I did a number on you. But, honestly, baby, who's counting? You did a number on me. But, honestly, baby, who's counting? One, two, three. ~ Taylor Swift, So It Goes…
..Sick..
I needed to get back to Chicago, but there was no way I was letting Bella visit her parents, her mother specifically, alone. Not after everything I had heard about her.
We were in Washington, on our way to the tiny town of Forks for a few days. After our visit, Bella would be coming back to Chicago with me. She would have to work, and I knew she would have to travel for it, but there was part of me that wanted Chicago to be her new home. Her permanent home.
"Thank you," Bella whispered from the passenger's seat.
"For what?"
"For never giving up on me." Never, baby.
I pulled her hand up to my lips and placed a gentle kiss on her knuckles. Everyday my resolve got clearer. Everyday I realized how important she was to me, and I was never letting go.
I continued driving down the wet, winding road. I had never formally met a girlfriend's parents, but I wasn't nervous. Her father was a former cop, there was a chance he would recognize my name, but if that was the case I would deal with it. There was no good that would come from overanalyzing the situation.
Bella gave me directions as we entered town and we were soon parked outside of a modest, two-story home. It was dark out, but from what I could see it was a good sized home for just two people.
"It's a lovely house," I told Bella as I grabbed our luggage out of the trunk.
"Thank you," she replied, yawning as she leaned against the car and watched me. It was an odd response, considering it was her parent's home. "I bought it."
"You bought your parents a house?"
"I bought them a new place and paid off all of their debt, including my sister's collage loans."
That frustrated me. Bella shouldn't have been responsible for any of that. It wasn't her job to take care of her parents, she shouldn't have had to pay off her sister's fucking debt. My opinion on Charlie and Renee Swan had just gone down exponentially.
"Bells!"
A man exited the dimly lit home and shuffled over to Bella. They hugged for a minute and I locked up the car.
"Dad, this is my boyfriend. Edward Cullen," Bella said, a nervous smile on her lips.
I held a hand out. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Swan."
"You taking care of my little girl?" he asked, squeezing my hand with a good amount of force. The sign of a strong man. My grip was stronger.
"As best I can," I told him, because I didn't have a great track record with taking care of her.
My answer must have appeased him. "Let's get you two inside, you must be exhausted."
Charlie helped with the luggage and we set it near a staircase next to the kitchen. The home was comforting, I supposed. If you liked fish. There were plaques hanging around with fish mounted to them, and I noticed a mantle with pictures in the living room. I would need a closer look at those later.
"Where's mom?" Bella asked.
"She fell asleep a while ago. She'll be excited to see you in the morning, Bells."
Charlie may have earned a little more respect with his obvious worry over his daughter, but what mother didn't even stay up to see her daughter after months apart? After she nearly fucking died?
"I think we're just going to head to bed. Thanks for waiting up, dad." Bella gave her father another hug and I carried both suitcases up the stairs.
"Well, uh, goodnight," Charlie mumbled. He seemed like he wanted to say something but decided against it.
"Should I sleep – "
"You should sleep here. I bought the house, they're hardly in a position to say you can't sleep in my room. Which, isn't technically my room. My mother loves to call it the guest room."
Renee had too many checks against her. She would never earn my respect. Charlie still had some hope.
I closed the door to the room and looked around. I had been hoping for a glimpse into Bella's life, but she was right. This wasn't her room. There were no school pictures or diaries. This wasn't the room she grew up in, this room had nothing to do with her.
Even my parents brought my childhood memories with them when they moved.
Bella fell into bed but then grumbled about needing a shower. This girl and her showers… she had a bit of an OCD thing when it came to showering before bed. No matter how tired she was, she couldn't go to sleep if she hadn't washed the day away in the shower.
I lifted her over my shoulder and took her to the adjoining bathroom. I set her on the counter and stared unabashedly at her. How anyone could see this woman as anything less than extraordinary was beyond me. Any other parent in the world would have a room dedicated to her. Her success, her talent, her heart. Something didn't fit.
