Wow. I have been nominated in four categories in the Non-Canon awards. 'Waking up' it in two and 'Not Because of Me' is also nominated. This story is up for Best other non-canon pairing. Amazing. Thanks so much.
"Fuck you Carlisle. We both know I am not here through choice so cut the crap and shut the fuck up."
"Bella love you shouldn't speak like that it is not becoming." Edward said in an authoritative tone.
Bella just laughed again.
"Shut up Edward before I throw up again, this time all over you."
"I can smell your blood Bella" Carlisle continued in the same pleasant tone as before as they pulled up outside a sandwich shop. "I will treat your head wound properly when we get to the house. It looks ok for now. Do you need food or use of a bathroom, it is a couple of hours' drive?"
"Yes please, both. Edward didn't deem it necessary to feed me."
"Well you were refusing to speak to me." Edward defended in a petulant tone.
"Dear God Edward grow up. Stop sounding like a spoilt brat. Why on earth would you think I would want to speak to you? You barge into my home. Slam me into a wall. Threaten me, kidnap me and then you blame me for not speaking to you. For your information I was sleeping a lot of the time anyway."
"You laughed at me." He said sulkily.
Bella just rolled her eyes and got out of the car.
"Esme will accompany you to the bathroom." Carlisle announced calmly. "I'll get you some food. Something light that won't upset your stomach too much. Are you in any pain?"
"I have a slight headache yes." Bella responded before walking to the bathroom not waiting for her designated companion.
Carlisle sent Edward to get some pain killers while he went to get some food and a bottle of water. Carlisle was surprised by the changes in Bella. She had grown up physically which was obvious, but it was the change in her attitude was immense. Gone was the shy, eager to please girl from Forks and in her place was a mature young woman, outspoken, confident and defiant. What had brought about this transformation he wondered?
In the bathroom she splashed water on her face and looked down at her hand where her ring was missing. Lifting her top she looked at the tattoo in the mirror. It looked ok, but she needed to put some cream on it. Bella had been hoping that Alistair would look after it for her so she hadn't gotten any. She smiled to herself at the thought of his tongue running over it.
"Oh well, you can sort it soon enough." She thought
"A tattoo! Oh Bella. Edward won't be pleased with you marring your skin like that." Esme said, surprising Bella out of her very pleasant daydream.
"I don't care if he's pleased or not. This is a gift for my husband, who will love it. Trust me."
Without looking back Bella walked stiffly out of the bathroom and got back into the car. She knew mentioning a husband would worry them. They would think they could threaten him to get her to behave.
"Little do they know." She thought with a smile.
Edward had said as much earlier. It was why he thought Alistair was human she could not understand, she was however happy to keep them in the dark about whom he really was. Thinking that he was human, they would also worry he would report her missing. Oh Bella knew she would have been reported missing by now, but not to the authorities Carlisle would be focused on. She pulled the collar of her rugby shirt higher to cover the bite mark on her neck, thinking that this was the first time she had wanted to hide it. Luckily it was low on her neck, just on the curve to her shoulder.
Carlisle returned to the car and handed Bella the food. She ate quietly and took the painkillers Edward offered her. Studiously ignoring the hissed vampire conversation that was going on around her, she turned away from him toward the window. She closed her eyes and tried to relax. She began to allow her mind to wander back to the last time Alistair had bitten her neck. He had been right when he said it would happen often. It was the morning before he left to hunt, leaving her alone. He had been a ferocious lover that morning, it was a good thing Bella liked it rough. There were bruises on her hips and thighs where he had held her too tightly. She had been thoroughly ravished and loved every minute of it. Was it strange that she enjoyed him sinking his teeth into her? She had certainly changed her tune from the first time he had done it. Alistair said it was normal, that she instinctively wanted to be claimed by him. He also said she tasted divine, Bella didn't think he was referring to only her blood. With the pain killers kicking in she slipped into sleep, a wistful smile on her face.
"She has a fairly new tattoo on her side Carlisle." Esme whispered. "She said it was a gift for her husband!"
"Husband? What husband?" Carlisle asked Edward in a slightly panicked voice. "We do not need to attract the attention of the authorities."
