I Want To Save You: Ch 15

Chapter Fifteen

"How's she doing?" Bella asked, kissing my cheek as she walked into my house. I closed the door softly, sighing as I did so. Bella toed off her shoes and took her jacket off, hanging it on the coat hanger before turning to me. "Still nothing?"

"Not a damn thing," I muttered, rubbing the spot on my forehead where I could feel a migraine coming in. It had been a month since Jasper and Alice broke up and my little sister wasn't taking it well. At first I thought that maybe she was upset because Garrett had shot down her advances, but that wasn't the case. Yes, she'd made the wrong choices by going after an older man, but she still had feelings for Jasper and he refused to look at her, let alone listen to her.

Things were tense once she came back to school. Jasper asked for seat changes in the classes that they had together. Alice tried to talk to him in the hallway one time and he looked straight through her as if she wasn't standing right in front of him. He stopped shutting the rest of the group out and talked to us when Alice wasn't present, and we were smart enough not to bring her up. Alice started to pull away from everyone as the days progressed. She started losing weight because she couldn't eat and at night I heard her crying, but she wouldn't unlock her door. I heard my mom ask my dad one night if he thought she was developing an eating disorder, but he said Alice would grow out of it.

Then she started to crawl out of the shell she'd formed. She started coming out with Bella and I on the weekends and even went mud bogging with Emmett and Rose, something that she and Jasper used to do with them.

Bella and I started going to the cafeteria for lunch to keep an eye out for her and there were times that we caught her staring across the room at the small round table in the corner that Jasper sat at with a few of his buddies from the track team. Alice had been out of town last week because her chorus group had a state championship. Rose and Emmett decided to take advantage of off campus lunches, so Bella and I tagged along each day. Had we stayed at the school and eaten in the cafeteria we would have known. But how could we?

Bella decided that she wanted to show off her bowling skills the night that Alice came home, so the entire group, minus Jasper, drove to Port Angeles and rented shoes and a lane. Alice and Rose fought over the only hot pink eight pound ball, while Emmett and Bella gave us each goofy names on the electronic score card. I had trouble bowling because my left arm was still in a cast, but we managed to have fun and not let it bother us too much when Bella kicked our asses the first game.

Rose had went on the hunt for a different ball, claiming the banana yellow one she'd been using was bad luck, while Bella continued to flounce around, gloating on her supposedly epic win. Rose came flying back over to our lane, looking as if she had just seen a ghost and telling us that we needed to leave. We refused to leave because we had paid for three games, but Rose was adamant, pulling the woman troubles card so we changed our shoes and headed for the front door, just thirty seconds too late.

Jasper was standing at the counter explaining that he'd been given two different sized shoes. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Alice freeze up and Rose started to shuffle her out shoving her shoes into Emmett's hands. Just as Jasper turned and caught the five of us staring at him, Maria Rodriguez came into view and threw her arms around his waist and called him 'baby'. Jasper didn't acknowledge our presence as he grabbed his correct shoes and led Maria back to the lane that they were obviously occupying.

Alice remained absolutely silent the entire drive home. She left the four of us sitting in the living room and walked up to her bedroom, closing the door softly behind her. I hadn't seen her for five days and if it weren't for her breathing or nightly trips to the bathroom, I would have thought she died. My mother and father argued what was best for her, seeing as she refused to leave her bedroom, eat or go to school. My father won out, giving Alice an ultimatum, either she ate or she went to a doctor.

He knew that she was hurting, but he refused to watch her kill herself over some boy. Alice got angry, screaming that Jasper wasn't just some boy, but ended up promising to eat, so long as she was allowed time. My father compromised that if she ate two meals a day she could have one week off from school, but after that it would affect her graduating on time and he refused to let her bury herself.

"She still won't talk to me because she thinks I knew that Jasper was dating Maria, so she refuses to talk to me," I explained to Bella as I led her to the living room. We cuddled together on the couch and turned on a movie even though we wouldn't watch it. We'd been together for over a month and a half, but sometimes it felt like she'd always been by my side. She knew exactly what I needed, sometimes before I even knew. We hadn't said those three little words yet, but we both knew how we felt. It was almost as if we were afraid to say it out loud after watching Alice and Jasper's relationship implode on itself. We were young and we couldn't promise that we'd be together forever, but I couldn't see myself without her.

"What are you thinking about so hard?" Bella asked, bringing me out of my thoughts. She tangled her left leg with my right and began scratching my scalp, an act that she knew I loved.

"Everything."

"Hmm... sounds interesting. Wanna talk about it?"

"Not really. It's nothing we haven't talked about already. Why bring up boring mundane topics when we can just sit in silence?"

"You're so dumb," she laughed, pulling lightly at my hair. "Do you mind if I bring up a topic that we haven't talked about yet?"

"There's actually one of those?" I joked, earning a slap to my chest. "Kidding. What is it?"

"Well, my dad wants to see me."

I froze and it didn't go unnoticed by Bella. "Oh, stop it. He offered to come down here, but he and mom are still weird with each other after the divorce and everything. They try to act civil, but it's still weird."

"Well, he's still in love with her," I murmured.

"Yeah, anyway I don't want him to have to come out here because he'll be uncomfortable and hotels pretty much suck balls. Sooo..." she took a deep breath. "Iwannagotoforksforspringbreak."

"I'm sorry, what?" I sat up a little.

"I'm thinking about going to Forks for Spring Break," Bella explained slowly, her eyes downcast. "I need some closure that even the best grief counselor here can't give me. I need to see Billy and I need to visit them. I couldn't before, but now I feel that I can't fully let go of the guilt until I do that. Why are you being so quiet? You think it's a ridiculous idea?"

"No, baby. I'm so proud of you." I kissed her surprised 'O' shaped mouth. "I think it's a really good idea and I'm going to miss you."

"Well that's the thing." She sat up so that we were almost nose to nose. "Rose told me that she and Emmett are planning on going somewhere for Spring Break and Alice is going off with her chorus group thingy down at Disneyland. Since you're gonna be alone, I was wondering if maybe you wanted to go with me? I mean, you can say no, but I'd like you to come with me. You don't even have to answer me now. We have time. Not a lot of time because plane tickets are cheaper if you buy them in advance, even though no one wants to go to Washington for spring break but stil-"

"I'd love to," I cut her off, smiling.

"What?"

"I'd love to spend Spring Break with you and your dad in rainy, dreary Forks, Washington. I have to ask my parents, but I'm pretty sure they aren't going to care."

"Really?" Bella asked in disbelief.

"Yeah."

"Are you serious?" she smiled.

"Yes Bella. I'm going to go with you to Forks," I laughed out. "Do you want me to paint you a picture. Should I learn sign language? What will it take to get it through your head that I'd follow you to the end of the world?"

"You're so friggin' cheesy," she laughed, throwing her arms around my neck. "You make me so happy."

"Ditto."

We shared a kiss filled with as much love as we could muster. We didn't have to say it. We knew.

My cast was removed two weeks before Spring Break. The insurance finally came through and Bella accompanied my father and I to the dealership where I picked out the same Volvo I had before. They didn't have it in silver, so I decided to go for a sleek black. Later that week, when it arrived at the house, I went and picked Bella up from her house and we drove down a dirt road and made out until our lips were numb. After the cast was removed, I was finally able to hold my girlfriend properly, something I'd been dying to do.

We'd managed to convince my parents into letting me go to Forks. My dad took me aside after we initially asked them and gave me the safe sex talk, despite my argument that things weren't like that between us. Even so, he wasn't comfortable sending me off for a week with my girlfriend without a giant box of condoms and spermicidal lubricant. Later that night I told Bella what had happened and she pulled out a small baggy of some herb that she said her mother been trying to force feed her that would prevent pregnancy, despite the fact that Renee had been taking it when she got pregnant with Bella.

Alice was doing better. She returned to school after her week and threw herself into schoolwork and chorus, staying late for tutoring and going in early for practice. She eventually forgave me, even though I hadn't done anything, but I couldn't argue because she was talking to me again. She started hanging out in the library with a few of her friends from chorus instead of coming to lunch and when she was in the hallway, she purposely went another route to steer clear from Jasper. She wasn't her bubbly self anymore and she could care less about her appearance, a trait that I'd always believed would follow her to her grave. Nowadays, she spent less time in front of the mirror in the bathroom than I did. Jasper broke up with Maria the day after Alice returned to school.

