It Hurts Because It's Real

Please talk to me.

Bella sighed at the text; he had sent well over a hundred by now, along with about a billion phone calls. He clearly didn't remember what she had said about never wanting to listen to him again. Or he just didn't care; that seemed more likely.

She chucked her phone away from her and looked up as the door to her bedroom opened.

"Hey," Scott said quietly, walking in and sitting on the edge of her bed.

"Hi." She almost whispered; it had been hours since she had last used her voice, it was notably hoarse from all of the crying she had done.

Scott just looked at her for a moment; her messy hair, smudged-mascara eyes and stained cheeks, he felt incredibly bad for her. It killed him to see her this way. "I just want you to know, I punched him for you."

Bella breathed out a bitter laugh and put her head in her hands. She felt the lump in her throat return. She could not have felt worse - she was turning Stiles' own best friend against him. "It's not supposed to be like this, Scott." She looked up at her brother who was staring down at her sadly. "He's not like this." At least, she thought he wasn't.

"I know." Scott said, pausing for a moment. "I think.. maybe you should talk to him, you know, let him explain what happened."

She felt sick. "I don't want to know."

Scott nodded slowly, sadness washing over his eyes. "I'm guessing you don't wanna come to Deaton's to find out where Boyd and Erica are?"

"Is he going to be there?" Bella asked and he nodded. "Then no."

Scott sighed. "You can't avoid him forever, Bella, you know."

"Scott - it's been like, three hours," She exhaled. "I'll see him tomorrow at school."

There was a small moment of hesitancy before Scott spoke. "You know I get how you feel, right?"

Bella smiled for a second, and then felt a wave of sadness wash over her. "There's a difference, Scott. Allison didn't cheat on you."

"You don't know for sure that Stiles did." Scott uttered, his voice dripping with optimism. Bella looked up at him. He was right.

But it all made sense, didn't it? The condom, why Stiles was acting so suspicious and why this girl hadn't invited Bella to the party - she would have been in the way. It made Bella feel utterly nauseous to think about it, but it still made perfect sense.

"Just think about it, alright?" Scott said, leaning over to kiss her forehead before getting up and moving to the door.

"Scott," Bella called and he turned to look at her. She gently smiled at him. "Thanks." Scott smiled at her and nodded once. He went to turn back around but she called his name again. "Please don't hit him again."

Scott breathed out a chuckle. "Oh, I wont. But I'm pretty sure someone else is just as angry as I was - probably even more than I was."

"What? Who?"

"Isaac."

-

Bella had asked Scott to do what he could to keep Isaac under control, and Scott promised that he would try.

But at school the next day, it was evident that Scott couldn't have done much at all.

Stiles was walking as fast as he could down the hallway, keeping his head as low as he possibly could. But she could still see the bruises that Isaac had stained his skin with. It reminded her of when he was kidnapped and came back with bruisings. He never told her what happened to him.

She wanted to throw up. She wanted to run to him and hold him - but she couldn't. She had to remind herself of what he had done.

What she thought he had done.

When Stiles walked past her locker, he glanced up at her. But as quick as it happened, it was over.

And that was it for her. She couldn't have someone she was in love with look at her like she was nothing. She couldn't.

Bella closed her locker and jogged to catch up with him. When she was next to him, and he didn't respond, she stepped in front of him. He looked up, but not at her.

She heard her breath catch in her throat at what had been done to him. The left side of his face was a dark red, blotches and deep cuts were engraved on his skin. There was also a dark circle around his left eye. On the right side of his face, there was one singular gash on his lower cheek, slithering onto his jaw line.

"Stiles.. I.. I'm so - I'm so sorry - I --" Bella whispered, her voice barely audible. Stiles still wouldn't look into her eyes, he just looked behind her or to the left or right of her. He looked so on edge; like he thought someone was about to pounce on him. "I didn't want this to happen, I swear, I--"

"Yeah, well, it did happen. And it's fine." Stiles looked at her for the first time. "I deserve it, right?" He almost glared at her before pushing past her, as if he was walking straight through her.

She watched after him, her mouth open and her eyes damp, threatening to corrupt her cheeks with tears.

He hated her. Stiles absolutely hated her.

-

"Where is he?!" Bella erupted with anger as she walked into Derek's apartment.

"Bella?" Scott asked, confusion evident in his voice.

"What the hell is she doing here?" Derek asked out.

Lydia - who had drove Bella there because of her wrecked car - sauntered in with an apologetic look on her face. "She made me drive her here. She wants to talk to him."

Bella was now standing in front of Derek, Scott, and Peter. Stiles was watching her distastefully from the other side of the table.

"Who?"

"Isaac!"

"What?" His tired voice filled the air.

Bella spun on her heels. She glared before storming over to him. He had a look of disdain on his face that made her even more angry. "Who the hell do you think you are?!" She hissed at him when she reached him.

Isaac stared down at her. He then looked up to glance at the other people in the room. Peter and Derek looked just as confused as he felt. As for Lydia and Scott they looked almost proud whilst having a look of defiance on their faces. Something flickered in Stiles' eyes.

"What are you talking about?" Isaac asked her lowly.

"Don't you dare act like you don't know." She spat at him.

Isaac spluttered out a laugh. He pointed to Stiles and said, "This is about him?"

Bella glanced behind her to look at the boy. She caught his eye and he quickly looked away from her. "Yes. This is about him." She said matter-of-factly. "You have no right to touch him. Ever."

Isaac scoffed. "You know that he cheated on you, right?"

"You did what?" Bella heard someone say behind her; Peter, she thought. She ignored it.

Isaac continued, "I did that for you." He laughed spitefully, "I don't get what the problem is, he deserved it!"

"No. He. Didn't!" She screamed at him. The sound of her voice echoed throughout the room and Isaac looked completely taken aback. He had never seen her this angry. He didn't understand; he thought she would have wanted him to do what he did. "I want you to apologise."

"You're kidding." Isaac spat out a laugh when her expression of determination didn't falter. "I'm not apologising, Bella. He got what he deserved."

Bella raised her hand and connected it with Isaac's left cheek. Bella knew it wouldn't hurt him pain-wise, but she was so angry that she didn't know what to do. Isaac's face showed how what Bella had done to him did hurt him - emotionally. He never wanted her to feel this way; especially not towards him.

"If you don't apologise, I will never speak to you again."

Isaac knew she had meant it. The fire in her eyes did something to him; made him believe in her. He stared at her for a few moments. He saw the pleading in her eyes that she was trying to hide. Isaac sighed.

"Fine." He huffed, walking past her and over to the table where the other boys stood. Isaac stopped in front of Stiles. "I'm sorry for what I did to your face." He said disdainfully. Isaac turned his head to look for Bella's approval; he exhaled when she looked just as angry as before. Stiles jaw clenched.

Bella just turned around and walked towards the door to Derek's apartment. She knew she would never get anything better than that out of him. Bella walked past Lydia who sighed and then followed her out.

"Wait a minute, he cheated on her?" Bella heard Peter ask as she walked out; she sighed.