Be warned, there are lemons in this chapter and slight mention of abuse.
Jasper
Moving to Forks was never a part of my plan. Had it not been for Edward and the love I have for him, I probably would have moved back to Texas after graduating.
That's what I told myself, but as time passed by and I met Bella, my perception has changed significantly. For the better I think.
I don't think I'll ever get the day I first laid eyes on Bella out of my mind. She'd been wearing an over sized Nirvana t-shirt, unruly mahogany hair and her face flushed with embarrassment as she wrangled Duke off me. I remember being momentarily stunned by her, by the beautiful woman I'd taken a liking to from the beginning soon after we started talking.
From our first interaction alone I already knew she was kind and funny with a hint of sass to her that would make any man fall for her. If not that, then find her endearing. And yet...
"Jasper," Edward murmured, feeling the rage rolling off my shoulders as I paced around the living room. Stealing glances towards the two-story white brick house across the street. The curtains were drawn together everywhere except for in the bedroom and by the looks of the shroud of darkness, no one had wandered in there.
Bella and Paul must still be in the living room. If he tries to touch her...
I sighed, rubbing a hand over my face.
Did I feel like a creep for looking into Bella's home from my window? Yeah, I sure fucking did. But I was also conscious of the fact that Bella was in that house with her drunk husband—who I knew for a fact wasn't gentle with her in more than one way. Something that sent my blood boiling.
Seeing the bruise on her neck the other day stirred an uneasiness inside me that neither Edward nor I have been able to shake off. He'd been rough while they had sex, something that wasn't unheard of between a couple who enjoyed rough sex. But, I saw the sadness in Bella's eyes. I heard the way her voice lowered as if in shame when she admitted she didn't like what he'd done.
If he hurt her intentionally?
A hand landed on my shoulder and I shut my eyes, turning around to find Edward's concerned expression.
"We shouldn't have left her. You saw how he was. How he touched her."
He rested his forehead against mine as he admitted, "I'm worried too, but this isn't our fight. It's Bella's. If she wants us to interfere for any reason, you know I'll be the first one out the door, but until then all we can do is wait. All we can do is be there for her when she needs us."
And she will.
I wasn't a stranger to toxic relationships. Hell, I was born into one. My mother and father never got along for as long as I could remember. Always fighting, calling each other names and eventually getting violent. When they finally got a divorce, my father was completely out of the picture. Something I was grateful for when I saw how the light returned to my mother's eyes and she not only survived but loved her life. Loved me.
I didn't want that to be Bella.
Over the past few months, she'd become an important part of our lives. Edward agreed with me. She'd become our best friend, someone who never judged us for how we lived or what we did. She was passionate and supportive. A warm light we wanted to hold close and never let go.
"I just, fuck Edward," I shook my head as he pressed his lips against mine and silencing me. I reluctantly leaned into his kiss and curled my hands into his t-shirt, holding him closer until we broke away.
Edward breathed out, "I feel the same way about her. It's what makes this so hard to watch."
"Yeah," I answered hoarsely as I pulled him close once again, feeling warmth circle in my abdomen as he sank his fingers into my hair and tugged. Holding me as if I were the most precious thing in his world. And he was in mine. "Every time we're in this room I can't stop thinking about her...about what we saw all those nights ago."
"Don't remind me. I feel bad enough as it is," he chuckled but I couldn't help myself. I needed to feel him. Needed the reassurance he was so willing to give.
"Why not? I know you like it," I drawled before nipping the skin on his neck. Edward groaned as I cupped his election through his pants, wanting him to feel what I felt now for him—for Bella. An aching need I never knew I could feel for two people I cared so much for. "Do you remember that night?"
Edward's silent groan told me he did.
The day we met Bella, Edward and I had taken to sitting in the living room, watching TV late into the night and enjoying the first official home we'd bought together.
We were about to go to bed when a dim light flickered on from the house across the street, Bella's house, and I stopped dead in my tracks when I caught sight of who was right across from us. Edward noticed where my attention had gone and glanced over, curious to see what I did and his mouth parted open in shock, possibly admiration.
"Fuck," I'd whispered harshly as Bella, sitting on one of the stools in her kitchen, faced the long window that gave a clear view into the room. She spread her legs and appeared to be...pleasure herself with her own hand. It was too far to see clearly and honestly, I didn't want to try. Feeling like a pervert for looking in the first place, but then her other hand trailed over one of her breasts and she writhed in her seat.
My heart pulsed at the same time blood rushed to my cock as Edward and I watched Bella's back arch and a moment later her whole body tensed. She'd come right in front of us.
Edward and I had both been with women in the past so it wasn't a surprise when we both grew hard at the sight of such a beautiful woman pleasuring herself. But...this was Bella.
Shy, sweet Bella who rambled about gardening and beamed at me when I asked her questions about The Meadow. The woman who blushed anytime you complimented her and laughed away any praise given.
Knowing what I do about her sex life with Paul...I can't say I was surprised that she'd resorted to pleasuring herself without him.
