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Chapter Three: And Then Things Got Messy

Jake

The front door clicked open. Again. I swear if that fucking bastard was back I would smash him into so many pieces that there wouldn't be a 'him' anymore.

"Jake, did you realise that one pissed off ranga just full on like, exploded from your apartment? What did you do? Break his heart?" The front door slammed shut.

I groaned into my hands. I could practically hear the smirk on his stupid face. Why couldn't he just fuck off instead of nosing his way into everything like an old lady… or a curious dog. Or a curious old lady dog. The corners of my mouth twitched as I imagined that. Wait, what the fuck was I on? I shook my head, trying to get those stupid images out of my mind.

"Jake what's with all this Diet Coke shit in your fridge? Trying to lose a few, hey? I reckon you need it."

"Seth, get the fuck out of the fridge!" I yelled from my position on the floor, not caring enough to stand.

"Don't worry," he called back, still rummaging in the fridge. "I found a normal one."

Bella had sat up hastily at the mention of company, rubbing her eyes and blinking rapidly. I wished I knew what was going through her mind. I rested my head on my hands, trying to make sense of everything, trying to work out where I fitted into Bella's life… trying to work out if I had a place at all.

From the corner of my eye I saw Seth's massive feet stomp into the room. I turned my head slightly to give him my most withering glare. He wasn't ruffled in the least, he looked from Bella, to me, back to Bella, back to me. Just like a confused old lady dog. I snorted. After a moment of thought, he dropped down, sitting cross-legged on the floor.

"Well this is fun," he decided to point out.

The fact that no one answered didn't seem to concern him. "What are we all doing exactly?"

Still, neither Bella or I made any move to answer him.

"Well you look better than last night," he said to Bella. "I'm glad you're not dead." Seth suddenly sat up straighter, I narrowed my eyes as he continued. "Your face is pretty messed up, what about the rest of you? Can I see?"

Bella hid behind her hair, a delicate blush sweeping her cheeks.

"Seth, can you shut the fuck up?" I hissed.

"Jake, dude, calm down, I just wanna see." He looked back at Bella. "Oh hey, what's your name?"

"Bella." She smiled awkwardly.

I couldn't take it any longer. The worse thing that could happen was that she would push me away, right? If that fucking happened I— I didn't know what I'd do. I climbed into the bed with her and gathered her in my arms. She rested her head on my chest and I tightened my arms slightly, wishing she wasn't so bruised because then I could have held her that much tighter. I kissed the top of her head, not able to help myself and rubbed soothing circles on her back. If anything, my touch seemed to calm her. But that might have just been wistful thinking. I remembered Seth was standing there, watching. I looked up and his head was cocked to the side, his mouth wide open. He looked ridiculous.

"What… the… fuck?" He frowned, utterly confused.

I smirked and bent down to kiss her head again, loving that right now, I could pretend that she was mine. I glanced up, now getting annoyed that Seth wasn't taking a hint. I nodded toward the door but he didn't even notice, he was too busy ogling Bella. Whether that was due to her injuries or he had realised how beautiful she was in spite of them, I didn't care.

"Seth," I growled, "get the fuck out of my apartment."

He threw me a dirty look. "Why? I've got nothing else to do."

I gritted my teeth. "Go to the shop and get Bella's car off the back of the truck." When he didn't move I raised an eyebrow. "Or you're fired."

He rolled his eyes. "Bye, Bella. See you later."

Bella mumbled a reply into my chest. I felt a rush of warmth toward her, she was still trying to be polite to that dick.

He slammed the door on his way out.

I couldn't contain my curiosity any longer. I wanted answers and I wanted to know whether or not I was allowed to find him and beat the crap out of the red head. "Bella, who was that guy? The redhead. Did you know him?" I asked as softly as I could when really, I wanted to chuck stuff around and demand that she never saw him again.

I felt her take a deep breath. "He's my… he was my— I don't know what he is anymore."

"So, he's your… boyfriend?" Calm, Jake. Calm. No need to go psycho and jealous and shit.

She sniffed. "Yeah. Well he was. Now, I don't know."

