Previously…

"Whatever, Edward. I thought you were nice, really I did. But it turns out you're just the player everyone else thinks you are." Then the line went dead.

I swore and dialled again, but her phone was off. I changed tactic, and called Mason's instead, but I got sent to voicemail. I didn't bother to leave one, knowing that he'd just delete it. So he got the girl and I got to board in Seattle. Of course that was how it was gonna play out. After all, since when had I been any good at loving someone?

I threw my phone at the wall in annoyance, but it just bounced off without breaking. That didn't seem to be enough for me, so I picked it up, opened the window and flung it across the street. I heard the dull crack as it hit the concrete, and I turned to the wall beside the window. Then, I started to hit the wall with my right fist, punching it hard, until blood speckled my knuckles, and then I sank to my knees and let the feeling of despair take over.

****

So stand in the rain, stand your ground;

Stand up when it's all crashing down.

You stand through the pain, you won't drown;

And one day what's lost can be found.

You stand in the rain.

-Stand in the Rain, Superchick (I thought it fit the story at the moment- there's a link on my profile)

The Hard Way To Learn A Lesson

Chapter 55- Unravelling

Bella POV

Nobody saw me go. It was easy to run past the hall, out of the door and along the stupidly long school drive. Almost too easy.

Sobs wracked through my body as I ran. I tripped, of course, and couldn't find my footing again. This time there was no one to catch me when I fell in the mud. I heard the tell-tale sound of ripping fabric, and I found myself thinking about how Alice would kill me… and then I broke down into tears again. I was never going back to that house, never. Not while he was there.

I heaved myself back up on to my feet, making myself walk down the dark, empty roads. I didn't know where I was, and I didn't know where I was going, but I didn't want to sit in the gutter by the side of the road. So when I wandered down a completely random road, I was surprised when I recognised it. I couldn't remember where I recognised it from, but I carried on down it anyway.

And then I came to a stop outside one of the big houses. The garden had long grass, and was littered with a lot of purple and pink glittery hula hoops- the ones that you spun round your waist. I remembered why I recognised the road when I saw the house; Mason's house. This was where we had come when Edward had knocked me unconscious with a golf ball. That had been much less painful than this.

Hoping that he was home, and not at that damn talent contest, I pushed the gate open, nearly pushing it off its hinges completely, and walked up to the door. I knocked timidly, and then I waited.

"No, Mackenzie cannot come out to… oh." A woman who appeared to be in her mid-forties opened the door. When she saw me, she ran a hand through her cropped almost-black hair- Mason's hair.

"Hi. Um… is Mason here?" I asked shyly.

It took his Mum a moment to take that in, and then she stood aside. "Sure," she said. "Come on in…"

"Bella," I told her as I stepped inside and she pushed the door shut behind me.

"Mmm." She pursed her lips and looked me up and down, and I realised that I probably looked terrible, and blushed. Then, she turned to the stairs and yelled up them. "Mason! There's someone here to see you." She smiled at me, but only out of politeness. "He'll be right down, Stella." Then she walked off.

I stood there awkwardly, waiting, until Mason appeared at the top of the stairs. He blinked when he saw me. "Bella?" He looked disbelieving. "Is that you?"

Suddenly, I felt stupid. Why had I come here? What was the point? Why hadn't I just kept walking and gone home? I felt fresh tears trickle down my cheeks, and I knew that I couldn't bear going home just yet.

Mason came down the stairs, and looked at me. "What's wrong? Bella, what happened?"

"He… he…" But I couldn't finish for the fresh bout of tears.

Something set in Mason's expression. "Edward?"

I nodded.

"Is he okay?"

"Yes, that's not it." I wiped my eyes and turned away from him, embarrassed. "I'm sorry, Mason. I don't know why I came here. I shouldn't have… I mean, I just… I…" I shut my eyes. "I don't know what to do."

Mason took my hand, and pulled gently on me. "Come on." He led me up the stairs and into his bedroom, shutting the door behind us. He switched off his TV, which had been playing some kind of comedy quiz show, and sat down beside me. "Tell me what happened."

I decided to come straight out with it. "He was cheating on me," I whispered bluntly. "He kissed Tanya. Backstage." I stood up. "I'm sorry. I know you don't care about this. I should have…" I didn't know what I should have done, so instead I just finished with, "Bye," and started for the door.

