This is the end. Enjoy!
Edward
Bella broke away from me, her eyes half-closed and her lips swollen.
"I shouldn't be doing this," she murmured, still slurring slightly.
"I know," I replied. No use in avoiding the truth. In reality, Bella should have been staying far, far away from me.
"But I don't think I can," she continued, her face burrowed into my chest. She was wobbling, practically passing out on her feet.
"Then don't," I urged.
Bella shook her head. "I won't."
My smile was wide and goofy. "Do you want me to take you home?"
"No," Bella groaned. "My mom just left my dad. I don't wanna go home."
I froze. "What?"
"My mom's been cheating on my dad for years now with your baseball coach, Phil. Dad finally caught them." Bella laughed humourlessly. "Fucking finally."
"Where do you want to stay, Bella? Emmett's? Alice's?"
"Can I stay with you, please? I just need to get away," she mumbled, stumbling away from me.
"Yeah, sure," I replied, picking her up with a grunt and carrying her back to my car. I drove to my house as quick as I could. Bella stared out the window, tears silently sliding down her face. I wished I could say something, anything, to make her feel better. But, I couldn't think of anything. I wanted to talk about us, but she was dealing with so much more than my stupidity right now.
I pulled into my driveway. The lights were all off in the house. I hoped my parents would remain asleep even if Bella was a little loud.
"Do you need help?" I asked her after she stumbled into the porch.
"No, I'll just get into your bed. Can you bring me some water and Tylenol, please?" she asked tiredly. Her words were so garbled that I could barely understand her.
"Sure." Bella crawled up the stairs slowly and silently while I rushed to the kitchen to grab the bottle of Tylenol and a big glass of water. By the time I got into my room, Bella was on the bed, her jeans and sweater stripped off. She was in a pair of gray boy short underwear and a blue v-neck shirt. It looked like she'd flung herself onto the bed quickly, just to be off the floor.
"Bella," I breathed, brushing her hair out of her fast. "Have some water, please, honey."
She sat up with my help and drank the entire glass before collapsing again.
Bella rolled over and mumbled something into the pillow before looking at me with barely open eyes. "Can you just hold me?"
My heart ached for a second. God, she was so broken right now. "Yes."
I pulled back the covers and helped Bella get under them before pulling off my clothes and getting in with her. My arms wrapped themselves around her body and pulled her close to my body. She sobbed quietly into my chest, her nails lightly scratching my bare chest.
We stayed like this for what seemed like hours. Eventually Bella fell asleep. I didn't let her go. I held onto her, tried to hold her together, as she slept. My tired eyes finally closed after the sun began to rise. It had been the longest week of my life. But, I felt like things could only get better from here.
--
Six Months Later
Done high school. Finally. God, I couldn't wait to get out of this town.
Neither could Bella. We were both off to Dartmouth in the fall.
I quickly sprinted down the path between my house and Bella's. She finally showed me her little secret on Christmas break. She kept it a secret for so long. Now it was our secret hideout.
Usually, I just drove to Bella's. But today I wanted to surprise her. When we first started publicly dating, I had to climb the tree by Bella's window. Chief Swan forbid Bella from seeing me, but it didn't really work. Chief Swan still hated me, but he at least let me in the house with cold civility.
I climbed the old tree into Bella's room. She was still sleeping from last night. We had our class grad party the night before. Bella had gotten extremely drunk, as usual. I let myself into her bed, crawling between the sheets and cuddling up next to her. She groaned and pushed my face away from hers.
"Leavemealone," she groaned.
"No," I replied with a chuckle. "You need to wake up, my girl."
"I don't wanna," she protested, rolling away from me.
I grabbed her waist and brought her to me. "Go brush your teeth so I can kiss you."
She sighed. "Fine, gimme a minute." She crawled over top of me, making sure to press her boobs into my face and her hips into my groin just to make me extra uncomfortable.
Bella walked into the room, still looking tired, but clean. She crawled on top of me and pressed her mouth to mine before rolling off and back under the blankets.
"Now, what do you want?" she asked as I pushed my arm under her head.
"I just want to be with you," I replied.
"Couldn't you have waited five more hours?" she asked, closing her eyes.
"No."
She sighed again. "Edward, I love you."
"I love you too, Bella."
"Why do you love me?"
"Because you're you."
She smiled. "Good answer."
Pah. The end. This was the epilogue. Couldn't think of much else to add, and yeah. I need to stop doing three fics at a time. So, I'll still be doing Dancing on Pianos and Carpe Diem. Maybe a one-shot here and there.
Please don't hate me.
Review one last time! Lots of love!
Mary
