*ELLIE'S POV*

It was past midnight, and half an hour had gone since I last saw Bella.
Now, Joe was gone too.

Too fucking suspicious.
I was starting to totally panic.

I begged Leo for answers, but he told me he couldn't say anything for my own good, which terrified me even more...

As I was walking around that damn party, nervous as hell, I got a text from Bella.

<<Meet me where it all begins. Now.>>

Why is she being so weird and cryptic all of a sudden?

Where it all begins...
Wait a fucking second...
I know where to go.

I left the party and headed straight to the elevator, going up to the top floor.

Where it all began... it's the resort terrace where she and I watched the sunrise together.
That sunrise was our beginning.

I was practically running now, the terrace door was ajar, and I pushed it open quickly.

Bella was there.
She had this lost look in her eyes and was pacing back and forth until she finally saw me.

I ran toward her, but she stepped back before I could touch her.

"What's going on?! Why did you ask me to come here?" I asked, freaking out.

"I'm glad you understood what I meant in the text, Ellie..." she whispered.

"Of course, I understood..."

Something was off with her.
Like, she was barely recognizable to me.

I moved closer, but she moved back away.
You could tell she wasn't doing it because she wanted to, but because she was forcing herself to.

"You're making me worry, seriously," I said bluntly.

"He knows," she said, her eyes burning with rage and pain.
"Joe knows."

I froze, my breath caught in my throat, my heart stopped for a second.

She pulled out a photo and handed it to me.
It was a picture of me and her—kissing on the 4th of July party.

"Bella..." I whispered, barely able to get the words out.

"I don't have to tell you what he'll do with this photo..." she said, her voice cracking.

I couldn't think straight, I just felt so bad for her, she looked like she had suffered way too much.

I was about to speak but she cut me off.

"I need to ask you something, Ellie, it's really important to me..." Her eyes wavered as she seemed on the verge of crying.

"Anything you want..."

"If you think this isn't worth it, if you're scared, if you feel like you can't handle what's coming, I'll back off right now..."

I could see how she was struggling to catch her breath, and my heart tightened.

"How could you think something like that?" I begged her.

"Please, answer, Ellie..."

"You're worth every single second, and I don't care at all about anything that's coming that isn't us. You're the most deserving of my love, and I will never leave you, Bella, " I said firmly.

"Ellie, I can't... I can't let him destroy you for me..." she was crying now.

"It's okay, baby..." I insisted.

I pulled her closer, even though she was still trying to pull away from me.
I took her hand and squeezed it tightly, pressing my forehead against hers.

"You really think a photo is worth more than my love for you?" I smiled.
"I love you, and this photo is actually everything that represents us." I added, still smiling at her.

Before I knew it, Bella pulled me in, and her lips found mine in a... breathtaking kiss.
It was like everything we were feeling in that moment poured into that deep kiss, and I swear I've never felt better than this.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered, crying her eyes out.
And she kept apologizing three more times, even though I told her it was okay.

"I love you so much. I thought I wasn't worth it..." She kept crying, though she was smiling.

"You're always worth it. I will always choose you." I wiped away her tears by kissing her face.

"You would've given up your love so I wouldn't suffer, Bella... you deserve everything and more." A tear ran down my cheek as well.

As soon as we both calmed down, I had her tell me everything that happened, and I found out that Joe was even the biggest bastard on the earth.

"I promise I'll come up with something to stop him from posting that photo," she stated in the end.

"It's the last thing on my mind right now, because all I want to do is strangle him." I snapped.

"I'm with you on this, Ellie."

It was 1 AM, and technically Bella had about half an hour left to disappear... yeah, right...

Luckily, Leo, who wasn't as much of an idiot as I thought, had been texting Bella to let us know where Joe was.

First, he was looking for me... then he went to a bar, probably to get drunk...
Learning this, Bella and I went down to my room to pack my bag.

She locked the door, and we quickly started packing everything.

"Wait..." I smiled, loooking at the last piece of clothing left.
"I'm wearing this," I said.

I was talking about the dress Bella and I had bought together.
My beautiful turquoise silk dress, the one I had been too scared to wear.
But now... I was so ready.

I pulled off my white dress, leaving just my lingerie, and found myself looking at Bella with a cheeky smile...

"Since we're here..." I whispered, winking at her.

"You're insane..." she giggled but still came dangerously close.

"I don't think we have time for this..." she whispered in my ear, yet kept kissing my neck, sucking on my skin.

"No, I don't think we have..." I shivered, and my hands found their way to her back.

"There's no more time..." she chuckled under her breath, pushing me toward
the bed.

"Oh my god..." I moaned.

Her body lay over mine as she kept kissing my chest and shoulders, licking gently against my skin.

I kept rubbing my hand against her back and chest, wanting to get her dress off immediately.

She went for my belly instead, kissing dangerously that sensitive area, while I kept moaning softly.

Then she smiled in that teasing way she did when she wanted to do something very badly...

Oh...
Oh.

So, she asked for my consent with her gaze, and I nodded quietly.

I'm so feeling turned on.

She was about to... with her... tongue...

And right when things were starting to heat up... out of nowhere, I suddenly heard footsteps from the hallway.

"Wait." I stopped her.

"Huh?"

"Can you hear that?"

Now the sound of those slow but steady footsteps approaching our door was clear, and it was driving me insane.

"Oh, fuck!" She snapped.

"SHIT! Joe still has the key to the room!" I suddenly realized.

Always ruining MY best moments.

Bella propped herself up and quickly grabbed my dress from the ground, pulling it over my body.

"Put the dress on, right now."

"Okay, but you're gonna stay calm, right?" I asked hurriedly, already sensing her mood shifting.

"Not possible, put the dress on."

Someone's about to end up in shit...

Bella still looked at me, clearly in a rush, as the key turned in the lock and the door opened.

After she made sure I had put on my dress, she spun around in front of me with fury in her eyes.

Joe entered the room.

A/N
OKAYY next chapter 👊👊💥🔥
I think I have about 2 left to go...
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