Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

Growing Up

By BetterInTexas

Chapter 10:

BPOV

I wonder what Peter was doing? I hate to leave him alone at night. I think he has gotten better. I’d like to think I have made his life a little better. I remember when he told me he hated himself because all he had to live for was revenge.

I think he has something else to live for now. I do.

But he was right. That happened occasionally. I needed a life outside of the two of us. But so did he. I figured I would lead by example. So here I am, at the Domain, shopping with two of my friends from the swim team. I was still amazed that I actually had friends. Ashley and McKenzie were pretty cool. They both had the hots for my “uncle” but I suppose that was understandable. I had the hots for him too.

We sat down at a table outside a bistro and I took the opportunity to send him a text.

/U OK?/

A few seconds later I received a reply.

/Yes. Havin fun?/

/UR not starin out the window RU?/

I hated when he did that. I knew what was on his mind.

/No. Just missin u./

Ahhh.

/U want me home?/

/No. Have fun. I’ll be here when U get back. Love U/

I smiled a little and it must have caught Ashley’s attention.

“Texting your uncle Bella? Tell him I said hi. You sure do check in with him a lot. Is he that strict?” she asked.

“No. I just worry about him being lonely.”

“A guy looks like him, I can’t imagine him being lonely for long.” McKenzie said.

“Yeah, I don’t imagine he will be lonely for long.” I replied. At least not when I got home.

“What are you getting him for Christmas, Bella?” Ashley asked.

A naughty elves lingerie that I would be wearing underneath the tree.

“Haven’t decided yet.” But I did have his card. Our card actually since he put me on the all his accounts.

We sat and drank coffee and bitched about nuns. We talked about the upcoming Spring meets we would be competing in. I wasn’t exactly fast but I had gotten my distance up to where it needed to be. It was a nice night. But it was getting late though I was going to have to beg off soon. I was ready for bed. At least for who would be waiting in my bed.

I was just about finished with my coffee when I met his eyes.

Oh fuck.

I didn’t know him but I would recognize those red eyes and pale skin anywhere. I slept next to similar features every night. This guy had dark shaggy hair and what looked like the beginnings of a rough beard on his face. He caught me looking and his eyes got wide.

I wonder if I smelled like Peter?

Of course I did. We were wrapped up in each other enough. I’m sure he could smell vampire on me from a mile away.

He took what looked like a photo out of his inside jacket pocket. He was looking at it. He then looked at me and I averted my eyes. I looked up a few seconds later and he was still looking at me and then checked the photo.

Oh shit. I can bet who that photo he has is of.

My phone buzzed. I looked down and had a text from Peter.

/Weird feeling. Where R U?/

Fuck. He had one of his feelings. This was bad. I don’t know how this guy found me but he was definitely after me.

/Vampire at Domain. Think he has a pic of me. Leaving now. Going to try to get away. Going HW 7 home. Meet me on way./

I looked up and saw a crowd was gathering in the walkway. I better make my move.

“I got to go girls. Uncle Peter says it is time for bed. I will see you Monday.”

“Bye Bella.” Oh shit.

I looked in his direction. He heard her say Bella. If he wasn’t sure before he was now. I walked quickly around the corner and as soon as I turned I took off at a sprint. I didn’t stop running until I reached the parking garage. It was not crowded and I felt very exposed. But slowing down and looking to see if I was being followed wasn’t going to change that.

I saw my car and jumped in, locking the doors as soon as I was in and then realizing how stupid that was. I hauled ass out of the garage, tires squealing behind me.

I had just pulled out and saw him on the corner of the parking garage. I met his eyes one more time and he smiled and waved. Fuck.

I had to stop because of traffic lights three times. I finally made it outside the city and didn’t see a car behind me. I was going 80 miles an hour. I think I may have gotten away. Peter and I would have to move though. We would have to leave. If he lets Jasper know that I am in this area the Cullens will be swarming Austin. Peter would not go after Jasper until I could watch his back and make sure those other fuckers didn’t try something sneaky.

