Toxic Rose
Chapter Seven: Real Bitches Drive Fast Cars
A/N: So I decided to change up the Cullen's past stories a bit just to make things more interesting. I'm pretty sure we all know the ones from the book series like the back of our hand and are tired of it by now. Well at least I am. (Lol) Anyways the change of the past stories also helps set the context of why Rosalie is behaving so unstable. It's quite a long chapter though. And Warning: Violence and Trauma.
Bella managed to make it to class, but in a stupor. A lust hazed stupor. Damn that Rosalie, she had gotten her hormones going and now she couldn't stop thinking about the way she had touched her neck or ground against her hips. Every time she thought she had gotten her mind off of it, nope it came back and with full force leaving her wanting. Bella let out her fifteenth sigh of frustration in her first period English class as she tried and failed to focus on the lesson of Romeo and Juliet. Why was Rosalie acting so...so strangely? She didn't understand anything. She was afraid of her, yet turned on and it bothered her. Maybe she could ask Alice, but the blonde had threatened her not to do so. Unless Bella could tell Alice to keep quiet about it, although asking that girl to be quiet was like asking an elephant to be small.
Bella sat back in her seat and crossed her arms as she sighed again.
"Ms. Bella, you seem to be sighing a lot today, care to share what has you moody?" her English teacher cut through her thoughts and Bella's back immediately went ramrod straight.
"Or maybe you would care to tell us what just happened in the chapter we read?" Bella blushed at being caught not listening by her teacher and bent her head down so that her hair could cover her face as she fiddled with her hands in her lap. "I see," the teacher cleared his throat, "continuing onwards."
Bella tried to pay attention in class and participate but the blonde stayed on the forefront of her mind.
Lunch certainly wasn't any better, and Bella had been so wrapped up in her thoughts that she forgot about Mike and his transgressions on that fateful Halloween party, until she sat down at her usual lunch table and he was there. Smiling his disgusting smile, as if he hadn't a clue what he did. She gave an inward shiver.
"Look whose here, the slutty cop. So glad you could make it officer." Lauren's voice had a goodnatured edge to it but Bella still froze up at hearing the remark. Alice had said no one would recognize her! Oh good lord, did everyone see her in that outfit? Did they all think she was a slut of some sort? How embarrassing! Bella felt her face turn a not so subtle shade of red and she pulled her turtle neck up to cover as much of her face as she could.
"Did you get to arrest any bad boys?" Jessica asked nastily, "or did the cellulite through your fishnet stockings scare them away?" Ouch, what was her problem?
"Jessica, stop." Angela scolded looking up from her newspaper. "Sorry about her," she apologized as the other girl turned to pick at her food angrily. "She's just mad she couldn't hook up with a certain Cullen." Angela tipped her head in the direction of Edward and Bella nodded her head, appreciating the way her friend had stood up for her.
"Hey if you need some bad boys to arrest, you know where to look," Mike said elbowing Eric hard. The two boys laughed and Bella felt disgusted by them. I would never in a thousand years... she started only to have her thoughts stop in her tracks. Today she had sat facing the Cullen table, as it was the only open seat at her table and she had a great view of them. So when Rosalie had gotten up from her seat and started walking in Bella's direction, the teen was surprised. Angela, ever observant, noticed Bella's diverted attention and looked away from the argument Lauren and Jessica had gotten into to watch as Rosalie Hale sashayed over to them. The table got silent as Rosalie towered over them, planting herself by the side of the table that Bella was by.
"Oh shit, it's Rosalie Hale, to whom do we owe the honor?" Mike got out of his chair and gave a fake bow to the blonde before plopping back down. Bella looked up warily at the blonde, waiting for her to snap at him for mocking her, but instead she found a smile on the blonde's face, accompanied by a giggle. "Certainly not for you, you common fool." Mike's goofy smile faltered a bit but Jessica's ears perked up at the signs of a possible confrontation.
"What do you want Hale?" she asked with enough venom that the sentence could either be taken as threatening or as cautious.
"Something that's not yours." Then she grabbed Bella by the arm, roughly lifting her from the seat. The people in the cafeteria who had been interested by Rosalie's detour to Bella's table but had continued on with their conversations, now stopped talking and turned to stare at what could potentially be a fight. "Come on," she growled. "We have things to discuss."
Angela stood up, her chair scraping loudly in the heavy silence. "What do you think your doing? Bella's not going anywhere with you. She has her rights as a human being."
"And just who do you think you are?" Rosalie was still using her perpetually pleasant voice and it unnerved Bella more than if she had snarled the words.
"I'm her friend." Angela puffed out her chest proud. "And so am I," Eric stood up followed by Mike who added, "I'm her friend and so much more."
Lauren and Jessica also got up. "Yea so stop picking on her, and go back to minding your own business."
Rosalie smiled, her grip on Bella's shoulder tightening so much that the smaller girl winced in pain. The blonde was about to say something when Alice waltzed up from her table, where the Cullen's had been watching with cautious eyes. "Rosalie, I think you and I need to have a talk."
