Chapter 23 – The Storm

The storm came, but it all started with a light drizzle. A drizzle by the name of Bree.

"Hey, did you do this?" I questioned her, pointing at the black scribbles of permanent ink all over the screen of my freshly refurbished laptop.

Bree smiled at me with faux innocence. "Maybe. Don't you think it looks better that way?"

"No, I don't, and I have no idea how I'm going to get this off," I said, trying like hell to contain my anger. "Bree, this wasn't a nice thing for you to do. I'm already behind on my assignments and I really needed to work on them tonight."

"Oh well. I guess you're just going to have to play with me instead," she said carelessly.

"I can't," I retorted evenly. "Now I need to figure out how to fix this. I told you earlier that I really needed to focus tonight. Why did you do this?"

"Because you said I couldn't have Irina over," Bree said with crossed arms and a heavy pout.

"Well, you're certainly not having her over after doing this." I told her sternly. I hated to have to be the disciplinarian, but Bree needed to know her actions had consequences. "Now you can't have your sleepover the next time you're out either," I added.

"That's not fair!" she shouted while stomping her foot. "You're not my best friend anymore. I hate you!" she screamed, before running off into Rosalie's room and locking herself inside.

"Just fucking perfect," I mumbled to myself.

I pulled out my cellphone and tried googling how to get permanent marker off of an electronic screen, but it was hard to focus when I kept hearing banging and crashing noises coming from the room. Whatever Bree was doing was becoming ridiculous. I could feel my temper getting away from me, so I just squeezed my eyes shut and attempted to force myself to remain calm.

Not even five minutes later, I heard the door squeak open, and then I was attacked.

"Looks like I've been sprung early," Tanya whispered as she began nibbling my ear and nipping at my neck.

"Babe, hold on," I tried stopping her, but she just wouldn't listen as she began grinding herself against my crotch.

Sometimes it was really fucking difficult to switch moods so quickly when alters abruptly shifted control. I was in my big brother/caregiver mode with Bree, so when Tanya suddenly popped out immediately wanting to have sex, I needed a little extra time. Time, that Tanya took the wrong way, which only made Bree's drizzle increase to a full rain shower…

"Why don't you want to have sex?" she asked, clearly hurt by my request to postpone intimacy. "You never tell Alice no. Is it because you like her better?"

Tanya's sudden bout of jealousy wasn't all that surprising given her mental maturity age. Teens were notorious for getting overly jealous and insecure. I just needed to keep reassuring her.

"Baby, no, I'm just tired. I have a lot on my mind right now."

"You fuck Alice over and over – even all night sometimes, but after one time with me you always want to go sleep. You like fucking her more, don't you?"

"No, she is just more experienced than you, so…"

"So you like her better," she cut me off. "It's fine. You can't help who you want and what you like. But you won't even give me a chance to do the things she does. You're always turning me down."

"That's not true," I said, getting frustrated. "All of you are different. Not better than the others, just different. Tanya, I love you for you."

"But you think I'm boring in bed!" she snapped at me.

"No, not at all. Baby please, I promise you, I don't prefer Alice. I'm just having a rough day. I have these assignments overdue, and now I have to deal with marker all over my screen. I'm just a little stressed right now. It has nothing to do with you, I swear."

"Well, I'm sorry if I'm bothering you," she said bitterly, before storming back into Rosalie's bedroom.

She gave me the cold shoulder for the rest of the day and wouldn't come to bed with me that night. By the time I finally fell asleep, after giving up on cleaning my computer, it wasn't long before I was being awoken by a very persistent Alice – which probably only infuriated Tanya even more when I ended up giving in to her.

The truth was, I probably did have the most sex with Alice, but because it seemed she needed it the most, not because I preferred her over Tanya, and certainly not over Bella. Alice was the only one of the three that had zero inhibitions and was never satisfied with just one time. If anything, keeping Alice content had almost turned into a chore. I loved being with her, but it did, at times, get tiresome.

