13

Edward breathed a sigh of relief when he saw his mother standing next to Sam Uley. But hearing that his father had 'defended' her both surprised him and angered him. Surprised him because he couldn't think of a single instance when Edward Masen Sr. had ever said a nice thing to either of them, but especially her. And anger because it had taken a madman coming after her for him to step up and be a man.

As he and his mother walked toward the ambulance, Edward looked over his shoulder at Bella, who was standing with Sam. He could feel the anxiety rolling off her shoulders, and he worried. The way she spoke about her father made him seem like once upon a time he'd been a loving, caring father. Edward had always known Charlie Swan as a cold, heartless police officer, who did nothing to help his mother.

"She's your girlfriend?"

Edward turned his attention away from Bella. "Yes."

His mother grinned, but there was a look in her eyes that made him nervous.

"What? She's very nice."

"Nice?" Elizabeth scoffed, placing her hand on his arm and stopping them before they reached the ambulance.

He sighed.

"Don't be like that, Edward."

"Like what?" he muttered.

"Aloof." She titled her head to the side. "She doesn't seem like the kind of person you would be seeing romantically."

"She doesn't?" he asked, slowly, and when she shook her head. "Why not?"

"Well, honestly, because she's a girl."

Edward's eyes widened.

"Am I wrong?"

He bit his lip before shaking his head. "How long have you known?"

"A while."

He groaned, his eyes flickering to the ambulance. "Does he know?"

"No," she whispered. "And he can never know, Edward. Never. He . . . Well, he can't know."

"We could leave. Right now, we can get in the car and leave, Mom."

"No, we can't, and stop that talk right now. He loves me, Edward. He doesn't know how to show it, but he does love me."

"Love you? Mom, he doesn't love anyone but himself."

"He's my husband, Edward. I made a commitment to him."

He sighed and shook his head. "That's what's so messed up about it, Mom. He's your husband, but instead of loving you, cherishing you, and treating you like you deserve, he puts his hands on you."

Elizabeth frowned. "I deserve everything that happens to me, Edward. Everything."

And before Edward could attempt to convince her otherwise, she turned and walked over to the ambulance. He threw another look back at Bella, who had her body facing Sam Uley as she tried to understand what her father had done, why he'd done it. Edward didn't give a shit. He only wished Charlie Swan had taken his father out when he had the chance. At least that way his mother would be safe.

He walked up to the back of the ambulance, where he found his mother sitting on the gurney next to his father. Edward Masen Sr., or Ed as everyone called him, had blood dripping down his face, off his chin and onto the white undershirt he was wearing. His dark hair was a mess, sticking up in every direction, and even from two feet away, Edward could smell the booze radiating from his pores.

"Thought I told you to stay away from that little bitch, boy," Ed groused, trying to stand, but when Elizabeth and the paramedic placed their hands on his shoulder, he sat down.

The paramedic was a young woman with long black hair and dark eyes. She was from La Push, he knew. Leah Clearwater, he was sure her name was, had been a few years older than him and Bella. Though, he did give his mother a look and she immediately stopped touching him.

"I told you she was nothing but trouble, not that you listened to me. You never fucking listen, boy."

Edward pressed his lips together before looking at Leah. "Does he need stitches?"

"Yes, but he's refusing to go to the hospital, so I'm doing them here," she said, giving Edward a look. "He shouldn't feel it, though. He seems . . . numb enough."

Numb enough equaled drunk off his ass. Edward simply nodded, understanding completely and folded his arms in front of him.

"Don't just stand there all smug and shit. Make yourself useful and go get me a beer, boy. Or are you incapable of doing even that much?"

"You've had enough for one night," Edward replied.

"I didn't ask your opinion, boy. I gave you an order."

"And I said no. She's the only reason I'm here," Edward said, pointing to his mother.

This caused Ed to throw his head back and laugh, causing Leah to glare at him as she tried to place a stitch in his forehead. "Keep still, or I am going to force you to go to the hospital, Mr. Masen."

He scoffed. "You ain't forcing me to do anything, you stupid bitch. Just sew it up already. Some of us have beers to get to."

"You know what?" Leah dropped her instruments and climbed out. "I'm refusing service."

"Can you do that?" Edward asked.

"I can, and I am. He's not in any immediate danger, so it's up to him if he wants to seek medical treatment." Then she turned to his parents. "Get out of my ambulance."

"Honey, just let cooperate," Elizabeth whispered, and when he glared at her, she slunk backwards. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah, you are sorry, you stupid cunt."

Ed scooted across the gurney and jumped from the back of the ambulance, but he fell forward, rolled onto his back, and groaned. "Son-of-a-bitch."

"Goddamn it, Dad." Edward helped him stand. "Just stop being stubborn and go to the hospital already. If not for yourself, do it for her. Just once, do something for her."

