*Bella*
Monday:
I stretched myself out of bed, looking over at Justin still asleep beside me.
"Hey," I said, nudging my nose into his cheek. "Wake up. Remember my dad's home."
"Yeah, but isn't he at work or something?"
"No, he's actually not mister. He's home. I promise."
"That means I actually have to sneak out of here."
"You've done it before, don't even act like you can't do it."
"I never said I couldn't. You just go distract him while I get out of here so we don't get in trouble."
"Ok." I sighed, trying not to stare as he got up, slipping into his pants and threw his shirt over his head. "Don't you have to go to work anyway?"
"Yeah, at 10:30 - till we close."
"When's that again?"
"We close at seven."
"Aw," I pouted, pushing myself up and went over to him, wrapping my arms around his neck and let my hand wander through his hair. "You might want to fix your bed head though baby."
"Bed head? Why call it that? Why not sex hair?" He whispered in my ear, making me laugh.
"You know why."
"I know, I know, but doesn't my hair basically look like this all the time?"
"I guess you're right." I shrugged, scooting my arms farther around him so I was closer, brushing my lips against his. "But I like it."
"I know." He laughed, his hands falling to my butt before he kissed me, giving me a tug closer. "I'll call you tonight ok? And if you want I'll sneak back over."
I nodded quickly, my eyes flickering over to the door.
I didn't want to be alone. Not at night. Not with Manny still alive.
"Alright." He nodded, kissing my forehead. "Then I'll call first."
"Ok, love you."
"Love you too." He went over to the door, opening it up, but I stopped him, crushing my lips back on his a final time, feeling his hands catch my back.
"Bye." I said out of breath, letting my hands fall from his neck and down his arms.
"Bye love, I'll see you later."
I shut the door gently behind him, going into my closet and found his sweatshirt, pulling it over my head as there was a knock on my door.
"Yeah?" I asked, pulling it over my head and walked out, watching my dad peek his head inside.
Thank god Justin left when he did.
"Hey, I'm making breakfast. Hungry?"
"Starving." I smiled, nodding my head and kissed his cheek.
"Alright. How'd you sleep?"
"Pretty good." I admitted, blushing to myself as I followed behind him, remembering Justin's arms around my waist, his cute little nose pressed into my neck as he slept.
Aw, he was just so cute.
"Good. I didn't see you much yesterday. How was your movie?"
"It was good, entertaining." I was blushing again, turning my head to hide it.
I completely made that up. I barely even watched it, we were making out practically the whole time - up top so no one was able to stare of course.
I mean we started out watching the movie, but it was hard to sit still with his arm around me - or at first on my leg - OR when he would lean over to say something in my ear.
Mentally insane.
"Bella?" Dad asked, waving his hand in front of my face.
"Huh? What?"
"I asked what you went to see."
"Oh, sorry. Um, we saw that new Bruce Willis movie. Red 2?"
"Oh, awesome. It looks pretty good."
"It was," I nodded, thinking of something else to say. "A lot of explosions."
"Always in Bruce Willis movies."
I nodded, sitting down at the breakfast bar and rested my chin in my hands.
"Whoa, Bella, what happened to your face?" He asked, reaching out and touched my cheek.
"Oh, um, Jackie and I were fooling around hitting each other with pillows. I don't even remember what I hit it on, but it was my fault because I was laughing so hard."
"Geez, be careful sweetie. That looks like it hurt."
"It did." I said softly, hugging Justin's sweatshirt to me.
"Well it looks like it's healing up pretty well."
I nodded again, covering it with my palm, biting down on my lip as I stared at the counter.
"So how's Justin? Are you spending a lot of time with him now that you're out of school?"
"Yeah, he took me to Firefly on Friday, that was nice."
"Really? Firefly, huh?"
"Yeah, it was really good. I hadn't even heard of shrimp and grits."
"Yeah, those are pretty good."
"Hey sis," Josh said, kissing my cheek right before I jumped a little, his hands grabbing my shoulders to steady me. "Sorry."
"It's ok." I let out a small laugh, looking at Dad watching me.
Oh no. This is not good. What if he doesn't believe me? What'll happen?
If he finds out he'll blame everything on Justin. Everything.
"Isabelle, are you sure you're ok?"
"Yeah Dad, I'm fine." I assured him, shrugging my shoulders. "I just didn't hear him. I'm cool."
"Alright." He sighed, looking back at the eggs in the pan.
I really had to pull it together.
_________________
*Justin*
2:43 PM
"Can I talk to you for a minute?" Hunter asked, nodding his head out of the garage.
"Sure." I nodded, wiping off my hands after I had sat down the tool I was holding, looking over at him. "What's up?"
"Manny man. He left town for like a week, and John told me he's bringing back some people. Some serious people."
"What else is he going to do? He tried once."
"I don't know, but this thing isn't over. He's planning something big, and I don't know what the hell it is, but you really pissed him off, we all did."
