Chapter Nine
EPOV – Present Day
As I got ready to meet the gang at Fickle, I couldn't help but think back to high school, the happier times and the bad. The happy times had been oh so good, but the bad? The bad had been excruciatingly bad. I was looking forward to seeing the gang altogether again. One person's error had affected all of our lives in ways that she had not imagined. It had broken us, some more than others. I had no idea how we could fix it though. We couldn't. Not without having that all important conversation.
At 8pm I found myself standing outside the club waiting for the rest of the gang to arrive. My mind was still going a mile a minute. I was nervous, excited, angry, hurt and happy all at once. I couldn't seem to get a hold on any of my emotions. I was still lost in my thoughts when I felt the tingle at my back, signalling Bella's arrival. I turned and my jaw just about hit the floor at the sight before me.
Bella was dressed in the most sinful sweater dress in a deep blue colour and matching shoes. Her hair was half up in a twisted bun, the rest hanging down her back in waves. Her eyes. My God, her eyes were done in a smokey blue-black shade with eyeliner at the bottom making those beautiful chocolate orbs looking dark with lust. I just about came in my pants there and then. It took me a few moments to notice that the rest of the gang were there too and staring back and forth between us with amused expressions.
"Hey Ed! How's it hangin' lil bro?" I felt Em's large hand slap me on my back, but I couldn't react. All I could do was stare intently at the goddess before me. Who, by the way, was blushing furiously.
BPOV – Present Day
I stood there, blushing, and watched the green in Edward's eyes darken until they were a deep emerald colour with flashes of black. I was pleased at his reaction. It was the whole reason I had allowed Alice to play 'Bella Barbie' and not complained once in the first place. I walked slowly forward towards Edward, who had yet to move, and placed my hand on his arm
"Hi Edward" I said softly. The sound of my voice and the touch of my hand seemed to bring him out of his stupor. I felt hurt wash over me as he took a step back from me, out of my touch
"Hello Bella" he replied without looking at me. I felt tears prick my eyelids, but I forced them back. I knew it was going to be hard to gain his forgiveness, but I was determined to gain it nonetheless.
We all trooped into the bar and headed to the VIP section, where Alice had had the foresight to reserve a table for us.
Our friends were all talking animatedly as Edward and I sat in silence. After half an hour of this, I found myself annoyed and upset. Two dangerous combinations for me to be around alcohol, so I gestured to our waitress for my one weakness, Tequila.
She brought over the bottle and six shot glasses, with a bowl of limes and salt and I asked her to leave the bottle. I was planning on getting drunk and didn't want to keep calling her over. My friends watched with interest and trepidation as I lined up the shot glasses and poured the Tequila. I had just reached for my shot glass when Alice grabbed my hand
"Bella, don't" Alice knew I only drank Tequila when I was either, a) upset or b) angry. I shook her hand off and picked up the shot glass
"Ali, I love you, girl, but I need this right now" Alice gave me the look that said 'no, you don't' and I gave one right back saying 'fuck off, I do!' She also knew that this was a sure-fire way for me to get drunk quickly.
"What's going on?" I heard Edward ask; Alice gave me one last look and turned to him
"Nothing, Edward. Just a little Girl Talk" I saw Jasper, Rose and Em exchange glances with each other. They all knew my weakness for the drink and the reason why I drank it. Edward simply looked perplexed.
I downed my shot without the salt or the lime. I felt it burn going down, but at this point I was past caring. I saw Edward's shocked expression out of the corner of my eye and smirked
That's right, Tiger, I'm not much of a Kitten anymore I thought to myself
I threw down two more shots before Alice grabbed the bottle away from me, by this point I had a nice buzz going so I stood up and announced that I was going to dance and stalked off without a second glance to see if anyone was following me.
