Disclaimer: The Twilight characters belong solely to Stephenie Meyer; I'm just taking them out to play.
A/N: I don't know if it was my sneaky ploy at plying you with teasers that brought in all the reviews, but no matter what it was, I thank you all. You are so funny and gracious and I'd like to be friends with each and every one of you. A lot of you wanted to know if Edward was going to see Miss Swan at the library ... read on and find out. :)
Bella leaned on the counter, her chin resting on her hand. Why does this feel so familiar? She thought. Oh, that's right. Because my life is on repeat. Home, work, school. Shopping with Alice. Home, work, school. She sighed.
The library was dead again today, with only a week left until the semester began. Bella was ready for classes to pick back up. She'd already planned out her schedule, and as a junior, was finally able to take classes she knew she'd enjoy. She found herself wondering if a certain glasses-wearing guy would be in any of them.
Edward.
Bella wanted to hit herself in the face with the giant, unabridged Oxford English dictionary sitting on a stand in the reference section. She knew that if she tried to pick it up, the weight of it would make her topple over and probably crush the air from her lungs in seconds flat. She hoped it would do the trick of making her forget her actions from the night before. Everyone would remember her as the girl who got smushed by the dictionary, not the girl who made an ass out of herself in front of the most gorgeous man in the known universe. Bella was quite certain Edward was from another planet.
She groaned and banged her forehead against the counter. Why had she told Angela she'd take the morning shift? She'd much rather be in bed, right now, sleeping and not thinking about last night, than sitting in the library, imagining all the morbid—and decidedly nerdy—ways she could off herself.
Why had she decided that kissing Edward was the only way to avoid Mike? There had to have been other ways to avoid him seeing her. Her hair was pretty nondescript; she could have merely turned away and engaged Edward in a close conversation. He would have played along, had she told him what she was doing. But those eyes, that hair … Those damn glasses. Thinking about his face, that close to her own, made little butterflies in Bella's stomach start dancing. Those dancing butterflies made her glad she'd forgone breakfast.
Although thinking about her actions made her a bit queasy, Bella didn't exactly see the kiss as a bad thing. From the moment she saw Edward, sitting in the restaurant, his nose stuck in that book, she wanted to know him. When they spoke over the course of dinner, it wasn't about anything deep, but the sound of his voice had a musical quality; Bella wanted to record him talking and play it every night before she fell asleep. Edward could be reading the daily stock report from the Wall Street Journal for all she cared; as long as there were words coming from his mouth, she'd be his.
His. The thought made her heart skip a beat. When she'd started kissing him, she was doing so out of the fear of discovery. The adrenaline rushing through her veins gave her confidence. Her fingers intertwined in his hair were there out of necessity, keeping his head in place. But when he started kissing her back, her head relinquished all control. Her heart took over and let her feel the electricity coursing between his lips and hers. She felt his hand on her face and leaned into it, letting herself be pulled even closer. His lips felt like silk. She remembered, before letting go completely, wanting to ask him what kind of chapstick he used. That was before his tongue had darted out to touch her mouth, before he'd started rubbing small circles with his thumb behind her ear.
That was before Bella felt her heart cozy itself up to a picture of his face.
She'd only pulled away so that she could make sure she wasn't dreaming. She had to open her eyes and see that her Superman really was sitting directly in front of her, kissing her with the force of his home planet's exploding sun. There was humor behind those sparkling green eyes, and maybe a bit of something else? Her breath caught in her throat as she remembered, so clearly, the look in his eyes, the slight swelling of his lips, the nervous way he'd run a hand through the mess of hair on top of his head when he was finally able to tear his eyes away from hers. Bella smiled into the counter at the memory of what Alice had later called "sex hair" when the two of them were alone and on the way home.
Bella was letting her mind wander regarding Edward's sex hair when a paper coffee cup landed on the counter, mere inches away from her head. Out of the corner of her eye, Bella could see a tiny hand wrapped around it, the fingernails perfectly manicured and painted a deep shade of blood red.
Bella sighed a breath of relief. "Alice." She turned her head, not quite raising it from the counter, and looked up into her roommate's mischievous grey eyes.
"Good morning hot stuff." Alice handed the coffee over as Bella pushed herself away from the counter, then hopped up to sit on it, crossing her fishnet-clad legs—ending in tight, knee-high black boots—and dangling them over the edge. "You left before we got a chance to talk this morning."