"What?" Mason asked. He grabbed my arm and pulled me back. "Why would I not care? You're my friend."

I scowled. "No I'm not. I'm your friend's girlfriend. Ex girlfriend." Then I realised. "I was never his anything. I was his partner for a school project. Someone else he used. Asshole."

Mason looked as though he were debating what to say. Then he sighed. "Stay, Bella. You'll get yourself killed walking home in this state. I'm surprised you've made it this far, to be honest."

I didn't say anything, just let him pull me back down on the bed.

"Now, just tell me what happened. Where were you?"

"The talent contest," I replied. "We had just won and…"

"What?"

I looked at Mason to see him looking at me strangely. "Edward and I entered. Together. Did he not tell you?"

Mason looked a little shifty. "I haven't really… spoken to him recently…"

"Oh. Well, afterwards, he went off to get something and I followed him… and then he was kissing Tanya, and telling her that he loved her." Suddenly the devastation gave way to anger. "Does he say that to everyone? When he says 'I love you' he doesn't mean it, does he? It's just something to warm us up? So that he can hurt another girl, screw her and laugh about it afterwards?"

Mason didn't answer.

"Asshole!" I spat. "What an absolute asshole." I gritted my teeth. "I'm going home. If Edward comes round, tell him it's over. And tell him I never loved him anyway. Bastard."

"Bella," Mason said, "calm down." He stood up and headed for his closet. "Let's get you a change of clothes, and then we'll talk, yeah?"

I sighed. "Okay."

"Nice dress by the way," he joked, glancing at me in the mirror inside the door of his wardrobe.

"Thanks," I muttered, not cracking a smile. I turned my attention to the wall beside me, and looked over all of the photos blue-tacked up. Every time my eyes passed over him, I felt a pang in my chest and a flash of fury run through my blood, so I turned back to looking at Mason's back instead.

"Here," he said a few minutes later, handing me some shapeless items of clothing that Alice would literally burn. "I don't have much for girls, I'm afraid. These tracksuit bottoms were Heidi's though- she left them behind, and the pink socks are my sister's; she has big feet so I'm sure they'll fit."

I forced a grateful smile as I took the clothes from him. "Thanks." I stood up. "Um… where's your bathroom?"

"Don't worry, you can change in here," Mason said freely, heading for the door.

"I don't want to kick you out of your own bedroom," I argued.

He smiled at me. "Don't worry; you're not. I'm just going to make you a drink- you look like you could do with one. Coffee?"

"Please," I replied.

He nodded, and left, pulling the door shut behind him.

I peeled my soaked dress off over my head, turning my back on the photos. It was a little… weird having so many pairs of eyes looking at me in just my underwear. As I pulled on Heidi's trackies, I thought about how hospitable Mason was being. Why was he doing this for me? I wasn't special, he hadn't even spoken to me in the last week. I pulled a grey polo top of Mason's over my head and hesitated before picking up the black hoodie. It was identical to the one I had always filched from Edward, but with a different name on the back- obviously. It felt as though I would be betraying Edward if I put on the hoodie with Mason's surname on the back, as though I were claiming myself as his property. But then I remembered two things; not only had Edward betrayed me first, but I was nobody's property, as I had told Edward myself.

With sheer determination, I pulled the hoodie over my head, and pretended that I hadn't seen the lettering. Then, I opened up his wardrobe and looked in the mirror inside of the door. I looked dreadful. My free hair was matted and knotty, the make-up Alice had spent so long carefully applying run almost clean away; you could only tell that it had ever been there because of the tell-tale black lines that clearly meant run mascara. I bit my lip, and glanced around the room, but of course Mason didn't have any hair-bands.

Then I remembered that Charlie would still be waiting for my return. I grabbed my phone and wrote him a text message: Dad. I'm staying at a friend's house. I don't know when I'll be back. I love you. See you tomorrow. Bella xxx

I put my phone back in my – well, Alice's – clutch bag on Mason's bed, and let my head fall into my hands. Even if Charlie didn't reply to my message in a panic now, I'd have to answer his questions some time. Then what would I tell him?

Suddenly I got the feeling that I was being watched. I looked up at the doorway to see a small girl stood there. She cocked her head to the side and said, "Who are you?"

I frowned. "Um… I'm Bella. Who are you?"

