A/N: Once again, sorry for the delay. I had a bit of a writer's block last night. I knew what I wanted to see happen but I wasn't sure how I was going to get there. I talked myself through it with my best friend last night and have a good idea for my direction. I know that Edward's attitude change seemed very abrupt. I apologize for that. However, the reasoning behind it will be explained in this chapter. Also, Jasper's actions in this chapter contradict some things he said in this last chapter and Alice says somethings that don't quite add up with some of the things she said in the last chapter. I apologize for that as well but, as you will find in this chapter, both Alice and Jasper know some things about Edward that they've been keeping a secret from the others. I hope it doesn't cause too much confusion. Finally, I would like you all to keep in mind that I have mentioned that Alice knows how Edward sometimes is behind closed doors and it is some what different from what Bella sees. Edward is just really good at acting and manipulating. So enough with my ramblings and on to the story. One last thing, just so it doesn't get too confusing. Since Edward and his father have the same name, Edward Sr. will always be referred to as Ed or Mr. Masen.
ALICE
"Bella, I know you're in there! Come out now! We need to talk!" Edward nearly yelled through the door.
My heart dropped in my stomach. I hadn't heard him use that tone in almost a year and a half. Not since the disasterous night with the stairs. There was no way in hell I was going to let Bella go out there and talk to him at that time. Who knew what he would do to her in this state.
The pounding on the door continued as Bella looked at me. Her eyes were full of sadness and fear. I couldn't blame her. She had never seen him like this before. All she knew was the sweet, loving, and caring guy he had pretended to be for the last year and a half. She had no idea what he was capable of. I had seen it though. And I wasn't going to let her deal with him. She didn't need to go out there all scared and vulnerable. Who knew what would happen if I did.
I looked to Jasper, who was the only other person in the room who knew anything about what Edward was like before her got help. I was just as terrified as Bella looked and judging by the look of sadness, worry, and anger on Jasper's face, it was showing on my face. He stared back at me as Edward's pounding continued.
"I-I-I'm going out there." Bella said in a shaky voice trying to get out of Jacob's arms.
"Like hell you are." Jacob replied and kept his arms wrapped tightly around her.
"He's not going to go away until I talk to him, Jake." she replied.
"Then we'll call the police." Jacob told her. "But I will not let you go out there. I don't want to risk you getting hurt."
"But..." Bella began.
"Jake's right." I stated cutting her off. "There are some things that you guys don't know about Edward. Things that I should've told you before you dated him but I-I-I..." I trailed off unsure of what too say.
The pounding on the door increased and Jasper came to stand by my side.
"Al, we need to get rid of Edward, first." He stated. "Then we can explain things."
"Right." I stated taking a deep breath to prepare myself for dealing with Edward. "I guess, I'll go out, then and get rid of him."
"I'm not going to let you go out there without me. Not after what happened the last time you tried to stand between him and Bella." Jasper standed putting his arm around me.
I noticed Bella's questioning look over what Jasper had just said but I ignored it. Getting rid of Edward was the most important thing at the moment. I could explain everything later. I think this was the first time the Jasper's overprotectiveness didn't get on my nerves. I did not want to face him alone.
"Good." I replied to him. "Because I had every intention of taking you with me."
Edward pounded on the door a little more. I didn't think that he wanted to yell too much. It would attract too much attention from the neighbors and he knew that.
"Let's get this over with then." he stated.
I took a deep breath as Jasper grabbed my hand and pulled me over to the door. I noticed everyone was on the edge of their seats as Jasper unlocked the door and slowly turned the knob. He managed to open the door just enough to get out and pull me out behind him. He didn't leave it open long enough for Edward to even make a move into the apartment.
I clung to Jasper's hand as I looked at Edward's face. It was contorted in rage and he looked ready to kill. I had to admit that I was utterly terrified. However, I was going to show him that I was scared. Bella needed me right now and I wasn't going to let her down.
"What do you want Edward?" I asked.
"I want to talk to Bella not you." Edward stated and his voice came out as sort of a growl.
"Well, that's too damn bad because Bella isn't in any state to talk to you. And I won't let you anywhere near her when you're like this." I stated stepping a little in front of Jasper but not releasing his hand.
I didn't think it was possible, but Edward some how managed to look a little angrier. He looked nearly derranged. Jasper's hand gripped mine tighter. He wasn't planning on letting me go anytime soon. And I was very okay with that.
"This is between Bella and I." Edward spat. "It had nothing to do with you. So why don't you just stay out of it."
"That's where you're wrong, Edward." I said. "That's my best friend in there and you've just destroyed her. It is my job to make sure that you are unable to do it again. Hell, I shouldn't have even given you the chance to do it the first time. I thought you had changed." I found myself getting braver and let go of Jasper's hand. He made a sound of protest but I was being fueled by anger. I wasn't sure if it was at Edward or my own stupidity. But whatever it was, it was giving me more courage. "I thought it was something you wanted but I guess I was wrong. You just wanted to play your little game with Bella and the only way to do that was to make me think you were getting help. Am I right?"
