CHAPTER 10: FORGIVING EDWARD
"I didn't mean to pry into your belongings," Edward said quietly, breaking the silence. I shrugged as if it never mattered, but I knew better. Something was different between us. Where we had once lived our lives, thinking that our ex best friend had moved on to forget us, we now knew the truth. He had never deliberately tried to not remember our friendship. He had even kept the memento like I had. I was bewildered.
"It's not prying when I give you permission," I corrected just as quietly. This time, I boldly placed my hand on his, letting him know all was forgiven. If anything, I was mad at myself. I heard a car door slam, and I jumped realizing it was Charlie home for dinner, and I hadn't even started fixing dinner.
"Chief Swan?" Edward guessed accurately. I nodded, and he quickly put all my jewelry in the box while putting it back in the same exact spot he found it. I pulled him downstairs with me, demanded he sit at the kitchen table. I pulled out a large pan and filled it with water, lugging it back to the burner on the stove, which I turned on.
"Good evening, Chief Swan," I heard Edward greet, warning me he was inside. I poured the tomato sauce into the next pan, waiting for it to warm. I heard his feet shuffle against the linoleum and finally looked up.
Edward had, amazingly, retrieved all our books and had them littering our kitchen table to appear as though we had been in here the whole time. I smiled at Charlie's blatant surprise to see Edward in our kitchen. He stuttered before greeting him back less formally. "Good, uh, evening, Edward. Didn't expect to see you here." Charlie rubbed the back of his neck in bemusement. I fought back a giggle and Edward seemed to be doing so as well.
"I was tutoring Bella in Trig, and we lost track of time. I'm sorry to delay your dinner," he apologized, lying skillfully. If I hadn't have been with him when he found my bracelet, I would have believed him myself. He had to teach me how to do that someday.
"Oh. It's alright, I guess. What's for dinner, Bells?" he asked, turning his attention to me. I let my grin grow.
"Spaghetti."
"Sounds good. I'll just be in the living room watching the game," he explained, giving Edward one last puzzled glance. I knew he would question me about it later, but as soon as Charlie was out of earshot I laughed.
"It looked like Charlie was about to have a stroke," I said while Edward watched me stir the pasta. He stood and walked to my side.
"That wouldn't be one of my better accomplishments in life," he said regretfully, and I grinned, pondering for a second. What would be an achievement to someone as perfect as Edward? I decided to ask him.
"Well," he started, hesitating. "Mastering the piano, for one. My extremely large music collection—" I chose this time to interrupt.
"Really? I know you're musical, but what do you like?" I wondered aloud. I hadn't really known Edward that much since we grew apart the last few years. It was like I was meeting a whole new person. It was sort of ironic how much we were around each other, and we didn't know a thing about the other. We had the same friends, but that was all I was sure about.
"Everything," he chuckled. "Well, mostly everything. It's a very wide range; classical, as you know, is up there on my list as well as rock. I appreciate them both, not preferring one over the other. I also am fond of jazz, progressive metal, alternative rock, punk rock, and maybe some tasteful emo. I'm not very loyal to contemporary pop, and I would rather choose indie rock over mainstream." Hmm. Good taste, I had to admit.
"Ever heard of a band named Muse?" I asked, and his eyes brightened. I took that as a yes. "I love them."
"Me too," he murmured enthusiastically while grinning at me. The kind of admiring grin that always made me self conscience. "We seem to have more in common than I thought."
"Alright, so other accomplishments?" I questioned, trying to get off the awkward subject. Edward didn't seem to notice.
"Not really, besides making up with you," he said, grinning at me. Ugh! That stupid grin that made me feel more special than I was! Why did he even care if we apologized? When we were friends it always seemed like I was the one adoring him. Not the other way around. He was so confusing!
"Future goals in life?"
"Possibly becoming a doctor. What about you?" I stirred the warming sauce. I was impressed; it took a lot of dedication and schooling to be a doctor.
"English teacher," I replied easily. I had put much thought to this already. He looked surprised at how breezily I answered him.
"What's your favorite book?" I snorted, and he cocked his head curiously at me. I blushed at my immature reaction to his question.
"Sorry. It's just that there are so many that I love, I can't pick only one. I love anything by Jane Austen, especially Pride & Prejudice, as you know. The Bronte sisters are wonderful, too, and I adore Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights. And, of course, William Shakespeare. Basically, I'm a fan of English literature," I said, trying to sum up my taste in a few short sentences.
