Ensconced in Rose' office Edward began to worry. He knew what she was telling him was the truth but he had not a single answer to offer.
Things were moving and shifting back home in the states she informed him. Decisions were being made for his and Bella's future in their absence she reminded him. They were both adults and able to make choices, if they wanted, she encouraged. Time was running out she warned.
He sat in the office for a long time in silence before he asked if it was okay to go and find Bella. He wouldn't make a single decision without her by his side and Rose saw that both as necessary and smart.
She verbally agreed that was a good idea considering that their biggest problems might be linked and while he went to round up his significant other Rose used the time to prepare what paperwork she had that might be of use.
There wasn't much she thought on a sigh as she stared down at the files.
Their personal documents held no real information other than contact details and a brief outline of why they were at camp. Even that was no help she realised as she read over it. Most of it was either lies or carefully worded so if anyone ever got a hold of it there would be nothing untoward to find. That wasn't unusual. Families of private guests were often wealthy and held esteemed positions in society, no matter what country they came from, and none of them wanted the details of their loved ones stint at what could be made to look like a rehab centre to come back and haunt them.
A quick call to Tyler was her second action in her attempt to help with something she didn't quite understand for herself yet. He knew what she did but a second opinion couldn't hurt she rationalised. He said he'd be there as soon as he'd wrapped up an online chat with his editor.
Realising that Jasper was going to be a bigger help than either herself or Tyler she placed a call but got his voicemail on his cell and a recorded message at his home. Time zones sucked.
Had she looked at her own personal cell phone she'd have seen that she had another message from his wife, but Rose couldn't quite bring herself to look at it. She was too cowardly to see if Emmett had left a message for her because she didn't want to face her own problems just yet.
Always more confident fixing someone else's Rose ignored her cell and gathered her wits.
Edward gathered Bella and tried to gather his own wits.
He felt rushed and under pressure for the first time since arriving in Australia and he didn't like it. His chest felt tight and his head hurt from thinking too much. Things were changing and he wasn't ready.
Em's departure seemed to have some sort of ripple effect that Edward couldn't understand.
He'd hidden his problems for so long and he had been looking forward to a few more weeks of quiet bliss before he had to face them. But Rose had reminded him that time was ticking on, she'd offered to try and help and he couldn't turn his back on that.
He wanted to, but he couldn't, not really.
He'd never had anyone interested in his problems before and never anyone who could actually help. He hoped that Rose could. He knew she wasn't what she seemed, and neither was Tyler, but he had no idea what they could actually do for him. Even if it was nothing he appreciated that they were willing to try. Nobody had before so he couldn't let the offer of help go unanswered.
At least, this time, if things came to a head he had support.
At least, this time, if everything went truly to shit he had the tiny little glimmer of hope that when the smoke cleared he could, quite possibly, be standing hand in hand with Bella in the midst of the rubble.
And so he sought her out. He found her under her awning, textbook and calculator in hand, studying a math problem intently. He watched her for a few minutes and smiled at the look of concentration on her beautiful face.
He hated that he was about to burst her bubble too.
He hated that with Em's departure their problems were about to be thrust into the light of day and he hated that it had to be now.
"A few more days," he whispered to himself, begging the gods to give him that. But he knew it was futile. Things were moving swiftly and he had to face them, and so did Bella if they stood a chance.
Mary Alice sat opposite her mother and tried to remain calm. That was difficult because her mother was furious. In the fifteen minutes since arriving at the cafe she'd done nothing but hiss and spit about the lack of professionalism at Crossroads.
Rosalie was obviously incompetent. The rest of the staff not committed enough to curing her daughter. It was too far away for proper monitoring. The reports were late and half hearted at best.
And through all that Mary Alice kept her eyes cast down and nodded along with her mother's rant.
The absence of a new report was troublesome but Mary Alice was a smart woman and so she'd arranged for her husband to text her within half an hour of the scheduled meeting. When her cell phone chimed she leapt on it and then smiled at her mother.
