SONG: Dashboard Confessional - Stolen

Chapter 28

Questions & Doubt

EPOV

What was she playing at?

Was she just messing with me? What was that guy doing at her house again, just walking in casually, and holding food as if he owned the place?

Calling her 'Bells'.

Maybe I had read a little too much into things, but I had thought our little talk outside had meant something. I thought that our kiss had meant something. She had told me that she liked me; that she wasn't dating that guy, yet he had turned up after school again. And ok, I had tried not to let that bother me. I had gone over to her house without calling, to see – if I was being honest – whether that guy would be there. And I'd been glad to see that he wasn't.

But then he'd walked in.

And from the looks of things, he had already been at her house; he looked like he just went to pick up some food. He had already been in the house with her, and they were about to cosy up in front of the TV, eating Chinese food, before I got there. And she had told me to leave, not him, so he had obviously been there before me.

I had interrupted them.

What the fuck was she doing? Did she really like me at all, or was she messing around with both of us? I didn't think she was the kind of girl to do that, but you could never be sure these days. And what did she say to me? She would call me and explain? Well, I'd been sitting in my room waiting for her call. I tried not to be mad, I tried to wait until I heard what she had to say before I got mad, but it was becoming increasingly difficult not to be. I was growing more furious by the second.

I watched the clock incessantly.

It had been two and a half hours since I had left her house and still, no phone call. The urge to call her was so strong it was like there was a magnetic force tugging my hand to my cell sitting on my bedside drawer.

But I couldn't let myself give in and call her. I would wait for her to call me.

The time ticked on slowly and my jaw was clenched so tight it had started to ache; my fists were balled up at my sides as I sat on my bed, glaring at the clock. No one in the house bothered me. Jazz saw me storming through the front door and must have alerted everyone of my mood, so they stayed clear. I tried to force the images of that guy with Bella out of my head, but it was futile, with every passing second, they kept creeping up in my mind's eye. Bella and him sitting on the couch, eating together. Bella kissing him on the couch...the way she had kissed me in school earlier...

Him leading Bella upstairs to her bedroom...

I picked up my phone and gripped it tightly. I desperately wanted to call her. What the fuck was taking her so long to call? What was she doing? She couldn't still be with him could she?

Two hours and forty five minutes. Still no call.

Three hours. Still no fucking phone call.

Wait. What the fuck am I? I thought to myself. Am I an idiot? Why the hell was I sitting there like some...loser, waiting for her to call? I had never in my life, done that before. For any girl.

What was Bella Swan doing to me?

I got up from my bed and paced my room for a bit. It was past ten now, she probably wasn't going to call me tonight. I grabbed my hoody, pulled on my sneakers, grabbed my car keys and walked out of my room – leaving my cell sitting on my bed.

I ran down the stairs, and almost collided with Carlisle who was coming up them, holding his briefcase and a stack of papers in his hand.

"Whoa Edward! Slow down son."

I kept my head down and mumbled, "Sorry uncle C."

He looked at me.

"Are you alright Edward?"

Fuck. Not now Carlisle.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Hmmm, where are you going? You know, its past ten and this is a school night." He said.

I sighed. "I know, I'm just going for a drive, I'll be twenty minutes at most."

"Are you sure you're ok?" he asked, frowning.

"Yes. I'm fine." I said, through clenched teeth, "Can I please go now?"

He looked at me apprehensively and sighed.

"Don't be back too late."

I continued hurriedly down the stairs and into my car.

I put in a CD, turned it up loudly and rolled down the windows as I raced down the street. I drove aimlessly, not really having anywhere to go. I just wanted to clear my head, to calm down, and driving usually helped me to do that. It wasn't really working well today though. Bella Swan was still a permanent fixture in my thoughts. Before I had even thought about what I was doing, I was already driving down the road towards her house.

I parked silently in front of her house. Her dad's car was in the driveway. Why did I come here? I thought to myself. There was no way I was going to knock on the door and ask to speak to her at this time of night. Her dad would probably shoot a bullet up my ass. I sat in my car watching the house, and honestly, feeling like some kind of stalker, as the lights went off one by one until the house was in complete darkness.

