So half of you are happy to wait a week and then have regular updates. The other half would prefer to have an update every other day. So I guess that's forced me to make the decision...
I will post every other day from now. But when I say every other day, I probably will only skip one day in between.
Damn Rosalie.
Edward wasn't sure what was worse – having the full force of Bella's rage thrown at him or hearing the tremor of pain in her voice at the knowledge that he had given away one of her most well-kept secrets.
The springs of the bed creaked as Edward sank down on it. His face was grave as he met Bella's gaze fully. He could see her blinking back tears and it hurt his heart to see her do so. But what he'd done had been for the best, he argued silently. He was only looking out for her. He had only ever looked out for Bella. Because he cared about her. Because he wanted to keep her safe. Couldn't she see that?
"How could I?" Edward repeated. "Bella, how could I not? They're your friends!" He shook his head. "You don't what it was like; you don't know how Rosalie and Alice were when Emmett called them this morning at 5 o'clock this morning, saying you had gotten into an accident and was at the hospital. They were worried sick, Bella. Worried sick for you."
Bella shook her head. "But you didn't have to tell them... I told you all of that in confidence, Edward. I trusted you! And you went behind my back and told my friends things that I didn't want them to know... Not yet..."
Edward had taken a seat on the bed next to Bella and even though she was angry with him – no furious would be a better word – she still felt a slight fluttering in her stomach at his nearness, which only seemed to serve her getting all the more angry and upset.
"I know you're upset with me," he said finally. "And you have every right to be. But… I only told them because they deserved to know. They were asking me questions, questions with answers that didn't make sense. What were you doing coming back at 4 am in the morning? Why were you in that part of town?"
He lifted his shoulders, spreading his hands out in beseeching gesture. "I told them only enough to answer their questions. I told them about who Riley was. I told them about your dancing. I told them about what he'd done to you. But that's it." His eyes softened with this promise. "I didn't tell them anything about what you told me that night when we were in bed together… about your past." He met her gaze. "Just enough so that they could help me keep you safe too."
"Thank you... For not telling them everything..." Bella mumbled. "I don't want them to know. That person is my past. It's not who I am anymore.
"You should know that I quit." Her eyes eventually flickered up to meet his but she looked away again, her eyes falling to the navy blue comforter that covered her.
"And they let you?" Edward asked an odd light in his eyes. "They let you go just like that? No questions?"
She spoke carefully. "Yeah, they let me go. They were really nice about it all." Bella fiddled with the corner of her bed comforter.
Edward noted that she was referring to them as 'they' when he now knew that it was in fact Riley. She'd slipped up at the hospital when she'd been affected by the morphine, but she'd obviously forgotten all about that.
"What did the police say? About the car?" Edward asked.
Bella looked up at him sharply and bit down on her lip. After a long pause, she said, "The brakes were cut."
"Do you think...?"
"I don't know, Edward. It could have been anyone really. Hell, it could have been another jealous girl angry at me for "stealing" one of her regulars."
Edward was quiet for a long time.
"I told them I was done..." she continued. "They said that if I got them half of what I owe by next week that I'd be done with it." Bella was still angry although her voice had quieted somewhat as she spoke. She sounded almost resigned. "I don't think I can go though... Not without the money I get from dancing."
He remembered what Emmett had said earlier that morning. Bella leaving would certainly be a motive for Riley to screw with her car… the question was, did he? Or had Bella really had just fallen asleep at the wheel? Edward had asked her to tell him what had happened that night, but she said that she couldn't remember. Perhaps she was still hazy with drugs. He wasn't sure. But it would do no harm if he asked her again when she was feeling better.
"How much are they asking for?"
Edward wanted to reach out to touch her; to hold her hand, stroke her hair – anything – but Bella still seemed too upset. And he was afraid that doing so would only have her growing angrier with him. So he refrained.
"Just over six grand," she admitted. The number made her head swim. There was no way she'd be able to get six grand together in a week. "I was thinking I could maybe go to the bank and ask them for another loan. But my credit history has been really bad lately what with all the outstanding credit card bills I have from trying to keep up with my life... Paying rent, bills..." she sighed again. "I don't even think that's going to be an option."
