6:14:19 → j. hale, a. cullen

21; in which she's afraid

4:20:22

Warm water haphazardly cascaded down her matted locks as she hunched forward, the scrape on her forehead burning as it ran against her small wound. Harsh whispers circulated around the bathroom she found solace in, her shoulders jerking in fright as each voice rose in volume.

✾

"I think this is the right time. We've been pushing this away for far too long. Look what just happened. She was put in danger because she didn't know about us." The familiar voice rang out in a monotonous tone, pausing as a shoe began to tap against the wooden floorboards. "Edward, she was just attacked. She was assaulted, told that we were vampires, and just witnessed us ripping the heads off of two supernatural creatures, who just so happen to be just like us. This is not the right time. She needs to be alone, to get her thoughts together and to calm down before we move forward. It wouldn't be fair to Em, and it wouldn't be fair to Jasper and Alice either."

Emmett hummed an agreement and slung an arm around his upset mate, before securing her in a side hug and gently moving her away from the sound of the Swan's frightened and irregular heartbeat.

Bella went to move forward to stop them from leaving, but Edward held her back, his face in a hardened expression. Turning her head to look out the nearest window, Bella's heart sunk as she watched Alice physically hold Jasper back from entering the house, his face crumpled in his own pain.

"What happened after she got away?" Bella asked in a shaky tone, her fingers paling against the cotton sleeves she was tightly holding onto.

"Nothing. She just shook the entire ride home. Rosalie said she didn't even cry, from shock. She just sat in the back of the car, barely breathing, not registering a word anyone was trying to say to her." Edward said, changing his tone to become more soft as his mate became emotional in front of him.

"She didn't know, about what was going on between us, the wolves, what you all are. She was innocent. She was attacked, Edward. She can't even look at me, because she knows that I already knew what you are, that I knowingly put her in danger." Bella cried out, her chest heaving as tried to catch her breath. Bella shot out a hand to stop her mate from tugging her into his chest, but he gently overpowered her and steered her away from the bathroom's door and to her bedroom.

"She isn't mad at you, and you know that. What she's going through is shock. In a few days, she'll be just fine." Bella shrugged Edward's arms from around her, before turning around and looking into her boyfriend's golden eyes. "No. No she won't. She's terrified, Edward. The first time she allowed herself to open up to me again, she gets let down by me, because I was protecting you. I was protecting us." Bella blinked back tears as she sat down on the edge of her bed, her hands shakily landing on the quilt her sister made for her with their father. "I put myself first, while thinking I was doing a favor for her, for Charlie. She saw two people get killed. How is she ever going to be okay in a few days?"

Bella jumped up to her feet as she heard the pouring of water come to a halt and the bathroom door open in hesitation. A hesitant smile twitched on her lips as she heard the small patters of her older sister's feet move toward her bedroom door, but it quickly fell as the footsteps unsteadily made their way in the opposite direction. Before she could call out for her sister, Edward walked toward her window and unlocked the latched, looking back at her with a grimace.

"She's still bleeding. Make sure she gets checked out. I don't want Charlie to get worried," Edward paused at the sound of his sibling's car starting up, before looking back at his mate with worry. "Will you be alright?" Bella forced herself to nod, her fingers trembling as they weakly wrapped around her doorknob.