I'm so sorry about the sporadic posting of the last few chapters! I was away for the summer at a camp and I could only post when I had access to wifi and also didn't have my computer so I had to make do with what my phone would allow me to post properly. This chapter is longer than usual to hopefully make up for a little bit of that and I will hopefully get to post more regularly from here on out!
They'd done the proper paper work for someone being injured on a school trip after Bella had finally made it home from the hospital in the early hours of the morning. She took one of the pain pills she'd been prescribed when she was finally alone and passed out until it was time to get up and leave for the bus back to campus.
Her wrist was fractured and currently in a cast which all of the girls had taken turns signing and decorating on the ride back. JP had carried her bag up to their room for her even though she'd protested and then asked if Bella wanted to go get dinner. She had shook her head in the negative and said she was going to shower and lay down. JP had just nodded and stared at her for a moment, before finally leaving.
Bella had gone into her room, unpacked her things, and then heard a knock at the door. "Forget your key again, J?" She asked with a laugh as she made her way to it. She pulled it open and looked up to see Kate and froze, "Oh," She said and stared at the vampire.
Bella watched Kate's eyes flick back and forth from her face to her cast before settling on the cast, "What the hell?" She asked and Bella could hear the desperation in her tone and that her voice was becoming slightly hysterical. She reached out with her uninjured hand and grabbed Kate's to pull her into the dorm so that they weren't standing in the middle of the hallway.
"Kate, I'm fine," Bella said in an attempt to calm down the quickly angering vampire. She closed her bedroom door in case JP came back.
"Fine?" Kate finally said exasperatedly, "Fine?" She repeated in disbelief, "You are not fine," She said with emphasis and while gesturing to Bella's hand.
"Kate, it's not a big deal," Bella said but the more she said, the angrier Kate seemed to become.
"Not a big deal?" Kate said and Bella could see fire in her eyes, "What happened?" She finally asked as she wrenched both hands through her hair.
Bella stared at her blankly for a moment, "You don't know?" She asked as she cocked her head to the side. Kate shook her head and started pacing.
"I only know you're hurt because Mrs. Collier told me the paperwork was on my desk," Kate said and Bella looked confused for a second.
"Her name is Collier?" She asked and Kate stopped and just looked at her. Bella shrugged, "The girls just call her 'Stick', I didn't know her name."
Kate seemed to be torn between asking and getting to the root of the conversation. She finally sighed, "Stick?" She asked exasperatedly.
"Stick in the mud? Stick up her ass? Depends on the day apparently," Bella said and Kate stared blankly before shaking her head and starting to pace again.
"Bella, what happened?" She asked again and Bella swallowed thickly. Shit, Kate was not going to like this at all.
"Umm," Bella started, "You might want to sit down," She finished and Kate looked at her for explanation but Bella didn't give anything away with her face. She gestured to her desk chair and Kate hesitated for a moment before taking the seat.
Bella bit at her bottom lip and glanced around the room, "Start talking before I start pacing again," Kate said quietly and brown eyes met gold as Bella nodded. She took a seat on her bed and took a breath.
"So we went out to this bar," She started and Kate let out a breath and dropped her face into her hands but motioned for Bella to continue after realizing that Bella was waiting on her to look back up, "And everyone got a little drunk," Bella continued and watched Kate closely even though the vampire still had her face in her hands, "So I decided not to drink because I couldn't see us being able to find our way back with all of us wasted," She said, "And at one point I made the stupid decision to go to the bathroom by myself and…" Bella paused. She hadn't voiced this out loud yet and her throat had suddenly closed up at the thought of having to do so.
Her heart beat picked up and her breathing started to quicken as she panicked. Kate looked up stricken and stood quickly before stepping over to Bella. She gently placed her hands on either side of Bella's face and brought her gaze up to meet her own, "Bella, baby, breathe, sweetheart," She said and Bella nodded but didn't get herself under control, "Baby, you've got to breathe," Kate all but cooed at her, "I know that whatever it is can't be easy to think about or say and you don't have to tell me but you've got to breathe, darling," Kate continued to speak soothingly to her as her thumbs made gentle sweeps over her cheekbones.
Bella took a deep, shaky breath finally and Kate nodded, "There we go," She coddled and Bella suddenly felt so embarrassed. She attempted to drop her face but Kate held firm, "There's nothing to be embarrassed about, Bella. Nothing at all," She assured her and Bella stared at her for a long moment before finally nodding.
Kate moved to step away from Bella, but the human reached out quickly and grabbed one of her hands. She met brown eyes and searched for a minute before Bella was tugging on her hand gently. Kate took the hint and took a seat on the bed next to Bella.
"I want to finish," Bella said quietly and then looked at Kate who just nodded that she was listening. The human took a deep breath before continuing, "On my way back from the bathroom, this guy walked up behind me and started talking and when I ignored him and didn't play into his little game, he grabbed my arm and pulled me backwards," She saw Kate's eyes flash and laid her head down on her mate's shoulder, "And he kept trying to kiss me but I guess the girls finally heard me screaming and distracted him enough for me to land a kick right where it hurts the most," Bella finished quietly and quickly.
She was quiet and didn't look up but could just guess that Kate's face was a mixture of anger, sadness, despair, and everything else. The vampire finally shifted and brought both arms around Bella's waist to pull her as close as possible, "Baby, I don't know what to say except that I'm sorry," Kate said as she pressed her lips to Bella's hair, "And that I'll definitely be killing that motherfucker, but that's beside the point."
Bella snorted and shook her head, "You can't do that. Scare him a little? Maybe. Kill him? Absolutely not," Bella said as she looked up and saw Kate pout at her, "You know I'm right."
Kate rolled her eyes, "I know," She conceded as she tried to pull Bella impossibly closer to her, "I just-" She didn't finish her thought as she looked away and Bella knew she'd gotten lost in thought. She shook herself out of her reverie, "Sorry," She said, "I just don't like the idea of you being hurt or of anyone hurting you and every instinct in me is screaming to go take care of him," She was practically shaking with anger now and Bella acted completely on instinct and impulse as she turned her head and nuzzled her face and nose against Kate's neck.
"It's okay," Bella whispered against Kate's skin, "I'm okay," She said again with a little more conviction as she felt Kate's arms tighten around her.
"How did this turn into you comforting me instead of the other way around?" Kate asked with sarcasm heavily lacing her tone.
"When you came in here guns blazing?" Bella replied with a laugh and felt Kate's fingers gently drawing patterns on her hip where her hands rested, "Kate, I promise you that I am fine. I am going to be okay. Four weeks and this stupid hunk of plaster will be gone and I'll be good as new."
Kate finally let out a breath and nodded, "I know," She whispered, "The wild and slightly feral instincts kicked in," She said with a shrug and Bella laughed at the thought, "I still might kill him though."
