JPOV
We continue to find out as much as we can about our angel during lunch but unfortunately, we can only stay so long as she finishes up. The waiter doesn't know what is good for him as he leaves his phone number on a napkin and shoves it into Bella's hand right before we get up to leave which makes Bella's face turn tomato red. Both Peter and I growl lowly and shoot daggers at the foul human who has not one good intention. Bella takes notice at our angry demeanor and raises an eyebrow in question.
"Something tells me he's going to make a good appetizer tonight," Peter says, not bothering to censor himself and in turn I hit his shoulder as Bella rolls her eyes.
"Shut it, Peter," I warn him as Bella's emotions shift slightly to something, I am not completely sure what it is. I'm not taking any chances with Bella not wanting to be around Peter just because he can't hold his tongue. "Like I said," I begin talking to Bella as we start making our way down the sidewalk, "you'll have to ignore him. He doesn't always have a brain to mouth filter, darlin'."
"I think I'm figuring that part out," She replies lightly. "So… assuming you two didn't just stumble upon me today, what exactly were you doing in the bookstore?"
Crossing the road to the local park we sit at one of the benched swings with Bella in front of us in the center and us on the other side of her. Peter looks towards me, so I shrug a bit in response. She needs to know one way or another. Bella sighs slightly clearly not amused at our silent conversations we seem to keep having.
"You're our mate," Peter blurts out which makes me want to shake my head and close my eyes at his delicacy.
Watching Bella closely, I can tell she is trying to figure out whether or not he is serious, so I send a small dose of honesty to help her out a bit. Emotions flow through her like a roller coaster but Peter and I keep our mouths shut until Bella looks between the both of us and shakes her head in confusion.
"You can't be serious," She finally replies. "You've made a mistake." Even as she says these words, I don't think she herself fully believes them to be true. Somewhere inside, even if she doesn't want to know and accept what has been said, she knows that she's wrong.
A pang of hurt radiates from Peter, it crosses his face as well and he doesn't wipe it away quick enough for Bella not to notice which makes her instantly feel bad. Sending out some calm, I lean up, placing my elbows onto my knees and clasp my hands together. With my eyes I practically beg her to believe Peters words, begging her not to run away from us.
"I would have put it more delicately than Peter here," I start, "but he is telling you the truth. You're the last missing piece to our puzzle and if you let us, we can show you."
Silence.
Peter gets even more discouraged as the minutes pass in silence. He's never been one to drawl out such matters as this one. He hasn't really had a human acquaintance before, so he doesn't understand her processing this information. Sending him some of Bella's emotions, he nods slightly as he realizes she isn't rejecting either of us causing him to calm some in response.
"Sugar, please say something," Peter pleads quietly, still slightly unsure which hurts me because he is always sure. Even when he isn't sure of himself… he's sure.
Bella frowns. "If I was then back in Forks- "She begins but I shake my head stopping her sentence.
"Most of the time, when we find our mates, it is immediate. There are some cases that you can meet your mate but not know they're your mate. Sometimes it takes time to figure it out, almost like you have to been in the right emotional state to recognize them. It isn't unheard of, especially with the circumstances in Forks," I explain. "You have always belonged to me… to Peter… to us. All three of us."
Bella goes silent again as she flips through her emotions before standing up abruptly causing Peter to make a noise. A whimper. My heart hurts for him as I can't do anything for him, the only one that can make him feel any better is Bella.
"I want to go home," Bella tells us. "I need to think."
"Can we at least take you home?" Peter asks quietly.
I can tell Bella wants to reject the offer but when she looks over towards his expression she agrees with a nod of her head. We walk quietly back to the truck, Peter in the driver's seat, Bella in the back, and me in the passenger seat. It is only a five minute drive to Bella's apartment complex and all too soon Peter has the truck in park, grasping the wheel tightly in his hand. Quickly I get out of the truck and open up the door for her, letting her slide out and grab her small bag. I have to resist the urge to push her up against the truck and cover her mouth with my own but instead I take a step back, allowing her room to walk around me.
"Don't forget to think," I tell her softly before she gets to the back of the truck to go around.
Keeping her silence, she nods, sending me some reassurance that she doesn't plan on running away… yet. Before going up to her apartment door, she makes her way towards Peter where he stand leaning against the truck with a blank expression. Stopping in front of him, she taps on his crossed arms to grab his attention and due to the fact, he wasn't paying much attention, the action almost startles him.
"At least have fun before you take him out of his misery," Bella speaks and shoves the napkin from the pizza shop into his hand making me chuckle.
Peter's mood lightens considerably, and he can't seem to help but to pull her into a tight hug which causes her panic to rise and a pain to form. I know he isn't using any force to hurt any human, so I quickly tell him to let her go low enough for her not to hear. When he pulls away, he mumbles an apology which she acknowledges with a nod, her emotions starting to level out but not fully calm. Bella turns and walks almost stiffly to her apartment, out of our sight so we both get back into the truck and make our way home.
"There's a lot more to why and how she ended up here and I am sure her emotions are the reason behind it," I inform Peter.
"I didn't squeeze hard… what did she feel?" He questions with a frown.
I shake my head trying to figure out what could have caused such a reaction. "She felt nothing but panic and pain."
