Love, Fun, and Disasters (Book 2)

Chapter 27

Bella's POV

It's been four days and I've only gotten up out of bed to go to the bathroom. I haven't eaten and don't really feel like it. I haven't said a single word either.

The entire family is really worried, especially my sisters. I can hear their whispers at times and I feel bad but just can't handle doing anything.

What hurts me the most is that I can hear Lisa crying in the middle of the night. Everyone else is asleep but when you've stayed in bed for so long, you don't sleep very well anymore. So I'm awake.

I have this horrible feeling she cries because of me. Several times every day now she tries to get me to talk to her or get up. Everyone else has tried too but I never give in. The energy has been sucked out of me.

It's around 8 pm and I see Christina and Dani walk into the room. They walk over to my bed and look at me. They're both trying not to cry.

"Bella, please say or do something!" Dani pleads. I remain motionless much to their dismay.

"We miss you," Christina says while hugging Dani. I want to jump up and hug them and tell them I've missed them too but I can't seem to.

I'm frozen here in my bed, with my thoughts as company. It's all I allow myself to have, I'm too scared to do anything.

Christina and Dani leave and I hear Dani whisper, "I miss her so much Christina, I need her." I feel tears slide down my cheeks as I listen to Christina's response.

"We all need her, she just needs time to realize she needs us too."

I continue to lay there until I see Katherine, Christina, and Amy walk in. Christina, in order to protect herself doesn't look at me. I know it only makes her more sad.

Amy takes a quick glance at me but her phone vibrates, distracting her. I'm facing the room though and Katherine looks straight into my eyes from across the room. I look back in a way that I hope conveys how sorry I am.

My eyes water but I blink a few times. Katherine and Amy head to the hall for the bathroom and I hear Katherine say something to Amy.

"Bella looked back at me and I swear she looked apologetic," Kath says and a faint smile appears on my lips. I'm glad Kath saw that.

"Seriously?" Amy asks doubtfully, "She never seems to have any expression."

"She did this time," Katherine says assuredly. They each return after a few minutes and the light gets turned off.

It's about 3 am and I'm pretty sure I hear Lisa crying again. I hear her sobs through the wall. This is the fourth night and I can't take it anymore. I can't let her be alone.

I sit up and slowly climb down the ladder and slip out my door. It feels so strange to be up. I quietly open Lisa, Lauren, and Dani's bedroom door open a crack and slip inside, shutting it behind me.

Lisa's staring at me, tears running down her cheeks and she's hugging a stuffed moose that I gave her a while back.

"Christina?" she asks, it's too dark to see who I am yet. I walk over to her and shake my head while sitting down next to her.

She gasps when she realizes it's me and then really starts to cry. I hold her tight and she holds on too.

"Lisa." That is the first word I've spoken in close to five days now. She realizes that too and cries harder.

"Shh, what's wrong?" I whisper quieter than a mouse. My throat feels so dry and scratchy.

"The last few days have been so hard. I've missed talking to you. Christina's barely even bossy anymore. Dani seems depressed. Lauren and Amy are much sadder and Kath is constantly baking," Lisa tells me while crying. I feel instantly guilty when she says, "You help keep us together. We need you back."

"I'm so sorry Lisa," I say looking at her and then tears manage to spill over and down my cheeks. This time,she hugs me tight and I hug back.

After a while, my eyelids start to droop so I ask my older sister if I can stay to which the answer is of course.

I lay down under her blanket and she does the same. I curl up next to her, finally feeling safe and loved again.

Christina's POV

I wake up to realize it's now been 5 days without Bella. All she does is lay in her bed, unmoving, not speaking to anyone.

All of us are dealing with it in different ways. I'm most concerned about Dani and also a bit about Lisa. Dani seems depressed and no longer is hyper or even smiling. I think she blames herself.

I'm pretty sure I hear Lisa crying in the middle of the night for a while now but I'm just barely keeping myself from crying, I can't help her.

I'm not able to help any of my sisters and that frustrates me. I'm torn apart. I need my babygirl back!!

I lay in bed for a while until I notice Katherine is looking at me with wide eyes.

"What?" I snap. She closes her eyes when I snap at her but then opens them.

"Bella's not in her bed," Kath says but I don't believe her.

"Are you trying to pull some kind of sick joke?" I hiss. A look of hurt lands on her face.

"No, I'm serious," she says quietly and I jump out of my bed. Katherine's right, Bella's not here. She's probably in the bathroom... but what if she isn't.

Katherine gets up out of bed and Amy wakes up from the noise.

"What's going on?" she mutters.

"Look," Kath says and points to Bella's bed. Amy stares and her eyes grow wide. She hops down from her bunk and the three of us walk to our other sisters' room to tell them.

Amy slowly opens their door and I run over to Lauren to wake her up. I tell her Bella's not in her bed and she looks scared. I'm about to wake up Dani when Katherine tells us to look. I'm getting sick of her saying that.

I turn around anyways and almost pass out when I see it. Well, see her. She's curled up sleeping next to Lisa. My sisters and I stare in shock.

I realize she probably heard Lisa crying in the middle of the night and went to comfort her. I feel jealous instead of happy. I wish it were me, not Lisa.