I sighed and was about to start my engine, ready to drive off, when a light in the house flicked back on. I looked up and saw it was in the room above the kitchen, at the front of the house. The curtains were closed, but I could make out a faint shadow moving behind them. Bella? I thought. The shadow was small and slight; it definitely didn't look like it belonged to Charlie Swan.

I got out of my car and quietly walked up to the house. I peered up at the window, feeling completely like some kind of pervert stalker, but I couldn't help it. I was ninety eight percent sure it was her, so I picked up a tiny stone and threw it at the window. I waited a while, but nothing happened so I threw another one. I could see the person moving over to the window, so I threw another one.

The curtain opened a little, and I saw Bella looking out curiously.

My heart sputtered a little at the sight of her.

She looked around at first, before her eyes cast down and met mine. She looked startled, her jaw dropping a little. She closed the curtain again, and I was left puzzled. Did she not want to see me? I waited, staring anxiously at her window for a few minutes, when she suddenly pushed back the curtains and pulled open the window. She leaned out and threw something down.

"It's my keys, open the front door and come up. But be really quiet, I'm not sure if my dad's still awake or not." She whispered.

She leaned back in and shut the window.

I moved forward and picked up the keys, feeling stunned. She wanted me to sneak into her house. Into her room. I walked up to the front door, and fumbled about with the keys, trying to figure out which ones were for the door. I finally unlocked the door, opened it slowly, and then locked it again. The house was in complete darkness, I could barely see where I was going as I crept quietly over to the stairs. I slowly climbed the stairs, wincing a little as some of them creaked under my feet. I reached the second floor and panicked for a moment when I realised I didn't know which door was hers. But then I saw light leaking out from under one of the doors and it was obviously her room. I knocked on her door softly and it flew open. She grabbed my arm and pulled me into her room, shutting and locking her door quickly.

I stood in the middle of her room, looking at her, feeling awkward, while she leaned against her door looking back at me. Her hair was damp, a towel in her hand. She was wearing blue sweatpants and a plain white t shirt and her feet were bare.

She looked...gorgeous.

After a moment, a faint blush coloured a face.

"You didn't call." I said, frowning and looking down at the floor.

"I did call." She said quietly, "But you didn't answer your phone."

I looked up at her and she was also frowning.

"When?" I questioned.

"About half an hour ago, before I got in the shower."

Half an hour ago, I was driving around in my car. Shit. I remembered I left my cell in my room.

"Oh." I said, "I err, left my cell in my room."

She nodded and looked down.

"You can sit down you know."

I looked around and realised I was still standing. But where would I sit? It didn't feel right for me to sit on her bed. There was a chair by a desk with a mirror, in the corner of the room. I sat there. She moved over to her bed and sat in the middle of it, facing me, her legs crossed. She started drying her hair with the towel. I tried really hard not to stare at her, so I looked around her room. It was neat and feminine, just like her. The walls were lilac, and she had a lilac lamp on her bedside drawer. Her sheets and curtains were matching; they were white with lilac flowers on them and she had a few soft toys on her bed, which I almost smiled at. There was a small portable CD player next to the lamp, along with an alarm clock. A small bookcase was in the corner opposite the desk I was sitting at, filled with books.

She was brushing her hair now, and the silence was becoming uncomfortable.

"So what were you going to say? You know, when you called." I asked her, still trying not to look at her.

"I was going to explain, you know, about what happened earlier on with Jake." Her breath hitched a little after she said 'Jake.'

I looked up at her quickly, but she was leaning forward, her hair concealing her face. I sighed quietly, exasperated.

"Well?" I said gruffly, "Explain then."

She sighed. "We were just...hanging out Edward, like we usually do. Well, like we usually did." She sniffed.

What the hell? Was she crying?

"Hanging out? Well, I know what your version of hanging out entails." I said, scowling at my fists.

She looked up at me quickly.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" she asked, her eyes narrowing.

I looked up at her and saw the glistening of tears on her cheeks. She was crying. My own eyes narrowed back at her.

