Knowing clouds will rage
And storms will race in
But you will be safe in my arms
Rains will pour down
Waves will crash all around
But you will be safe in my arms
Castles they might crumble
Dreams may not come true
But you are never all alone
Because I will always
Always love you
EPOV
Man I felt real sorry for Bella. No one deserved the cards she had been dealt and most people would crumble at half of the hurdles she had faced, but not her; she just kept on fighting and continued to plaster a smile to her face. I couldn't imagine the kind of stress she was under, she'd left her abusive husband and even though she tried not to talk about him, I'd gathered from past conversations that he was in prison, and that her evidence had been what put him there. So she was a single parent, trying to hold down a job and raise her daughter the right way.
I still harboured feelings for her, I couldn't deny that and maybe that was the reason why I stuck around and did all I could to help her out. For the entire week Bree had been suspended from school I'd kept her company in the cafeteria, ensuring she did her homework so that Bella had one less thing to worry about and Bree seemed to respond to me, so it was easy, even if I was getting a little behind on my paper. I wasn't sure what was going on in Bree's head but her behaviour had changed drastically in the last couple of weeks.
She'd always been this sweet little girl who was really close to her mother, they were almost more like friends than they were mother and daughter, but something had changed recently and as much as I cared about Bree, she was starting to drive me insane with the way she was treating her mother.
I had been blessed as a child. I was born into one of the most loving, caring and protective families I had ever met. I had been close to my own mother while growing up, since my father was a doctor and would spend days on end on rotation at the hospital. It was safe to say I was a mommy's boy but I still couldn't understand Bree's sudden change in personality and hatred toward Bella. I supposed that it could just be that teenage time of her life, or maybe it was the group of friends she was hanging around with and she was trying to act like the big girl, who didn't care about anyone else.
I watched with sadness as Bella made her way back into the hospital through the sliding doors, she didn't turn back, simply hanging her head instead as she wandered with a sense of loss and despair. I couldn't even begin to imagine how she felt at this moment. Did she think she was losing her daughter and gaining the personality of her ex-husband back?
I turned to Bree and sighed, my shoulders sagging at the sight of her sitting on the ground, her knees pulled up to her chest and her head resting on her crossed arms. I moved to crouch beside her, my eyes making contact with hers. They were red and swollen, her cheeks blotchy with dried tear tracks. I smiled softly at her and she sniffed before returning the gesture. I stood up slowly and held my hand out to Bree. She may have been acting out only five minutes ago, but now she looked so young and fragile and I couldn't help but want to comfort her and make her feel better.
After helping her to her feet, I guided her toward my parked Audi Spyder V8 and unlocked it with the remote before opening the passenger door for her. Once she was seated and buckled up, I placed the baseball bat in the foot well and moved around to the driver's side. Bree was looking a little uncomfortable with the bat sharing her foot space and I finally understood what my father had meant when he said that the Spyder was an impractical car. Until now, there had never been anyone but myself and my laptop in my car so its lack of space had never been an issue before.
"Sorry about the uh…" I waved my hand in the direction of Bree's feet before I started the ignition and manoeuvred out of my parking space.
"It's fine," Bree mumbled as she turned her head to look out of the window.
I turned my attention back to the road and revelled in the momentary silence as I drove us toward the outskirts of Forks. After missing the turn to head toward Bella's place, Bree whipped her head around, her eyes narrowed and her brow furrowed.
"Edward, where are we going?" she asked with a hint of concern in her voice.
I removed my right hand from the wheel and pointed to the clock on the dashboard, which read 12:47. "It's lunch time, so we're going home for lunch."
"What, your home?" Bree questioned with a sudden look of interest on her face.
I chuckled and shook my head as I turned onto the dirt track. "No, we're going to my mother's house."
Bree giggled as she turned in her seat to look at me. "Seriously, Edward? You're going to your Mom for lunch?"
"What's wrong with lunch at my Mom's?" I laughed as I smiled crookedly across at Bree before nodding my head toward the windscreen, indicating that she should look outside. I was eager to see her response as my parents' house came into view. The trees surrounding either side of the track began to thin out and I watched from the corner of my eye as Bree's face took on a look of shock and awe, the closer we came to the Cullen house.
"This is your parent's house?" she questioned as she looked from me and back to the house, repeatedly. "It's… It's beautiful."
