Standard Disclaimer: The author does not own any publicly recognizable entities herein. No copyright infringement is intended.
The walkie-talkie at Bella's hip buzzed to life just as she placed a twenty pound pumpkin on the table. She glanced up into brown eyes identical to her own, as her father scowled at the unseen voices.
"Woodchuck to Grey Squirrel, Woodchuck to Grey Squirrel. Come in Grey Squirrel."
"What the hell are those clowns talking about?" grumbled Chief Swan, his mustache twitching as his mouth pulled down into a frown.
Bella suppressed a small bubble of laughter as she pictured her friends out in the corn field acting out the old Jim Carrey bit. She was surprised her father didn't know of it. But, then again, Charlie had never been one to watch a lot of television that didn't involve true crime solvers or largemouth bass.
"Just something that's been going around YouTube," she explained as succinctly as possible.
Charlie's lips pulled into a tight line, but he returned his attention to the various checklists and schedules in his hands. He figured one joke was acceptable. However, he wasn't expecting the act to continue.
"Grey Squirrel, the situation has been neutralized." Seth's voice in an uncanny impression of Dickie Peterson, Cherub of Justice.
"I'm going to neutralize all of you if you don't quit horsing around," Charlie grumbled into his own walkie-talkie. "Anyone who has time to do impersonations can come and help carve some more pumpkins."
"Sorry, Chief," was repeated a handful of times as the boys in far flung corners of the hay field quickly apologized to avoid more work.
Charlie peered off into the distance, no doubt imagining the entire haunted hayride route like it was displayed before him on a map. Bella noticed the tension in his jaw as she shoved a serrated blade deep into the yielding flesh of the gourd in front of her.
"It's going to go fine, Dad," she told him, as she pulled off the top of the pumpkin and started scooping out the slimy mess within. "They're just getting the goofiness out of their system, but everyone will behave once the guests start showing up."
"Don't you think we've got enough of those, yet, Bells?" her father asked, indicating the long line of jack-o-lanterns with a glance. For a moment they communicated silently with each other, their eyes each focused on something just out of view, and both pale foreheads were wrinkled in thought. Anyone else would have backed down from the Chief's taciturn authority, but his daughter wasn't concerned with his approval. Rather, she shared his dedication to community safety above personal comfort or ego.
"I'm a little worried about that turn by the old barn," Bella finally responded, gesturing to the northeast with a string of pumpkin innards trailing off her hand. "I think we need to widen the curve, which means pushing the path out a bit, which means we need more pumpkins to mark the arch."
"Bells," Charlie responded, "We've been doing this haunted hayride for over ten years. We don't need to have a regulation highway through the corn."
Bella grinned up at her dad. She'd known he'd pull seniority on her if she mentioned concerns about the route that had been planned. But, as a second-year civil engineering student, part of her brain had been irrevocably changed so she saw every road, even a temporary path through an overgrown corn field, as a challenge to meet efficiency and safety. She wasn't about to back down, even against her father who was the de facto safety officer for every community event in the small town she had lived in until going away to college.
"I'm not suggesting a regulation highway, Dad," she said. "Since the only vehicles travelling it will be going a maximum of ten miles an hour, it couldn't be a highway, anyway." As she went on to explain, using as many terms from her training as she could, Bella's smile grew wider and her father's expression shifted to a mixture of pride and confusion.
"Alright, alright," Chief Swan finally cut her off. "We'll smooth out the curve however you think we should." But, he added a little under his breath, "We've never had any problems before, including last year when you were too busy to come and help your old Dad."
Bella's smile fell a bit, and she concentrated on cutting out some eye holes and a ghoulish mouth from the pumpkin, while her brown hair fell over her shoulder, hiding her face. Charlie's eyes were focused on her, but they were both too shy to say what they were thinking or meet each other's gaze.
Bella had avoided coming home from college all of her freshman year, the four hour drive and her aged Chevy truck fair excuses. She'd even convinced Charlie to allow her to spend the Christmas break in Phoenix with her mother. It had nearly broken his heart, but he allowed her to believe he bought the lie about her wanting to reconnect with Renee.
Charlie knew her avoidance of Forks had little to do with Bella's class schedule and work-study job. And, it had exactly nothing to do with Renee asking her to spend the holiday with her and her newest boy toy. Though he had no proof that would have been admissible in court, Charlie knew the guilt lay primarily with a boy named Cullen. But, he also knew better to say anything about it, especially now that Bella was home again, and he had seen a familiar silver Volvo gassing up in town the other day.
Bella's mind was on Edward Cullen, too. She bit her lip and furrowed her brow in concentration, willing her thoughts to go in a different direction, but there was no denying that being back home made certain memories bubble to the surface. She had hoped after her self-inflicted exile she would be able to come home to Forks and not be reminded of her high school crush.
Charlie had tempted her with the one thing she had missed most about her hometown: the haunted hayride, a police fundraiser and her favorite Halloween tradition. Bella had volunteered at the annual event every year since she was old enough to be trusted to put on a mask and yell "boo." Over the years, she'd graduated to different jobs like helping to create props, sell tickets, and eventually serve on the organizing committee. Unlike most of her classmates, who were content to show up and be pulled along on a tractor for a fun scare, Bella knew the ins and outs of the Hayride by the time she was thirteen.
For Bella, it felt like Halloween hadn't even happened last year. She'd spent all of ten minutes in the frat house filled with scantily clad girls supposedly costumed as angels, or witches, but really looking like wannabe lingerie models. That was just not Halloween. There hadn't even been any candle-lit pumpkins, just a plastic version lit by electric bulbs.
After that disappointing night, crowned by watching her roommate come home and throw up into the wee-hours of the morning, Bella had decided that nothing, even the ghost of her non-romance with Edward Cullen, would keep her from being part of Fork's Haunted Hayride again.
