December 20, 2004
Edward is 19
Bella is 15
They are sophomores
Edward was late. By the time he arrived at the party there were cars lining the streets, and he could hear the music blaring loudly in the distance. He turned off his car and stepped out into the bitterly cold December air, into a pile of icy snow. As the cold spilled over into his shoes he swore under his breath, and trudged up to the house, admiring the white, frozen haze his breath created against the dark night.
Relief washed over him as he entered the house, and felt the warmth of seventy bodies envelope him. He quickly took off his jacket and headed straight to the keg in the small, cramped kitchen; filling one of the red plastic cups that littered the table with golden, frothy liquid. As Edward sipped, more warmth spread like gentle fire through his throat and chest, and he sighed in relief.
Within minutes of his arrival Edward was surrounded by friends, the usual crew. Emmet, Sal, Tanya (who was drunkenly trailing her hands down his chest and not-so-subtly grazing his ass). Instead of focusing on their conversation though, he focused on becoming quickly inebriated and finding a girl to one night stand. His friends tried to draw his attention a few times, but they quickly gave up, Edward was impossible to interest once he chose to become disinterested.
When he first saw her she was standing by the bathroom door. She was talking to a small girl, laughing. She had a big laugh, he could see it straining against her ribs. She was clutching her sides (not so much in mirth it seemed, but rather as if in a protective, nervous sort of way). Despite her laughter she seemed uncomfortable, as he watched he noticed her slightly shying away from the bodies that came too close. She had long, dark hair and big brown eyes. She was of average height, perhaps a little taller, and very pale almost translucent skin. Her nose was a bit sharp, she had dark circles under her eyes. She was holding a drink casually, as if accustomed to it, and wearing a green sort of sweater thing that extended to her mid thigh and was long sleeve. It dipped low over her chest, displaying some modest cleavage. Her legs were what really caught his attention. They were bare, and pale, and long. Really long, thin and slender. She was barefoot he noticed, as his eyes scanned up and down them. She had dark red nail polish on her toes, but it was chipping, as if she had gotten them painted months ago and never had the time or motivation to remove it. Someone walked in front of her and blocked his view.
He spent another fifteen minutes searching her out, staring intently at her. The more Edward looked at her, the more he realized she was not a particularly pretty girl. But the more he saw, the more he wanted to see, his gaze was inexplicably attracted to her. At around nine he found that she had disappeared. He scanned through the crowd and found her short friend, hitting on a black haired guy with bushy eye brows, but the pale girl was nowhere to be found. He searched the house, and finally caught a glimpse of those long legs disappearing behind a door. Part of the hallway had been blocked off, for whatever reason Emmett hadn't wanted people in that room, but the girl had slipped behind the blockage and quietly entered it. Without thinking, Edward followed her.
He softly entered the room, shutting the door silently behind him. The girl was turned away from him, fiddling with a TV. He went and sat on the couch, gazing hungrily at those legs from behind without her knowing. Once satisfied with her channel choice the girl turned, heading towards the couch. That was when she saw Edward. She jumped and screamed, a hand fluttering to her mouth. She calmed almost immediately and laughed nervously. "Oh God I'm sorry. I didn't realize there was anyone else in here." She explained. "No problem," Edward answered, smiling the way he did when he wanted to intoxicate girls. He saw a faint blush creep up her neck, and chuckled inwardly. "What are we watching?" He asked.
"The Wizards. I'm hoping to catch the last bit of the third quarter. They're playing the Celtics tonight, god I hate them." She said. He was a bit taken aback, she didn't seem like the sports type.
"You like the Wizards?" Edward asked, she shook her head violently.
"Hell no, I'm a Celtic's girl all the way. But I barely ever get to see them play, only when they're against the Wizards, or sometimes they show a game every so often on our channels, you know." Edward had little interest in sports, but he found it kind of sexy that this girl did. Edward nodded in vague agreement. After a pause he introduced himself,
"I'm Edward, Edward Cullen."
"Bella Swan." Bella Swan replied, as she plopped down next to Edward on the couch. She folded her legs under herself, and sat back. Her eyes were trained on the television "They're ahead by nine, excellent." She smiled. After a few minutes of silence, Bella transfixed by the game, Edward caught her attention.
"So, what brings you here?" He asked. She pulled her eyes away from the screen
"I'm a friend of Emmett's sister, Alice."
"No, I meant here, to this room more specifically." Edward clarified.
"Oh, I guess I'm just not really into like, parties. All those people touching you, it makes me claustrophobic sometimes." There was a second of silence.
"So, what brings you here?" Bella inquired her eyebrow quirked slightly.
"I'm a friend of Emmett's." Edward responded.
"No, I meant here, this room specifically." Bella quipped sarcastically. Edward smiled, what he wanted to say was that Bella had brought him to this room, that the moment he had seen her he had wanted to push her against the wall and take her, that he wanted to feel her around him. Instead he answered
"I guess I'm just not in the mood for a party." Bella nodded, accepting his answer easily. Noticing her empty glass, Edward asked "Can I get you a drink?" He was in need of a refill too. Bella responded in the affirmative. "What's your poison?" he inquired.
