A/N: Because finals are approaching, I am in a panic and I have a history essay that's due Tuesday that I haven't even started yet. So that's my pitiful excuse for this chapter being short.
To my biggest fan Vanquishluvr (because she requested): I love you forever and thank you for being consistent on your reviews and yes I know that the one chapter was kind of creepy, but I consider it eye opening. And from now on, check the damn blog! Just in case you don't know it, it's .. all questions will be answered here if you have any.
Chapter 11
He continued to stare while I waited for his answer. He seemed genuinely surprised by my question, which confused me. Most people would already have an answer to that question: it's the right thing to do, you need help, and I care for your well-being, things like that. Edward seemed to need to think harder on his answer. The moment stood still.
"It's not that hard of a question to answer. You look like you're dealing with an intense 3-D puzzle," I pointed out. No response.
Finally, his mouth started moving, and words formed on his lips. "I—" he started. He struggled to express again. "I know a couple of people who can relate to your story, and they had," he searched for the right words, "not so fortunate endings."
I didn't believe him. Well, I did, but I knew he had more to say, but just didn't want to say it. I let it go.
"Well, thank you for doing it anyway. Whatever your real reason," he started to protest, but I already knew he was lying. "I thank you. No one has ever done this much for me. Well, you can count Jake, too." I smiled for the first real smile in a long time.
He smiled, too. "You don't have to thank me, Bella." He shook his head. Edward turned towards the dorms and the campus. "Are you feeling okay to go?" His voice unsure.
Shaking my head, "I won't ever be, but I have to anyways." I started walking again; Edward put a comforting arm around my shoulders. I wrapped my arms around his waist. We walked for a while, not saying anything. It was a comfortable silence. It's strange, though. Even with this almost-complete stranger, I felt safe and comfortable with him. The relationship, however you want to label it, felt easy. We didn't have to work hard to make things comfortable.
Finally, we reached the campus. All the students were bustling around campus with their parents, rushing to their next class, hoping that the parents will get out of here soon. I felt the same way. Edward and I worked out way over to the English wing, where we hoped to meet Esme outside.
Only we didn't.
Outside of Esme's room, Phil stood. His green eyes, which I imagined to be smirking, were glaring. I could tell the view of Edward's arm around me made him feel possessive and angry. I removed Edward's arm, hoping he would understand. He didn't seem to notice: his eyes were on Phil, not bothering to look down at me.
I didn't say anything to Phil as we moved passed him and walked into the room. Edward made sure to separate me from Phil. Esme, sitting at her desk, looked up at Edward for less than a second and moved her attention to me.
"Hello, Bella." I could see Phil frowning again out of the corner of my eye. He liked people to call me Isabella. He thought the name sounded, "Beautiful." Esme greeted Phil. "You must be Mr. Dwyer. Will Mrs. Dwyer be joining you today?" I became impressed with her ability to keep a straight face… and smile along with it.
Phil, in a restrained voice, answered, "Maybe later this afternoon, she's occupied at the moment." He shrugged.
"That's too bad," Esme sighed. She moved on anyways and sat back down. "Well, I'd like to say first off that Bella is an outstanding student. She has a good work ethic, has a natural talent for writing, and has a true appreciation for literature. She already read the classics that we are currently studying and is willing to help others on the topic." She smiled at me with kindness, and I sensed sympathy, too.
Phil agreed, like the good parent. "She has always been good in school. I remember her staying up until midnight making sure all her homework was done." Yeah, either that or you're a skitzo who forced me to stay up until midnight so you could torture me for four years of my miserable life. I saw the smirk; I curled my hands into fists all the while trying to resist tear flow.
Esme noticed my discomfort and moved onto a different topic. "Are you involved at all with her schooling, Mr. Dwyer?" She asked, getting serious now.
He shrugged. "I dropped her off at school in the mornings, but my wife Renee did most of the schoolwork with her." Flat out lie. I forged my entire straight-A report cards because Renee wouldn't give the time of day to take a single look at my report cards. I faxed all my report cards to Charlie until I turned thirteen; that's when I started to forge. I became so good at it; I didn't have to worry about getting caught.
The door opened behind us. Renee stood in the door frame, all five slutty feet of her. Renee, of course, dressed in a white Prada blouse with a v-neck and ruffles, a black Gucci pencil skirt, and those black Prada pumps with the violet fade on the toe that I've always envied. That's why she wore it.