EPOV – Present Day
"Okay, what the hell is that all about?" I asked as I watched Bella walk off towards the dance floor. There was silence around the table as I turned and faced my four companions. I studied each face before my eyes came to rest on Alice's face. I watched as sadness settled on her features
"Alice? What's wrong with her?" I asked just loud enough to be heard over the pulsing beat
"Bella only drinks Tequila for two reasons, Edward" I quirked an eyebrow at her in a silent bid for her to continue, which she did after a deep sigh
"She is either upset or angry. Those are the only two times she drinks the stuff and judging by the look on her face when you backed off from her touch outside the club, I'm going to take a stab in the dark and say she's upset" Damn, I though no one would notice that little interaction. I had tried to be subtle
"Oh" it was the only thing I could think of to say
"Edward, what was that about?" I looked over at Jasper and noticed that he looked annoyed. Before I could answer I saw Em get up with such force that his chair knocked over
"Oh hell no!" he shouted, looking over at the dance floor, I followed his gaze and what I saw made me see red. There on the floor was Bella and she looked to be fighting off the attention of three guys, who couldn't seem to take her no as an answer. Before I knew it I was stalking to the floor, my fists clenched by my sides. I was vaguely aware of my brother and friend following me, but I didn't turn to clarify that. My heated gaze was fixed on where Bella was still slapping away the wandering hands of the three douches. As I approached I could hear her pleas and that only served to fuel my anger
"I said no! Please! Leave me alone!" at that I came up behind Bella and placed my hands on her hips, she froze for a second before she realised that it was me and then relaxed into my grip. I faced the three douches
"Leave. Now." My voice was low and menacing. I felt Em and Jas step forward and stand beside me, flanking me and Bella
"Or what?" The guy in the middle spoke
"Or we can take this outside and you can start praying that you can still eat solids tomorrow" God, I love my brother! Before one of the three douches could reply one of the bouncers came up to us and asked if everything was ok, I turned to him, without taking eyes off of the guy in the middle and replied
"Yes, sir. We were just explaining to these men that when a lady says no, it doesn't always mean carry on with your harassment" and just like that, I had alerted the bouncer to the situation and he grabbed the middle man by his collar and dragged him away. Two other bouncers, who I had not notice arrive did the same thing with the other two douches. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding and gazed down at Bella, who had sagged into my chest. Her eyes were closed, which sent me into a panic. I shook her gently
"Bella! Bella! Are you ok?" her eyes fluttered open and she looked up at me. It was then that I noticed the tear tracks and I felt my own eyes prick at the sight
"I'm ok, Edward. Just relieved. Thank you for coming to my rescue"
"Anytime, Kitten" I gave her my crooked grin, which she returned. I led her back to our table where she was ripped from my arms by the blond bombshell and the pixie.
Two hours later we left the club. We made plans to all meet at Bella Italia the next afternoon and for the first time since Monday afternoon I felt no rage against Bella as I looked at her. Huh. Maybe I was finally working past it. I hoped so.
BPOV – Present Day
Who the hell is hammering this early in the morning? Ugh! The light is blinding too!
I slowly opened my eyes and groaned. My mouth tasted like I had swallowed dirt. Oh right, hangover. I never should have had all that Tequila. I thought back to last night. Edward has looked nearly feral when those three douches wouldn't leave. I liked it. I also liked the concern and panic in his voice when he thought I had fainted. I smiled to myself thinking about the unshed tears in his eyes when he saw the tears on my face. I was brought out of my thoughts with the ringing of my phone. I answered it without looking at the ID
"Hello?"
"Morning, Darling" I started at the deep voice. Jake. Oh shit!
"Hey Jake, how are you?" I asked. Wow, that sounds as if I'm talking to a client and not my fiancé!
"I'm good. I'm good. You? I haven't heard from you all week, Darling. Are you ok?" I felt a twinge of guilt. I had not thought about Jake since Monday and truth be told, I had not even noticed that we hadn't spoken since our engagement party last weekend
"I'm ok, Jake. Just been busy, you know. Got a couple of new clients so I've been in and out of meetings and court" I felt as if I was speaking to a friend or my brother and not the man I was to marry
"That's good. But you should have called me. If you really wanted to, you could have made the time, you know" He said possessively
"I know Jake, but it really has been crazy" I defended myself. What he said next shocked me into silence
"Well, you weren't busy too go out with your friends last night, were you?" I sucked in a breath
"How-" I started
"How did I know about that? Leah was at the bar you were at and she saw you. She sent me a picture of you in the arms of another man. Care to share about that" Jake sounded pissed and I didn't want to do anything to piss him off more
"Oh, that was Edward. He rescued me from three guys who tried to harass me" I tried to sound nonchalant, but I knew I failed
"Edward? Cullen? The Best Friend who broke your heart Edward?" Jake's voice was progressively getting louder with each word
"Yeah" my voice was small
"Bella, how long have you been seeing him behind my back?" Wait. Is he seriously asking me this?