When Alice's needs were met for the night, I managed to get a few hours of sleep before she woke me back up for morning sex. With it being Sunday, I knew Alice would demand an adventure, so I made sure to put my stress aside to give her all my attention. It did make me feel like shit that I wasn't able to do the same for the brief few hours Tanya was out for, but it was just the way the timing of it went that week. I would have to make it up to her next time she was out.

Alice and I spent the day at her favorite beach. It was a warm day, so it was a bit crowded, but we tried to make the best of it. Alice liked to run from the waves and frolic around, so that was exactly what we did. It was a nice relaxing afternoon; exactly what I needed after my stressful past couple of days. But by the time the sun was beginning to lower in the sky, Alice began getting antsy, and I began to feel like the metaphorical storm I was in was picking up strength….

"Let's go climb to the backside of those rocks and have a quickie," she said playfully.

I sighed. "The tide is coming in. We'll get soaked if we go over there right now. Not to mention all the people still hanging around," I pointed out.

"Who cares about getting a little wet," she disagreed. "And the risk of getting caught is half the fun."

"Alice, even though it's a little warm today, that water is still fucking freezing. There's no way I can preform with ice water constantly hitting me. Come on, let's just go find somewhere else to have sex," I encouraged her.

"I don't want to go somewhere else. I'm all geared up for sex on the rock," she said stubbornly. "It's like it's all building inside me and I need to release it now."

"Maybe we can find a dryer, more obscure rock then," I suggested, getting frustrated. Sometimes, having to be the only realist in a situation really sucked.

She grimaced. "What the hell happened to the spontaneous, up for anything, adventurous guy I fell for, huh?" she said unexpectedly harsh. "Don't go all conch-y on me again, or I may start having some doubts."

"Are you fucking serious right now?" I asked evenly. "I'm not saying we can't do something fun and adventurous; I just don't want to do that one specific thing. Are you really that fucking shallow that you're going to have doubts because I said no to one thing?"

Shit! Why the hell did I just say that? At times, I even managed to surprise myself with my stupidity.

"How dare you call me shallow!" she unsurprisingly snapped at me. "You were so worried about your balls being cold in that water; well, just wait and see how cold they'll be now," she said before getting up and storming off.

"Alice!" I called after her. "Damn it, Alice come back."

I hurried to collect our things and then ran after her, but she fucking disappeared.

Great.

Just fucking great.

I waited by the car for over two hours, but she never showed. I was terrified for her, but I honestly didn't know what to do. It had been my third fight with my third alter in a row, and I was really beginning to worry about what this fucking storm would bring next.

I eventually went home, but not before driving around for a while looking for her with no prevail. Thankfully, when I arrived back at the apartment, I saw her purse and keys on the counter.

"Alice?" I called out, but when the door to Rosalie's room opened, it wasn't Alice who emerged.

"Wow, you are just driving them all away, aren't you?" Rose teased me.

For probably the first time, I took a sigh of relief from seeing Rose. She had certainly always been a thunder cloud for me, but since we became friends, she had downgraded to just a foggy mist.

"My god, what the fuck is happening lately?" I asked her exasperated as I dropped onto the couch.

"Keeping multiple personalities happy and satisfied is proving a little difficult, huh?" she asked as she sat besides me and offered me some of the chips she was eating.

"You're telling me," I mumbled, but then I thought better of it. "No, we're just going through a slight rough patch. Everyone argues and disagrees sometimes. It's perfectly normal and everything is fine."

"Nothing about this situation is normal," Rose said with a chuckle.

"You know what I mean. Relationships have their ups and downs. Are you PMSing or something?" I asked brazenly, knowing my rude question wouldn't be offensive to my buddy Rose.

She smirked at me. "You wish you could blame all your shit on our menstrual cycle."

"No, I know that's not it. I'm just fucking…"

"Tired," she finished for me. "Bit off more than you could chew?"

"Yeah… No, that's not what I'm saying. I've just been stressed, and I'm trying to keep everyone happy, but it seems to be backfiring lately."

"Mmm-hmm."

"It's fine. It's all fine," I tried convincing both of us. "I'm sure I can make it all up to them when they return."

"Keep telling yourself that," she said doubtfully.

"How did Alice get back here anyway?" I asked curiously.

