Chapter Twenty-Four: Stay With Me

No one moved until I started to shiver. It felt like I was in a freezer with their icy bodies surrounding me.

"Bella, will you allow us to take care of you?" Carlisle asked in an imploring voice as they moved away so I could warm up.

They all looked anxious and concerned for me. I had to do it. "Yes, you can. Jasper, can you hand me that glass?" I pointed to the partially spilled smoothie on the dresser next to him.

He picked it up and asked, "What is this? It looks nasty." Jasper grimaced as he handed me the glass. I almost laughed at the expression.

"It's the fruit smoothie for my breakfast. I'm pretty hungry, tired too." I took a long drink of it while they watched in disgust. Human food was repulsive to the Cullens. I almost laughed again. After I finished, I let Carlisle wash my face with the cloth he still had in his hand.

"Is there anything you want to do, honey?" Esme asked. I didn't feel like leaving the house and I knew they wouldn't let me wallow like I wanted to. I had an idea.

"Why don't we all watch a movie? I'm kind of tired." I told them. We all went to the living room together.

"Is there anything in particular you want to watch, Bella?" Jasper asked. The rest of us were starting to take our seats as he scanned the shelf of DVDs for something to watch.

"A comedy would be fine, I could use a laugh. I'm still hungry, too. Could someone get me more food, please?" I asked them. Emmett, who had sat down next to me, started to get up so I shouted, "anyone but Emmett!" I had had his cooking before and I didn't think my stomach or the kitchen could take it.

"Why not me? I know I screwed up once but I can do better." Emmett looked hurt by my lack of faith in his cooking abilities. I made up a quick excuse so I wouldn't hurt his feelings.

"I want you to stay here with me. I need your big, strong arms around me. Jasper should stay with me too so I don't fall apart. I need my brothers here with me." I tacked on that last bit so Rosalie wouldn't think I wanted Emmett in Edward's absence. I plopped down in the middle of the couch and patted the spot next to me for Emmett.

"Sure, Bella. Someone else can cook for you if you need me." He accepted my excuse with ease. Emmett took his seat and wrapped an arm around me.

"Rosalie and I would be happy to cook for you, Bella. I was with Edward when he was learning to cook from your mother. Oops. I'm sure you would rather not talk about him right now." Esme said as she headed to the kitchen. I didn't really care so much about that. He would be back eventually. I shrugged under Emmett's arm.

"It's fine, Esme. Rose, you don't mind me borrowing your husband while you're cooking for me, do you?" I asked her, hoping she wouldn't take it the wrong way.

"Of course not, Bella. If you need him, go ahead. I understand, he's your brother. You are my sister and you need to be here for you. I'll go get you some food." Rosalie smiled at me the entire time. There was no falseness in what she said. I knew she meant it.

"Thanks, Rose. I appreciate it." I smiled back. She nodded and turned to follow Esme into the kitchen.

Alice spoke then, "you're allowed to borrow my husband, too, Bella. Jasper will sit on your other side and keep you happy." She laughed and smiled at me. She was settled into one of the armchairs. Carlisle, who was watching me carefully, was sitting in the other. I imagine Esme will sit with him when she comes back in. Jasper found a movie, put it in, and came to sit next to me.

He bent down to whisper in my ear, "Rosalie likes it when you call her Rose. She's thrilled that you now love her enough to use the nickname." His voice was too low for anyone to hear but me. I smiled at him. I was pleased that he cared enough about me to share these things.

"Thanks for sharing. You gonna be ok being this close to me?" I asked him as quietly as I could.

"I'm fine, Bella. I hunted a lot before we came here. And I could never hurt my favorite sister." He stated simply. I looked at his eyes and they were a buttery yellow. He was very well fed. I heard Rosalie make a noise in the kitchen. She must have heard what jasper said and was a little upset. She was always jealous of me because I'm human but this had to be painful to hear that Jasper liked me better than her.

"Jasper, you shouldn't say things like that. It would hurt Rose's feelings." I chastised him.

He chuckled and said, "You are everyone's favorite person. I love Rose, but you need me more. I like being needed and appreciated." He turned the movie on. I felt very loved sitting in between my brothers. It almost made me forget why I was sitting with them and the grief that put me there.

Almost.

"Alice?" I whispered as I turned to her.

"Yes, Bella?" she eyed me carefully. The whole family turned toward the sound of my voice. Esme and Rosalie, who were coming in from the kitchen with my food, froze at the pain in my voice.

"I was wondering if you could see when Edward is coming back?" I asked her in a small voice.

Before Alice could answer, Emmett growled, "It doesn't matter, Bella. When he does show his face again, I will be waiting to break it. He wont get away with hurting you." As Emmett spoke I felt his arm flex around me. That is not good.

"Emmett, no." I whispered. This is between him and me. Let me handle it. he's my husband."

Alice interrupted Emmett, "actually, Bella, I see him back in an hour. Carlisle, Jasper, and Emmett will be waiting outside for him. You will be in here with Rose, Esme, and myself. Everything will be fine."

My husband will be here in an hour! I couldn't help myself but feel joy and relief at that. Then I remembered the bad part of what Alice had said: I wouldn't get to see him. I was going to be trapped inside while my brothers and father dealt with my husband. Would they hurt him? Carlisle wouldn't but Emmett and Jasper would. Emmett was just waiting for the fight. I felt the tears on my face again.

Then I felt Jasper, who must have felt my emotions, lean behind me and hiss something at Emmett. He hissed back and they both nodded once. They had conspiratorial grins on their faces and it made me wonder what they were doing.

"Oh, Bella!" Emmett trilled in a high voice that sounded nothing like he usually does. He was excited and eager. I was very suspicious of this.

"Yes, Emmett?" I asked cautiously. I couldn't ignore my brother's eagerness no matter if I was suspicious of it.

Together, Jasper and Emmett shouted, "we love you!" to my eternal shock, they both bent down and sandwiched my face between theirs as they kissed my cheeks. It was the closest either of them had ever been to me. We all started laughing.

"What was that for?" I asked as soon as I could breathe.

"Just trying to show you our love. We refuse to let you cry and be miserable." Jasper laughed. I thought about that for a second.

"Well in that case. I love you, Jasper." I told him and pressed my lips to his stone cold cheek. I could feel the scars under my kiss from all his encounters with newborns. It made me shudder.

I turned to Emmett and saw that he was leaning his cheek down to me. He was waiting for it. I giggled and said, "I love you, Emmett." I kissed his cheek, which was a lot smoother than Jasper's. Like polished stone.

"Hey, don't the rest of us get kisses, Bella?" Alice shouted in mock exasperation.

"Of course. It isn't just Emmett and Jasper I love." I told her as I got up. I went and repeated the words and kiss on the other four.

When they each had a kiss, I went and sat back down. There was food on the table in front of me so I started eating. We were all settled in to wait out the hour.