Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or its original characters. No copyright infringement is intended with the posting of this story.
A/N: Not much to say, except that I'm sorry for the day delay in getting this chapter up. Life and all that jazz. ;)
Chapter 11
Star Crossed
(.Edward.)
I shifted my weight beneath my feet, then slowly ran my hand through the wild mass of hair at the top of my head, before giving it a firm tug. My eyes continued to look on as Bella hugged both of her brothers, then her father. I was still having a difficult time processing everything I was seeing. She seemed happy to see them, but at the same time, she also appeared to be on auto pilot, just running through the motions.
Charlie held onto her a little bit longer than her brothers had.
I'd noticed a few quiet words shared between them, but when she'd pulled away, she was still smiling. Seeing that had instantly helped me find the ability to relax a little. Even with Alice and Jasper snickering amongst themselves off to the side, trying to figure out what should happen next.
I was determined to remain here, no matter what, at least until Bella acknowledged my existence again or hinted we should leave. I wasn't about to run and hide. If this was really going to be my first impression, I needed to make up for that fact. I couldn't pussout like some sideline fuckboy looking for a quick hookup from the girl next-door, who had clearly already become so much more to me.
Even if they would refuse to believe it… that would be on them, not me.
Minutes felt like hours, but Bella had finally gestured with her arm that they should all begin to walk towards the elevator together where the rest of us were still standing by awaiting further instruction.
I felt my heart slamming into my chest, harder and harder with every step they took that brought her closer and closer towards me again. When our eyes met, she released a rushed exhale and it took everything in me to not reach out and take her hand into mine, just to give it one single pulse. A pulse that would signal this was really no big deal, no matter what happened in the next couple of minutes or even days to come.
"Hey-hey Charlie! What's brought you guys down here to sunny Soflo? I thought you hated palm trees and sand?" Alice asked with a nervous laugh, then extended her arms out in front of her to give Bella's dad an awkward embrace.
"Oh, you know, just checking in on my daughter that you abducted from my home." He bluntly replied after clearing his throat and pushing himself to hug her back.
"It's good to see you too! You should have given us a heads up, though. Our place is hardly guest presentable yet, but now that you guys are here, we will happily put you to work! You can assist us with all of our finishing touches to help make our place feel more like home." Alice rapidly teased as she continued to go down the line to also hug Bella's brothers one by one.
"Well, we're not surprised you've yet to get settled in. No worries, we already found the closest Home Depot last night and picked up some of the basics we knew you'd all be need'n." Bella's dark haired brother, Sam, spoke up, then eyed Jasper and I with a fiercely forced smile.
"Oh my God, you guys have been here since last night? Please don't tell me you all slept in that car?!" Bella looked beyond mortified.
When I locked eyes with her again, I could instantly see the abundant amount of stress in her panicked stare.
I hated that.
We'd started this day with so much promise, and now all of that had once again been washed away in the blink of an eye.
It didn't seem right, or least of all fair. Not after all the progress we'd made last night, and into the early morning hours.
"No, darlin'. We got a room down the street at a Holiday Inn. We're here until Wednesday afternoon."
Super.
Two more days of family fun.
I could barely contain my excitement over this news. Jasper's own stifled snicker from behind me didn't help.
"Yeah, Bells. We didn't land until almost midnight, came by, saw you weren't home so went and check in for the night. We'd only been sitting here in the parking lot for about fifteen minutes when we saw you pull up with your friends." Sam further filled us in.
"So, what exactly is it with you people showing up out of nowhere all of the time? Don't you have cell phones in North Carolina?" My best friend suddenly blurted out, before he'd even been properly introduced.
They all stood by with perplexed looks on their faces, clearly not sure of how to respond to his impulsive question. Bella now looked like she was going to have a full blown panic attack any second, right there in front of us.
"I think what Jasper means to say is, welcome to Miami, where cellular data is used up like oxygen and cell phones are always charged." I finally spoke up, with a light and nervous laugh before extending my hand out towards Bella's father. He eyed it for a few elongated seconds, then narrowed his stare after placing his own hand into mine to give it a ridiculously firm shake.
"Charlie Swan. Bella tells me you're her new neighbor-friend."
"Edward Cullen, sir. It's nice to finally meet you." I managed to get out, sounding like I'd just addressed an Army Colonel on the battlefield.
"Finally?" He laughed, causing the wrinkles beside his duled grey eyes to flatten even further, "You've known my daughter for what, two weeks?"
I smiled nervously and shook my head, partially agreeing with him. "Seems like much longer than just two weeks, Mr. Swan." I could almost sense Jasper's joker-like smile beaming from behind me while he and Alice silently watched on from the sidelines. I knew he had to be dying on the inside, but in an entirely different way than I currently was.
"Dad, why don't you guys come on upstairs? I'll make some coffee, and then we can go do something touristy and fun once I've taken a shower and freshened up." Bella calmly suggested, once the silence had taken control again and her brothers had begun to move in a little closer.
"Alright, we were going to take you out for breakfast, but let's go ahead and see the place. Were your new friends coming over too, or was it time for them to head on home to recharge their cell phones?"
I'd almost smiled at Charlie's witty reply, but my nerves had managed to keep my face unresponsive.
James had done a phenomenal job at keeping his eyes dead set on either myself or his little sister from where he'd positioned himself about five feet away from us at the edge of the walkway. I'd also noticed that he'd yet to say a single word, out loud, since greeting his sister by their rental car, when he'd whispered something into her ear.
