Hello, and welcome to Restraint!

In case you have me on author alert, and don't recognize me, that's because I changed my name from ihatejacob1 to MissThespian. As explained on my profile, I still hate Jacob, but I decided that after going by that name for four years, it was time to upgrade.

Some of you who have known me for most of my time on ffnet know that I have troubles with updating and stopping a story due to lack of inspiration. Well, ever since The Wall, I made a major change. This time I put on my big girl panties, and wrote out the entire story, start to finish, before I even thought about posting it. So you won't have to worry about having me drop off the face of the earth for a year just because of writer's block. Now on to the story…

This story is based off of the Australian thriller Restraint, with Dave Warner as the writer and David Denneen as the director, released in 2008. I don't think it's too well known (at least in America), but when I watched it, I could easily watch it play out as a fanfiction, so that's how this story was born. I think people who haven't seen the movie will really enjoy it—and if you have seen the movie, you will still get something different, because I changed a lot of things—namely, the ending. I thought the ending of the actual movie was, well, how do I put this lightly? Lame. But who knows? You might think my ending is just as lame or lamer. Or you might love it.

I don't know. I tend to ramble.

If you want to watch Restraint, if you have Xfinity, it's free On Demand.

Oh and thanks to Lexie for sitting through the movie with me, then sitting through the fanfic to beta it!

Disclaimer: Twilight characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. The idea for the story goes to Dave Warner and David Denneen, Writer and Director of the Australian thriller Restraint (2008).

In a small town nestled in the remote Olympic Peninsula, there is a dirt road off the not so beaten path, leading to a lonely home, where an even lonelier recluse resides. His only companion is a little bird he keeps as a pet, named Volvo. His days have a set routine that revolve around a simple, yet crucial principle: stay inside. However, this recluse—Edward—finds that a ripple has broken up the tedium of his daily routine.

Volvo has escaped from his cage and is puttering around just outside his door, out of arms reach.

Edward stands guard at the threshold of his front door, the door cracked open just enough for him to stick his head outside to call to Volvo.

"Volvo, come back." He cajols, reaching out for him with some bird feed in his palm. He grows frustrated as Volvo dances just out of his reach. "Come on, Volvo!". Edward groans as the bird stares back at him blankly.

The bird cautiously steps closer to Edward's hand, and starts nibbling at the food; Edward sighs with relief, and starts to pull him back. Startled by the movement, Volvo leaps up and starts flapping chaotically. Not willing to let him get away, Edward quickly snatches Volvo up, and tosses him into the house just as he takes flight.

Edward sighs in contentment as he watches Volvo flutter against his ceiling; he wasn't going to let another one he loves try to leave him.

After a minute he gently picks up Volvo from a low hanging chandelier and places him back in his iron cage.

~~restraint~~

A few miles away at the nearly vacant local Forks gas station, a beaten up blue truck pulls up for gas. A man and woman barely in their twenties step out of the truck; the light haired, blue eyed, heavily scarred man starts filling up the truck, when a slender brunette wearing too much make up, too tight clothes, and stilettos heads towards the gas station for a drink.

Just as she is about to enter the shop, an older woman exits and accidentally bumps into the brunette. The woman automatically looks at the girl and laughs, "Oops! Sorry, sweetheart." The young girl just glares at the older woman and continues inside. The woman walks back to her car, eyeing the companion to the rude girl suspiciously.

A few minutes later, the brunette reemerges, smoothie in hand, and approaches her boyfriend.

"Want some, Jasper?" She holds up the drink to his lips. He studies the beverage.

"How much did that cost?" He asks with a heavy southern drawl.

The brunette rolls her eyes. "I don't know. A few bucks maybe?"

He steps closer, moving the drink out of the way. "Yeah? That quite a lot when you have fifty dollars to live on, Bella."

"I'll put in on my card, then." She says, unfazed, sipping her smoothie.

He shakes his head, "No, you won't. They can trace those."

She nods, and whispers in his ear, "Then give me the cash, Jasper. Let me take care of it."

He is no match for her persuasion, and acquiesces with a grin, smacking her ass on the way back to the shop.

