Yet another Chapter! This one is a little shorter, but don't worry, I don't think I am done yet tonight. I did three chapters last night, so I am likely to do the same tonight! Please R&R! Also, I want to thank anyone who I haven't personally gotten in touch with in response to your reviews. If I haven't, it's because you posted as a guest, and I literally could not, but to those of you who did, Thank you so much! I appreciate the support, and I appreciate your comments and thoughts very much so!
Disclaimer: SM owns everything
Chapter 7: The Gang
BPOV
The four people sitting in the living room looked up at us the moment we walked in. Jasper sat there holding the small girl with short spiky black hair I had seen him with a few times at school. She was short, with large green eyes, and light skin and a slight build. I was guessing she was Alice, because her eye color was so similar to his. Across from her sat two people, one a large man with curly brown hair and dimples, and baby blue eyes, with his muscular arm wrapped around a woman with ice blue eyes, long blonde hair, and a curvaceous figure any woman would die for.
"Hey guys, this is Bella." Edward said awkwardly, shoving his hands in his pocket.
"Welcome back, Bells." Jasper said with a warm grin, as the tiny girl next to him stood up and danced over to me.
"Hey! I'm Alice, and that's Emmett, and Rosalie" she said pointing to the other two. "I guess you already know Jazzy!" She said with a grin.
Rosalie had yet to say a word, but continued assessing me.
"Come sit down with us! We were about to order pizza! What kind do you like?" Alice asked, practically vibrating with excitement.
"Um… Any kind is good." I said, a little overwhelmed. I honestly didn't know if I could stomach it, but I knew I needed to try to eat something.
Edward put his hand on the small of my back and led me over to one of the couches, sitting down next to me. I felt my cheeks heat up from the intimate touch, but immediately felt calm. It was weird, no one had ever had that effect on me before.
Rosalie continued watching me, a slight scowl on her face.
"So, Bella! How do you know Eddie here?" Emmett asked, a grin on his face.
"Biology class." I said.
Rosalie snorted a little bit. "More like probably one of the tramps he's fucking." She muttered. Suddenly everyone went quiet, clearly uncomfortable. I felt my face heat up as I suppressed my anger.
"Actually, no. But thanks. I would appreciate it if you didn't judge me when I haven't said two words to you yet." I said, trying to keep the bite in my tone minimal.
"Whatever." Rosalie said before getting up and walking away.
"Sorry about her. She is just a little moody lately." Emmett said, clearly embarrassed.
"Nah, she's just a bitch. She'll warm up to you though." Alice said, forcing a smile.
"Okay." I said, not sure of what else I could say to that.
After a few minutes of awkward silence, Emmett looks up at me.
"Hey, do you like videogames?" he asked me.
"I don't know. I have never played them before." I answered honestly.
"Oh. Do you want to try?" Emmett asked.
I glanced over at Edward, who just shrugged.
"Sure."
Alice hopped up and down. "I'm in too! Then after, I want to steal Bella. Your hair is soo pretty, I would love to do something with it!"
I gulped a little. I wasn't sure I liked that idea, but she seemed nice enough, and I didn't want to disappoint her. "Um sure..?"
Emmett went over to the huge TV on the wall, and hooked up some game system to it, before putting a game in it. We all joined him, and sat around the TV.
"Jasper and I will play the first game, so you can see how its done, then You and Edward can play, then winner plays Alice, and so on." He grins.
I nod, and watch the TV as they start shooting things. I feel a little uncomfortable when I see all the blood in the game, but am able to ignore the feeling.
"Emmett, you are going down, my man." Jasper taunts as he shoots up a bunch of Emmett's army guys.
"Keep talkin' bro. Not gonna happen." Emmett grins.
At the end, Jasper comes out the winner, and he grins, handing me his controller, as Emmett sulks. "Next time, you will be beggin' me to go easy." He says to Jasper as he tosses Edward his controller.
It takes me a few minutes to get accustom to the controls, but after awhile, I am killing things. As much as I didn't love violence, for obvious reasons, this game was fun as hell.
Edward was grinning too as he played. He was definitely winning, but it was also my first time. I even let out an excited 'whoop' when I managed to kill his character. He still won, but we were a lot closer in score than I thought we would be.
