32.
Bella tossed her phone onto the cushion next to her, frowning as she slouched back on the couch and stared out the window, lost in thought. It sounded like Edward's time with his dad hadn't gone too well, and while she couldn't say she was really surprised, it upset her on his behalf.
She usually tried not to think too deeply about everything that Renee had done—or neglected to do—as a mother. And she had managed just fine, thanks to Charlie, who had really been the best dad she could ever have hoped for. But these past few months, the more she learnt about Edward and his non-relationship with Esme and Carlisle, the more she found herself thinking about her parents, and the kind of parent she wanted to be for Seth. Sometimes it all gave her a headache.
Sighing, she stood up and decided to go up and cuddle with Seth till Edward got back home. She had put him to bed just half an hour ago, so she tried to be especially quiet and careful as she tiptoed into his room. He was out like a light, looking particularly cherubic with his cheek squished up against the pillow. Bella gently moved a lock of hair away from where it was tickling his forehead, but he didn't stir. So she continued to sit there, stroking his hair gently and just watching the way the dim light from his nightlight highlighted his sleeping features.
It was a sudden flare of light across his face that made her frown and look up. The window looked out over the back of the house, with a view of the backyard, the shed her dad had spent so much time in, and farther on, the woods that stretched out into the darkness.
Moving to draw the curtains, she paused, unable to process what she was seeing. There was an orange glow flickering from behind the shed, the flare lighting up the area near the shed in spasmodic pulses that seemed to grow stronger with every passing second. Flames peeked around the sides of the shed, spreading high and receding, the fire-retardant wood not giving in easily. But still she could tell the fire was spreading, and with a shock she realized it was only a matter of minutes before the breeze blew sparks towards the main house.
She pushed down the panic firmly, moving on autopilot to quickly wrap Seth in the comforter and gather him in her arms. Her phone was still downstairs, so she hurried down to grab it, punching in the number for the fire station even as she rushed out of the house. She was torn between wanting to run as far as possible, and wanting to stay close to make sure nothing happened to her home. She backed up against the tree at the corner of the property, physically unable to move once she stopped there. She could smell the burning wood out there, along with the distinctive tang of kerosene. That tiny detail made her blood run cold the minute it clicked in her brain.
"Jake," she said urgently as soon as he answered the phone. "Fire… the shed's on fire. I got out with Seth. Are you… where are you?"
"On my way," he said shortly, and Bella felt like she could breathe a little deeper. A shudder wracked her body, and she clenched her teeth. She could feel the shock hitting, but she knew she couldn't give in just yet. Clutching Seth closer, she tried to match her breathing to his. It helped that she could hear the wail of sirens approaching rapidly, seeing them turn into the street just a minute before Jake came sprinting at full speed from the other end.
"The fuck…" he huffed, grabbing her by the arms and scanning her as if to make sure that she and Seth were unharmed. "Where… what…"
They were interrupted by the firemen, who she quickly assured that she and Seth had been the only people at home, and that the fire hadn't seemed to spread to the main house. As they branched off to control the fire and check on its spread, she turned to Jake again.
"Jake, I think… this wasn't an accident. It's… someone… they…"
She swallowed, gasping for words. Jake rubbed her arms comfortingly, looking up in relief as he saw Edward running up, closely followed by Rose.
"Hey guys," he said, waving them over with one hand still wrapped around Bella.
"Jake, I swear one of these days I'll beat you up," Rose gritted out, whacking at his arm. "You ditched me at the freaking intersection. I didn't even know what the fuck was happening! All you said was 'fire'! Why didn't you just bring me with you, idiot?"
Edward ignored Jake's response to focus on Bella, who was feeling a little lightheaded now that her friends were there with her. He gently stroked a hand over her hair, and his touch was all it took to make the tears flow, as she turned into his arms with a sob. For a moment they just stood there, before Bella blinked and stepped back.
"Ok, I needed that," she said with a weak smile to Edward. He just reached out and gently took Seth from her.
"Want me to go bug the guys back there to find out what's happening, or wait?" Jake asked, gesturing to the backyard where they could hear shouts and general chaos as they worked to put out the fire and make sure there wasn't any possibility of it spreading. Fortunately houses along the woods were more spaced out, so the potential spread to the neighbors was easily contained. Even so, they weren't sure how much damage the shed had sustained, and whether the fire had reached the house at all.