"That was a message from my housekeeper to say that the report has just been delivered," she gushed in what she hoped was an appropriate tone. "I'll send a copy on to you as soon as I get home, mother."
"Well, at least that's something," Renee huffed.
With the major of the two issues covered Mary Alice steeled herself to tackle the second. She'd rehearsed what to say and how to say it with Jasper all morning and was confident she could pull it off. She had to. For her sake and her sisters she just had to.
"Mother," she began carefully. "What do you think of Jake?"
Renee didn't even pause to think on it before giving the standard line Mary Alice had come to expect. "He's going to make a great husband and Isabella should be grateful that he agreed to marry her."
"But what do you personally think of him, as a man?" Mary Alice insisted.
Again no pause for thought. "Your father has been friends with his father for decades. If your father thinks highly enough for him to be marrying one of his daughters then that is all there is to it."
"No, mother," Mary Alice insisted again, a little more firmly and loudly enough for the ladies at the table beside them to stop their own conversation to turn and stare. "I don't want to know what daddy thinks of him, I want to know what you think."
This time Renee did pause. She looked Mary Alice in the eye and with a strong, clear voice she answered. "I think Isabella is lucky that someone like Jacob Black wants to marry her, Mary Alice," she said icily. "You of all people should know what a great judge of character your father is. Without his ability to do so you'd never have been betrothed to Jasper," she all but hissed.
Mary Alice believed her father had lucked out with Jasper and her mother was a naive idiot but said nothing further on that topic. Instead she sipped her coffee from her gold rimmed cup and considered the next part of the plan.
"Aren't you concerned about Jake's reputation with other women?" she asked carefully.
"Not at all," her mother said with a firm shake of her head as she put her cup back onto the perfectly pressed white linen tablecloth. "Like all men Jacob has sown his wild oats but he's ready to settle down." She said it as though it was not only expected of a man but also something he should do before marrying. Mary Alice was about to inform her mother how disgusting she found that opinion but was cut off as her mother continued. "Your father had had, shall we say an interesting personal past, before I became engaged to him too, Mary Alice. And your Jasper was hardly celibate before the two of you became engaged, if I recall. If they hadn't experienced other women they may have chosen to stray after marriage, but getting it all out of their systems before taking their vows stood us both in good stead, I'm sure you'll agree."
What could she say to that? She hadn't known about her father's previous relationships before marrying her mother, obviously, but she could hardly argue in Jasper's corner because she did know about his. To Mary Alice the past was just that. They'd left that all behind when they'd taken their vows to remain faithful to one another and she didn't doubt for one moment that Jasper had stuck to that, as had she. She took half a second to wonder if her father had.
What worried her was the knowledge that Jake wouldn't stick to it. Isabella would.
Mary Alice knew, from experience, that it wasn't about their pasts, it was about the promises they'd made for their future.
Jasper might have played the field and 'sowed his wild oats' as her mother put it before he'd married her, but Jasper had done everything he could to make a better man of himself before taking his vows and he actually was that better man and had been since the day of their wedding. Jake had done no such thing and she wondered if he ever would.
Jasper had Mary Alice' best interests in his heart, Jake had his and his alone.
She knew without proof that if Jasper was to do something to hurt her it would hurt him too. If Jake did something to hurt her sister he wouldn't bat an eyelid. She'd just be collateral damage. She'd just be the price of doing business.
Shoving that unsavoury thought aside she moved on to the next question. "I understand why this match is good for Isabella, she is lucky that someone as politically situated as Jake wants the union," she said with barely concealed disgust, "but mother, why is it a good union for Jake himself?" she asked as casually as she could.
Icy eyes were turned on her instantly and then Renee's features settled into her normal mask of calm assurance, but Mary Alice had seen the look and known it for what it was.
