So I decided to write another one-shot for Arabella and Alexander because not only does it give you a dose of actual romance between the two, but also because they're fun to right :D
Anyways, this update will be followed closely by an update on Aphrodite's Temptation, so stay tuned for that.
With this one-shot, I`m going to try a different approach. Instead of having the two of them get together by the end of the story, they are already going to be together. This is for all you romantics who are frustrated with the lack there of in AT. Lol
On with the story!
Disclaimer: Characters and situations from Twilight belong to Stephanie Meyer.
AN: Arabella is human, and the Cullen's are vampires. Also, you may want to listen to Next to You by Chris Brown as you read this (especially from the middle onwards). Just a suggestion :)
"Boy you got my heart racing in my skin-tight jeans, be your teenage dream tonight. Let you put your hands on me in my skin-tight jeans, be you teenage dream tonight."
The top of my black Mustang was down, and the wind was blowing my hair all about, so naturally I was belting out the lyrics to Katy Perry's Teenage Dream as if I was in a music video myself.
The car behind me, a red pick-up, switched lanes and sped up to drive in level with mine. I was still singing when the honking and hooting came from the neighbouring truck. I spared them a glance and noticed that the two boys in the truck went to school with me.
The one driving, Arul from my chemistry class, turned to me and winked and his twin, Arun leaned around him to do the same.
I considered them for a moment, then thought, what the hell and blew them a kiss. Laughing, I caught the twins' mirroring grins as I sped through a yellow light, leaving them behind.
I was singing Nicki Minaj's Super Bass, much more quietly now, as I waited in the traffic to get into the school parking lot and into my usual spot. I was about 5 seconds from entering the parking lot when I spotted the Aston Martin, Hummer, and Mercedes parked near the back of the lot.
Naturally, my gaze zeroed in on the tall dark haired man leaning against the front of the silver Aston Martin.
"Boy you got my heartbeat running away..." I murmured under my breath and I couldn't help the little flutter in my belly when he immediately snapped his head up to meet my eyes. He flashed me a grin just as a horn sounded behind me. I cursed quietly and drove into the parking lot.
My eyes were still glued to his as I started to pull into my spot, which was right next to the Aston Martin, naturally. Within seconds I was parked and was out of my car.
Standing in front of the insanely handsome guy, I adjusted the backpack on my shoulder before looking up at him. That quick lopsided grin shot straight to my heart as I smiled back at him.
"You two just gunna stand there staring at each other?" came the deep, amused voiced and I rolled my eyes before turning them to the tall burly man standing against the Hummer.
"What's it to you Emmett?" I tossed back and saw Rose grin at us.
"I—"
"God can the two of you cut your bickering for like, 5 seconds?" she asked playfully and squeaked slightly when Emmett grabbed her around the waist, and kissed her hard on the mouth. Used to their abundant PDA the rest of us made to comment and waited for them to reign in their undead hormones.
I was in the process of greeting Edward when I was suddenly yanked against a hard, muscled body. Needless to say, the greeting caught in my throat when Alexander drifted his lips along my jaw and down my neck, where he nuzzled into the curve of it. I barely registered what was happening and instinctively laced my arm around his waist and brushed my lips just under his ear. With a little sound of approval, he brought his lips to mine and kissed me, hard and fast. And just as abruptly as it began, it was over and I was standing as I was before.
I cleared my throat and looked around the lot, making sure no one had seen that, and thankfully, it looked like no one had.
"Well—"
I grimaced.
No one except for six smirking vampires.
I huffed and crossed my arms across my chest and tilted my head up to send Alex a mock annoyed look.
"Was that really necessary?" I thought to him and tried to lock away all the thoughts of how happy I was that he obviously thought it was.
But of course he saw through it.
"Definitely. I couldn't help myself." He said in that silky voice of his as he reached out a hand to tug my ponytail playfully.
"Well... you should help yourself..." At that they all began laughing. With a scowl a started to walk away towards the school. Before I had taken more than 5 steps, Rosalie had shown up beside me to wrap a sympathetic arm around my waist.
But she was still laughing.
Bitch.
I felt a cool hand slip into my own and I looked up to scowl at Alexander.
"Hey, hands off in public mister." I thought to him. He pouted, be still my heart, then removed his hand from mine with a quiet sigh.
"I wish you wouldn't insist on this..." he said then fell back to walk with Jasper a few paces behind us.
I turned around to see him, hands in his pockets, as he tried not to make it too obvious that he was ticked off. I sighed and faced forward again. It wasn't as if I would persist in keeping our relationship a secret if I didn't have to. It was just as frustrating for me.
I heard Alex scoff dryly as he brushed past me and into the school. I looked at his retreating back and wished for the millionth time that things could be different. Rosalie rubbed my back reassuringly as we entered the building.
