35
The sound of my cell phone ringing pulled me out of a heavy sleep. I groaned as I scrambled out of bed and fumbled through the clothes I'd kicked off the night before when we finally stumbled into our rooms at two in the morning. The drive back from Texas was long and uncomfortable. My body ached from my matches, and the twenty plus hour bus ride didn't help. But the school's athletic program refused to allow us to fly, saying that we were wasting enough of their money by even traveling to these competition. It was clear that we'd need more than a couple successful tournaments to keep our program. No, I think we were going to have to win the national tournament, and that wouldn't be an easy task.
Finding my phone, I slid my finger across the green arrow and brought it to my ear, grunting out an exhausted "Hello."
"Fuck, Edward, thank God you answered," Esme exclaimed.
The panic in her voice had me wide awake. "What's wrong?"
"I'm sorry, so fucking sorry," she cried.
"What are you sorry for?" I asked.
I heard her take a deep breath. "They know."
"Who knows?" I sat on the side of the bed, understanding exactly what she meant. Mine and Bella's marriage wasn't a secret to everyone, not anymore.
"Emmett and Jasper for sure. Probably Rose and Alice, too," she rambled on. "And Charlie and Renee."
Groaning, I brought my hand up to my face, dragging it upward and through my hair. "How? How, Esme, did they find out?"
"It was an accident," she explained. "Carlisle had ordered copies of the pictures we took in Vegas, and well, like an idiot, he had them delivered to the gym. I guess Emmett opened them, and well . . . he was going through then when . . ."
"When he saw our wedding picture," I finished with a sigh. "They were pissed?"
"Hmmm," she hummed. "Pissed is a bit of an understatement."
"Shit," I snarled, standing up and grabbing my clothes off the floor. "How much time do we have?"
"I don't know," she replied. "They were catching the first flight out."
A quick glance at the clock told me that we'd be lucky if we had more than a couple hours seeing as it was already after ten. Bella had an early class this morning, but my first class wasn't until half past eleven, something she hadn't thought was fair.
"Mom and Dad know?" I asked, struggling to put my pants on with one hand.
"I don't think so," she said. "Unless one of them called." She paused. "Edward, I'm sorry. We didn't mean for it to come out like this."
"It's fine," I lied, because it wasn't. Bella had finally gotten to a point in her life where she was happy and I worried about this causing her to stumble backward. We weren't stupid. We knew when we made the decision to elope that none of them would support us, other than my sister and Carlisle. But they had been the only ones who seemed to understand that we needed each other, that we needed to get married our way, without the pressure of everything being perfect.
"Look, I have a meeting in five minutes," she said. "But call me later, okay?"
"Yeah, I will," I told her. "Love you, Es."
"I love you, too," she said, sadly before ending the call.
Tossing my phone on the bed, I grabbed a clean shirt from the dresser before pocketing my phone and keys, and rushing out of mine and Bella's dorm room, down the hallway, bypassing the elevator, and over to the stairs. I had to get to her before Emmett and Jasper did. I needed to warn her, to prepare her for their visit. She loved them, but they had had the hardest time with our relationship, and the events over Thanksgiving were evident of as much.
"Yo, Edward, what's the rush?" Missy asked from her spot behind the resident's desk.
"Oh, you know, just the end of the world," I snarled, not really angry at her, but at the situation. Bella and I had earned the right to be happy, to live our lives the way we wanted.
I ran over to the classroom center and up to the third floor. A quick glance at the time told me I had ten minutes before her class would be released so I leaned against the wall and waited, unsure how I was going to tell her that Emmett and Jasper, and most likely Charlie and Renee, Rose, and Alice were on their way here to L.A.
Eleven minutes later, the door to the classroom opened and a gaggle of people started filing out. Bella was one of the last and she smiled when she looked over at me.
"Hey, husband," she cooed, leaning up and pressing her lips against mine. "I thought I wasn't seeing you until lunch."