Since the planning for each year started as soon as the previous ride's set was torn down, Bella sent an e-mail to the committee members early on November 1st. She begged them to allow her to skype into meetings so she could be involved in the planning, and promised that she would find a way to be in Forks each weekend in October to help run the event. She even sent a sketch of the ride she had dreamed up.
Bella's vision was titled "Vampires through the Ages." Her concept was to take the riders back-in-time from today's glamorous, romanticized, and inhumanly beautiful vampires to the earliest depiction of gruesome blood-drinking demons. The idea had been met with unanimous enthusiasm. Even stogy Mrs. Cope who liked to complain about everything was won over by the literary and historical educational aspects.
Bella planned, sketched, made phone calls, and skyped the months away. Ironically, immersing herself in the Forks tradition helped keep her mind off of Edward Cullen more than avoiding all the reminders of her home town. She'd even made unexpected friends through the work she was trying to accomplish on campus.
The "Forks Haunted Hayride East Committee" was formed by Bella's roommate, Alice, a theater major who had convinced about a dozen people into volunteering their time sewing costumes and building props for the event most wouldn't even be attending. The small group met as often as they could around studying, rehearsals, and other meetings. Bella unexpectedly found herself the center of attention as the volunteers asked her questions about Forks over endless boxes of pizza and donuts, kept carefully away from the fabric and paint.
But, for the first time in her life, the shy girl didn't mind having others focused on her. She found she liked making decisions and laughing with others as they worked toward a common goal. It was fortunate that the committee was not an official school club, because Bella would have been President, and she would have been unable to avoid recognizing herself as a leader. The fact that she didn't see herself that way just proved how good she was at it, and how much the experience was allowing her to grow.
When their freshman year ended, Bella and Alice loaded up Bella's truck with an array of fake coffins, prosthetic limbs, black capes, and assorted props. Bella drove them to Forks, unloaded them into her father's garage, and returned to Seattle the next day. She took a few classes over the summer and worked as many hours as she could. Most of her paychecks went into a savings account, but she also scoured thrift shops and garage sales for more Hayride materials.
That fall, Bella arranged her schedule so that she had no classes on Fridays. And although it meant giving up a desirable job in the Admissions Department, she took a four-week leave from work-study, intending to take whatever was available in November and working through the holidays to replenish her skimpy bank account.
It was about a week after classes had started and the girls were looking through the digital pictures of the field Bella had on her computer that Alice reminded Bella of one detail she had overlooked.
"So, are you going to be a beautiful vampire, or one of the monsters, Bella?" Alice asked. Bella could tell by her tone that Alice was going to try and persuade her to play Bella-Barbie, hoping she'd be one of the glamourous modern figures at the Hayride.
Bella gulped and steeled herself. She knew from experience just how persuasive Alice could be in getting her to do something she didn't want. It had been her gorgeous petite roommate who had dragged her to the few parties Bella had attended, and even convinced her to double-date once. That experience had made Nightmare on Elm Street look like Romeo and Juliet.
"I'm not going to be either," Bella replied, her brown eyes avoiding Alice's narrowed gaze. "Since I'm going to be responsible for traffic flow and safety, I'm going to dress up as something that can't be confused with the characters in the scare."
"Such as…" Alice prompted.
"Umm," Bella stammered. "I actually haven't decided yet."
Alice rolled her eyes at the ceiling, muttering under her breath. "I figured as much. Well, I gave you as long as I could, but if we're going to come up with something functional and sexy, you're going to have to start working with me now."
Bella made a sound between choking and whining. "Alice," she stammered. "I appreciate your help, but there's no way I could wear anything sexy, especially in a corn field when I need to be focused on making sure everything goes well and no one gets hurt. Besides, it can get below 40 in Forks in late October. I don't intend to have any skin showing."
Alice was shaking her head in exasperation at her friend's ignorance. "Bella," she said. "You can be covered up and still look sexy. That's why you need me to design your costume for you."
"But, you're not listening to me," Bella said. "I don't want to look sexy."
"You just think you don't want to look sexy, because you've never given it a chance." Alice replied. "Seriously Bella, you need to stop hiding yourself. I've seen you naked, I know that you don't have anything to be ashamed of. Hell, I'd kill for your tits and ass."
Bella could feel the heat coloring her cheeks, and was sure that she was turning a color somewhere between tomato red and grape purple. Though she wasn't really upset with her, she was in a state of disbelief that Alice had said something about her naked body. Wasn't that breaking some kind of roommate code?
"I want to be a pumpkin," Bella exclaimed, coming up with the idea on the spot. "That way I can be a nice bright color that people will be able to see from a distance, and I can wear nice warm clothes underneath." She added silently to herself that she'd be sure that neither her boobs nor butt would be at all visible. She shuddered at the thought of her father seeing her in something that Alice would deem sexy.
Thus had begun the great costume debate. Alice had tried every trick she knew to get Bella to acquiesce to one of her designs. She'd pouted and given her roommate the most mournful looks. She'd drawn up over a dozen ideas – including something she deemed a La Perla mummy that looked like murderous lingerie attacking a woman's form. Bella vetoed everyone. Meanwhile, she was starting to get nervous about coming up with an idea that would actually work.
Finally, inspiration stuck Bella when Alice handed her a sketch of her as the Batman femme-fatale Poison Ivy, wrapped in a skin-tight Lycra green suit and a moss-like corset.
"I can work with that," Bella said, almost to herself.
Alice clapped her hands with glee and practically skipped out of the room. Bella took the opportunity of her absence to quickly call her fellow engineering student, Angela, and asked her help.
Thankfully, Alice assumed that Bella blushed every time she measured her for the costume because of the up-close and personal nature of the work. The shorter girl literally took three different dimensions of each of Bella's breasts. She almost fainted when Alice had declared her almost perfectly symmetrical.
