DISCLAIMER: STEPHENIE MEYER OWNS ALL THINGS TWILIGHT!
Chapter 11:A Punishment and Game Plan
Alice opened the house door slowly, a sheepish look on her face. I narrowed my eyes and crossed my arms; waiting for her to come up with her probably planned excuse.
"Hey Bella." She said. She opened the door all the way and smiled. She knew she was in trouble, but I would let her suffer for a bit.
"Hi." I walked into the house without saying another word, heading for the stairs.
She had texted me earlier, begging for me to come over. I guess Edward had completed his part of the plan and told her I was mad. In the end, her plan had worked but I still wanted to get her back.
"Aww come on Bells! Don't be mad! I just wanted to help!" she pleaded running over in front of me.
"Hmph." I said, closing my eyes and going around her.
"Bella, I know everything turned out great so why are you still angry?" she asked behind me.
I laughed quietly, making sure she didn't see me. "Bella!" she finally yelled, grabbing my arm and coming in front of me. "Please don't be mad anymore! I promise that if you forgive me you wont have to go to the mall with me for an entire two weeks!"
My eyes widened and I smiled, not expecting at all for her to suggest something like that. I was going to agree quickly, but I thought of adding one more suggestion before agreeing to this deal.
"And you promise to never pull another lie on me like that again?"
She rolled her eyes and sighed, opening her mouth to give me a response. She had given in too quickly. "And that includes getting other people to do it for you too!" I said, remembering that Emmett had been her accomplice.
"Aww come on Bella! That's no fun!" she complained.
"Alice, do you have any idea how nervous I was when i found out you weren't here? I wasn't prepared in the slightest to have that conversation with Edward! And then I find out Tanya is coming over to explain everything to me. I'm pretty sure Edward got a kick out of my facial expression when he told me that one!" I said, giving her a short explanation of why her little plan had angered me.
She sighed and crossed her arms, pouting like a little girl. "Fine," She said, giving in to my request. "Are we good now?" she asked hopefully.
I shook my head. "Scout's honor it!"
She rolled her eyes and held up three fingers. "Scout's honor."
My angry expression changed and I giggled. "Thank you. And the no shopping thing was a great idea. I hadn't really thought of that."
It was her turn to narrow her eyes and cross her arms. "Why am I getting the feeling that you weren't really mad and you just wanted to see me squirm?" She asked slowly.
I laughed loudly. "And you said I wasn't a good liar."
"Bella! That is so not fair! I wouldn't have suggested that to you if I knew you weren't mad."
"Well now you can't take it back because you scout's honored! And that's your punishment for lying!"
"Fine." She said again, walking to the kitchen. "I try to help and this is what I get." I heard her mumble.
I laughed. "Oh and Alice." I said.
"Yes?" she said, dramatically.
My smile softened and I walked over to hug her. "Thank you."
She giggled. "You're very welcome." She stepped back. "And I expect to hear every detail."
I nodded and walked into the kitchen with her. "I think I'll save the entire story for when Rose comes. I have a feeling she's going to want to hear it."
"She'll be here in a couple of hours so we can wait until then."
I nodded. "Where's Emmett?" I asked
"Showering I think. Why?"
"Well, I think it's only fair if I gave him a punishment too."
"Give who a punishment?" I heard an all too familiar voice say. Before I even had a chance to turn around, two strong arms wrapped around my waist
"Good morning." He whispered in my ear, kissing my cheek.
I blushed as Alice smirked and I turned my head to look at Edward.
"I thought you said you had to help your mom with a customer this morning?"
"I did, but there wasn't much furniture to lift and Emmett went with us so it was much faster."
"Oh." I said, nodding in understanding.
"So who exactly is going to get punished?" he asked again. I entwined my hands with his, which were still around my waist, and he laid his chin on my shoulder.
"It should be you, because you're the one who got me in trouble." Alice glared.
I felt the vibration of Edward chuckling against my back and I had to giggle myself. "I didn't force you to do it. You volunteered Alice."
"Ya ya. Why didn't he get in trouble Bella?"
"Alice, we're not five. Just because you got in trouble doesn't mean I am too. Besides, I think her ignoring me was punishment enough."
I giggled at their bantering and stepped away from Edward's embrace.
"And where are you going?" Edward asked, grabbing onto my hand.
"To look for Emmett. I need to have a little chat with him."
"I think I can fix your problem, sweetheart," My heart melted whenever he called me that. "He lost a bet a couple of weeks ago, so Jazz and I can surely come up with something good."
I laughed and shook my head. "No, you keep that for another day. I wanna mess with him a little."
"I would love to see what you come up with, but Emmett didn't know what was going on. Actually, he was clueless. He just did it cus I told him you didn't want to come over and his job was to convince you." Alice confessed.
