A/N: I'm not Stephanie Meyer :)
"I guess I'm sorry for the way I acted earlier." Emmett said. His facial expression quickly changed back to anger after his admittance of remorse. "Actually, no, I'm not sorry. But I acknowledge that I should be sorry and I understand that fully." He conceded with himself. It was a better response than I had expected, which was my death.
"Emmett I promise you that I didn't know that was going to happen." I told him. I couldn't exactly say that it 'just happened' or that it was a 'lapse of judgment' because it wasn't. I would never regret it. He pondered what I was saying for a moment. I couldn't stop thinking of Bella having to ride with Rose. I was kind of angry with Emmett for making it so she couldn't ride with me, but I preferred talking to Emmett alone.
"It's just frustrating, Edward. I'm new at this, I don't know how to act like a brother to her. And to be honest, I don't know how to be your friend at the same time. On one hand I wish that Bella would date someone other than one of my best friends…." He said and I noticeably flinched at the idea that Bella could be with someone else. "On the other hand, I'm happy that she's with you. Because no matter what you two do and whether it's my business or not, I know that you're a good guy." He admitted through gritted teeth. I felt like I was talking to my father who was giving me condoms. I sighed as we pulled up to Charlie's house and decided to wait for Bella. I couldn't believe Rosalie drove so slowly.
After Bella arrived and Charlie explained that she might have to go to Arizona her body stiffened. My heart broke for her. I never wanted her to feel bad or scared. "Can we go to the meadow?" She whispered to me. Her eyes were nearly pleading. I couldn't say no, not that I would have anyway.
"Of course, Love." I assured her while giving her small hand a light squeeze. She asked Charlie if we could go, knowing he would say yes. It was easy to see the kind of compassion Charlie had for his daughter. She had only come into his life a few months before and she was already his world. I always liked Charlie, he was always a good Dad to Emmett but there was a different connection between him and Bella.
Bella came back and without a word she got into my Volvo, not even letting me open the door for her. I climbed into the drivers seat and carefully studied her face. It was completely blank with only a small hint of a tear threatening to spill over. I drove her to the meadow not saying a word the entire drive. It was a comfortable silence, but kind of sad. I knew she wasn't feeling good. And when Bella didn't feel good, neither was I. I parked in my usual spot on the side of the road. I got out and walked around to Bella's side of the car. She let me open the door for her this time. She gave me a weak smile before taking my hand. I led her to the meadow.
We sat down in the beautiful circle. Bella rested her head on my chest. "I'm scared." She admitted. I felt like my heart would stop beating. I knew it wasn't my fault but a small part of me wondered how I could ever let her be scared even if I wasn't the one who scared her.
"Please don't be. It's almost over, Bella." I assured her. I kissed the top of her head, which caused a small smile to play on her lips. Her eyes were still sad, though. "We don't even know he'll plead not guilty." I told her.
"He will plead insanity." She said with confidence. She had obviously thought about it a lot more than I had, and she knew him.
"I'll go with you." I said to her, and myself. I was almost certain that my parents would let me. They loved Bella, and Emmett, and Charlie.
"Be real, Edward." She scoffed.
"I am being real. I will go with you. I won't let you do this alone." I told her.
She sat silent for a few moments before finally letting her few tears spill over. "Do you promise?" She asked with a small sob. I wrapped my arms around her. She wasn't sobbing or hysterical. She just sat there while tears slowly fell from her beautiful eyes.
"I promise." I whispered. I kissed her tears away and pressed one small kiss to her lips. We must have sat in the meadow for a good hour in silence. Bella just snuggled into my chest while I kept kissing her. My phone began ringing breaking the sweet silence that we had. It was Emmett.
"Hello?" I answered politely.
"Hey Edward. I was just calling to tell you that my Dad and I are going to the station to make some calls about the case. Do you mind staying with Bella until we get back? She seems upset." He asked.
"Of course, no problem." I assured him and hung up.
"What was that about?" Bella asked me.
"Emmett just wants me to stay with you for a bit. Him and Charlie are going to go make some calls about the case. Talk to lawyers and whatever else they need to do." I told her. She just nodded. I couldn't stand to see her sad anymore. "You know what I think, Bella?" I asked trying to keep the grin off of my face. I couldn't, though, which made Bella laugh. It was a beautiful sound.
