A/N: My first multi-chaptered story Ladies and Gentlemen xx
We are back home at last; I am both physically and mentally exhausted. The nightmare that was Volterra is now behind us, but not far enough. Edward was banned from coming through the front door, last night by my dad. He doesn't know about him using my bedroom window for months before they left.
It all came back to me vividly and I remember how I'd just fallen back into the old way of saying nothing and depending on Edward or Alice to save me. After all, we had been surrounded by vampires so you would think them better prepared than me to handle it. But as usual, he didn't, but thank god she did.
As I was starting to resurface from my well needed, but short night's sleep. I could hear Edward whispering endearments and apologising over and over again. But he was also telling me - well as he thought unconscious me, how our future was going to be, according to him anyway, how the Volturi won't remember for possibly thirty years about me, how we have plenty time to live our lives freely.
As I lie still just below the surface between sleep and being fully awake, it strikes me, nothing has changed, and nothing has been learned, well by Edward anyway. He will still leave me human and apparently forty-eight years old to his seventeen, oh my god, I feel sick. Does he really think that I will stand for this and just let our parody of a relationship carry on as it had been before?
Can he actually believe love conquers all, that I will be happy to live this non-life, of chaste kisses and no sex forever? Me looking like his mother and him the perennial teenager, yes I think he does. Well he's in for a rude awakening very soon, what is wrong with him, is he that blind. Dear heavens his mantra is me having as many human experiences as possible, does he not think sex might be one of those that I might like to have over the next thirty years.
I, on the other hand, have learnt a lot over the last several months. I'd been far too dependent and reliant on not just Edward but most of the Cullens before they left. My life more or less stopped when they went, I was a zombie without them, in other words pathetic, incapable and needy. But I eventually became more daring and able to have fun without the Cullens, with the Wolf Pack and my Forks school friends.
I began to take charge of my life slowly, even if Jake hadn't liked it. That fool thought he could just step into Edward's shoes and I would let him run my life and say nothing, as if! Also judging by my rushing off to save Edwards sorry ass, I was stronger mentally and willing to put my life on the line for him, my first love and does he think I will conveniently forget he couldn't even lie, to save me, wouldn't tell the Volturi he would change me, just to get us out of there.
Well at least Alice stepped up to the plate or we would all be dead by now. Whilst he had just once again given into his melodramatic tendencies and nearly got us all killed, firstly by going there and putting us all on the Volturi's radar and then by his stubborn idiocy while we were there. It's almost as if he had never met other vampires before, did he think they were all like Carlisle and would do what he wanted just because he said so.
Yes my eternally seventeen-year-old boyfriend - if he still is, I don't know if I want him back for sure. He who used to love to remind me he was 107 years old and he knew best. He is a fool and an ass, basically, a teenage boy and I am not just going to follow along blindly anymore because I am no longer that naive just turned eighteen years old he left behind so cruelly and thoughtlessly. For goodness sake, I was now nearer nineteen than eighteen and I'm not going to be taking this lying down.
I opened my eyes and looked at him, really looked. Yes he is gorgeous, yes he is alluring, but no he is not perfect. He's just... Edward.
"Is Charlie still here Edward", I ask quietly while getting out of my bed.
"Yes, he's downstairs making coffee, love", he tells me.
"Right, well you need to leave Edward, while I talk to Charlie. Come back for me in two hours, Oh and tell your family, we are having a meeting when we get there", I say as I collect fresh clothes for myself and head towards the bedroom door.
I purposely ignoring the term of endearment he used, I always fell at his feet for that, but not now. I could see the confused look on his face and I smile as I leave him standing in my room. After a long shower, I go down the stairs to find Charlie in the kitchen reading the paper, as I enter he folds it up and slaps it on the corner of the table. I know this tactic but I ignore it, pouring out coffee for myself and then raising the pot as if asking if he wants more.
"Now young lady, don't act as if nothing has happened, I have a lot to say to you", he huffs.
"Oh, so you do realise I'm an adult and not the child you were shouting at and grounding last night then?" is my caustic reply.
"Wait just a minute there, if you don't want to be treated like a child - don't act like one", he yells.
"When have I ever acted like a child Charlie, when I am running your home for you, shopping for you, feeding you, making sure you have clean clothes and keeping the house clean whilst I attend high school?" I enquire as I sit down opposite him calmly.
"Or when I was doing the same but more for Renee basically from kindergarten, was I being a child then? I have never been allowed to be a child", I state and he looks away, flushing red, knowing I am right.
"Now if you wish to talk to me, fine dad, here I am. But let's make one thing perfectly clear, in about one and a half hours Edward will be calling for me and I am going out because I have also got a few things to say to both him and his family. I have had it up to here, with everyone telling me what to do, where to go and how to behave while I do it. This all stops now. Do you have a problem with this?" I query with a raised eyebrow.
Charlie leans back in his seat just looking at me and I think really seeing me clearly for the first time as an adult. He smirks and asks, "Is Edward in trouble with you, then", I nod and he laughs.
"Good for you Bells, stand your ground and give him hell. Well then I might as well go fishing with Billy as you're going to be busy today" he laughs again as he says this and gets up to grab the phone.