When she presents the measly two dollars Jasper gave her to the cashier, he is unamused.

"Pay me the right amount of money, or I'll call the cops." He deadpans.

"That's ridiculous! It's four dollars and thirty cents!" She quirks an eyebrow at him, getting annoyed.

The man sneers at her and reaches for the phone. "Fine, have it your way."

He jumps when she slams her hand down on the receiver; he looks back up at her just in time to see her panicked expression turn to one of seduction.

She looks up at him through thick, black lashes. "Is there anything at all I can do to resolve this?"

The man grins.

Just outside, Jasper finishes filling up the truck with gas. He moves to take a quick glance in the trunk. He slams the trunk shut and starts walking toward the shop, not noticing how the trunk bounces open, leaving its contents visible.

Jasper steps inside the shop holding money to pay for the gas in his hand, but finds it devoid of life. He listens carefully until he hears the all too familiar sounds of Bella's former profession from the back room. He kicks the backdoor open, his vision red with fury, and rips Bella away from the man in mid-hand job. She fights him as he drags her outside; the man follows them, arranging his clothes into a decent appearance.

"How could you do this, Bella?" He slams her against the truck, begging her to tell him why she would do this as the cashier is shouting at them from behind. Bella is trying to explain while Jasper clutches her much tighter than he should.

Finally, the man's yelling gets to Jasper. As he turns around to tell him just where he can go, the man freezes as his eyes lay on the open trunk.

The cold body of Bella's former boss lays in the trunk, bloody and wrapped in plastic.

"Shit!" Jasper exclaims, and reaches for his double barreled rifle, also in the trunk.

"No Jasper, don't!" Bella screams as the man backs up, hands forward. But, despite the pleas of his girlfriend, Jasper takes aim and fires one shot at the man's chest.

Bella screams as the man falls, seizing on the ground, blood soaking his shirt.

"Get in the truck, Bella. Now!" Jasper shoves Bella into the passenger's seat. He then climbs into the driver's side and speeds away, leaving the dying man behind.

~~restraint~~

Silence fills the cab as Jasper pushes the speedometer to ninety.

"What the hell was that back there?" He asks, barely keeping his temper in check, not trying to hide his hurt. "What were you thinking?"

"What is Royce doing the trunk, Jasper? I think that's a better question." She spits back.

He lets out a humorless chuckle. "What did you want me to do? Leave him in the club for the cops to find?" He shouts; she flinches out of instinct. He looks at her, and sighs. "Bella, I'm trying to get you out of that life, and the first thing you do after leaving being whore behind is give a cashier a hand job for a fucking fruit smoothie?"

Bella tries to hide her tears at his hurtful words; she knows how he gets when he's upset. He's only saying these things to inflict as much pain as possible. She stares impassively out the window, until she spots the recognizable blue and red colors of a police car ahead of them.

"Jasper! A cop!" She shrieks in alarm.

He lets out a shuddering breath. "Just keep calm, babe. Act natural."

She shakes her head, getting hysterical. "No, Jasper. Turn off the road!"

"Get it together." He reaches over and grasps her hand as they approach the cop car from behind.

As they get closer, the police lights blink to life, and the siren starts wailing. Both of them watch with bated breath as the police car makes a U-Turn and starts down the opposite direction, towards the gas station.

They both exhale shakily. Bella looks to Jasper with pleading eyes, waiting for answers. He leans over and gently brushes the hair from her face.

"We're going to dump the car. It's alright baby, don't worry. I'm going to take care of you."

She doesn't respond as she watches Jasper take a sharp right onto a dirt road she didn't even see, straight into the forest.

After a solid three minutes of driving, they pull up to a seemingly abandoned mansion. As they get out of the truck, Bella admires the beautiful architecture of the Victorian house. It was probably once a magnificent mansion, painted bright colors. Only now, it's overrun with weeds and in sore disrepair. Bella loves the house anyway; she enjoys fixing broken things.

She and Jasper head for the garage at the side of the house. He gently pushes the door open, gun and hand, and they spy a car covered in a white tarp. They exchange excited glances and rush to it. When Jasper uncovers the car, he nearly moans.

