An: wow. Uhm just Wow. I got quite alot of reviews within hours of posting chapter eight. I'm hoping for story alerts though. yea. I want story alerts instead.
And to Hey, because I cant review reply to you. Don't worry, They will end up together. And it won't be that heartbreaking and dragged on depression. ( Unless you guys like that. But I prefer Some depression and then a happily ever after.)
And to nation108, Smiles93 and UltravioletSpark, I appreciate the plot ideas, although I've actually planned the whole fic quite thoroughly and am a wee bit Lazy too change it. And although I like your story Ideas, ( their really creative, seriously. ) I'm planning on bringing Bella back into the show. Bella will ultimately get the final rose. ( if you guys don't want that and really want the 'after the whole show and Edward picking some other girl' drama den uhm you could tell me and if alot of people want that I guess I could change it ..) Or maybe If I have the time I could do alternate Endings and do them all one by one.. I did that once. What do you think? And special thanks to polyphony. ( for very ironic reasons, I made a bet that I would do something if I got 67 reviews and she's number 67) I hope you see this.
Disclaimer : still dont own nothing. (:
I hope you like this chapter. And thank you for everyone who reviewed. I think it has something to do with the different story summary. Maybe you could tell me what you think? Yes, just like Edward, I love hearing what you guys think cause I'm worried if you want changes in my plot. I also hope you will go check out my Christmas story. my attempt at humor. Not very good. (I hope you remember , Bella or Edward have never been in love before. so they are and will be confused) Also, sorry if anyone of you thought they would realise it in this chapter after their last kiss. ( they think the fireworks stuff is 'normal' ) THEY DID NOT REALISE it YET. but both are confused. Love blinds ppl remember. it makes ppl dense!
Bella
I didn't understand it.
Did some part of me want something more to happen? Something special.
I was confused. Cause I had wanted something more in that one kiss, as much as I wanted to deny it. But the question was, Why? I didn't know.
This was just plain wrong. He's you're best friend for god sakes. I wasn't suppose to want this.
I wasn't suppose to make out with him while we were being filmed for national television.
I wasn't suppose to kiss him when he asked me to.
And I definitely wasn't suppose to want something special to come out of that kiss.
But I did all those things. Every single one. And I couldn't explain why.
"Thank you Bella." He whispered smiling, as he pulled away.
What was I supposed to say? You're welcome? "Uhm.. You're welcome?" I said questioningly.
He chuckled at my response. Apparently so.
I glanced nervously at Edward. He obviously hadn't felt anything special. I wonder if he even felt the usual electric sparks I felt. Maybe not. I decided to forget what just happened. That would be the best thing to do. I would just have to leave my questions unanswered. Like I said, I was not going to fall for my best friend. definitely not happening.
Stupid Hollywood, stupid reality show, just days ago everything was normal. Ugh. Nevermind, I'll just completely forget about this.
The rest of the ride was pretty nice, I had shoved my confusing feelings somewhere and forgotten about them. We passed under a few more bridges and shared some intimate kisses, still nothing special though, the next more passionate then the last. Don't get me wrong, I tried to make it just a simple kiss. But those lips! There were like some addictive substance I couldn't get enough off, and it was seriously starting to get on my nerves.
Stupid soft, kissable, inviting lips of his.
I glanced around us, and was surprised to find Angela, Lauren, Christie and Tiffany watching us from alongside the canal. How long had they been watching? Had they seen us kiss? The answer I was looking for was found on Tiffany's face, she was glaring at me, they had definitely seen us.
"Hey ladies." Edward said, waving from the gondola.
He knew! He knew they had been standing there watching. Was he trying to get them to hate me?
I nudged him in the ribs with my shoulder after we were out of sight.
"Owh!' he said, "What was that for?"
"You knew! You knew they were watching us! And you still kissed me!"
He grinned mischievously.
"I was hoping it might discourage them.." Edward admitted.
"So you were using me Edward Cullen?" I said, pretending to be mad, and crossing my arms around my chest, inching away from him. I knew he wouldn't do that.
"Bella.. You know I'd never do that.. I'm sorry." He said, with a hurt expression.
I pretended to ignore him.
"Bella.." He pleaded, his green eyes piercing into mine. That was my undoing.
"Alright. You're forgiven." I said, hands still across my chest though.
He smiled, putting his arm around my waist to pull me in closer. I glanced up at him. "You know I don't like you sitting so far away." he said, smiling. I smiled back, leaning my head against his chest and placing my arms around his neck, letting him know I wasn't angry anymore. I never was, of course.
"I was just kidding you know." I whispered, glancing up at him. .