"Seven and vodka, heavy on the vodka, if you can scrape some up. If not I'll just take some wine. Red please."
"Okay Grandma." Edward smiled as he grabbed their cups, making to leave the room.
"Oh shut up. I can't help that I have more sophisticated tastes in liquor." Bella laughed, as Edward walked out the door.
Edward and Bella spent the rest of the night watching basketball, talking enthusiastically, and becoming increasingly inebriated. They talked about politics, she was on the liberal side he was more conservative, about favorite books, they agreed on The Great Gatsby, about Bella's hamster (Masen), about their favorite places on Earth. As Bella spoke Edward searched her body, focusing on her lips as they moved to form words, her legs curled elegantly underneath her, the strand of hair she kept pulling behind her ear. She had tiny hands, he noticed. As the night wore on the urge, need to touch her grew, but Edward found he did not just want to fuck her like he did other girls. He wanted to talk to Bella, to fall asleep and wake up next to her. To take her out places, to make her smile and laugh (she had a huge, honking laugh), to make her gasp his name in pleasure.
"So," it was around two and both were feeling a bit tipsy "how exactly old are you?" Edward asked, taking another gulp as he did so.
"Do you want the answer Alice told me to give you, or the real one?" Bella inquired, smiling mischievously.
"Both." Edward decided.
"Alice told me eighteen, really I'm sixteen." That sobered Edward up, like a slap to the face. She did not look sixteen. Edward was a sophomore in college, nineteen. He calculated in his head (do to the fuzzyness in his brain from the alcohol these calculations took awhile) but he eventually came to the conclusion that she was a sophomore in high school. He had been fantasizing (was still fantasizing) about a sophomore in high school, she was just a baby compared to him. "Are you surprised? You look surprised." Bella smiled sloppily, taking a swift sip.
"I just- I thought you were older."
"Here I was thinking I looked young." She joked.
"Trust me, you don't." Edward said, quietly. There was a moment of silence, when he leaned in slightly and locked his eyes to hers. Everything in him was screaming to kiss her, but as he leaned forward a thought blared threw his mind she's sixteen you pervert! STOP. And he did. Edward leaned back and focused on totally non-sexual, non-remotely Bella related images in his mind. It didn't really work, he was still hard as a rock and he still desperately longed to touch her. "I have to go to the bathroom," he muttered, getting up unsteadily.
When Edward reentered the room he found Bella on the couch, watching Titanic. She looked tired, he observed. He plopped down on the couch next to her. They exchanged few words, and soon Bella was asleep, her head lolled gently against Edward's shoulder. Edward remembered that Bella had mentioned that she got cold easily, so he pulled off a blanket that rested over the couch, and draped it over Bella. He laid down, and pulled Bella with him, so that his arms hugged her around the waist, pulling her little body against him. His head rested against the back of hers, his forehead in her hair. She smelled so good, a gentle flowery smell. Edward was asleep almost instantly; his last thoughts before drifting off were about how perfectly Bella fit in his arms.
Bright, wintery light spilled into the room the next morning, burning Edward's eyes and infuriating his hangover. He had expected there to be the warm, little body he had slept next to to be beside him when he woke, but Edward was surprised to find he was alone in the room. He stood groggily, arching his back and hearing an explosion of satisfying cracks. He trudged to the kitchen, where he heard voices. Peering around from behind the fridge, Edward saw the small girl, dressed in short forest green shorts and a camisole, standing near the stove a spatula in hand, apparently cooking pan cakes. Chocolate chip based on the smell. Edward was happy to see Bella lounging lazily in one of the kitchen chairs, she had changed into a pair of green sweat pants and a tank top. Bella looked at ease here, as if she had sat in this kitchen waiting for pancakes to be prepared many times before. Edward assumed the small girl was Alice, Emmett's sister, Bella's friend. She looked nothing like Emmett though, Emmett was a big guy, tall, massively muscular, blue eyes. Alice on the other hand was built like a pixie, her hair cropped short and spikey so that she strongly resembled a brunette version of Tinkerbelle. She was very pretty though, and curvy, she had a nimble athletic look to her, and Edward guessed that if Bella had not been in the room (taking up all of his attention) he would have found Alice quite attractive.
"So, you're telling me that you spent the night with Edward Cullen, that you slept next to each other, but that you did not actually sleep together? And you honestly want me to believe that?"
"Alice I'm telling you, it wasn't like that at all! We just talked." Bella responded, sounding half annoyed half amused.
"Uh-huh," Alice replied skeptically "It's Edward fucking Cullen, Bella. No one 'just talks' to Edward fucking Cullen." Edward had to stifle a snort. Apparently, his reputation preceded him.
"Well, I did." Bella stated resolutely. Alice rolled her eyes "Are you sure you weren't just too drunk to remember doing it?"
"I'm not even going to dignify that question with an answer. And, I wasn't even that drunk. I'm hardly at all hung over." Alice turned from the stove to roll her eyes again.