"Not now Alice," Rosalie grunted out from the side of her mouth as she continued glaring at Bella's friends.
"Yes now." Alice insisted from where she stood by Rosalie's shoulder. "Move. NOW." She demanded loudly and the blonde dropped her grip from Bella's shoulder. The brunette sat down with a tired sigh as she rubbed her shoulder quickly to dispel the pain.
"Fine, whatever," hissed the blonde and left the cafeteria, Alice hot on her heels.
Bella's friends glared at the two Cullen's until they had completely left, only then did they sit down. "Bella are you okay?" Mike reached across the table and put a hand on her none hurt shoulder while Angela rubbed her back with reassuring circles.
"Yea what was that about?" Jessica asked, ever eager for gossip. "Is she bullying you? It's been a while since she's gone after anyone."
"If so, you let us know and we'll deal with her, okay?" Eric added flexing his tiny arm muscle.
Bella shook her head no, hiding her mouth in her turtle neck. She didn't dare speak for fear of bursting into tears. She was so happy they had stood up for her, that they called themselves friends for her sake. But would they have done the same if they knew she was gay?
Bella walked out into the parking lot after the last class of the day, the crisp cold air cutting through her turtle neck and reminding her she'd have to start wearing warmer clothes as November was upon Forks, Washington and it would only get colder from here.
She was on her way to pull out her truck keys when she realized that she hadn't taken them because she hadn't driven her truck to school. Cursing under her breath she fumbled for her phone. Should she call her dad to pick her up? Maybe she could ask Angela for a ride? But no, the brown haired girl had already left and Bella didn't want to hassle her with her own problems. She had a finger hovering over the contact name for her dad when Alice wrapped her tiny arms around Bella's waist and squeezed.
"Ah!" Bella cried out almost dropping her phone. "Alice, don't do that." She turned, with Alice's arms still around her, to have the smaller girl crush against her chest for a hug.
"So I heard you need a ride, care to join us?"
"How did you..."
"Easy. I saw you and Rosalie in the car together." Bella felt her neck flush. Had Alice seen her and Rosalie doing...
"And I figured you didn't have a chance to drive in your own car. So you can come with the rest of us." Alice said this as she pushed Bella towards Edward's Volvo. Emmett, Jasper and Edward were already inside, fast electro music thumping from the speakers, and Bella squished down next to Jasper and Alice in the back seat.
"Wait, what about Rosalie?" Bella asked above the argument Edward and Emmett were getting into over the radio stations. She didn't fancy sitting next to the unpredictable blonde and hoped she wouldn't be coming as this car was way too small to fit all of them now that Bella was inside. The music changed to heavy rock.
"She's taking her own car back. And she needs some time to think over what she did wrong. She's like a kid, I swear. She gets so angry when she doesn't get things her way."
Alice's first part of the response was almost lost under Emmett's shout of, "I wanna listen to some electro." The music changed again. And the second half of Alice's answer was almost lost to Edward's high pitched scream of frustration. "Damn it Emmett. Don't start this with me. You know electro music is not real music. Beside it's my car, so my rules." It turned back to rock. "My car, my rules." Emmett mocked in a high pitched tone, but gave up for now. Edward nodded his head in victory, raised the volume of the song playing and adjusted his rear-view mirror.
"And I'm sorry for the way she acted. I thought she was over playing games with you, but I guess she's not. I'll do my best to keep her away from you at school." Alice said solemnly, an apologetic expression on her face. Bella stared at her friend, at her upturned brows and eyes glimmering with sadness and wondered if she could tell her about all the other things that Rosalie had done, consequences be damned. Struggling inwardly with the decision, she finally decided yes, she would, but before she could say it Alice patted Bella's shoulder reassuringly and looked away, the sober moment gone.
"We're ready to go Eddy, let her rip!" Alice squealed as Bella hastily buckled in. The car peeled out of the parking lot at illegal speeds and soon they were on their way. Bella closed her eyes as she couldn't stand seeing the trees turn to blurs. Alice next to her was talking to Emmett about some homework they had to do, but Bella tuned them out as her head was filled with the same phrase, please don't hit a tree please don't hit a tree.
"So Bella how's your day?" Emmett asked as he turned to look back at her. Bella cracked open her eye a bit to look at the big boy in the passenger seat, whose attention was on her, but whose hand was stealthily reaching for the radio knob.
"Um, okayyyyyyy," Bella squeaked out as Edward took a turn so fast that the tires squealed and Emmett was thrown hard against the car door. "Ugh," Bella groaned out holding tightly onto the bag on her lap, as she tried to peel herself off of Alice whom she had collided with. Jasper who had fallen on top of her, muttered a hasty apology and scooted as far from her as possible in the tiny car. As Edward turned the car back into the right lane he smirked. "Don't think I can't see you." he warned and Emmett massaging his sore scalp, flipped him the bird.
"Don't like fast cars?" Emmett teased, turning back to Bella. "We might have to fix that. How can you be a real bitch if you don't?"
"I don't wanna be a real b-b-bitch." Bella blushed as she struggled to get the curse word out.
