Isabella
"How stupid could you be!" Charlie raged. He was pissed and rightfully so. Emmett thought that if we told him what happened, he wouldn't be as angry. We were wrong. "You can't just go around beating people up!" He yelled at Emmett for a straight twenty minutes as I listened around the corner.
We all felt guilty about what had happened- Emmett especially. It was the day after their wedding and everything was supposed to be happy and joyful! But instead Emmett was being lectured at about appropriate behavior. Charlie even brought out his cuffs, threatening to arrest him next time, something happened. I think Emmett learned his lesson. He was scared shitless.
I came out from behind the corner and into the living room. Emmett sighs in relief when he sees me and all I do is roll my eyes. He still wasn't forgiven. Charlie rushes over and looks me over, concern lingering on his face. "Are you ok, honey? You didn't get hurt at all, did you?"
Emmett's mouth drops open in shock. I wasn't the one that beat someone up. I wrap my arms around my dad and smirk at my brother. "I'm alright, dad. I wasn't hurt at all." I reassured him and he breaths a sigh of relief.
"I went to the hospital yesterday to see Edward." I said. "Only his nose is broken. It's not too bad. He should be fine within a few weeks."
"You broke his nose?!" Charlie fumed and turned back to Emmett.
He jumped to his feet reading to defend himself. He held his hands up in the air and exclaimed, "I didn't know that I broke his fucking nose! I warned him to stay away from Bella and he didn't listen! This wouldn't have happened if he used his fucking brain!"
Charlie's face turned so red that I thought he was going to explode. "That's it you're grounded! You're nineteen years old, Emmett! You should know how to behave by now!"
"That's right, I am nineteen!" he growled. "You can't ground me! I don't even live here anymore!"
"Well as long as you're under my roof, than I can do what I want!"
"Is it so wrong to defend your own sister?" he said. "Edward's an idiot and he deserved everything he got!"
"So you think that violence is ok?" he questioned. "I've arrested people for less than punching someone in the face. Do you want to go to jail?"
"Dad-" I try to intervene. I step in between them, wanting to diffuse the situation before it got worse. I send Emmett a- shut up- look. He didn't want to push Charlie. I had no doubt that he would actually arrest him.
"Not now, Bella! I'm trying to deal with your brother!" I take a step back, silently begging Emmett to stop talking. He was just digging himself a bigger hole by running his mouth.
"I'm sorry." Emmett finally says. His jaw is clenched and he sits back down. I almost laugh. He wasn't sorry at all.
"I'm not the one you need to apologize too." said Charlie.
"... Oh fuck no!" Emmett scoffs. "Do you actually expect me to apologize to Edward? He can suck my dick!"
"EMMETT!" Charlie roars. That's it, he's had it. Why didn't Emmett ever listen to me! It's like he had a fucking death wish!
"If you want to stay in this house, then you will go to the Cullens and apologize to ALL of them for what you have done!"
Just do it. Don't fight back.
"Well I'm leaving leaving tomorrow. I mind as well just go now." Emmett says and storms out of the room. I chase after him and beg him to listen to me. I pound on his bedroom door, pleading and crying but I'm met with silence.
ooOoo
We were all sitting around the dining room table, eating dinner. When I say we, I mean: Charlie, Sue, Seth and I. Emmett left several hours ago, giving no indication as to where he was going. I begged my dad to let him stay but Charlie wouldn't budge. I got a text twenty minutes later from Rose, saying that Emmett was staying at their house.
"So how long are you here for?" Charlie asked Seth. No more than a few words had been exchanged because everyone was on edge. The air was so tense that you could cut it with a knife.
"I leave the twelfth." he said after swallowing food. "So like only another two days."
"Oh that's a shame!" Charlie sighed. "Bella's birthday is the thirteenth. You could have stayed for the party."
No it actually wasn't a shame. I hate parties. The less people the better.
"You're turning eighteen, right?" Seth asks me.
