Author's Note: I'm sorry that I haven't posted on this story for awhile, but unlike my other story, I don't have this one pre-written, and I was stuck. I do plan on continuing this, but it won't be quick.
Chapter 5 – The Bluff
Alice stayed in our arms for hours, promising repeatedly that she would never behave that way again. We snuggled with her until we were sure that she felt forgiven.
Esme and I went for a quick hunt, but I was not feeling better about confronting Edward when he got home. My beautiful, sensitive wife was still quite upset about having to discipline Alice, and I knew that I could not impose upon her to help out with Edward, especially since she has never successfully put her foot down with him in the past.
We arrived home around six, expecting to only find Alice and Rosalie, but surprisingly, Bella was there as well, just stepping out of the shower. Something was wrong, but I just couldn't put my finger on it.
"She's mad at Jacob, I think. She doesn't want to talk about it with me." Alice told us, sensing my worry. "I worry that it's because she doesn't trust me."
Part of me wondered the same thing. Bella may have been upset with Alice still, and unwilling to confide in her. I most assuredly wouldn't have blamed her for hesitating to trust Alice with anything important, but it still seemed rather unlike Bella to hold a grudge.
I let out a sigh and grabbed my darling wife's hand and headed upstairs to see if we can coax Bella into getting whatever was bugging her off of her chest. We walked slowly, giving Bella time to get dressed. When she finally exited the restroom, she looked torn over where she should sleep tonight. I could tell that she didn't want to go back to Edward's room, but she was unsure as to whether she would be welcome to sleep in her mother's and my bed again.
"Bella?" I startled her out of her contemplation.
"Can I stay with you and mom again tonight?" She bit her lower lip, still unsure if she would be accepted.
"Of course you are welcome, sweet pea." I nodded at her, smiling. "I would like to know, however, if this is still because you're upset with Edward or for a different reason."
"I am still a little upset with Edward, but Jacob…" she hesitated, looking her mother and I in the eyes for a few seconds before looking down the stairs to where she knew Alice was sitting.
"Are you injured?" I went into my doctor dad mode. This happened whenever any of my children were potentially in harm's way.
"No." She assured me, though I wondered if she would downplay any injury to avoid getting her friend in trouble with Edward. Before I could insist on a check up, Bella started to explain. "He just said…"
Again she was hesitant to say anything that Alice could repeat to Edward.
Alice ran upstairs and fell to her knees right in front of Bella and cried, "Please, Bella, I'm sorry that I've betrayed you time and again to Edward. Please forgive me. I promise, I will never use what you tell me against you."
Bella looked in Alice's eyes, searching to see if she could detect any hint of a lie before dropping to her knees beside Alice and smiling.
"I forgive you, Alice." She hugged her tightly.
"What did Jacob say to you, sweet pea?" I asked once she and Alice finally parted.
Bella's head lowered immediately and she tried unsuccessfully not to cry.
"He said that he wished I was dead." She mumbled, not meeting our eyes. We all three gasped in shock before she could continue. "And I didn't want to say anything because…"
"You thought that you'd get a big, fat 'I told you so' from Edward?" Alice guessed.
"Something like that." She nodded. "But it's not like he physically harmed me." She explained, sounding like she was defending Jacob… no, defending herself for going to see Jacob. "He was angry, but he controlled himself and didn't hurt me. I don't think I was wrong to go there, but I don't think Edward will see it that way."
"That's irrelevant, sweet pea." I assured her, kneeling and cupping her cheek. "Your mother and I trust your judgment in this matter."
"Absolutely, dear." Esme agreed with me as she joined all of us on the floor. "You were just two friends that had an argument. Sometimes friends say hurtful things to one another. It's an unfortunate truth, but it happens."
"I know." Bella sighed, still discontented. "I just think that if Edward knew what Jacob said, he would take it as confirmation that he was right in everything he did to keep me from seeing Jake, despite the fact that what Jacob said to me hurts me far less than what Edward said in the forest." She trailed off at the end, almost as if she was ashamed that she was bringing this up.
"Oh dear God!" Alice suddenly gasped in shock.
Alice got a spontaneous vision, and whatever it she saw caught her off guard.
"You're going to severely ground Edward right? No unsupervised time?" Alice knew she was treading on dangerous ground, discussing Edward's punishment with us, but she seemed like she thought that this was important.
"That's what we discussed." I confirmed.
"But that doesn't cover school." Alice stood and started pacing. She was very upset with Edward even though they were sins Edward hadn't yet committed. "This is very solid, so obviously, Edward already decided this as a contingency if Bella should elude me and make her way to the reservation."
Alice clearly didn't want to tell us this. She looked like she was hoping to change Edward's mind.
