Keep the lovely reviews coming! There are a few more chapters left to this story and I'll give you a heads up when we're getting close to the end :) I also want to recognize someone who absolutely made my heart smile! Buzy, you made my day—I swear I won't forget about your request. This chapter is a little darker but let it be known that this is NOT a rape story. I hope you don't hate me halfway through this...
Chapter 20
A few hours later, Bella woke up beside Edward and felt another wave of nausea. Trying not to wake him but wanting to make it to the toilet in time, Bella ran for it. She was just about to make a second offering to the porcelain gods when she felt Edward grab her hair and pull it back. When she was finished, he handed her a cold, damp washcloth and said, "Remind me to not let you drink like that again. I didn't realize just how much of lightweight you were. The way Emmett talked you up, I assumed you could hold your own."
Bella looked up at him and his crooked smile before shaking her head and closing her eyes. This was definitely the worst she had ever felt and was soon back over the toilet again. This time, Edward grabbed her hair tie off the sink and tied the unruly waves back for her. After a few more minutes, he helped her back to bed and she laid there, trying not to dwell on how much she'd just thrown up. Edward handed her a bottle of water and she sipped it, lying sideways, and trying not to spill it.
When the sun came up the next morning, Bella felt Edward start to get up. Grabbing his arms that were around her, she locked him to her and whined. "Bells, my phone's been ringing in the bathroom for the past half hour. I have to get up and get it."
Sighing, she sat up and watched him walk into the side bathroom where she'd spent most of the night. Bella cringed when she thought back to what had happened the night before. Did I seriously punch someone in the face?
Edward walked back in then, digging in his jacket pocket for his cell phone that Bella could hear beeping. As he pulled out the phone, Bella saw something fall out onto the floor. "It's Emmett. He's been calling for awhile now. Bet you a million dollars that it's about Jake," Edward said before calling his friend back. Bella squinted, trying to see what had fallen out of the pocket.
"Em? Hey, what's up? Shit. No, I'll call her dad. Are the girls okay?" Bella's heart stopped when he asked about the girls. This had to be bad. Trying to listen more closely, Bella forgot about the object on the floor and slid closer to him. "Good. I bet Jazz flipped. Alright, just tell them to keep the doors locked. If he's really MIA they won't have to worry. I have a feeling he'll be coming here though. Yeah, keep me posted. Alright, talk to you later."
"What happened?" Bella demanded as soon as he was off the phone.
"Jake called and left a nasty message for Ally and Rose. I didn't get the details but he basically threatened them. Jasper supposedly called him back, completely blowing up. Emmett doesn't think he's around since he hasn't shown up to confront Jazz yet."
"What the hell are we going to do, Edward? This is bad. He's going to find me or else more people are going to end up dead."
"Well, the first thing we are going to do is get you a toothbrush," he smirked, "then I'll call and talk to your dad. See what I can do to help."
Bella flushed, making sure to keep her mouth shut until he came through with the first part of the plan. He was standing out on the small balcony of his room, probably talking to Charlie, when Bella came out of the bathroom. Walking across the gray carpet, Bella felt herself step on something. Looking down, she couldn't believe what she saw. Identifying it immediately as the something that had fallen out of his jacket, Bella couldn't even grasp how to handle this. She had just stepped on a packet of cocaine. Pissed off, Bella needed to get away from him for a few minutes. She needed to calm down before she confronted him. Grabbing the packet off of the floor, Bella shoved it into the pocket of the sweatpants she was wearing and headed out of the room.
Finding her way outside, she was happy to see that it was drizzling. After the night she had, the bright sun would have made her head pound harder than it already was. She looked up and saw him outside, standing under the awning of the balcony, obviously frustrated with whoever was on the phone. As much as she wanted to know what was going on, she felt completely betrayed. He'd promised her no more fighting and yet he was agreeing to help Eddy. He'd promised no more drugs and yet there it was—on his bedroom floor having just fallen out of his pocket. He'd made these promises, wanting to keep her beside him, but there was no truth to them.
This was a different world entirely. She wasn't used to it and realized she had been sucked in. The illegal gambling, drinking, drugs, bar fights, all of it completely out of character for her. What the hell am I doing? I don't fucking belong her! Charlie would have a coronary if he knew what I've been up to. Bella knew exactly what she was doing. She was head over heels in love with a man who was no good for her. She'd sworn she'd leave if he didn't quit the fighting and the drugs but she knew it was going to kill her to do so. Carlisle had been right at the hospital...she couldn't leave. She can't.
