Toxic Rose
Chapter 22: Jacob, no!
A/N: Anyone hate Jake yet? I swear he's only going to get worse. Also warning for this chapter: violence, violence and more violence.
Rosalie fell flat on her ass, her overnight bag skidding away from her as the punch knocked her down and ruptured her nose which sprayed red all over the white snow. She let out a gasp and reached for her nose, unable to believe this had just happened. She cast an evil look at Jacob, who towered over her, cracking his knuckles.
"Get up," he growled.
"Is this still about your father? I would think you would be at least courteous enough to do it during the day. Isn't this a little past your bed time anyways?"
"This isn't about just my father anymore. It's about Bella. Now get up!"
Rosalie swallowed heavily. Did he know the two girls were dating? But that was impossible! No one except Alice and Carlisle knew. Unless Alice had snitched on them...that bitch! How dare she rat them out to the boy who had a crush on Bella!
"Let me guess. Alice told you," Rosalie said as she got up, the flow of blood slowing down. Her hand dripped with red and she could feel more red coming down her neck.
"She didn't. But it doesn't matter how I know. All that matters is that I'm going to free Bella. You've corrupted her, you sick bitch! And I'm going to make you pay for this." Rosalie knew the boy was serious about this. She could sense the intent to hurt radiating off of him.
"Funny how you brought back up. Realized you couldn't take me on by yourself like last time?" She smirked, trying to rile him up even more. Anger could make an opponents moves sloppy. It would work on Jacob, but she didn't know about the other two. They didn't look to have any personal investment in this, so what angle did she work with them?
"Shut up!" Jacob spat, spittle flecking his lips. His hands curled up and Rosalie slide her feet into a position that would give her more balance. She cursed the fact that there was so much snow on the ground. It would make maintaining balance and speed harder in this fight. "You won't be getting away from me this time because Bella won't be here to stop me!"
Rosalie merely grinned. "You were lucky Bella was there to stop the fight or else you'd be a dead man!"
"The only dead one here will be you," Jacob softly promised and Rosalie's smile wavered at this. She knew crazy, had dealt with it a lot and she knew Jacob was on the edge of it. He looked like he hadn't slept in days or even showered. He intended to follow through with his words this time.
Fuck, this situation just got a hundred times more worse, Rosalie thought to herself. How was she going to get out of this without incriminating herself? She didn't want to kill the boy but he looked to be leaving her no choice. Maybe she could talk him out of it? Normally she would have already lunged into the fight without a care for the repercussions but not now. She had Bella waiting for her. She couldn't stand to have the girl be disappointed in her, although the girl was very understanding. But there came a point when something was simply too much and who knew how the brunette would react to the blonde's killing of her childhood friend. So no, she couldn't kill him.
"Trust me Jacob, you do not want to kill," Rosalie said evenly, dropping the hand from her nose. The blood had stopped now and her voice was a bit nasally. She hoped her nose wasn't broken.
"Says the killer," Jacob took a step forward. "You are a stain on society, Rosalie Cullen. And all you do is hurt others. Bella is in pain because of you. She's blinded by your evil ways! And I'm here to make sure that she realizes the truth. I will kill you and make everything right with the world again." The boy raised his arms out to his sides to emphasize the point. His love for her has made him crazy! He's acting like some kind of hero!
Paul and Embry squirmed uncomfortably behind him. "Uh, Jake we never said anything about killing her."
"Yea man," Embry added. "We were just supposed to rough her up a bit."
Jacob turned to them. "There's been a change in plans. She's killed other people before. What's wrong with giving her a fitting punishment for it?"
His two friends looked even more uncomfortable by this. "That's not up to us to do. There's prison for that. Just turn her into the cops or something."
Jacob's nostrils flared and he turned on his friends. He was bigger than the two of them and they shrunk a bit under his glare. "You're my friends. We're closer than anything and we promised to each other that we would do anything for our friendship."
"That was like ten years ago," Paul pointed out. "And there's limits to this. We can't allow you to kill someone and go to jail. Jake you're acting crazy!"