She smiled sweetly, showing off a neat row of white teeth. "I'm Mackenzie. I'm Mason's sister, and I'm eight years old. I like pink."

I couldn't help but smile a little at the girl's natural happiness. "That's cool. Um… Mackenzie?"

"Yes?"

"I don't suppose you have a hair band I can borrow?"

She beamed at the thought of being asked for help by a 'big girl'. "Yes!" she exclaimed. "I have lots! Wait here!" And she skipped off. Seconds later, she was back with a fistful of hair bands; most of them were pink.

"Thanks," I said, reaching out to take one from her.

She smiled shyly then, pulling her hand back from my outstretched one. "Can I do your hair for you?" she wondered quietly.

Then, the door was pushed open gently. We both looked up to see Mason stood there. He frowned at his sister. "Mackenzie, how many times have I told you? Don't annoy my friends."

"Oh, she's not annoying," I told him, seeing the dejected look on Mackenzie's face. "She was being very helpful." I turned back to the little girl. "Do you know what? Can I just have the band tonight? Maybe you can do my hair for me some other time, yeah?"

She thought about that for a second, and then she smiled. "Okay." She handed me a bright pink tie and then skipped to the door. She paused for a second and then turned back. "Mason?" she said.

He handed me my mug of coffee and then looked at her. "Yes?"

"Can Bella be your girlfriend instead of Heidi?" she asked.

Mason's cheeks tinged pink and he gritted his teeth. "No. Go away Kenz." Then he shut the door; a warning to her not to interrupt. He looked back at me, embarrassed. "Sorry about her. She doesn't know what she's saying…"

"Don't worry about it," I muttered. I took a long gulp of the almost-black coffee, and instantly felt better. Well, my body did. My mental state still had something to be acquired…

Mason sat next to me, a mug in his own hands. I glanced at it, noticing that it read 'the Masoniser' and smiled slightly; as well as a broken hearted-person can smile anyway. He saw me looking. "Heidi got it for me," he told me in an off-hand way.

"How is she?" I asked, remembering her bruises from less than a week ago.

"She's okay. We split up again," he replied.

"Oh, really?" This was nice. I liked how Mason was volunteering information on a different subject matter.

"She said… she said that she didn't want to be with someone that didn't like her as much as he should," Mason admitted.

I reached down and put my hand over his; a gesture of sympathy. "I'm sorry."

He looked at my hand for a long moment, and then gently pulled his free and tucked it around the mug. Then he shrugged. "No, she was right. We both knew it wasn't going to happen between us; we're too different. And it didn't help that I was more interested in… someone else."

My curiosity peaked. "Who?"

He grinned at me. "You don't know her. Not really."

"Well, whoever she is, I'm sure she'd love to hear that you like her," I said.

"No. She wouldn't." There was a pause then as we both sat and drank the rest of our coffees. Then Mason said, "You know, Bella, you can stay as long as you want."

I shook my head, thinking of his Mum. "I should probably go. Thank you for… for everything."

"It's really not a problem," he insisted as I put my mug on his bedside desk.

I thought about it for a moment. The thought of going home and facing Charlie's questions, and possibly Edward turning up at the door was too much. One night wouldn't hurt, would it? "Um… are you sure? What about your parents?"

"Of course. Dad left years ago, and Mum leaves for her Saturday shift at six anyway. Mackenzie will be the only one here, and she seems to like you a lot. And me, of course."

I hesitantly shifted closer to him, and wrapped my arms around him. I rested my head on his shoulder and he froze for a fraction of a second, before putting his mug down too, and putting his strong arms around me, folding me into a hug. Before Edward, I had been very much a no-contact kind of person, but now… now I felt empty. Or broken. And it was like Mason's hug was holding me together; I could feel the cracks but I hadn't fallen apart just yet.

I shut my eyes, and breathed in his boyish smell, feeling like a child in his grip. Mason was very different from Edward, but I couldn't compare them anyway. Because Mason was a friend, and Edward was the boy that had broken my heart. A very significant difference.

I yawned and twisted a little in his arms, feeling sleepy. The hand that was on my back came up to my shoulder, and I snuggled into his warm body, letting the sleep I felt coming swallow me up.

***

The sixth time I awoke, I finally saw daylight pouring through the gap in the curtains, and I had woken naturally. By naturally, I mean I wasn't screaming. I was in Mason's bed, the duvet pulled haphazardly over me and my feet dangling over the edge because I was in such an awkward position.

