Disclaimer: The characters as well as any other reference to the Twilight series belong to their respective owner, Stephenie Meyer. Everything else belongs to the author of this work, Forever 17/Foreverx17.
Chapter Seven: A Little Bit Closer
EDWARD
I wake up the next morning, slightly hung over. After taking a quick shower, I change out of my pajamas, and head out into the kitchen.
Bella is sitting at the bar in the kitchen with a cup of coffee as Charlie stands across from her with his own mug in hand.
"Edward, hey," he greets me.
"Hey, Charlie. Bella."
Bella smiles slightly at me before turning her attention back to her drink.
"Bella told me she went out with you and your friends last night. Have a good time?" he asks, taking a sip of his drink.
"Yea," I say, taking a seat on the stool beside Bella. "Uh, Charlie…I wanted to ask you…umm…I thought I could take the day off today. If that's okay."
I see Bella look at me from the corner of my eye, but I keep my focus on Charlie, too scared to see her reaction. Maybe she had been drunk when she had mentioned wanting to spend time with me and she was hoping I would forget the whole thing.
Charlie looks surprised for a moment before he smiles. "Wow, Edward, you haven't taken a day off in all the time you've been here," he says.
I chuckle and nod, waiting for his response.
"Of course you can. You know you can take a day off whenever you want to. You work too hard, Edward."
I nod. "Thanks, Charlie."
"So, what do you got planned on your day off?" he asks, putting his empty mug in the sink.
I finally glance at Bella and see her gnawing her bottom lip. I'm about to speak, but I'm interrupted.
"Edward and I were actually gonna hang out today," she says.
Charlie's eyebrows shoot up and I brace myself for some sort of disapproval. "Alright, have fun. Bella, by the way, I wanted to see if it was alright with you if I went back to Forks in a few weeks."
Bella raises an eyebrow as she looks at her father. "Sure. Why wouldn't I be alright with that? Did you want me to come with you?"
Charlie scratches the back of his neck. "You don't have to. I'm staying with a friend. Just helping them take care of some things."
"Why are you using ambiguous pronouns?" she asks.
"Using what? Remember we're not all English majors here."
"Dad, you're going to see Sue Clearwater, aren't you? Oh my God! You're still seeing her? I thought you two stopped dating when you moved here."
"We did," he says, obviously uncomfortable with the discussion. "But her mom is sick and she just needs someone to help her out with organizing the finances and taking care of some things now that the kids are away at college."
"Oh," Bella responds. "Is her mom gonna be okay?"
Charlie sighs. "I don't know, Bella. She's been ill for a while now. Sue just needs an extra hand around."
"How long will you be gone?"
"That's why I wanted to check with you, since I really don't know. Obviously I don't want to be away from you for too long, but I need to know you're okay with being here without me for a while. You too, Edward." Charlie finally looks at me. I swallow hard and nod.
"I'm fine with it if Bella is," I say.
Bella looks at me for a moment before turning to her father and nodding. "Of course, Dad, do what you have to do. If you need me though just call me," she says.
Charlie smiles. "I will, kid."
Bella stands and walks around the counter to give her father a hug. "Love you, Dad."
Charlie wraps his arms around her, returning the sentiment. I feel like I'm intruding on a private moment. I quietly stand up to leave just as Bella pulls away from her father.
"So, what's on your agenda today?" she asks him.
Charlie shrugs, looking at me. "I don't know. Thought I might go out on the boat with a couple pals."
"Big surprise." Bella rolls her eyes, smiling at me.
I smile back and make like I had gotten up to grab something from the fridge. I pour myself a glass of orange juice.
"Hey, why don't you guys come?" he asks suddenly.
"Dad…"
Charlie smiles ruefully. "You're still afraid of the water, huh?"
"Dad."
"You're afraid of water?" I ask her, surprised.
"No, I'm not afraid of water," she says, exasperated.
Charlie turns to me. "She's afraid of boats that are out in the water."
"Thanks, Dad."
I chuckle into my orange juice.
"I could never understand it," Charlie continues. "The girl loves swimming, she loves the beach. But I can never seem to get her out on that dang boat of ours. Screamed like hell when she was younger. First time we took her out on the boat was also the last."
"Because boats sink," Bella replies, glaring at her father.
"That isn't necessarily true," I say.
Bella looks at me, wounded that I am taking her father's side. I'm quick to elaborate.
