Ch. 6
Hours passed with no word from Bella's father or the Harris family about Ruth's whereabouts. Mother arrived shortly after noon at Bella's home, dividing her time between sitting with Bella—who was shockingly silent and still—cleaning, offering to make food or get refreshments, and pacing in front of the fireplace while praying quietly for Ruth's safe return.
"How terrified Ruth's mother, Amelia, must be. Edward, I cannot stand to think about you or our sweet Bella disappearing this way," Mother murmured almost to herself as she sat beside Bella and began to stroke her flushed cheek. Then she raised her head slowly, shaking it side to side and looking blankly around the room as if coming out of a daze. "Bella, would you like some water, sweetheart?" Mother offered softly, shifting back into her preferred role of caretaker, a job which was as natural to her as blinking. Bella didn't respond, but Mother still stood, nevertheless, making her way to the kitchen to retrieve the water pitcher.
Finally, after nearly six hours of waiting for news, the phone rang.
Bella leapt up from her indented seat on the sofa, and I reflexively threw out my arm to steady her before she tripped on the skirt of her dress, but she still rushed to the phone answering, "Swanresidence?" Her voice cracked from the residual roughness in her throat from crying all afternoon. A muffled reply from a male voice floated out from the receiver, and Bella was somehow even more alert. "Dad? Have you heard anything about Ruth? Did they find her?...oh..." The depression in her voice, slump of her shoulders, and slow exhale made it clear that there was no good news.
After a moment she spoke again. "Actually, yes, he's right here...No, Dad, he hasn't. Please! His mother is right in the kitchen, and I'm seventeen years old. This really isn't necessary." Her tone had shifted swiftly from desperation to irritation.
Just as Mother returned to the room, Bella passed the receiver to me begrudgingly, and I took it from her with hesitation as she took her place back by Mother's side, poorly concealing the tears which had been steadily building in her eyes.
With a furrowed brow, I took a deep breath, steeling myself for whatever her father had to say to me. Though, I didn't understand why he would bypass a chance of speaking with my mother in this situation. "Mr. Swan?"
"Edward?" He didn't sound anymore enthusiastic about speaking with me than he usually did, but there was a definite exhaustion to his voice.
Based off of Bella's reaction to whatever Mr. Swan was saying to her moments before, it seemed important that I stress the innocence of my visit with her today. "I hope you don't mind that Mother and I have been keeping Bella company in your home this afternoon. She's very upset as I'm sure you know, sir." My jaw clenched in anticipation of his reproach.
"I appreciate that, and please pass along my indebtedness and gratitude to your mother too." He sighed. When he didn't immediately admonish me, the rest of my muscles tensed. The situation with a Ruth must be even worse than we feared if Mr. Swan didn't take this opportunity to berate me. Bella's father was never openly receptive to any of the time I spent with his daughter, chaperone present or not.
"Yes, sir..." I responded wearily.
He continued, "I would speak to Elizabeth myself, but I don't have much time with all that is happening. There's something I must ask of you. I won't be home for quite some time, and things are...complicated here. I would be so grateful to your family if you—and your parents," he heavily emphasized, "—would allow Bells to stay with you for a few days. As much as I hate to admit it, you seem to be a trustworthy person and the second most important man in my daughter's life. I don't want her left alone...Not now." He finished in a slightly quaking tone. I believe that was the first compliment I had ever received from him, and it scared me.
"Of course, Mr. Swan." My own voice trembled with what he was saying and what he was not saying. Yes, things were very bad indeed.
His tone then shifted back to the Mr. Swan I had originally expected. "But mark my words, I want no funny business. She will return to me in the same condition of which I am entrusting her in your care, Edward. Or else." He ended the call firmly, and I heard the click of the line disconnecting before I could say a proper goodbye.
OooOooO
"Are you sure this is alright, Mrs. Masen? I wouldn't want to burden you with my presence..."