I couldn't let this bother me. Not right now. Right now, I had my plate full with Bella's father, and it was his approval that needed to matter most to me.
Jasper and I glanced at each other, then shrugged at the same time. Thankfully, Alice came to our rescue this time and jumped in before we'd had the chance to further embarrass ourselves with any spoken words.
"Actually, we were planning on going over to E's," she lied, "So, you'll have Bella all to yourselves for at least a little while."
No matter how hard I tried to force myself to speak, it was clearly not going to happen. I literally felt as though my tongue had been ripped from my mouth and stuffed down my throat before being carelessly shoved into the pit of my gut for me to digest.
The idea of having Jasper and Alice heading directly into the war zone that was my apartment, when my ex was home… after everything she'd seen on Facebook last night… well, it seemed like an absolutely terrible idea, but there wasn't much I could say about that right now.
Bella literally looked like she was about to vomit on the spot, all over her father's well-worn boots.
We locked eyes again for a moment, and this time, I swear I saw her mouth the words, 'I'm so sorry', even though her lips hadn't even moved.
She shocked us all when she took a step closer towards me, closing the gap between us, then took my hands into hers to give them an affectionate squeeze, "I'll text you later. Thank you again for a wonderful evening."
I nodded and kept my feet planted where they were because there wasn't much else I could do with everyone now watching us, but I did manage to also shoot her a wink from my eye, "Happy Birthday, beautiful. I hope it was everything you could have ever wished for."
"It was so much more than that. It was absolutely perfect." She softly replied, creating an instant cheesy grin on my face, just as she stood herself up on her tiptoes to place a long and purposeful kiss to my cheek, right there in front of her entire family to bear witness to.
I was a smiling idiot at this point. Because of this, Alice had to link her arm through mine to get me to start moving my ass towards the stairwell after Jasper had silently initiated we separate down here and let them take the elevator together since there was no way we'd all fit.
As soon as the door to the stairwell slammed shut behind me, Jasper was laughing his ass off, "Dude… I feel like we just went back in time to when we were sixteen and you were standing in front of Kate's dad after he caught you guys fucking doggy style in the hot tub of their backyard on the 4th of July."
"Seriously, Jasper? Shut the hell up!" I growled while avoiding their eyes after hitting him upside his head with my opened hand.
"Wait, you actually watched him get it on with Kate in a hot tub? What kind of friendship do you two have exactly?" Alice laughed with several disapproving shakes from her head. "I've got to say, though, doggy style at sixteen, in a hot tub nonetheless, is pretty damn impressive, E!"
"It didn't happen the way he's making it sound." I quickly grumbled, then began running my hands aggressively through my hair again, wishing I could rewind the last seven minutes of my life for a do-over.
"Bella's dad is intense man... And her brothers?! They clearly wanted to stomp your skull in with their fancy bedazzled boots. I didn't realize you came from a Texas like-cattle loving-horse riding-community in the foothills of the Carolina's, Alice. No wonder you like to ride bareback the way you do."
Now, it was Alice's turn to hit my best friend upside his head.
"Oh, shit. It makes perfect sense that your handjobs are so superb! Did you grow up milking cows and churning butter every morning with Bella on their family farm?"
Yup, Jasper was obviously looking to get his ass beat in this stairwell.
I'd purposely stopped us from moving on the third floor in hopes that we would avoid Bella and her family on our own floor. Not to mention, I needed a good couple of minutes to compose myself before we'd enter my apartment where I knew Tanya would already be waiting for me on the couch, ready to pounce.
"Look, Alice and I can just go back to my place. You go deal with Tanya. Lord knows if I see that skankbank, she'll end up attempting to throw me off your balcony within the first five minutes of me forcing a hello without the word whore being attached to it."
I thought over what he'd suggested for a few long seconds, then decided it really was the right choice to make. I had enough running through my head right now. The last thing I needed was excess drama that involved my ex taking place in front of my current girl's best friend.
"You guys can take my car, and I'll text you later. I'm free tonight. Let's plan on going over to Joe's."
Joe's was the bar we frequented on Sunday nights.
Jasper silently agreed with a nod from his head, then gave my hand a loud slap between us before gesturing with his arm that Alice should start to go back down the stairs with him.
She hesitated and cleared her throat while avoiding my eyes.
This was never a good sign coming from a female.
Especially a female like Alice, who almost always had something to say.
"Go ahead, I'll meet you down there, I need to talk to Edward for a minute."
My best friend threw me one last look filled with gleeful pity, then without saying anything else, he turned himself around to trot back down the steps leaving us both standing there with our hands in our pockets, and our expressions guarded.
"So, she would kill me for telling you this but… you should know. She's falling for you. Hard. Whatever happened last night, you convinced her that you're worth all of the drama that it will bring."
The smile that had just taken over every part of my face forced Alice to smirk and shake her head with a soft laugh. She flipped her long hair back behind her shoulders, then rolled her eyes and released a loud huff from between her lips, "That was before her dad showed up with her brothers. Them being here, like this, it has the potential to change everything and reset it all back to square one."
I instantly straightened my stance, and pulled my hands from my pockets to cross my arms in front of me, "Why are you telling me this then, if they're just going to ride in and change her mind?"
"Because… because I want you to fight for it. You're the person she wants to be with. The person she should be with. At least she believes you are, so that has to count for something. Screw them. Their life is not her life. Her choices don't have to follow within their guidelines or plans... No matter how hard they've tried to convince her otherwise all these years."