"I'm not crazy-she is!" Jacob turned to point viciously at Rosalie, his finger stabbing the air. "And we need to stop her-" She was missing. Where had she gone?
The scuffling of feet on snow alerted him to the fact that the girl was moving towards her overnight bag. "Hey!" he called out after her.
Shit, I need to hurry up! Where the fuck did I put it? Rosalie always traveled with a switch blade for safety reasons. And she had one in her bag, but just to spite her, she couldn't find it now. Where the fuck is it? She started unzipping the pockets wildly and searching through them, tossing things out. Where is it? Panic clawed at her chest. There! She had spotted the glint of something silver. Her fingers had almost closed in on it when a pair of strong arms wrapped around her waist and lifted her up.
"No!" She cried out, the blade slipping from between her fingers and falling somewhere to the snow. She kicked her feet back and forth trying to catch Jacob in the balls but he turned on his heel, ignoring the pain of her blows on his thighs and threw her to the ground face first. She hit the snow on her hurt nose and sharp pain radiated up her face. Then before she could get up he was pulling her head back by her hair, one foot planted on her spine so that she couldn't move.
"So you've got me pinned," Rosalie said, her neck shrieking in pain as he gave a harsh tug. It felt like he was going to rip her hair out. "But how are you going to kill? I don't think you could do it with your bare hands."
"That's cause I won't be using my hands. But this." There was the zip of a pocket coming open and a second later Jacob brought a knife down to Rosalie's eye level, letting her admire it's deadly beauty. The blade was black and curved at the tip. It was longer than Rosalie's switch blade and looked to be a hunting knife of sorts. "And lucky for me, someone's already draw a line on where I should cut." He indicated to the scars on her neck with the tip of the blade. The metal pressed coldly to the flesh but lacked any real pressure. She could feel his hand shaking. He's too scared. He can't do it no matter what he says he will do.
"What are you waiting for? Do it then."
"Jacob, that's enough!" Embry and Paul strode towards their friend. "Put the knife away. You've scared her enough already. Let's just go home."
"Yea, go home. Leave her be. Just talk things through with Bella. Ask her instead of fighting this chick first. She's a killer man. She could hurt us," Paul stated, his voice bordering on the pleading. "Put the knife away Jake."
"No!" The boy shouted out, his loud cries ringing through the dark. "I hate her. I hate her! Hate her hate her!" His grip on Rosalie's hair tightened and the blonde's fingers curled into the snow in pain as her neck was dragged back even further. "She's always hurting the people I care the most about!"
Paul and Embry exchanged concerned glances with one another. "Dude-"
"No! No!" Jacob pointed the blade at them. "Stay the fuck away. If you won't help me then get the fuck away!"
Rosalie couldn't help it. This was all so funny. Her chuckles started off softly then built up from her stomach to her mouth and she burst out into laughter. "What's so funny bitch!" Jacob snarled, wrapping her hair around his fingers and pulling harshly once more. This choked off her laughter momentarily but it didn't erase the grin from her face. "If you're going to kill me then fucking do it! You keep talking about it like the pansy you are but you still haven't fucking done it!"
Jacob let out a growl and flipped her over onto her back. Straddling her chest like she had done all those weeks ago, he made sure to pin her underarms with his knees so that she wouldn't be able to move. His heavy weight made it harder for her to breath but she didn't struggle. He wasn't going to be able to do it but she wanted to push him to do it. She hadn't been in a fight like this in a while. And now realizing how life or death it could be, she wanted the worst outcome. She forgot about not hurting anyone for Bella's sake. She was back in her old mindset-the one from her childhood. She wanted blood and pain and she was going to get them. If not by hurting him than having herself hurt.
"Do it!" She yelled up at him, noticing the hesitation in his eyes. "Fucking plunge the blade in! Do it you big coward!"
"No, Jacob don't do it!" His friend's cried out and rushed towards him.
"Do it!" Rosalie screamed her neck tendons standing out.
Jacob grit his teeth, both hands on the hilt of the blade, overcome and panicked by the cries of both parties around him. "Argh!" He yelled out and plunged it deep into Rosalie's flesh.
