Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Stephenie Meyer owns it all. I am merely having fun with her characters. Also, not sure if Seattle General is a real hospital or not. If it is, I do not own it.
Chapter 3
BPOV
Sunday: August 17th, 2008: Age 24
We were rolling around in our meadow. Everyone was driving us crazy with the wedding preparations. We just wanted to be alone.
"I love you Bella, so much," he whispered.
"I love you too, Edward. You're my everything."
"Promise me baby…promise me you'll always feel that way," he pleaded as he started undressing me.
"I promise, Edward. There will never be anyone but you," I assured him.
Then I heard her speak in the distance.
"But you won't always be the only one for him ugly Swan. He'll want me…and he will have me…over and over…I'll make him feel like you never could. I will fuck him the way he wants it and not make him feel like he is just a baby machine."
"Edward what's she talking about?" I asked as I grasped at him. He was pulling away from me.
"She's right. I'm sorry, Bella. It's over. I love Lauren. She doesn't need kids. I want her. You were never good enough for me anyway."
"No! Come back Edward! Please! I love you!"
"NO!" I screamed as I sat up straight as a board in bed.
My hair was stuck to my sweaty forehead and I was sure I looked like a mess.
I had been having that same nightmare since Thursday.
Wait…what day was it now?
All I had done since arriving at Alice and Jasper's house was sleep. I lacked the energy to do anything else.
I thought about getting out of bed…but then I remembered…my husband was a lying, cheating, no good, son of a bitch…and I had no clue what I was going to do with my life now.
Fuck it!
What was the point?
I fell back to the bed, pulled the covers over my head, and shut out the world some more.
"This is ridiculous! She hasn't eaten, Alice. You're just letting her mope and sleep!"
"Rose, she just found out that the love of her life has been cheating on her for god only knows how long. What would you rather I do? She needs to grieve!"
"Yes, but this is killing her. We can't let her keep on this way. We need to at least get her ass out of that bed and make her fucking eat! Besides, she needs to bathe! She's been in those pajamas since Thursday night. She stinks, Ali!"
I came to and finally opened my eyes to see Rose and Alice sitting on the bed.
"You need to get out of this fucking bed or I am going to throw you out of it!" Rose yelled at me. "You are better than this Bella Swan! I will kick your ass if you don't stop this shit!"
"Cullen," I sobbed. "My…name…is…Bella…fucking…Cullen!"
I buried my head into the pillow and curled into a ball.
I felt the bed dip on each side of me. Alice was lying in front of me and she pulled my arm over her. Rose spooned me from behind and held me tight.
I sobbed into my best friends and drifted to sleep once more.
When I woke up again later, Alice was rubbing my forehead with a damp washcloth cooing to me almost as if I were her baby.
"What time is it Alice?" I whispered.
"It's almost two. Rose went to grab some…food…and while she is out, she is picking up something for your stomach. She should be back soon…she just called."
"My stomach?" I asked in confusion.
"You don't remember?"
I shook my head no.
"Well, we cuddled with you until you were all cried out and had fallen back asleep. We fell asleep with you and then when we woke up we decided…we were starving. Rose went out to get food and I started some laundry. I heard you screaming and when I came back up here, you were throwing up in the bathroom. I think you had another nightmare."
"Oh, no I don't remember that. I remember before I fell asleep again but not the throwing up after. My stomach does hurt."
"Well Bells, you didn't have anything to throw up. You haven't eaten since Thursday night when you got here. You need to eat, okay?"
All I could do was nod.
"I called Rose and told her about your stomach so she said she would pick up some Pepto Bismol for you."
"Thanks, Ali. I don't know what I would do without you."
"Well…you've got me. I don't care if Edward is my brother, Bella. He is an asshole! I can't believe he even…"
I put my hand up to stop her.
I choked back my tears and said, "Alice, please. I can't do this right now."
"You're right, I'm sorry," she responded.
We sat in silence until we heard the front door open downstairs signaling that Rose had returned.
"Do you want to take a shower and clean up? I'll have some clothes laid out for you and then you can take something for your stomach before you eat."
I nodded.
I went to the bathroom and started the shower. I started undressing while I waited for the water to warm up and I caught a glance at myself in the mirror.
I looked awful.
Who was this woman staring back at me?
Who was I without Edward?
I had always had him to lean on…to take care of me.
I felt as if I was nothing without him.
Bella did not exist without Edward…did she?
How was I going to find her?
I heard a soft knock on the bathroom door. "Yes?" I asked.
"Bells, I laid some clothes out on the bed for you. The Pepto is on the nightstand. Take some after you dress. Then come down and eat with us, alright?" Alice requested.
"Yes, Mom," I replied snippier than I intended.
She must not have heard me over the water. "What was that?" she asked.
"Nothing…thanks Ali."
"You're welcome, Bells. I love you."
"I love you too," I told her.
She had always been my best girl friend. Edward was my best friend in the world.
I was not sure he was any longer…friends were not supposed to rip out other friend's hearts.
Of course, neither were husbands. They were supposed to love and cherish their wives…not tear them apart.
I wished that my mom were still alive. She died in a horrible car accident a year after Edward and I had gotten married. I would not have made it through her death without him. He was my rock.
My dad pretty much shut himself off from everyone after her death. He never approved of Edward and I getting married at all. Our parents were worried but Mom, Carlisle and Esme at least came around to the idea.
When we took our vows, Edward was eighteen already but I was still only seventeen. My mom signed for me to marry him. My father refused. He told us that no good could come of us marrying that young.
Apparently, he was right. I could not face him and hear his "I told you so's."