"There was no one there. She was wearing a ring but I took it off her. There was a male scent but it was faint and old. She was packed and leaving. There were no male clothes, no extra bags. I think she is lying, if there was one, he's not around now, they must have split up." Edward announced with more confidence than he felt. He hoped he had read the situation right. The scent was faint, but with the bleach and cleaning products it was not surprising, it was impossible to tell how old it was. There were no other bags, no indication of a man so perhaps there was no husband at all.
"How can you be so sure? He could have gone on ahead or have left for a few days. You fool Edward if she is reported missing, the CCTV at the airport will show her with you." Carlisle hissed angrily.
"I am not stupid. I am sure." Edward countered. He could read Carlisle's thoughts. He wasn't convinced.
Edward turned to look at Bella as she slept. She was smiling a contented, happy smile. Her cheeks were flushed and her breathing was getting quicker. She was aroused he could smell it. Edward wanted to shake her awake. To demand she devote her thoughts to him again as she once had. He had never been rejected before. It wounded his pride to think she found someone preferable to him. He began to wonder if he could win her back.
"I can't believe she has got a tattoo. She knows how I feel about them. How dare she mark herself so?" Edward declared petulantly.
"I think Edward, it is fairly safe to assume Bella here doesn't care one iota for your opinion or feelings. I suspect that somewhere in her subconscious she has done this purely as a form of revenge against you. But it could simply be that she wanted a tattoo. It is a shame though that she has gone to such extremes." Carlisle answered him thoughtfully but with a hint of amusement. "She carries no hint of your scent either. I was not aware that breaking your hold on her would do that. It is interesting."
"Interesting is not what I would call it Carlisle." Edward almost yelled. "She is defiant and composed. She does not seem in the least intimidated by me or any of us. She actually laughed at me. How will we get her co-operation?"
Carlisle sighed an exasperated sigh. "We will threaten her family and friends of course. We will threaten her as well though I doubt it would work. And when she is turned we leave her to Jasper. He is perfectly capable of putting the fear of god into her."
Bella woke up to in time to hear Carlisle's comments about Jasper putting the fear of god into her. She was a little disappointed. It had been a wonderful dream.
"Yeh right." She thought "I very much doubt Jasper will get to see me as a newborn."
She kept her eyes closed and tried to keep her breathing even so they would keep thinking she was asleep.
"We don't know that Jasper will be able to do anything." Edward argued "He could barely affect her as a human, there is little chance his gift will work on her when turned. As for him physically frightening her. I doubt that would work. Her shield may prevent him from even touching her. I think we need to try to persuade her to help us."
"Persuasion will take too long and we can't trust it." Carlisle snapped back. "Besides I doubt she will ever trust you again. Jasper has plenty of experience with all manner of newborns. He will keep her in check."
"You mean he will torture her and rip her apart."
"No I mean control her, whatever it takes." Carlisle snarled impatiently. "If however Jasper cannot do it we will threaten everyone she loves. Her mother, her friends, lovers all of them. She will not be able to take the risk. She will behave or people she loves will die. It's that simple." Carlisle found the changes in Bella's demeanour remarkable and highly attractive in a strange way. He was not normally attracted to defiant women but something about Bella turned him on. He had been furious with her outburst earlier. It had taken a great deal of his fabled self-control not to rip her head off, or fuck her silly he couldn't really decide which. But he kept his cool. It would not do to be provoked into an outburst at the moment. He had come too far, given up too much to lose sight of the goal now. Carlisle was determined he was not going to be stopped by some upstart female who thought she had the right to make her own decisions. He would have her gift and he would have her loyalty if he had to rip her to pieces and kill every one she even remotely liked. And then when she was nice and compliant, he would have her body as well.
Edward didn't care if Bella was caused pain, but he didn't want that beautiful body of hers scarred. Her wanted her skin pristine. He still thought he had a claim on her given she was supposed to be his. Reading Carlisle's thoughts though Edward knew he would have a fight on his hands.
"I would rather go straight to the threats. I don't want her skin damaged any more than it has been." Edward said questioningly.
"We will do whatever is necessary." Carlisle answered with finality. "It is just a shame Alice cannot see her future. She could tell us what will work best, then again we wouldn't be in this position if she could have seen Bella at all."