"I'm terribly sorry I'm late," she explained on the way to the front of the room, while I put my face in my hands, hoping it was all a dream. Esme stood up and shook Renee's hand.
"Hello, you must be Mrs. Dwyer, my name is Mrs. Cullen and I'm your daughter's English teacher." Renee looked at me with a sneer.
"Well, I guess we will be getting a good report from you then. We never had a problem with her and English. She always has her nose in a book." Like she would know. She ignored me most of my adolcent life. She didn't even know half the things I'm interested in.
Esme smiled. "Yes, Bella does very well in this class and exceeds all expectations; and our expectations here at Hockaday aren't very easy to meet." I'd have to thank Esme later for all these complements that she clearly meant.
The room started getting a little musty with all the people in here. I zoned out as Esme shot into a conversation with Renee and Phil on how I'm an excellent student, born to major in English. At this moment, I really wished Esme was my mother.
Finally, their conversation came to a close. I paid attention again when the subject turned over to me.
"What colleges are you thinking of applying to, Bella? Do you know what you want to do with your life?" Esme, sincerely interested in my life, eyed me with curious eyes.
I pulled my thoughts together. "Well, I've always wanted to be an author, but I think being a journalist would be fun, too. All I know is that I want to write. Though, if I decided to take the art route, I'd like to become an art teacher of some kind; teach art, music, creative writing. Being a teacher is definitely an option right now." I smiled. Though a couple of years ago, I thought I'd never even make it to college. Now, Esme made me feel like I could do it.
Esme smiled a broad, white grin. "That's what I thought. Although your math, science, and history grades are all very high, English seems to be your strong point. I hope you succeed in pursuing your passions, Bella." She meant every word. Edward is very lucky to have her for a mother.
"Thank you Es—Mrs. Cullen." I caught myself. We have always been on first name terms with each other, but around my parents didn't sound like a good idea.
Phil, getting impatient, rose from his seat. "Well, I am going to be late for my practice if I don't get on the go soon. The Rangers are playing the Yankees this weekend." The Rangers sucked. That was just baseball common sense. Phil was a sucky player; the two were just meant to be.
Esme smiled. "Oh, that's right. You play for the Rangers. My boys and girls love to play baseball, too. My sons are very competitive at the sport. The only problem I have is keeping them honest. They cheat so much," she laughed an enchanting laugh. Her soft, dark brown curls bounced with the movement and her childish dimples stood out. Phil couldn't help but gawk at her beauty.
He drew his attention away just long enough to give me a good word. Bella, would you like to see your mother and I out?" I looked at Esme, hoping she could help out. She shrugged helplessly.
I gulped my fear. "Sure," I croaked. My confidence Esme gave me earlier disappeared. I stood up and slowly made my way out, giving Esme one last glance before giving myself to the wolves.
We all walked in silence all the way to the taxi that waited patiently for them to return. Renee got in the car right away and shut the door, while Phil turned around to face me.
"Who was that boy?" I could hear the anger. He grabbed my arm a little too tight. "Tell me."
I winced. "Esme's son, Edward Cullen." Whispers were all I could handle.
His green eyes narrowed at me. "And what were you doing with him? I looked for you all morning. I came to your dorm, but you weren't there." I could sense all the accusations he was making. He thought I had been with Edward all morning, doing things that only he did to me. I'd probably never be able to be with a guy and be that close ever. Not when Phil is all I could think about when guys touched me. Edward and Jake were the only exceptions.
"We went for a ride on the trail, that's all." It came out as a squeak. His hand grasped harder on my arm, feeling the scab from my cut slowly tear open again.
His face came close to mine, his eyes menacing. "You listen. No man except me will ever touch you, do you understand?" I nodded. I had no problem with never touching any guy in that way. "I will be back tonight, and by God you better be there," and then lower, "you know the consequences." I bit back a cry. I would show no more weakness in his presence.
I felt a cool hand on my shoulder, and a voice I thought I recognized, but sounded much different. "Let go. You're hurting her." I turned my head slightly to see Edward, all towering fury staring at Phil. I wrapped my free arm around Edward for comfort. He was a balm to me.
Phil angrily let go of my arm. Edward's arm moved around my waist, making me feel safe again. Phil glared at Edward, but Edward's scowl was much more impressive. He turned his attention to me again. "Don't forget what I told you, Isabella," I winced at my full name. Edward's grip tightened on me, and I could've sworn I heard a feral growl come from him.
