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Chapter 4
🕑 Added 2021-09-15 02:38:19 +0000 UTCThe trip home was definitely a trip that I never wanted to repeat again. We had waited for the shuttle to take us to the airport in nearly complete silence. Rosalie and Edward kept glaring at each other. They had both moved to stand next to me, I usually always found myself in the middle between them, but I opted to stand in between Alice and Emmett. Jasper stood on the other side of Alice and Edward and Rosalie had been stuck standing next to each other while we waited. The entire time we waited for the shuttle, they continued to glare at each other and I could have sworn that if one of them moved or breathed the wrong way, they would have lashed out at each other. Emmett had tried to get a conversation going with everyone, although he wasn’t brave enough to talk directly to either Edward or Rosalie, but it was only Alice that really responded to him. I was still suffering with my killer hangover and Jasper was just the silent type. So when the shuttle got there, I was happy that we were finally starting our trip home.
The shuttle trip wasn’t much better. The back of the shuttle had a bench seat and since there wasn’t anyone else on the shuttle except for our group, I had decided that I would sit on the bench and lie down. I was hoping that lying down would help with my hangover and make my head stop pounding. I had moved quickly to be the first on the shuttle, instead of Alice or Rosalie. The boys had opted to be gentlemanly and said that they would load our luggage underneath the shuttle for us. I walked straight to the back and sat down. I was busy putting my back in a good spot in the corner so I could use it as an effective pillow when Rosalie sat down next me. Normally, that wouldn’t be a problem. There had been plenty of school field trips where she and I would have our seat. It wouldn’t be uncommon that on a long trip we would end up cuddle next to each other. At the time, I wouldn’t think anything about it because if it had been Alice I was on the trip with, I would end up cuddle with her as well because that was how Alice was. But, with Rosalie and now that we were married, I didn’t want to be cuddle up next to her. At the same time though, I didn’t want to be rude to her because well, even with all that had happened, we were still friends.
Without seeming like a jerk, at least to me I didn’t, I got her to move to the opposite corner so that I could lie down. At first she seemed hurt that I was asking her to move, but when she realized that I really did want to lay down and that I had declined Edward’s invitation to sit with him and use him as a pillow, she seemed to calm down. It’s not that I was too worried about her being upset about me declining to cuddle up next to her, but she was my best friend and I didn’t want to hurt her feelings if I could avoid it. Alice and Emmett had once again did most of the talking on the ride to the airport.
At the airport we unloaded quickly to get to our gate. Alice had everything timed so that we wouldn’t have much waiting to do. When she first told me that when we had first left Washington, I was okay with that. But since I had a headache and a hangover that made me want to crawl into my bed and sleep the rest of the day away, I didn’t like that our trip was timed so preciously and with little waiting time. By the time we were seated on the plane, I was more than happy for the nap time. The seats were assigned seating and Alice had all us partnered up: Alice with Jasper, me with Edward and Rosalie with Emmett. Edward had apparently thought that since we were sitting with each other, it meant that it was a good time for us to talk about what happened the previous night and that morning when we had argued. I not so tactfully told him that I wasn’t going to want to talk until my head stopped pounding at every sound I heard. I also vowed with him as my witness that I was never going to drink as much as I had the previous night. I then swore that I would find out how much I drank as soon as I could concentrate long enough to figure that out. Since I didn’t remember the night, I would have to ask everyone what all they had seen me drink, but I would do that at a later date. At the moment I just wanted to sleep.
I woke up to Edward gently shaking me and I couldn’t but think that it was a good way to wake up. He was leaning down to give me a kiss and I was more than happy to accept it, until someone dropped something and the pounding in my head came back. So instead of kissing Edward, I asked for Rosalie because I knew she still had drugs in her purse that I could take to help with my headache. He seemed hurt that I had asked for her but when he realized why, he seemed to be okay with it. At least, I think he did but I was much too annoyed with my head to put too much thought into it. Thankfully for me, Rosalie was quick to give me the drugs when we were off the plane. Once we had our luggage, we went the large suburban that we had borrowed from Carlisle that we had left parked at the airport and started home. The most that I remember from the drive back to the Cullen’s was that Edward had opted to drive because apparently he needed to drive to help him think things over and I had sat in the back bench portion with Rosalie. Edward didn’t seem happy about it, but I really didn’t care because I just wanted to sleep.