"Hey babe, did you pack enough warm socks? It's freezing in Forks compared to here," Bella asked, tossing her carry-on bag into the back seat of my new Volvo.

"Yes, I did," I answered, laughing at the giant winter coat she had hanging over her arm.

"You laugh now, but just wait. I grew up there and I'm still not used to it. You've grown up in the sun; you're going to freeze your ass off."

"I guess you'll have to keep me warm." I waggled my eyebrows.

"Oh god! You have to stop hanging out with Emmett!" she giggled.

We'd already said goodbye to Renee when I picked Bella up earlier in the day. She gave us each a small herb pillow she'd sewn that was supposed to bring us home safely or something. I'm pretty sure I saw Bella toss hers out the window as we drove down the highway. My mom insisted that we come back to the house to eat lunch before heading to the airport. She made sure that we were thoroughly stuffed before deeming us ready to travel. She hugged the both of us and went to her room sniffling the entire way, so we decided to make a quick escape.

"You ready?" I asked.

"Yep!" Bella beamed.

Bella and I had a rule that we wouldn't listen to music when we were together in the car. Instead we talked about the most random things. Topics were casually thrown around quickly and there wasn't a dull moment the entire drive to the airport.

We parked in the short term parking lot and walked hand in hand into the airport to retrieve our tickets. I laughed when Bella grimaced when we had to take our shoes off at security. She muttered the entire time about germs and athlete's foot as she walked through the metal detectors. I almost dropped to the floor when she pulled a fresh pair of socks out of her bag and changed the ones she'd been wearing, before putting on her shoes.

We didn't have to wait long before our seats were called. After an intense game of rock-paper-scissors, Bella won the window seat. We shared iPods during the flight and played cards with a tiny little travel pack she'd thought to bring. We'd managed to get a straight flight to Washington without having to worry about layovers, so the flight was long. Bella fell asleep while I watched The Nightmare Before Christmas,which she had downloaded onto her iPod. The pilot came on over the intercom to inform us that we'd be descending shortly and that we needed to put our seatbelts on, so I shook Bella awake, chuckling at the sleep marks that marred the side of her face.

"What's so funny?" she mumbled, rubbing her eyes.

"Nothing, beautiful. We're landing soon though, so you need to put your seatbelt on."

"'Kay," she yawned, doing as she was told before leaning back against me. "Planes always make me sleepy."

"Yeah, I noticed. You wasted a window seat, that's what you did," I accused.

"Whatever," she smiled.

Thirty minutes later we exited the plane and headed for the baggage claim. Bella gripped my hand tightly because she was afraid she'd lose me in the throng of people trying to get their bags. We'd just managed to get our bags off the conveyer belt when Bella squealed and let go of my hand. I watched her run to an older man dressed in a police uniform. His Chuck Norris moustache was almost comical as he swung his teenage daughter in the air, pulling her into a fierce hug and talking the entire time.

"I'm so glad to see you, kid," he said, setting her on her feet and making sure that she was steady.

"I'm glad to see you too, daddy." Bella kissed his cheek before turning back to me. "Edward, come here."

I pulled both suitcases over to the duo and Bella grabbed my arm. "Daddy, this is my boyfriend, Edward Cullen. Edward, this is my dad, Charlie Swan."

"Mr. Swan," I greeted, holding my hand out for him to shake.

Instead he looked down at my hand as if I'd just wiped my nose or something and looked up at me. "That's Chief Swan to you boy."

Oh shit!

I Want To Save You: Ch 14

Chapter Fourteen

"And then Garrett said that I should maybe go to the place where Edward crashed, and I was like 'no way,' and then he was like, 'yeah you should, it could help you get over your guilt.' I dunno though," Alice rambled about her appointment with Garrett down at the Community Center. "Then we went and made hot chocolate, and Garrett was like, 'I don't think you should put so many marshmallows in the cup before you put it in the microwave. It might explode'. But I told him he didn't know what he was talking about, and guess what? I exploded the marshmallows in the microwave. I tried to clean it up, but Garrett told me to run, so I did."

Everyone was sitting around the coffee table playing Monopoly World Edition. The cool one with the credit cards instead of the paper money. Alice had been seeing Garrett Damon every other day for about a week now and he was all she ever talked about. She and Bella were talking again, so things were smoother when Bella came over after school. That also meant that Rose and Emmett were practically living at my house again.

We had a three day weekend, so my parents decided to take off to Alaska to visit the Triple D's and my aunt and uncle. Alice refused to go because she'd miss not one, but two meetings with Garrett, and I wanted to stay because my girlfriend was here.

Bella and I went to dinner Wednesday night while everyone else went to the football game at the high school. For our first date, we kept it particularly low key, choosing to go to a chain food burger joint and then to the drive in. I had to drive my father's car because the insurance hadn't come back on mine yet. We couldn't remember the beginning, middle or the end of the movie we watched because we couldn't figure out how to get my dad's radio to work. Instead we sat in the back seat and made out like, well, teenagers.

My parents gave us permission to have friends over, trusting that we'd be safe and responsible, so long as everyone's parents were okay with it. Rose, Emmett and Jasper were always allowed over for unsupervised sleepovers, and we thought Renee was going to start up a fight, but instead she just gave Bella what I'm guessing was a sex talk and a birth control tonic. Neither of those were necessary. We'd only been dating for three weeks and that was a huge step that neither of us were ready to take. Besides, my arm was still in a cast for another handful of weeks and it already got in the way.

"And then, we went to this small room and I thought he was going to treat me like a patient. You know, like in movies where psychiatrists make their patient lie down on a chair and talk about their feelings," Alice continued, before the entire game board and all of its pieces went flying across the room.

Aside from the shock, I watched Jasper stand up, his nostrils flared in anger. "HE'S NOT EVEN A DAMN DOCTOR ALICE!" he yelled, his southern accent coming out even more with his hostility.

"Yeah, but he's working on it. He's going to the university and he is graduating next year, so he's, like, almost a doctor," Alice defended proudly.

Jasper just stared down at her for a couple of seconds, probably wondering the same thing I'm sure the rest of us, besides Alice, were. Did she not see that he was pissed as hell?He grabbed his empty soda can and stormed into the kitchen, the heavy door swinging three times with force.

"Hmm... who wants to play Uno?" Alice asked, pulling the game out of the cabinet under the coffee table and smiling. "Garrett and I played it the other day and I think he let me win."

Everyone just smiled and I could tell that we were all getting a little uncomfortable. After a few minutes, I realized that Jasper hadn't returned, so I excused myself using the excuse that Bella needed another soda. She seemed to know what I was up to and went along with it, handing me her still full can as if it were empty. Jasper was sitting at the kitchen table, pulling the end of his short ponytail in frustration. I sat across from him and waited for him to calm down, but he didn't.

"What the fuck, dude? How in the hell did you put up with Bella talking about that quack twenty- four-seven when she was seeing him?" he demanded, standing up and pacing.

"I... Bella never talked about Garrett with me. She just told me that she was seeing a grief counselor and that the two of them were meeting at the community center," I replied, shrugging my shoulders, not seeing the point of his question.

"Did he ever make her hot chocolate? Did he take her to a fucking small ass room where they talked? This is bullshit! I'm so sick of hearing about what he did to make her feel better!" Jasper yelled, slamming his hands on the table and making me jump.

The kitchen door swung open and Alice danced in completely oblivious. "Jasper, come on. You can be on my team." It was then that she noticed there was some tension. "What's wrong?"

"I um... I'm going to get back to Bella with this soda." I grabbed a Coke out of the case on the counter and made my exit just as Jasper started to let his frustration out on my little sister.

"You want to know what's wrong? You couldn't come to me and tell me about your issues, but you'll go talk to a goddamn strange-" I probably should have stayed and made sure that everything would be okay, but I knew that Jasper was all smoke and no fire. He'd say his peace and Alice would say hers, and the two of them would be making out and hooking up tonight. It's happened more than once.

Bella was still sitting on the floor putting the pieces to the Monopoly game back in its box, while Emmett and Rose looked over the movies they'd picked up from the rental store on their way over. I picked up stray pieces of the game and helped Bella put them back in the cabinet, before pulling her over to the recliner.

"Are they okay in there?" she whispered, pointing her chin towards the door that lead to the kitchen.

"They will be. Jasper's just having some issues with Alice being so cozy with Garrett. He asked me if I had an issue with the way you talked about your meetings, and I told him that you never talked to me about them. Why is that?" I asked, playing with a loose curl that had fallen out of her clip.

