Dark Elixir

By MoneyTunes10

Chapter Ten

Annotation: Um yeah…so Bella is a little angry and crazy at the beginning of this…please excuse her outburst...but you can't blame the girl for lashing out at Edward…lol

"Please don't let this turn into something it's not; this is not a contest where the last one standing gets the prize." Bella kept her voice neutral... Edward was always dramatic when he made declarations concerning Bella's interactions with others. She just hoped that this was another passionate outburst from him. If she was truly honest with herself, a trickle of fear laced her spine.

"You're right; Riley isn't even in the same league as I am." Edward's voice remained calmly detached and before Bella could react he stepped out of the car and used his remote to lock her in. His motions were so fluid that it only took a few seconds and there was an ominous click as the doors prevented her from leaving the Volvo. He stood near the driver's door, scanning the parking lot as if looking for an enemy in hiding. When Edward spotted Riley and Brie's car at the end of the lot he bent down to peer into the car at an astounded Bella. She was still sitting in the passenger's seat holding the door handle. She gaped as Edward gave her a grin and a small wave…he was gone in the next instant. She watched as he rounded the car and took determined strides towards the school.

Her stomach dropped…he was going to find Riley…freeing her body from the seatbelt, she stretched over the center consol and slammed her hands on the horn. She screamed for help at the top of her lungs but no one emerged from the surrounding school buildings. The prolonged screeching from the horn was futile…it only served to amuse Edward as he chuckled and maintained his pace.

Bella threw her body back into the passenger seat, grunting in frustration as the surrounding trees stood helplessly watching her. Not a soul was in the parking lot and she once again felt like nature itself was conspiring with Edward…how could no one be in the school parking lot? She was so tired of feeling helpless; she would be damned if Riley got hurt again because of her.

She slammed her fists against the glass window, pounding and screaming. She watched as Edward abruptly stopped but he did not turn around.

"Edward Anthony Cullen! You let me out of this car right now!" Her voice was grating against her throat as the raw frustration she felt was aimed at him. Her voice was amplified in the car but it was muffled by her steel-and-glass prison when it reached Edward's ear. He pivoted and gave her a defiant stare; only he could command this much passion from her.

Edward's eyes widened as he watched Bella's face flush with anger. She leaned her torso over the gear shift and slammed her sneaker-covered feet against the window. Thankfully the glass did not shatter, only her dirty footprints remained on the glass. He didn't want her to hurt herself; in fact, he locked her in the car so that she would be safe. Knowing Bella, she would try to break up the fight with Riley and she would end up hurt. He couldn't allow that to happen. But the reckless behavior that she just displayed irritated him; where was the quiet Bella he knew that would sit in the car until he came back. That Bella would be angry with him at first, but in the end, she would forgive him. What was so different this time?

He quickly unlocked the door when he saw her brace herself for another kick.

Bella heard the click that signaled her freedom. The door flew open and slammed back close with a force that she thought she could never possess. She stalked towards Edward until they were toe-to-toe. She was livid that he had an amused look on his face…taunting her as if she couldn't handle him.

"You will not touch a hair on Riley. I was the one who asked him out so if you want to get mad Edward, get mad at me and if you hurt him, you'll be sorry."

"I won't be as sorry as you think I'll be because anything would be worth having you to myself." He wasn't backing down…

"Oh yeah, you wanna bet Edward? When I'm through with you, you'll be sorry."

His eyes narrowed at her defiance, he leaned down until they were nose to nose, "Do you worst Bella, I'll still love you more than anyone else could."

"Edward, I don't want to fight and I don't want to hurt your feelings but I'm not going to stand by and let you hurt Riley."

"What the fuck do you see in him? I know what I did was wrong and I told you I'm sorry for everything! I even broke up with Lauren…and if it takes the rest of my life to make it up to you then I will, but you can't ask me to stand by and watch Riley take what's mine!"

