Chapter ten: Constant surprises

**(content warning: I don't know how to be cognizant of content without giving spoilers but please be sure to take notice of the conversation in the writing and take care of yourself if you need to. You're important!)

12 years before

Edward

I shrugged inside my jacket and tussled my hair making sure it looked decent.

"I've never known a guy that took longer than a girl to get ready." Bella said walking into my room.

She was wearing a short black and white thin striped skirt with black sheer leggings tucked inside of thick gray socks tucked inside a pair of cloth boots that met mid-calf with a crop top underneath a long cardigan sweater. Her hair was curled and framed her face in a way I'd never seen her wear before. And her grin killed me slowly by the second.

"Wow."

"Thanks." She smiled big and came in to sit down on my bed, "Alice has impressive stuff."

"Alice owns those clothes?" Bella nodded. "I need to speak with my little sister..." I pushed the sleeves up on my jacket continuing to ready myself.

Bella laughed scooting further back onto the bed. "So what's this party supposed to be like?" she asked picking up a pillow hugging it to herself.

"Oh just a bunch of nobody's doing nothing." I said winking at her.

She smiled, "I'm going to be very upset if you decided to take me to this huge end of the school year senior bash and it sucks."

"Well" I turned around and headed over to her, "If you get bored, we could always leave. Find somewhere else to go." I bent down leaning closer to her.

"Mhm. Make our own fun?" she slid her fingers into my hair and touched our foreheads together.

"You said it, not me." I laughed. She nodded slowly before kissing me, pulling me down onto the bed with her.

"How are you complaining about getting ready and your holding me up?"

"Shhh it'll be ok if we show up late." She whispered giggling.

She continued to kiss me and pull me close to her, wrapping her legs around me, trailing her kisses to my neck. She knew that was a weak spot for me.

"My sister" I tried to keep my composure, "the door."

"She's dressing." She turned over on to me, "we're fine."

I resisted as much as I could as she snaked her hand up my shirt and scratched down my skin. Biting my lip, I let a groan escape my throat and threw my head back.

"Bells are you wearing my boots?!" Alice yelled from across the hall. We both jumped out of our skin and pretended as if we were just sitting on the bed. The door moved and I got up calmly to resume my position back in front of my mirror.

"Would these shoes look better?" Alice appeared in the room.

"Yep. Looks good." Bella said holding her breath.

"Ok. Be ready in a sec. For Christ sake Eddy hurry it up." She sucked her teeth teasing before she left the room.

I laughed and looked at Bella who was biting her lip giving me a deathly stare.

"What has gotten into you?" I laughed.

She got up and wrapped her arms around me placing her face on my back, "You." She whispered.

The shock in my face was apparent as she laughed and came around to hug me front ways. She squeezed me to her, pressing her lips to my neck again. She'd never been so…aggressive or urgent like this. I wasn't complaining but I was interested in what was going through her mind. Not that I didn't know.

I brushed her hair back and took her face in both my hands looking her in her almond eyes. As she stared back smiling, I could see a gleam. It gave me joy that she could look at me in that way. Though this was the first time I'd witnessed that light, whatever it was. Somehow I got lost and kissed her forgetting completely what I was going to say.

"Ugh, get a room." Alice said standing in the doorway.

We parted lips with a smack and looked in her direction, "Technically, this is a room…" I started.

"Come on lover boy." Bella grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the door by my hand.

The party was wild. Mike's parents were out of town for an entire week so we had the house to do whatever we felt like. It was the last time any of us would probably party together or see each other as people were receiving acceptance letters and finding out how far we would all be next year.

"How are so many people already so drunk?" Alice asked me coming back with a red cup in hand.

"Tyler." Me and Bella both said laughing. I took Alice's cup and gave her a glare.

"Oh come on!" she whined.

"No. You have no idea what's in this."

"I'm sixteen now, let me have a drink. Just one, I promise." She smiled.

I looked at her as she clamped her hands together pleading with her eyes.

"One. And you don't leave my sight for two seconds or I'm finding you and we're leaving." I handed her the drink back.

She took it excitedly and started sipping from it making a bitter face.

"Well, since we're breaking all the rules" I looked at Bella, "want a drink?"

"Sure." She giggled.

