Seattle is beautiful in the fall, Edward thinks as a kaleidoscope of colors decorate his yard like party confetti. He remembers when they first moved here. Bella had wanted to move closer to her father after he was injured in the line of duty and forced into early retirement. It was an unfortunate accident, a drunk driver ran into his squad car, shattering his knee and cracking his pelvis.
Charlie survived and is able to walk without his cane, much to the amazement of his doctors. Still, Bella was understandably concerned about her father, so Edward agreed to move to a strange new city. It was a long way from home. He took comfort in the knowing that Leah would be nearby to keep him company.
Even though they've lived here for years, Edward hasn't made many other friends. Sure, there are a couple of nurses at the hospital that are nice, and he likes his colleagues well enough, but he was never really good at making friends. He had known Emmett since grade school. Truth be told, Edward owed most of his friends back in Chicago to Emmett.
Edward smiles when he thinks about how Emmett admired his yard when he visited over the summer. He was thankful they'd kept in touch and visited whenever he had the time, which wasn't often. He and Rose had just had another baby, a girl, Rebecca. Emmett had sent Edward pictures that very morning, along with a brief update on how his family was fairing. Edward could remember when Emmett swore he would never have children and insisted he would chase women forever. Now, he is the happy father of four children and a loving husband to a beautiful wife. The faintest sliver of jealousy slithers through his mind, tainting his good mood with guilt and frustration. He tries to ignore it and continues to drag the rake through the grass, hoping it will turn his thoughts away from things he can't change.
There are few things he loves more than the simple satisfaction that comes from household chores, like working in his yard. The sun peeks out from a clump of clouds and lights up the backyard in golden light. He stops for a few minutes, closes his eyes and turns his face toward the sun. It is something he hasn't done since he was a child, but there's something in him that wants the comfort of those simple pleasures back again.
"Leave it to you to try to tan in the fall." Leah's voice is a welcome interruption, the very sight of her smile lifting his mood instantly.
"I take what I can in this state," he admits with a shrug and leans on his rake, while he watches her bite into a cupcake. "I thought you were full."
"Hush. I worked up an appetite in the shower," she says around a mouthful of cupcake and quickly washes it down with a sip of coffee.
"Really? Doing what?" Edward laughs and can't help but notice how Leah's face instantly darkens with obvious embarrassment.
"Shut up!" She chokes a little and wipes her mouth with the back of her hand.
"Oh my god, Leah, you weren't -" Edward doesn't get to finish his question, before a cupcake sails through the air and almost hits him in the face.
"Do not say another word!" Leah yells, holding up another cupcake like it's a baseball, and gives him a challenging look.
"Okay, I'll shut up," he says, holding his hands in the air, and continues to laugh.
Leah still looks annoyed, but no longer embarrassed. Inwardly his is relieved. He hates to see her embarrassed and dislikes it more if he's the cause. He had learned over the years that making Leah angry was the best way to help her recover. Leah can handle being angry, but out of place or uncomfortable is much harder for her. If that means being hitting with food or ending up covered in some kind of liquid, it is worth it. For Leah.
"Are there any left?" He jogs up to the deck and grabs the coffee cup next to Leah's, giving her a nod of thanks.
"Yes, but I don't know if you deserve any," she replies, kicking back in a deck chair, and peels the wrapper off another cupcake.
She's wearing the jeans and sweatshirt he set out for her. He can't help but notice how the faded jeans hug her hips, or how the bottom edge of the sweatshirt is riding up to expose just a sliver of her stomach. That small patch of skin is going to be the death of him.
"I'm sorry for insinuating that you are as pure as the driven snow," he says in a formal tone, bowing low, and wonders if he's going to get another cupcake thrown at him.
"Apology accepted, Sir Galahad," Leah grumbles and kicks at his leg with her bare foot.
"Many thanks, my lady," he says with flourish and takes a seat in the chair beside her. "You should at least put on socks; it's cold out here."
"Really? I couldn't tell with seeing my breath and all," she replies with a shake of her head and continues to eat her cupcake.
"I'm just trying to keep you from catching a cold," he insists with a shrug and grabs a cupcake from the plate in her lap.
"Edward, I'm not a fucking flower," she groans, giving him an irritated look, and frowns. "I grew up on the coast. I've swam in the ocean during the winter. I can deal with a little autumn chill. Trust me."
"Fine," he sighs, slumping back in his chair, and begins to unwrap his cupcake. "Since you're such a rugged, independent woman how about you help me finish raking leaves?"
"I don't know. That sounds an awful lot like work," she says, giving him a sidelong glance.
"Think of it as paying for your free laundry services," he offers and takes a large bite of his cupcake.
"Paying for something that's already free is a contradiction," she points out, wiping at a smudge of frosting on her cheek, and nonchalantly sticks her finger in her mouth.
He watches her lips tighten around her slender finger, the hollowing of her cheeks, then the slow work of the muscles in her throat. It's like some kind of devious torture device meant to make him crazy. He turns away and pretends to be very interested in the side of the house.
