Bella's POV
It's been six months since Edward and I have returned from Italy. Things should be great. But they're not. At least they're not for me. My life is no longer mine. Edward, Alice, and Jasper make all my decisions for me – what I wear, what I eat, where I go, who I go with, what I say, when I say it, how I feel, when I feel it. Even Carlisle, Esme, and yes, Rosalie, treat me like I'm breakable. The only one to actually treat me like a person is Emmett. He's not afraid to break me and he is definitely not trying to control me. Emmett is Emmett; simple, uncomplicated, fun.
I'm lying down on the Cullens' couch, watching the rain fall from outside as I'm contemplating all that's happened and all that I feel. How I wish everyone would just back the fuck off. Of course Jasper would make me "calm," Edward would say "Love, please understand," and everyone would agree with him. Because, "I'm just so fucking breakable. Damn Cullens." I say this last part out loud and very sarcastically.
The next thing I know Emmett is sitting on the floor looking like I just slapped him and this time it wasn't a joke. "Do you really feel that way Bella?" His eyes are penetrating and if the others were not out hunting I wouldn't answer. But they are and so I do.
"Not all of the time, but most of the time." My voice is quiet and full of shame. Oh God, what have I done?
"Why?" Emmet's voice is also quiet.
"Emmy-bear," I use my nickname for him, but not having an answer, I just stop.
"Belly-bean," he uses his nickname for me, "What is it? Why do you feel that way?"
"It's…complicated."
"With you, when is it not?" He looks at me again. I know that if I don't answer, I'll lose the one person who is good to me. I open my mouth about to answer when he continues, "It's because of Edward, isn't it?"
"Yes," I whisper. Suddenly his hands are cupping my face and I'm staring straight into his eyes. There is an emotion there that I cannot comprehend; it's almost as if his eyes are searching mine, and when he finds his answer, he smiles slightly.
"Thing's will get better, you'll see." He says this like he knows things will get better.
"How do you know?"
But before he can answer the front door flies open and Edward is there. Suddenly Emmett is sitting fifty feet away from me and Edward is in his place.
"Edward?" My voice is weak, still in shock. What is he doing home? He is supposed to be gone for two days, not four hours.
"Isabella," I cringe as I always do when he calls me by my real name, "I love you, you know that right?"
"Yes. I…I love you too." He doesn't notice my hesitation, but Emmet does as he raises his eyebrows at me.
"I know." He gives me his crooked-smile which he assumes dazzles me, but in reality it disgusts me.
I want to ask him what he's doing home, but Emmett does first.
EMMETT'S POV
"What are you doing home so early? I though you guys were going to be gone for two days." I ask him jealousy raging within me. Thank God Jasper is not here. I don't think I'd be able to keep what I'm feeling from him anymore.
"I decided to come home early. I couldn't stand to be away from Bella." He cocks his head to the side and I know what's coming next. "You know how it is… or maybe you don't."
Bastard. He knows that Rosalie and I are having problems in our marriage, have been for a while now. She's…her and I'm…me. We've finally begun to see how major our differences are. And though I'm falling out of love with her, it still hurts.
He turns back to Bella and tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. "Come on Bella, let's get you something to eat." He holds her hand about to pull her up when for a brief second our eyes met. Her eyes plead with mine to do something, anything.
"You know Eddie boy," he hates it when I call him that, "I had already promised Bella I would take her out to eat and that I'd eat some of her human food." My voice is cool though I feel like gagging with just the thought of eating her food.
"Why?" His voice is laced with anger. Calm the fuck down. You're scaring Bella. She tried to compose herself, but his anger has always been the one thing to frighten her. Screw the fact that he's a vampire and thirsts for her blood. Oh no, that doesn't scare little Bella. But piss Edward off and Bella runs the other way. But instead of calming down, Edward gets even angrier. "Why do you want to take my girlfriend out to eat?"
"Because I made a deal with her that if she played God of War with me then I would eat some of her disgusting food." The lie rolls easily off my tongue.
Edward looks between me and Bella and back again. "Is this true, love?" This time his focus is solely on her but she looks past him and at me. I nod my head at her.
"Yes. It's not so much that I'm hungry Edward," she looks back at him, "it's that I want to see Emmett eat my kind of food." She gives a little laugh. It's fake, but of course he doesn't notice.