One turned into two, turned into three, turned into beer pong. Alice was giggling drunkingly dancing with Mike as me and Bella lost miserably at beer pong together. The music was blasting, everyone was laughing. This is exactly how I was hoping my last high school party would be. The addition of Bella's smile made it all the more perfect. With her face flushed red and her hair rustled about, she wrapped her arms around my waist and whispered to me "Take me home." I looked at her, her face glowing in the haze of smoke in the room.

"Right now?"

She nodded, fire burning in her eyes. I smiled and planted a soft tender kiss on her lips. "Let me grab Alice and we can head out."

Alice protested for a bit but she followed us out of the door and to the car. As soon as we got in, Alice flopped down on the couch and fell asleep. I poured her a cup of water and placed in on the coffee table where she could reach it then covered her with a blanket from the closet. I could try and wake her up or carry her but I figured she was far too intoxicated for sudden movement. I made a mental note to check on her first thing in the morning.

Bella waited for me by the stairs, hair covering most of her face, shoes off with warm skin. I walked over to her and smiled. "You okay?"

She didn't answer; she just bit her lip and pulled my face into hers. I pulled away from her slowly and looked at her, "Are you okay to do this right now? You had quite a bit to drink." I studied her eyes rubbing her hair.

"I'm fine." She smiled, "I want to do this." She kissed me and began pulling my jacket off.

"Can we get upstairs first?" I chuckled. She smiled then jumped on my back. I carried her up to my room and let her down. As soon as her feet touched the ground she undressed and walked over to me.

"Need help?" she asked grinning and pulling at my belt.

I smiled, feeling my face warm up. "I guess I do." I watched as she took it upon herself to undress me. The look in her eye was unlike anything I'd ever seen. But I knew better than to argue with her. So I didn't. Outside of the occasional check in, I didn't protest. I let her have her night and she got no complaining from me.

The next morning I rolled over to see she wasn't in bed next to me or even in the room. I got dressed and headed to the kitchen. I didn't hear anyone. It was weird. Then I heard a strange noise coming from the downstairs bathroom. It was light shushing but I couldn't tell if it was Alice or Bella. I tip toed over to the cracked door to see Bella's face in the toilet and Alice holding her hair back. I covered my mouth trying to conceal my laughter but a snicker escaped my throat.

"Get out Edward!" Alice said angrily.

"No!" Bella said sickly, "Don't come in here!" she wretched and starting vomiting again.

"How is it that Alice is nursing you back to health right now? She was way more smashed than you." I smiled.

"If you're not going to be helpful, leave." Alice stared daggers at me.

I huffed, "You're no fun. Get up."

"No Edward. Don't look at me."

I waved for Alice to leave while Bella placed her forehead on her forearm, resting her face inside the toilet bowl with her legs sprawls onside of her titles frame.

"I'm going to get some water Bells." Alice got up and pinched my arm then pointed at me glaring before she left. I rubbed my arm laughing then sat behind Bella positioning my legs around her then pulled her hair back.

"I'm sorry baby." I kissed her neck.

"Rule number one for college: don't drink the vat."

I chuckled, "Noted. How much did you have?"

"I don't know. Were you counting?" she said with attitude.

I smiled, "No I guess not. You weren't either. But we'll know better for next time."

"Next time?!" she said aggressively, "I'm never drinking again."

I nodded reaching for a towel. I got up and wet a corner of it then wiped her face, folded it over and wet her neck and head. I sat back down behind her and positioned her to lie on my chest.

"I didn't want you to see me like this…"

"What? Sick?" I chuckled, "If I can't see you when you're sick, how am I supposed to take care of you?"

She laughed a little, "Alice was doing a good job."

I tilted her head up to face me, "Alice doesn't love you like I do."

She smiled and wrapped her arm around me. I stroked her hair and kissed her head. Just as I was about to kiss her face she started retching again. I helped her to lean over the bowl and held her hair back.

"That's an ego bruiser…" I said looking over her.

Alice appeared with a glass of water and stood in the doorway, "When's mom and dad's flight back in?"

"Not until 2."

"Okay, that's enough time to get Bella back in bed and make her something to eat. Charlie will kill us if we take her home like this."

"Ugh" Bella groaned, "I can't think about food right now."

Alice and I looked at each other and laughed silently.

She woke up at about noon. I heard her groan, turning around on my bed.

"Hey." I smiled looking at her from my chair near the bed.

She smiled and covered her face with the blanket, "Were you watching me sleep?"

I chuckled, "Not explicitly. Just making sure you were okay." I got up and sat next to her, "How are you feeling?"

"Better."