"That's news to me" Bella thought. She had always been under the impression Alice and Jasper's gifts worked on her. She could understand them not telling her given her current position. It was good to know these things though. She began to realise this was all because they thought she had a gift. Maybe if what she was hearing was true she did have. Would she use it to help them?
"Not a snowballs chance in hell." She thought.
Unable to stay in the same position any longer Bella pretended to wake up. It was time to get some answers. Reaching for her bottle of water she took a long pull while glaring at Carlisle in the rear view mirror.
"So Edward. Why exactly did you leave me in the middle of a rainy forest, to get lost, catch hypothermia and almost die if you love me so much and want to be with me?"
Edward swallowed hard. The others didn't know about this.
"Well I needed you to let me go. I knew you wouldn't just give up so I had to be cruel." He stammered while Carlisle growled at him.
"What do you mean catch hypothermia Bella?" Esme asked softly.
"Well Esme. Eddie here left me alone in the forest after breaking up with me. He ran away like a scalded cat and didn't look back. So I was left to try and find my way home. It took several hours before I was found, almost catatonic. I had caught hypothermia from getting so wet. You will be pleased to hear it took me a few months to snap out of it but I managed. Jake has helped me immensely." She smiled smugly. The way she said "immensely" implied a great deal and Bella could remember Edward jealous tantrums over her spending time with him.
"Jake! What were you doing with that dog? I left you instructions not to do anything stupid. You knew I hated him." Edward was angry and scared. He had clearly made a great deal of mistakes with Bella. Carlisle's thoughts were furious and told him in no uncertain terms just how disappointed and disgusted he was that Edward would risk everything so stupidly.
"Dog is quite an appropriate term actually." She said with a smirk "And I spent a great deal of time with him and his friends. We did a lot of things together. Cliff diving, riding motor bikes, drinking, drugs, sex. Oh yeh and killing rouge nomad vampires hell bent on revenge."
"Bella I told you not to take risks. Drugs! Drinking! What were you thinking? Don't you know how dangerous it is to have sex with him?" Edward yelled.
"Oh my god Edward. That whole sentence and you are worried I had sex with Jake." Bella laughed in his face. "You really are a fool. Yes I drank, I actually had quite a skinfull last night, hence the dodgy stomach. Yes I smoked some weed, so what? It was fun. Yes I went cliff diving with Jake and his friends, it was exciting. I went skinny dipping with them as well, now that was a lot of fun. I even rode a motor bike, fell off it a few times too. I had sex a lot but not with Jake, Quil was my go to fuck buddy. But you missed the part where I said I was hunted down by a vampire who wanted revenge for you killing her mate. Did it ever occur to any of you what a shit storm you were leaving me to face alone?" She screamed the last bit in absolute fury.
"Let me guess, the all mighty, all-knowing Edward Cullen read her mind and decided she was no threat. You saw her for about five fucking minutes and in that time were completely focused on James but hey, you know everything right. You stupid fucking bastard. He was her mate! Of course she was going to want revenge. But you had conveniently left town, had run away, knowing that I would be safe because Alice can see the future and because you can read minds. So she came after me. Which anyone with a hint of a brain would have realised was going to happen." Sitting back in her seat with a huge grin on her face Bella felt oddly free. It was strangely cathartic, she was trapped in a car with two extremely angry vampires, miles away from her man and safety and yet she felt like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She had finally told Edward what she thought of him and it felt fantastic.
Bella had been watching Carlisle's reactions to her little revelations. He was absolutely furious. His eyes were pitch black and he looked murderous. If Bella had to hazard a guess it was Edward he was furious with, although from the look Bella had just got she might be running a close second.
Bella could only imagine the thoughts Carlisle was sending Edward's way. He was squirming in his seat, looking every inch the naughty schoolboy being told off. Chuckling at Edwards's discomfort, she smiled cheekily at Carlisle in the mirror.
"Like I said, dog is quite a good description although wolf is more appropriate." Bella smirked she was watching Carlisle's reactions carefully. His eyes widened for a moment before he returned to the baleful glare she had been receiving. "Yes you owe the wolf pack a huge thank you. They saved my life twice. If not for them I would not be here now. After that we became very close, I was an honouree pack member."
