Chapter 13
They tell us from the time we're young,
To hide the things that we don't like about ourselves.
Inside ourselves.
I know I'm not the only one
Who spent so long attempting to be someone else.
Well I'm over it.
~Secrets- Mary Lambert
Bella gaped at the closed door of Alice's apartment. The woman had just told her that Alice was dead and she couldn't believe it. Bella felt crippled with emotion and didn't know what to do.
"Who was that?" A muffled voice asked.
"Some pale chick. But I sent her away."
The light patter of feet could be heard before the door swung open all the way and Alice stood looking very much alive. Albeit, the normally spiky haired girl had her hair flattened and a dark circles under her eyes. As Bella looked closer, she noticed that Alice wasn't wearing any makeup and had on sweatpants. Alice never wore sweatpants. "Bella? What are you doing here?" Alice asked lightly, standing casually against the door frame.
"Alice!" Bella took a step forward and noticed that her sudden movement startled the woman. "Where have you been? It's been a week. And who is that?" Bella gestured to the woman scowling at Bella from inside the apartment. "Why did she tell me you were dead? Nearly gave me a heart attack!"
Alice glanced back at the woman and stuck out her tongue childishly. "That's my sister, Lucy. She can be crass sometimes."
Bella was taken aback when Lucy flipped her the bird. The woman was much taller than Alice and even Bella. She had long blond hair that cascaded down her shoulders, curling at the ends. She had an athletic build and aside from her taste in clothes, Bella couldn't see the similarity linking them as sisters. "Why did she say you were dead?"
Alice covered her eyes with her arm dramatically. "I feel dead."
"What's going on?" Bella asked confused.
Alice invited Bella inside then closed and locked the door. "I never got to thank you for saving me from that lunatic." Alice suddenly remembered. "Thank you Bella."
Bella followed Alice to the cluttered couch and took a seat beside her. "What happened last week?"
"Well," Alice fidgeted uncomfortably. "I went on that date with Aro, against my better judgment. I should've done a background check on him." Alice sighed theatrically. "I knew something was off about him when he kept asking me weird questions like, what products do I use in my hair and what's my shoe size. I thought I would be safe at the tavern, but he must've slipped something in my drink. I started feeling weird so I told him I was going to the bathroom and then I tried to leave and I remember calling you but then everything is a blur." Alice looked down at her hands and fiddled with them nervously. "That's when things went downhill. I woke up in the worst pain imaginable. I thought I was dying."
"You were Mary, you were." Lucy interjected from her spot sitting atop the arm of the couch. "Mary had a bad reaction to whatever drug Aro put in her drink and it caused her liver to explode."
"My liver didn't explode! It was my appendix." Alice clarified. "I guess before I went to the tavern I had appendicitis and the drug just made it worse. Well, my appendix needed to be removed and I called Lucy because an ambulance costs $300 and I don't have that kind of money right now." Alice lifted up her t-shirt and showed Bella the small scar across her abdomen. "I'm going back to work Monday, but for now, the doctors told me to take it easy."
"Tell her about the hospital." Lucy prompted, pulling out a nail file and sanding down a jagged nail. "I think you should call the police because this is going to get out of hand."
Alice sighed heavily and turned her attention to Bella was staring at her intensely. "Well, somehow Aro found out I was at the hospital. I don't know how, but he did. He even lied and told the hospital he was my uncle so that he could have visitation privileges." Alice shuddered at the thought then continued with her tale. "He brought me flowers and balloons and told me he loved me. Said we were destined to be together. What did I do to deserve this?"
"Moving on, I took care of him." Lucy said casually still filing away at her nails.
Bella cocked a brow at Lucy. "What do you mean you took care of him? What did you do?"
Lucy glanced up from her incessant nail filing and sent Bella a smile that disturbed her. "I have my ways. Don't let my beauty fool you. I am dangerous."
Alice reclaimed Bella's attention with an apologetic smile. "She's married to a man who knows karate or something and he beat up Aro and told him that if he came within 10 feet of me, he would break his arm. So hopefully that's the last of him I'll be seeing."
"Well I'm happy you're alright. But isn't karate a self defense martial art? You can't attack someone using it. It goes against the code." Bella almost wished she hadn't said anything because of the look Lucy was giving her.
"So, what, we're supposed to let that asshat harass my sister?" Lucy growled. "I don't think so."
Alice held up her hands in defense. "It's alright Lucy. Bella didn't mean it that way."
"Whatever." Lucy stood from the couch and leaned down to give Alice a hug. "If you need anything else Mary, I'm a phone call away."
