Chapter 36: Inquisition

E POV

"Let's get out of here." I say as I release my Bella from my arms. She nods and grabs for my hand. We head out the front doors and walk to the parking lot. We don't get ten yards before Bella's phone vibrates in her bag.

"There's my dad." Bella sighs as she reaches for her phone. She presses the TALK button and puts it up to her ear.

"Hey Dad…" she greets.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?" Bella flinches and pulls the phone away from her ear at the explosive greeting. She presses the speaker button as we get to her truck.

"Dad, calm down. I think we need to have a talk." She answers mildly.

"DAMN RIGHT WE NEED TO TALK!" He screams. "WHERE ARE YOU NOW?"

"I'm with Edward. We're just leaving the school. Do you want me to meet you somewhere?"

My phone vibrates in my pocket. I motion to Bella and she nods and switches the speaker off. I answer the phone and walk around to the other side of the truck.

"Hey mom." I answer my own angry parent.

"Edward? Are you alright? Where are you? What's going on?" She asks hurriedly.

"I'm fine mom. I'm with Bella. We're leaving the school now." I huff pinching the bridge of my nose.

"Goodness. What has been going on? Why haven't you told us anything?"

"Edward…" Bella whispers from next to me.

"Hold on mom." I put my hand over the speaker of the phone. "Yeah babe?"

"My dad wants to talk with your parents." She rolls her eyes.

"Alright just a minute," I motion to her for one second and respond back to my mom. "Mom, Chief Swan wants to talk with you and dad."

"Oh, okay. When?"

"When?" I direct at Bella.

"Lunch today?" She asks both me and her dad at the same time. I wait for her dad's reply. She nods her head when her dad's quieter response gets to her. "12:15 okay?" She asks.

I nod and get back to my mom with the plans. "Chief Swan can take lunch at 12:15."

"Meet at Sandy's Café." Bella whispers aside to me.

"At Sandy's Café." I add to the response to my mom.

"I can do that, let me call your father and get back to you."

"Okay mom. Talk to you soon." I answer as I hang up and turn back to Bella who is still on the phone.

"Yes dad. Yes I know. Okay I understand. Okaaay. I'll see you in a bit." She forces out and hangs up the phone before he can get her attention again. She takes a deep breath and sighs loudly.

"Ugh, this is such a mess." She rolls her eyes and leans her back against the door of her truck, letting the back of her head rest on the window. I take a step toward her letting my body mold itself to hers and my nose bury itself in her hair. My hands cage around her waist and I listen to her breathing hitch slightly as her body responds to mine.

"I'm sorry." I whisper. The feeling of failure and guilt washes through me again. I let her down. I could've stopped this the day that Tanya threatened her in the hallway. I should've gone to the principal sooner. All of this could have been avoided. Bella's problems with self esteem and confidence could've been solved months ago. I'm so focused on these thoughts that I don't notice that I've clenched the material of her shirt into my fists.

Her warm hands run up my chest and neck, trying to coax me from the cascade of curls framing her face. I resist, not wanting her to see my weakness. Her hands become more urgent though. She maneuvers her head a little so that she can see my face.

"Edward…" she breathes.

"No-" my voice breaks. "Listen to me. I'm sorry Bella. I thought I could protect you from her, protect you from having to deal with all this bullshit. But I couldn't and now you're being punished for something that you didn't even start."

"I don't care if I didn't start it. I would've finished it had Mrs. Denali not shown up. I would've ripped that bitch's earring out of her earlobe. I've reached the boiling point. I'm not dealing with her bullshit anymore. She can say whatever the fuck she wants but she better know that there are consequences. If I hear one more word fall from her fork-tongue I'm gonna slap a hoe." I peek at her face and her perfect lips are set in a firm line and there's a fire in her eyes which I have never seen. It's so…damn…hot.

In an instant my mouth finds hers and the anger we have towards this whole fucked up situation is erupting. Our mouths battle more fiercely and her tongue darts out to trace my bottom lip. I grant her access and our tongues hash out all of our unsaid frustrations.

Our breathing becomes frantic as my body grinds into hers, seeking as much contact as I can get. My hands search for handfuls of her luscious body.

"Edward…" she gasps as she breaks away from our fevered kissing. "We have two hours until we have to meet our parents."

"I know." I hiss into her ear. "Where to?"