Only the insurmountable fear of actually wearing something that was designed to lift and separate her boobs and hug to every curve kept Bella from blurting out the truth – that no one from Forks would ever see her torso in Alice's creation. Instead, it would be covered in a balloon-like orange material, inflated by a small fan wired to a battery pack and heat source that she and Angela had designed. To top it off, Bella had pulled some favors of friends of friends and managed to procure a fencing helmet.
She and Angela worked together to transform the white hood and black mask into a something resembling a green stem. Bella would be shapeless and faceless, except for her legs. Unfortunately, Bella had not been able to come up with a way to save her modesty below the point that the pumpkin would blow out around her upper thighs. The thought of having so much of her body still showing bothered her slightly, but she figured most people would be distracted by the billowing parachute pumpkin and eerie looking stem-head. That, combined with the dark of the hayfield, would keep her legs from being looked at too closely.
~TTGBN~
Edward Cullen was not a writer, nor particularly well-read. But as he sat in Tyler's old Sentra, looking out over the corn field lit with jack-o-lanterns, smelling cheap beer and listening to the annoying giggle beside him, he thought about a line he had heard in his Freshman English class. "You can't go home again."
Obviously whoever had written that should have had a better editor. You could, you just probably shouldn't.
From the outside, Edward's high school life would have appeared charmed. He was a good student, and though sports had not particularly appealed to him, he had no trouble talking the talk and fitting in with the jock crowd. And, then there were the girls. They had ignored him until junior year when he had filled out and grown into his lanky form. Though it may shock anyone in his graduating class, Edward had not asked a girl out of even called or texted to flirt until he was in college.
His first foray into the dating world set the tone that would last up until his parents packed up his books and clothes and Edward pointed his silver Volvo south toward the University of Washington.
It had been a typical day, and Edward was passing the time in the Forks High School cafeteria gazing at Bella Swan, the shy girl that occupied his thoughts but most of his friends dismissed because she was smart and the police chief's daughter.
"Dude, what are you looking at?" Tyler Crowley asked, elbowing Edward in the ribs so hard he dropped the soggy, cold French fry in his hand.
Edward shifted his gaze, away from the downcast chocolate eyes in the heart shaped face that was constantly on his mind to Bella Swan's table mate.
He had been trying for weeks to work up the courage to ask Bella to ride with him to Seattle. She had mentioned in their Biology class that she'd been wanting to go to the big city and do some book shopping. Edward had lain awake every night since that conversation, one of precious few where Bella revealed anything personal about herself. He practiced his invitation to ride together, his reasoning for sharing resources, and ran through various topics of conversation he and Bella could have during the glorious hours of privacy during the drive. He imagined the sound of her laugh in the small space of his car, what her skin might feel like if he "accidentally" brushed against her while changing gears or took her hand as they walked in the city streets.
Edward would be more than willing to face his jock friends' disapproval and teasing if Bella agreed to date him. But what if she wasn't interested? It was one thing to date beneath his social status. It was another to have a pathetic crush and be shot down by the girl none of his friends thought was worthy.
So, he had contented himself with stealing glances whenever he could. He drifted nearby whenever Bella seemed to be in a conversation with someone, pretending to be focused on something or someone off in the distance so it wasn't obvious he was just standing there eavesdropping. He greedily gathered each piece of information, wishing he were the one she revealed it to directly.
Careful not to be too obvious in his obsession, Edward was sure to pick another girl in Bella's proximity whenever he wanted to look at her, which was basically whenever she was within eye sight. He would shift his gaze in carefully practiced intervals. He'd allow a few seconds to admire the silky shine of Bella's brown locks curving over her shoulder, careful to keep his expression neutral, then look toward Lauren Mallory, all the while thinking about Bella, smiling at the memory of a private joke she had shared with him or a fantasy of an actual date with his crush.
It seemed a harmless strategy, until he was cornered one afternoon by his locker.
"My friend knows you were staring at her in lunch today," Jessica Stanley said with an unpleasant sounding giggle and narrowed eyes.
In his shock, Edward didn't stop to think that Jessica could mean anyone but Bella Swan. "She does?" he asked with a gasp.
"Yes," Jessica said. "And she wants to go with you to the Girl's Choice Dance this Saturday. Will you go with her?"
"Definitely," Edward's grin might have cut through the ever-present Forks clouds to be seen from space. He would never have dared ask Bella to a dance, since she had never mentioned any interest in going to those kind of events. It might not have been as good an opportunity to learn more about her as his planned Seattle date, but she'd be sure to wear something beautiful, and he'd be able to hold her with the entire school watching.
Edward strutted with pride as he entered Biology, ready to let his long-hidden crush show. His heart was pounding and his head was light when he slid into their lab bench.
"Are you looking forward to Saturday?" Bella asked, her voice cracking as she looked down as if to study the wood grain on the table.
Edward was disappointed that her hair created a curtain, hiding her face. But he understood her shyness and took a deep breath before bravely admitting, "You have no idea." The words came out in a single breath and Edward thought his heart might explode.
Bella looked up then and Edward gasped at her expression. It was cold. Her eyes, which usually looked like warm chocolate, were nearly black and rimmed in red. There was no evidence of any smile on her lips as she spoke "Lauren's really excited, too. I'm sure you'll have a great time together."
"What?" Edward gasped, blinking. But just then their teacher entered the room and both of them stared determinedly at the front of the classroom, not even allowing glances toward each other out of the corner of their eyes.
As the lecture continued, the reality of the situation became clear to Edward. He stared down into his lap, where his hands were clenched into white-knuckle fists. He wanted to shove one in his mouth to cut back a groan of frustration at his own stupidity. He hadn't even asked which friend Jessica's invitation had come from. Of course Bella didn't want to go to the dance. Hadn't she told him she didn't dance?