"Yes you do, everyone wants to be a bad bitch and I'll help you be one. We'll start with violent video games and then go into real life kung-fu-"
"Oh and I know! Lots of makeovers and clothes shopping! So she can look the part!" Alice clapped her hands like a little girl as Emmett's hand quickly darted back to the radio. He managed to switch the channel before Edward swerved the car into the opposite lane.
"You wanna play with my ear drums, fine then. But it's your lives on the line." Edward pressed the accelerator to the floor, and the car zoomed forward. Alice gave a whoop at the increasing speed.
"Edward!" Bella screamed. "Stop this, stop it now!" Bella was terrified. She could already envision her body splattered into a paste on the floor.
"Then tell Emmett to change the channel back." Edward calmly stated, his hands holding the wheel in a steel grip.
"Emmett, change it back. For god's sake change it back." Bella pleaded, her eyes teary and her bag dropped to the floor in her panic. Jasper besides her let out a huge tired sigh and looked out the window, propping up his elbow on the sill and resting his chin in his hand, as if none of this concerned him.
"Nope, besides this song is great for this kinda driving." Emmett grinned and bobbed his head in time to the beat.
"Emmett," Bella shrieked reaching over to him and grabbing his shirt sleeve and tugging. "Please, just do it. Please!" The last part was said with extra desperation as Bella noted with rising panic that there was an oncoming car. When the boy just laughed at her pleads, she turned to Alice. "Alice, do something, please!"
"Nope." Alice laughed. "You gotta be a real bitch, Bella. This is a test of your courage." They were seriously doing this right now?! Crazed with panic, Bella unbuckled herself, the sounds of the car in front of them blaring it's horn in warning registering to her sharply. Edward just looked it on dead straight, as Emmett tapped his fingers on the dashboard. The music swelled up in volume as the beat reached a crescendo and then before it could drop, Bella had changed the station back to rock. Edward immediately changed lanes, the two cars missing each other by inches, and Emmett let out an indignant "Hey!"
Bella sat back into her seat, dropping her head between her legs. It had been so close, so close...that was final. Bella was never driving with a Cullen ever again. They were crazy! One tried to molest her and the others wanted to kill her.
"I hate...I hate you all..." she mumbled out softy and could feel Alice's reassuring touch on her back, hand drawing circles.
"Relax," Alice chuckled and Bella rose up so fast on that comment that she almost collided with Alice's chin. "Relax?" she asked, tears still in the corners of her eyes. "I could-you-we all could've died back there."
"Bella, we were all just playing around. Even Eddy here. He wouldn't have let anything happen. He's the best driver out of all of us. Besides it'll help you become a bad bitch." Emmett grinned and Bella sat back in her seat angrily. They were all such assholes. "I hate you all," she muttered still too terrified to care that she was insulting them.
They all laughed as if it was funny, even Jasper quietly chuckling by her side. "You get scared so easily, it's funny." Edward added, his speed decreasing now that he wasn't trying to kill them. Emmett and Alice continued their convo about making Bella into a bad bitch, and ignored her anger, until they finally arrived at their destination.
"Wait this isn't my house," Bella said as she got out the car, her legs still shaky.
"Yup, I know," Alice said tugging on Bella's hand. "But its okay because your invited for dinner at the Cullen's today!"
Bella frowned. "I am? So I'm meeting your parents?"
Alice's smile faltered a little at that statement. "No, daddy's still at work at the hospital and mom's out doing...charity work as usual. But it's alright," at this Alice cheered up again. "Cause we're going to watch movies and binge on pizza and have fun."
"Alice, my dad is still mad at me for-" Alice stuck out her hand at Bella's complaining. "Give me the phone and I'll work some good old Alice magic on him." Bella reluctantly handed over her phone to Alice and prayed that her father would say no as she watched Alice dial away and walk off into the next room to talk to her dad. Bella really was not in the mood to talk to people right now. Especially since she still felt a bit awkward about the whole them knowing she was gay part but more because of they had tried to kill her as a joke. She didn't think she'd get over that one so easily. As she stood awkwardly in the hallway of the house, the other Cullen's passed her as they entered their home. Jasper silently swept past her and headed upstairs to drop off his bag while Edward immediately went to the phone book and started ordering pizza. Emmett, the last of the bunch clasped a hand on Bella's back and steered her into the living room. "What kind of pizza you like Bella?"
"Um, plain pizza?" Bella shrugged. She didn't have much of an appetite since she'd left it behind on the road, along with her trust for the Cullen's. Seriously, she was not going to get over this for a while. "But it's fine, I'm not really hungry."
"Oh come on, don't worry about paying for it. It's all on Eddy boy."
Edward frowned at this but didn't have a chance to respond as the pizza store on the other side of the phone answered. "Yea, I'd like one pie of plain pizza, one pie of half meat and half veggies, one pie meat lovers, one pie pineapple, one pie deep dish and one sausage and bacon." Bella's eyes opened wide at the orders.
"A whole pie? But I can't eat that much!" Bella protested to which Emmett patted her not so gently on the back before dropping down to the white sofa in the living room and switching on the TV.