"Reputation," Renee said calmly. "Jacob will benefit from this match for reputation alone. But his social standing will be cemented once he marries your sister. His career is built on more than just public trust, it's about perception as well and he's smart enough to know that marrying Isabella will turn the perception the public currently has about him around."
"What about love, mother?" Mary Alice asked before she could stop herself. She knew the question was a mistake when her mother's icy eyes once again made an appearance.
"Love?" Renee barked. "When has love ever had anything to do with making a good marriage?" she asked a shocked Mary Alice.
She wanted to say always. That love should always have everything to do with making a good marriage but she knew when she was beaten. And Mary Alice was beaten on that point.
Knowing she had more yet to learn she ignored the comment and moved on to a question she and her husband were dying to learn Renee's answer to. "Why is daddy so invested in Jake making a good match?" she asked.
No stiff reply this time. Renee simply settled her cup back onto the table and smiled. "Billy Black has been your father's friend and confidante for nearly forty years, Mary Alice. I'm sure that in a few years the friends that you and Jasper have now will begin to have children and you'll come to see how important those children become to you."
Renee took another sip from her cup and Mary Alice began to relax. Hearing her mother speak so sweetly about children – any children – settled a little of the animosity she was feeling towards her normally cold and unfeeling parent. She was about to say how nice it was to hear that her mother cared about the child of a friend when her mother continued.
"The children of close friends can be very useful," Renee told a now agog Mary Alice. "They go off into businesses and careers that can be very beneficial to their families and their friends. It always pays to have a widespread circle of loyal supporters. Of course, Jacob following his father into politics hasn't diversified that circle as much as if he'd, say, gone into medicine or some other industry. But I'm sure daddy's support of Jake will pay dividends one day soon."
Mary Alice signalled for the waitress in an attempt to stop herself from leaping across the table and throttling her mother in front of the whole cafe. She couldn't believe it. Actually she could she told herself as she ordered another coffee for each of them. Her mother really was as cold and as manipulative as she'd suspected. And just then Mary Alice found that she no longer cared.
She was a grown woman who was through with allowing her mother to meddle in her personal affairs. She was an adult who had a good marriage that was based on love and respect and she found she didn't need her mother anymore.
It was freeing in a way, to come to that conclusion right there in the little cafe.
Mary Alice didn't care one way or another if her mother had played any part in the business deal that had seen Isabella engaged to Jacob Black because Mary Alice no longer needed or wanted anything to do with her parents.
Squaring her shoulders after her new coffee was placed in front of her Mary Alice steeled herself for the final question she and her husband had deliberated over long and hard the night before.
This one would set the cat amongst the pigeons one way or another.
"I don't know why daddy chose Jake for Isabella," Mary Alice began a little less carefully than she'd posed the other questions. The sting had gone out of the tail of subtlety by that point. "But there was another name that could've been thrown around. Edward Cullen, Carlisle and Esme Cullen's son. He's got the right connections too. He's daddy's friends son too and he's about to take his rightful position in Cullen Enterprises. That's a good name and he's got a great reputation personally and professionally and I know that daddy's invested in some of the Cullen projects before. I guess I'm just surprised that daddy chose Jake instead of him, what with Jake's personal reputation being what it is, and Edward's being so nice and clean."
The poisonous sting in her mother's rushed words in answer would haunt Mary Alice for years to come. Renee leaned across the table and pointed a perfectly manicured, blood red fingertip at her eldest daughter. "Now you listen to me Mary Alice Swan, this stops here. Right now. Business dealings between your father and the Cullen's are none of your business and whether or not their son is a better choice for your sister isn't either. I don't know what you're fishing for, or what you hope throwing another name into the mix will achieve, but you'll get no joy out of this kind of discussion. Not from me and not from your father. We've made it clear that we wish for your sister to marry Jacob Black and that is exactly what is going to happen. No negotiations will be entered into. If you contact her and tell her otherwise there will be very real and very serious consequences, Mary Alice. Isabella is our responsibility and your father and I have decided this is the path she will follow. Isabella will return from that pathetic excuse for a rehab centre you insisted she attend and she will marry Jacob Black. The de...the invitations have been sent out and she's given her consent. That's an end to it. I have to go now. Your father needs me to oversee a luncheon."