Phil got in the car, and I caught a glimpse of Renee smiling. Edward abruptly turned me away and started walking briskly towards the boy's dorm. When I looked up at him, all I could see were his angry eyes. I knew already that he didn't like Phil or Renee very much, but this was an overreaction.
"Edward," I stopped him. "What's wrong? I know you're really angry at Phil right now, but when you saw Renee, you nearly lost it. What's going on?" His hair looked windblown, and his eyes darker with more prominent bruises.
He took a deep breath. "Nothing Bella." We approached his bike, and for the first time, I noticed the sack on his back. He climbed on, handing over the helmet.
I hesitated. "I don't think I should go, Edward." He did the cool eyebrow thing. Then he frowned.
"You aren't really thinking about listening to him, are you? They are just empty threats. Besides, I sincerely doubt he could hurt anybody in my family." He smiled at some inside joke.
I shook my head. "You don't understand, he—" then I caught it. He wasn't there when Phil was threatening me. I gazed at him speculatively. "Wait, how did you know about that? You weren't anywhere in sight when he was talking to me. How do you know?" My suspicions grew. His eyes change color, he gets angry and irritable. He sees people, his expressions change erratically. Something strange is going on with Edward.
He caught his mistake, and then sighed. "I guess I'll have to tell you later, no matter what. So could you please get on the bike before I end up having to strap you to the seat?" His eyes were begging me to drop the subject, so I did, but hesitated to get on the bike. If Phil knows where I am…
Edward interrupted my internal panic session. "Bella," he cupped my face in his hands and looked me straight in the eye. "I promise, nothing will happen. I promise you that nothing bad will happen to you or any of us. Phil is not a threat to us. Trust me." Those words again. Trust me. Trusting people isn't exactly my expertise, but with Edward, it came naturally.
Reluctantly, I took the helmet he offered and hopped onto the bike. As soon as my hands connected around him, he took off. Just as I remembered, the bike had speed that made your adrenaline start pumping. I loved the feeling of running away from anything harmful, and running towards something blissful.
We raced through the countryside, watching the trees turn into blurs of green. We soon moved off the main highway and moved deeper into the woods. The woods weren't thick like the forests in the Olympic Peninsula in Washington, but there were plenty of trees. A minute of driving down a gravel path, we stopped in front of what had to be the most beautiful home I had ever seen.
The home was a classic. Dark red brick decorated the front of the house. Huge bay windows revealed high ceilings; the house seemed to stretch out forever. It wasn't the modern Mediterranean Villa that we had in Texas; it had a classy vintage feel to it.
I got off the bike in a daze, slowly following Edward up onto the porch. His hand hesitated on the elegant door knob. He turned to look at me. I looked up to him.
"Bella, what you are about to see and hear might be a little overwhelming, so just brace yourself. And…after this, if you hate me, I will completely understand." I could see his internal battle raging. Part of him, I'm not sure which part of him, wanted me to leave. The other part desperately wanted me to stay. Then something occurred to me: how could I hate someone who has given me so much love?
"Don't hold your breath."
He smiled, and opened the door.
If I thought the outside was beautiful, that's because I hadn't seen the inside. Every wall had an off shade of white, tinting towards yellow, green, and the furniture looked like old French provincial. The home looked so bright. I didn't have to look at the family photos to know that this home held a lot of happy moments and memories for the Cullen's.
"Wow," I breathed. I looked down to take off my shoes. The floor was a beautiful light maple color. The floor put the whole entire house together. I looked at Edward, who was smiling at me. "What?" I asked.
"You just look happy, that's all. It's a nice change in you." He had a point. The last time I had been this happy was back at Christmas time.
"This house has that effect on me. It's so light and open; I can tell that your family has had a lot of good times in this house." I looked around again. The house in Texas had a fake feel to it, it was all for the looks, not for comfort. This looked like a family home.
"It has that effect on me, too," he admitted with a sheepish smile.
I heard pitter patter footsteps coming from upstairs and a squealed, "Edward!" I looked up the curved staircase and found a little pixie girl flying down the steps. She had extremely short spiked black hair and a little pixie face. Her eyes were the same color as Edward's when he was in a good mood.
"Hello Alice. This is Bella." His hand gestured towards me. I held out my hand, so I sure wasn't expecting the huge bear hug coming from a little pipsqueak. She squeezed me with unbelievable force.