I peeled the covers off of her, "You don't handle your liquor well."

"Guess not. I didn't realize I had so much." She giggled. "But thank you for being there. Even if I was gross."

I got in bed next to her, "You're never gross." I combed her hair behind her ear, "Well…last night you were." I laughed.

"Oh god" she covered herself with the covers again.

"Don't be ashamed." I smiled at her embarrassment and peeked under the blanket at her. "What was that about?"

She shrugged and locked eyes with me, "I wanted you."

Her honesty floored me. She was normally shy when it came to sex and I was always respectful of her boundaries from the very first time we'd done it. But last night she knew what she wanted and took full control. It took me by total surprise.

"I have to admit, I liked seeing that side of you."

Her face turned red as I ran my fingers up and down her arm.

She shook her head smiling, "Lately it's all I can think about. When I'm at home. When I'm at school. I'm just waiting for the right moment to get you alone and…"

"I would've waited for you, you know that don't you?"

She sighed, "I know. But I didn't want to risk you going away for college and meeting girls that would be willing-"

"I don't want that Bella. I want you. I love you no matter if we would've done it last month or next year. You mean everything to me."

She reached her hand up putting her fingers in my hair, pressing her lips to mine. "I love you. And I didn't want to wait. I don't regret it at all. Nothing will change that."

I nodded kissing her again.

"You know, you're pretty hot when you're all mushy." She joked.

I laughed pulling her closer, "I should get you home soon."

"Oh come on, lay with me." She kissed me tugging at my shirt.

"You're trying to kill me." I laughed.

"It'll be a beautiful death." She climbed on top of me and pulled the blankets over us.

The week was hardly out and people were talking about another party. If I planned to go and take the girls with me, I'd have to be more careful because our parents weren't going to be out of town this time.

"I don't think Bella can handle another one anyways." Alice said walking with me to the car.

"Yeah that last one was pretty bad on her. Hey, have you talked to her today? I haven't seen her. It's unlike her to miss school."

"I got a text from her this morning. All she said was that she wasn't coming today."

"She say anything else to you? She hasn't responded to any of my texts."

"Huh" Alice replied, "no, she didn't say much. Just that she wasn't coming to class. And she texted me first."

I nodded thinking maybe Charlie found out my parents weren't home last weekend and she really stayed the night in my bed. Or maybe I'd accidently marked her and he found it, now he was going berserk and looking for me.

"I'll call her when I get home, I wonder what's up."

When we got home mom was prepping dinner and making small talk.

"Edward you got some mail in there. After you read it wash up and come help set the table." She smiled at me.

"Sure thing." I grabbed the letters on the table with my name on it and headed to my room. After I changed, I sat down and sifted through the mail. They were admissions letters from some schools I applied to. Most of them were my reach schools so I wasn't in a rush to open them. I texted Bella asking her if she wanted to come over for dinner or maybe sit with me while I read more college admission letters. She responded not tonight, she wasn't feeling well. I tried to engage her in conversation but she didn't really respond much, she said she wasn't feeling up to talking. I didn't think much of it but I was worried and I told her to let me know if she needed anything. She just stopped responding. I went downstairs and helped Alice set the table like mom asked then goofed around until the food was ready.

After dinner, I went to my room and texted Bella again. She responded immediately this time.

"Can you come over tonight?"

I'd have to sneak out but I agreed to see her later when everyone was asleep. I tried asking her more questions while I had her attention but she didn't say much. I was worried to death, I wanted to see her now. I paced my room trying to occupy my mind with something until it was time to see her. I sat down in my chair and looked over my mail again. I opened the first and scanned the first line. I'd been accepted. It shocked me but I didn't focus on it. I opened the others and turns out I'd been accepted into two exceptional schools I was expected to be turned away from. I was overly excited but the news meant nothing to me if I couldn't tell my girlfriend.

Finally I just decided I'd watch tv until I fell asleep. I woke up to my phone buzzing next to me. It was Bella telling me to come now. I hurried quietly to her house and waited out by her window. I leaned against the car waiting for her to come to wave for me. Finally she came to the window and leaned out of it. She waved then let me know she was coming down with her hands. She looked different. I couldn't put a finger on how, she just did.

I could hear her feet push into the wet ground as she walked to come meet me. When I saw her my heart skipped a beat. I held her tight while her arms wrapped around my waist.

"Everything ok?"

"Let's go in my room." She said lowly pulling me towards the house.

