Note: Bella's clothes at Jake's Party: http:/i53 . tinypic . com/2udyrh1 . jpg
Edward's clothes at Jake's Party: http:/i51 . tinypic . com/15qysuf . jpg
Chapter Thirty Three – (Indignations)
EPOV
Bella is in the kitchen with Rosalie when I eventually remove myself from my room in the afternoon. I stop in my tracks as soon as I see them together.
"Is everything okay?" I ask hesitantly.
"Yeah, why wouldn't it be?" Rose asks. I quirk my brow at her, causing her to roll her eyes at me.
"We sorted everything out," Bella says softly.
"Oh, okay," I reply, shrugging my shoulders. "Are you coming to the party tonight?" I ask Bella as I open the fridge and pull out the apple juice.
"Yeah. Emmett is practically forcing me too," she replies, laughing lightly.
"He can't force you to do something you don't want to do," I tell her seriously, glancing over at her as I pour the juice into a glass.
"No, I do want to go. You know, let loose and have a bit of fun," she says quietly, breaking our gaze.
"Okay," I reply, letting out a heavy sigh before gulping down my drink and putting the juice back the fridge.
"What is with you two? You guys are so weird," Rosalie criticizes.
"Shut up," I respond, narrowing my eyes at her.
"Whatever," she says through a laugh. "Come on, Bella. Let's go. We have to meet Alice and Tanya," she adds, walking out of the kitchen with Bella following behind her.
I almost fall over in shock. When the hell did they become best buddies again? After the way Rose was treating her, I thought she'd never want anything to do with Bella again. Fucking hell, chicks work in mysterious ways sometimes.
"I'll see you tonight!" I call out to them.
Bella turns her head around to look at me – she smiles before giving me a small wave of goodbye.
I hang around the house all day – watching TV, playing the Xbox, organizing activities to do with Riley and Vicki – before grabbing my sports bag, filling it with clothes for tonight and heading over to Jake's to help him set up for the party.
I walk into 7 Eleven on the way over there. It seems only right to help Jake out and buy a few things for the party. I make my way through the aisles, grabbing a whole heap of chips, dips and lollies and putting them in the basket. There's no doubt a shit load of people are probably just going to turn up with straight bottles of Vodka, so it only makes sense to buy shit to mix the alcohol with. And Jake, being the over generous idiot he is, will probably want to mix up a punch for everyone to dig in to as well. So I make my way over to the fridge section, grabbing a few bottles of the fruity soft drinks as well as Coke, Sunkist and Sprite.
When I'm done in the grocery store, I continue my way over to Jake's. Billy is out on the balcony again when I arrive. I don't know if he knows about the party or not, so I leave everything I bought in the car.
"Hey, Edward," he greets me kindly.
"Hey, Billy. Is Jake home?"
"He sure is. Down the back as usual. You coming to the party tonight?"
Well, that answers my dilemma about whether he knows about the party or not.
"Yeah, I am. I actually bought a few things for it. Do you mind if I bring it all inside?"
"You didn't have to buy anything, son. Jake's got it all organized."
"I know, I just wanted to contribute something."
"You're a good kid, Ed. You know that?" he states, a smile on his face.
"Thanks, Billy," I murmur awkwardly, returning his smile before walking back to my car and grabbing everything I bought.
Someone pulls up to the house and gets out of the car.
"Hey, Bill. You ready?" the man asks.
"Sure am, Harry," Billy replies, rolling his wheelchair down the ramp to meet Harry.
I glance over at the car to see Charlie Swan is in the passenger seat. He must feel my gaze on him because her turns to look at me. His eyes automatically narrow and he gets out of the car.
"Let me help you with that, Billy," he mumbles.
"Hi, Charlie," I greet him kindly.
"Edward," he responds curtly.
"You seen Bella lately?" I ask him.
"Bella? What?" he asks confused.
"You know. Your daughter," I say hesitantly.
"I know who she is, boy!" he retorts angrily. "She took off months ago. You of all people should know about that," he adds sadly.
