DISCLAIMER: The characters do not belong to me…they are all the creation of the wonderful Stephenie Meyer.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Bella has a talk with her siblings regarding the incident during her training session.
Trouble
I made sure to keep our walk at a human pace, knowing Edward was still beyond pissed at our siblings. I wasn't very happy with them either, but I needed to be the voice of reason right now, otherwise Edward really would hurt them. I was not going to be the reason for them fighting. Besides, I had a few ideas of my own on how to handle our loving siblings.
"I have the best idea," I announced. I looked up at him through my lashes and tried to give him a coy smile.
"Really?" he asked, smiling crookedly.
Okay, so maybe I could dazzle him a little after all. But I was worried that this seemed too easy. "Yes, I was thinking it would be nice to go for an afternoon drive. It's been awhile since you took the Aston Martin out for a spin." I, once again, wondered why my husband felt the need to own three ridiculously expensive cars when he only paid attention to one of them at any given time – and since his birthday, it had only been the S63 getting his love and attention.
"Why does it sound like I'll be lonely on this ride?" he questioned, lifting an eyebrow. He was no longer smiling. Instead, he was giving me that speculative look he used to have when we were first getting to know each other.
I climbed onto the bottom step of the porch and turned to face him, making me almost even with him. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him closer. "As if I would let you go driving alone. But! You will need to go upstairs and shower on your own. I have a little errand I want to take care of. So while I'm handling that, you are to go upstairs, put on some of your angry rock, and clean up nice for me. Oh, and you have to do it all at human speed."
"What are you up to?"
"You'll find out, but not until later." I gave him a little peck on the tip of his nose. "Get going."
"Yes, ma'am," he chuckled. He kissed my cheek and started up the stairs.
"Human speed!" I yelled after him, shaking my head. His chuckle floated out to me.
I walked into the house and sniffed the air. Good! They were all together in the basement. This was going to make it even easier for me.
I walked down the stairs, happier than ever that Emmett had sound-proofed this area. I hoped it would be enough to keep Edward from hearing.
All four of them were on the sofa, watching television. I stalked over and turned off the TV as I turned to face them, my arms crossed in front of my chest.
"Bella?" Jasper questioned, obviously feeling my anger and frustration.
"I think it's time the five of us had a little chat," I informed them.
"Already seen it," Alice chirped. "I can inform them later. You should really be getting ready for the drive you planned with Edward."
"I don't care if you've seen it," I yelled at her. "You're going to listen to it with everyone else. Consider your own version of instant repeat."
Alice's jaw dropped with shock. I'd never talked to our siblings this way before, but then again, they'd never made me this angry before.
"All of you are going to listen, right now. And Jasper if you even think about calming me, I will make you regret it," I warned.
"You're a little scary when you're mad," Rose remarked.
"Oh, no. This isn't me mad. This is me calm after being mad," I told her.
"What exactly are you mad about?" Emmett asked.
"Are you all insane? What am I mad about? You three," I yelled, pointing at Rose, Emmett, and Jasper. "You guys held down and sat on my husband! And you!" I fussed, jabbing a finger at Alice. "You were the mastermind behind it all."
I took a deep breath, calming down enough to continue. "I'm only saying this once so you had all better listen closely. If you ever pull another stunt like you did today, you won't need to be worried about Edward's wrath. This is hard enough on him without you four adding to it!"
"We were trying to help," Alice defended.
"I know that. It's the only reason I didn't let Edward come after you guys. But just as you all like to point out to Edward, you don't know everything just because you've been around a long time. I know this training is important and I will stick with it and finish it. Just have a little trust in me. Even if I don't train as fast as you guys did, I'm committed to this and I will get through it eventually. Now unless you four know something Edward and I don't, I can't think of a single reason to rush my training. And since there's no need to rush, there had better not be any repeats of what went on today. Do we understand each other?"
"Just one question," Emmett said, raising his hand.
I nodded for him to go on.
"Did you know that you were more frightening than Alice and Rose combined just now?" he asked, grinning.
I glared at him until he dropped his eyes.
"Bella, we apologize," Jasper said. "We thought this would help Edward see you're not as fragile as he believes."
"If any of you had bothered to check with me first, I could have told you I'd already started working on that with the conversation I had with Edward last night. You guys…I actually made some progress with him last night and you wiped it all away with your little stunt."
Jasper, Rose, and Emmett all turned to look at Alice.
"Alice, did you know that they had talked last night?" Jasper asked her.
"No," Alice admitted. "I stayed away from visions of them, thinking that Bella was going to be making up the day to Edward in a particular fashion, and I didn't want to see that."
"Bella, we're really sorry. We had no idea," Rose said to me.
