Disclaimer: Edward, Bella, and the crew belong to Stephenie Meyer.
Chapter Two: Coffee and Realizations
The next morning, I stumbled down the stairs of the house that the six of us were sharing on the beach for the week, the smell of freshly brewed coffee luring me out of bed and into the kitchen. My body didn't seem to agree with Tour de Franzia as it had in my college years, so I was in dire need of caffeine and maybe some aspirin if my head didn't quit pounding.
Edward stood at the counter when I entered and, sweet Jesus, he wore nothing but a pair of faded pajama bottoms that hung deathly low on his hips. I silently climbed onto a stool at the breakfast bar and watched as he pulled a mug down from the cabinet and poured some of the dark liquid into it, savoring the view while I could before anyone noticed. Oh, the back muscles that rippled with his every move were a new addition to his physique. He definitely hadn't looked like that the last time I had seen him shirtless. I bit my lip to keep from sighing out loud.
After filling his mug, he turned around to face me and his hips moved backwards to rest against the edge of the counter. Bloodshot eyes met mine and he grinned crookedly while taking in my appearance. It looked like he felt the effects as well. Thank God I wasn't the only one; I knew Alice would be dancing downstairs soon all perky and full of sunshine and smiles.
"Morning sunshine," Edward mumbled in a mocking tone before he took a sip. The permanent bed head that he sported was even more out of control than normal and, for the first time since I had known him, my fingers itched to touch it, to find out if it was as soft as it looked.
After forcing myself to not drool over his defined chest and sculpted stomach, I folded my arms across each other and buried my head in them, groaning once I felt the cold granite of the counter top hit my forehead.
"Want some coffee?" He asked with a low chuckle.
I nodded my head without lifting it. A steaming mug arrived in front of me shortly after and I lifted my head slowly so that I could drink from it. Perfection, both the coffee and the man in front of me. Wait, what? Where were these thoughts coming from?
Edward smirked at me, the look on his face knowing. "What?" I asked, suddenly embarrassed. Had I done something last night that I should be ashamed of? Did I have drool down my face? Eye boogers? A missing tooth?
He shook his head back and forth. "Nothing," he said. "Just remembering how you are about coffee."
I nodded my head, grinning at the fact that he had remembered my ridiculous obsession with the beverage. Truly, it could be classified as a disorder...if there were one for twenty-somethings that required large amounts of caffeine in order to function like a normal human being.
"Keeps me sane," I admitted with a sly wink. "Wait, you don't drink coffee...when did you start drinking coffee?" I pointed a finger at his cup accusingly. Throughout college, he had complained about my constant demands for the drink and acted all high and mighty about his preference for tea instead, always adding something about antioxidants and keeping his teeth white. Lame.
His smirk spread into a full, happy grin and his red-rimmed sleepy eyes twinkled. "The morning after you all but demanded it at my apartment..."
xXx
Bella POV
February 2008, Sophomore Year
(415): I hate fucking guys that don't drink coffee. My morning hangover and shame will not be cured by your stupid tea.
Thank God the boys tended to accidentally leave their apartment door unlocked after a messy night downtown because my new, uh, friend from the night before happened to live a few doors down and I was in need of some coffee. And a toothbrush. Also, perhaps my dignity.
For some reason unknown to me, Edward was passed out, face down on the couch in the living room, instead of in his massive bed just down the hall, when I walked in. His messy hair stoodout in a thousand different directions and there was drool coming from the side of his mouth. He stillwore the same outfit from the night prior, and his cell phone was in three pieces on the glass table. It must had been a rough night, judging by the overall situation surrounding him.
Without bothering to wake him, I made a beeline for the kitchen and the coffee pot that I was sure would be waiting for me somewhere in the cabinets. After a thorough search, though, I couldn't find the appliance of my desire. Time to wake up Edward.
"Edward?" I yelled from the kitchen, not worried about waking the two other boys that occupied the apartment because I knew Emmett was probably awake and at the gym and that Jasper was at my apartment with Alice.
I heard the leather on the couch rustle, but he didn't answer. Rolling my eyes and scoffing, I stomped into the living room.
"Wake up," I hissed as I nudged his shoulder. "I need coffee."
He shook his head but didn't remove it from the leather. "No coffee," he murmured.
"I know," I said, poking his shoulder now, "you don't drink coffee. But I do. So where is it?"
"No," he lifted his head and glared at me, "we don't have any coffee."
"What?" Surely he was joking.
"We. Don't. Have. Any. Coffee," he enunciated each word as he repeated his earlier phrase.
I narrowed my eyes at him. "What kind of college apartment is this? You don't have coffee?"
"You can have some tea, if you like." With that, he buried his head in the cushions again, attempting to put an end to our conversation.
