Edward and Carlisle spent the entire day together and the doctors wouldn't allow anyone else back to see him. I sat with Esme holding her hand as we both prayed that they would get over their differences and move on. Esme told me all about how they disagreed for as long as she could remember. Jacob showed up around six o'clock just to check on me. I felt awful because I didn't call him or anything to let him know I was alright but he shrugged it off.
I looked around the room and couldn't help but smile. Alice and Rose were doing something on Alice's laptop while Jasper, Emmett, and Jacob played poker in the corner. Esme sat with me in silence watching her family. I wasn't sure what was going to come out of those two spending all day together but I only hoped it wouldn't ruin what I could see as a perfect family.
I was playing with my locket when Carlisle came through the doors smiling and he literally sprinted over to me and pulled me into a bone crushing hug that almost rivaled one of Emmett's. "Thank you so much Bella. Without you there is no doubt in my mind I never would have gotten to know my son the way I just did." I tried to respond but I couldn't breathe so talking was out of the question. I settled for patting him on the back hoping that would convey how happy I was for him.
Esme placed her hands on both of our shoulders, "Honey, she understands but you need to let her go, she can't breathe." He loosened his grip but still didn't let go before whispering one last thank you to me. "He asked to see you." I tried to smooth the wrinkles out of my shirt before I headed to his room. When I got there he was lying down and his eyes were closed. At first I thought he was asleep but when I sat down on the chair next to him I saw a smirk quickly appear and disappear on his face. Had he not been in here for a head injury I may have taken a play from Rose's book and smacked him on the head but I settled for poking him in the ribs.
"I know you are awake."
This time the smile spread across his entire face. "God I missed seeing your face all day. The doctor said he's gonna move me to a normal room tomorrow so you guys can all see me at the same time." I nodded because the doctor had already told me and Esme this. I refused to look him in the eye. I figured if I started my day off yelling at Carlisle I needed to end it by doing the same with Edward. He was far from innocent in this whole situation. "Edward we need to talk." He rubbed both of his hands across his face. "Bella, I am so sorry for what happened on New Year's Eve, my dad never should haveā¦" I finally looked up at him and he immediately stopped talking. "Edward, I've already talked to your father and we have reached an understanding, but we need to talk about us. Do you love me?" He nodded and started to open his mouth but I stopped him.
"I love you too, but I think we need to step back and do this the right way. Jacob and Ness are gonna allow me to live with them until I get a job and can get a place of my own. I'll still talk to you and see you but I think it is best for both of us if I don't live with you. I need to do this for me. I can't go from Hannigan straight to you because I need to I know who the real me is." He reached out and grabbed my hand that was subconsciously playing with my locket. "Bella, I can help you. I know people who would give you a job, hell I own a company let me give you a job, and then you can get an advance in your pay and move out of Jacob's house. I would gladly get you your own place if you don't want to stay with me but I don't want your pride to force you to work in a shit-hole place, like a gas station."
I laced my fingers with his before looking up at him. "Stop." His forehead wrinkled in confusion. "I need to do this on my own. I can't work for you or even let you get me a job. I would always be asking if I really deserved the job or if you were the only reason for it. You need to have faith in me that I can do this on my own, without your help." He pulled his hand out of mine and threw his head against his pillow before looking at the wall opposite me. I looked out the glass window hurt by his actions just in time to see the nurse tapping her watch letting me know it was time to leave.
He must have seen me stand out of the corner of his eye because he immediately looked at me with fear in his eyes. I leaned down and kissed his softly on the lips, "It's time for me to leave." He looked at the clock above my head and groaned, "Damn hospital rules, I can't wait to get out of here." I kissed him again before agreeing with him.
When I got to the waiting room everyone was gone except for Jacob who was waiting for me. "So where are you crashing tonight?" I sighed as I sat down next to him. "If it's ok with you, can I stay at you place?" He smiled at me before nodding like a child who was asked if they wanted candy. "Cool, do you think we could stop at Edwards so I can grab some clothes and stuff?" He stood and extended his hand for me to take, "Let's go Bells."
The ride to Edward's house was silent except for the radio and me singing along with it. "I forgot how good your voice is." I blushed and tried to ignore the compliment. "Shut up Jake. I'm not that good." The look he gave me was one that said 'yeah right and I have three heads'. I rolled my eyes and continued to sing.
Alice was of course upset when I told her that I would no longer be staying at the house with them but then Jasper calmed her down and told her she would see me again soon. I then assured her that I would be at the hospital everyday until he got out. That sufficed her for the time it also didn't hurt that I let her have complete control over what I packed to take to Jacob's. Everyone including Carlisle gave me a hug before I left with Jacob.
As promised I visited Edward everyday until he got out which was a week after him and Carlisle talked. Esme forced the others to go home and get back to their jobs. I heard something about Emmett moving to be closer to Jasper and I am positive Rose had something to do with that. After the doctor approved for Edward to get back to work he forced his parents to go back home which was harder than you would have believed.
Esme tried to fight us off as we forced her into the car that would take them to the airport. Before they left I had another heart to heart with Carlisle and although we still have our disagreements no one would be able to see them, including Edward and Esme. I kissed Esme on the cheek and assured her that I would personally find Edward another cook since I wouldn't be living with him and I would not allow him to starve.
It wasn't until after Carlisle and Esme were gone did I find out what Carlisle had actually done for me. A few days after they were gone I got a call from Angela who works at the brothel. She wanted to let me know that my aunt was in prison for running a whore house. She told me that someone tipped off the cops and as long as all the girls agreed to testify against the men and Hannigan they weren't going to be charged. I found out later that as fate would have it James was one of the men who had been there that night.
When I told Edward of this he looked genuinely surprised but when I talked to his parents when they called I could hear it in Carlisle's voice that it was no surprise to him. I made sure I sent him a letter expressing how thankful I was for what he did.
I stayed with Jacob for a month although Edward hated it. I applied at every job I could but not even McDonalds would hire me. Edward continued to try and get me to take a job for his company but he would always stop when I shot him my annoyed glare.
I had almost given up hope and caved when Jacob informed me that he had a friend who might have a job for me. I immediately jumped at the opportunity and went to meet him. Unfortunately Jacob forgot to mention that it was a singing job. His friend, Sam, owned one of the bigger hotels in the city and he was searching for people to singing in the hotel bar. I wanted to kill Jacob when I got there and Sam expected me to sing as my interview.
I was surprised when he gave me the job on the spot. The job paid $250 a week plus tips which I would have to share with the pianist, but hell I could handle that. I would work four days a week and only two hours on the days I did work. I learned quickly that most of the people who actually listened and enjoyed the music gave really good tips. On average I got $60 a night in tips but on good nights I've been known to get $120, then again those nights I tended to see a familiar shade of bronze hair in the crowd.
Edward would never let me know if he showed up to watch me sing because I would yell at him and refuse to accept his tips, so he always hid when he watched. Eventually he had to get back to work which took up way more time than I ever thought possible. Most of the time we spent together was interrupted by phone calls from his office. He once tried to explain to me what it was that his company did but I gave up on trying to figure it out. As long as it wasn't illegal I didn't care.
We were finally a normal couple who fought over normal stuff. Well I guess it wasn't normal stuff but it was normal for us. The biggest fight we had was when he had to go to out of the country for a meeting and he wanted me to go. I had only had my job for a few weeks and he wanted me to ask for two weeks off to go with him. I tried to explain that I couldn't risk my job and he yelled that it wasn't even a good job which infuriated me even more. By the end of the night I walked to my apartment from the restaurant we were at while Edward drove two miles an hour behind me making sure I got home safely. The next morning I woke up to him still wearing his suit sleeping on the floor at my door with a bouquet of white roses.
Anyways enough of the past I am now sitting here packing a suitcase to go to Chicago. It is now the end of June and Edward and I are both going to go to Chicago to be with his family for their Fourth of July picnic. Luckily the manager didn't have a problem with me taking the time off to go out of town; actually he was more than happy to give me time off. I had never missed a single day of work and I had even covered for a few of the others when they were sick so he figured I deserved some time off.
I couldn't wait to see everyone again. Emmett had successfully moved back and was only two houses from Alice and Jasper and Rose moved in with him almost immediately after he moved there. Alice called a few days ago and told me that her and Rose both had big news for me but they wouldn't spill until I was there in person and Esme was so excited that her baby boy was coming home.
The only thing that had me nervous was the fact that Edward has been acting weird for the last few days. I didn't know if it had to do with the trip or something to do with work but I really wished he would get out of the weird funk. Just as I zipped up my suitcase there was a knock on my door and when I answered it there he was looking even more handsome than the day before.
"You ready?"
I nodded and went to grab my stuff only for him to smack my hands away to carry it himself. "I can carry my own suitcases." He leaned down and kissed the top of my head, "I know you can but it is safer for everyone if you let me do this." I rolled my eyes and followed him after I turned off the lights and locked the door.
I waved at Jeremy who was holding the door of the limo open for me. Even though Edward would disapprove I had become very close with all of the people who worked for him in his home. I learned that Jeremy, although he loved his job, was attending online classes trying to get his degree in accounting. I helped him out when it was just us two in the car. He would give me his notes and I would quiz him, most of the time I was lost but his answers always matched up.
On the other hand he would help me before I had a test. As promised Edward was forcing me to get my G.E.D., he also had ambitions for me to go to college but I didn't see that in my future. As much as I appreciated what he was doing for me I hated school almost as much as I hated Hannigan. The only subject I was good at was English and that was only when it was reading. My writing skills needed major improvement.
We were already at the airport when I realized Edward hadn't said anything the entire ride. "Edward?" He looked up at me and he looked exhausted, "Is everything ok?" I grabbed his face so that he would look at me. He nodded as much as my hands would allow. "I'm fine, just really tired. I was up all night trying to get ahead on work so I wouldn't be too far behind when we get back." I kissed the center of his forehead before pulling him into a hug.
I knew before that we were going to be taking the company jet but it still amazing to me that it would just be us and a pilot on the plane. As soon as the pilot announced that it was safe to move around the plane I grabbed Edward's hand and dragged him to one the bedrooms the plane had and forced him to lie down and get some sleep. I sat on the bed next to him and played with his hair while watching some stupid movie that I paid no attention to. Before I knew it I was curled up on the bed sleeping next to Edward.
When I woke up Edward was still asleep and we both apparently missed the pilot telling us to buckle up because we were landed and Emmett was standing over me with a full glass of water tipped so it was almost dumped over us. "Do it and you'll be missing a testicle." His head shot up and he almost spilled it on us from the shock of hearing my voice.
"But Bella I never get to pick on him."
He sounded worse than a little kid when he begged. I sat up and pushed him out of my personal space bubble. I noticed as I moved Edwards grip on my waist tightened I tried to wake him up but nothing I tried worked. When Emmett came back after carrying all of our luggage off the plane I looked at him silently asking for help. He smiled evilly before grabbing a piece of ice out of the freezer and sticking it down Edward's shirt.
That of course did the trick and he shot straight out of the bed and ran around before pulling his shirt out of his pants allowing the cube to fall to the ground. "WHAT THE HELL EMMETT?" I covered my mouth to try and hide the laughter that wanted to escape. "Sorry bro but you were squishing poor Tinker Bell and we really need to get off the plane." Worry spread across his face as he ran to me to make sure I as alright. After assuring him I was fine and that Emmett was over exaggerating we got in Emmett's Jeep and headed to Esme and Carlisle's where everyone was waiting for us.
I know it took a while and I kind of feel this one is really nothing but fluff but I felt it was easier to tie up some loose ends this way before I get on to better stuff.
PLEASE REVIEW!
~SAM~
