"He just took off?" Bella asked in astonishment. Rosalie nodded.
"Right after I told them. 'Came out' is the term I think."
"I wish I could have been there with you, to help if I could," Bella said, resting her hand on Rosalie's. They sat on top of an old picnic table a few miles from school.
"I'm not sure there's anything you could have done, sweetie, though I did wish you were there myself. Alice supported me, but it was still pretty tricky. I seriously thought they were going to tell me to pack up and leave."
Bella played with a lock of Rose's hair absentmindedly. "I'm not sure how Charlie would react. My mom would probably have a heart attack."
"You don't need to tell them, you know. With me, everyone pretty much knew or suspected for a while. It was going to cause problems if I didn't just tell them, but unless you want your parents to know, I don't see any drawbacks to one little secret." Rosalie gave her a wink. Bella scooted closer and Rosalie pulled her easily into her lap, wrapping her arms around her, interlocking their hands. Birds fluttered lazily in the pine trees, a dove cooed. It was even a little warmer than usual.
"I'm glad they're okay with us," Bella sighed with relief. Even if Emmet could never forgive them, and Jasper and Edward did not fully understand, they no longer had to hide their relationship.
"Doesn't matter anyway," Rosalie said, her cheek pressed against Bella's head, stroking her hair gently. Bella looked up at her questioningly. Rosalie shrugged. "They wouldn't have been able to keep me from you even if they did disapprove." Bella blushed, her soft cheeks growing warm. She smiled widely and lifted her face to Rosalie's, kissing her tenderly, feeling the knots of her first love beginning to tighten around her. Rosalie held her nearer, humming to her melodiously until the bell rang after what seemed like glorious hours.
Jasper, Alice, and Edward had spent their lunch in their usual spot in the cafeteria, talking amongst themselves in low whispers.
"Wow…she really does like that human," Jasper noted.
"The human's name is Bella," Alice corrected. "Did you find Emmet yet?"
"No. Edward and I will go back out tonight to look. It's obvious he doesn't want to be found though we're pretty sure he's left the state."
"He has," Edward confirmed, having heard Emmet's frenzied thoughts as he'd stormed from the Cullen residence.
"Rosalie should have been more straightforward," Jasper interjected, and Edward nodded in agreement.
"She was doing the best she could," Alice said, ready to defend her sister. "If you recall, Rose isn't always the first person to jump up and share her personal problems. She still had a lot to work out." Edward tried to look indifferent, but Alice saw that he knew her words to be true. He had been able to read Rosalie's mind from the moment she herself discovered she was gay. "Anyway, there's nothing any of us can do about it so it's just best to accept it and support her," she glared at her brothers for a moment to let her point sink in. "Or don't and keep it to yourselves."
Neither Edward nor Jasper looked happy, but they both nodded stiffly.
Bella hung onto Rosalie's neck, this being her second 'piggy-back ride'. Rosalie darted back to the school in a matter of seconds, setting her precious cargo back on the damp ground in one piece. Bella looked dazed but they soon walked it off, Rosalie distracting her by planning a date.
"We could go to the movies or something," Rosalie chuckled, "or the mall."
Bella giggled back, taking Rose's hand in hers, her nausea forgotten.
"Actually," Bella said. "I was thinking maybe would could catch another concert…" she winked impishly. Rosalie grinned widely as the two parted ways for their next classes.
Weeks passed and there was still no sign of Emmet. Bella and Rose's relationship was blossoming and strengthening, all the while Charlie remaining oblivious. It was simple to avoid detection with him. Usually the two girls drove somewhere; common places for a date such as the movies, or a secluded section of woods. When they did decide to spend some time at Bella's house, they locked themselves in her room, doing nothing but lie on the bed with their bodies entangled. They did not visit the Cullen residence, feeling better now that the Cullen's knew, but still wary.
