BPOV
"How are things with you, Bella?"
I smile broadly.
"Pretty awesome, to be honest."
Things had been steadily improving in the three months since I'd left the Cullen house. Both Edward's and my therapy were going very well, helping us to both deal with our respective issues. He was dealing with his anger, I was dealing with my panic, and we were both learning to trust the people around us and trying to forge a normal relationship together.
And, to my surprise and amazement, it was working. The summer had been a blur of wonderful memories, each one working to override all of the horrible ones.
"Really? Any specific reason for this?" Garrett asks, smiling a little himself.
"He loves me."
I state it proudly, my smile growing even larger. Edward had told me only two days before, when we were wrestling on his bedroom floor. My birthday is fast approaching and Emmett let slip that Edward had already bought my gift, so Alice and I of course went on a reconnaisance mission when we'd thought he was out with Jasper for the afternoon.
We'd become sidetracked when we'd discovered a small collection of nudie magazines and spread them out across his bed as we read together, squealing and laughing at both the articles and the photoshoots. Distracted as we were, we'd failed to notice that Edward and Jasper had returned home and were standing in the door way, watching on as we laughed together on his bed in a nest made of porno mags.
"Bella... what are you doing?" he asked lowly.
Both Alice and I screamed at the sound of his voice, surprised and embarrassed.
"Oh..." I looked around us and realised that we were completely and utterly busted. "Uh, nothing. Why?"
"Because it looks like you're looking at porn with another girl while lying on my bed."
I looked up at him then, standing beside his brother with both of their expressions slightly dazed. I scoffed as I realised what they were likely to be thinking about.
"Get your mind out of the gutter, you pervs," I scolded. "We were looking for my birthday present and got distracted."
His dreamy expression was immediately replaced by a solemn one.
"You were doing what?"
"Emmett may have let it slip that you've already got it," I admitted quickly, trying to shift some of the blame off myself.
"Oh, you're gonna get it now," he growled.
He stalked towards the bed and Alice jumped off, laughing as she ran out of the room, leaving me alone and undefended when Jasper immediately followed her. I stood up on the mattress, trying to balance myself and then launched at him, throwing my body into his arms in an attempt to get in the first blows before he inevitably pinned me down.
The force of my body hitting his threw him back slightly and we fell onto the bed. We wrestled as he tried to pin me and I struggled away from him, until we ended up on the floor, me on top of him, surrounded by the torn pages of the porn we'd destroyed during the melee.
"Look what you did!" he accused, waving a tattered remnant of a magazine at me. "I've had this since I was fourteen, Bella! They were one of the nicest things Jasper ever did for me!"
I smacked the crumpled paper out of his hands, laughing all the while as he pouted and laugh turned to a squeal as he flipped us over, pressing me into the floor with his body. I tried to squirm away, but was rendered almost completely immobile by the weight of him and quickly gave up, my own giggles dying down. He watched me intently the entire time, his eyes focused on my face.
"What?" I asked through the last of my giggles.
"I love you. You know that right?"
I nodded.
"Good."
He kissed me then, in the middle of a pile of dirty pictures, until I could hardly breathe.
"You know I love you back, right?" I asked, panting slightly and so happy I could barely contain myself.
"Really?"
I rolled my eyes in playful annoyance.
"Yeah, dummy."
He growled and forcefully pressed hs lips to mine again.
"Good," he murmured against my mouth. His fingers descended on my ribs then, until I was a writhing, squealing mess underneath him.
I pull myself out o the memory when I realise that Garrett is speaking to me.
"Do you return his sentiment?" he asks, although I'm sure he already knows the answer to that question, but I nod regardless.
"I'm happy to hear that."
I smile so big my cheeks hurt a little, because I'm happy about it too.
His own smile fades slightly and mine quickly follows, because I know what he's about to mention and I'm anything but eager to jump into this conversation.
"Your's and Edward's video testimonies are being shot this week."
His words hang in the air, and I really don't want to validate them with any kind of response. The date has been looming for weeks, and although we'd received the list of questions in advance, it made me no more relaxed about it, and no more willing to discuss it with strangers, particularly on camera.
"Bella," Garrett sighs, "you can't just ignore your way out of this situation."
"I know that," I snip but he ignores my clipped tone, as per usual.
"I've spoken to your parents as well as Marcus about this, and we all decided that both Marcus and myself will be present, with Carlisle, just as a measure to make sure that you aren't pushed too far and to keep your best interests as the major concern. There will also be the lead detective present, the judge, and the defense attorney."
I tense up immediately at the idea of having to speak with the person who has chosen to defend the man who did this to us. Without evening knowing their name, I hate them.
"Bella, are you alright? You haven't said anything."
