Thank you so much to Iris for working her patootie over time to get this baby out! Nic and Nin, I love you guys for all that you do! Also, PlanetBlue, I want to thank profusely for always showing me the way! And thank every single one of you guys who read this and talk to me afterward, in reviews! It's my motivation to typing!


EPOV

This bed's really soft, and it smells weird, too. My brain's sorta muddled and still asleep. I don't hear an alarm, so I don't even know why I'm awake. But right as I have that thought, there's a soft thump that sounds through the wall. It's followed by another and then lots of them in rapid succession.

I hear a groan from beside me, which makes my head fly off the pillow. I turn toward the body next to me, because I just realized I'm not in my bed or Chels' for that matter. I can't see her face, but I know Bella's buried under the rat's nest of brown hair next to me.

My eyes slide shut when memories of last night hit me like a Mack Truck. Fuck. I didn't dream it; it actually happened. I fucked Bella. We fucked… more than once. I let my head drop back to the pillow, and I hear the thumping again. This time, it's followed by a very female scream.

"What the fuck is that?" I say to myself, wondering how Bella's sleeping through the noise. Grabbing my jeans from the floor, I'm hit with another memory of what happened immediately after Bella took them off last night. And now I've got wood. I pull my jeans on, working my junk into them, and then I hear the screaming and thumping again.

It's just a matter of time before whatever the fuck that is wakes Bella, so I run outside as fast as I can. There, in the gravel drive behind my 4Runner, is Chelsea's car. The door's wide open with the engine still running, and she's hurling rocks at the side of the cabin. There are windows where she's taking aim, and it's just a matter of time before she takes one out.

"Are you fucking kidding me, Edward?!" she screeches like a banshee. "You're a motherfucking liar! You promised me ─ promised me ─ I had nothing to worry about. And where do I find you at seven o-fucking-clock on a Sunday morning, with no shirt or fucking shoes on?!" With every curse word, she stomps one foot, and her voice gets higher and more shrill as the evidence of what I did last night is put in her face. She's losing her shit right now, and I'm a little terrified.

I'm also a lot ashamed. She's absolutely right about everything. I did promise her nothing would change when Bella moved back, that I wouldn't be affected by it, and I straight-up lied to her face. I fucking hated the thought of having to share this town with Bella, but I also didn't know the whole story.

For years, I thought she willingly got rid of my baby ─ our baby ─ and didn't give me a choice in the matter. To have your hands tied like that? Yeah, I hated her. Except I didn't. I hated what I thought she'd done, and after finding out she─ what had happened, it made me look at everything differently. I still haven't figured out what any of it means, but I do know that I've fucked up.

"Chels…" My voice sounds like I'm begging, which I guess I kinda am. I have no idea what to say right now. I'm not at all surprised she showed up here, but I have to keep Bella from waking up and coming outside, because I know it'll get ugly if she does.

"We talked about marriage, Edward. Marriage!" she shrieks. I want to correct her, because technically, she talked about it; I just didn't disagree. But now isn't the time. Her eyes are swimming in tears, and I feel like I've been gut-checked, because I did that... I made her cry. Years ago, I was in her position, and I know what it feels like to have your heart shattered at the hands of someone else. I never meant for this to happen.

Last night, man… Sitting around that fire and watching Bella with Chase? I already hated that motherfucker, but him trying to swoop in and snatch her up made me absolutely volatile. Both Newton brothers can suck my dick. In high school, Mike drooled all over her. I was just lucky she saw him for the tool he is. I don't think I'll be as lucky with the little brother.

I sat and leered at them like a creeper, and only marginally listened to Chelsea go on and on about some shit. She's been really clingy the past few days, and I get it. Bella's back, and there's all kinds of talk around town. Plus, all eyes are on me and my every move where Bella's concerned. Chelsea kept her hands on me all night, even sitting between my legs around the fire pit. At first, I didn't know what was up, but it hit me when Bella walked outside. She's marking her territory.

The energy between Bella and I has been tense, to say the least, but I don't want to shove my relationship with Chelsea down her throat. I'm pretty sure something would've happened the other night with Bella at her house if I hadn't stopped it. Her body against mine, her lips pressed onto my neck and face… Stopping wasn't something I wanted to do, but I remembered Chelsea. I owed it to her to be respectful and faithful. I've never cheated.

Amazing that a handful of days later, I've blown that idea to smithereens. Bella's always affected me on a deeper scale. It's on a basic DNA level or some shit. But seeing Chase trying to run game on her made me realize that she'll move on some day. She already almost did with that fucker in Atlanta, but one day, it'll take. And watching it happen is just not an option, because... because she's mine.

About the time those revelations were trying to tear their way out of my chest, Chelsea decided to lay one on me. She just reached over and planted her lips on me. My body tensed, everything in me noticing how wrong her actions felt. I wanted it to be someone else ─ someone with darker hair and eyes, softer lips. Chelsea felt it, too. She pulled back quickly and leveled me with a glare.