I wasn't sure how it was possible, but I was now feeling even more confused. I had to finally ask, because it was the only thing I'd come up with that made any sense at all, "Just tell me. Is she a part of some weird family cult where she's taken on the role of a damn mother and wife?" I spat out, feeling beyond frustrated at this point.
"No," Alice quickly laughed before reaching out to take hold of my arm. "No, but… she's had to play the obedient daughter-slash-good girl younger sister roles for far too long. I can't put it all into words but, what you've done… the person I've seen her become since moving here and meeting you… even in this short amount of time... I don't want to see any of that change. She's finally letting herself experience life without running home to them the very next day, only to fall back in line."
While standing there, trying to process what Alice had just said to me, all I could think about was the fact that Bella was now flying solo while having to face her father's questions, and her brother's accusative stares on her own.
She didn't deserve to face that kind of manipulation when she'd done nothing wrong. If anything, she's handled herself more maturely since moving here than most girls her age.
Otherwise, I would have already had her bent over in front me with my hands grasping her hair, and her body seated over my face with her legs spread over my mouth on multiple occasions by now.
"I'll just go home and shower, give them an hour, then head over there so they can focus their negativity directly onto me, and leave her alone while I change their minds."
Alice was smirking again, "Thanks for understanding without making me ask," she laughed, "Her dad literally hates me just as much as I hate Jacob Black and his family. I earned myself no points when I stole his baby girl from his porch two weeks ago with nothing but two overnight bags in her hands and no formal goodbye to any of them." She'd squeezed my arm again with her last word and narrowed her eyes after looking deeply into mine, "Just… just don't let them steal her back. If they do, I think this time, it might be for good. I don't know the game Jake is playing now, but I have zero doubt that he's the one that sent them here like this. Don't you dare play fair, Cullen! Lord knows they never do. Least of all Jacob Black."
When she finally managed to show me a true smile again, I felt myself relax. I took in a deep breath after I'd realized I'd been holding it all in, then slowly exhaled before opening my mouth again, "She really said she's falling for me?"
"Yup, I have the text messages to prove it too, but I feel like sharing those with you, in their entirety, would go way beyond the breaking of a simple level one girl code rule."
As much as I'd wanted to celebrate this information, I couldn't help but let my thoughts and doubts return to what Alice had said when we'd been standing in front of the elevator doors, before Bella and her family had joined us.
Bella had mentioned in the past that her dad was a private investigator. If he'd actually take the initiative to look into my background... if he found out who my father was, or even worse, what I did for a living… I'd be ruined before Bella and I had barely made it into the second inning.
For a very brief second. I considered coming completely clean to Alice, if for no other reason than to use her as a practice round and see how she herself reacted to it all before I'd unload everything onto Bella.
"How worried should I really be about her dad?"
"On a scale of one to ten?"
I raised my right brow and slowly nodded my head one time to answer her.
"I'd say a solid eight, but only because I believe there is some good in him. He does love his daughter, and he does want her to be happy and taken care of. The problem is, he only wants what he thinks is best for her. He can't accept that her life is not his to decide. It's not entirely all his fault, though. Jake and his family have always held all the cards."
The more questions I asked, the more confused I found myself becoming.
"How scary can a small town P.I. be?"
Alice was laughing again, and shaking her head after looking me in the eyes, "Is that what she told you he does for a living? I mean I guess, yeah… you could call him that, but he only works for one person."
I was feeling extremely thankful now that I hadn't drank myself stupid last night. If I'd been standing here with a massive hangover, there was no way I would have been able to even attempt to process a fraction of this.
"Bella has to tell you the rest. She knows more than I do, and now you know enough to react. Go get cleaned up, clear your head, and get in there for our girl." Alice extended her arms out towards me to give me a tight hug, then pulled herself back to hold me at my shoulders, "Remember what I said at the beginning. I'm rooting for you. That hasn't changed." With her last words, she released me from her grasp then turned herself around on her heels to head back down the stairs.
The walk up to my floor was well paced, and with each step I took, I felt my thoughts dive deeper and deeper into what this actually meant, and where Bella and I could potentially go from here- if this visit of her fathers did by some miracle go well.
I'd been in such deep thought, I'd barely even noticed myself unlocking my front door, but here I now was… heading in to face God knows what, but feeling a bit more prepared for whatever might come my way.
When I walked inside the apartment, it was dark, thanks to the blinds being pulled closed in front of the large sliding glass doors that opened up to the balcony- which was not at all typical.
It only took a few seconds for my eyes to adjust, but before I could even get all the way down the hallway, Tanya was in my face pushing me hard in the chest with both of her hands, sending me in search of my balance while also shielding myself with my arms from any further attacks.
"Why the hell is the guest room door locked from the outside?!"
"Why are you trying to get in there? That's my space now, I left you a check to cover my half of the rent, so back the hell off!" I instantly shouted back.
She was fuming with her nostrils flaring, and her fists clenched at her sides. Her eyes were burning holes into mine when she took another brash step towards me, but this time I caught her hands in the air with my own and held them still between us.
"Stop it! You need to calm yourself down, woman!" I finally got out through clenched teeth once I'd settled down my own anger.
"Why? Because you don't want your new girlfriend to hear us?! Well, MAYBE she wouldn't mind getting a sneak peek into a future with you, once the fairy tale ends!"