"Bella and I are leaving at the end of the week. When is he coming back?"
"I have no idea. No one does. It could be a week, it could be a month. But shit is about to get real."
"It was real before!" I groaned, running a hand through my hair, kicking at a dumpster.
"You know what I mean."
"Does Mike know? How about John and Rick?"
"John is the one that told me. Him and Rick are the ones on the inside now. Manny doesn't know they helped us."
"Well we need to tell Mike. It's not just Bella in trouble now, Jackie too. I'll tell Josh. He needs to know. He'd help us."
"You think that asshole is going to help us?"
"With his sister in danger? Yes, I do." I growled, furiously pulling at the ends of my hair. "Son of a bitch! I knew I should have gone after Manny when he left. I knew that something like this would happen! I knew it."
"Don't worry her yet. She's just now getting over the first one. Hopefully we can take care of it before anything happens."
"I'm not letting him near her again. I promised, I made a promise that got broken last time and I'm going to fix it. He won't ever touch her again."
"I'm with you. No one is going to let anything happen."
"Why can't he just move on?!"
"Because you are a threat. We all are."
"I'll think of something." I grumbled, walking back into the garage.
Shit.
_________________
*Bella*
6:57 PM
"Isabelle, could you come here?" Dad called from the living room, and I looked up from my book, my heart skipping a beat.
"Sure." I sat the book down, crossing my arms over my chest, now wearing shorts that covered up my cut and a loose white t-shirt that covered my shoulder.
I walked into the living room, looking at them - them. Josh sat on the couch, my father stood up in front of him, his arms crossed over his chest.
Oh no.
"Is it true?" Dad asked, both of his eyebrows raised.
"Is what true?"
"Izzy, I'm sorry - he asked - I -"
"Josh! You promised me!"
"So it's true?!"
"Dad, it wasn't his fault! He came after me! He saved me! If he wouldn't have come for me, I'd be dead right now!"
"If he wouldn't have pulled you into all this trouble you wouldn't have been there! It is his fault Izzy! I knew it!"
"Dad, he saved her li-"
"Joshua, you can get the hell out of here! You knew and you didn't tell me!"
"And when would I have done that? If I would have called you you would have been in some damn meeting and you wouldn't have had time anyway! And then what? Tell you as soon as you got home? You would have been like this then too, so you should be happy that he saved Izzy's fucking life and took care of her while you weren't around!"
"Josh-" I started, but they were so into it I couldn't get a word in.
I covered my eyes then, crying, all of the yelling bringing it back, the room, waiting, neither of them came for me, none of them were trying to call me, they didn't leave the house looking for me.
"Stop it!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, hearing my voice echo through the house as silence filled it. "Just stop! Stop, stop, just fucking stop!"
I didn't dare open my eyes, staying where I had flopped down on the floor with my legs crossed, holding my hands over my ears.
"Hey, Bell Bell, it's ok." Josh got down, pulling my hands from my ears while I shook my head. "I'm sorry."
"No, it's not ok. This is not ok!"
"Dad, stop. Don't you see her? I think she's been through enough. She doesn't need us on top of it."
"I want Justin, I want to go see him." I said, looking up at Josh, praying he'd get me out of here.
"Never again Bella, ever." Dad said, making my head snap up.
"You can't do that!"
"Dad, don't-" Josh started, but my dad was furious, I had never even seen him like this.
"Never!"
"Dad-"
"Isabelle! Do you know how bad this looks?!"
"I don't care Dad! I don't care about your god damn campaign anymore, ok?! There are more important things than a stupid campaign!"
"You're not even my daughter anymore! That was all his fault! I should have done a background check on him like I thought, but I trusted you! I trusted him with you!"
"He saved me! It's not like he handed me over to them and didn't do anything!"
"He may as well have!"
"You'd like that, wouldn't you dad?!" I was sobbing, standing myself up and faced him. "You'd love for them to have killed me, right?! You could blame Justin! It was all his fault, right?! We'd both be dead and you wouldn't have to worry about any of us anymore!"
"That is not what I said!"
"I think you did." I said softly, walking away, hearing him screaming after me, but I was running again - like I had the night Josh told me what really happened.
When I was far enough away, I pulled out my phone, trying to calm myself down, to get the images out of my head.
I dialed Justin's number, sliding down a tree and rubbed my eyes, lucky I wasn't wearing mascara.
"Hey babe, what's up? I just got home."
"Can you come and get me?" I sniffed, trying to keep a steady voice.
"What's wrong?"
"My dad and I- we just had a fight and he blamed everything on you, I just don't want to be here. I left the house."
"I'm going to the car now sweetheart, where are you?"
"I'm going to go to the park. The one where we took your sister."
"Ok, I'll be there as soon as I can. I love you."
"I love you too." I cried, pulling my knees to my chest.
"Bella, it's ok. I promise it's ok."
"He's not going to let me see you anymore. He told me."
