Chapter 8

Well, maybe it's the common curse.
Maybe things get bad before they get worse.
I don't wanna become someone,
Who can't live up to what's already done.
~Comeback Kid- Brett Dennen

The weekend flew by without further incident and when Jacob called to check up on his wife, on Sunday afternoon, he was shocked to find out about the debacle that happened when she had gone to the tavern with her coworkers.

"He put his hands on you?!" Anger seeped into Jacob's voice. "What did he look like? When I get back, I will find him and kick his ass!"

Bella sighed into the phone, holding it close to her ear. "Jacob, I'm alright now. Besides, it was dark and I don't really remember."

"Honey, I am so sorry I'm not there for you right now." Jacob seemed sincerely regretful and it caused his wife's heart to lurch.

Bella didn't know what to say so she asked the question that had been nagging at her for a while. "You're coming home soon right?"

There was a pause, one that had Bella's anxiety building. "It looks like I'm going to be here until the end of the week. But I haven't heard any word of when my services will no longer be needed." Jacob told her truthfully. "But everything is going smoothly here, so I'm going to hope for the best." When Bella didn't respond, Jacob lowered his voice. "Are you sure you're alright Bella?"

Bella didn't want to tell him the truth. That ever since she heard of Edward being released, she'd become so fragile and skittish. What was going to happen after he was free? That simple question with an inconclusive answer is what had Bella completely and irrevocably terror-stricken. She just wanted to return to the days where anxiety wasn't a burden she had to bear, and the only worries she had were if they were going to pay their rent on time.

The brunette forced the thoughts away and responded to her husband after a pregnant pause. "I will be when you get back."

After their call ended, Bella searched the apartment for her daughter. She found Renesmee sitting on her bed, nodding off while Midnight lay curled next to her. "Renesmee?" Bella called softly.

The young child looked up at her mother with tired eyes. "Yes mommy?"

"I'm going to make a quick trip to the store okay?" Bella entered the room and sat on the corner of her bed. "Since you look tired, I'm going to let you stay here. But remember what I always say when you're here home alone." Bella smiled at her daughter. "What do I always say?"

Renesmee yawned before responding. "Don't answer the door or phone. And don't leave my room unless I have to pee."

Bella kissed her forehead. "Good girl. Will you behave while I'm away?"

Renesmee nodded her head while rubbing her eyes. "I'll be good mommy."

Bella stood up from the bed and watched her daughter close her eyes and fall straight to sleep. She sometimes wished going to sleep could be that easy for her. Lately going to sleep had led to dreams about… Bella shook her head clear of such thoughts before heading into the living room, grabbing her purse and heading out of the house.

The reason Bella needed to go to the store was that she had never completed the shopping she had intended to do. They'd had Midnight for a few days and the only thing she had been able to feed the dog was table scraps. While he didn't seem to mind, she knew it would be for the best if she bought proper dog food.

It didn't take long for Bella to reach Filmores, the local retail store that also happened to be Jacob's place of work. It felt weird for her, to enter the store and Jacob to not be there. Most of the employee's already knew Bella as she had been to the store numerous times, so they greeted her as she passed by them.

She grabbed a cart, as she was going to do some light shopping and began her perusement of the aisles. Bella enjoyed cooking and made sure to pick up the essentials that she was running low on. She also made sure to stop by the pet aisle and picked up their new dog some food, a collar, leash and some soap. While she was checking out the different brands of dog food, she felt a tap on her shoulder and whirled around, startled. Bella placed a hand over her heart and sighed in relief. "Hey Demetri."

Demetri smiled apologetically at her. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. Are you okay?"

For a moment, Bella thought Demetri was talking about the recent anxiety issues she had been having over the release of her incarcerated ex. But then she remembered the tavern and shuddered as that memory disturbed her just as much. "I'm alright." she sent a weary smile. "I just hope that never happens again."

"When we go out again, I'll make sure that doesn't happen." Demetri was so sincere that it touched Bella. After being emotionally moved, Demetri stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her, embracing her tightly. The hug surprised her and happened so quickly that Bella didn't know how to react. After Demetri had released her, Bella spotted a mild blush on his cheeks. "Well, I'll let you continue with your shopping. See you at work tomorrow." He patted her shoulder as he walked by her and left the woman feeling befuddled and unsure of his feelings towards her.