My mom was our biggest supporter…even more so than Carlisle and Esme. She told me that she knew Edward and I were destined to be together. She said we would get through anything that was thrown at us because we had that once in a lifetime kind of love…the same as her and dad or Carlisle and Esme.
She really believed in us. Edward was like a son to her. She would be able to tell me what to do in this situation.
I really needed her right now. I would run back to her in Forks in a heartbeat if she were still there.
I let my thoughts consume me as I finally stepped into the shower.
We were all living in Seattle because we wanted to stay together at UoW. Edward was completing his residency at Seattle General Hospital. He was ahead of schedule in his curriculum and the youngest resident because as much as I hated to admit it, he was brilliant. In addition, being the son of the great Dr. Carlisle Cullen had earned him certain advantages that other students did not have.
Emmett played football for UoW and blew out his knee freshman year. Now he was their head football coach because he was that good. Rose was currently going to law school there. She surprised all of us. Rose looked like a model. We all expected her to do something in fashion or hell even work on cars since that was her passion.
However, she and her brother Jasper lost their father to a drunk driver when they were very young. The drunk driver lived and there was a good case against him. He had a lot of money and the lawyer was supposed to sue and get some of that money for the Hale family. The lawyer they had was crooked and they ended up getting nothing.
Rose and Jasper watched their mother struggle for years to support them until one day while she was doing a temp job as a secretary in a law office; she met a very nice man. They had a brief courtship and were married quickly.
The Hale children took a liking to this man right away. Rose was fascinated by everything that her stepfather knew about the law. She looked up to him and as she got older and remembered what their lawyer had to done to them in the past…she vowed that she was going to grow up and become a lawyer to fight for people when they needed it.
Jasper went to UoW to major in music. Everyone teased him about being a free spirit. He was very in tune with everyone's emotions around him and he liked poetry as well as music.
Alice always said he was an amazing lover because he always knew exactly what she wanted and how she was feeling. She thought this had to do with his sensitive nature and his gift of being able to read people.
He learned early on that he was not sure what he was going to do with a degree in music so he turned it into a teaching degree and just received his first job at a high school in Seattle running the music program there for the students. He also worked Friday and Saturday nights playing his music at a local jazz club.
Alice graduated with a degree in fashion marketing and was currently working for the company where she completed her internship. She loved her job. Fashion was always her passion.
I smiled in my head at my little rhyme. It was nice to see that I could at least make myself smile at a time like this.
Everyone but me had a career that they loved.
I was the only one who sat around and did nothing with my degree.
I realized the shower water was getting cold and I was starting to turn into a prune.
As I stepped out of the shower and toweled off, I made a vow to myself…to figure this all out and do something with my degree finally.
I needed to find out who I was…with or without Edward.
I allowed myself to simply be "Edward's Bella" for so long and it was time to stop that.
I had no idea if my marriage was fixable…or if I could even fathom taking him back after what he did…but either way…I was going to discover the real Bella.
I wrapped the towel around my body and went to the bedroom. I noticed that the clothes Alice had lain out on the bed…were my clothes.
How did she get those?
I had just finished dressing when Alice knocked on the bedroom door. "Bells are you okay in there?"
"Yeah. Hey, Ali, can you come here?"
Alice opened the door and entered as requested. "What's up, sweetie?"
"How did you get my clothes?"
"Oh, um…well…that was the errand the Rose went to run."
"I thought she was getting food."
"She did…she was….but her first stop was over at your house…to get some of your clothes and your toothbrush."
"I see…was he there?" I asked hesitantly.
"Yes," Alice whispered.
"Did she talk to him?"
"Bella, we're talking about Rose here. It's more like she screamed at him for being such a dumbass. She really gave him a piece of her mind."
"Okay, I'll be down in a minute."
"Alright, Bella. Don't wait too long please. You really need to eat."
I nodded and walked to the side of the bed as she left. I poured my dose of Pepto and drank it down like a good little girl so Alice would not get mad. I cringed as I did because I always hated that stuff.
I was not sure it was going to help the way that my stomach felt anyway but I wanted to humor my sister-in-law.
I heard the low whispers of Alice and Rose talking as I walked down the stairs to the kitchen. I made my footsteps softer because I wanted to see what they were saying.
I knew if they were whispering it was more than likely something I was not supposed to hear…which made me want to hear it that much more.
"We are not going to tell her Alice!"
"She has a right to know Rose!"
"Why would you want to hurt her like that? No good can come of her finding out that Lauren was at the house when I went over there!"
"I have a feeling she is going to want to take him back, Rosalie. I don't want to see him hurt her again! The fact that my idiot brother could be so callous as to have that skank in their home…at all…let alone this soon after everything being found out…it makes me sick! I won't let him hurt her again…brother or not!"
I tuned them out after that.
Only one part of that conversation was sticking out in my mind.
Lauren…was in my house.
Edward had her there.
Wow…he really did not waste any time did he?
A/N…Tune in next chapter for EPOV and see why Lauren was at their house.
Reviewers will get a teaser of Chapter 4.
Thanks to dolphin62598 for being an amazing beta and friend! And a big thanks to all of you who voted for her one-shot We're Married in the Til Death Do Us Part contest because SHE WON! So congratulations girl! You deserved it!
Thanks to teacher1209 for pre-reading and let me know her thoughts!
Story Recommendation:
This story has OWNED me this weekend! Shades of Green by appletreesfall
http:/www(dot)fanfiction(dot)net/s/5687739/1/Shades_of_Green
If you would like to see pictures from this story you can visit this link…
http:/picasaweb(dot)google(dot)com/edwardandbellabelong2gether
Right now I have pictures up of the main characters as how I picture them for this story.
Everyone have a great week! See ya next Thursday!