After a long, awkward silence, Leah shifts in her chair and stands up, walking back into the house. He wonders if she noticed, and if he's made her uncomfortable. The thought sparks a pain in his chest. He can't afford to lose Leah's friendship. It's too important to him, and his ridiculous, inappropriate behavior has been skirting the line for too long. Edward closes his eyes and tries to rein in the panic tearing him up inside. He has to make this right, march in there to apologize, and beg her to forgive him. It's the only way to put things right.
"Hey, Cullen!" The cheerful tone in Leah's voice startles him as much as the hard kick to his chair.
He opens his eyes to see her standing over him, her hands on her hips and a look of amusement on her beautiful face. She quickly smiles and lifts her foot. He can't help but laugh at the sight of his old Doc Martens dangling from her slender legs. It looks like a little girl wearing her father's shoes.
"Come on. No sleeping on the job," she says with a wave of her hand and turns to walk down the steps that lead to the back yard.
She's not angry with him at all. Relief and joy fill him in equal measure, making him smile and his heart soar. He knows he is blessed to have Leah. Her friendship means so much to him, more than is probably appropriate. Right now, it feels like it is all he has left to cling to.
Five years ago
"If you value our friendship at all you will stab me in the neck with that fork and end my suffering," Leah whispered, giving him a pained expression and leaning her head on his shoulder.
"You know, I love you," he replied, lifting his hand to gently pat her cheek, and shifted his shoulder to make her raise her head. "But I'm too selfish to suffer alone."
"Some friend you are," Leah mumbled and stabbed her own fork into the delicate slice of cake in front of her.
"Quit pouting and eat your cake," he said, gently nudging her rib with his elbow, and she immediately stomped on his foot in return.
"Shit!" He choked on a mouthful of frosting and started coughing.
"Edward,areyouokay?" Bellaleanedovertogivethembothaquestioninglook,andtheyimmediatelyquieteddown.
"Okay, everyone, what do you think?" Alice paced in front of the table and scribbled on her tiny notepad, while everyone mumbled non-committal answers. "Come on people, we have five more samples to try!"
"I'll make it real easy. Which one's the cheapest?" Leah folded her arms over her chest and leaned back in her chair.
Edward knew this posture and that it meant trouble for everyone. Alice turned to face Leah, her hands on her hips. The look on his sister's face was a mirror of Leah's own scowl. They'd only met yesterday, but they were already adversaries. Which made sense, since they were two of the scariest women he knew.
"This isn't about price. It's about finding the right cake for the wedding," Alice said, speaking through her perfectly straight teeth, and shifted her weight to cock her hip to the side.
Edward wasn't great at interrupting female body language, but he thought it was some kind of challenge, especially since Leah was now leaning forward with her nails digging into the linen tablecloth. Her face was a mask of fury.
"What matters is we don't bankrupt Charlie and my mother with this wedding," Leah sneered and pushed back from the table to stand.
"Oh, don't worry about that, Leah," Bella chimed in and stood up to cautiously approach her stepsister. "Edward's father is going to pay for everything."
Leah turned to glare at Bella, a look of astonishment on her face that quickly shifted to rage, and then she began to laugh.
"Of course," she said in a near hysterical tone and continued to laugh, bitterness tinting the sound. "Of-fucking-course!"
She turned her back on them and quickly walked out of the cake shop, still laughing. Edward sighed heavily and slowly stood, while Bella sat back down.
"I'lltalktoher," hesaid,settinghishandonhisfiancee'sshoulder,andgaveherareassuringsmile.
"Thank you," Bella replied, patting his hand, and turned to lean her head on her mother's shoulder.
"Itoldyounottoinviteher," Reneesaid,gentlybrushingBella'shair,andgaveEdwardadismissivewaveofherhand. "Hermotherwasjustasbullheadedandrudewhenwewerekids.Honestly,Idon'tknowwhatyourfatherseesinher."
"Mom," Bella complained. "Don't be mean."
"I think your mom is onto something there," Alice added, sitting down on the other side of Bella and effectively shutting Edward out of the conversation.
He stepped back and watched them chatter on about Leah and the wedding. It was like being a stranger, but only he knew them. Well, he knew Bella and Alice, but since all this whole wedding planning had started they had both changed. Every waking moment was consumed with planning, color schemes, and decisions about the most ridiculous things.
Why should he care what kind of flowers they used to decorate the church? What difference did it make if they used a limousine or a town car to get from the wedding to the reception? Why in the name of all that is holy should he care if his uncle Marcus sat next to Bella's aunt Gladys?
Still these were the only things any of them could or would talk about. Bella was overwhelmed by it, but at the same time she shot down every offer he made to tone down the wedding. She kept insisting that she didn't want to disappoint Alice or embarrass his family by having too plain of a service. He didn't care if his snotty cousins had to sit on folding chairs in a Elk's lodge. All he wanted to do was get married and move on with their lives.
He stepped out onto the sidewalk and looked down the street to find Leah leaning against a lamppost. A few short steps brought him to stand by her side, but she quickly turned her back to him and pointedly ignored his presence. He wasn't sure why, but lately she seemed to be more irritable than usual. She'd gotten into it a few times with Alice and even snapped at Renee when she made one of her many veiled insults toward Charlie. It wasn't totally out of character for Leah, but for some reason it felt off to him.