"Why didn't you, you know, tell him what actually happened?" I asked hesitantly.

She was silent for so long I thought she wasn't going to answer. "I just didn't want him to see me like this. He wasn't supposed to come. Alice was. Then she called him and I just- I couldn't. I wasn't ready." She twisted her hands around in her lap. "I don't want him to see me like this and if I told him what happened I was worried he would over react and attack you." She closed her eyes.

Hope spread through my body like wildfire. She didn't tell him because she didn't want me to get hurt. Surely that meant something? But then, maybe she hadn't meant it like that? Maybe she just thought I was incapable of fighting that guy off? Fuck, why were girls so confusing?

"Thank you, Jake. For everything. If you hadn't come…"

I clenched my jaw. "If I had come sooner you wouldn't be like this."

Her beautiful brown eyes widened. "What? Are you seriously blaming yourself? Jake, come on! You saved me! You couldn't have done anything more!"

I stayed silent. There was a whole list of things I could have done differently.

She smacked my arm. I looked down at her, astonished.

"So now I'm being punished?" I pouted, something I hadn't done since I was a kid trying to get out of trouble.

She smirked. "Yes."

I sighed, silently thankful our conversation was taking a lighter turn. "I suppose I'll have to convince you not to punish me then."

"How exactly are you going to do that?"

I pretended to think. Then I lent closer, my lips brushing her ear. "With my magic powers."

"Your superman-minus-the-undies superpowers?"

I nodded seriously. "Those and also my… uh…" Shit, I needed a sexy superpower that wasn't creepy like 'I can see through your clothes'. Except thinking about that made me think about seeing through Bella's clothes and that was just altogether distracting.

Her smirk widened.

Well I was just completely out of things to say. So I did something that never failed. Well it didn't fail with little kids. I lowered her down onto the bed, grinned wickedly as I pinned her arms, ignored her laughing protests, pulled up her shirt and blew a massive raspberry on her stomach.

She giggled like crazy and kicked out at me. I copped a few to the gut so I bent down and blew another one.

It was then, much too late, that I remembered that she had been fucking beaten up. I jerked back, holding my breath. She grinned up at me, and I exhaled, relieved. Before I could even begin to apoligise, I was flat on my back and she was straddling me, a giant smirk on her face.

I held my hands up in mock surrender.

She tilted her head to the side. "So, where are all those magical powers you were talking about?"

"I think you scared them away."

"Oh, you haven't seen nothin' yet."

And then she tickled me. And I was screwed.

In a few minutes we were reduced to a panting, laughing mess. Sweaty as well, in my case. It was almost as if we had— but we still had our clothes on. So not really. I cleared my throat.

After a comfortable silence, Bella turned to me and grimaced. I guess that had actually hurt her more than she had let on. Fuck, I was an idiot.

She looked down. "I should probably get going. If you don't mind could I borrow your cell?"

I jerked upright and my arms wound their way around her waist, tightening reflexively. "Bella, you're welcome to stay here for as long as you want. I… I don't want you to go. Besides, I'm currently holding your car hostage."

She smiled. "It's okay, you've helped me so much, Jake. But don't worry, I'll find some way to thank you."

I brightened at the thought of that. Did that mean I would see her again? Not that I wanted her to leave at all. I just wanted to stay with her for as long as I could. But if she wanted to go home… "Do you want me to give you a lift home, then?"

She shook her head. "I can't go home."

I narrowed my eyes. Would the red-head be waiting there or something? Maybe I should insist that she stayed with me. Otherwise I would camp outside her door and make sure he didn't get anywhere near her— just like a good stalker. "Why can't you go home?"

"I live with Edward." She sighed. "I don't want to see him just yet."

Edward. What a stupid name. Stupid name for a stupid guy. I guess it suited him them. Fuck you, Edward.

"Well, where are you going to stay? Bella, you can stay here. I'd really like it if you stayed." I held my breath, waiting for an answer.

She ducked her head, thinking. Fuck, I hoped she said yes.

"Jake, I don't want to impose any more than I already have," she said eventually.