"Uber. She contemplated getting the locks changed while you were gone," Rosalie chuckled. "Then she decided she liked your cock too much and changed her mind."

"If she changed her mind, why did you come out?" I asked without a hint of sarcasm. I was legitimately curious as to why Alice retreated if she was planning to forgive me so easily.

"Eh, I pulled her back," Rose explained casually. "You seemed like you could use a break."

"Thank you," I said with more relief than I cared to admit. "I'm going to bed," I added before flicking a wave at her and then turning in for the night.

But, of course, it couldn't be that simple. The storm was only simmering, but deep down I knew it wouldn't dissipate until it fully consumed everything in its fucking path.

I was absolutely exhausted, but the moment I could feel my body begin to succumb to sleep, my bedroom door flew open, and there stood Rosalie, who had morphed from her annoying fog into a stage five enraged hurricane.

"What now?" I whined.

"What the fuck is this?" she growled at me ferociously. It took me a moment to let my eyes adjust to the flood of light engulfing her from the living room, but I was soon able to focus on my computer in her hands.

"Oh, Bree wrote all over the screen with permanent marker," I mumbled, unsure why that upset her so much.

"I know, dipshit! I cleaned it off for you, but that was when I noticed your email that you were still logged into.

"You read my email?" I asked confused, but still unsure why she was so upset.

"Yes, I read your fucking emails to the same bitch of a wannabe psychologist who tried exploiting us four years ago!" she screeched.

"What? Who did what?" I asked flummoxed.

"Don't play stupid with me, you piece of shit!" she snapped. "You know exactly what I'm talking about. You were in cahoots with her this entire time. Fucking admit it! It all finally makes sense. No wonder you were so persistent with Bella and Alice and even fucking Tanya. They are all so stupid for falling for it. You almost had me convinced you were an honorable human being, but I was right about you all along."

"Rosalie, what the hell are you talking about?" I shouted the moment she took a breath between her insults.

"Doctor Charlotte Peters!" she screamed at me. "She was the bitch who tried writing a book about us four years ago. Don't tell me you didn't know that. She thought we were going to make her millions. She even had a fucking Lifetime movie deal in the works. We were her fucking ticket to the big leagues in psychology and she was going to get there by exploiting us and making us look like we were fit for a straight jacket."

"Rose, I swear, I had no idea you knew her," I said in shock. "She is my psyche professor. I'm taking an online course hoping to get some more insight on DID. I thought you knew that? Bella knows…"

"We knew you were doing something with psychology online, but this is crossing the line. It's all bullshit anyway! You've been working with her this whole time. Trying like hell to get them all to fall in love with you so you can help that bitch exploit us. How much money is she paying you to be her little mole? You know you're nothing better than a fucking sex worker, right? Getting paid to fuck someone you would have no interest in otherwise."

"Rosalie, you're way off base. I didn't know Dr. Peters before I met Bella, and I had no idea you knew her until right this minute."

"I don't believe a word your lying bitch ass mouth says. It all makes sense. Why else would a seemingly normal, decent looking man pursue a mentally unstable woman as much as you have? In fact, when you supposedly found out Bella had DID, you even became more persistent. Admit it. Admit you only went after Bella because of her condition. If I remember correctly, you thought she was insane on that first date that you actually spent with Alice. A guy like you could date anyone, and yet, you went back for more after that horrible dinner. Why? Well, we both know why – because you were working for that bitch. It's the only thing that makes sense. Admit it, you lousy piece of shit!"

As she stared me down with hatred spewing from her eyes, I legitimately considered her question. A lie at that point would only be counterproductive. I owed her the god's honest truth.

"Okay… maybe I did want to continue dating Bella because I was interested in her condition," I admitted hesitantly. "But that was in the beginning. You're right, I was bored with the usual girls I was dating; hell, I was bored with my life in general. Bella intrigued me. You all did. But Rosalie, I swear to you, I really did fall in love with Bella. It was unexpected, and it hit me so much faster and harder than I ever thought possible."

"You're such a liar, it's disgusting."