The next day, Bella laid in her bed, staring at the ceiling. It was early morning, and soon her alarm would ring, starting her day. She went through her morning routine in her head, and made sure that she wasn't forgetting anything. Today was the day that she had been dreading. Edward was to be released from prison. Now that the day was finally here, she felt less anxious. She was starting to realize that since there was nothing she could do about his newfound freedom, she just had to accept that. What was the likelihood of him even finding her? He didn't know where she lived and even if he did find her, Jacob would be there to protect her. Bella was comforted by her thoughts and it even brought a smile to her face. "Jacob." she murmured aloud.

Suddenly her phone alarm began to ring and she grabbed it, hitting the dismiss button. While holding her phone, she noticed a text from her husband. Good Morning Love 3 Bella felt her heart flutter at the simple good morning text. Even after 6 years of knowing him, he still caused her to feel butterflies in her stomach. She turned her camera on and quickly took a picture. Her hair was a mess, her camisole was askew and she had dried drool caked on the side of her face. But she sent him her happiest smile that was reserved for only him. After she sent the picture, she prepared to start her day.

The disheveled brunette took a quick shower and threw her hair in a ponytail. After she had dressed in her normal teaching attire consisting of a button up shirt and some dark colored slacks, she went to wake her daughter. Renesmee was fast asleep in her bed with Midnight curled by her feet. Bella reached into her back pocket and snapped a picture making a mental note to show Jacob sometime after she told him about their new pet.

"Renesmee, honey. Wake up." Bella shook her daughter gently and watched the small child's eyes flutter open. "C'mon, it's time to get ready for school."

Renesmee sat up in bed and wiped her face with the back of her hand. "Okay mommy." she yawned widely, then hopped off her bed, in search of the bathroom.

While Renesmee was emptying her bladder, Bella laid out an outfit for the child to wear, on her bed, then headed into the kitchen to prepare breakfast. She decided to make something easy, and merely scrambled some eggs and fried some sausage. Just as she was letting the excess grease soak the paper towel under the sausage, her daughter entered the kitchen, dressed in her clothes and with Midnight behind her. "Can I feed the doggy?" she asked hopefully.

Bella pointed to the bag of dog food sitting in the corner. "Be careful okay? Try not to spill any." While Bella plated their breakfast, she kept an eye on her daughter as the small child tried to get food out of the bag and into the dog bowl. Bella was pleasantly surprised when the girl took the empty dog bowl and dipped it into the large bag. When she drew it out, it was filled with kibble and she placed it on the floor for Midnight. "Good job Renesmee." Bella motioned for Renesmee to follow her to the dining room table where they ate their breakfast.

Halfway through their meal Midnight finished his kibble and trotted over to their feet. He barked happily and tried to crawl onto Renesmee's lap. When he slid back to the floor because he was too small, he barked again and sat by her feet.

Bella shoveled a forkful of eggs into her mouth just as someone knocked on their door. She could tell from the way the person knocked, that it was not Alice. Which could only mean one thing. Bella steeled herself for the abrasive man and opened her door apprehensively. She was not disappointed by her guesses as the man across the hall stood in her doorway, hands on his hips and a scowl sketched across his face. "Hi Caius, what can I do for you?"

Caius narrowed his eyes at Bella and his nostrils flared. "Why do I hear barking coming from your room?"

"We were watching the puppy bowl. I'm sorry if my TV was up too loud." Bella lied without missing a beat.

Caius tried to peek his head into her apartment but Bella stepped forward, preventing him. "If that is all, I would like to finish breakfast with my daughter. If you will excuse me."

Bella quickly closed and locked the door. She just barely heard Caius grumbling to himself as he walked back to his apartment. "There's something fishy going on over there and I'm going to find out what."

With the door closed, Bella released a sigh of relief. That had been a close one. She would have to work on keeping Midnight quiet or else Caius would find out and there would be hell to pay.

After breakfast, Bella dropped Renesmee off at school, then headed to work.

The day passed by normally. When lunch time rolled around, Bella wasn't surprised to hear a knock on her door. She looked up, expecting Alice but finding Demetri. Bella didn't know how to feel about Demetri as she was starting to get vibes from him that made her nervous.

"Hey Bella." Demetri greeted cordially. The chiseled teacher sauntered into the room and stopped in front of her desk. "How are you?" he asked, then leaned on her desk while she awaited his response.