"Um... well, to tell you the truth, I wasn't as close to Garrett as Alice seems to be," Bella shrugged. "I mean, he's a friend now, but the way she talked about him is how I talk about you when I'm on the phone with Angie and stuff from back home. Do you think it's possible that Alice has a crush on Garrett?"

"No. I mean, she and Jasper have been together forever," I scoffed and then backtracked. "I dunno though. Maybe. I mean, she talks about Garrett constantly, even to my mom and dad. I just thought it was because he was helping her, but I guess it could mean more to her."

Bella opened her mouth to say something, but the door to the kitchen flew open with a bang, scaring the shit out of all of us. Jasper's face was beet red and his hands were in tight fists as he walked across the room and picked up his bag. Alice stood in the doorway holding the kitchen door open as we watched him leave the house, slamming the front door so hard that a picture fell in the hallway.

"What in the hell was that?" Rose asked, while Bella hugged me tightly.

"Jasper and I broke up," Alice said simply, before sitting down on the love seat. "What movie are we watching?"

You could have heard a pin drop, it was so quiet. Emmett's mouth hung open mid chew, showing off the mouth full of Skittles he'd been eating, while Rose froze in front of the DVD player with the same shocked look on her face.

"Did you already pick one? If not we should watch something good, like Zombieland or something funny," Alice said pulling a bag of Sour Cream and Cheddar chips off the table and stuffing her face with them, as if nothing had happened moments ago.

"Oh yeah, we, uh, picked The Hangover. Is that okay?" Rose asked a little hesitantly.

"Oh yeah! I love that movie!" Alice squealed, fist bumping. Bella hadn't said anything, but she kept giving me a weird look as if to silently ask 'When the hell is it going to hit her?' Truth was, I couldn't answer that question any better than Alice could.

About five minutes after Rose had just hit the play button on the menu screen, we heard laughing coming from the love seat. Bella froze against me and my hand stopped rubbing her back. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see that Emmett and Rose had both frozen, too. The giggling continued throughout the movie, until we realized that instead of laughter, we were listening to Alice's hysterical sobs.

"Hey Albo? You alright over there?" Emmett asked, sitting up a little.

"Yeah, that was just so sad. I mean, she doesn't even know where her fiancé is and they're getting married in like hours and, yeah, his friends can't even find him," Alice sobbed, while the rest of us just stared at her like she'd grown a third eyeball. "I'm going upstairs to get my blanket. Does anyone need anything?"

"Um... no," I answered, followed by everyone else. Alice wiped her eyes and ran up the stairs quickly.

"What the fuck was that?" Bella asked, sitting up. "Seriously, should someone call Jasper or something?"

"No. Maybe this has to do with her mental thingy. Should we call Garrett?"

"Garrett? Is he coming over?" Alice asked, causing all of us to jump. When did she come back?

"No, uh, Rose was just asking when you were going for another meeting with him," I covered.

"Oh, not until tomorrow morning. He asked if we could meet tomorrow morning at the hospital instead because he's doing some charity thing. He's such a good person," she said, smiling dreamily.

"She's totally into Garrett," Bella whispered in my ear. "Dude, he's like twenty-seven, I think. That's so gross."

"Yeah, well, this shit isn't going to fly." I muttered

"I'm going to bed. Rose, I set up the guest room down that hall for you and Emmett," Alice said after the third movie was over. We'd all been ready to go to sleep after The Hangover, but were too afraid to leave Alice alone. Bella was passed out and I felt a moist spot on my chest where she was drooling in her sleep. Is it weird that I thought it was cute?

"Is Bella sleeping with you in your room, Edward?" she asked, her head tilted to the side.

"I, uh, don't know," I stammered. "If not, she can have my room and I'll sleep down here."

"I'm not taking your bed," Bella mumbled, sitting up. "We can sleep together without sleeping together."

Emmett giggled like a school girl at her answer and Rose smacked him upside the head before leading him down the hall. Alice just smiled and left the room carrying an arm full of garbage. Bella stood up and straightened her clothes.

"Is that alright with you?"

"Yeah, it's just like sleeping down here, but with a little bit more room," I shrugged. Bella changed in the bathroom while I put on some sleep pants in my walk in closet. She knocked before she walked into the room and nervously stood by my bed that I was already laying in. I lifted the blanket and she slowly slid in next to me, wrapping her arm around my waist.

"Do you think that everything will be okay? With Alice and Jasper?" she asked tiredly.

"I don't know. She's acting weird and that's a lot to say when talking about Alice," I yawned. "We'll just have to see how it goes."

The following day Rose, Emmett, Bella and I went out for breakfast. Alice had been long gone when we woke up, leaving behind a note that said she didn't expect to be back until after lunch, so we were on our own. We ate our pancakes and walked along the strip mall, hitting the local arcade and making asses of ourselves on the Dance Dance Revolution game. Bella was surprisingly good, despite having a walking cast on her foot.

"How dare you doubt my expertise?" she argued, slapping me when I voiced my thoughts.

"I'm just saying," I laughed, holding my hands up in surrender.

We had just made it home and were in the kitchen making sandwiches when the front door slammed shut and a high pitched sob rang through the house. Alice came storming into the kitchen, dressed in a skimpy dress with a large amount of makeup that was practically melting off of her face from the amount of tears pouring from her eyes.

"What happened?" I panicked, rushing over to her.

"Garrett... Ugh... I... stupid," she blubbered, throwing her arms around me as she continued to wail.

"You're going to have to calm down, Alice."

"I thought he liked me," she sobbed. "But no, he's engaged and I, ugh! I thought he liked me. So I dressed nice and he even complimented me. He took me out to lunch after we were done at the hospital and I thought he was trying to kiss me, so I kissed him."

"Oh god," Rose groaned.

"Yeah," Alice hiccupped. "He was just reaching for napkins. He told me that he couldn't help me anymore and now I'm...ugh. I'm going upstairs. I just want to be left alone. I've ruined everything!" She pulled away from me and left the kitchen, leaving the four of us just as confused as we were when Jasper left yesterday.

"Should someone say it or shall I?" Emmett said. "What in the hell was that?"

"I don't know," Rose, Bella and I said simultaneously before turning back to our sandwiches.

"Maybe we should go home and let you be here for Alice or something," Bella said a little while later. We had just finished playing poker, Emmett had ran to get Mexican for dinner and Alice was still holed up in her bedroom, blaring girly love songs and refusing to come out. Rose was currently knocking on her door, trying to give her a bottle of water and a sandwich.

"No. We planned this weekend to hang out and stuff. She's the one that made bad decisions. Let's just hope that she can live with them," I shrugged. "Emmett called Jasper and he's having a hard time, too. Apparently when he confronted Alice about Garrett, she told him she wanted to see other people and that's when he left the house."

"What? Just a week ago she told me that she'd tell you to fuck off if you ever told her to stop being with Jasper," Bella said, her eyes brimming with tears. "What if that happens to us? I mean, my first boyfriend, but I don't want to turn out like them."

I pulled her into my arms and hugged her tight. "That won't be us, Bella. I promise. Things will work out with the two of them, and if not, we'll all have walked away having learned something. Don't let their drama ruin our weekend. Stay please?"

"Alright," she sighed. "It's going to be weird having to leave tomorrow though. I liked spending every waking moment with you yesterday and then our sleeping moments together,too, last night."

"I know. I liked it, too."

Rose came downstairs carrying the tray with her. "She's not opening the door and I can hear her talking to someone on the phone. It sounds like she's maybe leaving Jasper some voice mails or something. I dunno," she rolled her eyes. "Lunch is going to be awkward on Monday, eh?"

"Hmm... there's a reason Edward and I go to the library," Bella laughed.

"Oh no, you don't!' Rose cried. "The two of you are coming to suffer right alongside me tomorrow. Please don't do this. I thought you loved me, Ed."

We finally agreed to eat lunch in the cafeteria with Emmett and Rose on Monday, but it was all in vain. Alice cried all weekend, which resulted in her having a hell of a sinus cold, so she was home sick for the day and Jasper ignored everyone, including our teachers. Bella called Garrett, but he didn't pick up, so she started to feel that maybe he blamed it on her because she was the one that referred Alice to him. All in all our awesome parent-less weekend ended on a pretty sour note.