With that Renee threw a bill onto the table, retrieved her handbag from the back of her chair and strode out of the cafe without a backwards glance to her daughter.
Stunned, shocked and appalled Mary Alice could only sit in her seat and stare at the tablecloth. "My name's Whitlock," she whispered. "I'm not Swan anymore, thank god."
Renee had meant to say deal. Mary Alice knew it.
Renee knew all about the deal that had been negotiated. She didn't need to actually say the word because Mary Alice knew.
The realisation hurt. Mary Alice had harboured a deep seated desire to prove that her mother knew and understood Isabella's angst at her looming marriage and was simply too afraid to go against her husband's wishes to stop it.
But that wasn't the case at all and Mary Alice was hurt.
She was dialling on her cell phone within seconds, not caring one iota about time differences.
Edward stood just to the side of the awning and watched Bella for a few seconds before he went up onto the porch and sat opposite her.
Surprised and pleased to see him Bella graced him with a beautiful smile as he sat but the look on his face told her it wasn't going to be a happy social visit.
"What's wrong?" she asked hesitantly. After the shock of Emmett's early departure Bella didn't want to have to deal with anymore bad news.
Edward understood that and was sorry that he was about to throw her world into disarray again, for the second time in the same morning no less.
Raking a hand through his already disheveled hair Edward sighed then lit himself a cigarette from his fast dwindling pack. Bella declined the offer of one and sat back, hands clasped tightly in her lap, waiting for him to speak.
"I went to see Rose, to hand in Em's key," he almost whispered. "She said some stuff. Made a bit of sense, I guess," he stammered as Bella's belly began to clutch with worry.
He'd been so precise, so confident the past few weeks and now he was back to the frightened man he'd been before and Bella didn't like it.
"Alright," she countered. "I'm listening if you want to share."
As usual it was a good thing to say. Edward had always been desperate to have someone to share with and Bella never failed to offer the lifeline he sought. "Thanks," he smiled as warmly as he could. "She thinks, and I think she's right, that we're inviting even more trouble by ignoring our problems."
The awful, rhythmic clenching in her stomach sped up as Bella thought on that for just a second. "I see," she whispered. "Do you think you're ready to make some decisions then?"
"No," Edward laughed. "Not by a long fucking shot," he hissed as he ran his hand through his hair nervously again. "I'd much rather stay here, with you, and never leave. What about you? You ready to blow the lid off it all?"
"No," Bella said simply but continued before she backed out totally. "No, I don't think I'm ready but I don't think anyone would ever be ready to do what we have to do. But none of that matters anymore. Hiding isn't going to change anything at all. We both knew that. We both know that. Do you think Rose can do something to help us?"
"No idea but she's willing to try," Edward replied.
"More than I've ever had before," Bella whispered, but Ed caught it and he smiled because she'd voiced exactly what he had been thinking himself. "We could just go and listen to what she's got to say. I mean, if she can help that's great, but if she can't it won't hurt to listen to some advice, right?"
"Right," he agreed.
They sat opposite one another in silence until Edward had finished and stubbed out his smoke. Neither wanted to give up the little slice of tranquility they'd found with one another at camp but they both knew that denying the problem existed was probably not smart.
Bella was the first to stand. She closed her textbook and put her pens, pencils and calculator on top of it and went inside to put it away. Edward stood then and made his way into the little living room to wait for her to be ready to leave.
He was going to miss this. The peace and calm he felt inside either one of the cabins they shared. He'd miss being able to curl up with her on the sofa and he'd miss not watching movies with her. He'd miss the popcorn too, and the cigarettes and if he was honest he'd miss the alcohol too. Not because he wanted to be drunk but because he knew that the instant he set foot on American soil he'd no longer be so free to make choices for himself.
