A/n: So I suck at scheduled updates... so just forget about them.... lolz... thanks to my beta Missy... Read. Enjoy. Review...
Chapter Three: Confusion
I couldn't even see Carlisle's bike in front of us as we drove home. It was like he was mad at something, and he was taking it out on his motorcycle's speedometer. Emmett drove at a slower than average pace, considering Jasper and Micah were overly intoxicated and jumping around in the backseat. Emmett kept throwing back comments reminding them just how terrible they were going to feel in their morning classes.
Eventually we got back to the apartment, Emmett pulled in and parked right next to Carlisle's bike, again so that he was on my side. Carlisle called to us all to have a good night and just went inside while Emmett sent me in and helped Jasper and Micah into their apartment next door.
I walked through the door to the apartment and I heard the shower going. I tried not to think to hard about the man who was getting into it as I walked into the room I was staying in. I flopped down on the bed and I put my phone down on the bedside table. My head barely hit the pillow before it started to ring, alerting me to an incoming call so I reached over and flipped open my phone, it was Alice.
"Hey, what's up? How's Emmett's school? I am so bored, I just got back from camping, it was so much fun," said Alice.
I chuckled a little, between the two of us, I was the rebel, which was saying a lot for her, and she was the Sunday school valedictorian. Her father was the local minister, and I was the wild child if you set me next to her. I was a good kid, don't get me wrong, just Alice had a very shiny and prominent halo. She was just so innocent and sheltered.
"It's ok, Emmett's friends are so hot!" I said, my voice hushed just in case Carlisle could hear, though I doubted it, the shower was pretty loud.
Her response was immediate.
"Little old though, huh?" She said.
I smiled a little, typical Alice, point out what was wrong before the curiosity set into her. Alice liked guys as much as the next girl, but with the slim pickings at our school it was difficult. You either had the Edwards, which were preppy to an eccentric level and had no sense of loyalty to anyone, not even their friends, then you had the ghetto kids. There was no middle ground like with Carlisle and Emmett and everyone here. They were either dressed as if they were in a polo add, and acting like little brats, or they were dressed like drug dealers and talking like they were actually from the ghetto when they weren't, and then acting as if they were God's gift to women. It was frustrating.
"He's not too too old. He's like twenty two. Not that it matters though, I doubt he would ever actually like me," I said.
"Twenty-two?" She sounded like she would if she had spit out a mouthful of soda, "Well, I guess that's not that bad, well it is right now, but later four years is nothing. It's just weird now… What do you mean though about him not liking you?"
"Because he's twenty two and gorgeous, and nice and he has a motorcycle, and college girls falling all over him," I said, "Besides he was probably just being nice to me earlier because I'm his roommate's little sister…"
"Maybe, but maybe not. What happened?" She asked as I heard the shower turn off.
"Text you later," I said, whispering purely because the walls looked thin, "He's getting out of shower."
"Ok, bye, tell me everything and try to send me a picture," said Alice, and I could just imagine her mouth going a mile a minute.
I put my phone on the bedside table and went out into the kitchen where Emmett was getting himself a glass of water. I looked over to the futon, where Carlisle was sitting with a bowl of soup, eating as he was watching whatever he was watching on TV. He made no movement to look around and so I sat at the kitchen table with Emmett as he handed me a soda and Ramen, with one ice cube, just the way I liked it.
"So did you have fun?" Emmett asked as he shoved a forkful of the stringy noodles into his mouth.
"Yeah," I said as I stirred my bowl of Ramen so that the ice cube melted into the soup.
"Good," He said, apparently oblivious of his friend's rage on the other side of the room.
I was facing the living room portion of the room and I could see Carlisle. He was hunched over his bowl and burning a hole in the TV with his eyes. I really wanted to ask him what his problem was, but I held my tongue. Though, it was promptly burned by the heat of the soup, and I resolved to wait a little while before taking my next bite. Emmett on the other hand finished quickly and dismissed himself for his own shower, mumbling something about having an early class, and telling me goodnight.
"Good night," I said to Carlisle, just being friendly, as I headed for bed.
"Night," He called over his shoulder, not looking around at me as I walked into the bedroom.
I quickly texted Alice a quick summary of the party, then after a quick analysis of it, I fell asleep. I had very strange dreams, but then again I always had strange dreams so that wasn't saying much. Needless to say I it didn't surprise me that my dreams were filled with days that rained blueberries and crazy things happening to me. It was just how my mind worked.
I woke up the next morning and I had a missed call from mom. I couldn't believe she was already checking up on me, especially this early in the morning. I called her back from bed, not bothering to hide that I had just woken up, and by the time I had hung up I heard the door slamming behind Emmett on his way to class. I yawned and stretched before gathering clothes for the day and heading towards the shower. Emmett had told me where the towels were while I was getting settled, so I was all set.
I walked out of the bathroom, dressed, and with freshly brushed teeth, but my hair still soaked and uncombed as I headed through the condo apartment to get my brush. Carlisle had woken up, and was eating cereal at the table in a pair of flannel pants and a black t-shirt. He too hadn't bothered with his hair yet, I almost died, but he still refused to look at me.
"Good morning," I said as I walked into my room and I heard his grunt of a reply as I picked my brush up off Emmett's dresser, and I wandered back towards the kitchen as I brushed and brought my hair up into a ponytail, "When does Emmett usually get back?"
"Probably about noon," He said into his cereal and I nodded, as I crossed the kitchen and grabbed the box of cereal that he had left out on the counter and fixing a bowl of it for myself before sitting down opposite him.
"So when's your first class?" I asked, I was never one to enjoy the silence.