And now, he realized, he'd been leading Lauren on with his stealth glance stealing. He hadn't paid attention to what he was seeing when he glanced away from Bella, but if he had, perhaps he would have noticed Lauren reacting to having him turned toward her.
In the end, Edward decided taking Lauren to the dance was fair penance for unintentionally flirting with her. He had done his best to be an attentive date and a gentleman at the dance. At the end of the night, he walked her to her door and, before he knew what was happening, her lips were on his. Edward froze, his eyes open in shock as they took in every detail of Lauren's face, from the way her puckered mouth made the skin on her hollowed cheeks become covered in fissures of cracked foundation, to the black crumbs of mascara in her eyelashes.
She pulled away and Edward was shocked to see her smiling as if she had enjoyed his nonresponse. Edward had nothing to compare it to, but he could only think that he was an awful kisser. He hadn't even realized what was happening until the terrifying experience was practically over.
The next day in school, all the jocks congratulated him. Lauren was surrounded by giggling friends, hanging on her every word whenever Edward saw her. He wasn't brave enough to try to pull her aside to speak to her.
Only Bella seemed to ignore the gossiping, as she usually did. Edward watched her in his usual, carefully timed intervals, but he was unable to get any hint of what she may be thinking. His heart was pounding in expectation as he watched her throw away the remnants of her lunch and leave the cafeteria, headed for Biology.
Would Bella look upset? Would she ignore him? What if she asked him about Saturday night?
He was so worked up that he ran from the cafeteria to the lab, practically falling into the room and looking toward their lab table. She met his gaze immediately. The hundreds of options he had considered for conversation openers disappeared as Edward watched Bella square her shoulders and raise her chin. He literally tripped over his feet as she broke into a breath-taking grin as he crossed the room toward her.
"You look happy," Edward commented, again the words bypassing his brain. Bella smiled wider, and he returned the grin as he fell awkwardly into his chair.
"I'm looking forward to hearing how your date went," Bella said, sounding disappointingly sincere.
Edward blinked before asking, his tone incredulous. "You are?" In his mind, he wondered why Bella would want to hear about his time with Lauren. He didn't want to think about it ever again personally.
"Sure," Bella replied. A deep red rose blush bloomed on the apples of her cheeks "We're friends aren't we? You must have had a lot of fun."
"Friends…" Edward repeated the word, which felt heavy on his tongue as a knife twisted in his heart.
Bella's eyes opened wider as she caught his expression and she bit her lip. Her entire face turned a red that matched her cheeks. "Or not," she mumbled into her lap.
Without thinking, Edward placed one of his long fingers under the girl he adored's chin. The embarrassed brown eyes met the confused green and they stayed trapped in each other's gaze for a few precious seconds before Mr. Banner started talking about their next lab.
"I'll be your friend as long as you let me, Bella," Edward whispered, his world falling softly, barely covering the few inches of space between them.
Bella smiled again, the warmth making it all the way to her eyes this time. She nodded and Edward removed his finger from her skin. Underneath the lab table, Edward shook his hand, which almost felt like it had fallen asleep, buzzing with an unfamiliar pulse.
It wasn't long before he and Lauren were broken up. The end of their relationship was a lot like the start. The same friend that had accused Edward of his frequent gaze told him Lauren thought he was tired of just kissing her. Edward stupidly nodded while trying to think of a nice way to say that he wanted to be able to have a conversation with his girlfriend that might involve something they actually had in common. Though kissing had become slightly more enjoyable than the first train wreck, Edward didn't think so much of their time should be using their lips in that way.
By the end of lunch, everyone was buzzing with the news, now high school gospel, that Edward had pushed Lauren for sex, and then dumped her because she didn't want to go that fast.
Edward was horrified when he heard this. He couldn't believe that Lauren would think so poorly of him to meet that conclusion. And worse than that, he could tell Bella had heard the rumor, though she didn't say a word about it. Could she think so little of him? Did she really see him as that kind of guy? Is that why she only wanted to be his friend?
Desperate to repair the damage to his reputation and his friendship, Edward filled a piece of paper with past action and effects, searching for patterns and other routes his now brief and baleful dating experience could have gone. Studying his recent past did not give him much insight into how to traverse the future. The problem was that he had exactly one experience as a boyfriend and it had been a failure. He clearly couldn't ask Bella out now. She deserved better, and the only way he could think of to become better was more practice.
Edward knew it was inherently unfair to get into a relationship with another girl with the sole goal of being a better potential boyfriend for Bella Swan and trying to repair his reputation. But, he couldn't come up with a better plan, and doing nothing wasn't an option. So, he would have to find a way to keep things casual, without hurting anyone's feelings.
In a few weeks, he worked up the nerve to ask Alice Brandon, a bubbly petite black-haired girl to homecoming. At the end of the night, he kissed her cheek and asked her to the movies the following weekend.
Edward had his first stroke of luck when Alice explained at the end of their second date that she hadn't gotten over her last boyfriend, Jasper. Edward tried to hide his relief for this easy excuse not to pursue a relationship with Alice. As long as he kept things light, making sure the girl felt she had his attention and treating her well for a date or two, then he wouldn't be doing anything wrong.
Thus began a pattern, and before he realized what he was doing, Edward was branded the player of Forks High School. The fact that he didn't actually love-em before leaving didn't seem to matter.
The next girl had been Tanya, Rosalie Hale's cousin who visited over February vacation. After taking her into a back room at a party, she almost succeeded at placing Edward's hand underneath her shirt before he pulled away. As they rejoined the crowd, Edward could see from everyone's expectant expressions that it didn't matter he had barely grazed the bare skin of her stomach. Everyone knew he and Rosalie had been alone together and made their own assumptions about what they had done.