But what he was going to miss most were the nights with Bella tucked up against his body. It was getting colder at home. Moving towards the Australian summer meant that at home the days were getting shorter and the nights would be turning cold. He spared a few seconds to imagine what it would've been like to come home to a roaring fire and Bella in his bed every night.
Bella stood at the kitchen counter and watched the emotions flow across his face and through his body as he stood stock still behind his closed eyelids.
"I don't want to go home," she whispered as she approached him slowly. Edward didn't reply audibly he just nodded his head, eyes still closed, still unwilling to open them and let go of the images he was seeing. "Are we going home, early?" she asked as she took another short step.
"I want to say no," he whispered in reply as he watched his imaginary future play out behind his eyelids. "But I guess the writings on the wall, isn't it?"
"I guess," she said softly with a shrug. "I'll miss you," she whispered as she moved nearer where he stood.
Edward sucked in a long, deep breath as she neared. He didn't need to open his eyes to know how close she was to him now. He could feel her there.
He hoped that she was thinking and feeling the same things as he was. "I'll miss you too," he whispered as she stepped into his waiting arms.
They'd never discussed being together after. They thought they'd have more time. Both of them had been imagining how it could be, but not once had they been brave enough to voice it. And now they found themself both acutely aware that their time was drawing to a close. Possibly an abrupt one.
But Edward knew that before he left Australia and the happiness he'd unwittingly found there he was going to take one giant step in the right direction for himself.
He pulled her harder up against his chest and opened his eyes, finally. She was even more beautiful in the flesh than his imagination had pictured and as he gazed down at her he thought about Emmett's parting words. He had to do it for himself and he had to support Bella to sort herself out too.
But first he wanted something selfish, something entirely for himself. He wanted Bella.
Holding her gaze he smiled as best he could. "If we only have today, if after meeting with Rose we have to leave, I don't want to leave with you not knowing that I want you. However you'll have me I want you, Bella."
Her eyes grew wide as she came to understand what he meant. Once she did she gave him all the answer he needed. She rose up onto her toes, slid her hand into his hair and pulled his lips to hers.
The kiss started out slowly, as they always did. Just gentle explorations with lips and the tips of tongues. Hands were placed on feminine hips, fingers gripped at the hems of t-shirts and then the kiss changed.
They'd both been feeling the pressure. They'd both been content and suddenly that contentment was threatened. It was Bella who led the charge despite it having been Edward who'd put voice to the need. Bolder than she'd ever been before she pulled and tugged until Edward got with the program and then he was shirtless and leaning against the back of the sofa.
It was obvious to them both that things had changed. They might have come to camp confused and lonely but they'd leaned on each other and had found exactly what it was they'd been looking for.
Half a minute later her blouse joined his on the floor at their feet and they'd switched positions. Her butt up against the back of the sofa as Edward held her tight up against his chest.
It was unspoken between them that this was where they'd been heading all along. The closeness they'd been feeling toward one another could only culminate in this. All the nervousness and all the embarrassment fell away as they clung to one another. They weren't children and they knew what to do and for them both it seemed as though it no longer mattered that they'd never even seen each other naked before.
All the hesitation was gone and in its place was a desperate desire to just be together. As adults. Making adult choices. Loving as adults do.
It didn't seem rushed, but it was. It was a desperate need that had festered inside both of them for so long and now, with their happiness threatened, it bubbled over and consumed them both.
His jeans were undone, the zip at half mast. Her conservative slacks were undone and allowed to pool about her ankles.
They were both adults. They were both consenting. And even though it had never been spoken of they'd both committed themselves to one another long ago.
He had her hair wrapped around his hand and through his fingers as he tugged her this way and that, desperate for more. Not more of anything in particular, because Edward had no clue what the hell he was doing, but just more.