Bella held the cup in her hands, deeply breathing in the delicious aroma wafting from the small hole in the lid. "Mmmmm." She took a sip. "Caramel latte. My favorite."
Alice scoffed. "Would I bring you anything less?"
Taking a drink, Bella relaxed, leaning a hip up against the counter. "You spoil me Alice. I was just thinking about how much a good cup of coffee would hit the spot. You know that crap in the break room is good for nothing but removing paint from the walls."
"That's not what you were thinking of Bella." Alice twirled a black spike in between two fingers. "I had to practically shove the cup in your face before you recognized I was standing there. I'd been talking to you for at least a minute before I realized I hadn't received a response."
"Only a minute?" Bella grinned. "It usually takes at least five for anyone to get a word in edgewise."
Alice stuck her tongue out, making a rude noise in the process.
"I'm sorry Al." Bella pushed a hand through her long brown hair, pulling the layers away from her face. "I was thinking about how much of a bitch I was last night."
"You've known him less than a day and you've already picked up one of his quirks." Alice grinned into her cup while taking a sip.
"What?"
"You just ran your hand through your hair, which a certain someone did a whole lot of last night." Alice cocked her head to the side and snickered. "Next thing you know, you're going to start wearing glasses and pushing them back into place incessantly."
"Geeze Alice, for someone who was on a date with another man, you sure noticed a lot about Edward."
Alice shrugged. "I can multitask like a champ, Bella Swan."
"Yeah, about that. Don't think I didn't see you and Jasper at the bar last night, Alice Brandon. Don't think I don't know why my beer was nasty warm."
Her eyes wide with mock innocence, Alice placed her empty hand to her heart. "I have no idea what you're referring to. The bartender happened to take for-ever getting us our drinks. Jasper and I discussed the weather and the upcoming election. I was a proper lady, and he was quite the gentleman."
Bella couldn't help but laugh at her pixie-friend's feigned innocence. "Spill it, Brandon."
Alice's body hopped slightly with excitement, all pretense of calm thrown by the wayside. "Oh. My. God. Bella. Kissing him was like …" Her hands waived in the air as she searched for the right term.
"Snuggling up on the couch, wrapped in a blanket with the man of your dreams, watching a dramatic movie while a fire's crackling in the background?" Bella offered, thinking back to the way she felt while kissing Edward.
"Better! It was like hitting the mall and finding that every store's offering 75-percent-off all merchandise." Alice's smile was so big it nearly took up her entire tiny face. "I could have stayed attached to his lips for the rest of time. In fact, I'm pretty sure I'm going to make it my life's goal to invent a way Jasper and I can eat, sleep, shower and shop while connected at the lips.
"And what does Jasper think about this plan?"
"I don't know." Alice's bottom lip stuck out in a pout. "He hasn't called me yet."
Bella looked up at the large clock on the wall. 9:24. She turned to Alice. "It's not even 10, Al. Jazz isn't due in until then, and knowing him, he's not even out of bed yet."
"Well," Alice began as she hopped down from her perch on the counter. "I don't like to be presumptuous …" At this, Bella snorted. Alice ignored her and continued on. "But if he doesn't call me by tonight, I'm going to have to call him."
Alice started for the doors at the far end of the library. "I'm off to do some preparatory shopping for all the dates I'll be having in the near future." She waved and blew a kiss to Bella as she stepped out the sliding doors.
Bella finished up her coffee, sighed, and went back to banging her head on the counter. She felt a presence approach and stand in front of her. Figuring it was Alice, she groaned. "No, Alice, I don't think I'll be needed anything from Victoria's Secret any time soon."
A male voice stuttered, "U-uh, you won't?"
Bella's head flew up, her eyes meeting a pair of startling green ones nearly hidden behind thick black frames. Edward ran a hand through his hair, making Bella hearken back to the thoughts she was having this morning. She blushed.
"Uh, hi. Sorry Edward." Bella turned her eyes toward her hands, which were gripping the counter much like they did the seat when she was riding shotgun in Alice's Porsche. "I thought you were Alice."
He chuckled. "I can see how you'd make that mistake."
Bella looked up at all 6'-plus of him, standing before her, looking as nervous as she felt.
The silence grew thick with things they were both leaving unsaid. Bella shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other while Edward picked at the strap of his messenger bag. When it was nearing unbearable levels, they both spoke at once.
"Bella, about last night …"
"I was terrible last night …"
They looked at each other. Edward opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again and motioned with one hand for her to continue.