"No!" Paul rushed his friend and threw him to the floor, the two boys tussling in the snow. "Get off of me!" Jacob yelled, pushing Paul off of him but the boy was quicker than Jacob and was on him once more, trying to pin him down.
"Cool it man. Cool it!"
Jake punched him in the gut, the air deflating from him like a balloon and cutting off his words.
Embry scooted over to Rosalie, helping her into a sitting position, his gestures tender as the other two boys fought one another. "Are you okay?" he breathed and Rosalie rolled her eyes.
"I'm fine. He only stabbed my shoulder." As Rosalie thought-he wouldn't be able to do it. The blade was still stuck to the hilt into her flesh and she rolled her shoulder. It worked fine, albeit the movements were a bit limited due to the angle the blade was in at. He hadn't seemed to have cut any vital nerve or muscle tendon. "Should we take it out?" Embry asked, looking sick at the concept.
"No. If we do it I'll start bleeding heavily and as much as I enjoy blood, there's a limit to my love of it, especially if too much of it is mine," Rosalie smiled evilly, hoping that she was creeping the other boy out. By the way he stood up quickly she guessed she had been successful.
"Jake stop!" Paul's cry was ignored as he was shoved to the side heavily. Jake stormed over to where Embry and Rosalie where.
"Move out of my way Embry!" Jake lashed out his arm at his friend who took the hit to his chest and fell backwards, Rosalie rolling out of the way, mindful of her hurt shoulder. She could feel the tendrils of pain creeping in now, the adrenaline wearing off. Embry fell down onto the spot she had been mere moments ago in, no doubt squashing her if she had stayed put. She got to her feet, clutching her hurt shoulder. Jake made to go to her but Embry pulled on his ankle from where he was lying on the ground.
"Don't do this. You'll regret it!" Embry pleaded but Jake shook his leg to get him off. Rosalie took this chance to rush past the two of them. Her over night bag was off to the side of the two scuffling boys and she needed to get her blade. She couldn't risk taking out the one in her shoulder no matter how convenient it was.
"Get off Embry!" Jake snarled, kicking his friend in the face so his grip would loosen. He had to grab Rosalie before she got whatever it was out of her bag. Free, he ran towards her only to pull short when she grabbed the object and tugged Paul up to his feet. The boy had a bruise on his eye where Jake had punched him to get him off.
"Don't take another step closer," Rosalie warned, placing the sliver of her blade to the boys neck as she twisted his arm behind his back to keep him in one place. Jacob breathed angrily out through his nose, his eyes dark. He knew she had the leverage at this point. "Now you're going to listen to me, Jakey," she said his name in a childlike way, mocking. "You and you're little friends are going to leave and not come back ever. You're going to leave me and Bella alone. You understand me? If not, then Paul here pays the price for today's indiscretions."
Paul gulped deeply, the blade digging into his throat uncomfortably. "Just do it Jake. Or else she'll shred me. Please, she's a killer." There was real fear in Paul's eyes. Jake only clenched his fists harder. "Please," Paul begged as the blade dug deeper, penetrating his flesh, slipping under. Two crimson drops rolled down his neck, disappearing somewhere underneath his collar.
"Jake let's just go," Embry came up behind Jake, the imprint of a shoe on his forehead. He rubbed at it, wincing in pain, other hand going onto his friend's shoulder. "It's not worth it."
Jacob grit his teeth, looking like he was making a hard decision within himself.
"Indecisive?" Rosalie questioned. "I can help with that." She ran the blade tip downwards, droplets of blood following in it's wake. Paul struggled against her, trying to turn his neck away from her knife but she only redoubled the grip with which she was holding him.
"Jake! Make the choice!" Embry demanded, squeezing his friend's shoulder harder.
"Everyone stop this right now!" A loud but unsteady voice came from the group's right and they turned to look at who the newcomer was. Jake's eyes opened wide. "Bella."
The brunette was wearing her pjs, an open robe tossed over them. Her hair blew in the cold wintry breeze. Jacob made to take a step towards her, in disbelief about her sudden appearance.
"Don't move. Anyone." The girl threatened and aimed the gun she was carrying straight at Jake.