I woke up to Rosalie gently shaking me awake and I couldn’t help but compare waking up to Rosalie shaking me awake to when Edward had shaken me awake and I was embarrassed that I liked it when Rosalie woke me up more than when Edward had. Before I could put too much thought into it, everyone was moving about getting the car unloaded.
“Come on ladies, let’s get this all unpacked. Bella’s not the only one that wants to nap.” Emmett said as he started taking out things from the very back.
“Come on, let’s go say hi to my parents and then we can go.” Rosalie said as she started to get out of the back.
I followed behind her and stretched the moment I was out of the car.
“Rose, can I have your keys so I can load your car?” I asked as she started towards the house instead of her luggage that Jasper had just placed on the ground.
I had barely caught a glimpse of Edward going straight into the house when I had sat up. I was sure he was going to go complain about my drunken marriage with his sister to his parents. That was something that annoyed me about him, he was definitely a suck up to his parents. He was the first born, not the oldest of the siblings, but the first born and he seemed to think that that made him entitled. Carlisle and Esme, his parents, never treated him differently than any of their other kids so I wasn’t sure where Edward had gotten that entitlement from but I was working with him to get rid of it. I still had a lot of work to do with him, but I was sure I had made some sort of progress since I had started dating him.
“Sure.” She distractedly said before tossing me her keys that she had already had in her hands. I bet she was going to load her luggage in her car but when she saw Edward running to tattle on her to their parents, she opted to follow him instead.
“This isn’t going to end well for me is it?” I asked to no one in particular as three of the Cullen children continued to unload the SUV and me and Emmett loaded mine and Rosalie’s things into Rosalie’s car.
“I think everything will work out in the end.” Alice said as she grabbed her luggage and started towards the house.
“Do you know that or are you just trying to be a good friend?” I asked, knowing that she may know how this thing will play out. There was never telling with Alice, she liked to keep secrets and then flaunt that she knew something and we didn’t.
“I don’t have to try to be a good friend, I am a good friend.” Alice said with a smirk. “Your best friend, as a matter of fact. Now, come on. Say hi to mom and dad.” She giggled as she finished walking into the house and while the door was opened, I was sure I heard Edward yelling. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go in there or not.
“Does that mean you’re going to stay married to Rosie?” Emmett asked as me and Emmett stared confusedly at where we last saw Alice before she disappeared.
“I think it means that Alice is my best friend.” I said with a huff, not wanting to think about the marriage.
“Aw, come on Bellsie. You and Rosie make a hot couple.” Emmett said as he gathered both his and Edwards, since he hadn’t bothered to take it in with him before he went to tattle on his sister, luggage and started towards the house.
“Come on Emmett, before you say something that really pisses Bella off and gets Rosalie mad at you. Remember the last time she was mad at you?” Jasper said as he grabbed his luggage and nudged Emmett to walk faster.
The last time Rosalie was mad at Emmett, somehow his precious jeep had all four tires slashed and there was some mechanical thing wrong with it that caused it not to work. It didn’t take Emmett long to figure out that Rosalie had messed with his jeep, but it took nearly a month for him to get Rosalie to forgive him and then to fix the jeep. She never admitted she did anything though, she didn’t want to get in trouble with her parents because she was still in high school and lived with them; she just fixed his jeep and silently warned him not to really piss her off again. Emmett never again used window chalk on Rosalie’s car’s to draw obnoxious things on the windows. Rosalie had been the only one to see the pictures, aside from Emmett, but she never told anyone what he drew; not even me. But it had to have been bad to piss Rosalie of as much as she was.
“Listen to him Emmett.” I cautioned when I saw he was about to say something. “I’m pretty sure that I don’t have nearly enough patience to deal with any of your jokes until after I’ve been Vegas detoxed.”