I Want To Save You: Ch 13

Chapter Thirteen

Two weeks passed and I was finally getting out of the house. My injuries were healing nicely and I was headed to the doctor's office with my mother to get the stitches removed from my abdomen and an all around check up on my lung and arm. The cuts and gashes had all but cleared up and my bruises were turning a weird yellow color. I had been able to walk up the stairs at a slow pace last night and sleep in my bed. The best night's sleep I had had since I woke up in the hospital. I was happy to be recovering, but even that feeling couldn't compare to the feeling I had about the person sitting next to me in the back seat of my mother's car.

"Why are you smiling so goofily?" Bella smirked, squeezing my hand with her fingers that were braided through mine. I had agreed to Bella's proposal of course, but due to the fact that I was completely bedridden, we weren't able to leave the comfort of my living room. Adding the lack of privacy to the fact that my sister did everything in her power to make Bella feel as unwelcome as she could, we hadn't been on a date nor done anything date like yet.

So because we weren't allowed to do anything that involved moving on my part, we talked constantly for hours until either she or I realized that it was past her curfew. I learned that Bella's favorite movie is a tie between Who Framed Roger Rabbit and The Nightmare Before Christmas. Bella's favorite ice cream flavor is Starbucks Signature Hot Chocolate and she buys pints during the winter season and stores them in the freezer for ice cream emergencies. She hated the green M&M's because Ronnie in the second grade shoved one up his nose and then ate it. Her favorite color was blue-green, and when she was little she wanted to be a veterinarian, until she killed every one of her goldfish after a couple of days.

After the accident that killed her two best friends and getting the help she received from Garrett Damon, she decided that she wanted to become a grief counselor for such cases. Bella learned that my favorite movie is Transformers, my favorite ice cream flavor is lime sherbet and that I hated M&M's, choosing Reese's Pieces instead. As a child I wanted to be a professional gamer, but now I was more interested in teaching, even though the economy had pretty much killed any hope for future teachers.

It was weird, but in a good way, the two of us becoming almost completely inseparable after hardly being acquaintances. At night after Bella would rush home she'd text me about how Renee embarrassed the hell out of her about being out past curfew. We'd talk until one of us passed out and the next day Bella would go to school and text me when she could while I did absolutely nothing.

She'd come over immediately after school, bringing me a special surprise each day, like Red Vines or Hostess cupcakes. Alice would bring my homework to me and leave, muttering under her breath the entire time, but we'd just ignore her. The rest of the day was spent doing homework together, stealing glances at each other and then snuggled together on the recliner watching TV or a movie and talking.

Bella would worry about hurting my injuries, but I liked having her tucked under my good arm, so I'd just shoot down her offers to move over to the love seat or down onto the floor in front of me. The first time we sat together on the recliner, my mother came home with an arm full of groceries that she proceeded to drop on the hard wood floor in surprise. Bella jumped up, blushing madly and offered to help her clean up the cracked eggs and spilled milk, and my mom asked her if there was any way Renee would like to trade daughters with her.

Bella ate dinner with my family that night, much to Alice's chagrin. I loved being close to her and danced internally every time she touched me, whether it be a quick hug, a kiss on the cheek or when she linked our fingers together.

"Nothing," I answered, breaking out of my thoughts about the past couple of weeks. I shrugged and looked out the window.

"You're a liar," Bella accused, pinching my hand. "Hmm, if you won't tell me, I'm going to have to guess. You're happy that you're finally out of the bat cave?"

The bat cave was the new nickname for the living room, Bella's attempt at making my time a little brighter. It was so good to see her joke around and laugh without worrying about her feeling guilty almost immediately. The first couple of times we joked around, I'll admit I was on edge waiting for her to freeze up and start getting upset, but she didn't. Another thing I found out about Bella was that she's extremely ticklish on the inside of her right elbow. The giggle she emitted when I lightly touched it was worth the slaps.

"How about you're happy to have such fabulous company on your way to the doctor? I mean seriously, your mom is the best to hang out with. That's the only reason I ever come over."

"Thanks, Bella," my mom chuckled from the front.

"Fine. She gets off at five thirty and is usually home by six fifteen. You can come at six thirty and hang out with her and stop bothering me after school until she gets there," I played along. "Because you were really starting to grate my nerves."

"Pfft, whatever. You know my coming over is the highlight of your day," Bella beamed. If only she knew that her statement was absolutely positively true. "So what is it?"

"Everything. I'm happy to be out of the house for the first time in forever. I'm happy that I have such wonderful company." I squeezed her hand to let her know I was not talking about my mother. "And I'm happy that you decided to come with me."

"Of course, what else would I do on a Friday when we have no school? Sleep in? Nah. That's what freshmen do," she snorted, covering her mouth with her hand in embarrassment.

"Aww, how cute. I'm dating a piglet," I poked her in her side, chuckling when she squealed.

"I hope you get the all clear to go back to school Monday." She bounced once and managed to compose herself. "School is so boring without you. Seriously, no one talks to me except for Rose and Emmett, and the library is so quiet without you there bothering me while I read. I miss you so much."

"How can you miss me when you see me every day?" I smiled, unable to hide my happiness. Bella cared for me, probably not to the extent that I do for her, but that was alright. I'm sure I was starting to cross the border into obsession.

"You know what I mean."

"Alright kids, we're here," my mom called as she pulled into our parking spot. As much as I wanted to jump out of the car and get this over with, I couldn't. My left arm being in a cast made things awkward, seeing as I forced Bella to sit on the right side so that we could hold hands. My mom had to open the door for me and then Bella rushed over to my side of the car to help me stand up. Can we say humiliating?

"I changed my mind. I'm more happy that after this appointment I can take a shower." I sighed missing the feeling of the water cascading over me. I'd managed to take a bath a couple of days before in shallow water so as to not get my stitches and cast wet, but ended up getting stuck, so it's been sponge baths all the way.

"I know, baby. I've already gotten the jumbo trash bags and duct tape to cover your cast," my mom said, walking ahead of Bella and I. She kept turning around and looking at our joined hands, smiling like we'd just told her we eloped last week and she was going to be a grandmother tomorrow. My mother is a weird woman. That's all I'm going to say.

"Is it bad that your mom creeps me out with the way she keeps staring at us?" Bella whispered when we were situated in the waiting room. My mother had gone to sign me in.

"Yeah, I mean your mom uses me to hang shelves and wants to read my palm, but I don't say such mean things about her." I feigned hurt. "I thought you liked my mother?"

"Oh, shut up." Bella rolled her eyes and proceeded to ignore me until the nurse came out and called me back. Bella and my mom stayed in the waiting room looking over the same cooking magazine and talking over recipes while I was poked and prodded. My stitches were removed and the hole was covered with this weird glue like stuff that was waterproof. I couldn't wait to get home and take a three hour shower. I was given an almost clean bill of health and sent home with a milder pain medication so that I could function when I went back to school on Monday.

"So now I get to beat you up without feeling so bad," Bella joked as we drove down the winding roads toward home.

"You felt bad before?" I chuckled. "I hope you don't mind that I'm going to leave you with my mother while I take a shower. I'll try to make it quick."

"I was planning on stealing Bella away for an hour or two anyway. She's staying over for dinner and promised to teach me how to make chicken parmesan. So she won't be bored," my mom offered.

"Yeah, nothing like going over to your boyfriend's house to be used and abused by his mother," Bella giggled, kissing my hand that she still held in hers.

We hadn't been on a date yet, but Bella refused to leave my house the day she asked me out until I agreed to go steady with her. It was a joke when I told her that I wanted to ask her out because that's what boys do, and we argued for twenty minutes about how I was being sexist until Rose came out and acted as judge while Emmett played referee.

My dad wasn't home yet and Alice's car was gone, so it was just the three of us. My mom went to pull out the ingredients for dinner while Bella offered to help me tape my cast up, stating that she had plenty of experience with water proofing limbs. She'd seen me without my shirt a couple of times, but never in the privacy of my bathroom. I was sort of frozen as she unbuttoned my shirt and helped me shrug it off.

"Oh god Edward stop being such a baby. So what if I see your moobs. It's nothing I've never seen before."

"Moobs?"

"Yeah. Man boobs," Bella cackled squeezing my pecks in her hand until they looked like cleavage. "See?"

"Bella!" I squealed, swatting her hands away. Fuck, I just squealed. "Jesus, woman. What's happened to you?"

"Nothing. I'm happy," she said, crinkling her nose. "You really do need a shower. I'm pretty sure that will make me happier."

"Do I stink that bad?" I raised my arm and tried to force her closer.