Something still didn't seem to sit well with him over this whole thing and he found himself questioning the man's sudden generosity. What was his move? Where was he taking this? Edward refused to believe that it all came from a sudden change of heart.
When it came to the money bit, he saw Bella's face fall. It was quite a sum of money he knew; not nearly as much as what she'd originally owed him. But money nonetheless, and money she certainly did not have to give.
But Edward did. The question was: would she take it?
He feared that if he brought up the subject again, Bella would shoot him down in the way that she had the last time. She was a stubborn little thing, to be true. But it was just six grand… Edward had six grand to spare. He had a lot in savings, along with the money he'd inherited and his relatively simple and low-key lifestyle meant that most of that money was sitting around in his account untouched.
"Rather than ask the bank for a loan, I could more easily give you the money." Edward suggested. Noticing the frown on Bella's face, he pointed out, "By the time the bank approves your loan – if they approve your loan – it might be too late. If Riley's giving you a window out right now, I want you to take it. No matter what the cost."
He pinned her gaze with his. "Better owe me than Riley… wouldn't you agree?" his voice was quiet.
Bella opened her mouth to refuse Edward. She couldn't accept it… Could she? She closed it again as she reconsidered. It was only temporary. Bella could raise six grand in a couple of weeks and pay Edward back. She couldn't come up with six grand in one week though, no matter what she did. And it was just a loan. It wasn't like Edward was offering to pay the loan for her.
"Better owe me than Riley… wouldn't you agree?"
Edward met her gaze with his own steady one. Bella didn't like having to rely on people to help her out. In fact, she despised it. Hadn't that been one of the reasons why she'd told no one about her struggles? That and the fact that letting them in on her problems would inevitably put them at danger too. A thought that had Bella uncomfortably twisting at the comforter in her hands.
"Let me try," Bella said at last. "If I can't do it… If I can't get the money by the end of the week… Then, I'll come to you." She sagged against the pillows.
Admitting that she needed Edward's help hurt her pride. She'd been so independent for so long. Ever since Riley had initially set her free, Bella had managed to live without having to depend on anyone. Accepting Edward's offer of help meant that she was no longer that independent woman. But in a different way, Bella felt relieved. As soon as she'd accepted his help, she'd felt a weight that had been crushing down on her chest, ease somewhat. Her situation no longer seemed so hopeless.
The corners of Edward's mouth turned down in a slight frown. He would rather have given her the money straight; he didn't trust Riley not to go back on his word. And with an opportunity like this…
But he also knew that it was a big step – and a good step – in the right direction if Bella was even willing to let him help her. And so he accepted this compromise (albeit a little reluctantly).
"By the end of the week." Edward agreed. His hand had reached out to touch her hair slightly as he spoke. But then as he gazed into her eyes, he was seized with the same urge to tug her towards him in a long, hot kiss as they had that Friday night and it took a huge amount of effort for him to pull his hand away and rise to his feet.
"Thank you," she murmured.
His smile was a little wistful as he looked down at Bella. "You look tired." He remarked quietly, "I should go."
After a moment's thought, Edward leant down to gently brush his lips across her forehead in tender kiss.
Bella's eyes flickered closed at the feeling of Edward's lips brushing her forehead. An action that she had once seen as being patronizing and condescending, she now saw as warm and caring.
"If you need anything… ask." The reminded offer hung in the air as he stepped away from the bed. With one last smile, Edward turned to leave the room.
Bella was still annoyed with him. He'd told her friends her secrets and hadn't given her the opportunity to tell them herself, but he was leaving her room in somewhat better graces than when he entered it and he was giving her an option to go to him if she needed to for the money which wasn't something she had before.
As Bella's eyes drifted close, she felt lighter. She knew her dreams would not be plagued with visions of her untimely death should she be unable to pay Riley back.
Instead, she dreamed of Edward.
There! I am capable of giving you non-cliffhangery updates!