James POV
I walked downstairs to confirm my suspicion that she was gone. I chuckled darkly, wow, who knew the little slut could fight back? I pretended to pass out after her last hit; I wanted to see what she would do.
I saw that she had cleaned through the office the other day. I had made sure to tell her she should clean it a few days ago (with a slap to get the message across) and to moan about a double shift that I had that following morning. Jez, sometimes it was almost too easy trying to manipulate her. I knew she wouldn't resist using the laptop left in there. It surprised me though what she used the laptop for, why did she google some little town in Washington?
In any case, the game was on, and I have no intention of losing what's mine.
Bella's POV
I looked out the tiny window to my left and groaned as we landed; the rain was pouring outside to the point where half the runway was flooded. I don't even have a thick sweater, let alone a rain coat. I sighed then decided to layer on another sip up sweater before I got off the plane.
After I got off the plane, I headed toward the exits past the baggage claim. Wait, I don't even know what Emmett or Japer look like. Crap. I started to look through the crowds for those who were holding signs and scanned for my name, I gasped.
I first noticed a guy whose face looked about my age, but the rest of him looked like a 25 yr old body builder. He was at least 6 5' with short dark hair and bright green eyes. Near him was a curly haired blonde who looked about 17 and was just a few inches shorter than him. He was muscular but with less bulk, and they shared the same brilliant green eyes. They had a 4 foot banner between them with a hastily scrawled Bella Swan across it in bright blue paint and doodled with stars and hearts.
I could feel my face turn bright red as my jaw dropped down is shock. Did a three year old help them write that or are they just trying to make me die of embarrassment? I smiled noticing that they had used Charlie's last name instead of Phil's. As they surveyed the crowd the one with dark hair spotted me and waved. "BELLA! BELLA, OVER HERE!" He barreled through the crowd with the blonde in tow and crushed me in a bear hug. I flinched, but he didn't seem to notice and hugged me tighter. Ouch! I winced at the rough handling of my bruised ribs and back.
Noticing my discomfort, the blonde spoke up, "Emmett, come on man your crushing her!" Thank heaven, I thought, I was just about to scream.
Emmett let go quickly, "Oh my gosh I'm so sorry! I don't really know my strength." He scratched the back of his head and smiled apologetically looking a bit sheepish.
I smiled back, I knew he didn't mean to hurt me, "Don't worry 'bout it. Thank you guys for picking me up." I could still feel the heat in my cheeks.
Jasper noticed my blush and chuckled, "I apologize for the embarrassing banner, I told Emmett he was going overboard, but once he gets an idea in his head there is no stopping him." He reminds me of a little kid, I smiled and let out a chuckle feeling more at ease with these strangers that I had in quite some time.
"Hey!" Emmett pouted his lower lip, "I was just excited for Bells to come…" Jasper rolled his eyes.
"Thanks again, I'm sorry I called on such short notice." I squeaked, suddenly nervous. I hope they aren't angry at me for the inconvenience.
"No problem sis." Jasper winked and smiled, then picked up my carry on.
"Oh, you d-don't have to do that, really…" I stuttered and, of course, blushed.
"Don't you even worry your pretty little head about it sis, we will take care of everything." Emmett grinned as he picked up my other bag.
My blush deepened and I ducked my head so my hair feel in front of my face, I am NOT pretty, I'm ugly, maybe plain at my best (which is me not covered in bruises), but I'm certainly not pretty. Both of them were looking at me now. Good thing I was able to put on some concealer during the flight. "Th-thanks." I stuttered.
Emmett started laughing and gave me a huge grin, "You pretty adorable little sis, I think you're a keeper!"
Jasper shoved him playfully, "Come on Emmett, stop harassing the poor girl and let's get her home." He smiled apologetically at me then started walking toward the exit.
While we drove to Forks, Emmett took it upon himself to try to figure out anything and everything about me during our three hour trip. He asked everything from what my favorite color was (brown) to my earliest childhood memory (Phil hitting Mom, I didn't tell him that though, I just said going to the park). Jasper started to chastise him for annoying me after the first hour, but I insisted it was fine. I could deftly avoid all of the questions about my step-father; I had a lot of practice with that over the years with teachers and friends. I still haven't told anyone that I lived with James for the past year when Phil left. I surprised myself by warming up to them instantly; I was never one to trust people, especially men, but I could tell these two were genuine.