If Bella had even once shown disappointment in Edward for his real and fictional exploits, he would have gladly defended himself, telling her that there was only one girl he dreamed about touching and that he wouldn't treat anyone so cheaply as the tales that were being told.
But, she never gave him an opening for such a defense. She avoided even referring to Edward's player-status. Worse, when Edward was supposedly in relationships, she was more open and friendly then in the days following a supposed break up. Bella seemed to pull away when the word was out that Edward was on the market, answering him with one syllable answers or nodding to any questions he dared ask.
It was maddening. Everything he learned from his experiences with other girls made Bella's reactions confusing at best and discouraging at worst. Sometimes he was sure her blush or stammer meant that she was attracted to him, but when he tried to flirt, complimenting her as he would his other dates, Bella quickly shifted the conversation to their classwork.
As junior year ended and senior year began, Edward knew his time was growing short. Bella may not be interested in any of the guys in their tiny high school, but she would certainly be pursued by many more worthy suitors when she went away to college.
Another of Edward's "relationships" had ended that September and he made up his mind to ask Bella on a proper date, intending to get tickets to see a band she told him her stepfather had introduced her to. But then Bella appeared at school in a full-leg cast. While this spoiled Edward's dream of wrapping his arms around Bella's waist on the dance floor of the club, it gave him an excuse to be openly attentive to her.
For the next two months, Edward sprinted out of each of his classes that he didn't have with Bella to meet her and carry her books to her next room. They chatted in their usual comfortable, friendly way as Edward maneuvered their way through the crowded halls. After many months of habit, his eyes automatically locked with the girls they passed and he gave them a sly smile, as his heart delighted in being by Bella's side.
Edward was grateful that no one else asked him out at this time, because he wasn't sure exactly how he'd turn a girl down. Contrary to his reputation as a bastard, Edward hated the idea of anyone's feelings being hurt.
Unfortunately, not everyone in Forks High had the same concern for others feelings.
Trigonometry, one of the classes Edward did not have with Bella, had run a few minutes over. Unfortunately, her Spanish was on the opposite side of the school. Edward was in a full-out run, cursing his teacher and every person who got in his way as he dodged through the halls. He stopped short of the door to catch his breath and was surprised to hear Bella talking to someone. He had worried that she would already be gone, and had definitely not expected anyone else to be waiting with her if she was still there.
"I just think it's sad you are falling for his act, when it isn't even intended for you." It was Lauren, Edward's first ex-girlfriend and by far his most embarrassing mistake.
"We're just friends," Bella replied. "I know he would never be interested in me."
Edward could hear the tone of hurt in her voice underneath the anger. He could picture her beautiful chocolate eyes welling up with tears and he wanted to storm into the room, but the word friends had his feet frozen in place. Was that still really all Bella saw them as, or was she talking about someone else?
"Oh, please," Lauren answered. "Everyone knows you're milking this whole damsel in distress thing. But, I'm letting you know it's going to blow up in your face, because he's using you."
"Using me how?" Bella replied, still dubious, but with a hint of curiosity.
"To make someone else jealous," Lauren sniffed before continuing in her most high pitched tone. "It's obvious, isn't it? If he pretends to like the most boring and plain girl in school, it will drive everyone else crazy. Tyler explained it all to me."
Edward unthinkingly punched the locker next to him. A loud clang echoed through the hall and Lauren walked out of the classroom a moment later. Her eyes grew wide as she took in Edward's pitch-black eyes and clenched jaw and she raced past him.
Bella appeared a moment later, balancing precariously on her crutches with a far too-heavy backpack over both shoulders. The two met each other's gaze for a moment before Bella took a deep breath that sounded like a sob and hobbled past him.
Edward closed his eyes and tried to catch his breath, while anger pulsed through him like venom, freezing him in place. He wanted to find Tyler Crowley and snap him in two. He wanted to hit himself for allowing this stupid act to go on for so long. He wanted to fall to his knees in front of Bella and forgive him for being so cowardly and selfish.
But, what would it even matter, if she just wanted to be friends? Was it even likely that he could convince her to be that with him now? Edward had never learned how to convince a girl to be interested in him. While on the outside this would appear to be good fortune, always having been pursued himself left him with a disadvantageous lack of skill.
He decided right then to give it up. If he couldn't have Bella, he wouldn't date anyone. But, he still stole glances at Bella whenever he could. Hearing her speak was always the highlight of his days.
And, he hadn't been on a date since. He skipped prom, though did make an appearance at the after-parties. He learned how to decline girl's advances like a gentleman when he went away to college, and even managed to have some female friends.
He thought he'd become a better person. But, waiting outside the Haunted Hayride, he felt like the labels he'd been brandished with in high school – player, cocky, heartbreaker – were being thrust on him again and he didn't know how to make them not stick.
"I can't believe how great you look," Lauren practically purred while rubbing his arm and looking up at him in what she clearly thought was a seductive expression. "All the guys at school are getting pudgy from all the beer. Don't you have any fun at school, Edward?"
"I have plenty of fun," Edward responded gruffly, trying to put as much space between them in the backseat. He had come back for the weekend to visit, and allowed his old friend to convince him to go on a double-date. Edward had been much more interested in the event itself than who he was being set up with.
If he had known it was Lauren, and that she had apparently become even more aggressive since high school, he might have finally had the balls to tell Tyler that there was only one girl in Forks he had ever wanted, and it certainly wasn't his ex-girlfriend.
As the got out of the car and started to walk toward the line of people waiting for the Hayride, Lauren hooked her arm around Edward's and tried to push her body against his. He stepped away, turning his head from the smell of stale alcohol and perfume.
"Edward," she moaned, "I'm cold. Can't you warm me up?"
Edward rolled his eyes before he could stop himself. Thankfully, since his head was turned, he didn't think anyone saw his rude behavior. Well, perhaps the person wearing the strange, billowing pumpkin costume had. A faceless green mask turned in their direction at Lauren's voice, but snapped back toward the approaching tractor.
