Title: Presents
Summary: 'Have you ever wondered what might have happened if Edward had been more vocal about the bracelet that Jacob gave to Bella in Eclipse? Here's my interpretation if he'd done just that.'
Pairing: Edward/Bella
Rating: T
Word Count: 3310
Disclaimer: Twilight and its inclusive material is copyright to Stephenie Meyer. Original creation, including but not limited to plot and characters, is copyright to the respective authors of each story. No copyright infringement is intended.
Presents
~Bella~
"May I?" he asked, reaching for the tiny wooden wolf.
I swallowed noisily. "Um, sure."
He moved his hand under the charm bracelet and balanced the little figurine in his snowy palm. For a fleeting moment, I was afraid. Just the slightest twist of his fingers could crush it into splinters.
But, of course, Edward wouldn't do that. I was embarrassed I'd even had the thought. He only weighed the wolf in his palm for a moment, and then let it fall. It swung lightly from my wrist.
I tried to read the expression in his eyes. All I could see was thoughtfulness; he kept everything else hidden, if there was anything else.
"Jacob Black can give you presents."
It wasn't a question, or an accusation. Just a statement of fact. But, I knew he was referring to my last birthday and the fit I'd thrown over gifts; I hadn't wanted any. Especially not from Edward. It wasn't entirely logical, and, of course, everyone had ignored me anyway. . . .
I pulled my hands into my lap, underneath the table, and out of view. The not so subtle movement seemed magnified in the quiet space.
He stayed looking toward where my arm had been resting for a moment, then shifted his gaze toward the window.
I let my eyes roam over his face, noting the tightness around his eyes, and the clenched set of his jaw. I wondered briefly what had put the troubled expression on his beautiful face, but then thought better of it. I lightly fingered the bracelet underneath the table and knew exactly what had put that expression on my vampire's face. Of course, being the coward that I was, I decided to happily ignore the elephant, or rather wolf, in the room and continued eating my breakfast. One handed, of course.
Unfortunately, Edward wouldn't be so easily deterred.
"It's a rather romantic gesture; to give a woman jewelry."
Again, there was no accusation in his tone. Just a statement of fact.
"It's not like that."
"Isn't it?" There was a spark of defiance in his tawny eyes when he turned to look at me. Although I know that he's right, in true Bella fashion, I chose to stick my head in the sand.
"Of course not. Don't be ridiculous."
Abruptly, he stood up from the table, reaching for the remnants of my uneaten breakfast. "Finished?"
I woodenly nodded my head, uncomfortable with the way the morning was going. I watched as he quickly cleaned up and then leaned his long, lean form backwards against the countertop, hands propped up behind him on the sink.
His posture suggested casual, but the subtle grinding of his jaw said otherwise. Before he could get a word in edgewise, I was up out of my seat and heading for the stairs.
"I'm going to take a shower real quick."
He didn't reply, he just watched me as disappeared behind the half wall leading to the stairs.
Once in the sanctuary of the bathroom, I allowed myself to finally let out the breath that I'd been holding.
Thirty minutes later, we were driving down the 101 toward Port Angeles. The tension from earlier seemed to have dissipated and I finally allowed myself to relax. Lady luck was never on my side, however, because when I reached over to adjust the volume of the radio, not only did Edward's eyes zero in on the delicate bracelet that was still dangling from my wrist but his expression visibly darkened, bringing back the tension from earlier tenfold.
I snatched my hand back like it'd been burned and fiddled with the sleeve of my long sleeve shirt, making sure to pull it down over my hand. Unease settled in my stomach, but I pushed the feeling aside, not willing to acknowledge that, if I felt the need to hide something that strongly, it was probably for a reason.
I wedged my hands between my thighs and turned my head to look out my window, watching the trees zip by and willing my heartbeat to slow down to a normal pace.
It caught me off guard when Edward sighed before smoothly steering the car off the highway and onto a deserted side road.
