Toxic Rose
Chapter 23: Lying Bitch!
A/N: Apparently fanfic net glitched because it said it updated the story when in reality the new chapter hasn't shown up at all. This is the new chapter that was meant to go up but didn't. I hope it shows up this time.
I found this good song that I feel matches Bella's sentiments for this relationship she has with Rosalie. It's called Normal for a Day by Porcelain Black and although the artist is singing to a boy, it can work for the relationship between the two girls. Bella just wants to have a normal time with the blonde but things just keep getting between them. Another good song is Crack my Skull, by the same artist. It could be used to describe Rosalie and how she feels about herself.
Warnings for this chapter: still more violence!
Bella waited in her truck outside Leah's house, letting it idle as she texted the girl that she was at her house. Her fingers tapped with barely caged nerves across the steering wheel as she waited, anger coiling in her stomach.
She had requested to meet up with the Reserve girl. Leah, surprised by this request at first, had agreed to it. What if the blonde had done something to her and she couldn't talk about it through phone? It was Leah's responsibility to make sure everything was okay. So she had agreed to it, saying they could meet up at her home on the Reserve after school let out. She had texted that the house would be empty with a winking face. She knew the brunette wouldn't be interested but there was no harm in sending the text. What if the girl needed comforting? Then it would go to warn in advance that the house would be empty for such comforting activities. Leah had smiled to herself at this. What was wrong with her for thinking such thoughts? Did she want the brunette to be hurt? Of course not, but it would be for the best. Then Bella would move on, and would date her. Or at least let Leah make out with her for a bit.
"Hey Bella," the dark skinned girl greeted as she opened up the door to her house. Bella shut off her truck. Leah had said the house would be empty. That would be perfect for what she needed to do. She was going to accost Leah for spilling her secret relationship to Jake. She exited the car, deciding to get this conversation over before she could chicken out.
"What exactly did you want to talk to me about today?" Leah asked, oblivious to the malicious feelings churning inside Bella. The brunette walked towards the Reserve girl calmly before doing something that shocked herself as much as it shocked the other girl.
She decked her hard in the face.
Bella had never punched someone before in her life, not even when she had been bullied and filled with so much vile anger at being treated like trash but now, she needed to hurt something, or more specifically, someone. Seeing Rosalie fight had given her enough of a guidance as to how to throw a punch. She steadied her balance and tugged her arm back before letting loose. Bone met bone and Leah let out a shocked cry as she reeled backwards in the open doorway, her hands coming up to her face.
Bella hadn't known she was going to punch the girl; it had just happened. All her anger had accumulated and she couldn't keep it in anymore. Looking at the others face just pissed her off too much. Wow, Rosalie is really rubbing off on me. That's so not good.
"Bella, what the fuck!" Leah gasped, regaining her balance and taking away her hands from her face, checking for blood from under her nose. There was none and Bella was a bit disappointed. Her own hand was bleeding, the skin on the knuckles split open. Her hand still reverberated with the feel of the punch but she wasn't going to look like a sissy and shake it off.
"That's for telling Jake!" Bella spat, some of her earlier anger leaving her. It felt so good to punch someone, to let them know how mad she was through physical pain. Maybe that's why people bullied others; it was because bodily contact was able to express those emotions so much better than words sometimes.
"For telling Jake? What are you talking about?" Leah asked, looking hurt that Bella had done such a thing.
"You told him about me and Rosalie!"
Leah knit her brows in confusion. Had she? She thought back to when she had first learned about Bella being in a relationship with the blonde. She had needed to confide in someone so she had told Jacob. But what was wrong with that? "You promised you wouldn't tell anyone!" Oh, right. She had. But she had forgotten that because it just felt so natural to tell Jake everything that happened in her life. She was so used to telling him anything that she hadn't even thought of not telling him. It had just come naturally.
"I'm sorry. I honestly forgot," Leah explained. "Believe me, I haven't told anyone else about this!"
"Oh, yea?" Bella shot back nastily. "Then what about the two other boys that were there with him too!"
"What boys? Bella what did Jake do? Did he not take this well?" Leah thought back to how Jake had laughed off Leah when she had told him about the two girls. But then for weeks after he had been gloomy and distant. She figured it was just worry for Bella, but could it have been something deeper? Something darker?
Bella made a face at this and Leah understood that something bad had happened. "Come in. Let's talk about this out of the cold." Bella followed the Reserve girl inside on her offer. They situated themselves in the living room. It was dark inside, the curtains drawn, matching Bella's foul mood well. "Do you want something hot to drink?"