"Jasper," Edward whispered into my ear, bringing me back to the present, before biting my neck. I nearly growled, he knew damn well I was sensitive there.
Dragging my fingers into his hair I pulled sharply and he granted me a crooked grin full of mirth and a silent promise to get me back for playing with his emotions.
"Did you imagine yourself giving her an orgasm the night we fucked after that?" I whispered as I unbuckled his belt, kissing his neck as he got to unbuttoning my shirt, sliding his hands across the planes of my chest and shoulders until the fabric slipped off and pooled on the floor behind me.
He groaned as I rolled the zipper down and pulled him out, wrapping my hand around his erection. I grinned, "Yeah, you did."
Edward moaned, "When you talk dirty..."
His words only spurred me on, "Did you dream that you were fingering her until she cried out? Burying your face between her legs. Because I know I did."
"God, stop," He shoved me down onto the couch and straddled me, thrusting his tongue into my mouth while I pumped him up and down. I moaned as he pushed the waistband of my briefs down and pressed the head of my cock against his, slowly rubbing us together.
"Edward..."
He always knew how to get me to cum fast even when I didn't want to and this was one of those ways. I bit down on his bottom lip hard and he hissed, thrusting against me. "Don't make me imagine her, Jasper. I can't take it now."
Not when she's across the street with Paul, fighting or miserable.
Us, doing what we were now, wasn't just to relieve the stress coiling inside us. It was getting our anger out, our frustrations that we couldn't have the one person in the whole world by our side. Because...fuck, we loved Bella. More than either of us cared to admit right now.
I loved Bella nearly the same way I loved Edward. What I felt for her now was exactly how I felt for Edward when we met all those years ago. And knowing that she was out of our reach, married to some prick who didn't love or appreciate her? It was torture.
"I want her so fucking bad," I groaned as we discarded our clothes and Edward thrust into me, hard and fast. Knowing exactly what I was feeling and what I needed.
"Me too," he whispered as I took his member in my hand and pumped him until we both writhed and came together.
Breathless and spent, we laid on the couch in each other's arms and thinking of how on earth we ended up in this position. Loving a woman we couldn't have and feeling guilty for it all at once.
Because the fact is, Edward and I would love Bella as a friend and maybe even as a lover someday, but she...she would never feel this way about us.
She was too deep in love with her husband.
And that was a hard pill to swallow.
I pushed open the doors to The Meadow and was greeted by the tinkling of the doorbell overheard and the soft indie music playing in the speakers.
The scent of roses and other flowers hit me like a freight train and it took some getting used to when I first started frequenting Bella's shop, but over time, I'd grown used to it.
It made sense to me how Bella's comforting scent wasn't a perfume at all but from being surrounded by flowers all day. Lavender most days, other days it was a mix between roses and something else. Something sweet like honey. That was my Bella, sweet and strong.I blinked at that thought.
My Bella...what's wrong with you, Whitlock?
"Bella?" I called out when she didn't pop out from behind the table with a towering flower arrangement in a crystal vase sat, nearly taking up all the space around it.
I called out again and there was no answer again. That was strange since she normally strode right out the moment she heard the doorbell. All warm smiles and a welcoming greeting spilling from her lips, before she even knew who was coming in.
I frowned as I set the bag of muffins and the coffee I brought for her down. She knew I'd be coming over in the afternoon, it'd become a routine of ours to have coffee together whenever we were free from work since Edward's schedule was busier than either of ours. And vice versa.
I heard a muffled sound coming from the back and I made my way around the counter.
"Bella? It's me, you back here?" I peered into the back of the room which consisted of a small table a couple of chairs, a sink and more flowers stacked up in buckets and on racks all along the walls.
My heart sank to my stomach as I found her sitting in a chair, surrounded by sunflowers and blue delphiniums with her head bowed forward, one hand clutching a pair of shears while the other held a thick stem of a sunflower dangling loosely between trembling fingers. The thick curtain of mahogany hair draped over the side of her face hid her eyes, but I already knew the expression she would have. The shear utter sadness that weighed down on her as the days go by without any change in her relationship.
I rushed over and knelt beside her, "Bella?"
She looked up, puffy red eyes meeting mine before light filtered into her brown irises as if finally registering that I was here. She blinked slowly before murmuring almost sounding relieved as she said my name, "Jasper?"
"I'm here," I said as I brushed back a strand of her hair, tucking it behind her ear. She shuddered as my fingers grazed the shell of her ear and I resisted the urge to pull her into my arms. Hold her and never let her go. "What's going on?"
"I...I'm sorry," Her eyes began shining with unshed tears as she looked down to her hand that held the sunflower and I followed her gaze.
"What are you sorry for—"
Blood streamed down her left hand, bright red droplets splattering on the tiles as a decent sized gash travelled across the center of her palm. How had I not noticed it before? I wouldn't be surprised if she needed stitches with all the blood streaming across her hand.
I released a sharp breath, "Jesus, Bella..."