Bella hesitated. "I think it's better we stay here for now," she said. "I need to tell you guys what I think I saw."
The others exchanged serious looks and nodded.
"I am pretty sure this wasn't an accident," she said. "It's been wet weather, and we don't have any dry fuel lying around that could be set off carelessly. Besides," she added, turning towards Edward, "Charlie was very careful about such things and used fire-proof treated wood for the shed. I first thought it must have been electrical, but I distinctly smelled kerosene when I came out here earlier. We don't have any kerosene stored back there."
Her words added to the tense atmosphere, as the four of them silently evaluated what this implied for all of them. Bella felt the adrenaline ebb, and leaned back against the tree again.
After a moment, Rose spoke up. "Let's wait to hear what the firemen say, but between us, we have at least two people we know would likely try to harm us."
"It wouldn't be difficult to find out where Bella lives," agreed Edward, thinking of how quiet his stepmother had gone the last few weeks. They really should have expected something like this. "As for Esme… she's done something like this before, too."
"Oh," Bella gasped, eyes widening as she remembered the ruins of the manor house. "You know, I had actually forgotten about that."
"This could be the break we need, if we could somehow pin this on her," Jake grimaced. "But I seriously doubt if she did this herself. Somehow, she doesn't strike me as someone so straightforward. She'll probably turn up on a Mediterranean cruise or something to give herself an alibi."
"She also doesn't strike me as someone who trusts too easily, so even if she hired someone, I don't think it will be easy to trace it back to her," Bella agreed gloomily.
To their surprise, Edward let out a short but amused laugh. "Guys, I get that she's done plenty of deranged shit and we probably don't even know all of it yet… but she is not some super-villain. She's slipped up plenty in the past, and the more desperate she gets…"
He waited a moment to let that sink in, before turning and calling out to Rose, who had moved away to talk to some of the guys from the fire station that she knew. Bella saw her exchange a nod with Edward before turning back to the man she was talking to.
"What?" Bella asked. "Did something else happen?"
"Kind of," Edward said on a sigh. "I saw Rose on the way here, where I guess Jake left her and ran here," he looked at Jake, who nodded in confirmation. "Right, so she had an interesting day at the hospital, apparently. Mrs. Cope came in for her session and asked Rose if our project on the old mill was over." He grinned at the look on Jake's face. "Yeah, sounds like we were working on a book report for school, right? Anyway, Rose mentioned something about Bree, and Mrs. Cope recognized that name right away. Seems like she met her while visiting Esme in hospital and they got friendly. They've supposedly kept in touch over the years."
Bella was sure her face mirrored the dumbstruck look on Jake's face. "How could… why would they have kept in touch?" she wondered. "Didn't Bree basically steal Esme's identity to totally cover her tracks and… why would she keep a link to Forks open all these years? And doesn't that mean making up elaborate lies to tell Mrs. Cope over the years? No way could she have been telling her about her real life!"
"Right? I don't have a clue what she's really been up to, for all I thought I knew what Esme was all about. Anyway, that's as much as Rose told me before we heard the sirens and rushed home."
They took in his words in silence, looking back at the house that stood as physical proof that Esme's plans didn't always work out… the firemen came back around just then, having cleared the whole structure for any potential dangers.
"Ah finally," Jake muttered, "I thought we would be here all night."
Bella blinked in surprise, not having noticed how much time had actually passed since she'd first run out with Seth.
"That was a lucky escape, Miss Bella," the head of the unit said, "Thankfully, you called us before the fire spread too far."
She nodded, not really knowing what to say. She should probably ask some questions, but her mind remained blank.
"Is it safe to go back in?" Rose asked, gesturing to Seth, who was still fast asleep in Edward's arms, wrapped securely in the blanket. "This little guy is still recovering from a surgery and he really shouldn't be out so late."
"Sure, sure," the man nodded, gesturing towards the house. "If you like, we can all go back in and talk."
"That'd probably be best," agreed Edward.
...
Neither of them had much energy to discuss everything in greater detail that night after the firemen finally left. They had cordoned off the shed and some part of the yard, which they said would be investigated, and reassured Bella and Rose that the local police would be sending someone over to patrol the area in case whoever had started the fire tried again. It wasn't the most comforting thought, but everyone was much too tired to really think too much about it.