"And that's the point of my little chat with you guys. You didn't know because no one bothered to ask me. You all assumed something about Edward. Look, I know you've known him longer and you have a million reasons for the way you view him, but he's trying so hard to let me be more independent. I'm sure you guys are frustrated and aggravated with his temper, but think of how much worse it is for him. He's not only trying to ease up, but he's doing it while watching me get punched and kicked."
"If we apologize and promise not to do it again, will you promise not to beat us up?" Emmett asked. "Because you still look like you're ready to rip off some arms right now."
"I promise," I laughed. "Besides, I don't have time to fight. I have to go get ready. Edward's going to take me for a ride in the Aston Martin." I gave them one more stern look. "I meant what I said. Do not interfere like that ever again."
"Sorry, Bella," Alice said.
"Sorry, Picky," Emmett told me.
"Apologies," Jasper said.
"Sorry, Bella," Rose told me.
"Thank you all for apologizing. Now, I have a date to get ready for. Don't wait up!" I laughed as I ran up the stairs at vampire speed. There was no point in staying mad at them. I could only hope they'd listen and not repeat their mistake.
I closed the basement door and ran down the hallway, into our room. Edward was standing in front of the closet. I ran up to him, hugging him from behind. I rubbed my cheek against the rigid muscles of his back, taking in his unique scent.
"Did you complete your errand?" he asked, putting his hands over mine.
"Yep. All done."
Edward turned in my arms and lifted my chin up, grazing his lips against mine. "Are you going to be ready to go soon?"
"I'm just going to take a quick shower and change, and then we can go."
"I hope you're not planning on moving at a human pace," he teased, his lips turning up into his crooked grin.
"Nope. I've don't have any such restriction." And to prove my point, I pulled away and ran into the bathroom at vampire speed.
I was showered, dressed, and ready to go in two minutes flat. Edward chuckled, obviously having enjoyed my crazy race around the room. I took his hand in mine and led him outside to the garage. He opened my door for me and I climbed in.
"Thank you, Edward."
"My pleasure, love." He gave me a quick kiss on the cheek before closing the door.
We spent a few hours driving around aimlessly, enjoying the smooth glide of the tires on the pavement. We made it back to the house just after dark. I sat on the porch steps, watching Edward dust off the Aston Martin before closing up the garage for the night. I smiled and shook my head slightly, marveling at his love for his cars.
When he was done, he came and sat next to me on the porch step. We rested against each other, looking up at the stars.
I broke the peaceful silence with a soft whisper. "Did our quiet afternoon help to calm your anger toward our siblings?"
"Slightly," he chuckled.
"Why did that question make you laugh?"
"Silly Bella, just because the basement is soundproof, doesn't mean my mind is. Emmett and Alice's panicked thoughts were extremely amusing. I particularly liked the part where you told Alice to consider her gift as a form of instant repeat."
"You knew all this time and you never mentioned it?" I cried.
He shrugged. "I knew you would bring it up when you felt ready."
"Well, I know it wasn't much, but I hope they listen to me."
"Are you kidding?" he laughed. "Emmett was serious when he said he thought you were going to rip off an arm. And my personal favorite was when you had Rose, Emmett, and Jasper turn on Alice."
"Shewas the evil mastermind." I turned a little to see his face better. "How are you feeling right now, Edward?"
"I'm still a bit angry about their stunt. I'm disappointed in them for going around both of our backs to pull it off. I'm upset with them for upsetting you. But overall, I'm happy to have seen – well, heard – you stand up to them and be firm with them about what you want, not what they want for you. You were absolutely right when you said there's no reason to hurry. You've fought harder and longer with each session and I don't see any reason why that same effort won't continue. But even if we do have to cut a session short because of an injury, we can always make it up later."
"Well, if they ever do anything like this again, you not only have my permission to make them taste bark and dirt, as you put it, but I want to help."
He laughed and took me into his arms. "You keep up with these training sessions like you have been and I'll be the one helpingyou."
I kissed his cheek. "It's getting late. We should probably go upstairs and do our homework."
He pulled me away slightly, checking my face. "Did I just hear Isabella Cullen suggest we get our homework done?"
I shrugged. "I've already been threatened with shopping once today. I figured I'd save myself from another and just get my homework done."
We stood up together and he took my hand in his as we walked into the house. "You know, one of these days, I'm going to get you to agree to take me with you," he said.
"I don't think that would be very responsible of us, honey. That's only going to lead to trouble and I have agreed to avoid troubling situations."
"You are one cunning little vampire, Mrs. Cullen."
"And I'm all yours."
"I am one lucky man, then," he chuckled as he led us into our room.
I had battled Alice, calmed Edward's temper, chewed out our siblings, and had a wonderful night with Edward. I was really starting to enjoy the more confident me, and if last night was any indication, so was my husband. For the first time in months, I was letting go of my anxiety and just enjoying my time with my family.
Edward turned on his stereo and one of the songs we had been studying in class filled the room. The second I heard it, I knew just what I wanted us to do for Halloween…Alice was going to love it!
