Chapter Number & Title: 1 – Renee's POV on chapter 10
A/N: Alas, Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight not me, and the Beeb owns Strictly. But the plot is mostly mine.
Thanks as ever to my wonderful betas Mcc101180 and rodeomom_95.
Contains some British slang terms. As usual there is a glossary at the bottom to help.
So, Edward has sleep-groped Bella and they both know and remember it. But their first kiss was lost in a haze of alcohol. Want to hear about it from the only person who can really remember it? I sure do…
An Accompaniment to Chapter 10
Renee POV
It was fairly rare that I got to see my daughter. If I had my way I would see her at least once a month. However, we were both busy women and once every six months is usually as frequent as I get a visit, sometimes only at Christmas. So I consider myself exceptionally lucky… I do realise that I engineered both opportunities to see my daughter, but sometimes you have to grasp the bull by the horns, even if it catches said bull unawares. Perhaps I shouldn't use a bull as an analogy for my daughter. Also, I possibly shouldn't use my daughter as a business opportunity, but a self-employed business woman does what she has to do to stay afloat…
Seeing her raging drunk, however, was not really how I wanted to see her.
I am not stupid; I know my daughter isn't a saint. I am used to seeing people wasted; I run a gay bar for God's sake. However, watching your only daughter slaughtered is not particularly fun.
She didn't start off slowly, but I wasn't too concerned when Leah kissed her. Heck, if Bella came out, I would throw her a party. But when she came to the bar afterwards and started doing shots alone, I considered cutting her off and talking to her about her drinking. Unfortunately, the bar was heaving, so I had to serve people. Thankfully by the time I was free to check on her, I noticed that Edward was drinking with her.
I like Edward, he seems like a stand up guy, and I trust him with my daughter. Still, when I spotted Bella lying on the bar and Edward drinking shots from her cleavage to cheers from the crowd, I got a bit worried. But I pride myself on not being an embarrassing mum, so I left them alone. When they had finished doing shots from each other and were truly covered in tequila, I just handed them spare Scouting uniforms and let them be.
However, when I saw them toddle off unsteadily, I followed them outside. They were in no condition to head back to London, so I called Phil to come and pick them up. We could put them up for the night.
I found Edward pushing Bella against the wall and sticking his tongue down her throat. She had her legs wrapped around his waist and was quite clearly a willing participant. And all in full view of the paparazzi who were happily snapping away.
No mother, no matter how cool, wants to find her child in such a situation. It is something I would prefer to forget and would definitely prefer to have walked away from. So I realised that this was probably something they would regret the next day, so I broke them apart. Thankfully Phil arrived soon afterwards, thank fuck we lived close by, and helped me shove Bella into the front seat and Edward into the back. I would have liked to help him unload them and get them into bed, but it was a Saturday night and only two a.m., and I had a bar to run.
The next morning there was no awkwardness, so that could mean one of two things – either they were fucking like bunnies and so a kiss wasn't embarrassing, or they couldn't remember it. I found out the next Thursday that the latter was true.
Bella and Edward have chemistry, and I hope they'll get together. I worry so much about Bella being lonely; she lives by herself in a tiny village and spends most of her time writing. She needs a boyfriend, and Edward seems like a genuinely nice fellow. I think they could be good for each other, but getting together under the influence is not how to do it.
A/N
British English to American English dictionary
Slaughtered: Very drunk
Toddle: To walk unsteadily. Like a toddler.