Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT. Trufax.
BPOV
I had completely forgotten about Riley, I was so wrapped up in the little bubble Edward and I had created that I didn't even know there were other people on the planet.
After Rose had barged in on Edward and I making out on the couch, we quickly and nervously pulled ourselves together under Rose's watchful eye and made our way over to her house. The entire way Rose was not so subtly questioning me if she needed to castrate Edward for me, to which Edward cringed and I swear I saw him cup himself. I insisted over and over again that everything we had done was what I wanted, and that there was no need to maim Edward.
She let it drop when we arrived, but I sensed we still had some more things to talk about.
That brings us to now.
I was sitting on the kitchen island next to Alice, who kept swinging her legs back and forth, Rose was a few feet away standing at the counter making ham and cheese sandwiches for everyone. The boys were in the living room, having 'man to man time' (Emmett's words, not mine) with Riley, who thanks to Jasper, was tied up to a chair with some rather complicated knots. When I had first saw it, Jasper just said that he had 'training' and left it at that. I wasn't going to press for more information after that.
Edward had closed the kitchen doors with a smile, saying that it might be a little while. I made sure that he understood that he was not to kill Riley. He grumbled for a minute, but eventually agreed, understanding that the whole reason we went through the trouble of getting him was so that we could return him to Renee and Phil in as close to one piece as possible.
So far we hadn't heard any screams, so I wasn't worrying too much….yet.
"So, you wanna tell us about what I walked in on back there?" Rose asked, slathering some bread with mayonnaise.
I blushed as I remembered what she was talking about. I could still feel the soft, warm velvet that was Edward's lips against mine. His body pressed lightly along mine as his hands ran across my torso, caressing my breast.
Jesus, I was getting hot again just thinking about. Stop it Bella, focus. No more thinking of Edward's magic fingers and lips, they'll know and then they'll attack…
"There's not really much to talk about. We were just kissing." I answered her, trying to keep my voice from cracking.
"Oh my god, you guys were kissing?" Alice questioned excitedly.
I shot Rose a dirty look, to which she just shrugged and smirked, and I turned to address Alice.
"Yes, Edward and I kissed… made out on the couch, whatever you want to call it. So?" I was a bit defensive and I didn't really get why.
"No need to put the gloves on, it's not bad sweetie, it's just we never thought that Edward would make out with someone on his couch." Alice explained, scrunching her nose up and cocking her head to the side. "That's very un-Edward like."
My curiosity was peaked. Edward didn't make out with women? Did he think he was like Julia Roberts from Pretty Woman or something?
"Why not?" I asked them.
"Edward's just not the making out kind of guy. More like the 'one night stand' guy." Rose said as she walked over and handed me a sandwich.
I looked down at it and thought about what Rose had said. If Edward preferred one night stands, why was he getting to second base with me on his couch? Was I supposed to be just another notch on his belt? Was I some kind of twisted challenge to him, or did he really care about me? This was so confusing.
Someone was tugging on a piece of my hair, getting my attention. I turned my head toward it; Alice.
"I see that look on your face and your wrong. You're not just another of Edwards conquests. He actually seems to have feelings for you, he may not admit to them, but they're there. He just has to pull his head out of his ass and tell you." Alice took a bite of her sandwich then went back to the magazine she was reading.
Rose smirked at Alice but didn't say anything to tell her she was full of it.
I didn't say anything, I couldn't even think of anything to say to that.
Instead I thought of how we were going to get Riley to go back home and never do anything this idiotic ever again. Edward and Emmett had suggested earlier that they beat it into him, but I had to say no to that, no matter how much the thought is appealing in the back of my mind, I just pushed it down.
Oh, I haven't talked about the 'problem' Rose had been yelling about. Let me explain.
Apparently, Emmett had tried to be nice and he untied Riley. Well, that didn't go so well for Riley. He had grabbed Alice and tried to use her as a hostage or something along those lines until he got off the island. Jasper didn't like that. That was when Rose ran out to get Edward and I, then we got there, Riley was tied up, and Alice was giggling and drooling over Jasper like she was a fourteen year old fangirl.
Riley was just as stupid as he looked, it was embarrassing really. I tried to apologize profusely to Alice and Jasper, but they wouldn't hear it, saying I wasn't responsible for what my dumbass step-brother did, but I felt like I was. It was because of me that he was here in the first place, but I have to admit, I didn't think he would try to take anyone hostage.