"If you don't stop, I'm going to duct tape your mouth shut and your good hand behind your back." Bella warned holding up the roll of silver duct tape.

"Fine." I held out my cast covered arm and watched as she expertly taped a trash bag around it. "Ew, my hand is already sweating."

"Stop being a baby."

"Why do you keep calling me a baby?"

"Because you're acting like one and not one of those cute little pudgy ones either. Your acting like one of those ugly, bald, unibrow babies that do nothing but cry twenty-four-seven," she stated, tearing the last piece of duct tape off and leaning up and kissing my lips softly.

One of the most important things I learned in the past two weeks is that Bella Swan loves kiwi flavored Lip Smackers and so do I. The first time she kissed me was when I rented The Nightmare Before Christmasthe day after she admitted that she liked it. I was surprised when she leaned up and pressed her plump lips against mine, and even more so when she forced her tongue into my mouth. After that, I wanted to write a thank you letter to Lip Smackers for their choice in the kiwi flavored product.

I wrapped my good arm around her, drawing her closer to me as our lips worked together, but she pulled away. "Nope, you need to shower, you grimy man. And you might want to trim up a bit." She rubbed my Shay Carl beard before touching her mouth. "I'm starting to get beard burn."

"I'm shaving it all off," I stated reaching for my electric razor.

"No. What? WHY?" Bella screeched, pulling it out of my reach.

"Because it's annoying and you've already said you're getting beard burn?"

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I want you to shave it all off. Just trim it up a little so you don't look like a hobo."

We argued the pros and cons of keeping my facial hair or not for almost ten minutes before Alice banged on the bathroom door, causing the both of us to jump a foot in the air.

"Will you two shut the hell up! Edward, it's your body. Do whatever the fuck you want to do. Shit." She then stomped down the hall

and slammed her bedroom door as loudly as she could.

"She's right. Do what you want." Bella handed me my razor. "I'm going to help your mom cook dinner."

"Bella," I sighed. "Don't let Alice get to you like this please."

"I'm not. She just had a point. I mean I wouldn't listen if you asked me to shave my head because you liked girls with butch haircuts. I'm going down to the kitchen so don't take too long, 'kay?"

"Alright." I pecked her lips once more, then locked the door behind her and turned to the mirror, turning on the razor. After getting rid of the scruff, I jumped into the shower, enjoying the feel of the water cascading on me. Oh, how I missed showering. Sure beats sponge baths. After scrubbing my hair clean, conditioning three times and scrubbing my body as best as I could with as much soap as I could, I finally managed to dry off and put on a fresh pair of boxers and a under shirt.

I tossed my clothes and towel into my hamper and went to my bedroom cutting the trash bag and duct tape off of my arm and inspecting my cast to make sure there wasn't any water damage. Bella was right; she's an expert. I could hear my mother and Bella talking when I finally managed my way down the stairs as slowly as I could. I felt lighter and, if possible, happier now that I was clean until, I heard a third voice.

"You do know you have a home right?" Alice asked, her voice laced with venom.

"Alice Bianca," my mother scolded.

"Yeah, I do. But this is also my boyfriend's house and whether you like it or not, Edward and I are together, Alice," Bella snapped almost as acidly. "I know you don't like me, but you're going to have to get over it because I'm not going anywhere."

"Uh-huh," Alice scoffed.

"I'm serious. What would you do if Edward didn't like Jasper? HUH?" Bella demanded. "You'd tell him to fuck off, right? Esme, I apologize for my language."

"It's fine, Bella," my mother replied, her voice laced with amusement.

"Yeah, I'd tell him to fuck off." Alice screeched. "I've been dating him for almost four years, you twit."

"I'm not talking about now, you friggin' idiot," Bella laughed. "I'm talking about the first time you brought him home. If Edward had told you that he didn't like Jasper, what would you have done?"

Alice got quiet and I looked around the corner to find her seated at the bar faced towards the inside of the kitchen where my mother and Bella were breading chicken. My mom stood with her hands midair covered with batter watching the two of them argue. Bella had washed her hands and her hand was on her hips, her face flushed with anger.

"I would have told him to go to hell because I love Jasper," Alice said after a minute, not looking up from the counter.

"Then why are you acting like this?" Bella asked moving closer as her voice softened. "I mean I'm not saying I'm in love with Edward. Yet," she stressed, causing me to smile. "But you're not even giving me the chance. You were one of the only people to talk to me in school, and now you're treating me like crap because I was a little confused? And don't even try to blame Edward's car accident on me, Alice."

Alice suddenly stood up, her arms flying into the air. "I NEVER SAID IT WAS YOUR FUCKING FAULT!"

My mother made no move to control the altercation, so I entered the kitchen, but neither Alice nor Bella saw me. They stared each other down and I was waiting for them to result to blows with the anger rolling off them.

"Then why are you being such a bitch to me?" Bella demanded. "You were so nice until Edward told me to leave the hospital room. You've already heard what happened and the reasons behind his actions, so why are you still so ignorant to me?"

"Because," Alice said defiantly, crossing her arms in a huff.

"Are you kidding me?" Bella screeched. "'Because'. That's the reason? Damn, I've never wanted to hit someone so badly in my friggin' life."

"Ladies, if you're going to fight, please take it into the back yard," my mother said calmly, going back to her task with a smile on her face. "Or Alice you can get over whatever hold you have on hating Bella. It's obvious she's not going anywhere and the grudge you're holding isn't worth it."

"How can you side with her?" Alice stomped her foot like a two year old. "I'm your daughter."

"And you're being a little immature." My mom turned and washed her hands. "Bella's here to stay, so say your peace and get over it so that she and I can get back to cooking."

When Alice made no move to speak, I grabbed her shoulder and turned her so that she would look at me. "Tell us Alice. Or stop your shit because I'm getting tired of it and I'm pretty sure everyone else is too. You've all but stopped talking to Rose because she brought Bella over here and now you're trying to make her miserable every time she's over here. So either answer the damn question or get over yourself."

"Fine," she huffed, turning to Bella. "I don't like you because you treated my brother like crap and you didn't care that he was hurting. He got in that wreck on the way home from your house from not paying attention because I was bugging him about you."

"I thought you said you didn't blame the accident on me?" Bella asked, her eyes filling with tears.

"I don't. I blame myself. Me wanting to help you after what I found out about your life in Forks. It had taken over my brain and instead of waiting for Edward to just come home and tell me what happened, I badgered him about you. I can't stop thinking that if I'd hung up the phone, he'd have been able to see that car before it hit him. I blame myself." Alice started crying, hugging herself. "I won't ever forget the sounds that I heard on that phone or my brother's voice when he called my name."

"It's something you'll never forget, Alice," Bella said, walking over to my sister and pulling her into a hug. "Coming from someone who's been there, that's something that will haunt you until you learn to deal with it."

"How do I deal with it?" Alice sobbed, throwing her arms around Bella.

"I'm going to introduce you to a friend of mine. His name's Garrett and I think he can help you now that he's done with me," Bella said softly.

I turned to my mom who was smiling widely. "What in the hell was that?" I whispered, gesturing towards Bella and Alice.

"Girl stuff. Don't question it. It's not something that can be explained," my mother shrugged.

Later that night, Bella and I were sitting on the front porch when she turned to me. "Did you know that the accident was bothering Alice so much?"

"No. I just thought she was being a bitch," I replied, shrugging my shoulders. "I thought her issues were just with you. Do you think she really has post-traumatic stress or something?"

"Or something. Garrett will be able to help her, though," Bella smiled.

I just hoped she was right.

I Want To Save You: Ch 12

Chapter Twelve

"Edward Anthony, you better sit your sorry ass back down in that recliner or so help me..." Alice seethed from her perch on Jasper's lap. The two of them were sitting on the couch across from where I was trapped under about ten blankets and an umpteen amount of pillows. My arm was propped up against a cushy beanie pillow.

"Alice, I have to pee," I lied.

"Nuh-uh," she answered, shaking her head. "That's what you said last time and you almost tore your stitches out trying to get upstairs. You need to chill the fuck out and enjoy your little mini vacation while you can."

"Mini Hell's more like it," I muttered, causing Jasper to snort and spray Alice with the Sprite he had been sipping.

"I heard that, Edward!" Alice screeched as she reached for the nearest box of tissues to dab her shirt dry. "Don't make me call mom. She asked me to stay home and keep an eye on you, so stop making my job so friggin' difficult."