"Right now I could care less. Just get in the truck." She pushes me away from the door, opens it and climbs in, dragging me in right behind her. She hands me the keys and I fumble to get them into the ignition. Her lips seek out my earlobe and she nips and sucks at it sending shivers up my spine and a groan to topple from my lips.

"Shit Bella that feels amazing." She smiles against my skin as I slam the truck in gear and floor the accelerator. The truck splutters in defiance then takes off. Bella's hands run under my shirt and along my skin as I let my hand run circuits along her inner thigh.

"Fuck it…" I growl as her hand roams down to the crotch of my jeans. I swerve into an alleyway and park behind a decrepit and abandoned warehouse.

No sooner do I get the truck into park than Bella throws one leg over both of mine and straddles me, continuing our needy and urgent make-out session from the parking lot. I shimmy us over so that her ass isn't forced into the steering wheel and let my hands take full access to her positioning, kneading and pulling at her thighs, ass and waist. She moans when my hands dive into the material of her jeans and underwear to better feel her skin.

Her hands steadily work the buttons of my shirt open and I groan into her mouth. "God Bella! You're so damn sexy! I love this newfound confidence."

"Mmm…" Is all she responds with before pulling back and ripping her shirt over her head. My eyes take in her full chest and I retract one hand so that I can pull down a strap on her bra. As soon as the material slips past the darker skin of her breast I attach my mouth to it. My other hand reaches up to pull the other strap down, releasing her arms from the offensive piece of clothing so that she can wrap her hands around my neck.

I suck greedily and let my hands fall to her waist to assist her in bucking her hips and grinding her heat against my lap. Before long the lack of clothing below the waist becomes too much for her as well. She untangles her hands from my neck and reaches down to undo the buttons on her jeans. I release her waist to do the same with mine.

When her zipper is undone, she plants one hand on the back of the seat and one foot on the floor of the truck. She lifts herself off my lap and shimmies her jeans and panties off her hips. I arch myself up and slide my pants down around my knees as well.

As she's repositioning herself back above me her foot hits the radio turning it onto some random oldies station. I barely register this slight interruption until the lyrics finally reach me.

And I was changing;
All I see is you; All I feel is you for me!

And I would really like to watch you ride;
And always feel you by my side;
I would really like to watch you ride
All on me!

"That's weirdly coincidental." Bella giggles.

"No kidding…" I smile and curl my hand around her neck to pull her lips to mine again. She melts into my kiss, her hands glide over my shoulders, gripping and releasing and then gripping again. My other hand wraps around her waist and pulls her down to me. When my erection brushes along her wet folds both our breaths hitch.

"I would really like to watch you ride." I echo the words of the song and she giggles in response before lifting up a bit. I position myself and let her guide herself onto me. We both moan at the feeling of fullness.

And you are shining;
All I see is you; All I feel is you for me!

She begins to move, pulling back a little at first then thrusting forward. Her actions are slight and cautious.

"It's okay baby." I groan. "God you feel amazing! Go faster!"

"I don't want to hurt you though." She breathily answers.

"Trust me," I chuckle slightly. "You won't hurt me." She nods once and takes her movements to the next level, pulling back farther before plunging her hips down and forward.

Times don't change; Times don't ever change for me;
And I know that you could be the only thing in my world,
The only thing that my mind would find;
For love, for love and peace of mind, for me, for me.

"Oh God…" She hisses as she throws her head back and begins moving even more forcefully.

"That's it baby." I grind out as I watch her breasts bounce in front of my face. I reach out and cup one, rolling it around and pinching slightly. My mouth attaches to the column of her throat.

My mind, and my mind it comes alive with you;
It's all that I can do to sit here and let you blow my mind;
Ah! My mind,
You're so fine, in my mind you're so fine, in my mind you're so fine.

"That was Jefferson Airplane with Watch Her Ride." The radio announcer says as Bella continues her steady and urgent thrusting. "Next up we have Johnny Cash Ring of Fire." My attention is drawn back to Bella as she arches her body away from mine. Her hand remains at my shoulder but her elbow and shoulder blades lean against the dashboard allowing her body to open up more and take me deeper into her.

"Oh shit!" I cry out involuntarily. "So good!"

"Ahhh…" She moans in response. "Close…so close." She cries.

"Me too!" I huff as she slams down again.

"Edward touch me…" She says. That's new, she's never asked anything like that of me before, usually I'm the one having to ask to touch her. God, this new Bella is so sexy. "Please…yes!" She mews as I let my hand trace down her stomach and pelvis until it finally rubs into the bundle of nerves right above where we're joined. I feel myself sliding in and out of her.

