Chapter Seven

Red. That was all I had seen, that's all I still see. My knuckles were bruised and bloody and cracked open with the force I had used to hit Edward, not stopping until Jasper had to physically use all his body weight to pull me off of him.

How fucking dare he? How dare he do that to her? She didn't deserve any of that, what on God's green earth was he fucking thinking? What was I fucking thinking?

"Ow, fuck, Rose. That shit burns." I groaned. She gave me a pointed look before continuing to dab at the cuts on my hands with the cotton swab. I glanced over at Edward sitting on the couch, his face in his hands while Alice tried to clean him up. Bella was nowhere to be found. I sniffed and turned my attention back to the task at hand. "I'm not sorry." Rose didn't look at me, just hummed along. "He deserved it, and you know it." She rolled her eyes and finished cleaning off the dried blood from my hands.

"I know he did. But we were both in the wrong, we weren't thinking. I shouldn't have grabbed his phone, and you shouldn't have hit him. You could get kicked off the team, Em." I sighed. I knew the chances of me being kicked off were high, especially if Edward Cullen had anything to say about it. His family was still new to the area, but his name held weight because of his father.

"Where did Bella go?" I heard Jasper asking. "Edward is asking for her." I met his eyes with my own, challenging him. "Emmett, fuck off dude. She's still his girlfriend, I know she's your best friend. But it's not anyone else's business but theirs." I knew he was right, I knew that. But I was still buzzed and angry. Angry at everything.

I was angry at Edward, I was angry at Bella and Jasper for pulling me off. I was angry that I could very well be kicked off the team come Monday morning. I'm so fucking angry that I can't shake these feelings, even when I know I'd be better off without them.

"She's in the bathroom." Rose finally answered. I kept my eyes down as Jasper walked passed us and toward the smaller guest bathroom down the hall.

~~~GND~~~

It had been a week. I was still on the team, Edward hadn't said anything. I wish he did. It would make it easier to continue to hate him. He blamed his black eye and bruised face on getting too drunk after homecoming and falling down the concrete steps of his house. Bella wasn't speaking to me. None of them were aside from Rose, Jasper would only speak to me during practice. It was like I was being cast out, and I fucking hated it. I knew a lot of it had to do with Bella, if she wasn't talking to me then none of them were.

Rose was only speaking to me because she knew why I had went into a blind rage and started swinging. The rest of our friends were in the dark, and I was left questioning what the point of friendship was if no one would even ask you for your side of things. No, they didn't understand.

All they saw was a drunk jock taking out frustration on someone smaller than them. I was lucky, I knew I was. It was dumb fucking luck. I didn't even want to keep playing anymore, but it was my only shot to get the hell out of this stupid state. To get away from Bella. I hated her. I hated her so much but loved every aspect of her. I hated her for making me love her. I hated our friends. I hated football. I hated Edward. And I hated myself.

~~~GND~~~
It was week two, and Jasper was finally talking to me. Rose had started hanging around me more and more as the days went on. When it came to whose team she was on, she was Team Emmett.

I should have t-shirts made.

It was finally Saturday when Bella made the first move. I was working on my jeep when I saw her make her way across our lawns and strolled over to me.

"My parents are getting a divorce." I stopped what I was doing and looked over at her from the hood of the jeep. I took a deep breath and set down the tool I was using and wiped my greasy hands off on the rag I had. I made eye contact with her, and I hated how my heart constricted at the tear stains on her cheeks and the swell of her waterlines from crying and how red her nose was.

I didn't say anything, I just wrapped her in my arms and let her cry, I could be that for her, if nothing else. Even if we were fighting, I could still be her best friend when she needed it. I could be that crutch for her.

"I saw it coming, I really did. But fuck, Em. This shit sucks." She choked out. I hushed her gently and rubbed her back.

