DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THE CHARACTERS FROM TWILIGHT. THEY ALL BELONG TO STEPHENIE MEYER.
Whoo!!! Somebody up there loves me! Or you! However you want to put it :S Anyway, moving on! I've got the place to myself until tomorrow evening so I'm going to try and post as many chapters as I can :D not sure on how many that will be at this point in time but I'll try. I swear I will. Everything will come out soon - the reasons why Renee wants Bella back, why she and Phil have moved back to Phoenix etc. So read on and ye shall discover.
Anyways, ENJOY!
EPOV
"She wants me back."
Her words resounded in my head. Her mother wanted her back? How? Why? Why would she want Bella back after all this time? After almost two years, why would she want her back?
I wanted to shout, scream and protest. To tell her that she couldn't go. That I wasn't going to let her go, and that there was nothing that her mother could do about it. But I couldn't form the words.
"What?" I managed to whisper.
I looked at Bella closely and I saw that she was crying, silent tears streaming down her face. She opened her mouth and yet no sound came out. She settled for shaking her head in disbelief, looking down at her hands.
"Renee." She breathed. "She wants me back."
"Why?" I didn't seem to be able to form words that consisted of more than one syllable. "I, uh, I don't understand."
She shook her head. "Neither do I." She sniffed and I wrapped my arms around her, feeling tears well up in my own eyes. "She called Charlie and told him that she wants me back. That's why he wanted to talk to me today." She began to sob into my shoulder and I felt my own tears spill over and run down my face.
"Did she say why?" She shook her head into my shoulder and I rested my head on hers.
"She didn't say anything." She whispered. "All she said was that I could have the summer here and then I had to go back to Phoenix. I don't even know why she's moved back there. The last time I spoke to her - which was last week - she was in fucking Jacksonville!" She wrapped her arms around my waist as I started sobbing. I didn't care about the fact that I was crying in front of Bella. Hell, she's seen me worse than I am now.
I ran my hand through her hair and breathed in her beautiful scent, trying and failing to halt my own sobs. I felt her starting to rub small circles into the bottom of my back. Normally, this would calm me down, as it had done on many occassions, but today, there was nothing that could help me. Not even Bella's presence, having her here in my arms, could make me feel slightly better.
I had just found out that the love of my life, the one who had brought me back from the brink was being ripped away from me, and I only had what....two months? At the most. I couldn't say goodbye to Bella. I just couldn't.
"I don't want to go." She sobbed into my shoulder.
"I know." I whispered in reply, kissing her neck softly. "I don't want you to go. I need you Bella." More tears followed this from both of us. "I need you here with me. I don't think I can survive without you."
"I need you too Edward." She sobbed, breaking apart and looking me in the eye. "More than you'll ever know. I love you, so much! It's like, when I'm away from you....it's like I'm...."
"Incomplete." I whispered and she nodded. "Like there's something missing. Something huge. Oh, Bella. You're like my other half. Without you.....I'm nothing. Hell, without you, I'd probably be six feet under by now-"
She shook her head, pressing a hand to my lips. "Don't say things like that."
I pulled her hand away from my mouth, entangling her fingers with mine. "But its true." I kissed each of her knuckles gently and tenderly, savouring the taste of her. "Without you, I wouldn't be here. I know it. I would have been dead by now Bella. You saved me. You're the reason I'm here right now, in this room with you." She was shaking her head, but I didn't care. I had to get this out. "You are the reason I'm alive Bella. If it wasn't for you, then I wouldn't be here. If you hadn't been stubborn and insisted on talking to me in the first place then I would be dead, Bella." I could see in her eyes that she knew it was the truth.
I pulled her close to me and we sat back on the bed. I settled my head on her shoulder as she ran her hands through my hair. Closing my hair I inhaled a deep breath. I wanted to stay like this forever. But I knew that that would never happen. Not if fate had its way. Something or someone up there seemed intent on keeping the two of us apart. First that thing with Jacob and all of the grief that had caused and when we'd thought that we were over that, this comes up.
"I can't survive without you either, Edward." She whispered. "You...." She placed a finger underneath my chin and pulled my face up so I had to look at her. Even with her face completely and utterly tearstreaked, she looked beautiful. "....are my whole world. My entire reason for being now. Before you came here, I was surrounded by fakes and phonies. People who didn't care about anything more than who's hooking up, who's breaking up, football, make-up or clothes. But you," She tilted her head and smiled sadly at me. "You," She tapped me on the nose lightly, smiling as I pouted at her, playfully. "Are so much more than all of those people could ever dream of being. I mean, they weren't really my friends. They only started talking to me because I was the new girl last year and after that I just kind of....slotted into the group. But with you, and your family, I feel like I belong." She placed a hand on my cheek, running her thumb backwards and forwards across my cheekbone, gently. I leaned into her hand, sighing and closing my eyes. "What you don't seem to realise, Edward, is that you saved me too." I opened my eyes and looked at her. I could feel my brow furrowing in confusion and she smiled again. "You did. Before you came along, I was alone. I had no purpose. But then, you came along. I'm not going to lie to you Edward, at first, I saw you as someone I wanted to help and nothing more. I thought that I would be able to help you and then we'd go our separate ways. But then, something changed."