He brought the car to a stop and the cut the engine, leaving us in complete silence.
I turned to ask him what he was doing, but the sight before me stopped me dead in my tracks. Edward's head was turned away from me with troubled eyes looking off into the distance.
Again, I studied his profile, noticing the way his brow was furrowed and the way his jaw was clenched shut. Letting my gaze drift down to his elegant hands, I noticed the way they flexed around the steering wheel.
There was no mistaking that he was upset. Very upset.
I fingered the bracelet nervously, knowing that this had everything to do with the gift I had not only graciously accepted, but excitedly accepted from my best friend.
The gift didn't feel so innocent in this moment.
The air in the car crackled with tension, and not the good kind. It was uncomfortable and unsettling; my mind raced with worry.
After what seemed like an eternity, Edward spoke.
"You wearing a gift of jewelry from another man; a man who has openly admitted that he has romantic feelings for you no less, makes me very, very uncomfortable."
"Edward…"
I didn't know what to say. He'd never been so frank with his feelings with me before, but his feelings were wrong. Not only were they wrong, they were offensive. It's not his place to tell me what I could and could not wear. I didn't get a chance to voice this thought, however, because he continued his speech,
"I'm sorry if that seems old fashioned or high-handed, but, to me, it feels disrespectful."
"Disrespectful? You have got to be kidding me." I barely resisted rolling my eyes before he turned to look at me with so much intensity in his golden eyes that it was startling.
"Yes, disrespectful. The entire situation feels disrespectful to me."
"How on earth is it disrespectful to you for me to wear a gift that my best friend worked hard to make for me?"
His eyes blazed with an emotion I couldn't quite name before he answered, "You happily accept gifts from another man but not from me. He blatantly disregards your relationship status at all times, but especially by giving you jewelry. You blatantly disregard your relationship status by wearing it."
"That is absurd!"
"Is it absurd? Tell me how you would feel, Bella, if I wore a piece of jewelry given to me by another woman. A woman who had complete disregard for you and your place in my life. A woman who constantly flaunted our closeness to you and delighted in shoving in your face every time I chose her company over yours. Now, picture that woman hanging all over me while telling you that she not only has romantic feelings for me, but also openly pursues me while constantly bad mouthing you to me."
I didn't like the picture he was painting at all. It was making me more angry than I was before. He was twisting the entire situation to make Jake look like the bad guy and me like some spineless harlot. The unease from before settled down into my gut and sat there like a rock.
"Now, picture all of the above with me not only turning a blind eye to every disrespectful thing she did, but also defending her at every turn."
"You're being unfair, Edward! You sound jealous and immature." I crossed my arms over my chest, ignoring the way the bracelet felt like a dead weight burning into my skin.
"I'm not being unfair, and I'm not trying to hurt you, Bella, I'm just trying to articulate to you how seeing you wear his bracelet makes me feel. I'm not demanding that you take it off or that you return it. I'm just…"
He trailed off, letting out an unnecessary breath while letting his eyes drop closed. It felt awkward in the enclosed space and I suddenly wanted to be anywhere but here, feeling uncomfortable in my own skin.
Thankfully, it wasn't long before he started up the car and smoothly maneuvered us back onto the highway. The rest of the ride to Port Angeles was silent, but it gave me a chance to think. I mulled over the entire conversation in my head again and again. I was justified in my feelings, right?
If I was, then why did it feel so terrible?
I was about to crawl out of my skin by the time we parked in front of the bookstore, and I was out of my seat before Edward could come around to open my door. I kept my arms crossed over my chest and he shoved his hands in his pockets as we made our way across the parking lot and to the front door.
Always the gentleman, Edward opened the door for me, stepping aside so that I could enter the store first.
"Thanks," I mumbled as I moved past him and into the familiar surroundings of my favorite bookstore. "I'll just be over here," I said, pointing to the fiction section.
I heard him sigh as I walked away and I hated the uneasiness that followed along with me.