"Bella, what is the meaning of this?" Jake asked in a horrified whisper. "Put the gun down-it's dangerous!"
"No!" The girl shouted out, her hands trembling on the weapon. "Don't tell me what's dangerous or not. I saw you Jake-through my window upstairs. I saw you-I saw you stab Rosalie!" Her voice wavered and tears formed in her eyes, threatening to fall. Bella had been so scared.
She had been waiting impatiently in her room upstairs for the blonde, wondering what was taking her so long to come-she was never late to their meetings and now it was a whole half hour since she should be here. Bella checked her phone for any missed messages but there was none. Should she call the girl? Was she in the car, on her way? Bella dialed the blonde's number and went to the window to peer out and see if the girl was on her way when she noticed it. There was a group of people some feet away from her house. What were they doing?
She cracked open the window and stuck her head outside to get a better look. There were three men, she could tell from their larger size and was that-was that a flash of blonde hair on the smaller fourth figure? Bella took in a sharp breath and slipped her head in back through the window, the phone slipping from her grasp and thudding to the floor as one of the men straddled the blonde's chest and plunged down whatever it was he was holding into her chest. "Rosalie!" Bella's mind flew to the worst conclusions. The blonde hadn't come in yet, so was it possible that the girl was her? Bella wished for it at the same time she wished against it. If it was her then Bella at last knew where the girl was. But if it wasn't her than where was she and who was this stranger? She needed to get help!
Did she call the cops? No, they would get here too late.
Did she tell Charlie? If it was Rosalie he wouldn't be glad to see her. And how would Bella explain why the blonde was here again?
No, it was up to Bella to save the blonde. But how? She was weak. And there were three big guys out there? Think Bella, think! The brunette bit down on her thumb as her mind whirled. A knife? No, not threatening enough. A gun...her dad had one. So could she use it?
Deciding she had no better option she snuck into her father's room, mindful of the steps she took. The floorboards here creaked and she didn't want to wake up her father. Making her way blindly to the night table her father kept his gun in, she slowly opened the drawer, listening to his snoring and making sure it was stable. So far, it was fine. She pulled the gun out and shut the drawer behind her. She was almost halfway done. Now she just had to get out. She turned on her heel, walking a bit more hurriedly now in her impatience to be out. In her rush she didn't pay as much attention and she stubbed her toe on a drawer.
"Shit!" she hissed, hopping on one foot as she cradled her hurt toes. She accidentally bumped into something and it fell to a clatter to the floor. She froze as her father's snoring stopped.
Shit, was he awake?
She waited in the dark for what felt like impossibly long, clutching the gun to her chest for comfort before her fathers snoring resumed. She let out a long exhale and then finally made it the last couple of steps to outside the room. Then, throwing on her robe hastily, she laced on her shoes and went outside, hoping she wasn't too late.
Adrenaline raced in her veins and her heart thumped painfully in her chest. Could she pull this off? Oh god she was so nervous. The cold air swirled around her and she shivered, wishing she had dressed up better. Now was too late. She could hear the figures speaking. Their positions had changed from last Bella saw. The blonde was holding up a boy against her and the two others stood in front of her, uncertain as what to do.
"Indecisive? I can help with that." The blonde spoke up and Bella immediately recognized the voice as Rosalie's. What's going on here? Is she okay?
"Jake! Make the choice!" One boy shouted out and Bella's heart froze in her chest. Jake? What is he doing here? Is he back to hurt Rosalie? Bella knew the Reserve boy had a real reason to hate the blonde but surely he wasn't still trying to hurt the blonde?
All Bella knew was that she had to stop this from escalating. So she had demanded them all to stop, and pointed her gun at Jake to stop him from coming closer to her.
"Bella, I had to hurt Rosalie," Jacob rationalized. "She's corrupted you and you can't see this but I can." He was smiling at her but it looked all wrong. His eyes were messed up, gleaming with some malignant light. "Don't be like this. I'm your friend. Put down the gun. I'm here to save you." He took another step towards her and she clicked the safety off as a warning.
