A/N: Poor, poor, poor Songster. She has zero clue wtf these kids are saying, and she still reads for me. Hearts.
When they got back to the house, Bella shooed Edward off to shower. Apparently, whatever she had planned, it opened early. The bathroom, like every other room in the house, was wall-to-wall nerd. The bathmat was a TARDIS. So was the shower caddy. The hand towels were R2-D2 and C-3PO, and her bathrobe was Captain America.
Edward chortled to himself. He was in over his head with this; he knew that. Ironically, he felt like the nerdy kid hanging out with the cool girl when he was around her. He laughed at himself as he got out of the shower. He wrapped a Supernatural towel around his waist and ruffled the water out of his hair.
As he stepped out of the bathroom, he thought he heard her talking. He furrowed his brow. She wasn't calling out to him. Did she have someone there?
A devious thought came to mind. Nothing like a little teasing. After all, the only thing he knew for sure was it couldn't be either of her parents.
That in mind, he cinched the towel firmly around his waist and strode out of her room, following the sound of her voice.
"We have boyfriend status. Look, I have a geeky ring and everything," she was saying. He grinned. Oh, yeah. This was going to be fun.
He walked into the room, and almost as quickly stepped back.
There was no one in the room with her. Bella was talking to the computer. Specifically, she was talking to a fancy mounted camera perched on top of her computer. The computer was faced away from him, and that was the only mercy of the situation. Dread and anger curled in his stomach as she caught his eye.
"Ah. I'll check in with you guys in a bit," she said. She reached up and flipped the camera off as she stood. "Hey," she said quietly.
He looked up at her, his jaw clenched. He had to work hard to keep the betrayal he felt from coming out all at once. "Bella—"
"It's not what you think," she said, reaching a hand out toward him.
Before she could touch him, he took a step backward. He felt too raw and wounded for her soft touch.
"Edward," she said, her eyes pleading now. "Come on. Listen to me."
He nodded once, indicating he was listening.
"It wasn't a live feed, first of all. I want to do an episode today." She held up a hand before he could interrupt. "This vlog is about my life. If you're going to be a part of my life, you have to exist to them. That doesn't mean they have to see you. I don't have to name you, and I won't talk about your job, but you have to exist."
He folded his arms over his chest, his eyes still on her as he considered her words. "How am I going to exist for them if they can't see me, and I don't have a name?"
A cautious smile quirked at the corner of her lips. "I have a few nicknames I'm considering. Right now, you're creatively dubbed, 'the Boyfriend,' but I'm sure I can do better than that. Give me a bit."
Despite himself, Edward's lips twitched. He took a deep breath, some of the tension going out of him. She seemed to realize the worst of the trouble had passed, because she took a cautious step in his direction. When he didn't move, she took another step and pressed her palm to his bare chest.
"And what about the visual?" he asked. He still hadn't moved to touch her, but he didn't step out of her hold when she put her other hand to his waist.
A genuine grin spread over her face. She tilted her head up and pressed a kiss to his chin. "You'll see." She kissed him again along his jaw. "Come on. Trust me. I'll show you the video before I post it."
"And if I don't like it?"
"Then I won't post it." She kissed his jaw again, her eyes wide and innocent. "Don't be mad."
He couldn't keep a straight face. "Christ," he muttered under his breath. Heaven help him, the woman could get anything she wanted if she looked at him like that. He wound his arms around her, bringing her close. Tilting his head down, he kissed her good and proper. She moved her hands over his back, and he thought he would have forgiven her even if she'd shared a picture of him nude and sleeping with half the world.
"Tell me we're okay," she said, lips against his.
"Yeah, baby." He kissed her once more. "I trust you."
Her grin widened. "Good." Pressing both hands to his chest, she gave him a small shove backward. "Now go get dressed. We have places to be."
~0~
Edward started to laugh when he realized where she was taking him. "You're kidding."
"One doesn't joke about Disneyland."
"This is your idea of a good time, huh? Hour long waits for sixty-second rides only to be let out one of a million shops?"
She glanced at him quickly before returning her eyes to the road. "Don't be that guy, Cullen. Come on. How long has it been for you?"
He smiled. "My parents took me," he said. "First family outing. I was such a little shit about it." Back when their kindness was too painful, and he covered the ache with surliness.
Bella grimaced. "We don't have to go," she hedged.
"No," he said quickly. "I was giving you a hard time. I'm sure it'll be fun."
"You sound so enthusiastic."
He put his hand over hers on the shifter. "It's a good surprise, Bella. Let's do this."
"This is my favorite ride right here," Bella said some minutes later when they had parked.
Edward smirked, and reached over to take her hand. "This is an escalator."