When I saw him leaning against my locker, fuming no doubt, it made me feel that much more like a total bitch. I couldn't blame him for wanting to be able to be with his girlfriend freely in public like his siblings could. But we had to think of more than our happiness. The thing was that we would all be in a shitload of danger if the wolves found out that Alexander and I were dating.
It went like this, Atian, the son of the pack leader had an almighty crush on me. And while most guys are able to take a hint, I had no such luck with dissuading him. What made it worse was that his father believed that it was his sons' right to be with any girl that he chose and that I should be oh so gracious in his interest in me.
As if.
But anyways, as the relationship between Alex and I grew, Atian started to make ultimatums and started dropping hints that if we were to get together shit would go down between the wolves and the Cullen's, and that was the last thing that I wanted.
So when we got together, I persuaded Alex into keeping our relationship under wraps. He wasn't happy about it, and he tries to get me to change my mind every chance that he gets. His family obviously feels the same way that he does, but I can't risk it, especially since it wasn't just grown vampires that were involved. Edward and Bella's daughter Nessie was also at risk here, and I wouldn't live it down if anything ever happened to her.
"Nothing would happen to her Arabella," came Edwards voice as his shoulder brushed against mine as we walked.
"And I plan on keeping it that way," I replied then walked forward to my locker as the rest of them went to theirs. Alexander didn't say anything, just shifted so that I could open my locker. Two down from mine was Alice's and I looked over to see her hurriedly pulling books into her bag. In a few seconds she and Jasper disappeared so that we were alone.
"I`m sorry it has to be this way," I thought to him when he still hadn't spoken to me. He was still staring at the ground and I wondered if he had heard me. At that he tilted his head slightly, acknowledging that he had heard.
"So you're just ignoring me then." He shot me a quick look just as the bell rang and his lips quirked up in a smile. God he has a gorgeous smile. At that his smile grew wider and he flicked my hair. I grinned back at him and pulled my bag over my shoulder.
"Oh oopse," squeaked a high pitched voice and I turned around just in time to see books go flying and land right in front of Alex's feet. I looked up at the platinum blonde who had supposedly 'tripped' over something, though there was nothing to trip on but flat ground.
"Gosh I`m so clumsy," she said in that same overly sugary voice that just made my teeth ache. It was then that I noticed that she was staring intently at Alex and I scowled into my locker. I looked over at Alex to see him smirk though I didn't know if it was because of my scowl or because of the fact that little miss squeaky voice had bent over to retrieve her books and in the process had her enormous breasts pouring out the front of her barely there shirt.
I didn't like her already.
Some of the boys roaming down the halls didn't seem to share my point of view because they stared openly. Another look at Alex had me slamming my locker shut with a bang because he too was staring at the blonde bimbo's boobs though he had a smirk on his face and wasn't drooling like the others.
When I turned on my heel to stalk away, he didn't follow. When I got to the double doors before the staircase, I spared him one last look and he shot me a grin then bent over too pick up a book the girl had missed, putting his face inches, inches, away from her chest.
The sneaky little rat bastard.
With an indignant huff I shoved the door open and went up to English in a crappy mood.
._._._._._.
English seemed to take forever to finish, probably because I spent all of it think of him. When the bell rang for second period I distractedly made my way to Spanish. When I slumped into my usual seat in between Edward and Jasper without a word, they exchanged looks over the top of my head.
About half way through the period I instinctively looked over at the time, 11:05, and was about to put my hand up to ask to go to the washroom when I stopped myself. This was usually the time when we would meet up in stairwell C. Despite the fact that I've always left the room at this time, my Spanish teacher hasn't caught on, or simply doesn't care. 5 minutes went by and Edward nudged me with his elbow.
"Alex wants to know why you aren't out of class," he murmured quietly.
"Yea well, tell him to go screw himself."
"He says that you have nothing to be jealous of." At that I scoffed and shot my hand in the air. When the teacher simply nodded I got up.
"I`m not jealous" I said to a grinning Edward before I left the room and started to make my way down the stairs. About halfway down, I felt the air shift seconds before I was grabbed around the waist and carried under the stairs.
"You're lucky there are no camera's here," I grumbled as Alexander set me down on my feet and back me up against the wall. He pressed his body flush against mine as he captured my lips. For a moment I thought about resisting but quickly discarded that option and responded ardently. He broke off the kiss and nipped lightly along my neck as I slipped my arms around his waist, pulling him closer.
"Why were you late?" he thought to me and I rolled my eyes as he kissed my cheeks, nose and forehead before pulling back to look at me with a smug smile threatening to break out on his face.
"Asshole." I thought and he laughed and dropped to the ground to sit cross-legged with his back against the wall. He reached up and took my hand and kissed it lightly, exhibiting that even he could be romantic and sweet. And then he yanked that hand so that I toppled over into his lap.
So much for romantic.
"You want romance?" he thought to me as he pulled me back so that my back was against his and brushed his lips over my hair. I thought about that for a moment, idly brushing my fingers along the arms that were wrapped around my waist.