"Bella! It's so good to finally see you! I know that we are going to be the best of friends!" I looked at Edward, who smiled at Alice.
"It's nice to meet you too, Alice," I meant it. She's the kind of person who won't let you be sad for more than a few seconds. I could use some of that kind of spirit.
She finally let go and observed me. She frowned. "Edward, this is an issue," Alice looked so serious and slightly concerned. She put her thumb and forefinger on her chin in thought.
Edward groaned. "Alice, you are not going to torture her. Let her rest for a bit before you steal her off on one of your escapades." He went to capture Alice and pull her away from me, but she neatly dodged his quick hands and went back up the stairs shouting, "Jasper! Emmett! Bella's here!"
I looked at Edward, wide-eyed in surprise. "You didn't tell me you owned the original Energizer Bunny! I would've asked you for an autograph," he laughed, so did I. My laugh sounded off, but it sounded right.
"You can insult her, you can disgrace her, you can piss her off, but the only way you can tear her down is by telling her 'no' to shopping." We sobered up a little bit, and he led us into the large family room.
He told me to sit down, I did. He put his backpack next to the couch. "What's that for? I didn't see you with it earlier," I eyed the backpack, wondering what was in it.
"That's all your things. I got back into your room and salvaged what Phil didn't take," then he smiled wickedly, "and a few things he did." I wasn't about to ask. I picked up the bag and set it in my lap. The first thing in the bag was Squishy, in his pale pink grace. Hugging Squishy to me, I closed my eyes and thought of Charlie.
"I figured it held some importance to you, so I packed it at the last moment." I looked up at him, and I could see the question dying to escape his lips.
"Thank you," I breathed. "I don't think I would've lasted as long as I have if it weren't for Squishy; in fact, I probably wouldn't have lasted the plane ride from Texas to here. I remember when Charlie gave him to me. That year, I begged him so much for a pillow like this, but he never gave in to my pleads. When I woke up Christmas morning that year, Squishy was laying next to me. Even though I also got a CD player that year, too, I didn't play with anything but Squishy. He has been with me ever since." I breathed in Squishy's scent; a mixture of Charlie, my old house, and a scent I have never been able to describe. "He healed my insomnia, kept me company all those days in the woods when I was alone, I know I probably sound like a six year old and her doll, but it's true." I opened my eyes.
Edward smiled at me. It wasn't a full out smile, just a small, affectionate toothless one. I heard a door open, and his jaw went tight and his eyes narrowed. Confused, I listened to the light footsteps that I heard coming down the stairs. I didn't understand Edward's sudden change in mood. I thought I heard a low growl come from Edward, but people don't growl. It's not human.
"Edward?" A wind chime voice called.
"Don't," he said voice low and angry.
All of a sudden, Blonde Beauty rushed into the family room, looking exactly the same as I remember her. I felt my face fall into a death glare. She didn't look angry like before, when I first ran into her. She looked…desperate, sorry, and another emotion I couldn't pin down.
"Bella, I'm so sorry—"
"Shut up." I said low and clear.
"I didn't know—"
"You didn't know you'd ever see me again?" I shouted. "You didn't know how to tell someone? You didn't know how to tell him to stop?" I could feel angry tears welling up in my eyes. I waited for her to say something, but she kept her mouth shut. "Seven years ago. Seven years ago all of this madness could've stopped. The only thing that seemed to stop was your aging," everyone stiffened. I saw Alice, Jasper, and Emmett had snuck into the room. "Care to explain?" I asked, more than a little irritated.
She sat down on the couch across from me, looking uncomfortable. She folded and unfolded her hands, staring at them all the while. "Bella, that's the reason that I couldn't help you before. But, I'm not sure if I'm at liberty to tell you why I did what I did." She looked at Edward.
"Edward didn't so callously abandon an abused child like you did. I believe you are the one at liberty to tell me why the hell you haven't changed a bit in seven years." She stared at me. Just stared. The blank expression on her face made me angry.
"Edward," she said not looking at him, we kept intense eye contact.
"Don't worry about it Rosalie, I was planning on telling her anyways, but I think you are the one who should explain." There were a couple more moments of silence. Then, "I already told Carlisle and Esme about the situation. Just tell her already." Was he reading her thoughts? Oh, God. If he can read mine…
Her eyes told me that she was dead serious. "Bella, the reason I couldn't help you back then, the reason Edward is answering questions that haven't been asked, well, it's because we're vampires."
