Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Twilight
Chapter 7: Explanations
Bella took a deep unnecessary breath, before she stepped out of her car. 'This is it. There's no turning back now.' She thought to herself. She knew that no matter how much she would, there would no avoiding the Cullens for long, especially after they came by to her house. She and her family knew very well that they did not come for a casual visit.
Honestly, she knew that she and her family were only delaying the inevitable.
But she wasn't terrified anymore. She was no longer feeling haunted by her past, not when she got so much as a result. She's a different person and she is ready to face the family who left her, even if they don't care for her anymore. Her only concern is that none of her children should be hurt by them.
She glanced across the parking lot and saw a black mercedes with two familiar scents. Carlisle and Esme were here as well. She took another deep breath. 'Time to face the music'
She stepped inside the building and made her way to the principals' office.
She stopped when she smelt the familiar scent of the Cullens.
'This is a bad idea, turn back!' Her mind said to her, but Bella just shook her head and continued walking.
Clearly the Cullens still remembered her, because as soon as she came in their sights, they froze. They looked at her, expressions mixed with complete and absolute shock and disbelief, as if they were seeing a ghost.
No one said anything, the Cullens were still shell-shocked by what they were seeing that they were wondering if this was an illusion.
The Swans were also silent, but for different reasons. EJ and Lilly sighed in annoyance, both of them wishing that their family were not in this situaiton. The others just watched silently, eyes moving between Bella and the Cullens, ready to jump in if necessary.
Then the principal came out. "Ah, Bella." She said "It's good to see you again, but I wish it was in a better situation. I would like you, Lillian, Rosalie, Carlisle and Esme to step inside, please."
It threw the Cullens off even more when the principle addressed her, because the last they checked, Bella was short for Isabella and Allison clearly told them her sisters' name was Isobel. It can't be the Bella they knew, right?
Worldlessely, the five people stepped in the office after the principle.
The rest of the Cullens turned to the remaining Swans, but before they could say anything AJ lit a fire in his right hand. "Not one word." He threatened.
The four Cullens decided to drop it for now. There was enough trouble caused today.
"Now I'm sure you guys were made aware of what happened today." Ms. Anderson said to Esme, Carlisle and Bella.
"I did nothing wrong!" Lilly defended.
"She's right." Rose spoke up. "This wasn't her fault, it was mine. I- uh have some really bad anger issues and I decided to take on a friend of Lillys'. Lilly saw what I was doing and was just trying to stop me from hurting her." She explained.
The fake confession caught everyone off guard, including Lilly who certainly did not compel Rosalie to say that.
The teacher got over her surprise. "Oh, uh well is that true, Lilly?"
Wordlessely, Lilly nodded her head. She had no idea why Rosalie decided to take the blame but she didn't care as long as she didn't get in trouble. Besides, Rosalie did deserve it anyway.
"Oh well, then." Ms. Anderson said, composing herself. After all it's not often she deals with students who actually confesses to their crime right off the bat. "I can understand you defending your friend, but you know the policies against fighting in school, Lillian. You are suspended for the rest of the day. And as for you Rosalie, you are suspended for a week and as soon as you come back to school, you will be appointed mandatory sessions with the guidance counsellor to work on your anger control. You all are dismissed." She said, allowing the five to leave.
Bella and Lilly left the office first and rejoined their family. "You guys need to go on with the rest of your day. I don't want to hear about anymore confrontations." Bella instructed immediately.
"We didn't start anything. They're the ones who started it." Mason argued.
"And you guys are ending it. I am serious." Bella said sternly.
"Bella?" A voice whispered in disbelief from behind. Bella didn't need to turn around to know that it belonged to Edward.
She took a deep breath and turned around to face the Cullen family. "Hey guys." She said softly.
"How…?" Alice asked, dumbstruck.
"That's none of your business!" EJ retorted.
"EJ!" Bella warned. She turned to the Cullens "I'll explain, but not here. We can go to your house, right now."
"Wait, what?" Lilly asked, not expecting this. She was rather hoping that her mom would ignore the Cullens and leave, or have her manipulate them into forgetting what they saw.
"Lillian, you can take your car and head back to our place. The rest of you go back to your classes."
"Are you sure?" MJ asked, not liking this plan.
"Yes, Masen. Now go on. All of you." Bella replied.
The kids reluctantly went away, except for EJ and Lilly, who both look like they really want to protest their moms' idea. Bella noticed this.
"EJ, Lilly, trust me on this. I'll be okay. I know what I am doing." Bella reassured them.
Grudgingly, both EJ and Lilly left their mom with the Cullens, liking their moms' plan less and less as they walked away.
"Remember, no questions or comments until we get to your place." Bella reminded them as they walked out of the school.