Frustrated, Bella welcomed the rain as it came down harder. She leaned against a tall tree on the other side of the large yard. Realizing it was only a matter of minutes before she'd be completely drenched, Bella welcomed the feel of the cold rain hitting her face. She prayed it would give her clarity, help her decide what to do, but knew even nature couldn't help her gain the courage to leave her lover.
Everything with Edward had been above the norm. They had found themselves in so many supernatural situations that Bella actually began to wonder if this was God's sick way of punishing her. She didn't know what she had done wrong to deserve all of this but was pretty sure it must have been a doozy. Sliding down the trunk of the tree, Bella landed on a soft patch of moss and began to cry. Edward wasn't going to change. He wanted to have is cake and eat it, too. The mention of cake brought back memories of the nickname Alice had given to her Edward. He was her Mr. Fersen and Bella tried in vain to remember their fate. Of course, Marie Antoinette had lost her head, but what about him? Was it fair that Bella was losing hers while he stayed seemingly cool as a cucumber?
Bella was just musing about the cucumber saying when she saw Edward running across the lawn with the jacket over his arm. She braced herself angrily, wanting more time to be alone, more time to think. "Isabella, what the hell are you doing out here? You're going to catch death!"
He sounded like such a prim and proper Englishmen at that point that Bella momentarily forgot about his bad boy behavior. Seeing the jacket that was being held out to her by a nervous looking Edward, Bella remembered real quick why she was out there in the rain. "Oh, sorry," she spat, "I guess what you really want is this back." As she said it, she pulled the white packet from her pocket and launched it at him.
"Bella, where did you..."
"Don't fucking play stupid with me! It came out of your jacket pocket. The same fucking one you're offering me. Is this it? Is this the life you want me to have? The life of a druggie's wife? The wife of a mob boss? Oh, that's right, you don't want me as your wife. You couldn't even fucking pretend!"
He opened his mouth to say something but she didn't want to hear it. "I told you I was leaving and so help me, God, I am. I can't do this. I told you from the beginning that I wouldn't and I won't put up with this shit. So, you know what, take your fucking drugs...and the whores who seem to throw themselves at you and have at it!"
Bella walked away, too caught up in her mantra of trying to convince herself that she was strong enough to walk away to listen to him. A lie she knew would catch up to her at night, when she'd be in bed by herself, longing for Edward. She had no idea if Edward tried to stop her, she couldn't honestly remember, as she ascended the stairs to Kate's bedroom and grabbed her oversized bag. She threw in enough clothes to last her the week, a toothbrush, and her cell phone. Edward stood in the doorway, saying something about loving her and not wanting to lose her but she did everything she could to block him out. It was the same technique she'd learned when dealing with Jake. She was blocking Edward out to protect her heart, just like she'd done with Jake to protect her body.
Pushing past him, she didn't stop walking until she was at the bottom of his driveway. He was still following her but she refused to turn around. She kept reminding herself that she had to walk away. She absolutely could not watch him kill himself. Finally, she turned towards him, knowing he wouldn't leave her alone. "I fucking trusted you! I trusted that you wouldn't fucking hurt yourself! I'd rather have Jake beat me to death than sit here and watch you do just that to yourself."
She was crying now, fully aware that she probably looked like a drowned rat. He tried to talk her into staying, he pleaded with her, but unlike last night's outburst, kept as calm as he could. She knew he was worried she get scared and freak even more but she was scared for him, not herself this time. He needed to realize what he was doing, that he was ruining his own life, that he needed to shape the fuck up. Frustrated, Bella looked him square in the eyes. "If you love me, you'll let me leave. You won't make me suffer through this bullshit with you."
Edward froze then and Bella knew he'd let her go. She also knew he was going back to the self-loathing he was so damn good at. A ping of guilt hit her heart as it shattered, knowing there was no taking back what she'd just said. She turned again, this time knowing he wouldn't follow and began walking toward the main road in the pouring rain.
Three hours later, Bella was lying on the floor of her hotel room, bawling by herself. She didn't feel deserving enough to be on the soft bed. She'd been so angry with him, so frustrated, she truly had thought it would be the only way to get through to him. Now, images of him taking the drugs, of him lying in a casket came to her mind. She may have just killed him herself, he didn't even have to do it on his own.
There was no way he would love her after what she'd said to him and there was no way she could blame him. After only having a few hours of sleep and feeling the alcohol still pulsing through her veins, Bella could feel herself fighting sleep. She decided to try to call him, to try to fix what she'd just broken. Even if she could make him realize she truly hadn't meant it, even if he never wanted to see her again, she could then possibly live with herself knowing she'd talked him off the cliff yet again. Three phone calls later, each one going to voice mail as if he was on the phone, she gave up. She had just started to drift off when the shrill ringing of her hotel phone made her shoot straight up. From the floor she felt around before eventually pulling it towards her.
