BELLA'S POV
I felt something cold wiping my forehead softly. I opened my eyes slowly and saw Esme patting my forehead with a wet towel.
"There. See, I told you she was fine, Edward." I looked over Esme's shoulder and saw Edward look me over carefully, as though he didn't believe Esme. His hand was balled into a fist and resting on his mouth. He was fully dressed again; I looked down at myself and saw that I had also been dressed. New sheets were covering me.
"What's wrong? What happened?" I asked Edward. I looked at Esme uncomfortably, after I realized she must know about what had happened. Edward put his hand down and walked to Esme.
"Thank you," he said to her, resting his hand on her shoulder.
"Bella. You're awake." Carlisle smiled as he entered the room carrying a cup of tea. I could see the steam rising from the cup. "See, son, she's fine."
Edward just nodded and stared off into space.
"Drink this." Carlisle handed me the cup. I took the cup from him and looked at them both. I could feel myself beginning to blush. Carlisle smiled and touched my cheek.
"We'll leave you two alone." He and Esme left the room together without a word. The cup of tea smelled lovely. I took a sip and put it down on the nightstand next to me. Edward was still staring off, and he hadn't looked me in my eyes since I'd woken up. Something felt wrong.
I looked through the window and noticed that the sun was coming up soon, which meant that it had been a while since Edward and I had been having sex.
"I'm sorry," said Edward. I looked at him and grabbed his hand, pulling him down so he could sit by me.
"Why? You didn't do anything wrong."
"I hurt you," He looked down at our hands. I began to laugh.
"No, Edward, you didn't hurt me. I was a virgin. That's supposed to happen to us human girls when we have sex for the first time. We bleed." For being such an old vampire, there were some things he still needed to learn.
He paused. "I tasted it."
I stared at him, kind of grossed out. The thought of him tasting blood coming out of there was…strange.
"Ew." I couldn't help it. "Wait…you licked some off of me?"
"I was...curious. It smelled different...sweeter." He shook his head in defeat. "I told myself I would never drink your blood again, never, not after that time with James."
"Virgin blood." I said, looking away from him. "I guess I can understand a little, with you being a vampire and all." I tried to lighten the mood with a joke, but Edward was beyond that. He wrapped his arm around me and hugged me.
"I'm sorry. I won't ever do it again, not while you're in this state," he said. I pulled away.
"What? Why not?"
"I don't want to hurt you ever again. I thought I wasn't going to be able to control myself during it. I fought so hard to not get out of hand. And I promised myself, Bella, that I would never taste your blood again. It's too dangerous." He was looking at the bed.
"But you didn't hurt me!" I insisted. I hadn't exactly enjoyed it, but he had been more gentle than most human men would probably be. And I liked knowing that he liked it, knowing he was my first and vice versa. Besides, didn't it get better the more you did it?
"Bella…I-I need some time to think right now...okay? I'll be back soon," he said.
"Well, I'll wait up for you, and we can talk this out after you've gathered your thoughts."
"No, Bella, that's not what I mean. I won't be back today. I have to focus and I can't when I'm around you."
"You're leaving?" I was in a state of disbelief.
"I'll be back. I just need some time to myself." He kissed my forehead and turned to leave. I grabbed his wrist.
"You're leaving because I gave you myself and bled, even though I'm supposed to?" I asked, upset. He was going to leave me again?
"It's more than that," he said. For some reason, this was the last straw.
"FINE! GO!" I said, throwing his arm away from me.
"Bella, understand me, please. I'm-"
"GO!" I repeated. I could feel myself on the verge of tears. "I should never have given myself to you."
His face fell. "Bella, please, try to understand-"
"I understand enough to know you did it once and you almost lost me. But if you don't care about that, then GO!" I screamed. He looked at me sadly for a second and walked to the door, opened it, and stopped once more to look at me.
"I love you, Bella."
Then he stepped out and closed the door. I grabbed the cup of hot tea and threw it after him. The cup shattered into pieces, and bounced onto the floor; hot tea splashed everywhere. I laid back down and sobbed into my pillow.
EMMETT'S POV
I walked towards the house slowly, mad beyond belief. I shouldn't have been mad, I knew that. I knew Bella was Edward's. And I knew it was bound to happen. I mean, they were in a relationship after all.
But knowing they actually had sex got to me. Jasper and I had picked on her and Edward about their sexless relationship so many times.
I opened the door and saw Carlisle by the stove. He was pouring hot water into a cup. A sweet scent wafted around me as I walked by.
"Morning, Emmett," he said putting the pot back on the stove.
"Morning," I said, serious. "What's that for?" I asked, pointing out the cup of tea he was holding.
"It's for Bella. She isn't feeling very well."
"What's wrong with her?" I asked, worried.