Though it was easy enough tiptoeing around Charlie, the girls found it more of a challenge at school. They could now hear people talking in the halls, muddled whispers that turned into rumors, most of them true. Both knew that they shouldn't care about what other's thought of them, but like so many other things they'd dealt with, it was much easier said than done. Even Mike, who'd seemed nice to Bella her first few weeks in Forks, looked at her suspiciously, possibly a grudge forming. Boys either mocked and made fun of them or asked flat out if they could watch them make out. Some even asked to join in. Girls gossiped and avoided them all together.
"Filth," Rosalie remarked as she and Bella walked to her car in the parking lot, a group of boys grinning and hooting obscenities at them. Bella frowned, trying not to get intimidated. They're just being boys, she told herself. Like Rose would let them do anything beyond their little jokes. She perked up at the idea of one of them challenging them, imagining Rosalie's reaction. She shrugged.
"Let them have their idiotic fun. They can't hurt us."
Rosalie nodded but looked unsure.
The two arrived at the car, opening the doors and—were those scratch marks? Rosalie bent down to examine the harsh slashes in her convertible. She touched them lightly, still able to smell the metal from the key that had inflicted the damage. Bella threw her attention back to the boys who stood around a beat up station wagon laughing hysterically, clutching their sides. Suddenly she was filled with rage. So that was how they were going to play things. Bella recognized one of the boys who'd asked to watch them make out. Keegan, his name was, not that it mattered. Right now they were all the same. Just bricks in a wall she wanted to smash to dust. When Rosalie looked back up from the damage on her formerly immaculate paint job, Bella was already in front of and yelling at the group.
"What the hell did she do to you?" she was saying, her russet eyes wide with fury.
"Told you blondie's bitch would get defensive," a skinny guy with long bangs said, grinning at a taller guy who took out a pair of keys, tossing them to Keegan. Keegan caught the keys easily, looking at Bella critically.
"She's not so tough," he said, looking her up and down. "Bet she gives killer head though." The kid with long bangs snickered, crossing his arms.
"I dunno, she looks pretty inexperienced to me."
"Now that's just a downright crime," the tall one said. "We'll have educate her a bit won't we?"
Bella's stomach churned but she didn't back down, especially now that Rosalie was by her side.
"Leave us alone." She hoped she sounded threatening, but doubted it.
"Bella, it's okay. I can get it repaired. Let's go." Rosalie put a protective hand on her shoulder, giving the guys a piercing look.
"Yeah, no worries, Bella," Keegan said mockingly. "She'll have your little hotel room patched up in no time." He glanced Rosalie's way, licking his lips slowly. Rosalie replied with a low hiss, a heinous expression on her lovely face. The three laughed and continued to shout at them as they drove out of the parking lot.
"Who do they think they are?" Bella said, forehead creased in frustration. "I mean, seriously, who keys someone's car just because they're denied into things that don't have anything to do with them?"
"Reckless fools," Rosalie replied, stony faced as she steered her battered car. "Bella, just for my own peace of mind, will you promise to avoid them at all times if possible?"
"Like I'd want to go near those jerks again….Why? You think they'd do something…I mean something else?"
Rosalie did not face Bella, but said, "Let's just not find out, okay?" Bella could see the concern that ran deep in her girlfriend's eyes, and nodded.
"Of course, I'll always be there at school with you, so don't worry about it too much. I can hear everything in every classroom, and further, so even if you're alone, I'll still be keeping an ear out for you."
"But what about you?" Bella asked. "What if they try to hurt you or-" Bella cut off abruptly from the entertained look on Rose's face.
"Right…super strength." Bella's cheeks went pink. Rosalie rubbed one tenderly, the warmth cascading through her fingertips pleasantly. She missed that about being human, such warmth. Being with Bella felt like, in a small way, she had that back.
"I have an idea," she said, changing the atmosphere to a lighter one. "Let's go down to the river." It was one of their new date spots, filled with lush trees by the cool clean water.
"Only on the condition that you spend the night with me," Bella smirked.
"Alright," Rose said evenly. "But you may not be sleeping too much tonight."
"I plan on it," Bella winked.