"No," I decided finally. "I settled for you didn't I?" I thought then giggled when he nipped the shell of my left ear.
"You wound me," he said with mock hurt and I snickered.
"I`m sorry baby," I crooned then tipped my head back to press my lips to his. When I started to pull back he made a low sound of protest before he slipped his hand behind my head to bring my lips back to his. I shifted in his lap so that I was sideways so I could kiss him without spraining my neck.
"Apology accepted." He thought then kissed my forehead before pulling me tighter against him. I sighed and rested my cheek against his shoulder and he tipped his head to brush against mine. I brought my hand up to trace random patterns on his chest.
"What's on your mind?" he asked and I pulled back to look at him incredulously, like he of all people needed to ask that question. He chuckled quietly then yanked my ponytail to bring my head back down to his shoulder.
"Sometimes," he said slowly, "I just want to talk to you. Out loud."
I pulled back again to look into his face and he brushed his fingers lightly on the side of my face and along my jaw as he smiled. God, when he smiles just like that, it makes me fall that much more in love with him. I brought my hands up and placed them on either side of his handsome face.
"I love you, Alexander Nicholas Teruillo Cullen," I whispered. "So damn much," I added and touched our foreheads together. When his grin flashed, quick and boyish, it made me smile.
"I love you, Arabella Phoenix Romano. So damn much," he said with a grin and touched his lips lightly to mine. With the smile still on my face I rested my head on his shoulder again and laced my fingers with the hand that was around my waist. I brought our joined hands to my lips then held them to my chest. His thumb brushed circles on the back of my hand as he kissed the top of my head.
"Arabella?"
"Hmm?"
"About this whole 'keeping us a secret' thing—"
"Alex," I sighed and shifted in his lap. "It's non-negotiable."
"But why?"
"You ask me the same question at least once a day. It's because it's not safe for the others and I`m not going to cause an almighty war of the races because of us."
"How do you even know that that mutt was serious? What if he was just bullshitting?"
"What if he wasn't?"
"Arabella—"
"Just stop," I said and got up. So much for cuddle time. "You know we can't." He got to his feet too, and he was pissed.
"Why? Huh? You know damn well that we can take care of ourselves. And if anything was to go down and we weren't enough, there are a dozen other covens that could come to back us up. You know, I wonder if this is just an excuse."
"An excuse?" I repeated. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"Maybe you don't really want to be with me."
I simply stared at him in shock. This was the first time I heard of this. He stared back at me and crossed his arms over his chest as he leaned back against the wall.
"Where do you come up with this bullshit?" I asked and he simply raised an eyebrow at me. I was used to his lack of emotion most of the time, but the fact that he didn't seem to care that I may not want to be with him hurt.
"It's an observation."
"Okay, so why don't you observe this. I`m standing here with you under the staircase, skipping Spanish, a class that I actually like, because I hate not being with you. And you have the nerve to stand there, after I told you that I loved you, and question my feelings for you?"
"What else am I fucking supposed to think? It's been almost 5 months since we got together, and the only time that I get to be completely with you is when we're at home. It's almost as if you don't want to be seen with me."
"God you know that's not true. I love you for fucks sake, and I want to be with you. But you know how easily one of the wolves could be watching us in public, even at school. We have to be careful."
"Yea, well I don't agree with you, and frankly I`m getting really sick of doing this."
"You—wait what?" My gut clenched painfully as I fully processed his words. "What do you mean?" I asked and was surprised that my voice didn't shake as much as I thought it would.
"You know what I mean," he said coolly, watching me. I swallowed and took a deep breath even though I felt like throwing up.
Or crying.
"You know Alexander, if you've got something to say, say it." I said and held my breath as I waited for him to respond.
"We—" he cut himself off and looked away. "Someone's coming."
I both pissed and glad that we had a distraction. I portaled out both upstairs and downstairs and barely held back from rolling my eyes as I saw the blonde with the big boobs walk towards the stairs from the lower floor. When I brought myself back, I blinked a few times when I realized that I was now at the top of the stairs. I furrowed my brow and looked over the railing to see a smirking Alex open the door for the blonde, who perked up, no pun intended, when she noticed who it was.
I scowled down at the pair as she said something and clasped her hands in front of her, effectively pushing her breasts out the top of her shirt. I narrowed my eyes as Alex flicked a strand of her overly bleached hair off her shoulder.
That son of a bitch.
She pulled out a piece of paper from the back pocket of jeans that were so tight that I was surprised that the piece of paper fit. She sidled to his side, brushing her boobs against his arm, which I was ticked to see that he noticed, to show him the paper.
"I have, like, no idea where I`m going," she said in her squeaky little bitch voice.
"I'll show you," said the dickless traitor. The blonde giggled and bounced up and down, and I didn't know that anything other than jell-o could jiggle like that. They had already started climbing the stairs when I thought, shit, and sprinted silently through the doors.