"Oh… well that makes sense." I said feeling a little touched that he still called, but didn't know what was going on.
"Why does that make sense?" she asked.
"He said something about you not telling him what was going on. And then I heard a smack on the other end."
Alice laughed loudly. "Oh ya. I smacked him on the back of his head because he wasn't supposed to mention my name. I knew you would of known something was up if he did."
I laughed too, sitting next to her on one of the stools. "Well that ruined my plan." I said, putting my chin on my hand.
"Oh believe me. He'll give you a reason soon enough that'll make you want to get him back. Edward said. He had gone over to the refrigerator to get something to eat, putting some bologna on the counter. He walked back over to us and my stomach growled loudly at the sight of a deliciously looking sandwich. Alice laughed and I blushed, causing Edward to look over at us.
"What?" he asked, putting down the sandwich he was about to take a bite out of.
"I think someone's a little hungry." Alice said, looking over at me.
"I skipped breakfast today," I explained, walking over to the refrigerator. "And that sandwich just reminded me."
"I can do that for you." Edward said, walking back over to the refrigerator.
I shook my head and followed him. "It's fine. You go eat yours."
Alice grabbed my hand before I got too far. "Let him do it for you. The one thing I know about my brother is that he's going to love pampering you. You should really take advantage of that."
I laughed quietly and sat back down. "Is Jasper like that?" I asked curiously.
She giggled and rolled her eyes. "Yes. Emmett is even like that. We have them wrapped around our fingers. And Edward is going to be the exact same way."
I smiled, rolling my eyes at how sure she sounded.
After we had eaten, we went into the living room to watch T.V. It was getting a little warm in the house, so I decided to take my sweater off. I was wearing a black muscle t-shirt underneath which rid up a little bit as I pulled my sweater up.
I heard Alice gasp and I turned around quickly. Edward came over to me and lifted my shirt a little higher from the back.
My eyes widened when I remembered Tanya's nail marks were still there. She had dug her nails hard enough to make my skin bleed a little bit and stay red.
"What happened to you?" Alice asked.
"This is probably from when she fell yesterday." Edward explained.
I closed my eyes and sighed in relief as they looked at my back. I had gotten a pretty big bruise from my fall, which didn't hurt as much unless I touched it directly.
"Oh that. I was walking backwards and I tripped on something. I told you I would get a bruise." I said, looking at Edward. "That's the second time you break your promise now that I think about it." I said.
He smiled, knowing what I was talking about. "I only remember you falling once. And that was yesterday."
"No, I fell when we where at our mea-" I stopped mid sentence catching myself as I almost revealed something important.
"Oh at the park right? When we were running around?" Edward said, saving my butt once again.
"Ya, that time." I said simply.
"I am very sorry Isabella. I promise to make that up to you." He whispered in my ear.
I shook my head as I heard him use my full name, but couldn't help smiling.
"I have no idea what you guys are talking about, but I wasn't exactly talking about that bruise. You have something on top of that."
My eyes widened and I was about to whisper for her to stop, but the doorbell rung. Again I sighed in relief, and heard Edward say he would answer it. Literally saved by the bell.
"Alice I will tell you what happened later. Just don't say anything in front of Edward." I whispered to her quickly, before Edward came back.
She narrowed her eyes, but still nodded.
"Hello everyone." I heard Rosalie say. I turned around and smiled, she widened her eyes and pretended to gasp.
"Is that Bella?" She said in mock surprise. "Why, you haven't been here in a week!"
I laughed and went over to hug her. "I'm guessing you helped Alice form her little plan?"
"Yes I did and it worked too." She said when she saw Edward kiss my temple as he walked by.
"See! Rose needs a punishment too!"
I saw Edward roll his eyes and walk over to Jasper who I hadn't noticed come in.
"Hey Jazz." I said walking over to hug him
"Hey Bella, everything good now?" he asked.
"I'm guessing everyone knew something was wrong. Unless Alice told you."
"She did but I kind of noticed it when you last came over. You weren't exactly in the best mood."
"That I know." I mumbled.
"Well we're gonna be upstairs if you guys need us." Rosalie said, grabbing my hand.
"Aren't you going to go say hi to Emmett?" I asked, as she pulled me towards the stairs.
"I can do that later. I'm pretty sure he'll come look for me anyways."
We walked quickly to Alice's room and she shut the door and locked it.
"Oh boy." I sighed.
"So what happened?" Alice squealed.
"Alice it wasn't anything exciting…we just made up." I said, a smile spreading across my face.
"Oh ya, with that face, it sure mustn't have been exciting." Rosalie smiled.
"I really don't know where to start." I said.