I grabbed her by the top of her arm and briskly walked us to the other side of the apartment, taking us directly into her bedroom and closing the door, since it was the furthest we could get from the walls that went against Bella and Alice's apartment.
Tanya was correct, but I would never tell her that. Of course, I didn't want Bella, or her family to hear us, because this right here was bullshit, and she knew it.
"She's not my girlfriend, so let it go! We're just hanging out! Jesus Christ, Tan. Don't you have a Xanax you can pop? You're clearly in need."
It was better I let my ex believe there was no real threat coming from the girl next door. At least for now. The way her superior existence worked was simple. As long as she believed she still made up the majority of the rules and had a chance to change things in order to get what she wanted at the end of it all, I knew she'd find a way to eventually simmer down, and temporarily back off.
I watched her shoulders relax and her breathing slow, then felt my own breathing calm down with her… until she opened her mouth again.
"Oh, okay. So you're just renting luxury boats for women you barely know, on their birthdays, to hang out with them without any other intentions taking place? Well, where was I for that kind of perk?"
"You were getting your ass fucked against our goddamn kitchen counter by someone who wasn't me! I took you all around the world, and treated you like a god damned queen! Don't act like you never reaped any benefits while we were together."
She instantly crossed her arms again and narrowed her eyes. I knew whatever would come next, it would have the potential to infuriate me in ways I likely wasn't ready to deal with this early in the morning on barely any sleep.
"Correction. Your dad's money took me all around the world. You don't have that money anymore, so how the hell are you able to afford a yacht for the country bumpkin who moved in next door while also managing to pay rent all of the sudden?! Be honest! Are you hustling, Edward?"
I scoffed at her words, then laughed out loud, "You figured it out, Tanya. That's absolutely it. I'm getting paid to have sex with women. You caught me. Now what?"
If only she knew how close she was to being right.
At least what I was doing didn't involve any actual human contact. That had to count for something. Hell, I'd make it count for everything because I could probably be out there hustling with some of Emmett's connections at this point, and making twice as much in this city, but I'd already made the conscious decision to not go down that road, and meeting Bella had solidified that choice for me.
"I don't have time to deal with this. Grow up and mind your own business. Me and what I do, it no longer applies to you. Now please leave me alone."
If it wasn't for the fact that living here gave me such easy access to Bella, I would be out searching for a place of my own. The fact of the matter was, I still couldn't afford a place all on my own. Not in this area, and not with all of the other bills that would come with it, including my car payment, which I was already three months behind on.
"You're lucky I still love you, or I'd be throwing your freeloading ass out of here."
I closed my eyes for a moment to silence everything I was feeling, then slowly turned myself around to exit the room and head back to my side of the apartment, "Again, Tanya, I left you a check to cover my half of the rent. Not to mention my name is still on the lease with yours. You can't do shit, so stop acting like you're some kind of martyr in all of this." I eventually got out from over my shoulder, just loud enough for her to hear.
I'd already sensed her running after me, and I'd heard her grunt when she'd thrown something heavy at my head. I ducked out of the way and turned around to lock eyes with her one last time, "I'm walking away now. This conversation is done. Here's your daily reminder- We. Are. Done." I didn't wait for her response, because I'd already heard every line she could possibly deliver, and none of it mattered. Instead, I went into my room and slammed the door shut behind me, then locked it with purpose before falling belly first onto my air mattress.
I ran my hand through my hair and gave it a hard tug at my scalp after hearing Tanya beginning to chuck things outside of my door. By the sounds of it… she was finally taking all of the framed photos of us down around our place and throwing them at my door.
This, of course, meant I'd have to remember to wear my shoes when I left my safe space again because there was sure to be shards of glass everywhere scattered across the floor.
After rolling myself onto my side, I reached deep into my pocket and pulled out my phone. I quickly scanned its screen for any messages or new emails that might have come in, but nothing of importance loaded. Not even a simple piece of junk mail to help take my mind off of everything else that had just taken over my morning.
I turned my head and noticed the MacBook Emmett had set up sitting on the desk across the small room.
When I checked my watch, I realized it had barely been ten minutes since I'd left Bella in front of the elevator doors to take safety in the stairwell with our best friends.
I'd set a goal to give her at least another forty-five minutes before I'd head over there to re-insert myself back into her world.
So now what, Cullen?
Before I could stop myself, I sat myself up and turned my body to get off the bed then walked over to the desk to quickly grab the laptop and bring it back over to where I'd just been laying down.
Forty-five minutes could bank me an easy hundred bucks, and also provide me a nice little distraction.
A hundred bucks would pay my phone bill this month.
I slowly opened the screen and waited for the wifi to kick in, then clicked my way across the mousepad to sign in onto with my work username and password.
While the screen finished loading, I clicked out of it to launch the App Screen. I wanted to download a music player to get something going on the speakers so I could try to get my head further into the game, and also drown out Tanya's current temper tantrum- which was apparently still taking place.
Bella had left me plenty hot and bothered, so I had enough in me to bang out at least a few decent sessions until I could have her back in my sight and arms again.
As soon as I clicked back over to my work screen, I already had four private message requests coming in. I hadn't even bothered to pay attention to the screen names. Their names never mattered until I'd start a one on one conversation. Instead, I leaned my back against the wall to get more comfortable, then took a long gulp from the water bottle I kept beside my bed.
Some Portishead had just begun to play when a fifth private chat request popped up on my screen and I nearly spit the water from my mouth all over my keyboard.
It was B913.