My head snaps up as my abstraction dissolves, and I realise that I've probably been sitting here contemplating my hatred for much longer than I think I have.
"I don't like that I have to meet his defense attorney," I admit, a little sheepishly. From what I know of the legal system, the chances of him not having representation are almost nil, but I can't help it.
"Why is that?"
"Because he doesn't deserve anyone fighting for his freedom after what he did. He took mine, and Edward's, because of his own bad choices, and now he has someone trying to keep him out of prison, so he can be free and happy and do whatever he likes? It's not fair!"
My voice raises in pitch and volume throughout my speech as a wave of anger rises from the pit of my stomach. I pull my legs up to my chest, trying to physically force it back down to no effect. I rest my head on my knees until my anger dissolves into sadness.
"Why should he be allowed to defend himself when we never even got the chance?"
My words break over a small sob when the weight of my own words settles onto my shoulders, making me hunch even further into myself.
A few minutes pass while I silently cry, my only movements the stilted rise and fall of my shoulders while the sobs come and my upset takes a physical form.
"Bella, can you look up at me?" Garrett asks in his most soothing, inoffensive tone and I reluctantly grant his request, quickly wiping away the wetness on my face.
"You have every right to feel the way you do. In fact, given your position, you are handling the situation with immense grace. Unfortunately, the law stipulates that Aro is entitled to legal representation if he so chooses, and there's nothing we can do about that.
"What you can do, however, is give the best testimony possible, tell them everything you went through, so that the jury can see that he doesn't deserve his freedom, and it will be taken from him."
The idea of something being taken from the man who took so much from me and the boy I love feels like one small ray of light in the darkness. I pull my head up from my knees and straighten my spine, physically and mentally gearing myself up for this. I keep my legs curled up in front of my body though, craving the inexplicable sense of safety the position gives me.
"Alright," I say, clearing my throat of the remaining scratch from my crying, "let's go through the list one more time."
"We can do this. We can. Right? Are you feeling ok?"
Edward is holding my hand as we walk down the hall, flexing his much larger one around mine intermittently as he tries to put on a brave face for me. He's spent the entire morning on poor attempts to protect me from his own fear, a gesture I find unbearably sweet, if not short-sighted.
We know each other well enough that such fallacies are completely pointless.
"Yeah... we can do this," I assure him, squeezing his hand in return and seemingly breaking him from his internal debate. He looks down at meets my eyes, smiling weakly. I move in front of him to stop us both walking, and slide my free hand up to his face. It moves over his cheek bone, down his jaw, and settles where his neck and shoulder meet. He sighs at the contact and I smile softly.
"Edward, you need to relax."
"I am relaxed," he lies reflexively and I roll my eyes.
"It's ok. We've prepared as best we can, now all we have to do is go in there and talk about it. Garrett, Marcus and your dad will step in if anyone crosses the line."
He sighs again, but this sound is distinctly different to his previous one.
"You're right... but I really, really don't want to do this shit."
"Me neither," I assure him, tightening my grip on his neck slightly as I roll up onto my toes. Catching my meaning, he leans down and kisses me softly, his free hand resting easily on my waist, long fingers wrapping around my side and giving me more comfort than I think he'll ever know. He pulls back, resting his forehead against mine, eyes still closed.
"We're in this together, ok?"
He nods, and I feel his soft hair moving against my hairline.
"Look at me," I instruct softly and he opens his lovely green eyes, which are filled with doubt and fear.
"I love you, and it's going to be just -"
"Fine," he cuts me off, pre-empting my use of our old joke. I laugh, just a little, and his face softens in response. He kisses me once more, pushes his forehead into mine, and then pulls away from me.
Carlisle, who had been walking far enough ahead to remain safely out of earshot, pauses outside a door, where Garrett, Marcus and two other men in suits are waiting. I haven't seen these men before, but they seem professional and polite when they shake Carlisle's hand, so I send a silent prayer out that they aren't too horrible.
When Edward and I reach them, their small circle expands to let us in. I smile weakly at Garrett and the introductions begin.
"Bella, this is Edward's therapist, Marcus," Carlisle speaks up and Marcus smiles warmly as he offers a wave, "and these are Detective Sargeant Wood and Judge Richards. They're here to make sure that everything is done appropriately for your testimonies to count."
"I'm Liam," one of them, the leiutenant, speaks up, "and this Alistair. There's no need for formalities here. Bella, I work in your father's department, I've seen the baby photos he keeps on his desk." He smiles at me and I smile weakly back, appreciating his attempt to lighten the mood.
"We're almost ready to begin, we just need to wait for -"
"No need to wait," a voice calls and I look over my shoulder, beyond surprised at the person before me. "I'm here now."