"Well then you can always take it home for Charlie," Alice made her appearance and tossed Bella her phone back, which the teen fumbled with before finally getting a grasp on it. "You can stay for the evening, although he expects you to be back by ten pm. So let's make the most of it." She turned to Edward. "Are the pizzas..."
"I already ordered them. And one for Rosalie as well, when she gets back home after she's spent enough time in the doghouse." Edward said and sat down on the couch next to Emmett. The big guy took up most of the space on the couch, spreading his arms on the back of the seat, legs lounging out, so Edward was constrained to the left armrest where he crossed his leg daintily over the other.
"What movie choices do we have for tonight?" Edward asked as Emmett flipped through the choices on screen.
"Well we have-"
"Come let's get some drinks ready while the boys pick." Alice suggested and led Bella into the kitchen. Bella dropped off her bag and then helped Alice pull out a variety of drinks from the fridge. As they worked Alice chattered about the upcoming tests she had and how she was thinking of getting a study group together. However Bella wasn't fully engaged in the conversation because of a particular someone on her mind. She had questions about this person and for some inexplicable reason she needed them to be answered.
"Alice," she started hesitantly breaking the other girls stream of words.
"Yes, Bella?"
"About Rosalie...what exactly did you tell her?"
Alice stopped in her motions of cutting up a lemon for the drink. She tipped her head. "Do you mean after the incident at lunch?"
Bella nodded her head, also pausing in her motions of cutting up lemons. "Yea, like why is she after me, even though I don't stare anymore? I don't understand her actions." Bella's mind flashed back to the scene in the shower and the one in the car and felt a blush spread across her cheeks.
"Why?" Alice asked quickly and defensively. "Did she do something to you that I don't know about? It's okay you can tell me."
Bella shook her head no, her brief confidence in telling the truth gone. Even if it weren't for Rosalie's threat, Bella would still have difficulty exactly explaining what the blonde had done. It was extremely embarrassing. Alice frowned, not entirely looking convinced but continued.
"I told her that she needed to be nicer to you. You see the thing with Rosalie is that..." Alice frowned again, at a loss for words for the first time since Bella had known her. How exactly could Alice describe Rosalie's situation without revealing too much? "I guess I better start from the top." Alice sighed and wiped her hands on a towel. "But I don't want to be the only to tell you, I want you to listen to all of us, to all of our stories. Because I can't do them justice alone. Their not my stories to tell. Let's get these drinks out first, shall we?" Bella nodded her head, gathering up the drinks they had prepared, with grave motions. She felt that she had just stepped into a landmine and was going to regret asking this question.
They entered the living room, Bella being extra careful so that with her clumsiness she wouldn't spill anything. The guys were arguing about which movie to watch when they noticed the girls come in.
"Hey, Alice, Bella. Help us pick out a movie will you? Eddy over here wants to watch a movie about some whiny and depressing music artist named Chopin," Emmett pronounced the name like Klop-ing, "but I say we watch a total bad ass action movie with tons of exploding cars and hot babes. And I know all of us in here have some interest in hot babes." Bella blushed at this, as Emmett looked at her for support.
"It's pronounced Chopin," Edward yelled, saying it like Shopp-en, as he glared at Emmett on the couch next to him. "And I don't want to rot my brain with stupid movies. I want to learn and feel."
"Well you can learn and feel by yourself in your room. With your sock." Emmett added and laughed as Edward picked up a pillow and whapped him on the head with it. " You call her Sockette? Or Betty? I bet you cry after you finish and then apologize to her for crying."
"Emmett!" Edward roared getting up now and holding his pillow up threateningly.
"Boys!" Alice's cry cut them off, as she set the tray down. They looked up guiltily at her. "As much as I love emotional movies, I'm going to pick the action one."
Emmett pumped his hand in victory and then it was Bella's turn to vote. She placed down her juice and bit her thumb. She kind of wanted to watch the action movie but if she picked it, they would think it was only for the hot women. "Um, I'll take Edward's movie."
Edward stuck out his tongue. "Not everyone is tempted by hot naked women."
"No. Only socks."
At this Edward threw the pillow which bounced off of Emmett and landed at the foot of the stairs where Jasper stood. He had changed into a pair of comfortable sweats and looked ready for an evening in.
"Good thing your here, Jazzy." Emmett said, as he jabbed Edward in the ribs for the pillow toss. "We're tied for the movie and we need your vote."
Jasper looked at the options on the screen. "Action movie." He simply stated and Emmett let out a cheer of victory. "You hear that Eddy boy? Tits over talent any day."
Edward let out a groan but didn't say anything as he folded his arms over his chest.
"Okay, now that that's settled, I think we owe Bella something." The guys all turned their attention to the girl in question at Alice's statement. "Bella has shared her biggest secret with us, so I think we should trust her with our own."
The silence that followed was stifling, uncomfortable, and Bella felt a sweat drop roll down her back. Emmett was the first to speak up. "Okay, okay, I don't always brush my teeth in the morning." He admitted and Alice scowled at him.