"We'll find a way. You're going to be 18 for crying out loud. He can't boss you around forever."
"What if he makes me go live with my mom to stay away from you? At least for the rest of the summer."
"Don't think too much about it."
"How can I not!? He doesn't understand. He doesn't even know me. I don't even know me."
"Yes you do Bella. You're a very smart girl who cares about other people. You're laugh is adorable and whenever I compliment you you get super shy. You're so sweet. You're my Bella. It'll be ok."
"You just said adorable." I laughed, wiping tears off my cheeks.
"Yeah, so? You are."
"So are you."
"Oh no, don't even get me started."
I laughed again, walking quickly towards the park before my dad had any chance of catching up to me.
But what if I did go have to live with my mom...
Actually, that wouldn't be such a bad idea. She lived on the beach, I loved the beach. She didn't agree with anything my dad did, and she's always asked about boys.
My mom has always cared about me.
So why am I still here?
Because Justin's here, because I love him. Because he cares about me and makes me happy.
I sat down on a swing, wiping away tears as new ones came every few minutes.
There is no way I was not seeing him. We were both already struggling as it was with the whole Manny thing, and that was mostly me.
I felt a gentle push on my back, pushing me and the swing forward and I turned around, meeting Justin's eyes and sprang up to my feet, throwing myself into his arms and buried my face into his neck.
"Oh Bella..." He whispered, stroking my hair.
"My dad can do anything. He'll take you away from me."
"He's not going to take me away Bella."
"Justin, it's my dad. He can do that, and he will. He's never yelled at me before. Not like that. Josh and him were screaming at each other. He basically said they may as well have just killed me. He's going to do whatever he can to keep me from seeing you. He can't."
"Then maybe I'll go away for a little while so he can't take me, and then I can come back to you."
"No!" I shook my head, the grip I had around him tightening. "Don't leave me alone. You can't leave me again, you promised. You said never."
"Well then what will we do? If what you said is true and he does try to separate us, he'll either take you or me."
"Then we both go." I sniffed, pulling away from him.
"But my brother and sister..."
"Justin, don't you get it? That's not going to matter if he stays here. He'll look into your jobs, everything."
"But I wasn't employed legall-"
"Exactly! So then what did you do? They find out and boom, you're gone and not coming back."
"Ok..." He sighed, stroking my hair again. "Let's go home and rest. We can talk more about it later."
"We don't have time."
"Bella, trust me." He took both of my hands, tilting his head down against my forehead.
"I do trust you."
"Then let's go home."
I nodded, keeping hold of one hand as we walked to his car, then got in on the passenger side, finally calm from crying as I looked back in the direction of my house.
I just didn't want to go back.
______________
9:49 PM
"What if we just went to South Carolina early? We could stay with my mom. We'd be ok there." I asked Justin, fiddling with his fingers.
"Yeah?"
"We can go there. We can stay with her."
"What makes you think I'm going to be able to stay there? What about my work here?"
"Because I have the coolest mom in the world. She's always told me I can come stay with her. Once I explain things, certain things. She'll let you stay too, and I don't know...I didn't really think about that."
"You're going to explain?"
"I'll start everything off with Dad, she knows now about what happened with Manny and already went off on him. Josh texted me. She knows you."
"Bella," He said softly into my hair, holding me tighter. "What if I can't stay?"
"You'll be able to stay. I promise. We'll figure out something."
"I do love you, you know." He lifted up my head by my chin, the padding of his thumb the moving along my waist.
"I love you too."
"We both know the reason why you were put in danger was because of me."
"You can't blame yourself for that."
"I do. You'd be better off without me. You were happy before I was in your life. Now you and your dad are fighting, your not talking to your brother-"
"Stop," I snuggled closer, planting a soft kiss on his neck. "You're trying to get rid of me and that's not happening."
"Your dad already told me he doesn't want me around you once, I'm not surprised it has happened again. You're a beautiful girl that has everything going for you, and I'm the monster you let with in a parking lot."
"Stop talking like this," I pulled back, holding his cheeks in both of my hands so he looked at me. "Just stop. Sometimes you act like you don't even want me."
"That's not true. I just want you safe, and happy. You should be with somebody your parents like, somebody that can make a living for you and-"
"Justin, I just want you. Why is that so hard for you to accept?"
"Because I've never been so sure about anything in me life."
"What?"
"That I love you."
"And I love you too. So stop putting yourself down all the time and let yourself be happy. I am happy with you."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah." I bit down on my lip, nodding my head and played with the buttons of his shirt.
"You know how I get when you do that."
"How do you get Justin?" Giggling as I ran my hand along his muscles, leaning into his cheek.
"Bella..." He groaned with a chuckle. "Come on now."
"What?" Smiling, I pressed my lips against his, sliding my arms back around his neck.
"Nothing, nothing." He said against my lips, moving his hands down my sides to my butt.
"You always do that." I said in between kisses, running my fingers through the back of his hair.