I selected a random book and then nestled into an overstuffed chair, fully prepared to lose myself in another world, but, after only a few pages into the novel, I found myself unusually distracted.
No matter how hard I tried to concentrate on the words in front of me, my mind kept drifting back to the conversation in the car.
I finally gave up after an hour of reading the same paragraph over and over. So, when Edward came to find me and suggested that we head to lunch, I was more than willing.
We walked to a café close to the bookstore and slid into worn vinyl seats. We didn't have to wait long before a bubbly girl with corkscrew curls came over to introduce herself as our waitress.
"Your boyfriend has great taste." The waitress said to me with a sly wink.
"Excuse me?" I asked, genuinely confused by her random statement.
She gestured toward my wrist as she clarified her statement.
"Your bracelet. It's beautiful."
My face flushed hotly as I quickly yanked my sleeve down to cover it and she looked at me like I'd grown a third head before flicking her eyes to Edward and then back to me.
"Oh, that's not a gift from me." Edward's velvety voice filled the awkward silence, but it certainly didn't relieve any of the tension. The waitresses eyes darted between Edward, me and the bracelet once again before she plastered a phoney smile on her face and asked for our order.
As I waited for my food, I considered my thoughts from earlier. My gaze drifted to the cuff that Edward wore on his wrist and I thought about how I would feel if it had been gifted to him by a woman. It was hard to imagine because Edward was so distant with other people. I just couldn't picture him being close enough to someone outside his family to accept a gift like that.
It was nearly three o'clock in the afternoon before we made it back to his house and while we both clearly tried to pretend like nothing was wrong, tension sat between us like third person.
Thankfully, Alice swept me away as soon as we entered the house, offering me a small reprieve from the discord between Edward and me.
I sat on her bed once we reached the sanctuary of her room and she flitted around me, yapping about inconsequential things.
While I was happy that she provided me an escape, I found my thoughts drifting back, once again, to the conversation in the car. I picked at a loose thread hanging off of my sleeve while I wrestled with the urge to ask Alice for her opinion.
She'd justify my feelings because she was my best friend, right?
Just as I made the decision to vent to her, she let out an exasperated groan, "Oh, thank God! Your indecision was giving me whiplash."
I gave her a half hearted smile at her attempted joke before steeling my resolve.
"Don't worry, Jasper has taken him out for a quick hunt." She shot a wink at me from over her shoulder and I visibly relaxed at her reassurance that we'd have at least some semblance of privacy.
With more courage than I actually had I asked, "Do you think he's right, Alice? Am I being disrespectful by wearing the bracelet?"
Alice came to sit next to me on the bed and easily slid her arms around me as I began to cry.
"That's a very subjective question. One that would be very personal to every couple. However, in your case, I think you already know the answer."
Her words seemed to make me cry even harder.
"I'm not trying to make you feel bad, Bella, and I'm definitely on your side…"
She trailed off and I couldn't help but prod between sniffles. "But?"
She was quiet for a moment.
"There's this woman in Alaska."
That had my attention.
"A vampire."
"Your cousins?" I interrupted before she could launch into her story.
"They're not really our cousins, Bella. We just have a deep closeness and respect for each other because both families value human life."
She rolled her eyes like this was the most obvious thing, however, those simple words changed my entire understanding of the elusive Alaskan clan and I could feel the unease begin to claw at me.
I suddenly didn't like where this story was going. At all.
"Anyhow, Tanya, a member of the Denali Coven, and Edward have always been great friends. They have a lot in common and very much enjoy each other's company. We always wondered why nothing more came from their friendship, especially because she's never been shy about expressing her interest."
Something ugly and possessive twisted in my gut at the thought of a possible rival that I'd never heard of or even thought about.
She looked at me through the mirror of her dressing table as she continued, "They're both musicians, so obviously they connect on that level."
