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BELLA
They stayed that way for a few minutes in silence; Damon with a protective arm around Bella and all. Unable to take much more of the tension Bella gently shrugged out of Damon's grasp, beginning to pace the length of the couch while everyone else looked on. She took her lower lip between her teeth, running her hand through her hair as she thought of how to further elaborate in a way that didn't put the Cullens at risk.
"You can't expect me to accept that you're fine with all of this without knowing more about you and your past. For all we know you could be hiding something that puts us all at risk!" Elena's voice broke the silence before Bella could.
She had stopped pacing to meet Elena's still scrutinizing glare, her heart banging wildly in her chest as she spoke with a confidence she didn't really feel. ""I understand your concern, Elena. But I also know that there are details about this situation that you haven't shared with me. It's not just about what I'm hiding—it's about what you're choosing not to tell me." The frustration was evident in her tone by the end of her small rant and more for herself than anything; Bella added softly after no one immediately responded to her "I'm so sick of no one giving me the benefit of the doubt to choose what I want."
She didn't see that way that Damon's eyes had hardened once more and how his brows had come together in anger. She had told herself she would not look away from Elena, who seemed to be the one taking the reins of this whole conversation. She had slipped several glances to Damon, who had begun to move back to his position on the couch, who looked completely at ease with the direction this meeting had taken.
"Bella, it's not that we're trying to keep secrets. We're dealing with a lot, and there are people back home we need to protect too. We can't afford to expose them to danger." Stefan had finally spoken back up after some time as she assumed that he had heard her end comment. She turned her full gaze to him and the two simply stared at each other. Bella was trying to ascertain just how much she should even begin to explain to them. They seemed genuinely concerned enough for the safety of imaginary people at home, but how could she be certain that this wasn't breaking the Volturi's code of silence? Surely the code didn't apply to other vampires, even if they're not the same species? Breed? What would someone even call it?
She realized that she was staring at Stefan for an inordinate amount of time, so she let out a long, exaggerated sigh and simply plopped herself down beside Damon on the couch. Bella dropped her head into her hands and rubbed her face slowly with a low sound of exasperation escaping her as she did so.
"You get used to it eventually, you know." Damon mused aloud to Bella, who raised her head to look over at her suddenly deathly silent husband, while swirling the glass of whiskey in his glass. "The mistrust and skeptical faith." Her finished without her having to vocally prompt him. Even for all his disinterested efforts, she could see the way he was watching her from the corner of his eyes and even felt the full weight of his gaze when she sat back and tilted her head to rest on the back of it.
"Fine." She spoke to the ceiling louder than necessary, her hands coming together to clasp in her lap. "I know about vampires," She picked her head back up to watch Elena and Stefan immediately stiffen and look as though they were going to interrupt her, so she continued quickly. "But the ones I've dealt with are very different from the ones you're familiar with. My experience with the Cu- the vampires I know of is…..." She paused, trying to think of something to explain the vast history she had with them. It didn't escape her, either that when she paused Damon's hand swirling his drink had also stopped; as if waiting for her to continue.
"Complex and personal." Is the only thing she could think of saying now. At the word personal Bella pointedly made hard eye contact with Elena, who was at this point so stiff that she was surprised the other brunette hadn't passed out due to poor circulation.
DAMON
Damon hadn't really wanted to get involved with the current tension between his two ladies. It wasn't that he wanted them to continue round and round in circles, or even because he was definitely feeling a small swell of pride for the way Bella continued to point for point counter argue everything Elena was say, though it was entertaining him. It was more so the fact that he was tired of arguing with his brother and Elena, by now he'd have left for more interesting activities. However, the opportunity to find out more about his wife's otherworldly experience and not have to be the one pulling the information from her seemed extremely convenient.
He was currently watching Elena go in one moment from frozen to rebooting and Damon could already see the hamster running on the wheel in Elena's head. "Maybe there is some truth to that. But it's not just about honesty. I can't help but think it would be better if you just... forgot what you've learned. You're married to Damon, which complicates things. If you were compelled to forget everything about our world, it might make things easier. Damon could send you home, and when the 90 days was over, he could just go and get you and annul this…" she was now chewing on her thumbnail as she drifted off into what she was no doubt already considering the only option for the group now.