"Please, Leah," he began, reaching out his hand to put it on her shoulder, but she shrank away from his touch and shook her head.
"I can't deal with this shit," she said in a strained tone, but he couldn't be sure without seeing her face and wasn't sure what it meant. "I'm going home as soon as I can change my ticket."
"No, please," he insisted, tugging gently on her sleeve, and tried to figure out how to win her over. "I'll talk to Alice and get her to back off a little."
"This isn't about Alice!" Leah yanked her arm out of his reach and practically spat venom as she spoke. "It's about Bella's selfish bullshit and YOU!"
"Me?" He stepped back, like he'd been slapped in the face. "What in the hell did I do?"
"Are you kidding me?" Leah turned around, with an enraged expression twisting her normally beautiful face. "I can't fucking believe you're going to allow your father to pay for all of it! Don't you realize how humiliating it's going to be for Charlie to watch another man pay for his only daughter's wedding?"
"It wasn't meant to be insulting," Edward argued through his lowered his voice and felt a little sick from her words. "We're doing it to make Bella happy."
"Of course," Leah yelled, throwing up her hands, and kicked the lamppost with her foot. "It's all about Queen Bella."
"Leah, calm down." He tried to put his hand on her shoulder again, but she slapped his hand away.
"Fuck that! Fuck her and fuck you!" Leah screamed in his face, and he felt her words cut right through him.
"Fine!" He turned on his heels and began to stalk back toward the bakery.
That was the last straw. He was tired of being shut out at every turn, especially when he didn't even want this big mess of a wedding in the first place. Alice was riding on every detail, and his mother wouldn't stop pestering him about the guest list. Bella's mother couldn't stop making inappropriate remarks about his ass, and he hadn't had a moment alone with Bella in months. Having Leah turn her back on him was too much.
He was exhausted, frustrated, and felt so alone. Usually, Leah was his haven of sanity in times like these, when everything else was crazy. He could always count on her to keep him grounded, laughing at it all, but something was different. To have her lash out at him, to cut him off, and leave him here to deal with this alone…hurt. He couldn't comprehend what he could have done to make her so angry.
"Wait." Leah's voice was soft. He was several feet away, but he still heard her. "Edward, I'm sorry."
He turned around to find tears streaking down her face and the saddest expression he had ever seen on her face. The sight was too much for him. He couldn't be angry with her when she was looked like that. Within seconds he was back at her side, his arms winding around her shoulders, and he pulled her into a tight hug.
"No, I'm sorry for snapping at you," he apologizes into her hair and was met with her shaking sobs. "You're right. We shouldn't do that to Charlie. I'll talk to my father. Leah, please don't cry."
"I can't do this," Leah said, her hands weakly pushing on his chest, and he released her but placed his hands on her face. "I should go."
"Don't," he begged, looking into her red-rimmed eyes, and fought back the lump in his throat. "I need you."
She seemed to crumple at his words, more tears flowing from her eyes, and the pain in his chest intensified. It was so selfish, but it was the truth. He needed Leah's humor and support to keep him sane. She had become his touchstone, and her friendship was one of the few things keeping him afloat. Edward wasn't sure he could keep from cracking under the weight of all this stress without her here.
"Please," he said, wiping the tears away with his thumbs, and gave it one last try. "I can't do this without you."
"You have your family and…," she argued weakly, leaning her face into the palm of his hand and closed her eyes. "Trust me. It will be easier without me here making trouble. They never wanted me anyway. I don't even know why Bella made me the maid of honor."
"I do," Edward admitted with a laugh and eased her back into his arms. "I asked her to."
"What? Why?" Leah's eyes opened, and she stared at him in shock.
"Well, I actually wanted you to be my best man," Edward said with a smirk and shrugged a little. "But Alice insisted it would be weird for you to be in a suit and would make some of the older family members uncomfortable. So, Bella offered to make you her maid of honor, instead."
"Shit! Is that why your jackass friend asked if I was a dyke?" Leah slapped his chest, a smile spreading across her lips and a little bit of laughter escaping her lips. "Now, I almost feel bad for kicking him in the nuts."
"Don't feel too bad. He thinks you're pretty cool because of it," Edward said with a shake of his head. "Emmett's a little weird."
They both laughed at that, leaning against each other. The tension and anger all but a memory. After a few minutes, Leah sighed heavily and turned to give him a serious expression.
"So, this is what we're going to do," she said, stepping back to cross her arms over her chest, and Edward couldn't help but smile a little at her determination. "You're going to have the vendors bill Charlie for a smaller percentage of the charges. Your dad can cover the rest, and Alice can claim she got killer deals on all the shit. Okay?"
"Yes," he nodded and already started planning how he would explain everything to his father, who would absolutely understand the situation.
"And I will stay on one condition," Leah continued, holding up her finger for emphasis and looked him straight in the eye. "I get to be your Best Man, and I get to wear a suit, too. I hate those butt-ugly lavender bridesmaids' dresses, anyway."
"Deal," Edward replied without hesitation and pulled her into a hug. "Thank you."
"Sure, sure," she sighed and hugged him back.