"Oh baby, we've hit the jackpot! An Aston Martin Vanquish!" Jasper is tickled pink by this find. Bella smiles, happy to see Jasper so giddy after seeing him under so much stress due to them being on the run. But she doesn't see the value in the car, other than it being expensive, so they could get lots of money for it. Though, Jasper looks like he's looking at his first born child. He gets up after thoroughly inspecting the gloriousness of the car, and reaches for Bella. He clutches her tightly to him, and murmurs, "I bet the keys are in the house." They both start towards the house.

They creep up to the front, and are shocked to find the front door unlocked. They step cautiously inside. Some of the furniture is overturned, and some of it is covered in white tarps like the car; there are some exquisite works of art hanging disproportionately around the living room. There is one lone couch in the middle of the living room.

Bella stays safely behind Jasper and his gun as they sleuth around the house, searching for signs of life. Most of the rooms in the house look similar to the first one—empty.

Just as Bella and Jasper pass through a corridor, a completely oblivious Edward steps out of the bedroom, holding Volvo in his trusty cage. Neither party hears each other.

"You gave me quite a scare earlier, Volvo. I'm so glad I have you back." Edward whispers to his friend, as he walks past the parlor where Jasper and Bella just entered.

Jasper hears the echo of Edward's mutterings, and stops Bella in her tracks. "I think I hear something."

Bella shrugs. "It's probably rats." This house clearly hadn't been lived in for months, maybe years. She's sure they're alone.

Jasper isn't so convinced. "Stay here." He orders.

She gives him a sarcastic Scout's Honor salute as Jasper sneaks out of the room, gun ready.

Bella picks around the room, toying with cute little figurines she sees, when a light catches her eye. She spots the faint glow of an old television on the other side of the room. The figurine she held shatters against the hard wood floor.

"J-Jasper!" She calls, gasping for air. She twists around toward the door leading out of the room, when Edward steps inside.

Bella gasps at the sight of him, for more than just surprise. This man is easily the most attractive man she's ever seen, but not in the hard, weathered way Jasper is. This man has tousled bronze hair, gorgeous emerald eyes filled with shyness and quite awe. He is wearing a slightly wrinkled white button down shirt and pressed khaki pants. His stance gives off the feeling of smallness and hushed timidity.

Edward just stares in awe at this beautiful woman in his house; she looks so much like…

"W-What are d-doing here?" He inquires softly. She can do nothing but gape at him.

Jasper rounds the corner with a cry, and slams Edward down with the butt of his rifle. As soon as Edward hits the ground on his back, Jasper has the gun pointed at his trachea.

"Don't hurt me, please!" Edward begs.

"Shut up!" Jasper yells. He digs the barrel into Edward's throat. "What's your name?"

"E-Edward." He coughs out. Jasper lifts the barrel away.

He eyes Edward's side pocket. "Give me the money in your wallet." He commands. Edward goes for his pocket immediately and hands him the meager eight dollars in his pocket.

Jasper clenches the money in his fists. "What? This is all you have?" He scrunches up the money and throws it to the floor. Bella quickly moves to collect and put it in the pocket of her leather jacket. She was used to collecting ones off the floor. Jasper leans down further. "Where are your car keys?"

Edward gulps. "In the box, on the table over there." He points a shaky finger toward it.

Jasper glances at Bella and makes a head motion toward it. "Get 'em, Bella."

Bella quickly grabs them just as Jasper flips Edward over, and unveils some duct tape he'd found. Bella takes the gun, and points it at Edward, ready to shoot him if he resisted.

As he is tying Edward's hands together, Jasper grins up at Bella. "Be a doll and go see if you can find some money." She nods and sprints out of the room and into hallway.

As she wanders through the empty rooms of Edward's home, she can't help but admire all the striking pieces of artwork he has collected. Some very intricate pieces that speaks volumes to Bella. She almost loses track of what she is doing; it's like being in an art museum. She quickly starts raiding Edward's drawers, not finding much. She sighs, feeling like this is a hopeless endeavor, when she spots something peculiar hidden at the bottom of the drawer. She sees the corner of a picture frame, and pulls it out from under the folded clothes.