His father clenched his jaw tight as he looked from Edward to Elizabeth, nodded, and then proceeded to climb back inside the ambulance. "Fine. Let's go."

"Thank you." Leah closed the back doors, and looked over at him. "You following us?"

Edward nodded.

"He get like this a lot?"

Again, he nodded.

"He the one who put those bruises on her?"

"Yeah."

"She won't press charges, will she?"

"Never has before."

Leah looked over at Bella and Sam. "You tell him?"

Edward shook his head. "Police never helped us before. Why would they now?"

"Because Sam Uley isn't Charlie Swan. Your name is Edward, right?"

"And you're Leah Clearwater."

She smiled. "I am. I'd better get your old man to the hospital before he hurts himself further. I'll see you there?"

Edward nodded. "Thanks, Leah."

"You're welcome, I guess."

Leah hurried around to the driver's seat and climbed in. Edward moved out of the way as she backed out of the driveway and started down the street. A moment later, he felt Bella's hand on his shoulder and when he looked down, he saw the tear stains on her cheeks.

"You okay, Swan?" he asked, wrapping his arm around her.

"Nope," she whispered, leaning against him. "Is he okay?"

"Unfortunately. Had to twist his arm to get him to go to the hospital."

"Edward, I . . . I am so sorry for all of this. I had no idea that you being my pretend boyfriend would set my father off like this."

"It's not your fault he thinks I'm trash."

Bella sighed. "Sam told me he was suspended last month after he used aggressive force against a couple of lowlife drug dealers."

"He did?"

She nodded. "It just, kind of, confirms that there's something seriously wrong with him, don't you think?"

Edward hummed.

"You don't think so?"

"I don't know, Swan. I've only ever known him as the man who refused to help my mom."

"You never told me that."

"Didn't seem important."

"Didn't seem . . ." Bella took a deep breath. "Edward, you know that I care about you, don't you? I mean, I consider you a friend. My only real friend."

He smiled. "I care about you, too, Bella, and same for me. I don't have anyone who knows the real me, who I can talk to about how I feel. How he makes me feel?" he added with a whisper as he glanced around. "My mom knows that I'm gay."

"She does?"

"She said you weren't the kind of person she thought I would date, and when I asked her why, she said it's because you're a girl. She didn't seem upset, just said my dad can't find out."

"Sam knows about me, too."

Edward's eyes widened. "Shit, we suck at keeping secrets, don't we?"

Bella laughed. "Apparently. He said you have a dick, and he thought I wasn't into dick, which he isn't wrong about."

Edward snorted. "Yeah, we definitely suck at keeping things secret."

"Come on, Masen, let's get to the hospital. You can keep an eye on your mom, and I, well, I want to Esme again."

Laughing, he wrapped his hand around hers and led her through the rapidly thinning crowd and to his car. As he opened the door for her, he looked around and saw Mike Newton and Jessica Stanley in the middle of the crowd. Mike made eye contact with him and smirked before he placed his hand on Jessica's back and led her down the street. Edward was immediately reminded of Carlisle's comments about Newton wanting to fuck him and he swallowed the bile that crept up his throat. Just the thought alone had him nauseated.

"What the hell are they doing here?"

Edward looked at Bella. "I don't know, but by tomorrow, everyone's going to be talking about how your dad came after my parents."

"Great," she grumbled. "They had just stopped talking about you and me dating. Now, they're going to stare at us again."

Edward laughed. "It's the price we pay for our little scam, Swan. I don't give a shit. Not like everyone in this town doesn't already know my dad's an asshole and my mom takes it."

Bella frowned.

"Sorry," he muttered. "Guess I'm a little bitter about it."

"You can't . . . you can't make her want to get help, Edward. You know that don't you?"

"I do." And he did. "After graduation, I'll leave her behind with him, because I can't . . . No, I won't give Carlisle up because of her. I won't, Bella. I love him too damn much."

She smiled. "You're telling my story, Masen. Let's just hope we can keep this charade up that long."

"No shit."

—S&S—

Edward parked in the visitors' parking lot and the two headed into the emergency room, him in search of his mother, and her in search of her lover. While Bella ventured over to the elevator and coyly pressed the up arrow, giving him a look before she slipped inside and allowed the doors to close, Edward wandered the hallways until he found his mother sitting outside examination room five. She had her legs crossed, her arms wrapped around her and her lip pulled between her bottom teeth.

Before Edward could join her, though, he stopped at a corner and watched as Carlisle sat next to her and offered her a cup of coffee. She smiled and thanked him, he could tell by the movements of her mouth, and placed her hand on his shoulder. The fact that he was sitting with his mother, comforting her after everything just made Edward fall even more in love with him than he already was.