Edward wordlessly removed his jacket, and handed it to Lauren. He then took a step away from her and grumbled to Tyler, "Didn't you tell her what we were going to do?"
"Of course, it was her idea," Tyler said back, not bothering to keep his voice low.
"Then why the hell is she dressed like that," Edward muttered. "Everyone knows it's fucking freezing out. Why does she look like she's heading to the fucking Playboy mansion."
"You think she looks like a Playmate?" Tyler waggled his eyebrows at him.
"I wasn't complimenting her figure," Edward growled, irritated. "I was talking about her lack of common sense." He turned away from the group and added under his breath, "Did they lose IQ points in college or was I that dumb in high school to care about them."
He heard an odd snort, and the pumpkin-person came walking past them, pointed silently to the group, shepherding them onto the flatbed lined with hay bales. Edward quickly maneuvered to get a seat on the very edge, so at least he'd have some breathing room and a way to avoid looking at Lauren. A cackle of static came from the pumpkin, clearing the group to enter the ride.
"Ooh, it's so scary," Lauren squealed as the trailer lurched beneath them.
"It hasn't even started, yet," Edward snorted.
"Sure it has," Lauren purred. "Wasn't that faceless guy creepy, and it's so dark out here. I'm scared of the dark."
"Then why did you want to come?" Edward started really getting irritated. Was she intending to babble the entire time? They were approaching some really cool looking scenes, and Edward was hoping to forget about who he was sitting next to. Vampires were definitely more pleasant to think about than leeches like Lauren.
"I always want to come," she purred.
Edward bit his lip and didn't respond. He turned his body even more so that his knees were hanging over the side of the hayride, but he kept his fleet planted on the bed of the trailer so he wouldn't lose his balance.
Ghouls of all sorts popped out of the darkness as the travelled the pumpkin lit course. In spite of his irritation, Edward found himself smiling. Someone had put a lot of thought and creativity into the hayride this year. What should have been a lame small-town tradition was still incredibly cool.
They were rumbling around a curve of jack-o-lanterns when Lauren screeched like a banshee and tried to hop into Edward's lap. He was completely taken by surprise and thrown off balance. His feet slid of the straw-covered planks that he had barely been gripping with the balls of his sneakers. As his legs swung out into the pitch black darkness, his hands found Lauren's waist and he tried to lift her, but they hit a bump and Lauren went flying face forward into the hay she had just been sitting on and Edward was launched right off the trailer, landing with a sickening sounding thud on the ground below.
Edward felt his head hit the hard, mostly frozen earth and groaned before closing his eyes. He could hear people shouting and the rumble of the tractor come to a halt. The crackling static of the walkie-talkie echoed over the field and someone said. "We have a problem out here. Serious this time guys, we need first aid."
Edward closed his eyes, wishing he had stayed home.
About a hundred yards away, Bella broke out into a run, taking a shortcut straight through the field rather than following the pumpkin-lined route that the tractor had taken. She was still in shock over seeing Edward Cullen again, with Lauren Mallory of all people, but it didn't stop her training from kicking in when she heard someone was hurt.
She was cursing herself, ready to take all the blame for not designing the route better, not knowing that the curve of the journey had nothing to do with the accident.
She arrived before anyone else and tore off her green felt-covered fencing helmet as she took in the scene. Most of the people were off the trailer, circled around someone lying on the ground.
"Step back," she called. As she broke through the circle, her breath caught momentarily as she saw Edward Cullen lying on the ground with his eyes closed.
"Nobody move him," she told the crowd. She crouched next to him and gently placed her fingers on his neck while turning her head to listen for his breathing.
As a lock of Bella's silky brown hair fell over her shoulder and tickled Edward's face, the air stopped moving through his lungs. He was afraid to inhale. He wondered if he could be imagining the sweet scent that had been wrapped up in his memories of the girl he had wanted for so long.
Bella's heart was racing, but she remembered the steps to CPR. She knew an ambulance was already nearby and heading their way – it had all been part of the planning and drills that they'd hoped would never be necessary on the night of the Haunted Hayride. As she tried to position herself over Edward so that she could push air into his lungs, the pumpkin costume caught in the wind and twisted her arm.
With a low muttered curse, Bella undid the buttons between her legs and pulled the billowing orange fabric up over her head and tossed it aside before bending back toward Edward's face.
Edward opened his eyes to the sight of Bella's stretching her arms toward the sky, giving him a perfect view of the skin tight green under-layers of her costume.
He must have died when he hit the ground. He just wasn't sure if it was heaven or hell that he had ended up. He had fantasized often about Bella hovering over him, her lips ready to meet with his. And he had certainly spent plenty of time thinking about how her body might look in something other than the shapeless jeans and t-shirts that she had worn every day of high school.
But, nothing his mind could have conjured would have him as spellbound as this. Even in the faint light of the candles flickering from the depths of hollowed pumpkins he could make out just how fantastic her breasts were – perfectly shaped and just big enough to not quite fit in his hands if he wasn't too shocked to actually move a finger. And the curve of her waist and hips was begging equally for his touch, but no part of his body was obeying his brain.
He had absolutely no control over his lips as they formed the prayer-like whisper, "Bella."
Bella jumped back like she had felt an electric shock. He had said her name, so he was definitely conscious.
"Edward," she spoke gently. "Are you okay?"
"No," he groaned.
"Can you wiggle your fingers for me?"
"Why?" he responded. It seemed like all the blood that should have been in his brain was between his legs. Nothing was making sense.
"Just try, okay," Bella encouraged.
He raised his arms and moved his fingers in between their faces, which were still very close together. Bella let out a sigh of relief and Edward felt her breath on his cheek like a caress of tropical air in the middle of the cold night.
