Charlie, my dear old man, was already waiting near the entrance. His arms crossed over his chest as he tapped his foot impatiently as we all enter the house.
I've gotten to know this expression in the past year and a half that I've lived here with him.
I can tell that the old man was annoyed. Really annoyed.
"I just received a call from an old Army buddy of mine, telling me you were planning to join. Is there something you'd like to tell me about, Isabella Marie?" He asks, crossing his arms over his chest, and raising an eyebrow at me.
I decided to play the ignorance card by feigning innocence.
"Nope. Nothing at all." I say, looking anywhere in the room but to his eyes.
"Then, why does this entire situation remind me of a few months ago, when you ran to Phoenix and had the accident?" He asks, the vein on the side of his forehead beginning to bulge.
Shit. he's starting to turn purple. Think of an excuse. Think, Bella, think!
"You might want to calm down, Mr. Swayne," says.
"It's Swan, you Halfwit." I bite, scowling at him.
"Uh. Oh. Yeah, of course, Bitsy." He responds amused.
"You did what?!" My brother yells, turning to look at me angrily, I flinch in response, taking a step back to hide myself behind Clean-Cut.
"Bella? You might not know this but that is Tony Stark, 's a genius, a billionaire, philanthropist. CEO of Stark Industries. " The woman says, nodding towards Goatee.
"Calm down, boy," Charlie ordered.
"Doesn't seem like a genius to me," I mutter, scowling.
"Ahh...so, that accident that happened in Phoenix where the ballet studio burned down… you were involved?" Goatee asks, ignoring my jibes.
"Stark, not now." Clean cut says, annoyed.
"I—uhh— yes, I was." I allow, feeling as blood pools in my cheeks.
"Dad. We need to go soon. Is she ready?" He asks.
I can feel my face heat up as I stare at the back of his head.
"She is right here, you asshole." I pipe in.
As usual, he ignores my comments and continues as if I hadn't spoken.
"Right. So, Dad. This is Natasha Romanoff, that is Steve Rogers, that is Thor, that over there is Tony Stark. They're...friends of mine." Clint states, pointing to each of them as he introduces them to my dad.
"Everybody, this is Isabella, my little bratty sister, and that is my father, Charles or Charlie Swan." He adds.
"Are your things ready, Bella?" Nat asks me again.
"Oh, yes. They're upstairs in my room." I respond.
When she gestures for us to head up the stairs to retrieve my things, I simply nod in response, leading the way up the stairs to my room.
Just as I am about to open the door to my room, we both hear a creak come from inside the room and Nat swiftly pulls me back, pressing her finger to her lips to silence me before I can ask what is wrong.
Not a word is spoken for a tenth of a second, when the time is done she silently presses something on her wristwatch.
I stay as still as a statue, paralyzed, as Nat calmly keeps a soothing hand on my shoulder.
A few seconds later, I hear a floorboard squeak once more, before my brother and the man I now know as Steve along with the guy with the umbrella and Mr. Stark joined us, their expressions varying from confusion to alert.
Nat and my brother's eyes connected for a brief second before he walks towards the door and pushes it open.
We're all met with two figures sitting on the bed, with my stuff moved half hazardously away from where I left them. The clothes I had left hanging in my closet, even folded in my laundry basket were thrown across the floor.
"What the fuck?" My brother says, frowning.
"What are you doing here?" I ask, letting out an annoyed scoff.
"Bella." He says.
"She doesn't want to talk to you. She made that clear. Why don't you seem to understand?" My brother enunciates.
"I don't think you can stop me from talking to her," Edward answers, glaring at him.
My heartbeat quickens as I see the deathly glare he now sports.
The guy with the umbrella suddenly pushes past us, into the room.
"Barton, exactly how long has your younger sister been seeing this ...thing?" He asks, a deep accent mixed in his words.
"I don't know... Bella?" He questions, turning to look at me.
"Thing? Meaning… not human?" Mr. Stark asks, eyes widening.
Ah, he caught that, did he? Seems like Mr. Stark isn't as dumb as I thought before.
"He's a Cold One." The umbrella dude states.
So, the Umbrella dude is smarter than he looks too. Interesting.
"Cold One...as in…?" Steve says.
"They're bloodsuckers. They're what your people like to call vampires." Umbrella dude states, unblinkingly, as I stiffen.
"Isabella… please tell me you aren't stupid enough to involve yourself with one of these things." My brother says, sighing.
I almost want the ground to open up so I can jump in. "Yes, I did. Stupid, I know." I admitted, embarrassed by my stupidity.
"How many are in its coven?" My brother asks me, his jaw tight.
Oh boy, I know that look. He's livid.
"Six. Not including him." I state honestly, watching Edward's eyes go wide in disbelief.
"How are you not dead? Don't bloodsuckers usually kill their prey?" Mr. Stark questions, amazed.
I'm even more ashamed as they ask more questions.
"I almost did die. Three times, in fact." I whisper, remembering my birthday.
My words caused cause my brother's shoulders to stiffen, and him to turn to face me so fast, I almost got whiplash. There is no need to speak, by the look, he is giving me, I already know we will be having a chat as soon as we are safely away from here.
"Alright, Cold One. Speak. What do you want with the girl?" He asks.
The way he holds his umbrella is almost comical. He is holding that thing like a weapon or something.
'A lot of good that'll do, buddy.' I think, used for a moment.
"I'm not a dog." Edward snaps, not taking his eyes off of me.
Dread is beginning to settle in my stomach as he stares at me, unblinkingly.
Another time that same gaze would've made my pulse race, and caused my head to swim. Now, I just fear he'll hurt my loved ones.
"You're not answering the question." My brother barks, moving so I am hidden behind him.
"I-I just wanted to speak with her." He admits.
As all of this is happening, Nat grabs me and pulls me down the stairs.
"Can you speak? How are you feeling?" She asks.
I shake my head at her response, too shocked to speak. She quickly grabs a notepad and a pen and pushes them into my shaking hands.
I realized at that moment he was just going to leave me in the woods to die. I was never meant to survive without him in his opinion.
He doesn't want to be with me but he wants me pinning after him. He doesn't love me, but he doesn't want me to love anyone else or move on.
All the time I was with him, I had chipped away a part of myself to make him happy.
It was always him who had to be happy. It bugs me more that because of him, I became an outcast. He alienated me from everything and everyone so I only had him and his family.
He said compromise but I was the only one who had to give in for him and his family to be happy.
That asshole!
I scowl, then quickly scrawled the few things that I do know about his kind on the small notepad. Handing it over to her as I finished, leaning heavily against the wall, as I silently watched her disappear back up the stairs.
My father came down with my bags a moment later.
No words were exchanged as the silence and tension grew.
A/N:
Thank all of you who are following, reading, and reviewing this story also:
Should this be a Cap/Bella pairing or Tony/ Bella pairing? Vote in the reviews. We shall know within the next few Chapters.
Clean cut: Steve Rogers/ Captain America.
Guy with the Umbrella: Thor
Goatee: Tony Stark/ Iron Man
Woman: Natasha Romanoff/ Black Widow.