Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight. Or Edward – Or Robert – Damn it.
Chapter Eight: Change Of Plans
BPOV
Because Alice wasn't around to hound me I actually woke up at a normal hour, and went down to the kitchen to get started on the lasagna. It would only take about two hours to prepare and an hour to cook, and I was happy that I wouldn't be stuck in the kitchen from six a.m. until three p.m. today. The game didn't start until two, so I knew everything would be ready before the football enthusiasts showed up.
I boiled the noodles and was just beginning to prepare the meat sauce when Charlie walked through the front door. "Hey kiddo, it smells good in here."
"Hey dad. How was work this morning? Anything interesting happen?"
"Oh you know – it's always excitement around these parts. No, but really – it smells great. What time do you think you'll have everything ready?" he asked, stepping into the kitchen.
"The lasagna should be done around one, and then I'll get the hot wings in the oven. Everything should be done at a quarter till two. What time are Jacob and Billy coming over?" I asked.
"Around twenty minutes before the game starts, I suppose. I talked to Billy earlier, and that's what he said anyway."
"Perfect timing then," I said.
Charlie lingered at the kitchen door for a few more seconds. "Well Bells, I think I'll go lay down for a bit then, unless you need me to do something."
"Nah, it's cool. I've got it covered, dad. You go and lay down," I said, turning my attention back to the stove.
"Alright then. Wake me up around one or so, if I haven't already gotten up."
"Will do," I answered.
He left and I got back to work on my meat sauce. Once I had that prepared, I made sure to fix the marinade for the hot wings and then I put them in the fridge. I layered the lasagna and put it in the oven around noon, and got to work on the salad and garlic bread that I would be serving with it.
Before I knew it, it was one o'clock – time to make sure Charlie was up. After popping the wings in the oven, I made my way out of the kitchen and was halfway up the stairs when he came around the corner and into view. "Hey kiddo. Things are starting to smell really good down there. What time is it anyway?"
"Oh, you're up already. It's about one o'clock," I said, checking my watch.
"Alright, well I guess I'll just take a quick shower and then everyone should get here. You're sure you don't need any help in the kitchen?"
"Yeah, I'm sure dad. You go on and I'll get everything set up." I turned and walked back down to the kitchen. It was cute that he had offered to help out, but I doubted that Charlie even knew how to boil water.
I set the table for the five of us and was just finishing up with the food when the doorbell rang. I walked over and was greeted by a huge hug.
"Hey Jake. I'm glad you came. I think I made enough wings to feed an army." I knew better. He'd probably down half of them before Charlie or Billy were done with one helping. I made extra because this was bound to be an exciting game – therefore Jacob's appetite would be unleashed on everyone in full force.
"Excellent," he said looking over his shoulder, releasing his hold on me. "She made extra wings guys!" He let go and came inside, followed closely by Leah and Billy.
"Hello Leah. Billy, it's nice to see you again." I said, giving them both quick hugs.
Leah stopped in the doorframe after Billy passed her, obviously making a beeline for the best spot on the sofa.
"Hey Bella, how's it going?" She wasn't one for small talk, so I knew something was up.
"It's going alright. I can't complain this semester, now that I've got the new job and all," I answered, unsure of exactly what to say. My RA skills were desperate to kick in and ask her what was up, but this was Leah we were talking about. She was even more anti-social than I was. It was a miracle that she and Jacob had started dating a few years ago. But then again, when it came to Jacob, Leah was a go-getter. She absolutely lit up when she was around him.
I was just thinking about this when a huge smile broke out on her face. She flashed a huge rock I had somehow managed to overlook. "Jake proposed last night," she whispered to me. She had obviously been dying to tell someone, but was being very hushed about it.
"Why are we whispering?" I asked her softly, smiling at her obvious joy. She was practically bouncing up and down at this point. I normally only witnessed this kind of enthusiasm from Alice.
She smiled back at me and whispered, "We kind of haven't told Billy yet. He's not going to be happy that his only son is getting married. I think he's worried that I'm going to distract Jake from school and baseball, and that he'll lose his scholarship or something. I think he forgets that I'm on an academic scholarship to UT as well."
I gave her a sympathetic nod. "I'm sure it will work out."
"Thanks Bella. You're a great friend to me and Jake. Just don't tell Charlie. He'd tell Billy in a heartbeat. Those two are worse than a pair of old women – they are constantly gossiping."
"Oh I know. They think that we don't know it too. I wouldn't dream of telling Charlie – he'd break in about twenty seconds," I said, winking at her.
She slipped her impressive ring off and put it in her purse. "This would kind of give it away – but I couldn't resist showing it off this afternoon."