"Okay," she said. "But don't move any more for now. We've got an ambulance on the way."
"Bella," he seemed like he was going to say something but then changed his mind. "I can move, I don't need an ambulance."
"Stay still for now," she said. "You could have hurt yourself without realizing it. You might just be in shock."
Edward nodded and Bella scowled at the movement. He was in shock, they both thought the same words for different reasons.
Bella was concentrating on the potential harmful effects of his fall.
Edward was concentrating on memorizing every detail of Bella's body. He was too surprised by her sudden appearance to worry about looking away. He had hungered for this girl for so long, now that she was so close, and looked so delectably seductive wrapped up in his favorite color, he had no power over himself.
His ogling was suddenly interrupted by a distraction in the form of red and white flashing lights. Bella stepped away as the ambulance came to a halt and two EMT's emerged. She explained what had happened and Edward was fitted with a neck brace and moved onto a gurney.
As he was loaded into the ambulance, Bella looked around for Lauren, assuming Edward's date would want to ride with him. But the other girl was missing from the crowd that was still gathered around in a circle around the hay covered tractor. So were Tyler Crowley and his date.
Bella frowned as a particularly strong breeze blew, making her shiver now that her pumpkin shell and its heated blower weren't protecting her from the October air.
"Where did the people he was riding with go," she asked one of the witnesses, who was dressed in an old-fashioned witch costume.
"The girl that pushed him said she was cold and the headed back toward the parking lot." The girl replied.
Bella's jaw dropped. She wasn't sure if she was more upset about them just taking off while Edward was hurt, or the idea that her old friend had been pushed off of a moving tractor. He seemed fine, but that was the one bit of good luck on this cursed night.
She shook her head, trying to think of a reason. Perhaps they were going to his car so they could meet him at the hospital and give him a ride home. That must be it.
"Bells?" Her father had arrived. Bella had a moment to wonder what had taken him so long before she looked up to see her father's face turning puce. "What the hell are you wearing?" Chief Swan hissed.
Bella could feel her cheeks turning a matching shade to her father's face. "Alice made it," she said, deflecting.
"Dad, I'm riding with Edward to the hospital. Will you pick me up there?" she didn't wait for a response, but turned away, giving Charlie Swan a view of her backside, barely concealed by felt leaves over her green tights.
~TTGBN~
Edward opened his eyes to an unfamiliar room. He was laying down and something was beeping nearby. He shifted, but before he could get up to take in more of his surroundings a hand was on his shoulder pushing him back down into place.
"You're okay," a sweet and familiar voice said.
As his vision focused, he saw Bela standing at the side of his hospital bed. She was still wearing that incredibly sexy green corset and tights that she'd had on under the parachute-like pumpkin.
"Bella?" was all he could make out.
"You hit your head when you fell out of the hayride, but they did a cat scan and there's nothing wrong." Her familiar chocolate eyes were warm, but slightly wet.
"Were you crying?" Edward croaked.
"I was worried for a while," she whispered, leaning closer over his bed. Edward was overwhelmed of the scent of strawberries coming from her hair. "Seeing you like that, on the ground and hurt, it made me realize something."
"What?" he asked.
Her lips curled up in a very un-Bella-like smile. At least, it was nothing like the shy smiles she had given him in high school.
"I realized how much I've always loved you," she said. Edward gasped, a million differing things he wanted to say getting caught in his throat before Bella continued, "And how much I've always wanted you."
Edward closed his eyes and shook his head, certain he was hallucinating. There was a slight ringing his ears and his head ached from the movement. When he opened his eyes once again, Bella was staring at him, her gaze seductive and hungry.
"I think you want me too, now," Bella said boldly. "I saw your erection when I was touching you out in the field." She licked her lips and Edward felt the traitor between his legs start to rise again.
"Bella," he started to explain, but the words still wouldn't come. The truth was that not ALL of his thoughts about Bella had been so innocent. He wasn't the man-whore that rumors depicted him to be, but he was still human. And, Bella's curves may have been more hidden in high school, but that didn't make him completely oblivious to the sensuousness of her body.
"Looks like you're feeling better," she said, glancing at his cock and winking at him.
Edward gulped. He couldn't believe this was his Bella, but he couldn't stop himself from being aroused by her.
"I don't think I can wait any longer," she whispered. "I've spent too many nights fantasizing about you with my hand between my thighs. I want you right now, Edward."
"Bella, no," Edward sat up in bed, his head throbbed, but he ignored it as he reached out to grab Bella's hand. She had it at her shoulders, and was starting to push her costume down, which made the tops of her plump breasts exposed to the harsh fluorescent lights.
"Don't you want me, Edward?" Bella bit her lip and her chocolate eyes filled with tears. "All those other girls you had, why wasn't it ever me you tried to seduce?"
Edward grabbed the edge of fabric that made the top of Bella's jumpsuit and her eyes lit up. But, instead of pushing it down exposing more of her body, he pulled it back over her shoulders. "I never seduced anyone, Bella," he snapped. "Now, will you please stop trying to take your clothes off?"
Bella shook her head in disbelief. "I'm not stupid, Edward, I know how many girls you had sex with before we graduated. I'm sure you've had quite a few since then."
"You want to know how many girls I had sex with in high school," his frustration, both at his current arousal and the years of lies he allowed to fester was reaching a fever peak. Beside him one of the machines was starting to beep in an echo of his anger. "None," he continued. "The same as the number of girls I've slept with in college. Zero. I'm a virgin!"
"What?" Bella said, her eyes going wide.
"I'm a virgin, Bella," Edward repeated. "I never wanted anyone. Well, I did, but I could never get the nerve to tell her."
"Who?" she whispered. She gave herself away for already knowing the answer by biting her lip and looking down at the floor.
