AN: I wanted to update this chapter sooner, but it's been a hellish week at work and I just couldn't concentrate. They're cutting our hours at work and it's been just an uproar in my office. This being an adult thing really sucks sometimes. But, here it is!
Special thanks to those who reviewed! I got some repeat reviews, which is so awesome. I wanted to do shout-outs, but time restraints tonight kept me from doing that. But thanks thanks thanks for all those who have been reading my little story and reviewing it. I got a few more folks put me on story alert as well as a few favorite story alerts. I was over the moon for that! Now on to the story.
Oh, and you know the drill. Stephanie Meyers owns all things Twilight. I own my laptop and the worlds ugliest car! Happy Reading!
Epov
"Edward, it's Jasper. We need to talk." My best friend friend spoke into the phone quietly. I looked at the clock glowing next to my bed.
2:38 am.
Rolling onto my back, I rubbed sleep from my eyes and frowned at the ceiling. "Jazz, it's 2:30 in the morning. I just came off of a 36 hour shift at the hospital. Whatever wild and crazy things you and Emmett got into tonight can wait till I've had at least, oh let's say 15 more hours of sleep." I grumbled.
"Edward, something happened man. You need to get here as soon as possible." He sounded tired and somehow older than his 26 years.
"What's going on Jazz?" I got out of bed, groaned at the screaming muscles in my back, and walked to the kitchen. Filling a glass with water, I tried to think of what would make him get me out of bed after such a grueling shift. "Is it Alice? Rosalie? Is someone pregnant? I swear Jasper, if you knocked my sister up-"
He cut me off, "It's not Alice or Rosalie. Edward, I need you to just trust me and get here. Now." His tone got a little forceful at the last word.
Now I knew something was wrong. Jasper was never one to speak in harsh or forceful tones. He's probably the most level headed guy I knew.
"Ok. Where's here anyway?" I asked, taking a big gulp of my water.
"We're all at Alice's."
All? "Let me get dressed and I'll be right over." Then he hung up on me. Yup, something's definitely wrong. Not one to panic, I made my way back into my bedroom and pulled on a pair of jeans and a tshirt. I slipped my feet into shoes, grabbed my keys and walked out of my apartment, locking it behind me. I kept thinking of what could be wrong. He said all. Who else besides for Alice would there? What in the hell was going on. Emmett would be there, since Rosalie shared a town house with Alice. I got ito my car and started the 15 minute drive to my sister's house.
I could hope to see Bella, but there's no chance for that. The mutt she called a fiance' wouldn't let her out at this time of night. I knew she loved him, and Jasper and Emmett never said a bad thing about him, I just had bad feelings about that guy. I'd tried to tell them both about it, but all they said was that if she wasn't happy, she'd leave and for me to stay out of it. Bella. Sweet, beautiful Bella. He just seemed, harsh. I've only met him a few times, but I couldn't imagine Bella being with a guy like that. He didn't deserve her. She should be with someone who understood how special she was. Someone who could pamper her, even though she'd hate being pampered. Someone who would worship her, like she deserved to be. Someone who, well, me.
I've had feelings for her since the night I met her. She walked up to my sister at some bar and the two of them did that screaming thing girls did. She looked at me and blushed, the most adorable, beautiful shade of pale red, and shook my hand. The moment she touched me I felt this shock, like electricity. I looked into her eyes, and I know she felt it too. She gasped and pulled her hand from mine like it was on fire. From that moment, she plagued my mind day and night. I couldn't shake the feeling of her hand in mine. It was, for lack of a better word, magic.
Spotting Alice's townhouse, I pulled my Volvo behind the monsterous Jeep that Emmett drove. He was dating Rosalie, my cousin. I didn't see the tiny car that Bella drove, so all hopes of seeing her died. Damn.
Not bothering to knock, I let myself into the front door. In the living room, I noticed right away that my assumptions were accurate. Something wasn't right. Alice was in tears, curled in to Jasper, clinging to him like a lifeboat. Emmett was pacing the floor, curling his fists in and out. In and out. Rosalie, looking murderous, saw me first.
"Oh Edward." She said, then fell apart. She started to cry, which broke Emmett out of his trance like state. He gathered her into his massive arms and led her to the couch next to Alice.