"Edward is planning on skipping school to tell Charlie that Jacob never got rid of Bella's motorcycle, and she sneaks off at night to ride with him, and he of course is concerned for her safety. To bolster his story, he will plant a helmet and riding jacket in Bella's closet. Charlie will ground her, and she will be forced to stay away from Jacob." Alice seemed disgusted by her brother's behavior, not that her own was any better, but after her spanking, she seemed to get her head on straight. "He will bow to your punishment, but again, he won't change in the slightest."
"That's it." Bella jumped off the floor and threw her hands in the air, and slowly made her way to Edward's room. When she arrived, I heard her sigh and softly say, "You win, Edward. I give up."
Before she could lie down, Esme and I were at her sides, embracing her.
"No, dearest," Esme pleaded with her, "we'll think of something to bring back the Edward we know is in there."
I said nothing. For the first time in my long relationship with Edward, I had absolutely no idea how to get through to him. He had no intention of changing, and I could discipline him harshly and repeatedly, but nothing would change the fact that my stubborn son was completely and unwaveringly set in his ways. Unfortunately, his ways were hurting my little sweet pea.
I looked adoringly at my daughter, and she looked back with… nervousness and fear. What was that about? I didn't think I had given her any reason to fear me.
"Why are you so scared, sweet pea?" I asked her.
"I don't sneak out every night to see Jacob, but I do still ride motorcycles with him when I see him. Charlie has forbidden it, but… are… you… mad?" She asked very hesitantly.
"Are you're worried that I will consider this reckless behavior?" I asked rhetorically, and more to myself than to her. Bella nodded anyway.
She was afraid that I would be disappointed in her for riding motorcycles with Jacob. I had stitched together a multitude of riders in my long medical practice, and seen many that didn't make it. Although it is true that alcohol played a significant role in some of the deaths, the tragic truth is that responsible motorcyclist are still at the mercy of the inattentive drivers of other vehicles. Two thirds of all multi-vehicle motorcycle fatalities are due to the fact that the other drivers aren't paying attention. Did she wear a helmet or protective gear? Did she practice basic safety while operating the bike? Was she aware of the driving statistics and compensating for the stupidity of other drivers? These were all questions that we could answer later and decide if she could be safe on a motorcycle.
"I think you should hold off riding until we've addressed all the safety issues, sweet pea." I looked pointedly at her. "I'm not saying no to motorcycles, but I want to make sure you are being careful."
"Okay, dad." She agreed and hugged me.
"Back to the business at hand?" I steered the conversation back to Edward. I knew we had a limited amount of time before he arrived, but I had no idea what we should do about it.
"May I suggest something?" Bella asked timidly.
"I don't see why not." I sighed. "Alice doesn't see my plan working. If anything, it backfires."
"This may sound harsh…" she bit her lip nervously as she told me her plan.
The boys got home sometime after Bella went to sleep. It took awhile for her to give in and let sleep take over her body, but she finally gave up around one in the morning.
Bella understood Edward like none of the rest of us could ever possibly hope to. The gist of her idea was that Edward had to figure out for himself that he was out of line and repent before I could possibly discipline him.
For Bella's part, she called and confessed to her father that she sometimes still rode motorcycles with Jacob. Charlie was understandably angry, but she also informed him that first, she was an adult, second, she was planning on taking a break from them for awhile, and third, if he didn't throw a fit about her riding, it would royally piss Edward off. I think she sold him on that point, especially when he realized that grounding her would play right into Edward's hand to keep her away from Jacob. I wasn't surprised that Charlie knew about that. He may not have known all of the supernatural facts, but he clearly knew that my son was jealous of Jacob.
Esme was still having a hard time not being furious with Edward for hurting Bella. She decided to focus on redecorating Bella's new room… oh, yes, we moved Bella out of Edward's room into one that she could call her own. Rosalie stayed in her own room, not trusting herself to allow Edward to come to terms with this on his own. Alice was downstairs catching up on her homework. She promised to do everything in her power to force Edward to communicate verbally with her so that we could all hear him. I was upstairs, reading up on drug and device trials in the area.
Edward came home and immediately went to Alice. She told us that he would deduce that she had so much work to do because she didn't go to school today.
"Why did you let her go to school alone, Alice?" He growled at her, grabbing Jasper's attention immediately.
"Let her?" Alice laughed. "That implies that I had a choice in what went on today."
"You mean to tell me that you not only got caught, but you also failed to keep her safe until I got back?" Edward's anger with Alice was escalating.
"You'd better take it down a few notches, son." Jasper growled at him.