He just hummed in response, flipping over so my back was on the couch and let go of my butt with one hand, running his hand slowly from my leg to my side.
A few minutes went by, my shirt inched up from his hands, buttons undone on his from mine.
"Ok," He pulled back, running his fingers through my hair. "I'm cutting myself off."
"Why?" I frowned, trying to hide the disappointment on face.
I didn't want him to cut himself off.
Not at all.
"You know why."
"Oh," I blushed, propping myself up on my elbows and reached down for my shirt, pulling it up slightly. "Not even if I did this?"
"Bella," He swallowed, reaching over and pushed my hand away. "You're really going to kill me."
"What?" I was really frowning this time, all joking set aside as I tugged my shirt down insecurely, then sat up. "Forget it."
"Bella, I didn't mean-"
"Why?" I stood up, throwing my hands up in the air. "Why is it you can sleep with any girl when you've known her for a few hours, but when it comes to me it's embarrassing?"
"It's not like that." He shook his head, taking my hands from my sides.
"Then what is it like?" I squeaked. "Because I feel like every time we come close you turn away all disgusted. Like Friday night you got all mad at me."
"I wasn't mad at you. That is not true. I care about you. Those girls I will never see again. With you it will mean something. I don't want you to think its just another fling. It's not, and I'll wait as long as you want. I know it'll be worth it."
"I know that Justin, I do - I mean fling wise."
"You have no reason to be tugging down your shirt like that, you're so beautiful. I stop myself, because you drive me so insane that I want to rip this all off," He laughed, tugging on a loop in my jeans. "But I want you to know it means something, and I'm not pressuring you into anything you don't want to do."
"I do, I really do."
"Bella..."
"Justin, I know it means something. It does to me, more than you even think..." He pulled me in between his legs, reaching up with his hand and tucked my hair behind my ear again. "I'm ready. I promise."
He swallowed, then stood up, cupping my cheeks, our lips crashing together with little surges of electricity. My hands went to the buttons of his shirt, undoing them until the last one where I pushed the cloth down to the floor, my fingers tapping along his abs through his undershirt, my back arched and on my tiptoes.
"I don't want you to regret anything."
"Never. Not with you."
"Are you sure? Tonight? After everything with your dad?"
"I don't care. But I'm sure. Positive."
He smirked, then softly kissed me, holding onto the base of his neck in my palm.
I took a step back, both of us taking a few steps here and there until I found a wall, my body quickly trapped between it and him, gasping a little for air as our lips fought with each others, his hands going to my thighs and tugged me up, hooking my legs around his torso.
Letting my teeth sink into his lip, I heard him groan, my hands running down his arms to feel his muscles, then against his abs.
I held a fist full if his tank top in my hands, starting to pull it up before he stopped me, shaking his head as he chortled.
"Wait your turn babe."
"Sorry." I blushed, his hands moving against my skin.
"Don't even worry about it."
He set me down again, short kisses shared between us as we stepped into his room, a warm touch as my shirt was pulled over my head, laughing with each other as I let myself fall backwards, his body hovered over me with his lips quick to brush my neck.
"And don't you ever tease me like that again unless you want your clothes ripped off." He said with a laugh, traveling down over my chest to my stomach. "Because I will literally rip them right off your body."
"I'll remember that." I giggled, running my fingers through his hair with a gentle tug.
"Good." He lifted up his head, my hands grabbing the undershirt he wore and tugged it over his head, eyeing his bare chest for a moment before I kissed it, laying open mouthed kisses up on his neck and over his bruises as his hand ran up my side.
He lightly took my chin, tilting up my head, our bodies touching with a familiar warmness as our lips exchanged little surges of electricity.
That's when I felt his hand on my shorts, and before I would have stopped it, but not now, there wasn't anyway. Instead of stopping him, I let him unbutton them, kicking gently till they hit the floor, feeling the touch of his hand between my legs, my toes curling from the pressure.
Was I even wearing cute underwear? I didn't remember...I hadn't exactly planned this, it just sort of happened.
"Hey," I pulled back from the kissing, his face resting in my neck with a groan.
"Please don't tell me you've changed your mind..."
"No, I just - you have a condom right? Because I'm not taking any chances..."
"Yes, I have a condom right here." He opened up a drawer, my head turning to look in the direction, apparently giving him just the right angle to start pecking my neck again. "Trust me, you're not the only one that doesn't want to take chances."
"O-Ok," My eyes shut immediately, my finger tips resting on his lower back, then I slowly moved them up, trailing them back and forth, but they used their own minds, undoing the front of his belt, which had no point in being around his jeans anyway, considering he didn't even use it.
He pulled them down though, only making me giggle while I blushed.
It all happened pretty quickly after that, our lips never stopping as we became one, then I pulled back, biting down hard on my lip, unsteady breathing as my body got used to it, trying to figure out what to do...but he really didn't seem to mind, or notice.
"Does it hurt?" He whispered against my cheek, my nails digging into his shoulder blades.