This can't be right… there was no way in hell… not with her family in the next room.
I clicked the accept button with reverent speed and laughed to myself over the mental picture I'd just had of her locked up in her bedroom, right on the other side of my own goddamn wall.
B913: Just the guy I was looking for.
Masen: Always happy to oblige. It's been a while, B.
B913: I know my apologies. Life's had me a little preoccupied.
Masen: Hopefully that's a good thing, beautiful. Even though it's kept you away from me.
It felt so wrong, us talking like this, but at the same time, it was just so easy to fall right back into the aliases and persona's we'd used when we'd first met.
B913: Well, there's a reason I haven't needed your services. My reality has been pretty fulfilling as of late, but right now I could use a little extra boost to help remind me of how good all of this can feel… living outside of the lines.
B913: Plus, it's still my birthday weekend so why not treat myself.
Masen: That's right! Happy 21st!
B913: You actually remembered!
Masen: Of course I did! You took my cyber-ginity card, B. There are things about you that I'll never forget. ;)
Masen: So what brought you online looking for me so early in the morning?
B913: Let's just say I felt the need to do something a little, extra. Can we get out of the chat box and do a quick call?
I thought this over for a second but swiftly decided us actually speaking would not be a good idea. What with her father and brothers being right there in the next room, which was already putting her on thin ice as it was. Add in Tanya still pacing outside of my own room plotting and stewing… nope. Not a smart move.
The ultimate deciding factor, though, was the thought that Bella might now recognize my voice.
Masen: Sadly, I was actually just about to clock out. I've only got about three more minutes in my box here, and they don't really let us go over with our shifts. I needed to at least say hi to you, or I would have been up all night kicking myself for having missed out on my opportunity.
There was, of course, a part of me that was dying to know what she was thinking and feeling right now, but it just felt extra scummy to take advantage of her like that... all things considered.
B913: That's too bad. What about later tonight at our usual time, if I'm still craving some of your undivided attention?
Masen: I don't think so, baby. Not unless they call me in to cover for someone.
In the back of my head, I was already plotting and planning our next couple of evenings together, here in reality. There was no point in stringing her along with the possibility of an online fantasy tryst at a later time.
Bella certainly had a hungry sexual deviant side to her. She was a maverick in her own right when it came to knowing what she needed, but being careful and precise in how, and when she got it. She'd already proven to me that she wasn't a prude woman. She had also been with other men. Jake's dick wasn't the only thing she'd ever had between her legs. So why she still felt she couldn't just let go and jump in the same way with me… it was frustrating, but at the same time, it was also worth all of the frustrations.
I'd been doing my best to silently tell myself it was because she wanted me… wanted us, to be more than a simple fling, but I wanted… no, I needed to hear her say that out loud.
Masen: You're good right? Your newfound fulfilling reality… it's been filled with nothing but good stuff?
B913: The best of stuff. :) I did what you suggested and opened myself up to making new friends. So thanks for giving me the push I needed. I think you might have actually helped change my life, Mase.
She'd answered almost instantly, which had caused me smile even more because it meant she hadn't needed more than a second to think over her response.
Masen: It's nice to know I'm good at other things besides just getting you off.
Teasing was necessary here or I'd be breaking character, and I couldn't let that happen.
Masen: You deserve nothing but the very best stuff, B. I'm happy for you!
B913: Thanks. It's been nice being able to smile again. I'll let you go before we get cut off. Until next time… if there is a next time. I'll be honest with you. I'm hoping I won't be needing your services again if things continue to go as well as they have been with my new, "friend".
This bit of news surprised me. The amount of unbridled relief that had swept over me was almost just as surprising. Still, it was important I react the way Masen would. Any good phone friend would never let a client sever ties so easily.
Masen: Well, I hope that's not true. You'd be missed more than you'd ever know since I've yet to experience anyone with a tongue quite as gifted as yours. Take care of yourself, beautiful, and Happy Birthday.
She signed off without saying anything else, which left me sitting there with a hundred and one new thoughts bombarding my unforgiving head. It seemed as though Bella really was looking to take us to the next level. Alice hadn't been sugar coating things to get me to commit to her own personal mission to 'save' Bella from a future she herself didn't want for her best friend.
I shut my laptop down and put it away, then grabbed a change of clothes from my closet to head into the shower, so I'd be able to get next door a little sooner than I'd originally planned.
If Bella had called me, as Masen, at work- looking for a distraction from the reality that was currently sitting in her living room, then I would get my ass over there and help her myself.
I'd just taken the world's fastest shower, gotten dressed and pulled my front door open, only to stop dead in my tracks after finding Bella standing there looking equally as surprised to see me- even though it was my door she was silently standing in front of.
"Hey-hey, are trying to give me a heart attack?" I joked after taking a further step outside to close the door behind me in hopes of avoiding any dramatic awkwardness that might come with Tanya attempting to make herself known.
"No, sorry. I was mentally preparing myself, just in case your ex answered."
"Well, you could have called me. There's no need for you to ever venture over here into the lion's den without my escort." I replied with a smirk, hoping my own calmed expression might help her find a way to relax a little herself.
"Where's the excitement in that?" Bella playfully asked with a shrug of her shoulders, then took a step closer towards me to wrap her arms around my body and press the side of her head firmly into my chest. "Can we maybe go for a walk?" She softly suggested from below my chin, before slowly pulling herself back to look me in the eyes again, "We're going to go over to the beach, and I'd really like for you to come with us… my dad actually asked that I invite you… but before we go… you and I... we should talk."
