A/N: Anything you recognize isn't mine. Here is chapter 29. (If you didn't read chapter 28, go back and do that.) This chapter starts a couple days after the last one, after kind of a big incident. You'll see.

And of course, enjoy.

XXIX.

well, i'm the best ever
but you're so far i had to come get ya

"I hate all of you."

"Shut up, Em."

"Yeah, Em, just shut up."

Bella would have said something to Emily, too, but the tight click of the handcuffs around her wrists only solidified her fears. The Venice police officer's hands were rough against her sun-kissed skin as he guided her to the backseat of one of the cars. She slid onto the hard plastic seat next to Kim, and all she wanted to do was curl up in a ball and die.

Kim had nothing to say to her. What could she say? While all four of the girls had been at the wild party in a stranger's hotel room (and many other people there had also gotten arrested, too), Bella and Kim had been the more intoxicated ones. Leah and Emily had been the ones to flee at the sign of cops, but the others had stayed behind, clearly preoccupied. So now the sober girls were kind of taking the fall for it. At least they were being arrested for the partying they committed now rather than the armed robbery they had committed earlier. After all, how was Bella supposed to know that snorting Molly from a stranger's dick was illegal?

The girls were taken to a police department about ten minutes away. On the way there, Leah decided she didn't love palm trees that much anymore.

After the booking process, the girls were placed in a holding cell—luckily altogether—where they spent the night. It was the quietest night any of them had ever lived through. Leah yearned for La Push and cloudy days and normal summers. They all did.

After a hopeless court hearing where they were given the choice of either paying a fine that none of them had the money for (since they had blown most of it in a matter of days) or spending two more days in jail, they retreated to their cell.

They were silent until Leah looked to Emily for what to do. Even though Emily had never been arrested before or in any situation close to this one, Leah thought she knew how to remain cool.

"What's next, Em?" she asked.

Emily stared blankly at the floor as she slowly shook her head. "I don't know."

Then Kim pulled her knees to her chest and broke down. Leah had expected that to happen at some point; she just hadn't expected Kim to be the first.

"C'mon, what're you crying for?" Leah asked. It was a stupid question, but she couldn't stand to see Bambi cry.

"We're in jail," Kim cried out. "We've been arrested, Lee. We have to spend the next two days in here and we don't even have enough money to go home. I just wanna leave. I wanna go home."

"Two days isn't that long," Bella piped up, and it was a damn lie. She didn't know the first thing about jail—none of them did.

"How are you able to keep lying and lying?" Kim accused, her eyes narrowed. "Don't you ever get tired of it?"

Bella would have responded, but she simply had nothing to say. The silence was interrupted when an officer announced, "Call for Isabella Swan."

Without looking back, Bella stood and went to the cell doors. She was let out, and she carefully made her way over to the nearby telephone. "Hello?"

"Hey, baby."

"Edward, what the fuck are you—?"

"Jasper got arrested," he told her. "Crazy partying. The guy can't handle his liquor. I was going to bail him out, but then I saw you got locked up, too."

"So you decided to bail me out instead of your own brother? That's deep."

"I was going bail both of you out," he said, his tone very matter-of-fact, "but if you'd rather stay in jail, then..."

"Oh, I want out," she asserted. She desperately needed his help right now even though she hadn't thought of him since he had broken up with (and raped) her for the last time, but she wasn't about to persuade him with sweetness. She had to be direct.

"Really, now?" he asked, up for a challenge.

"Really," she said sharply. "But I'll have you know that there's four of us. I came here with friends and I can't just leave them behind."

"Then I'll get them out, too," he said simply, feeling like a young god for having such amazing funds.

"Cool. Now, what do I owe you?"

"You don't owe me a thing. Think of this as a favor." She could see him smiling now. She wanted to throw up, but she also wanted to throw up at the thought of jail food.

She considered the gesture. Of course, she didn't want to stay in jail for two more days, but she knew him bailing her out was to keep her quiet. She just didn't know over what yet. He had raped her the last time they saw each other, but did he even know? He had to. He had no other reason to even care about her anymore since he had gotten the beloved ring back, so why would he do her a favor for the hell of it? He had an ego, for sure, but was it really that massive?

Bella knew it was better to not let her suspicions get in the way of her friends being okay again. She thought of Kim, who was pretty much having a breakdown in the cell. She wouldn't last two more hours, let alone two days.

So Bella swallowed all her pride and her anger and said, "Okay."

"And what are your friends' names?"

She told him, and then sighed. "I guess I'll see you soon."

"See you when you get out," he told her.

"Thank you. Thank you so much."

Bella returned to the cell, and Leah didn't hesitate to begin her interrogation. "What was that all about?"

"It was my ex. I don't know how he knows we're here, but he knows. His brother's locked up, but he found out we are, too, so he wants to bail us out."

"I thought he was your ex," Emily said. "What does he need to do you any favors for?"

"He is," Bella clarified. "I swear. But I guess he misses me or something. I don't know, but he can bail us out and I really think we should take it."

Leah shook her head. "I don't think I'm gonna trust that shit."

"Why?" Bella asked.

"I feel genetically inclined to not trust anything a white man promises me."

"Oh my God," Emily sighed deeply.

Kim looked up at Leah with red eyes. "Not now, Lee." Then she turned to Bella. "How soon can he get us out?"

Bella didn't exactly know how soon, but she knew Edward was prompt. He always came through on time. She hated him with every fiber of her being, but she could always count on that timely part of him.

"As soon as possible," she replied.

Kim bit her bottom lip but didn't say anything.

Even though Bella was the queen of empty promises, she knew that this would work out. She placed a hand on Kim's thigh and glanced over at everybody.

"We'll be okay," she assured them. "I promise."

The sun was bright as the girls exited the jail later that day. The first thing Bella saw was Edward, and while she was disgusted at first sight, she was grateful that he had happened to be in the right place at the right time. Jasper, his older brother, met up with their friends, who stood between Edward and a couple of ostentatious cars.

"Thank you," Kim told Edward. "We owe you big time."

Edward, wearing douchebag sunglasses, smiled at them with pearly white teeth. "Don't worry about it," he said. Then he stuck out his hand. "I'm Edward."

Kim shook his hand and introduced herself, and then Emily did the same. Leah, not buying any of it, stayed quiet behind her cousin.

Bella reluctantly gave Edward a hug—mostly because he expected it. While they embraced, he whispered, "What's with the last girl?"

"She's complicated."

They let go, and Bella stood with her hands on her hips. "So what's next?" she asked. "Are you gonna take us back to our motel or what?"

"Abrasive," he remarked.

She pouted her lips and tilted her head a little bit. "I'm a little more complicated than you remember me."

"I like it."

"Hmm."

"I actually thought you girls could get your stuff and then come chill with us. We've got a big house right in Venice. We've got booze."

"I never wanna drink again," Kim muttered.

"It's okay," Edward said to her. "We've got pool, too."

"Let's go, then," Bella said, making her way to one of the cars, a clean, white convertible. Edward got into the driver's seat, and she got into the passenger seat. Kim and Emily followed, climbing into the backseat, and Leah awkwardly hung behind.

Bella gave her look. Please, she mouthed.

Leah hesitantly got into the backseat behind Bella, trusting her word again and hoping it wouldn't be another mistake.

A/N: Up next: a lot.

Thanks,

HS