I realized a little too late that I had gone too far. Before I knew what was happening, Edward had grabbed me, roughly by the shoulders and slammed me into the wall. I let out a small moan of pain and fear at the fury in his eyes.
"Damn it, Alice!" he yelled in my face. "Why can't you just give me what I...."
I didn't get to hear the end of his speech. The minute Jasper heard me moan, he ran at Edward and knocked him off of me and to the ground. My shoulders were throbbing from where Edward had grabbed me but I ignored it. The two boys were now scuffling on the floor and I wasn't sure who was winning.
Less than a minute later, Jasper had lifted Edward up off the floor, by his shirt and slammed him into the wall.
"Now, listen and listen good, you asshole, if you ever lay a hand on Alice again, I swear to God I will kill you. And as for Bella, she doesn't want anything to do with you right now, but she'll call you if she ever changes her mind. So get your ass out of here, right now, and don't come back, or I will call the police."
With that, Jasper turned and shoved Edward to the ground right in front of the staircase. Edward sat there for a minute, seething with rage. He looked for a minute lik he was going to go after Jasper but he simply stood and said,
"Bella's mine. She always has been and always will be. And I will get her back, no matter what I have to do."
Then he turned and walked down the stairs. Once Jasper was sure he was gone, he turned back to me. My knees were shaky so bad that I ended up sinking to the ground. Jasper dropped down beside me and wrapped his arms around me.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
"Yes, just a little shaken." I answered. "I haven't seen him this angry since the night on the stairs. I really thought that he had gotten through this."
"So did I." he whispered back.
I heard the door open and whipped around to see Rosalie's concerned face poking out.
"What the hell happened out here?" she asked looking at Jasper and I on the floor.
I sighed and looked at Jasper.
"He's gone and everything's fine." Jasper answered and stood up to offer me his hand. "But Alice and I do have some things that we need to tell you."
I took his hand and let him pull me up. I was still aware of my throbbing shoulders and the hand shaped bruises that were developing on them. I knew Rosalie could probably see them too because I had taken off my long sleeved shirt and replaced it with a cami from the drawer in Jasper's dresser were I kept extra clothes. Jasper's apartment had always been extra warm and tongiht wasn't any different.
Thankfully, Rosalie didn't say anything as I walked back into the apartment. However, Bella was very observant and they were the first things she saw when I walked in.
"Oh my God, Alice!" she exclaimed as she ran to me and threw her arms around me. "What the hell did he did?!"
"It's nothing." I replied pulling her away from me.
"Alice, you've got bruises on your shoulders." Bella pointed out. "It's not nothing. What happened?"
I sighed and looked to Jasper again. He nodded encouraging and placed a reassuring hand around my waist.
"Okay, so it's not nothing but there's more too it than just what happened today." I answered. "Edward has problems, anger problems." Bella gasped and everyone in the room looked a little shocked. Nobody spoke, though, so I addressed Bella. "It's the biggest reason that I didn't want you to date him. The whole intruding on my life thing was just a good excuse. I worried that he was going to lose it around you or something. However, I didn't want to tell you because I wanted you to make up your own mind about him."
"Slow down, Alice." Bella stated. "And go back to the beginning."
"Right." I said taking a deep breath. "Jasper, can we sit?"
"Of course." he replied and pulled me into one of his arm chairs. Bella went back to the floor with Jacob and Rosalie was already back on the couch with Emmett. It was silent for a minute as I tried to come up with the best way to describe Edward's problem. After Jasper squeezed my hand reassuringly, I took a deep breath and just dove right in,
"As you all know, Edward's father is rich so Edward has spent his entire life getting whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted it. Ed never really taught Edward the meaning of the word no. And if Ed said it, Edward would throw tantrums until he got what he wanted." I started to explain. I could tell by the looks on everyone faces that they understood. "As Edward got older, his tantrums turned into fits of rage whenever he was told he couldn't have or do something. And he tended to get quite violent. He would never actually hurt anyone during these fits. However, he liked to yell, stomp, and smash things. Which is why Ed never thought to get him help. Ed thought that since Edward wasn't hurting anybody then it was okay. Edward's school felt differently and they sent him to a school counselor and it was working. The fits were becoming less frequently in the three years he had been going." I paused a moment to make sure that everyone was still with me. "They had almost stopped all together by the time they moved to Forks then Ed met my mom and things fell apart."
"What do you mean, fell apart?" Bella asked from Jacob's side.
I could see worry, pain, and fear written all over her face. I hated myself at that moment because knowing all of this, I let her date him. I knew he could've slipped anytime, even if he was getting help again. Yet, Bella had wanted it as much as Edward and I couldn't deny Bella anything. She was too great of a person.