I nodded slowly as I pulled to a stop in the gravelled driveway in front of the house. I had grown up here and although the beauty and uniqueness of the house no longer shocked me, it was still a masterpiece which always seemed to bring a smile to my face. It was very nice, however, to see Bree's reaction and I watched as she fell in love with the house.
It was clear from the property that my father had more money than he could ever amass just from working. With its five bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms and the entire front and back walls of the house being made from glass, the house was worth in excess of three million dollars. My great grandfather had immigrated to America with his family, from Italy, when he was just fifteen years old and had immediately gone to work. Our family history is sketchy back then but somehow he had managed to procure himself a business which over the years had grown and changed until, as it stood today, it was one of the most well-known and profitable IT companies. Needless to say, my brothers and I all had rather large trust funds.
Turning off the ignition, I angled my body to face Bree. She saw me out of the corner of her eye and took one last look at the sight before her, before granting me her attention. Her face was pale and her eyes red and swollen. I smiled tightly at her and watched as her shoulders sagged, she knew that I wanted to talk to her before we went in.
"What's going on, Bree?" I asked, trying to keep my voice calm and non-accusing
She shrugged and turned to look out of her window.
"Come on, you can talk to me," I probed. "Is it because of school?"
"School?" She shook her head minutely. "Why would school be a problem, Edward?"
"I don't know, Bree. That's why I'm asking you. You're an intelligent young woman, everyone knows that and sometimes they'll use that to their advantage and pile too much work on you. Are you struggling with school?"
"School is fine, Edward!" Bree snapped and her cheeks coloured as her temper began to flare once more.
"Have you fallen out with friends? A boyfriend maybe?
"It's nothing to do with you, Edward! Just leave me alone!" Bree screeched, reaching for the door handle.
"I am not your mother, Bree, and I will not stand for you talking to me like this." I hit the remote locking system and sat back as Bree pounded her fists against the dashboard once she realised there was no way out of the car until she opened up and talked to me. Her shoulders shook as her body was wracked with sobs.
I sat back and watched her for a moment, unsure as to what to do. I had hoped I'd be able to talk to Bree and see what was bothering her, offer her some words of impartial advice and maybe help her sort out her issues, which in turn would help Bella. But judging from the meltdown she was having in front of me, it seemed that I may have just made the situation worse.
Bree covered her face, shutting me out further. I sighed and unlocked the car, giving her the option to leave if she wished to. I was shocked, when I heard her timid voice break through her tears and the otherwise silence inside the car.
"I don't know what's happening," she croaked.
My brow furrowed and the leather seat creaked as I shifted my weight.
"What do you mean, Bree?"
"I just get so angry!" she cried out, shaking her head from side to side. "And I don't know why. It just comes out of nowhere. I can't even explain it, it's like this red haze and I just want to shout and scream at someone."
I frowned as I listened to Bree talk. I had no idea what was causing these outbursts but it definitely didn't sound like your usual case of teenage hormones. She must have been terrified.
"Maybe you should talk to your mom, Bree. Surely having her on your side would be better than arguing with her every day?" Bree looked as if she was about to disagree, so I plundered on regardless. "Your mom is just as confused as you are right now. Neither of you understand what is happening, or why you're so irritable at the moment but Bree… If you let her in, she'll understand and rather than get upset at you, she'll be trying to help you. Don't you see?"
She brushed her tears away as she nodded slowly before turning to face me. My eyes widened and I reached a hand out toward her.
"You're bleeding," I whispered, watching as a trickle of blood began to seep from her nose. Bree looked away from me quickly and pulled a tissue from her pocket, dabbing at her nose to try and stem the flow. "Lean forward."
She shook her head. "It'll stop in a moment."
I frowned across at her, placing my hand gently on her shoulder. "Have you had a lot of nosebleeds lately, Bree?"
"No! And it's none of your business anyway." She pulled her seatbelt off and lurched out of the car, heading up the porch steps. My eyes followed after her and I noticed my mother stood there awaiting us with the front door already open. I watched as Bree gave some form of greeting to my mother before sliding past her and into the house.
I sighed and heaved myself out of the car before making my way up the steps. I smiled lightly and kissed my mother's cheek. "Hey, Mom."
"Edward," she returned. "To what do I owe this pleasure? And who is your charming guest, are you bring patients home with you now?" she laughed softly and I wrapped my arm around her shoulders, guiding her back inside the house.
"That is Bree, Bella's daughter," I explained as I followed my mother through to the kitchen.
"YourBella?" she replied with a sly grin as she set about making us both a cup of tea.