Bella's blush made me smile while she lifted my shirt over my head. After her mandatory shower I tucked her into bed next to me. I kept my arms around her all night, hoping they could hold her together for the next two days we were here.
Bella had a number of tells that let me know when she was nervous or anxious. She picked at her nails and bit her lip. Those were the most obvious. Her eyes also got a little unfocused, like she was lost in her head and not really aware of what was going on around her.
She was doing all three as she sat on the bed the next morning.
"You shouldn't be so nervous in your own home," I told her, rolling up the sleeves of my shirt.
She shrugged. "It's not really mine."
It was. But I didn't fight her on it.
Downstairs, her parents were in the kitchen cooking. They seemed like a normal, happy couple. Renee was the complete opposite of Bella, appearance wise. She was tall, her hair shades lighter, and her eyes a dull blue. Bella looked more like Charlie, but it seemed she had none of Renee in her at all.
"Hey, you two. You sleep okay?" Charlie asked, eying me. I knew his question. No, I didn't fuck your daughter while you were down the hall.
I hadn't touched her in weeks, actually. Not since we were on the island.
"Yes, thank you," I told Charlie.
Renee hadn't looked up once. Not when we walked into the room, not when Charlie greeted us.
"Mom, this is my boyfriend, Edward," Bella said. The longing in her voice was clear. Every child wants their parents' approval and attention, and Bella was no different. She just wanted her mother to fucking greet her.
Renee finally looked up, but only at me. "It's nice to meet you, Edward."
Bitch.
I nodded in her direction but didn't acknowledge her otherwise.
"So, where did you guys travel?" Charlie asked as we sat down. I kept my eyes on Renee and the slight eye roll she gave as Charlie talked.
"We spent a lot of time on a private island. It was beautiful," Bella said, starting a conversation with her father about our travels. He seemed genuinely interested in what she was saying, but I focused on her mother. The indifference was coming off of her in waves.
Thankfully, we left after breakfast. I looked at Bella like she was crazy when she suggested a walk, but she told me no one in this town cared about her career. She was just Bella, ex-Chief Swan's daughter.
It was unbelievably enjoyable to get to walk and hold her hand. It was a shitty day, dark clouds loomed over and there was the occasional sprinkle of rain, but I had never really gotten to be with her in a normal public setting. I could get used to it.
Which was good, because I was going to marry her. I wanted my ring on her finger and my name after hers. I wanted her in the house I had been building for the past six months and I wanted to sit next to her the next time she won one of those fancy awards. I wanted everything she would give me.
Every word out of her mouth solidified the decision I never consciously made. Somewhere on our trip it was just… decided. Our future was set in my eyes, and the lack of fear was confusing. I rebelled against marriage and commitment for so long, I always expected to settle into marriage only when I needed to.
Even when I first met Bella, all I wanted was a quick release with her. But then she went and made me fall in love with her. I never fought against it. I just let her barge into my life and change everything, and I loved every fucking second of it. I loved having her toothbrush in a holder next to mine. I loved the blankets that were constantly scattered around any house she was in for longer than a day. Fuck, I just loved her.
We sat down at a table just outside of her old high school. Bella stared at the school in front of her, and I stared at Bella.
"I hated high school," she told me.
"Why?"
"I was ignored for the most part. I was too quiet to make friends."
"I can't picture you too quiet to make friends," I told her, grabbing her left hand in mine and imagining a ring on it. She was the life of the party after the Oscars earlier this year.
"We wouldn't have been friends, if we were the same age and in school together," she said with a frown.
"We would have. I'd have made sure of it. Though I wouldn't want to be just friends," I smirked.
"You probably had every cheerleader after you. You wouldn't have slummed it with me."
"Hey," I tugged her chin so Bella looked at me. "You're beautiful and smart, both traits I'm sure you still possessed in high school. Don't talk about yourself like that."