She sharply gasps as she beholds the picture—the glass in front is smashed, like someone punched it. But that's not what really shocks her. The woman in the picture looks so much like her, it was scary. Only, they don't look alike at all. Where Bella is edgy and sexy, this woman is refined and beautiful…stunning really. She is smiling a soft smile, that doesn't look completely genuine. It was pretty nonetheless.

Bella looks up at the adjacent mirror, comparing her heavy eye makeup, smeared lipstick, sex hair and golden hoop earring to the heartbreaking elegance of the creature in the broken picture frame.

In the reflection of the mirror, she sees the entrance to a closet with the light on. She sees the telltale signs women's clothing.

"Awesome!" She cheers and runs into the closet, pulling out expensive, posh clothes that are just her size. She is ecstatic to get out of her dirty clothes, but she's not one to really be excited over the cost of clothes, though she owns a closet full of them back home. She used to be a T-Shirt and jeans kind of girl…but that girl has been gone for a long time. She jumps around like a little kid in a candy shop, much like Jasper did at the Aston Martin Vanquish.

Jasper pats Edward on the head patronizingly and leaves to go try out that babe of a car; Edward lies on the ground, hopelessness sinking in. What were these people doing in his house? How did that woman look so much like Marie? He hates the man named Jasper, but can't find it in himself to hate the dazzling creature named Bella. She is so much like Marie, only with the light of pureness in her eyes that Marie lacked, despite their polar appearances. Edward feels himself become aroused at the thought of Bella's crass appearance in contrast to Marie's carefully composed visage. He quickly squashes these traitor thoughts; he has more important things to worry about than his silly ex-fiancée.

His ears pick up the faint whisper of a dial tone, and he turns to see that his home phone had fallen during his scuffle with Jasper, and now lay out in the open, inviting him like a seductress.

Edward hastily scoots towards the phone, a naïve sort of hope growing in his heart as he gets nearer.

Tragically, that hope is dashed when Jasper all but skips back into the room, a smug smile on his face. He quickly scans the room for Bella, then leans his head out of the door.

"Bella , get down here!" Suddenly Jasper is lying right next to Edward.

Edward groans in pain as Jasper places his elbow in the middle of his back, casually lying down. "So, here's the plan Ed. You're going to drive us down south, Bella will be in the trunk until we leave the state, and I'm going to be sitting right behind you, with this little old gun aimed right up your ass." Jasper chuckles as Edward gulps nervously. "When we get to Oregon, you're going to pull over to a service station, and withdraw all the money you can." Jasper pats Edward condescendingly as he pants, nothing but anxiety clouding his mind. Jasper gets closer to Edward's ear, "You see, I'm doing this because, my girlfriend, Bella…well she's got a soft heart. Freaks herself out whenever I kill someone, even if it's necessary." Jasper laughs a little. "Ridiculous right? You'd think she'd be more appreciative. Anyway, if it were up to me, you'd be six feet under already. Am I getting through to you, Eddie?"

Edward was nearly trembling, "I-I-I c-can't!" He whimpers.

Jasper grins, fully entertained by Edward's anxiety, "Oh really? I'm not sure you understand the gravity of your situation, Eddie…"

Just then, Bella waltzes into the room, wearing Marie's clothing. Edward gasps at the sight of her; she is wearing a sexy little black dress, and a costly overcoat with some black heels. Dangerous thoughts invade his mind, and Edward is suddenly grateful that he is lying on his stomach. Jasper scoffs and leans down to Edward. "Women, huh?" He lightly punches Edward in the arm.

"We need cash, Bella. Not some more slutty clothes for you to prance around in." Jasper says in a tone that makes Edward want to rip out Jasper's heart.

She nearly growls. "There isn't any."

Jasper snarls in frustration, and yanks Edward roughly up to his feet and starts dragging him to the front door.

Edward panics. "No! Please, you don't understand! I can't go outside!" He starts shrieking like a child going to get a shot at the Doctor's office. Bella grows uneasy at this.