I felt my cheeks heat up as my mother probed as to the identity of Bella. It may or may not have been the case that I'd mentioned her to my parents a few times. I shook my head slowly and poured the recently boiled water into the two mugs Esme had laid out with tea bags in. As I put the kettle back down, Esme took over once more and finished the tea by adding cream to both and one sugar to mine. I picked mine up, cradling it in my hands as we settled ourselves at the kitchen table.
"She's not my Bella, and please don't say anything in front of Bree," I begged as I looked around to make sure we were still alone.
My mom smiled and waved her hand dismissively as if to say that my secret was safe with her. "So how come you have Bree with you? I thought you'd be at the hospital working on your paper."
"Bree's…" I paused and raked my hand through my hair, making it stick up on end, worse than usual, as I tried to put into words what I wanted to say, "going through some things." I finally settled on.
"And your role in that is…?" my mother probed.
"Well, nothing really," I admitted. "Bree's been suspended from school so she's been hanging out at the hospital every day but today she kicked off at Bella."
"So you came to Bella's rescue?" My mother smiled.
"It's not like that," I denied, knowing how my mother would be processing this information differently from any other human being. "She just needed a friend and I happened to be there."
"I understand," my Mom replied before looking over my shoulder and smiling softly. I turned my head, to follow her line of sight and saw Bree walking into the room, her face freshly washed.
"Hey, how are you feeling?" I asked as I slipped into doctor mode, checking her over, from where I sat, for any signs of illness.
"I'm fine, Edward, I just have a bit of a headache," she replied. Esme stood and hurried from the room as Bree moved sluggishly toward the table and slumped into the seat beside me. I took advantage of her sitting beside me as my eyes scanned her face. Aside from looking a little pale, with bloodshot eyes, she appeared to be fine. "I'm sorry for being rude to you in the car," she whispered, keeping her eyes averted from me.
I smiled softly and placed my hand on top of hers, on the table. "Apology accepted."
"Here, I have some Tylenol," Esme said as she re-entered and placed a bottle of pills in front of Bree before fetching a glass of water and sitting down once more.
"Thank you, Mrs Cullen," Bree responded sweetly, unscrewing the cap of the bottle and tipping two white pills into her opened palm.
"Please, dear, call me Esme."
Bree smiled before tipping the glass of water to her lips and swallowing the pain medication. She gently placed the drink on the table and tried to surreptitiously look around the kitchen without being obvious about it. She failed miserably.
"You can go and look around if you want to. I'll call you when lunch is ready," I offered to Bree. She jumped up quickly and all but ran out of the kitchen. I laughed as I watched her leave before turning back to face my mother who had a strange look on her face. "You okay, Mom?"
"Just fine, dear." She patted my hand and pushed back in her seat, the chair scraping along the marble floor as she rose to her feet. "Come and help me prepare some lunch, will you?"
I nodded my assent and pulled away from the table, placing my hands on the back of the chair and gliding it back underneath the table, out of the way.
I loved how things never changed around here. Helping Esme to prepare lunch didn't really entail much preparation on my part. So just like it had always been, for as long as I could remember, I leant against the counter whilst she made a salad, just talking and keeping her company while passing the odd ingredient to her now and then.
"Why don't you go and hunt down Bree while I set the table?" Esme suggested. I nodded and stepped out of the kitchen, heading down the hallway, looking in every open door I came to. After searching the entire ground floor, and still unable to locate her, I moved to go upstairs. As I got to the top, soft musical notes drifted toward me and I smiled as I made my way to the music room.
I stood in the open doorway, propping myself up against the door jamb as I watched Bree pick her way through The Entertainer. She was doing well but it was clear she was unpracticed.
"I didn't realise you played," I said, making my presence known. Bree jumped, hitting a few bum keys before she turned to me with wide eyes and leapt off of the piano bench.
"I'm so sorry, Edward!" she stuttered, stepping away from the baby grand. "I shouldn't have touched it without asking."
I smiled and slung my arm around her shoulder, guiding her back downstairs.
"It's fine, Bree. I'm just shocked. Your mother never said you could play."
She shrugged as we made our way into the dining room and settled ourselves at the table.
"I took some lessons back in Seattle."
"So why don't you play anymore?" I asked as I helped myself to a plate of side salad. I buttered three slices of bread and passed one to my mother and one to Bree before dipping my own in my tomato soup.
"We can't really afford the lessons," she responded, avoiding eye contact with me.
