Chapter 7: Truths Revealed
We have seen better days.
William Shakespeare
EPOV
The door opened and there stood Chief Swan, gun still in its holster at his hip. Even having done nothing wrong, my heart picked up and I felt a little nervous. I tugged at the collar of my shirt and ran a hand through my hair, instantly regaining my composure. He warmly greeted Alice before turning a curious and slightly menacing look upon me.
"Who're you?" Chief Swan asked, his eyes narrowing.
"I'm Edward Cullen, sir. Alice's twin brother," I said, motioning my head in her direction.
He nodded, seeming to accept my response.
"Charlie," Alice said, drawing the attention back to her. "Is Isabella here?"
His brow furrowed, "No. She left a while ago, saying she was going out with you."
"Well, she's supposed to," I muttered under my breath.
"It's probably just a miscommunication. I bet she's already there, waiting for us," Alice quickly covered. "Never mind, Charlie. Sorry to bother you."
"It's no problem, Alice. You guys have fun and stay safe," Charlie replied. "And don't stay up too late tonight doing whatever it is you guys do at slumber parties…"
Alice nodded as she grabbed my arm and pulled me away to go back to my car. As soon as Chief Swan closed his front door, Emmett rolled down the window to Rosalie's car and stuck his head out. The music was suddenly blaring out of the one window and I could feel the bass thump loudly as I drew closer.
"No go?" Emmett called out.
I shook my head, not bothering to yell back to him. Alice ran over to tell them Isabella had already left and was more than likely at the party. From where I stood, I could see Rosalie roll her eyes and Emmett laughed. I climbed into my car, not bothering to stand around waiting on Alice. Jasper was sitting in the backseat, messing around with his phone.
"She not coming?"
I looked into the rearview mirror as I answered. "She's already there."
"Cool," he said, eyes still locked on the screen.
Alice jumped into the front seat and slammed the door. I looked over at her with a dark expression – she knew better than to do that shit. She muttered an apology and then began to chatter nonstop. Once Jasper realized Alice was just ranting about Isabella, he went back to staring into his phone.
"Don't you think she's been really weird this past week, Edward? I'm worried about her."
I ignored Alice and mulled over my thoughts that were being consumed by Isabella Swan. The first time I had seen her was a month and a half ago. I had felt her eyes on me, burning through me. I watched from my car as people gathered around her at the foot of the stairs. I had been surprised when she fell, but couldn't bring myself to go over and help her. At lunch that first day, Alice couldn't stop talking about the new girl and how pretty she was. My annoyance grew when I caught Isabella staring at me and a blush overtook her face at the same time Alice said the new girl and I would look good together. Someone would need to clue this girl into the fact that I wasn't interested. Or at least I didn't want to be.
It hadn't even been a year since Tanya had dumped me and I was still trying to piece back together everything she had broken. No one wanted to admit they're heartbroken, especially the male species, but I had truly believed things were great between the two of us. The night of her graduation, at the celebratory dinner at the diner, she took me outside and dumped me with what seemed to be most of the school watching. She told me she had found someone else, a guy who was already in college. She said it was innocent, that nothing had happened between them. I didn't believe her and asked how long it had been going on. She couldn't give me a definite answer. All she said was that I couldn't give her what she needed and that was it. Three years of my life wasted. Not even a week after the breakup, Jessica Stanley, along with many other girls from school, began throwing themselves at me, but I would reject every advance. Within a few months, all the girls started to back off the realization that I didn't want what they were offering.
I thought luck had been on my side, until Isabella walked through the door into my biology class. Things only became worse when she began walking towards me. I realized at that point, the only available chair was located right beside me. I had stilled my movement and my hands clenched from the smell of her as she sat next to me – she smelled heavenly. I had not been expecting her voice to sound so breathless as she said hi. I could barely concentrate as she mindlessly talked. Finally it came to a point when I snapped at her to be quiet. It was either that or I would have kissed her into silence and that would've led me nowhere good. To prevent that from happening, I left the classroom. I went out to my car and turned on some music to calm my nerves. After some time had passed, I watched Isabella run through the parking lot, leaving the school grounds.