I tried to stay calm, but I was fairly certain the panicked look that had taken over my face, in the blink of an eye, had without question given me away the moment she'd begun speaking again.
"It's nothing bad. Not really. You can breathe, Edward. It's just time I give you a brief history lesson before I feed you to the sharks." She gently teased, then removed herself from my arms to reach out and take my hands into hers to begin walking us further down the breezeway towards the elevator. I forced a smile, but couldn't help but raise my brow in suspicion.
The moment we were inside the elevators small space, I took her back against my body and brought her lips to mine without even waiting for the doors to fully shut. When we parted, she was grinning again and still closing her eyes. I took my thumb and gently brushed it across her cheek, silently willing her to look at me, and when she did, I saw her shoulders fall and the rest of her body melt under my touch.
Mission accomplished. You just did that for her. That was all you.
"I missed you, beautiful."
"It was thirty minutes, you nut." She laughed with her words, then purposely took my hand back into hers once we'd reached the ground floor and the elevator doors had opened to let us out.
"Was that it? Thirty minutes? Felt like hours. Well shit, I guess that makes it official then. I'm hopelessly addicted."
She tried to hold in her laughter this time but failed in the best of ways. I loved making her laugh. Seeing her smile truly was almost like an addictive drug to me, and it hadn't taken me very long to realize that fact.
There was nothing better than making a gorgeous woman's face light up, and Bella was no exception to that rule. The only difference here was that she was quickly becoming the only woman I'd ever want to make smile… ever again.
"How about if we sit by the pool?" I casually suggested, since she hadn't said anything, and there really wasn't anywhere for us to walk around here, without walking along some heavy traffic on the main road that lined our complex.
She agreed with a barely whispered 'okay', and I began walking us through the metal gate towards the chairs that sat under the big gazebo at the furthest end of the pool deck.
When we first sat down, I quickly noticed she looked nervous as all hell and on the verge of possibly having an emotional breakdown.
She was also refusing to look me in the eyes now, and her fingers were starting to pull almost manically at the bottom of the cotton t-shirt she'd changed into to hide the swimsuit she had donned.
"For a talk that's not supposed to be bad, you sure are sending me mixed signals, neighbor girl."
She finally broke her stare from her lap to look up at me again, then offered me a crooked smile once she'd released a loud exhale from between her lips. "I'm sorry. I just thought we'd have a little more time before I'd have to explain any of this to you, but now they're here, and it's kind of forcing my hand."
"How about we make things a little fairer?" I suggested, with a slight tilt of my head. "You share, and then it will be my turn to share something with you as well?"
In reality, this was my perfect in to get some things out in the open before her dad came at her with any of it as ammunition. I hadn't actually decided what, or how much I would tell her, but I knew I'd have to make it count for something.
Bella was nodding her head in agreement to my offer almost instantly, "Yeah, I like that idea." I reached over and took her hand against mine and gave it a firm pulse before shifting my seat forward, so I'd be able to position my legs between hers to give her knees a squeeze between my own.
"I'm ready when you are. Think of it like ripping off a ba..."
"MydadusedtobeaMarine." She suddenly spat out, without there being any true breaks between the words in the sentence she'd just attempted to catapult from her mouth.
"You're dad was a Marine?"
This didn't surprise me at all.
Hell, the man presented himself with such fierceness, I would have been more shocked if Bella had told me he'd never seen a day of battle in his life.
She nodded and looked up into my eyes, "He was in Afghanistan during Operation Infinite Reach, and while there, he almost lost his life. I was just a baby when that happened, but throughout my entire life, he's always made it a point to tell me his war stories, and how… how it was his best friend Billy who had saved his life by throwing him out of the way when they'd detonated a small explosive that had been buried in the sand while they'd been out on convoy." She paused to take another breath, and I squeezed her hands over and over again with mine, waiting patiently until she was ready to continue, because I knew this couldn't be rushed. "Billy wasn't as lucky as my dad. He lost his left leg and most of his arm… my dad… he had a really rough time with PTSD afterward, but that was to be expected given everything he saw, from what I understand anyway."
"Jesus, that must have been hard on your dad, but at least his friend didn't lose his life."
"Yeah. No, he didn't die. Billy came home once he finished his rehab, and he started a small construction and fencing business that quickly took off, and now it's worth a small fortune in our little town. Honestly, his family's business is the pillar of our community. It's what's kept Wake Forest from going under whenever the economy would tank and work would start to become sparse. Oh, Billy also happens to be the mayor. He ran unchallenged four years ago, and has held the position ever since."
"Sounds like he's done rather well for himself, all things considered."
"Yeah... well, you don't need all of your limbs to con people into believing up is down, and down is up." Bella snickered with a shake of her head and her eyes now slightly narrowed as they stared down at our knees where they were still pressed together.
"My dad, on the other hand, came home from Afghanistan with all of his limbs intact, but his mental health was in shambles. Within a couple of months, he became one of the more well-known town drunks, and although he's never said it out loud, I know that was ultimately what made my mom take off and never want to look back. Billy was the one who forced him to get his act together and sober up, once he did eventually hit rock bottom... and then he gave him a job. That happened when I was about six years old after the state finally got involved in our welfare and began knocking on our door."
Now it was my turn to narrow my eyes. Thirty seconds ago, it sounded as if Bella hated this Billy guy, but now it seemed it was the exact opposite, and for good reason.