"Yeah," I murmured. "Um, Esme called this morning."
Bella took a step backward. "Why?"
I shook my head, bringing my hand up to the back of my neck. "Um, well, it would seem that Emmett, Jasper, Rose, Alice, Charlie, and Renee all know that we're married."
A gush of air flew out of Bella's mouth as she dug through her backpack, pulling out her phone. "Fuck. A dozen missed calls from Carlisle, Emmett, Jasper, and Renee, not to mention twice as many texts."
I moved over so that I could read them with her. The ones from Carlisle were pleading with her not to hate him, for her to call him, for her to forgive him for being an idiot, while the ones from Emmett, Jasper, and Renee demanded her to call them, ordering her not to run, demanded that she be at the dorms when they arrived.
"Well, this is going to be a great day," she groused, looking up at me. "How'd they find out?"
"It seems that Emmett got nosy when Carlisle had some pictures from Vegas delivered to the gym," I explained.
"Idiot," she muttered, leaning her forehead against my chest and grabbing my hips. "Nothing's easy, is it? Not for us, anyway."
"Nope," I grumbled, wrapping my arms around her. "But you know that no matter what they say . . . or do . . . that I'm not going anywhere, right?"
"Of course I do," she said, looking up at me. "But if they put their hands on you again, I'm done with them. I love my brothers, and my sister, but I won't stand there and watch as they hurt you again."
"Don't say that, wife," I murmured, kissing her. "You need them, too."
"I do," she admitted. "But I need you more."
I wasn't sure what to say because while I knew she did need me more than them, if they tried to hit me again, she really would wash her hands of them and that would crush her. Instead, I nestled her against my chest as we headed down to the first floor where my English class was located. I told Bella she could go back to our room and wait for me, but she refused, and I understood why. She needed to be close to me, to make sure that Emmett and Jasper didn't spring up out of nowhere and attempt to be the shit of me. And honestly, I wanted her close to me, too. So we picked a couple of seats in the back of the room and waited for everyone else to show up.
With about five minutes before class was about to start, my professor walked into the room, stopping in the door way and looking over at the two of us before heading to her desk. She was tall, easily six feet, and she had dark skin, large black eyes and a wide smile. "You must be Edward Masen," she said, when she looked up at me. Her accent was thick, but I wasn't sure where she was from.
"I am," I replied. "How'd you know that?"
"The bruises," she explained. "You had a very successful tournament from what I hear."
"I did," I told her, before gesturing to Bella and adding, "We did, actually."
The woman looked from me to my wife. "And you are?"
"Bella Cullen-Masen," she responded. "His wife."
Her eyebrow lifted. "Oh, I didn't realize that you were in my class, as well."
"I'm not," Bella said, but closed her mouth as a swarm of students started filing into the room.
My professor looked over at us once more before she turned her attention to her desk, pulling out her book and a stack of papers. Once everyone had found their seats, she looked at the clock and then back at all of us.
"Hello. This is Contemporary American English Literature, and I am your professor, Sienna Owatti. No, I am not from this country, but yes, I do know all about American literature. I apologize if that comes off sounding rude or condescending, but I've been asked that question every semester since I started teaching here four years ago," she explained, looking around the room at each of us, her eyes landing on me and Bella last. "I only have two rules for my classroom. First, no cell phones, iPods, tablets, or anything else that will distract you from learning. That comes from the head of the department, not so much from me, but it is what it is. Second, let of every preconceived notion you've ever had of literature and let it speak to you. We'll be covering a wide range of authors this semester."
While she continued to speak, she passed out her syllabus. There were be dozens of papers, none of the more than a page or two, but still a lot of work. Plus a lot of reading. Not that I minded. I loved to read, but we still had two more tournaments, not including nationals and we'd to find a way to balance the heavy course load and our heightened training schedule.
"If you haven't picked up your books from the bookstore," Sienna said, giving everyone a look, "have them by Thursday's class."
