A/N SM, please don't sue me...
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Bella decided on a latté before heading home and asked the driver to pull over at Starbucks. She managed persuade him to wait for her with the promise of a drink of his choice – at her expense. He opted for coffee without milk and told her would have to keep the meter running.
As she hopped out of the passenger seat she hoped there wasn't a queue inside and made a mental note to be a bit more frugal in the future.
She was back in the taxi in no time and was thankful when they turned into her road.
"Just there, thanks. The one with the yellow door."
"£18.50 please." She reached for her purse and pulled out a twenty, thanking the driver and telling him to keep the change. "Have a good day," he bid as he watched her toned backside walk away.
Approaching the door Bella noticed the flowers in the pots were starting to wilt.
When she had first seen them the day she'd first viewed the house, she had thought that it was a girls touch that kept them looking so good and had asked Alice if she watered every time she came round to see Jasper. She had laughed at her and told her that it was Edward who had green fingers and that she couldn't keep dried flowers looking good let alone living ones.
She had noticed then that Edward actually did go out first and last thing with a two-litre bottle of water every day, so she was surprised to see them looking so deprived. Despite her desire to head straight to bed, she couldn't see the flowers die so she headed for the kitchen. The sudden movement in the living room startled her and as the house had been deathly silent, she thought the guys had gone out and that she would be alone.
She let out a little squeal and then laughed at her silliness when she saw Edward. "Oh my life, you scared the living daylights out of me, I thought you'd gone out. Is Jasper with you?" Bella mind as well have held up a red flag to a bull when she mentioned Jasper.
"Jasper," he said sarcastically, "You're only interested in Jasper. How do you justify that to Alice Bella?"
"Justify what to Alice?" Bella asked feeling quite confused. Edward threw he head back and laughed, but it wasn't the type of laugh that made you want to join in, it was the kind of laugh that warned you there was something seriously wrong. Bella's confusion morphed into wariness. "Edward?" She slowly stepped forward and gently reached out to rub his arm.
"DON'T you touch me!" He snapped. It was at this time that Jasper came in. Jasper had been in the garden calling Edward's mother, hoping that she would come and get him and keep him with her until he'd worked through it so that Bella wouldn't be exposed.
He had not heard Alice when she had told him Bella was on her way over as he had been focussed on Edward and now as he saw her he was filled with dread.
"Bella?"
"Jasper, what's going on? What's Edward talking about? Why the hell is he so angry at me?" Her eyes flitted from Jaspers concerned face to Edwards' crazed face.
"DON'T go near her Jasper, this is between us two. Why are you even still here? GET OUT YOU SON OF A-" Bella flinched at his raw anger and broke out into a sob.
"Edward? What...what have I done?" She pleaded. The pain in her head from the hangover over was now second to the pain in her chest. "Please Edward; tell me what I've done."
"Bella-"Jasper started, "Just leave, I'll sort this out." He was begging her now – but it was breaking him, knowing how hurt Bella was now and how Edward would hate himself for what he was doing to her. Edward would no doubt be mad at Jasper too for allowing Bella to stay in the house with him like this. Jasper took a chance and walked towards Bella. "Go on Bella, I'll call you when things have simmered down."
Next thing he knew he was being pinned to the wall by Edward, he wasn't really hurting him but Jasper was shocked by act nonetheless. Edward was right in his face spitting phlegm with the veracity of his words. "You don't get to touch her Jasper, not anymore." Bella's sobbing had turned to virtual hysteria and she was now pulling at Edward leaning back with virtually all her body weight.
Edward's breathing that had been fast and shallow was beginning to slow and deepen. Jasper recognised the signs and hoped that Edward was starting to come down, but he remained silent and unmoving willing him with everything he had to back away. Bella also noticed the change in his demeanour and even though she had let go of him, she continued to gasp his name.
Edward's hands fell to his sides and filled with exhaustion his stepped away from his friend. Overwhelming remorse flooded his body. His limbs felt like rubber and he was left sapped of all his energy.
"Jasp-"
"Don't worry dude, I got ya." Jasper stepped forward and put his arms around him, Edward's body slumped forward into his embrace. Jasper jostled but found his footing and stood firm. Bella's sobbing had subsided to just the odd hiccup breaking out.
"Bella, please go... Edward won't want you to see this. Please." Reluctantly Bella skulked out of the room and pulled herself up the stairs. She was bewildered by what she had just seen and every muscle in her body ached from tension. The last thing she wanted to do now was to go to bed, she couldn't sit still let alone lie down.
Bella may not have understood what had happened downstairs, but she knew enough from how quickly things changed and Jasper's reactions to everything Edward had said and did, to know this hadn't been just a regular row. The defeated look in Edward's eyes and the way that Jasper had comforted him without hesitation or judgement meant that there must be more to it. Bella's mind was going over and over everything that happened since she had stepped foot through the door.
The alarm on Jasper's face when he came in from the garden and how he'd immediately told her to leave and let him sort it out. There was something missing that was keeping her from the answer and as frustrating as it was, she had a feeling she wouldn't be getting any answers soon. Grabbing a towel she headed for the shower, hoping the heat would unknot her back and clear her head.
Later that night Bella crept out of her bedroom and after listening hard tiptoed to the ground floor. She was starving and wouldn't sleep if she didn't eat. All the lights downstairs were off, but there was enough light from the night sky to enable her to see. Edward was lying across the settee, one leg propped on the arm and the other bent at the knee with his foot resting on the floor. His handsome face now calm and relaxed - not a frown line in sight as he slept.
Bella felt her heart crack and tears spring to her eyes. "What's wrong with you Edward?" she whispered into the air, "What's wrong with you?"
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A/N I'm down to six days worth of coke zero, is it safe to come out?
Let me know what you think.
Ficturesque x