"Jasper, what's going on?" I felt uneasy, this nagging feeling in my gut that wouldn't ease up.
"You might want to sit down Edward. I need you to say as calm as possible. If you freak out, it'll just make things worse. " Jasper said. I dropped into the nearest chair and stared up at him.
"I got a wierd phone call this morning. Em and I tried to get there as fast as we could, but it was too late. Everything had happened so fast. We tried man. Honestly we tried." Jasper spoke so fast that I could hardly understand. I've never seen him this upset before. Behind his calm demeanor, his eyes told a different story. There was rage and pain. Alice let out a miserable sob. I jumped up, rushing to her. I crouched in the front of her, gripping her hands.
"Ali, what happened? Are you hurt? Did someone hurt you? Fuck, Jasper, what in the hell is going on?" My mind was going so fast that I could hardly breathe. I swear if something happened to my sister, I was gonna kill someone.
"No Edward, I'm fine. It's not me. Be.. Bel..." She broke off, crying again. No, it couldn't be.
"It's Bella." Jasper said, meeting my eyes, and I could see him breaking. I dropped to my knees and struggled to understand.
"What about Bella? Did she have an accident? Where is she? What about Jacob?" I almost spat out his name. I didn't remember hearing about either of them being brought in to the hospital tonight.
"She called my phone from the lobby of her building. She was crying and freaking out. I didn't ask what was wrong, I just reacted. She's my sister man. We rushed over there, Emmett and I both. We got there and she was waiting for us, sitting in a chair looking out of the window." He stopped, struggled with his words.
"Jasper, what happened? Tell me what's going on."
"HE BEAT HER EDWARD!! We got to her and her face was all cut up and swollen. She looked almost zombie like man, just sitting there, waiting. I'm gonna killl him. I swear, I'm gonna kill him." Emmett finished, growling at the last part.
My lungs were starting to burn. Alice put her arms around me.
"I, I, I don't understand. Where is she? Jacob-"
"JACOB BEAT HER! My sister called begging for me to come and get her because that fucking animal put his hands on her and beat the shit out of her." Jasper's control snapped. His voice carried an edge that I'd never heard before. They had to be wrong. It couldn't be true. How could they be sitting here if what they say is true? Why wouldn't they be out there, finding that fucking bastard.
I sat for a moment, not saying anything, while their words sunk in. I could feel Alice and Rosalie, on either side of me, shaking with their tears. Jasper and Emmett just stared at me, gadging my reaction. I didn't disappoint.
My hands balled into fists and I tore myself from Alice's grasp. Growling, I started to the door. How dare he?! That bastard. He put his hands on her. On Bella, my angel. Emmett didn't stand a chance; I was gonna kill him! I was gonna find him and rip him apart.
But shockingly, it was Emmett who stopped me. Before I could reach the front dooor, he caught up to me and wrapped his huge arms around me. "Wait." He said.
I struggled to get free from his iron grip. "Fuck that Em! The two of you are just gonna sit there while he gets away with this? How can you be so fucking calm? I'm gonna kill him!"
"No Edward, just wait." He said. "I'd like nothing more than to find this dipshit and rip his head off, but I have to think of my sister first. She's here Edward. We didn't know what to do with her, so we brought her here. We can't leave her like this."
I let myself go slack in his arms. She was here. Safe. That should have been my first thought. Think Edward. "Where is she Emmett?" He dropped my arms and stepped in front of me.
"Sleeping in Rosalie's room. Jasper thought that maybe you could take a look at her, and tell us what to do next." The tears in his eyes un-nerved me. I took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of my nose.
Rosalie walked up to me and wrapped me in a hug. "Let her sleep a while before you go up." She whispered in my ear. Rosalie had experience in abuse, having been in an abusive relationship for years before she got the nerve to leave the son of a bitch. I knew that she had empathy for Bella that no one else could even imagine.
I took my place beside Alice on the couch once again. Jasper was in the chair, looking ragged. I didn't know what to say to anyone. My heart had this huge ache that was dulling all of my other feelings. I wanted to scream and throw things. Anything to take my mind off the urge to rush to her apartment and break the door down. This rage was a new feeling to me. I've had girlfriends before, but no one has ever given me this feeling of protectiveness before. I hadn't even felt this way about Tanya, my last girlfriend. Bella brought out feelings in me that I didn't think I was capable of feeling.