I wanted to argue but I didn't want to seem like a desperate/stalker/weirdo, so I just nodded and went to find my phone.

xxx

Bella

For once, Rose hadn't uttered a single complaint at being woken up so early on a Sunday. There must have been something in my voice that warned her off it. I had given her minimal details on the phone and she hadn't asked for more. I should have called her in the first place. I loved Alice, but Rose just got things done just as efficiently minus all the fuss.

She picked me up from Jake's. When he had opened the door for Rose, I had been cowering behind him, in my ruined dress and bag from last night, nervous as anything. Rose had looked me up and down, pushed up her sleeves, cracked her knuckles and would have knocked Jake out cold if I hadn't stepped in.

On the way back to Rose's we stopped at Jake's shop so I could fill out forms regarding my car. Jake wanted two contact numbers. I pursed my lips and wrote down my cell number followed by the number for my apartment. I made it very clear, in the form of underlining, circling, bold writing, arrows and— well you get the idea— that they were not to call my apartment. I didn't want Edward coming to Jake's work. There were other reasons as well, but I just didn't have the energy to think about it.

Getting back to Rose's was the best feeling I'd felt since— I stopped myself. I had just been about to think 'since I woke up in Jake's arms.' Which I wasn't going to think. I gritted my teeth and slumped down on her couch.

"What's wrong, Bells? You look constipated." Rose said, her heart not completely in the teasing.

I shrugged and she disappeared into her room, emerging again holding sweatpants and a hoodie; clothes I thought she wouldn't be caught dead owning. I raised my eyebrows and she narrowed her eyes in warning.

"Maybe I bought them for you?" She chucked them at me, holding back a smile.

I sniggered, not believing her for a second, and gratefully pulled the clothes on right in front of her. Rose slid onto the couch opposite me, looking completely at home in her expensive modern apartment in her expensive, fashionable clothes. I looked like a homeless person who had just broken and entered. But whatever.

"Bella, tell me everything that happened. And then you have to tell me who I have to kill."

I looked at her doubtfully. While I was sure she was completely capable of killing someone, her fear of breaking a nail would probably get the better of her.

She tossed her hair. "Okay fine, so I'd hire someone to do it. It's the thought that counts."

I decided not to comment and repeated the whole story, leaving out the Jacob parts that I was so thoroughly confused about. I wondered how many times I was going to have to tell this story.

"Jesus, Bella," she said when I finished, "you get to have all the fun."

I glared.

She shrugged. "Look at the positive side, you got rescued by a super hot, tanked guy, got to spend the night in his bed while he waited on you and you get to call in sick tomorrow. Sure, you got beaten up and your boyfriend thinks you were cheating on him and has canceled his proposal, but all those things can be fixed! So really, it's mostly positive."

I rolled my eyes at how smug she looked after her little speech.

"All you have to do is go and explain to Edward and you can have make-up sex all week."

I blushed and glowered. "Shut up, Rose."

"Hell, you could probably have make-up sex all month."

I sighed. This was when I needed Alice. "Okay, I really want to have a shower, Rose."

She rolled her eyes. "Fine. I'll call Em and get him to get Edward out of your apartment so I can sneak in and get your stuff. Where are your keys?"

"My bag," I yelled as I shut myself in her bathroom and closed my eyes, leaning against the counter.

I needed time to take it in. I needed alone time. I needed to figure something out. I turned the shower on and began stripping. I loved Edward. There wasn't a doubt in my mind about that. And his voice when he thought I had been cheating sent my insides crawling. But that was the thing; I never doubted my love for him, and his for me, but obviously he wasn't so sure. He hadn't trusted me. He had assumed that I had been sleeping with Jake. I stepped inside the shower, groaning as the pounding hot water hit my tender skin. I couldn't imagine a life without Edward. I had wanted to turn around so badly when he had come to Jake's, but I just couldn't move. I had been completely stuck. And I didn't want him to see me. I wanted to be beautiful to him. I wanted to be my best for him. While I didn't doubt my feelings for Edward in the slightest, my feelings for Jake… I didn't know. I didn't understand it. I loved Edward. But the feel of Jake's lips on my stomach, even though it had hurt like a bitch and when he touched me and when I touched him… it did all kinds of crazy things to my body. I picked up one of Rose's shampoo bottles at random and dumped a whole lot of it on my hair.

