Chapter Three: Fight
Bella's POV
I didn't wake up again until around 9:00am. Pain woke me up again but this time it wasn't just cramps. My body hurt because I didn't have any food in my system. I had thrown up everything I had eaten yesterday and my body needed food soon. I rolled over and kissed Edward. I lay in his arms for a minute before getting up and heading to the bathroom. I took more Midol and brushed my teeth. Alice had gone to my house last night to pick up some stuff for me. I saw that, despite her disapproval of them, she had brought me my favorite, old sweats. This was not a time for fashion but for comfort. I knew that she wanted me to be as comfortable as possible. I put the sweats and walked with Edward down to the kitchen. I was clumsier than usual because my hands were shaking. I dropped two pop tarts on the floor before I finally got two into the toaster. When they were done, I burned my finger trying to get them out. I let a string of curse words fly out of my mouth. I saw the shocked and worried look on Edward's face; I hardly ever said any bad words. He didn't know that day two was fatigue day. Being fatigued from the severity of pain from the first day made me extremely irritable.
Edward got up to see my finger but I didn't want him to touch it.
"stay away from me, Edward. I don't want to be touched" I told him. This was an irrational statement because his cool fingers would feel good against the burn but I didn't want him to touch me. Emmett came into the kitchen at that moment.
"Are you still ranting? Geeze, you're a trip," he was teasing but I was already irritated.
"Leave me alone, Emmett. Don't you have something better to do than ride my ass? Go ride Rosalie's for a while." I snarled at him. He took offense to that.
"Hey, at least my mate doesn't have to keep a constant eye on me so I don't get myself killed." He yelled back.
"my mate doesn't have to elbow me in the ribs to get me to keep my mouth shut, like yours does!" I fired back at him.
"No because he would hurt you because you are a weak human." Emmett fumed.
"Yes and you are soo strong!" I said as sarcastically as I could.
"Stupid human klutz!"
"Big, knuckleheaded ass!"
"Death trap!"
"Antagonist!"
We were in each other's faces now and Emmett was snarling at me. Rosalie was there now and she and Edward stepped in between us.
"You wouldn't last a day without Edward to save your scrawny ass!" Emmett shouted.
"Ugh! You are such a jerk!" I shouted back at him
Even though Edward and Rosalie were between us, we continued to shout as if they weren't there.
"Why don't you just bite my scrawny ass then! I bet you would enjoy that!" I fumed at him, ignoring Edward's arm around me.
"Are you giving me permission? I bet you would enjoy it if I bit you, too!" Emmett yelled back.
"Oh, I don't know what Rosalie sees in you!" I spat at him.
"Funny, I was just trying to figure out what Edward sees in you. What could possibly attract him to a plain, bitchy, irritating human, like you!"
That hurt really bad; he had just voiced my insecurities. I let the tears flow as I ran up to Edward's room and slammed the door.
Edward's POV
I had never seen Bella act like that. I know that she was overly emotional, but this was just scary and I'm not easily scared. I had never heard her say more than a few curse words since I met her and now she burns her finger and lets an elaborate string of curses fly. She wouldn't let me touch her, either. Bella had never told me not to touch her; on the contrary, she was usually upset when I didn't. I was already confused when Emmett came in and made things worse. It was normal for Emmett to be an antagonist and I wasn't surprised when he started teasing Bella. Her reaction did surprise me, though. I had never seen her lash out like that. My sweet, kind, beautiful Bella started fighting ferociously with Emmett. It wasn't a physical fight; Emmett would have ripped Bella to shreds. They were yelling some pretty awful things at each other. It was scary and at the same time, sexy to see Bella that way. She was fiery and intense. It was very arousing.
Rosalie heard Emmett yelling and came to what was going on. Her thoughts were worried about only Emmett. She wasn't concerned with Bella like I was. Emmett's thoughts were focused solely on hurting Bella. His thoughts were vicious. Rosalie and I stepped in between them so that the fight didn't become physical. They kept up the verbal abuse until Emmett voiced Bella's biggest insecurity; her fear of her being inadequate for me. She was scared to death that I would think that she wasn't good enough for her and not love her anymore, despite the fact that I couldn't live without her and I didn't want to try. Those words cut across her like a whip and I could clearly see the pain in her face. As she ran up the stairs crying, I turned on Emmett.
"Was that really necessary? Bella is an emotional wreck and doesn't mean anything she says. You really hurt her feelings with that. It's her biggest insecurity and you threw it at her. Way to go, Emmett." I said to him, angrily, as I blocked his thoughts. I didn't want to hear what he was thinking or give him a chance to respond. I left the kitchen at vampire speed to go and comfort Bella.
Emmett's POV
The fight with Bella and then Edward's angry words really shook me. I wasn't expecting Bella to get so angry with me. I wasn't trying to start a fight; I was just joking at first. She brought Rosalie into it and that made me mad. I could take her insulting me but no one insults my Rose without consequences. I couldn't help myself and now I regretted it. It was Bella. Bella, the human I joked around with, Bella, my brother's soul mate. I considered her my sister now and I loved her like she was my little sister. I had hurt my sister pretty bad. I hadn't meant a word of what I said to her, not really. The image of her face just before she turned, ran out, and up the stairs now flashed in my head. Her face was full of pain; like I had slapped her but really I hadn't touched her. That image seared white-hot in my brain. I felt terrible about everything that had just happened. I looked at Rose and she nodded, knowing what I was thinking. She stayed where she was as I walked up the two flights of stairs to Edward's room. I knew that I was a jerk at a time when she needed a laugh; instead, she got a fight. I was going to do what I should have done in the first place and make it up to Bella. I took a deep, unnecessary breath and knocked on the door.
"Come in, Emmett" Edward's voice was still full of anger at me. I opened the door and cautiously walked in. Edward was sitting on the bed with Bella in his lap. I could hear that she was sobbing into Edward's chest. He had his arms wrapped protectively around her, rubbing her back. Edward glared at me but didn't move when he read my thoughts. I put my request into words.
"Edward, can I have a minute to talk to Bella alone, please? I just want to apologize and I don't feel comfortable with you burning a hole in me with your eyes. Please, just a minute." I begged him, my eyes pleading. Bella looked me in the eye then nodded to Edward.
"Ok, I'll be in the hall if you need me," he said with warning in his voice. He slid Bella onto the bed and left, shutting the door behind him.
"Bella, I am so sorry about what I said to you. I didn't mean a word of it and I didn't mean to hurt you. I was rude and insensitive to you and I'm sorry. I went too far and I want you to know that I am sorry, I didn't mean it, and I will do anything to make it up to you if you will forgive me. I-" she stopped me there.
"Emmett, sit down." Bella patted the spot next to her on the bed. I went and sat where she told me.
"I'm sorry too, Emmett. I let my crazy emotions get the better of me and I said some awful things to you. I didn't mean any of it either. You aren't the only one who went too far, ya know." She said as she stared into my eyes with her warm, brown eyes.
I pulled her into a hug and said, "I still feel awful that I hurt my sister's feelings. I wont do it again, I promise."
She pulled back to look at me. "Did you just call me your sister?" she sounded shocked and touched.
I grinned and replied, "yeah, I definitely love you like a sister and we got the fighting part down. As far as I'm concerned, you are my little sister."
A tear sparkled on her cheek as she smiled at me. I wiped it away with my thumb and she hugged me again before she spoke.
"Emmett, I never had any real siblings. You have no idea what it means to me that you think of me as your sister. I love you like a brother, big brother Emmett. Yes, I like that." I laughed and she joined me. I could tell that everything was great between us.