"Yeah, just a little bit."
"I'm sorry." He coaxed, trailing down my neck and over the cut on my shoulder. "It'll go away in a couple minutes. I'll be gentle. I promise."
I nodded, arching my back as his lips trailed over my breasts, feeling my body adjusting to his length.
Damn, was it intimidating.
I didn't know how it all fit in there.
He was right, after a couple more minutes, the feeling was gone, replaced by one that made my insides tingle.
I moaned, my mouth hung open as the feeling took over my body, his lips crashing against mine.
"Better?" He rasped, catching my hand as I went to cover my mouth.
"Mhm." I whimpered, quickly nodding my head and squeezed his hand back.
"Oh my god, baby." He said in my ear, quickening his thrusts slightly. "You're so fucking beautiful."
"I love you." I whispered, lifting my hips for the first time to meet his movements.
"I love you too, buttercup." Justin said sweetly, burying his face back into my neck.
"Fuck." I moaned, the feeling in the bottom of my stomach growing stronger. "Justin..."
"That's right, baby. Good girl. You're so tight."
"Oh my - shit." I gasped, looking down at him moving inside me. "Yes!"
"Like that?"
"Mhm." I nodded, digging my nails into his hand. "J-Justin-"
"It's okay, buttercup." He soothed, the thumb from his free hand moving in circles against my clit. "Let go."
"Oh- oh my god. Fuck-" I let out, caressing his cheek in my palm and molded our lips together as I moaned, my insides coiling together and releasing into an orgasm.
"Dammit, I love you." He groaned, thrusting a few more times before his own release, his lips capturing mine all over again. "I love you."
"I love you too." I grinned, still breathless as he collapsed beside me, pulling me against his chest by my waist. "Thank you."
"For what?"
"Being gentle."
"Thanks for trusting me with your virginity." He ran the back of his hand along my cheek, then kissed my forehead. "You know, until tonight, I've never made love to anyone before. It was always just sex- until now."
"Well...I appreciate you being so vulnerable with me too." I kissed his cheek, moving my fingertips along his chest. "I'm extremely thankful that I waited for you."
"I wish I would have-"
"It's okay." I shushed, pecking his lips. "All that matters is what we have now, and I think that was pretty fucking fantastic for our first time together."
"Well, baby doll, it only gets better from here." He said, grasping my face and kissed me harder, hovering back over me. "Are you sore? Does it still hurt?"
"I don't know. I don't think so." I shook my head, holding onto his hands. "It just feels...weird."
"It'll go away in a couple of days."
"A couple of days?" I groaned, running my fingers through the back of his hair. "But what if I want to do it again? Like now?"
"It might hurt. It's too soon. You really want to go again?"
"Maybe." I blushed, trying to cover my face. "Don't look at me like that."
"It's hard not to." He smiled, kissing my cheek. "Give yourself some time to heal up. Next time, we can definitely go for a round two. Even a round three if you want. I like the sound of that."
"I'm kind of tired."
"Sex does that." He laughed a little, then stopped. "I'm sorry. I kind of hate that I...I'm sorry."
"Stop apologizing." I told him, tenderly kissing his lips. "It was perfect."
___________
*Justin*
10:32 PM
"Hey." I chuckled, looking at Bella curled up against my chest.
"Hey."
"I thought you were sleeping." I ran my hand along her arm, my other holding tightly onto her waist.
"No, I'm awake."
I ran my fingers through her hair, then down her back, tilting my head to press my lips against her temple.
"You tired?"
"Um, yeah." She laughed, nodding her head quickly. "But I could stay up a little longer."
"I like watching you sleep."
"But then I'll have to go in the morning and I don't want to."
"You don't have to go. Not right away."
"I won't, anything to stay away from home."
"Feel ok?"
"Mhm." She nodded again, smiling as her head snuggled deeper into my chest, a blush creeping up her cheeks.
"Good," I chuckled, resting my lips back in her hair. "I'm glad."
"You smell so good."
"Oh, really?"
"Yeah " She giggled, biting down on her lip.
"I wonder why." I laughed, rubbing my nose against hers and softly pecked her lips.
"That's definitely not why."
"But probably." I winked, finding her hand under the sheets and held it in mine.
"Stop." She turned bright red, ducking her face into my neck, our legs tangling closer together.
"Hey, there is no need to be embarrassed. You knew I was good."
"I'm not embarrassed!" She smacked my chest, shaking her head.
"Good," I grinned, my face rested in the crook of her neck, sweetly pecking the skin. "I love you."
"I love you too." She smiled back, her hand traveling down my chest.
"You're dad is going to be so pissed off in the morning when I take you home."
"And yet I don't care." She giggled, shrugging her shoulders as her hand now met the back of my neck, pulling herself against me for another kiss, which I happily took, moving my hand slowly on her waist.
"You should get some sleep." I mumbled against her lips, stealing a few more pecks as I talked.