“Alright Bellsie, I’ll leave you alone for now.” He said as he walked into the house with Jasper behind him. The blonde glanced at me and with a nod of his head, silently told me to follow them inside. I couldn’t hear anymore yelling but I wasn’t surprised. Carlisle and Esme never put up with one of their children yelling in doors, especially if it was in anger and at someone.
I finished packing Rosalie’s car and quickly followed the boys into the house. I didn’t hear anyone talking, but I was sure at least four people were in the living room. The other children probably went straight to their room. At least Alice and Jasper probably went straight to their room and Emmett probably tried to watch Edward throw a hissy fight because he always thought it was amusing and then Carlisle and Esme sent him to his room.
As expected when I walked into the living room, the four people I thought would be there were there. Edward was angrily pacing in a short line on the opposite side of the room of me, by the only other entrance into the room. Rosalie was leaning on a wall next to the entrance I had used, like she was just waiting to leave and expected to do so any second. Both Carlisle and Esme were standing near the couch. I couldn’t decide if they were about to sit down or if they had just sat up.
“Rose, are we going to go soon because I really just want to crawl into to bed and sleep.” I said as I clutched my head to show the pain I was in.
“Enjoyed your birthday a bit too much dear?” Esme asked with a chuckle as she started to walk towards to give me a hug.
I happily walked towards her to give her a hug and then hugged Carlisle in greeting as well.
“Definitely way too much.” I said with a nervous chuckle.
“You’ll need to drink a lot of water.” Carlisle said. “That’s where your headache is mostly coming from, your dehydration. Fix that and it should cure your headache.”
“Thank you Carlisle; as soon as I get home I’ll drink a ton of water.” I said with a grateful smile. Rosalie had told me the same thing earlier and now that Carlisle was telling me, I could practically feel her smug smile smacking me in the back of my head.
“Come on Bella, we can go home now.” Rosalie said.
“No!” Edward yelled. “This is wrong. This has to be illegal and it needs to be annulled.” Edward demanded and I swear there was a bit of a whine to his voice.
“Edward.” Esme said in a tone that every child knew. It was the tone that kept every child in line. It was the tone of a mother that was upset and it was a good warning to the child that they better treat carefully or they were about to be in a lot of trouble. It was nearly as good as ‘the look’ that mothers could give. I had never been on the receiving end of Esme’s ‘tone’ and ‘look’ but I had seen Emmett lots of times and even Edward on occasion and I knew that I never wanted to be on the receiving end. “Watch your volume and your tone.” Edward looked chastised but he didn’t seem like he didn’t want to calm down.
“Son, we’ve told you.” Carlisle said in a stern voice that didn’t fully hide his annoyance. “They are adults. Nothing illegal was done and there is nothing we can do about it. It’s their choice.”
“But Bella doesn’t want this.” Edward argued in a desperate tone, but careful not to raise his voice. “Rosalie is making her.”
“As I’ve said several times, I’m not making her do anything.” Rosalie said.
“You took advantage of her while she was drunk Rosalie.” Edward said. It was a hit below the belt.
I had been friends with Rosalie for a while when the night she was nearly raped, gang-raped actually, and had come running to my house instead of her parents. She had sought my comfort instead of her families and I had always felt honored that she felt close enough to me to seek me out instead of family. We were both still in high school and I had initially thought she should have gone to her family, but something made me very happy that she had come to me so I could comfort her. It also helped that my dad was the police chief of our small town. Because he was personally affected by the case, he was a bit harsher about everything with the case. My dad ended up finding a lot of dirt of those guys and they were put away for life. Since then though, Rosalie had been very into treating females right. When she saw a male treating a female wrong she took it personally and made sure the bully got in a lot of trouble. It also helped that Emmett and Jasper had no problem intimidating those guys to act better and Emmett had even gotten into a few fights with the guys that didn’t take well to their intimidation. So, for Edward to say that Rosalie took advantage of me, it was definitely a hit below the belt and I was sure Carlisle and Esme would be giving some serious scolding.
“Edward!” Carlisle yelled at the same time Esme said his name in a scolding voice.
