Chapter Eleven

Everyone scrambled into the van and drove to Bella's family beach house. Alec didn't offer any apology after he said his piece, and Edward didn't want one. It was interesting to see his cousin protective of a girl, though unsurprising. He'd always been that way, just didn't outwardly show it often.

Edward's hand shook as he dialed Bella's number, only for it to go straight to voicemail. He immediately tried again. "Angela, tell us exactly what happened the night before?" he asked, cursing when it went to voicemail again. James was driving her car; she was too shaken up after the fight with Alec.

She took a deep breath before answering. "We were watching movies, planning to go out the beach and roast marshmallows, when he just showed up."

"What the fuck did he want?" Alec asked, pulling down Bella's street. "Hasn't he'd done enough?"

Edward hated that Alec knew what happened and he only knew a few facts. "How the fuck is he not in jail if he drugged her?"

"He was, but not long. They couldn't get assault charges to stick." Angela leaned between the two front seats, her hands twisting on her knees. "She told him to leave, that she was calling the police. Said she wanted nothing to do with him, and when he tried to come inside, she kicked him in the balls."

Edward relaxed a little. "That's my girl."

Angela huffed, but didn't otherwise respond to his words. "He left and we decided to stay inside just in case, locked up, set the alarm. We called the police and told them there a suspicious car that kept circling in the neighborhood and they patrolled for a bit, but Peter was long gone. I woke up this morning, my car still there but she was gone, along with her purse. I tried calling her, but she wasn't answering her phone."

They pulled up into the driveway, and before it even stopped, Edward jumped out and sprinted to the door. "Bella!" Angela had it open soon after, all them calling her name. They had no idea where to go from there, and nobody had Alice or Jasper's numbers. Then out of nowhere, she was coming in from the garage, looking shocked and perfectly fine.

Edward had to stop and catch his breath, his heart still pounding hard. "Where have you been?" More than one person blurted out, but she focused on him the longest.

"I went to have breakfast with Alice and Jasper." Confusion had her cautiously approaching them. "What's going on?"

"You didn't think to tell Angela?" Edward was well aware that he was yelling, but fuck, he'd been worried something had happened to her.

"I left her a note, on the fridge." She pointed at to it, but realized it wasn't there. Her eyes dropped to the floor near a cabinet and she bent to pick up a yellow post it from the floor. "Oops. What has you all looking at me like that?"

"Angela said you weren't here when she woke up, and with your late night visitor, she was worried." Edward crossed his arms over his chest, watching her face lose all the color. Fuck, she hadn't wanted anyone to know what happened.

"Bella, I…" Angela started but didn't seem to know what to say.

Edward watched as Bella took a few steps back, her back ramrod straight and her shoulders almost up to her ears. The tension was practically rolling over, her cheeks suddenly turning bright pink.

"So you all know what an idiot I was." She tossed the towel she had in her hands and turned away. "I was going to take a jog this morning and he was outside in his truck."

"Where?" Alec growled, the rest of the guys ready to go find the fucker. "Point me in the right direction and we'll get him to leave."

"Thanks, but you're too late." Bella stated. Her voice cold and distant; it was ten times worse than the day he last spoke with her on the phone. Every muscle in Edward's body was tense with an underlying need to hold her. "I called my Uncle Jasper. He, along with a few friends from a nearby motorcycle club, decided to introduce themselves to Peter." She walked past them all, toward the balcony. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'd like to be alone."

She was gone before any of them could say a word.

"I messed up," Angela whispered, wiping at tears as Alec wrapped his arms around her. "I shouldn't have said anything."

"You only told me because I was worried about my cousin, and you wanted to alleviate my concern. And from the way she just handled us knowing, as if it was all her fault, she never would've said anything to us, even if Peter suddenly showed up at a party."

Edward had to talk to her. He felt like shit for yelling at her, as if she was some child, and after not talking for days. One thing he learned in the last ten minutes was that he finally understood where his parents were coming from. If he felt that worried about Bella, someone he already cared so deeply for, he could only imagine how much worse his parents felt about him going off on his own.