That's what I love about my dad, he doesn't hold grudges and backs off when he knows he's wrong. Glancing at the clock, I have about an hour before he will arrive, so I fix Charlie and myself a quick breakfast. After clearing up and using the bathroom, I sit patiently waiting; refusing to over think what is to come.
The door goes exactly on time and I roll my eyes, Charlie opens it as he is just leaving anyway and he smirks at Edward and laughs all the way out to his cruiser. Edward stands awkwardly at the top of the stairs, as if unsure what to do or say for once. I'm sure Alice has told him he is in trouble, I wonder if she knows she is as well. Funny for people with faultless recall, they forget humans remember things too.
"I thought you were grounded love", he says.
"Do I look like a child Edward?" raising an eyebrow to quantify my statement, this is an awesome new superpower for me, the bitch brow.
"Shall we go", I ask as I close and lock the door and head towards his Volvo.
As he drives towards his home, he keeps glancing over at me and I say nothing, Let him stew for once. This was usually what he did to me, so let's see if he likes it. Apparently, he does not, there is a lot of sighing and huffing and shifting about in his seat, and I look out the passenger window serenely whilst smiling internally.
When we pulled up in front of the big white house, everyone 's on the deck waiting impatiently, as I open my door Edward is there as usual and I look at the proffered hand shaking my head.
"I can open a door you know without breaking a nail or a sweat", I comment, "It's amazing what you can do when you're left to fend for yourself". He blanches even whiter than he usually is and everyone else stills where they are.
I am not going to pull any punches or let them get away scot-free, not this time around. Alice rushes down the steps towards me and I hold up my hands, stopping her in her tracks, she looks sad and even gives me the puppy dog eyes. I walk past her into the house.
"Oh, I thought I had it wrong" she mumbles.
"No Alice your vision was correct, I'm mad at you too" I reply.
I enter the house and go straight to the large dining room table and sit down. They all hover before Carlisle motions them to sit as well.
"I assume Alice has been giving you a blow by blow account of my day so far and my thoughts and reactions, also her unique interpretation of how this meeting will go," I say and they all nod and smile, so I put a stop to that right away.
"Well she has no right to do so, MY private conversation with MY father is MY business and was not meant for anyone else, I really dislike intently this constant interference and spying you all seem to thrive on." I blast at them.
"Also you all being virtually unable to think for yourselves without Alice's input is embarrassing, to say the least, and demeaning to your intellect at best, don't you think?" I state, looking around the table at them.
"That's not what I do, I check for possibilities and choices, you know this" she wails in a small squeaky voice and looking at me as if I should agree.
"No Alice, you only give the choices you think are right and never allow anyone to make the decision themselves and they all allow it to happen. God, you moan about what a control freak Edward is, but Alice you are worse.
Why does anyone bother leaving their rooms at all in the morning, when Alice picks out your clothes, tells you what you're doing, where you are going and when you do it. You could just stay home and she'll tell you all what you did and if you liked it or not!" I say sarcastically.
Turning to face her I state, "You have a gift Alice and instead of using it for the important stuff you use it like a parlour trick, funny how you didn't see me suffering, unable to eat, sleep, function for months. Not hours or days you might have missed but months." I look at her and she turns her head away.
"And don't give me the crap you told me before about Edward not letting you look. Your visions, real visions come whether you want them or not. So that means you saw me and ignored it. Wow, what a great friend you turned out to be". I was breathing heavily now and everyone else was staring at Alice.
"But you would rather use it for unimportant stuff no matter how small, as long as it gives you control. It's wrong and insulting that you feel your family are unable to make even the most trivial of choices. Don't deny it, I've seen you do it to pick out Rose's nail polish, making her pick the one you want" I raised my eyebrow once again and looked her in the eye.
I watch them all scanning their minds to see when was the last time they made a real decision unaided by Alice, only Edward, Carlisle and Esme looked slightly confident. Alice started to sob quietly and I don't even feel sorry for her.
"So as you can all see, she was wrong about this meeting because she picked the outcome she wanted, not what I had intended to happen" I leave them with this comment and watch as they all start arguing at high speed and above my human ears range, how rude can they be I wonder.
Do they see themselves as that important, that it is acceptable to cut me out of a conversation I have started? So I decided to get out of there, as I get up and say loudly,
"As this might take a while and you all don't seem to think I should be privy to this conversation! I need to get myself some lunch but I will be back soon. Maybe then you can let me know what's being said".
There was total silence as Edward follows me out but I tell him to stay I will just borrow his Volvo, he looks like he might argue but then nods and gives me the keys. At the diner I pick up a burger and coffee to take away, childishly eating the burger in his car as I drove back. But being me I can't make a mess of his car, just leaving a nice greasy smell lingering behind in the air.
When I arrive back only Jasper is outside and I wonder if he's angry with me for having a go at Alice. But no, he wants to apologise for my birthday and tells me how guilty he feels and I see red, have they all let him shoulder the blame - of course they have.