Bella shook her head at this. "Do you have band-aids?" She raised her fist, blood having pooled among her knuckles.
Leah let out a chuckle at this. "You never punch anyone before, Bella?"
Bella shook her head. Leah had been in fights before, mainly with jealous girls who didn't like to share their girlfriend's. She could handle herself well in a fight and could have ducked Bella's clumsy attempt but honestly she hadn't expected the girl to attack her. "Well, you need to practice a bit more," the girl said good naturedly. "It didn't even hurt that much." Leah went to the adjoining kitchen to rummage for some bad-aids in the drawers before returning with them. "It hurt my feelings more than anything."
Bella made a face at this as the Reserve girl put on a flowery band-aid on the girl's skin after cleaning it up first. Flexing her hand experimentally, Bella looked satisfied by the work and took to the conversation again. "Jake came after Rosalie with his friends, because you told him about us. He hurt her Leah."
The Reserve girl shrugged at this, not seeing what had the other so mad. "So? He's come after her multiple times, before you even knew her. Why are you so pissed off about it?"
Bella grit her teeth in annoyance. "This time wasn't like the others. He was set to kill her, Leah. Can you tell why I'm so mad now?"
"To kill her?" Leah asked softly, disbelieving. "But he's Jake-"
"He was Jake. I don't know what happened to him, but he's gone completely off his rocker." Bella got up at this, unable to sit still. She still burned with a lot of anger. Rosalie still had the knife stuck in her shoulder. The doctor had been unable to pull it out, the equipment in his house not advanced enough for that. He said it would take hours of careful work to pull it out in such a manner that it wouldn't damage any nerves or muscles in her body and then after that she would need therapy to make sure all her muscles worked fine. So far she was in a hospital undergoing the lengthy procedure because he couldn't do it at his home. Bella hadn't been able to concentrate in school, just thinking about it all and if the blonde was fine, if she was in pain, if she needed anything, distracting her terribly. Bella badly wanted to be by her side.
"He stuck a knife- a hunting knife this long," Bella indicated with her fingers the length, "into Rosalie. Luckily he missed her neck. And then he wanted to take my dad's gun and shoot her!" Bella threw her hands into the air at this.
"You're kidding," Leah's eyes were as wide as saucers. This was Jake they were talking about. The sweet boy who cuddled up with puppy's and was always smiling or helping out others.
"I'm not. This is why I'm so mad. Rosalie could be permanently damaged by the knife and Jake is still not set with that. He wants to still hurt her! And he won't stop until he breaks us up. If only you hadn't blabbed then this would have never happened! Did you have any idea how scary that all was, watching someone else get assaulted?"
Leah put her hands in her hair. "Bella this is crazy. Jake is-well he's Jake. How could he do something like this? That's not like him at all! Are you sure Rosalie is not making this up!"
"For fuck's sake Leah, I'm not lying to you. Stop thinking that Rosalie is tricking me. She's not. I was there!" Bella pointed at her own chest. "And I need to know where Jake is. He's not at his house and I can't get a hold of him." Leah had only been half the reason Bella had come to Reserve. The other reason was Jake. She had to see him once more, in the light of day, the daylight making the concept of him less terrifying to handle.
"Why? Do you want to punch him too?"
"Now is not the time for humor," Bella shot back.
"I wasn't joking. Punching him is not going to convince him, or change his mind."
"I'm going to talk to him, that's what I'm going to do! I'm going to try to understand what's going through his head. To fix him."
"Fix who?"
Both girl's eyes swiveled up to note the new guest who had let himself into the house with a spare pair of keys.
It was Jacob Black.
He looked haggard, stubble on his face, hair messy, skin gaunt and tired. His jeans were still stained red where Rosalie had stabbed him last night, except now there was a white handkerchief around the wound, no doubt to stop the bleeding. The rest of his pants were dirty too, and his jacket had several rips in place.
Bella's throat went dry and her heart beat in pity for Jake. What had happened to him? "We need to talk Jake. I was looking for you everywhere. I tried calling."
"I know, Bella." He gave her a wry smile. "Lucky for me I saw your red truck outside Leah's home."
"Jake what happened to you?" Leah asked, shocked by his terrible appearance. She hadn't seen him in a week's time. How could someone change so much in so little time?
"Got into a little scuffle, don't worry about it." He waved his hand dismissively. "Now come Bella. Let's go back to my house and talk about this."
"No, Jake we are talking here," Bella said, pointing to the floor. "Leah needs to know about this too."
"Yea, I do. I'm your friend Jake and you're acting really weird."