"What's that?" She asked playfully.
"I think we should go on a date tonight, just you and me. We'll go to dinner and do something fun to get your mind off of everything else." I explained to her. It sounded like a good idea to me. She smiled brightly at me.
"I would like that." She said. I looked up at the sky and noticed that soon the typical Washington weather would catch up with us. We needed to move quickly. We walked our way through the woods. By the time we got to our car it was pouring.
"I think I need to change before we go out." She giggled then gave me a kiss. I let her in the car. I was glad that I was able to get Bella's spirits up. I drove while Bella rested her hand on my knee. We pulled up to her house and went inside. She got dressed pretty quickly. I went through my old suitcase and put on the outfit I had for the next day before I knew we would be leaving Portland early.
Bella came down the stairs wearing a black sweater and dark jeans. She looked beautiful as always. She had her wet hair pulled back and she had put on just the subtlest amount of make up. She finally made her way to me and I instantly wrapped my arms around her before kissing her chastely.
"You ready to go?" I asked, my lips just a centimeter from hers.
"Mhmm." She responded with another kiss. We headed back to the Volvo and headed to Port Angeles to eat at La Bella Italia.
We pulled up at the restaurant, which wasn't nearly as crowded as I had expected. We walked in and the host seated us in a private booth that I requested. The male waiter came out and asked what we would like to drink. He was shamelessly gawking at Bella. She was completely unaware.
"And what would you like to drink?" He asked her trying to be seductive. I could swear he was looking right down her top.
"We'll both have cokes." I said with a hint of malice in my voice. I think he got the point that maybe he shouldn't be eyeing my girlfriend the way he was.
"Alright, two cokes." He was aggravated. I didn't care much. As soon as he walked away Bella got up and sat on my side of the booth with me.
"I love you." She whispered into my ear and gave me a kiss on my cheek. I didn't really know what had put her in such a good mood but I certainly didn't mind.
"I love you, too." I told her. Lover boy came back with our drinks and gave me the evil eye for sitting so close to my own girlfriend. That boy was about to get on my nerves. As soon as he set down the drinks I protectively put my arm around Bella. She instinctively snuggled in to me. She had no idea what she was doing to the poor fool who was merely there to take our order, and give us our food.
"Have we decided on what we want to eat?" He yet again directed his question at Bella.
"I'll have the Chicken Alfredo, and love, what would you like?" I asked her with compassion. Partly because I liked being compassionate with her, but mostly because I wanted to irritate the poor waiter.
"I'll have the Mushroom Ravioli." She told him. The boy wrote down the order and stomped away.
"Okay, what's your problem with our waiter?" Bella giggled. I had no idea that she had even noticed.
"I think he's in love with you." I told her with a chuckle.
"Poor guy." She sighed. "He has no idea that he could never be with me." She finished with a grin.
"That's good to know." I said before kissing the side of her neck.
"I think we're going to be together forever." She said a little nervously with her lovely blush. And then it dawned on me, the trueness of what she was saying. I really could be with her forever. I could see it all. I could see her and Charlie appearing at the end of a long aisle where she would walk down to become my wife, I could see her raising my kids with me. I could see her being old with me.
"We will be together forever, Bella. I promise." I told her. I managed to sneak in another quick kiss before the waiter came back with our food. I reluctantly unwrapped my arm from Bella so we could eat our food. We ate in comfortable silence sneaking flirty glances at each other every once in a while and sneaking in kisses between bites. It was time to pay and leave. I left the waiter a twenty per cent tip despite the fact that I didn't really feel he deserved it. I held Bella's hand as we walked to the car. I got into the driver's seat and instantly I didn't feel right.
"You forgot about me, didn't you?" I heard a deep voice in the back seat. I turned around and saw none other than Billy Black and Henry Clearwater.
Bella started to jump out of the car when I heard a click. I turned around and saw that Billy had a gun.
"I suggest you drive, kid." He told me. "Let me tell you a little story that sets all the way back to when Renee first got pregnant with your precious Bella." He sneered.
A/N: A day late! Ahhh! My net was glitching yesterday. Review, yeah? It's almost over :(