"I'm not tired anymore."
"Bella, it's late." I chortled, pulling her arms around my neck, running my hands down the back to her sides.
"So?"
"You're going to be tired."
"I am tired, but I'm not at the same time. I'd rather be kissing you." She laughed, combing out the back of my hair with her fingers.
"Baby, you should sleep. Trust me." I whispered in her ear, soothingly running my hand back and forth on her arm.
"No getting up, you stay right here."
"Of course. Goodnight."
"Goodnight." She smiled in the dark, resting her head on my chest, my fingers trailing along her arm, holding her body tightly to mine.
Then I stroked her hair, smiling to myself as I saw her breathing steady, her hand still at the top of my chest.
"I love you." I whispered, taking her hand into mine, resting my lips in her hair.
My Bella.
___________________
9:03 AM
"Good morning." I grinned, placing kisses on Bella's cheek down to her neck, chuckling as she caught my neck in her hands and giggled.
"Good morning."
"Want to go get some breakfast?"
"Yeah, sure. I'd love that."
"I do need a shower first." I told her, sweetly pecking her shoulder.
"So do I. You go first."
"First?" I laughed, pushing myself up and looked at her snuggled in the covers, her hair fanned out over her shoulders.
"Yes?"
"That's a waste of water." I grinned, pulling on a pair of my shorts and crawled back over her. "Come with me."
"Seriously?"
"Yes," I nodded, smiling against her lips. "We can go eat faster, then get you home."
"Yeah, maybe I really should wait."
"No, just come on." I whined, nuzzling my nose into her neck, pecking it again. "Come with me."
"Fine. Give me a minute."
"You just come in when you want to." I laughed, kissing her cheek and went into the bathroom, turning on the water and stretched myself out again.
What a night. You know, it felt nice not to have to leave before she woke up, hearing an 'I love you,' in it, waking up to her face...
It was a different feeling, a different action. It was just different.
"My Dad called me last night." Bella mumbled, sliding her arms around my torso.
"He's probably worried about you."
"Yeah right." She mumbled, stepping into the shower first, causing my mouth to fall open.
I took off the shorts again, following in after her, kissing her cheek, taking her hands from her sides.
"He loves you, you know that."
"No. Last night while he was yelling and I was defending you, he said I wasn't his daughter anymore, that you may as well have just handed me over to die. I'm not even kidding."
"He didn't mean it."
"You know he did." She leaned back into me, resting her head back on my shoulder, my arms wrapped around her while I still held onto her hands.
"Do you really want to leave?"
She nodded quickly, pulling my arms farther around her.
"He'll take you. He'll do something."
"Then I'll make a few phone calls, I'll talk to grant, and we'll leave tonight."
"Really?"
"Yup. I'll take care of everything, but when I drop you off you pack. I'll stay in touch with you." I said against her shoulder, closing my eyes while I let go of her hands, running mine up her sides instead.
"Alright."
_________________
*Bella*
11:34 AM
"I'll call you a little later. I'm going to go talk to Grant." Justin said, leaning over and kissed my cheek.
"Ok. I'll go pack. I love you." I kissed him, holding onto his neck.
"I love you too. Be careful."
"I will be." I got out of the car then, shutting the door gently behind me and walked up the street, ducking behind trees and tiptoed up the stairs, opening the door to my room and slipped inside.
I locked my door then, grabbing a duffle bag from my closet and started grabbing clothes.
All of my summer shorts that I know he'd love, my tank tops, some t-shirts, even a couple of dresses.
Then I went to my pajamas, packing up a few of them, throwing in my bathing suits afterwards.
My phone buzzed in my pocket, my hand going back to pull it out, seeing my mom's name in the screen.
"Mom, I'm so sorry I didn't call you back, I just got home." I said, biting down on my lip as I sat down in my bed.
"Where were you last night? With Justin?"
"I couldn't stay here. Dad said Justin should have just handed me over to Manny, the guy behind everything. Mom, Dad said I should have just died. How was I supposed to deal with that?" I burst into tears, that memory coming back, remembering the look Josh have him.
"Honey, I'm sure that's not how your father meant it."
"Mom how can you say that? He never liked Justin. He came after me, he saved me. I love him so much. When Mike and Hunter showed up to help us, he threw himself over me to make sure I didn't get hurt. He's my everything. Dad will take it away. He doesn't understand. It wasn't Justin's fault. He's just been lost a-and he's lost everything. He's finally getting some of that back. He's the only reason I'm happy here. What if Dad takes him away?"
"He was still heated up when I talked to him, mainly because I was screaming. Josh told me everything. He's worried about you. He told me Justin has been over practically everyday watching you, making sure things are ok. You know I love Justin, and you're after is a hard head. He's always been selfish and work has always been number one, but you are still his daughter, and he loves you."
"Can we come early? Justin and I? Please? I'm scared here mom. I don't want to be here."