After saying hello, a member of the hotel staff greeted her, "Mrs. Black, you have a visitor here. He says he's been looking for you and he wants to be sure you're okay."
Bella cringed when she realized she'd stupidly handed over her real license when she had checked in. Then, she realized what this meant. Edward had come looking for her. No wonder he hadn't answered, he was probably calling around to different places. Without hesitation, Bella told them to send him up. Jumping up from the floor, she tried to wipe her eyes when she noticed her phone was ringing on the bedside table. Grabbing it, she saw Edward's number flash and immediately answered, "I'm so sorry! I should have come to you, not the other way around, not after how I acted..."
"Bella," his voice sounded gruff.
"You don't have to say anything. Just come up the stairs, I'm the first door beside the stairwell on the second floor. As soon as you get up here, we'll talk. Well, I'll talk..."
"Jake's in London. Billy just called and told Charlie. I just got off the phone with him."
The way Edward said it, as if trying to not let her know he was concerned, made her feel sick. He was trying to act like it didn't matter to him. He'd given up on her. So why the hell is he on his way to my hotel room? As if on cue, a knock on the door sent relief through her. "I'm so glad you're here! You could have just called me yourself, I would have met you in the lobby..." she hung up the phone then, flinging the door open and then stumbling back in terror. Jacob Black stood smiling at his wife.
It took a second for the fight or flight instinct to pick what it wanted to do. It chose flight a little too late. Grabbing for her cell phone, which she'd dropped on the carpet when she realized who was there, she watched Jake kick it as hard as he could and in the process felt his boot connect with her shin. She cried out and took a deep breath, readying herself to scream out into the hallway, when Jake covered her mouth with his hand and shut the door behind him.
Seeing that flight sure as hell wasn't going to happen, her sad attempt at fight kicked in. As he pushed her onto the bed, she brought her knee up and got him right in the balls. It just pissed him off more. Grabbing her wrists, he pinned them above her, and twisted. Pain shot up her arms as she realized they were both now sprained and soon to be broken. She tried to protest but his hand was still firmly over her mouth making it hard for her to breathe. She kicked her legs in a desperate attempt to wiggle away enough to get air into her aching lungs but knew it was pointless. Just as she began to go limp, he let her go and threw her to the floor, "You don't get to go easily, beautiful. Not after all the trouble I went to looking for you. Besides, we still have that baby to make."
Bella went to scream again but this time instead of his palm finding her mouth, it was his fist. She could taste blood for a few seconds before he hit her again. This time, she fell into the deep darkness that was taking over her body. She tried in vane to find her now ringing cell phone but between the pain and the effort of holding her head up, she gave in and let the darkness take her.
Edward had called Bella's phone four times before sprinting down to the Range Rover parked out front. On the fifth ring, a man's voice that he recognized came over the speakers of his expensive SUV. "Hello, Mr. Cullen or should I say Mr. Masen? My wife is unable to come to the phone. Could I take a message?" Jake sneered.
Edward's stomach dropped, pushing down the pedal. His plan had been to check every hotel in the area. Bella had been on foot and he assumed she would be at the closest one. He prayed she was. He prayed this was all a misunderstanding. Jake answering her phone had just been the punch to his stomach he was hoping wouldn't happen. "You mother fucker. Where is she?" Edward yelled.
"Oh, she's safe. She's with me. Don't worry about her."
"Fuck you. What the fuck do you want from her? You don't love her. You don't want her. Just let her go. Just let her be happy."
"Happy? You're going to tell me about being happy? You have it all. You have everything and yet you still had to take her!"
"She is afraid of you. You know, yeah, at some point she probably did love you. She wouldn't have slept with me. You pushed her to that. You pushed her away. You hurt her. Do you want money? You can have it all. I'll give you anything you want, just give her to me, Jake. Please."
"Let's make this a little more interesting. I hear your a fighter. A good one at that. I'll fight you for her. You see, I'll be rich soon enough. What I really want is a child. A child to carry on my family name. I want Bella to carry that child." The confidence was coming through the phone in waves and Edward realized pain was shooting down his broken arm as he clenched his fist tightly. He pulled into the first hotel he could fine and took off for the front doors. Running past the desk, he remembered what she had said to him. Just come up the stairs, I'm the first door beside the stairwell on the second floor.