Edward came over to me and told me stop beating myself up about and forget it, flashing his crooked smile and brushing his thumb across my cheek. That made me forget everything, I swear to god I couldn't even recall my name for a few seconds.
Suddenly, I heard a yelp and thud from the other room, then I could hear Edward start shouting. I jumped from the counter and swung open the kitchen door that led to the living room.
Riley was still tied to the chair, but it had tipped over backwards so he was laying on the floor. He had blood coming out of his nose and was spewing profanities loudly, trying to breath properly as it was obviously broken. Edward was barely being held back by Emmett and Jasper, yelling at them to let him go so he could finish with Riley.
"What the hell is going on in here?" I head someone shout.
It was a mans voice, not a woman's voice, so I knew it wasn't Rose or Alice. The only three men were in the room already and none of them had spoken.
I turned to the other side of the room and saw a man. He looked no older than forty, tall, with light blonde hair and green eyes. Edwards green eyes.
I gasped as I realized that this man was Edwards father, and he had just walked in on his son trying to beat the hell out of Riley.
Shit.
EPOV
I was pissed off at this jerk in the first place for interrupting my time with Bella, which was going rather well if you ask me. But to try to take Alice as a hostage? Ha! I almost pissed myself laughing. Not only could Alice probably take him down herself, but there was no way in hell Jasper would have let him move an inch.
Jasper had been through military school as a teenager, thanks to his father, Peter, who was a hardcore military general. Jasper had spent four years there and picked up way more training than what was on the agenda.
I was just glad that he treated Alice right, because if he didn't and I tried to do something about it, he would most likely kill me.
The other reason I was pissed off was because this fucker couldn't seem to shut his mouth. No wonder he was so beat up already, Marcus probably couldn't stand his big mouth.
I was currently standing in front of Riley, my arms crossed over my chest, and he was talking abut how he was going to kill us to get revenge for doing this to him.
Yeah sure, look who's tied to a chair fucker. Good luck on that revenge.
Emmett, Jasper and I were trying to figure out what to do with him. Jasper was voting for just killing him. He was still a little mad about the whole thing with Alice. I told him that we couldn't kill Riley, as Bella requested, and gave me a dirty look, but made up for it by sitting silently next to Riley, staring him down and intimidating him. By the way Riley kept nervously glancing over at Jasper every few seconds and the beads of sweat rolling down his face, I would say his method of torture was working.
Emmett wanted to beat the hell out of him, just for what he did to Bella and I couldn't help but agree with him.
I was just enjoying watching the little worm squirm. But I couldn't help but ask why. Why would he do that to Bella? I understood from Bella that they weren't close, but still. I could never do that to Alice, even if we didn't like each other, I'd never do that to another human being. It was disgusting.
"Why did you do it? Were you truly that desperate?" I asked him.
He focused his attention on me, his eyes looking me up and down before scoffing.
"You think that you're all high and mighty, but wouldn't you do the same thing if it was your ass on line?" He asked me, obviously sure of my answer.
"No, I wouldn't." I stated.
His smirk faltered slightly.
"I would never do that to another person, no matter how much trouble I was in, I would suck it up and take whatever was coming to me." I continued.
"Yeah well, I wouldn't be bitching too much. My so called 'fuck up' caused you to have your own little whore. She must be a pretty good fuck if she's got you running all over the place to get me back to Renee and Phil." He snickered.
Jasper sucked in his breath and I felt Emmett tense beside me, but I didn't care about them right now. All I saw was red. Riley was going to die. I didn't care that Bella wanted to return his pathetic ass to her parents, there wasn't going to be anything left to return after what he had just said to me about Bella.
That fucker does not call her a whore in front of me and live.
I drew my fist back and laid it into his face. I heard bone crack, his or mine I didn't know or care, and the chair he was tied to tipped backwards and crashed to the floor. Riley started screaming and cussing, swinging his head back and forth. I caught the sight of blood flowing steadily out his nose; I broke that fucker's nose. Good.
"Don't you ever call Bella that again! She's better than you could ever wish to be! You owe her your pathetic life you son of a bitch!" I screamed before I lunged for him, ready to beat him until he stopped breathing.
I felt hands gripping onto my arms and shoulders, holding me back. I was furious, trying to shake the hands off, I didn't know who they were, the only thing that was going through my mind was to kill the bastard for daring to say such things about Bella. About my angel.
