author's note; I had planned to go into this seriously. Hard core angst. Until...I realized how absurdly wonderful Edward and Tanya are together and how I must fit Jacob into this and...I got this thing. Don't take it too seriously. This story is dedicated to a lovely little girl called sophie. Will be three or four chapters long.
OOC alert.
Disclaimed.
Enjoy. R&R.
-i never claimed-
to love you;
Strawberry blond curls blowing about her angelic face, Tanya's slim arms wrapped around Edward Cullen's lanky torso. She had grown up a lot since the last time he'd seen her. Back when she was a virginal twelve-year-old who knew the lyrics to every Top 40 song and had a closet composed entirely of Juicy Couture.
"Look at you," Edward exclaimed, ruffling her already mussed-up hair. Tanya just grinned, not even pulling away. She had changed so much. Long gone was the prissy preteen. She'd been replaced with a gorgeous teenager who was undeniably sexy in that I-couldn't-care-less way.
"Yeah." For his benefit, fourteen-year-old Tanya did a little ballerina spin on the doorstep.
"Don't be so rude, son." Edward's father, Carlisle, a revered doctor who lived under the standards and beliefs of the Old World, placed a hand on his teenage son's shoulder. "Invite them in."
Struggling to pull away from her death grip, Edward stepped aside to let Tanya's parents, Sasha and Boris, pass through. They both shot him mysterious smiles.
"Tanya's here!" Edward's younger sister, Alice, bolted down the winding staircase with surprising grace.
Tanya smiled widely, showing off white teeth. She hugged Alice also. It was dully noted by all how much less enthusiasm the blonde offered for the younger Cullen girl than she had for Edward himself.
"It's been too long," Carlisle was saying. His wife, Esme, had joined his side. She was still wearing oven mitts and no one bothered to point this out to her. Esme was too kind a soul for anyone to embarrass her.
"Yes, it has." Sasha and Boris' complacent smiles were still in place. They still had hints of exotic Russian accents. The Bure family, composed of Sasha, Boris and their daughter, moved from St. Petersburg, Russia to Denali, Alaska about ten years ago.
Alice was chattering on about nothing in particular. Her predictions for reality show winners, Edward figured. Alice was great at that kind of thing. She kept some kind of a blog, called Bet On Alice, where she listed all her picks for the winners of American Idol, America's Next Top Model, Survivor, and the like. She always hit the nail on the head with her "lucky guesses." It was her niche.
Tanya nodded her head encouragingly. Alice was only thirteen; she was still in the eighth grade and Tanya was already halfway through tenth. Of course, she was only fourteen herself. The Alaskan girl was supposedly some kind of genius so she took accelerated high school courses.
"C'mon Alice." Edward raised his eyebrows at his little sister. "Go make some friends or something."
Pouting, the dark-haired pixie-like girl snatched Tanya's pale hand, as if to illustrate her many friendships. She shivered. "Gosh, Tee, your skin is freezing!"
That grin again. "I know. Sorry. Heating was broke in Dad's car. And you know my parents. Total hippies. They'd never get a new one."
Their collective laughter was too loud, but there was something about the deadpan way Tanya spoke that was a punch line all to itself.
Strangely enough, Edward was enraptured by the seductive way Tanya bit her pink lip and looked up at him through her coal-black lashes, like he was the best thing since sliced bread.
For a moment, the world stopped moving.
Edward's pocket started to vibrate.
Saved by the bell...
He bent down to pull his simple, nothing-fancy Nokia cell phone from the pocket of his khakis. Edward couldn't help but notice how Tanya's eyes trailed down the curve of his back. He wasn't sure what to make of her. Even more so, he wasn't sure whether or not he liked the predatory gaze in her gold-flecked brown eyes.
BELLA, read the Caller ID. A candid photo of a blushing brunette beauty popped on-screen. Bella Swan had been his best friend since she'd moved to Forks last year. She was shy and sporty and wonderful.
Quickly, he answered with a breathless, "Hey."
"Hi," she chirped. His heart soared at the sound of her voice. If only Tanya's family had come to spend the holidays before he had realized he was in love with his best friend. "What's up?"
"Nothing much." Even though Bella couldn't see him, he shrugged on instinct. "Some of my parents' friends are visiting."
"Cool." It was then that he noticed how loud and flat Bella's normally overzealous tone was. "I'm just calling from volleyball practice. Mind if I come over when it's finished?"
Ah. That explained the squeaking sounds he'd been hearing.