"Fuck, fuck," I chanted then noticed that Rosalie's locker was just down the hall. I thanked the Lord and ran to it and opened it just as Alex and the bimbo came through the doors. I the locker door kept my face hidden, but I knew Alex knew it was me. The blonde probably didn't even notice that someone was at their locker. I pretended to look for something until the pair walked past me. I then turned slightly to look at them from the corner of my eye. She was giggling about something and was touching his arm.
He didn't shrug her off.
I kept watching them and felt kind of like a creeper, but put those thoughts to rest by telling myself that he was my boyfriend. But then I thought about what happened downstairs and I wasn't too sure anymore.
I watched as he led her to my Spanish class, damnit, and saw her turn around and squeal what I assumed was a 'thank-you' then throw her arms around him. My jaw dropped open of its own accord.
That bitch whore.
And then he hugged her back.
That bitch whore, I thought again and closed my mouth as I saw her slip what looked like a piece of paper in his back pocket.
In his mother fucking back pocket!
And he grinned.
At her.
Goddamnit.
It took me like a solid week to get him to smile at me.
I didn't know if I wanted to rip her hair out, kick him in the balls, or run into a washroom to bawl my eyes out. Probably all three. In that order.
Alex winked at the bitch bimbo then turned to walk away.
And saw me staring.
I immediately turned away and pulled something out of Rosalie's locker. I looked down to see that I pulled out lip gloss so I put some on, watching him approach in the little mirror in the locker.
I put the gloss back and slammed the locker shut, probably harder than necessary, then started to walk to class. I was looking straight ahead, not looking at the bastard, but he didn't have the courtesy to do the same. He was watching me with a little smug smirk on that stupid face of his. When he passed by, I kept my chin raised and shoulders squared and didn't look at him, even when I felt his hand pat me on the butt.
I didn't look back once, okay, that was a lie. I looked back, but he kept walking. I walked into the class scowling and nearly ran over the bitch bimbo who was standing right in front of the mother fucking door. She turned around with that bullshit smile on her face, but it dimmed when she saw me. Guess she doesn't like me all that much.
She was a whole head shorter than me and barely came up to my shoulder despite the fact that she was wearing heels. I gave her a look that had her eyes widening as she took a step back. I brushed past her and dropped into my seat.
"Bitch bimbo?" asked Edward with a smirk and I just glared at him.
"Don't even get me started," I snarled then exhaled slowly when I felt a wave of serenity and reassurance sweep over me. I turned to Jasper.
"I was enjoying being pissed off," I told him, but there was no heat to the words and it showed when he smiled.
"It wasn't worth it. He's just trying to rile you up," he said.
"And make you jealous," added Edward.
"Yea well he can go fuck himself 'cause I`m not." I looked over at the bitch bimbo as she leaned over the table talking to the teacher then looked at Edward and Jasper's skeptical faces.
"I`m not."
._._._._._.
I was still fuming when we all met up at our usual lunch table. Alexander wasn't at my locker like he usually was after Spanish, and he wasn't in his seat next to mine at the lunch table. I was so pissed at him I didn't even bother portaling out to find him. He'll show up eventually.
And speak of the devil, I thought as I noticed how Rose, Em, Jasper and Alice stared, or in Rosalie's case, glared, at someone standing behind me. Bella, who was sitting in the seat next to where Alex was supposed to be, shot me a wide eyed look before looking at Edward who was watching me as well.
I was leaning back in my seat so I felt it when he braced his hands on the back of the chair, and I had to tell myself not to shrug away like I wanted to.
"I'm going to catch you guys after school," he said and I saw Rosalie roll her eyes and look away.
"Why?" asked Emmett who wasn't acting out like Rose but was curt as he spoke nonetheless.
"Gunna go get lunch with Sugar. She doesn't like cafeteria food and she doesn't know the area well."
Rose scoffed, probably thinking what I was; since when did Alexander Cullen go out of his way to help someone?
"Sugar?" asked Alice.
"Well her name is Candy, but she told me to call her Sugar," he said and I gagged and crossed my arms over my chest.
"Can't she seduce anyone else into taking her?" asked Rosalie stiffly, glaring at Alex.
"Well, she could, no doubt," he said and I heard what sounded like admiration in his voice and scowled down at my lap. "But she asked me. See you guys later," said but stayed right where he was. I looked up to see the rest of the Cullen's looking at me.
"Bye," I said shrugging his hand off my shoulder when he put it there. He touched the side of my face, and then he was gone.
Don't look, don't look, don't look, I chanted to myself, but in the end I couldn't hold back. I looked over my shoulder to see him walk towards the exit where Candy aka bitch bimbo aka Sugar was waiting. I watched as he touched her waist slightly and watched as she grinned and latched onto his arm as they walked out the double doors.
My shoulders dropped slightly and I looked down at my lap again.