"Holy hell!" I curse. "Bella baby, feel this." I reach up and grab her hand off my shoulder and lead it down to where we're connected. Her eyes pop open wide.

"Holy fuck!" She squeaks. "That feels…"

"I know!" I answer as she keeps the rhythm up.

"Oh God! Edward!" She cries.

"Touch yourself for me baby. I want to see you." She bites her lip and lets her hand travel to her clit. She rubs slight circles and the visual makes me harder.

"Yeah love, that's it." I urge as I buck my hips meeting her thrust for thrust.

"Ohhh…Ooooooohhhh…" She moans softly as her fingers pick up in vigor. "Ed-waaaard!" She groans as she arches her back and her thrusting becomes more chaotic. I continue springing up into her as her climax takes her higher and higher. When her orgasm has died down she lolls forward and lazily continues her movements.

"Come for me Edward." She gasps and I can't help it anymore. My body tenses and then melts as I release into her. "Mmm, yeah." She sighs as she kisses my face and runs her fingers through my hair.

I lightly kiss her shoulder and let my arms wrap around her bountiful body, pulling her closer to me.

"Thank you…" I sigh into her flesh.

"Anytime." She giggles in response as her hands lightly scratch my head. "Umm Edward, where are we?"

"I…have no idea." I answer as I squint through the now pouring rain. "I think that's the old paper warehouse."

"Romantic." She teases as she presses her lips to mine.

A little while later, after making a stop at her house to refresh ourselves from the truck, we pull into the parking lot of Sandy's Café. Charlie's police cruiser is already here and so are Carlisle's and Esme's cars. I slowly shift into park and turn the key off. Bella looks over at me and I look back at her.

"Might as well get this over with…" she sighs as she exits the truck. I open the door for her and we search out our parents. They're in a booth to the right, Chief Swan sitting across from Carlisle and mom. Charlie waves us over and Bella grapples for my hand. We hurry to the booth, Bella taking a seat next to her dad and I sit in a chair that has been pushed up to the edge of the table.

"Ok, what in the H-E-Double hockey sticks is going on?" Charlie practically growls at both Bella and I.

"Well," Bella huffs. "Dad there are some things you should know before I get into anything recent." She pauses and surveys her dad's expression. He seems to be waiting for her to continue so she does. "I didn't really move here because of mom and Phil. I moved here because I couldn't stand living in Phoenix anymore. I moved because at my old high school I was teased and bullied viciously until I couldn't stand it anymore."

"What?" Charlie's face drops. "When did this happen? Who? What?"

"Oh Bella, that's terrible dear. I'm so sorry." Esme consoles.

"It was by some guy named Drake and he was a jerk. I'm over it now though, Forks is so much better than Phoenix." Charlie nods tersely and tenses more waiting for the information we're all here for.

"Forks is better than Phoenix but it seems I'm still facing the same problem." Bella sighs. "I've attracted a bully. By now you've probably heard that it's Tanya Denali." She peaks up at her dad and I reach out under the table to give her knee a squeeze in reassurance. Her hand clasps over mine and she squeezes back.

"Yes, I heard about this. So instead of telling someone you decided to fight her? That's not very lady-like or adult of you."

"It wasn't her fault." I interrupt. "Tanya came up to Bella and shoved her into a lock-"

"I don't want to hear it from you young man." Charlie fires back angrily. "You let this happen to my daughter. Why didn't you say or do anything?"

"Dad-" Bella tries to answer before my father puts a hand up to stop her.

"Chief Swan." Carlisle butts in as mom's eyes widen and her hands bunch into fists. "I understand you are upset that Bella has been targeted by school bullies. However, blaming my son does not help the situation. He is a good and honest boy and I will not tolerate anyone saying otherwise, even if you are the Sheriff." I clench my teeth together and then release. I'm happy that Carlisle is sticking up for me, but I agree with Charlie in this situation.

"If I may…" I lead. "I do take responsibility in this whole situation. You're right in saying that I should've said something. I blame myself for how far this whole thing has escalated."

"But he's also the reason I stood up for myself!" Bella cries out as she locks eyes with everyone at the table. "Edward is a kind, sweet, wonderful, intelligent and honest guy. He befriended me and made me feel welcome to Forks. Then he made me feel special and beautiful and strong. If it weren't for Edward I probably would've asked to live in Port Angeles months ago in order to avoid the public harassment that Tanya would have subjected me to anyway. There's nothing that could've been done to make Tanya not target me. I was the sad, lonely new girl and by pushing me down further she would've made herself feel better. That's why she does it, not because Edward is with me and not her, not because I now have more friends than I've ever had, but because she doesn't feel worthy."