I handed my controller over to Alice, and she grinned, prancing over to sit on Jasper's lap. Her and Edward fought it out, but it was clear that Alice was better, and she creamed him by the end.
"Ha Ha, Eddie, you still can't take me." She grins.
"Don't call me Eddie." He said, shaking his head with a slight grin.
After a few more games, Alice announced to the guys that she was kidnapping me. I gave Edward a "save me" kind of look, but he just shook his head, suppressing a grin.
"Oh my god, I can do like.. sooo much. You're hair is so pretty, but I also think you would look really nice with some make up! Oh! And I even have some clothes I think would look fantastic on you!" she said, looking at my outfit in disapproval.
"Um… sure?" I said, feeling even more unsure.
As soon as we got into her room, she forced me into a chair in front of a vanity.
"So, what's up with you and Edward?"
"What do you mean?" I inquired.
"Like, are you with him? Do you like him?"
"Well… umm.. I don't know him that well yet. He's nice sometimes." I answered honestly.
"He can be nice, when he isn't too busy being a brooding killjoy." She chirps.
I laughed a little. "That sounds like him. But I don't know… Him and Jasper are the first friends I have made in.. a long time." I said quietly.
"Why? I think you're really nice! I don't understand why you would have any trouble making friends!" She says, genuinely shocked.
"Well… people I guess just don't like me that much." I shrug.
"Well, I think we are going to be good friends. I can tell." She said, winking at me, before attacking my hair with a brush.
After she finishes with my hair, its down still, but all curly and super shiny. She put on a little makeup, but not much, because I asked her not to put on a lot. She wanted me to wear a tank top and skirt of hers, but I vetoed it. It would show too much.
"Pizza!" I heard from downstairs.
"Let's go!" Alice grins as she grabs my hand, and pulls me downstairs. I grimace a little at the pain, but hold it in, since she grabbed the one with the broken wrist.
When we get back downstairs, I am assaulted by the smell of melted cheese, meat, tomatoes and bread. I nearly groan from the pleasure of it. I hadn't had pizza in years.
We all grab a slice, and go to sit in the living room. Edward stops chewing the bite he had already started the moment I walk in, and just stares at me for a moment.
Alice grins like an idiot at me, and raises her eyebrows. I just shake my head, because I know what she is thinking. He is probably just surprised that I look somewhat normal.
Jasper looks at me and grins. "You look nice." He said, and Emmett nods his approval through a mouthful of pizza. Rosalie is back in the room, but doesn't acknowledge me. I can accept that.
Alice looks at Edward again. "Eddie, doesn't Bella look really really pretty?" She says, and I feel my face heat up. I kind of wanted to kill the pixie.
"Erm.. uh.." He looks very uncomfortable as he avoids looking at me. "Yeah, she looks good."
Alice grins, before sitting down next to Jasper, leaving only the seat next to Edward free again.
I awkwardly shuffle over, and sit down beside him, nibbling on my own pizza. As we eat, Edward keeps glancing over at me when he thinks I am not paying attention.
"So, Bella, what's your phone number?" Alice asks.
"Um.. I don't really have one." I mutter.
"Really? Everyone has a phone."
"Not me." I shrug uncomfortably.
"Oh… well! You should come sleep over this weekend! We can go shopping! It will be loads of fun!" she says, bouncing up and down like a five year old on too much sugar.
"Sure, that sounds fun." I say, fighting the grimace. I hated shopping, and I didn't have money for it anyway. I nearly laughed at the idea of asking Charlie for money.
"You should finish your pizza." Edward says from beside me, eyeing my barely eaten pizza.
"Oh right." I said, as I forced it down. It was delicious, and incredible, but my stomach was turning already.
I managed to force the rest of the slice down, and then another at Edward's insistence. I figured it was just because I was skinny.
"Alright! Movie Time!" Emmett shouts, grinning.
"I want The Notebook!" Alice chirps.
"Ew, no." Emmett said.
Alice pouts at that, then Jasper gets up, and pulls a blue ray off of a shelf. "Boondock Saints anyone?"
Alice grins a little. "That'll do."
"Hell yeah!" Emmett grins, and Rosalie slaps his arm, hiding her own smile. So the ice queen is capable of smiling.