"Well, Edward didn't want Ed to marry mom." I answered her question. "He seemed to think that Ed was trying to replace Elizabeth, Edward's mother, and he didn't like that. But Ed refused to call off the wedding which made Edward angrier than he had been in years. It was like most of the stuff he was holding back on over the years began coming out. He wasn't nice to my mom and I at all. He never did anything my mom said and was usually mean to me. Yes, we agreed to get along in public and around the parents but when they weren't around, he was a world class ass."
"He didn't hit you, did he?" Rosalie asked in horror.
"No." I asnwered grateful for that. "He knew Ed would've killed him if he laid a hand on me or mom. Which is why he took to breaking my things whenever I made him mad. He couldn't do that with mom because Ed would find out. However, I kept my mouth shut because I was waiting for the day when he would hit me."
"So let me get this straight," Bella stated and I could now see anger blazing in her eyes. "You let me date him, knowing that he had this anger problem and knowing that he could snap anytime?"
"No, Bella, let me finish, please." I begged. I knew this was going to be a question on all of their minds. "I promise you'll understand once I'm done." She nodded and I continued, "Edward told me about his feelings for you albout six months before he asked you out. Well, I told him, that I didn't want him dating you until he went back to therapy for whatever problem he had. He refused so I said that I would do everything in my power to keep you away from him. So he got pissed, shoved me down the stairs, and broke my leg."
"Wait." Emmett said. "I thought you fell down those stairs when you broke your leg?"
"Well, I did, it was just with Edward's help." I responded uncomfortably. I could see the looks of disbelief on all of their faces. I just couldn't be sure if they were because of what Edward did or because I had lied to them.
"Why didn't you tell us the truth?" Jacob questioned.
"Because I wanted you guys to be able to make up your own minds about him." I answered. "I knew Bella liked him and enjoyed his company. He was always so gentle with her that I didn't think he would ever get angry enough with her to hurt her. Besides, Ed came home to the end of our arguement that day and saw Edward push me. So he made Edward go back to another counselor. He went for six months and he was getting better again. Which is why after six months, I told him that he could ask Bella out as long as he kept going to his counselor. I thought he was but after what he did tonight, I don't know."
"And what exactly happened tonight?" Bella asked.
"This was the first time in a year and half that he's had a fit of rage." I answered. "As you know, not giving him something that he wants is what sets him off. He wants you Bella. When I tried to keep him away from you in the beginning, he pushed me down the stairs. I tried to keep him away from you tonight and he grabbed me and slammed me against a wall. Jasper stopped him from doing any more and made him leave. But he's not going to stop until he has you back Bella. He keeps going until the person gives him what he wants. Which is why I was so worried about the sex thing with him. I know this sounds horrible but I'm glad he was sleeping with Jessica. It kept him happy enough to not force you, Bella." Bella nodded and I could see tears in her eyes. I could feel some prickling in the corners of my eyes. "I'm so sorry, Bella. I should've told you sooner. But I really thoguht that he was better. Sure I worried but I didn't think there was any reason to bed. I just assumed it was a best friend thing."
Crying, I got up and went to her wrapping my arms around her.
"It's okay." she whispered. "You were just trying to make me happy. I can't be angry with you for that. I'm just sorry that he hurt you."
I calmed down after a minute or two then Jasper voiced what everyone was probably thinking.
"So what do we do about him?" he asked. "I believe his threat from the hall. He'll do everything he can to convince her to come back to him. Or worse, force her to go back to him. I don't wanna see that happen."
"Neither do we." Jacob replied.
"Which is why we stick to the orginal plan." I said. "She's not to be left alone and vulnerable when there's a possibility Edward could get to her."
"And, Bella, I think it might be a good idea to talk to Charlie about getting a restraining order against him." Jasper added looking at Bella.
"I don't think that'll do us any good." Bella answered. "If he wants me back, he won't oay any attention to the restraining order. I mean, I know about his obesession with getting what he wants. And he's not going to stop. The anger thing doesn't help either. He's more dangerous now because of that. So the restraining order will be useless."
"I hate to say it but Bella's right." I stated. "He's not going to let the law stop him. His own father couldn't even stop him when he was angry and determined like he is now."
"So how the hell are we supposed to protect Bella when the law, which is essentially her father, can't stop him?" Jacob all but yelled at me. "If adults can't keep him from her, how the hell are we supposed to?!"
"I don't know, Jacob!" I yelled back. "I just don't know."
I shook my head and allowed tears to flow down my face. Jasper came to me and wrapped his arms around me. I sobbed into his shoulder at a complete loss for what to do. How on earth could I protect my best friend from someone like Edward?
A/N: Okay, I'm not sure how this chapter comes over. I've had a horrible time with it. Nothing I did seemed to sound right or work well with everything else. I did the best I could with it. I had a hard time linking Edward's issue with the situation with Bella and not make it sound too drastic. I'm not sure if I succeeded. Let me know what you think. Please review.