She was also back to avoiding my eyes again, and she'd also pulled her hands from mine to lean herself back further into her chair in front of me.
"Billy is Jake's dad, Edward."
… And now we were actually getting somewhere.
This helped make sense of some things. No wonder she couldn't simply kick Jake out of her life. He'd never be removed completely from it because his father had come to her father's rescue more than once during their friendship… a friendship that included going off to war and almost dying together.
"Please, say something," She whispered after I'd chosen to remain silent while I processed everything she'd just shared with me.
"I get it. I can see why you'd have a hard time cutting the cord. Jake's dad saved your own dad's life, more than once. I'm trying to understand everything. What exactly did you mean by Billy conning people?"
She bit down on her bottom lip and nodded her head one time after letting her shoulders drop and her eyes close for a brief moment while trying to find her next words.
"Jake's dad isn't the most honest businessman in the world. He's basically gotten to where he has by making up his own rules, and at times, strong-arming more than just a few people over the years to get what he wants. My dad… and well now my brothers, too… they've been his go-to guys to help make things happen whenever any resistance would start to take place. Never anything physical, though. It's never been like that." She quickly added with a nervous laugh, "They just get information… dirt on people, then Billy uses the dirt to blackmail and help move things along in the direction he needs it to go in. None of them know I know about any of this. Not the ugly details anyways. Jake began filling me in the older we'd gotten, once I started to notice things, and started to ask questions."
"Huh… so he's what pulled a monopoly in the construction business where you live?"
"Yeah, simply put, but it's also more than that. Billy has always kept a tight leash on my father. Even though my dad thinks of him as his best friend, it's like you said, he saved his life twice, so in my dad's eyes, there's literally nothing he will ever be able to do to fully repay him for that, except by doing whatever Billy asks of him, in terms of realistic expectations."
"Let me guess, you eventually marrying his son has been one of those so-called realistic expectations?" I impulsively blurted out, unable to stop myself, "That's what I don't get, Bella. I'm hearing everything you're saying, but why would that be so important to Jake's dad?"
She laughed lightly, then shrugged her shoulders. "I don't really know, and I don't think they'd ever actually force us into a marriage we both didn't want, but yeah… they've applied the pressure and pushed Jake and me together since as far back as I can remember. The idea of our families becoming one... It was something my dad and Jake's dad talked about regularly. We didn't give into the possibility until High School. I think our hormones just finally got the better of us, and we figured why the hell not. I'll admit, I ended up falling in love with him pretty quickly. It was difficult not to once I'd let my guard down. Jake's just as much of a smooth talker as his father, and he knew how to sell himself, and the perfect future that could come with him, filled with whatever we'd want or need thanks to his dad's money, and the connections he had running our little town."
"I see."
She frowned over my short response. This time it was her turn reach forward and squeeze my hands in hers, in hopes of helping me find a way to relax.
"I mean, if they wanted their families to become one, maybe they should have just married each other? It's two-thousand and eighteen now. I'm sure people would eventually get over it and accept them with opened arms." I scoffed.
Bella forced a sarcastic smile and then rolled her eyes, "Unfortunately, my father will never love anyone but my mother for as long as he lives. Even though she up and left us almost twenty years ago."
"So, is that everything? I was worried you were going to tell me you and Jake had a baby you gave up for adoption years ago."
When she remained silent, I took that as my cue to get nervous.
"No." She finally laughed, releasing her straight face and allowing me to breathe again. "There's no baby. There is more though... That was just the beginning of it all. How Jake and I came to be." She paused and I could see her struggling again. Whatever she was thinking about now, it was pushing all of her emotions right back up to the surface. "Two years ago, right after I graduated from high school and started taking classes at our local college, my brother James got really sick. We found out it was his kidneys, and he lived on daily dialysis treatments for a little over a year before someone finally came forward as a perfect match. That was probably the hardest year of my entire life, seeing him so sick and miserable all of the time... not being able to do anything to really help him when he'd always been the one to help take care of me. Especially back when I was little and our dad was busy getting wasted at the local bar every day. All I could do for him was drive him back and forth to his treatments, and it was an hour and a half drive each way… which was why college never worked out for me."
This news threw me, and I didn't know what to say, so I just sat there and waited for her to continue, while also silently hoping the next words that came out of her mouth wouldn't be that Billy Black had been the one to donate his kidney to her older brother.
"Jake was the one who came forward to donate one of his kidneys… but I didn't even know it until after the procedures had already been done. We'd been on one of our breaks, not talking, doing our best to avoid each other around town, giving each other some space to figure things out since I was trying to make up my mind about giving college another go, part-time. My dad… my brothers… none of them said a word to me until they were both in ICU recovering that day."
Jesus fucking mother of all bullshit.
You have GOT to be KIDDING me!
Her goddamned boyfriend's father saved her own father's life, technically TWICE, and now it turns out her boyfriend saved her brother's life by giving him an actual functioning organ from his very own body in order to keep him alive, and also give her an opportunity to return to school...
No wonder she felt such a strong connection to Jake and his family.
Regardless of what she herself wanted for her own life and future.
"Okay, now, is that everything?"
Please for the love of God let that be everything.
She nodded and her eyes softened. She was on the verge of crying again, which allowed me to see just how much that one selfless act from Jake had meant to her. Him coming forward like that, even if he did have a deep seeded ulterior motive in it all, it still meant more to Bella than she'd ever be able to admit out loud.