I carried Bella's overnight luggage up the front steps of my home and through the door just as she looked to Mother with an expression of gratitude, but her voice was laced with stress. She was never very comfortable when it came to being the recipient of charity in any form even in such dire circumstances as she was now.
"Of course, dear!" Mother made a flippant gesture in the air as if to swat away the ridiculous notion that she not allow Bella to stay with us while her father was working through the night. "You're like a daughter to Edward senior and me, and we would never abandon family at such a time. Your father agreed that you should not be at home alone for so long, and Helen has already made up the spare room for you. She's even putting together your birthday dinner as we speak. Don't you ever call yourself a burden again. We're always glad to have you." She chided lightly as she put her arm around Bella's slumped shoulders.
I leaned over to whisper as inconspicuously as possible into my mother's ear, "Do you really think now is the appropriate time for such a celebration, mother?" I asked the question subtly through bared teeth, concerned that Bella might think us heartless or unaffected by Ruth's absence.
Mother answered at full volume, unashamed. "Edward, it is Bella's birthday, and we still need to eat. Her father and his men are doing everything in their power for our precious Ruth, and allowing our nerves to get the better of us will not bring about answers any sooner. We can maintain an air of respect for Ruth's condition—forgoing the fanfare of a large celebration—without denying Bella her due recognition tonight. After all, whatever would we do without her light being brought into this world?" She asked with the familiar impish grin which appeared whenever she was teasing me about Bella.
"Thank you, Mrs. Masen." Bella's cheeks were a shocking shade of maroon as she brushed away the tears brimming the edges of her eyes. "I'm not really feeling up to eating at the moment, though, I'm afraid."
"Oh, come now. Please call me Elizabeth, and I won't force anything on you, sweetheart—you know that—but we must maintain our strength for Ruth if we are to be any help in the community search being held for her tomorrow. If you do not wish to celebrate, I understand, but in order to stay healthy you must eat something, even if it's just an apple or slice of bread." Mother reached her other arm across Bella, forming a snug embrace. As she tenderly held the physical manifestation of all my love in her arms, I felt a surge of pride to be Elizabeth Masen's son. She was so compassionate, loving, and giving toward every person she met. There was never a time when she would consider turning a blind eye to those in need, bearing a true servant's heart.
"Alright." Bella answered quietly with a slight upturn of her lips, but I frowned as I could tell she was only giving my mother what she thought that she wanted. Bella was always putting other's comfort and happiness before her own.
"Good. Now go on upstairs, and freshen up. Dinner will be ready soon enough." I looked to mother gratefully for caring so sincerely for my Bella, and she winked at me with a passing smile and gentle squeeze of my hand as she turned to assist Helen in the kitchen.
When I heard my mother chatting lightly with Helen in the kitchen, I followed Bella up the stairs covertly, glancing over my shoulder. As happy as my family was with Bella's and my relationship, even they wouldn't tamper Mr. Swan's barrage if he found out I was going to be alone with his daughter in her room.
"Bella," I tapped gently on her door, opening it just enough for me to squeeze through and closing it as hastily and quietly as possible. I turned around to find Bella sitting on the edge of the bed with her face covered in her hands as tears ran freely down her chin and neck. I couldn't bear the site.
"She was right there with us, Edward." Bella answered without lifting her face. I sat beside the weeping beauty, pulling her into my side and hoping that my presence was offering some form of comfort.
"Everything will turn out alright, you'll see. Ruth hasn't been gone long. I'm sure she just got confused or perhaps she is pulling a prank..." Even I wasn't convinced at my lame explanations, so I pivoted the subject. "I have to confess something...I went to find Tim at his house today before visiting you, but he wasn't there. He's involved in this, Love. I just know it."
"Edward..." she sighed tiredly. "I knew you would. Did you find anything to confirm you suspicions?" Bella wiped the tears from her cheeks, and when she finally met my eyes, she looked as if she was too exhausted to fight me on the issue.