"Um. She came back about a week ago, Charlie," I tell him honestly.
"She did?" he asks shocked. "Why hasn't she come home?" he adds sadly.
"Seriously?" I scoff. "She hasn't gone to your house because she's afraid of you," I add, my tone disgusted. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Billy's head sway from side to side as he looks between Charlie and I.
"Why would Bella be afraid of Charlie, Edward?" Billy asks hesitantly.
"Oh, I don't know? Maybe because this fucking prick hit her," I reply angrily,
"Where did you here that, son?" Billy asks softly.
"Bella told me and she had a pretty nasty bruise on her face to prove it,"
"I did no such thing! How dare you come here and spit those kind of lies!" Charlie shouts hysterically.
"Are you that much of a drunk you don't remember doing it?" I ask incredulously, the tone of my voice filled with anger.
"I can't believe that girl!" he growls.
"Now, Charlie. You need to calm down," Harry says soothingly.
"Yeah, mate. You don't want your blood pressure to get too high again," Billy adds.
"I'm sure all of this is a misunderstanding," Harry reassures.
"She's a reckless klutz. She probably ran into something," Charlie mutters to himself. "I can't believe she's gone around telling everyone I hit her to hide her embarrassment," He adds angrily.
"I'm pretty fucking sure she wouldn't make something like that up to hide her clumsiness." I reply incredulously.
"Edward," Billy says sternly, wheeling over to me and placing his hand on my arm. "That's enough, son," he adds, giving me a pointed look before smiling at me apologetically.
"Right. Sorry," I murmur. "Are you not staying tonight?" I ask, changing the subject.
"Lord no, son. I wouldn't be able to handle all you young kids and the riff raff you get up to," he replies through a chuckle. "I think Jake is cleaning up his garage, you could leave the stuff down there if you want? He's got a fridge and all that," he suggests.
"Okay. Thanks, Billy. It was nice seeing you," I reply kindly as he wheels his chair back over to Charlie. Charlie wheels Billy over to Harry's car before climbing back into the passenger seat. He glares at me through the window and I return the gesture.
Fucking prick.
"Hey man, I bought you some shit for tonight," I tell Jake as I enter his garage.
Jake has moved his Rabbit outside and cleaned the whole garage. He's fiddling with a few cords, trying to set up some sort of stereo system.
"What?" he asks surprised. "You didn't have to do that," he adds seriously.
"It's cool. Gave me something to do," I reply nonchalantly.
He turns around to face me, cocking his brow at me. I shrug my shoulders before I begin to put all the soft drinks and dips inside the fridge and put the chips and lollies on his small table.
"Who were you shouting at just then?" he asks curiously.
"Charlie,"
"As in Chief Swan, Bella's dad?" he asks astonished.
"Yes."
"What was all that yelling about?"
"It's doesn't matter,"
"Edward." He addresses me pointedly.
I sigh and run my hands through my hair, gripping it in frustration. "He's just a fucking idiot," I mumble.
"What's he done? Are you in some kind of trouble with the law?" he asks concerned.
"It's nothing like that," I tell him, rolling my eyes. "It was about Bella." I add.
"What about her?"
"He didn't even know she was back,"
"Seriously?" he asks, his tone filled with surprise.
"Well, I don't blame her for not telling him. It's not like he even gives a shit about her, he treats her like shit,"
"Really? How so?"
"He just always says really horrible things to her." I tell him. And he hit her," I add in a softer tone.
"You're fucking kidding me," he growls.
"Unfortunately, I'm not."
"I'll be damned. Every time he comes over here to see dad he's always so nice," he says, his voice still filled with shock. "Anyway, speaking of Bella. Is she coming tonight?" he adds abruptly.
"Uh. I think so, yeah." I sputter.
"That's good, right?"
"Maybe," I reply, letting out a heavy sigh.
"What are you worried about?"
"I don't know. I just don't want any drama to happen, I guess."
"Why would there be any drama?" he asks confused.
"Because I kissed her."
"You what?" he asks, shocked. "What does that mean?" he adds.