"I know.."
I sighed. I should have known that he knew I was only pretending. Of course he knew.
"What's wrong?" He asked, concerned.
"I thought I fooled you.." I said, slightly disappointed.
He chuckled. "Well I'm sorry to disappoint you Bella."
"It's alright, I should have known. You know me too well."
"Indeed, I do." He said with a smile.
"You knew, and you still played along.." I said with a sigh.
"I thought I would humor you." He told me with a smile.
"You're still a terrible liar though. You know." he said, smirking.
"Meanie." I said pouting.
"I'm sorry." He said, chuckling, before giving me a quick kiss on my forehead.
"Its okay.." I said, closing my eyes and just laying my head on his chest.
I didn't realise I had fallen asleep when suddenly, Edward said "Natalie love, wake up"
I woke up to find the cameraman standing on the steps lowering into the canal. Did I just fall asleep while they were filming? Hopefully they would cut that part out.
I stretched a little, and suddenly opened my mouth to yawn. Okay I really hope they cut that out.
Edward chuckled. "Still tired?"
"Not really." I said.
I stepped out of the gondola first, Edward behind me, but of course, being as clumsy as I was, I started to lose my balance as I lifted one foot, making the boat shake. In an attempt to regain my balance I had subconsciously turned around, of course this didn't help at all, instead making it worse, and I soon found myself falling backwards.
I always preferred falling face forward, cause that would mean I could use my hands to at least prevent some damage to myself. And if you were falling backwards, you wouldn't know what you would hit.
I grimaced and closed my eyes, anticipating the pain, but it never came, instead I felt someone grab my waist, preventing me from falling. I opened my eyes, and of course it was Edward, my perfect best friend, who had caught me.
"Are you okay Natalie? You need to be more careful." He asked slightly amused but still concerned, his beautiful green eyes staring intently into mine.
I think I've changed my mind. I prefer falling backwards, but only if it's Edward catching me.
"Yes." I managed to croak out bashfully.
I had just been filmed falling asleep, yawning, and almost tripping backwards only to be saved by Edward, for national television. I would have to talk to Jasper about getting the producers to cut that out. I know Rose would think that Edward catching me was sweet and insist it got on the show. Alice and her will not be finding out about this. Oh, who am I kidding. Alice finds out about everything.
Edward smiled, and helped me recover my balance, he decided to step out of the gondola first this time. He offered me a hand and helped me out of the gondola safely.
"Thanks" Edward said to the gondolier, and I smiled a thank you to him too. God bless him for his extremely slow rowing.
We walked up to the steps hand in hand, and made our way to find the others, I wonder what they did while we went on our alone time. They never did show what the other girls did on television.
"You could have woken me up you know." I told Edward as we walked.
"Sorry, you looked so peaceful, I didn't want to wake you up." He apologized with a smile, knowing I was a little embarrassed about falling asleep.
"How long was I out for?" I asked, a little curious.
"About ten minutes, before I woke you up.." he answered.
"Oh, that's good, only ten minutes, I wouldn't want you to have a boring gondola ride." I said.
"You know it was far from boring, and you aren't boring when you sleep.. you should know that." He smirked.
Oh yea. I sleep talk.
"Did I say anything?" I asked worried. My sleep talking was a downfall, always causing me un-needed embarrassment.
"Yeah.. you did." He said, and I noticed an even bigger smirk on his lips before he turned to glance around. This wouldn't be good. I was almost to scared to ask.
"What did I say?"
He turned back to face me, "You whispered my name a few times.." Well that explains the smirk. At least it wasn't that embarrassing, I expected worse. I said his name all the time while I sleep talked, it wasn't an uncommon sight. His name was probably the word I said the most while sleeping, actually.
Yes, I happen to have a habit of saying my best friends name in my sleep. Edward told me, of course. You might think it's weird, but it's not that bad, he's my best friend, I should be allowed to utter his name in my sleep a few times, or in my case a few hundred. It got accumulated over the years.
Just don't ask me what the dreams were about though.
Cause I'm not telling.
The rest of the date was okay, we found the girls and then had dinner at the famous 'Bouchon' restaurant at the Venetian. Edward ended the date by giving each of the other four girls a kiss on the cheek. Which I though was quite nice of him since they were feeling a little neglected after he had so plain obviously focused his attention on me throughout the date. I had also sat next to him during dinner.
( AN bouchon is some restaurant by a famous chef Thomas Keller )
I walked up to him, wanting my good bye kiss on the cheek, but instead he gave me a soft kiss on the lips, and pulled away. I stood there, shocked. That wasn't nice of him at all. I couldn't believe he still kissed me on the lips when he had kissed all the other girls on the cheek. Way to show favoritism.