"No Jake. This is crazy-you can't do this-"
"I'm not the crazy one!" Jacob screamed out with such ferocity that Bella took a step back, her feet sliding in the snow. "You have to stop dating her Bella. She's evil!"
"How do you know? How do you know we're dating?" Bella shook her gun as she demanded, punctuating the point. Had he seen them together? But they had been so careful!
"Leah told me. She told me you and the blonde had been dating. That you were in love." He made a disgusted face at her. "But Leah didn't do anything to stop this. I had to. I decided I had to stop it before it got worse." He pointed violently at himself.
That lying bitch! Leah promised not to tell anyone! I am so going to talk to her about this!
"Jake you don't have to do this. Just walk away right now and leave me and Rosalie alone. We can talk about this later-"
"No! There will be no later. She's corrupted you, like I said. You won't see anything wrong with this, but I can see the truth. And trust me you will thank me for this later. I'm doing this for you Bella. Because I care for you." Jake took another step forward and another.
"This is not the way a friend acts. They don't go around hurting others!" Bella shook with rage. How could her friend be so stupid like this! Why not talk to her before if this bothered him so much? Why? It would have been so much simpler than this.
Rosalie, Paul and Embry were wrapped up in the conversation between Jake and Bella. They were also wary of the gun the brunette wielded. They did not want to get anywhere close to it, but Jake had no such qualms. He was steadily approaching Bella, the girl shaking with equal parts cold and fright.
"Jake stay away from her. She has a gun!" Embry warned, hesitant to get close to his friend to stop him.
"It's fine. Me and Bella are friends. She won't hurt me."
"I wouldn't be too sure about that," Bella said through gritted teeth as Jake came so close to her the nozzle of the gun rested against his massive chest. She was trying to act tough but she wasn't.
"Bella. I'm sorry but you'll understand when the time comes. After Rosalie is dead everything will be better."
Oh god he wanted to kill Rosalie?
Bella let out a frightened whimper. "Jacob you're scaring me," she whimpered, her voice thick with tears. "Please don't do this."
"It's for the best." His voice was even and he smiled at her as his hand came up to grab the gun and slowly lower it down. "Now put the gun away. In fact give it to me entirely. It will make Rosalie's death quicker."
"No!" Was Bella's horrified whisper as tears streamed down her face, freezing in the cold. He wanted to use the gun on Rosalie?!
"Give me it," Jacob insisted, his hand still on the gun. It was now pointing to the ground. "I'd rather you gave it to me than I had to take it by force from you."
Rosalie couldn't take this any longer. Bella's presence had surprised her, especially when she had shown up with the gun. She had thought that perhaps the brunette would be able to persuade Jacob away but the boy was beyond rationale. She dropped Paul to the ground roughly, the boy falling to his knees, and ran over to where Jacob and Bella where.
"Jake, watch out!" Paul's cry came too late and Jacob didn't even have a chance to turn around before Rosalie had grabbed him by the back of his neck to hold him in place as she drove a knife into his lower leg. He gave a grunt of pain and fell to the ground, trying to dig the knife out but Rosalie had already retreated it.
"Quick Bella, with me!" Bella nodded her head mutely and stumbled after the blonde.
The other two boys didn't try to stop them as Rosalie ran with Bella to her red mustang.
"Come back you bitch!" Jake hollered after them but when he tried to get up he only stumbled back down again, red seeping into his pants legs. "Fuck!"
Rosalie unlocked the car and the two girl's hopped in. She started the engine, the lights rumbling on to life. Then with a violent twist of the wheel she steered the car out of its parking spot and down the road. They flashed past the three boys, Jake struggling to get to his feet.
"Paul, Embry, get me to the car. We're going after them."
"No man. We're not doing that. We're taking you home," Paul insisted, touching his neck tenderly where the knife had been placed. His fingers came back bloodied.
"Sorry," Embry added and then knocked Jacob hard in the back of his head. The bigger boys eyes rolled into the back of his head and he fell unconsciously to the floor, the cold snow cradling his fall.
"We should have done that sooner," Paul admitted as the two boys stood over the unconscious boy and appraised him. "We should probably get him help too."