He let Jake go on and on about his sick fantasy of his Bella carrying Jake's kids and he knew he just had to keep him on the phone. The longer they talked, the less time Jake was hurting her. He couldn't hear her in the background but prayed she was just staying quiet. The need to hear her voice was ripping at his heart, though. He slowed down, pushing the door at the top of the stairwell gently, not wanting to alert Jake that he was coming. There was no way he could fight him and he knew that. Between the breathing problems, broken ribs, and broken arm, it would be over before he knew it and he would be on the losing side. Jake must have found out about it. Jake knew damn well Edward couldn't win.
Pulling the gun from his jacket pocket, Edward approached the cracked open door of Bella's hotel room and used the gun to push it open. The door slammed back hitting the wall. His heart sank. The room was empty, the sheets ruffled, and there was blood on the white comforter. He had no choice. He had to agree to Jake's plan. Cutting off Jake's maniacal ramblings, Edward spat, "Where do you want to meet? Name the place. This happens today and I want to speak to her. I want to know she's okay."
"Bella is...asleep...right now. I'll let her know you called. I'm looking forward to it."
The only thought in Edward's head was that the man on the other end of the phone had completely lost his mind. "Look, we can do this now. Just name the time and place."
Jake rattled off the name of a warehouse Edward was familiar with and told him to be there by eight o'clock that night. "I heard you already have domestic violence under your belt. I'm sure when the cops show up and see my pretty little Bella in another country in some terrible shape, they'll have no doubt about who did it to her. You can invite them if you'd like. Just remember that I wouldn't want Bella to be able to talk and you never know what I'll do to keep her from speaking up."
With that, Jake hung up the phone. Edward immediately took off for the parking lot. There was no way Jake had gotten very far with her. There was also no way he'd win tonight—just picking Bella up those few times had been enough to bring him to his knees, though he'd never tell her that. It wasn't the arm, it was the ribs. If he could find her before tonight, he had a better chance of catching him unaware. Jake was right, if the cops were called, no one would believe him. She was American. Why would her American husband have to come here to kidnap her? Then there was always the fact that Bella had a forged passport, drivers license, and marriage certificate—and the fact that he'd just been in the hospital for being assaulted. Yeah, talk about a tangled fucking web.
He had no idea where to go, so he drove. Calling Liam, Eddy, Jude, Emmett, Jasper, but he refrained from calling Charlie, he was becoming desperate when he had yet to see a sign of anything suspicious. He was getting nowhere fast and began to wonder if he'd even been going in the right direction.
An hour later, he pulled off and got out of the vehicle. His hands were shaking, his ribs hurt from sitting that long, and he couldn't stop the feeling of nausea he'd had since the last time he talked to his Bella. Giving in, he sent a mass text to everyone—even his parents. I need you. Meet me at the house.
After taking a few more deep breaths, he got back in, and headed towards home. He was going to get her back if it killed him.
While he'd driven a little slower, looking for them on the way out, the way home took about fifteen minutes less but everyone—except Emmett and Jasper—were parked outside of his parents mansion of a house. Silence fell over the kitchen when he walked in. Liam, Kate, and Carlisle were sitting at the island in the middle while David stood beside Kate. Keira was leaning against the sink and Eddy and Jude were standing with their arms crossed away from everyone else. Esme was brewing a large pot of tea in front of the stove.
Obviously, everyone in the room was up to date on what was happening. When Esme turned around, he saw tears in her eyes. "Mum..." Esme's side of the family was American and they used to visit a lot. When he was little, he would pick and choose between "mum" and "mom". His accent had never been completely British and 'mom' was just one of the words he used often. When he said 'mum' she knew he was scared.
She immediately went to him, hugging him tight and he fought his own tears when he released her. "I have to get her back. I will get her back."
"The police need to be contacted..."
"No. Jake had a point, it'll be my word against his if he kills her. It's just more reason for him to want her dead. He wants a fight and he's going to fucking get it," Edward said, feeling like his whole world was being taken from him—he realized then that it already had.
"Edward, this is dangerous. We want her back just as much as you do..."
"You can't say that, dad."
"Let us help you. Edward, we love her, too," Kate pleaded.
"Well, I need your help in coming up with a plan."
"Edward Anthony, I refuse to let you do this. We need to contact the authorities. They'll help us if they know the truth. You're still not healed. If your ribs crack again, you could lose the other lung. Please, God, don't do this."
"Mom, I have to," Edward pleaded, silently begging her to understand—to not tell the lie he'd been thinking of as a back up plan since he decided to tell his parents about this.
"No. You don't. Dammit, Edward, is this what she would want? Would she want you to do this?"
"I don't give a damn what she wants. She's in danger. He's going to kill her. Do you not understand that? What if it were Kate or Liam?"
"Or you? Let's not forget about you! We all know you want to die. We all sit here and pretend that you're okay but we all know, deep down, you are waiting for death..."