"Night ladies." He said with a charming smile, and his eyes, they were beyond dazzling, unleashing their full prowess on the four ladies, leaving them there, standing on the pavement dazzled. Even Angela looked slightly dazzled! If I hadn't been so used to them, I would have been dazzled too. I turned to my left to look at them. They were still there staring, and I swear if Lauren's mouth wasn't closed she'd be drooling. Sigh. I'll have to have a talk with Edward later tonight about this. The dazzling. It wasn't fair at all.
He quickly winked at me, the other girls not really noticing, and got into a limousine.
The five of us got into another limo, and yet again on a small private jet and returned back to the bachelor pad. It was a different plane this time, and I recognized it to be from Mr Hale's collection. I had ridden in it a few times. I guess they used his planes sometimes for shows.
We returned pretty late, and were ambushed by all the other girls, asking about our date. I kept quiet most of the time, while the rest of them filled the other girls in, leaving out the part where I won and got one on one time with Edward. Which was good, cause I didn't want the spotlight on me, or any other girls deciding they should hate me.
"What about the one on one time? Who won that?" Jessica Stanley asked.
Tiffany, Lauren and Christie, turned to glare at me from the opposite couch the three of them were sitting on; Angela sat beside me.
"Natalie won that." Angela said smiling, with not even a hint of jealousy.
All the girls turned to look at me.
"Well, tell us all about it!" Melanie Green encouraged.
"We went on a gondola ride, and that's about it." I said. I didn't like all the attention I was getting. Angela realised it, and gave me an apologetic smile. I nodded, letting her know she was forgiven.
"It can't be that boring, did he kiss you?" Rebecca Evans asked.
Sigh. I was wishing they wouldn't ask me that, I was hoping to leave it out.
"Uhm.. We did kiss, the gondolier told us it was tradition to kiss under every bridge we passed under." I said.
"How many times? Is he a good kisser!?" Jessica demanded, and some of the other girls had subconsciously leaned forward, awaiting my answer.
"A few.. Yea he is pretty good.." I lied unconvincingly, also deciding not to mention the fact that there was some tongue involvement. He was so much better then 'pretty good.'
"Okay. Fine. He was beyond incredible. Probably the best guy I've kissed." I said, deciding to just be frank. Correction : the only guy I've kissed.
Squeals were heard, and I also heard Sara Walker gush, "I can't wait for him to kiss me!"
"He kissed me on the cheek." Lauren suddenly said proudly, emphasizing the 'me' and I had to roll my eyes.
"Big deal, he kissed us all at the end of the date." Tiffany said, rolling her eyes as well.
"Well okay he may have kissed all of you, but it was so obvious the kiss he gave me was so much more special and it was pretty obvious from the look on his face he wanted more, and how his lips lingered on my cheek for so long.." Lauren trailed off.
I couldn't resist but roll my eyes again. Although the other girls didn't know if what Lauren was saying was true or not, I knew Edward better, and she was so wrong. The look on his face was not a 'Lauren I really want to do more then kiss you on the cheek but..' look. It was more of a 'Lauren I don't really want to kiss you on the cheek but.." look. And if he did want to do more then kiss her on the cheek it would probably be to tell her she had too much perfume on, and it made her smell like a goat. Yes a goat. But of course Edward was too much of a gentleman to tell her that.
(AN goat was one of the first things that came to my mind.)
"Wow, you're so lucky he likes you Lauren." Jessica, her good friend, said.
Lauren turned to look at me, with a smug smile plastered on her face. I did not like her. At all.
Pfft. There were so many things I wanted to say right there that would have wiped that smile of her face easily, and also blow my cover, unfortunately.
Have you seen him without his shirt on Lauren? Nope.
Has he even kissed you on the lips before? No..
Hmm.. What about cuddle with him in bed. Nope.
Were you the one he was frenching on a gondola earlier today? No as well.
Heck, has he said 'I love you' to you before? NO. And he probably never will.
Lauren was getting on my nerves, I'm don't usually get angry easily, I didn't know what it was about Lauren that had made me like this. I was soon considering asking Edward to eliminate her, but I decided I wouldn't, and let him decide himself.
( AN. Bella, You're jealous duh. thats why ur acting all pissed off [ she will still be a little like this later as well ] )
I glanced at the time, it was already ten plus, I excused myself and retreated to my room. Lauren saw this as a sign of victory for her, and smiled, looking extremely pleased with herself.
She was wrong if she thought she had won.