I tried to go faster but a car pulled out of a farm to market road causing me to slam on my brakes. I slowed down to fifty and that’s when it happened. My damn passenger door was ripped opened and the vampire was in my passenger seat.

“Fuck!” I yelled.

“No kidding girl. You drive like a damn maniac. Lucky I’m a fast runner.”

“You tore my door off!”

“Sorry about that. But I figured if I stood on the side of the road with my thumb in the air you wouldn’t have stopped. Now you think we could pull over? I’m not here to kill you.”

“Who are you?”

“My name is Garrett. I’m here to rescue you.”

“I don’t need rescuing. You need to leave.”

“Bella Swan right? I can smell vampire all over you. I know you were taken by one. It’s okay. Carlisle sent me to search Texas for you. Honestly I didn’t think I would ever find you. Then I look up and there you are, sort of. I mean the new look doesn’t make you look that different. Now do you want me to take you straight back to Edward or would you rather me kill the vampire who apparently is making you stay with him? What did he do? Say he would kill your parents if you didn’t hide out with him?”

“I’m not being made to stay with anyone.” I was still driving. The roads were empty now of course. A bridge was up ahead.

I really liked this car.

Fuck it. I’ll buy a new one. I slowed down to fifty. There really is no safe way to do this.

“Bella if you pull over you can explain who took you from your mate. We can take care of that problem and you can be back to Edward in no time. I’m not kidding. I’m here to help.”

“I’m not kidding either. I don’t need help!” I turned towards the left hand side of the road and unbuckled. Opening the door I jumped into the ditch trying to protect my head. I rolled until I hit a tree trunk. I looked up and saw my car drive up the guardrail and launch into the air. I didn’t see Garrett jump. Not to say he didn’t. The car hit the water. He could get out easily enough and be on me in a second. I needed to move. If I could get near the shore maybe I could go under water and hide my scent that way. I ran into the trees. Damn I hurt. My legs hurt. My right shoulder felt weird where I hit the tree. I could feel blood on my cheek. I am guessing from a cut on my head.

I made it to the shore line.

Fuck. Garrett just emerged from the water in front of me.

“Are you fucking crazy? What was that? Who does that? You jumped out of your car and crashed it into the water. Do you have any fucking idea how dangerous that is? I told you I was here to help. Now you went and hurt yourself. Do you have a damn clue how good you smell?”

“Stay away from me.” What else was I going to say? Damn it, I wish Peter had changed me now.

“What did this vampire do to you? Is this some sort of Stockholm Syndrome?”

“Garrett you are going to have to believe me here. I cannot go back to the Cullens. I am hiding from them. You need to leave and pretend you never saw me.”

“Bella, your Mate Edward is going insane without you.”

“He is not my Mate! They are lying to you!”

“How do you know that Bella? I’ve spoken to the poor boy on the phone. He is insane.”

“Sorry to hear that but he is lying. I already have a Mate.”

“Who?”

“Me!”

---

I saw her car go off the bridge and damn near lost it. I caught a glimpse of her running into the woods. She was injured. I could tell by the way she was running. I threw my truck into park and took off. I heard him talking to her. He was in the water by the shore in front of her.

Edward Cullen? Mate? I’ll be damned.

I hit him in the jaw before he could move. He came back at me growling. He went straight for my throat. Stupid. I blocked him and threw an elbow into his throat. He swung a jab and I stepped aside and hit him in the back of his skull. He hit the ground but his boot came back quickly and caught me in the chest. I flew back into the water. I looked at him on the shore. He was standing in front of Bella. Bella just hit him in the back of the head with a log. No damage of course but it gave me the second I needed to get out of the water and attack when he turned to look at her. I had him in a head lock and cracked his knee making him go down on one leg. He was strong. His head didn’t come off easily.

He flipped me over.

He stood over me and I kicked him in the chest sending him into the oak behind him. He dropped on the ground on one knee. He tried to stand but his leg was still bent. He hopped on the other one and Bella slipped her log under his foot. He fell. I was up, he got up.

“Would you please quit doing that? We are trying to have a fight here.” He said to Bella who had another log in her hands and was crouched down, ready to swing. He bent down and straightened his leg.