"What the hell is going on in here?" Someone shouted. It managed to cut through the red that was clouding vision and my head, but only a little.
A second later I realized who it was; Carlisle.
Dammit, not what I needed right now.
I continued to struggle to get to Riley, ignoring my fathers presence.
"Edward stop!"
Those two words cut through me completely and I froze instantly only because of who spoke them.
Bella.
She was standing in the doorway to the kitchen, looking shocked and confused.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
I hadn't meant for her to see any of this.
"Bella, I'm sorry, I didn't- I mean…" I trailed off. What the hell was I supposed to say to her to make something like this right?
I can't think of anything, so please share with the class if you do know.
"What the hell is going on in here?" Carlisle repeated.
Okay, I know that my father isn't stupid, and there's no way I can lie my way out of this.
I couldn't answer him right now though, he can figure it out.
"Edward, what were you doing?" Bella asked, standing tentatively in the doorway.
"I'm sorry Bella. No, wait… I'm not sorry, not really. He said some nasty things about you that made me really angry so I decked him." I explained, trying to get her to understand where I'm coming from here.
She stared at me for a couple of seconds, then her eyes darted down to Riley, who was still bleeding on the floor.
"What did he say about me?" She asked, folding her arms across her chest in a way that clearly said 'don't try to lie to me, and if you do, I'll know'.
"Bella, I don't think I should tell you that." I said.
"Tell me Edward." She demanded harshly.
That's kinda hot.
I huffed and ran my hand through my hair.
"He basically called you a whore and said that you must be… good… in bed if I went and got him from Marcus because you asked me to." I said, trying to cushion Riley's actual words.
Her face turned pink and I knew she was embarrassed, but there was something in her eyes. She looked extremely angry. I don't think I've ever seen Bella at that level of anger. He fists were clenched together and I could tell they were shaking slightly, and her jaw was grinding together.
"He said that, did he?" She almost growled.
I was a little scared; I didn't know if she was this angry at Riley or at me and from the looks of it, you didn't want to be on the receiving end of Bella's anger.
"Yes…" Before I could say anything else, Bella was striding past me to where Riley was.
She bent down next to him and looked him directly in the eyes.
"How dare you, you piece of shit. You have me sold as a sex slave, then when I come to save you, you say that you want Marcus to kill Edward, after we get you out of there, Edward risking his life, Emmett's and mine, you come into his house and try to take his sister as some sort of hostage. Then you say all those awful things about me, the only person in the entire world that tried to save your ass from numerous people and yourself. Do you know that I practically begged Edward not to kill you? Riley… you need to pull out the stick that's shoved up your ass and look around you and realize that there are actually people here that want to help you." She said to him calmly. I'm pretty sure that she would be less scary of she just yelled.
Riley seemed to think she was fucking scary too because he didn't say anything, just stared at her with wide eyes while still trying to breath through his mouth.
I glanced around the room at everyone; Jasper looked impressed and it's not an easy thing to accomplish, Rose was practically glowing, if she were a bird, I think she'd be fluffing her feathers, and Alice and Emmett were beside themselves with laughter at Riley, trying to hide it behind their hands.
I looked back at Carlisle to see an odd mix of amusement, confusion, disapproving and parental concern. I could tell I would have to explain some things.
Riley still hadn't said anything to Bella (most likely a very smart move on his part), so she stood up straight and turned on her heel, walking back into the kitchen and past everyone without a single word.
I looked around at everyone awkwardly, wondering if I should go after, let someone else go after her or just leave her alone so she could calm down.
My decision was made for me by Rose and Alice.
"Hello? Are you stupid? Go after her, make sure she's okay, if she needs anything you need to be there for her." Rose pushed, waving frantically toward the doorway where Bella just disappeared through.
Alice was vigorously nodding her head in agreement, looking expectantly at me. I guess Rose covered it all.
I rushed out of the room without another word, ignoring Carlisle completely, I'd come back to him later. Bella comes first.
She wasn't in the kitchen or the living room, so she must be outside.
I opened the front and peeked outside. There she was, sitting cross-legged a few yards away from the house in the sand. She looked so beautiful, just sitting on the beach, staring out a the ocean, watching tide come in and out. But there was something else there. She looked sad and…lonely?
That won't do at all.
I walked over to her slowly, not knowing if she was still mad or not. When I finally reached her, I sat down slowly beside her and didn't say anything. I thought it would be best if she initiated the conversation.