"Stop being silly. I'm talking about our past." Alice practically hissed out the last word, as if it personally hurt her to say it and all the Cullen's suddenly found it interesting to stare at the floor or the wall. The good mood seemed to evaporate from the room and Bella felt her palms sweat. This was so awkward. It was now completely quiet in the room, only the TV playing in the background. Alice shot her an apologetic look, that said maybe she shouldn't have asked for this, when Emmett heaved a great sigh.
"Why didn't you just say so?" Emmett smiled shakenly and got up from his place on the couch. Clearing his throat uncomfortably and trying to feign his usual casual tone of speaking, he began.
"I'm the only biological child of Carlisle and Esme Cullen. Everyone else here was adopted by my mom and dad at some point. I can't say I had a rough childhood. We always had money, so food, toys and clothes were not something I had problems with getting. However, when your dad is a doctor and your mother a socialite it can be hard to get the love and attention you need. Dad was always tired from work or busy working overtime. And mom was more invested in her friend's lives, and in other children's lives than my own. She formed close and personal bonds with poor and sick kids from India or China, yet with her real son, well she...she barely even knew what his favorite color was." Emmett paused at this, memories of countless disappointments weighing in his mind. When he was six and waiting for them to come home for Christmas only to realize that yet again they wouldn't make it. Him playing alone with his toys. Him learning how to cook on his own, how to play sports on his own. Or when he tried out in a play and got the lead role, yet his parents still didn't make it. Those were just a few of the things that had happened. Eventually he had stopped caring, he just didn't know when.
"They hired a nanny to take care of me until I was old enough to take care of myself. I can't complain too much. They kept me in a life of comfort. It just gets lonely sometimes." Bella felt her heart move for the boy. Emmett seemed so care free and happy, always looking out for others. It was impossible to see that under that happy-go-lucky exterior he was actually sad and lonely. "Luckily, I had some brothers and sisters to make sure I wouldn't feel alone again." Emmett smiled genuinely at this, casting his brilliant smile at his siblings who returned it, and then turned to look at Edward. "Your turn bro, just don't make it too depressing. Or long. Or dramatic."
Edward narrowed his eyes. "I get it," he spat out before getting up and facing Bella.
"When I was six my parents tried to kill me." Then he made to sit down but Emmett grabbed him by the shoulder.
"That's it?"
"You said to make it short."
"Not that short dude."
Edward sighed heavily before clearing his throat, his voice monotone, as if he had told this story countless times already.
"I grew up in a very poor family of farmers. Me, my parents and our six siblings. We were dirt poor, and being dirt poor in a country community often spells disaster. We lived on a giant farm, far from the town. My parents were proud folk and never accepted any help with their work. I was the youngest of the bunch, and the sickest. My parents spent more money on medicine for me than they did for food. Luckily, they loved me or so I thought." Edward's voice wavered at this and he took a deep breath to steady himself. Despite trying to seem unaffected, the past still cut deep into his bone.
"One night after a fire ravaged our crop harvest they decided they couldn't afford six kids anymore. They sold anything they could, to try to pay off the debt collectors, to try and keep the house but then it got to the point of no return. They had bills and debts to pay off and with no income this season, anything not worth keeping alive had to go. First they killed all our pets to make into food, and when the food ran out, then they started killing us."
Edward paused at this, his gaze distant as if he were reliving all this. "My only sister was the first to go. She had just recently hurt her legs and the pain was unbearable for her. So my parents figured it was best to off her and give her freedom from this pain. They locked her in a room with themselves, her bedridden and unable to escape. I remembered she screamed a lot until it all stopped. My parents said she had been caught in a spasm of pain and then passed away. But what spasm of pain could possible cause you to scream out 'help, mom and dad are stabbing me!'?" A break, as Edward yet again had to adjust his voice from filling with too much emotion. He locked his jaw and took a deep breath. All the Cullen's eyes were glued to him, their stances taunt and empathy shimmering in their eyes.
"That night we had meat stew, and for the rest of the week we had meat pies, or meat sandwiches. We wondered where the meat had come from but never actually asked; too starved to care. Then my second youngest brother went, when we ran out of food once more. He was sent on a trip to the woods to fetch firewood. My father went with him, to help lug the wood. When he came back at night, all bloody and haggard and trailing a black bundle behind him, he said that a bear had got my brother but that he had killed the bear and now we would have more food to eat.
"When the third one died, the rest of us started getting suspicious. My eldest brother was the one who suggested the idea. So we eavesdropped on our parents one night and our fears turned out to be true. That same night we packed away our few possessions and made to run away. Our parents caught us trying to leave and chased after us, brandishing pitchforks and torches. We ran, we ran for our lives."
