The Twilight Twenty-Five
thetwilight25 dot com
Prompt:Disheveled
Main Character: Edward
Rating:M
Word Count:497
Unbetaed, so all mistakes are mine.
Stephenie Meyer owns it.
Thank you for reading:)
The front door slammed closed, and the sound of feet pounding up the stairs filled the house. Carlisle look up from from his laptop with a frown, then calmly walked upstairs and knocked on his youngest son's door.
"Edward? What's going on?" From inside he heard heavy breathing and the sound of feet pacing back and forth.
"Open the door, please."
After a moment the door swung open. Edward stood there, disheveled and defiant. "What?"
Carlisle raised a brow. "Whatever the problem is, there's no reason to be rude. What happened to you?"
Edward's pale face was marred by a bruise on his left cheek, and a bloody lip. His shirt was torn at the neck, and his hair was more of a crazy mess than it usually was.
"I got into it with Mike Newton. He started it." He stared at the floor, refusing to meet his father's eyes.
Carlisle knew the boy. He was a troublemaker, but this was the first he'd heard of any trouble between him and his son.
"What exactly did he start? Am I going to be getting a call from the boy's parents?"
A small smile flitted across Edward's face. "Maybe. He looks worse than I do."
"What was this about, Edward?" Carlisle knew his son. He wasn't the sort to go looking for trouble, and he sensed Edward's reluctance to tell him the whole story.
After a few moments of silence, Edward spoke. "Bella."
"Bella?" Bella Swan lived next door to the Cullens. She and Edward had been inseparable since kindergarten. "Was the Newton boy bothering Bella? You need to tell Chief Swan if—ˮ
"He's going out with her!" Edward's face was blotchy red with anger as he blurted out the words.
Carlisle sighed. Why hadn't he seen this coming?
"Edward, you told me he started it. Did you start something with him because he's dating Bella?"
The bed creaked as Edward slumped down on it, running a hand through his hair. "Dad, he doesn't deserve her. What does she see in that jerk? He flirts with other girls, talks down to her...She shouldn't be with him!"
Choosing his words carefully, Carlisle said, "You think she should be with you."
Edward looked up. "Yes! She's my best friend. I'd do anything for her. I—I love her."
"Does Bella know this?"
Miserably, Edward shook his head. "No."
Carlisle considered this. "My advice to you would be this: continue being a friend to Bella. She's a smart girl—she'll come around about the Newton boy, and when she does, be there for her. Let her know how you feel."
Edward accepted the one-armed hug his father proffered, and watched him get up and go to the door, turning back to give Edward a smile before closing it behind him.
His dad was pretty smart, and Edward knew his advice was sound. But waiting for Bella to come around...that would be the hard part.