I smiled a little as I punched the numbers on the phone, part of me a little confused on why I was so riled up.
He picked up on the second ring.
"Hello? Edward?" I said sweetly into the phone.
"Shh.." I whispered to Edward, as we sneaked around the house.
After about half an hour of talking on the phone, Edward decided he wanted to come see me, I tried to convince him not to, but he didn't listen, so here we are sneaking around, trying desperately not to get spotted by the other girls as we made a run for it into the little store room by the kitchen we had hid in the previous night.
I quickly shut the door, fortunately no one had seen us. I sighed a sigh of relief.
"I told you we wouldn't get caught." He said, sitting crossed legged on the floor again.
"I guess you were right.." I said, sitting on his lap.
"So, you never did tell me what happened after you girls came home and what got you so peeved earlier." He said. He had caught on to the irritation in my voice earlier on the phone and asked me about it, but I decided I wouldn't tell him what happened.
"Nothing much, the girls just questioned us about the date." I said, deciding to ignore the second part.
"What happened?" he asked.
"Well after all four of them filled everyone in on what had happened leaving out the one on one details, Angela told them I had won the challenge and got one on one time with you, and they asked me about it."
"What did you say?"
"I told them we went on a gondola ride, and that the gondolier told us it was tradition to kiss under every bridge we passed, and we kissed a couple times." I said.
"They asked me if you were a good kisser." I informed him, turning so he was no longer looking into my eyes, before he could say something. If I was going to lie, I knew I couldn't look him in the eyes.
There was no way I could look him in the eye and lie and tell him he was a bad kisser. It would be extremely unconvincing. Actually, I didn't know why I was even attempting this in the first place, but he deserved it after what he did at the end of the date, dazzling those defenseless girls hardly seemed fair. I still hadn't brought it up though, but I would later.
"And you said.." Edward prompted.
"I told them the truth. You're a lousy kisser." It came out even more unconvincing then I though it would.
"Liar." He said.
"What? I'm not a liar! It's the truth. Face it Edward, you're a sucky kisser." This one came out even worse. Ugh, I suck at lying.
"Sucky huh.. Then maybe you'd mind explaining how I got you to moan earlier?" He asked.
Shit. I had forgotten all about that. It was during the last kiss we shared while on the gondola. But in my defence, his tongue was just so amazing at exploring the more sensitive areas in my mouth.
You try kissing him! You can hardly blame me. Amazing doesn't even begin to cover it.
No, wait. Don't. Don't try kissing him.
"I was not moaning!" I protested, turning to look at him, in an feeble attempt to defend myself. I was so moaning earlier.
"Yes you were Bella." He said convinced of the truth, there was no way I could get him to change his mind.
"I was not." I said, crossing my arms.
"Face it." He said.
"You like it when I kiss you Isabella." He continued, grinning.
"I do not." I said stubbornly, arms still crossed. I was not going to confess to Edward how much I actually enjoyed it. Absolutely not.
"Really? Prove it then."
"Fine, and how do you propose we go about doing that." I questioned.
"Let me kiss you." He said, a cocky yet charming smile on his lips.
"Wh-What?!" I was so screwed if I let his lips near me.
"You heard me Bella, let me kiss you, right now, right here."
I didn't know what to do, I couldn't back out now.
I should have listened when my mother told me honesty was the best policy.
"Fine." I said, determined to try not to enjoy the kiss. I will not enjoy the kiss. I will not enjoy the kiss. Edward is a sucky kisser. He is a sucky kisser.I chanted as he planted his lips on mine. Oh who am I kidding. Minutes later and he already had me moaning out his name.
He pulled away victorious. "Fine, I admit it, I enjoy your kisses okay!" I almost shouted, blushing furiously. Why did he have to be so good at everything. Studies, playing the piano, sports, and now this too. Argh. Stupid perfect Edward.
"Shh Bella, quiet, we don't want them hearing us." he said.
"Sorry." I said.
"Anyway Bella, there's nothing to be ashamed about enjoying my kisses.." He said with a twinkle in his eyes.
I rolled my eyes. Still a little unhappy with him and his tongue
"Are you alright Bella? You don't look too happy."
"It's just.. It's just not fair, you're so good at everything! And now this too.." I said, crossing my arms and pouting like a little child.
He chuckled and wrapped his arms around me. "I'm sorry."
The sincerity in his eyes were my undoing. I sighed. I know it really wasn't his fault. I shouldn't be blaming him. I was just being unreasonable.
"No, it's not your fault, I shouldn't be blaming you. I'm sorry." I said, enveloping him tightly in my arms as I leaned my head on his shoulder.
