouth; that would have been the worst mistake of my very long life.
"Edward?" she asked quietly.
I inhaled deeply, and my throat ripped into flames. But I kept breathing, letting her heavenly scent assault me. She sat perfectly still the whole time (or, as still as a human could get.)
Then, I quickly grabbed a washcloth, dunked it in the warm water, and washed the blood from her back. She hissed.
"Sorry." I mumbled, rubbing lighter. I cleaned every exposed inch of her battered skin, still finding more and more injuries.
After she was clean, I dried her off, bandaged her wounds, and gave her a painkiller. She settled her head against the hollow at the base of my throat as I walked- I actually walked- with her in my arms to my room. I settled her under the sheets, tucking them around her. Her eyes were glazed over and half-lidded; she was about to fall asleep.
"I love you." I whispered, kissing her forehead.
"I love you, too." she croaked, and mumbled something as she nodded off. It sounded like 'What are you going to do?'
She had a point:
What was I going to do???
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a/n- Okay, this is depressing me- Bella is beat pretty bad. What will Edward do??????
(Be sure to review- they inspire me to write faster. ;) )