Worth the Fight Update

 WTF Ch. 15 on FFn

WTF Ch. 15 on AO3

WTF Ch. 15 on Stars

WTF Ch. 15 on Wattpad

“We both were burned by cheaters,” Bella sighed.

“I’m here if you want to share. I feel strangely better after telling you about the debacle that was my life,” he snorted humorlessly. He blinked to look at Bella, who was shifting on the blanket. She twisting her watch again. Gently stopped her hand, making her jump. “Or, you don’t have to.”

“No, I should …” she whispered. “You shared your darkest secret. It’s only fair that I do the same.”

“Bella, if this is too painful, you don’t have to tell me anything,” Edward murmured.

“No, not even my best friends know the whole story. I mean, I had my suspicions about Jacob for a while, but I’d hoped that they were not true,” she shrugged. “I’ve known Jacob for most of my life. Before living in Seattle, I lived in Forks. It’s a tiny town here in Washington. Jacob lived at the nearby reservation. His family were from the Quileute tribe, who lived on La Push. His father was one of the tribal leaders and he was close friends with my dad.”

“Did your father and Jacob’s father have hopes of you getting together?” Edward asked.

“Billy, yes. My dad knew me well enough to know that I was my own woman, and I didn’t need anyone telling me what to do,” Bella smirked. “Jacob was younger than me by a couple of years and we didn’t get together until after I’d graduated college. He was training with my dad at the point, and I’d taken over as the general manager of the gym. I love my dad, but he’s a hot mess when it comes to maintaining the books, remembering dates, and paying bills. Thank goodness for automatic bill pay, which I had set up when I was in college.”

“Tell me about it. With me not having a permanent address until a few hours ago, I had everything set up through email and my actual mail was sent to Marcus.”

“Your former doctor?” Bella asked. “He still has connections to Volterra.”

“He might have connections to Volterra, but his allegiance is to me,” Edward explained with a cocky grin.

“Explain,” Bella demanded with her own smirk.

“After you finish your story,” he countered.

Worth the Fight Teaser

 “We both were burned by cheaters,” Bella sighed.

“I’m here if you want to share. I feel strangely better after telling you about the debacle that was my life,” he snorted humorlessly. He blinked to look at Bella, who was shifting on the blanket. She twisting her watch again. Gently stopped her hand, making her jump. “Or, you don’t have to.”

“No, I should …” she whispered. “You shared your darkest secret. It’s only fair that I do the same.”

“Bella, if this is too painful, you don’t have to tell me anything,” Edward murmured.

“No, not even my best friends know the whole story. I mean, I had my suspicions about Jacob for a while, but I’d hoped that they were not true,” she shrugged. “I’ve known Jacob for most of my life. Before living in Seattle, I lived in Forks. It’s a tiny town here in Washington. Jacob lived at the nearby reservation. His family were from the Quileute tribe, who lived on La Push. His father was one of the tribal leaders and he was close friends with my dad.”

“Did your father and Jacob’s father have hopes of you getting together?” Edward asked.

“Billy, yes. My dad knew me well enough to know that I was my own woman, and I didn’t need anyone telling me what to do,” Bella smirked. “Jacob was younger than me by a couple of years and we didn’t get together until after I’d graduated college. He was training with my dad at the point, and I’d taken over as the general manager of the gym. I love my dad, but he’s a hot mess when it comes to maintaining the books, remembering dates, and paying bills. Thank goodness for automatic bill pay, which I had set up when I was in college.”

“Tell me about it. With me not having a permanent address until a few hours ago, I had everything set up through email and my actual mail was sent to Marcus.”

“Your former doctor?” Bella asked. “He still has connections to Volterra.”

“He might have connections to Volterra, but his allegiance is to me,” Edward explained with a cocky grin.

“Explain,” Bella demanded with her own smirk.

“After you finish your story,” he countered.

“Fine,” Bella sighed dramatically, opening a container of brownie bites. “In order to continue, I need some comfort chocolate.”

Worth the Fight Update

 WTF Ch. 14 on FFn

WTF Ch. 14 on AO3

WTF Ch. 14 on Stars

WTF Ch. 14 on Wattpad

After picking up some coffee for Bella - she’d been delayed thanks to her phone call with Jacob - they drove to the first of three apartment complexes. Edward did not like the layout or the drive to the gym. It was the farthest from Bull Dog, located in Redmond.

The realtor, an older woman with sharp eyes and friendly smile, gave them the address for the second place, which was in a neighborhood near the Space Needle. As Edward drove to the second apartment, he slyly looked at Bella. She was staring out the window, twisting her watch around her wrist.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Edward asked.

“Just thinking about what you said in my office,” she murmured. “Grieving what I had with Jacob … we’d known each other for as long as I could remember. He used to be so sweet, but once he got a taste of winning and notoriety, he changed.”

“Most people do. I’m not the same guy from when I started fighting,” Edward shrugged.

“Why did you? I mean, you said you went to Northwestern. You could have used that degree in business,” Bella said.

He blew out a breath, narrowing his eyes. “I started fighting because my dad lost everything. My mom, she died when I was really young and with that a part of him died, too. He started drinking. His alcoholism became his driving force. I didn’t matter. Our home didn’t matter. His job …”

“Oh my God,” Bella murmured.