He paused at this, eyes glimmering with tears. "It's a terrible thing. When you find out your parents have been killing you and your siblings. I thought I'd be the first to go, but they were afraid to eat me. They thought they could get sick from eating my flesh." He shook his head to dispel his thoughts and to force the emotions away that had clogged his throat. "Anyways, we eventually out ran them and found ourselves wandering for days down dusty roads, parched, starving and tired. We were easy prey for robbers, who came and slit my eldest brothers throat as he tried to protect us. Then they threw me and my other brother into the river. We knew how to swim, but the river was strong and swollen from melting ice upstream. I vaguely remember being pulled out of the stream and lying on a patch of grass. Then I found myself in a hospital with a friendly face looking at me. It was Carlisle Cullen. He had been visiting family and fishing by the river, when he saw me and my brother. Only I had survived, however. He stayed at the hospital and waited until I got better, before he decided to adopt me. My parent's, it had turned out, had gouged each other to death now that the only source of their food was gone. My father had ate half my mother's face before she finished him off with a kitchen knife."
Edward paused to look up at Bella's pale and drawn face. He smiled his crooked smile, trying to reassure her but also sounding like he was reassuring himself. "Don't worry, my life's better now. I became Emmett's brother when I was nine years old and while he is a pain in the ass, he's a good kind of pain in the ass."
Emmett threw an arm around Edward's shoulder and gave him a side hug. "Aww, that means so much to me." He tousled his younger brother's hair to which Edward cried out, "Cut it out." With the tension in the room broken a little by Emmett's and Edward's brotherly moment, Bella was able to feel happiness over her recently acquired feelings of horror and disgust. Edward had gone through something so terrifying, something that no child should ever experience; how could a parent do this, they were supposed to protect their children and love them, not eat them. Bella had felt nauseous during Edward's story, wishing that she could take his pain away as his voice had choked up even after all these years of living in luxury. But when she saw Emmett and Edward, and how they loved each other as family, she felt happy for them. They might not have it easy, but at least they had the support of each other.
"I guess it's my turn now,"Alice announced drawing the room into silence one more. "I'll keep this brief. It might have been too much for you to handle already..." Alice trailed off at Bella's horrified facial features. The brunette quickly shook her head. She had come this far, she needed to know about her friends past, no matter how painful. And besides they hadn't gotten to Rosalie yet, which was the whole reason Bella had asked.
"I don't really remember much of my ordeal, which I am thankful for. If what Carlisle tells me is true, then I'm really glad I don't remember. As a child I was super energetic, and eccentric. Of course my parents, being the religious assholes they were didn't believe in such things as ADHD or Autism so they sent me to a priest to be exorcised. I suffered a lot during those exorcism periods, and I went through a lot of them. They weren't fun; whips, holy water, fire." Alice's voice turned into a whisper at the last word.
"And other instruments of pain too, I assume since I don't remember those. But I always remembered the fire. And how they loved to use it. They used it for almost everything. Holy fire of purification, holy fire of rebirth, holy fire of my fucking death!" Bella flinched at Alice's scream, her friends eyes almost dark in anger, her expression grim. Alice grabbed the front of her hair and took a deep steadying breath. Bella had never seen her friend so out of control before and she was tempted to run up to her and tell her to stop, to quit before the pain of retelling consumed her. But Alice went on, her face forced into a less grim look.
"It was during one of those that Esme came to rescue me. She had been on a charity run, looking to donate money to renovate old churches when she accidentally came across a scene. I was rescued, taken to a doctor to evaluate that I indeed did have ADHD and not the devil inside me, all before my parents lost custody of me and were thrown into prison for neglect. I had lost most of my memories from my childhood due to the trauma I suffered, but it's not like I mind. At least I can't recall all the torture I had went through. I was promptly adopted after the custody battle and came to live with Edward and Emmett, along with Jasper and Rosalie later, in the wonderful little town of Forks." Alice clapped her hands excitedly at the end although it seemed a bit forced, as was the cheer in her voice. "So all's well that ends well."
"Guys..." Bella croaked out. Her heart was breaking for each and every one of them. To tell her all this now, they really had to trust her. Maybe she could forgive them for the car incident. For them that could be seen as fun because their childhoods had been so messed up. That they were reckless because they didn't see any value in their lives.
"Bella," Jasper spoke up, his soft southern accent drawing everyone's attention to him. "I don't want you to listen anymore if you're going to suffer. Remember these things happened in the past. It doesn't change that they did, it doesn't change the fact that it still hurts to think about it, but we've had a second chance at life, a chance at redemption and there are thousands of kids who haven't."
Bella nodded her head in understanding and Jasper cleared his throat as he started his tale, his soft accent soothing the horrors of what he was about to say a bit.
"Me and Rosalie are blood related brother and sister. We never knew our parents and lived in an orphanage from a young age. We only had each other to rely on, as the place was like the wilderness, eat or be eaten alive. The amount of times we were beaten by the caretakers, or the times we had to fight off other kids for food and clothes were...countless. Until they eventually became a blur of eat, sleep, fight, each day so that we could survive. I thought the orphanage was the worst that would ever befall us, that we would stay there till we rot, but eventually we were both adopted, separately. The separation was bad enough but it didn't prepare me for the living hell that was my life for seven years. I was taken to the south where I became a punching bag for the ill tempered woman who dared to try to call herself my mother. She was an alcoholic and when she flew into one of her temper tantrums, she'd grab whatever she had in hand and throw it at me. I've still got the marks from when she'd been knitting and thought she could knit a pattern with my flesh."