"I mean, I'm not saying your fear isn't justified it's just…it shouldn't stop you from doing something just because you're afraid of what might happen."
Charlie looks at his daughter, smiling hugely. "That's right. Well put, Edward."
"Well, I'm just not in the mood to go out on the boat today," Bella says grudgingly. "Maybe one day."
"Yea, right," Charlie snorts into his coffee. Among receiving another glare from his daughter, he quickly scrambles and says he's going to get ready for his day trip.
Once Bella and I are alone in the kitchen, I stand across the counter from her.
"So, what did you wanna do today?" I ask. "Boats are obviously out of the question."
She sneers at me, not amused.
"Yes, boats are out of the question," she says.
"Yea. For now."
Bella sighs and glares at me before shaking her head. "I don't know. I was thinking we could spend some time on the beach. I haven't really been able to enjoy it in the daytime yet."
I nod. "Sure, sounds good.
"Alright," she says, sliding off her stool. "I'm just going to go change and put on my swimsuit. Want to leave in half an hour?"
I swallow hard and nod. She smiles slightly before heading upstairs and I'm left in the kitchen cursing myself.
Why in the hell had I agreed to the beach?
Bella in a bikini? Did I need to torture myself?
Maybe she wore a one piece. Oh please let her wear a one piece.
…..
About half an hour later, I'm dressed in some plain black swim trunks and a white t-shirt. I grab a bottle of sunblock, knowing I'll fry without it, and head downstairs to grab the one pair of sandals I own.
After putting on my shoes, I make my way to the kitchen and stop dead in my tracks.
Bella is standing behind the counter in a light blue bikini top, white shorts, and nothing else. She looks to be putting together some sandwiches and doesn't notice me standing there.
I take the opportunity to appraise her form. Her stomach looks so smooth, her arms look heavenly, and her breasts look so perfect and inviting. The clothes she had been wearing up until this point had done nothing to prepare me for seeing her half-naked.
I decide to finally make my presence known and clear my throat. Bella looks up at me somewhat startled before a small smile spreads across her face.
"Hey, I was just making us some snacks," she says. "What do you like on your sandwich?"
"Anything is fine."
She nods before going about making the sandwich. I help her put the food in a beach bag she has. Thankfully she puts a shirt on before we head out to the beach.
"Did you want to walk down far or stay close to home?" she asks.
The way she says 'home' sends shivers down my spine. Because she could have said 'my house' or 'the house', but she chose to say home. Just home. It made me feel connected to her in a way I couldn't explain. Because that beach house was our home and hearing her say it just about made me the happiest man on Earth at that moment.
"We can go farther down. I'm tired of seeing the same scenery," I say lightheartedly.
"That's right, you're always outside. Well let's walk down to my special spot then."
"You have a special spot?" I quirk my eyebrow at her as we walk.
She shrugs and smiles. "It's a secluded part of the beach. There's this huge rock I would always hide behind anytime it would start raining while I was still outside. It was kind of like my safe haven I guess. I would go there to read or just listen to music. It's really nice."
"Have you been there since you came back?" I ask.
"Nope."
"Well, we'll definitely have to go to your special spot then."
Her smile lights up her face and it makes me happier than 'home.'
…..
I can tell Bella's spot is special to her. She smiles to herself as she sets her stuff down next to the giant rock that obstructs whoever is behind it from view. It's near the water, but not too close. And it's far enough away from other beach-goers that it gives us just enough privacy.
I lay my towel down next to Bella's as she sits down on hers and begins rubbing sunblock on her arms and legs. I try not to stare and instead busy myself with weighing my towel down with some sand at each corner, probably paying too much attention to the amount of sand in each pile.
Finally, I plop down on my own towel and watch the ocean in front of me for a while, enjoying finally being able to be out in the fresh air without having to hold a hammer.
Just as I'm about to finally say something to Bella, she lifts her shirt off and I'm left staring at her again with my mouth hanging open.
"Edward," she says as she rubs some lotion on her stomach. "Can you rub some on my back?"
She finally looks up at me and I close my mouth shut. "I mean, if it's not weird or anything," she chuckles.
"No, it's not weird," I manage to croak out.
"Thanks." She smiles at me before turning around so she's sitting with her back to me.
I take the lotion out of her hand and squeeze some into my palm. I take a quiet breath before I slowly begin rubbing it on the small of her back, working my way up. When I reach her shoulders, I massage some lotion onto her neck before going to the tops of her arms.
