I have no idea how this chapter will turn out. First of all, thanks for all the reviews! Let's try for thirty this chapter. Anyway this chapter might be kind of weird because of the weird mix of music I'm listening too.
These are just a couple I can remember. Crazy bitch – buckcherry, in the end – Linkin Park, Remember the Name – For Minor, Bodies – Drowning pool, I'm still a guy – Brad Paisley, 7 things – Miley Cyrus, and Your Guardian Angel – Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight.
Chapter 21: Out:
Edward's eyes widened in shock. "Why would I be jealous of you?" he asked, raising his voice. It was then that I noticed the circlet of metal around my
wrist and heard two identical clicks. Carlisle Cullen took a step back and admired his work.
I stared down in horror at the metal around my wrist. And then my eyes followed the metal chain up, up to Edward's wrist. The realization hit me then and
I felt a scream of anger threatening to come out of my mouth. Carlisle had handcuffed Edward and I together.
Bella's point of view:
"No!" I shouted in fury, tugging at the chain. Edward stared down at the handcuffs in disbelief. "You can't do this! Where did you get the handcuffs anyway?"
That was when the door opened and my father stepped out, a broad grin on his face. I stared up at him on the porch in shock.
"Dad, why are you doing this?" I asked as I once again tried to yank my arm out of the handcuffs.
"Because," Charlie said slowly as he stepped off the porch. "I for one think that you two need to settle a couple of things."
"And I don't plan on letting you loose until you work things out and start acting like the seventeen year old teenagers you are," said Esme, an evil grin on her face.
"This was all your idea?" Edward finally spoke up in disbelief.
"Well getting you two together was actually Alice's idea, but the handcuff thing was my idea," she said smirking. "I just needed Carlisle and Charlie's help."
"How could you do this to us?" Edward asked, tugging on the chain again. "How long do you plan to leave us like this?"
"Just until you guys settle your "Differences"," Victoria piped up. "No matter how long it takes. Oh by the way Edward I owe you an apology. I'm sorry for being such an annoying little bitch," she flashed Esme an apologetic look for language and continued. "It had to be done."
Edward just grunted and turned to walk into his house, momentarily forgetting that I was attached to him. "I don't want to go into the house though," I protested. If we were going to be stuck like this I was determined to make his life hell, whether I was in love with him or not. "It's such a pretty day outside."
"I need to use the bathroom though," Edward groaned then stopped. "Please tell me she isn't going to have to come in there with me."
"I'm afraid so," I said with an evil grin. "We're like Siamese twins!" I said this like it was the best thing in the world. Edward groaned and turned, walking up the steps and into the house.
"This is all your fault you know," he grumbled as we began to walk up the stairs. "If you hadn't gotten so jealous,"
"If I hadn't gotten so jealous? Edward as I remember it, you were the one with Victoria draped over you like a winter coat," I fired back. "I was just having fun with my date at the movies."
"Then why did you leave when I started making out with her?" he asked. "Admit it Bella, you were jealous of me."
"There's nothing to admit," I said as I let out a humorless laugh. "And stop saying admit it like you're a little five year old."
"Admit it, admit it, admit it, admit it!" he shouted it now, like he was chanting a spell.
That was when I lost it entirely. "Ah! I have never met anyone as stupid, annoying, self centered, conceited, and frustrating as you in my entire life!" I shouted, pulled back my fist, and punched him. Several emotions flashed across his face in quick succession: shock, anger, and pain? Guilt flooded me, but I was still too angry, still too angry to care. Edward's face had hardened into the same mask I had seen on it the first day I met him. His left eye was already turning red and swelling around the edge. I knew it would probably hurt and look like hell in the morning.
"Really," he said, his tone flat. "And you think you're much better? You with that confident look on your face all the time like you're the queen of the world? You always taking charge? Let me tell you right now Isabella Swan. You're judgmental, you seem to think you're so cool because you can kick a guy's ass, oh you're a pretentious bitch, and you talk too much."
I stood there shocked for a moment. "You don't know anything about me Edward Cullen, so fuck off!" I shouted, trying to keep the tears back as I turned and ran the other way. When I got to the bathroom, I ran inside and slammed the door hard, getting the chain stuck. I heard a thud from the other side and barely suppressed a laugh. Poor Edward would have more than one bruise tomorrow evening. I slumped against the wall because I couldn't go any further in and sighed. The tears flowed freely down my face as I thought about what he had said. I wasn't crying because he had insulted me. That wasn't anything new to me. I wasn't even crying because of what he had said. I was crying because he was right. And it wasn't like he had just said those things of his own accord. I had made him angry. I had initiated the whole thing, so why was I crying? It was probably for several reasons. I thought back to Jessica's body, to Danny's attempted murder, and to Brad's body. Their faces haunted me every night in my dreams.