"I don't know... It shouldn't have happened in the first place. I just didn't know what else to do – and anyway, when I drink I over analyze shit. So if she tries to talk to me about why she left, I'll probably loose my shit with her twice as bad as I usually do."
"Well, why don't you just listen to her instead of being a broody motherfucker all the time?"
"Are you deaf? Or have you just not been listening to me during any of our conversations about this topic?" I ask.
"Listening to you whine and bitch does get pretty boring after a while, so sometimes I just tune you out and smile and nod," he quips.
"Fuck you," I murmur, narrowing my eyes at him.
"You're such a girl," he teases.
"Fuck off. I am not."
"Whatever," he replies, shaking his head at me as he begins to laugh. I pick up an apple that's sitting on the small table and peg it at him.
"Owe! You're such a crazy bastard!" he exclaims, still laughing.
I don't know how many people turn up for Jake's party, but let's just say it's a lot.
I groan in annoyance when I see that Tyler and Mike have turned up.
"Well, look who it is," Tyler greets cockily.
"Fuck off, idiot," I scoff.
"I forgot how charming you are," Mike mocks.
"So I heard Bella's back," Tyler says.
"What's it to you?" I ask annoyed.
"Just wanna catch up with her, that's all. I wonder if she's changed her mind of my offer of showing her a good time," Tyler taunts.
"You stay the hell away from her," I warn.
"Or what?" Mike asks. "She left your sorry ass, remember?" he adds in a scoff.
I can't stop the anger that flares up inside of me. I lunge at Mike and punch him square in the jaw. Tyler grabs a hold of my by the shoulders and I elbow him in the stomach, causing him to loose his grip on me. He swings his arm at me and I duck just in time to miss the blow to my face. I push him on the chest as hard as I can, causing him to stumble backwards. Mike stalks towards me just as Jake makes his way towards us.
"Everything alright here, guys?" Jake asks, gripping Mike hard on the shoulder.
"Yeah, man. Everything's fine," Mike says nonchalantly.
"I don't mean to be rude, but I don't remember inviting you two," Jake says straightforwardly.
"It's a party, bro. Word's gonna get around," Tyler responds, shrugging his shoulders.
"I'm not your bro," Jake says sternly. "This is my property and I don't want you here, so I think you should leave," he adds seriously.
"C'mon dude, we weren't causing any trouble," Mike says.
"Didn't seem like that to me," Jake replies, quirking his brow at Mike.
"Whatever," Mike responds.
"Come on, Mike. This party looks like it's gonna be shit anyway," Tyler says, walking away.
"You keep telling yourself that!" Jacob calls out to them.
Jacob and I ended up in his garage, drinking a case of Budweiser between us. We were pretty wasted by the time everyone began showing up. Jasper and Emmett turned up a few hours after the party started. Alice, Bella, Tanya and Rose following not long afterwards. Bella looked so fucking hot. She was wearing a white shirt with ruffles placed upon it, a black leather jacket and red skinny leg jeans that hugged her in all the right places, a pair of black gladiator styled heels. I couldn't take my eyes off her until a couple of the guys were being annoying dickheads and started pissing me off. I told them to shut the fuck up or fuck off. This only caused them to try and pick a fight with me, and I responded by punching them both in the face and Jacob yelling at them to get off his property.
"Edward, I think you should stop drinking," Bella says, her voice clear with concern.
"Do you now?" I quip.
"Yes. I don't want to see you like this," she says sadly.
"And why do you care?" I ask angrily.
"Your mood swings are giving me whiplash. Why are you acting like this?"
"Oh, boohoo. Poor Bella," I mock.
"Come on, bro. There's no need to be like this," Jasper says.
"Oh, that's right. You're all good buddies again, aren't you?"
"Dude, why the fuck are you being so hostile? You kissed her for fuck sake. You have to stop treating her like this. It's not cool," Emmett scolds me.
"What the fuck? You told him?" I shout, turning to face Bella again.
"Edward…" she replies hesitantly.