It's amazing actually, how there is so much he doesn't notice when it comes to the one he "loves." He doesn't notice how she often gets this faraway look on her face as if she's imagining her life without him. He doesn't notice the habit of hers to wrap her arms around herself in order to keep from falling apart. He hasn't watched her read and notice the different emotions play across her face or listen to how she talks and how with each pause, word, sentence, or even silence, she speaks volumes. He doesn't notice. But I do.
The sound of Bella's voice brings me back from my thoughts. "…Emmett will take me, wont you Emmett?" Both she and Edward turned to look at me. Staring back at her, I try to convey that I'd gladly take her anywhere she wanted to go.
"Yes, I'll take you." My voice is strong, confident. Edward lets out a growl. "Come on Bella." I walk toward her and reach out my hand; Edward growls again louder, stronger and his eyes have turned black. "Edward, go finish hunting. Bella is safe with me." I could have easily thought this to him, but Bella needs to hear this. She needs to know that someone is here for her; that I am here for her. I can tell he is going to argue. I don't need to be an empath to know that the beast is breaking out of its cage. "Edward…" I warn.
He releases Bella's hand and she stumbles over to me. I pick her up bridal style, open the window and jump. I begin running away from the house; away from him and all that hurts her.
As I'm running, I think back to three months ago when my feelings for Bella changed.
It was a day much like this, rainy but very humid. Everyone was home and we all went out to play baseball. The rain had stopped but the thunder kept rolling. Bella, for the first time, grew bored of watching us play and decided to take a walk. Ninety minutes passes and Edward grew worried. But Jasper picked up on her feelings, and though he wouldn't tell us what they were, he thought it'd be best if I went to go check on her. And I did, though Alice wasn't too happy about that. I suppose it's because she knew what was to come.
As I started to follow Bella's scent, I saw her clothes strewn along a path leading to a bench on the outskirts of the forest. I had a feeling that I should turn back, but my feet kept taking me forward. And that's when I saw her. She was standing on a small cliff about to jump. The sunlight made her naked form glow beautifully. Her breasts were small, round, perfect with tiny red buds jutting forth. Her pale, creamy, toned stomach glistened with water. As my gaze moved downward I stopped breathing, knowing that my eyes were turning black and my arousal was full blown. I allowed my eyes to wonder to the sea in between her thighs. Though I couldn't see all of her perfection, I did notice that she shaved, baring herself for all that she has. I let a low growl slip past my lips.
But it wasn't as low as I thought it was as she turned and looked right at me. I don't know how, but I was standing not even ten feet away from her. I thought she'd scream with embarrassment and try to cover herself up, but instead she smiled. In that moment she was simply the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. She spread her arms eagle style, and her breasts jutted out further. She smiled even wider and fell backward.
I knew I should catch her, but I just watched as she fell. And as she fell, I saw her completely and that's when I realized I didn't know her, none of us did. Bella is Bella; unlike any other creature. I no longer saw her as my little sister, but rather a woman and as impossible as it is, I wanted her to be mine. I wanted to show her what it's really like to have a man love her. I wanted to know her inside and out…I wanted to know her mind as deeply as her body… I wanted her everything. I wanted to be her everything.
BELLA'S POV
We've been running for hours now and it's still raining. At one point Emmett took off his shirt to drape over me. I was at perfect eye level with his chest and I couldn't help but stare at his perfection and lightly trace circles on his chest with my fingertips. I haven't given much thought to what happened. I can't think about it yet – I'll break down if I do. And I am so tired of breaking down because of Edward. But I am curious as to where we are going.
"Emmett?" I whisper looking up. He doesn't seem to notice. "Emmett?" I whisper louder. Hmm. How do I get a vampire's attention who has gone to la la land? Better yet how do I get Emmett to pay attention? I pull myself up to where my mouth is against his ear and whisper again. "Emmett?"
EMMETT'S POV
Her warm breath against my ear woke me from my thoughts. I look down at her and blink. Her hair is wet and she has rain droplets clinging to her face. I feel her shivering against me and pull her closer to my chest. "Shh. We're almost there."
"Where?" Her voice is quiet as we approach my personal getaway.
"Look." I point to the cottage in front of us. IT's a one story stone cottage with a wooded door. It's styled as part of the Renaissance, gothic yet modern looking. I look down and watch as her eyes widen in awe. A surge of pride runs through me.