The pasta was becoming softer, and I assumed it would be another five minutes before it was ready to mix with the sauce. I didn't have any hamburger to make meatballs, and Charlie would miss that. I could hear him making disapproving grunts at the television in the other room.
"So, you still like Romeo?" he asked, but it was more of a condescending statement. His tone was playful, though, so I did my best not to take offense.
"You still don't?" I retorted, smiling innocently at him. He rolled his eyes, and I laughed.
"Touché ," he chuckled. I turned off the sauce as it was warm enough, and Edward started to shut his books and put them in his backpack. "I should be leaving now. Is Anthony staying with you tonight?" he inquired.
"It would only be fair. You watched him yesterday," I pointed out while straining the noodles in the sink and mixing the sauce in to create a pot of spaghetti.
"Do you want to stay for dinner?" I proposed. I was actually having fun while I was talking to him, and I realized we were on the brink of a friendship. Once I saw his face, I regretted it. He seemed to be debating, and I realized that he didn't know how to nicely decline my offer. I felt the rejection sting me, and it hurt worse than I would have imagined.
"No thank you. I honestly have a huge load of homework. Maybe next time," he said, and I forced a fake smile on. He didn't need t see how disappointed I was. An idea struck me and I rummaged through the cabinets in search of some Tupperware. When I found it, I took a few large spoonfuls inside it and gave it to Edward.
His eyes widened at my giving gesture, and I felt myself really grin at his astonished face. He hadn't expected me to offer up a portion of my dinner. "You don't have to—" He started, but I interrupted him.
"It's no problem. Charlie and I always have extras," I argued. He saw the stubborn set of my jaw and accepted wisely. I waved farewell and called Charlie to dinner.
I was apprehensive about Charlie's response to Edward's unexpected visit. He didn't start lecturing me right away, though. He waited until I was about halfway finished with my dinner. I was spinning spaghetti around my fork when he approached the subject.
"So, Edward's helping you with Trig?" he questioned. It wasn't that big of a secret that my best subject definitely wasn't Trig, and my excuse for him being over made plenty of sense.
"He's already in Calculus, so he's already been through Trig," I explained briskly, speaking with an unattached voice. I could feel Charlie's eyes on my face, and I kept it straight and uninterested. He didn't give up that easily, though.
"That's nice of him. You two seemed a lot less… hostile than usual," he observed, and my eyes widened reflexively. Hostile? Were we really that bad?
"Oh," I said, and he could tell that I didn't want to talk about it anymore, so he dropped it for now.
Anthony started crying as I was in the middle of cleaning the dishes. I sighed and wiped my hands before attending to him. I had been waiting for him to start wailing soon, because he hadn't for a while. Charlie looked sheepishly at me when I returned into the kitchen.
"That reminds me…" he trailed off, and I paused patiently. "I'm spending the night at Billy's for the rest of this week. If you don't mind."
I shrugged, not blaming him for running away. I would have done the same if I was in his position.
The rest of the night was uneventful, and I found myself waking up at the early hours of the day just to feed or change Anthony. Fantastic.
Edward decided to pick me up the next morning. I had been shocked, but I should have known better. Edward was going to go all the way through with this friendship deal. No holding back. I had Anthony all ready in his new clothes and neatly placed inside his bassinet. Edward grinned at us but frowned when I became closer. "Did you not sleep well?"
"How could I possibly sleep not well when I had no time to sleep at all?" I retorted, letting my grouchiness rub off on him. I sighed heavily. "Sorry, Anthony makes me such a grump."
Throughout my classes the rest of the day, I would find myself drifting off. I would be in my cheerful dreamland where I was child-free and happily skipping through a field of flowers, when someone would nudge me and I would wake up to the horrors of a dull high school class. It was draining, and the teachers were starting to get irritated with the screaming fake babies. I got a particularly nasty look from Mr. Varner in Trig.
Alice tried cheering me up with the thought of Esme and Carlisle's cook out tonight. Apparently, Aunt Esme had a surprise for us. I hated surprises, so I just ignored Alice's optimism. Edward knew better than to try and communicate with me, but I did my best to give him some sociable comfort. Finally, the school day ended, and I met Edward at his car. He smiled warmly at me, and I attempted to be as warm. My lips felt like they were grimacing instead.
"Maybe you should take a nap. I'll come and wake you when it's time to head over to Esme and Carlisle's," Edward suggested, as we pulled into his driveway. I handed him Anthony and nodded vaguely at his good idea.
I didn't even start on my homework (which I didn't have much of, just some from Trig naturally), but threw myself into my comfortable bed. How had my mother possibly handled parenthood?