As that first week passed, I found out just how clumsy the new girl was. She had gym at the same time I did and ended up hurting her ankle. I knew from how quickly it started to swell, she should see a doctor – my father. I felt slightly awkward about having her so close when I had to help carry her down the stairs to my car. I hadn't had any physical contact with another female, other than family, since Tanya left me. I was annoyed because having to carry her only strengthened my attraction to her and I was not ready to have feelings like that for another girl yet. At the hospital I met with my father in his office and asked him to see Isabella. I couldn't help but become defensive when he started to question me about her. I took her home after she followed Alice out with her crutches. I couldn't look at her because there was something about her large, innocent doe eyes that bothered me. I had started to open the door to help her when we arrived at her house, but she snapped at me and I stopped. I stayed until she closed the door, just in case she had another accident before I left.
A few more weeks went by and I tried to resist my physical needs that seemed only she could fix. The only real thing stopping me was that I still couldn't quite let go of Tanya. Things between Isabella and I were still tense, but she and I had come to a silent agreement to be civil to one another. When I saw Jacob Black at our school, I was pissed. It only became worse because it felt like time had stopped when I watched Isabella fling herself at him. The moment his motorcycle started up, I yelled my thoughts and feelings as I waved my arms around. The others stood there, watching me, and Alice grabbed my arms in an attempt to calm me with a quiet, soothing voice. Jacob was dangerous and not someone Isabella should be hanging out with. Not after what happened with Leah.
My father came home from the hospital late that night. I'd gotten up for a glass of water, when he entered and told me that Isabella had been in an accident. He couldn't give me details because of patient confidentiality – he wasn't even supposed to tell me that she had even been at the hospital at all. I didn't sleep well the remainder of that night because I had been too worried about her. She was being so stupid getting involved with Jacob. I visited her in the hospital before going to school. I placed the flowers on the table beside her bed, feeling like utter shit when I looked at her. I should have stopped her from getting on that bike with him. She'd began stirring as I was leaving, so I had quickly made my way out before she knew it was me. She didn't come back to school for two days.
She didn't look any different from the time I saw her in the hospital to when she arrived at school, but it still tore at my heart to see her that way. At lunch, she didn't eat, even when I offered her some of my food. She grew defensive when we began questioning her about what had happened with Jacob. I couldn't help getting a little upset whenever Jacob was mentioned, and when Isabella asked me why I cared, I denied it to everyone. That day in biology, she was sent out of the classroom for being too disruptive. I couldn't care though, because I was too busy stewing over what happened at lunch.
I was taken aback the next day, when Isabella's truck sped into the parking lot so fast – I hadn't even known it was possible for her truck to gain that much speed. I watched her honk her horn and yell out. She sped off into another spot, angrily got out of her truck and slammed the door. She stalked past our group, not even seeming to see us. I called out her name, but she still didn't stop. The next time I had a chance to talk to her was at lunch. When I tried to apologize, she blew me off and it started another fight between us. She seemed to be off the wall that day with her emotions. I didn't think she was going to come to class, but she strolled in with only ten minutes left of class. She seemed to behave differently until I realized it was because she was high. I couldn't believe it – Isabella never struck me as the type to be involved with any kind of drugs, especially seeing as how her father was the Police Chief. The rest of the week flew by and she seemed to slowly act more like herself, but occasionally she'd still blow up over little things.
I couldn't believe that she was flaking on Alice again and this time I was involved. The previous weekend, Isabella had promised to hang out with Alice, but she refused to leave the house. Alice returned home feeling put out. Monday came around and Isabella acted like nothing was wrong and Alice decided to let it go and not mention it again. So when Alice had told Charlie earlier that it had just been a miscommunication, she'd been lying; I knew this for a fact. I had been standing next to the two of them when they'd had this conversation. Maybe Isabella hadn't been paying attention to Alice because she was high out of her mind.
I pulled up to Newton's house and groaned when I saw Jacob's pathetic, beat up car parked only a few places away from Isabella's truck.
"Well, at least we know she's here," Alice said, trying to sound optimistic.
"Sure. Time to play babysitter," I muttered. "There is absolutely no where to park. This is ridiculous."
"Its just because we're fashionably late. Go park around the corner," Alice replied.
We met up with Emmett and Rosalie just outside the front door. Alice said she wanted to find Isabella as we walked inside as Jasper decided he wanted to get some beer.