All the things Bella wanted to say to him came spilling out in a rush. "I shouldn't have been so rude to you last night. I was trying to avoid Mike, because he's super annoying and always asking me to go places with him and last night he was at Eclipse and I totally forgot he was going to be there and I didn't want him to see me, because I didn't want to hurt his feelings, but I totally ended up hurting your feelings instead. And I never wanted to hurt your feelings because you're a totally great guy and, God, that kiss was amazing, and I can't blame you if you never want to see me again, but I totally hope you do because I want to get to know you better and the next time around I won't be so hot and cold and treat you like dirt and feel like a total shit about it for the entire rest of the night."
Bella took a breath and glanced at Edward, who was massaging the back of his neck with one hand.
He looked at her, and she thought she saw a glimpse of humor spark in his green eyes. "You thought the kiss was amazing?"
Bella's face fell. Did I really say that? Shit, shit, shit, shit …
Edward laughed and ran a hand through his hair.
He really does do that a lot, Bella thought as she attempted a weak smile, her butterflies starting once again to do the Rhumba. She found herself wondering if he knew how sexy that movement was. At dinner, she saw it as a nervous habit, but now … She couldn't help but hope that he was letting a bit of the superhero show through the nerdy façade on purpose.
"So, yeah." She avoided answering Edward's last statement. "I guess I just wanted to say I'm sorry, see if we could perhaps start fresh?" She stuck her hand out for him to shake, looking him directly in the eye and willing her arm not to turn to jelly. "I'm Bella Swan. I promise I'm not as crazy as I might seem."
Edward pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and took a breath, stepping forward to accept her hand. Bella felt a sudden shock of electricity. If Edward felt it too, he didn't let on, but one corner of his mouth did rise up, slightly, into what Bella knew was now her favorite facial expression. "Edward Cullen. Pleased to make your acquaintance, not-so-crazy Bella."
Bella smiled and stood for a moment, enjoying the feeling of his hand touching hers. For a second, she wanted to pull him towards her, rubbing his smooth skin across her cheek. For a second, she considered if it would be proper to be the first to make a move, again, and drag him across the counter. Edward was a lot bigger than her, but she figured she had the element of surprise on her side again …
A buzzing vibration in her pocket woke Bella from her daydream. Darn, she thought, and I was just about to plan our quiet exit to the private study rooms.
Reluctantly taking removing her hand from Edward's, she reached into her pocket with an apologetic look on her face. She pulled out her cell phone and looked at it. Emmett. Always ruining my fun.
She flipped the phone open to read the text her older brother had left her.
J&J were in an accident. They're at Seattle Grace. Get here when you can?
Bella nearly dropped her phone. She felt her heart sink to the bottom of her stomach, a drastic departure from the residency it had taken up in her throat mere minutes before while apologizing to Edward.
Her change in demeanor didn't go unnoticed. Edward leaned into her line of vision, trying to get her attention. Bella could barely hear what he said; every word he spoke sounded indistinct and muffled.
She looked at him without seeing, a glazed look in her eyes.
"Did you drive here this morning, Edward?"
"Uh, yeah, I did. What's wrong Bella? You look like that was bad news."
"It was my brother. Some friends of ours were in an accident." Bella opened her phone and dialed. "Jasper? Are you on your way? I need to get to the hospital." She flicked her phone closed, not waiting for a response. She turned around and walked to the break room to grab her purse and coat.
Bella returned to the front desk to find Edward and Jasper having a hurried conversation. He must have been on his way in the building when she'd called. Not looking directly at either one, she mumbled into the ether, "Let's go," and started for the door.
Edward shot Jasper a worried look, then followed behind, catching up with Bella as she paused after exiting. She stared straight ahead, waiting for him to make a move toward his car. He pressed a button on a keychain and the lights on a shiny silver Volvo in the lot across the street from the library flashed. Bella walked toward it without so much of a look in either direction and got in the passenger's seat, still staring off into the distance.
Edward slid in behind the wheel and started the car. He turned to Bella.
"Seattle Grace. Please, Edward." The last words came out in a whimper.
A/N: I know, I know. I'm a terrible person for leaving you hanging like that. But don't fret, everything will be resolved in due time. I'm just glad Bella explained her actions, at least in part. Send me your guesses as to who's been in the accident? I can't promise to send you a Cullen (as I have none, and had I some, I don't know that I would share!) as a reward for getting it right, but I'd love you forever for the review! ;)