Spontaneous combustion was the one word that ran through Bella's thoughts. She was so angry that she balled her hands into fists and screamed. The loud shriek was filled with irritation and anger…she wished that she was still in the car so that she had something to hit.

"You're sorry! You're sorry because what you did was wrong? Well hear-ye, hear-ye, the great Edward Cullen is mother-fucking sorry! That one little word makes up for everything he's done…now you have a clean slate and we can pretend like nothing is wrong! Do you even know what the word wrong means, you manipulative bastard!" Heated tears ran down her cheeks as she fumed, "this isn't even about you…I want a chance to have a healthy relationship and you can continue to fuck whomever you want Edward…I don't care anymore!"

Edward's hand reached out before he could stop himself. He wrapped his fingers around her jaw, locking it and silencing her rant…he pulled her face towards him as his anger matched hers. Apart from his hand holding her face close to his, this looked intimate, as if they were about to kiss but this was more sinister. They were both burning alive in poisonous anger.

"You will regret this decision Bella." Malice leaked between them as the wounds that they gave each other festered and became infected.

Bella didn't understand why he couldn't see that she just wanted to be saved from the darkness that was in him.

Edward released her jaw and straightened himself as a sob escaped Bella's throat. His own jaw was cemented with tension and his muscles were coiled in anticipation for a fight that would never come. He would teach Bella…yes, he would watch her fall and he would relish in the fact that she would come running back to him when all was said and done. He couldn't imagine what she saw in Riley but it was out of his hands at the moment. And that was the hard part wasn't it...relinquishing control?

Bella watched as Edward gave her a disgusted look before turning his back to her and walking into school. She sank onto the ground and sat on the grass, staring at nothing and seeing beyond everything…she wiped the angry tears from earlier and sighed.

She was going to give her relationship with Riley an earnest try…she could do this.

::::

Bella barely made it through school that day but Riley did his best to lift her spirits. He knew that she had a fight with Edward but he did not push her for details. Instead he focused on making her laugh and succeeded in getting a small smile from her. At the end of the day, Bella didn't even walk towards Edward's Volvo; instead, she headed to Brie and Riley's car. She had just buckled her seatbelt when she heard screeching tires as Edward sped from the school parking lot…

He wasn't at dinner that night…

Esme and Carlisle must have known where he was because they simply chatted with Emmett and Bella as if the empty seat next to Bella was a norm. Bella was up late into the night doing her homework…at least that's what she told herself…because she was listening intently for any noise from across the hall.

She heard nothing that night…

The next day, his car was missing too. She remained fixated on the usual spot that his Volvo occupied while she waited for Riley to pick her up. He hadn't come home last night and he wasn't there in the morning…on a school night. Edward was controlling but that didn't mean that she didn't care about his well-being.

There was a throbbing ache in her heart as she climbed into Riley's car and gave him a kiss. She hoped Edward was alright.

She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Edward sitting with Alice and the others during lunch. The relief she felt did not soothe the ache but it gave her the peace of mind to focus on Riley.

That was the first day she began going over to Riley's house after school. They started doing homework together and because their workload was outrageous, she ended up staying over for dinner.

Esme was sad the first time Bella called to tell her that she was eating dinner with the Peters; Edward was already spending all his time with the Brandon's…he needed some time away from Bella to compose himself. Now Bella wouldn't be there either. She knew that Edward and Alice were close, so she didn't mind ,but she was sad when Bella began distancing herself too.

Esme tried to hide her melancholy with a cheerful tone as Bella explained that she wouldn't be home for dinner again but Bella could hear it. She didn't want to spend so much time away from the Cullens but she knew that she was keeping Edward from his family. It was his family and she wanted him to feel comfortable enough for him to return to his home.

And so dinners at the Peters was customary for Bella; it was so easy and light being with them that the tension she felt from Edward during school was always washed away by the time Riley drove her home. He made her feel so comfortable that she wondered why she even doubted that they could be more than friends.