“Bella get back. I got this.”

She at least backed away.

The vampire was circling me. We began stalking each other in a circle.

“I’m taking this girl back where she belongs.” He smiled.

“She belongs with me and I promise you son, you are leaving this place in a fucking ashtray. Bella honey would you please go to my truck and get a lighter from the middle console?”

“On it babe.” Bella took off hopping up the embankment. She was hurt. I needed to end this.

“Babe? What the hell have you done to this girl?” he asked. I didn’t bother to reply. This was not the time to talk.

“Who are you?” he asked. Inquisitive fucker. He made a move, telegraphed it. He swung I dodged. Sliced his weak knee with the blade of my hand. Straight up with an uppercut. He flew up and I followed. I grabbed him in the air and guided him face first in the ground. Hand on the back of his head, knee in the middle of his back and other hand on his jaw. I started twisting.

“Peter stop!”

What the fuck? I looked up but didn’t let him go.

“What the fuck Bella? You are hurt because of him.”

“I jumped out of the damn car, Peter.”

“To get away from him! He needs to die, now!”

“Peter he thought he was saving me. The Cullens lied to him. He thinks I’m Edward’s Mate.”

“You are. Carlisle told me. Carlisle wouldn’t lie.” He wheezed out between my arms. I squeezed harder.

“How long have I been gone, Garrett? Months! If I was away from my mate that long wouldn’t I be insane or dead? Do I look either of those to you?” Bella asked him. Now she was knelt in front of his face. Great. I wasn’t letting him up.

“You did just jump out of a car and launch me into a lake. That’s pretty fucking insane.” The vampire told her.

“He knows where you are Bella. We can’t trust him.” There was no way I was not going to kill this guy.

“Give him a chance Peter. He could have killed me. He thought he was saving me. Let’s explain to him what is going on. If he doesn’t believe us you can kill him then.”

Damn it! I really wanted to kill this fucker. She was looking at me with those pleading eyes.

“I’m going to let you up. Bella get behind me. You are going to listen. Shut the fuck up and listen. If you don’t believe us, and I will know, I am going to kill you. You know and I know that you are strong but you cannot take me. Do you want to sit down and listen or do you want to die? You get that lighter darlin?”

“Right here baby.”

“Baby? Darlin? Who the fuck are you people?”

“You want to find out?” Bella asked him.

“Yes. It sounds better than the alternative.”

“Peter let him loose.” I growled but did as she said.

“Sit by that tree and don’t fucking move. I will catch you and I will make it very painful.” I told him.

“Okay.” He nodded.

“I need to check on my Mate. She is injured. I can feel it. I blame you for this. I may kill you anyway.”

“I understand darlin. No you are baby right?” He laughed. Crazy fucker.

Bella ran into my arms. I tilted her slightly behind me and began checking her over. He shoulder was dislocated. Her right leg was injured but not broken. She had a laceration on her forehead but it bled worse than it actually was. It didn’t look like she would need stitches. I took my shirt off and placed it on her wound.

“I need to get you to a hospital. You probably have some ligament damage in your leg and your shoulder is dislocated.”

“Pop it in.” she gritted out.

“Babe that is going to hurt like hell.”

“It’s gonna hurt at the hospital too. Just do it.”

Shit. “Look at me darlin. On the count of three okay?” She nodded.

“One, two…” I popped her shoulder back. She screamed.

“What the fuck Peter? You said three!”

“I didn’t want you to anticipate. I figured surprise would be better.”

“You surprised the fuck out of me! Damn it! Fuck!” Bella walked over to Garrett and kicked him. Then she hopped on her injured toe. Brilliant. More balls than brains, I swear.

“Damn hard vampires! God that hurt!”

“You shouldn’t have tried to kick a vampire darlin.” The vampire smiled at her.

“Don’t fucking talk to her. Bella, seriously you probably shouldn’t try to kick a vampire. That was kind of…”

“Don’t you say it Peter!”

I threw my hands up. “Shuttin the fuck up darlin.”