In that moment, I wished James were here. I thought about what he would do in this situation. "Get off your ass and make out with the boy already," would be what he would probably say. "Hell you're only young once and the worst thing that could happen would be for him to say no."
I was pulled from my thoughts by a light tap on the door. "Bella, will you please just open the door?" his voice was soft and pleading. I sat rigid like a little child sulking for several seconds.
"Fuck you," I said with as much acid as I could put into my tone.
I heard a soft sigh from the other side of the door. "Bella, I shouldn't have overreacted like that. I'm not trying to make up excuses for what I said. I was stupid and selfish and angry. Please forgive me and open the door? You were right. I am conceited, self centered and all of the things you said I was," did his voice break on the last word? I really hoped not. Things were starting to get a little too emotional for me. I stood up, opened the door, and sat back down.
Edward's point of view:
I felt fury and pain flow through me as her fist connected with my face. With everything else going on right now, an angry Bella was not something I wanted to deal with at the moment. Quickly, I composed my face into what I hoped was a cold, blank mask and spoke in a low, flat voice.
"Really, and you think you're much better? You with that confident look on your face like you're the queen of the world? You always taking charge? Let me tell you something Isabella Swan. You're judgmental, you seem to think you're so much better than everybody else because you can kick a guy's ass, oh you're a pretentious bitch, and you talk too much," I concluded. My heart raced with the fury I was feeling, that is until I got a good look at her face.
"Fuck," I thought as she took a step away from me. I wished I could rewind time and take back the words I had said. Her eyes welled up with tears, tears that I knew would never fall in front of me because she wouldn't let them. Her pretty face contorted in fury and pain as she spat out her next words.
"You don't know anything about me Edward Cullen, so fuck off!" she shouted and turned to run. I followed her as she sprinted to the bathroom, but before I could grab her arm, the door slammed in my face. Not being able to halt myself from sliding forward, I slammed hard into the door and winced. That would hurt like hell in the morning. I heard her slump to the ground on the other side of the door and did the same, breathing slowly. I dropped my head into my hands and pressed my palms against my eyes, trying to figure out what to do.
Guilt boiled in my stomach like acid as I thought about the look I had seen on her face. I, Edward Cullen, had made a girl cry. Not just any girl, but Bella. Why was she so different? Why was I feeling so guilty? The realization hit me then like a ton of bricks. I found myself missing Brad then. Brad would know what to do I knew that much.
"Get off your lazy ass and apologize to the girl, you fucking pessimistic, emo asshole," would probably be something he would say. I smiled as I thought of Brad, but I knew what I had to do.
I hesitated for a few seconds and then stood, tapping lightly on the door. "Bella, will you please just open the door?" I asked quietly, pleading with her.
"Fuck you," she replied, her voice as hard and cold as mine had been seconds ago. The words hurt more than I would let on, but I had something to say and I'd be damned if a simple "Fuck you" would keep me from saying what I wanted to say.
I took a deep breath and let it all out on a sigh before beginning to talk again. "Bella, I shouldn't have overreacted like that. I'm not trying to make up excuses for what I said. I was stupid and selfish and angry. Please forgive me and open the door? You were right. I am conceited, self centered and all of the things you said I was," I tried to keep my voice cool, but it was hard under the circumstances.
"Damn it," I thought to myself in frustration. "I'm Edward Fucking Cullen! I don't cry!" And with that, the door slowly opened. This was it.
Charlie's point of view:
I sat talking to Alice downstairs as Carlisle stood at the top, listening to the fight between Bella and Edward. My fatherly instincts told me to listen with Carlisle, but I knew Carlisle was listening to keep Edward from doing or saying anything too stupid. After Bella and Edward had run up the stairs fighting, Alice had suggest we all wait in the living room. "Let them work it out themselves," she had said and here we all were.
I smiled as Carlisle walked slowly down the stairs into the room. "Trouble in paradise?" I asked him as I tried to keep the smile off my face.
"Yeah, but Bella's letting him into the bathroom," he replied and I winced at the thought of Bella in a bathroom with a boy. Carlisle put a comforting hand on my shoulder. "Charlie, don't worry. Edward is a lot of things, but I would never call him the type to take advantage of girls. Further more, I wouldn't call Bella the type of girl that any guy could take advantage of," he smiled at me. "Consider yourself a very lucky man. Your daughter has a good head on her shoulders."
Instantly, I relaxed. Carlisle Cullen had that affect on people. "Doctor Cullen, if you don't mind, can I please speak to you outside?" I asked as I stood up. "Alice it's been nice talking to you and your friends. Good night to you all and tell Bella I said the same."