She loved the way his lips felt when he kissed her in the morning…the hint of mint from his toothpaste always lingered on her lips after. She would find herself unconsciously touching her lips whenever she thought of something funny he told her that day.

Those morning kisses never compared to the ones she gave Riley when he dropped her home everyday. It usually started with soft pecks but soon she would deepen it and pull his bottom lips between hers. She was always the one to push him further and she knew he was allowing her to take the lead. He was giving her control of the situation because Riley understood how new this was for Bella…he was her first boyfriend.

Yet somehow she always ended up straddling him in the front seat pf his car with her hands buried in his hair as she latched her lips onto his. Soon he would groan as she would grind her core into him. He would be the one to pull her free and chuckle. Then he would remind her that they had been parked in front of her house for ten minutes and Carlisle would most likely show up with a scalpel. Bella may not be his biological daughter but Riley would not put it past the good doctor to dismember Riley and bury his body if he caught Riley doing inappropriate things with Bella.

Riley would always have a wistful smile on his face as he'd watch Bella walk up the stairs. But then it would turn into a grimace when he thought of how well she was at kissing. He was her first boyfriend…so how did she know the things she did? There was one person who would get that close to Bella… Edward Cullen.

Edward was still absent... It had been over a week since their fight and it was the longest they had been apart from each other. Bella knew that she hadn't caved yet because of Riley and she was grateful for that. But there was the annoying aching that still hadn't gone away since that day.

If Bella had been paying attention to anything else at school, she would have noticed that Lauren hadn't been in school since Edward broke up with her. Jessica was well aware that her best friend spent her days now sobbing into her pillow at home…crying for Edward. Jessica was tired to taking Lauren's missed assignments to her because she would have to listen to Lauren' incessant crying. And if Lauren wasn't crying she was grilling Jessica about who was around him; if he was dating anyone. Jessica did tell her that h looked miserable since coming back to school; it had cheered Lauren for a brief moment to think that Edward was suffering because of her absence. What Jessica failed to mention was that Bella was dating Riley Peters and that was most assuredly the source of Edward's melancholy.

She gave Lauren false hope even though their friendship had an undercurrent of competitiveness. Jessica's secret desire was that Edward would be crushed enough to sleep with her again; maybe if she was lucky, he would make her his girlfriend like he did for Lauren. She would risk her friendship with Lauren for Edward because Lauren and Jessica have always been friends by default. They were lumped into the same category…they were both licentious. Yet the reasons for their promiscuity differed.

Jessica's promiscuity came from her internal battle with herself. She was always shorter and a bit fuller and she did not go through puberty at an early age like Lauren. Yet she emulated Lauren, because of the beauty and false confidence that Lauren exuded. She started to offer her body like Lauren did and soon, she too had a reputation. The difference between these friends was that Lauren could delude herself in believing that her popularity was the reason boys took so much interest in her. Jessica could not because she was always seen as Lauren's shadow. The boys that did not get Lauren's attention were the ones she got. They were the ones who told her that she was beautiful, only to leave her after they got what they wanted. So when Lauren started to date Edward and spent more time with him, leaving Jessica alone to face her demons, the wound started to fester. The years of never being good enough made Jessica covet what Lauren had and Lauren had Edward…thus she wanted Edward. And she finally had him…

It was the summer that Lauren and Edward's family vacations failed to coincide. First, Edward went to Italy for his family vacation for three weeks, which left Lauren to complain to Jessica the entire time. Jessica was more than happy when Lauren and her mother went away for a month…right before Edward's return. Jessica was alone again but she had no intentions of seeing Edward or his friends until Newton invited her to his party. She was drunk when she stumbled into an empty bedroom, trying to get away from Mike's pursuits. She didn't want him near her tonight and she needed reprieve from the effects of alcohol. That's why she sighed when the door opened, but her eyes widened when she propped herself up from the bed to look at the intruder. It wasn't Mike like she thought, it was Edward. He looked anxious but not drunk; he glanced over to the bed where Jessica had herself propped up.