Neither wanted their stay to end but they weren't naive enough to believe that it couldn't. They'd both decided they weren't leaving without giving themselves to each other. This might be their last and only opportunity and they grasped it with both hands.
Her fingers were pinching at his scalp as she used his hair to guide his mouth for her. She nipped at his tongue, tugged on his bottom lip and ground her hips upwards and into him.
Forces beyond their control were going to attempt to separate them and they knew it. The desperation they were feeling toward the other was the manifestation of that. The sword of Damocles was poised above them both and they knew it.
He groaned, she whimpered. He pulled, she pushed.
Over her bra he began to learn her curves. Along the waistband of his pants she explored the deep v of his hipbones. Then under her bra he felt her peaked nipple and groaned long and hard into her accepting mouth. She dipped the tips of her fingers beneath the elastic that topped his boxers and he whimpered into her waiting mouth as she felt his achingly hard length for the first time.
She wasn't scared. She'd always thought she would be. But this was Edward and she knew him well. There was no need to be afraid because he'd never hurt her.
Having no idea what he'd like she did what she thought she should. She gripped him and made a ring with her fingers. He moaned as she moved and gasped when she tightened her hand around him.
He clutched at her then. He tweaked her nipple harder, in direct correlation to the strength of her grip on him, and together they worked each other into a frenzy that couldn't be ignored any longer.
Edward wanted this before they were forced apart by his cowardice.
Within seconds they were grinding against one another, bodies so close together it was almost impossible to continue with their discovering.
Bella wanted it before it was taken from her.
It wasn't discussed and they didn't break the kiss as they moved towards Bella's bedroom. It was all instinct. Both naked from the waist up they did their best to remain kissing as the rest of their clothing was discarded. They didn't stop to pull back the covers and they didn't stop pressing against one another as they lay down on the bed.
"I love you," Edward whispered against her throat as he traced her lips with the very tips of his fingers. Her moist heat almost overwhelmed him and he longed to ask her to stop stroking him, lest he embarrass himself.
But Bella was lost to the new sensation of his fingers learning her most intimate places and wouldn't have understood his request anyway.
"I love you too," she echoed as his nervous fingers slid between her slick folds.
Relief, amazement, thanks...it all coursed through Edward's body as she told him how she felt. He slid just the tip of his finger inside her with a new found confidence he only had because she loved him.
A strength she didn't know she possessed coursed through Bella as she revelled in his words. She was comfortable pushing her hips forward and urging his finger further inside herself only because she drew courage from the knowledge that he'd fallen as in love with her as she had with him.
"I want it to be you," Edward said hoarsely against her lips. She said nothing but her quick, decisive nod said volumes as he began to slowly stroke her. "Oh god," they moaned in unison at the sensations.
"I has to be you," Bella whimpered as she writhed beside him, lost to the new feeling of fullness and needing more already.
Having no idea what to do next – whether to continue on as he was or to make another move – Edward tried to calm his breathing and begged Bella to release him from her grip. He knew it would all be over before he'd even begun if she kept up the rhythm she'd set.
Released from the confines of her warm little hand both of Edward's heads cleared and the one on his shoulders kicked in. He listened and he felt the changes in her breathing and the strength and loudness of her pleadings as he moved his finger in and out of her. She gasped as he pressed in, cried out in frustration as that finger retreated.
Too shy and unsure of himself to ask what she needed he did his best to find that out for himself. Flush with love, lust and a yearning that had settled in his very soul Edward strummed Bella's body like a Stradivarius.
A pulsing began in her thighs and traversed her body, settled in the core of her sex and its intensity burst out of her mouth in incoherent ramblings as it built and built. Convinced he'd found a depth and a rhythm that could make her come Edward continued on through her writhing and her shouting of his name over and over.