Bella finally stopped hopping and sat down on her ass.

“How bad is your leg hurting?” I asked her. Before she could answer the vampire spoke.

“So does anybody want to tell me what the hell is going on here? I thought I was rescuing a girl who had been kidnapped by a vampire. Now I have been launched into a lake, nearly killed, tripped due to a log places strategically underneath my foot, hit in the back of the head with a log, kicked by a human and I’m honestly still not convinced I am going to make it out of this alive. Despite this, you two are way to entertaining for me to regret getting involved in this. Now darlin do you or babe want to tell me what the fuck is going on?”

“You first.” I said.

“Yeah, you first.” Bella agreed. Dork.

“Okay then. My name is Garrett. I am a nomad. I was contacted by Carlisle Cullen about three months ago. He told me that Edward had found his Mate in a human girl named Bella Swan. He said she had been taken by an unknown vampire. They weren’t sure where she was but her last location was Arizona. He was asking nomads he knew to take her picture and search states. Since I had nothing better to do, rescuing a damsel in distress seemed like the perfect way to spend some time. He asked me to check Texas. The biggest fucking State around. So I started in Houston, hit Dallas, made my way to San Antonio. I basically hung out at the major teen hangouts in the major cities and hoped I got lucky. Honestly I didn’t think I had much of a chance. No chance really. But he was an old friend and I had never really visited Texas so what the hell right? I hit Austin and went to a few malls. Tonight was my last stop before giving up and going on some new adventure. I had my eye on a particularly annoying gentleman with one of those ear rings that puts a quarter size hole in the ear tonight and was planning on having an early supper. I look over and see the prettiest blond haired blue eyed girl looking right at me. I didn’t recognize her at first but she seemed familiar. I checked the picture Carlisle gave me. Brown hair and brown eyes are gone but I could definitely see the resemblance. Then your friend called you Bella. That was the clincher. I followed you as you know, you drive like a fucking maniac. You slowed down, I jumped in your car, you jumped out of your car, I got wet then I got my ass kicked. That’s me. Tell me about you two.”

I looked at Bella. She still had my shirt on her forehead but the bleeding smelled like it was about to stop.

“You sure you want me to get into this? I could kill this guy and we could get you to a hospital.”

“I’m fine baby.”

“I love you Bella.”

“I love…”

“Oh for fucks sake would you two cut it out? I get it. I was lied to, your mates. Only mates could be this sickeningly sweet with each other. But please cut this crap out or kill me now so I don’t have to listen to it.”

“You may want to remember the ass kicking I just gave you boy.”

“Only because your human distracted me with a log. I’m pretty sure that’s cheating.”

I shrugged my shoulders. “We fight dirty. Deal with it.” I looked at Bella one more time. She moved over to me and I sat on the ground. She sat on my lap.

“Tell him Peter. Then take me home. I need Advil. Lots and lots of Advil.”

I looked at Garrett. “You are friends with Carlisle? I’m guessing you know Jasper. I’m going to start this story the night I was turned. Don’t say a fucking word. If I think I can’t trust you after this story, you are history.”

He nodded and I began. The story took a while longer than I expected it to. Bella was fidgeting a lot in my arms. I needed to get her home.

“Holy shit.” He said when I was finished.

“Yeah.”

“Carlisle?”

“Yeah. But I have a feelin it’s mostly Jasper.”

“I’ve never known Jasper to act like that. But I had heard the stories of how he used to be. I thought meeting his mate may have changed him.”

“People like him don’t change.”

“So you are going after Jasper?”

“I was. But now I got her to take care of. She is getting turned in 6 months. Then we will decide together what to do about Jasper. Now the big question. Do you believe us and can I trust you?”

Garrett smiled at me.

“I do believe you Peter. As unlikely as I find this, it is obvious by the fact that your girl is sitting on your lap covered in blood and it doesn’t affect you, she must be your mate. If that is true Carlisle started off with a lie.”

I nodded.

“But here is my problem, Garrett. If you run back into that group, Edward could read your mind and tell where Bella is. Jasper could tell you are lying about it.”