"No, fuck this shit. You can all get fucked!" I yell, turning to walk away.
"Jesus Christ, Ed. Pull your head out of your ass and stop being such a prick!" Emmett yells back, grabbing me from behind and dragging me out of the garage.
"Fuck off!" I roar, turning around and throwing my fist at Emmett's face.
He responds by charging at me, his arms wrapping around my waist as we fall down to the ground. In this moment, I honestly do not give a fuck that Emmett is a huge motherfucker and could smash my head into the ground; I can't stop the rage that is building up inside of me. I flail my arms around, trying to get as many punches thrown at him as I can. Emmett doesn't try hitting me back – he just keeps me pinned to the ground.
"Edward. You need to calm the fuck down right now before I do something I'll regret," he hisses under his breath seriously. Everyone has run out of the house and garage by this point, gathering around us and watching us in shock.
"Edward, please! Stop," Bella chokes out in a sob.
"Get the fuck off of me!" I yell in Emmett's face. Unwanted tears beginning to well up in my eyes as all my emotions begin to overtake me.
"If I let you up, will you stop your fucking shit?" Emmett asks quietly, his voice serious. I nod my head and Emmett climbs off of me. He grabs me by the arms and pulls me to my feet. I thrash my arms around, shoving him off me and putting distance between us.
"Edward?" Bella approaches me hesitantly.
"Just stay out of it, Bella," I snap at her.
"What else am I supposed to do? I hate seeing you like this!" she exclaims hysterically.
"Why do you even care?" I ask, incredulously.
"Why do you keep asking me that? Why wouldn't I care?" she shouts angrily.
"You left me, remember?" I respond, my tone harsh. She takes a step back as though she's been stricken physically.
"I have reasons why I acted the way I did, Edward," she says sadly. "I told you that in the letter. It's not my fault you won't listen to me," she adds, her tone filled with frustration and anger.
"I can't listen to you because every time I look at you it fucking kills me," I reply, my tone filled with just as much frustration as hers.
"Then why do you always act so concerned when you see me upset? Why did you kiss me?" she asks, her voice cracking with sadness.
"Because all I want to do is take you in my arms and be with you but all I can remember is how much I loved you and you just threw it in my face." I reply, my voice beginning to break.
"Loved? Are you saying you don't love me anymore?" she asks dejectedly.
"Well, you obviously don't love me," I reply angrily.
"Are you serious right now?" she asks, incredulously. "Of course I fucking love you, you idiot. I love you more than anything else in this world," she adds, her voice filled with sadness. I glance over at her and see the hurt clear in her eyes.
"Bella…" I address her tentatively.
"Do you think it's not killing me, to know that I'm what's caused you to act this way towards me? Because it is, is that what you want to hear?" she asks, her voice beginning to rise with anger. "It's killing me, I'm in pain. I fucking get it!" she adds, her voice finally breaking. Her eyes well up with tears and she wipes them away furiously as they begin to fall down her face.
"Bella, I'm sorry, I –" I stammer. God, what the hell is wrong with my emotions right now? One minute I'm frustrated and angry with her, and then the next all the love I have for her floods me and all I want to do is hold her in my arms and tell her how much I'm sorry and how much I love her. Jesus Christ, how does she do this to me?
"Just forget it," she says sadly, cutting me off. She breathes a heavy sigh before turning her back on me and running off. Alice and Tanya run after her. Rosalie glares at me, her eyes filled with hostility.
"You can be such a jerk sometimes," she says, her tone ice cold.
"Are you fucking shitting me? Who was the one being a hostile cow towards her only a few days ago?" I snap back.
"Yeah, and I put my stubbornness aside and listened to what she had to say. Maybe you should do the same," she responds before turning on her heel and running off to catch up with Alice, Tanya and Bella.
"She's right, dude," Jasper says from beside.
"Don't," I respond sternly, before also walking away.