"I'm acting weird?" The boy chuckled. "You both are acting weird."
"Jake please just tell me what's going on. Why are you acting this way? Why did you attack Rosalie? If you had an issue you could come talk to me."
Jake's features scrunched up in anger at the mention of the blonde's name. "I attacked her because she's evil and you need to stay away from her. Bella, she only hurts the people I care most about."
"That's not how you show someone you care for them, Jake. You can't kill their problem," Bella argued. "If you had just come to talk to me we could work something-"
"Would she break up with you?"
"What?" Bella stammered, caught off guard by his sudden request.
"That's what I thought," he sneered, his face becoming menacing. "But don't worry I've figured out a way to fix all this. I can't kill her, no matter how hard I force myself into doing it, into thinking the act over and over in my head. So you've lucked out on that. But now that you're here I can do something else. I can convince you."
Bella felt a tendril of fear wrap around her heart and squeeze. Carlisle's words of warning rang in her head. Had she been foolish to attempt to talk to her Reserve friend?
"Jake what are you planning on doing?" Leah asked, unsure as to what was going on with her closest friend. Why was he behaving this way?
"Leah stay out of this," Jake instructed, not turning to face her, his attention on Bella who suddenly felt very weak and unprotected. All her anger from before had disappeared. "Bella, this is my offer to you. Break up with Rosalie."
"No. I can't. I love her." Bella's voice was meek as she said this, her sentences fragmented.
Jacob let out an anguished cry at this, as if Bella had plunged a literal knife into his heart. He swung his arm and knocked down the table lamp, it shattering on the floor. "That's not the right answer. Try again!" Bella flinched back at his anger but she held steady even as tears pressed at the backs of her eyes.
"No. I love her."
Another object shattered, this time it was the phone receiver as Jake picked it up and hurled it at the wall behind Bella. "Jake stop this!" Leah stormed over to him. "That's my shit you're breaking!"
"This doesn't concern you!" Jake howled, one hand clutching his chest where his heart was. "Butt the fuck out!"
"Jake calm down. What is wrong with you?" Leah was seriously worried for her friend. What was wrong with him? Had all the years of resentment at his dad's condition grown too much and exploded now, the catalyst for it all caused by Bella's dating situation?
Bella felt sweat gather on her hands. She had gotten herself in too deep. She needed help. But who did she call? Her father? Rosalie? No, she didn't need her dad finding out about this. And the blonde was still in the hospital.
Shit, it really sucks when you have like no friends, Bella thought grimly. She pulled out her phone and dialed the blonde anyways, hoping she could get someone to help. Bella hadn't put the doctors number into her phone so there was hope that Rosalie could call him for her.
Leah and Jacob where still arguing when Rosalie picked up.
"Bella?" her voice sounded groggy.
"Hey, hate to bother you but um, I need help. Can you call Carlisle?" Bella's voice was small.
"Why? What happened? Bella where are you?"
"I'm at the Reserve. Leah's house."
"Bella get off that phone right NOW!" Jake's loud cry startled Bella and she took frightened steps backwards, her back meeting the wall as he stalked over to her. "Get off now! Don't talk to that sick bitch!"
"Jake stop this!" Leah went after him, grabbing him by the arm but he elbowed her in the face with it, sending her flat on her ass.
"Bella, what's going on-"
Rosalie's question went unanswered as Jacob snatched the phone out of Bella's hand, his fingers clawing at her skin. "Jacob, give it back!" Bella pleaded, reaching out for her phone.
He merely raised it over his head and pitched it hard against the wall where it bounced and fell hard to the floor. The screen turned black and the phone was quiet. Bella raised her hands to her mouth to hide the shocked gasp. This was reminding her too much of how Rosalie had shattered her old phone. That was back when she had still be an unstable mystery and when Jake had been the good guy. Now the roles were reversed.
"Why are you doing this?" Bella asked.
"The question is why are you, doing all this," Jake grabbed both of Bella's underarms roughly and shook her.
"Because I love her, Jake. I don't understand why-oh my gosh of course." Bella let out another shocked gasp. She knew why Jake was taking this so harshly. "This is because you like me."
"I don't just like you, Bella." Jake's face twisted up in agony as he admitted this. "I love you. All this time I've loved you will all my heart. And then- and then you go with that bitch, with that monster and claim to love her! She doesn't love you and neither do you love her. You have to see this for yourself! I'm the one who truly loves you. And you truly love me. You just can't see that yet." His voice broke with emotion, his fingers digging into her skin.