"Where's your lunch, Arabella?" asked Rosalie quietly when she noticed that I hadn't brought one of my home cooked lunches like I usually do. I looked up at her and whatever she saw in my eyes had her smiling reassuringly at me.
"We were supposed to go to my place," I said softly, reminding them that at least once a week Alex and I would go to my place for lunch.
"Oh," Rosalie said and an awkward silence followed and Bella stirred uneasily. "Want me to go with you?" Rosalie offered, but I shook my head slowly.
"Not hungry," I replied and absently flicked a piece of paper off the table. The silence continued and I sighed, getting up.
"Washroom" I mumbled and walked away.
._._._._._.
I just wanted to go home by the time 4th period rolled along. Just wanted to go home and burrow under the covers and go to sleep. The bitch bimbo had gym with me 3rd period and that son of a bitch came by to drop her off then had the gall to wink at me before he left for auto shop. We were playing football outside, and I was wearing basketball shorts and a fitted tee, my usual gym clothes for this time of the year. Miss bitch bimbo was decked out in hot pink booty shorts and a see through white tank top, and she wasn't even wearing a damn sports bra.
We ran our two laps of the track, and naturally I finished first, and naturally, bitch bimbo came in next to last. And being done first, I had the pleasure of watching bitch bimbo run, and honestly, I was afraid for the safety of the girls running around her because of the way her tits were flying all over the place. Those things look like they could do some serious damage.
But anyways, once that was done, we were just tossing around a couple of balls as a warm up and bitch bimbo managed to hit me twice with the football and no doubt tried about fifty dozen times. I didn't retaliate, because I figured I could do that once the game started. Usually when we play, we rotate positions, and today I was playing linebacker. It was as if the Gods were helping me out.
And sure enough, I made a point of targeting bitch bimbo. By the time we had to go inside, she was limping, had a bruise right over her right boob, and flinched every time I walked by her. I couldn't help but grin as I walked inside, but it didn't last long. He was waiting for her outside the gym doors.
At first, I actually thought that he was waiting for me, like he usually does. I was going to walk right by him, to show him that I wasn't amused with him, but when I walked by all he did was grin at me and poke me in the side. I turned around just in time to see him grin at bitch bimbo. Since I wasn't paying attention to where I was going, I bumped into Emmett who had gym 4th period. He took one look at me then looked over my shoulder and narrowed his eyes at Alex as they walked by us. Before Emmett said anything else I walked away.
Thinking about that just made me feel worse, and I crossed my arms on my table and put my head down. My head was killing me and there was more than one reason that I wanted this class to be over. The chair next to me shifted and one of those reasons sat down next to me. At times like this I wished that I hadn't taken ancient civilizations.
"But you love ancient civ baby," said the voice next to me. I thought of about 10 witty responses, but in the end, I was just too tired to use one of them. I pretended like I didn't hear him and instead listen to the old supply teacher at the front of the classroom.
"Class. Class. Class! Settle down please. Excuse me." I took a quick look at the substitute; a poor old woman looked old enough to be my grandma. I put my head back down and listened as she continued to try and to get the attention of the class.
"Hello, children please. Quiet down now. Please—"
"Shut your goddamn mouths and listen to the lady," I growled without lifting my head, and it was loud enough that the entire class went silent.
"Oh, well thank you dear. Now, your teacher has got the flu and couldn't make it today. My name is Ms. Watson, and I will be your substitute today. Now, I understand that you all have work booklets to complete. Since your teacher left me no other work, once you are done the booklet, you can have some free time. Quiet free time." She added hurriedly at the end, but it was too late. The volume rose, and I assumed she gave up and went to sit at the desk.
"What's got you so annoyed?" He asked again and when he touched my back I sighed.
"I`m sorry," I mumbled. "Whatever I did, I`m sorry." He didn't say anything for a moment.
"You didn't do anything," he said matter-of-factly, and I turned my head to the side so that I could see his face. He had his elbows on the table as he looked down at me.
"Then why are you doing this to me?" I thought, not actually meaning for him to hear it. I saw something flash in his eyes, but I turned the other way and sighed before letting my eyes close.
._._._._._.
I had apparently fallen asleep, because I felt someone shaking me gently. I opened my eyes and blinked to clear my vision as I looked around the empty classroom. People were crowding the hallways, so I knew that the bell had rung just a short while ago. As if remembering, I looked over at the seat next to me, but it was empty. I sighed and looked up at the teacher as she smiled at me.
"I think your boyfriend had to go somewhere. He left about half way through the period."
"My boyfriend?" I slurred sleepily.
"The handsome young man sitting next to you. It seems to me that he loves you a great deal, he was stroking your hair as you slept. The two of you look good together," she said with a wink and a smile.
"Yea," I said then got up and left the classroom.
He wasn't at my locker, and his car wasn't in the parking lot either. And I couldn't help but notice that I hadn't seen the bitch bimbo around either. The other Cullen's minus Rosalie and Alex were standing around their cars as I walked up.