"Bella?" I heard a soft, velvety voice say. I turned away from the direction of the voice, wanting to sleep. "Bella?" he spoke louder this time.
"Not now, Edward," I groaned, shoving my head under my pillow. I heard his irresistible chuckle, and felt his fingers gently pulling my own off my pillow.
"We need to leave for the cookout, or we'll be late." I let out a protesting groan before sitting up and standing. My clothes were all wrinkled, and my hair was wild.
"Tell them I'll be there in five minutes," I mumbled, pulling on a pair of socks. He stared at me for a debating moment, and then left, deciding I could take care of myself. After throwing my hair into a messy bun, I went outside to be surprised by the weather. It was raining, but it wasn't sunny either. Which good for the cookout.
"I told you it wouldn't be raining," I heard Alice trill as I rounded the corner into the backyard. She was speaking to Carlisle with her smug voice. He was smiling.
"How could I ever doubt you?" he asked rhetorically, and Alice shrugged before skipping to me.
"Just in time, Bellaboo," Emmett thundered from the picnic table in his backyard. He sat with Jasper and Rose on each of his sides, and Edward sat across from him. I waved absently, and Alice informed me on what I had already missed.
"Carlisle's almost done with the burgers and hotdogs, and Esme is getting the chips now. Drinks are in that cooler over there," she pointed to the cooler beside Carlisle, "and condiments are over here." She pointed to the little extra table next to us. I smiled, feeling refreshed from my nap.
"Where's Anthony?" I asked Edward when I sat down.
"Inside. We'll still here him if he throws a fit," he said, and I nodded thankfully. I didn't want to be near that doll anymore than I had to be. I still had ill-feelings toward the thing, even if he did bring Edward and I back together. "Oh, and Esme has a surprise for us later. Any guesses?" I shook my head. Maybe gifts? But there was really no special occasion.
We ate our dinner with small-talk that mostly consisted of Emmett begging Alice to tell him the surprise, and Esme pleading with her not to. Alice always cheated with her talent of seeing the future. Finally, Esme announced that we all come inside for the surprise.
She had a large familiar cardboard box next to the television, and I knew immediately what it was. Home videos. I groaned, and Edward put a comforting arm around me. "It can't be that bad," he said, trying to persuade me. I sighed, leaning in to him.
"You'd be surprised," I moaned.
Everyone besides me seemed to be excited about the videos. I just knew I would be fully embarrassed in each and everyone one, so it wasn't something I looked forward to. Alice bounced in her seat beside and amused Jasper.
The first one was of Emmett, Edward, and Jasper. They were in the backyard wrestling playfully, and Edward was chasing Emmett. They looked to be about twelve years old, and Emmett took a punch at Edward, but Edward dodged it quickly, giving Emmett a taste of his own medicine. Emmett jumped back, and then ran full force into Edward. When Edward tried to get up, Emmett pulled down his pants, putting his Superman boxers on display.
Everyone in the room hooted with laughter, and Edward sunk into his seat, burying his face into my hair as I giggled. Esme gave us a curious look, and I realized she didn't know about our truce. I mouthed "tell you later". She nodded and put the next video in.
It was Alice and I swinging in a park somewhere making silly faces at the cameras. Jasper and Emmett were pushing us, and Rosalie was next to Emmett talking to him. He looked thoroughly absorbed in whatever she was saying, and she flipped her hair. We had been about ten. Then, he seemed to have forgotten that I was still swinging, because when I came back, I kicked him square in the face.
"I remember that!" Emmett shouted, pointing at the screen. I laughed since it had been the only time I had ever caused damage to Emmett. "Jeez, Esme, are you trying to embarrass us all?"
The next was of Rosalie, Alice, and I singing "Happy Birthday" to Jasper for his birthday. Edward was sitting next to him staring at the cake in wonder. We had to be nine, since that was when I had the cast on my leg from falling out of a tree. All of a sudden, Emmett jumped out from somewhere and mooned us all. The girls on the screen squealed and turned their heads while the guys laughed. Whoever was the cameraman in the video, I assumed it was Carlisle, began to yell at Emmett.
"That was not funny," I said sternly as the guys in the living room laughed. "It was traumatic." Edward rolled his eyes at me, and I rolled mine back. His arm was still around me, but I didn't mind.
The next was the one I had hoped wasn't going to pop up. There were bushes at the bottom of the screen, showing that whoever was behind the camera had been hiding in the bush. I wanted to put my hand on my head and shield my face, but I still watched.