"I understand. It must kill you to take it off – it's gorgeous."
"Thanks. I can't believe he proposed. I really can't believe he picked out such a great ring without any help." I nodded to her once again and we made our way into the kitchen.
"Alright boys – dinner is ready." The guys scrambled into the kitchen to make sure to get the three chairs facing the television – as if I would be interested in watching football. Leah did look a bit disappointed, but I knew that baseball was her sport of choice, not football.
I watched Leah and Jacob throughout the afternoon. They stole glances and mouthed the words "I love you" across the dinner table. Once the lasagna was devoured, they moved over to the couch and held hands throughout most of the game. It was really sweet to watch, but it was going to take some getting used to. Jake had been my best guy friend for as long as I could remember. I wasn't jealous of his relationship with Leah or anything, but it was somewhat depressing to see him so happy. It just made me remember how lonely I was most of the time.
It had been a fun afternoon, and I had actually enjoyed the football game, even though tensions ran high – UT vs. A&M was a sore subject. Jacob was obviously a Longhorn, but Charlie's dad was an Aggie, therefore making Charlie one by default. He had watched just about every major A&M football game that was televised for the last thirty-odd years. Unfortunately for Charlie, the Longhorns spanked the Aggies, 49 to 9. It had been hilarious to see Charlie's face fall a little bit more each time UT scored.
Charlie and I bid everyone goodnight around eight-thirty. I had already cleaned up the kitchen during the halftime show, but went in to see if anything else needed to be washed or put away. Charlie drug the trash can into the living room. He threw the last of the beer cans and paper plates away and brought it back into the kitchen just as I was cleaning off the counter one more time.
"Thanks for cooking, Bells. It was great," he said.
"No problem dad. I had a good time this afternoon. I think that everyone else did too."
"Yeah, it was good, except for the game. That wasn't the greatest."
I laughed at him. "Well, it depends on who you ask." He glared at me. "Ouch dad. You know I'm no Longhorn." His glare was replaced by a sly smile. "But I'm no Aggie, either."
"Well, you can't have it both ways I suppose. I'm off to bed – too many hot wings." He patted his bloated stomach for emphasis.
"Yeah, I think I'm going to turn in already too. Alice will probably be here in a few hours to drag me off shopping." I was not looking forward to it.
"You're going to brave the stores on Black Friday? Wow, I didn't know you had it in you Bells."
"I don't. But I'll never hear the end of it if I don't go with her." I knew better than to mess with Alice when she had her heart set on shopping.
"Goodnight kiddo. Happy Thanksgiving," he said with a smile.
"Happy Thanksgiving Dad. I'll see you tomorrow sometime, alright?"
"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow." He turned and made his way up the stairs. I turned off the kitchen light and made my way to my bedroom as well. Once I was dressed and ready for bed, I noticed that I had missed a text message from Alice.
Bella – call me. There's been a slight change of plans – Love Alice
I pushed the green call button and held the phone up to my ear, not knowing what to expect. I knew she would never cancel shopping, especially on the biggest shopping day of the year.
She answered after the first ring. "What took you so long to call me back?"
"Why? What time did you leave me that text?" I asked.
"I don't know – hours ago. What have you been doing?"
"Well, Alice – I don't know if you noticed, but its Thanksgiving today. You know – major holiday and all." She hated it when I was sarcastic. She just didn't realize she made it simply too easy.
"What is that supposed to mean, Bella?"
"We had company. I cooked. We ate until we were stuffed. We watched football. You know – Thanksgiving. Like normal people," I answered.
"Who came over? Jacob?" she asked, sounding impatient. I knew my sarcasm was getting to her already.
"Yeah, Jacob, his dad, and his girlfriend Leah were all here. We watched the UT and A&M game – it was funny," I said.
"Ew - sports. How can you stand it?"
"Aren't you dating a baseball player, Alice?" I asked.
"Well yeah. I suppose dating a baseball player has a few advantages – like uniforms. Yummy," she said. I could hear her smile in her voice.
I had to agree with her on this one, though I would never tell her that to her face. Edward had looked simply delicious in his baseball uniform on Halloween.
"Yeah well, some sports are actually fun to watch too, Alice. You know – the game."
"Sure Bella. Let me know when the next game is so I can set my DVR. What else did you guys do?"
"Well, Leah spilled the beans on a major secret that they're keeping from Billy." I let it sink in for a moment, but told her about the engagement before she started speculating that Leah was pregnant. She squealed into the phone, which I had luckily been prepared for.
"So I take it you are happy for them?" I asked.
"That is some major news, Bella. It's awesome that he proposed. They've been together forever. It was bound to happen sooner or later," she said.