"She asked for you to keep an eye on me as in 'if I text you needing something, run downstairs and grab it for me,'" I scoffed. "I'm pretty sure she didn't mean for you to call Jasper over and the two of you to sit here with me the entire day. Trust me, I'm injured enough. I don't need to sit here and witness the two of you trying to eat each other's faces. My retinas weren't injured in the accident, but I'm starting to wish they had been."

"Shut the fuck up!" Alice screamed, standing up. "I'm so tired of hearing you joke about this. Grow up and stop being a fucking tool. Sit down and watch the fucking movie you picked out or I'm going to call mom and tell her what an ass hat your being."

Uh-oh. Alice said 'fuck' three times in less than thirty seconds, a direct inclination that she's about to blow a gasket.

"Fine, Alice. I'll be good." I rolled my eyes. The truth was, I was extremely restless. I had been home for almost a week and not able to leave the living room except to use the bathroom. The incision on my chest and the giant cast on my arm enabled me to even be able to take a fucking shower, so instead of allowing my over protective mother the pleasure of giving me a sponge bath, I'd been wiping down with a wet washcloth and unscented baby wipes.

My dad had given me direct orders that I needed to remain relaxed and somewhat inclined to make sure that I didn't compress the lung that was healing. I'd spent the past six days sitting in this fucking recliner, eating in this recliner and sleeping in it. Yes, it was comfy and plush, but it wasn't my bed.

My family waited on me hand and foot and that pissed me off to no end, but they wouldn't relent. Granted, I sort of needed the bed rest; my entire body was sore and it was still excruciatingly painful to breathe deeply or talk loudly. I tried to get up and walk around after everyone went back to bed the other night and ended up crying like a bitch against the kitchen counter until my father found me. After that I was on watch, but Alice was taking it to the next level. She slept on the couch and I was surprised she hadn't set up booby traps for me just in case I tried to get up at night. I wanted to go sit on the front porch, but Alice argued that Jasper wasn't strong enough to help me, so I sent a text to Rose asking her to bring her strong boyfriend over for the day so that he could help me out.

She replied saying that they were held up for a bit, but they'd come as soon as they could, much to my disappointment. They both had been too busy this week to come see me and I was starting to feel a little neglected by my best friends. She also informed me that they were bringing an extra person, but I just figured it was Bree, Emmett's little four year old sister.

I watched a couple of minutes of the God awful movie that I regrettably picked out, trying to ignore the sound of hushed whispers and lip smacking across the room. The pain started to increase and I knew I was due for another happy pill soon, but I didn't want to interrupt Alice. I had been the reason why she was stuck in the house on a Saturday instead of driving out to Port Angeles with Jasper. It drove me nuts that they couldn't seem to keep it PG while they were in the room with me, but I didn't want to piss her off anymore. She is the keeper of the meds and I didn't want her to deny me pain relief. I gave up on the movie and was just about to try to convince myself into taking a nap when my phone buzzed with a text from Rose.

You know I luv yah rite? it read, so I sent her a reply asking her to elaborate.

Just kno that I wuld never do NE-thing 2 piss u off kay? Im only tryin 2 help, she replied.

I was clearly confused until the front door swung open and three sets of footsteps headed for the living room. Alice and Jasper broke apart as soon as they realized we had company and the three of us were more than surprised when we realized who the third set of footsteps belonged to. Bella Swan stood behind Emmett looking down at the floor and shaking like a fucking leaf with nerves. Her bottom lip was fully sucked into her mouth and I could tell that she was stretching the end of her shirt out by the way she kept pulling and twisting at it.

"What's she doing here?" Alice asked, not bothering to be polite to our guest. Back in the hospital room after Alice informed me that I rudely kicked Bella out of my room, I begged her to go and get Bella to allow me to apologies for how rudely I acted, but Alice refused. She thought that deep down inside of me there was a little part of me that was tired of Bella's shit. I told her she was full of it.

The only thing keeping me from getting a hold of Bella myself was my lack of her number and the fact that I couldn't get up and walk to the bathroom without suffering immense pain, let alone getting in a car and driving to her house. Alice refused to help me out and continued her 'I hate Bella crusade'. As close as I was to Rose, I didn't want to bring her into my problems, thinking maybe she sided

with Alice. I was evidently wrong on that account.

"Edward called and invited us over," Rose shrugged. "I told him that we were bringing an extra person and he didn't say there was anything wrong with that."

Alice's eyes turned into little slits as she eyed the fidgeting girl behind the big hulk of a boy. Her hand rested on her hip, her tiny foot tapping harshly against the wood floor. "She's not invited into this house. You need to leave," she directed towards Bella.

"Now listen here A-" Rose started, but Bella cut her off.

"It's fine, Rose. I know I'm not welcome here," she said softly, just above a whisper. "It's not like I came here on my own. Rose practically forced me into the car without telling me where we were going. I'll just go and call my mom."

"No you won't."

"That sounds like a great idea."

Rose and Alice spoke at the same time, scowling at each other as they spoke. "This isn't your house, Rose. You need to be respectful," Alice said.

"And you need to stop being such a little bitch, Ali," Rose snarled. "Seriously, if you focused on something other than yourself for five goddamn minutes, you'd realize that Edward's turning into a fucking emo after what happened at the hospital."

"I have noticed!" Alice leapt forward, but Jasper grabbed her. I tried to stand up, but couldn't manage to; the pain was doubling as I started to get excited. I attempted to get their attention, but I couldn't yell or talk loudly for that matter, so their yelling drowned me out.

"No you haven't! You weren't even there when he woke up later!" Rose yelled, her hands tightly fisted that her knuckles were white. I knew she was close to punching the shit out of my sister, but there was nothing I could do. "You were too busy making out with Jasper out in his car when he woke up."

"What does this have to do with anything?" Alice questioned. "He didn't want her there. He told her to get the fuck out."

"He did not tell her to get the fuck out, you drama queen. He told her he didn't want her there." Rose rolled her eyes and turned to me, her face full of regret. "You woke up later that night, Edward. You were pretty fucking high as a kite, but you told me that you sent her away because you didn't want her to see you all banged up after your accident. You couldn't bear for her to be in any pain, so you sent her away."

"You're lying," Alice accused.

"Bitch please." Rose rolled her eyes before turning to me. "The only reason Emmett and I haven't been over here every day is because we were with Bella. So Jasper is going to take Alice upstairs and Emmett and I are going to help you out to the porch so that you can get some fresh air. Then you and Bella are going to talk."

Alice scoffed, but Rose just sent her a death glare. "You and Bella are going to talk because it's obvious that shit needs be to be settled before one of you starts cutting yourself. Seriously, the two of you make me want to go hang out in a goddamn Hot Topic or some shit."

Alice looked over at me in question. "You're going to listen to this bullshit?"

I nodded at the moment, not caring that she was the keeper of the pain medication. She huffed and grabbed Jasper's arm pulling him up the stairs and slamming her bedroom door roughly. Bella was still staring at the floor, fidgeting like a crack addict, not making any inclination that she was with or against the plans.

And then there were four.

"Alright, Edward. You're looking a little shitty, so let me know where your pain meds are before we try to move yah," Rose instructed, pulling blankets off of my lap, careful not to jostle me too much.

Ten minutes later, I was sitting on a low to the ground plastic chair that Rose covered with blankets to make it cushiony. I had taken my pill with a few crackers and was just waiting for it to take effect to dull the ache in my chest and arm. Bella was sitting directly across from me with her back against one of the pillars that held the roof up. She had yet to look at me.

"Alright you two. Emmett and I are going inside to watch TV. Just call if you need something," Rose said.

"Yeah, no fighting. Eddie's already messed up enough," Emmett joked before giving me a wink. "Don't do anything I would do."

I watched the door shut before I turned back to Bella, who was playing with the strap to her walking boot nervously. I rested against my pillow enjoying the warm sun that I hadn't seen in days.

"So are we going to talk or just sit in awkward silence?" I asked after a few minutes.

"Um, talk I guess?" Bella said quietly.

"How'd you know I was in the hospital?" I asked, keeping my eyes closed because I liked the way the sun made everything red under my eyelids.

"I was there with Garrett. I had called him after you left and asked if he could talk to me. He was headed for the hospital to do something and came to pick me up. We drove past your car." Her voice broke off. "They were pulling it up onto a tow truck and I just knew something bad happened to you."

"I'm sorry," I whispered, opening my eyes and looking down at her.

"You got in an accident and almost died and you're apologizing?" Bella asked her voice full of confusion.