"Emmett, it's beautiful." She whispers. "Let's go in." She looks back up at me and smiles. I nod my head nimbly and walk forward.
When we are inside we are greeted with a heat so warm Bella shivers again in my arms. I set her down and walk to my room at vampire speed. When I return I hand her one of my shirts. "Why don't you go and take a shower, relax, and then we'll talk. Okay?"
"
Okay." She says, taking the shirt from me and heads to the bathroom. When I hear the shower go on I walk to my room and grab some clothes to change. I put on a pair of basketball shorts and leave my chest bare. I decide to lie down and with my hands behind my head; I close my eyes and pretend to sleep.
Ten minutes pass and Bella walks into my room. She is wearing my shirt and by the way she is blushing, nibbling on her bottom lip, and tucking/re-tucking her hair behind her ear, I can tell she is wearing nothing underneath. "You look beautiful. Radiant." I tell her seriously, my voice husky, as she comes to sit beside me with her back against the headboard of my bed. She blushes a deeper red. I swear her blush will be the death of me.
"I… I don't even know where to start." Again she whispers. She must have a thing for it. She takes her bottom lip and sucks on it and damn if that isn't the sexiest thing I've ever seen. And at this moment I am very jealous of that bottom lip.
"Things got out of hand pretty fast back there, didn't they?" I ask pulling her close to me. My arm wraps around her waist as she leans her head against me. "I'm sorry about that. I wish we could have left things differently."
"It wasn't your fault, Emmett. Edward-"She breaks off in thought and her heart rate picks up, "He's not coming here is he?" Her voice is shaky but is laced with anger.
"No, of course not. No one, not even Alice, knows where we are. This place has always been my safe haven and now it's yours too." I pull her to sit on my lap with her head beneath my chin, offering her the protection she need. "But you know, we do have to go back sometime."
"Why?" Her face turns up and she stares directly into my eyes; there is a new fire burning within the depths of her chocolate brown eyes. "Why must I go back to a man that is hell bent on controlling me? Why must I go back to a family that supports this man in everything he does to me? Why can't I run and escape the agony I've felt these last six month?"
How do I respond to that? She is right: why must she go back? "Bella-"
"No, Emmett. I'm done with all of this. He terrified me today. I felt just as broken and alone as I did that day he left me in the woods. I cannot, I will not go through that again. I'm tired of being a defenseless little girl. As of right now, she is dead." Her breathing is hard and ragged after this little monologue and I know her words are true. She is no longer Bella, the frail human girl, but Bella, the strong angry beautiful woman.
As our eyes bore into each other, I feel myself move toward her. I can feel her warm breath on my lips and I hear her breath quicken, this time in anticipation rather than anger. She closes her eyes just as our lips are about to meet. Her soft lips meet my cold ones, and she gasps. I take advantage of this and snake my tongue into her mouth. But before our kiss can deepen further, my phone starts ringing. "Damn." I mutter and mover her off my lap and onto the bed.
"What?" I growl.
"Emmett where are you?" Edward growls back.
"Somewhere." Bella raises her eyebrows at me and I mouth Edward. She nods gravely and walks out of the room.
"Let me talk to Bella." His voice sounds like its final, like it's his decision. Ha.
"No."
"Why the hell not?"
"Because she doesn't want to talk to you. We'll be home when she is ready."
"Then I'll go to her. Seeing as her home is with me." He says arrogantly.
"Really Edward?" I scoff. "You have no idea where we are and you will not find us."
"Emmett look-"
This is getting old and long and I need to make sure Bella's okay. "No Edward you look. You fucked up Bella with your fucking controlling ways. I will not force her back into a life she hates. She loves, she always will but until she decides otherwise, this "love" isn't enough for her. So-" This time it's his turn to cut me off.
"Funny that you say that because Rosalie said the same thing among others about you the moment you took off with MY girlfriend. She is mine, Emmett. Mine. I know what's best for her."
I let out a hollow laugh. I haven't even thought of Rose. "Your? She is not a thing Fuckward. So fuck off." I shut my phone ending that conversation.
I let out a long breath to steady myself to get a hold of my anger. I may not have told him all the shit I would like to, but damn that motherfucker does know how to piss me off. I walk into the front room where I'm prepared to explain and/or apologize for what I said when I notice that she is not there and the front door is open.
Fuck! She ran away!
Okay so this is my first fanfic…tell me what you think…. And PS unfortunately I don't own the characters.