Rosalie laughed all of a sudden. "I can just imagine your face when he told you no one was here."
I giggled and rolled my eyes. "I think my face was worse when he told me Tanya was coming. I was so nervous because I still hadn't believed what he was saying."
"Wait a minute, I thought you weren't mad at him anymore because we had cleared all of that up?" Alice asked.
I looked down and bit my lip. "I wasn't one hundred percent convinced." I said lightly.
"Bella…" "Alice said, rolling her eyes.
"I know, I know. I feel so stupid for that. I feel stupid for not believing Edward the first time he told me. Tanya just knows how to wash people's brains into thinking what she wants them to."
"That I know. I can see why you wouldn't believe us. She played her part pretty well." Rosalie said.
I nodded. "But I think the most surprising thing was she asked Edward if he could give us 'some time alone so we could talk.' " I said, trying to make my voice as high as hers.
They both laughed. "I'm pretty sure you were nervous." Alice guessed.
"No, not really. I think I was more mad than nervous at that point. She was doing little things to irritate me and they all pretty much worked."
"Like what?" Rose asked.
"Well, when she was done explaining everything to me, she started to cry. He got up to give her a hug and she buried her face in his neck after smirking at me. That was just one thing." I rolled my eyes and got mad just thinking about it.
"Ohh, if I would have been in your shoes she'd have a black eye by now." Rosalie said.
I laughed and nodded. "I believe you."
"You have no idea how much I hate her Bella. Before, when we first met her, she would try and flirt with both Emmett and Jasper. She likes to make people mad on purpose."
"I thought she's always been after Edward?" I scrunched my eyebrows together and made a face. That girl just did anything she could to make people hate her.
"She has been. But I guess she knew Rose and I didn't like her so she would do anything to make us mad. She grew out of that when Jasper and Em wouldn't come near her anymore. Then it was and still is Edward." Alice explained.
Rosalie nodded. "What did she tell you when Edward left?"
"She basically threatened me and said that she would make my life miserable if I stayed with Edward."
"Bitch," Alice said suddenly. "She won't be able to either way. You have all of us and you have Edward, so it's impossible for her to even come close to touching you."
"You know I would believe you if she hadn't already did something that makes me think she'll keep her promise."
I turned around and lifted my shirt so they could see the nail marks.
"She did that?" Alice asked, coming over to lightly touch them.
"What, the bruise?" Rosalie said.
"No the nail marks Rose." Alice corrected her.
"I am so going to beat the hell out of her next time she comes, or the next best thing actually. I'm going to tell Edward." I heard Rosalie say. I put my shirt back down and turned around quickly.
"No Rose you can't. I don't want Edward involved in any of this. If she wants to come after me then I'll let her, but I don't want Edward to know."
"Why not Bella! If we tell him all this then maybe he'll see the kind of person she really is and never talk to her again."
"Rosalie, if you haven't noticed…he always forgives her. He might like me but she's still his best friend. We just got together and I don't want to ruin that because of a couple of nail marks."
She narrowed her eyes. "And if she goes further than that? Do you plan on staying quiet then?"
I shrugged. "Maybe she won't go as far," she rolled her eyes. "And like Alice said, if you two and the boys can help me then she wont be able to do anything."
Her face softened and she sighed. "I swear I'll kick her ass if she hurts you again." Rosalie said, walking over to Alice. "And little pixie here gets to help me."
"I may be small, but I can surely take her down," Alice said, as a matter of fact.
"It's game on from here. We can make her life just as miserable."
I laughed and went over to hug them both. "I'm so glad that I moved here." I whispered quietly.
"Believe me, we are too." I heard Alice say.
E.P.O.V
It wasn't long before the girls came down and sat with us in the living room. Emmett looked hesitant at first when he saw Bella. The last time he had greeted her she hadn't exactly returned his level of enthusiasm. He had talked to her over the phone, but it wasn't exactly the same thing as in person, so he said.
"Emmie!" She yelled when she saw him. He laughed his booming laugh and stood up from the couch.
"Bellie!" He yelled back, opening his arms so she could give him a hug. She ran over and jumped on him. He laughed and twirled her around once before putting her back on the ground.
I saw her wince in pain a little when she was put back down and remembered about her bruise. Her face changed quickly though and she smiled. "I'm sorry for being so rude last time I saw you, I was just sad at the time."
I guess she had noticed Emmett's hesitation too.
"Don't worry about that little sis. I could tell you weren't very happy that day."
"Little sis?" she asked, she looked amused but also very happy.
"Yes, you are now my little sister because I say so. And because I know you and Eddie here are together now." He winked at her, and she of course turned a beautiful shade of red.
"Well that makes so much sense Em. I'm flattered!" She laughed.
