Hey all and welcome back to Restraint!
Shorter chapter today—this is it. Like it, it. With the exception of an epilogue, of course.
Disclaimer: I actually own this. This whole chapter is mine. With the exception of minor nuances.
~~restraint~~
Bella wakes up to the sound of Edward re-entering the bedroom wearing only boxers and holding the envelope she got from the safety deposit box yesterday before everything went to Hell. He walks into the bathroom.
She rolls over and covers herself in the sheet, standing up to follow him. She shivers at the memory the soreness in her thighs ignite. Through her post-coital bliss, something nags at her.
She wonders if Marie Walker will ever return to take her life back; she hopes not. Edward told her he loved her more than he ever loved Marie, but who knows what could happen if she decided she wanted Edward back? She suddenly hates Marie Walker with every fiber of her being; Edward, this life, and everything that entails belongs to her now. No one will take that away from her.
"Do you know where she is?" She asks, standing in the doorway of the grand bathroom. Edward jumps lightly, not realizing she is awake. He looks up at her, clad only in his bed sheet. He licks his lips at the sight, snapshots from last night flickering in his head.
"No. Europe, maybe." He flips on the lights, and goes digging through some drawers, setting the envelope down.
"Doesn't she have family?" Bella asks, not completely satisfied.
"They lost touch years ago." He turns to Bella and smirks. "Don't worry, she's not coming back." Bella nods and turns to leave Edward to his shower.
Then, Bella gets a mischievous idea; she wonders how Edward would feel about them showering together. The thought of the fun they would have gets her heart racing and she wastes no time making her way back to the bathroom. She rounds the corner just in time to see Edward holding something in his hands, and lighting it on fire. Bella gasp catches Edward's attention; upon closer inspection, Bella sees that he is burning the passport of Marie Walker. Edward extinguishes the fire quickly shyly edges towards her..
"What the fuck, Edward?" Was that what was in the envelope?
"Please calm down, love."
"Holy shit…" The puzzle pieces all click into place to form a terrible, abstract picture in her mind; the mystery that was, why that Marie left all of her stuff with Edward and Edward's reaction whenever Bella mentioned there being three bodies on the property. "You killed her." She whispers, not able to scream the phrase. She doesn't want to believe it, but she can no longer deny it.
Edward's eyes darken, but not like they did last night. She's suddenly fearful of him. As he moves closer to her, she roughly shoves him back. "Let me explain—"
"Your fiancée sleeps with your dad, so you kill her? Because breaking up is too mainstream? Who does that?" Bella asks, trying to get a grip on her sanity. Edward dashes forward and brings Bella into a tight embrace. She squirms in his arms, but he is unrelenting.
He pulls back to look into her eyes with warmth. "Not to worry, love. I was foolish; I thought I knew what true love was. I know for sure I wouldn't have it in me to kill you." He chuckles mirthfully. "You're much too precious."
Bella pulls away. "You son of bitch!"
Edward sighs, "Oh Bella, let's not resort to name calling."
"You monster!"
Edward remains unfazed, his jovial demeanor still very much in place. "Well it looks like we're a match made in heaven. If you look outside into the front yard, you'll find the remains of your work still there—ah, I should clean that up actually."
"I hate you! You lied to me!" Bella shrieks "Who are you? Do you even love me, or did you just use me to get what you want?" Edward quirks and eyebrow, and wraps his arms around her.
"I love you, Bella." He nuzzles her neck and inhales her scent. "You are everything I could possibly want in a woman and more. You're so bright and compassionate; you're going to keep me on my toes." He pecks her neck lightly, setting her traitor body on fire. "I only thought I loved that girl because she was like you in some ways—but, she was hideous in other aspects. She was horrendously spoiled and had a cold calculating mind." He nibbles on her earlobe. "You're the only one for me, Bella.
"This is a spectacular arrangement. Bella Swan needs to disappear, and Marie Walker is missing." Edward starts kissing her up her neck, and closer to her lips. "All you would need to do is take her place." He plants a passionate kiss right on her lips.
"T-That's insane!" Bella protests. Though, she can't help but feel a rush of excitement at both Edward's kisses and the idea of being beautiful and respected her whole life. It dawns on her. Marie Walker won't be coming back, ever. Everything Marie had—respect, dignity, and most of all, Edward, could be hers if she takes her place. Well, she could have Edward even without pretending to be Marie, but why not indulge?