"Well, you told me before that you and Jake just 'hung out', and then you told me that you kissed him too. I mean, I don't usually kiss people I'm just hanging out with."

Her mouth pushed out into a pout and she glowered at me.

"Look, I told you that Jake liked me ok. I also told you that I didn't like him that way, that I liked you. The only reason Jake was in my house today was because I didn't want to hurt him. I don't know, I thought that maybe I could tell him that I just wanted to be friends with him. But then you had to come and interrupt and fuck up the whole thing. And then I ended up hurting him anyway and he probably doesn't want to see me ever again, so I've lost a really good guy that could have been my friend."

Fresh tears rolled down her cheeks and I felt engulfed with rage and...Jealousy.

"You're crying? Over him? Well why the fuck did you tell me you liked me then? Why the fuck am I here? If you want to be with him then why don't you just...fucking be with him?"

She wiped her face furiously and groaned, frustrated.

"For goodness sake Edward, didn't you just hear what I said? I fucking like you! I don't want Jake! I'm crying because I hurt him and I didn't want to lose him, as a friend!" she yelled.

There was a knock on the door and the doorknob turned. We both froze and looked at it.

"Bells? Are you alright honey?" Charlie Swan's panicked voice called out.

Bella looked at me and put a finger to her lips, signalling me to keep quiet. I rolled my eyes. Like I was that stupid. Plus, it was her who was yelling in the first place.

"Yes dad, I'm fine." She said loudly.

"Are you sure? I thought I heard you yelling."

"No dad, that wasn't me." She lied.

"O...k," Charlie said uncertainly. I heard him shuffle back to him room and close his door.

She sighed in relief, and turned back to me. We stared at each other a moment, her lips still pouting and her forehead creased. My eyes still narrowed and teeth clenched.

My eyes involuntarily darted to her lips and she flushed, and finally broke our gaze. She scowled at her lap instead, folding her arms over her chest.

"So...he probably won't be coming back then?" I said.

She rolled her eyes.

"Duh. What the hell was I just screaming at you a minute ago?"

I nodded slowly, the jealousy and anger gradually dissolving.

"I'm sorry." I said softly, trying to meet her eyes, "I was being an ass."

"You were." She replied, still looking at her lap.

I slowly got up from the chair and moved over to her bed. She looked up as I walked over to her, her face flushing instantly.

I stood in front of her, in front of her bed, and cupped her chin with my hand. I lifted it so she was looking up at me. I just gazed into her eyes for a while, still holding her chin, which was hot and flushed under my fingers.

"Can I pick you up for school tomorrow morning?" I asked her. I just couldn't keep away from her.

"Ok." She whispered.

I tore my eyes away from hers for a moment, and glanced at the time on her small alarm clock. I grimaced at the time, it was past midnight.

"Shit. I've got to go. Carlisle's going to kill me; I told him I'd only be about twenty minutes."

She smiled, then slowly rose up and got off the bed, standing in front of me. She held her arms out to me, for a hug. I leaned forward, putting my arms around her tiny waist and hugged her, pulling her close to me. She put her arms around my neck and gripped me tightly. We stood there for a while. I inhaled her sweet vanilla and strawberry scent and then suddenly I noticed that she wasn't wearing a bra. And she must have been cold or something because I could feel her nipples pebbled against my chest. I pulled away from her hastily before I could start getting excited. I stroked her cheek and then turned to go, suddenly wondering how I was going to get out.

She grinned and then pulled me towards her door.

"C'mon, I'll let you out the front door. We'll have to be really quick and silent." She whispered.

She pushed me in front of her and we tiptoed down the stairs. She silently unlocked the door and I slipped out. I paused and turned to her, and then leaned forward and kissed her lips quickly. She blushed and smiled at me before whispering,

"See you tomorrow Edward."

I grinned at her and jogged over to my car.

As I drove away, I couldn't help the huge grin that was plastered on my face.

Bella Swan, I thought to myself again, what was she doing to me?

Author's Note:

Yay! Thanks so much to all the people putting my story on their favourites list! I'm so happy! Thanks to all the reviewers and to all the people reading my story! Very very much appreciated.

Please review some more!

Savannah-Vee