He kissed me gently on the forehead, letting me know I was forgiven.
We sat like this, in silence, for a while, just enjoying each other's presence.
It was about ten minutes of silence, when Edward spoke up.
"So you still haven't told me why you sounded peeved on the phone." He said, this being the third time he brought it up. I had actually wanted to just forget about it. I was still a little confused about why I suddenly got so bothered about it. Usually it was only Edward that got on my nerves, we'd bicker about it, and make up later. Always.
"It was just Lauren.." I said flatly.
"Oh? What did she do to get you irritated, it's usually hard for others to get on your nerves.." He asked, amusement evident in his voice.
"She started bragging about the kiss you gave her on the cheek at the end of the date to everyone. And how she was confident you wanted more.." I said, emphasizing the last word in each sentence, rolling my eyes.
He chuckled. "And you believed her?"
"No of course not! I'm not so sure about the other girls though.. some seemed pretty convinced. She said you purposely let your lips linger on her cheek." I said, thoughtfully.
"Are you jealous Bella?" he teased.
Jealous? Was that why I was so pissed off earlier, because I was jealous.. of her? Pfft. Of course not, why would I be jealous of Lauren. That's the most ridiculous, absurd thing I've heard.
"Wh-What? Jealous of her? No way. Anyway I know you don't like her." I stated.
"I never said that. Who says I don't want more." He managed to say with a straight face.
I rolled my eyes. He was my bestfriend, I could read him like an open book. It was so obvious he didn't like her in the first place, I didn't have to do much 'reading'. Wasn't it? Maybe I'll have to ask Angela.
"I know for a fact, that you were just being polite." I said.
"Okay, so I don't really like her.." Edward said, giving in this time.
"But you know.. After this little discovery today, and how she managed to get on your nerves, I think I'm starting to like her more.." Edward said smirking, mischief in his eyes.
"So you're just going to keep her on the show to piss me off?" I asked, eyebrow raised.
"Maybe.. I haven't decided." He said, flashing me a dazzling smile.
"Oh, We need to talk about that too.." I said, remembering.
"About what?" He asked, confused.
"Dazzling poor innocent girls on the sidewalk!" I said.
"I hardly think you can call Lauren and Christie innocent, with what they were wearing earlier."
"True.. but it still wasn't very nice of you.. Even Angela was staring for a bit."
"Okay. I'll try not to dazzle them in future." Edward said sarcastically.
"But only because you asked." He said later.
I smiled, "Promise?"
"I Edward Cullen, promise not to dazzle anymore poor innocent girls during the show" He said grinning, left hand raised.
I giggled, "Thank you.."
"You're welcome." He said with a smile.
We talked for awhile more, and I asked him if he was excited for his other two dates, before deciding we should go to bed. It was around one.
"Not really, I was only excited for this one because I knew you'd be there."
"You need to give them a chance Edward." I said.
"I know, and I will.."
"Good. Well I'm going to bed.." I said, standing up to stretch.
"Mm. Good night Bella, I won't be seeing you much tomorrow.."
I sighed, disappointed. "Will you sneak in again tomorrow?" I asked as we left the store room, usually I didn't encourage him to do it, but I was feel selfish.
"Sure, If you want me to."
"I always want you to, even if I discourage it, I still want to see you." I said, embracing him in a tight hug.
"Night Bella." He said, giving me a peck on the lips.
"Night.." I said, yawning as I headed up the stairs, to my room.
Elaine was already asleep, I had a feeling she would ask me where I went in the morning. She was already very curious when she heard me talking to Edward on the phone earlier; before he sneaked in and we hid in the store room.
I got ready for bed, and drifted of into dreamland, memories of our kiss in the store room came flooding back.
I smiled, I had learnt a lesson today. Honesty isn't always the best policy when you have a very good kisser as a best friend.
Well in my case it isn't.
In my case, with Edward, It's just better to lie.
Much better.
yay. I think this was quite a good chapter. What do you think? I'm hoping to get more story alerts.
I just thought of something EVIL! lols. but I probably won't do it. I'm not that cheap. I might do it someday though. Anyway. to Anna Whyte I did what you said and didn't send it to my beta person. (: Special thanks to Lady Dragona for being my first reviewer as well as reviewing quite a bit, I never really thanked her. Thanks. And to berri with an i, for reviewing most of my chapters. I appreciate it!.
Story Alerts would be nice. (:
I hope you liked this chapter, tell me what you think. It was mostly Edward and Bella moments, I think, Rose and Alice will be sneaking in to the house in the next chapter. And maybe abit of Emmett and Jasper too. I'm not sure though.