"It's between her and Edward," he said in a tone I knew not to push anymore. He walked away with the tea towards Edward and Bella's room. I looked around the kitchen and didn't know what to do.
Carlisle's words were like a confirmation. I felt like punching something, taking out my anger somehow. I walked towards the living room and saw Rosalie reading a book. I looked at her and began to turn away before I took my anger out on her and made our situation worse.
"In case you were wondering what all the fuss is about, the human fainted. On the first time she has sex. Pathetic," she said, bored already. She didn't even look up at me from her book. Having her remind me of something I'd been trying to ignore made my blood boil.
"HER NAME...IS BELLA!" I bellowed angrily. She looked up, surprised. I had never used this sort of tone with her.
"WHAT'S IT TO YOU?" she demanded.
"Look, I'm tired of your crappy attitude, Rosalie. And you're just going to have to learn to live with her, because she's here to stay. She's family," I said.
"How dare you try to include her as if she was actually important," Rosalie hissed. "I don't understand what Edward ever saw in her." I was about to say something when I heard Esme hiss at her.
"ROSALIE!" I turned to Esme, Carlisle was standing next to her. I rested my hand on her shoulder.
"It's fine, Esme. She's always going to be a miserable…bitch." I said.
"How dare you!" Rosalie said, standing up. The book fell on to the floor.
"Emmett, don't speak like that," Carlisle told me. I shook my head and walked around them, leaving them with Rosalie. I walked back to the kitchen and saw Edward. He was walking slowly, his gaze on the floor in front of him.
I didn't know how to react. A moment ago I'd been angry, but now I could tell something had gone wrong. I was curious to find out about Bella's state.
"What's the matter?" I asked him. Edward shook his head.
"I'm going away for a bit. I need some time to think…can you look after her for me?" He didn't need to tell me who he was talking about.
"What? Why are you leaving?" I asked confused.
"I-I just need time to think," he repeated. Edward looked lost. "Will you watch over her for me?"
"Yes, you know I will," I said firmly. "But where are you going?"
"Thank you." He ignored my last question, walked to the door, opened it, and ran off. I looked over to their room and noticed something coming out from under the door. Something liquid. I slowly walked towards the door, occasionally looking over my shoulder to make sure no one could see me.
Luckily, everyone was trying to deal with Rosalie. I got to the door, bent down, and smelled the liquid; it was the same thing Carlisle had been pouring into the cup. I grabbed the doorknob but didn't twist it open. Instead, I stood there and listened. I could hear someone crying.
What the hell happened? I thought to myself. I knocked gently and slowly opened the door. Bella was lying on the bed in the fetal position. The noises were definitely coming from her. Her right arm was covering her face from view.
I stepped in; one foot crunched onto the broken pieces of teacup and the other into a puddle of tea. I closed the door.
"GO AWAY, EDWARD!" she screamed.
"It's me," I said, walking over to her. I stood right next to the bed. She looked up at me and sat up. Her nose and eyes were red. I had never seen her cry. It upset me to see her sad and hurt, but I couldn't help loving how she looked. It was so...human, her color, the ability to cry at all.
"Oh, Emmett." Bella wrapped her arms around my waist and rested her head on my stomach. I brushed her hair with my hand.
"What's wrong?" I asked softly.
"I don't want to talk about it. I just need someone to hold right now." She hugged me harder. I looked at the bed and closed my eyes to shake the thought that they'd had sex on this very bed, in this very room. He was able to be with her, lay by her side while she slept, caress her, watch her sleep. As lucky as I thought he was I couldn't help but think what an idiot he was for leaving her like this.
BELLA'S POV
My eyes were heavy and tired from crying. I hated that Emmett could see me like this. Rosalie never cried, so trying to look perfect like her was far beyond my power right now.
I squeezed my arms around Emmett harder. His stomach felt flat but hard under the white shirt he was wearing. He continued to play with my hair. I pressed myself even closer to his body.
Yes, I was devestated, but Edward wasn't here to comfort me, to console me, to tell me he loved me. Emmett was. And I didn't want to lose this moment. We stayed in our hug until the door swung open.
Alice and Jasper came in and stopped as soon as they saw us. I pulled away from Emmett as he stepped away from me.
"Where's Edward?" asked Alice. I looked at her and then at Jasper. Neither seemed concerned with what they had just seen.
"He left a while ago," Emmett said. "Why? What's wrong?"
"I don't know. One minute I was able to see him, then it all went blank."
"Is he in danger?" I asked quickly.
"We know he isn't in danger, but we don't know where he went to disconnect himself from Alice. She's developed this bond with us all over time, and if she can't sense one of us, it throws her off. We need him,"
Jasper said, more to Emmett then to me.
"We've already spoken to Carlisle, and we told him we were going to go look for Edward. Come on," said Alice to Emmett.