“I’m honestly surprised Alice hasn’t seen this.” He looked confused.

“Alice can’t see either I or Bella or anything to do with us.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because if she could they would have been here already.”

“True. It’s probably because you are Mates. If she is a shield I’m sure her powers magnified even as a human the moment you two touched. They now extend to you as well. It will be amazing to see what she can do as one of us. Tell me why are you waiting to turn her?”

“I’m finishing High School.” Bella said. She sounded tired. I was calling the school Monday and telling them Bella was in a minor car accident and would need a week to recover.

“High School?”

“Yes, High School. Got a problem with it?” I growled.

“No. Of course not. I just… really? High School?”

“Baby can you decide if you are going to kill him or not and then take me home. I am really starting to get sore.”

“Want to go to the hospital?”

“Can we go tomorrow if my leg isn’t swollen tonight? I just want to go to bed.”

“Yeah. We can do that.” Honestly I just wanted to get her home as well.

We both looked at Garrett.

“What do you think darlin?”

Bella took a deep breath. “I don’t know Peter. He was kind of pushy and I really liked that car. But he did think he was doing right. I can hardly blame him for getting played by the Cullens just like I did.”

“He might run into them again.” I reminded her.

“Do I get a say in this?” he asked.

“No.” Bella and I both told him.

“You know, without her throwing logs that fight was a very near thing. Don’t be overconfident. I can grab a passing human and pay them to throw logs at you as well.”

I laughed lightly. Bella did the same.

“You gonna stay away from the Cullens?” I asked.

“Yes. I don’t believe I will be carrying on anymore friendships with that particular clan anymore.”

I felt I could trust him. Bella was right. He did seem to be a decent guy. I didn’t have any hunches telling me I couldn’t trust him.

“Fine. Leave and never mention this to anyone.”

“You honestly think I would tell anyone about this? I got launched into a lake, tripped, hit in the head and kicked by a human and had my head nearly ripped off except a human convinced the vampire not to. No… No worries Peter. This will definitely not be spoken of by me.”

I picked Bella up in my arms and carried her to my truck.

“Hey you think I could come over? Hang out for a while?”

I turned and looked at the guy, making sure I heard him right.

“You want to come hang out?”

“Yeah. Since you have opened my eyes to Jasper I really don’t have many friends. A few nomads here and there but you know how we are. I’m thinking we can hang. Watch some TV, talk politics, share war stories. It will be fun.”

“I almost killed you.”

“Yes. I can respect that. And you didn’t even though you could have. I can respect that as well. I respect the hell out of the little one in your arms. So what do you say?”

“No. I don’t do friends.” I turned with Bella to my truck. Sitting her down gently, she still winced a little but acted like it didn’t hurt her. Her car was completely submerged and it was bought under a false name. I would swim down tomorrow to make sure she left no ID but other than that I was leaving the damn thing underwater. I would buy her a new one next week. I damn near could have lost her tonight. First she could have been taken and second she could have killed herself in that stupid stunt to get away from him. I was proud she tried though, even though I screamed when I saw her car go in the air.

I got her home and ripped her clothes off of her. Not in a sexy way, but rather a I don’t want to hurt you by taking your clothes off the old fashioned way so we will just rip them right here, kind of way. Her leg was not swollen. It was tender around the knee area but she could bend it with no change in pain. Her shoulder was black and blue where it hit the tree. So was the small of her back. How in the hell was she swinging logs at vampires in this kind of shape. The cut had stopped bleeding on her head. It wasn’t deep. All in all for a girl who jumped out of a moving car on the side of the road and rolled thirty feet into a tree she was in pretty good shape.

“You got lucky.” I whispered.

“I’m not lucky. I’m just that damn good.” Glad she still had a sense of humor.