Bella had just befriended Jacob Black and Lauren wasn't home to help him release his anxiety. She had always been good at knowing what he needed and he came to Mike's seedy party to find someone to help the anxiety that was overwhelming him. There was no guilt when walked towards his current girlfriend's best friend. There was only relief when he kissed Jessica hard and she did not push him away. He was aware of the longing looks that Jessica gave him when he was with Lauren. He knew that it wasn't really him; it was the idea that she could have something that Lauren did. So it was no surprise that she was so willing. His hands were frantic as they undressed; her skin was pliant and soft under him. They were both bare within minutes and he took his time to kiss her all over her body. He doubted that anyone that Jessica slept with knew how to be tender with her body but he wanted her wet so that he wouldn't have to hold back…he sank into her, searing her and spreading her wide. She eagerly took all of him in without a second thought. She liked Edward's weight on her and she wrapped her legs around him, wanting a deeper angle…Lauren always bragged about how great Edward was in bed. That night Jessica found out that her best friend was right…her boyfriend was the best lay in Forks.

They never spoke of that night and Lauren never found out…but it left a lasting impression on Jessica; one that made her want more.

Those thoughts ran through Jessica's mind as she looked at Edward during lunch. He was still looking like a dying man for the second week in a row and she knew that Bella's relationship was the cause…all she needed was for him to get worse and she would be there to make him feel better.

Bella could see Jessica ogling Edward from the corner of her eyes but she dismissed the thought that Jessica would betray Lauren by pursuing Edward. Instead Bella shifted her attention to Edward and took in his haggard appearance, she needed to talk to him…but she didn't know when. He was never around anymore…

Bella was conversing with Riley on their way to his house when she received a call from Esme. She wanted Riley and Bella to join them for dinner tonight since they hadn't had Bella at dinner for some time now. Bella couldn't deny Esme; she heard the longing in her voice. They didn't even bother going to Riley's house once Bella told Esme that they would be home for dinner; instead Riley headed to the Cullens so they could start their homework there.

They got most of their work done before they helped Esme by setting the table. Emmett was still at practice and Carlisle was on his way from work; Bella didn't even ask about Edward because she knew that he hadn't been eating dinner with the family. Bella was filled with guilt when she saw how happy Esme was while she and Riley helped her. She and Riley were animatedly chatting for the most part and Bella knew that she must have been lonely while preparing dinner by herself for the past few days. Usually, Bella or Edward would help her or at least keep her company while she cooked. If Emmett was the one with her in the kitchen, they would hear Esme constantly chastising Emmett for picking at the food. He would always defend his sneakiness by saying he was a growing boy and a budding food critique.

Carlisle walked in at the same time that Emmett did. Esme received her customary welcome home kiss which had Riley and Bella looking away while Emmett made catcalls at his parents' display.

Once everyone had washed up and were seated at the table, they began passing the food around. There was a great deal of chatter as Carlisle asked Riley questions in an effort to learn more about the boy dating Bella. Emmett was also regaling Bella and Esme of his spectacular skills in football practice. They were so engrossed in themselves that they failed to notice Edward walking into the house.

His head snapped towards the dinning room when he heard Riley's voice and it only took a few seconds until he was in the doorway smirking at the scene before him. They were all sitting there like he meant fucking nothing and easily replaceable with Riley- fucking-Peters.

Bella was the first to look up; she could tell when Edward's eyes were on her. It was instinctual for her to feel him crawling on her skin. When their eyes locked, her throat went dry as he smirked and cleared his throat…

Annotation: Well, well, well the prodigal son has finally come back home…too bad it's the same night that his momma invites Riley for dinner. Cross your fingers that he behaves himself in front of his parents…I promise nothing because Edward has a mind of his own :-)

Otherwise, I hope you guys liked learning more about Jessica this time around and let me know what you think so far…I've gotten some very thoughtful reviews that were a pleasure to read; you guys are awesome!