BPOV
Peter's hug sent me into a panic and by the time I reach the inside of my apartment, I am running to the bathroom and start losing my lunch. Panting when I am done, I close the lid to the toilet and lean against the bathtub closing my eyes tightly. Stop it, stop it, stop it. Stop thinking about it. Letting out a long breath, I pull myself up from the floor and start stripping my clothes off to get into the shower. Under the flowing water, I think about what Peter and Jasper told me about being their mate. How could I be their mate? Why would they even want me to be? They wouldn't want me if they knew everything that has happened between the Cullen's leaving Forks and me leaving to move here.
There is no way either one of them would want me after everything he did to me. Hell, I don't want me or even want to be in my own skin so… how could they? I scrub my body until it is raw and wash my hair quickly before stepping out and wrapping a towel around me. After drying my hair and body, I get dressed in a pair of panties and a baggy t-shirt before making my way to clean up a bit.
Mates. Not only one mate, but two. Biting my lip, I think about everything they said and look back at their reactions- especially Peter's. He seemed to be the most hurt when I couldn't say anything, when I said I had wanted to go home… I wanted to tell him that I had wanted to walk home but the look on his face and the sound of his voice made me agree to it. I felt bad- I still do feel bad that I seemed to hurt his feelings.
Once the dishes are cleaned and the laundry has been put away, I go grab a bottle of water and sit on the couch in the living room staring at the TV that is nothing but a blank screen. Jasper and Peter run through my mind for the remainder of the evening and as I get ready to go to bed, I decide that I already have my answer I have been asking myself all night. Yes. I am willing to try for them… if they'll have me that is.
"Oh god, Bella," he groans in my ear, his hot breath making me want to puke. "Yes… mmm… you like that baby?" He grunts before his full weight is on top of me, squishing me into the mattress.
Tears are streaming down my face, but I make no noise as he rolls off of my body and I wait a couple of moments before I start getting dressed, as quickly as I can.
"Where are you going, Bells?" He ask sleepily, grabbing my wrist in his overheated hand.
"Home," I tell him quietly not wanting to show any emotion in my voice.
"I wish you could stay, my dad and Charlie are having a fishing weekend, we can stay together then," he tells me, but I simply pull away.
"I need to get home, it's getting late."
I wake up drenched in sweat with tears already pouring out of my eyes as I try to calm myself down. Taking deep breaths through my nose and releasing it through my mouth, I look over at the alarm clock to show it reading seven in the morning. I don't have to be at work until nine so I decide to get up and take another shower so I can feel relatively clean at least. Pulling on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, I pull my hair up into a high pony-tail and go make a cup of coffee.
By eight thirty, I am pulling on my converse and leaving the apartment to walk to work. I play some music as I make the quick ten minute walk to the bookstore and before I know it, I am walking into work and clocking in. The day passes quickly which I am thankful for so by the time I say goodbye to Mrs. Newman, I am damn near running out the door and walking back home. I can feel someone watching me as I make my way to the front door but see nobody around, so I quickly unlock the door and lock it back up. Shaking the feeling, I hang my bag next to the door on the hook and kick off my shoes before making my way into the kitchen to pour a glass of orange juice.
Pulling out the carton of eggs and some butter, I decide to make an egg sandwich for dinner before I sit down to relax for the evening. Turning on the TV I flip through the channels until I find a movie and eat. By eight at night, I am yawning and already getting changed and going into the bathroom to take my sleeping medication before laying down in bed.
O.o o.O O.o o.O O.o O.o o.O O.o o.O O.o O.o o.O O.o o.O O.o
My alarm clock wakes me in the morning, and I quickly shut it off with a groan before rolling out of bed and gathering clothes to change into after I shower. Lathering up my shampoo, I breathe it in deeply before making quick work of everything and doing a fast shave, I get out and prepare for the day. I don't bother in making a cup of coffee as I look at the time and see it is time to get going. Grabbing a granola bar, I make my way out the door and walk quickly to work. After we get our truck order in, I get to work on checking them in and by the time one in the afternoon comes around I am dragging and in need of caffeine.
"Bella dear!" Mrs. Newman shouts from the front of the store to grab my attention so I place the book down and make my way from the back. "You've got a couple of visitors, dear," Mrs. Newman smiles as I pass her in the hall. "I'll take over for now, just keep your eye on the place."
As I walk up to the front, I see two tall blondes talking quietly before they notice my presence and turn around. I raise an eyebrow as I see Peter holding three foam cups in his hand as Jasper holds a small white bag in his hand. They smile.
"What're you guys doing here?" I ask with a small smile.
"We figured a day or so was enough time away for our liking," Peter says and holds out the cups to me. "I'm not a patient man. Coffee? There's caramel, french vanilla, and black."
I grab the cup labeled caramel and sit the other two down on the front counter as Jasper holds out the bag for me to take as well. "Chicken salad sandwich."
"Thank you," I tell them and place the bag on the counter next to the coffee.
"Before Peter explodes," Jasper says, "Did you think about what we said...?"
I nod. "Yes," I answer simply taking a sip of the coffee in my hand as I watch Peter and Jasper both try not to go nuts. My amusement must be written on my face as Peter finally lets it click on what I said.
"As in yes?" He questions.
"It's what I said," I reply.
A/N: A special thank you to Theadosia57 for the title suggestion! I wasn't fond of the PB&J title but needed something temporarily until I figured something else out. Let me know what you guys think!
-bellacullen166