"What the hell is that meant to mean, Jake?" now I was pissed
"You know what it means, Bella? How. Long?" he asked aggressively
"If you must know, I bumped into him for the first time in eight years on Monday morning at court. He is also a key witness in one of my cases, so I had a meeting with him and my client yesterday and last night would be third time I saw him. He was there because he is Emmett's brother and Jaspers best friend and business partner. There is nothing between us, except friendship and if you don't believe that then you can go to hell, Jake!" I knew I sounded angry and defensive, which only made me sound even more guilty, but I didn't care. Jake had crossed a line and I wanted to make it clear to him that he had. Obviously he didn't get that memo because he then replied
"I don't want you seeing him again, Bella. I won't have you seeing him again! You are my fiancé! You are going to be my wife! Mine! Not his! You will not contact him again, you will not speak to him again, you will break all ties with him, understood?" At this I lost it
"Jacob Carl Black! I am NOT a possession! You cannot dictate to me who I can and cannot see! Edward is and always has been my friend. My best friend! He did not break my heart! I broke it myself and his in the process! I have just gotten my friend back after eight long years and I am not about to lose him now! Not over you!" there was shocked silence on the other end and truth be told I was shocked that I had admitted that too. It was the truth though. Edward meant more to me than anyone else and I could not lose him again. This time it would surely kill me. In that moment I knew what I had to do. My decision was made. Now to just follow through on it. I took a deep breath before I spoke
"Jake, we need to talk. Can you meet me at Bella Italia at 12pm, please?" I waited for his response
"Yeah, sure" he muttered and then hung up. I sighed and flopped back against the pillows. I waited until my breathing had calmed and then I called the two people who I knew could help me through this. The phone rang twice before Alice answered
"Bella! Good morning, sunshine! How are you?" she chirped
"Morning, Al. Hang on, I'm conferencing Rose" I said and the pulled up the three way conference call and dialled Rose, who answered almost immediately
"Morning, Bella! What's up?" Rose sounded cheerful and she had drunk almost as much as me. Bitch.
"Morning, Rose. I have Ali on conference. I need my girls"
"What's wrong, Bell?" Alice asked, with concern
I filled them in on my conversation with Jake; they were silent for a beat before Rose spoke
"I'll kill him! How dare he! Who does he think he is?"
"What are you going to de Bella?" Ahhh, Alice, she knew me so well
"I'm breaking it off. I've asked him to meet me at Bella Italia at 12pm. I know we all agreed to meet there for lunch, so I asked him to meet me there at the same time. I need you guys there just in case" They both knew about his temper and the fact that it frightened me
"No problems, Bell. We'll be there!" Alice replied
"Yeah, Bella, We'll be there with bells on! If he dares try anything, I'll just have a great excuse to kill him!" I laughed at that, but I knew she was 100% serious
"Thanks, guys! See you soon!"
"Bye, Bella, see you at the restaurant!"
"See ya!"
At 12pm on the dot, my cab dropped me off at the door of the restaurant. Jake was waiting by the door, looking apprehensive. I stepped out of the cab and walked up to him.
"Hi Jake" I said softly
"Hi Bella" he replied, but made no move towards me. I sighed. It seemed he knew what was coming. We made our way inside and I spotted my friends sitting in the same booth we had sat in on Monday. Jake and I however sat in the booth closest to the door. As I slid in I chanced a look over to my friends. Alice and Rose smiled at me in encouragement, Em simply nodded at me and Jasper gave me a slight wave. I smiled back and then moved my eyes to Edwards face and the pain shown there nearly knocked the breath out of me. My heart clenched at the sight and I felt the tears welling up. I blinked them back and tore my gaze away from his and back to Jake's. I had to do this. I would do this. For him. For me. For us.
EPOV
This was not happening. Bella had not just walked in with her fiancé. I felt pain lash at me and my heart shatter. Again. I watched as she slid into the booth by the door facing Jacob. I saw her smile at our table and then her gaze fell on me and changed to…pain? Sadness? I saw her eyes fill with tears and my breath hitched. I tore my eyes away and looked down at the table. I could not watch the happy couple be…well, happy.
I felt myself fall deeper into depression as I sat there and my friends talked around me. I could not bring myself to join into the conversation. I really had lost her. All because I was stubborn and held a grudge against a stupid mistake she made years ago. Shit, I needed a drink. Or a hit. Whatever it took to stop this pain consuming me again. Before I knew it I found myself scratching and rubbing at my arm, looking for the scars of years past. I looked up to see Emmett watching me carefully, as if he knew what I was thinking; he shook his head, a warning in his eyes. I dropped my gaze back down to the table, my hands folded in front of me now.
BPOV
We sat facing each other. Not speaking. The waiter came up and I watched as Jake ordered our drinks. Just the fact that he ordered me an iced tea proved to me that he really didn't know me all that well. I hated iced tea. Cherry Coke was my poison. I loved the stuff. There was a long beat of silence and then Jake spoke
"So, what do you want to talk about?" I leaned back in surprise. He had not even bothered to apologise for this morning. I mean really, did he not see how wrong he was?