"Jasper Whitlock, I'm so angry with you. You're an empath for goodness sake, did I feel upset with you or afraid when you snapped at me" I ask, he shakes his head,
"Of course I wasn't, how many vampires were in that room, seven I believe? So even discounting Carlisle, you had not only your own bloodlust but five others as well, and to one of them I am his Singer and you just snapped at me and guess who overreacted and sent me flying into the pile of glass plates.
Was that you, no that would have been Edward? He made the whole thing worse than it needed to be, so everyone had to leave the room at a run holding their breath. Then Carlisle had to stitch up the six-inch gash I didn't need to have if he had only lifted me and left the room.
So don't you dare take the blame for that or let anyone else blame you either? Because if I thought for one minute they held you responsible for their actions I might just have to get a tyre iron out of the garage and break some heads. Because after all if you have really wanted to drain me, Jasper, could just Rose and Emmett, have been able to stop you.
I don't know a lot about your past but if I took a guess, I say you were the strong warrior type, built for fighting so them stopping you in full mode! I think not, what say you?" I speak my thoughts on the matter loudly, making sure everyone hears me.
"Now give me a hug cowboy and we will put it behind us permanently, okay," I said stepping forward.
He looks at me with venom pooling in his eyes and opens up his arms and I hugged him as tightly as I can. They are a lot more sullen on my return into the house. Don't like being caught out passing the buck and pointing fingers to absolve themselves.
I excuse myself to heat up my coffee and use the facilities. From the kitchen, I hear lots of whispered apologies going on to Jasper and I am so annoyed with them.
"Funny how the damned human can work it out, but the mighty all seeing all knowing vampires are as thick as ... argh" I grumble to myself, but I know they hear anyway.
Coffee in hand I settle back down at the table. "Let's get this over with, I am so beyond pissed off with you all, well except for Rose and Jasper. She at least was honest with me from day one, not saying she cared and then just turning her back on me at the say so of a seventeen-year-old boy like the rest of you did.
He was never allowed near me, so he could never get desensitised and cope with everyone's blood lust around me, because Edward and Alice said so, because they always know best... Ha! Dear god, who runs this family Carlisle, because it sure as hell isn't you?" I enquire.
Everyone gasps at this and Esme looked like she wants to burst into tears. Carlisle clears his throat unnecessarily and nods his head,
"Your right Bella, in hindsight I did everything wrong concerning you. I let Edward make decisions he wasn't capable of, I was swayed by Alice's visions, insulted Jasper in a very condescending manner for a man of his status and not once did I even stop to think how this would affect you" he says quietly and everyone tries to break into his speech, but he holds up his hand and continues.
"I know why I did this, of course, it was because you are human and I thought just like the two of them I had the right to think for you. But what pains me the most is knowing by doing that I have lost your respect and trust, especially since you gave them to me so freely and without reserve and with complete disregard to the fact I am a vampire. I am ashamed of myself for the part I played in this whole affair.
So thank you for letting me, well all of us know your thoughts and be assured I will not let it happen again. There will never be a repeat of this blatant disregard for the feelings of a family member because that's how I felt and still feel about you and yet I allowed it to happen" he states and takes my hand in his, squeezing it tightly finishing off by saying.
"I know to say sorry will do nothing to repair the damage to our relationship, but please know that it is heartfelt and that I will do everything in my power to win back your affection for me and prove to you I deserve it".
As I took this in and watch the faces around the table, I realised just how humanlike they really were. They have made many mistakes, taken too much for granted and relied far too heavily on the gifts of Alice and Edward, whilst disregarding Jasper's.
Better to be advised on the emotional climate around them, than the fleeting thoughts of teenagers and ever-changing choices they could make for the future, I'd have thought. How going to High School was meant to be a good judge of human perceptions I will never fathom. Everyone knows teenagers are barely human at the best of times; I think to myself and smirk.
I Decide I have had enough emotional upheaval for one day, I rise from my seat and tell them I need to go home to make dinner for Charlie and to get some more sleep to help me digest today's events and I will return tomorrow to speak to them again. Edward jumps up and offers to take me home but I decline, I am not ready to deal with him yet and he would push me until I say something I'll regret and I tell him this. He huffs and flops down on a sofa sulking. I am going to no longer hold back my thoughts and opinions about anything.
So I ask to be left alone tonight and would Jasper please take me home. The journey home to Charlie's is quiet but not uncomfortable, as Jasper pulls into the driveway and puts the car in park I turn to him saying,
"I hope you don't think I'm interfering here Jasper, but maybe it's time you asserted yourself a little more within the family dynamic and rein Alice in a lot. But mostly be yourself, not the poor imitation Alice wants you to be.
Wear what you want to wear, I'm no empath but even I could feel how uncomfortable you were in those preppie outfits, so why can't she? How come we only hear your lovely southern accent when she's not around? After all, a relationship is supposed to be an equal partnership and yours like mine is not."
"I hear you darlin', I think I was so busy not lettin' the Major out that I didn't let Jasper Whitlock out either and slowly became Jasper Hale, but your right, vampires can change and learn even if they don't want to. So I believe a shakeup is long overdue", he replies with a wink, as I exit the car unaided for once.