"Honey, I've always told you you're welcome at any time. I want you to feel safe, and maybe that's what you need right now. How do you plan on getting here?"
"I don't know. Justin's looking at stuff. He's going to call me. We're leaving tonight though."
"Hmmm, so I need to call in sick for tomorrow?"
"Yeah, I guess so." I laughed, wiping my eyes with the back of my hand.
"Tell him to look at the trains. There should be some locally, and if not Baltimore. You could do standby and they'll let you in if they have empty seats. Do you need some money?"
"I'll just check with him, I don't know what he's doing yet. I can text you though when I find out."
"Ok, and Izzy? Don't tell your father. You know how he gets."
"Yeah; I know." I sighed, running my hand through my hair. "I'll call you when I hear from him, ok?"
"Ok honey. I love you."
"I love you too."
I hung up, sitting my phone down on my bed and stared at the duffle bag on the floor.
I was doing this, without a doubt in my mind.
____________________
*Justin*
12:13 PM
"The job is always open for you when you're ready." Grant said, looking at me from where he sat on his desk. "Are you ok?"
"Not really." I admitted, shaking my head and ran my hand down my face. "Bella and I are leaving for a while . There's Manny trouble, and father trouble - hers anyway, so we're going to her mom's early."
"If you need my help with anything, especially Manny wise, call me."
"Thanks, but I don't want to get you involved with this too."
"I know Manny better than you think Justin."
I raised an eyebrow at that, but I wasn't getting anymore of an answer, so I stood up, shoving my hands in my pockets, nodding my head.
"I have to call my brother, tell him what's going on too."
"Ok, well good luck Justin. I mean that."
"Thank you." I smiled at him, holding up my hand in a wave before I left, dialing Jaxon's number while I opened up the car door.
"Hey Justin."
"Hey. Do you think you could come over to my place for a bit? I need to talk to you."
"Yeah, sure. Is everything ok?"
"That's what we'll talk about. I'm on my way back to my place. A lot has happened - since the Manny thing even."
"Ok, I'm leaving now. Is Bella ok?"
"Ok I guess, it's hard to tell these days honestly, but I don't blame her."
"I'm on my way. Dad's out dropping Jazzy off at Mom's anyway."
"Alright. I'll see you in a few minutes then."
"See you."
We both hung up, I let the my phone fall in my lap, pulling into the garage and parked my car, climbing out and locked it behind me.
I had to pack.
Our train was leaving at 11:15. I had to get us a late one. She had to be able to sneak out.
I unlocked the door, tossing my keys on the counter and went straight to my room, digging for my black duffle bag at the bottom and threw it on my bed, taking my t-shirt off their hangers and started folding them up, opening up my drawers and got my jeans, then shorts, pressing everything down in the bag to make sure it fit- but it was a big bag. One that Bella should probably have instead of me.
I laughed at that, imaging her in my head trying to pick what shoes to pack - even what bra. Not that I had any problems with any of those.
As I was picking up my own shoes, there was a knock on the door, my body leaned back to look at it.
"It's unlocked!" I called, figuring it was Jaxon, and it was. I recognized the dirty blonde hair immediatley.
"Hey, what's- whoa, what are you doing?"
"Packing." I told him, sitting the shoes in my hand in the bag. "Bella and I are leaving tonight."
"What?! Leaving for what?!"
"We're getting the hell out of here. It's dangerous. Her father found out about what happened last week, she didn't say how, but he found out, and he's going to do some serious shit. Bella told me that Sean basically said she should have just died, that I'm never seeing her again. He told her never, apparently Josh and him were screaming at each other. You have to understand that if I stay here, I won't be here forever. Her father will most likely get me put in jail, and even before then Manny's coming, and fast. He's bringing back people, important people. Important people that I know for a fact that want me dead and won't hesitate to kill both of us. Bella is not dying. We're going to her mom's for a few weeks. Hopefully things will die down, maybe, maybe not. In the meantime I'm going to figure out what to do. You can't say anything to Bella about Manny coming back. She doesn't know and it needs to stay that way. While we're gone, she needs to have a nice time, heal. I've been over her house almost every night this week staying with her. She can't sleep. She's scared. I know what that's like. She can't live that. But while I'm gone - you just - keep an eye on Jazzy, a really close eye. You know I'm not there anymore, and now I'm not going to be here anymore. You can't let anything happen to our sister, Mom, Dad..."
"B-But Justin, Dad just let you back in our lives."
"I know buddy, I know." I ran my hands through my hair, my eyes flickering down to the ground. "But it's this or I'm gone for forever. Don't you understand? I've messed up. I have to fix this. I'm going to, and it's also my job to protect Bella. I need to do that."
"I can help you with Manny- I'll-"
"No Jaxon. You're not getting involved with this. You can help me by keeping an eye out on our family, got it? I won't be gone for forever. We'll be back, Bella's going to school soon and this is reality, but it won't hurt to live a fantasy while trying to figure it out. I want to fix my life. I want to be with you guys all the time - without being afraid of putting you all in danger. Just promise me you'll take care of them at home."