Alice laughed, but nodded. Carlisle followed me out onto the front porch and I closed the door quietly behind us. "So Charlie, what did you want to talk to me about?" he asked, turning to face me with a serious look.
"To tell you the truth Carlisle, I wanted to talk to you about the murders," I started off uncertainly. For some reason, I trusted Carlisle even more than my own deputies.
"What about the murders?" he asked me, coming slightly closer to me. "Who do you think is behind these four murders, or do you even have agues yet?"
"There isn't enough evidence at any of the scenes to start pointing fingers," I replied, slightly disappointed. "But that thing you said about the four murders part. I don't think it was four murders."
"I don't follow you Charlie," Carlisle said, scrunching his forehead up. "What exactly do you mean you don't think it was four murders? Are you suggesting that Danny or Brad actually did commit suicide?"
"No Carlisle that isn't what I mean at all," I said and rubbed my temples. I was trying to think of a way to explain it to him. "There is no doubt in my mind that all four teenagers were targeted by individuals and in two cases actually murdered. What I'm trying to say is maybe instead of four murders, we're dealing with three murders and one murder."
Carlisle looked slightly confused. "Yeah, because we all know that three plus one equals four. Charlie, what are you getting at?" And then his eyes widened. "Are you serious?"
"I'm deadly serious," I replied. (No pun intended) "I believe that three of the murders are connected, however the fourth is a different story."
"Charlie, you know what this means right?" Carlisle asked, his already white face becoming even paler. "If you're right, we've got two killers on our hands."
Bella's point of view:
I heard him come in and sit down beside me, but didn't look up. The tears continued rolling down my cheeks and I was ashamed of them. I wanted them to just go away. Two muscular arms wrapped around me suddenly and pulled me against a strong chest. Without a second thought, I buried my head in Edward's shoulder and clutched fistfuls of his shirt in my hands as I sobbed. He didn't say anything for a long time, he just held me as we sat together in the darkness of the bathroom. Finally, I was able to pull myself together enough to pull away slightly and look into his face. "I'm sorry," I said softly as our eyes locked. "It's just,"
"I know," he said, standing, and reaching down to pull me up too. "I know."
"It's late," I said as I glanced down at my watch. "I am so going to kill Charlie for this."
Edward grinned at me as I heard Alice's door closing downstairs. "I'll help."
Edward winced suddenly and reached up to his left eye. The guilt returned. "Oh yeah, sorry about that," I said with a slightly sheepish grin. "Do you need some ice?"
"Damn," he said as I sat down on his bed a few minutes later with his head in my lap, holding the ice to his face. "You hit like a man."
I giggled out loud as we sat there. "Was that an insult or a complement?" I asked, yawning.
"I'll let you know in the morning," he said and reluctantly stood up. "We need to figure out what the hell we're going to do for sleeping arrangements."
"Oh shit," I said as I realized that I was going to have to sleep with Edward. I wasn't complaining, but I didn't want to say anything incriminating in my sleep.
Edward laughed and pretended to look hurt. "Is the idea of sleeping with me that bad?"
"No, it's not that exactly," I tried to explain quickly. "It's just I really don't want to sleep in this dress and we're kind of stuck together, so,"
Edward quickly got the hint. "You can borrow one of my shirts if you need to," he said. "I won't look while you change."
"Um Edward, I don't know how to tell you this, but I can't change because my left wrist is chained to your right!" I shouted in frustration. "Neither can you!"
Edward groaned. "You mean I have to sleep in this?" he asked me, tugging at his shirt uncomfortably.
"Unfortunately," I replied as I walked over to his bed.
"What do you think you're doing going over to that side?" he asked indignantly.
"I like the right side," I complained as I jumped up onto his bed. "And since my left wrist is cuffed to your right, we don't really have much choice unless you want to sleep upside down."
He grumbled something about girls and got in next to me. That night, I just couldn't get comfortable. "Will you stop moving?" Edward asked me finally as I yet again moved my arm, affectively moving his as well.
"Sorry," I replied and lay still. "Edward?"
"Hmmm?"
"Sorry about your eye," I said and meant it.
"Sokay. Sorry about what I said," he said in the dark.
"You're forgiven," I said slowly. "Edward?"
"Hmmm?"
"Are we friends again?" I was completely aware of how much of a dork I sounded like, but I didn't care.
"Mmhmm," he said and turned onto his side. In the faint light from the open window I could see the bruise in the darkness. Leaning forward, I kissed it. I reached out and lightly ran my fingers along his cheek and felt him unconsciously lean into my touch. "Love you," I whispered so low that even if he'd been awake I doubt he would have heard me.
I wasn't sure if I had fallen asleep and drempt what I heard next or not, but at the time I didn't care. "Love you too."
No, they're not together quite yet. I hope you guys liked the chapter all the same though. Please review!