Something's Gotta Give

The Down Pour

Indecision was a bitch, but instinct had her turning back. Thankful for a damn good sense of direction, she found the way back to the tree stump Edward was working on, even in the pouring rain.

What she saw made her heart drop to her stomach. "Edward!" She scrambled, wet fallen leaves making her slide on unsteady feet. "Oh my God, what's wrong?" His nonresponse made her heart race, as she fell to her knees by his prone figure. One quick look around, she saw no signs of a predator around. No sign of blood, either. Her hands fluttered over his back, until she noticed the way his body was tensing and relaxing. She cursed and turned him to his side, a trickle of blood on the corner of his mouth. Her arms wrapped around him loosely from behind, waiting out his seizure.

Edward stirred a few minutes later, exhausted and his head screamed with the oncoming headache. He felt her arms tighten around him. "How did you know?"

Bella hummed in his ear and answered, "My dad and my ex..." She said something under her breath that he could barely hear.

He wanted to scream at her, to tell her to stop talking about things he didn't want to hear. Shame and downright anger from the injustice of it all wanted to push her away.

"My dad had seizures after a bullet ricocheted into his brain during a robbery."

"Jesus."

"Do you feel them coming? An aura?" It would explain why he tossed the axe away from him and told her to leave.

He nodded, but refused to give her more. If he wasn't so exhausted, he'd drive her down the mountain and leave her at home. Things had gotten a lot more complicated, because he never wanted her to know.

"Let's get out of the rain." She helped him to his feet, the effects of the seizure subsiding other than the headache. "You can tell me about the pot you're growing." She wasn't running as he expected. She heaved his arm across her shoulder, and though he hated to burden her with his weight, he leaned on her. A wave of dizziness kept him from complaining.

"Tit for tat, though. I know you've told me a lot already, but nowhere did you mention a fucking ex-husband."

He watched her wince and go through a series of emotions; anger softened to indignation, then to understanding. "Fine, but you have to promise to hear me out before you go all asshole on me."

He cocked an eyebrow in question, making no promises; he had a feeling the conversation could make or break them.