Dust was settling across from us as the chair that previously held Bella was now empty. I realized Chase wasn't there anymore, either, and a cold chill went down my spine. Taking Chelsea's hand in mine, we said our goodbyes and left the party a short time later.

As we headed back through town, I shut down every effort Chelsea put into trying to pick my brain. She knew something was up, but I couldn't think about anything more than Bella's whereabouts and who might've been accompanying her. If that douchebag's at her house…

Once I pulled up to Chelsea's house, I left the SUV idling. I had no intention of getting out, already on the road to Bella in my head. She was pleading with her eyes for me to go inside, and as I watched her house get smaller in my rearview mirror, I felt a little guilty.

My lungs exhaled a sigh of relief when I pulled up to Bella's house and found only her car. But that was quickly replaced with anxiety when I thought that maybe she and Chase had left together. My body moved on autopilot, throwing the 4Runner into park, turning it off, and racing up the steps to her front door. I didn't know what was happening inside the cabin, but I was pretty sure my presence would stop it.

When she came to the door, my eyes did a sweep of the room behind her and found no signs of Chase. And all the conflicting emotions just poured out of me. I pinned her to the wall, and before I knew what was happening, we were in her room. Then we were naked, and I was inside her, needing to eviscerate the memory of every other guy.

I haven't come that hard in a long time, and after the excitement of the moment was over, reality came crashing down around me. I'd just made a really huge life decision by thinking with my dick. Before I could really delve into what that meant, Bella was begging me to put it out of my mind. She wanted the night, so I gave it to her.

Chelsea's hair whipping in the wind gets my attention when she bends to grab more rocks to chuck at the windows. Before she can get the shots fired, I get my arms wrapped around her body and trap her hands by her side.

"Let me go, you fucking prick!" It comes out sounding demonic as she thrashes against me, trying to get loose. I'm physically dragging her back to her car when the front door opens and a confused-looking Bella emerges wearing my shirt. Oh, fuck. Shit's about to get real. My grip on Chelsea tightens exponentially, because upon seeing Bella, the fight this girl's putting up just increased ten-fold. When I get us shuffled back to the door of her car, I'm able to force her inside.

"Chels, listen to me. Go to your house. I'll be right behind you, and we'll talk there. You don't wanna do this." I pin her with my eyes in the hope she'll see reason, because there's nothing that can be accomplished right now.

Looking away from me and in Bella's direction, she levels her with a glare. To Bella's credit, she doesn't back down. Her hands are poised on the railing of the porch, arms straight and tensed, waiting to see if they're about to throw down. She raises her chin and glares right back, silently telling her to bring it.

Chelsea looks at Bella again and then at me before all the fight leaves her body. She slumps into the seat, and sobs begin to leave her mouth while her hands white-knuckle the wheel. If it were possible to feel worse than I do, this is what would do it. Before putting the car in reverse, she looks over at me with a face full of anguish.

"Why couldn't I be enough?" She doesn't wait for me to respond, not that I could anyway. She came in roaring like a lion but leaves like a lamb. Slowly, quietly, and without any fanfare, she drives away, leaving me alone with Bella and my guilt.

I make my way back to the steps of the cabin, pausing at the bottom because I'm not sure what to say or do in this moment. Before I can get to the top, Bella turns and goes back inside, and I follow behind her. When I walk into her room, I find her face down in her bed. The bottom of my shirt is flipped up, and I get a nice view of her bare ass.

There's an air in the room that demands no words be spoken, so I listen to it. I fasten the button of my jeans and zip the zipper. The hurt on Chelsea's face slams into me as I realize we were out there the entire time and my pants were open. Not that she didn't know what had happened here already, but it just added insult to injury.

The bed bounces slightly under my ass when I sit to put my boots on, and once I've finished lacing them, I begin to look for my shirt, realizing it's got Bella inside of it. "Bella… I need, uh, my…" She doesn't let me finish my sentence.

"I don't think so. It's mine now." It's muffled from the pillow, but I can make out what she said. She's so fucking cute, and I'd be lying if I said that her wanting to keep something of mine doesn't make me want to fist pump. But I've got to get dressed and out the door, or I'm not going to leave.

"Bella," I repeat, whining. This time, she turns to look at me through the swirl of hair on her face. "Fine. But I want you to know you're literally taking the clothes off my back." Kneeling in front of me, and in what feels like slow motion, she peels the shirt from her torso and throws it in my face. My eyes are greedy, because even being blinded for a moment is one too long. I want to see her body. Last night was hurried and dark. I didn't get time to just… look.

My memories of her tits did not do them justice. Fuck me. I want them in my mouth. Right as I'm reaching to touch, she crosses her arms over her chest and reminds me I've got someone waiting on me. And just like that, the guilt invades my stomach and the semi I'm sporting deflates.


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