A/N: Thanks for all the reviews, author alert additions, and story alert additions! They keep me writing!
Disclaimer: Don't own. So Sad for me.
Five hours into our ten hour countdown to the arrival of Edward, Agent Bitch, and Alice, the doorbell rang. Jacob looked at me with his eyebrow arched in an unasked question. It was easy to see that he thought that I knew who was at the door. I shook my head in a negative manner, shrugged, and got up to answer the door. Damn, I really hope it isn't the f'ing paps. I really wasn't in the mood for their antics.
I slightly pulled back the striped curtain and looked at the front door – relieved, momentarily, to realize that it was Leah, my college roommate. I lunged for the door to let her in only realizing as I opened it that Alice had probably sent her. Shit.
"Girl, you have done it now," was Leah's blunt greeting to me, as she further pushed open the door and strutted in. As Jacob walked into the room, she followed with, "And what a fine specimen of male you are, dearie, but that doesn't answer the question of what the hell are you thinking, Bella?"
Jacob snorted a laugh. Traitor. I responded the only way I knew how, "Don't encourage her – this is nothing." Which only made Jacob laugh harder.
"Oh, trust me," was Leah's quick response, "This is definitely something, girlfriend. What the hell are you thinking? All these years, all I've heard is how fucking much you love the Ed-Man, and then you run off with the chauffer ? No offense. What the hell? Are you on crack? You can tell me, really. My uncle is a doctor at a local hospital. I can make some calls and get you the help you need by tonight – just say the word. Don't worry, you can trust him. He's –"
"Will you stop?" I interjected loudly. "Shit! Do you want to know why I did what I did or do you want to call your fucking uncle for no reason, because I sure as hell am not taking crack, heroin, or mary-J-wanna…"
Leah looked at me, laughed at my stupid joke, and said, "Well, you can't blame a girl for wondering. You have to understand that this doesn't seem to make a lot of sense."
I sighed. I thought it made a lot of sense, so I told her so. "Well, I thought it made a lot of sense."
Leah looked at me like I was fucking crazy. "Are you fucking crazy? What about any of this makes any sense?"
Well, I have to hand it to her – she was straight-freaking-forward. No questions about what she was thinking at any given moment. "Jacob, would you mind giving us a minute?" I asked.
"No," he responded. "Go right ahead." He even gave me a polite hand gesture to signal that I could continue.
So, I gave him a hand gesture that told him to fuck off. Laughing, he walked down the hall. Seconds later, we heard a door shut.
Once Leah took her eyes off his admittedly fine behind, she said, "Nice, isn't he? But first, what makes sense? Because I really need to know."
I snorted – loudly. "Leah, I've known Edward since I was little. Growing up, he was my everything. As I got older, he was still my everything. One day, while I was sitting around watching a movie with him, I looked at him. You know, really looked at him. It wasn't anything overly special, probably something that I'd done a million times before. He was just laughing at the movie. He threw his head back and practically guffawed. And I knew that I wanted him. I wanted to know him in every way. I wanted him to always be there. I just – wanted."
Leah nodded in understanding. Hell, she'd probably heard that part of the story before. "Right. Right. So, you do the crazy shit act three days ago because?"
"Because I can't be there and watch him with this Agent Bitch – Rosalie, or whatever her name is. I can't. I can't watch him laugh with her, touch her. Whatever. I can't. So, I decided to take a vacation from him – and her. I needed time to think, to come to terms with the fact that my dreams aren't going to come true."
"Oh, Boo-fucking-hoo, cry me a river and all that bullshit, Bella. You didn't become a great actress by walking away. You became a great actress by working hard and earning your place in life. By proving yourself worthy - so, here's a small bit of advice – earn the Ed-man. Fucking make him want you. Make him yours. But for God's sake, quit playing the victim and stop being stupid."
I opened my mouth to reply and closed it again. This continued several more times. I didn't know what to say.
Apparently, however, Leah wasn't done with rocking my world because she wasn't quite done. "You can't expect him to just fall in your lap. Instead, push him. Be yourself. Be Bella. And you are much more likely to succeed. Now, it's time for me to go talk with that hunk of burning love –Jacob - in the other room. Based on our discussion, I'll assume you won't care if I go earn him and try to get a workout or two in."
Bella laughed as Leah walked out of the room.
I spent the rest of the afternoon in my room. I had a lot to think about. In the end, I had decided that I was behaving like a bratty child who had their toy taken away. It was time for me to act like an adult. And the first part of that would include having dinner ready for everyone when they arrived – I'm not sure why. It just was what I decided. So, I did.
Twenty minutes later, I was rolling out the dough for my famous chicken pie casserole, roasting the chicken, and caramelizing two onions.
"Whoa, look at you being all domestic and shit." Jacob said as he walked into the kitchen; Leah was hot on his cute little heals.
"Why don't you go fuck off," I smartly replied as I pulled a casserole dish from under the oven.
"Oh! Me! Me! Pick me!" Leah said, grabbing onto Jacob's arm as he laughed, pulled her under his arm, and hugged her tight.
"You deserve each other." I cattily responded to Leah's disgusting attempt at humor.
"Much like I deserve you, dear Bella?" Leah asked, pulling Jacob to the table, pushing him into a chair and sitting down in his lap. I rolled my eyes.
I ignored the nauseating couple until I put my casserole into the oven. "There," I said, "Forty-five minutes until your taste buds will love me." I took a seat across from them.
Leah, bitch that she is, remarked, "Ooh, then, I hope Ed-man gets here soon."
I extended my middle finger to her.
"Promises, Promises!" she sassed back.
"Jacob, I think Leah needs to get laid," I said, trying to take the focus off me and Edward's pending arrival.
"Hell, Bella, I think that was apparent a while ago." Jacob said.
"So, why don't you go do something about it? You have," I looked at the timer, "Forty-two minutes to get her off."
Leah stood up, pulled Jacob up, and said as she walked out of the room, "Thanks. I didn't want this to be awkward or anything. So, now that we have your permission, we're going to get to know one another. Oh, don't come looking for us, no matter what you might hear." She turned to Jacob and explained further, "I scream – a lot."
I put my head on the table and laughed. God, I loved my friends.