With a simple nod, she dismissed her class. However, before Bella and I could leave, she asked us to stay. Bella tensed up next to me, and I knew she was worried about being in trouble for sitting in the class.
"Thanks for hanging back," Sienna said, stuffing the few pieces of papers she had left into her bag. "So, tell me how the tournament went."
"What?" Bella asked, her brow furrowing.
Sienna smiled. "I know you both won, but Phil didn't exactly shared a lot of details with me."
"Huh?" Bella asked again, causing Sienna to laugh.
"I'm sorry. I'm not explaining myself properly, am I?" She leaned against the corner of her desk. "I was one of the first boxers Phil brought here to UCLA when he started the program six years ago. I had just graduated from a small junior college in upstate New York, where I boxed, and was looking for a four-year university to transfer to. He approached me at an amateur tournament in Florida, where one of his brothers was competing and said that he was looking to start a program here and wanted me to be a part of his team. I was leery, of course, because a new program is incredibly difficult to get off the ground, but there was something about the way he spoke that just . . . Well, he wooed me, I guess. I signed on and spent two years here. Unfortunately, we never made it past the first round of the national tournament, but I've heard that you two are ones to watch."
"You have?" I asked.
She nodded. "I've been working with Phil on finding donors willing to support the program for at least another season, but everyone I've talked to is waiting to see how you do at nationals."
"As long as there isn't any pressure," Bella muttered. "Where you good?"
"I was," she said. "But during my senior year, I tore my growth plate and had to have it surgically repaired. Ended my career, so I turned my focus to my education. I was lucky enough to get a TA job while I attended grad school, and then was offered this position."
"And you like it?" Bella asked. "Teaching, I mean."
"I do," Sienna said, standing up and grabbing her book and bag. "I loved being a fighter. The rush and adrenalin that came with a win, but it's the same feeling I get when I find myself so immersed in a book that I find myself gasping for more. Does that make sense?"
Bella nodded.
"Anyway, I should be getting to my office. The first say always seems to mean a lot of confused students," she laughed. "If you need anything, please let me know."
"Thanks," I said, sliding my arm around Bella.
We followed Sienna out of the classroom, but while she went left, we went right. Our walk back to the dorm was awkward and weird. We had no idea that Phil had other people working to save our program, and it made me wonder just how much he was doing that we never even knew about. He'd started this program half a dozen years ago, but because it's not football, basketball, or even baseball, we weren't looked at as being important. Yet Phil never lost his faith that we'd win, that we'd be okay.
Bella and I walked into the dorms and froze when we saw Carlisle, Emmett, Jasper, and Renee sitting on the small collection of coaches in the lobby. Missy was still perched up behind her desk, her eyes wide yet full of entertainment. Carlisle looked guilty, full of sorrow and grief for exposing our marriage before we were ready.
"Shit," Bella muttered, causing them to look over at us. While Carlisle flinched backward, Emmett, Jasper, and Renee stood up, glares and anger on their faces. "Yeah, I think I'm going to leave."
Bella grabbed my hand and dragged me out of the building. Of course, Emmett, Jasper, Renee, and Carlisle followed, a cluster of accusation and pleas surrounding us.
"How could you be so selfish?" Renee demanded, while Jasper was fuming and ranting about how, "Idiotic marriage was, especially when we were still babies, barely having been on our own for more than a few months."
Carlisle was the only voice of reason, of course. He kept muttering, "I'm sorry, Bell. So fucking sorry. I tried to stop them, trying to make them see, but they told me to fuck off."
Bella and I ignored them as we walked across campus toward the dining hall. I don't know if she thought they wouldn't follow us inside, or hoped that they'd shut up. However, when Emmett said, "You knocked her up, didn't you? You're ruining her life because you couldn't keep your dick in your pants," Bella stopped and turned to him. Before either of us could say anything, she reared her arm back and punched him in the nose, sending him to the ground and knocking him out.