“That’s too far Edward.” I angrily said. I may not have liked that I was married, but I would never say Rosalie took advantage of me. “She was nearly as drunk as I was at the time Edward. We both drunk and both consenting adults. True I may want to take it back now and she doesn’t, but that isn’t any of your business. It’s between me and Rosalie to settle and resolve.” I kind of wanted to stay married to Rosalie just to spite him after what he said. But that wouldn’t be fair to Rosalie. I didn’t want to be in a false relationship with her.
“Let’s go Bella.” Rosalie angrily said before turning around to angrily leave the room.
I quickly said goodbye to both Carlisle and Esme and then gave what I thought to be a deadly glare at Edward, it was something I had learned from Rosalie so I was sure it was at least a little effective, before I turned to catch up to Rosalie.
Neither of us said anything as Rosalie drove us home. I wanted to say something to comfort her after what Edward had insinuated, but I knew from experience that there was nothing I could do to comfort Rosalie until she came to me for comfort. If she came to me for comfort. So instead, I focused on staying awake. I would just have to stay awake long enough to get home, get a glass of water and then I could sleep for as long as I wanted.
When we got home I went straight to my room to get changed into my pajamas. Once I was in my pajamas I was just about to make my way to the door when Rosalie knocked on it.
“I have water for you.” She said through the door, just loud enough for me hear her.
“Thank you Rose.” I said after I opened the door and was reaching for the glass of water.
“Of course Bella.”
That was something Rosalie had always done for me as well. She was good at taking care of me. When I was sick, having a bad day or whatever, she was always there to make me feel better. Of course whatever she did for me, I whole heartedly did for her as well. If she was having a bad day, I would run a bath for her just like she would give me a massage to help me calm down. If she was sick I set up all her favorite movies to play and got everything she liked to take for medicine when she was sick and made everything she liked to eat and drink; just like she did for me. We were best friends and we were always there for each other. It was a good relationship we had with each other.
“When you wake up, if your headache is gone and you’re up to it, can we talk?” Rosalie asked with a nervousness that really didn’t fit her. At all. I didn’t like that she was acting so nervous. I didn’t like that I had made her that way.
“I was planning on talking with Edward.” I said a bit sympathetically. I knew what she wanted to talk about, but I was dating Edward and he was hurting with all this. I had to talk to him.
“Please Bella.” Rosalie said, though she was careful to not let her voice sound like she was begging. Rosalie Hale never begs. “I think what we have going on between us is far more important than that. We need to get this settled.”
The way she was talking, compared to how she was talking when I had first woken up married to her, was very different. She wasn’t as in my face about it and I was more than sure that she was making sure that she was being careful about what she said and how she acted. She was doing everything she could to keep me calm and was probably working towards getting her way, which was she wanted to talk to me. I understood that what had happened between us was big and I really needed to deal with it. Quickly. I also needed to talk with Edward, but the talk would go so much better if I had some sort of resolution for him; for us. At the moment, all I could tell Edward was that I was married to Rosalie and at the moment there was nothing I could do about it. If I talked with Rosalie, we could come up with something better than we’re married and she doesn’t want to annul it whereas I do. We could have a resolution. A talk with Edward would go so much better if I had a resolution to work towards.
Thinking that though, I couldn’t help but also think that I had to go through so much prep work to have a talk with Edward. It nearly seemed like I was preparing myself for a battle instead of just talking to my boyfriend. With Rosalie though, I wasn’t worried about talking with her. I was worried that I was upsetting her. Shouldn’t I feel that way with Edward? My emotions were probably conflicted because of what Edward had just done to Rosalie and the fact that Rosalie and I had been best friends a lot longer than Edward and I had been dating.
“Alright.” I agreed after a moment or two of silence. “If I’m up to.” I quickly added just in case I talked myself out of it before I had the chance to talk to her.
“Thank you Bella.” Rosalie said and the relief in her voice was very apparent. “I’m sure that we’ll be able to come up with an agreeable arrangement.”