"Jasper, please wait…I think something's wrong…" She pleads feebly. Jasper is unsympathetic as he opens the front door forcefully.

"Oh God no, please!" Edward cries out; Bella grows more horrified as Jasper viciously throws Edward outside.

"Jasper, stop!" Bella screams, hating to see such a quiet-mannered man suffering.

Jasper just laughs at Edward as he frantically tries to return back to the haven of his home. "Look, he's like a little kid." He kicks Edward further out into the yard. The further he is from his house, the more hysterical he becomes. Edward curls up into a ball, trying to keep himself calm. Jasper groans and starts dragging him to the garage. "Come on Ed, you're being a very bad hostage."

The sounds of a helicopter slice through the night air, and Jasper looks up from his wounded animal. "Damn it!" He mutters.

"Come inside!" Bella shouts, silently grateful to have a reason to end Edward's torment.

Jasper darts back up to meet Bella at the front door; he stops when he sees Edward still curled up on the ground, a look of pure agony on his face, like a burning man.

"Come on Eddie, come back in the house." Edward is too far gone to notice. "Get back in the house!" He yells.

Edward finally regains some control and scrambles his way back to the front door. Bella's heart aches as Edward crashes on the hard wood floor and stutters, "Pills, I n-need my pills." Bella feels a flash of contempt for Jasper. "In the b-bathroom drawer."

Jasper takes the stairs two at a time, glad to take the opportunity to be alone and collect his thoughts. He reaches the bathroom and rummages through the drawer. As he's looking for Edward's pills his mind is racing. He and Bella are suddenly in deeper shit than they'd ever been. The police are looking for them. They can't just leave; he has to come up with a completely different plan. He feels so out of control, it sickens him. He would regret the whole thing, had he not loved Bella so damn much. He loves her so much, it hurts. He loves her so much he would kill for her, and has.

Jasper finally returns with the pills. He grins to himself, endeared, when he sees Bella standing guard holding the gun at the back of Edward's neck. Jasper turns to Bella, "What's the matter with him?"

She shoots him a cold look. "He's agoraphobic."

"He's what?"

She sighs, exasperated. "He can't go outside. It's a psychological manifestation of an irrational phobia of the outside world."

Jasper is a bit taken aback that Bella knows this, "Is this what they teach at the strip club? Psychology and Lap Dancing 101?" Bella doesn't dignify Jasper's not so funny joke with a response.

Jasper smiles at Edward, and holds out the pills for him. Edward reaches for them with trembling palms, but just before he reaches them, Jasper dumps them all unceremoniously on the floor. Edward's face crumbles into one of complete terror.

Jasper pulls him up and towards the door again. "No, please no! Not again!" Edward screams and tries to fight Jasper off. Bella's heart skips a beat, and wants to protest, but doesn't say anything.

Edward is nearly weeping as Jasper throws him outside into his yard again. This time, Edward immediately starts crawling back to the door. "Grow some balls, Ed!" Jasper orders, and slams the door in his face. He turns to his love, "You said he can't go outside. He's outside now." Bella keeps her expression blank and uninvolved, hoping it will sway Jasper into ending this joke sooner.

As much as it shouldn't, it hurts her to hear Edward's sorrowful wails from outside. "Please! Please, let me in! Oh, God, why?" Such a beautiful, broken man, begging for mercy from one of the most merciless people Bella knows. Bella bites her lip and turns away from the sight. With each bang on the door, Bella's stone heart shudders.

Bella sighs in relief when she sees Jasper open the door again, but then cringes as he viciously shoves Edward even further back. He laughs at this, "He's like a human boomerang!" He looks back to be rewarded by Bella's mirth, but is only met with coldness in her eyes. Jasper sobers up at the look on Bella's face, and opens up the door all the way. Edward crawls back, but hesitantly stops just short of the door. Then, he rushes in when he realizes the door will not shut. s

Bella shoots an unreadable look at Jasper, and follows Edward as he crawls towards the pile of pills on the floor of the living room. Jasper growls and slams the door shut behind him.

~~restraint~~

Thoughts? Comments? Make them heard, please! Everyone who reviews gets a sneak peek at the next chapter :)