"Fine. Edward will go with me," Alice said, volunteering me without even asking me first. "Get me some, will you?"
Jasper bobbed his head and walked away with Emmett and Rosalie. Alice and I didn't have to search for too long to find Isabella. She was with Jacob and a few of his friends, drinking some sort of alcohol from her red, plastic cup. She was swaying to the music – not really dancing – with Jacob's hands resting on her hips. He was grinning like a fool, talking with his friends.
"Come on," Alice said, pulling on one of my arms.
"No, I'm not going any where near him," I responded, tugging free from her grasp and shoving my hands into my pockets.
"Be mature, Edward," she said, throwing her hip to the side and placing a hand on said hip.
"I am, Alice. I swear, if I get any closer to him, there will be a fight. And I'm not sure who will start it."
She shook her head and walked away from me, toward Isabella. I didn't want to see what would happen between her and Jacob, so I walked away as well. I found Jasper and Emmett having a chugging contest in the kitchen. There were a few other guys around them, cheering and yelling. Rosalie was making herself some girly drink. I grabbed myself a cup and poured from the keg. Taking a hesitant sip, I winced – warm beer was never a pleasant thing.
"Can't handle beer, Wardo?" Isabella's voice slurred just beside my ear.
"I can." I nodded. "This just tastes like shit."
"True, but its beer; that shit tastes nasty anyway," she said. "Hey Rose."
Rosalie smiled and offered to make Isabella a drink. I motioned to her not to put a lot of alcohol in it and she nodded in understanding.
"Sure. Looks awesome. What is it?"
"A Midori Sour. It tastes like a fucking popsicle," Rosalie said, handing back her cup.
Isabella moaned after taking a sip. "That shit is fuckawesome. Thanks, Rose."
I watched Isabella walk back and wondered where Alice went. A few guys would stop me to chat and a bunch of drunk girls threw themselves at me while I walked around the house. I still couldn't find Alice so I walked out to the backyard. I immediately found her and Jasper talking, so I pulled up a chair. Jasper pulled out a pack of cigarettes, pulling one out for himself. He offered to both Alice and myself, and only I took one. I took a deep and long drag once it was lit and let myself exhale with a sigh.
"What's up, man? You seem kind of stressed out."
I looked at him questioningly and he shook his head, muttering, "You never smoke unless you're stressed. Just something I noticed a while ago."
"Nope, man. I'm good," I said, taking another drag and looked at my sister. "You okay, Al?"
She shrugged, so I poked her arm. She looked back up at me and I stared her down.
"Fine," she sighed in defeat. "Something about Isabella seems off again. I just wish I knew what was wrong with her."
I laughed and shook my head. "Don't worry about her, Al. She's just high."
"High?" She repeated, doubtfully. So apparently, I wasn't the only one that thought Isabella wasn't the type to do drugs.
"Yeah. You know, smoke a little weed. Some ganja, hash, bud…"
"I know what you meant. Just… really? Are you sure?"
"Yeah. I'm positive. She basically told me she was the other day. She apparently thinks it's hilarious to call me 'Wardo' when she's high," I muttered, flicking my cigarette.
"It is sort of funny, Wardo," Alice giggled a little as Jasper grinned.
"Come on, Al. Not you too," I groaned.
"Don't worry, baby brother. I won't use her affectionate term again."
"Good. You better not."
"But I will," Jasper laughed.
I rolled my eyes and stood up as I put the cigarette butt out. "I'm going back inside. See you guys later."
"Hey, Cullen," Tyler yelled at me. "Come on over here!"
I finished filling up my cup with more warm beer, before I turned to find Tyler Crowley with an Xbox controller in his hand.
"Play a game with us."
I looked around quickly, not seeing Isabella. I nodded as I wondered where she had been for the last hour – probably puking in a toilet from being too drunk. I'd play one game and then I'd look for her. I stopped in my tracks when I saw Jacob.
"Come on, dude. Stop being such a pussy."
Jacob looked over at me, staring for a minute before looking away. I walked forward and sat as far away from him as possible. The game started and I got into it. So far into it, that three games had gone by before Alice stepped into my vision.
"Alice! Move. I've almost got him."
Still she didn't move, and I ended up being shot. The other guys whooped and yelled as I groaned, dropping my arms in defeat. Then I looked up to see a panicked look on her face.