Tea? All he had was tea? Of course, his general 'holier-than-thou' attitude kind of matched up with his preferences, but, seriously?
This was not okay. "Edward," I whined like a child before standing and climbing on top of him on the couch. I hoped I was cutting off his air supply.
He groaned from beneath me. "Get off," he yelled into the couch, his voice muffled as the leather absorbed it. I wiggled on top of him in response. Somehow, torturing Edward made my hangover lighten substantially.
"Why is your cell phone in three pieces?" I asked to further annoy him. Instead of wiggling, I bouncedon top of him like an overeager child.
My question, and probably the squashing, forced him to sit up quickly, dumping me onto the floor in the process. "Tanya," he answered in one word.
"Ah," I giggled from the floor. Tanya and Edward had been dating since she claimed him as her own some time during the fall semester of our freshman year. To say the relationship was tumultuous was an understatement. Homegirl was psycho and none of us understood why he stayed with her. "Is that why you're on the couch? She kicked you out of your bed?"
He glared at me. "I'm on the couch because I fell asleep watching TV," he said through his teeth. "Tanya is not here."
"Oh, so by that, you mean that you passed out after taking 'I miss Tanya' shots at the bars," I retorted quickly.
"Why are you such a bitch today? You aren't usually like this," he commented with a particularly evil glare that didn't scare me one bit. His response was just as quick as mine had been.
I shrugged. "Probably because you don't have any coffee," was my nonchalant answer.
Edward rolled his eyes and buried his head once again. Could he have been any more stubborn? Repeating my earlier actions, I climbed on top of him again, except this time I stretched out my body parallel to his. I settled in with a contended sigh, completely missing the sound of the front door opening.
"Oh, whoa, sorry guys," I heard Alice chirp from the doorway, a coffee carrier in her hands.
I looked up and it was official, I completely adored her. Jasper was standing behind her with a smirk on his face.
I jumped off Edward and turned to face her. "Hey Al," I said with a grin. Her eyes were wide with shock and something else I couldn't decipher. Pride, maybe?
"We weren't, uh, interrupting anything, were we?" Jasper asked, wiggling his index finger between Edward and myself.
I turned to Edward who sat up with a crooked grin on his lips. Apparently someone's hangover had dissipated quickly now that BFF numbero uno had arrived.
"Bella was attacking me for not having any coffee on hand," he explained in a strange, defensive tone.
For some reason, Alice frowned. "Oh," she said dejectedly.
"Oh?" I asked.
She shook her head back and forth as if to clear her thoughts. "I brought coffee!" she announced, holding up the tray proudly.
I rushed to her side and pulled a steaming cup from the cardboard contraption. "You, Alice, are my hero," I said as I inhaled the scent.
"I know," she said smugly as she headed towards the small kitchen to deposit the remaining cups of coffee on the counter.
"So, man," Jasper said as he fell onto the couch next to Edward with a loud thud, "your phone is in pieces."
Edward rolled his eyes. "Thank you, Captain Obvious."
Jasper looked to me with wide eyes. I mouthed the word 'Tayna' at him and he nodded in understanding.
"Um, Bella?" Alice asked warily as she returned to the living room and squeezed herself onto the couch next to Jasper even though there was another empty couch. For some reason, I was still standing. I blamed my inability to function properly on the lack of caffeine.
I turned to her. "Yeah?" The arrival of coffee was making me agreeable.
"Who do you know that plays on Yale's football team?" she gestured to my attire with a grimace.
I blushed. What with the lack of coffee and picking on Edward, I had forgotten that this morning I had exchanged my cute top from last night for a t-shirt that went down to the middle of my thighs. I looked a little bit like an Olson twin, what with the leggings and the gladiator sandals and the overshized t-shirt.
"Uh, I, uh..."
Jasper chuckled. "Bella..." he arched an eyebrow and waited for me to answer.
Edward bit back his laughter.
I threw my hands up in the air. "Fine, I, uh, met a guy downtown last night and he, uh, lives a few doors down and I came home with him," the words came out rushed. "He plays on the team."
Alice gasped. "You had a one night stand?" she seemed so scandalized. It wasn't like she had any room to talk; she and Jasper had slept together on their second date and they only waited that long because their first 'official date' was a Greek function and they didn't want their first time together to be hazed by alcohol.
My face was on fire now. "Well, he is, uh, in my Biology class...so, I mean, I guess you could say I know him."
"So you were, what, studying?" Edward asked sarcastically.
I narrowed my eyes at him. "No," I bit out. "Just, stop, okay? Not all of us have on/off boyfriends or stable relationships to help with their, uh, needs." The conversation needed to end.