She rolled on her side that didn’t have an injured shoulder and I laid a body pillow she likes to cuddle with sometimes under her back. I didn’t want her back pushed up against my hard body. When she woke up in the morning I would get some ice and alternate it with heat. That may make her feel better. I needed to take her in though, to the doctor. She needed to get her knee checked out. She had a swim meet a few weeks after Christmas that she was looking forward to and she didn’t need any lingering injuries to tendons. Better to find out now, so we can try to treat them. I suppose I could look up care of injured shoulders and backs on the internet but my laptop was in the living room and I was afraid to leave her. I wanted to take her and run. Tonight may have been blind luck. But it could happen again. I could find her a better hiding place. Turn her now if she wanted. At this point I would do whatever she wanted.

But I knew what she wanted. She would want to stay here and finish what she started. It’s who she was.

So we weren’t running from nobody.

The next morning I kept ice packs and heat packs on Bella all day. We laid on the couch and read. Kind of content just to be near each other. I called her coach and told her Bella had been in a minor car accident on the way home last night. We were going to get her checked out tomorrow but it looked like bruises and a possible sprain in her right knee. Coach Decker was worried and wanted to check on Bella. I talked her out of it. I did get some tips on treating her injuries though. Bella talked to her for a few minutes. Bella was laughing finally. Decker said considering she drives like she runs she may need to swim everywhere.

At 3 in the afternoon, someone knocked on our door. I didn’t hear a heartbeat. Motherfucker.

I checked the back yard facing the lake and didn’t see anyone who would try to sneak up on us. Bella was on the couch. She was now limping over to the fire place. She had… oh for God’s sake.

“Put the poker down Bella.”

“You weren’t complaining about the log last night.” She responded. I shrugged my shoulders and walked towards the door. I threw the door open and grabbed the vampire in front of it by the neck. He was laughing.

“Hello Peter! I love how you greet people.”

“Garrett?”

I still had him by the throat.

“Yes it is. Good afternoon little darlin. I hope you won’t be hitting me with that fireplace poker.”

I turned my head and saw Bella directly behind me with the poker raised up over her head.

I dropped Garrett.

“What are you still doing here? I told you that I don’t do friends.”

“I believe you. So I bought that house next to yours. Instead of friends we can be neighbors! How great will that be? We can borrow shit from each other and not return it. I can ogle your Mate while she is in the hot tub. We can bring a couple low lives out for a Sunday afternoon feast by the lake. I suppose I will have to get used to staying in most days but the tree coverage and the view make this place ideal. Bella are you a huge fun of sunbathing? Because that would be great if you were.” He wiggled his eyebrows. This motherfucker…

“Does it look like I am a fan of sunbathing?” Bella asked.

“No actually. It looks like you are getting a head start on the whole pale vampire thing. But one can hope you start. Anyway I just wanted to drop by, introduce myself as your new neighbor.”

“You can’t stay here.” I said lowly. I should have killed this motherfucker.

“Of course I can. It’s perfect. You won’t have to worry about the Cullens running into me. If they find you by some stroke of luck you have me to watch your back. With my help and Bella throwing logs and driving cars into people you can’t lose.”

“Why? Why do you care? Why don’t you just go away?”

“Honestly?”

“No dishonestly. Of course honestly.”

Garrett’s face suddenly became serious.

“Number one, I had a sister when I was human and if somebody did to her what Whitlock did to yours I would want the fucker dead too. Number two, the Cullens lied and used me to try to bring them a girl under false pretenses for their own selfish gain. A girl they had no business going after in the first place. That pisses me off. Number three, I like the two of you. You Peter, are admittedly hard to like but she makes up for your lack of humor. She’s got balls. Big ones. You would both die or kill to protect each other. That’s the kind of loyalty I like to see. So let me stick around. I can watch your back. Both of your backs. Once she is turned and you two can watch each other’s backs we can go our separate ways if you wish. But if you are really going to leave her human until she graduates I would expect you need all the help that you can trust. I could very easily have ran to Jasper the minute you left. I didn’t. Instead I followed you. You know you can trust me. I have nothing better to do for the next 6 months. Let me hang out.”

I turned and looked at Bella. She had dropped her iron poker to her side. She shrugged the shoulder that didn’t hurt like hell to move.

Fuck it. I offered my hand.

“Welcome to the neighborhood.”