"What changed?" I asked in a whisper.
"I fell in love." She replied at the same volume. Even though she had told me that she loved me everyday since we had first confessed our love months before, I felt my heart swell.
"So did I." I looked up at her and she brought her head down, touching her lips to mine. I deepened it ever so slightly before we broke apart. We weren't in the mood for anything like that tonight. Not after the revelations of Bella's mother's decision.
I had never met the woman, but I instantly knew that I hated her. She was forcing Bella to move back to Phoenix against her will. Something I knew was wrong. Bella would have to stay there until the school year was out, even though she was turning eighteen, because all her transcripts and everything to do with her academic record would be sent back to Phoenix and she wouldn't be able to transfer schools again.
No. I thought, a fresh wave of tears rolling down my cheeks. There was no way that this would end in a way where the two of us could be happy. My guess was that someone had told Renee about how much of a "fuck-up" I am and she's decided that she doesn't want her daughter to have anything more to do with me. A little self-centered or whatever, but that's the only thing that I could think of. Why else would Renee want to upheave Bella again, right before her senior year and drag her back to Phoenix, without letting her have anything to say on the matter? It didn't make sense.
"Bella, love." I whispered.
"Yes, sweetheart." I felt her arms tighten around me slightly and I leaned into her embrace. "What if....there was something else behind Renee's decision to have you back?"
"What do you mean?" She asked me, confusion resounding in her voice.
"What if someone told her about....us." I said trying to judge her reaction by her grip of her arms around me.
"Charlie did. She knows that we're together. She doesn't care." She mumbled, her voice dripping with anger.
"That's not what I meant." I told her. "What if someone told her the....circumstances." I couldn't think of what else to call it. I knew it sounded strange to call it that, but everything else that passed through my head at that point sounded a hell of a lot weirder and worse.
"What? Like, about the clinic and stuff?" She looked down at me and I nodded. "Who would do that?"
"People who don't like that we're together." I reasoned, not breaking eye contact. "You said that Charlie told her that we're together. Who says it wasn't him."
She shook her head vigorously. "No. I know that Charlie wouldn't tell Renee about that. I mean, I know he told Billy but I can understand how that would come about. That doesn't mean I've forgiven him." She added quickly as I raised my head off of her shoulder. "No. He's still in a lot of trouble for that one. But I can see how. But he wouldn't tell Renee. He's not that cold-hearted. And besides," she smiled at me, "he likes you."
"He does?" I gave her a small smile back and she nodded.
"Yup," She smiled. "Very much. He told me just before you came out of hospital, that he couldn't think of anyone else better suited for me." I felt my eyes widen in shock. "I know. It shocked me as well. I always thought that with the way he had been pushing for me to start seeing Jacob-" She suddenly stopped and a looked of realisation flashed across her face. It was only fleeting though. It was quickly replaced by fury and disappointment.
"What is it love?" I asked her. "Bella?"
"Jacob!" She hissed through gritted teeth. I sat up and looked at her. Even though I had moved away from her she still had her arms wrapped around me, causing her to sit up when I did.
"What?" I was confused. What did he have to do with any of this?
"Jacob!" She hissed again, although this was louder. Her head snapped to look at me and I saw the fury and hatred blazing in her eyes. I'm not ashamed to say that it scared me a little. Bella could be extremely forceful when she wanted to be. "It was Jacob! It had to have been! Renee would never behave like this unless someone else convinced her that it was the right thing to do. The only one, other than Charlie, who wouldn't do it anyway, because all he wants is to see me happy, who knows something that would make her want to do this, and who has any way of contacting her is Jacob!"
I thought for a moment before realising she was right. He was the only one who seemed to have any kind of problem with our relationship. Something didn't seem to add up in my head though.
"How would he get into contact with your mom, though?" She looked puzzled. "I mean, you said that she's been living in Jacksonville right?" She nodded, not seeing where she was headed. "But you also said that she had only just moved back to Phoenix."
"I don't see where you're going with this?" She looked truly perplexed with my reasoning.
I sighed and looked at her again. "What I'm saying is that how would Jacob get into contact with her? I mean, if she's only just moved back to Phoenix then there's very little chance that she would be in the phone book, right?" Her expression showed me that she seemed to now understand where I was going with this. "So, short of walking up to either Charlie or yourself and asking for her number - which even though I think Jacob is a dumbass-" She smirked when I said that and nodded slightly, agreeing with me. "He's not likely to do. So how would he have done it?"
"He has her number from when they threw me a surprise birthday party last year. She hasn't changed her number since then, so there's your answer." I could tell that she was still pretty mad because she had started crying again. These were not tears of sorrow, but tears of frustration. She reached into her pocket and took out her phone.
"Whoa! What are you doing?" I asked her, trying to take the phone away but she yanked it out of my reach.
"I'm going to call Jacob!" She hissed. I knew it wasn't directed at me. It was directed at the person on the end of the phone.
"Why?" I made to reach for the phone again, but she slapped my hand away.