"I promise. Of course I will."
"I'll be back, I promise." I pulled him in for a hug, letting out a deep breath. "But I can't risk Bella getting hurt anymore because of me. I need to keep her safe. Besides you guys, she's my world. I don't know where I'd be right now without her - I didn't even know it was possible for me to fall in love, for somebody to love me like she does. I'm not letting her go."
"Don't. She's the reason I got my brother back."
"I love you Jaxon, and I'm sorry I wasn't able to be around when you needed girl advice, you know stuff like that. I should have been there."
"It's ok. You didn't miss much. I haven't really dated a lot of girls."
"Does that mean...you're...?" I asked, pulling back from the hug with a raised eyebrow.
"Yup."
"Damn. I'm kinda surprised...but keep it that way. Don't waste it for some drunken night like I did. It was a mistake."
"Really?"
"Yeah," I nodded, sitting down on the edge of my bed. "It's something I should have been able to give to Bella. I couldn't. I never can, and it's something that's so much better with real feeling behind it."
"Wait a minute, you and Bella-"
"Oh wow, shit, sorry...I didn't mean to like - yeah, we did. But don't let her know that you know that because she'll be super kissed at me."
"It's cool. I won't say anything, but congratulations."
"Thanks, I think." I laughed, standing back up and started packing my shoes again.
"What do you think Dad is going to say?"
"You can't tell Dad, if he asks we're just on vacation early, ok? He can't know about Manny. Then I really would be gone. He'd hate me."
"He's been talking about you, how proud he is of you, how you're really you again. If you're in trouble, he'll help."
"No Jaxon. No. I'm going to fix my own mistakes. Just keep an eye on them and call me if you see anything weird."
"Will you call me if you need anything?"
"Of course I will. Thank you."
"You're welcome." He smiled at me, giving me a firm pat on the back. "When are you getting Bella?"
"At ten. I have to call her still."
"So basically you guys are running away together?"
"Yeah, yeah we are." I don't know why I smiled, but I did, tossing my deodorant from my dresser into the bag.
"Cute."
"Ew, shut up. What is it with people and that word?"
"What's up with you and that word?"
"It's thrown around way too much and just yuck- man card violation."
"You don't even have one of those." He rolled his eyes, making me laugh. "Call me when you get there, ok?"
"Ok."
"Then I'll talk to you later." He smiled a final time, waving before he showed himself out.
When the door clicked shut, I went to the safe, grabbing a couple stacks of cash and slipped them under some of my shirts, then my gun, staring at it in my hand for a moment.
Should I take it? Would she get mad at me? What if he mom saw it?
But what if I didn't bring it and I needed it? Then what?
I made sure it was on safety before I sat it down on the counter, running my hand through my hair again.
I had to call Bella.
_________________
*Bella*
10:04 PM
"Bella!" There was a tapping on my window, causing me to fly up, running over to the balcony door and let him inside
"I'm sorry, I fell asleep."
"I thought you weren't going to wake up, you packed?"
"Yeah," I said with a nod, taking hold of his jacket. "All done."
"And you're sure about this?"
"Positive."
I kissed him, a firm grip on my waist as he kissed me back, making my stomach do those flips.
I felt a box in his pocket, breaking away quickly and took it out into my hand.
"What's this?" I asked, holding out the box of cigarettes, giving him one of the looks I always gave when it came to smoking.
"Give it back." He frowned, snatching it out of my hands.
"Justin," I whispered, going into my closet and got my bag. "What happened to quitting?"
"It didn't work." He shrugged, looking around my room a final time. "You have everything?"
"Yeah," I grabbed my phone, my charger already back in my bag. "Let's go."
I took the hand he held out, my voice only at a whisper as he opened the door and led me out.
We both tiptoed down the stairs, and I couldn't help but look back a final time- knowing what I was leaving behind.
"You ok?" He asked me, giving my hand a squeeze.
"Fine."
With that he kissed my temple, gently taking my duffle back and tossed it in the backseat.
I was so paranoid, turning around every few seconds to make sure my dad hadn't come out of the house.
"Come on." Justin urged, snapping me out of my daze and I threw myself in the car, biting down on my lip as my stomach flipped.
Then he looked over at me, tucking my hair behind my ear and ran the back of his hand on my cheek.
"You're sure about this? Really Bella?"
Instead of speaking this time, I could only nod, too afraid of being caught to open my mouth.
"We're going to make it, it's ok."
"I know." Somehow I managed a smile, kissing his lips again before he started the car and pulled quickly away from my house.
We were gone.
I was gone.
And there wasn't any turning back.
___________________
Author's Note:
AHHHHH! TEMPTED IS PRACTICALLY AT 30000 READS SO THIS IS A THANK YOU!
Now the next update really will be posted on Friday!
Comment and tell me what you think! I'LL REPLY :))))