Disclaimer: I own none of the characters. They belong to Stephenie Meyer. The plot is mine. Chapter eleven
Epov
The next morning I was awoken by a sharp pain in my ribs. I instinctively searched for Bella beside me, but she wasn't there. I shot up and my eyes flew open only to be met by James' furious glare.
"Where is she?" I asked him.
He pulled back his fist and landed a solid punch on my jaw.
I flew back onto the blanket. I scrambled to find my boxers and pull them on. The second I slid them over my hips I was shoved into the wall.
"You little fucker! How dare you take her away from me and Victoria!" James hissed, while punching me in the kidney. "What did you do to her?! Where is your sister, Edward?!"
"I don't know. She was here when I fell asleep and she's not my sister!"
"Don't you talk back to me boy!"
He landed another punch in my kidney. I was panicking. If Bella wasn't here, and James hasn't seen her, then where could she be?
James yanked my head back by my hair and forcefully shoved my face against the wall. I could feel the rough surface scrape my skin and I hissed.
"Oh, god. No!" I heard Bella from behind me.
"Well, well, well. If it isn't the little whore," James spat.
He released me to start towards Bella. He grabbed her arm and slapped her across the cheek. In that instant I saw red. I was going to kill that bastard.
I flew froward and kicked the hollow of his knee, causing him to buckle and fall to the floor. He released his grasp on Bella and tried to stand back up, but I was faster and I kicked him hard between the legs.
With a roar of pain he collapsed onto the floor. He reached out and grabbed Bella's ankle, pulling her onto the ground beside him.
"Let her go! Get your hands off of her!" I yelled.
"Stop me," he hissed.
He got on his knees and crawled over Bella's trembling body. Before he half way up to her face, I pulled him off her and threw him against the wall. I swung my fists and connected to his nose. I heard a snap and his nose started bleeding profusely.
Bella gasped behind me and as I looked over my shoulder I saw her go limp. I panicked again and rushed to her side.
"Bella? Love, can you here me? Sweetheart?"
I gently pushed her hair away from her forehead and patted her cheek. She was out cold and I had no idea how it could've happened.
I felt a pull on my hair, but before I could react there was a flurry of action. Three police officers stormed into the room and they quickly had both me and James up against the wall with our hands over our heads.
"Can you please see how she's doing? She passed out," I pleaded with one of the officers.
The man knelt over her and saw the red mark on her cheek.
"Which one of you hit this girl?"
"He did," I said motioning with my head towards James.
"We'll take her to the hospital to get her checked out and the two of you are coming down town for further questioning."
I had to stand next to James and watch them carry the girl I loved out on a stretcher. I didn't realize I was crying until James muttered something over me being a pussy.
I didn't care. I couldn't care. My Bella was being taken to hospital and there was no way I could come with her. A lump formed in my throat and my heart felt like it was being ripped out of my chest when I realized there might be a chance I would never see her again.
After today we would never be placed back with James and Victoria and I had no way of knowing in which orphanage they would place us. I didn't even know where she had originally stayed.
I just knew that the one I had come from was on the outskirts of town and the rules were strict enough to prevent me from ever going out on my own. We were under constant scrutiny there. At least when it came to our whereabouts.
James and I were taken to the police station and both of us were interviewed. I made sure to inform them of the fact that James' uncle Aro had attempted to rape Bella before we ran away and that James had hit me in the past.
After three gruelling hours of being interrogated, I was taken back to the home I had been in before the Hunters had adopted me.
I begged them to tell me if Bella was okay, I begged them to tell her that I was fine and where they would take me, but none of these men gave me any inclination that they would do what I asked of them.
At the home I was immediately placed in an isolated wing which was meant for the particularly hard to handle children. I got a room to myself, but I knew from previous experiences that this wing was definitely the last thing on earth where I wanted to be.
I received a gruesome schedule of chores and outside of that I was locked in that room without anything to distract myself. I felt like a caged animal, but I would only get out if I behaved myself. I had no idea how long I was in for this treatment, but I would try my damnedest to get out of there as soon as possible.
In the many hours that I was cooped up on my own, I would try to work out a plan to find Bella and take her away with me. I would get out of the solitary lock-up and then, when I got a chance to go on a trip outside of the home, I would make a run for it.
I would search every orphanage in Phoenix until I found her and when I did, I would take her away from there. We would go to the other side of the country, I'd find a job and we would be together forever.
