owns Twilight, Hinder owns the song Lips of an Angel and I own a bottle of Stoli that's going to be a little less full at the end of the night.
Chapter 2
Bella was silent, just staring into the darkness outside her car window. She and Edward had both admitted that in a perfect world they would be together; that the significant others in their lives were not as significant as they were before the reunion, maybe even ever.
After a long stretch of silence, the only thing either of them could hear was the other's breathing, Edward piped up. He was quiet and seemed unsure of what to say. "Bella?"
"Yeah," she sighed "I'm here."
"I don't know what to say, what to do…" He trailed off, giving Bella the impression he was just as stunned as she was.
"I guess," she started, "I guess we never really moved on."
She knew that in all the years they were apart she never found a way to move past her feelings for him. Edward declared he felt the same, whispering, "No, I never did."
A muffled knocking from Bella's end of the line brought Edward out of his thoughts. She told him to hold on for a minute. He could clearly hear what was transpiring in L.A. Riley had found Bella. He was questioning her behavior, asking why she left and what she was doing parked on the side of a random road.
Edward had never hated living in Chicago as much as he did in that moment. He was more than two thousand miles away from Bella and in no way could he protect her from Riley's harsh words. His eyes were closed and his hands balled into fists as he listened to the yelling from California.
"What is wrong with you Bella?" Riley had screamed. "You just take off from the restaurant and hide in some slummy neighborhood?"
"Ry, I'm-"
"No!" she was cut off. "Don't Ry, me! Start your car up and follow me home so we can talk this out like adults."
Bella started her car and flicked her headlights on before she brought the phone to her ear. "I gotta go," she sighed and hung up before Edward could say another word. She hadn't even shifted her car into drive when her cell started ringing, EC showing up on the display.
Looking at the device in her hand Bella wasn't sure what to do. Her heart was telling her to pick it up and find comfort in Edward's voice and calming words. Her head, however, was telling her she had made her bed, that Riley was her husband and she shouldn't be looking for reassurances or peace from another man, no matter what she felt for that other man.
From behind her, Riley tapped on his horn impatiently, signaling her to start driving. In that instant it became clear to Bella what she needed to do. She hit the ignore button and powered her phone off.
After his first attempt, each time Edward dialed he was met with Bella's voicemail. The way she said goodbye made him want to run to the airport and hop the first flight he could to the west coast. The automated voice did not deter him. He continued trying to reach Bella, even leaving a few messages asking her to please call him back so he knew she was okay.
He was just about to press the send button again when a knock on the door stopped him. Tanya peeked her head into his office, a look of concern gracing her face.
"You coming to bed soon? It's after one in the morning."
"Yeah," Edward said, trying to covertly slip his phone into his pocket. "I just finished actually."
Standing up, Edward walked towards Tanya and gave her a hug, a silent apology for his actions from the past week. He was never the kind of guy to cheat on his partner, but he knew if Tanya found out about his interactions and time with Bella, she would be hurt. They may not have started out their relationship looking for romance or gotten engaged for love, but they were close friends and building a life together.
After settling Tanya into bed, Edward headed for the bathroom and tried calling Bella once more. He was unsure what he would say if she answered, but he just wanted to hear her voice. He didn't need to worry about talking though, because the phone didn't ring. He hung up before her recorded greeting was finished and sent her a text, begging her to please call him when she had a chance.
After taking care of his nightly routine, he switched his phone to vibrate and climbed into bed. He leaned over and gently kissed his fiancée on the head, gave her belly a light rub and rolled away, drifting to sleep.
The next few days passed slowly and torturously for Edward. Despite many attempts, his calls and texts to Bella went unanswered. Her phone was still off, and he was getting more worried by the hour.
Edward didn't know Riley, only what Bella had spoken of him, but as more time passed with no contact from her, Edward's mind began to turn to horrific possibilities. He imagined her bloody and bruised in a hospital, cold and pale in a morgue or with little life left in her as she gave into Riley's desires.
He had even gone as far as scouring Facebook to find her. It had taken him a few minutes to digest seeing Isabella Swan-Biers. It's not that he didn't know; it was just difficult to see the truth on the screen. Even harder was clicking through pictures of her and some blonde pretty boy. But as far as status updates went, the last thing shown was a mention of her being checked in at Kon's Sushi Palace made by Riley on Saturday-he day of their disastrous dinner.
Clicking on Riley's profile was a waste of time. It was private and other than his dumb profile picture-which reminded him of an asshole-ish frat boy still in college-Edward was unable to see anything. He was getting so worried, that he debated calling Bella's best friend from Forks. Though he was pretty sure Alice Brandon-Whitlock would not provide any information.
Edward was, thankfully, saved the trouble of tracking down the girl because his phone finally rang. "Bella? Bella, are you there?"
"Yeah, it's me." She confirmed, while fighting the tears building in her eyes.
"Oh, my god!" Edward exclaimed. "I've been so worried! You have no idea, I've been freaking out, you can't do that kind of shit."
"Edward," Bella started. She had intended to tell him not to worry and that everything was fine. But she could not bring herself to lie to him. "I'm sorry, Eddie. So sorry. I know I should have called you back. Please don't be mad, Edward."
Edward was mad, but the pleading in Bella's voice changed that. He was just happy she seemed okay. The relief he felt at finally having contact with her was indescribable.
"God," Edward sighed. "It's really good to hear your voice, saying my name. It sounds so sweet." He paused briefly to put his thoughts in order. "Bella, I'm not mad at you. Not anymore, anyway. I'm just glad you're alright. I was so afraid something would happen to you." His words hit them both hard and caused tears to fall from their eyes.
A/N:
So that's chapter two. Not much for me to say about it. Next chapter ETA is 2-3 weeks depending on some RL issues.
Thanks to anyone who reviewed, your support makes me smile.
Thanks to my beta on this beast, DeJean Smith. She just wrapped up her fic, Evermore Experience, go take a look if you haven't.
~Ash