"So that's what all this is about?" Leah asked, getting up and rubbing her nose. It was the second time someone had hit her there today and Jake's hit had hurt more than Bella's. "You loved her all this time?" She had known the boy had liked Bella but not expected it to be to this extent.
"Yes," Jake answered, his eyes on Bella, pleading with her to understand him. "When I wake up every morning you're the first one on my mind. And you stay on my mind throughout the day. When I watch a TV show I wonder if you would like it. When I read a funny book, I wonder if you would laugh at it too. When I try a new food, I want you to try it too. And when I see you acting sad or mad it hurts me too. Bella I constantly worry and think of you, because I care. Because I love you."
"Oh Jake. I'm so, so sorry," Bella whispered. She had somewhat known the boy liked her but she had never known his feelings were this deep. She hated breaking his heart, hated driving him to the edge. She felt like she was hurting everyone recently. Alice, Rosalie, Leah and now Jake. Who would be next?
"It's okay Bella. We can work this all out. I'm glad you saw the error of your ways." Jake pulled her into a hug, inhaling the chocolate smell of her hair.
"No, Jake that's not what I meant," Bella pushed against his chest, pulling away from the hug.
"What do you mean?" He asked, with an edge to his voice.
"Jake, I'm-I'm," Bella took a deep breath. No matter how many times she came out it wasn't any easier. "I'm gay. So even if me and Rosalie broke up I still wouldn't be interested in you. Because I don't like boys." She clarified when she saw his dark eyes gloss over, his face lacking emotion.
There was a long silence and Jake merely looked at her. She wondered if she would have to repeat herself when he shook his head rigorously. "No. You're wrong."
"Wrong? How can I be wrong about my sexuality?"
"Rosalie made you think you're gay, but you're not. I know you Bella. You're not gay." He gave a big booming laugh at this.
"Jake-"
"It's okay Bella. I'm going to let you think about it. You'll realize that I've been right the whole time." Jacob began to tug Bella harshly towards a supply closet in the kitchen. She tried to dig her heels in but he was too strong, and she couldn't even hit him because he was grabbing her arms so stiffly. "Let me go!" She screamed.
"Let her go Jake!" Leah began to pound on the bigger boys back but he ignored her. He managed to shove Bella into the closet, pushing her back roughly when she tried to run out. She stumbled backwards into the shelf of food and several packs of chips fell on her head. "Think about it Bella. Think about how right I am." Jake closed the door and Bella was left in darkness. She immediately tried for the handle but the door was locked from the outside. There was no way to get out unless Jake let her out.
She could hear Jake and Leah arguing on the other side of the door. "Let her out right now. Jake. What is wrong with you?"
"Shut up Leah."
"No. Open the door. If you don't I'm calling the cops."
"You wouldn't dare," Jacob hissed.
"Watch me," was Leah's haughty response, her last for the night. There was a rattle of cabinets opening and then the metallic thud of something iron hitting flesh. A bigger thud followed and Bella pressed her ear against the door, trying to figure out what was going on.
"Try calling the police now," Jake darkly said. There was some grunting noise, as if he was dragging a heavy burden and then the kitchen was quiet.
"Leah?" Bella called out. "Leah?" She felt fear pound its way up her throat. Oh god, what was she going to do now?
She drew her legs up against her chest and wrapped her arms around them. Silent tears fell down her face. She was so scared. So scared. She wished Rosalie was here right now. The blonde would know what to do. Bella sat like that for who knows how long, sniffling quietly until she calmed down, all her tears spent.
"Bella?" A hesitant voice asked her and Bella snapped her head up to look at the door.
"Jake. Please let me out. You're scaring me!"
"I don't mean to scare you. But I'm doing this for the best. This is for the best of us!" His voice was pensive.
"No it's not! You're freaking me out!"
"As if!" Jake scoffed. "I'm not nearly as vile as that blonde."
"Well you are! You scare me more than she does!"
"That's a lie!" Jacob screamed and pounded the door with his fist. Bella flinched back and scooted backwards as the door shook in it's frames. "Don't you ever compare me to her!" He slammed the door two more times, his breathing hard. "I've loved you for so long Bella. More than she has. When you left to Arizona my heart damn near broke. And then when I found out you were back I was so, so, happy." His voice softened on this. "And now that you're back I'm not going to let you get away. I'm not going to lose you. Especially not to someone like her."
He was quiet, only his heavy breathing being heard. Bella decided maybe she could try one more time, now that he had calmed down a bit.
"Jake, please just let me out out here."
"No! You will not leave until you learn. Until you break up with her and go out with me!" There were heavy footsteps as he walked away.