Edward took a great gulp of air, and gathered up the courage to finally say what was in his heart. "It was always you, Bella," he admitted. "You were the one I wanted to stare at every day. You were the one I thought I was agreeing to go out with when I ended up in that ridiculous situation with Lauren. You were the one I wanted to make myself better for, though I admit my plan of practicing by going out with other girls was the stupidest idea I've ever had."
Bella's hand covered her mouth. The two stared at each other in silence while the machines at Edward's bedside to measure out the moments of their shock.
"You want me?" she whispered, finally breaking the silence.
Edward took in her hourglass shape and lingered his gaze over her soft full mouth. "You have no idea how much I want you, Bella. But, I want our first time to be special – not like this."
"Please," she begged, "We've both waited so long, Edward."
"Don't," he responded. "I can't resist you when you ask like that."
"Then don't," Bella answered. "We don't need anything aside from us to make our first time special."
"Bella," he groaned. "Be reasonable."
Bella did not respond with words, but crushed her mouth onto his. All thought left Edward's brain as something electric ran down his spine. Each of their lips parted slightly and he could not control his tongue from seeking out the taste of her mouth.
Bella let out a groan from the contact and crawled into the bed with him while maintain contact on their lips. She raised herself up to place a knee on each side of Edward's hips and he instinctively thrust into her, making her moan louder.
Edward's brain was fuzzy and he could not control his hands. They acted of their own accord going straight for the fabric he had pulled over Bella's shoulders moments ago. Only now they were reversing the action, pulling down on the green lycra until it her arms were free and Bella was bare to the waist. He leaned back for a brief moment to take in the sight of her.
She was so perfect, it was almost too much to bare. None of his daydreams had done her justice. Her nipples were dusty pink and perfectly erect, each begging for the touch of his fingers or his lips. He let his tongue caress each once before taking her as much of her right breast into his mouth while kneading the other in his palm.
Bella ground her hips into Edwards cock and felt the tingle in between her thighs grow as something tightened in her belly. His ministrations on her breasts were unlike anything she had felt before, but her mind kept screaming for more. She ran her fingers through his hair before clasping his head between her hands and hissing, "Yes, Edward, yes, please."
There was nothing he would not have given to her in that moment, hearing her call his name like a prayer.
Though he had no experience, he had heard enough from other guys and watched enough porn to have an idea what to do to make her feel as good as she was making him feel. At this rate, their humping wouldn't be dry for long, and he wanted her to come before he did.
Praying that the sides of the hospital bed would collapse, Edward pushed against one of the rails for leverage while rolling Bella beneath him. She gasped and he smirked down at her, finally allowing himself to be ruled by his lust and take control.
Edward tugged further on Bella's costume and the leaves rolled down her hips. As her legs were revealed, Edward placed a soft kiss on the inside of Bella's thigh and she sighed in happiness. Once she was completed naked, he tore the hospital gown off of his own body and quickly removed his boxers before kneeling on the end of the bed, between her legs.
"You're all I've ever wanted, Bella," he said to her as his long fingers slowly moved up her legs toward her sex, which was glistening with moisture.
Bella jerked off the bed with the first contact of his finger between her folds, but relaxed back onto the cotton covered mattress. Edward explored, gently at first, his face reverent as he glanced frequently up at Bella's face to take in her reactions to the places he touched.
He was pretty sure he had found her clit by her gasp and brought his mouth down on the same spot.
Bella moaned his name and her thighs twitched around him and he sucked at the little nub and was rewarded by more delicious nectar being released by her pussy.
"Please," Bella moaned, not wanting him to stop what he was doing but at the same time wanting more. "Please, Edward."
He had wanted her to come before he slid inside her, but his own need was getting to be too much. Edward raised his head and took a few seconds to gaze at the girl he had loved for so long. A beautiful pink flushed over her chest and her eyes were heavy with want for him. Edward let out a soft growl of pride that he had made Bella look this way, and that he was going to be the first to enter her.
Carefully, using all his self-control not to explode right then, Edward lined his throbbing cock up with Bella's pussy. He pushed slowly, both of them gasping as her tightness surrounded him. No matter how much each had imagined it, loving their bodies in the ways they knew how, nothing could have prepared them for this sensation.
Edward's green eyes locked with Bella's brown ones.
"I love you," he whispered as he started to move slowly deep into her and then withdraw. Bella winced with pain for a brief moment, and Edward stilled.
"Don't stop," she said.
"It will feel better in a moment," Edward whispered, hoping that he was right. He reached between them with his hand and rubbed her clit again, trying to match the rhythm of his hips while holding back the explosion that was threatening deep within him.
Bella felt as if gravity had suddenly forgotten to hold her down onto the earth. She felt herself rising higher and higher into the atmosphere, her body going numb except for the unrelenting pulsing deep inside her. She was gasping but couldn't feel the air enter her lungs. It felt like a shiver was taking over all her muscles, but the heat in her belly was keeping her warm.
"Edward," she cried out the only word her mind could contain as it all exploded within her.
"Edward," Bella said. "Can you hear me?"
Edward opened his eyes to see Bella, still fully-clothed in her sexy green costume with a jacket over it. Edward could see the cabinets of the hospital room behind her, but he was disoriented, unsure where he was.
"Bella" he croaked.
Bella smiled, and it was the same radiant smile that he had longed for every day since he had first met this sweet shy girl.
"I'm so glad you are okay," she said. "You hit your head pretty hard on the ground when you fell out of the Hay Ride." Bella bit her lip, looking embarrassed for a minute. "Is there someone you want me to call? I came with you in the ambulance because I couldn't find Lauren. I didn't want you to be all by yourself."
"You rode with me in the ambulance?" Edward repeated her statement as a question. His head pounded as he tried to put the images in his mind into the proper categories of fantasy and reality.
But one thing was certain, his Bella was here. There was no one else to see.