"Well, you're more than welcome to come here and use the piano any time you want to," Esme offered, having successfully guessed our topic of discussion.
"Oh no, I couldn't possibly," Bree said, shaking her head.
"It would be good for the piano," Esme continued, winking at me. "It doesn't get played anymore now that Edward has moved out and is so busy with work."
I could see the wheels turning in Bree's mind and I knew she really wanted to take Esme up on her offer. She looked across at me and I nodded with a smile.
"Thank you, Esme. Maybe I'll visit again soon and play."
The conversation settled down as we continued to eat our lunch, the only sounds being that of clashing silverware and satisfied hums of enjoyment. Esme finished first, placing her spoon gently down in her bowl before leaning back and rubbing her stomach.
"So, Bree, what do you want to do when you leave school?"
"I won't be leaving for a few years," she responded as she too sat back in her chair.
Esme nodded. "Do you have any idea what you might like to do?"
"Well, I really like medical science." She turned her head and smiled at me, causing me to grin back at her. "I guess maybe I'd like to be a doctor, or a vet." She shrugged and looked back down at her lap, hiding her pink cheeks from view.
I leant forward, closer to Esme as I began to speak enthusiastically. "Bree is very intelligent, all this week she's been sitting with me and doing her school work. We talk about so many things and it's almost like I'm talking to a colleague. Not only does she have the intellect to reach her goals, but she has the drive to do it too, she's very determined and head strong."
Esme stared at me with a strange look upon her face for a moment before she smiled and declared how wonderful that was and that she was sure Bree could do anything she put her mind to. However, Bree didn't seem too happy with the current conversation as she excused herself to the bathroom.
I sighed as I watched her walk away; wondering what had annoyed her this time as I helped Esme clear the table. I loaded the dishwasher as Esme set about making more tea.
"Is she okay?" she asked. "I'm sorry if I said something to upset her."
I shook my head. "I don't think it was you, Mom," I said as I laid my hand on her shoulder, squeezing gently.
"She's a wonderful girl, Edward."
I smiled. Yes, Bree was a wonderful young woman, when she wanted to be.
"You know, if a person didn't know any better, they'd assume you were her father, the way you praise and encourage her. Are you and Bella…?" she trailed off, expecting an answer as to whether or not Bella and I had resumed our relationship, if that's what a bed buddy could be called.
I had always wanted more with Bella, sure. It had started out as an agreement between friends to scratch an itch, but as time went on, I became more and more attracted to her. While I was planning to ask her out properly, she blew me out of the water when she proposed that we should stop what we were doing, that it wasn't good for her or Bree to become involved with someone else so soon after she'd left her husband.
"I uh… we did… um… have," I sighed and shook my head, unable to find the right words to explain my feelings toward Bella. "No, we're just friends. We'll only ever be friends."
A loud crash resonated from the downstairs bathroom and Esme made a move to go and investigate but I held my hand out to stop her.
"I wouldn't, Mom. If Bree is having another tantrum, I don't want you to see her destroy your bathroom." I smiled weakly and stepped toward the door. "I promise to replace anything she's broken."
I felt my anger flare as I hurried toward the bathroom, annoyed at Bree for being so disrespectful when Esme had been nothing but kind and welcoming to her. I knocked on the bathroom door, loudly.
"Bree!" I shouted as I thumped the door, repeatedly. I received no answer and all had gone quiet. I placed my ear to the door, listening hard for any sounds. Quiet moans and indistinguishable noises reached my ears. I knocked again and called once more but still Bree didn't reply. Realising she could have hurt herself, I stepped away from the door, called out that I was coming in and she should move away from the door and then I kicked at the door, right by the lock, amazed when the door splintered open.
The sight which met my eyes was the last thing I ever imagined.
Bree's body was rigid as she convulsed and the ligaments in her neck popping as her jaw locked, her eyes were shut, saliva pooling in her mouth as blood trickled from a wound on her head. Immediately, I sank to my knees, placing my hands loosely on either side of her head so that if she fitted strongly again, her head would push my hands into any obstacles and she wouldn't harm herself further.
It wasn't clear whether hitting her head had caused the seizure or if she'd hit her head while seizing but I had a fair idea which of those two options I would put my money on.
"Mom!" I called out, before leaning down and kissing Bree's forehead tenderly. "Call 911!" I screamed, staring in abstract horror as Bree's seizure simply rolled into another, more intense fit.
A/N: Reviews are better than lunch with Edward.