"Thanks for everything Lucy." Alice returned the hug with as much vigor as she could muster without hurting herself.
After Lucy had gone, Bella felt more relaxed. "It's so weird to hear someone call you Mary."
"It's weird for me too. But my family has always ignored my wishes to go by my middle name." Alice ran a hand over her abdomen gently. "So has Jacob returned?"
Bella smiled softly and leaned back against the couch. "He came back after I picked you up from the tavern." Bella sighed heavily. "Can you believe someone stole his phone? It's why I wasn't able to get into contact with him for so long."
"Why didn't he get a new phone?" Alice asked confused.
"Well he said he was really busy. But he was issued a new phone from the company. So all's well that ends well I guess."
Bella and Alice chatted amicably for a while, but after an hour, Bella returned to her garlic infused apartment. Jacob had long since finished cooking and Bella made a mental note to save Alice a plate as she was in love with Jacob's spaghetti.
Upon entering the apartment, Bella found Jacob talking to someone on the house phone. His brow was furrowed in contemplation so she didn't disturb him. Her daughter was absent from the living room, which could only mean the child was in her room. Bella opened the door to Renesmee room and began speaking. "Renesmee, do you want to...Renesmee?" Bella looked through the room quickly but didn't see any sight of her daughter. She backed out of the room and checked the bathroom only to find it vacant. "Renesmee?" Bella called while leaving the bathroom and checking her own bedroom. Bella soon found her legs racing through the apartment in search of her daughter. When she wound up in the living room once more, Jacob had just finished his call and she gave him a panicked look. "Where's Renesmee?"
Jacob pointed towards their daughter's bedroom. "Isn't she in her room?"
"No! She isn't!"
Jacob smacked his head theatrically. "Oh that's right. She's in the backyard, playing with Midnight. I totally forgot."
Bella placed a hand over her fast beating heart. "Jacob! I was worried half to death!" Bella stormed to the apartment door, but was stopped by her husband grabbing her around the waist. "Let go of me." Bella demanded.
Jacob complied to her wishes but turned her around so they could face each other. "I'm sorry Bella."
Bella took a couple deep breaths to calm her nerves. "What if Caius see's her? He'll report us to the landlord because we have that dog."
"Caius is at work. He won't be back until we're asleep."
"He has a job?" Bella asked incredulously.
"Yeah. I overheard him talking about it once." Jacob shrugged.
Bella unlocked the door and held it open. "You know you have to keep an eye on your children when they're outside right? She's only four, Jacob."
"We only have one kid." Jacob responded, then waggled his eyebrows. "Unless you want to try for another one." He nipped at her ear and Bella pushed him away playfully. "Besides, she's nearly five and I think she knows the rules by now." When Bella sent him a fierce glare, he held up his hands in submission. "But you're right. Let's go get her."
The pair exited the apartment and found their daughter playing with Midnight in backyard, just like Jacob had said. When Bella had gone shopping for food for Midnight, she had also picked up a few toys. One included a bone shaped chew toy that Renesmee was throwing across the yard, and the pup was fetching merrily. "Renesmee." Bella walked over to her child who looked up at her expectantly. "Having fun?"
"Yes mommy!" Renesmee giggled when Midnight dropped the toy at her feet and barked. She picked up the toy and threw it again, only to have Midnight dashing away to retrieve it.
Bella smiled down at her child, relieved that she was safe. "Well I think it's time we head back inside. What do you think?"
Renesmee pouted but nodded in agreement. "Well okay." When Midnight returned the toy to her, she picked it up and petted the dog on his head. "C'mon Midnight, let's go inside."
The rest of the weekend went by casually and soon Monday was upon them. Jacob woke up first and nuzzled into the crook of his wife's neck. "Morning love." he trailed light kisses across her neck until he reached her soft lips. "Time for another day of teaching lousy kids." He joked.
Bella smiled into the kiss and after hearing Jacob's words, she opened her eyes slowly. "They're not so bad. The kids of today will be the adults of tomorrow." She sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. "It's our jobs as teachers to educate them so the world doesn't suffer."
"Well I'm glad you love your job so much." Jacob gave her one more quick kiss then hopped out of the bed. His naked rear stood brazenly in the room and Bella couldn't help admiring his plump bottom.
"I didn't realize you slept naked last night." Bella commented.
Jacob faced his wife, demurely covering his front. "Well I thought we were going to have some fun after I gave Nessie a bath and put her to bed, but you were asleep by the time I got into bed."
Bella rolled her eyes and noticed parts of Jacob peeked out at her from behind his large hand. "You seem primed and ready for right now." Bella teased, gesturing to what Jacob was trying to hide.