"Because, I want to get this sorted. Now!" She found the number that she was looking for, and put the phone to her ear.
"Hey," I whispered, hoping that no one had picked up yet. "Speakerphone."
Her eyes lit up. This way she wouldn't have to repeat what he had said. She pulled the phone away from her ear and fiddled with it for a second before the sound of the outgoing call filled the room. She motioned for me to be quiet and I nodded. She didn't want him to know that she was with me, or else he wouldn't say anything. I moved around and laid my head in her lap as we waited for him to pick up. I closed my eyes as she ran her hand through my hair. I wouldn't be able to feel this for a long time and I was going to miss it so much. I lay there trying to keep a fresh wave of tears breaking free.
"Hello?"
"Jacob!" Bella growled. I mean actually growled.
"Bella?" He sounded happy to see her. If only he knew why she was calling. "What's up? Seen sense?"
"Yes, I have." She replied smoothly. "I've finally realised that I've spent too long worrying about my friendship with someone as low as you!"
"What are you talking about?" I heard him ask indignantly over the phone.
"You know exactly what I'm talking about Jacob." She inhaled a deep breath. "Renee."
"Oh," Was all that came from the other end, confirming for the both of us that it was him that phoned her.
"Why Jacob!" She sat up sharply, almost squashing my head as she did so. Thankfully she stopped when she realised that my head was in her lap and she looked at me, an apology etched into her features.
"Because he's no good for you." He argued. "You know that. I know that. Fuck! Even he probably knows that!"
I opened my mouth to say something but Bella placed a finger over my lips, giving me a pointed look and I shut up, pressing my lips onto her finger in a small kiss. She smiled at me before getting back to her onslaught with Jacob.
"No!" She almost shouted. "I don't know that! You! You have no fucking clue what you're talking about and Edward. Edward is the most amaxing person that I have ever met. He's kind and selfless, caring and passionate. I would chose him over you or anybody else any day of the week, Jacob. Now! Tell me what you fucking told my mother!"
"I told her the truth." He replied calmly, as if he wasn't losing his best friend. As if he believed that she would "come around" eventually. I knew my Bella better than that. She wouldn't give in. She would fight.
"Oh! Are you talking about the real truth, or your warped biased version of the truth?" Bella shot at him, her voice dripping in sarcasm. I turned my head, so that my face was pressed into her stomach so I wouldn't laugh. I knew that there was absolutely nothing funny about this situation. Hell, this was the worst situation I had ever been in, but there was something about the way Bella had asked that question that made me laugh.
"I told her what I know." I could tell that he was starting to get angry now. Probably wondering why she wouldn't just come around and think the way he was. Wondering why she wouldn't just go out with him. Sorry Jacob, I thought. She's mine. And there's nothing - not wind nor rain, no distance, - that can keep us apart.
"So you told her a pile of bullshit!" Bella practically cried. "You know what Jacob?" She asked rhetorically as he was about to speak. "I don't care what you have to say, because I know that you're just going to lie to me about it anyway. Our friendship is officially over! I don't want you to contact me, Charlie or anyone else that I know. I don't care what your Dad does, but I want you out of my life! I don't want to hear your name at all! Goodbye Jacob! Don't come running!" With that she hung up and I stared at her in awe. "What?" She asked, coolly. She had meant to put on a cool and calm facade when she hung up the phone but the tears in her eyes spoke more than her words could. "I hate him."
She looked down at me and before I knew what was happening, her lips had crashed down onto mine and her tongue had made its way into my mouth. I still had my head in her lap, so that must have been incredibly uncomfortable for her. And yet I couldn't get up. She was holding me down with the force of her kiss, and yet, I didn't know if I wanted to get up.
She broke the kiss a minute or so later, and we were both panting. I sat up and took her face between my hands, placing a soft, sweet and lingering kiss on her lips. "I love you." I whispered. "I love you so much, Isabella Marie Swan."
"As I love you, Edward Anthony Masen Cullen." She smiled at me before placing another kiss on my lips. She deepened this kiss once again and I felt her tongue licking and pressing against my bottom lip, seemingly begging for entrance. I parted my lips slightly and instantly her tongue was in my mouth.
I knew then that she was mine. I had to make her mine. But not in this way. I knew that she would never forgive herself if it happened this way. And being honest, that wasn't all I wanted from Bella. I wanted everything. I wanted her body, mind and her soul. I craved it. I craved her. I wanted to make her mine for all time. I made a decision in that moment. Nothing would happen tonight. Nothing physical anyway.
I pulled away from her and she looked slightly disappointed, with her beautiful lips swollen from our kisses, pouting. How I wanted those lips. She had no idea how sexy that expression made her look. I would let her know, when the time was right.
"Bella." I gasped. "I don't know how to say this but.....I want to....um, there's something that I want to ask you." Fuck, I had no idea what I was doing. This would have to be one of the worst ideas of my life.
"What?" She asked me, looking worried. "What is it, Edward?"
"Will you marry me?"
Don't hate me for leaving it there. Don't worry. All will be explained in the next chapter. But I wanted to leave you guys with a cliffie, as is my style :P
Review and let me know what you think :D
xx