"How many aspirin exactly have you had this morning?" She inquired innocently.
"Oh fine you win! But still I wasn't that drunk. I would remember fucking Edward Cullen anyway." Bella stuck out her tongue. "Anyway, he could have had any of the girls at the party if he wanted, he obviously wouldn't have chosen me." Bella stated. Edward's heart hurt a little hearing this.
"Well why did you wake up together then? You two seemed pretty snugly this morning."
"I don't know. The last thing I remember is watching Titanic, I must have fallen asleep and Edward rearranged us to be more comfortable." Bella replied reasonably. At this point Edward decided it was time to make his entrance. He walked into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes groggily as if he just woke up.
"Hey," he mumbled, "pancakes?"
"Chocolate chip." Alice responded, setting a couple down on a plate next to the stove and handing some to him.
"Thanks," he mumbled, feigning drowsiness.
"Do you want me to get Emmett for you?" Alice asked. "I think he and his friend might still be sleeping." An expression of vague disgust crossed her face.
"Nah, let them sleep." Edward said. "How's the hang over? You look terrible." Bella asked, sounding sympathetic.
"Thanks for the compliments sunshine." Edward replied sarcastically, "you look like Miss America material yourself, this morning ." A blush crept up Bella's neck.
"I was trying to be sympathetic." She huffed, glaring. "Anyway, I'd better be going home. I have work in a few hours and I need to shower and de-hangover myself before then." Bella said, standing up from the table.
"Do you have a ride home?" Edward inquired.
"I was going to walk." She replied.
"It's fifteen fucking degrees out. You'll freeze your ass off." And that really would be a pity, it's a great one Edward thought. Plus, he was really looking for an excuse to have Bella alone with him. "I was going to head out soon anyway, let me drive you." Edward suggested.
"Are you sure you're in a proper condition to drive?" Bella asked skeptically, eying Edward up and own. Edward grunted in response,
"I'm not some pansy. I can hold my liquor, unlike a few others I know." He glanced pointedly at Bella, and she flipped him the finger in response.
"I was not that drunk!" She wailed.
"So, where do you live?" Edward asked, as he escorted Bella to his car, an old Volvo.
"I'm not sure if I should tell you, who knows what you'll do once you know my home address."
"I sort of need to know it, if I'm going to drive you home." Edward pointed out reasonably.
"Fine, just promise not to stalk me or kill my family. It's close by, just the first right, drive straight and turn right again, and go down Main Street…" Bella directed, Edward following her instructions. He was a good driver, she observed. Bella liked that, she appreciated good driving. "Here this one," Bella said, indicating for Edward to turn into the drive way of a small gray house. He put his car in park and turned to her.
"So, do you wanna get together some time? For dinner or something maybe?" He asked, suddenly nervous. Bella smiled, immediately quelling his fears of rejection.
"Yeah sure, how about breakfast though? I know this great little diner." Edward nodded his assent.
"Saturday morning?" He suggested.
"Yeah, sounds good. Just meet me here at like ten." Bella said, moving to exit the car.
"Wait!" Edward called, he did not want her to leave. He wanted to kiss her, to… "Here," Edward stated reaching into his glove compartment and pulling out a napkin and a pen, he quickly scrolled a few numbers. "My cell number. In case of emergency." He joked, handing the napkin over to Bella.
"Merci beacoup." She smiled. "See you later?"
"Later." Edward reaffirmed her question. Bella exited the car cheerfully, and trotted up the walkway to her house, waving at Edward before she entered. He smiled and waved back, wishing it was Saturday morning already.
To Edward's surprise (and pleasure) he heard from Bella more quickly than he had expected. The very next evening he received a call from her. He was sitting in his room in his Uncle's apartment, trying to get a paper he needed finished before the end of winter break out of the way. He was glad to hear his cell ring, distracting him from his tedious work. He didn't recognize the number caller ID displayed, but he picked up anyway.
"Hello?" he answered.
"Edward, its Bella, Bella Swan?" Edward's heart thumped when he heard her voice, he reprimanded himself for acting like a tween aged girl experiencing her first crush.
"Bella hey! What's going on?" He had not failed to notice the trepidation evident in her voice.
"Well, it's um, an emergency I guess. You said to call you in the case of one." She said it as if she was trying to joke, but her voice was flat. Edward was worried now, his pulse racing.
"Bella, what's going on?"
"Can you, will you drive me somewhere?" She asked, avoiding his question.
"Where?"
"Shit this is really embarrassing." Bella paused, finally answering in monotone, "Planned Parenthood." His heart hammered, anger raced through his veins like a narcotic. But, with a Herculean effort, he kept his voice calm.
"Of course. When do you want me to pick you up?"
"Tomorrow afternoon? Around one if that works." She sounded absolutely mortified.
"That's fine. I'll see you then." Edward wanted to say, take care of yourself. Don't worry, I'll help. But she was sixteen, she was a baby. Plus, he'd known her for a day. Why was he feeling like this?
"Thank you, Edward." There was pure gratitude in her voice.
"Anytime." He said. And he meant it.
