Forever

14. War (Part 3)

"You think she's yours." Emmett snarled, reaching out a hand and driving it into the dirt beside Edwards head, deeming him paralyzed as he looked up at Emmett's form warily "Yet it was my name she was screaming that night you left, she was moaning my name while on the phone with you." Edward didn't have a chance to grit out a response, shouting in agony as a fist drove into his stomach, and digging beneath his ribs and pulling back, he gasped at the sharp crunch as his ribs were torn from their position.

"I've been looking forward to this, and I'm going to relish teaching you your lesson, its time you pulled your head from your stuck-up ass." A hand enclosed around his neck, easily lifting him from the ground, whilst the other hand grabbed his wrists and paralyzing him.

"You are going to kill your own brother." He gasped, kicking his feet out, his arms felt weak from the pain inside his chest, and despite how much he fought the grip over his neck wouldn't let up.

Emmett chuckled, walking them forward to the group. "No, I'm going to make you realize what you've lost." He shoved him down into the ground, his heel digging into Edward's back, his face shoving into the dirt.

The broken sounds of Esme's sobs were muffled as she turned her face into Carlisle's chest, weeping for her daughter and her son, yet knowing nothing could be done. A solemn silence drowned the group as Emmett stared at Bella.

"Bella, tell him." Emmett said softly, looking at her before pointing down at the crumbled man beneath his foot.

"Yes, please, explain this disgusting mistake, bore me with excuses." Edward spat, his voice muffled by the dirt and grass, but he choked as Emmett's hand pressed into his neck. "How could you do this Bella, after everything I've done?" He choked, breathless

Her eyes watered, her teeth gritting at his tone.

"I'm sorry it happened this way." She said softly, "But I won't apologies for my choice." Edward growled the sound choking off as Emmett's heel ground deeper.

"You were controlling me Edward, I didn't want to change, I like who I am. it started with sex, and then it just increased into other things. You were ready, but you thought you could dictate when I was ready... I gave myself to you countless times, only to be rejected, and I thought I could deal, but I couldn't, because it wasn't  just sex, it was everything." Edward looked up at her, shocked.

"But in my time..."

She screamed, glaring. "I'm not from that time, I don't live by that time, and I don't live by your rules." He fell silent.

"And then you made it worse by dictating everything else, my relationships, my free time, everything! You made it easy for me to give myself to someone else." Emmett released him, stepping away and he watched as Edward stumbled to his feet, his eyes wide and speechless.

"I'm not an object." Bella spat, "And I won't be won, let me go, it's over." She pulled off her ring, and pressed it to his chest. "In the end, it wasn't Jacob you should've been fighting against, it was yourself, and you lost. I'm sorry Edward, I loved the idea of you, but that Idea faded."

The ring fell to the ground, and Bella stepped away. The movement felt bigger than it was meant to, the broken expression on his face broke her heart, and for the first moment she accepted that she was abandoning a part of herself, a part of her life which she would never be able to come back to.

"Don't do this Bella!" He begged, bending over to grab the ring from the dirt, "I can't live without you, please! I need you!" He stepped towards her, his hand reaching out desperately. She shook her head, her back meeting Emmett's chest, and she grasped his shirt tightly, nervously. "You need to learn to live alone, without needing someone Edward, it isn't healthy to put someone one a pedestal, and it isn't fair."

He scowled when he saw the contact, his eyes narrowing in disgust. "What's so good about him, why is he better than me?!" He spat, "I would've preferred it if you chose Jacob! But him, he's a mere child, his brain doesn't function properly! He constantly resorts to using his fists, and on top of that, he can't control his strength!"

Bella grasped Emmett's wrists as she felt him begin to shift forward, a rumble inside his chest. She held him back, her teeth baring as she stepped ahead of him, pointing her finger at Edward.

"You are so laughably pathetic." She growled, "You can't accept my decision so you stoop so low as to insult the person I chose." She tore away the bracelet on her wrist, the gift he had given her, and threw it at his chest.

"I didn't want to tell you what made him better, but you know what, you fucking deserve to hear it." She backed away and grabbed Emmett's hand, "He treats me like I'm no less or more equal than he is, he's normal, and he doesn't make me feel like he's doing me a favor by staying. It's a healthy relationship, he doesn't expect anything from me, and he only wants me! Not a version of me he can build, not the me that would've existed in his time. Me who wears tracksuits and tank tops, that has a best-friend called Jacob, me who loves the summer, he hasn't tried to dictate me. When I gave myself to him, he didn't make me feel guilty about it, I gave and he took, because that's what it should be! I love him, and I'm not going to have you destroy that, I choose him, not because he's got money, not because he's a gentleman, but because he loved me for me, that's what love is Edward!"

Her voice was getting more uncontrolled in her anger, and she grabbed a hand full of dirt, "Don't you dare demean him! Because he is stronger than you, he tried to keep the peace between him and Rose for years, and then today he tried to stop you from fighting, but you seem to have this impression that you own me! And you want to know one last thing, we fucked! And we did it wherever we pleased, and you want to know something even bigger! He tasted my blood, and he still controlled himself, so no, his control is bigger than yours has ever been, you can pamper a damn piano. but me, oh no, that's damn impossible! Its over Edward, I'm done with your high and mighty attitude, leave, stay, I honestly couldn't care less, I apologized for my part in this whole ordeal, my actions weren't good and I know that, but you couldn't accept it, you've hurt Esme, Alice, Carlisle and Jasper, people who never deserved your Bullshit."

She sucked in a breath, and turned away from him, two large arms wrapping around her body and pulling her into a tight hug.

"Hey it's okay, calm down." It was only after hearing those words that she realized she was crying. large tears running down her cheeks and onto Emmett's Shirt. She sucked in a wobbly breath and released it into a wet sob.

"I think it's best you go Edward." Alice said from beside them, "Come back later once- once Bella is ready to look at you without throwing a stone at your head, accept this because you'll be living with it for the rest of your life, until you find someone you can treat properly."

Bella heard the sharp growl, and then the hushed whisper of wind as dust lifted from ground. Then he was gone, leaving nothing but irritation, frustration and a sense of heavy relief.