She continues her stare down before she picks back up.

"Dad, I should've told you a while ago. You're my father and deserve to know this. The day of the food fight Tanya staked her claim to Edward and when I didn't back off, she hired a student to mug me in the school parking lot after the football game."

"WHAT?" Charlie's face turns purple and his mustaches twitches violently.

"Yes, she hired a couple of kids to try and mug Alice's keys off of me so that I would be too scared to go to anymore football games. She wasn't anticipating that Jacob and Edward would show up and kick the kids butt. After that she hired them again to make a spectacle of me in the hallway. But again, Edward and Emmett…" she glances at Esme. "…were there to defend me from them. Then she ended up inadvertently saying something I overheard, which caused me to break-up with Edward. The bullying stopped for a little while after that."

"But it started again?" Carlisle pushes.

"Yes," Bella nods and looks down at the table. "After Edward and I got back together she decided that she was going to have to deal with me herself. So, she pretended to be her mother and called down to my old high school to find dirt on me. She found out about the past bullying and decided to try and use it against me. I guess I got over it by then though and it didn't affect me. Anyway, Edward, Rose, Alice, Jasper and Emmett convinced me to finally tell the principal about what her daughter had been up to. I sent her an e-mail on Friday and today she called me to her office. She was really cool about it and told me she would handle it. The next thing I know Tanya is screaming and pulling my hair." All three parents are gawking at Bella.

"So how are you the one that got detention?" Esme finds her voice first.

"Well, when Mrs. Denali came across the scene I was kind of on top of Tanya and threatening to rip her earring out of her earlobe." Bella blushes and diverts her eyes.

"Oh I see. Does Mrs. Denali know that it was Tanya who started it?"

"Yes, but fighting is prohibited on school grounds. I got detention for two weeks and she got an extra week of suspension."

"Even though you were defending yourself?" Charlie practically yells.

"Yes." Bella huffs. "Again, I wasn't exactly just rolling over and taking it. I was fighting back."

"Oh this is bullshit!" Charlie hisses. "Excuse my language." He amends to mom.

"No you're right. It's bullshit." She nods at Charlie. "Tanya Denali and her two sisters are entitled brats while Bella is one of the sweetest girls I've have had the pleasure of getting to know. You don't deserve this Bella." She reaches out to Bella and grabs her other hand.

"Thank you Esme." Bella whispers.

"Bella, after lunch we're going down to the school and I'm going to have words with Mrs. Denali." Charlie says.

"Dad you don't have to do that."

"Yes I do!" He interjects. "Bella, honey, I may be the Sheriff and it may be my job to protect this town. However, you are my daughter, therefore you take priority. If justice needs to be upheld in any situation it is in this one." Bella nods her head and kisses her dad on the cheek.

"Thank you dad." She whispers.

"Okay, well Carlisle…Esme…Edward," Charlie nods at each of us. "Bella and I have to go speak to the principal. Thank you for helping us sort through this. We will talk later."

"Thank you Chief Swan." Carlisle extends his hand and Charlie shakes it firmly. "I will call you later."

With that Bella scoots out to let her dad exit.

"I'll be right back mom and dad." I say as I grab Bella's hand. "I'm just going to walk with Bella to her car." They nod and I lead her towards the door.

"I don't know what my mom and dad are going to ask me." I whisper to her. "What should I say."

"Tell them the truth." He shrugs. "Our parents deserve to know that they can trust us."

"Alright." I answer. We get to the cruiser and I wrap my arms around her shoulders. She hugs me around my chest.

"I love you." I whisper into her hair.

"I love you too Edward." She says as she pulls away. "We'll get through this." I can't answer so I just nod and lean down to kiss her softly.

"Ready to go Bells" Charlie chimes from the other side of the truck.

"Yeah." She sighs as she releases me completely and yanks the door of the police cruiser open. I watch them drive off before I begrudgingly go back to face my parents.

B POV

"Dad, really, I can handle two weeks of after school detention. I'd pay it three times over if I could smack that girl in the face."

"Bella, that's not how you handle situations."