Bella let all the emotions and sensations tighten until the last, tiny stroke made that tension break. She bucked her hips hard against his hand and gasped as the dam broke. His name fell from her lips as the first delicious waves coursed through her. He could feel her spasming on his fingers and hear her panting hard as it carried her away.
"Oh, oh, oh..." she chanted as it crested then relented. "Oh, oh, oh," she whimpered as it receded.
It was then that the enormity of what he'd just done hit Edward in the head and gut. It was then that the direction this was heading made Edward flinch with nerves. Was she ready? Was he? Was this right? Should they do this now? Would she regret this tomorrow?
And then his brain told him that there may not be a tomorrow for them and that quieted his nervousness down. They loved one another so it could never be wrong. And as Bella panted through the last ripples of her release Edward's resolve to love her while he had the chance grew.
He withdrew his finger sharply, eliciting a small hiss from Bella. He told her not to worry, that he had no intention of stopping, that he was just getting up to collect one of the condoms Emmett had stashed in the bathroom, but it wasn't to be. They weren't in Edward's cabin; they were in hers Bella reminded him. And there were no condoms to have because Ben had emptied everything out of the bathroom when he'd packed Angela's things.
Lying back onto the bed with a groan Edward put his forearm over his eyes and tried not to panic. Bella, also lying on her back with her hands over her eyes, was mortified.
Neither knew what to say. Hell, neither knew where to look!
Edward didn't want to feel the way he did. He wanted the cool confidence he'd felt just moments ago to flush through his system again so he rolled over, eyes still not searching for hers, and buried his lips in her throat. "I'll..." was as far as he got.
The loud chiming of Bella's cell phone ripped through the quiet shyness in the tiny bedroom and seemed to startle them both equally.
"It can go to voicemail," Bella whispered as she reached for him. "What were you going to say?" she asked as she ran her fingers up his back and over his shoulders.
Leaving the flesh at her throat for just a second he steadied himself to speak. "I'll go next door and..." and just then the sharp chiming of her cell ringing again startled him.
"Ignore it," Bella hissed as he withdrew further and left her lips.
Sighing just once he grinned down at her and took her lips once again. She was pushing her hips at him urgently and he silently cursed not having taken the opportunity to retrieve the condom. Now he'd have to shatter the mood again he thought.
When her cell rang for the third time Edward cursed and leapt from the bed. "Get that, I'll get a condom," he barked and headed for the living room to retrieve his clothes with a determined stride.
Grinning from ear to ear at the sureness of his statement Bella reached to the side of the bed and pulled her phone from the pocket of her discarded slacks. "Cripes," she muttered when she saw all the icons for the missed calls and the voicemail deposits. It was her sister calling. "Hello," she answered breathily once she could focus a little and her hand stopped shaking enough to press the correct button.
"Bella? Are you alright?" Mary Alice began.
"Yeah," Bella croaked as she reached beneath herself to move the blankets. "Yes, I'm fine."
"You sound odd," Mary Alice said cautiously.
"Not odd at all," Bella whispered in an angry huff. "Can I call you back?"
"You really do sound strange," Mary Alice murmured as she collected her bag and made her way out of the cafe. "Are you coming down with something? You sound all...I don't know, throaty."
Bella couldn't help but giggle at that. "No," she laughed. "I'm not coming down with anything. But, um, I'm kind of in the middle of something here. Can I call you back?"
It was the giggle that gave her away. Isabella didn't giggle. Mary Alice thought that maybe Bella did, but Isabella certainly didn't. Deciding not to ask, or press for details of exactly what her sister was up to, she took advantage of the fact that she'd managed to get her on the line at all.
"No, don't hang up," she all but shouted. "This is too important," she rushed. "I've just had brunch with mother and there are things I need to tell you."
Bella, not caring one way or another about brunch with her mother, rolled her eyes before replying. Pulling the blankets up and around herself she sat back against the headboard with a grunt. "I don't care about wedding plans, if that's what you two were discussing."