Some might question why the Edward, Alice, Emmett and Jasper were leaving when school was not over yet. But when you've already proven to be a A plus student and have been to high school for centuries, they could have get out of school free cards whenever they wanted. It was plus that they were all gorgeous as well.
Finally, they made back to the Cullen mansion and as soon as they set foot there was an awkward silence. None of the Cullens knew what to say and Bella needed some time to gather her words.
Finally Bella decided to break the silence. "Just ask already."
"Who turned you?" Carlisle asked.
"Mia and no, she did not turn me against my will. It was a life and death situation at that time and I am going to be forever grateful to Mia for turning me." Bella answered.
"What about those other kids?" Alice asked. "I can't tell if they are humans or vampires."
"That's because they are both. They are half-humans and half-vampires." Bella answered.
"How is that possible?" Esme asked.
"It's possible with a human mother and a vampire father." Bella explained. She looked at Edward, seeing the wheels in his mind turning. It didn't take long before he put two and two together and as soon as he did, he closed his eyes, starting to realise the extent of the damage he has done by leaving.
"They are my kids, aren't they?" Edward asked in a low voice, which was enough for the vampires to hear.
"Yes." Bella answered without hesitation.
The response caused everyone to gasp as they quickly caught on to the situation. The guilt immediately set in when they remembered their decision to leave. None of them wanted to yet Edward managed to convince them all that it was better if they did. Now thinking back, they really shouldn't have listened to him.
"Bella, we are really sorry for leaving you like that. We didn't know." Alice said.
"Of course none of you knew. How could you?" Bella asked. "I only realised it after you guys left."
"I've been a vampire for centuries, studying all I can about our kind, but never have I ever heard about the possiblity of half vampires half humans." Carlisle said. There were so many questions flowing in his mind that he badly wanted to ask.
"Well, how many vampire men do you know ever had a relationship with a human woman?" Bella replied.
"That's true." Jasper said quietly.
Awkward silence filled the room. All of the Cullens knew what they wanted to ask, but they didn't know how to ask it. Obviously they wanted to be reunited with Bella to be able to start over, especially with Edward, and welcome her and her coven into the family. They wanted to meet the hybrids and learn about them, both about them and their unique breed. But none of them could ask this. How do you ask a girl who you abandoned after treating her like a loved one, that you want her back in your life?
Bella could sense the discomfort. "Do you guys want to meet with them again."
They all nodded.
"Well, I'm afraid that can't really be arranged. They all know what happened between us and they are not very happy with you for that. And I really don't want to force them to do anything they don't want to do." Bella explained.
"We understand." Esme said sadly.
"I really wished things went differently, maybe we all would have been happier then. But the past is the past." Bella said before getting up. "I should be going now."
No one tried to stop her, still trying to digest the new information.
"Bella, wait." Rosalie said getting up. She was having a really hard time keeping her emotions in check. She wanted to march to Edward and yell at him, maybe even beat him up for leaving Bella like that, for hurting her and making them all leave and for making her miss out on chance to see what it feels like to raise a child, even if the child wasn't her own. She was not going to forgive Edward for that so easily. "I am really sorry, for today. I had no right to attack any of your kids or that Des girl like that. I was impulsive and really stupid and I am really sorry."
Bella gave her a symphatic look. "Thanks for the apology, Rosalie. But I'm not the one you should be apologising to."
Bella made it to the door when Edwards' voice stopped her. "What's EJs' full name?"
"Sorry?" Bella asked.
"EJ, I hear everyone only referring to him as EJ. I was just curious to what it stands for." Edward explained.
"Edward Jacob Swan." Bella answered with a sad smile. "The first two names that came into my mind when I was brainstorming names. Anything else?"
There so much more Edward wanted to say. He wanted to apologise for leaving, confess that he lied about not loving her anymore and that he still loved her so much even after all these years. He wanted to ask her to give him a second chance to start over, to get to know as much as he could about his kids. But he knew he couldn't. He didn't have the right to ask and he couldn't expect Bella to say yes to that.
Instead he gave a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Nothing else."
Bella looked a little disappointed for a second before turning back. She left the mansion, doing her absolute best not to turn around no matter how much she wanted to. She mentally scolded herself for wishing one of the Cullens, one in particular, would come out and try to convince her to stay and talk it out. For this reason she was glad she was gifted with a mental shield, protecting her mind from Edwards' thoughts.
As soon as Bella left, the rest of the Cullens turned to Edward, their facial expressions mixed with disappointment in him and regrets for their actions.
Trying his hardest to block everyones' thoughts, Edward got up without a word and went to his room, no one stopped him.
A/N: What do you think? Should Bella and her coven cut the Cullens some slack? Please leave reviews