Busy week ahead of me, but I wanted to get this out before I lost myself in writing. Love you all and thank you for taking the time to read this and my published work. I truly have the best readers in the world.
Enjoy and see you soon!
Chapter 21
Bella's POV
The two men present were quiet as mice when my fury made itself known. The fact that my husband and brother-in-law had come to blows over our issues left me heartbroken and full of anger.
"He," Esme pointed at Edward, "came here to talk, and that one," my sister continued even as her husband gave her the evil eye," decided that fists spoke louder than words."
Paul, who wasn't known for his quiet tendencies, was over on his lazy boy sulking and wincing every time the dishtowel he held over his eye made contact with his face. "He had it coming!" Paul snarled suddenly, making me jump.
"Really?" I asked, and he scoffed at my obvious annoyance. "Tell me this one thing, Paul."
He nodded.
"Who the fuck made you in charge of my affairs?"
Paul looked put out by my attitude.
"He is my problem . . . not yours!"
"But—"
"No, P., you were wrong. When I came to you and my sister a few weeks back, it was for support and advice. The decision to separate from Edward was mine, and mine alone after our last fight. If Edward and I are to ever fix our marriage, it won't be due to your fists or the nagging, bitching, or moaning of his family."
"I'm sorry, sissy, but I know you're hurting, and when you hurt, we do, too. Edward needs to wake the fuck up before he loses you, and if my fists are what finally snap him back into his reality, then be mad all you want."
"What I don't understand, Paul, is that after all those speeches about how much we love each other, how we need to understand the other's feeling, you do this and create a whole other problem for us to work through. I have enough with his family working against me," I sniffed, "why make it worse?"
"Bella, I—"
"I love you, dimples, but you were wrong here." He opened his mouth, but I wasn't having it, "I'll deal with you later." Walking over to my sister, I gave her a hug and a kiss, then Paul received a slap to the back of the head. I knew he had the best of intentions, but he'd had no right to turn violent on Edward.
"I think it's time for me and this one to talk. Come on, Edward, we have a lot to clear up."
Edward had been silent during my exchange with our family, but I could feel his eyes drinking me in. We had not been in the other's presence in so long that it was natural to want to memorize even the tiniest bits our eyes encountered.
My heart beat out of my chest while I walked out into the night with Edward following just a few steps behind, but this conversation needed to be had. Would our problems be solved over night? Hell and no, but I — we, couldn't continue on like this.
He loved me as I loved him, of that there was no doubt, but now the real question was, would that be enough and what was he willing to do to fix us?