"I can't help it." Jacob removed his hand and looked down. "It's morning and I had a nice dream last night."
Bella laughed and threw a pillow at her husband. "Go take a cold shower!" After Jacob had gone, Bella headed into the kitchen in her pajamas and whipped up a quick breakfast consisting of oatmeal and toast. When breakfast was hot and ready, Jacob entered the kitchen clean and dressed for work.
"I woke Renesmee and she's getting dressed." Jacob told his wife while preparing himself and his daughter a bowl of the oatmeal.
"Oh good. Now I can get dressed." Bella left the kitchen, took a quick shower then dressed in her normal teaching attire. It was nice to have her family back together and she felt more comfortable than she had since he had gone. Monday was starting off well and she hoped it would continue.
Unfortunately for Bella, this didn't happen to be the case. Since Alice had been cleared to come back to work, she stopped by Bella's classroom and dragged the woman to the teacher's lounge where Demetri was eating his lunch. Before they entered, Bella gave Alice a confused look. "What?" Alice asked, just as confused as the look on Bella's face.
"Why do you want to eat here? I thought we were avoiding Demetri."
Alice peered into the lounge and then looked back at Bella. "We are, but I like the lounge. Plus, I've moved on. I think I met a guy. I'll tell you more about him in here." Alice held open the door and Bella reluctantly entered.
The pair grabbed the table farthest from Demetri who looked at the duo sadly. When the women had taken their seats, they pulled out their lunches. Alice had brought some leftover spaghetti that Bella had given her and began to eat it cold, much to the disdain of her friend. Meanwhile Bella had a caesar salad. "So you met a guy?"
"Oh right. I did meet a guy!" Alice's voice was unusually loud and Bella glanced over at Demetri who was covertly watching them. "Well, 'met' might be the wrong word. Right now we're just internet friends."
"Oh you met him online?"
"Yes." Alice took a bite of her spaghetti before continuing. "He's super sweet and even seemed genuinely concerned about my surgery."
"Surgery?"
Both women looked up when Demetri was suddenly at their table. "You had surgery? Are you okay?" Demetri took a seat next to Alice and focused all of his attention on her.
Alice briefly exchanged glances with Bella. "Yeah, my appendix needed to be removed." She old him honestly.
"Oh. Well that's a common surgery." Demetri seemed mollified by Alice's answer. "I was wondering why you weren't here."
"Well mystery solved." Alice spoke monotonously.
Demetri fiddled with his hands on top of the table. "I've been meaning to ask you both something." He paused and looked at them nervously. "Did I do something to offend you? I thought we were friends and now I'm having second thoughts."
Alice narrowed her eyes and dropped her fork. "I think you know why. Don't act coy."
Demetri exhaled heavily and his shoulders sagged. "How did you find out?" he asked quietly.
"You make it obvious." Alice snapped and Bella placed a hand on Alice's arm to calm her down.
"I don't know how you found out, but I didn't think I made it obvious." Demetri looked up at the women brokenly.
Bella was starting to feel bad for him but Alice seemed to hold on to her anger. "Lusting after a colleague is despicable."
"I would never act on my feelings." Demetri told her honestly. "Please don't tell him."
"Him? Him who?" Alice asked suspiciously.
Demetri looked into Alice's eyes with a heavy blush adorning his face. "Max."
Bella and Alice were thoroughly confused by what Demetri was saying. "What are you talking about?" Bella finally asked, breaking the awkward silence that had befallen the teachers.
"Don't tell Max that I like him." Demetri murmured. "I don't know how you found out, but please keep it between us. I'm pretty sure he's straight and I don't want him to judge me."
Alice had been stunned into silence so Bella voiced what was on both of their minds. "You're gay?"
Demetri nodded slowly, brows knitting together in bewilderment. "Yes. Isn't that why don't want to be friends anymore? You're homophobic." Demetri sighed. "I thought this place would be different. It's why I moved from my last school."
Bella couldn't help laughing at the situation. "Demetri, we didn't know that you were gay." Bella told him honestly. "But I personally don't care, and if you want to keep it a secret, it's safe with me."
Alice nodded slowly, agreeing with everything Bella was saying.
"Thanks." Demetri smiled at the women but just as quickly it fell into a frown. "Wait, if you weren't upset because I like Max, then why were you angry with me?"
Bella and Alice laughed awkwardly. "Well at this point it just seems silly." Alice grumbled. "We thought you had a crush on Bella."
A/N: Since I accidentally posted a day late last week, I thought I would post a day early this week. I hope y'all are enjoying the story! Thanks for reviews/alerts/favs!