"Jake, wait! Come back!" Bella pressed her face to the door but heard nothing. He was gone.
Bella was silent a moment then- "Well fuck this. Fuck everything!" What was she to do now? She only hoped that Rosalie had gotten her message. Or else she would be trapped in this closet for fucking forever.
Again Bella waited in the dark, fiddling with her fingers. She didn't feel like crying anymore although she was still scared. What would Jacob do next? What had he done to Leah? Where was the girl?
Bella got up to her feet and gave the door some test kicks but the wood stayed put. Either she was too weak or this door was too strong. Giving up after her toes got too sore, she sat back down, huffing in annoyance. Could she get Jake to break the door down? No, it would make him too violent and the door could hit her as it fell in. There wasn't a lot of space here to dodge a falling door.
Some time later Jake came by again. There was the slide of a lock and the door came open, Bella glaring in the sudden light. "Have you thought about things?" Jake asked, his face looking emotionless.
Bella shook her head vigorously up and down. Maybe if she pretended she agreed with his demands then he could let her go and she would be free of this whole mess. "Do you think I'm right?"
"Yes," Bella said softly. "I was wrong. Being in here has helped me see the error of my ways."
Jake was quiet as he estimated whether she had indeed changed her mind, and finding nothing wrong with her speech, a smile broke out on his face. "I knew you would see reason. I knew you were smarter than that!" He reached out a hand excitedly to pull her up and she took it hesitantly. He took her out of the closet.
"Where's Leah?" Bella asked. She needed to get the girl and get out of this house. Jake was too unstable to trust.
"She's just taking a nap," Jake said pleasantly, his grip on Bella's hand tightening. She resisted the urge to pull free. She highly doubted that the girl was taking a nap but she had to play along with this if she wanted to get out of here with Leah. "But don't worry about her. Let's worry about us." Jake came to a stop in the living room they had been in before. He pulled her against his chest, one hand coming up to cup her chin. "Now we can be together." His face came closer to hers and all of Bella's body screamed out in rebellion at this. She really didn't want to kiss him!
"Jake, maybe we should-"
There was a loud smash as the window in the room shattered. The rock that had been used to break the glass skittered across the floor and came to a stop by Jake's foot. He paused, ears pricked for what was going on. There were grunts as someone heaved themselves up through the window. Jake turned around slowly at this, his back to Bella's now. His muscles tensed up and Bella knew that whoever had arrived, Jake was not a fan of.
"Hi Jakey," came the intruder's mocking voice.
"You. Get the fuck out of this house!" Jacob snarled and rushed towards the intruder. Without warning a loud bang reverberated around the room, echoing in Bella's ears. Jacob fell to the floor with a tremendous scream, hands coming to his knee cap that was spurting out blood like a gusher. As he fell Bella was able to get a glimpse of who it was that had entered.
"Rosalie," Bella nearly sobbed out, her hands coming to her mouth. Intense relief flooded her body.
Rosalie smiled cockily back at her, lowering the gun that she had just fired. It was still smoking. Bella had forgotten to put it back in Charlie's drawer, instead leaving it on the backseat of the car. She was glad she had. But also horrified.
"Oh my god, Rosalie, you shot Jake!"
"He asked for it. But forget about him. I'm just glad you're okay." Rosalie bypassed the boy who lay moaning on the floor and gave Bella a one armed hug. Her other arm was wrapped up with bandages and pinned to her side. Bella stood there, shocked until at last her shaking hands came up to Rosalie's back and squeezed.
"When I got your call I was so worried," Rosalie breathed into Bella's hair. "I didn't know what to do, what was even going on. So I left the hospital as quickly as possible and came straight here. I'm so sorry if I took too long. I'm not exactly allowed on the Reserve." Rosalie pulled back and gestured with the gun in her good hand to Jake on the floor, a self explanatory smile on her lips. "But I'm just so glad you're okay."
"Rosalie-I-I-I can't. I just wow. There's so much that-"
"It's okay Bella," Rosalie reassured. "Carlisle is on his way here. He'll straighten everything out."
"But did you have to shoot Jake? He didn't really hurt me." Bella spread out her hands. Rosalie's face twisted in disgust, her voice laced with venom. "He was touching you. No one touches you except for me, Bella." Rosalie got up and close as she said this. "You're mine. Do you understand?"
Bella nodded her head mutely, too overcome by what she had just witnessed to argue. "Good." Rosalie cheered up this. "Now let's get this shit show cleaned up."
A/N: Possessive Rosalie is possessive.