Someone knocked on the bathroom door. "Bella, it's Alice. I'm coming in."

I moaned. There went my time to think. How had she gotten here so quickly anyway? I glared at the shower head as if it was its fault. Thanking whoever decided on the frosted shower screen, I continued washing my hair, trying to ignore her. She let herself in and sat on the toilet.

"Bella, I'm so, so sorry. Rose told me everything. I just didn't think. I was so excited to hear from you, I didn't listen. You have no idea what we were going through…"

"Alice, it's okay, really." I didn't want anyone else angry at me. I needed my friends on my side, even thought I wanted to blame her just a bit for what Edward had seen.

"Really?" I could see her grinning even through the glass.

"Really."

"I'm going to make it up to you, Bella."

I rolled my eyes.

"Where are you going to stay? You can stay with me! Please, Bella? That would be so fun! Like a constant sleepover!" Honestly, sometimes she was just like a school girl.

"I was thinking of staying with Rose, actually. Alice, you live with Jaz. And Rose is by herself. I'd feel more comfortable knowing a guy wasn't going to burst in on me in the bathroom."

Alice huffed.

When I said Rose was on her own, she wasn't really. Emmett, her long-time boyfriend practically lived here but he did have his own apartment because Rose insisted she wasn't going to become 'all dependant.' I smiled fondly at how stubborn she was. At least we could get rid of Emmett. Unlike Jaz, who had to be forced from Alice's side.

I stuck my hand out of the shower and Alice gave me a towel. I made sure I was all covered and stepped out.

Alice's eyes widened and her mouth formed a perfect 'O.'

I grimaced. "That bad, huh?"

She grabbed another towel and rubbed the steam off the mirror. I stared at my reflection. Holy shit. How could it have gotten worse?

"It'll heal," Alice said, not sounding convinced.

"Yeah." I sighed and turned away from the mirror.

For the next few days I moped around Rose's house. I had called in sick to work, letting Angela that I wouldn't be able to come in for the next few days. She accepted my brief explanation and assured me that she would be able to find part time girls to help her with her receptionist work. As glad I was that I didn't have to face the questions about my appearance from the people at work, it also mean that I didn't have to see Edward. Bonus.

I worked as a receptionist at Edward and Jasper's law firm. Don't judge me! It could have been worse, I could have been his secretary. Alice met Jasper when she had visited me and he had busted us eating pizza at the front desk. Emmett was a star quarterback who came to Edward and Jaz trying to sue the girl who has been running her hands all over his precious sports car while he had been in the gym. That girl was Rose. Needless to say they ended up doing another three letter word that started with 'S'. That was, after I had convinced him not to sue one of my best friends. Rose, Alice and I had been together since college and I knew that in the unlikely event that he did manage to sue her, she would have had to sell one of her fancy sport cars and then she would have been a pain in the ass to live with.

It was a relief to get the call on Wednesday from Seth telling me that I could come in and pick my car up. I just wanted to get out of the house. I was nervous as hell about going out in public looking the way I did. Most of my bruises were still a horrible black colour, but some had morphed into an attractive yellow. And by attractive I meant disgusting and by yellow I mean mustard-coloured vomit. If anything, they were getting worse.

I called a cab. I wasn't in the mood for public transport. While I waited I threw on leggings, converse shoes and my favourite hoodie that was so big the sleeves slid down my arms if I lifted them too high. And then I stacked on the make-up. As thick as I could without adding extra inches to my face. I must have done four layers of different foundations. I looked ridiculously pale but at least you couldn't see the bruises until you got close.

I paid the driver and left him a generous tip, mostly because he hadn't mentioned my strange appearance and partly because he drove in a way that didn't make me want to throw up. I figured I'd had enough scares for a while.