"For his leg?" Embry asked as the two of them lifted the boy up. They wrapped one arm around each of Jake's shoulder and laboriously made their way to the car hidden in the woods.
"And for his head," Paul added grimly. "I think he needs counseling."
The inside of the car was quiet as Rosalie accelerated above the speed limit in a bid to escape the horrific scene behind them. Bella was too nerve wrecked about what had just happened to worry about how the trees flashed by them. She was shivering, her arms around her and fingers prickling as they begged for warmth. Rosalie took her eyes off the road, noting how violently the other girl was trembling.
"Why didn't you say you were cold?" Rosalie asked, turning on the heat full blast. Warm air filled the car and Bella gratefully put her hands on the vents, soaking up the heat. "Are you okay?"
Bella nodded her head mutely, the gun on the backseat of the car where she had tossed it. She felt disgusted by it; it had almost been used to hurt Rosalie. And I used it to threaten my friend, Jake. What is wrong with me?
"Rosalie what happened?" Bella turned her scared gaze on her girlfriend. "There's a fucking knife sticking out of your shoulder." Bella couldn't stand to imagine how that had gotten there and how much it hurt, but she had to know what had happened up to this moment.
Rosalie shrugged, wincing in pain as her hurt shoulder flared up at the motion. More and more it was beginning to hurt. She was going to need a lot of Tylenol for this soon. "He found out about us dating from that Leah girl, from what I heard and was pissed off about it and decided to corner me about it. He hates the thought of me with you especially since I-I hurt his father." The admittance stung, but Rosalie had to go on, push past the falter of her voice. She needed Bella to know this because if Jake had hurt Bella tonight because of the blonde, than Rosalie would have never forgiven him. "I made him wheelchair bound-"
"I know." Rosalie turned an incredulous look to the brunette. The younger girl was still pressed closely to the vents, trying to soak up as much heat as she could. "Jake told me a while back."
So Bella had known, had known that Rosalie had done all these terrible things to other people and still she had gone out with her? And people called Rosalie crazy! "What is wrong with you Bella?"
Bella gave no outward reaction to this, so Rosalie couldn't tell if she was offended by this accusation or not. At last the younger girl gave a sigh and cast an apologetic look to the other. "I don't know. I still like you knowing all you did. I guess I'm a bit crazy too."
Rosalie gave an amused chuckle at this, slowing the car down a bit. They were far from the men so they didn't have to worry about that for now. Additionally Rosalie's arm was hurting a lot more than it had a couple of seconds ago, a pain that radiated down the whole length of it. It was making it harder to drive.
"I guess we're both crazy," Rosalie said pleasantly and Bella smiled hesitantly, unsure if this was the sort of revelation she should be smiling for.
Bella really was an odd girl. Rosalie had underestimated her.
"Where are we going now?"
"To my house," Rosalie replied. "I can't go to the hospital with this because they'll ask too many questions, but I can't fix it by myself. Carlisle will be able to take care of it." She jerked her chin to indicate her shoulder wound. "And I want him to check you for frostbite. Going out in a bathrobe in the middle of this weather is ridiculous." Rosalie would have given the brunette her coat, but it was covered in blood and she was certain the other would not appreciate that. "And also check for trauma."
Bella shook her head at this suggestion. She had already gone through a wide range of emotions during the confrontation and now she felt oddly at peace. "I'm fine. I was just really worried about you. I freaked out when you didn't come on time and then I looked out and saw you with them and I just knew I had to help you. If the cops got involved it would only make it worse, so I took Charlie's gun." Bella looked down at her hands, remembering how cold and lifeless the steel felt. "I wasn't going to hurt anyone with it, just use it to scare others." She was afraid the blonde would think her violent, although she shouldn't be worried of what the blonde thought. Rosalie had done worse, they both knew that. Yet she wanted to explain her rational.
"You don't have to explain anything to me. I'm glad you came. And seeing you hold that gun and looking so dangerous was fucking hot," the Cullen said, making Bella's insides squeal in joy. It chased away most of her guilt for acting so recklessly. Her rational mind told her that it wasn't a good thing to be praised for such a thing but she pushed away the annoying thought.