For a girl so clumsy, Bella Swan was a natural-born athlete. Edward joked that, for the balance she lacked in normal society, she more than made up for it on the court or field. Bella played every sport offered at Forks High - she was the frontrunner for the Best Athlete award during her senior year, everyone said.
"Yeah, sure." Tanya's piercing eyes were still glued to him. Her stare sent a shiver up his spine. Trying to focus on his conversation, he joked, "I could never say no to you, don't you know that?"
She laughed. "Could anyone?" A sharp whistle sounded - Edward could hear it through the tinny plastic phone Bella refused to replace even after she dropped it countless times and coated it in scratches. "That's Coach Clapp - gotta run! See you soon!"
Dial tone.
Upon snapping his silver cell shut, Edward's green eyes locked on Tanya's. She was still staring. The line between creepy and flattering? Yeah, it was getting more defined as the minutes ticked by.
"That was her, huh?" Tanya's voice cracked.
"Who?"
Eyes flashing, the fourteen-year-old elaborated: "The girl you like."
Edward was so very glad his sister, Alice, was absent. She'd flitted off, probably to the computer, possibly to spy on the Whitlock family who lived in a huge, Southern-style mansion that bordered the Cullen property.
Unfortunately for the lot of them, Alice seemed to be impossibly enamoured with one of Edward's best friends, Jasper Whitlock.
Their lives were turning out to be the modernized, American-style version of A Midsummer Night's Dream.
"She's just a friend." Lie. Well, not technically a lie. Edward wished it was. He wished he could confess to beautiful, headstrong, stubborn Tanya Bure how Bella Swan's pale pink lips tasted. How it felt to stroke her ever-flushed cheek. How their first date had gone, first dance, first time.
"Ah." Tanya's smile reappeared, out of thin air. "But you want her to be more." Not a question, a statement. Edward shrugged.
The blonde swiped a hank of messy hair away from her heart-shaped face. Her nails were short and ragged; bitten. She smiled when he raised his eyebrow at her; she pulled the sleeves of her grey-striped sweater down until her hands were completely covered.
"I'm going to go get myself settled." She started to sling her army-issue duffel bags over her shoulders, but reconsidered. She handed them off to Edward, beckoning him over her should with a crook of her finger. He followed. "Two unadulterated weeks of Alice Cullen. Whoop-de-doo."
Alice's room was big enough. It was open and airy like the entire house and was more than any preteen girl could ask for. The walls were painted, alternately, shell pink and sky blue. It was quaint and pretty. Like a bed and breakfast.
No sooner had Edward stepped foot in his sister's room did she close the ivory eyelet curtains dramatically. "Oh, Eddie. Why won't you set me up with Jasper? We'd be so perfect together!" she exclaimed.
Edward's bottle green eyes rolled in his head. "Uh, no offence sis, but he's four years older than you."
She blinked back at him, her brown eyes wide and child-like. "So what? Love has no age, brother dear." Alice's gaze flickered to Tanya, who was watching the rebuttals being hurled back at forth. She looked like she was enjoying a heated match at Wimbledon, rather than a verbal battle between brother and sister.
"She's right." Tanya held his gaze for a beat too long. "Love knows no age or time. It's all in your state of mind."
Alice clapped her small hands together. Her elaborately beaded bangles clattered against one another, making a musical sound. "See, see? I told you Tanya was divine!"
"That's true also," she laughed. "I am divine."
It was impossible to be awkward around Tanya. She could be bitchy at times, but she always had a way of lighting up a room with her smile and a witty remark.
"Bella's coming, yeah?" Alice guessed, her uncanny ability of predication at work again. She ran her fingers through her short and spiked dark hair.
"Yeah." Ding-dong."In fact, that's probably her now. You really gotta stop doing that future-seeing stuff, Ali. It's freaky."
Edward shuffled out of the room. He offered a bemused-looking Tanya a pathetic half-wave. She returned it, with ten times the delight. Edward backed away slowly and darted down the infinitely long staircase, two steps at a time.
He kicked aside a cleat with the laces coming out so he could open the door properly. Emmett, his older and only brother, had probably left it there. He was terribly messy. A walking, smack-talking, footballing disaster.
Door opened.
Bella smiled brightly at the sight of him. Her smile showed off her cute dimples, on either side of her face. God, did he ever lo- Edward stopped himself before he could finish the thought; it wouldn't be good for anyone if he finally admitted what he'd known since the day she stumbled into him the hallway and "accidentally" hurled her Biology textbook at his head.
Of course, when he opened the door wider, he realized Bella's arm was casually draped around some guy's neck and some guy had his long, tanned arm curled around her minuscule waist.
Great. Just great.