"It was an accident," she murmured as I took the flowers and shears out of her hands before snatching a clean cloth off one of the shelves. I gently pressed the white fabric into her palm, quickly being dyed a light pink as it soaked the blood up. I grimaced as she whimpered.
"What did you do, darlin'?"
"I was just...trying to get them ready. It's Angela's birthday tomorrow and I wanted to get them ready for her to send." I followed her gaze back to the bouquet she'd been working on by the table.
I noted the pale complexion on her face and frowned, "Does it hurt?"
Bella nodded, "A little." Noticing my stern expression she winced and caved in, "Okay, quite a bit."
"Let's get you to the hospital. Just to make sure you don't need any stitches. It looks like a nasty cut."
"But The Meadow. I can't leave-"
"Bella," I cut her off, gently pulling her onto her feet and moving closer to steady her when she swayed. My arm wrapped around her waist while the other cupped her cheek, making her finally look at me and realize I wasn't kidding around.
Being this close, I immediately noticed the dark circles under her eyes. Had she gotten any sleep at all last night?
I had to ignore the fact that she was blushing when she realized a tad too late how close we were. Though my heart pulsed in my chest.
"I'm sorry, but I quite frankly don't care about The Meadow right now. It will still be here when you get back in an hour, okay? I'll even come here myself and hold down the fort if you want, but you need to get checked out. Please? For me?"
She hesitated but then whatever she saw in my eyes made her finally nod and I placed a kiss on her forehead, relieved that she was for once letting me help her.
"Come on, darlin'. I'm sure Edward will love to see you." I added sarcastically and Bella scrunched up her nose, but graced me with the smallest of smiles.
"Five stitches..." Carlisle shook his head as he finished examining Bella's palm, looking like a disappointed father as he glanced at her. "Bella, I thought you were done with the hospital visits."
She gave him a small smile that didn't reach her eyes, "I guess I just wanted to come visit you, Carlisle."
Leaning against the wall, I kept my arms crossed as I silently watched the exchange between Bella and the man who was practically the only father figure I ever had. After Edward and I got together, Carlisle had always been a man I greatly admired and was immensely grateful towards having in my life.
Finding out that Bella regularly went to the hospital since she was a kid didn't make me feel any better about this visit today.
A wave of pain washed over me as I stared at her swollen palm.
"As much as you may be my favorite patient," Carlisle started with a sigh as he stood from the rolling chair, pulling the gloves off his hands before tossing them in the bin, "I would rather your visits not consist of injuries."
"Sorry, doc."
He placed a hand on her shoulder, looking at her face carefully before suggesting, "I'll give you something for the pain and numbing cream to apply when you change the bandages. Why don't you take the rest of the day off? I suspect it will be difficult to use your hand today at the shop anyway and there's no use in reopening the stitches. Get some sleep."
She grimaced, but nodded reluctantly.
Earlier, watching Carlisle stitch Bella's hand and the way she tensed, I couldn't help but stride over and hold her free hand. Silently supporting her when I knew she hated needles and the sight of blood more than anything. Still, not a peep about calling Paul to pick her up since I drove us here. Almost as if she didn't want—
The sound of footsteps carrying down the hall of the ER interrupted my thoughts and before we knew it, the curtain was being shoved aside.
"What happened?" Edward asked as he crossed the distance to stand beside Bella, already looking for the injury that landed her here in the first place.
I hadn't had a chance to text him so I suspected Carlisle told Edward we were here, unless one of the nurses already went around with their usual gossip by the stations.
Edward placed a gentle hand on Bella's shoulder as she tried and failed to ease his concern with a half-assed smile, "Just a cut."
"A cut with five stitches under her belt," Carlisle sighed as he was paged for a consult and had no choice but to excuse himself. "Edward, I'll trust you to finish bandaging Bella's hand while I'm gone?"
"Of course," Edward nodded before turning to face Bella, his green eyes simmering but not unkind. "You're going to have to be careful for a couple of days. Need to avoid reopening the stitches so you don't get an infection, love."
Edward pulled up the rolling chair and sat in front of Bella, shaking his head much like Carlisle had as he looked over her hand once more, fretting over her like I had been.
Bella blushed under his attention as he gently finished wrapping her hand.
"I'm sorry for this. I'm such a klutz. It's so embarrassing."
"Accidents happen. What matters is that you came in to get it checked out when you did."
"She almost didn't," I said, crossing my arms, waiting for her to grant me a pointed glance or a scowl. Anything to garner a reaction from her. Normally she'd be all for our banter. Not today it seems. All she managed to do was nod when Edward looked between the two of us.
Edward looked at me and if I could read his mind, I could have sworn his hardened gaze said: This can't be good.
I nodded: Yeah, no shit.
While it may not be uncommon for Bella to get injured, what was cause for concern had to do more with the vacant look in Bella's otherwise beautiful eyes. In her smile that lit up a room and how freely she spoke. Something changed her overnight. Something bad.
And what do you wanna bet it had to do with Paul fucking Lahote?
Thanks for reading and thanks for all the support so far! I'm glad you guys are enjoying this story :)
See you guys on Sunday with another update!