"Yep… eighteen." I sigh. I didn't get what the big deal was about birthdays. You're just another year older getting closer and closer to death. That wasn't something to celebrate.
"Well the next time you're back, feel free to stay here." Charlie offered. "We've got an extra bedroom you can stay in. This way you won't have to stay at the reservation."
Sue nodded her in agreement. Ever since he came back, Sue hadn't been able to keep her eyes off of him. It was as if she was afraid that he would disappear again.
"Thank you." Seth said. "I'll make sure to remember that."
"Well this is great!" Sue joyfully exclaimed. "We're all together again… a real family!"
"Yes, we are." my dad echoed.
Seth and I share a look. Charlie was forgetting about his real son- the one he just kicked out of the house.
"That's a pretty bracelet." Seth notices the shimmering jewellery on my wrist. I blush and cover it with my sleeve. I couldn't bring myself to take it off. I'm pretty sure Esme noticed but never commented on it.
"Thank you." I mumble. They didn't need to know where it came from. It was for me and only me.
Before he can ask more, Sue interrupts. "What would you like for your birthday, Bella? I know you love to read but you already have so many books. I'm kind of at a loss."
"I don't like presents."
"Oh." her face drops in disappointment. Charlie grumbles and gives me a look. Did he want me to lie?
"Well… I like Barnes and Noble. I'm really fine with anything. I don't want you spending a lot of money on me."
"Nonsense!" she laughed. "I always wished that I could have a daughter to spoil."
"She tends to go overboard when shopping." laughed Seth.
Just like Alice.
Twenty minutes later, Seth and I were alone in the kitchen cleaning up everything. It was a comfortable silence, neither of us feeling the need to talk. But from the corner of my eye, he kept looking at me. Finally I had enough.
"What is it?" I say as I take the plate from him and stack it in the dishwasher.
"What did Samantha want yesterday?" he asked. "I saw her follow you out of the wedding. She looked really angry."
I stop what I'm doing, taken aback. "She… she just had a few things she wanted to say to me."
"She didn't hurt you, did she?" he stares at me in concern and I shake my head. He nods his head visibly relaxed.
"Are you friends with her?"
"It's… complicated."
I smirk. Complicated? I knew what that meant.
"It's not what you think." he quickly said. "We were always just friends. I was best friends with Sam and she was his little sister. I didn't notice her at first but she was always this ball of energy. It was impossible not to love her. She's always been a sister to me and I've always been her brother."
I'm silent, not knowing what to say. She was nothing like he described- not even close.
"I know what you're thinking- I sound crazy." he laughed. "She lost her father when she was eight. He died of cancer and she completely changed after that. She clings onto people, Bella. She's afraid of losing everyone so she clings onto them so hard, making sure that they never leave her. Jacob was her best friend. He was everything to her and she loved him and then you came along. He was one of the only people she could trust and be herself with so she was furious with you. In her mind, you took her away from him."
"I-I… I didn't know that." I try to defend myself. "I never wanted to hurt her, she has to know that."
"It's not your fault Bella. You couldn't have known that." he tried to explain but the guilt at away at me. I knew what it was like to lose everything. I knew what it was like to lose your best friend.
"I tried to get her to open up for years but nothing worked. After Jacob… hurt you… she completely changed. You guys weren't together anymore so he came back to Samantha. I thought that she would go back to regular self now that you were gone but something was different. Her smile was fake and her laugh was fake and everything about her screamed terrified. She and Jacob began to date and were together almost every second of everyday. I couldn't even talk to her without him being right there."
"No-" I let out a strangled cry. "Don't say it. Please…"
"I think he was hurting her." his hands clenched into fists. "I think he was abusing her and she won't even admit it. She goes to see him at the prison almost everyday. He has his claws hooked into her so deep that she won't even admit the truth."
ooOoo
"Thank you." I say as Jasper opens the door. Seth drove me to Jasper and Rose's house after dinner because I needed to see Emmett. I had to knock some sense into him and get him to come home. He was acting ridiculous. I step into their house, immediately taken aback. I've only been here a few times and it shocked me each time.