"I can't," I heard Emmett say to them. I looked up at him as he wrapped his arm around my shoulder. "I told him I'd look out for Bella."
Alice looked over at Jasper. "Very well. I'll ask Rosalie then." She sprinted away.
"Are you okay?" Jasper asked, finally noticing my red
eyes. I nodded.
Jasper nodded once, then turned to Emmett and said, "Control yourself." He followed his wife, closing the door once again.
"What was Jasper talking about?" I asked Emmett.
"It's nothing," he said quickly. I knew he was lying.
EMMETT'S POV
"Bella, would you like to come with me?" I asked her.
"Where?"
"I want to show you something. Maybe it'll cheer you up," I smiled. She thought about it.
"Okay."
"I'll wait for you outside." She nodded and stood up. She began putting her hair into a high messy ponytail. She had on a pair of light blue pants and a white and blue baseball top. As I closed the door behind me, I ran into Jasper.
"Rosalie decided she would come with us," he said. "I thought you would like to know."
"Whatever," I mumbled. I was about to walk past him when he grabbed my arm.
"Don't think I don't know what's going on, Emmett," he said in a low voice.
"What are you talking about?" I asked, praying he wasn't talking about what I thought he was.
"Quit the horseshit, brother. I can feel it. You…Bella," he said, staring into my eyes.
"You're wrong. Bella is Edward's." I pulled my arm away from his strong grip. I kept on walking but stopped when he spoke again.
"Fine. Continue to deny it. I won't say anything, and you're lucky I haven't seen anything wrong that Edward might see in my thoughts. Or that Alice hasn't seen anything with her gift. I just hope you resolve this all by the time we get back."
Jasper walked past me without turning to see my reaction. I followed behind him into the kitchen and joined the others. Esme was telling Alice to be careful, and asking if everything was okay.
"Yes. I just can't be at peace. It makes me nervous, not being able to see Edward. Especially after the vision I told you I had."
I stepped closer and Rosalie grunted. "Can we please leave already? I smell an asshole here." She looked at me.
"Rose!" Carlisle warned her.
Jasper kissed Esme on the cheek and hugged Carlisle, still avoiding me.
"Rose sweetheart, see you soon." Esme said to her. I figured then that she might be coming back on her own.
"Ready?" he asked Alice. She nodded, walked over, and hugged me.
"See you soon." I nodded. I looked over to Rosalie and wished her a safe trip, which, of course, she ignored and walked out the door followed by Alice and Jasper. Their skin sparkled as they walked out into the sun. I watched until they were no longer visible.
"What vision did Alice have?" I asked Esme.
She sighed. "We are going to be at war with the Quileute tribe."
"What? Why?"
"We're not sure yet," answered Carlisle. "But without Edward, Alice can't see what happens to us all anymore. She doesn't have the big picture. You know how strong of a bond we have together. Without one, we have a huge hole in our defense."
"That's why Alice and Jasper asked Rosalie to join them. They'll be fine; as of right now, the Quileutes have no reason to attack," said Esme.
"But why can't she see him anymore? Is he with the La Push mutts?" I asked. Carlisle gave me a warning look at the last word. "I meant the La Push Quileutes."
"We think he is just blocking himself. His ability has become stronger against hers. And right now he's upset with himself. He doesn't want to be found until he clears some things up," said Carlisle.
I stood quietly, taking it in. Why the hell would we go to war with the mutts of La Push? Unless Edward was stupid enough to cross their territory. Or…transform Bella…but he wouldn't do that. He valued her life too much.
"Is Bella okay?" Esme interrupted my thoughts.
"She's just sad," I answered.
"Are you fine?" I sighed.
"There's more to worry about now than my marriage with that woman."
Carlisle cleared his throat. "Look, Emmett, we know you two have never really had the healthiest relationship, but you need to make peace amongst yourselves. For the sake of us all. What happened? You two were like newlyweds at first."
"I know, I know," I said, rubbing the back of my neck in frustration. I turned as I heard a pair of footsteps behind me. Bella walked in shyly.
"Bella, dear, are you hungry?" Esme asked her.
"No, thank you. I'm fine." She smiled her gratitude, then turned to me. "Are you ready?"
"Where are you two headed?" Esme asked.
"I want to show Bella around the island to...distract her. And it's probably not such a bad idea if I get out of here myself," I said. Carlisle and Esme nodded in approval.
"That's an excellent idea. Should I pack you a lunch, dear?" Esme asked Bella.
"It's okay, I'll do it. Gives me a chance to try out the kitchen. Can't be that hard, can it?" I said confidently.
"Uh oh." Carlisle teased. Esme and Bella laughed.
Not to long after, we were ready to go.
"You two have fun. Carlisle and I will be putting the finishing touches on the castle. We'll see you later," said Esme as she kissed Bella's cheek.