"Can I talk to you?" asked Edward stepping forward.
"Can it wait?"
"I think that you should know now." I sighed and nodded, waiting for him to speak. A look around the others told me that they already knew.
"Alex works really hard to try and block his thoughts from me," he said and I waited for him to continue.
"He's good at it, but sometimes there are cracks in his wall. Like last period for example."
"If you want to tell me what was on him mind, I don't think I want to know," I said because I couldn't help but wonder is he was thinking about her.
"It wasn't about her. Well, not in the way that you think." When I simply looked at him, he continued.
"You know that little disagreement the two of you had during Spanish?" he asked and I thought back to our argument. When he waited for my answer, I nodded, crossing my arms and leaning back against my car.
"It seems that he's gotten sick of you not wanting to have your relationship out in the open." I sighed and rubbed my forehead. I knew it, he doesn't want to be with me anymore.
"No, that's not it," Edward said quickly. "He thinks that he can convince you to let it go."
"By doing what? Flirting with some random chick?" I asked scoffing, but when no one said anything, my eyes snapped to Edward.
"Wait, is that what he's doing?" I asked incredulously.
"He thinks that if you see him with Candy, you'll be jealous enough to want to make your relationship public."
"Oh my God," I said and looked skyward in disbelief. "Does he actually think that that will work?" I asked and Edward shrugged.
"Oh my God" I said again under my breath then turned to Edward.
"You tell that asshole that it isn't going to work, okay? Tell him that I could care less. Tell him that I am not jealous, and tell him to suck my dick." Edward raised his eyebrows and Emmett snorted. I slammed my car door shut behind me furiously even as Emmett stared to laugh openly.
"We'll just see who comes out on the other side," I muttered and pulled out of the lot.
._._._._._.
Over the next few days I realized that Alexander was really serious about this. He knows that I know what he's trying to do and yet, he's still doing it. I sighed and slammed my locker shut, and made my way to the cafeteria. Alexander had taken to sitting with Sugar, so I knew not to expect him at our table. But even though I knew, it still hurt to see him sitting in the next table with her.
As I walked past his table, he looked up at me but didn't say anything. Miss bitch bimbo looked up and gave me a smug smile as she leaned into Alex, and I didn't even bother with an eye roll as I walked past.
"Hey," said Alice as I sat down, then frowned when she noticed that I didn't bring a lunch again. "Arabella—" she started but I cut her off.
"I`m not hungry Alice," I said with a small smile, but she exchanged a worried glance with Rosalie. They knew just as well as I did that I haven't been eating properly in the past few days.
"You're coming to the carnival after school right?" asked Emmett no doubt trying to change the subject.
"I don't think so..." I started to say but Rosalie fixed me with a glare.
"You're coming, and don't even fucking bother to try and get out of it. What's wrong with you?" she asked even thought she knew. A loud laugh came from the table beside us and I looked over in time to see bitch bimbo plant herself in Alex's lap wearing a skirt so short that I could see her red underwear from here.
"I swear I`m going to rip that bitch's hair out, extensions and all, if she laughs one more time," snarled Rosalie and sure enough, when the annoying sound came again she started to rise, but Emmett caught her arm.
"Babe," he said as he pulled her down to sit again.
"It's not worth it Rose," I said to her with a smile. "She's not worth it."
But her eyes seemed to ask me, 'but isn't he?' and I honestly didn't have an answer to that unspoken question. I missed him so damn much, but my stupid pride wouldn't let me give in. It wasn't even about keeping the Cullen's safe anymore, it was about who was right, and I just couldn't admit to him that I was a total mess without him, and that all I wanted was him back with me.
When the bell rang I walked out with Rosalie right next to me and the rest of them following. She came with me to the washroom, but we stopped just inside the entrance when we heard voices.
"I heard that they're together," said one voice.
"Me too. So much for Arabella," giggled another. "He dropped her the second that new girl Candy showed up."
"Kinda feel bad for her though, but I guess she should have made her move when she had the chance."
"Totally. I even thought that they were together, like, you've seen the way they look at each other. But I guess I was wrong."
"I'd be lying if I said that she didn't deserve it. She just showed up here and had all the guys after her. And that asshole Ricky broke up with me for her, and she didn't even look at him twice."
"His loss Christy."
"I know Jen. But still, that bitch got what she—" Whatever Christy had to say fell away when Rosalie stepped forward. Her eyes widened to the size of dinner plate and she stumbled twice in her haste to get out, he friend scampering on her heels.
"Arabella—"
"Whatever Rose. I don't care." I said as I washed my hands in the sink. I met her eyes in the mirror then looked away.
"I don't."
._._._._._.
