I'm Calling It

by darkangelrises

New Moon AU where Bella decides to not let Edward leave so easily. She isn't some pushover who will let some guy decide what is right for her future. One-shot of the forest scene, but a little different than the story.

So, the one thing that always bothered me about this whole Twilight Saga is how ignorant Bella seemed to be when Edward was leaving her in New Moon. It just never added up to me... And to be honest I wanted to see Bella stand up for herself, and fight for who she loved.

This is a New Moon AU where Bella doesn't stand down when Edward decides to make a horrible decision for both their futures. Bella comes out with her nails drawn, and fight face on. Bella deserves to have her badass moments.

*DISCLAIMER* Twilight, and all it's characters rightfully belong to Stephanie Meyers, not me, never me. Ever. Just the storyline of this fanfic is mine.

"But if it's not too much to ask, can you just promise me something?" he asks, pleading.

I narrow my eyes at him for a moment, not willing to say yes or no to his request. I raise a eyebrow at him, willing his to finish his sentence.

He sighs. "Don't do anything reckless."

My jaw drops, and I stare at him incredulously for what seems like a long time. I cannot believe he has the audacity to ask me not to be reckless. If he is so bored with me, if I am truly no good for him, then why should it matter? Anger fills me, and my jaw snaps shut. He looks at me, confusion thick in his eyes, pulling his eyebrows together. How dare him?

"No." I say. "I will promise no such thing. As matter of fact, I am calling bullshit."

His eyes widen, and I could almost laugh at the shock that crosses his face at my use of such a expletive. Since we have met the closest I have come to swearing is using the occasional hell, but he has never seen this side of me.

"What?" he asks, dumbfounded.

I narrow my eyes at him again before continuing. "I don't buy it. I just don't. People don't just fall out of love like that. It is too coincidental of timing for me to truly believe that you are not trying to make one of your annoyingly martyred moves. So, I am calling bullshit."

"Bell-" he begins, but I cut him off.

"No, I am not done yet." I say, taking a step back. "So, since I don't believe you, I'm going to call your bluff. You know how much trouble I can get in when I am not trying…"

I start to pace, an angry smile spreading across my face. He is not getting away with this.

"Now, imagine how much trouble I could find myself in if I was trying to find it. You see, you can take off in the woods right now, and I am not imbecile, I know I would never be able to catch you- however, I'm going to start running. And we all know how injured I can get from just walking on a flat surface. But picture this, Edward- I am not going to take the path through the woods, no- I am going to run straight into the deep woods. But guess what? That's not good enough…"

I shake my head, and look over at him. He stares at me, his own eyes now narrowed, frustration clear in his tawny eyes,

"No, I might just run with my eyes shut." I laugh. "So many trees to run into, so many branches to trip over. I guarantee you that I won't make it out of this forest without a couple broken limbs- if not worse."

"I will just carry you back to your house." he challenges.

I shrug. "Yes, I suppose you could. But that is not going to stop me from finding danger. You know, I might just go pay those guys down in Port Angeles a visit- I'm sure that I could find myself in enough trouble there. If not, you know there are some pretty tempting cliffs down on the reservation. I may just decide to go for a little dive. I'll probably drown."

"You wouldn't do that." He says, his jaw taut with what I would guess to be irritation.

I stop pacing and look him dead in the eyes. "Wouldn't I?"

He glares down at me, his breathing rougher than usual.

I turn and walk to a fallen tree, and plop myself down, ignoring the damp moss soaking through my jeans. I cross my legs, and clasp my hand together in my lap. "Besides, if you really care nothing for me at all anymore, why do you care?"

A low hiss escapes his chest, and his hand lifts the run his fingers through his unruly bronze hair. If I was not so infuriated at him at the moment, I would have to gasp at how beautiful he was, even through his annoyance.

"God, Bella." He growls. "Why do you have to be so difficult?"

I smile. "Why do you have to act like a petulant asshole?"

His eyes widen, only slightly at my language, but then he shakes his head and starts to walk towards me. He approaches me, and kneels down right in front of me, putting his hand on the log on either side of me. I gasp at his sudden closeness, and I can tell that he is trying to plead with me, to persuade me- his eyes dark and liquid, begging me to understand.

"You have to trust that this is what is best." he says. "For both of us."

I glare at him, trying my best to ignore his powers of persuasion. "That is what your problem is! You think you have to ultimate right to make decisions in my life! You must think I am an idiot. You must have zero respect for me and my decisions. I should be the one breaking up with you right now, you know that?"

"You should, my existence puts you in danger, everyday."