“Yeah. We lost the house and were forced to move into a shithole apartment. We kind of floated because he’d cashed in my college fund. But, he didn’t care about me. I was just a cruel reminder of what he’d lost,” Edward sneered.

“What does that mean?” she asked.

“I look a lot like my mom. Same coloring, similar mannerisms and …” he trailed off. “My dad, who was also Edward, adored her. Tolerated me. I was the thing that stole my mom’s attention away from him. He resented me and when she was gone, that resentment changed to hate. Trust me when I say that I hate him as much as he hated me. I don’t use that terminology lightly.” He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel. “I got accepted to Northwestern and received a decent scholarship. That scholarship was not enough to cover it all and I couldn’t get student loans. My dad had opened up credit cards in my name in order to get more money for booze, tanking my credit score.” “Your dad’s an asshole,” Bella snorted humorlessly.

Blockbuster Teaser

 Driving back to the house, we all changed out our dress clothes. Bella checked in with Rose and Emmett while Seth went scrounging for something to eat. “Son, we’re going for a picnic,” I quipped.

“I’m hungry. I couldn’t eat breakfast because I was too nervous,” he said, his mouth full of some cereal. He looked at me. “You’re not going to cook, are you?”

“One time,” I huffed. “I burnt dinner one time!”

“You burnt dinner to a crisp, Edward,” Bella teased. “It wasn’t salvageable. The smell didn’t leave the house for well over a month. Even now, there’s a hint of burnt smell.”

“I promise to not cook,” I snickered. “I can chop things and then we can go exploring …”

“Good thing you have a bunch of nosh in the fridge,” Bella quipped, pulling out containers of pasta salad, antipasto, vegetables, crackers, meat, and cheese. Tossing in a few bottles of water, some soda, and cookies, we loaded up into the Range Rover. I navigated the freeway, arriving at Griffith Park. Bella giggled.

“What is it, Mom?” Seth asked.

“It was about a year ago that we had our first date. At this very park …” she responded, looking at me with a fond, loving smile. “A year …”

“Actually, our anniversary is tomorrow,” I grinned, parking the car.

“Yeah, you need to go out on a date or something,” Seth said. “Without me. I love you both, but if I learned anything about all this is that you need cherish the ones you love. Mom, you’ve been a rock for me and my fears, dealing with my mood changes, but when was the last time you did something for yourself? For each other?”

“Seth, when you have children, you will learn that your world revolves around them. I’d do anything for you,” Bella said. “As would Edward.”

“I know that. Especially now,” Seth argued as we got out of the car. We grabbed the picnic basket with a blanket that I had in the storage of the back of the SUV. We walked to a beautiful meadow and sat down in the shade a large tree overlooking the city of Los Angeles. Before we could get comfortable, Seth shot me a look.  “Dad, I think I left something in the car. Can you come with me?”

“Stay with your mom. I’ll get it,” I offered.

“I’m not sure where I left it. Mom, we’ll be right back,” Seth said, grabbing my arm and dragging me away from a perplexed Bella. She shook her head, spreading out the blanket and pulling out the containers.

“What did you forget, kiddo?” I asked.

“I didn’t forget anything. Mom came downstairs before I could I talk to you,” Seth said, arching a brow at me.

“You’re as subtle as a Mack truck, Seth,” I laughed.

“I wanted to apologize first,” Seth whispered, looking at me warily. “I was awful to you when we got here – a total asshole.”

“You weren’t very nice, but I get it. You’ve been dealing with a lot of crap,” I reasoned, wrapping my arm around his shoulders. “I wish I could take away the pain and aftermath of what you’re dealing with what happened over the summer.”

“You have, Dad,” Seth grinned, hugging me. “I wasn’t being fair. I lashed out at you when I should be lashing out at the douchebag who took me. I’m sorry.”

I kissed his forehead. “I love you, Seth. Nothing will change that,” I murmured. “Your recovery will take time. Hell, look at your mom. You’ve seen how she still struggles. And it’s been how many years since she had to deal with Jacob’s abuse?”

“True,” Seth agreed. He worried his lip, looking blankly at the car ahead of him.

“I’m not negating how you feel, but Jacob is the worst type of abuser. He was a narcissist with delusions of …” I trailed off. “Pardon my language, but he was fucked in the head because of how he was raised. The whole nature versus nurture thing … he was groomed to be an abuser, to use women in such a heinous way. He was and always will be a monster.”

“You can say that again,” Seth snorted humorlessly. “I know that you won’t abandon me or that you forgot about us while you were working. I was just so angry at the world.” He stopped, taking my hand. “The other thing I wanted to talk to you about was … when are you going to marry my mom? I’m proud to be a Swan, but I know I want to be a Cullen. So does she …”

I grinned crookedly. “Funny you should ask that. Bella hinted at this being a year since our first date and that this was where we came.”

“But, you said that your anniversary is tomorrow,” Seth said, arching a brow.

“Exactly. You said it yourself, we should go out on a date and tomorrow … I want to treat your mom to a day she won’t forget,” I replied. “Ending in a proposal.”