Rosalie's POV
I told Arabella that I would be by her house at 4:30 to pick her up for the carnival. If I didn't, she'd probably just stay at home. The poor girl was dealing with so much, and she was so damn miserable. I don't blame her for not giving in, I probably wouldn't either, but it sucks nonetheless to watch her try to be strong and have that asshole of a brother of mine flaunt that stupid blonde in her face. I tried to talk Alex out of it, told him that if he loved her, he would let it go. But he had simply said that he was doing this because he loved her.
I kissed Emmett goodbye and told him that I'd meet him at the school by 5. As I was leaving the house I called Arabella to let her know that I was coming.
She didn't pick up.
With a frown I waited until I was in the car to call her again.
She didn't pick up.
Now I started to worry, why wasn't she answering? Logically, I guess she could have been taking a shower or whatever, but it didn't stop my mind from getting carried away.
I pulled up at her house in record speed and called her again as I got out of the car. I could hear her ringtone in the house, but I didn't hear the shower running. Since the front door was unlocked I rushed in and I was just outside her closed bedroom door when I heard the sobbing.
I shoved open the door and saw her sitting on the floor in a robe with her hair up in a towel with her still ringing phone in her hand. It was then that I noticed that her ringtone, Next to You, was hers and Alex's song. With a curse I rushed to her side and pulled her into my arms.
"It's okay baby," I crooned to her as I rocked. I knew this would happen sooner or later, she's been bottling it up.
"It's not," I said in between her gasping breaths. "He doesn't love me anymore," she managed and started to cry harder. I sighed and held her closer.
"You know he loves you," I said and when she started to shake her head I took her by the chin to lift her eyes to mine. "He loves you. And you love him. It's been like that from the very beginning and no blonde big titted bitch is going to change that."
"But—"
"But nothing. For God's sake Arabella, look at yourself. You're making yourself miserable for no reason. You know why he's doing this, and truthfully, you know you want the same thing. So put your damn pride aside and end this bullshit."
She sniffled and rubbed her eye, and I couldn't help but notice how much younger she looked. I rubbed her back and spoke softer.
"You can fix this," I said and she brought her big blue eyes up to mine.
"But what if he changed his mind and he wants to actually be with her? What would I do?" she asked and her eyes started to tear up again. I took a breath to calm myself before I tossed her out the window.
"You know what, if he saw you right now, he might just do that." At that she stopped her sniffling abruptly and looked at me with wide eyes.
"He fell for the strong, gorgeous, amazing, bitch goddess that I know is in there somewhere. Right now, you're a emotionally unstable damsel in distress." She rubbed her nose and narrowed her eyes.
"Am not." She snapped and I had to make sure that I didn't smile or I'd ruin what I was after.
"Have you looked in a mirror? You look like you have the self confidence of a turtle. Your eyes are red and you're hunched up on the floor. Now if you want Alexander back, you're going to have to show him that you want it. So what we're going to do is get you dolled up so that his tongue falls to the ground when he sees you, and then you're going to make this right. 'Cause I know that you want this, show him."
She sat there looking at me, sniffled a couple of times, rubbed her nose, and took a few deep breaths. When she looked back at me, her eyes were pale green.
"Rose, when you do my make-up, make sure it doesn't look like I cried." I grinned and gave her a firm hug.
"That's my girl," I whispered into her hair then pulled back. We had some serious work to do.
Arabella POV
After Rose made me wash my face, she went to work on my make-up. When she was done, you couldn't even tell that I'd been crying. She then took one look at the outfit I had picked for the carnival and started towards my closet to find me a new one.
In the end, I was wearing a pair of black denim short shorts, a fitted off the shoulder top in sapphire blue, a pair of knee high boots with laces and a heel, and large silver hoop earrings. I had to say, this outfit look fifty times better than the other one which consisted of faded jeans and a fitted v-necked tee.
"There," she said as she tweaked my hair. "Alex is going to be panting like a dog when he sees you."
I looked at my reflection, then smiled.
._._._._._.
The ride to the school was pretty much covered with Rosalie giving me a pep talk. We were now almost there, and I thought back on something she had said.
"You don't always have to win." I thought about that as she pulled into the lot and parked next to the Aston Martin. God, I'm in so damn deep that seeing his car gave me butterflies. Rosalie looked over at me then patted my knee.
"Got get him tiger," she said with a wink and exited the car to go stand arm in arm with Emmett. As I got out, I could see just over the Aston Martin and saw all the Cullen's paired off. Looking at it now, I guess I could see why Alex wanted to be with me openly. I took a deep breath then moved from behind the car. Emmett let out a wolf whistle when he saw me and Alice, decked out in a cute navy blue dress, squealed and gave me a thumbs up.
"It was all Rose. She decided that I needed battle armour," I said grinning, and they laughed.
"So um... where is he?" I asked looking around the already crowded field. I saw a whole bunch of guys staring at me, but not the one I was looking for. No one answered so I closed my eyes and portaled out.
I found him with Candy, no surprise there, and she was sucking very suggestively on a cherry popsicle next to the fun house. I was about to pull back when Candy threw her arms around Alexander's neck. His arms came up to her waist, and his head tipped down as hers tipped up.