"'Kay. I'm done, guys. See ya later," I said, handing the controller off.
I followed Alice out of the room and up the stairs, with Jasper trailing behind in suit. I asked what was going on and she muttered under her breath about Isabella, completely frazzled. At the top of the stairs, Newton and another kid from our school stood outside a bedroom door, like they were standing guard.
"What're you guys doing up here?" Newton asked in anger.
I glanced at Alice and I just knew something was wrong – it was our twin connection.
"I could be asking the same thing about you, Newton," I replied.
"This is my house, dumbass."
Alice tugged at my arm, like a little child does to her father while pleading for a toy. I looked down at her before bringing my gaze back to Newton.
"Have you seen Isabella? We've been looking for her everywhere. Alice thought she saw her come upstairs."
Immediately, he shook his head and shifted his eyes uncomfortably.
"What's behind the door, Newton?"
"Its my bedroom, Cullen. Who do you think you are? The police?"
"No, but I'm pretty sure Isabella's in your room, and she's the Chief of Police's daughter."
He said nothing, so I moved forward and shoved him out of the way. I threw the door open and I heard Alice gasp in shock. Isabella was sprawled on the floor, seeming to be barely conscious. I quickly made my way over to her and knelt down on my knees.
"Isabella?" I asked, shaking her lightly.
She was mumbling incoherently and her eyes were moving around, seeming out of focus. I knew she was drunk, but she appeared to have some kind of drugs in her system.
"Isabella? Do you know what happened to you? What did you take?"
I couldn't get a response from her so I started to pull her up into a sitting position.
"Alice, go and get the car. Bring it around for me. We've got to get her out of here."
She nodded and ran out with my keys in hand. Jasper immediately got on the phone with Emmett and told her what was happening as I got Isabella to stand, leaning against me. She wrapped her arms around my neck loosely before jumping onto me. I caught her in surprise, stumbling forward from the unexpected weight. She locked her legs around my waist as I held onto her. I saw Jasper looking over at me with as much surprise as I felt, but I shook my head at him. We didn't have time for this. I took a few steps forward, but halted when Isabella ground her hips against mine and moaned loudly. I clenched my teeth together, pausing as my dick stiffened. I readjusted her and continued out of the bedroom and down the stairs. Emmett and Rosalie were waiting at the foot of the stairs for us. They had shock written all over their faces, but I continued to walk straight through the opened door.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing, Cullen?"
I faltered when I heard Jacob's voice, but shook my head, ignoring him. There was no time to deal with him. I didn't know what exactly was going on with Isabella and I couldn't bother myself over Jacob.
"Where the fuck do you think you're going with her? Stop right now."
"Fuck you, asshole," I called over my shoulder.
He grabbed my shoulder, forcing me to face him and almost caused me to drop Isabella.
"You're seriously going to try to fight with me while I'm holding her, you douche bag?"
"No. You're going to give her to me."
"Fuck that. She needs help."
"I'll fucking help her. Put her down. Now!"
I shook my head, disbelievingly. "Yeah. I'm sure you'll help her. You've already gotten her into this position. How much worse can she get with you? Fuck off."
When Jacob tried to pull Isabella out of my arms, Emmett grabbed him by the scruff of his neck. Jacob tried to hit Emmett, but couldn't get a good punch in. In response, Emmett pulled back his fist before it shot forward and connected with Jacob's nose, bringing him to the ground. I ran over to the car and set Isabella gently into the backseat with Alice and climbed into the drivers seat. Jasper told me he'd catch a ride home with Emmett and Rosalie so I left, my tires squealing as I peeled out.
Alice held Isabella, telling her we were taking her to the hospital, when she started sobbing and fighting us. She pleaded with us not to take her there. I glanced in the rearview mirror, making eye contact with Alice as she comforted Isabella, telling her that we wouldn't take her there. Then she told me to take us home.
I pulled the car into the driveway and threw it into park. I got out and Alice helped me extract Isabella from the backseat. I prayed to myself that Isabella would keep quiet while I tried to sneak her upstairs. Alice was going to distract our parents while I did this and once I deposited Isabella upstairs, I would go back downstairs to say goodnight so as not to raise any suspicions.