The door to room five opened and Esme stepped out, she smiled as Carlisle stood and in that moment, his eyes found Edward's and he grinned, his cheeks darkening just enough for Edward to notice.

"There you are, Masen," Carlisle called out, clearing his throat and placing his hand on Elizabeth's shoulder. "She was getting worried about you."

Edward grabbed the back of his neck. "Sorry, I had to get Bella settled before I followed you here."

"Is she okay?" Elizabeth asked.

Edward nodded. "She's going to be staying with a friend for a while."

At that moment, Esme pulled her phone out of her pocket and smiled. "I'm sorry, but I have another patient who needs me right now. Your husband received five stitches, Mrs. Masen. He has a mild concussion, but should be fine. You can take him home whenever you're ready."

"Thank you, Dr. Platt." Elizabeth stood and turned to Carlisle. "And you as well, Coach Cullen. For the coffee and the conversation."

"Anytime, Mrs. Masen."

While Esme gave Edward a look as she hurried past him and down to the elevator, Carlisle waited until his mother had entered room five and the door was shut before he walked over to him, looked around, and then said, "Sorry. I saw her sitting alone, and I figured you'd feel better about someone being with her right now."

Edward nodded. "Thanks, I appreciate it."

"Charlie Swan didn't hurt her, did he?"

"No, for once, my father was actually useful, so . . ."

Carlisle frowned, and raised his hand, but instead of touching him, like he desperately wanted him to do, he grabbed the back of his neck and looked around once again. "We were worried. Esme and I, I mean, we . . . we were worried about you and Bella."

"I should have texted you, let you know everything was okay, but, well, nothing is okay, is it?"

"No, I guess not." Carlisle dropped his hands to his hips. "She asked me how you're doing, Edward. She worries about you. Said you seem withdrawn, quiet. Is it . . . is it because of us?"

"No, of course not," he murmured. "It's just not easy having to keep who I am a secret. If people knew I'm gay, Carlisle, they would ostracize me. I know they would, because they use gay like it's an insult. Oh, he's so gay. That's so gay. Like being gay is the worst thing you could be. The only time I feel normal is when I'm with you."

"I know it's not easy, Edward. I can't exactly be myself, either. A gay high school coach . . . Well, they wouldn't want their sons being coached by me if they knew about me, either. But I'm holding on until I love you the way you deserve to be loved, and I need you to be strong for me."

"I'm trying. I just . . ." Edward licked his bottom lip, his eyes flickering around them. "I need you so much."

"I want to kiss you so bad right now," Carlisle whispered just loud enough for him to hear.

"I want you to do more than just kiss me right now," Edward replied.

Carlisle groaned. "Goddamn it, Edward, you can't say that to me."

"You can punish me later."

His eyes narrowed. "Oh, I will."

But before he could taunt him more, the door the room five opened and Ed all by dragged his mother out. He looked around the hallway, stopping when he saw Carlisle and Edward, his lips curving into a sneer.

"Great," Edward muttered under his breath, but walked past Carlisle to his parents. "You don't have to manhandle her like that, Dad. She's not going to fight back."

"You should shut your fucking mouth before I shut it permanently," Ed sneered, and his eyes flickered over to Carlisle again. "You don't suck enough on the football field; your coach had to come down here and clean up your mess here, too."

"Dad," Edward hissed. "Stop."

"You should just cut my boy off your team, Coach. He ain't worth the time or effort. He's useless and stupid."

"Masen's the best player on my team. In fact, I'd say if he keeps playing like he did last night, he's likely to get a scholarship to play ball in college," Carlisle said.

"You think so?" Elizabeth asked, but when Ed glared at her, she slunk away. "Sorry.

"That boy ain't getting no scholarship to any school," Ed snickered. "He'll be lucky if he graduates high school, the kid is dumber than shit, Coach Cullen. Stop wasting your time with him."

"Listen here, you —"

"Let's get out of here," Edward said, waving his hand down the hallway.

Ed tightened his grip on Elizabeth's arm, causing her to wince but otherwise she didn't make a sound as he dragged her down the hallway to the exit. Edward closed his eyes for a moment before he stopped next to Carlisle. "I'm sorry about him."

"Don't apologize, Edward. Call me when you can, okay? Promise?"

"I promise." He paused and smiled. "Make sure she gets back to your house. She doesn't need to be alone."

Carlisle looked up at the ceiling. "Yeah, I'll give them a while. Something tells me that's not something I want to see in person."

Edward laughed, but before he could reply, his father yelled, "Move your ass, Edward. I ain't got all fucking night."

He closed his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath before whispering, "I love you."

"I love you, too. If you need me . . ."

But Edward didn't respond as he started the walk down the hallway, because if he did, he would beg Carlisle to take him away from there, to start over with him. How in the hell was he going to survive nine more months until he could honestly, truly be free?

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