"Us" I replied shortly. He raised an eyebrow at me
"What about us?" he asked. I gazed evenly at him for a moment and then down to where he had taken a hold of my left hand. It was warm, but I felt none of the pleasurable electricity I felt at Edward's touch. I slowly extracted my hand and pulled off my engagement ring and sat it on the table in between us. It was now or never
"I can't do this Jake. I love you, but not enough to marry you. It's not fair to you" I started, but he cut me off
"What? Are you serious?" he looked incredulous "You're breaking up with me over a little argument?" now it was my turn to look incredulous
"Jake! You accused me of cheating on you and then proceeded to call me your possession! That is not love! That is obsession!"
"I am not obsessed with you! Is it so bad that I love you too much to lose you!" he was nearly yelling at me now and out of the corner of my eyes I saw Alice and Rose look murderous, Em looked like he wanted to come over here and punch Jake. I shook my head at them and turned back to Jake
"Oh I see! That's why you brought me here and asked your so called friends to be here too! To stand guard?" Jake spat at me
"Yes, Jake, I did. But I had already made plans to meet them here for lunch before I spoke to you" I hissed
"And Cullen? Why is he here?" I didn't need to ask him to point out which Cullen he was talking about. I saw Edward's head snap up and look over at us, the pain in his eyes replaced with anger
"Firstly, Jacob, It's Edward and secondly, he is also a friend and that is why he is here! What exactly are you trying imply. Just spit it out!" I was exasperated now. Jake was starting to act like a small child having a temper tantrum. I watched Jake's face as it turned from red to purple in anger and the exasperation gave way to fear
"You're fucking him, aren't you! Answer me!" he hissed at me. I sat back in shock. I could not believe the words that came from his mouth
"How can you do this to me, Bella? I thought you loved me! You are my fiancé, my to be wife! How long? How long have you been sleeping with him? Answer me, Dammit!" he was now full on yelling
"Jake-" I didn't get past that because the next thing I knew Jake had risen from his seat and slapped me clear across the face. I sat there stunned
"You whore! I knew it! You're cheating on me! You bitch, you will-" he didn't finish the statement because faster than humanly possible, Edward had risen from his table, run over and punched Jake in the face. All I could do was sit there and watch as he punched him over and over as he pinned him down to the floor. I felt two pair's of arms circle around me and all I could do was watch as Jacob finally gained some purchase and flipped them over so that Edward was now pinned underneath him. Just as Jake raised his arm to punch Edward I found my voice and strength to move
"NO! You dare lay one finger on him Jacob Black and you will regret it!" I screamed. The two men froze and stared up at me. Jake looked at me and then back down at Edward, who was simply staring at me
"The guy just punched your fiancé several times and you said nothing and I go to punch him once and you defend him! What the fuck, Bella?" Jacob screamed back at me. I rose from my seat and walked calmly over to where Jake and Edward were on the floor, my engagement ring clutched in one hand. I leaned down, pulled Jake's hand towards me, uncurled his fist and placed the ring in his palm
"Ex-fiancé, Jacob. I just broke the engagement off, remember?" with that I held my hand out to Edward, who pushed a stunned Jake away from him and grabbed it. I pulled him up to stand beside me and then turned back to face Jacob. He rose slowly to his feet and took a step towards me. Edward pulled my hand so that I was slightly behind him. I heard him let out a warning growl at Jacob and the sound sent shivers of pleasure down my spine.
"You will regret this, Bitch. I will make you pay for this!" with that he whirled away from us and stormed out. I breathed a small sigh of relief.
"Are you ok?" I looked up at Edward and nodded
"I'm sorry you had to see that" I said as I let my gaze drop. I felt Edwards's fingers under my chin as he pulled my face up
"Hey, I'm sorry I didn't get here before he slapped you, Kitten. I should have been here faster. I should have-" I cut him off by placing my finger on his lips and shook my head
"No, Tiger. You got here plenty fast, so thank you for that" I said softly. I heard two gasps behind me and turned to find Alice and Rose standing next to Emmett and Jas with unshed tears in their eyes and their hands over their mouths
"What?" I asked confused looking from Rose to Alice, who exchanged a glance before turning back to me
"You guys never forgot. You guys always called each other Tiger and Kitten, but only to each other and it's been eight years since you called each other that and…and, it just felt so good to hear you say it again" by this time there were tears streaming down their faces. I ran over to them and enveloped them into a group hug. I had to admit, it felt good to call him Tiger again. All of a sudden we found ourselves in the middle as the guys also wrapped their arms around us. The gang was back. YES!