Title: Inconvenient Love

Summary: They always said love turned up when you least expected it, what they forgot to mention is that often it is also inconvenient E/B.

Pairing: Edward/Bella

Rating: T

Word count: 1279

BPOV

They always said love turned up when you least expected it, what they forgot to mention is that often it is also inconvenient. I met Edward at school but, due him being 1 year ahead, our interaction never surpassed the annual debating meet. Then Facebook happened. We got in to a silly argument over which interpretation of a picture was 'better' and took the bickering to private messaging rather than open comments. From then on we chatted about any random thing we found and shared our views on the world, but all platonically. We were friends who talked online and said hi when we saw each other around school.

Until I went off on a residential. There the tales of debauchery of my fellow students were shared and I had nothing to contribute, how could I when none of my friends drank & I hadn't even kissed a guy, let alone let him fuck me somewhere scandalous to our teenage minds. Without thinking I relayed these to him, my frustration that whilst I was still under the power of my parents' curfew, & single, my life would consist of homework, housework and scrolling Facebook looking at all the parties I never got an invite to.

Then Edward gave me the invite I didn't know I was asking for. Him and a friend were heading to a pub Friday night and were willing to let underage Bella tag along. I was thrilled to be invited, and accepted immediately. Then the day before we were due out told me that his friend had cancelled so we could either cancel or go out as a pair instead. I had my doubts as to how much this friend had cancelled rather been told to not third-wheel us, but I was not turning down a date with the only kind guy in the school.

Dressed in my best clothes I turned up to the agreed pub and hoped the barman wouldn't ID me whilst I waited for Edward to turn up 10 minutes late. We grabbed our drinks and talked for what seemed such a short time but the clock said otherwise. Looking back I can't even tell you the topics we talked about, but it was so natural that I didn't care. Getting hammered went from being the purpose of the 'date' to a side note that I didn't even bother with, too enthralled I was with talking. Edward had less concerns with drinking so he was well on his way to being tipsy. And as I learnt that night, tipsy Edward equals flirty Edward. What started off as an arm over my shoulder to keep me upright turned in handholding and cuddling. Although nothing more, much to my growing disappointment.
Unfortunately I still had curfew so about 30 minutes before my dad had demanded I be picked up, Edward got it in to his head that we must visit the lake, about a 5 min walk from the pub. He found a picnic table and just climbed on it and lay down, looking at me expectantly. With nothing better to do I clambered up and joined him, and started staring at the stars like he was.

Then he spoke. I hadn't realised guys would still ask before an end of date but with hindsight I wasn't exactly being the most cooperative date, somewhere along the line I had already told him that I wasn't sure if I preferred kissing guys or girls and ranking him a 6/10 must have done nothing for his ego. So to continue with being an awkward date I asked for 2 minutes to think about it. Hardly the enthusiastic reaction he was hoping for.

By the time my 2 minutes were up I had weighed the pros; good looking kind guy wants to kiss me, with the cons; he's leaving for university in 5 months. In the end I decided I shouldn't turn down a willing guy for fear of what the future holds.

What followed next could only be described as a make out session, I'm only glad the park was empty so there was no one to witness/ be scarred for life from our passion. However, time was running out and I had a father who would not be impressed that his innocent girl was late because of a boy. So reluctantly we picked up our belongings, and his shirt, and made our way to the pickup point.

What followed was the obligatory adding 'in a relationship with' to Facebook and letting my family and friends know that Bella, voted most likely to be a virgin at 40 before the poll was taken down, now had a boyfriend. This was during the Easter holidays so I had no idea what my peers thought of it and that was probably a good thing.

Several dates followed; the cliché cinema, local park and then a meal at a nice restaurant in town. Although the final one was almost ruined when my parents decided to buy a new car for themselves on the pretence that I would be able to use it once I got my driver's licence, 2 hours before the date was meant to start. Thankfully I made it in time, but I ended up having to borrow my mum's very unflattering coat as I had left mine at home. But overall the dates went well and Edward and I were ready to face the school crowd of which almost all were interested that the social outcast had got with the popular enough older guy who had only had holiday flings.

The reaction was more subdued than I had expected but I couldn't complain and it was suddenly exam season so I had more important things to focus on. This is what I meant by inconvenient. Edward was smart and had already been offered an unconditional place to study law at a respected institution 50 miles away but his results would still follow him on job applications and therefore it was imperative that his grades were near perfect. I on the other hand was struggling to get 50% on any of mocks we'd taken and needed a 50% to even have a hope of not failing the year. "I love you" unfortunately could not substitute for knowledge of the finer details of the known particles of an atom.

We got through exam season, but no sooner had we cleared that hurdle the next approached. I had already booked myself on what was effectively 4 consecutive educational trips which meant I was at home for 1 day before leaving again, on repeat, for the whole of July. So what was meant to be a relaxed month for us became hurried dates and stolen kisses whilst either of our parents happened to leave the room or house we met up in. August wasn't much better, but at least I met his extended family and had a few more meals out. And managed to finally find a time my house was empty so could actually enjoy each other, rather than leave each other desperate for more.

Which brings us to now, September. He leaves for university in a week and whilst he has promised that nothing will change, I know that is something he can't keep. Inconvenient that I had him for such a short time, had just a taste of what a fairytale relationship could be, but it's not over yet and even if it means a 2 to 3 hour commute on public transport I'm determined our relationship will defy the odds and survive. And as far as I know, he's on the same page. We, Edward and Bella together, may just make it work.

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