Jake had already left to pick up Alice a while back, so Rose, Bella and Edward agreed to just turn in and get some rest. The next day was going to be hectic, one way or another.
"More investigations," Rose groaned, rubbing her face in exhaustion. "More secrets. More revelations. Just when we thought we knew what was going on."
"It's all Jake's fault," Bella pouted, watching balefully as Edward ate his much delayed dinner. "He's the one who always wishes us a more adventurous life."
"What?" Edward asked, around the bite he'd just taken.
"Yeah, on our birthdays and things… that's the standard Jake greeting," Rose said, fighting a yawn. "Damn, I'm so glad I have the day off tomorrow."
"Let's just sleep in," Edward suggested, feeding Bella the next bite, to her satisfaction. "And when we wake up, we can discuss all this new stuff that's turned up. The whole thing with Carlisle can wait. He can wait."
"Ask Alice to go spend more time with him and keep him occupied, you mean?" Rose asked, considering the idea. "I dunno, Edward. Judging by the fire tonight, we should probably not waste more time exposing Esme."
"If it was her doing," Bella pointed out, gesturing to Edward to feed her some more. "We don't know for sure, do we?"
"We kind of do, though," Edward argued. "They confirmed that it was an attempt at arson, not an accident. We know no one else who would try something like that. It also matches her M.O. Besides," he sighed. "Even if it had nothing to do with her, I just really want this whole thing out in the open now. It's not going to change things between Carlisle and me, but he should know. For his safety, I guess. I don't even know at this point, but…"
"Nah, you're right. And that's why I feel we should go ahead with things as we had planned," Rose said evenly. "Whether or not something else happens, we do need to figure out a way to get Esme off your back. That's basically one of the main reasons you hired Izzy in the first place, isn't it?"
Bella giggled at the look on Edward's face at the reminder. "It is true though," she said, holding back her laughter. "Esme is kind of responsible for getting us together!" She froze a moment later, and tried to backtrack. "I mean, if you… this uh, like, we…"
"Yeah, who would've thought the evil stepmom could be such a good matchmaker," Rose said, smiling at them wickedly, before waving and yawning as she made her way up to her room.
Edward met Bella's wide eyes and tried not to smirk. "Yeah, go on, Bella, you were saying?"
She sputtered in protest, "Hey you know what I mean! It's not like… I meant meeting you at all! Not that we are together like dating or…"
He leaned in and kissed her gently, stemming her increasingly agitated stream of words. Leaning back slightly, he smiled. "I like you so much, Bella. Whatever we are right now, I can't say I regret anything that brought us here."
She grinned back shyly, before raising a valid point. "Except for Seth getting hurt."
"Except for that," Edward agreed, automatically turning slightly towards the child who was still fast asleep on the other couch. "And not just you, I'm glad I met Rose and Jake and Izzy… you guys have no idea how much you've changed my life in these past few months."
"I might have some idea," she teased. "Such a grim, abrasive man, Mr. Cullen! I remember thinking you'd probably never trusted another person in your life, and yet I couldn't blame you."
He groaned at the reminder of his behavior towards her in the beginning. "I'd love if I could just erase those first couple of weeks."
This time it was Bella who leaned in for a kiss. "I don't want to," she said. "I don't want to erase a single moment."
Their kisses felt like comfort and care, Edward thought. He tugged her closer and she came willingly, threading her fingers through his hair as their kisses turned deeper, more demanding. It was crazy how quickly a single touch from Bella could make him lose his mind, he thought, breaking away to catch his breath.
She buried her face in the crook of his neck, and he just held her, trying very hard not to grab her closer and grind against her, like his body very desperately wanted to. They were both breathing heavier than normal, and he could feel her body trembling in his arms. Despite his exhaustion, he knew it wouldn't take much more to get him hard, and it really wasn't the right time for this. She seemed to be on the same page as him.
"Oh shit," she breathed, looking up at him. "We made out on the couch. And Seth is right there!"
"Asleep, though," Edward said, checking again just to make sure. "It's a very 'parent' experience, Bella."
He let that sink in, knowing she had registered what he'd implied by the rosy blush that dusted her cheeks. He couldn't resist the sight, and kissed both cheeks, loud, obnoxious smacks that had her giggling and pushing him away.
"Let's get to bed," she said, yawning. "Tomorrow's going to be a long day!"
A/N: Back Again!