days seemed to run on together after her last conversation with edward, her mind stuck on the next time they would see each other. la push wasn’t completely disappointing, too cold for her taste to call it a beach, but the stories jacob told her, the legends of the cold ones.. it got her thinking, more bullet points were being added to the theories, other ones being thrown out the window completely. but with each note she added, she felt more and more ridiculous. there was no way any of this could be true. they were just stories that were told to keep kids in line, weren’t they?
she thought she’d get some answers come monday, when they could sit at lunch once more, but disappointment flooded her once more. the cullens were absent, all of them gone for the day. she tried not to let it get to her, to keep her enthusiasm up for her trip to port angeles with angela and jessica that night. but she couldn’t shake it as she sat alone in biology. at least she had an hour before jessica picked her up, giving her enough time to build up her energy.
jessica and angela went right into dress shopping, bella tagging along to throw out and thoughts she had on them, even though most of it was a simple ‘that’s pretty.’ or ‘it’s a good color’. her mind was elsewhere, despite her best efforts, and she was thankful that they ended the shopping quickly, having enough time for her to go off in search of a bookstore. “i’ll meet you guys at the restaurant.” she reassured them, before taking off on her own. it couldn’t be that hard to find one here, could it?
finding one, but deciding against venturing inside, bella made her way back down the now crowded streets, arms crossed over her chest as she kept her eyes on each passing building. there had to be a decent one nearby, this city couldn’t just have one bookstore. there was still time before she had to meet up with the others, and so turning, down what she soon realized was the wrong street, bella felt her heart beat quicken. her luck followed her everywhere she went, voices hitting her ears as she turned to see a group of four walking towards her. they were not the kind of people she imagined would be helping her find her way back to her friends.
instead of staying, bella just nodded at them, hoping it would sedate the yelling and moved further down the unfamiliar streets. it was quieter here, and for a split second, bella had thought that would be a good thing, that it meant they had left her alone. but soon the voices filled her ears once more, this time closer, louder. she thought about just throwing her bag and running for it, taking off and hoping for the best, but even as she moved, trying to ditch the group, they figured it out. and all too quickly, bella knew she was trapped. her pepper spray had never even been unpacked from her suitcase, it didn’t seem necessary. phoenix was more dangerous than any place in washington. or so she’d thought.
“just.. stay away from me.” she called out to all of them, her back pressed against the alley wall, hands in front of her, a laughable attempt at self defense. their voices filled her head, names being called at her as they closed her in. bella tried her best to build the best scream she could, only to have it cut off as her head whipped around to the sound of a car.
the hunting trip was sub-par. it was the same old thing, emmett playing with his food and making too many jokes for edward’s comfort level, edward being moody and tortured the whole time because he wasn’t spending time with bella. it was exactly what he expected it was going to be, right down to the dissatisfaction with the lack of mountain lions in the area.
sunny days sucked. while the weather clearing up felt great on his cold skin, it meant he was confined to the shadows, slipping past people, bella included, unnoticed until the sun subsided. he was forced to watch her through other people’s thoughts, hiding in trees and behind buildings, wishing he could be the one to brush past her in the hallway or to ask to copy of her english notes for the week.
the only solace came in composing music when he wasn’t out, following bella around. every time he thought of her, every moment he fleshed out more about her personality and the way she reacted to things, the piece was being built, the notes falling on the staff easily as if they always meant to belong in the position that he put them in.
it was torturous, not being able to talk to her and ask her how her day was and roll his eyes at her during biology, and by the time the last of the sunny days had begun, he was practically jumping at the opportunity to talk to her tomorrow. that was when he overheard her plans to go to port angeles that evening.
that wasn’t in the rulebook, that didn’t make it easy to keep tabs on her, so the only option would be to follow her there. it was decided simply in that moment, he couldn’t risk losing her, he couldn’t risk hearing about something happening to her the next day, knowing that if he had been there he could have stopped it. especially with alice’s nomad friends in the area.
he quickly found them in the dress store, listening in on jessica’s thoughts as she repeatedly tried on the same two dresses over and over again, trying to make up her mind between the two. there was no trouble they could get into in that store. maybe his siblings were right, maybe he had overreacted and blew the situation way out of proportion.
he decided to check back in later, letting his thoughts linger to how great tomorrow would be, how nice it would be to sit beside her in biology again instead of above her in trees while she read jane austen. (yeah, that one wasn’t his best move, but who could blame him, he was a vampire in love, he did what he had to.)
however, when he checked back, there was something distinctly different about jessica’s thoughts, bella wasn’t with them anymore.
edward started to worry all over again.
the bookstore bella said she was going to appeared in jessica’s mind, and he suddenly had a new destination. driving into town right at sunset was dangerous, and he knew this, but if bella was truly alone he had no way of keeping tabs on her. alice had seen charlotte and peter go to seatlle, but what if they had changed their mind? what if there was some other nomad in the area? he had to check, his mind would not be at ease until he did.
he quickly headed to the store, warily getting out of his car to follow bella’s scent. the longer he couldn’t find her, the more concerned he got. he frequented this side of town often, he knew the trouble someone could get into in this area, and he didn’t want bella to find that out the hard way.
the remaining sunlight prevented him from walking further, so he got back into his car, tinted windows and all, and continued to look for her through the back streets of the town.
as he drove, he aimlessly shuffled through the thoughts of people in the city, trying to catch a glimpse of her face, and when he finally did, it made him feel a lot worse.
he felt as if he was going to throw up, something impossible for him to accomplish as there was nothing in his digestive system for him to throw up, but the man’s thoughts were vile enough to make him sick to his undead stomach. as he sped closer to this man, he could hear the voices of the other’s around him, could see the fear in bella’s eyes through these sleazy men.
they were thinking of touching her.
they were thinking of stealing her away, thinking that no one would notice, thinking that they could get away with it, that she wouldn’t fight back, that she wouldn’t go to the police, thinking that-
it was at this moment, when edward was sure he could not take another moment of these men’s thoughts, that he rounded the corner, his tires screeching against the pavement.
he left the car running, flung open the door, and stalked towards these men, just moments away from laying a hand on her.
“don’t you fucking touch her,” he snarled, his voice coming out like a growl, like a warning sign, like the last thing they would ever hear. “get in the car,” he said to bella, standing in front of her, his eyes not wavering from the men in front of him.
how long would it take to kill them all? to stop them from ever thinking another vile thought again?
he narrowed his eyes at them, this meant war.