"No, I'm sorry. His mother was behaving rather strangely, though. I think she may be covering for him too." I recalled the skittish manner in which she behaved and how she ordered me away so suddenly when I mentioned that I was looking for Tim. It was very odd.
"I just want Ruth to be alright. She was my very first friend when I arrived at Lake Crest. She never treated me any differently for being the newest classmate or for our...socioeconomic differences..." She looked down at the floor with flushed cheeks as she continued. "She's a kind person, and her parents are so terribly upset. Her mother hasn't stopped making phone calls since this morning. Dad says she's made it through a quarter of the class roster already searching for information from anyone who will give it. Her father has remained on the corner of Twentieth and Main passing out flyers..." She trailed off in a way which suggested she wasn't asking for a response from me.
It was painful to see Bella hurt this way. My hand drifted absentmindedly across her back as I tried to think of anything I was missing, but I kept coming up short. I needed to find Tim.
I stood, lifting a finger to gently trace the line of Bella's cheek bone. My hands seemed to have a mind of their own now, unable to resist having some form of contact with my Bella's lovely skin when in the vicinity of all her allure. "Helen will be up to call you for dinner in a few minutes. I should leave before they find me here. Please rest for these few moments, and if you don't want to come down, we'll understand. You don't have to always accommodate everyone else, you know."
The pinch in her brow lessened, and she huffed out a quiet laugh. "They've already gone through the trouble of cooking for me. I saw a two-tiered cake through the gap of the kitchen door! Of course, I'll be down soon."
"Bella—"
"It's fine, really. I'll see you in a bit." She stood then, her eyes level with my jaw until she lifted herself onto the tip of her toes just so, looking upward to reach her lips to mine.
Who was I to deny her wishes? I leaned over just enough for our lips to meet in a sweet reunion. I smiled against her mouth as I heard the slight uptake of air. I wound my hand up into her crown of silky, chocolate tresses. Her eager response surprised me. Her hands came together in an iron clasp at the nape of my neck, and dragging herself backward she continued to tow me along with her. That is, until she tripped, and we both landed on the bed.
"Love—" I protested feebly against our compromising position even as my lips continued to move intently along her jaw and neck, my hands now trapped beneath her.
"Stop trying to talk," She murmured into my shoulder in breathy whisper. "Unless you are crying words of exultation, I don't want a peep from you." Oh my.
I had to repress the urge to moan when her hands slid smoothly down the front of my chest, stopping—thankfully—just at the sides of my ribcage. If her appendages had travelled any lower, she would have felt exactly what she was doing to me through my own...err...appendage's...reaction. As it was, I maintained my position over Bella with my knee on the bed in such a way that she couldn't see—or feel—that particular physical response.
I moved my mouth back over hers, our lips crashing into one another with a fervor unlike any I had ever felt. This woman was my air. She was my life force. She was the only thing I needed to exist in this world!
Her lips parted as we kissed, and I could nearly taste the saccharine breath escaping her lungs. I hesitated. I didn't want to resist. I didn't want to be the reason this glorious interaction ended. I wanted this to advance further, not stopping until she was all mine, but we were moving too quickly. If I continued on this path of beautiful destruction, I wouldn't be able to stop myself, and I knew that now was not the time for this. Not only were we not alone in the house, but we were not married, and she was grieving the loss of her friend. Bella was too important, too perfect and pure, for me to disrespect and take advantage of her in that way.
"Edward, don't..." she sighed in disapproval when I pulled back, denying every part of myself what it truly wanted.
But I couldn't stop the upward turn of my lips at the dulcet note of her protest, and I kissed her forehead with eyes closed, savoring this moment. "We will have our time, but not now, my love. I'll see you downstairs." I pulled away from her just in time to see her frown, and I reached to tuck a stray hair behind her ear, allowing my hand to trace down her jaw, neck, shoulder, arm, and finally rest in her warm hand. "I love you, Isabella Marie Swan."
"I love you too, so much." She emphasized with a squeeze of my palm.
Oh, so sweet. Let me know what you think! 3