"I'm going to go talk to her," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Give us a few hours, please." Everyone agreed, leaving in the van with the intention of hitting the beach for a while. "Come on, boy." He tapped his leg and walked down to the beach with Riker at his heels.

There were more people than usual, but it was the middle of June and it was expected. He watched a little girl smash into her big brother's sand castle, giggling when he dumped sand on her tummy. He'd always wanted a little sister, but after his parents had him, they couldn't conceive anymore. Putting himself in their shoes, he understood their worries, but they needed to get a grip. They were in his face all the time, and had made it impossible to mourn his brother. They spent more time being angry at each other.

"What are you doing here?" Bella asked, Riker already in her lap as he walked up to where she sat in the sand. "Come to yell at me some more?"

He sat down beside her, but a few feet away, though he wanted to be closer. "No. I just want to talk about what happened, and the other night." She stiffened even further, nearly curling up in a little ball with Riker still in her lap. "Wish I would've met him so I could kick his ass."

"I wouldn't want you to get in trouble," she said softly, running a hand through Riker's fur. Sensing the tension between them, Edward's dog barked at them both twice and ran toward the water.

"It would've been worth it." She mumbled a soft 'thanks' and doing her best not to look at him. "I'm sorry I hung up on you."

She shrugged. "I understood. I would've done the same."

"I wish you'd trust me." He turned to look at her, her hair up in a messy bun, curls escaping around her ears and neck. God, he wanted to touch her so bad. "I would never do the things he's done to you."

"I know."

"Will you tell me?" For a while, neither of said a word, watching Riker play with the two kids he'd seen earlier.

"I was a junior and he'd already graduated the year before. We officially met at a party. I had a crush on him while he was still in school. He was sweet, charming, kind of a golden boy. Went to a state college on a baseball scholarship, and for some reason, he wanted me. Everything seemed good for a while. I knew he was busy, but when he came home there were always excuses for not hanging out or coming to see me, like food poisoning."

"Well fuck." That explained her reaction a little more.

"Yeah, anyway, he had no problem sneaking me out of the house to fool around, but that's the only time I saw him. I questioned him, asked if he wanted to take a break. He said no and that he loved me. The next night, he took me to a party, introduced me to a few others that he graduated with and a girl he supposedly just met. She went to my high school, a year younger than me, but no big deal, right?

"I don't remember much after she offered me a drink, just her trying to kiss me, and him encouraging her. Angela must have seen us go up to the room together and checked on me a few minutes later, stopped them before they could go further. I found out later that they'd been together for years, and they liked to experiment and play games. I was far from willing."

Edward clenched his teeth, hard enough to hurt. "What happened to them?"

"He was arrested, but his daddy has big bucks and he got off with a slap on a wrist. My dad almost lost his job over it. By they went after her, Charlotte had spread rumors that it was a consensual threesome and everyone thought I was a slut. I couldn't trust anyone for a long time, only Angela made an effort to find out the truth of that night."

The silence between them was thick, and Edward had to watch helplessly as she curled further into herself. For a few minutes, he didn't know what to say. The longer they remained silent, the more she shook.

"I need to hold you. Will you let me?" he asked, and when she nodded, he pulled her onto his lap. "I'm so fucking sorry that happened to you. I should've called you, instead of sending Alec to run interference. I hated that you didn't trust me, and it made me think of how my parents didn't, either. I took my anger about that on you. I know we haven't known each other long, but it hurt more than I can say. I have my parents on my back all the time, and then you didn't believe me."

"It was only for a second. I told myself you weren't Peter, but it was too late. The—"

"The damage was already done." He held her close, nearly cradling her in his arms. She pulled him by the front of his gray hoodie a little closer, nuzzling her cheek against his chest. He kissed her nose and held her there.

"What are we doing to do?" she whispered.

He didn't even have to ask what she meant. He already knew. "I don't know."

Whatever they decided, it would eventually hurt.