"I'm alright." she told him, avoiding eye contact. "What brings you in here?"

Demetri stood up and straightened his crisp shirt. "Well I've noticed that unless you are invited to the lounge, you spend your break in here. Demetri held out his hand. "So let's go." he flashed her a wicked smile that was pushing more definiteness into Bella's mind that Demetri might have feelings for her.

Instead of taking his hand, Bella grabbed her lunch from home and followed him into the teachers lounge.

Alice was seated at their usual table and looked up at the pair happily when they entered. "I was wondering if you two were going to show up." she turned her attention to Demetri and pulled out a large book. "This was very interesting, thank you for letting me borrow it." she slid the thick book towards Demetri who took it carefully.

While the pair discussed the book, Bella zoned out, trying to figure out a way to tell Alice about Demetri's crush on her. She knew that Alice liked him, and she didn't want to cause conflict with her friend because of jealousy. Why did Demetri even like her? Didn't he know she was married? Bella suddenly realized that was the problem. She had never talked about being married around Demetri and it was easy to overlook her ring finger. Now the only problem was how to bring up Jacob without being awkward.

"Hey Bella, when is Jacob coming back?" Alice suddenly asked, turning her attention to the brunette.

Bella snapped out of her thoughts and tried not to frown. "It hasn't been determined yet."

Demetri looked between the two women perplexed. "Who is Jacob?"

Alice beat Bella to the punch in answering. "Her husband." Alice pointed to Bella's ring finger.

"You're married?" Demetri asked surprised.

Bella nodded shyly and a faint blush colored her cheeks. "He's away right now and I miss him so much."

The conversation was cut off as the bell rang signaling the end of their lunch.

During Bella's final class, she gave an in class assignment that allowed the students to work in pairs or groups. While they were completing the assignment, she set about grading some papers from the stack that never seemed to get smaller. In the midst of her grading, she overheard a conversation between a couple of her students.

"I heard from my mom that he was put in jail for murder."

A quiet gasp could be heard. "That's impossible. You can't be released from prison if you murdered someone."

"Yes you can." the female student's voice became snarky. "It was attempted murder but that's the same thing."

"No it isn't."

"Whatever." there was a pause. "I wonder who he tried to kill. My mom said it was someone from town."

The student rustled their paper. "Well I hope he doesn't try to kill anyone here again. Hey what's the answer for number seven?"

Bella tuned out the pair after listening in on half their conversation. She couldn't believe that rumors were already soaring through town about Edward. She really hoped that no one ever found out that it was Jacob whom Edward had tried to murder. She wanted to keep her private life private and people tended to become nosy when it came to gossip in such a small town.

Once Bella had made it back to her home with her daughter, she took Midnight on a much needed walk. She had to be careful though when bringing the animal in and out the house. She had gotten better at it over the past few days, but she always remained vigilant of her callous neighbor who would sell her out in a heartbeat. She often considered moving, but she liked her apartment and the rent was affordable. She didn't want to be run out of a place that she enjoyed because her neighbor was obnoxious. It just didn't seem fair.

As the day wound down, Bella settled in front of the television, deciding to watch the news before putting Renesmee to bed.

"-thanks Phil for the weather. Now an update on the Edward Cullen case." the newswoman fiddled with some papers on her desk, and stacked them neatly. "Edward Cullen was released today after spending six years in prison. He has been reinstated at Cullens Incorporated and we hope that this scandal will soon be behind him."

Bella muted the television as a single tear streamed down her face. All this time she had been fearing Edward's release. Thoughts of him coming back to hurt her for putting him in jail was all she could think about. It seemed the only plausible answer. But now that she thought about it, Edward would not be coming after her. The only reason he abused her in the first place was because he didn't want to marry her but was being forced to. What Edward ever truly wanted was to own the company and now that he was free, he would be able to do just that. Bella leaned back against the couch and finally relaxed. After being tense for a whole week because of the news, she finally felt okay about the situation.

Bella grabbed the remote and turned off the television. After having her revelation, she decided to turn in early as Renesmee was already asleep. Just as she was about to head to her room, the house phone began to ring. She picked it up on the second ring and greeted the person on the other end. "Hello?"

"Isabella Swan?" A deep voice asked on the other end.

Bella's grip on the phone loosened and she almost dropped it in surprise. Maybe she had been lying to herself. Maybe she wasn't okay. "Edward?"