He chuckled and sat back down, while Bella walked over to where I was sitting. I lifted my arm for her to sit by me and I noticed she was still blushing. I chuckled and kissed her head as she snuggled into my side.
"You want to go upstairs?" I asked her after a couple of minutes of watching T.V. Emmett and Rosalie had left once we'd all sat down and Jasper and Alice were starting to fall asleep.
She looked up at me and raised an eyebrow, but nodded nonetheless. I stood up and stretched out my arm to help her. She squealed as I picked her in a swift motion and carried her up the stairs.
"Edward put me down! You're going to hurt yourself."
"Bella, I've carried many things that were way heavier than you are. Now stop squirming or we're both going to get hurt."
She stopped swinging her legs around and wrapped her arms around my neck. She laid her head on my shoulder for the rest of the trip and even kissed me there when we got to my room.
"Thank you for that wonderful ride ."
"My pleasure. I can't let you fall again, can I?"
She giggled and began to walk around my room slowly. She had never really been in here before so she looked pretty interested as to what I had.
She started by my CD case and gasped when she saw how many I had. She ran her finger through all the covers and walked slowly, reading them as she went.
"You have so much music." She said, turning to look at me.
I shrugged and walked over to see which one she was looking at. "You love to read on your spare time and I like music. It helps me escape somewhere else most of the time."
She nodded and smiled, looking back down. "I love this band!" She said, taking out my Lifehouse CD. She kept her finger there to mark where she had taken it out, which by habit I usually did. Tanya would just take the CD out and then place it anywhere afterward. It was one of things that annoyed me the most, but I smiled when I saw what Bella did.
"Me too." I said, looking at her. She put it back and walked over to my desk, noticing all the different pictures I had. She laughed at one I had with Alice, Emmett, and I. We were all in the pool that day and smiling hugely at the camera.
The next was of all five of us: Rosalie, Jasper, Alice, Emmett and I. I remembered that day exactly because Jasper had finally asked Alice out on a date. Emmett and I of course had "the talk" with him, which he seemed pretty surprised about because we had been best friends for so long.
I saw her grimace a little at the one she saw next. It was of Tanya and I at one of my football games.
"You play football at school?" she asked, clearly surprised.
"Ya I do. Forgot to mention that small detail. All three of us do. Well Emmett did since he and Rose graduated this year."
She nodded slowly and kept walking ending up near my bed. I walked over and grabbed her hand, pulling her over to sit with me.
She grabbed one of my hands and mindlessly traced the lines on my palm. "What are you thinking?" I asked, after watching her for a minute or two.
She stopped tracing my palm and looked up at me. "A lot of things."
"Like what?" I asked, truly curious.
"All the conversations we've had and all the times we've hung out."
"What about all that?" I pressed on.
"Did you ever feel that whenever we were together something felt…right? But now that we're actually able to express our actual feelings for each other it seems ten times better?" She blushed lightly and looked down again.
"Yes it does. I think that's because in a way, we knew all of that would lead up to this. Everything we would talk about just had me interested in what you had to say every time. We learned about one another so quickly, which is what was so weird for me. I've had a couple girlfriends before, but I've never had one that I grew to like as fast as I liked you. This is pretty different for me, but in such a good way." I confessed. Every word I had said was so true. Bella is someone I knew I wouldn't just have a thing with. She was someone so different than anyone I had ever met, and that was what I liked most about her.
She smiled and nodded. "Exactly. The only difference for me is that I've never actually had a boyfriend before. It was such a scary thing when I grew different feelings for you, and on top of that I couldn't exactly tell you because I thought you were with Tanya. Not that I would have anyway."
"I'm your first boyfriend?" I asked. I was so surprised that she had just confided that to me now. Then again, I hadn't exactly told her all about myself either.
She blushed. "Yes. Not exactly a good thing is it?."
I chuckled. "Why are you so embarrassed about that?"
"I don't know." she shrugged.
"Bella," I brought her closer to me and wrapped both arms around her. "I could care less if you ever did have a boyfriend, because now I'm the lucky one that gets to be with you. And you not having a boyfriend before, makes me feel very nice."
She laughed, caressing my cheek. "You're so sweet."
"Only for you." I said.
A/N: Hello everyone! I wanted to surprise you all and give you a new chapter sooner that I usually do. I wanted this chapter to be laid back with no drama for now. I had to add the last part because I don't want you all to feel like they liked each other too soon. If you've all read the book then you know that with a love like theirs, the word too soon isn't possible. I've been so careful to now use the word love just yet; I do want that to take some time. The only thing that I am begging for is reviews! I only got three reviews last time and it really makes me feel like I'm not doing well. I hope to have more this chapter and I will gift you with a new chapter soon!
-Edward Is My Lullaby