"Elena, compelling her to forget might not be the best solution. It's clear Bella has a right to be involved in this, given her newfound legal ties to Damon." His brother had suddenly never made more sense and Damon did nothing to suppress the smirk that spread over his face as he nodded his head in agreement with Stefan.
"Brother dearest has a point. You're telling me you suddenly have no moral hang ups about me compelling 'innocent people' for selfish reasons?" The irony tasted so good on his tongue and only brought him more joy when Elena scowled at him and turned to face him, hands on her hips.
"I just want to make sure we're all safe. If forgetting could keep her out of danger, wouldn't it be worth considering?" She said, irritation beginning to creep into her tone.
Like a cat toying with its food, Damon quickly retorted smoothly, "Safety is important, but so is respect. If you can't trust me to handle the decisions I make, then maybe you need to reconsider how we're approaching this."
Elena throwing her hands in the air was the exact thing he had wanted, knowing they were headed for an argument he could use to leave. She was raising her voice now as she spoke. "But if it's a choice between safety and risking exposure—"
"Ah-em." There was the sound of someone clearing their throat pointedly, and for a moment Damon was irritated that his game had been interrupted. The feeling was short-lived when he realized that the sound was coming from Bella.
She also, to his surprise, looked rather annoyed with them all. That probably had a lot to do with the fact that they'd all essentially begun to ignore her and argue about her as if she weren't standing there. When they were all three looking at her, she spoke again. "I get... all off this, the 'life or death' severity of your secret, more than you know truly." the last part she seemed to be speaking more to herself than anything and he made a mental note to ask her later to elaborate. "However, I need to point out something. I understand the gist of what compulsion is about. It's making someone forget things. But if it's just mind mumbo jumbo, it might not even work on me. I have a... different background, and my experiences might make me resistant to whatever mind tricks you're planning."
Though he himself hadn't even considered that option, he was sure he was looking at his wif with something akin to pride on his face. Her blush at the weight of his stare didn't last long, unfortunately, before Elena was shaking her head while speaking, "That's annoying, but I guess a few days while we wait for the vervain to leave your system—"
"What's vervain?" Bella interrupted, her head was cocked curiously, and her brows furrowed in confusion.
Elena stared at Bella as if she had sprouted a second head, clearly taken aback. Before she could speak, he took the opportunity to enlighten her.
"Vervain, dearest, is a plant one can use to protect one's minds from our compulsion abilities. Are you... saying that you think we won't be able to compel you even with you not ingesting it?" He was speaking softly, having turned to face her fully which in turn caused her to face him.
"Well, yes." She murmured, tilting her head back to look up at him as he advanced on her slowly. To her credit, she didn't back away from him, only looked confused as to why he was suddenly invading her personal space.
"While I do love the conviction with which you speak, Isabella, this isn't something that can really be… fought against." He had curled one of his fingers under her chin, deeply satisfied with the way that her heart was currently wildly slamming against her ribs.
"Damon…" Came his brother's gentle warning, too quiet it seemed for Bella to hear.
Damon ignored it, knowing he'd never compel her to do anything dangerous. But perhaps a demonstration would be helpful to his wife. "I could... say that you suddenly have a very, very intense urge to call Angela, for example, and tell her that you don't plan on returning home and would be going home with your new husband." Her large brown eyes that had been intently staring at him suddenly were gone from his field of vision.
She had pulled herself away from him abruptly, nervous energy radiating from her, while she started to wander the hotel living room in a haze, as though she were nuclear. "Damon! I can't just go with you suddenly out of nowhere. I don't even know where you live or who you live with or have any of my stuff with me. Not to mention Ed—"
"Bella," Stefan interrupted her rather abruptly, no doubt also taken aback by the fact that Damon's compulsion hadn't taken. The two brothers shared a quick look of apprehension before Stefan stepped away from their small trio to walk towards the small brunette on the other side of the room. She had stopped moving, but was less comfortable, it seemed, with Stefan approaching her given their first interaction.