"Gah!" I scream, my voice echoing off the trees that surround us. I push against his chest, signaling that I want him to move, and he does willingly. "You know that is not what I meant. You are so irritating sometimes!"

I stand and and walk away from him, and start kicking at the ground. "This is supposed to be a relationship, Edward! One person does not get to make decisions for the other person as if they are a child! I am my own person, you don't get to decide my fate and who my family is. It is so selfish of you to do this to me. I should hate you for it."

He stays kneeled on the ground, not looking me in the eyes.

"I wish I could hit you right now. God!" I yell, and kick the tree closest to me. Pain shoots through my leg, but my anger subdues it, and I ignore it. "I want to talk to your family."

He looks up at me now, his eyes blank and cold. "They already left, Bella."

I stare at him, my mouth pressed together in an angry line. How dare him! How dare him take my family away from me like this. No. I won't put up with this.

I walk over to him and hold my hand out. "Give me your phone."

He shakes his head. "Bella, plea-"

"Give me your goddamn phone, Edward. So help me God, I will ram my head into that tree right now."

He looks up at me, and I swear for a second I think he is going to laugh, but his eyes continue to stare at me blankly. "I can stop you easily."

"Phone. Now." I growl.

I am about to reach into his jacket pocket and retrieve it myself, when I hear the familiar chime of his ringtone. He flashes his phone out, and I swear he hisses a cuss word under his breath. He flips the phone open and presses it to his ear.

"Alice," he growls. "No."

He glances at me, and rises to his feet. He holds the phone out, anger flaring in his dark eyes. "It's for you."

I smile triumphantly. I grab it and hold it up to my ear. "Hello, Alice."

"Hi, Bella," she chirps. "You wanted to speak to me."

"You better get back to the house right now-" I begin, but she cuts me off.

"We are already here. I saw." she says.

I narrow my eyes. "Then you will see how pissed I am at you too, right?"

She sighs, and quietly murmurs a quick, "Yes."

"You are supposed to be my best friend, Alice." I say.

"I know, Bella, I am so-" she says.

"I will deal with you later, Alice. Right now, I have my arms full with this jackass brother of yours."

She laughs, and I can hear Emmett's booming laughter in the background. "Okay, see you soon."

"Goodbye, Alice."

I snap the phone shut and drop it on the ground. With a sure foot, I bring it down to smash his phone into little pieces. It felt good, really good. To be able to destroy just one little thing of his brings a smile to my face. I know he could have stopped me easily, put he just stares at me, a look in his eyes that I cannot place.

"Let's go." I say.

His eyebrows knit together. "Where?"
"To your house," I say, turning and and walking back towards my house along the trail.

I peak over my shoulder quickly to make sure that he is following, and to my pleasure there he is right behind me. After a couple minutes we clear the woods and I walk directly to his car, pull the handle, and get in. He walks slowly to his side, and I almost laugh at the brooding look on his face. He pulls out of the driveway, and begins speeding towards his house. I wait for him to say something, but he just continues to stare out to windshield. There are so many emotions playing across his features- anger, sadness, relief… So many things, and for a moment I start to feel guilty for how I have treated him over the past half hour. What if he really does want to leave? Can I force someone to stay with me against their will?

I sigh. "I guess I am not saying that you can't leave. It's just- It's just…" I say quietly.

He looks over at me longer than anyone should take their eyes off the road, but the car doesn't even veer half an inch off course.

I turn away from him, knowing that if I have to look into his eyes right now that I will start crying, and that is the last thing I need. I don't need him to stay out of pity.

"If your family really does want to leave, you can't say goodbye for me. They are my family too" I pause. "I thought."

"I'm sorry, Bella. I keep making mistakes, doing everything wrong." his voice so pained. "I just don't know the right thing to do."

My anger wanes, and I want to reach across the console and grab his hand, but something stops me. There is a part of me that does wonder if he has stopped loving me, even if it doesn't make much sense.

"I should have stayed away the first time I saw you. This all could have been avoided." he murmurs.

And as if someone poured alcohol on a dull flame, the anger comes roaring back to me. I grind my teeth together to keep myself from yelling at him again. I cross my arms and glare out the windshield.

"I'm not talking to you anymore." I say through my teeth. To my benefit, we turn onto the dirt road to their house. With the anger pulsing through me, and Edward sulking in the seat next to me there is a palpable tension in the car. He pulls up to the house, and before he even puts the car into park I unlock my seatbelt, and push the car door open. I ignore his presence next to me as I walk up the stairs onto the porch. His manners somewhat still intact, he opens the front door for me and gesture for me to enter.