"Twice, what did they save you from the second time? If you are so close to them why were there no pictures in your flat? Why did you leave?" Edward sounded almost desperate. Carlisle's thoughts were quite clearly scaring him.
"Well you see Victoria sent Laurent to check up on me. He was going to kill me himself but Sam and the boys ripped him to pieces. Then obviously they killed Victoria too but that was later. As to why I left, my reasons are my own, but I had lots of photo's on my walls, they were all shipped to my new home with the rest of my belongings." Bella didn't really want to involve the pack in this, she wasn't trying to get them into trouble but she wanted worry the Cullen's and what better way than to imply she was involved with a pack of wolves that might come tearing after her.
"The wolves are dangerous love, you shouldn't associate with them."
Bella laughed out loud at that.
"Edward you seem completely unable to grasp the fact that we are no longer together." She said cheerfully. "You conveniently ignore the fact that YOU LEFT ME and persist in the delusion that somehow we can work it out. So let me please make it very clear to you once and for all. Not even if hell freezes over will I be with you. Not if the survival of the entire universe depended on it would I take you back. I like men Edward and you are most definitely just an inexperienced boy."
Edward reached for her and had his hand around her throat, slamming her into the seat and making her gasp in fright. The car swerved to a halt and Carlisle jumped out to try and separate them.
Smirking with a perverse satisfaction Edward laughed coldly.
"You would do well to remember your place Bella. You are the weakest, most fragile being on the planet and are now completely at my mercy. You should speak with a little more respect."
"Well thank you for proving my point. You are a spoilt child who cannot handle being told no. Carlisle should have raised you better." She snapped back having recovered from her momentary shock. Adrenalin coursed through her. "Do not make the mistake of thinking I care what you threaten. I may be a fragile human but I am not weak. And whatever your reason for kidnapping me is. You have made a monumental mistake if you think I will ever help you. You should have left me alone like you promised because by taking me you have signed your own death warrant."
Edward released Bella slowly and backed away. Both he and Carlisle stared at her. She was too confident, too composed to doubt she meant every word she said.
"You are not going to destroy us Bella." Carlisle said in a chillingly calm voice that was almost a whisper as he got back into the driver's seat. It made Bella's blood run cold. The car started again and he drove never once looking back. "You are going to do exactly what we say or I will personally rip your mother's heart out and make you eat it. I will go and wipe out your entire little wolf pack's tribe so that there will never be another wolf born. No one expects you to be with Edward again. He failed in his task of controlling you so now it is my turn. And believe me when I say I can make your every second a living hell if I choose. I can keep you so drugged and confused you would believe nothing but my every word. I can keep you locked inside your mind to the point you would tear at your own skin to escape. Jasper may be an expert at physical torture but I am an expert in the mental equivalent. Do not test me child. You are important yes, but I will have your obedience if it costs you your sanity."
He looked at Bella through the mirror his eyes black and deadly. She didn't look away or flinch. His threats were very real and she had no doubt he could and would do everything he said but Bella knew Alistair was on his way she just had to survive until then. Nodding ever so slightly she looked away. She wasn't giving in just picking her battles more carefully. She needed them to think his threats had worked, that she was capitulating. She needed to try and be clever about this and hold her tongue.
"Yep that'll happen. Oh well." She mused.
"I won't try to escape or contact anyone, just keep that idiot away from me, especially at night. I don't want him watching me sleep again."
She looked into Carlisle's eyes again and tried hard to keep the hatred out of hers. He nodded once and turned to watch the road. Glancing quickly at Edward she saw him flinch and gasp. Whatever Carlisle was thinking was enough to scare him thoroughly. He looked at Bella with hard furious eyes. Biting back the urge to stick her tongue out at him she turned to look out of the window. A house was coming into view. It was the typical mansion she had expected it to be. Neatly manicured lawns and flowerbeds surrounding a pristine house. She knew the interior would be white, cold and clinical without a hint of personality. As the car rolled to a halt in front of the house the door opened and the family assembled on the porch.
Steeling herself for the next round she smirked as she got out of the car.
"Show time." She thought.