Chapter Six: Getting somewhere

A/N: Sorry this is about a month or two overdue. I went on a hiatus to get my mind (this story) order. I was really losing my way with this, but I have found it again, and it feels so good to be back! I'd like to thank my betas, Mel and Katy, because this story wouldn't be much without them! Thank you, lovelies :)

The next day, my mind was still spinning from the small amount of information Edward had given me of his past. At first, I was sure I hadn't heard right, but I knew by the look on his face I had. I asked him to elaborate, but of course he didn't, so I went to bed, unable to sleep because I was too busy thinking. When I made my way to kitchen to make breakfast, Edward was already down there, drinking a cup of coffee.

"Do you plan on ignoring me forever?" I asked him when, after five minutes, he still hadn't said anything to me.

"Good morning, Isabella."

I scowled at him. "I just want you to know that last night doesn't change anything. I don't think any differently…"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he said, cutting me off.

My scowl deepened. "So now you're just going to pretend you didn't tell me that you were abused as a child?" He didn't say anything, and I very nearly growled in frustration. "Edward! You can't just ignore me when something serious like that is said. I'm your wife; I think I should know about these things!"

"You're a girl that I bought from a broke, dead-beat daddy—meaning you're the furthest thing from a wife. In reality, you're basically just a prostitute without the sex. I shouldn't have to give any more than I already have."

I sucked in a deep breath of surprise and closed my eyes, trying to fight the tears, but I knew it was inevitable. They were coming. There was a moment of silence before I heard him move toward me, causing me to take a step back automatically. I opened my eyes and glared at him. "You should probably leave before you're late for work," I said before he could voice whatever he was going to say.

Edward nodded before turning on his heel and walking out.

~MOB~

"Honestly, Bella, I'm surprised he told you that much, and it wasn't even much at all," Rosalie said, putting her feet under her as she sat down on the couch, passing the bowl of popcorn she made to me after grabbing a handful of it. "Edward isn't very big on sharing his past."

I nodded and sighed. That much was obvious. "I know, but I didn't expect him to completely ignore me. I didn't expect him to go and insult me the way he did."

After Edward left, I hung around with Cynthia for a while, helping her here and there, before Rosalie called saying she had good news that just couldn't wait. When I arrived at her condo, which was in the heart of downtown Seattle, the first thing I noticed was what was on the TV. It was then announced that I won the bet—How I Met Your Mother hooked Rose from the very first episode. I grinned. Emmett wasn't going to know what hit him, no pun intended.

Rose noticed something was wrong almost immediately and quickly demanded that I "tell her everything," after having Emmett leave. "It just isn't fair that he's taking his anger out on me, especially since he willingly told me. I didn't force it out of him."

She nodded. "Edward's complicated. He'll come around eventually. You two will find a way to work this out."

I could wait for him to come around; I could understand why he didn't want to talk about it just yet to some stranger. "Maybe I did push him a bit. I'll wait it out." Before Rosalie could respond, I sat up and leveled her with a serious stare. "What can you tell me?"

"I don't know…"

"Esme mentioned a stepdad."

"Yeah, Billy. He's really nice. Has a son the same age as Edward. Really loves Elizabeth, so that's about the only reason why Edward likes him," she told me. "I honestly don't know what else I can tell you other than that. You're my friend now, but Edward is my best friend, so I have to respect his privacy."

I smiled. "I know. I get that. I'm just trying to understand, so I can find a way to talk to Edward."

"Edward is the type of person who will not listen to you if you're not important, for lack of a better word, enough to him. He will walk all over you. He just…doesn't take it easy on anyone, and he doesn't believe in bullshiting anyone, either. It's why he's such a good lawyer. If you want him to listen to you, if you want him to see you as an equal, be firm. Don't let him think he's the only one with control."

~MOB~

"I don't care about how much fucking money you spent or make, how well-known you are, or the people you hang out with, you are not allowed to use me as your goddamned punching bag just because you're angry!" I hissed, fed up with his talking down to me the way he did. "I'm trying to make things work here! I'm just trying to get everything taken care of. I want to make sure I'm taken care of."