I stood and made my way to the stairs. I had to at least see her. My heart was having trouble convincing my mind that she was ok.
"Edward, what are you doing?" Alice asked in a small voice. I looked over at her and my heart broke a little more. Bella was her best friend, and Alice took the role of best friend very serious. I knew that she was blaming herself for not being able to keep Bella safe.
"I, I just need to see her Ali. I have to make sure for myself that she's ok. That she's safe." Alice just looked at me, understanding in her eyes. I took the stairs slowly, wanting to be quiet so I wouldn't wake her.
I flipped on the hall light, and taking a deep breath, pushed the door to Rosalie's bedroom open. She was laying on her back, one leg outside the blankets and her hands grasping the blanket so hard that her knuckles were turning white. The light from the hallway shined on her face and lit up the marks and cuts littering her face. The tears I'd been fighting started to fallland I struggled to stay calm. And then she shook her head, and I knuckled the tears away. I thought she could see me. I started to speak, then realized that her eyes were still closed.
"No don't." She whimpered. "Please Jake stop" Her head moved from side to side, and her body was starting to shake. When she started to scream, the last of my control snapped and I hurried to her. I took her by the shoulders and shook her slightly.
"Bella, wake up love. It's Edward."
She screamed some more. "Jake don't!"
"Bella open your eyes. He's not here. You're safe." I urged her. With one last violent jolt, her eyes popped open, filled with tears. She flinched away from my hands on her and she scrambled off the bed, backing into the wall, holding her hands in front of her.
"Please don't hurt me." She whispered. I sensed the others in the doorway, and turned to see Jasper and Emmett, standing horrified, shock in their eyes. They must have heard her screaming.
"Bella, I'm not going to hurt you. It's Edward. I promise love, your safe." I used my most soothing voice, the one I used on my patients at the hospital. I held my hands in the front of my body to show that I meant no hard, and I could see her fighting herself. Her eyes cut behind me and landed on her brothers for the first time. She started to cry, sobbing, leaning against the wall.
I moved to reach out to her, but Alice rushed past me with Rosalie on her heels. Bella glanced at me, and I could see the shame in her eyes. I stood up and moved back to join Jasper and Emmett in the hall. We stood by, helpless, watching her crumble to her knees while Alice and Rosalie comforted her. Jasper put one hand on my shoulder and tried to gain his strength while trying to console me. How ironic. His sister is beaten and I'm the one who needs comforting.
Rosalie came to the door and whispered, "Why don't you three leave us for a while. She doesn't want to come out right and tell you, but it's hard for her to see you all right now. Just go downstairs and we'll take care of her." She glanced at me. "Edward, you're gonna have to get it together if we're gonna convince her to let you examine her." She managed a weak smile, then shut the door softly in our faces.
The three of us tracked downstairs to sit and wait. Each of us wondering just what kind of hell had she been through tonight, and wether any of us should have known it was coming.
Well, what's the verdict? I know that it's not as long as it could be, but I wanted to end things there because I'm still not sure as to how to do Edwards point of view, so I wanted to give you guys a chance to review and let me know if it's worth doing again or not. Be honest! It's the only way I'll know how to fix the mistakes.
Now, I know Jasper and Emmett's reactions compared to Edwards is going to seem weak and very understated, so to explain, they know Bella better than anyone. Even though Jacob did this horrible thing to her, she's not going to want him hurt or for her brothers to get into any trouble over her. She'd rather them just let it go, which is what they'll do for her to make her happy. But, if you got it, Edward's been in love with her since they met, which is roughly a few months after she met Alice, which is a while. He's been carrying this torch for her since then. So that's that. Sorry this AN is so long winded, but I wanted to explain a few things that I'm sure would have come up in the reviews.
Also, I'm working without a Beta so please forgive any mistakes you may find. I'll admit that I'm very anal about spelling and grammar, so I try to correct as I go along, but even the most anal of perfectionists can make mistakes so forgive and if you find something, point it out and I'll go back and fix it.
So, please please push the little button! Review and I'll be the happiest little southern girl alive!