Mute girl

Chapter sixteen - blood.

A/N As you know, I don't own the Twilight saga — not even close, unfortunately. Everything but my own storyline and characters belongs to Stephanie Meyer and her extremely creative mind!
P.s Sorry for the last evil little chapter. All will be explained soon!
Love,
Em. X

"Bella?" Esme placed the tray of food down next to me, her eyes wide and questioning. "Bella, why are you crying?" I blushed an even deeper red and looked down into my lap, breaking away from Rosalie. "Sweetheart what's wrong?"she seemed to melt into place by my side, tipping my head up gently so that I was looking at her motherly face again.

Rosalie sighed and stepped backwards, towards the door. "I think we should talk outside, if that's okay with you Bella?" I nodded submissively, holding no interest whatsoever in listening to a repeat of our conversation. "Only it might be quite upsetting. Esme, I take it you don't understand what we were talking about?" Rosalie continued, her voice had an unsure tone to it, even when talking to Esme.

"No," she replied, her eyes still wide with concern. "I couldn't hear most of it, and of course I don't know what Bella wrote." Esme stood up and Rosalie opened the door, waiting for Esme to follow her out. The door clicked shut behind them and I sighed. How long would they take? No more than a minute, surely.

I knew that the others wouldn't be back for another couple of days, but if Alice had seen this then maybe they'd come back earlier — both her and Edward would be so worried, but if it turned out that I was actually pregnant then I was sure I'd be thrown out. Who'd want me after that? I shuddered at the thought of where I'd go next, of the things I'd have to do.

A loud crash sounded downstairs, following by a humungous slam shaking through the house. "Emmett, mind the door!" Esme called out, her voice sounding a lot shriller than usual. "Where is she? We have to see her!" a frantic Emmett called back, a pair of heavy feet thundering up the stairs way faster than should be possible. He crashed into the room, his eyes barely any lighter than when I'd last seen him."Bella?" his voice was urgent, and yet somehow still soft — as if he thought I was about to break in half.

He waited for a second, but I didn't respond — how could I? He was too close, much too close, his face just metres from mine."Hey Bella, kid, are you alright?" I shook myself out of the tense stare I was in, realising just then that I wasn't breathing. My eyes were wide open in shock, still processing everything that had happened since I woke up this morning. Another slam echoed through the house, followed by even more thunderous footsteps and the door crashing open once again.

"Bella," Edward breathed, his face had only one emotion painted on it — sorrow. Deep, deep sorrow. I looked at him and Emmet and Jasper, who'd appeared just behind Edward, and suddenly all I wanted to do was cry into someone's arms. I wanted someone to hold me against them and let me sob, to feel their arms holding me safe and listen to them tell me it was okay, that everything was fine, and I was going to be alright.

I looked down into my lap, clutching at the empty hole in my chest. With a sniff I pulled the blankets up around my shoulder, trying to hide the tears that were threatening to spill. "We came as soon as we heard," Jasper told me, his face contorted into a strange mask with all the different emotions in the room. I didn't look up at them, instead burying my face further into the covers. "Bella, I'm here," it was Edward, his voice near enough to make me jump back in shock. He was sitting right next to me, draping his arm gently round my shoulder.

I froze. Why was he touching me now? Now that he knew what I'd been worrying about for months, now that he knew how freaked out I got about him touching me? I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Something about Edward holding me was easy, safe. I could handle this. Slowly, I leant into him and buried my face in his shoulders, finally feeling like I could cry properly.

The sobs were quiet at first, barely audible over the quiet mutterings of the vampires still in the room with me. "Don't worry," Edward murmured, holding me safe against his chest. "We're here for you, no matter what happens." Burning hot tears slipped down my cheek, staining his shirt with salt water. "I love you Bella, more than you could imagine," he promised, listening to the little sigh I made inside his arms.

Braking free from his steel embrace I reached up to my eye, wiping away the tears. Where was Alice? Surely she should be back by now. I opened my eye tentatively to see her standing next to Jasper, his arm around her waist. Did I forgive them? Were they going to hurt me? I didn't know, but I knew that whatever they wanted I would have give them, the choice was not mine anymore. "I bought this for you," she told me, tossing a slim cardboard box in my direction. I tried to catch it, but either my eyes were too blurry with tears or my coordination was worse than I thought, because it slipped right out of my grasp and into the hands of Edward, who passed it right back.

I stared at the box, taking a second to see what it was. A pregnancy test. Alice smiled with slight tears in her eyes — her visions were subjective, right? Surely she would know the outcome as soon as she gave it to me. But no, she seemed just as curious as the others, who all stood aside for me as I limped over to the bathroom, leaning against Edward for support. My ankle still ached as I sat down on the toilet, wincing in both pain and procrastination.

Three minutes. That was all I needed to wait before I knew. All the time in the world, it seemed, an infinity of maybe's to hope for. I glanced down at my watch, staring at the little hand ticking it's way towards another minute. Nearly there. Three minutes exactly. Should I look? My breath stopped, my eyes shut tight with the remnants of unshed tears. Yes, I should. I need to know.

Four minutes since I took it. My eyes slipped down onto the little coloured line of the pregnancy test, unable to wait any longer. Of course, but how? I let out my breath and shuddered with disgust. I needed to tell them now, to let them know the result. I stood up and washed my hands, my heart beating raggedly from within me. I closed my eyes and coughed through a dry throat — I could do this, I could be strong.

The ice in my throat was there, spiky and cold, but somehow less. Maybe it was possible to actually tell them...

I shoved open the door and fell into Edward's arms, a shaky smile falling across my features. "No," I told him triumphantly, my voice raspy and muffled with months of misuse. "It's okay. I'm not pregnant." It was quiet, but they heard every word, listening intently as I told them the truth without a shake in my words.

"It's going to be okay."