"Twelve Thirty," He said.
"Oh, so your two don't see each other much during the day?"
"Nope," He said, and I wasn't surprised at his one word answer yet again.
"Ok, what's your problem?" I said, he hadn't even looked at me the whole time, but at this his head popped up and he looked over at me.
"Nothing," He said simply, dropping his spoon into his bowl.
"Oh, you sure?" I said, maybe he was just shy, no matter how much he didn't seem like he was last night.
"Fine," He said, "No, I'm not ok. I'm attracted to you, you're smart, and beautiful, and my best friend's little sister. You do realize that he's gonna kill me in my sleep if he finds out. I will be totally black listed. I cannot like you. But, here I am, and it's driving me nuts. If Emmett was thinking this all about my sister, I'd be ripping his head off."
I was shocked, this was way more than I had expected, and it took me a minute to recover.
"Well how old is your sister?" I asked, and I caught him and myself off guard, seriously?
"Five," He said.
"Well there you go," I said, "That would be creepy."
He chuckled lightly and nodded as I set my spoon back down in my bowl.
"I guess you're right," He said, that gorgeous smile crossing his face, though he still looked a little sorrowful, but I smiled, "So…"
"So?" I said.
"I can't, really, I'm sorry," said Carlisle, and he looked pained.
"And if you didn't have to worry about Emmett?"
"I do though," He said with a sigh.
"Ok," I said, racking my brain, desperately trying to find a loop hole, "He doesn't have to know. What Emmett doesn't know won't hurt him."
"Bella, you know he'd find out," He said, looking at me and shaking his head, but looking at me longingly.
"Well what're we going to do? This sucks," I said and he smiled again and nodded.
"Most definitely," He said as he brought his hand up to his hairline and scratched his forehead before running his hand through his hair, "Ah, this is crazy…"
We sat in silence for a few minutes before either of us started to talk again. He was resting his chin in his hands. He was just looking at me, eyes like a sad puppy. It was heart melting, and it only made me want him more. Finally he just took a deep breath and brought his head out of his hands and outstretched a hand for me to shake.
"Friends?" He asked, "I just don't see another way. I want to hang around with you, and get to know you. Ideally I would date you, but considering the circumstances- this would be the closest thing…"
"Yes," I said, almost immediately, shaking his hand.
He smiled nervously, and his hand was sweaty around mine. I pulled my hand away and looked over to the clock on the wall. It was almost noon, so I nodded towards it as he was looking across the table at me. He looked over at it, and it took a minute for it to register with him, but when it did, the look on his face was priceless.
"Oh crap!" He said, shooting out of his seat and running to go get ready for class.
I laughed as he disappeared through the door to his bedroom, which was off the living room, closing the door behind him. I finished my cereal, and I was putting my bowl into the sink for later washing when Carlisle came back into the room, now dressed in jeans and a dark print t-shirt. He took my brush off the table, and ran it through his hair once as I leaned against the counter.
"It's just gonna get messed up again when you put your helmet on," I reminded him and he chuckled as he came and dropped his bowl into the sink and handed me back my hair brush.
"Shut up," He said playfully with a smile, "And I don't get helmet hair."
"Sure you don't," I said sarcastically, realizing just how close he was to me, and I could hardly breathe, he seemed to notice too, and he took a step back.
"Sorry," He said simply, but I just shook my head.
"Don't be," I said and he gave me a little crooked smile as Jasper, Micah, and Emmett burst through the door.
"Hey, sis," said Emmett walking over and giving me a one armed hug as Carlisle headed for the door.
"See you guys after class," said Carlisle as the door shut, and I tried not to watch as he left.
"Good to see he's out of his funk," said Jasper, apparently he was slightly more observant than the other two.
"Bell," said Emmett, "You ready to go?"
"Sure," I said, "Where're we going?"
"Thought I'd give you a quick campus tour," said Emmett, and then he turned to Jasper and Micah, "You two wanna help?"
"Naw, not really," said Jasper truthfully and I held back a chuckle.
"We have some serious studying to do," said Micah sarcastically, and I chuckled.
"Ok," said Emmett, clearly not buying it, as he raised his eyebrows, then turned to me, "C'mon."
Emmett seemed to enjoy showing me around the campus. He brought me out to the Coliseum and then over to the library and around some of the buildings around the campus. While they would have been interesting to me any other day, with Carlisle's confession running around in my head I couldn't focus and each seemed more boring than the next. Eventually Emmett caught on to my boredom and he stopped the tour to get us both a hot dog at a stand on the street. He led me over to a bench where we sat and ate them.
"So what so what do you think about me getting a boyfriend?" I said, it was pretty pathetic, I was eighteen, and other than those stupid little 'relationships' in like seventh grade which didn't count, I had never had a boyfriend.
"OK, when you're thirty," He said jokingly, "No, but why? Somebody at school catch your eye?"
Not my school, but a school.
"No, not really just wondering," I said and Emmett shrugged as he stuffed half his hotdog in his mouth.
"Ok, just let me know, ok?" He asked as my phone vibrated, letting me know I was getting a text, "I still want to approve him, got it?"
I nodded as I wiped some of that ketchup that had gotten on my fingers on a napkin and flipped my phone open to read Alice's text.
"Who is it?" He asked curiously, just before shoving the other half of his hot dog into his mouth.
"It's Alice," I said, oh I had so much to tell her, "She wants to know if she can come up Saturday and drive me back that night."
"Alice's parents are ok with that?" He said, he seemed more than a little surprised as he crumpled the little hot dog holder and shot it into the trash can a few feet away, and I nodded, "Sure."
