Disclaimer: The characters all belong to Stephenie Meyer. I only toy around with them. Chapter ten: Jacob equals trouble
Edward's pov
The rest of the week it proved to be hard for me and Bella to see each other. Our schedules were so different from each other and our workloads heavy, that we hardly got time to spend together. So we determined that we would simply see each other on Friday night and talk about working something out.
As the week wore on, Jacob kept harassing me about going on that damned double date. Eventually I got so fed up with it, that I called Bella and asked her if she wanted to go. She was reluctant, but agreed because it might get the guy off my case. We were scheduled to go on Saturday night. Bella warned me that we needed to be careful around Jacob. I asked her why, but she said a friend had told her he might not have honourable intentions.
So by the time Friday rolled along I was anxious to see my girl. I wanted to feel her in my arms again and as soon as class ended I was running to get to my car. As I pulled up I was surprised to see Emmett's car sitting out front of their building. He hadn't mentioned going out with Rosalie tonight. He had just gotten over the flue today, so I had assumed he would stay in bed and then go all out tomorrow. I guessed I had underestimated his determination.
I got upstairs and paused in the hallway when I heard a bunch of loud voices coming from their apartment. I listened for a second, trying to discern who was in there, but then I heard Bella's cry of pain and I bolted for their door. Not bothering to knock, I burst in the front door and froze at the sight in front of me.
Jacob was standing on one side of the living room, holding Bella against his body in some sort of choke hold, while Emmett was facing them, his eyes flitting from Jacob to Bella and back. He looked like he was trying to figure out how to get Bella away from him safely.
"Ah, if it isn't perfect Cullen!" Jacob sneered.
"Jacob, what are you doing?" I hissed.
"Bella can't be with you, Cullen. I won't let her. I tried to tell her nicely to dump you, but she won't do it. So if she won't listen she'll have to feel it."
I saw her tighten his hold on her and I gasped as I finally noticed the state she was in. Her clothes had been torn and through the tears, I could see several bruises blossoming. Bella's face was streaked with dried tears and I could see a little dried blood underneath her nose.
"Jacob, let her go!" Emmett boomed.
"No! She is supposed to listen to me. She always did, but then you came along and all of a sudden she's got a mind of her own. It just won't do."
"You are insane," I spat. "Let her go right now, or I will rip your balls off and feed them to you."
"No need to do that, son," a gruff voice behind me said.
I turned to find Chief Swan, in uniform, aiming a gun at Jacob.
"Jake, my boy, let my daughter go. I just had a little chat with Billy and when I heard what he had to say I got a little worried. When I was almost here, I got a call from two really distraught girls, so I am not very patient right now. Release Bella."
Jacob growled low in his throat and then shoved Bella away from him. I lunged forward to catch her as she crumpled to the ground. We sank to the floor together. Her sobbing, me holding her, trying to calm her down slightly by murmuring over and over that I loved her.
"Jacob turn aroun and put your hands behind your head. I have called the Seatlle PD and they will be here within a few minutes. I am cuffing you before they get here. If you make a sudden move I will not hesitate yo use this gun, you hear?" Charlie continued.
I had always known he was a good cop, but seeing him this level-headed when his daughter was clearly hurt, gave me an immense amount of respect for him.
Bella's pov
I hadn't known how dangerous Jacob really was when I opened the door for him this afternoon. Alice and Rosalie had been grocery shopping, so I was alone.
Jacob hadn't waited for me to ask him to come in, he just pushed forward. At first he had pleaded with me that Edward wasn't good enough for me. He asked me to break up with him. When I refused he started ordering me to dump him, to call him while he was there and tell Edward never to come back again. If I had been angry when he asked me, I was downright livid when he started ordering me around.
I had told him to get the hell out of our house, but he refused. So I had gotten up and started yelling at him. Big mistake.
He had flown at me, tackling me to the couch, his hands groping everywhere, his mouth hot and hard on mine. It was horrendous. Luckily the girls had come home at that moment, Emmett trailing behind. Emmett had tried to shove Jake off me, and only because he had been surprised had it worked. But I soon found myself, hauled up by my hair and pinned in a choke hold.
It was then that I heard and saw Edward storm in and not long after my father. I didn't hear what my dad said. As soon as I saw him in the doorway I knew I was safe and that was all that I cared about. Edward's arms around me soothed my aching limbs and his soft loving words erased the bitter taste from Jacob's hands all over me.
When I looked up a little while later, there were two police men talking to my father, while Jacob sat on a chair, hands cuffed behind his back. I vaguely registered the girls sitting next to me and Edward and talking, asking me if I was okay, but I couldn't find the strength to respond.
One of the officers came over and took Alice and Rosalie with him to get their statements, while his colleague crouched down in front of me, wanting to hear my story. I told him mechanically what had happened he wrote it all down and reminded me I needed to come in to make an official statement and press charges. I simply nodded, not at all sure whether or not I wanted to press charges. I had no idea if I felt up to going through all of it.
When he finally asked Edward to come with him to get his statement I got up. With a quick reassurance to the others in the room, I left to get a shower. I could still feel his hands on me, his mouth on mine and I really wanted to wash that feeling away. I scrubbed meticulously, but it didn't help.
As I sank down into the tub, the tears started spilling and I couldn't get them to stop. I shook with every sob, my entire body trembling uncontrollably. The water turned cold after some time, but I still had no control over my limbs, so I couldn't turn of the water or get up and get myself a towel.