"Well, I know how hard it must have been for you to see that," I replied, shrugging my shoulders. "I'm sorry that I was so rude to you when you came in. I mean... I'm sure it took guts to even come to the hospital and then I treated you that way."

"You weren't as bad as Alice evidently told you that you were." Bella smiled, looking up at me for the first time and wincing.

"Do I look that bad?" I tried joking.

"No, no. You look perfect, Edward. I mean... for someone with a broken arm and other injuries. I'm just happy that you're alright for the most part. Garrett told me that it wouldn't be a good idea to go to the hospital. I think maybe he was worried that you had died in the accident and was worried about how that would affect me. I refused to let him take me home and I practically attacked the nurse until she gave me your information." Bella stopped talking and her face flushed.

"What happened? Did they give you trouble?"

"They did until..." she choked nervously. "I told them I was your girlfriend and then she sort of gave me your information willy nilly. That's dangerous, you know? I mean anyone could have said that."

"Eh, it's fine. I'm pretty sure you're the only one that used that excuse," I shrugged.

"Anyway, I sort of contemplated it for a while, whether or not I was going to go in after what happened at my house," Bella continued as she wiped her eyes. "And then your friends showed up and Emmett sort of made my decision for me."

"Yeah, he's pretty persuasive," I chuckled, wincing in pain only a little.

"Nah, just huge and intimidating." Bella giggled before becoming serious once again. "When you told me that you didn't want me there I figured it was because I'd ruined any chances of being friends with you. I accepted it. Rose showed up at my house the next day and she and Emmett have never really left except to go home and sleep. And then she forced me here today."

"Yeah, she learned that from Emmett. I'm glad you're here. I couldn't exactly come over to your house to apologize and I don't have your number, and it doesn't' help that Alice is acting the way she is. I'm sorry about that by the way."

"No, don't be," Bella defended. "You two are close. I know that. Don't ever apologize about that. She's right anyway. I'm pretty much acting like a damn yo-yo with you."

"Huh?" I grunted in confusion as she scooted closer to me.

"I lied, Edward. It's all a part of my guilt over Jake and Vanessa. Garrett came over and hung out with Emmett, Rosalie and I, and helped me realize that, especially in these past couple of days," she smiled before continuing, "I started to like you and that's why I pushed you away."

"That doesn't make sense," I blurted out.

"Let me finish please. I started to feel things for you and I immediately thought back to Vanessa and Jake. I felt guilty about being happy, Edward." Bella started to cry and I wanted so badly to get up and comfort her. "How can I be happy without them? How can I move on with my life when they never got to live theirs?"

"That's just it, Bella," I sighed. "They're gone and now you need to live your life to the fullest or their deaths are in vain."

"I know that now. Garrett's going to make one hell of a psychologist," she said, smiling.

"So what does this mean?"

Bella stood up and walked over to me, kneeling in front of my chair and taking my hand in both of hers. "Edward Cullen, will you go on a date with me?"

I Want To Save You: Ch 11

Chapter Eleven

Dying is painful. Seriously.

That shit you see in the movies where people are killed instantly and they go off to the hereafter lickity split? Yeah, instead of the bright white light and being handed a pair of wings and a halo, I suffered immense pain. I could barely breathe. It felt like I could exhale, but inhaling was excruciatingly painful.

I was ready to die, to go to heaven and get away from this feeling. My entire left side felt like it was on fire, as if I were being burned alive and it took me a little while to realize that I wasn't dead or dying. So many noises could be heard all around me, but I couldn't decipher where it was coming from or what it was in general.

I lifted my head, immediately regretting the action as the pain flowed from the top of my skull to my toes. I then opened my eyes and found myself face to face with a giant tree trunk. It was then that I remembered the car accident.

Without moving my neck, I tried to assess the situation and realized I was seriously fucked. My left arm was twisted painfully almost behind my back against the back of my seat; my shirt was covered in blood. I could tell the blood was coming from my nose because it was flowing freely, tickling my lips and neck. My legs were fine from what I could tell, just a little scrunched up in the position I found myself in. My right arm had somehow weaved itself into the steering wheel, and I was facing towards the driver side door of my car instead of the front.

The worst part was the branch protruding from the trunk of the huge tree my car had smashed into and had stabbed me in the chest. Every breath I took I could feel it inching further and further.

"Hey dude, you alright in there?" a voice called from the passenger side of the car.

"Not really," I gasped out almost silently in an effort not to waste too much of the precious air I was trying to conserve. I could hear him going through my glove compartment rustling through my stuff. "Edward Cullen?"

I grunted in response.

"Well, my name is Marcus, and I'm going to sit with you while the rest of my crew gets the other car out of the way so that we can get to you out properly. I want you to remain calm and as still as you can, it shouldn't take too long. We have an ambulance waiting so as soon as we get that asshole's car out of the way we'll get you out," he said, his voice calming. "Now I can't see the front of you and from the sound of it, you're in a great deal of pain, so I want you to try your hardest to communicate with me. Alright Edward?"

I managed another grunt.

"Good, are you in pain?"

I was grunting before he even finished his sentence trying to convey that I was indeed in a great deal of pain.

"Alright, well, I'll see what I can do for you once I get inside. Don't worry about replying," he directed as the sound of metal crunching filled the air. "My boys are pulling the SUV off of you now, so don't be alarmed if you're jostled again. Try to remain as still as you possibly can. Don't worry about replying."

He wasn't lying when he warned me about the jostling. I cried like a bitch as the branch was pressed a little farther into me and both of my arms wrenched painfully. My tears were stinging as they flowed down my cheeks, getting into the cuts I evidently acquired. Marcus was a man of his word and I was surprised when he wrenched open the back passenger door of my car so that he could get up close and personal to assess the situation.

His voice went from calm, cool and collected as he explained his movements to me so I didn't get startled when he got to me, straight to panic as soon as he saw the front of my body. He immediately called for backup and demanded tools and equipment I'm not even going to try to name. He basically told me exactly what I already knew, which was fucked, but right after he said that he was going to get me the fuck out of there. It was weird hearing a paramedic in charge of keeping me alive until I got to the hospital cursing like a sailor, but for some reason it comforted me. It was sort of like having Emmett with me, but a smart, safety conscious Emmett.

"Alright Edward," Marcus said putting a plastic neck brace on me to secure my head. "I'm going to have to sedate you because there's no way I'm letting you suffer through us having to saw this fucking limb and getting you out of here. You're going to be fine, so don't worry. You're in good hands bro."

I grunted and felt the prick of the needle amidst all of the pain I was already going through.

"It's alright dude. Just relax and let this work for you. You'll see your family soon. I promise," Marcus soothed before I fell into an awkwardly peaceful sleep.

Somehow I woke up as soon as we arrived at the hospital. Marcus was holding an oxygen mask to my face while the paramedics worked to get me into the ER. He assured me that I was going to be fine before passing me off to the doctors and nurses. Looking into the eyes of Dr. Gerandy, one of my father's coworkers, I immediately felt the panic rise. I didn't want my father to have to see me like this. It would kill him. Especially when they told him that I wasn't wearing a seatbelt.

"Edward, you're going to need to calm down son," Dr. Gerandy said as I was wheeled into an operating room. The panic doubled, I'd never liked operating rooms. Dr. Gerandy of course knew this and gave me an apologetic smile as he pulled out a syringe. "We'll see you in recovery, Edward. You're in good hands."

I didn't even feel the prick of the needle under Dr. Gerandy's calm hand. He instructed me to count back from ten while someone replaced my oxygen mask with another. He started spewing out technical terms and I made it to nine before my world turned black for the third time today

Waking up after surgery isn't like in the movies either, I've come to realize. I assumed I'd have an underwater experience where all of my loved ones came to pay their respects and beg me to wake up. No... my welcome back to the world moment was a little unorthodox to say the least.

"I can't believe that bitch had the nerve to come here," Alice's fuming voice was the first thing I heard waking up. It seemed appropriate, her voice being the last thing I heard before the accident.

"Alice, I think your being irrational," Rose whispered, her voice an octave or two lower than usual as if she had a head cold or something. "You didn't get his full story before the acc-ident," she choked out.

"Babe, don't cry." Emmett's voice was solemn, a distinct difference from the sarcastic tone I'd grown up knowing.

"I think we need to get out of this room for a little while," Jasper reasoned from across the room. "Everyone's getting restless."