Trying to have some control in the situation Edward and I found ourselves in, as Rosalie had suggested, didn't go too well. Edward didn't appreciate me "storming" into his office "demanding his attention like I own the place." He didn't like a "teeny bopper" trying to control anything. He didn't like anyone standing up to him.

"Am I suddenly incapable of taking care of you?" Edward asked, as calm as ever; however, the vein popping out slightly from the side of his forehead gave him away.

"You've always been incapable of taking care of me, Edward. You're incapable of taking care of yourself," I snapped, my voice raising an octave. "I'm not sure that you're capable of anything."

He glared. "I've already told you once that I don't appreciate being yelled at in my own office, especially by some irresponsible brat who just barely moved out of her parents' house."

It was my turn to glare. "Says the 'man' that wanted the 'irresponsible brat' as his wife and still has his nanny picking out his clothes for him every morning. Yeah, Cynthia let slip that she still picks out your clothes for you. I can't believe you're calling me a child when you're the one that can't have a conversation with a person without belittling them and asserting control. News flash, Edward, you aren't as powerful as you seem to think."

That was what our argument had come to the minute Edward opened his mouth for the first time. He had a sense of self-righteousness that came from believing he was better than everyone.

"Isabella," he began, "I'm more powerful than you seem to realize, but that's neither here nor there. You seem to think we are equal, but I'm afraid to say we are not, and we never will be. You are only here to be seen as my wife. A prop, if you like technicalities. You will be taken care of, everything that needs to be taken care of is, and if you behave, this will work."

I shook my head. I'd had enough. There seemed to be no compromising with him. "Edward, I came in here to have a civilized conversation with you, tried not to behave like the child you see me as, with the mindset that this was going to work out, like we were going to work out, but we're not. I don't like being owned, and you don't like listening to anyone but yourself. You would rather put me down and talk about my feelings instead of trying to understand me. You would rather sit here and argue instead of realizing that maybe for once in your life there's something you can't have complete control over. You would rather hurt me when I've done nothing to you other than try to compromise our way to something that would make this arrangement less stressful."

"Look…" he started, trailing off when I stood up from the chair that was in front of his desk, grabbing my purse from the one next to me.

"I want a divorce. I want a divorce, or whatever you want to call it, and I want it now. My family and I are just going to have to find another way to pay off my father's debt because I need out of this sham of a marriage now—today, if you can."

I turned around to leave, and I was sure my heart stopped beating for two seconds as I came face-to-face with James—my being in heels making that easy. "I'm sorry! I wasn't aware that you were standing there," I said, taking a few steps back. I looked over my shoulder to see Edward frowning, but I quickly turned back as I saw James take a step closer to me in my peripheral vision.

"It's okay. I need to learn to make my presence more well-known," James replied, chuckling. "Isabella, wasn't it?" I nodded. He grinned, took my hand, and kissed it, causing a shiver to go down my spine, which he noted and smirked at. "Pleasure seeing you again, Mrs. Cullen."

I nodded and took my hand back quickly, turning to look at Edward again so I didn't have to acknowledge him anymore. "Bye, Edward. I'll see you at home," I muttered before turning, sidestepping James, and leaving quickly. As I walked out of the door, I looked back in his office through the clear wall and saw James staring at me and Edward glaring at him, and rushed out of his sight. Ever since the first night I met him, he had given me the creeps, and I didn't like being around him for longer than was absolutely necessary.

When I got back to the house after spending a day walking around aimlessly, Cynthia was already gone for the day, and I realized just how alone I really was. I didn't have any friends, my parents no longer wanted me, and the guy that bought me couldn't even stand me.

I had never felt so worthless in my life.