After the second hour of our trip, Jasper suggested that Emmett should talk about himself if I was telling him so much about myself. He talked about a football scholarship he was trying to get, (I was personally shocked that we were in the same grade), and about his girlfriend, Rose. I asked how they became my brothers and he was more that eager to tell me how Charlie adopted Jasper and him after he found them in a car accident. Their Mom and Dad died on impact and with no close relatives they were going to be put in the foster system, but Charlie stepped up, and through some connections at the station, he was able to adopt both of them. He went on to tell me his favorite memories with growing up with Charlie as a Dad and I suddenly felt the urge to cry. It took me a whole minute to realize that I was jealous. While Charlie took Emmett and Jasper to little league baseball games and cheered them on, I had to hide bruises Phil gave me and learn how to cook and clean the entire house at age 6 so he didn't have an excuse to hurt me too bad. Before my train of thought was completely lost in my past I realized we pulled into the driveway of a white middle class home.
When we got out of the car Charlie was there to greet us on the porch. "Hello Bella!" He beamed at me, than came down to give me a hug. This time I was able to hold back a flinch, but I internally winced. Damn my ribs hurt. He caught the look on my face, "Are you alright Bella?" he asked concerned, looking me up and down.
"Yeah, I'm just a little sore from the flight is all." I lied and smiled.
"Well come on in! Let's get you out of the rain; Emmett can show you to your room while I set up dinner." He ushered me inside. "And don't worry about food poisoning," He looked pointedly back and Emmett and Jaspers terrified expressions, "Sue helped me make it." They both visibly relaxed and sighed in relief. Is his cooking really that bad? I decided I didn't want to find out the hard way. "Do you like spaghetti Bella?" He almost looked nervous for my response.
I nodded, "I love spaghetti, is it okay if I take a shower before dinner?". I felt like I was caked in layers of mud and dirt from not being able to shower this morning after…
"Course you can Bells, Emmett?" He smiled and heading toward what I guessed was the kitchen.
To my right was the living room with a large TV and magazines and half-drunk beer bottles scattered about. Well, I'll defiantly have my work cut out for me… On my left were the stairs leading to the second floor. Emmett nudged me toward them, "Come on Bells, I'll show ya around." I followed him up the stairs. He pointed out his, Jaspers, and Charlie's bedrooms. Emmett led me up them and entered the last door on the left carrying my luggage into it. I followed but hesitated at the doorway, slightly nervous at the idea of being alone in a bedroom with him, but I reassured myself that Emmett was sweet and harmless. You thought James was nice and caring to, and see where that got you? My inner voice taunted me.
When I walked in, my nerves dissipated and I instantly loved it. The cream colored walls accented the deep purple of the bed and curtains, and there was a lot of furniture including a nightstand, bed, chest of drawers, and my favorite: a big soft rocking chair in the corner. "We can go to the store later if you want decorate it some more." He said after he put down my bags at the end of my bed. "So this room is all yours," He started rambling, "we didn't know how you wanted it decorated so we just got some purple bedding and curtains. You have a walk-in closet here," He pointed at the door next to the bed, "Alice, Jasper's girlfriend, put some basic clothes in it 'cause we figured you wouldn't have winter clothes being from Arizona. Your own bathroom is over there." He then pointed at the door across the room near the window. "I had Rose put some shampoo and other girly things in there for ya."
My mouth popped open of its own accord and I gaped at the beautiful bedroom and at their thoughtfulness. The room itself was small but cozy and the purple accents were simple but perfect. I appreciated all of it, however their kindness is what made my throat tighten and tears blur my vision. None in a very long time had bothered to give anything so special with as much thought in a very long time. I mumbled, "I- I love it. I love it so much thank you!" I beamed up at the large man in front of me.
He fist pumped with a triumphant smile, "Awesome! Oh, ill leave so you can take your shower now..." he started to the door with a bit of a blush on his cheeks, and then he turned around remembering something, "If you need anything, don't be afraid to ask! And by the way Bells," He bent down and looked me with those big green eyes, "I'm really happy you're here, and I hope you will be happy here too. I'll see ya down stairs in a bit for dinner!" He excused himself and shut the door, leaving me alone in my new room and oddly enough I felt at peace here.
After taking a shower I started to unpack. I threw on some black sweatpants, a tank top and an oversized sweatshirt and started down the stairs, but being the klutz I am, I tripped at the second to last step. I scrunched my eyes, preparing for my body to hit the floor, but I didn't. Then I realized two very warm arms were wrapped around my middle and they started to straighten me out in an upright position. I gasped as his hands gripped the side of my injured rib. I looked up, about to thank Emmett, but instead a large tan man with dark eyes and long hair looked down at me. "Hey, are you okay?" He asked in a deep, kind voice.