It took two months for them to let me join the regular group. The first night I already fucked it all up, though.
There was a girl that was trying to seduce me and I politely attempted to tell her I wasn't interested. She kept coming on to me, so I eventually just left the room and went to the bedroom I shared with two other guys. Only five minutes later there was a loud scream coming from the recreation room.
I bolted for the doors and ran in, my room mates hot on my heels. One of the other guys was hovering over the girl I had just turned down. She had tears streaming down her face.
All reason fled my mind and I just lunged for the guy. I kept seeing the image of Bella and Aro in my mind and I just kicked and punched blindly. He was a good fighter and I was losing the fight quickly. Thankfully the head master came in at that moment and tore the guy away from me.
I was taken to the hospital so I could get the multiple gashes on my face and arms stitched up. It was there that I met Carlisle. He was working his last shift at the ER that night and he was the one to patch me up.
"What have you done, son?" he asked me quietly, while he cleaned one of the gashes on my arm.
"Got into a fight at the orphanage," I muttered in return.
"You get into a lot of fights?"
I shrugged. "Only when provoked."
"What happened?"
"One of the guys tried to force himself on a girl. I didn't think before I pulled him off."
"Well, I can't say I approve of fighting, but at least it was for a noble cause. Is that girl special to you?"
"No. But I had a special girl and that almost happened to her once."
Carlisle looked sad and then his face turned into one of determination.
"Edward, I would like to help you. I have an adopted son who is one year older than you and a daughter who is your age. Would you mind to go on a trial run in our home?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Well, like I said I would like to help you. I would like for you to come home with me and see if you want to stay with us. If you feel like you don't fit in, you can always go back. Just know that we would like to help you so you can finish high school in a better environment."
He looked sincere and I was not in the mood to go back to the orphanage and get thrown back into the solitary wing.
"Sure. Why the hell not? You can't be worse than the last family I lived with."
Carlisle nodded and finished stitching my cuts.
"There. If you'll just wait here, I will make a few calls. My shift will be over in an hour, so if you want you can wait for me in my office. I will take you to the orphanage so you can get your things."
My jaw dropped. "You are taking me home right now?"
"Yes, I am. If I take you back there you will most likely get punished for fighting and that just doesn't sit well with me. I've seen what happened to Emmett in such a situation and I wouldn't wish it upon you."
That night Carlisle brought me home with him and after the proposed trial of three weeks, I really didn't want to leave again. The only moment I hesitated, was when Carlisle announced that we would be moving to Seattle.
He had told me earlier that he had just finished working at the hospital where I was brought to and that he would enjoy a holiday with his family before heading of to his new job. He just forgot to mention that job was on the other side of the country.
I contemplated staying behind to find Bella, but I didn't feel confident that I would ever find her, so I allowed my heart to be fully shattered and my hope to evaporate. I would have to leave the memory of Bella behind in Phoenix and attempt to make a new life for myself in Seattle.
Bpov
When I came back to the house I was met with my worst nightmare. James had Edward pinned against the wall and he had obviously hurt him already. I dropped the bad with our breakfast and tried to find my voice to tell James to stop, but all that came out was a pained gasp.
James was in my face the next second. The slap across my face stung and burned, but I refused to let him see me cry or whimper in pain. If Edward could stand his punches and slaps, then so could I.
Things happened so fast then, that I could hardly comprehend what was going on. I wanted to cry, scream, run, but I was frozen on that spot on the floor after James had pulled me down. It was the same feeling that had overtaken me when Aro was ripping my shirt off me yesterday.
It was only when Edward broke James' nose and I saw the blood that my body responded. I was almost instantly pulled under, blackness taking over.
I woke in a hospital bed with a female cop standing over me. I had no idea what happened or where Edward was, so I panicked.
"Where is he?"
"Where's who?"
"Edward! Where's Edward?"
"Is that the boy or the man, dear?"
"The boy."
"I don't know, honey. They were both taken to the police station for interrogation. He has mentioned that a man named Aro attempted to rape you. Can you confirm this?"
I nodded. "What will happen to him?"
"Well, the kid will be taken back to where he came from. The man that was found beating you up, will probably be locked up for a few months and the man that attempted to assault you will only be sentenced when you speak up."
I shuddered. "I don't want to go through all that, I just want to forget it. I only care that Edward doesn't get blamed for anything. All he did, was defend me and himself."
"Are you sure, hun?"