Their house was bigger than the Cullens. He leads me down a narrow plain white hallway, past a spiral staircase and at the end we take a right into the living room. Emmett and Rose sat cuddled on a cream colored velvet couch, situated in the middle of the room. Their house would be the perfect magazine cover. The windows on each side of the room went all the way up to the ceiling, towering over us, lined with white curtains. The television hung up high on the wall and a movie was quietly playing. There was a painted white brick fireplace and a few family pictures sitting on the mantel. In front of the couch was a glass coffee table and a few white chairs situated in each corner. Everything was clean, orderly, and pristine. Not a thing was out of place.
"Bella, what are you doing here?" Emmett stands up and turns around when Jasper clears his throat. Rose gives a small smile and brushes some strands of hair out of her face.
"Come home." is all I said. I wasn't in the mood to argue. I wasn't in the mood to do anything but I needed to be here. Fighting wasn't good. I didn't like fighting.
"You heard what dad said-!"
"I don't care about what he said!" I growled. "You have to come home. Dad can't force you out."
"He already did."
"Well maybe you should just apologize to Edward!" I exclaimed. "Just get it over with and come home!"
"I don't understand you." he shakes his head. "Edward treated you like crap and you're still defending him."
I have no good response. "I love him."
"You're more like obsessed with him. That's not love." Emmett stands in front of me, shaking me by my shoulders.
Angry tears burn in my eyes and I hit him the chest. "Take that back! You don't know what we have!"
"I know that he's going to leave you again! I know that you aren't ready to be in a relationship with him!" I go to hit him again but Rose pulls me back. Jasper is standing in between the two of us, trying to diffuse the argument.
"Emmett…" I finally whimpered. "Please come home, I need you. It's only for tonight and you'll be gone tomorrow." A few stray tears fall down my cheeks and I begin to cry harder and harder.
"What happened, Bella?" he pushes past Jasper and hugs me. "Why are you so upset?"
It was everything. I hated Emmett yet I loved him. I hated Edward yet I couldn't stay away from him… and Samantha. Everything was messed up and I had to fix it. Jacob hurt Samantha and who knows who else. I wasn't the only person and there were others. Maybe if I had spoken up sooner… this wouldn't have happened.
"Give her some space," I heard someone whisper. Emmett lets go of me and I immediately feel a coldness wash over my body. Rose takes me by the hand and says, "let's go upstairs, Bella. We can talk up there."
"Seth is waiting for me in the driveway." my throat is raw. "He drove me here."
"I'll go talk to him." says Emmett.
Rose tugs on my hand and I follow her back the way we came. We walk up the spiral staircase to the third floor. Her bedroom is the second door on the left and we both collapse on our backs on her queen size bed. She runs her fingers through my hair and I slowly calm down.
"What's bothering you?" her voice is soft. I close my eyes and whisper, "I wasn't the only one."
Her hand stops and she freezes.
"I… I think Jacob hurt Samantha. I was talking with Seth and he told me that after Jacob… raped me, he started dating her. After everything he told me, I think that Jacob hurt her also."
"Have you told Charlie or Sue?"
I shake my head. "We don't have any solid proof but I need talk to her."
"The tribe hates you, Bella, especially her. I'd be careful if I were you…" she warns me.
"I don't care." I adamantly state. "I need to find out what happened. I need to know if there were others."
ooOoo
Authors Note:
Hey everyone! Thank you so much for reading and reviewing, your support means so much to me! I have literally nothing else to do so I've been writing all day! I also wanted to mention that I looked back at past chapters and realized I mentioned characters several times as different people and I said that Harry was Jacob's dad but I've made changes and I am in the process of editing past chapters and fixing mistakes. Jacob's dad is Billy btw and Seth's dad and Sue's husband is Harry. I should update sometime next week or sooner but until then enjoy and stay safe!