I knew this would happen. Being around her mother was making her regress, making her ashamed of herself because her mother doesn't appreciate her. This was why I didn't want her here alone.
I pulled her to her feet and pressed a kiss to her forehead.
When we got back Renee was cooking and Charlie was watching a game on television. I wanted to protest when Bella went to help her mother, but I needed a few minutes with Charlie first.
I went to the mantle I got a glimpse of the night before. There were pictures along it, but there was only one of Bella. She was with Charlie, in what appeared to be a hotel room. I recognized her dress from the night she won her first Academy Award. Charlie stood next to her, his arm around her and an ear to ear smile on his face. Bella had her award in her hand, and a matching smile.
Every other picture was Renee and Charlie with another girl. Her sister, I guessed. There were no baby pictures of Bella, no school pictures. Not a single mother daughter picture.
I went quietly to the couch opposite of Charlie and sat for a minute before I cleared my throat.
"Charlie."
"Edward."
Silence.
"I love your daughter," I told him. He nodded. "I'm going to marry her." No questions. I didn't need permission.
"Have you told her that, yet?" Ah, Bella came across her wit honestly.
"No. But I will. Soon."
"Are you asking my permission?"
"No. Even if you said no I would still marry her. I was just letting you know."
"You have it, even though you don't need it. I've never seen her this… whole. Happy."
I nodded, because what I wanted to say was that her happiness was in spite of everything his wife had done since we got here. A nod would have to do.
"I know her and her mother's relationship isn't great, but I've loved that girl from the second I set eyes on her. Don't hurt her."
His threat was clear, and I did my best not to laugh at it.
We sat down to dinner and I put a hand on Bella's thigh, giving it a squeeze. Just a little while longer, baby.
"What are you doing when you get back to Los Angeles, Bells?" Charlie asked her.
"I'm actually going to Chicago with Edward for a while."
Her mother huffed. When Bella asked what her issue was she replied with "It just took you finding a man to quit. I would've thought nearly dying would have done it."
Fucking bitch. "She's not quitting," I grunted out. "She's working on another project similar to Badlands."
"That's great," Charlie said, his eyes shifting from his wife to daughter.
"Oh, please. You've always been desperate for attention, Bella. That's why you picked up this whole acting thing. Now you have a rich boyfriend to give you attention, so you're quitting."
My fists clenched, my desire to reach for the woman's neck nearly taking over.
"You know what? Yeah, maybe part of the reason I love my job is because people pay attention to me. Lord knows I never received any from you growing up."
"You had a lovely childhood, Bella. Don't throw that in my face."
"Lovely? I had no one! You and Jane were always off together while Charlie was at work and I was all alone."
"It was better than what it could have been! You should be grateful we took you in!"
Grateful we took you in.
"Fuck," I muttered to myself.
She wasn't theirs.
"Renee! That's enough!"
"No, what does she mean? Took me in?" Bella asked her father. The man who was supposed to be her father. Her voice was so small and scared.
"When I was patrolling one night, I found you. You were just a few hours old and someone had just – they left you in a trash can in the park.
"We never found your parents. We agreed to foster you for a while, but I couldn't let you get tossed in the system. I knew what happened to kids there."
Charlie had the decency to look remorseful for the lies, but Renee just sat there and glared.
"You're… not my parents."
"Biologically, no."
"I've spent my whole life trying to be good enough for you. I bought you this goddamn house, paid off all of your debt, I deposit $300,000 into your bank accounts every year. But, no matter what I did, you always hated me. I fucked up your perfect little family, huh? A literal piece of trash you had to bring in and take care of."
She had been taking care of her family since she was seventeen. No wonder she seemed so much older than twenty when I met her.
Charlie reached across the table for her, but she flinched away. "Don't fucking touch me," she shouted. She stood from the table and I followed immediately. "We need to go," she told me.
Bella made it to her room and started throwing things into her bag. She started shaking and I knew she was about to lose it. I pulled her into me. "Just a few more minutes. Just keep it together for a few more minutes and then we're gone."