At this Jasper rolled up his long sleeved shirt and Bella let out a small gasp at the puckered marks on his flesh. They were long scars crisscrossing up his arm, some thicker than others, some more faded than others. "She'd get mad over the silliest things. She'd sent me out to fetch her alcohol once, but I was too young to get any, so she beat me. Or if I had a cough and coughed too loudly she'd hit me. Oh course there were other things she did to me, however I'm going to spare you Bella, and everyone else in this room from having to hear." Jasper rolled down his sleeve, a grimace on his face. "But the worst scars weren't on my body, but on my mind. She scarred me emotionally. I was afraid to get close to others, to trust them fearing that they would treat me the same. See me as she had, as a 'bad boy' as a filthy brat."
The poor boy. No wonder he always seemed so distant and sullen.
"And she also scarred me mentally. If you live in a world where everyday is unpredictable, everyday filled with shame, and anger and pain, then you lose yourself to the blackness that grows inside your heart and mind. I contemplated death so many times. Not all the scars came from her." The last sentence was almost inaudible and Jasper closed his eyes. Bella couldn't help but let out a gasp. None of the others had been pushed to suicide by their condition; and if they were they hadn't said anything. But for Jasper, the normally withdrawn and secretive boy to share something so intimate as how he had contemplated killing himself, really hit her. Emmett clasped him on the shoulder in support and the Cullen's waited silently for the blonde to work up his courage to speak again. When he spoke it was with his eyes closed, his voice strained.
"Eventually she passed away from drinking too much which I celebrated without a shred of remorse. And so I was sent back to the orphanage where I was reunited with my sister. But neither of us were the same. I don't know what happened to her, but it must have been ten times worse than what happened to me. She'd never speak about her time at her home, choosing to pretend like it didn't happen. She was sullen and brooding, but angry and violent. She'd go out of her way to hurt the other kids at the orphanage, playing mind games with them. And her screams at night, they would never stop. She'd thrash about and cry how the creatures of the night were coming for her." Jasper opened his eyes at this, his gaze watery.
"We were deemed troubled children and no one wanted to adopt us afterwards. But then the Cullen's came as they had heard about our plight, just so happened to be in the region and they wanted to add more children to their house. They said they had the resources, so they wanted to do so. Me and Rosalie came to live with the Cullen's, just fourteen at the time, we've been here the shortest. But during our two years of stay here, we have been treated humanely and given therapy to help us with all our troubles, as everyone here did. We have food, money, a safe place to stay and no evil parents breathing down our throats. The Cullen's like to see themselves as a sort of saviors. They go out of the way to find the child with the worst past and try to redeem them and make them fit for society. Sort of like a humanitarian project. But it's still a long journey for me and Rosalie. You can't just snap your fingers and erase what's happened over all those years."
Jasper looked Bella in the eyes and she knew he was done talking. It must have been so hard for him to do so, since he was still the 'youngest' in being adopted and in recovering from his past. Bella felt tears streak down her cheeks. She didn't know what to say to them. Could she even say anything to take away their pain? The strain in their voices made her realize how selfish she was being. So what if she had been bullied for being gay? It was nothing compared to the trauma they had undergone. Thinking back to it now, she realized how small and insignificant each incident against her was in light of the horrors that the Cullen children had undergone at such a young and tender age.
"Now I know why you guys all drive fast." She at last blubbered out, not knowing what else to say, wiping away her tears, and they all laughed, their cheery laughter a welcome sound in the gloominess of the house. Everyone had visibly relaxed and their faces were no long pained or saddened. "Thank you all for sharing. This means so much to me," Bella said as the laughter died down. "I promise to keep this a secret."
"It's nice to share with someone that isn't my therapist," Edward said wistfully and Emmett boomed out, "Or Sockette!"
This earned the boy a kick in the shin from Edward and Bella laughed through her tears. It was good to know they could laugh about it. And now she understood them a bit more, especially Rosalie. "You guys, really thank you for sharing." Bella said sincerely, looking each of them in the eye.
"Good," Alice said as a doorbell rang. She sounded a bit more like herself now. "Cause I think the pizza just arrived."
And so the Cullen's settled down to watch movies and eat pizza, laughing at all of Emmett's inappropriate comments, the events of what had transpired before, seeming like a long distant memory already. Even Edward seemed to enjoy the movie although he had complained at first. At last when the movie finished Bella helped Alice clean up the leftovers.
"That was fun." Alice commented.
"Yea, I agree. We should do it more often." Bella said as she threw out the empty pizza cartons.
"Hey, Rosalie!" came Emmett's shout from the living room and Bella froze. Had the blonde finally come home?
"What do you want Emmett?"
That unmistakable snarl was her for sure. Bella gulped, feeling her body fill with a weird mix of excitement and uncertainty. Was the blonde in a foul mood because Alice had chewed her out, or because her past made her angry?
"You just missed a whole movie. Where were you that took so long?"
"None of your damn business."
Alice grabbed Bella by the arm and began to pull her in the direction of Rosalie.
"Alice what are you doing?" Bella demanded as she tried to pull away, but the smaller girl's grip was like iron.