Oh God. I was too late.
I came out of it and stared at the ground.
"You're not too late. Show him," said Edward who was the only one who wasn't looking at me with a confused expression. I took a deep breath then nodded. I started to walk away and heard Edward say 'fun house' so I assumed that they were coming too.
The fun house was close enough that by the time we got there, the two of them still hadn't kissed. It would be soon though, because Candy was trying to get closer, but she was too short even with her heels. Ultimately, it was up to Alexander because if he were to lean down, Candy would get what she wanted. I bit my bottom lip and noticed idly that a few people had started to form a crowd around us, looking curiously from the embracing couple to me. Alex seemed to notice too because he looked up, and I saw something flash in his eyes as he looked me up and down. I barely contained a smug smile as I felt my previously nervous stomach relax, and it wasn't Jasper's doing either.
You want this, I told myself, you want him. Don't let anyone get in the way of that.
"Hey Candy," I said as I stepped forward and more people walking by stopped to watch. I saw her roll he eyes then shuffle closer to Alex who was watching me intently over her head.
"It's poor manners to ignore someone when they're speaking to you," I said, cocked my hip out, watched Alex's eyes drop to my legs, and tilted my head to one side as I studied the pair. I heard Candy huff then turn around, one arm still over his shoulder and the other, still holding the popsicle, placed on her hip as she studied me, then pursed her lips.
"What do you want?" she asked then stared at my designer boots. Thank God Erica made me buy them.
"What do you think you're doing?"
"You got eyes. Can't you see what we're doing?" She said and rolled her eyes. I smirked and wondered if I actually thought she was competition.
"I do, I'm just wondering why you're doing it."
"Are you like, stupid or something? I can kiss my beau whenever I want. Isn't that right Lexy baby?" she asked him, but he was silently watching me. By this time we had attracted a sizeable crowd composed mainly of males no doubt hoping that Candy and I end up engaging in a roll-over-the-floor bitch fight.
"Your beau?" I asked and smirked.
"Yeah," she said then licked her popsicle. "Duh." I chucked before I could hold it back then pressed my lips together.
"What's so funny?" she demanded and I had to press my lips tighter together.
"Nothing," I said tapping a finger to my lips. "I just think it's funny that you think he's your beau."
"What's so funny about that?" she asked facing me completely now, both hands on her hips.
"It's funny 'cause he's my boyfriend." There was a collective silence, and then the crowd started to buzz. The look on Candy's face was priceless and she opened and closed her mouth a couple of times.
"You... but... no he's not," she said then turned around to look at Alex for confirmation, but he was still looking at me.
"You win Alexander," I said to him, completely ignoring the now fuming Candy, and the crowd went silent again. "You were right." "I was so damn jealous, I couldn't see straight." I added in my head. His face was expressionless for a moment, and the silence was eerie as I waited for him to say something, anything. My heart started to thud loudly in my ears, and Candy seemed to notice my uncertainty and perked up. Before she could say anything however, Alexander smiled.
At me.
God I love him.
He took a step around Candy, towards me, and I felt a mirroring smile bloom on my own face. We were now standing in front of each other, neither saying a word and I realized that it was my move to make.
I looked around at the crowd, then at the Cullen's, then back to Alexander's handsome face.
And all I needed was right there. I stepped forward and raised a hand slowly to his face.
He didn't move.
I took a deep breath then leaned in to press my lips to his. All of a sudden cheers, curses, and collective shock swept through the crowd, and Candy was swearing colourfully at me, but I barely noticed. Alexander's previously tense body seemed to relax as he put his arms around me, pulling me as close to him as was anatomically possible as he deepened the kiss. For the first time in almost five days I felt my world right itself. I brought my arms up around his neck, gripping him as if I never wanted to let go.
I didn't.
I pulled back and pressed our foreheads together as I looked into his eyes.
"I love you, Alexander Nicholas Teruillo Cullen. So damn much." I watched him squeeze his eyes shut for a moment then watched him open them and press a quick fierce kiss to my lips before taking my face in his hands.
"I love you," he said and butted his head against mine, lightly, playfully. "Arabella Phoenix Romano. So damn much."
My grin grew a mile wide and he pulled me to him to press his smiling mouth to mine. My arms were around his waist and his hands were in my hair and on the small of my back, pulling, tugging, caressing.
And it was perfect.
Just so damn perfect.
Andddddddddddddddd THE END! Wow, that was my longest one-shot yet and I hope ya'll enjoyed it!
Oh and Arabella's ringtone (aka hers and Alex's song) is Next to you by Chris Brown featuring Justin Bieber. It is the most amazing and touching song ever. Think of it as the soundtrack to this story, 'cause I was listening to it on replay as I wrote it.
Comment and review people!
Peace, love, and meeting half way.
Xoxo thedarkangel22