She shut the door behind her as I sat on her bed trying to read her expression.

"Me and Alice have been worried sick about you, where have you been? Are you alright?" I reached for her hand. It was sweaty. She didn't look at me much. "Bella," I pulled her into my lap, "talk to me."

She sat down pulling the sleeves of her shirt over her hands, letting my hand go. "I've been on the reservation."

I nodded chewing my lip, "With Jake."

"I've been with his sister, she's been helping me."

"Helping you with what?"

She got up and walked over to her wall and leaned against it.

"Bella tell me what's going on?"

She picked at her fingernails and scoffed, "I'm pregnant."

I could feel my breath leave me, "Wh-what? What."

"Unless you can have a hangover for a week, I'm pregnant." She finally looked at me.

I couldn't speak. There were so many words in my head but they were all trying to come out of my mouth at once. I got up and went to her and wrapped my arms around her, resting my cheek in her hair.

"She knows a place." She started. Immediately my heart felt like it was being twisted, "Just outside of Forks. I told her I would go with her."

I let her go, "What are you saying Bella?"

"I can't keep this baby Edward."

"You? Bella…" I rubbed my head with my thumb and forefinger, "this baby… it's our baby."

"I'm 16" her voice was getting louder.

"Keep your voice down, Charlie will hear you."

"Fuck Charlie!"

I sighed and out my head down trying to think. "I don't want to fight about this."

"There's nothing to fight about. I'm getting rid of this baby. You're going to college, I'm going to finish high school, we're not becoming an MTV special."

"So that's it, I don't have a say in any of this?"

"What do you have to say Edward?"

I walked over to her. She was fuming. I tried to touch her and she smacked my hands away but I didn't give in, I kept trying until she let me hold her. "This baby won't be a mistake. Charlie, Renee, Carlisle and Esme would love this baby. I could work and go to school. Raise our baby."

She huffed and pulled away from me, "What did your admission letters say?" she asked completely changing the subject.

I shook my head, "Bella…"

"What did they say?" she urged.

I licked my teeth trying to keep my anger in check, "I got accepted into all of my reach schools." I said lowly.

"You got accepted into all of your reach school." She laughed sarcastically, "Well congratulations." She folded her arms and looked at me, "Did they mention anything about family housing? Daycare options? Any room in your luggage for the baby?"

I could feel the tears coming down my face.

"I'm not going to be the girl that took away your opportunities to live some fairytale life with a kid at 16 and love that may change after it's here."

I looked at her shocked. "Is that really what you think?"

She shrugged, her own tears beginning to fall. "I don't know. But how many pregnant teen couples make it out of Forks together?"

"This isn't about other couples, this is about us. I love you." I stood up and went to her getting to my knees in front of her touching her stomach, "I love this baby. That's all I need."

"We can't do this right now Edward, I'm not ready."

"You're not alone."

"But I'm scared." She confessed. I stood up and took her hands. She was trying her best to keep it together but she just fell apart. I pulled her in my arms and held her as she cried.

"I'm scared too. But we're in this together."

Eventually her sobs quieted until she was just sniffling. She whipped her eyes and moved away from me getting tissue from her bedside.

"I have a doctor's appointment this weekend." She said wiping her nose. "After that…"

My heart was breaking, "Please."

"I'm doing you a favor Edward." She started to tear up again, "I can't do this to you. I'm doing this for you. For us."

I shook my head looking down. Without saying anything I got up and headed out. She called after me once but I didn't respond. When I got to the house I sat in the driveway with the car off. I sat saliently for a few minutes then pounded the steering wheel letting my emotions fly.

She made the decision already and only called me over to say goodbye.

I sat in my bed doing the last bit of my homework when Alice walked in. "You didn't talk much at dinner."

"Nothing exciting to say." I spoke without looking up from my paper.

She came and sat down next to me. "Bella hasn't said much in the last few days. You guys get into a fight?"

Hearing her name was painful. I didn't respond, I just sighed deeply. She didn't push, she just rubbed my head and pulled me onto her shoulder. We sat in silence for the rest of the night. Eventually the silence broke me and I cried. I thought that I knew what it felt like to be sad, hurt, confused. I had no idea. It was only the beginning.

A/N:

.:NOTE:.

THIS IS NOT THE ENDING OF THIS ISSUE!

I'm very aware of how it happened, how it began and where I left it. Stick around.

As always, review/comment/send me haikus because you love me (jk, unless you're moved to)