Action

-*+ 59 +*-

15 July 2020

-= Edward =-
  I knew I should have stayed and worked it out with her. I had fought every instinct in my body that had attempted to force me to turn my car around and head back to her house. And even now, as I sat at my desk ignoring her attempts to contact me, I still refused to give in.
  Technically she didn't do anything wrong I guess. But something about her made it so difficult to not become jealous. That, and the churning guilt eating away at my insides...
  I knew she'd find out about Victoria eventually... but I thought eventually would be years from now, when I can tell her about it and we would laugh. Not so soon into the beginning; not before our future had even begun.
  I didn't know how she would take it. I got myself into this shit to begin with of course - I had been the one to omit the information from the get-go, and lied through my teeth while finding any excuse to make it seem okay.
  Even now, as I sat here thinking to myself, I couldn't bring myself to terms with the events of tonight. I had messed up. Victoria got into my head and now I couldn't change it. I couldn't take it back. And I couldn't even bring myself to tell the woman I loved. How could I tell her that I—
  My thought process was interrupted as Rose wandered in, leaning her hip against the doorway.
  "Edward? What are you doing home already? Where's Bella?" She asked, wearing nothing more than one of Emmett's button downs and her golden hair disheveled as it cascaded down one shoulder.
  "At home," I said simply. I picked a pen out from my pencil holder and began clicking it, futilely attempting to avoid the subject.
  "She's home? Alone?" Her voice raised an octave as she stood to attention. I glanced up and noticed a flicker in her eyes. They were such a beautiful shade...
  Stop, Edward! What the fuck are you doing?! I shook my head, clicking the pen again. My head was messed up, and I needed to get myself under control. I didn't know what was wrong with me, but if I didn't fix it, I was going to fuck everything up. I couldn't lose Bella. No matter what.
  After a moment, I answered her. "Yes. Why?"
  She pursed her lips before crossing her arms, the hysteria dimming as her eyes dimmed back to a steely greenish blue. "No reason..." Rosalie murmured to herself before swiftly gliding out the door.
  Well that was odd.
  Checking my phone again, I noticed Bella had stopped trying to contact me. I sighed. What had I expected? Her to continue all night? No, but I had hoped.
  After about fifteen minutes of self induced misery, I finally mustered the courage to grab my keys and walk back out into the bitter night.

—=+=*=+=—

-= Bella =-
  My blood ran cold. Why did everything bad always have to happen to me?
  There was no mistaking the eerie tinkling sound of the glass clattering sharply against the linoleum. The initial break was so loud that I was confident the intruder either didn't know I was home, or - I gulped - didn't care.
  I knew the only reason they wouldn't care would be if they were confident that I wouldn't have the opportunity to incriminate them. And that meant that I would have to not be around to do it.
  Taking deep breaths, I reminded myself of the very few self defense techniques I knew before dialing 9-1-1.
  Unfortunately that still meant I had about ten minutes or so to kill until the cops arrived, so I had to prepare myself for the worst. I could hear footsteps downstairs now, and I noticed that my throat had run very dry. What was I supposed to do? Who was here? What did they want?
  I gave up on my attempts to call Edward and Rosalie, so I grabbed my old hockey stick from under my bed, unlocked my window - just in case it became necessary to jump - and closed myself in the closet.
  Each second felt like hours as I heard the footsteps tapping on my floor as the intruder wandered around my home. Shards of glass skittered aimlessly across the floor as they were unintentionally kicked around. I didn't realize I was holding my breath until I gasped at the conclusion that the footsteps were headed up the stairs.
  My blood ran cold in my veins as I struggled to cling to my sanity and remain resourceful. But just as suddenly as the footsteps approached, they stopped. It was dead silent. I could hear my pulse pounding, terrified in my ears. My eyes squeezed close on their own accord, and some sixth sense of mine caused the hair to prickle on the back of my neck. I could've sworn I heard a car door shut outside. I prayed and prayed that it was the cops.
  I heard a rumble and a creak as I recognized the closet doors in front of me being pried open, and I couldn't bring myself to open my eyes until I felt the cold metal ring against my forehead and heard the chilling voice that sent razor chills down my spine. The gun cocked.
  "Hello again, Isabella."
  I glanced up. A lump in my throat caused my voice to come out no louder than a squeaky whisper.
  "You?!"