The way she said that made me think that she had a plan that I was unknowingly following right along with. Rosalie Hale was a woman that always got what she wanted. She was manipulative and she could come up with devious schemes that could put Emmett’s schemes to shame. But whenever Rosalie included me in her schemes or when those schemes were directed towards me, it was never something I didn’t like. She was always very conscious of when she included me and she had always made sure that it was never something I didn’t like. Whatever she schemed or wanted that I was involved with, I always liked in the end. Even though sometimes her manipulative ways and devious scheming annoyed me, I always ended up loving the end result.
With this though, I wasn’t so sure. I knew what Rosalie wanted, at least I thought I did, and I didn’t want it. I didn’t want to completely lose Rosalie in my life. I didn’t want to sound greedy, rude or like I wanted to take advantage, but Rosalie was giving me a lot that I didn’t want to lose. She was allowing me to live in her spare room in her apartment, rent free. I did help with bills and chores, but it was lot easier on my wallet without having to pay rent. I was a full time college student and so far I was fortunate enough to be able to get by with, grants, scholarships and some loans to not have to work. If I lost Rosalie, I would have to move out and get a job to continue to pay for everything and I was afraid that that might hurt my perfect GPA. More importantly, most importantly actually, I didn’t want to lose Rose.
We’ve been best friends since I had moved to Forks when I was younger. Both she and Alice had helped me get adjusted to living with my dad, Charlie, when my mom had run into financial problems and couldn’t keep me for the full school year. In time, I had grown closer to Rosalie, even though she was a year older than me. Rosalie was there when my mom had suddenly died in a car accident; she had even gone with me to Phoenix for the funeral. She helped me with my feelings with Jake; although, thinking about it now, she may have been a little more than happy to help me realize that I really didn’t like Jake romantically. I knew that Rosalie didn’t sway my feelings away from him because she had said from the beginning of that situation that she wasn’t going to tell me how to feel. So, she was someone that I emotionally depended on. It would hurt more to lose her that way than it would to lose her free room that she was letting me live in. Together we had been through so much that it would hurt too much to think about to lose her. I was sure the feeling was mutual; especially since she appeared to have more feelings for me.
“Sure Rose.” I said a bit more awkwardly that what I used to with Rosalie. “Um, so I’ll see you later.”
I closed the door and I swore I saw a brief flash of hurt in her eyes as I closed the door, but I didn’t want to dwell on that too much. If I dwelled on the flash of hurt, if it really was hurt that I saw which I wished it wasn’t, I would start to feel guilty that I hurt her. She was my best friend and I didn’t want to do something to hurt my best friend. At the same time though, I knew what she wanted and I didn’t want to sacrifice my happiness for her happiness. I had no problem bending over backwards for my friends, but I wasn’t willing to stay married to her just so she could be happy. I couldn’t do that.
With the door closed, the shades on my window closed and the lights off, I literally collapsed into bed with groan of happiness. The hotel was nice, the Cullen’s wouldn’t settle for anything less than four stars, but nothing beat my own bed. It took longer than I would have appreciated to fall asleep. I was very nervous for the conversation to take place when I woke up. I knew I was going to talk with Rosalie before I would talk with Edward. I was looking forward to the talk with Rosalie and I was dreading the talk with Edward. I knew Rosalie wouldn’t force me to do anything and she would have valid arguments for what she wanted to have happen. We would actually talk and get something done. Whereas with Edward, he would do most of the talking. He would make a lot of unfounded assumptions that would paint me in a bad light and him in a good light. He would get angry, make himself seem like a victim and me like the assailant. He would then probably ignore me for a little bit in a childish act of brooding. It would probably take a while for me to get through the full conversation with him. Rosalie would make me feel like we were working together while we talked. Edward would make me feel like I was fighting a losing battle so that I could just give him information. Was it bad that I just really didn’t want to talk to him because I knew he was impossible to talk to? It only took me forever to fall asleep because I was dreading to talk with boyfriend. If I wasn’t going through what I was with my best friend, I would have wanted to talk to her about why I always dreaded talking about something serious with my boyfriend.
My life was getting much too complicated in such a little amount of time and I really needed my best friend to stay my friend so she could help me through it.