I hadn't been sitting there a minute when she started talking.
"I don't get it, why is he like that? What happened to do that to him?" She whispered, burying her face in her hands.
I didn't know what to say to her. What did have to happen to someone to make them so heartless and pathetic?
"Honestly Bella, I don't know. Some people are just born that way and other times, they're made to be like that. There's a lot of things that can make people act horribly, we may never know unless Riley wants us to know, and I don't think that he will." I said to her softly.
I watched her face carefully for any signs to see if I had upset her even more. It didn't seem like I did. She just continued to stare out at the water intently, a crease between her eyes.
"What are we going to do with him?" She asked. She was gnawing on her bottom lip so hard I was afraid that she was gonna bit it off, so I reached over and gently swept my thumb along it, making her teeth let it go.
I heard her gasp and I wondered briefly if I had upset her by doing it, we hadn't actually talked about our little foray on my couch, so I had no idea how she felt about what had happened and if I should be doing anything else of the sexual or romantic nature.
My fears however were tossed aside when Bella leaned over toward me and rested her head on my shoulder lightly.
"Thank you Edward." Bella whispered to me.
"For what, angel?" I asked, confused. What would she be thanking me for?
"For saving Riley for me, even if he wasn't worth saving." She answered.
"Bella, no matter how much of an asshole he is, he's important to your parents, isn't he?" She nodded so I continued. "And I know you well enough to realize that you have a very big heart Bella, and it doesn't matter to you if you hate him with every cell in your body, you still wanted to save him because he means something to people the people that you do love. And I would have done what I did over and over again, because it was something that mattered to you."
Bella raised watery eyes up to me and I panicked, thinking something I said was making her cry, when she almost lunged at me, wrapping her arms around my waist and burying her face into my chest.
I froze, not knowing what to do, but when I put my arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer to me, something about it seemed right, natural almost. I held her to me for minutes, hours, I didn't know, not saying anything, just taking comfort in each other.
What surprised me was that there was no sexual intentions in this anywhere. Now don't get me wrong, I definitely wanted that with Bella, not now of course, but I figured maybe eventually, if we took our relationship further and if she was ready. But what we were doing now, this wasn't about any of that, this was about comfort and understanding and….love?
Could it be love? Even if it was only in friendship? I don't know, do you love the beautiful girl that you bought, make friends with and then get to second base on a couch with?
Oh Jesus I was starting to get a headache.
My cell phone rang, bringing me out of my Bella Bubble. She moved away from me a little so I could reach into my pocket, but as soon as I had retrieved it, I pulled her back to me. Flipping it open, I looked at the caller I.D; Alice.
"Yeah Alice?" I answered, slightly annoyed that she had interrupted out 'moment'.
"Okay, so the two of you being all lovey-dovey on the beach is so fucking cute I don't know whether to barf or put it on a Hallmark card, but we still have a situation to deal with in here and you've been out there for almost an hour." She rattled off.
Shit, I forgot that they could see us through the kitchen window.
"Uh yeah, we'll be back in in a couple minutes." I said, hanging up and not bothering to wait for a response from her. Alice hated when I did that, so I did it just to annoy the little pixie now. Childish, I know.
"Bella, we need to go back inside." I whispered, nudging her arm gently.
"Oh, I'm sorry." She mumbled, moving away from me.
"Don't be sorry, I'd be more than happy to stay out here all night long if Alice wasn't so impatient." I reassured her with a smile.
I got up from the ground, brushing the sand off and reached down, pulling her up.
I placed my hand on the lower part of her back and walked back to the house, opening the door and motioning for her to go first. The entire time, I noticed that she was blushing something fierce. I thought it was fucking adorable and struggled with keeping from grinning too widely.
I shut the door behind us and was met with the sight of my father standing a few feet away with his arms crossed over his chest, obviously waiting for an explanation.
At least he didn't look angry, I thought.
"Son, would you mind explaining a few things to me?" He asked neutrally. I hated when he did that, I never knew if I was in trouble or not.
I could hear Emmett cackling in the other room and I frowned. I was not amused.
"I know that this looks bad, but it's not really all that bad." I started off.
"Oh? Not that bad? Then why did your Uncle Aro call a little while ago to inform me that there was a witness to you killing his brother-in-law?"
Uhhh… What?
Oooooh….
Push that little review button and tell me. Don't be afraid, I won't bite. But Edward might…