Thankfully, she was quiet as I made it up the stairs. She was still muttering incoherently, occasionally drifting in and out of consciousness. I didn't know what to do. I didn't know if I should involve my dad or not. I was panicking and decided to just try to keep her awake as long as possible. Through all my efforts to keep her awake, I was failing and about to give up.
"Let's put her in the shower, Edward. Maybe that will help," Alice suggested.
So that's what we did. Alice helped me get her into the steaming hot shower. I climbed in with her, both of us fully clothed. It only took a second for her eyes to pop open extremely wide. She looked around, still seeming to be in a high, but she was alert and that was something.
"Wardo," she smiled. "We're getting all wet."
"Yeah," I muttered, holding her up against me for support. "That's because we're in the shower."
If possible, her eyes grew wider. "Where are we?"
"At my house."
"Edward, I'll be right back. I'm gonna get some clothes for Isabella to change into when you guys get out," Alice said.
"Sure," I replied.
Isabella looked around for Alice, but she had already left. "Why are we at your house?"
"Because I didn't know where else to go with you. We wanted to take you to the hospital, but you freaked out. Then we remembered your dad mentioned that you told him you were staying the night with Alice."
She nodded, dropping her head to my shoulder. She sighed loudly, going limp against me.
"Hey. Hey! Stay awake," I said, trying to shake her.
"I am," she mumbled into my neck. "I'm so tired though."
"Isabella? Do you know what you took earlier?"
She didn't respond for a minute.
"Isabe–"
I stopped immediately, freezing in place. Isabella's lips were currently trailing up my neck to my jaw and I was powerless to stop her. It felt so good, so unbelievably good. I needed her to stop, but I couldn't. Then Alice walked in and I pushed her away.
"What did you take earlier?" I repeated.
"I don't know… I feel like shit. Can't I go to sleep? Please?"
"Not right now. Do you know if someone gave you any drugs tonight?"
She shook her head as she began to sob against my chest. "Wardo? Please… I hate this fucking place. Can't we go away? Far away? I just want you to take me away…"
I looked over at Alice, feeling helpless. She shrugged, looking just as helpless as I felt.
"Come on, Isabella. Let's get out. The water's starting to get cold," I said, scooping her up into my arms once again. I didn't need a repeat action of earlier.
"No! I don't want to! Don't make me!"
I shushed her, trying to keep her quiet so my parents didn't hear her.
"We need to get you into some dry clothes. Then you can lay down. Alice is going to help you change."
"No!" She pleaded with me.
I sat her down on the floor of the bathroom, promising her again that she could go to sleep after Alice got her changed into some warm pajamas before I left the room. Within a few minutes, Alice opened the door and called out to me shakily. I walked back in and Alice's face was pale. I asked her what was wrong, but she shook her head, saying she'd tell me later. I looked at her curiously as I picked Isabella up. I brought her over to my bed and laid her down. I pulled the covers over her and went to move away when she grabbed my hand.
"Please don't leave me," she begged.
I swallowed the lump in my throat, looking to Alice before nodding. I motioned for Alice to lie down on one side of Isabella, while I laid on the other. I didn't feel comfortable enough to be here alone with her, especially after her kissing my neck in the shower earlier.
Alice and I watched over Isabella the entire night. She fell asleep quickly. After fifteen minutes, I though she had woken back up, but I found she was actually just talking in her sleep. She kept saying my name, occasionally with this grief-stricken tone. I would shush her and whisper soothing things into her ear until she quieted down. She woke up once, covered in a cold sweat, panting and gasping for air. She was having a nightmare, but after realizing it was only that, she fell back to sleep. I talked quietly with Alice most of the night, though she wouldn't tell me what happened while she was in the bathroom with Isabella.
Around five in the morning, we decided it was safe to go to sleep. And as I was almost out for the count, Isabella's voice broke through my drifting thoughts. She mumbled my name before sighing 'love you'. My eyes snapped open, and I stared at her in disbelief. Her admission, whether it was real or just my imagination, pulled at my heart. I knew I felt some attraction to her, but I didn't think my feelings were as strong as they were now, especially after only a month and a half. I should have known there was something there with how I was always going out of my way to make sure she was safe. I sighed, before lying back down and closing my eyes. I really needed to get some sleep.