She took three deep breaths and then nodded. With our bags in my hands and Bella right behind me, we went downstairs. Renee and Charlie were both by the door. Renee had a selfish smile on her face and Charlie looked ashamed. He was standing in front of the door, like he wouldn't let her go.
"Move," I said. It was all it took to get him to step out of the way.
Bella got into the passenger seat as I put the luggage away. I opened the door to get in but shut it again. I went back to the house. Charlie and Renee were still by the door.
I looked at Renee, because she was the one I truly had concerns about. "If I ever hear of you trying to get in contact with her… if you start spreading rumors about her or if you go public to get your five minutes of fame, I will fucking end you. Do you understand?"
Her eyes went wide, but she nodded.
"She's…" I shook my head because there were no words good enough to describe her. "She's talented and kind and good. Even if she wasn't yours, you lucked out having her in your life." I copied Bella's technique and took a few deep breaths, keeping in the more vulgar threats I wanted to shout at her. "Leave her alone."
I looked at Charlie next. "Just give her time," I told him.
Hours later, when we were finally in a hotel suite in Seattle, I was still fuming. I set our bags down and Bella walked over to the bed. She just sat there and stared at the wall.
It was so easy to forget she was just twenty-one. She should be in collage, going to parties and figuring out who she wanted to be. Someone so young shouldn't be so sad.
I knelt in front of her and put my hands gently on her knees. I didn't know what to say to her, didn't know if there was anything I could say, really.
"I don't have anyone," she whispered.
"You've got me. You'll always have me," I said. I rubbed along her legs because she started to shiver.
Bella leaned down and kissed me. I let her use me as a distraction for a few moments, but I pulled away when she slid off the bed and into my lap. "Bella, we should talk – "
"No, please. We can talk later. Right now, I just, I need to know you love me."
Because I was helpless against her, I gave in. With her naked and vulnerable underneath me I helped her lose herself, just for the night. I told her with every move I made how much I loved her, how I would never leave her.
..Sick..
We got back to Chicago last night. I had an odd sense of urgency the second we walked into the penthouse. I had a lot of shit to get done and I wanted to get to it. I woke at four the next morning and shifted Bella aside as she slept on my chest.
I made a mental list of things I had to do today as I showered. The most important being meet with Carlisle. He and Esme didn't know I was back, and I was equally dreading and looking forward to the discussion. Dreading it because Esme would be upset she wasn't my first call as soon as the plane landed, and looking forward to the bullshit excuses Carlisle would give me when I asked him how things were when I was gone.
When I got out of the shower there was a beautiful brunette sitting on the bathroom counter, two cups of coffee next to her. I didn't miss the way she eyed my cock before I wrapped a towel around my waist.
"You should be asleep," I told her, giving her a quick kiss as she handed me a cup. She hadn't slept well in the days that followed her blow up with Charlie and Renee.
"Couldn't."
"Well, I do have a few things to talk to you about."
"Oh?"
"You're going to have two of my men with you at all times. They'll give you your space when needed, but they'll always be there. Ben and Eric. You might remember –"
"Ben. He was there."
There. When she got shot. He carried her to the ambulance.
"Yes. They've been with us for a decade. I wouldn't trust you with anyone else," I squeezed her thigh, because it was right next to the sink as I shaved and because I wanted to.
"If you ever think you see anyone suspicious, don't second guess yourself. Tell me, or Ben or Eric if I'm not with you."
Bella nodded. "Okay."
"I don't know when I'll be back tonight," I told her as I dried my face. I went and stood between her legs and pulled so she wrapped them around me. "Will you be okay?"
She rolled her eyes. "I do know how to take care of myself. I've got some work to do, I'll probably stay in all day. No need to worry about me."
There was something else though. Something she wasn't telling me. I stared her down until she cracked.
"Will you be okay? Safe, I mean."