I ended up finding Jacob and staying with him for the rest of the night. Lauren ended up finding her way to the party, which did not help my foul mood at all. Jacob ended up telling everyone to leave the garage to give him and I a minute. I explained everything that happened between me, Emmett and Bella. He gave me his infamous disapproving expression before rolling his eyes at me and letting out a heavy sigh.
"I know you don't like hearing it, man, but they're right."
"So I keep hearing," I murmur.
"Well, maybe you should take all our advice and listen to her side of the story," he responds seriously.
"Sorry to interrupt," Jasper says as he walks into the garage. "I'm heading back home now. You want a lift?" he asks me.
"Yeah. Thanks," I reply quietly, knowing that if I say no he'll probably just drag me out anyway. Jacob and I stand up at the same time.
"Just do it," Jake says sternly before placing his hand on my shoulder. I smile thankfully at him before turning to Jasper.
"Well, come on," I tell Jasper, walking past him.
"Bye, Jacob," Jasper says before following me out of the garage.
When I wake up the next morning, there's a loud banging inside of my head as though someone is pounding a hammer onto my brain. All of my muscles hurt, and my stomach is doing summersaults. I pretty much feel as though I've been ran over by a train.
I drag myself out of bed and head into my bathroom, stripping off and getting under the boiling water. I let out a small hiss of pain as the hot water cascades onto my skin, stinging it slightly for a few seconds before it gets used to the temperature. I rest my head against the tiled shower wall for a few seconds before tilting my head back and letting the water run through my hair. I run my hands through my hair roughly, massaging my cranium and trying to force this splitting headache to go away.
I let out a heavy sigh and give up. I need some fucking Advil.
I quickly lather my body with soap and rinse off before getting out of the shower, drying myself quickly and wrapping the towel around my naked torso. I walk out into my room, ravaging through my closet to find something to wear. I settle for my black straight leg jeans and my Yankees jersey.
I head downstairs to have a quick breakfast. I'm greeted in the kitchen by Rosalie. She looks me over and quirks her brow at me.
"You should really apologize to Bella," she says seriously.
"Should I now?" I murmur.
"Yes. You should. And you should keep Jessica out of your problems," she responds annoyed.
"What are you talking about?" I ask confused.
"I'll let you figure that one out for yourself."
"Rosalie," I address her pointedly. She lets out a frustrated sigh before meeting my gaze.
"Jessica and Bella got into a fight last night after you left," she confesses.
"What's new?" I scoff.
"Oh no, buddy. This wasn't a yelling match, it was a full blown cat fight," she says seriously.
"What?" I ask shocked.
"Yep," she responds, popping the P.
"What happened?" I ask incredulously.
"Jessica wasn't happy about how Bella has been treating you, blah blah blah. Bella was drunk and feeling all noble and confident, so she lunged at Jessica and then they starting yelling and hitting each other."
"Jesus fucking Christ," I say breathlessly.
"Yeah, they beat each other up pretty good. No doubt they're gonna have bruises," she snickers.
"This is not funny," I say seriously.
"Whatever. Jessica should keep her nose out of other people's business," she retorts.
"I'll have a talk to her," I respond quietly.
"And what about Bella? Are you gonna talk to her or are you going to keep treating her like a piece of shit?" she asks. "I know what she did was fucked and wrong and I was a total bitch to her. But we've sorted out our shit and I'm willing to forgive, but I'm not gonna forget what she did. So maybe you should do the same," she adds frustrated.
"It's not that simple, Rosalie," I scold her.
"Yes it fucking is!" she exclaims. "You either love her or you don't. Stop stringing her along and sending her mixed signals, just to lash out at her and rub her mistakes in her face."
"What-the-fuck-ever, Rosalie. Just stay out if it."
"Whatever yourself, asshole. I'm going over there now with Alice and if I don't see her receive a phone call from you today, you're a dead man," she threatens before turning on her heels and walking out of the room.
Just fucking great.
I grab my school bag and climb onto my bed, pulling out my school books to attempt doing some homework for a case of procrastination to keep myself from calling Bella. It's a bit ironic considering its Biology homework, seeing as though Bella and I usually do our Biology homework together. God, what if she doesn't even pick up? She probably doesn't even want to speak to me right now. I let out a heavy sigh before reaching over to my bedside table and picking up my phone.