"Yeah, I guess. I didn't peg Jake for such a romantic though. Apparently he planned the whole proposal and even picked out the ring himself. Who knew he had it in him?" I asked with a smile.
"Aw – that's so sweet. I hope I'm surprised like that one day," she said.
"Speaking of surprises – what's the change in plans?"
"Oh right," she said. "Umm, so Jasper called me earlier and asked if I would meet up with him tomorrow. He said he likes to get his Christmas shopping done on Black Friday to get the best deals on stuff. I swear it's like we were made for each other Bella."
"So then I'm off the hook? I can actually get some sleep tonight?"
"Well, not exactly." I could practically hear the wheels of her brain turning through the phone.
"What did you do, Alice?" She was never good at hiding things from me. We knew each other too well.
"Well, Jasper rode home with Edward and I kind of invited him to ride home with me. He said you guys could just switch places and Edward could give you a ride back to Seattle," she said. She sounded nervous.
Two and a half hours alone with Edward? I wasn't sure whether to be nervous or excited. And I definitely didn't know how to answer Alice.
"Bella, are you still there?"
Gulp. "Yeah, I'm still here Alice. So, you guys already decided this. Does Edward know? Is he okay with it?"
"Yeah, it was sort of his idea. I was talking to Jasper earlier and Edward was complaining in the background of how much time we were spending on the phone today. He suggested we just ride back together and Jasper was all for it. He asked if it was cool that Edward gave you lift, and Edward said it was fine. No big deal."
Oh god, it was Edward's idea – sort of.
"The only thing is – Jasper and I are leaving tomorrow after we go shopping. So, how are you and Edward…" she said trailing off. "Hang on, I'm getting a text message."
I listened as she clicked around on her phone, obviously sending a reply to whoever had texted her. I was used to it. Alice always seemed to being two things at once, and that included talking to two people at once.
I thought about what she was about to say as I listened to her click her keyboard. How was I going to get to Port A to get a ride with Edward? I couldn't have my dad drop me off, that would be beyond mortifying. I wondered what day he would want to get back too. I was ready to get back tomorrow, because I would just sit around and get bored if I had to stay in Forks until Sunday.
"Bella?" she finally asked.
"Yeah Alice – I'm still here."
"That was Jasper. He said that Edward was going to drive down to Forks tomorrow morning to pick you up around nine. Is that going to be alright?"
Thank God Charlie had to work tomorrow morning. "Yes, nine will be fine. I'll just get my stuff together. I'll see you… wait, when will I see you?"
I could hear her clicking again, probably texting Jasper. "I'll make it up to you Bella. We'll do something just the two of us on Saturday night, alright?"
"Oh – can we go watch that new movie with James McAvoy?"
"I don't know. You know how I hate going to the movies. We'll do something fun though – I promise. Alright, so I'll see you Saturday?" she asked.
I sighed. I had a feeling our plans would fall through because she would want to hang out with Jasper. "Sure, uh-huh. I'll see you Saturday. Good night, Alice."
"Night Bella," she said, before hanging up.
I closed my phone and walked over to my nightstand to plug my phone into its charger for the night. Grabbing a sheet of paper from my notebook, I wrote a quick note to Charlie telling him the change in plans. I told him goodbye and that I would see him next month for Christmas. I walked out into the hall to put the note up on the bathroom door, where he was sure to find it in the morning.
When I walked back into my room, I sat on the edge of my bed and looked around. I had already washed all of the clothes I had brought home with me, and was glad for it too. I had originally planned on throwing a pair of sweat pants on for the morning shop-a-thon, but now that Edward was going to be picking me up, I was sure something I brought home to wash would work. I hadn't dressed up any of the times I had seen him before - unless you counted the Halloween costume. I had never seen him while wearing anything grungy like a pair of my ratty old sweats. The towel had been my most interesting ensemble, by far.
I smiled at the memory of Edward being so flustered that he couldn't even open his door. I went to sleep thinking about it, and ended up dreaming about embarrassing him again, if only to see that blush creep across his cheeks once more.
A/N's: I am totally spoiling you guys, but I'm going on vacation next week. Which means, my loverlies, NO COMPLAINING while I'm gone, k? Thanks.
Thanks so much to AHelm for being a superstar beta on Superbowl Sunday. You rock! Little Miss Whitlock, dahling, you look mahvelous. Simply mahvelous.
Kim – hope you're having a good time smelling it up in New Orleans. Miss ya!
So, just because I'm leaving next week doesn't mean I couldn't update once or possibly twice before I left. Just so you know, I update faster the more reviews I have. I know, I know… You've heard it before. But I really do love the reviews, they make me smile!
So, see this box heeeeeerree:
