Act I
Chapter 11 ━━ Promise

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Shelley directly walks into home, as Edward drops both Bella and her at home. 

"Shelley, wait!" Bella runs after her, but she ignores her sister as she did for the whole ride from Cullen's residence and continues walking until she stops in her room.

"Shelley, I can explain." Bella walks in as well, looking nervously as the blonde settles her bag on the table with a loud thud and sits on her bed with a blank look. The elder twin sits beside her looking worried. "Shelley. Please say something."

Knowing Bella won't stop, the blonde decides to turn to her sister with a cold glare. "I can't believe you, Bella. We are supposed to share everything between us!"

"I promised them. I'm so sorry." Bella apologises about bursting into tears.

"Are there any more secrets that you're hiding which I don't know?"

Bella gulps at first, but shakes her head. "No."

"Okay." Shelley sighs, preparing herself to forgive her sister. Bella is her sister afterwards. Also they both know that neither of them can't live without each other. 

"I'm really sorry, Shell." Bella looks broken and silently crying now. "Please forgive me."

Shelley pulls her into a hug, where she hugs her back gladly. "It's fine, Bella. I forgive you. Please don't do that again. Promise me that you won't."

Hesitantly, Bella nods as the blonde wipes her tears. "I promise."

Shelley smiles, gaining a small smile on her sister's face as well. "So, tell me. How is Edward treating you?" 

"He's nice." Bella blushes, embarrassed that her feelings reveal to Edward, causing the blonde to smirk.

"Oh my god. You seem too much into him."

"Okay. You can stop now, unless you want me to talk about your relationship with Esdras."

"We're friends. It is very simple like that." 

"Oh yeah?" Bella jokes.

"Oh yeah." The blonde mocks her. "Besides, he said that I look like his ex. Which means I'm kind of a rebound to him."

"Edward told me about it." Bella sighs, not wanting to go further on the subject. "Are you okay with it? Him using you as his rebound?"

Shelley shrugs. "Yeah? He's dealing with a broken heart. It is my pleasure to help someone who needs my help." 

Bella smiles sweetly. "And that makes you. My little sister has a big heart."

"Okay. Enough talking about guys and my big heart. I'm tired. Get out before I kick you out." Shelley jokes.

"I'm out." Bella holds her hands up in defence, ending both of them to giggle. She pokes the blonde's cheek, before walking out of her sister's room. "Night." 

"Night!" The blonde yells and closes her door.

After a fresh shower, she dresses for bed and walks to the window and opens it. Taking her phone, she dials her mother and waits for her to pick up. Renee answers in the first ring and the blonde speaks up. "Mom, it's me." 

"My little baby. How is everyone?" Renee asks. 

"We're fine, mom." Shelley looks out the window and talks on the phone with her mother. "How are you and Phil?" 

"We're fine as well." 

"So spring training’s going well?"

"Phil’s working hard. We’re looking around for a house to rent, in case it becomes permanent. You'd like Jacksonville, baby." 

"Actually, Forks is kind of growing on me." 

Renee stops, knows there’s more. "Could… a guy have something to do with that?"

With a small smile at the memories of Esdras and her new friendship, she answers. "Maybe..."

"Is it Jacob?"

"No, mom! Jacob doesn't even know that I have a crush on him. Besides, he's still after Bella."

Shelley imagines her mother frowning on the other side, but Renee decides to dig into more information about Esdras with excitement. 

"Okay. Tell me everything about the new guy! Jock? Indie? Bet he’s smart. Is he smart?"

"Well… he is kind of a history buff." Shelley answers carefully trying to avoid lies and she turns to find Esdras lying on her bed, smiling. She nearly drops the phone at his sudden existence, but survives. "I, uh… have to go."

"No way, we gotta talk boys. Are you being safe?" Renee asks and Esdras shoots the blonde a look, he heard that.

Shelley face palms, mortified. "Mom! We're friends." 

"I know how those friend zones end up. Come on, baby. I want to know more." The elder woman pushes to get more details. Renee is someone who gets so excited at the mention of boyfriends. She almost jumped out of the running car window with happiness the last time Shelley told her mother about her ex-boyfriend, Riley. Renee is more like a highschool teenager at gossiping about guys. 

"I’ll call you later, Mom." The blonde states and hangs up before turning to Esdras, who still is laying on her bed, like he owns it. "How did you get in here?"

"The window. As always." He simply shrugs.

She raises an eyebrow. "You’ve been here before?" 

"What else is there to do at night?" He replies as she lays her phone on the table and sits beside him, pushing him jokingly. He grabs her hand and playfully pulls her onto the bed, wrestling as she yells.

"You’re a peeping Tom! Perv!" 

He shushes her quickly. "Shh! The Chief will hear you! He will shoot both me and Ed if he founds us sneaking into his daughters rooms." 

"Edward's here as well?"

"He's with Bella."

"Great. What a pair of pervert brothers?" She shakes her head playfully, making him grin. 

"So, you were talking about me with your mom?"

"You aren't supposed to hear that conversation. So, pretend like you didn't hear any of it."

Esdras chuckles and she carefully lays on his chest, him wrapping his arms around her. He speaks after a small silence. "Edward is planning to take Bella on a date tomorrow." 

"It'll be a miracle if dad allows Edward to take her." She responds, closing her tired eyes. 

"Why?"

"Unlike mom, dad is overprotective about the 'boyfriends and dates' topics."

"It is not exactly a 'date' type date. Just going to go play baseball with my family."

"Still, I don't think so." She looks up, opening her eyes. 

"I was going to invite you as well." He frowns. 

"Aww...you're so sweet." She smiles. "I'm not into sports though."

"I can take you somewhere else." He suggests.

"It's a family event. You should be there."

"You're more important."

"No, I'm not." She shakes her head, letting out a small yawn. "Your family is more important."

"You're tired. We'll talk about this in the morning. Now go to sleep." He tells.

"Okay." Shelley rests her head back on his chest and closes her eyes as he strokes her hair gently. Without even realising, she drifts into a deep sleep in between Esdras's arms.