I pull up my contacts and scroll down until I find Bella's name. I click the green call button as I wait for her to answer. Her phone continues to ring and just as I'm about to give in and hang up she answers, her voice extremely quiet.
"Hey," she answers softly.
"Hey. Have you done your Biology homework?" I ask.
"Uh, not all of it. Why's that?"
"I'm attempting it now. I think I'm failing pretty bad," I respond in a groan.
She laughs softly before replying. "We can work on it together, if you want? It doesn't have to be in for a few more weeks," she offers.
"That'd be cool. Thanks."
"Is that the only reason you called?" she asks curiously.
"Uh… No." I reply hesitantly. "I actually called to apologize for last night. I feel horrible; I didn't mean to act like that towards you –"
"Edward. It's okay," she cuts me off, laughing lightly.
"No, but that's the thing. It's not okay,"
"I've already forgiven you, its fine." She insists.
"Are you sure? Because I understand if you haven't. I was a real fucking prick,"
"Yeah, you were. But it doesn't matter; I've done worse things to you…" she says sadly. I stay silent, not knowing what to say to her because it's the truth. "Besides, you were drunk." She adds softly.
"That's no excuse, Bella."I reply seriously.
"Look, I said some things I shouldn't have said as well. And I did shit I shouldn't have done afterwards too, so let's just forget it okay?" She pleads.
"What did you do afterwards? Is this about the fight you go into with Jessica?"I ask concerned.
"How do you know about that?" Her voice is filled with shock.
"Rose told me this morning. I'm gonna have a talk to Jessica and tell her to stay out of our problems. I know she's only looking out for me, but it in all honesty has nothing to do with her –"
"Edward, you don't have to do that. Jessica and I have I own problems to sort out," she cuts me off again, letting out a heavy sigh.
"Okay… Well, if it isn't about your fight with Jessica, what is it?" I asks tenderly.
"You'll find out sooner or later," she mumbles.
"Bella, just tell me."
"I'm pretty sure you'll be really pissed off at me so I'd rather not get into it right now,"
"Bella –"
"Seriously, Edward. I don't want to do this over the phone. You'll find out and then you won't want anything to do with me. You wanted time and I understand that, so I'm giving you your time."
"I didn't mean to upset you so badly. You know I still love you, my head is just really fucked up right now." I tell her sadly.
"I know. I love you too," She murmurs softly. "Look, I'm kind of hanging out with Tanya, Alice and Rosalie at the moment, so…" she adds, trailing her sentence off.
"Oh, right. Yeah, of course. Sorry. I'll see you at school?" I reply, indicating the sentence as a question.
"Yeah I'll see you at school," She replies. "Bye, Edward," she adds softly.
"Bye, Bella," I reply, letting out a heavy sigh and leaning against my bed headboard after she hangs up.
I give my homework another attempt before eventually giving up. I'm unable to concentrate because I can't stop replaying my conversation with Bella in my mind. That conversation bought back all of the events from last night. I don't remember everything that happened, but from what I do remember, I'm not proud of my actions at all.
Okaaaay. So I know this was meant to be posted, what? A week ago? Or was it two weeks ago? Ergh, don't know I'm losing track of time. My point is... I'm sorry it's late! I've just been super busy with my new Nanny job right now and I don't have the internet on my laptop Unless I connect it with my phone, and even then it's really crappy and keeps cutting out!
Thank you to everyone who have stuck with the story. I know you all have different opinions and all that - even some that i don't agree with - but just know I appreciate every single one of them. And I really appreciate the reviews.
Thank you to everyone who have added this story to their alerts and favourites.
THANK YOU TO MY AMAZING BETA: Jenndur, for putting up with the constant changes I always end up making in my chapters! She's amazing and she'll be posting the Epilogue to her story 'Ricochet' soon. You should all go check it out, it's a great story! x
natalee-x