Rosalie pulled the car up into the Cullen driveway. She turned it off, unable to use her other arm entirely now as it throbbed with too much pain. Maybe her initial analysis had been off and the knife had struck something vital. "Bella I know you wouldn't ever hurt anyone." Rosalie cupped the brunette's chin in her right hand, the uninjured one, intent on getting this message through to Bella. "Not many people would run to the defense of a psycho. You are the bravest girl I know." Rosalie gave a genuine smile. "And perhaps the silliest for doing so." Then she dropped her hand away and left the car, the last phrase cutting Bella harsher than the cold winter air had.
Bella followed afterwards, the cold of the outside stinging through her like a knife. Why had Rosalie called her silly? Was it out of self-loathing; the blonde still feeling like she had no purpose in life and therefore thinking Bella was silly for saving her? But that was rubbish! Everyone's life was important.
She wrapped her robe around herself and entered the Cullen's mansion behind Rosalie. The blonde went to the third floor, knocking on a door. The lights were on inside but it was quiet. Was the doctor even there? It was only 12pm. Surely too early for the doctor to be back from his job. Yet a moment later the door creaked open, the doctor's kindly face greeting them. He gave a tired sigh when he saw Rosalie's bloody face, as if denoting that he was tired of this shit already. "Come in. And you too Bella." The two girls strode into the room, Bella doing so more hesitantly. She rubbed her cold feet together, pulling her robe even tighter around herself. The house was warm but she still felt cold.
"Please, sit down Bella. What flavor of hot chocolate do you take? Dark or milk?"
"Milk," Bella mumbled, sitting down in the comfy armchair by the fireplace. Bella had never seen this room before. Carlisle's study was warm and comforting, walls painted in neutral colors. Wood paneling took up the bottom half of the walls and the floor was layered with dark brown carpet. He had been sitting at his desk, papers strewn over the top and desktop computer on. This was on one side of the room, pressed against the wall next to some bookshelves filled with heavy and boring tomes of books. The other half contained a drawer, a coffee table and two armchairs around it. Rosalie had taken the one closest to the door, wincing as she sat down. Now in the bright lights of the study Bella could see how much of a mess she really was. Dried blood caked her nose, mouth and neck and blood was seeping out from under the knife. Her clothes were wet and dirty and she had dripped some snow onto the carpet.
Carlisle busied himself with making Bella some hot chocolate from his mini machine. It was done in an instant and he handed the drink over to her. "Careful, it's hot," he warned and she took the cup gratefully. Then he strode over to the drawer and took out a blanket which he handed to her. "Apologizes for not being able to provide suitable clothing for now, however, I do want you to be warm. So please wrap up and drink the hot cocoa. From the looks of it you weren't outside long enough for frostbite but you can still get hypothermia," the doctor murmured, peering more closely at Bella's fingers. They were a bright pink and still prickled painfully but she could move them. She took the blanket and folded herself under it.
"Now," Carlisle span on his heel, addressing Rosalie. "What happened?"
"It was Jacob and his friends," Rosalie said as her father approached her and began to tenderly poke at her shoulder. She let out a hiss of pain, her finger curling reflexively on the arm's of the chair. "They cornered me as I was going to visit Bella. If it wasn't for her intervening who knows what would have happened."
"Thank goodness for Bella, huh. Is this still about the father?"
Rosalie shook her head no. "It was about Bella."
Carlisle paused in his poking and prodding. "Really?" He asked, clear intrigue in his voice.
"Yes. Jacob was upset that me and Bella were dating, and so he wanted to kill me to stop it."
"I'm going to need to have a word with that young man," Carlisle said, a hint of steel in his voice. Bella didn't like the sound of it.
"He's my friend. My longest friend. Please don't do anything rash to him. He's probably confused and hurting; he doesn't know what he's doing," Bella pleaded, shocked by the ferocity of her protective feelings. She was still scared of him but there had to be a good reason for his behavior. She had to give him a second chance. After all she had known him for so long. "I'll talk to him and-"
"And what Bella? You heard him. The way he accused you of being corrupted by me. He won't listen to your reasoning at all because he'll think you don't know what you're doing," Rosalie grunted out and Carlisle went over to his cabinet, fetching a few pain pills for her to swallow.