"Well that's what she deserves." I mumble under my breath. "Besides," I voice more firmly, "Nothing else has worked on her. Her mom has tried talking to her, Alice has threatened to kick her off the cheerleading squad, Edward has told her numerous times that he would go to the administrators. She just doesn't listen dad, I don't understand how you're going to change that."

"I'm not here to make sure Tanya gets punished." Charlie answers. "I'm here to make sure you get treated fairly in this situation. You are not the antagonist in this scenario." I huff and cross my arms, obviously there's no point in arguing this so I just sit quietly as we drive the remaining way to the school.

Sixth period is just being let out when we pull into the parking lot. Students are gathered in groups, chatting animatedly. From some of their hand gestures I would assume the news of Tanya and I duking it out in the hallway has spread. As we exit the truck some of the conversationalists stop talking and start gawking at me.

"She's alive!" Someone shouts out.

"Team Bella!" Another one yells. I blush fiercely and give a slight smirk.

"We thought you were a goner Swan!" I hear Emmett's voice bellow.

Dad leads me into the building and to the main office.

"Why don't you have a seat here Bells." Charlie gives me a semi-reassuring smile. "I'm only going to be a few."

"Okay." I nod as I take a seat. Charlie disappears into Mrs. Denali's office and I pull out my phone. I have six new text messages. Really people? The first two are Angela wanting to know if I'm okay. Emmett apparently has won twenty bucks off of my fight. Alice has sent me a blurry picture of Tanya and I yanking on each other's hair.

As soon as I finish scanning through the rest of the messages the main office door flies open. Rose comes barging in video camera in hand.

"BELLA! Thank God I found you! You have to see this!" She cries as she takes a seat next to me.

"Sheesh Rose, what's going on?" I ask hurriedly.

"You won't believe what I had to do in order to get this camera from Eric Yorkie." She huffs as she coaxes the thing to life. "I had to threaten the little perv. He actually thought I'd show him the goodies. I told him that I wouldn't sick Emmett on him if he was good and gave me this stupid thing. Okay here it is." She shoves the attached screen at me and I flinch back before focusing on the image.

Eric was apparently doing some sort of expose on making out in the hallway for his journalism class. The shot starts out with kids in the hallway and then pauses on Edward hugging me. He leans in to kiss my cheek. From behind him Tanya is bee-lining it straight towards us. As soon as Edward pulls away a little she strikes, pushing me away from him and into the locker and effectively shell shocking Edward. Eric yells "Chick fight" which causes everyone to swarm around Tanya and I. Eric manages to lift his hand over some girls head and gets the money shot of Tanya and I clawing at each other. When I break her necklace we both fall to the ground and the rest is her shrieking. The whole thing is mostly a mess of hair and hands, you really can't see much other than that. Then a whistle is heard and everyone dissipates.

Eric apparently ducked behind a wall because he manages to get the exchange between Tanya, Edward, Emmett, myself and Mrs. Denali. As soon as we disappear down the hall he turns the camera back to himself. "This is YouTube history right here! Screw make out sessions in the hallway!" The camera screen goes back to blue and I blink a couple times.

"Holy shit." I curse as I lazily hand it back to Rose.

"Smile you've been caught on candid camera!" Rose squeals.

Before I can panic anymore my dad comes storming out of Mrs. Denali's office.

"Come on Bells, we're leaving." He stiffly answers.

"But-" I try to stop him. What is going on? Did everything work itself out?

"No buts. Home. Now." Oh crap, one word sentences. He's not happy. I wave a little at Rose, she shoots me a pitifully apologetic smile. I follow Charlie out of the front doors and to the car. Most of the students have dissipated by now. We load into the car quickly and he takes off.

"What's going on dad?" I ask quietly, not wanting to make him more angry.

"You still have detention."

"I figured." I answer quietly.

"Mrs. Denali got the Vice Principal to back her up on her punishment. They both agreed that you were as much a part of the fight as Tanya was. So I told her the next time I find Tanya drunk on the street or in the middle of lewd behavior in the back of some punk's car I'm going to bring her down to the station rather than home."

My mouth drops open a bit, then snaps closed. "Fair enough," I shrug. "After all, you're both just doing your jobs right?"

"Right." Charlie nods. "Mine just happens to have more disciplinary power." He breaks his eye contact with the road to glance at me and do his little eyebrow dance. I giggle and smile.

"Thanks dad." I whisper sheepishly.

"No one messes with my little girl and gets away with it." He scowls. "That little princess better keep her nose clean from now on."