A few moments later she pulled back and wiped at her eyes and adjusted the hoodie she was wearing. And just like that, everything almost felt normal.

~~~GND~~~

Monday morning everything felt almost back to normal. Alice was speaking to me as long as Bella was. Edward acted as if I didn't exist, but there wasn't anything I wanted nothing more than to wipe that smug ass look on his face as he wrapped his arm around Bella possessively.

"Bella! What are we doing for your birthday this weekend?" Alice asked.

"Oh, no. Nothing, Alice, please. I hate my birthday." Bella groaned, hiding her face in the oversized sleeves of her jacket. Come to think of it, Bella was wearing a lot of things that were huge and baggy on her. Especially over the last two weeks.

"But, Bella! You're turning eighteen. This is a big deal!" I rolled my eyes and focused my attention on a group of juniors on the opposite side of the parking lot. They were huddled in a circled and casting glances this way and whispering quickly. One of them caught my eye and they all scattered, rushing toward the entrance to the building. Bella and Alice were arguing back and forth while Edward and Jasper were discussing some video game that was coming out. Rose was nowhere to be found, probably on the phone with her boyfriend in homeroom. The bell rang and we all made our way to our classes.

~~~GND~~~

I was expecting to hear what the juniors were saying from this morning by the time lunch rolled around, but they were keeping it very hush, hush. A new record for our school I would say.

"Does anyone know anything about what those juniors were saying in the parking lot this morning?" I asked, looking around to see if I could find any of them huddle together again. I saw the same girl I locked eyes with this morning, but she was busy in conversation with a junior that wasn't involved with the gossip circle from the morning.

"What juniors?" Jasper replied around a mouth full of food. I scoffed at him and tossed a carrot at his face.

"Never mind," I grumbled and turned my attention back to the tray of food in front of me. Rose and Alice soon made their way over to us, talking in hushed whispers. What the fuck was going on with all the whispering today? A few moments later I looked around, puzzled. "Where's Bella?"

"She got sick last period, so Edward took her home." Alice answered, not meeting my eyes.

"What do you mean she got sick?" I shoved my food away from me and leaned back in my chair. Bella never got sick, ever. And since when does she not tell me she's going home. Alice shrugged her shoulder and moved around the peas on her tray with her fork. "What are you not telling me, Alice?"

"Dude, calm down." Jasper warned, placing a calming hand on my shoulder.

"No, I won't. You guys don't talk to me for two weeks, and now you're keeping secrets? I thought we were friends."

"Emmett, we are friends. But you beat Edward's face in. You can't expect us to just forget about it." Alice defended, her glare focused on me now instead of her food.

"He was cheating on her! I'm not going to just sit back and do nothing!" My voice was rising, and people were starting to look over at us.

"Emmett, don't make a scene." Rosalie whispered harshly in my ear. I shrugged her off and continued the stare down with Alice.

"He's my brother, Emmett. I'm on his side. He loves her, you just don't understand."

"I don't give a fuck if he's your bother or if he loves her. If he loved her then he wouldn't be doing the things he does. If he loved her-"

"If he didn't love her then they wouldn't be getting married after graduation!"

The cafeteria was silent. All eyes on me and Alice. My blood ran cold and my face paled. I felt like I was going to be sick. I shoved away from the table and stormed out of the cafeteria, practically jogging as my feet hit the hallway, and I was sprinting when I made it to the pavement outside. I yanked opened the door of my jeep and drove. I drove until I passed the sign that said Come back soon! I drove the winding roads along the coast line at breakneck speeds until I reached my destination.

I was in La Push, at the cliffs we used to dive off of with the natives when we were kids. I jumped out of the jeep and stalked to the edge, kicking a rock over the edge. And I screamed.

I screamed and yelled until my throat was burning from the exertion. I cried from anger, from heartbreak, from knowing that Bella really might never be mine.

~~~GND~~~

Hi, I lied. Not really, but I was feeling the creativity flow from my fingers. So here you goooo. Two chapters in one day!

R&R