Rules for Enduring the Sweenys

Rule #5: Feelings are Forbidden

When Bella was finished, she collapsed into Owen’s arms, suddenly aware where she was, and who she was with. She wanted to scramble away from him, but was far too weak. Puking the way she had, had taken away her remaining strength. Just as soon as Bella realized what was going on, so had Owen. He couldn’t understand why he hadn’t just let her fall… it would have been far more enjoyable to watch.

‘Who the fuck you think you’re kiddin’? You know exactly why you did it,’ he shouted at himself. He slowly and gently helped Bella sit propped up against the wall. Hell, she looked awful. It was weird seeing her so damn vulnerable. He could do anything he wanted, and she could do absolutely nothing about it. But somehow, it didn’t seem fair. He wanted her to be at her best when he fucked with her. It didn’t stop him from grinning at her menacingly. He moved to sit beside her, pulling his knees up and leaning his head against the wall.

“Still planning on taking us to the mall?” he asked. Bella closed her eyes, counting in her head how many rules she was currently breaking. ‘Fuck me, this is gonna come back to bite me in the ass.’

“Of course,” she mumbled, sticking her head between her knees. “With any luck I’ll get all you guys sick too, bastards.” Owen chuckled quietly, a genuine laugh.

“You were gonna try to pretend like it’s a normal day?” he asked incredulously. He’d never really seen someone so sick like that. Not even Lucy seemed that bad.

“Not gonna… Am. You guys’ll walk all over me if you knew…” Realizing what she’d just said, she groaned. “Ah… fuck.” Owen laughed again.

“Well… if you’re not gonna act like anything’s wrong, I won’t either. But this time, it’s real blackmail.”

“You’re a real pain in the ass,” Bella grumbled, her voice muffled. She still hadn’t lifted her head. “Have I ever told you how much I hate you?”

“Several times.” They were silent for a long time… but it wasn’t awkward, it was actually kinda nice. Bella lifted her head and glanced over at Owen for a second. ‘Now’s as good a time as any,’ she thought.

“Since we’re being halfway civil, can I ask you a question?” Bella asked. ‘Bad choice of words,’ she thought.

“That is a question. But… I suppose you can ask another…”

“What happened between you and my brothers?” Owen’s body went rigid and he pushed himself to his feet.

“That’s personal, which means you’d have to answer one for me.” His gaze turned to the doorway, and when he looked back, Bella knew he was being himself again. “Get cleaned up. We have a long day ahead of us.”

* * *

“Alright, the mall first, right?” Bella was sitting behind the wheel of her car, and she was pretty sure the boys were fucking with her stuff, but at the moment, she couldn’t have cared less.