"But-"
"Rosalie's right," Carlisle said. He handed the pills over to Rosalie who took them without complaint, swallowing them dry. "Jacob will not see reason while he is in this state. And he certainly won't listen to me either. But what I can do is talk to his father and make sure he gets the help he needs to get these ideas out of his head. I do not want any harm befalling either Rosalie or you Bella." The man gave a sad look to the brunette. "I'm sorry things are not easy for you two. I really am. But I will do anything within my power to make sure that it does not stay this way." The doctor then turned to Rosalie, helping her up.
The pain medication was beginning to take effect and she could feel the pain dulling. "Now Bella you will have to excuse us. I need to take Rosalie to my personal x-rays and other equipment to make sure she is fine." It looked like the doctor was used to treating the blonde Cullen in home a lot. "You can read a book in the meanwhile if you wish to wait for her. It'll only be an hour. Or you can go to bed while I bandage her up. You are free to stay here if you do not feel safe at home."
"I'll stay up," Bella concluded. She wanted to make sure the blonde was alright. She knew that the wound had to hurt more than she was letting on. "And besides I need to go home after that. Charlie will be worried about me if he wakes up and sees I'm not there. And then the boys could still be there..." Had the boys woken up Charlie? Had they said anything about what happened? Bella wished she hadn't dropped her phone in her room. She had no way to know if her father had called her. Or if he was in danger. But Jake wouldn't hurt her dad. He wouldn't dare to. She still couldn't believe how unstable he had been acting tonight.
"I don't want you to go. It's not safe Bella. What if Jacob is still there-" Rosalie was silenced by a hand on her arm.
"If that is what Bella wants then she can go home. I'll go with you to make sure it is safe. And for now, I think it would be better if Bella and you did not spend so much time together. Jake is targeting you, Rosalie. If Bella is with you, he might use her to get to you." Carlisle's tone brokered no discussion and Rosalie fell grudgingly silent.
"He would never do that. He's my friend," Bella burst out, clutching her mug hard, hoping that by speaking it out-loud it would be true.
Carlisle gave her a sad look. "That he may be, but for how long? How long until he gets so desperate to get to you he would be willing to hurt you and Rosalie to keep you apart?"
This silenced Bella and she took a sip of her drink, not knowing how to dispute this. She knew Jake was kind, so what had happened? Why was he so obsessed with getting Rosalie and her to break up? Leah had tried the same, but not to this extent. Leah...this was all that girl's fault. If only she hadn't been such a blabbermouth this could all have been avoided!
"Think this all over Bella. And if you are traumatized emotionally by this, feel free to talk to me anytime. My door is always open." With that Carlisle led Rosalie out the room to get her x-rays taken. Bella was left in the room, sipping her drink angrily. She was going to have a talk with Leah alright, and with Jake later. She was so mad at them. How could they do such a thing to her? They were so biased against the blonde. But maybe only Bella felt this way. Only she knew most of what the blonde had done and still found it in her heart to love her. Even Alice was like this. And possibly Emmett and Edward and Jasper. Carlisle was the only one who treated the blonde nicely but Bella could never imagine the man being cruel to anyone.
So it's true then. Bella gave a small chuckle. Maybe I really am a bit crazy.
A/N: So, any thoughts? Did anyone expect Bella to get a gun? I wanted to make her accidentally shoot it, for extra effect but decided against it since it might be a bit too dramatic. It would also be too much character development for one scene. Bella's growing up; she's getting more backbone gradually and this is due to her relationship with the blonde. At the end of the story she'll be different from how she started out; corrupted in a sense, but not too antithetical. After all now that she knows she's a bit crazy she only has to figure out in which way, besides situations that involve the blonde.
On a related topic, Bella's kind of a bit in denial about the whole Jake situation, but then again who wouldn't be if their best friend tried to kill their loved one. It's a hard pill to swallow. On that note, I think next chapter will conclude the issue with Jacob. And then we can move on to more romantic matters.