She sat down on the bed with me and placed an open photo album in my lap. On the page, a washed out photograph is secured. In the photo, a brooding Edward is standing in an open field of what looks to be an outdoor concert. He's wearing a dark Jimi Hendrix tee shirt and faded, flared jeans. One of his hands was tangled in his chaotic hair and the other hand was shoved in his pocket.
A small smile graced my lips as I lightly traced my finger down his image thinking that despite the outdated clothes, he still looked as handsome as ever. My smile quickly disappeared as my eyes devoured the woman standing next to him, however. She was tall and curvaceous with legs that went on for days. That's not all, though. She also had an absolutely gorgeous face. Seriously, this girl's beauty could rival Rosalie's, and that's saying a lot.
"Is that…?"
"Tanya? Yes."
I stared at the photo for what seemed like forever, memorizing every detail from the way he seemed quite indifferent to her presence to the way she was wrapped around his arm gazing up at him with more interest than I was comfortable with.
Again, the unease twisted in my gut.
"Why are you showing me this?"
Alice looked over at me with an intensity that made my heart quicken.
"You're my best friend, Bella. And I love you so very much. I never want to do anything that will make you upset or uncomfortable, but if I didn't show you this; if I didn't make you understand…
"You would eventually end up making a decision that you would deeply regret.
"Put yourself in Edward's place for a moment. Imagine how you would feel if Tanya gave him a bracelet, or a necklace or a ring. Anything of that nature, really. How would it make you feel to see him claimed in that way by her? Especially if you were from an Era where every little gesture meant something significant from tying a ribbon your beau gave you in your hair to wearing his jacket draped over your shoulders to proudly wearing his ring. These were all very significant and public gestures of commitment and fidelity."
White hot jealousy seared through me as each scenario flashed through my mind. Suddenly, I saw his point of view with perfect clarity. I may not have agreed with his point of view one hundred percent, simply because I'm from a different time, where these gestures don't necessarily hold the same significance or connotation, but I definitely saw where my nonchalance could be hurtful to him.
Something that wasn't necessarily a big deal to me was obviously a very big deal to him and his Edwardian sensibilities. If I felt uncontrollable jealousy of the imaginary thought of him wearing a piece of jewelry from Tanya, then he had to be absolutely distraught at the reality of me wearing a sentimental piece of jewelry from his mortal enemy.
Oh yes, I'm seeing things much more clearly now. Not only about the bracelet but also about Jake's overly friendly behavior and my tendency to turn a blind eye to it.
I looked over at Alice, watching as she visibly relaxed under her latest vision. She smiled widely at me, announcing, "My work here is done."
It wasn't too much after I hugged my best friend and returned to Edward's room to wait for him, that I heard the front door open. I spoke lowly, knowing that he would hear me. "Edward."
Mere seconds passed before he appeared in the doorway, looking every bit like a Greek god carved from stone.
My heart swelled at the fleeting thought that this gorgeous man was mine.
"I'm sorry."
His startled eyes shot up to mine, full of questions at my quiet apology.
I patted the empty space beside me on his black leather couch. He wasted no time coming to sit next to me, taking my hand in his.
"I understand and I'm sorry for hurting you, even though it was never my intention to do so."
"I know it wasn't, but I appreciate your apology nonetheless. I'm sorry that I upset you today."
I nodded my head in acknowledgment of his unnecessary apology before I spoke the rest of my thought,
"Thank you for being honest with me about your feelings. I know that's not easy for you."
"Thank you for trying to see my point of view. I know that I'm old fashioned and I know how frustrating that can be to you."
He lifted his golden eyes to meet mine and I could see the same relief I felt reflected back at me. In that moment, I vowed to cherish the sweet, thoughtful man in front of me. A man who was very much shaped by his old fashioned values. I knew that we still had a lot of issues to work through, but, with this important realization, we certainly had one less.
I carefully unclasped the bracelet from around my wrist and put it in my pocket. I knew that I would have to have an uncomfortable conversation with Jake, but it would be worth it in order to be the cause of the radiant smile on Edward's face.
And I would do anything to keep it there.