That was how I found myself re-cleaning the entire house again four hours later. It helped take my mind off of everything that was going on for a while. After that was done and there was absolutely nothing else to clean, I went to the basement, and I worked out. It was what I was used to. It made me feel better. I felt like I was home again, working out at the Forks gym, anxiously awaiting the next time I got to dance. That was all I did back there. Workout. Dance. Sleep. Repeat.

I shrieked as Alice's face was suddenly in my line of vision and pulled out the emergency stopper on the treadmill before I ended up falling off. "Alice, what are you doing here?" I asked, my breathing heavy as I downed my bottle of water.

"Edward called me earlier and told me to check-up on you, said you seemed upset, but I couldn't then, so I'm here now," she answered. "I didn't take you as the working-out type."

I laughed, but it wasn't a happy kind of laugh. "Uh, yeah. I haven't in a while, though."

"I guess it's true what they say: once you're married, you can get fat," Alice joked, laughing a tinkling laugh, though the way she was looking at me was a little too sweet and kind. She was back to not liking me. When my eyes narrowed, I noticed her lips lift up slightly on the corner, but she didn't comment on it and neither did I. "How long did you walk for?"

I grabbed my towel and wiped the sweat off my face, sighing. "I ran for about two hours, I think. I would have kept going, but I was interrupted…"

"Right. You're, like, obsessed with exercising or something like that," she said.

"Look, Alice, upset is an understatement, okay? You've checked up on me; obviously I'm fine. You can go now," I told her, not wanting to put up with her snide comments, either. One angry Cullen was all I could deal with.

She stepped as close as she could to me without having to look all the way up and folded her arms, narrowing her eyes. "Look, Bella," she started, all the sweetness gone from her voice, "Edward is my brother, and I care about him. He's been through too much already in his life to get hurt again by some girl who probably only sees dollar signs."

I laughed; I couldn't help it. The irony was not lost on me. "You have absolutely no idea what is going on."

"I know you don't love my brother, Bella. I know you aren't as good for him as everyone seems to think because of that. He's told me more about you than you seem to think he ever would, which is how I know you're no good for him."

I opened my mouth to respond to her words, but I decided against it. I was going to be done with Alice and her brother, so it didn't really matter to me what he told her. "Alice, I think you should leave. You should leave and not come back until Edward tells you the coast is clear, all right?"

I didn't let her respond. Instead, I walked out and practically ran back up the stairs, needing to shower and pack.

I wasn't planning on staying any longer than I had to.

~MOB~

When Edward got home, I had already set his place at the table. I figured I could at least give him one more meal before I left.

"Bella," he said, a hint of surprise in his voice and flickering over his face. "You're still here."

I nodded. "Where else could I have gone? This is my home right now. Please, sit down. We need to talk."

"Yeah," he muttered, sitting down at the table. I sat across from him, and instead of digging into his food like I assumed he would, he leaned back in his chair and stared at me for a moment, frowning slightly. "I'm sorry."

"What?"

"I said, 'I'm sorry,'" he repeated.

I rolled my eyes. "No, I know what you said; I just…wasn't expecting that. Anyway, about this divorce: how do you want to go about doing it?"

"I don't want to go about it," he informed me, popping a piece of broccoli into his mouth. "I'm sorry. Really. I know I'm not acting nicely toward you at all, and you don't deserve that. You're right—I don't deserve to take my anger out on you. I want to make this work, Bella. I need to make this work."

"Why?" I asked him, raising a brow in question. He looked sincere enough, and for some reason, I could feel myself slowly giving in.

He sighed and leaned forward, resting his chin on his elbow. "I have my reasons, but just know I'm being serious. I want you to stay."

"Your mood swings are seriously starting to give me whiplash, you know," I mumbled, looking down briefly before staring back up at him. "I've always believed in people deserving second chances."

Edward grinned. "This mean you're staying?"

"I will, but you can't talk to me any kind of way you want, and you can't talk about my family, understand?" I told him firmly.

"You got it."

He began to eat then, and I allowed myself a grin as well. It looked as if we were finally getting somewhere.