I don't know how long I sat there, when Alice came in and yelled for Rose to help her get me out. I shook my head. I didn't want them to see me like this, I didn't want anybody to see. Rosalie, however, didn't listen to any of my protests and with a harsh, but loving voice she told me to cut it out and let her and Alice help me.
That silenced me long enough for them to shut the water off, dry my still shaking body and get me into a warm set of PJ's. When they wanted to take me to my bedroom, I couldn't make it out the door. I simply couldn't step through that door. It took Edward and my dad combined, to calm me down enough that they could get me in bed.
As I lay under the covers, warm but still shivering, I heard them through the door, discussing what to do, when suddenly Rose cut in.
"None of you have been through something like this, I have. She'll have nightmares, she'll be a mess. I think we should have someone stay in there with her for a while. We can each take a different night, but right now I think Edward will be the best one for the job. You saw her when he held her. She was relatively calm."
Charlie cleared his throat and then grumbled that he needed to go back to Forks in two days and as long as he was here, he would help me wherever he could.
"Alright, let's just agree to the following," Rosalie relented. "Charlie sleeps in Bella's room. If she for any reason can't settle down, you go and get Edward. If he can't settle her down, we will get her something to help her sleep."
There were some unintelligible mumblings before my door opened and Rosalie came in. She sat down on the side of my bed and softly brushed a strand of hair from my face.
"Whatever you need, Bella, just ask. I know what you're going through, only too well, so if you need to talk or just yell or whatever, I am here for you. Tomorrow I will clear your schedule for the coming week, so you won't have any classes. You just take all the time you need before you go back, okay."
I nodded. "Thank you, Rose."
"It's nothing. Just promise me one thing."
"What?"
"Press charges. I know it is hard and it'll be messy, but if you don't he'll walk to do it again. Don't let that happen. I did and some other girl got hurt because I hadn't spoken up. I have felt guilty over it ever since."
"I'll try to work up the courage."
"Sweetie, we are all here for you. Whoever you need with you, we will all go with you to the station."
I nodded, thanked her again and then closed my eyes, hoping sleep would take me quickly.
Edward's pov
I was still sick, on the verge of throwing up when Charlie settled in for the night. Emmett and I were bunking on the living room floor on a couple of inflatable mattresses. The girls had gone to bed already, but Emmett and I were both to much on edge to sleep.
"Dude, I don't know how you kept from bashing Jacob's skull in," Emmett murmured quietly.
"Bella needed me to be there for her more than she needed me to take revenge on that bastard."
Emmett grunted and then a look of horror swept over his face. "Did you know that Rose had been raped?"
"No, I didn't."
"I talked to her about it a little before she went to bed. It was her first boyfriend when she was seventeen. She had wanted to wait, but one night he got drunk and with a group of his friends he had showed up at her doorstep. The friends stayed outside her bedroom door while he forced himself on her. It's so sick. I wish I could have been there for her then, you know? I wanted to kill the son of a bitch when she told me."
"What happened to him?" I wondered aloud.
"Rose was too afraid to press charges, so he never was arrested. After about two years he did it again to some other girl he was dating. The girl's father went over the edge when he heard and he shot him. He hadn't meant to kill him, but the son of a bitch didn't make it."
My stomach rolled over. "Scum bags like that make me feel ashamed to be a man. Why do some men feel the need to dominate a woman like that? It's sick and disgusting and when I hear stories about things like this happening, I just want to get my hands on the ones that did it and make them feel the pain they inflicted. Not only the physical, but the mental too."
"I know what you mean, Edward. I really do. I wish the girls and I hadn't wasted so much time talking in the grocery store before we drove over here. If we had just postponed our discussion until we were home, none of this would have happened."
"You can't think like that, Emmett. Maybe it wouldn't have happened tonight, but I have no doubt it would have happened at some other time. Jacob didn't think straight from the very moment he knew Bella and I liked each other."
Emmett grunted something I didn't understand before telling me goodnight and settling down to go to sleep.
An hour later I was still up, so instead of just staring at the ceiling, I got up and went to the kitchen to make myself some tea. When I sat down with a mug clasped in my hands, Charlie came shuffling in, looking just as restless as I felt.
"Tea?" I asked him quietly.
"Sure, maybe it'll help."
I gave him my mug and got up to make myself a new one. I came back to find Charlie standing in Bella's doorway, looking at his daughter. I simply sat down on the couch and blew on my tea.
"I heard you and Emmett talk," he whispered into the quiet room.
"I figured not everyone would be sleeping."
"I know how you feel. With the things I see in my work, I sometimes find it hard to see the good in life, but then I see a boy sitting on a living room floor trying everything he can to calm his distraught girl down and I know what makes this world go round."
I looked up at him in surprise. He smiled warmly at me.
"I am usually a very protective father, but Edward, I know you, I know your family and in the short time I have now seen how you are with her, I just know you two will be great together. All I ask of you is to be honest with her, always. My ex-wife was unhappy for quite some time when she finally left. She never said anything to me, so when she packed up and left, I was stunned. If she had talked to me about it, I would've tried anything to help save our marriage, but she didn't. Bella is like me, she would walk through fire for her loved ones, so I ask you to be honest with her, even if it's hard to be."
"I will do my utmost to always be honest with her, sir."
"Call me Charlie."
I nodded. We drank our tea in silence, sitting next to each other on the couch, both lost in our own thoughts.
A/N: There is more to the Jacob situation and it will be explained next chapter. I realize that this subject might be hard to bear for some people, but I honestly do not mean to make anyone uncomfortable. I hope you guys will let me know what you thought of the chapter.
Hugs,
Mo