"I need to talk to you all." I mutter quietly, knowing that they all could hear me even if I had whispered it.

I march into the living room to find five of Edward's family members perched in various places throughout the room. Jasper stands on the opposite side of the room, his back pressed up against the glass window. I think I see Edward shake his head slightly, but I ignore it and walk over to stand next to the piano. Edward takes a step toward me but hesitates, and I roll my eyes.

"Get over here," I say. Emmett laughs quietly, and I can see slight smiles on everyone else's faces despite the serious atmosphere. Edward saunters over toward me and sits gracefully down on the piano bench next to me. I catch a movement out of the corner of my eye and turn to see Rosalie ever so beautifully descending the stairs. She doesn't look at me, but walks straight to where Emmett is sitting on the couch and sits down next to him.

"Your meeting," Alice says.

I look over at her, sitting cross-legged on the floor next to the loveseat that Esme and Carlisle are sitting in. She smiles encouragingly, but when I don't smile back, she purses her lips.

I clear my throat, and look over to Edward, who stares blankly out the window at some unseen object. "So, I know I haven't known you all that long… and I know that compared to the length of your life, my small human life is just a blip on the scale. But, I care about you guys… And I thought that you cared about me too-"

Unwanted tears fill my eyes, threatening to spill over, but I shake my head willing them away. "You were all going to leave. And not even say goodbye."

I look around the room and see the different reactions to my words. Esme looks as if she could shed tears herself if it were possible, and Carlisle's face is etched with sadness and disappointment. It is almost shocking to see Emmett look so serious, and somber- not something that I see a lot. And to no surprise, Rosalie sits inspecting her nails as if I hadn't said anything at all. I can't explain the look on Alice's face- almost depressed. A part of me want to run over and wrap my arms around her, to comfort her, but my anger is still fueled by their actions. Jasper's head head hangs low, refusing to make eye contact with me. As for Edward, I can't find it in myself to look at him. I know that if I look at him now I will not be able to get out what needs to be said.

"I am not going to make the same mistake that Edward did. I won't try to force a future on you that you do not desire, but at least give me the respect to say a proper goodbye. I don't want to see you leave- any of you. But if you truly have no desire to be a part of my life, I won't try to stop you, as much as I will want to. I love you all, as if you are my real family. And it really hurt that it was so easy for you all to just leave." My voice trembles on the last sentence, and to my surprise I feel a cool hand slip into mine.

I look down at Edward, and he stares up at me with unshed tears in his eyes. Tears that can never escape.

I look back to the rest of the family, and nod. "So, I guess that is what I wanted to say. You can leave if you want, just- please, say goodbye."

It is quiet for a long moment, the words settling in. They look at me, waiting to see if there is anything else that I needed to get off my chest. When no more words come, Carlisle clears his throat- a human trait that I assume he has gotten used to.

"Bella, let me say that I am deeply sorry for the pain that our family has put you through- both physically and emotionally. It was not right for us to abandon you like that, and that is a debt that we will forever try to pay back to you." Carlisle says.

Esme rises and walks slowly over to me. Edward drops my hand but Esme picks both my hands up soon after and looks me in the eyes. "My dear, Bella. Words cannot explain how ashamed I am of all of our actions. I am so sorry."

I stare at the woman that I have come to think of as a second mother to me, and I can almost feel the pain she is feeling.

"Edward was wrong to ask us to do such a terrible thing, but we went along with it and for that I hope you can eventually forgive us for." she say, her voice full of emotion. She looks down at Edward quickly, a reproachful look in her eyes, and I can tell he is probably receiving a mouthful through her mind.

"Thank you, Esme" I say, and look over at her husband. "Carlisle."

"My turn," Alice chirps from behind Esme, who steps out of the way for Alice to come barreling towards me. She pulls me into a tight hug and does not let go for a long minute. When she finally does, she just looks at me expectantly.

"I'm really angry with you, Alice." I say.

Her head drops. "I know."

"You were supposed to be my best friend… You were just going to leave me?" I ask, tears filling my eyes once again, but before I can control them, one falls over the edge and streaks down my face.

"I'm so so sorry, Bella. I don't know what else to say to you, besides that it will never happen again." she says, and then glare down at Edward. "No matter if the guy decides to act like an idiot."

I roll my eyes, and I suppose for now her declaration will have to do. "You better keep that promise."

She smiles. "I will."

She pulls me in for another quick embrace, but then jumps back to let Emmett through.

"I know how I can make it up to you," he smiles. "I can beat the shit out of this guy if you want."