"Jesus," Mary Alice barked into her cell phone as she made her way to her parked car. "I don't give a shit about wedding plans either. Look, Jazz sent Edward some information a couple of weeks ago and...well...after what mothers just said...shit," she hissed as she dropped her keys into the gutter.
"You know about the paperwork?" Bella yelled, startling her sister.
Edward, returning from retrieving a condom from his own bathroom – and sending a not so silent prayer to Emmett for having the good sense to leave the box there when he left – heard Bella's shout and rushed into the bedroom in time to hear Bella's next shout.
Mary Alice had just confirmed that yes, she did know about the paperwork and all about the deal their father had set up with Jake. She didn't want to include their mother in the statement just yet, but as was becoming the norm, Bella was finally asking the right questions.
"Mother? What about mother?" Bella was shouting into the phone as Edward slid into the room and perched on the foot end of the bed. Bella mouthed 'my sister' at him and he nodded and mouthed 'good' back at her before she continued to speak into the phone. "I know for sure that dad is at the heart of this mess, but what about mother?" she asked a now scrambling Mary Alice.
Mary Alice slid into her car and slammed the damn door shut with force before replying. And as the tears began to fall she found she couldn't lie to her sister. Not now. Even if the answer hurt so very much to say out loud.
"Oh Izzy," Mary Alice wailed, reverting to the long ago forbidden nickname, "I was so sure she didn't know. I was so sure she'd never do that to you. But Izzy," she cried, the phone wedged between her shoulder and her ear, her head buried in her hands, "I'm pretty sure she did know now."
Bella burst into tears at her end too, only she wasn't alone. Edward had her in his arms the instant the first tear fell.
It wasn't quite the shock it should've been for either woman, but it was still a significant shock. After all, nobody wants to believe their own parents would sell off their future for their own ends.
"What do I do?" Bella sobbed to both Edward and Mary Alice equally.
"I don't know," Mary Alice wailed. "I don't know. I didn't get that far in the planning...I just wanted to get you far enough away so you could think...I never planned further...I'm so sorry Izzy," she sobbed.
Bella, still wrapped in Edward's arms, could see the massive, ten feet tall writings on the wall now. Edward, with his ear so near to the phone, was pretty sure he could see it too.
They needed serious help and they needed a serious plan. The time for speculating was over. The time for hiding had come to an end.
"We have to go home," Bella whispered to an already nodding Edward. Thankful he was onboard with that she returned her concentration to the call. "Ally, go to Jazz and settle yourself down," Bella instructed her quietly crying sister. Her strength wasn't anywhere near where it had been earlier as she and Edward had explored each other's bodies for the first time, but it was growing. "Edward and I are due for a meeting with Rosalie right now and as soon as that's done I'll be calling your house. If you can, please have Jazz there, yeah?" she asked hopefully.
"Yeah," Mary Alice agreed softly. "I'm so sorry Izzy," she croaked as she blew her nose.
"It's not your fault, Ally," Bella replied easily. "This is all on mom and dad. But it ends here," she said firmly and Edward nodded his agreement into the curve of her neck as she spoke. "You go on now," she instructed her sister, the roles suddenly reversed as the younger of the two took charge, finally. "It'll all be okay. I have to believe that. Be ready for our call okay?"
"Okay," Mary Alice agreed quietly and ended the call.
Edward held Bella for just a few minutes, all thoughts of finishing what they'd started forgotten for now. "This is really happening," he whispered, breaking the silence.
"Yeah," Bella replied sadly. "I guess it is. Do something for me please?" she asked, turning towards him and cupping his cheek with her palm. At his nod she smiled. "Stay with me through this bit?" she asked.
He didn't hesitate. "Always," he whispered and kissed her softly. Breaking apart before things could get out of hand again he slipped from the bed and handed her her blouse. "I'm not going anywhere until you tell me to go," he mumbled, hoping she'd understand.
Her smile told him she did.
A/N: Thank you for reading.
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