I smoothed the frown between her brows with my thumb. "Yes. Please don't worry about me."
Her small hands gripped my hair and pulled me to her. I wanted nothing more than to continue the kiss with her in much less clothing, but I had to go.
As I walked through the lobby of my office everyone stared at me like I had risen from the dead. Emmett was standing in the doorway of my office.
"We've got a lot of shit to discuss," he said.
"Yes, we do."
..Sick..
Chicago was a mess. Criminal activity usually ran smoothly throughout the city, we made sure of it. There wasn't a drug ring or prostitute that we didn't know about. That was before, though.
Now, Carlisle has let everything go to shit. It was my job to fix it, even though he was still, technically, in charge. It wouldn't be for long though. Another couple of months and he would step down. He had to see the stupid shit he had been doing.
I hadn't really talked to Bella in days. I saw her before bed sometimes, but she was usually asleep by the time I got home. I couldn't blame her, it was usually two or three in the morning.
I knew she had started working on her album, but I didn't know anything else. So I set up some alert on my phone that would go off when there was any news regarding Isabella Swan. I wasn't above stalking my girl, just so I knew what was going on.
I got one of those alerts tonight.
Isabella Swan Signs $20 Million Dollar Contract with Dior
That was shit I should already know, so I shut down my computer and went home, hoping I could catch her before she fell asleep. It was only eleven-thirty, so I had a chance of catching her awake.
When I got home I found Bella brushing her teeth at the sink. Her eyes lit up when she saw me, making me feel guilty for leaving her alone so often. She never complained, though. Not once.
She rinsed her mouth and then met me in the bedroom. She straddled my lap as I sat on the bed and gave me a minty fresh kiss.
"Is there something you'd like to tell me?" I asked her as we caught our breath.
Her brows furrowed and she looked sufficiently confused. "Um, I don't know. Is there?"
"How about the twenty-million-dollar contract you just signed?"
"Oh, that's no big deal," Bella shrugged.
"It seems like a big deal to me. Why didn't you tell me about it?"
"You're busy. You don't need me distracting you with things like a Dior contract."
"I know I haven't been around much, but I do still want to know what's going on with you, Bella."
She gave me a little smirk and a kiss on my cheek. "We were about to come to a deal… before. Heidi stalled it until I was ready to comeback. It's pretty simple, really. I wear their dresses to any events I go to, and I do a few photoshoots."
"For twenty-million-dollars?" I asked.
"You don't think I'm worth twenty-million-dollars?" she responded, a look of shock and hurt on her face. Fuck.
Then she laughed. "It is a ridiculous amount of money. It's all about status and exposure."
Later, when we were lying in bed I decided to ask what I had been wondering since I saw the news alert. "How much money do you have?"
"Not as much as you," she smirked. She was in a playful mood tonight.
I smiled, because there were few people who had as much money as me.
"I don't have an exact number. I have accountants that deal with it." Ah, now the modesty. I did a little research before I left work and saw that Bella had been the highest paid actress in the world, two years in a row. "And since I haven't been allowed to pay for anything in nearly six months I'm fairly comfortable, financially."
Thankfully, after a few weeks on vacation she stopped trying to pay for things. It infuriated me to no end when she tried to sneak around and pay for a hotel room or our dinner. That was my job.
I stayed silent, because she still hadn't given me a number. It didn't matter, whatever it was. I was simply curious.
"If I had to estimate... I don't know, maybe around… $200 million?"
Damn. That was more than I was expecting.
"I showed you mine, you show me yours," Bella said, raising an eyebrow at me.
"Close to a billion, including all of my assets," I told her. I had no qualms talking about my money.
"Jesus," Bella muttered. "You should be buying me things more often, then."
She was joking, but I did go out and buy her a diamond necklace the next day. Just because.
A/N: I wasn't expecting how much fun it was going to be to go through this story in Edward's point of view. I hope you're all enjoying it as much as I am!
As always, thank you to everyone who reviews. I love hearing your thoughts!