"I'm not lying! I was a dick, it's true. I began dating Bella for the wrong reasons, but everything about me changed when I realized how amazing she is and how stupid I had always been. I was a fucking idiot before, and you can be pissed at me for that, but I swear to you, I was never working with Dr. Peters"

She laughed once humorlessly. "Either way, you're a fucking douche bag, just like I always knew you were."

"Where are you going?" I asked as she swiftly left my room with an obviously spiteful plan in her head. I followed her to her room where she was throwing her clothes into a duffle bag. "What are you doing?"

"What does it look like, genius. Packing. I'm getting us as far away from you as possible. And don't even think about trying to contact any of them again or I'll make my original threats against you look like child's play."

"Rosalie, you can leave, but you can't force me to stay away from the others. I'm in a relationship with them, not you."

"Don't contact them!" she roared in my face before storming out of the room and straight out of the apartment.

I squeezed my eyes shut and let myself collapse on Rosalie's bed. It was all too much. Rose was wrong about her accusations towards me and the professor, but all of the others were already so mad at me she might just convince them of my guilt. Bella was my only hope left, but how long would it be until she came back?

I prepared myself for an extended absence from them, but when Bella came home two days later, I couldn't have been more pleasantly surprised and grateful.

"Hey," she said gently as she walked through the door.

And just like that, I could feel the storm clouds part enough to see the blue-sky poking through.

"Oh man, am I glad to see you," I said as I embraced her, suddenly feeling ten pounds lighter.

She held me back and kissed me on the neck before pulling away so she could look at me. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Everything. I don't even fucking know," I admitted.

"Edward, what happened? Did you and Rose get into it again? I'm assuming it was bad since I woke up at my dad's house this morning. Rose hates being there, so whatever drove her away from the comfort of her own room here must have been…"

"Yeah, she hates me. Nothing new," I said as casually as possible, except I suddenly felt like there was a lump in my throat.

"What was it this time? Pee on the toilet? Garbage not taken out promptly enough? You breathed too loud?" she asked with a smirk that seriously took my breath away.

I smiled back at her, because how could I not? But I quickly fell serious again. I didn't want any secrets between us, so I needed to tell her everything.

"No, she found out that my psyche professor was a doctor you had a run in with in the past."

Bella raised her brows. "Really?"

"Dr. Charlotte Peters," I admitted.

"Oh," she said, suddenly becoming quiet.

"Baby, I swear to you, I didn't know," I told her sincerely but with a sense of urgency out of fear she would take it the wrong way. "Rosalie accused me of being in some kind of partnership with her or something, so we could exploit you. She was furious and she refused to listen to the truth. But I swear, I had no idea…"

"Of course you didn't," Bella said gently. "That's ridiculous. Rosalie just… gets hot tempered and jumps to conclusions. She always thinks the worst of people. That's why my dad and her have so much trouble."

"There's more," I said reluctantly. "I had to admit to her that… I didn't have the best intentions when we started dating."

"You didn't?" she questioned.

"No. I mean, I just… I was a shallow jackass that thought your disorder was…"

"Entertaining?" she finished for me knowingly.

"But that was before I got to know you. I never expected to fall in love with you, or anyone for that matter. I was bored, and stupid, and…"

"Edward, it's fine," she cut me off.

"It is?"

"Well, I mean I figured as much when you kept coming around. That is the only reason why anyone has ever dated me after knowing the truth. But… you were cute and… I don't know. It felt different with you, and I know it turned into something different."

"It did," I agreed. "Fuck, I hate that I was like that, but I'm grateful too, because being with you is the best thing that's ever happened to me. But now Rose is threatening me to stay away from you again, and with all of the alters currently pissed at me, I'm a little concerned about what's going to happen next time one comes out."

"Wait, why are they all mad at you?" she asked curiously.

So I gave her a play by play of the entire storm from Bree's angry drizzle, all the way to Rosalie's irate hurricane. It had been a hell of a week in the worst possible way, so I was beyond grateful Bella was there and forgiving me for all of it.

"Wow, so everyone has been extra sensitive lately," she said quietly as she let my story sink in.