Edward hums in contentment. "Now you're getting it. And when we're married, you'll be Bella Cullen; we can just tell people that you decided to go by your middle name Isabella. People won't think twice about it. If you have money, you can be as eccentric as you please without scrutiny."
Edward smirks, "This is destiny, love."
Bella pulls away, trying to wrap her mind around her discovery. "But you killed her."
"And you killed Jasper."
Bella can't deny that; she did kill Jasper. Strangely, she doesn't mourn his death, but merely mourns what they once had. Well not even that—she's actually angry. She was convinced what she and Jasper had was love in its highest form, but all they had a lopsided relationship full of dysfunction and abuse, that was bound to crash eventually.
She peeks out the window and sees Jasper's corpse still out in the front yard for God and all to see, and she doesn't feel even a pang of guilt or regret for the act. Why did killing freak her out so much before? Maybe that was it—maybe Bella just had to be on the other end of the gun for once to understand. To understand the rush of watching someone's life drain from their eyes, all because you willed it. No, not just killing someone for the sake of it; watching someone's eyes as they realize they were wrong about you. Seeing it dawn on them that they were wrong about you being a weakling, and that they were ensnared in your web since the first time they saw you. To see the power shift in favor of you.
Bella feels different, changed. Her past life was bad, and she had thought that Jasper was her angel, come to save her. But, he turned out to be nearly as bad. Abusing her and controlling her. Bella is so fucking sick of being controlled; she isn't going to take it anymore.
She realizes right then, she is in the exact right place to be. People could control Bella Swan for a myriad of reasons; lack of money, confidence, or pride. But Marie Walker wouldn't be controlled. Marie Walker had money, beauty, and respect to exercise her power to its full extent. The only thing missing was Marie Walker herself.
By this time, Bella is trembling. Not with fear, but with adrenaline. Killing Jasper is possibly the best thing she's ever done, and she feels the adrenaline coursing through her veins.
It is then, she understands why Edward is, and always will be, her only love. Edward understands what it's like to exercise power and to break free of control; hell, he did it with her and Jasper without them knowing it. He restrained himself until he gained the upper hand and beat out Jasper and won Bella. Maybe winning Bella wasn't originally part of the plan, nor was killing Jasper, but Edward got what he wanted. Bella is beginning to think that Edward gets everything he wanted; he seems to always hold the aces. He appeared to be weak, but he was always one step ahead of them. Each move Edward made was deliberate and well thought out. Bella doesn't feel played or manipulated when she realizes this; she's in awe. She wants to learn how to do it herself.
Bella turns back to Edward, and sashays up to him; he's watching her, trying to gauge her mood. She presses herself against him and slings her arms around his neck.
"I love you, Edward." She places a soft peck on his lips. She pulls back, and stares into his shocked eyes. "Teach me."
The tenseness in Edward's eyes melts when he hears her profession of love; his eyes twinkle with delight as he returns the kiss. "Teach you what, love?"
She feels a crooked smile crawl onto her face. "How to exercise restraint."
~~restraint~~
So there you have it. My ending. I know that in the movie, the leading woman just kind of um…stares out a window? Well, she suspects that Andrew (our Edward) did something to Gabrielle (Marie), but stays quiet and proceeds to stare out a window and the camera pans out and the credits roll. The movie never comes out and admits that he murdered Gabrielle, but it is implied and sort of left to the imagination. I couldn't help but feel a little cheated and yearning for more at the end, though. Maybe it was just me.
I would love to hear what you think of this ending as compared to the movie ending, if you've seen it!
And if you haven't seen it, you should. Stephen Moyer is all sorts of perfect as Andrew (along with being a gifted actor, he's also very adorable). And Teresa Palmer who plays Dale (our Bella) is just gorgeous and talented and I may have a bit of a lady crush on her. And Travis Fimmel is just… gosh he's so flawless as Ron (Jasper), he really digs deep down to convey the many layers of his characters and his monologue with Andrew where he's telling the story of the car crash is heart wrenching. They're just so great in their roles.
Alright I'm done fangirling out. Please review, I want to hear what you think of this turn in events! All who review get a sneak peek of the epilogue.