I sat up and looked around the room only to see that it was empty; Mason was gone. I pulled the hair band out of my messy hair, and checked the time on my phone; eleven o'clock. Then I noticed the flashing icon in the top corner- missed calls. With a tingling in the pit of my stomach, I opened it.

My call log had a long list of all of the calls missed the night before. Every time my eyes read his name, it was like someone had stuck a cheese grater in my chest and rubbed it a little. Until I came across a call from him that had been answered. For thirty seconds at eleven pm the night before. I tried to work out how my phone could have answered itself, but then I decided that I must have rolled on it in my sleep, and stuck it in the waistband of the trackies since there weren't any pockets. Then I padded outside of the room and downstairs. I found Mason and Mackenzie in the dining room.

Mason looked up when I walked in and Mackenzie squealed and came running over. She hugged me and said, "Can I do your hair now?! Please please please!!!!" She reminded me very much of a little Alice.

"Um… sure."

"Yay!" Mackenzie yelled, running to get her things as I took a seat opposite Mason.

"Are you okay?" he asked, not quite meeting my eyes.

"Yeah, thanks. I'm… uh… I'm really sorry about falling asleep on you… and stealing your bed…"

Mason smiled. "Don't worry about it. It's nothing, really." He gestured toward the door that Mackenzie had just run out of. "It's nice of you to let her do that, though. Sometimes she really tugs; just a word of warning."

"She's done your hair has she?" I looked at his messy mop of almost-black hair- I had never noticed before, but it contrasted perfectly with his light blue eyes.

"Oh yes," Mason said darkly. "Many times." Then he grinned at me.

I smiled back, and then we sat in silence for a while. Neither of us brought up the numerous times the night before that he had had to wake me, screaming and shaking. Neither of us mentioned the first time I had done that; the time I had thought he was Edward.

Mackenzie came back then, and she tied my hair up, chattering away as she did so, telling me about her little boyfriend, who shared his love hearts with her, and gave her all the ones with the best sayings on. I realised then that I loved children. I loved their simple concepts, the way that their tiny worries made everything else fade away, the way that their natural happiness made the world a much better place. I didn't know why children had to grow up. I sure wished that I hadn't.

An hour or so later, Mason dropped me back home. I thanked him again, and promised that I'd get his clothes back to him as soon as I could. He smiled and nodded, but there was something else in his expression… something I couldn't quite read. But then he drove off.

The moment he was gone, though, I felt it; the inevitable falling apart. Tears fell down as, piece by broken piece, I fell apart at the seams, my whole being unravelling like a ball of string caught on something. I wasn't looking forward to the next few hours alone.

~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~

Well howdy again people :) Sorry it took me so long to get this posted (by my standards anyway) but I have been so busy! I won't bore you with all the details but I will tell you that last weekend, me and two of my friends had a Harry Potter marathon. It started at 2pm and didn't finish until 4.30am- that's fourteen and a half hours of HP XD But wow it was funny. Am I crazy?

Oh I just want to say thank you to all of the people that sent me PMs because they couldn't review :) I did delete those two ANs so fanfiction will probably tell you that you can't review this chapter either, but thank you for PM-ing me or leaving anonymous reviews instead :D I was a bit worried that people wouldn't bother reviewing at all because of it but of course I should have known better ;)

Also, thank you to the anonymous reviewer 'Casey'- I would be more than happy to marry your brother as long as he's into Twilight ;) Lol. And you tell your friends to review! They are clueless ;)

Now, as I've said before, I don't really do recommendations, but I have to say that my good friend Laura (or Bob, as she is more commonly known) is posting a new story that is really very good and I'd recommend it if you're looking for a new story. It is called 'Beauty is Only Skin Deep' and is on my beta-ing list and she is in my fave authors. Believe me, you guys have a lot to thank Laura for because she inspires this story on a regular basis lol.

I have set up a facebook page and there is a link to it on my profile page. If you want to then go and add me as a friend :) I actually have no idea what to put on this page though, so if you have any suggestions feel free to write on my wall or send me a PM or whatever. If not many people add me then I'll delete it so no worries about missing out if you don't want to add me :)

I'm not sure when the next update will be but I will try to post as soon as I can.

Please review!

Thanks

Steph