"Needs?" Edward asked. He was clearly enjoying this and I hated him for it.
"What's his name?" Alice jumped in before I could answer Edward's question.
"Jake."
xXx
I cringed at the memory, because with it came painful reminders of my relationship with Jake. At the time, I had felt that it was the beginning of something special, something significant. I had, regrettably, thought that he was 'the one.' I had been so, so wrong.
The look on Edward's face told me he knew what my mind was working through. "So, no more Jake?"
I shook my head back and forth firmly. "No more Jake," I stated firmly.
By nothing short of a miracle, the two of us had made it through college still together. Our job offers following graduation, though, were on opposite sides of the country, mine in New York and his in northern California. I was more than willing to give the long distance thing a go, but Jake had other plans.
In what I now see as a last-ditch maneuver to keep New York City from stealing me away, he popped the question, shiny diamond ring and all, the morning after graduation. I, of course, turned him down, insisting that we at least try to make our cross-country relationship work. Too much effort had been put into my undergraduate work, too many contacts made, for me to simply pick up and move across the country because I didn't want to be separated. I didn't want to be that girl.
Jake saw things in a more black and white way; either we were officially together, for eternity, or we were done forever. Grandeur promises about taking care of me and assurances that his salary would be more than enough for both us were made and I freaked out a little bit. But then, he brought out the big guns, using our love and memories to wrap me around his finger and I agreed to marry him on one condition: postponing our wedding until I had given life in the big city a go. He agreed.
Everything was fine for the first year and half. We took turns crossing the country to see each other, swapped holidays and anniversaries in our new cities. The wedding was never really discussed, but there was an unspoken agreement that it would come eventually. Eventually, though, things started to change. I got wrapped up in my life in New York and California sucked up all of his time. Our phone dates became less frequent and, at one point, we found ourselves having to schedule time to speak. Instead of a relationship, it felt like I was working a business deal so, I broke it off.
Looking back, I wasn't sure what kind of reaction I expected from him, but the relief I heard in his voice was certainly a surprise. Of course, I wasn't that upset our unconventional arrangement had ended; he seemed so happy in California and I couldn't imagine leaving the city. But Jake, I had expected him to pitch a fit and cry, maybe hop on a plane and show up at my front door begging me to reconsider. He didn't do any of those things. Instead, he laughed and told me he had wanted to call things off for six months now but didn't want to hurt me. Apparently, he had been dating a woman he met at work a few months prior; something about an instant connection and butterflies.
To say that I had been gun shy on the commitment front since, was a bit of an understatement. Jake's betrayal had hurt on a level that I hadn't initially expected it to. As a result, I hadn't made it past the third date with a man since for fear that he would eventually ask me to do something I wasn't prepared or willing to do.
"Do you...want to talk about it?" he asked tentatively and, well, I kind of did. Alice and I had scrutinized every aspect of mine and Jake's relationship, but a different perspective might be nice, if only to hear that I wasn't insane for not darting across the country with Jake the day after I accepted my diploma.
My mouth opened to answer with words I had trouble coming up with, when Emmett bellowed from the top of the stairs, "Franzia Sundaaaaaaay!" Saved by the burly teddy-bear of a man.
After a look from Edward that told me our conversation had not been laid to rest, I turned to greet Emmett. "Hey, Em."
"Swan," he grinned as he ambled over to me. "Looking lovely, as always."
I was pretty sure that I looked like death, so I rolled my eyes.
Alice bounced downstairs next with Jasper and Rose on her heels. They were all smiling happily while Edward and I frowned at them for interrupting our quiet, calm morning.
"Good morning all," Alice actually lifted her hands into the air as if she was addressing the crowd at one of her fashion shows. Sometimes I hated her; I envied the way she somehow avoided hangovers her entire life; it was like she had a lucky 'no hangover' gene or something.
Even Rose managed a smile. "Is there any coffee left?" she asked.
Edward nodded mutely with a frown and gestured to the half-full coffee pot next to him. As Rose sauntered over to fill her empty mug, I met his gaze and smirked before rolling my eyes at the cheerfulness of our friends. I caught the obscene gesture he managed to send in my direction without the others noticing, and I shook my head back and forth, stifling a giggle. Of course they were all happy and full of joy; they all got some last night, while Edward and myself had both retreated to bed…alone.
I attempted to calculate the last time I had gotten some when a sudden realization came to me: for the first time since we had met over eight years ago, Edward Cullen and I were free and single at the same time. No Tanya, no Jake. Maybe that explained my sudden realization of his chiseled muscles and tempting, 'do me' hair...he was no longer someone else's property.
Oh, this had the potential to be very, very bad...or good, depending on how I looked at it. Shit.
