Speak || A Twilight Fanfic

Chapter 3

For the past couple of days, a smile had been plastered on Gabriella's face. The nightly phone calls with Jake had started growing longer, even though they didn't have much more to talk about. But his voice was a comforting embrace during Bella's tortured screams. As time passed, the girl just seemed to get worse.

As Christmas day finally approached, Charlie and Gabi thought she'd be happier. At least just a bit better. It had always been a cheery holiday regardless of their familial situation. Renée made sure that the girls woke up to presents under the tree and spare cookies "Santa" had left behind. Even if Bella never said she liked the theatrics of it all, Gabi could tell she enjoyed the thought that went into it. Those were moments the younger Swan was sure would overshadow whatever black cloud that was hanging over her.

Granted, she had no way of knowing how deeply in love Bella was with this Edward character. In less than a year, he was able to cause more damage than their parent's separation had ever been able to, and she had been devastated – for a bit.

"Hey, Bells," Gabriella tiptoed into her room. Much like every other day, she sat on her office chair staring into the endlessness of the woods behind our house. "I was gonna wrap up some presents for tomorrow. Mind if I do it in here for a bit of company?"

A grunt of agreement.

Gabi rolled her eyes as she placed everything on the bed, unloading the unnecessary amount of presents in her arms. "You know, Uncle Billy invited us over to spend Christmas with him and Jake. Dad is gonna try to put on a barbecue in this snow," she chuckled, and she could have sworn she had heard the skin on her cheeks creak up into a smile. "I still remember when we were little, and he tried so hard to light the barbecue during a blizzard. And the wind just kept blowing the flame off. He was so pissed and packed the steaks away.

But, yeah, I've never understood why they like meat so much. I mean we're in freezing weather and he still wants to do a cookout."

"Just be thankful there's something he can cook," she croaked out. Gabi almost leaped off the bed when she heard the sound. But treating her like a wild animal was the best route – no sudden sounds or movements. "And that you eat meat."

"Right, the vegetarian thing. I mean, I can make you anything, so you don't feel left out." Gabi softly prodded around the situation, maybe she could catch her sister in a moment where she'd finally agree to leave her bedroom. "I'm sure everyone would be more than delighted if you were there."

"I'm not going, Gab," Bella whispered. Her shoulders slumped once more and all the liveliness that Gabi could have sworn had returned to her body, dissipated in a breath.

"Come on, Bella," she complained. "You need to leave the house for another place other than school and the Newton's store. You were broken up with, you're not dead."

Bella's body morphed back into the statue-like position she rested in most of her days. Her sights were once again frozen on the window, searching for something – someone – that simply was not there. Gabi had joked to their dad that they should throw the chair away while she was at school, but as each day passed it seemed like more of a possibility.

"Fine, Bells," she sighed and gathered all her things. "You know, this guy must have been heaven on earth, cause no one's worth this much pain."

It's difficult to pull someone from a hole they created for themselves. Bella was stuck deep in this hole, but she was making no effort to get out of it, regardless of how many people were trying to help her. Gabriella found it almost baffling how many people cared for her sister, but she only cared for the one guy that left her to rot.

The girl finished wrapping the rest of the presents in her room before starting a quick dinner for her father and herself, knowing Bella would most likely not eat anything, like every other night. Gabriella knew her irritation was visible. She loved her sister, but her behavior was starting to become unbearable. A couple of more months of this and she was sure she'd go insane. It had been four months and, as time passed, she seemed to be getting worse rather than better. It was exhausting.