"I can't believe you!" Edward shouted, ignoring Jasper's warning. "You should have taken her to Olympia or something. I can handle Carlisle. I won't have Bella in danger."
"Did you go along with him, again?" Jasper asked Alice, shocked.
"Yes." She whispered, ashamed of herself.
"And you!" He turned back to Edward. "I told you to leave her out of your possessive plans!"
"I will keep Bella safe." Edward's voice became very even and steady, seemingly leaving no room for argument.
"And I will keep Alice safe." Jasper sounded absolutely lethal. Edward may have been angry, but he knew that his mind-reading abilities in no way compared to the sheer survival skills that Jasper possessed, and would with out a doubt employ if he thought that Alice was in danger.
"Alice can make her own choices." Edward explained, ignoring the irony.
"And I've made it, Edward." Alice resolved. "I won't defy daddy again."
"It doesn't matter." Edward sighed. "I have another option."
"Don't ever ask her to do anything like that again." Jasper warned Edward. "Because I promise you, you will regret it."
"Whatever, Jasper." Edward sounded like he wasn't taking Jasper's threat seriously.
"Jazzy, no!" Alice yelled. Apparently Jasper didn't take too kindly to Edward's dismissal of his threat.
I hadn't counted on Jasper's reaction to Edward's insanity. I briefly considered going downstairs to break it up, but Alice warned me not to with her actions.
"I promise, Jasper. I won't do anything that foolish again." I could hear Alice dragging Jasper outside.
Not three seconds later, Rosalie found Emmett in the foyer, completely confused by the scene that unfolded before him. I heard her kiss him passionately, and drag him out of the house in the other direction.
Once the four of them had left, I refocused on my reading, studying the parameters of a synthetic aortic valve test that was being done in Seattle. There were a very limited number of the openings right now, and there was practically no chance that I would ever be able to do one of these operations. That being said, I did need to know if any of my patients were candidates for the new device, so that I could refer them to the doctors who specialized in transplants. Off the top of my head, it looked like I had two good candidates, but I wasn't sure I wanted to get their hopes up for a remote possibility of a trial that may or may not improve their quality of life.
Edward unceremoniously flopped down in the chair in front of my desk and huffed loudly.
I glanced up at Edward, "What can I do for you, Edward?"
Edward rolled his eyes at me, "Cut the bullshit, Carlisle. Let's get this over with."
"If you insist, Edward." I agreed amicably, pushing back from my desk.
Edward stood as well, getting himself into position in front of my desk, clearly ignoring the fact that I had promised him an over the knee thrashing. It didn't matter, though, because Bella had helped me change my mind about the way I was going to handle this. I carefully kept all of the plan out of my mind as I reached into my lower desk drawer and pulled out a briefcase full of money, approximately one hundred thousand dollars. I threw it on the desk right in front of his face. It landed with a landed with a loud thud. Confusion washed over Edward's face as he stood up. I let nothing slip about the plan, and he for once didn't have a clue what was going on.
"I cannot tolerate the level of deceitfulness you have engaged in over the last several weeks. You have decided to live far below the standard which I expect, Edward, and have left me no choice but to ask you to leave us." I told him evenly with a hint of sadness in my voice.
"What?!" Edward shouted in disbelief.
Esme knew our plan, but it didn't make it much easier to hear. A sob slipped out of her mouth from the other room. I knew this was breaking my wife's heart, but she had agreed that it was necessary. She was still distraught over losing her son.
"You are no longer going in the same direction as the rest of our family, much like the rebellion you engaged in over a human diet. And like that rebellion, I am asking you to leave our family." I explained patiently to him, this time, not pointing out his transgressions. Bella was right. He had to see that for himself.
"This is not even remotely the same as that time!" Edward argued vehemently.
"It seems the same to me, Edward." I countered, sighing. "In both instances, you have unwaveringly believed that your opinion is the only one that matters, and chosen to live outside of my authority and against my wishes."
"Now your opinion is the only one that matters?" Edward asked furiously.
"No, of course not, but like your experiment with a human diet, I cannot in good conscience allow you to stay here and destroy our family. You are free to have your own opinion about this matter, but it will be apart from us." I explained.
"And the money?" He eyed the briefcase.
"I have cut you off from our family accounts, but I didn't want to leave you destitute." I told him. "We will send you your things when you tell us where you are staying, or you are free to take them with you."
Edward shifted his eyes around the room, looking like a caged animal. He was completely desperate to stay, but I never wavered. There was only one way he could get back into my good graces, but he didn't look like he was figuring it out.
"Please, dad." He begged me, sounding broken. "Don't do this! I promise to do better!"
"I'm sorry, Edward, but I don't believe you." I responded coldly.