Bella decided that Edward acted a lot like Charlie when he was scared. Agitation rolled off of him as he paced the length of her bedroom. He was quiet most of the time. But when he spoke, his words were short, and his tone was harsh. His attention was solely focused on monitoring his phone.
Bella sat cross-legged on her bed, looking at him expectantly. She wanted an explanation. She wanted him to talk. She wanted something.
"Edward?" She asked tentatively. "Is everything okay?"
Edward slid his eyes to her, and then back at his phone. Time ticked on in silence as Bella watched him give all of his attention to whatever else he deemed more important. Occasionally, his thumbs would start tapping on the screen, which told Bella that he was in active conversation with someone.
Sighing, she rolled over and picked up her laptop from the bedside table—the maneuver a little harder with the sling on her arm.
Opening the lid of her laptop, she decided to spend this time going over her report that was due tomorrow night. There was no use in trying to talk to Edward when he was in this state, and if she was being honest with herself, she just needed a distraction. Bella was agitated, and admittedly, a little scared—and Edward's silence did nothing to comfort her. There was trouble, she knew, but beyond the simple detail of nomadic vampires, she didn't even have the slightest understanding of the severity of the situation.
Letting her eyes skim over her own words on the screen, she focused on editing and polishing.
But then, Edward was there, right in front of her, glancing down at her laptop. "Bella."
She looked up at him, tearing her eyes away from the screen. "Edward."
He sighed, and she noticed that his eyes were glued to her shoulder. Eventually, he sat beside her on the bed, and regretfully, said, "You don't know how sorry I am."
Bella nudged the cast. "This? No. There's nothing to be sorry about."
"Bringing you out there was a mistake," he told her, shaking his head. "I'm so sorry, Bella."
She pushed away her laptop. "Stop it, please." Then, shifting towards him, said, "I'm okay. We're okay. Right?"
Edward's eyes were fixated on the sling. "My strength is a weakness. It always was, and it always will be."
Bella didn't know what to say to that. Yes, he had hurt her—entirely unintentionally, and she wasn't quite sure what she would tell Charlie tomorrow. But he was also trying to protect her.
She pressed a calm hand to his shoulder and gave him a smile. "You're not weak. Please, don't let this hurt you. It barely hurts me."
Bella saw the nod he gave her, and it was as if he was trying to convince himself of her words. He leaned over and pressed a quick kiss to her forehead. "Get some rest."
And before Bella could take her next breath to ask him about the threat he was so concerned about, her window was suddenly open, and Edward was nowhere to be seen.
It was frustrating when he did this, but she tried to reason with herself. He was clearly very upset, and perhaps he just needed some space. Besides, if the threat had truly extended out to her, would he really leave her alone?
Her rationale felt sound, but she still had a tough time sleeping that night. She had already taken the maximum allowed dosage of pain medication for her shoulder, but sleeping with a sling was far from comfortable.
She blinked at the dark ceiling. How bizarre, she thought, that her boyfriend could rip her arm out of its socket with a flick of his wrist.
Bella woke with a start, and her eyes immediately found Edward. He was sitting on her armchair in the corner.
"You need to stop doing that," she mumbled, slowly getting up to sit. It was a little awkward with the sling on her arm. She threw her legs to the side of the bed and ran her fingers through her hair. "How long have you been here?"
He merely smiled at her pleasantly. "Good morning."
She gave him a playful look and pulled her hair into a tight ponytail. "I always know when you're watching me."
"Always perceptive. How did you sleep?"
"Just alright." Bella got up to rummage around the room for clothes. She found a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, and when she looked up at Edward, she noted his smile. "What?"
"James is dead."
The shirt she was holding fell to the ground. "What?"
James—one of the three vampires that had interrupted the baseball game. But he had already been dead. But now, he was… more dead. Gone? Bella hadn't quite thought about how vampires stopped existing.
"He's not our problem anymore," Edward said.
"Just like that?"
Edward got to his feet and approached her. "Just like that."
She felt his cool hand on her cheek. "He was the problem? You were so worried."
His smile faltered as his fingers spread on her skin. "You were in danger. I read his mind—he wasn't going to stop. Not until he got what he wanted."
"What does that mean?"
Edward sighed, watching her cautiously. "He was a gifted tracker. The moment he noticed your scent, he wanted to play the game."
"A gifted tracker?"
"Predator and prey, Bella. You were prey the moment he saw you."
Bella instantly felt cold. "And he's… dead. Forever?"
Edward nodded grimly. His mood had turned so quickly. "There are always threats." His hand fell away, and he eyed the sling that held her arm hostage.
Bella turned, as if she could hide it. "Don't do this."
"Bella—"
"Please, Edward. It's not your fault."
He didn't respond, and it was clear that he was fighting his own battle internally. This was something that always scared Bella. Touching was hard. Kissing was hard. When would the day come when Edward would just give up on all of this?
Rather than let the panic swallow her, she chose to gave him a smile. "It's all okay. I'm here. I'm alive. I… have terrible morning breath." She chuckled lightly, and reached up to sweep her fingers through his hair. "And your family hunted down the threat."
"Jasper."
"Hm?"
"Jasper killed him."
Bella's fingers halted momentarily. "Really?"
Edward nodded once, then went around her to her bed and proceeded to make it.
"Why would he do that?"
Edward didn't respond. He simply continued to smooth out the sheets.
Bella watched, considering. "Well, I should thank him, right?"
He placed her pillows accordingly, and smiled at her as if she was a little crazy. "You don't need to do that."
Bella entirely disagreed. "Do you even understand how crazy this is? He killed someone. Last night. For me."
"Death is a natural occurrence in my world, Bella." He fluffed the pillows. "Actually, it's a normal occurrence in yours as well. Have you been following the news lately?"
This was slightly insane, and Bella flailed around with her hands. "No one has killed anyone for me."
Edward arranged the blanket as a final touch over her comforter. "Again, you don't have to thank him. The Cullens will keep you safe—" Bella noticed how his eyes now avoided looking at her sling. "—to the best of our ability."
Bella went to shower, because she truly needed a moment alone. When she finally closed the bathroom door behind her, the slight ache in her shoulder seemed to intensify. It was as if she could anticipate having to remove the sling and maneuver the injury through a shower. The pain came soon after gravity exasperated her joint. She winced as the water massaged it in all the wrong ways.
Once she was done, she carefully dried off and put on her t-shirt. It took her a few minutes with all of the dancing around she had to do to minimize joint mobility in her arm.
Toweling her hair, she eyed her skin-care products on the counter, her mind leaping to the supposed events the night before. Yes, she thought. It's all just so absurd.
A group of vampires had intercepted a vampire baseball game, of which she was the only human present. The outsider vampires appeared to be a threat—one of them took an interest in her, for reasons she still didn't understand. And then her vampire boyfriend's family had casually eliminated the threat.
She dried the tips of her hair, her gaze distant in the mirror. If she could get Jasper a card, what would it say? Thanks for killing a vampire for me. He was about to be a real pain in the neck.
Bella rolled her eyes at herself.
A/N: Jasper's role in this… a little curious.