Edward knew they were wasting time, he needed to get back out there and keep looking for her. On the way home, he'd been thinking about how to get through to his parents and he needed all the help and brainpower he could get but he was going to go after her, no matter what they thought. There was only one thing that could get through to his mother. It was going to royally piss her off. This wasn't a lie he would pull on her were this not a dire emergency. "She's pregnant. So, here's the deal. Either you help me do this or you stay the fuck out of my way."
He watched as everyone's already we're-fucked faces turned to holy-shit-this-is-worse-than-we-thought. "I knew it! I knew that's why she left the States to find you!" Esme blurted out, smiling through her tears. Edward was shocked, fully expecting to get the you're-not-married speech. This happiness on his mother's face was a total surprise to him.
Liam interrupted Esme and Edward could see that not only were they more concerned, everyone in that room was now on his side. "How long do we have?"
"I'm meeting him at eight. At the old warehouse where I've fought a few times."
He watched Esme flinch at the reminder of his nasty little habit—and all of the injuries he'd received while doing it. Eddy's phone began to ring and he stepped out of the kitchen to take the call. All eyes were still on Edward. "Alright, I'm going to need help tonight. I agreed to fight Jake but there's no guarantee that if I win, he'll keep his promise. As far a I know, Jake's on his own with this, so there's not going to be anyone to stay with Bella. She's going to be there for the taking. We'll go separate. I'll distract him long enough for one of you to sneak in and get her before he even knows what happened."
"I'll do it. I'll get Bella," Liam said, not doubting it for one second.
"Keira, I need you on standby for her. The second she's out of there get her to dad. Dad, you'll be waiting at the hospital for her. Kate, you too, I don't want you anywhere near Jake. Have a room ready, none of that waiting in the ER bullshit..."
Just then, Eddy came back in, even more jittery than normal. "We've got problems."
"We've already got problems," Edward corrected him, feeling overwhelmed and frustrated.
"Well, wait until you hear this. Remember how I told you there was some American asshole...Sorry, Mrs. M," he said, turning briefly to Esme before looking at him again, "well, your girl's hubby is the said a-hole."
Edward cursed under his breath. Before sighing, "Well, then he might not be there alone."
"Edward, I just got a call from a reliable source. Everyone's excited about your debut back in the ring. He's going public with this—he knows he can make a killing off of everyone who shows up."
"Well, then, Eddy, Jude, I'm going to need a cheering section of my own. It's not going to be as easy to get to Bells as we thought. We need a lot of people there to be on our side if shit hits the fan. As soon as they have Bella out, you can make sure she's safe at the hospital. I'll hold him off as long as I can. Just get her to my dad, you guys. Dad, can you be ready for her?"
"Absolutely. I'll make sure she and the baby are both properly checked. They'll be in good hands. I promise." Edward's heart constricted at how accepting both of his parents were of his fake child. Guilt ate away at his heart but he knew it was the only way they'd agree to let him do this.
"Edward, if everyone's at the hospital, who's going to have your back?" David asked, speaking for the first time.
Edward thought about how angry Bella was with him before all of this started. She'd made it quite clear she didn't want him in her life—she had every right to feel that way. He'd learned, though, in the past few hours that if he could save her from Jake, that would be good enough for him. Although, he did consider how much more angry she'd be when she'd find out that he told everyone she was pregnant—even though they both knew damn well that she wasn't. "Don't worry about me. Just get her the hell out of there and somewhere safe. I have to call Charlie and then I'm going back out to keep looking for her."
Everyone knew damn well he didn't plan on making it through the fight—it was the exact reason he was making sure everyone knew the priority was Bella's safety. Esme wouldn't meet his eyes, and Carlisle rubbed his palms over his face, looking exhausted. Liam had gone to Keira and wrapped his arms around her. They all knew this was bad. He'd gotten through to them.
Knowing he shouldn't be driving while having this discussion with her dad, car phone or not, he walked down to the gardens his mother was so fond of. While he listened to the ringing on the other end, he thought absently about how much Bella hadn't gotten to see of the beautiful home he'd grown up in. "Chief Swan." Charlie answered, all business.
At first, Edward wondered if he had what it took to tell this man that his daughter was with a murderer. He must have been silent for a few seconds too long because there was a sigh on the other end. "Edward? I know it's you, I have id." The way Charlie tried to act like he disliked Edward for his little girl's sake always made Edward smile. Today, though, it didn't work. He just wanted to cry...or hit something...he wasn't exactly sure which.
Clearing his throat, he said with gravel in his voice "He's got her..."
Next update should be within the next couple of days. Until then, LP xoxo