"Yes."
She reluctantly nodded and told me a colleague would take my official statement in a little while.
After giving my statement I was discharged. The officer that had been in my room after I had woken up, took me to a cruiser and drove me back to my personal hell. The orphanage.
I had repeatedly asked the woman where Edward was and if he was all right, but she couldn't or wouldn't answer me. When we finally pulled onto the dreaded driveway, I felt my insides twist and turn and slowly ripping apart.
I didn't know if I would ever see Edward again and it scared me. It was agonizing to think of and suddenly my life held no more meaning. I didn't care if I would be stuck in this place until I turned eighteen or if I would be adopted after all.
I simply didn't care any more. My heart was with Edward and as long as he and I were apart I would never get it back.
After the police officer left, I was taken aside by Irina. She ironically had the same name as Tanya's bitchy sister and it almost made me laugh. She told me in no uncertain terms that I was not to interact with the girls on my own. I got a big load of cleaning work and was constantly watched.
Every chance she got, Irina told me I was worthless, that I was a slut and that I didn't deserve a pair of decent foster parents. It pissed me off to no end, but I couldn't do anythign about it.
It took me a month to show her that I was in fact behaving appropriately and I finally got the chance to get out of the house to go shopping with some of the girls.
When they ducked into a drug store to get their tampons and whatnot, I suddenly panicked. I hadn't had a period yet and I was back in the orphanage for little over a month now. I had had some irregular periods, but never more than five weeks and I was now about six, six and a half weeks since my last period.
My breath got caught in my throat when I realized I might be pregnant. Fifteen and pregnant. How in the hell had we not thought about that when we made love. Edward and I were usually pretty smart, but somehow we managed to forget about protection.
I waited until the girls were at the register before I slipped a pregnancy test into my basket.
"Bella, are you ready?"
"I need another minute. I'll catch up."
The girls just shrugged and headed out to the clothing store down the street. I made sure that none of them were outside and paid for my purchases.
The man behind the counter raised an eyebrow when he caught sight of the test, but thankfully didn't comment on it.
Before I went out of the store I opened the box, shoved the wrapped test and the instructions in the waistband of my jeans and threw the box out. Just in case our purchases would be checked after returning.
That night I waited until the girls were asleep before sneaking out of the bedroom. I didn't turn on the lights in the bathroom, instead I used the moonlight to see what the test would say.
The three minutes it took before the result would show, were probably the longest of my life, but when they were up I got the answer that I secretly already hoped for. I was pregnant with Edward's baby. I was carrying a part of him in my womb.
I sneaked back into the bedroom and hurriedly threw the few belongings I had into a duffel bag. I knew I could never keep the baby if I would stay here, so I did the only thing I could do. I ran away.
I stayed on the streets for a few nights, but at some point I wandered into the wrong alley at the wrong time and ran into a drunk guy who wanted to rob me.
I didn't have anything worth stealing so he told me he would take something else. I had been through this so many times by now, I successfully fought back the panic that was building and landed a knee in his groin. He slapped me in return, but thankfully that's when Charlie showed up.
He took care of me, taking me home with him for a meal and a good night sleep. The next morning he sat me down and asked me what had happened to me. I told him the abbreviated version of my past, careful not to mention the names of those involved. Especially Edward's because I wasn't sure at the time what Charlie would do if he knew.
Once I told him I was pregnant and that I wanted to keep the baby, he simply nodded and without a word left the room. He came back with the phone plastered to his ear, already making arrangements to adopt me.
When Renee came home later that day Charlie's impulsive decision came back to bite him in the ass.
"Who is this?" she asked calmly.
"This is Bella Platt. I saved her from assault last night and this girl needs a place to stay."
"Where are her parents?"
"Her mother is deceased and her father no longer has parental rights."
"Then take her to an orphanage."
"I can't. Not in her condition."
"What? What are you saying Charlie?"
"Bella's pregnant and she wants to keep the baby. If she's in an orphanage when she delivers, the baby will be taken away from her. We can help her, Renee. She needs a home and you've always wanted a daughter."
Renee blew up after that. She was irate and decided to spend the night at a friend's house, unable to stay in the house while Charlie had me there.
I offered to leave, but Charlie wouldn't hear of it. He told me to stay put and that he would work things out with Renee. It took a few weeks, a demonstration of my horrifying nightmares and the subsequent recall of my past to convince her, but after that she accepted me fully as her daughter.