Emmett, about seventeen, was helping me put on boxing gloves. He put something on his hand and told me to punch it. I tried several weak attempts, before he yelled at me to really go for it. I did, and ended up swinging my right hook a little too sharp, before I did a twist, lost my balance, and fell to the ground. Emmett was rolling around with laughter, and I was blushing and brushing myself off. The person behind the camera giggled, and my head swerved in that direction.
"Esme!" I heard myself yell before the camera shut off.
I was blushing presently as everyone laughed, especially Emmett. "It's even funnier the second time I see it," he howled, and even Edward was grinning while I glowered at his euphoric face.
"This is the last one," Esme swore, pushing the ancient VHS into the player.
The first was a shot of Emmett and Jasper tossing a football back and forth. They had to have been eight since Emmett was still Jasper's size. He began to grow a lot taller when he was ten. The camera moved down to Alice and Rosalie in ridiculous high heels and scarves around their next. They grinned at him, and I noticed Alice was missing both her front teeth. She was so cute! They were parading around on a fake runway, posing as they went down. I laughed at this. It was so Rosalie and Alice.
From the corner of the camera, you could see another figure come behind it, and I ran swiftly in front of it. There were murmured voices from behind the camera, and I distinguished them as Charlie and Carlisle. I tried to understand what they were saying. The camera slowly drifted toward Edward and I.
We were playing in a sandbox with smiles on our faces. I said something to him, and he laughed. I glanced at Edward to see he was looking intently at me.
"I don't remember this," I told him.
"I do," he replied, and I wondered how he had. It had been so long ago.
Then, all of a sudden, eight year old Edward grabbed my ponytail, and yanked. I winced, remembering suddenly the pain that had been inflicted. I just now remembered exactly what had happened. He had pulled my hair, and I had been incredulous. Why would Edward, my best friend ever, do something so degrading? It was the same thing Tyler did when he teased me, and Edward had usually stood up for me. So, I had thought he hated me, and I whirled around to look at him.
My shovel had slipped from my hands, consequently hitting him in the face. He had thought I had done it on purpose and threw my shoulders to the ground. I fell into the sand and felt a bruise from a toy that had been lying there. How dare he? He was being such a meanie, and I had only hit him on accident. Furious tears had escaped from my eyes as I stumbled to stand and pushed him back just as hard.
In the background I heard and "Oh, dear!", and the camera turned off. Everyone turned from the television to Edward and I. I looked down at my hands to avoid their stares.
"Well," Emmett spoke first, breaking the silence. "I guess it settles that then. Edward was the one who started it." My head snapped up to meet his, and I glared.
"It wasn't about who started what," I snapped.
"What I want to know," Alice spoke, "is why Edward pulled your hair in the first place. That doesn't seem to be his character back then. He used to protect you from bullies like a momma bear." That piqued my interest, too, so I glanced at him expectantly, and I was astonished to see his whole face and adorable pink. I felt the sudden urge to hold him tight and make him feel better. Ugh, I must be getting all motherly now.
He spoke softly, and not even I could hear him, and I was practically in his lap. "What? I didn't hear you?" Rosalie said, leaning forward. I felt bad that he was being put on the spot, but I wanted to know the answer myself. He huffed and straightened himself out.
"I thought her hair was a shiny color, and I wanted to touch it. I didn't mean to hurt her, but when she threw the shovel, I thought she hated me. So, I became defensive," he announced, speaking clearly.
I was speechless. The whole time we had been feuding was because he had thought my hair was pretty, so he reached out and felt it, and accidentally pulled? Eight year olds weren't known to be gentle, so I could understand that he had yanked. But, now I felt so stupid for just reacting after he had done that. We should have talked it through instead of carrying this grudge all through our life. We could still be best friends.
"Oh, Edward," I said, grabbing his lean waist and hiding my face into his shirt, "I'm sorry." He put his arms around me as well in an embrace, and I felt his breath on my neck.
"I'm sorry, too. Forgive me?"
I felt it deep in my heart, the new change that his words had brought on. My entire perspective on him had shifted his image into something entirely new. Something that I could trust with secrets and tell jokes with, something that would support me and help me be a better person--a friend.
"Yes." I had officially and completely forgiven Edward Masen.
Wow. This is one of my longest yet! I liked writing the home videos, and Emmett is such a goof! I could so see him mooning everyone, haha!!(: So, chapter 10, huh. This is a huge milestone for me, so I would love love love REVIEWs. I think I made Bella's school day quick, only because I wanted to get to the good part about the videos. And, yes, Esme put this one in on purpose.