Chapter Ten

A person could schedule every minute of a day, but sometimes, life takes unexpected turns, fucking everything up. Edward wished he'd foreseen the problem before it even occurred later that day.

Instead of bed rest, he'd been in it with Bella.

Only Alec had sea legs, the rest of the group spent a good portion of their fishing experience puking their guts out. After a few hours and some fishing, they felt better, but not much. After finally reaching land sometime after one in the afternoon, they were starving and headed out to eat. Then they got food poisoning and spent the rest of the day chained to toilets.

Alec had to put his foot down when the girls offered to help, and sent them away. Edward did not want his girl watching him run to the bathroom every time his stomach roiled. That was not sexy, at all. He had to give his cousin credit, because he'd taken good care of them. Gone out to buy the things Bella and Angela had suggested would help, and walked Riker whenever he had to go out.

The next morning after the disastrous fishing trip, Edward called his girl. "Morning, Bella," he croaked, sitting out on the balcony as everyone slept.

"Hey," she whispered. He heard the rustling of fabric and the sound of the sliding door that led to the balcony, open and close. "How are you feeling?"

"Exhausted, old as fuck and sore," he grumbled, rubbing at his stomach. "I thought maybe I'd drink enough to get sick maybe once or twice this vacation, but not this."

"Aw, poor baby." She wasn't teasing him, sounding genuinely concerned and he liked that. "Any chance your guard dog cousin will let me come over to check on you."

"Trust me, Bella, you don't want to be here right now," he said, tugging on his hair. He wanted to see her, but he wasn't feeling his best. Holding up the phone to talk to her was taking all this strength. "Give us another day."

"Okay." Her voice sounded off, small and distant. "I get it."

He closed his eyes and cursed. "Don't. Please don't for think for one moment that I'm lying." He heard her sniff, and fuck, if it didn't piss him off and make him want to smash her ex's face in. "Do you seriously think that I would have Alec lie on my behalf? Trust me, if I wasn't interested in you, you'd know it. Don't let the stupid shit some asshole did to you ruin a chance for something good."

"How good can it be when it will all end in, what, a week?" He heard the anger that tightened her voice. "I'm sorry, I can't help it. I'm trying. I know I shouldn't put you or your friends in the same category as him. I'm sorry that I doubted for a second, but give me a break. You all disappear for a day, refused to let us in a house that looked completely trashed by the way, and there were used condoms in the bushes, Edward." She cursed a few times, but continued. "We thought maybe you had a party and didn't want us there."

"I'd ask you to trust me, but I know it's useless." Having his parents not trust him was bad enough, for some reason this felt worse. "I can guarantee you that there was no party, though." Edward didn't bother to explain further and said goodbye before Bella had a chance to say another word. "Maybe I'll see you around."

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"God, will you stop acting like such a dick and just go talk to her." Alec was at the grill, flipping a burger. Everyone was feeling better since the puke-fest two days earlier and hungry enough to eat a horse. They'd gone earlier into town to buy a few things, including some charcoal.

"No," Edward said, not bothering to look up from the book he grabbed on a whim. "Where's Riker, anyway?" They better not have lost his dog.

"James and Ben took him down to the beach. Apparently, he misses a five foot something, sexy brunette."

They'd gone to see Bella, taking his dog."Fuck you, asshole."

"Do you even know the story behind her ex?" Alec asked, but offered no more. Edward looked up and shrugged. "I didn't think so. Angela told me enough to know that seeing Bella even talk to you was a fucking miracle."

"Yeah, but I'm the one paying for his mistakes."

"Maybe, but if some girl did the number that asshole did to her, I'd have a hard time moving on and trusting anybody with my heart."

Edward looked away, hating his cousin a little. Alec knew more about Bella's ex than he did, and only because he didn't want to know. It was harder than he expected it to be to hear her talk about being with someone else. He knew it wasn't fair. It was before he entered her life, but it wasn't any easier to hear.

"Do you think it's easy for me? I fucking lost my brother, and in a couple of months, I'm probably going to lose my parents." The few times he called to check in, ended in a screaming match on the phone.

"You don't know that, cuz."

Edward shook his head, hitting his thigh with the book. "Maybe it's good this happened. I don't think I can handle saying goodbye to her in the end."

"I think it might be a little late for that," Alec said, shaking his head.

Edward's jaw clenched before he answered. "It was nothing."

"Who are you trying to convince?"

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"What are you doing here, baby?" Alec asked as he opened the door for Angela. She stood on her toes to kiss his cheek, but she looked upset. Edward returned his attention to the television, waiting for James and Ben to hurry the fuck up. They were heading to Pismo or maybe to catch a movie. Riker rested beside him, head on his thigh, looking at him concerned.

Three days had passed since Edward had last seen or heard from her. Though it felt like more.

"Have any of you heard from or seen Bella today?"

That got his attention, and Riker immediately became alert. Edward's heart started to pound as he waited for Alec to say something.

"I haven't, and Edward has his head so far up his ass, he hasn't left the couch for much more than sleep."

Edward rose to his feet and leaned against the adjacent wall from the front door to look at them. "I haven't heard from her in days. Considering how worried you look, why don't you tell us why you think something is wrong?"

"Peter found out from his sister where we were staying and stopped by last night."

"And that supposed to mean something to me."

It was in a flash, a move Edward hadn't seen coming. Alec had him pinned against the wall, his forearm against his throat, Angela screaming for him to stop.

Alec's blue eyes were blazing. "Look, asshole. It wasn't my story to tell, hell even Angela knows she wasn't supposed to tell me. That fucker drugged her, had his real girlfriend fuck with her, before Angie found them, and put a stop to it. So when Angie says that that fucker came to see her, all the way from Seattle, you best believe you should be worried."

The others stood by, having heard everything after Angela screamed. Everyone was stunned. Edward felt sick, bile rising in his throat. "Jesus…fuck...Where the fuck is she then?"