"Fuck you!" Alice spat. "I'm not leaving until my brother wakes up. Besides, the last time we left, we came back and found her here. You're out of your fucking mind if you think I'm going to let that shit happen again."

"Babe, you need to calm down," Jasper's voice drew closer, and I opened my eyes wincing at the bright lights above where I lay. Jasper's shaggy blond hair was the first thing I saw hunched over my little sister as she cried. Emmett was sitting in a recliner chair with Rose tucked under his arm while she wiped her eyes. Needless to say my friends looked like they hadn't eaten or slept in a few days. I tried to talk to get their attention, but coughed roughly instead. One by one they froze before rushing over to the bed while Jasper exited the room.

"Oh Edward!" Alice cried, kissing my hand that she held gingerly in her tiny ones. "Are you really awake now?"

"W-what do you mean?" I rasped, my throat felt like it was on fire.

"Well, you woke up yesterday and they removed your breathing tube and chest tube, but you were in too much pain so they put you back under. You don't remember?"

I shook my head, willing the fire in my throat to smoulder and die out. Rose started looking around the room for something. "Where the fuck is that little water thingy that they brought in here yesterday for Ed?" she snapped, throwing Coke cans into the small garbage pail by the door.

"The nurse took it away when she came in this morning, babe," Emmett replied, giving me a wide smile. "You scared the shit out of me, bro."

"Me too," Rose and Alice said simultaneously, but didn't laugh like they usually did. The door opened before I could ask any questions and Jasper led my parents into the room. My mother immediately accosted me with soft kisses and a lot of crying. My dad sort of pushed her out of the way, claiming that the last thing I needed was her having a mental breakdown, before he kissed my forehead and told me that he was ecstatic that I was alright.

Then the doctor walked in and demanded that everyone but family needed to leave because he didn't want the excitement to overwhelm me. Dr. Gerandy gave my knee a squeeze as he started to check me over.

"It's good to see you awake, boy."

I tried to reply, but my throat was too dry. Instead it sounded like sandpaper. Dr. Gerandy offered to go get some water for me when the door opened and Rose walked in holding a bottled beverage. "You should fire your fucking night nurse. She's a bitch and she doesn't replace things when she takes them." She sent me a wave before exiting the room.

Dr. Gerandy just chuckled. Everyone that knew Rosalie Hale knew that she was a major bitch with a potty mouth. She wasn't going to change and to this day I haven't seen a person willing to try to change her.

He opened the bottle and grabbed a straw out of one of the many cabinets on the far side of my room before placing it between my lips. When the bottle was halfway gone, he pulled away and I took a deep breath feeling the pain in my side start to twinge.

"Careful, son," Dr. Gerandy chuckled, putting the bottle on a side table before sitting on the edge of my bed. "I know you just woke up, but we need to cover a few things before you run off to those frat parties and raves or whatever it is you kids do these days."

I couldn't help but laugh, yelping when the pain became more apparent.

"Sorry my boy. You broke your left arm, if the cast wasn't obvious. Your sister tried to talk us into giving you a rainbow colored cast, but I had your back and decided to go with blue cause it's my favorite color. Hope you don't mind."

"No," I croaked. "It's fine."

"Any who. Broken arm, broken nose... we had to reset that bad boy and you managed to escape without the black eyes, so you're still pretty. You had surgery to remove the tree limb from your abdomen but nothing to worry about. We'll remove the stitches in a few weeks and you'll be right as rain."

He paused, taking a breath before turning back to the file he was reading out of. "The impact of the collision caused your lung to collapse, so that's really the only thing we need to monitor. You'll be in bed resting for a couple of weeks, so I hope you got the new Bioshock game. My grandson is obsessed with that stupid game. He's been playing it for a week straight, so it should definitely keep you entertained."

"What about school? I can't just miss two or three weeks willy nilly." I started to worry about how this accident was going to affect my graduating on time.

"Have no fear big brother. I've already talked with your teachers yesterday after the 'rents." Alice shot an annoyed look at mom and dad before turning back to me. "Made me go. Every one of your teachers said that you could go the entire time without doing your work and pass with B's because you're such a geek. I told them that the great Edward Cullen would never accept a B, so they agreed to start sending you work through me next week."

"Thanks," I sighed out, the pain starting to become more apparent, but I didn't want to be drugged up. Something dawned on me.

"How long was I out of it?"

"Oh, Jesus Edward," Alice laughed. "You're so dramatic. It's Saturday. You got in the wreck the day before yesterday. You didn't go into a coma in the operating room or anything."

"Alice Bianca Cullen," my mother scolded. "Be nice to your brother. He's be-"

"Been through a lot," Alice cut her off. "I know." Her face fell and I could sense that she was getting upset, so I patted the spot on my bed with my good hand and she climbed up next to me, despite the comments from both doctors and my mother. "Thanks."

"You're welcome" I answered, wincing as my stitches pulled.

"Are you in pain, Edward?" Dr. Gerandy asked. "Because now's your chance to get all the pain meds you can get. We're sending you home under the care of your father in the next day or two, so take advantage."

"No, I'm fine. Maybe in a little while."

It took me two hours to convince my parents that I would be fine for the night by myself. It took Alice another hour to convince the three of us that she should stay with me. Her not having school the following day won the battle, and dad pulled a few strings so that she wouldn't get in trouble for being here all night.

"I can't fucking stand green Jello," I groaned, poking the gelatin with my spoon and watching it bounce right back to it's normal form.

"I know, but you're on a strict liquids diet," Alice said, pulling her bag into her lap and rifling through it. "That's why I went and got you some real Jello!" she cheered, pulling out a six pack of strawberry Jello. I reached for it as best as I could, trying not to agitate my injuries too much. but she pulled it away.

"Who do you love?"

"You Alice," I sighed, rolling my eyes and holding my hand expectantly for the snack pack.

"Who's the best sister in the world?"

"You Alice. Now give me the Jello or I'll page the nurses and tell them you're just here to steal all the medical supplies."

"Fine. You're no fun." she relented, going the extra step to open the foil top for me. "How's the pain?"

"Eh, feels like I got hit by an SUV. I could go for a jog in a few minutes, yah know?" I joked, but Alice surprised me by bursting out in tears.

"I'm so sorry," she sobbed. "It's my fault. If I wasn't so fucking nosy about you and her," she snarled at the last word, "you would be alright. You would have seen that jackass before he ran into you."

The jack ass's name was Tyler Henson. At two o'clock in the afternoon he was drunk off his ass and decided to make a beer run when he didn't need any more alcohol. The liquor flowing through his system had him so inebriated that he didn't see the stop sign or me before he plowed into my car. Tyler wouldn't be getting in trouble with the law over his bad decisions though. By the time the ambulances arrived to the scene, he died of a massive heart attack. People would think that he got what he deserved. I don't really know what to think.

"Alice, it's not your fault. Even if I had seen him, I wouldn't have been able to get out of the way fast enough, even if the woman in the car behind him had honked her horn earlier." I kissed the top of her head. "No blame, squirt."

Alice mumbled something, but I only made out the last word.

"What about Bella?"

"Nothing," she said, pulling away and grabbing the Jello from my good hand, proceeding to try to feed me.

"You're lying through your teeth. What about her?"

"She came to see you yesterday," she muttered.

"She did?" My heart started to beat erratically.

"Well yeah, according to the nurses she just sat in front of your door. She kept going to open the door, but then she'd chicken out. She'd been here for about ten minutes when me and the gang got back from the cafeteria." Alice scooped out some Jello and held it up. She fed me a bite of it before I said something.

"And? Did she come in and see me? Did she ever make it through the door?" I asked, immediately alarmed for Bella. It had to have been difficult, her coming to see me after a car accident. Alice was quiet as she tried to shovel more Jello into my mouth. "No, I don't want anymore. Tell me what happened Alice. Did you tell her to leave?"

"No."

"Well then, what happened?"

"You really don't remember?" she asked, fidgeting with my nurse button.

"No. Jesus, will you just tell me already?"

"She's extremely selfish," Alice rolled her eyes. "She was sort of freaking out the second she saw us, wanting to know if you were alright as if she wanted us to comfort her. Anyway, Emmett invited her inside and she started crying as soon as she saw yo-"

"Is she alright?"

"I don't see why you care Edward. You told her to get out."

My heart stuttered to a stop.

"What?" I croaked.

"Well, not exactly that nicely," Alice shrugged. "You took one look at her and told her to get the fuck out. After that they had to come in and give you more pain medication and you were sort of in and out of it for a while."

What?