"It was just a rough patch." I took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, I don't want to lay all this on you. Don't worry about it, I'm sure I can fix it all."

Bella bit her bottom lip as she mulled it all over, but when her eyes lifted to meet mine again, the sadness there struck me like a bolt of lightening.

"It's all going to be fine," I assured her again. I reached for her, but when she pulled away, my stomach dropped. "Babe?"

"We can't do this anymore," she said, no louder than a whisper.

"We can't do what anymore?" I asked, suddenly hearing a strange buzzing in my ear that only got louder as she continued to speak.

"Any of this," she said. "You, me, all of them. I knew it would never work, but I was hoping maybe… But I was right; we should have never tried."

"Bella, stop," I said to her gently. "We're fine. It was just a few misunderstandings and a couple disagreements. Nothing all couples don't go through."

"Edward…" she sighed. "You didn't do anything wrong. None of that was your fault."

"Yeah, it was. I was stressed, and a little overwhelmed with work and my online course, and…"

"Trying to please five different personalities," she finished for me again.

"Yeah, but it's all going to be fine."

"No, it's not," she disagreed. "Edward, where is this going? Are we going to stay here like this for the rest of our lives?"

"No, we'll…" I let my words trail off as I realized I wasn't sure what the next step for us would be.

"Buy a house?" she asked. "Get married? Maybe you can marry Alice and Tanya too. Alice would probably want a Vegas wedding, and Tanya, a full princess dream wedding."

I nodded absently as I considered it. "Yeah. Yeah, we could do that. It would be pretty awesome actually."

"Buy Bree a dog. Her and Rosalie can each have their own rooms in the house. Decorated how each of them would want. All the privacy Rosalie doesn't get here."

I kept nodding as I pictured it all. It was actually so fucking perfect that I was beginning to actually get excited. "Yeah, we could be a family."

An unexpected tear rolled over Bella's cheek. "And you will just take care of all of us. You will always figure out how to do everything we need you to do and be everything we need you to be."

"Yeah. Of course I will. It will be amazing."

"Amazing… except when you stretch yourself too thin. And while you're so busy taking care of me and all my multiple personalities' multiple needs… who will take care of you?"

"What?" I asked, being abruptly ripped out of the daydream we had been conjuring.

"Edward, you just admitted how stressed and overwhelmed you've been this week. If you had a real partner – one without so much baggage that she can't even stand on her own – that partner could have helped you instead of making it so much harder."

"I had it all under control. I just…"

"Edward, we can't continue like this. I can't keep taking and taking from you without the ability to give anything in return. It's not fair, and I refuse to do it any longer."

"Bella, I love you, and…"

"I love you too," she cut me off again. "Which is why I need to stop being selfish and stop taking advantage of you like this."

I shook my head in denial, but the tear that escaped my eye was proof that deep down I knew she was already resolved.

"Bella, please don't do this," I said so quietly I could barely hear it. But Bella heard it, and she shook her head no and quickly wiped her face dry.

"I want you to know," she said with a forced smile. "You really have done so much more for us than anyone else ever could. This… small sense of normalcy, however brief… and for loving me – all of me. I will be forever grateful for you, Edward."

She stepped forward and kissed me on the cheek, but quickly pulled back and looked around the apartment. "I'll – uh, have my dad come get my things."

When her tear-filled eyes met mine again, she quickly looked away.

"No matter what you do in your life, Edward, please always remember that you gave me everything I never hoped or dreamed I could have. I'll always be so incredibly grateful for you. Truly."

And with that, she turned and walked out of the apartment. There was no thought or hope of it only being a temporary split. I knew she meant it for good, and I knew there was no changing her mind.

That storm had swept through my world and left nothing but destruction in its path. It was true that I had dedicated everything I had to Bella and her alters, and now that they were gone, I was left feeling utterly empty.

What the fuck was I supposed to do with myself now? Where would I go? Who would I even be anymore if I wasn't Bella's?

The worst part of it was knowing that Bella hadn't lost faith in me, she lost faith in herself, and that absolutely killed me. It killed me because I could do nothing to help her.

I tried.

We tried.

We fucking failed.