Elena for the first time in a while seemed to have been rendered speechless and was currently simply gawking at Bella openly.
When his brother came to a stop arms-length away from Bella, he stooped down to catch her gaze. Feigning concern, so that he could make the necessary connection to also attempt a compulsion. "You're sure that what Damon said doesn't sound like a good idea? You are so stressed about going home, clearly you think coming with us to Mystic Falls seems like the better idea."
She was already shaking her head in defiance, going from nervous to annoyed with the group. "You guys can't seriously be suggesting going to the home of three perfect strangers. I've done a lot of stupid things in my past and even if going back to a made-up sounding city with three vampires—"
"I'm not a vampire." Was all Elena could manage.
"Two vampires and a human, then." Bella corrected dryly. "It it it's insane. I can't."
Damon could see the flight instinct beginning to take hold of her, evident in the way she had started to wear the same deer-in-headlights look as yesterday. He watched her beginning to swivel her head between the three of them, hear the way her breathing had started coming in short pants as though she had been running.
"This might be a good stopping point for her guys." He pointed out, coming to stand beside his shell-shocked brother and offer his arm to the clearly panicking animal in front of them. Elena's brain seemed to kick back on in overdrive as she watched Bella take his arm.
"Damon, no. She can't – can't just ignore not one but two compulsions and then not explain what the hell is going on to us, Damon seriously stop what are you doing I think she needs to tell us now." Elena's voice fell on his deaf ears. Damon had slowly guided Bella to the bedroom door, making it a point to keep himself between each woman's line of sight from the other. One to keep Elena's heated gaze from Bella and, on the other hand, to keep Bella from peeking around him to get sucked back into a conversation her body was clearly screaming at her to leave.
"I'll close the door behind you." Was what he said instead to her, gently pushing her into the room and flicking on the light. "I had Angela bring your suitcase, and I bought more clothes for you if you want them. In the closet. I can't let my wife starve, after all." His light joking tone was the last thing she heard before he lifted the door to shut it properly for her to hopefully get ready.
BELLA
Bella was left standing in the doorway of the bedroom, the floor spinning out from under her feet. She backed up towards the door and when she felt the cool wood against her back slid slowly down to sit on the lush carpet.
She sat on the floor of the dimly lit room, her back against the door, trying to piece together the fragments of her swirling thoughts. Her fingers were trembling slightly and so she tightly clasped them together, as if squashing any sign of her growing anxiety could stop the onslaught of information from weighing her down. The room seemed to close in around her, filled with a dense silence that made her head throb with every beat of her heart.
She wasn't sure of how much time actually passed with her sitting there, gaze slightly unfocused and burred by unshed tears and her hands clasped together so tightly her knuckles were white. Eventually, the sound of muffled talking broke through the mental cocoon she'd been in, and it got her aware enough to throw on the first thing she found in her bag; a fitted cotton white top and an extremely comfortable pair of navy-blue wide leg pants. She went to the restroom to inspect herself, tossing her hair up in a ponytail so she could splash cold water on her face and neck.
Autopilot might have been an apt description for her current state, since her brain was simply repeating and narrating everything, she was currently doing to keep herself calm.
She had just started to look around the room for her shoes when the door creaked, opening just enough for Damon to slip through into the room. They stood across from one another simply staring and studying the other. He didn't speak, and she was thankful for that since her brain wasn't currently functioning properly, just took a few slow strides while watching her reaction to where she was standing before he offered up her sneakers.
"Thank you." Her voice came out wrong, it sounded tired and throaty, like she hadn't spoken in hours. He only nodded and once her shoes were on extended his elbow to her to take. When she did he gave her a lopsided grin which she returned with her own slight smile.
He opened the door for them and continued to lead them out. When she stepped out into the living room, she dares a glance around the room and found it empty. Even the shattered glass had been cleared.
"They went to eat as well. Don't worry, we will be staying as far on the other side of the strip as possible." At Damon's words, she let out a breath she'd been unaware she was holding. The tension left her body slowly as the walked down the hall to the elevator, and each foot of space they crossed where she no longer was near the hotel room and neither Stefan nor Elena were in sight. By the time they hit the lobby, her stomach even began to growl.