Seth rushed up to me, all smiles. He politely said I looked better before, only to ruin in by laughing it off and comparing me to a vampire. Then launched into a speech in which my only possible response was to nod. I wasn't even one hundred per cent sure that he was speaking English. He was speaking car language. Or engine language. Or possibly Dutch.

I didn't get a word of it. I should have brought Rose. She could have translated. He led me into the garage where my car was parked and popped the hood. I made a note to find out how he did that. He was pointing to things and naming them and it was making my head spin. My only option was to memorize as much of what he said as I could, excuse myself to the bathroom and Google what he said on my phone. But I couldn't be bothered so I nodded away.

"Bella?" I froze. Seth kept talking, completely immersed in fan belts or jam belts or something.

I felt him move toward me. It had been like this since I had met him. The electricity that jumped between our skin gave me goose bumps. He gently placed his hand on the small of my back.

"Edward, what are you doing here?" I asked carefully.

"I got a message saying your car was ready to be picked up," he replied coolly.

What the fuck? What idiot wasn't able to read what I had written on my form? "Who called you?"

"Um, Seth, I think."

I was so angry I couldn't even form the insults in my mind. I settled for glaring daggers at Seth's back. He was still trying to educate me about the mysterious ways of motors.

"Bella, we need to talk." His tone was calm, bordering on indifferent. But even without looking I knew his emerald eyes would be burning with the emotions his voice hid. If emerald eyes could burn, that was. Though if you could see Edward's, I was sure that you would agree there wasn't a better description.

I didn't turn around. From this close he would see. He would know something was wrong.

"So you're just going to ignore me? Bella, don't be childish." He sounded pained.

I whirled around, no longer able to stand it. "Me? I'm childish? You're the one who stormed out without waiting for me to explain!"

"You wouldn't even look at me! What was I supposed to think?"

"You should have trusted me instead of jumping to conclusions," I whispered, rubbing my temples, hiding behind my hands. I couldn't look into his eyes. Everything I had tried to avoid was shining there and I could give him the answers he wanted, I could make it all go away. I just had to spit it out.

Edward's breath caught. I glanced up and saw that his guards were down, his face horrified. "Bella—"

I looked down. My sleeves had slipped back, showing my battered forearms. Oh shit. I yanked the sleeves down but Edward's face…

It looked like he was having trouble speaking. He was barely containing himself. "Who… did this… to you."

I moved forward and held his arms. "Edward, calm down."

His face made me want to back away. I had never been frightened of Edward before. He looked murderous. And he didn't appear to have heard a word I said.

"Was it him?" Desperation was all over his face. He looked like he would to do whatever he had to in order to protect me.

"Edward, please, you don't know what happened. Calm down, I'll explain!"

"Are there more bruises? Bella, love, tell me. Did he do this to you?"

"Hey, Bella! I was just about to call you," Jake strode into the garage, carrying a metal thing, a part of I car I assumed, with a big grin on his face.

I took one glance and wanted to scream at him to get out. I didn't have time. Edward didn't even think. Before I could do a thing to stop him, he had Jake shoved up against the car and punched him once, twice, three times.

"No! Edward, stop! Stop!" I tried to get between them, shoving at both their chests.

Jake started fighting back. I swore. Seth got involved though I wasn't sure f he was on my side or egging them on. I was shoved back. Edward's arm was extended, holding me behind him. He was fighting with one arm against two massive men.

"Stop! Stop! Stop!" My cries fell on deaf ears.

Edward threw punch after punch and received double back. I tried to get away from him, to find help, so that he could stop protecting me and protect himself. By shielding me, he was leaving himself open to attack. Edward received a blow to the head. I felt the force of it jar his entire body. My heart stopped, my screams were caught in my throat.

The man I loved fell before me and I reached out, trying to steady his fall. The adrenalin pumping around my body brought everything into sharp focus. His weight forced me down and the concrete floor rushed toward me. I noticed old oil stains and miniscule cracks before my head smacked against it with a sickening crunch.

Everything went black.

Well I hope you liked that one too. Leave me your thoughts. Do you like it? Which bits do you like/don't like? Something you wished was different? Tell me anything and I'll love you! Thanks for sticking with me so far!
Alex
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