When I'm finished, I don't move my hands from her shoulders. "Your skin is really soft," I say.
"Thanks," she says quietly.
I finally remove my hands from her skin and close the bottle of sunblock as Bella turns around to face me.
"Did you want me to rub some on your back, too?" she asks, almost shyly.
I'm about to tell her no, not sure if I can handle her hands on me, rubbing my back. But then I decide that I probably won't ever get an opportunity to have her hands on me any other way. So I nod.
I turn away from her and pull my shirt off. I think I hear Bella gasp, but think my ego is making me hear what I want to hear.
Bella's hands on me are so erotic. Even doing an innocent task like rubbing sunblock on me is starting to get me worked up. I'm both relieved and disappointed when she's finished.
For the next couple of hours, we lay out in the sun, talking a bit more about each other. I ask Bella how her book is going and she asks me about more of the crazy things I've done with Jasper and Jake.
She doesn't ask me anything about my past and part of me is thankful. Another part, a confusing part, wants me to tell her things that no one else knows. And that scares the hell out of me.
We go into the water from time to time. Sometimes we just float across from each other, talk some more. Other times it's more playful. I'll splash her, she'll try to dip me under even though she's so much smaller than me. I laugh. I laugh more than I can remember ever laughing. This moment is perfect and I try and soak everything in so that I can always remember it.
We head back home around four in the afternoon, having spent the entire day at the beach. Bella is slightly sunburned while I just have a minor tan. When we reach the house, there's someone sitting on one of the lounge chairs on the deck.
It's Royce.
"Hey, Bella," he says, standing up as we approach.
"Royce, hey. How long have you been here?" Bella asks.
"I stopped by earlier and no one was home. I came back about a half hour ago and your dad was just getting back. He told me you went to the beach earlier so I figured you'd be back soon," he explains. He looks at me and nods. "Hey, bro."
I nod, but don't say anything. I turn to Bella, reaching out for her stuff. "Here, Bella, I'll take your stuff inside for you," I say.
"Thanks," she responds, handing me her things. "I'll be right in."
I nod, but say nothing else as I head inside, closing the door soundly behind me. I shut my eyes tight and heave a breath before making my way to the staircase, setting Bella's things in front of it. I head to my room and after changing into some jeans and a t-shirt, I flop onto my bed, my arm covering my eyes.
I couldn't explain what I was feeling. The…sight…of Royce waiting for her made my insides boil. It wasn't fair.
After today I realized that under any other circumstance, I would have asked Bella out on a date by now. She was amazing. Smart, funny, beautiful…sweet.
But she was Charlie's daughter. He knew I came from a rough past. He knew I had troubles, hell he broke up a bar fight between me and another guy. Not to mention I was living under his roof, rent free, working for him.
He was an ex-police chief. It was a wonder he hadn't searched my background yet. Or maybe he had. Maybe he knew everything and just didn't say anything. If he knew everything about me, and he found out I was attracted to his daughter…damn. He'd kick my ass.
Not only that. I had come to like Charlie and I respected him. I could never do that to him.
A knock at my door stirs me from my inner musings. I call for whoever it is to come in. A second later, the door is opening and Bella is standing there. I wait for her to tell me she just wanted to let me know she's going out with Royce and to tell her dad.
"Hey, my dad called and said he was going to his buddy's house for barbecue and a football game so it's just us tonight. Want to help me with dinner?"
I sit up, slightly shocked. "Is Royce here?" I ask before I can stop myself.
"No, I told him I was too tired to do anything tonight," she says.
"Oh."
"Yea, so I was thinking chicken fettuccini. And there's this movie on demand I wanna watch, too," she says excitedly. "Are you busy tonight?"
"Aren't you tired?" I ask, a corner of my mouth lifting slightly.
"Not for hanging out with you," she says quietly. She blushes and I get the urge to touch her face. Instead I nod.
"Yea, let me just clean up. I'll be right out."
She nods before turning to walk down the hall.
"What movie by the way?" I call.
"You'll see!"
"No chick flicks, right?"
"No promises!"
I chuckle and shake my head. My smile fades when I realize the road I'm about to go down. I don't know if I can trust myself if I get any closer to her than I already have. And she deserves so much better than me.
But damn if I'm not already hooked on this girl.
A / N: Just wanted to let everyone know that it won't take this long for an update again. I'm going to be posting fairly consistently (once a week/every two weeks). Thank you so much for the support.
