THIRTY

Friday evening

Edward paces back and forth in the corridor of his flat as he waits for Bella to arrive. He is restless and cannot stop clicking his fingers as he walks. He keeps glancing at the clock that hangs on the wall. The seconds drag like hours.

Her knock at the door is meek and quiet; he would have missed it if he hadn't been paying attention. He pulls the door open a bit too quickly, but she doesn't seem to notice. Mascara stains her cheeks, and her eyes look red, swollen. Her breathing is ragged.

"Can I come inside?"

They sit in silence; Bella is on his bed and he sits at his desk, elbows resting on his knees, legs bouncing slightly. She doesn't look at him. He made her a cup of tea and her gaze is fixed on the boiling liquid.

The tension is palpable.

"Bella…"

"Hmmm?" She isn't completely present.

"Do you wanna talk?"

She nods, slowly, purposefully. "Yes, I do. I just need to get my thoughts in order."

They fall into silence again. He doesn't know how much time has passed before she talks again.

"I don't think I want to be with Jacob anymore."

"Oh no. How comes?"

"I know this sounds stupid but…uhm…he grabbed my wrist. Hard. It really freaked me out."

"Seems like you're not the only one who felt his full wrath today."

Bella looks up at him and gasps. He suspects that she was so caught up in her own thoughts that she didn't realise the darkening of his face. He has had a bag of peas pressed to it for most of the afternoon, but the swelling is still quite prominent.

"Jacob did that?"

"Yeah, right outside of our seminar. I suppose I did deserve it."

"No, you didn't. No one deserves to be hit. It's not something that someone gets to inflict on another person."

She is silent again.

"Do you not want to be with him because he reminds you of your stepdad?"

"Yeah, I think that's…" She trails off. "How do you know about that?"

"Uhm, Rose mentioned it once at sixth form. Her mum was a counsellor."

"Oh right, that makes sense. Yeah…I guess I just seem to attract the violent type. Must be something wrong with me."

"No. Bella, this has nothing to do with who you are."

"It must be. I'm the common denominator here."

"You are not responsible for the way other people act towards you. This is their problem, not yours."

She begins to cry again, curling herself up on Edward's bed in a foetal position. She cradles her knees into her chest.

"I know I've said it already, but I really wish I didn't go the way they did between us back then. I'm sorry that I wasn't there for you more."

Bella shakes her head. "We were young, stupid. We didn't know any better. I don't understand why you said what you did, but I understand the principle of it. Kids are really fucking mean."

"They don't seem to get any better as adults either."

Bella laughs then, tears continuing to stream down her cheeks.

"Do you want anything? A jumper? I can ask Leah if she has any makeup wipes you can borrow?"

Bella shakes her head and simply reaches a hand towards Edward.

"Can I have a hug? I just need to feel…something other than pain."

Edward nods eagerly and climbs into bed behind her, pressing himself up against her shaking frame. Snaking an arm around her waist, he holds her close, breathing in her scent of smoke and apples. He presses his lips to the back of her head, and a sob escapes from her lips. He holds her while she cries.

"I don't think I want you to stay away from me anymore." Bella whispers.

"If you think that's best, I won't go anywhere, I promise."

"Thanks, Edward. I really do love you."

That is the last thing he hears her say before she drifts off to sleep in his arms.

Hopefully, this means things are looking up for our two lovebirds...emphasis on the hopefully ;)

We're on the final stretch now, guys - the end of this story is in sight. It will probably end around the 40th chapter mark, which means we're closer to the end than the start! Bloody crazy!

Thank you for reading :D