"Your going to have a talk with Rosalie." What was Alice thinking?!
"But I don't want to," Bella whined, coming to a stop in front of the blonde. Rosalie was standing in the doorway of the room, hands crossed over her chest and scowl on her face. When she saw Bella and Alice, the scowl only deepened.
"What is Swan doing here?" she asked Alice, completely ignoring Bella.
"I want you to apologize to her Rosalie, for your actions at lunch."
"What, are you my mother?"
"No, but sometimes I swear I must be, cause I have to watch over you all the time. Now kiss and makeup." With this Alice pushed Bella towards Rosalie, but Bella being a klutz, ended up losing her balance and falling into Rosalie. The blonde caught her before roughly pushing her off of her with a snort of disgust. "Fine, I'll do it. Privately." And with that Rosalie led the way to a side room. Bella looked hesitantly at Alice who flashed her a thumbs up sign. Great...just great. Bella groaned inwardly and followed Rosalie into the room. How was she going to act around the blonde now, ever since she had heard that the girl had a traumatizing past? Should she saying anything about it? Bella had promised she wouldn't tell anyone about the Cullen secrets, but did Rosalie apply to this or not?
The blonde was sitting on the window seat, the pale afternoon light catching her perfect features and alighting them, as if she was some holy figure and glowing with divinely light. Of course, she most definitely wasn't holy, but in that moment Bella could have believed. Her face was relaxed, and gaze distant on something that only she could see.
"Close the door," she instructed Bella as the young teen came in. Bella complied with her demand.
"Sit here," the blonde patted the space in front of her on the window seat. Bella slowly walked over, not sure what the girl wanted.
"So Alice wants me to kiss and makeup with you, huh?" Rosalie asked still looking out the window.
"Yea," Bella said quietly. "Um, it's fine though, I don't need an apology-" Bella stopped herself as the blonde closed the distance between them, drawing herself up to Bella on all fours. Bella leaned back in surprise, her head hitting the wall behind her.
"Oh, I intend to follow through on this." Rosalie stated, her face extremely close to Bella. "Especially the kiss and make up part." Then without another moment of hesitation she pressed her lips gently against Bella's. They stayed like that for what seemed like forever, Bella losing focus of the reality around her, forgetting everything she had just learned about Rosalie and how she played games with people's minds. She could only focus on the soft sensation on her lips, until they moved away, the absence leaving Bella's own cold. Bella reflexively licked her lips, picking up the sweet taste of Rosalie's lip gloss. Bella opened her eyes, not realizing they had closed in the process and watched wide eyed as Rosalie sat back with a smirk, watching Bella's face. Bella felt her body flush with want, and the thoughts she had tried so hard to subdue in the morning- the kisses on the neck, the caresses,- they came full force at her and she sucked in a huge gulp of air to steady her pulse.
"There, we've apologized now. Well I have. But you still need to."
"Me?" Bella asked breathlessly, although a pleasant shiver went through her.
Rosalie tipped her head. "Yes, for not doing what I asked you too although you are mine." Rosalie tapped on her own neck, reminding Bella of the mark on hers. Bella hands went instinctively to that spot and she winced as her thumb brushed the bruise.
"Um, I didn't do anything wrong..."
"You didn't? Then I guess we better just go back out and join the others." Bella knew Rosalie was testing her. She was giving Bella the chance to kiss her back-but would Bella take it? She could just easily say no and be done with it, but Bella knew she couldn't do that. She needed to, with her whole body, kiss Rosalie back. Just the thought of touching those full red lips filled her with a delectable shiver.
"I guess, maybe I should too. It only seems fair." Bella inched forward slowly, like a person would to a wild animal when unsure if they would attack. Rosalie didn't move, just followed Bella's actions with her eyes. At last Bella had drawn up close to Rosalie's face, their mouths almost brushing together. When Bella still saw Rosalie hadn't reacted or moved away she pressed her lips against the blonde's and sparks erupted in her stomach. They stayed like this for a little bit before Bella felt Rosalie's lips smirk against her's, and the brunette felt the fear of prey that had realized they had just been tricked.
The blonde flipped Bella over on the cushion, until she was on top, pinning the weaker girl's arms down by the wrists. Her long blonde hair tickled Bella's face as the blonde maneuvered her head down to Bella's bruise. When the blonde bit down Bella let out a groan. Because she was so on edge even the pain felt good and she had to stop her hips from bucking up. Rosalie then moved from there to other spots on her neck, sucking hard enough to leave hickeys. But Bella couldn't muster up the words to tell her to stop. The sensations too nice. She let her eyes shut again, as she fell into the feeling of Rosalie sucking on her neck, on her body heat pressed against her, on her sweet smell and on her...moving away?
Bella opened her eyes groggily only to see the blonde getting off from on top of her. "We better go before they come bother us. And you might want to do something about those hickys." Rosalie pointed out before she walked out of the room.
Bella sat on the window seat, her body slowly calming down, her rationality slowly catching up to her. She had let Rosalie do this again. She couldn't believe it. When would she learn?