Edward grins a little too, and nods. "Good movie."
They all looked at me then to get my opinion. I blushed again, and shrugged. "Haven't seen it, but it sounds good." I said.
Emmett gawked at me, and ran over, grabbing my arms. "How could you not have seen it?!" he yells in mock terror. I couldn't focus on that, because all of a sudden, all I could feel was a cold sweat forming on my brow, and a tightness in my chest. It was suddenly hard to breathe, and I started seeing flashbacks of the last week.
Charlie on top of me, I am tied down and defenseless as he hits me over and over again. It's cold, so fucking cold, and then even colder when he rips down my pants and…
"Bella! Snap out of it!" I heard, and I opened my eyes, realizing I was on the floor, with everyone staring at me like they had seen a ghost, and Edward cradling the top half of my body, like he had caught me. His eyes bored into me, his eyebrows furrowed.
"What..?" I shook my head, trying to clear the confusion. Suddenly, I had to vomit, I got up as quick as I could, and bolted from the room, searching for the nearest bathroom. Luckily, I found one right off of the kitchen, just in time for me to spill the contents of my stomach into the toilet.
I collapsed onto the floor, leaning my head on the seat tiredly.
A moment later, Edward came in, since I left the door wide open.
"What happened back there?" He asked, trying to keep his voice calm.
I felt so drained that I just gave a half shrug. "I'm not sure." I answered honestly.
"Do you need to go home?" he asked, leaning against the wall.
I shook my head.
He watches me for a minute before he comes over cautiously, and helps me up. I sway a little, but gain my balance.
"We're going up to my room." He said.
"Alright." I said tiredly.
We made our way towards the stairs. When we passed the living room, I could feel everyone's eyes on me, and my cheeks burned with shame. I wasn't sure what just happened, but it was humiliating.
We made it up to his room, and he pointed to his bed. "Go."
I sat down on his bed, pulling my shoes off, and bringing my knees to my chest.
"What really happened?" He asked, pacing the room back and forth, running his hands through his hair.
"I really don't know."
"Describe it."
"I—I'm not sure. Just when he grabbed me like that… I just felt like I couldn't breathe, and I started seeing things… and then I was on the ground."
"What did you see?" He said, turning his penetrating gaze directly to mine, watching me closely.
"I don't remember." I lied, looking uncomfortable.
"Bella—"
"Please. Not right now. I can't talk about it, okay?" I pleaded.
He runs a hand through his hair again, and starts pacing, looking pissed.
"I'm sorry." I said, staring at the ground. "I can leave if you want."
He sighs, and pinches the bridge of his nose, still not looking at me. "You're not going anywhere. Not right now. I get why you don't want to tell me. We all have our secrets, and you don't know me that well." He says, looking like he is trying to calm himself down.
"it's not that I don't trust you, Edward. I just can't tell you. I can't tell anyone. Honestly, I don't even want to think about it, so can we please drop it?"
He paces a few more minutes, then sighs. "Fine. We can drop it for now."
"Thank you." I said, resting my head on my knees.
"You should get some rest." He said, as he heads towards the bathroom.
"Sure." I say, knowing full well I will not be even attempting to sleep. I knew I needed it, but I wasn't going to even try near him, just to give him more ammunition, or clues.
He comes out of the bathroom a few minutes later, looking a bit calmer, and sniffling a bit, wiping his nose.
"I am going to go downstairs and let them know you're okay. Get some sleep. If you need anything, you know where to find me." He said as he left.
After the door closed, I got up, and pulled "Wuthering Heights" off of his bookshelf, since Pride and Prejudice was in my backpack in his car.
I curled up under his blankets, since I was freezing again, and spent the next few hours reading. Every time I heard someone come near his room, I put the book down, and pretended to sleep, so I wouldn't worry anyone more.
He came in to check on me a few times, but left right after to go back downstairs.
He didn't come up to stay until well into the night, when he laid down on his sofa, and turned out the lights, going to sleep. I curled up, and spent the rest of the night trying to remember what happened in as much detail as possible after the point in the book where I had stopped, just to keep my mind occupied until morning.
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! One of my goals for this story is to include more of the other characters, since I really didn't in my last story. Please R&R! Thank you for sticking with up until this point!