I laugh, and brush away my tears. "Tempting, and I may take you up on that, but maybe later."

He winks at me. "Just let me know."

"Will do." I smile.

"I'm sorry, Bella." A quiet voice calls from across the room. Everyone returns to their seats but looks over at Jasper her remains pressed up against the window. "This is all my fault. Everything."

I take a step toward him, and I feel a hand grab my shoulder to keep me from moving any closer. I ignore it, knowing how overprotective Edward can get, and say what I was going to say anyways. "You know, Jasper? I forgave you pretty much immediately. I'm not angry at you for the other night. I never was."

"You should be. I should have had better control," He says, his eyes now staring widely into mine.

"Yeah, well, I should have better control over how clumsy I am, but you know what? Who cares? Shit happens." I say, and Emmett lets out a booming laugh. Everyone else looks at me a little dumbfounded except for Alice, but they let out soft laughs. "But you don't see me sulking around because I can't walk on a flat surface without falling on my face."

His eyes, light up ever so slightly, but remains frozen in his spot. "I don't deserve your forgiveness, but I am very grateful for it."

Everyone turns to look at Rosalie somewhat expectantly, but she continues to stare at he nails. "I know you are all wanting me to say something sweet and gooey to the human, but I'm just glad we don't have to deal with Mister Misery over here."

She nods towards Edward, who lets out a quiet hiss. I shrug, and decided that is as best as I am going to get from Rosalie. I turn to Edward, and he is already looking up at me.

"As for you," I mutter. "I need to talk to you now that we have a few things cleared up."

He stands, and I reach out to grab his hand. "Let's go."

I lead him out the front door, and past the car towards the river that winds across their property. I keep my hand in his and we walk silently until I find a large flat rock near the bed of the river, and I sit down pulling him with me. We continue to sit quietly, and I stare out at the river, trying to get up the courage to ask him what I need to, but find it almost impossible to put into words.

"What are you thinking?" he asks, his voice wary.

I look over at him, and he stares back at me expectantly. "I am trying to be brave."

I tilts his head, "For what? You are already the bravest person I know."

"Brave enough to ask you something, even though I am terrified at the answer." I whisper.

He reaches his hand up and touches my cheek lightly for a moment, before letting it fall back into his lap. "Ask me."

I take a deep breath, and turn away from his gaze. I pull my hand out of his, tuck my knees up to my chest and wrap my arms securely around them. I watch as the water weave gracefully over rocks and sticks, never giving up on its goal to keep moving. Maybe my vampires are like the water- always needing to keep moving, never being held back. Maybe I have become the frustrating dam, stopping them from being who they are, getting where they need to go.

"Please, Bella…" he whispers, frustrated at my silence.

"Was any of it true?" I whisper back.

"Any of what?"

I turn my head to look at him, and once again tears fill my eyes. "I won't make you stay… If any of what you said in the forest was true- that I wasn't good for you, that I was just a distraction… I won't stop you from leaving. I won't force my idea of my future onto someone who does not want it."

His eyebrows furrow, and before I know it I am not sitting on the rock but cradled in his lap, my head tucked under his chin, and he holds my hand to his chest.

"Oh, Bella." He cries. "I wish I could be strong enough to say that any of that was true- to lie and say that I didn't need you in my life. But when you were describing you in those dangerous situations, I knew- I knew I could never truly stay away from you. You are the only thing in my life that I truly love with my whole heart and my whole damned soul. If anything were to ever happen to you, I would never be able to live with myself."

"If you left me, it would break me." I murmur into his shirt.

"I am so sorry, Bella. For everything." he whispers. "I will spend the rest of my life trying to pay for the pain I have inflicted on you. I will stay with you as long as you want me- until you send me away."

I lift my head, and look him in the eyes. "You realize you are talking about forever, right?"

He smiles his breathtaking crooked gris, and runs his fingers through my hair. "That is what I was hoping."

I force a stern look onto my face, and I pull myself off his lap, and kneel in front of him. I place my hands on either side of his face, and look him directly in the eyes. "Listen to me, Edward Anthony Cullen- Never do this to me again. Never try to leave me. Ever. Again."

He smiles, and pulls my hands from his face, and pulls me just inches from his face.

"Never again. I promise."

"Good," I mutter, somewhat dizzy from the proximity to him. My heart begins its normal charade of beating out of my chest, as Edward slowly, but surely, presses his lips to mine. And once again the world if better, and Edward and I just hold each other close, breathing each other in until he too soon pulls away.

"So, when did you start cussing like that?" He asks, and we both let out loud laughs that fill the soon to be twilight air.