If someone had done that for my sister, I would have felt just as obligated to forever and always find ways to bend over backward and thank them for the rest of my days.
As much as I didn't want to accept it, I could absolutely understand where Bella was coming from now. There was even a very small part of me that actually felt a little bad for the guy I was currently competing against.
"That's everything of importance." She released another rushed breath, then briskly sighed in front of me, "Right after the procedure, Jake and I got back together again, and things were really good for a while. At least, I thought they were. I thought I'd fallen in love with him all over again, and that he was actually going to be it for me… forever… and our life would be comfortably complete, but I guess… I guess he saw through the long-term reality of that before I could even start to see it myself. One day, we were talking about moving in together, and then the next day he was telling me he'd gotten accepted to UCF, and he was moving away without me. In the blink of an eye, he'd made another life-changing decision that would affect me, without even pausing long enough to include me while he'd made it." She took in another deep breath then released it and closed her eyes to once again avoid mine, "When he left to come to Florida… I was mad. By then, I'd planned my entire future to stay where I was, just for him, in Wake Forest, so when he left... I came here, with Alice… and then I met you."
"And our own chapter began." I softly added for her.
She smiled and nodded, and I reached over to brush the most recent tear from under her eye with my thumb.
"You have to tell me, Bella. Are you questioning whether or not our chapter is worth continuing? Now that your family is here to remind you about everything else?"
"What?!" Her eyes went wide and her head began to shake itself back and forth over and over again almost frantically. "No! Not at all!"
She honestly looked like I'd just suggested we find someone on the street to murder and toss into the ocean. This almost made me smile.
"I just wanted you to understand why they're going to make things difficult for you… for me… us. To them, I belong with Jake. Without him and his family, my own family would likely be a shell of nothingness, barely treading water to stay afloat, but I can't let that truth hold me back from finding something that truly makes me feel happy, and complete in this world."
"Do I make you feel happy?" I was smirking, hoping it might trigger the same reaction out of her.
"You make me feel things I've never even thought possible."
She'd barely finished her sentence, but I was already reaching my arms forward to grab her and pull her into my lap. I brought my hand into her hair and locked her stare with mine, so I'd know she'd hear every word I was about to say to her.
"I'm not going to let them scare me away. The only way I'll ever go anywhere, that wouldn't bring me right back to you, is if you told me you're done, and he's won."
Bella forced a smile and shook her head again. "For what it's worth, right now, in this moment, after last night, I can't imagine that ever happening."
With her earnest words, I found myself able to relax again and also pace the beating of my heart. I increased my hold around her body to keep her carefully positioned against me, then released my own anxious exhale beside her ear after hugging her against me.
"Alright then, let's see if you still feel that way after I tell you a little bit about my own father."
"It's okay," she smiled, "Google was already my friend today."
I felt my eyes go wide again and pulled myself back to look at her in disbelief, "You- you know?"
She smirked wider and shifted her weight from where she was still sitting in my lap, then took her phone out from her pocket to show me an article that was pulled up on the screen.
An article that was all about my dad and uncle stealing millions from retirees who trusted them with their life savings.
"I did a little internet sleuthing as soon as I got into my apartment and disappeared into the bathroom to collect myself. I'm sorry… I know I probably should have just waited for you to be ready to tell me yourself, but I was worried my dad would beat you to the punch. I wanted to be prepared for the worst and have my reaction ready." She dropped her arms over my shoulder to press her forehead against mine then smiled again, "This isn't the worst. He didn't murder anyone, or run a human sex trafficking ring. You're not your father, Edward, and I would never judge you because of his mistakes. Everyone is flawed. Some people just become a little more jaded with their flaws, so they start to look for new opportunity without paying attention to the potential fall out. My own father is guilty of that."
I looked at her in complete awe as my feelings for her found ways to triple right there with her still sitting in my arms. "You're pretty incredible, Bella Swan."
"I think the same about you, Edward Cullen." She grinned back at me, then leaned in to kiss my lips with hers. When we parted, she pressed her forehead back into mine again and closed her eyes, right as the Elevator doors dinged and opened about twenty feet away from us. Her brother instantly released what was apparently his signature whistle, and she let out a soft sigh, "Ready to be fed to the wolves?"
"As ready as I'll ever be. Let me run up my place to get my swimsuit, and then I'll meet you guys back down here in five minutes. Jasper and Alice took my car or I'd offer to drive."
"No worries, my dad doesn't like it when other people drive anyways." She softly laughed, then carefully stood herself up from my lap. I made it a point to quickly take her hand right back into mine once we'd started walking forward together.
They could give me all the looks they wanted.
I wasn't going to let their presence slow down the progress Bella and I had been making, because I was in this for all the right reasons, and I wasn't here to play games.
They needed to see that. Even if it did make them uncomfortable, and all the more guarded at their end.
This was mine and Bella's reality now.
They were only here visiting.
A/N: Not too much of a cliffy with this one. Mostly because it will likely be a few weeks (at least 2-3) before I update this story again. This is because I'm currently 100% focused on completing TMF so I can get the last two chapters of that story posted by the end of this month. Woohoo for goals!
Many thanks to my beta, myonlyherion for getting this chapter done for me.
Now that we know why the Blacks mean so much to the Swan family, how do we feel?
**Reviews make me smile!**
**Leave me your words and I'll share a peek into Bella's head while she's giving her family a quick tour of her apartment...**
**(aka: the beginning of the interrogations).**