"But it's a really, really tall." Bella looked over her shoulder as Edward enveloped her from behind, holding her close as they descended. "It just makes me feel regal."
"Well, if you're going to wear a princess dress, I suppose this would be the place for it." Though he thought he preferred the Han Solo dress she was wearing.
"That's a thought. What if I dressed up like Aurora and you could dress up like Prince Phillip?"
Edward wrinkled his nose. "Who?"
"Aurora. Sleeping Beauty. And Prince Phillip was her prince."
"They have names? Aren't they all Prince Charming?"
She clucked her tongue at him. "Prince Charming only belonged to Cinderella."
"I see." They'd made it to the bottom of the escalator by then, and were walking toward the queue for the trams. "And Snow White."
"Ah, he was just 'the Prince.' But, you know, in Disney's defense, he was really just there to make out with a corpse."
"Well, that's attractive."
They got on the tram. Edward made to put his arm around her shoulders, but Bella pulled back. "Hold on," she said. She opened her bag and began to rummage. "I need to post my first official pic with my boyfriend."
Edward quirked an eyebrow. Then, both his eyebrows made for his hairline as she pulled the cast of the Avengers in doll form out of her bag. She looked up at him. "Who do you want to be?"
It was as though time had warped, and he was sitting on his front lawn with the little girl from next door, playing with her American Girl dolls. Did he want to be Kit or Samantha? He blinked. "What?"
"Come on, bud. Time's a-wastin'." She looked down at her collection. "Hmm. Not Thor. You're not looking particularly godlike right now."
"I...don't know whether I should be insulted by that."
She winked. "Well, how about this, ace. If I'd been inclined to tweet about our shenanigans last night, I might have used Thor."
He smirked.
"Well, since we got you on Team Cap...and before we go to the premiere." She bounced in her seat. She actually bounced. "Yep. Captain America it is." She returned the rest of the dolls to her purse. "Here." She handed him a camera she'd pulled from her bag. "Since you can't post with me, you get to play photographer."
Edward watched, bemused, as she arranged herself so her arm was around the Captain America doll. It was nestled in the crook of her elbow. She raised her arm so she could tilt her head against the doll's. He had to laugh. "This is ridiculous."
"Did I ask for commentary?" she asked with mock harshness. "Take the picture."
"As you wish, Princess."
"Damn, you got two fandoms in on that one. Good job."
He took the picture and handed her camera back. This time, she let him tuck her under his arm. Not that it did much good. By that time, they were rumbling to a stop in front of Downtown Disney.
Edward shook his head slightly as Bella texted as she walked. He kept a hand to the small of her back, on the lookout for possible collisions, but she seemed to do okay despite the crowd. He imagined she was used to it.
"Are you posting that now?" he asked, glancing over her shoulder.
"Nah. Just making sure it's in the right folder, categorized, good lighting. All that jazz. It's going to be part of my video, so a little pre-work cuts down on editing time later."
They'd reached security by then. Bella slid her bag off her shoulder and set it on the table, opening it. "Christ," Edward said. "Do you really need all that?"
She was carrying equipment with her. Not an obscene amount, but enough. He could see cords, one of those tiny, bendy tripods, lenses, extra batteries.
"I told you. Vlogging is my life. This is what that looks like."
Though she kept her voice light, he could see the careful expression in her eyes. This, he abruptly realized, was important. She'd explained what she did. Now, she was showing him what he would have to put up with, being with her.
When the cast member waved them forward, he took the bag from her. "I'll help carry it," he said.
She looked like she was about to argue, but then she nodded. "That helps. I need to get us past the gate anyway."
With that, she turned her attention to her phone, bypassing the ticket line. "Wait. Don't we need a ticket?"
"Nope. I got it right here." She waved her phone.
He almost ground to a halt. "Bella. That's insane. It costs a kidney to get into this place, doesn't it."
She snickered. "It's a two-day park hopper. It cost a kidney and an arm. But I got a metal arm on the way. I can be Bucky to your Cap."
"Bella—"
"Don't start. This is my idea, my date. Shattup."
He grunted, but he knew better than to argue. Sauce for the goose and all that.
"Besides, if you decide you want to hang out with the cool people, aka the AP, then you can use your tickets toward the price of an annual pass." She flashed him a grin before she raised her phone to be scanned by the cast member at the gate.
"Tricky hobbitses," he muttered in her ear, and then turned to smile for his picture.
Once inside the gate, Bella took another picture with Captain America in front of the entrance garden—the Mickey made of flowers.
"Where to first?" he asked when he'd reclaimed her hand.
The glint in her eye should have scared him. "The problem here is that you're not fully dressed."
"What?"
She smiled sweetly and dragged him into a shop as they entered Main Street. He groaned. "Bella, no."
"Bella, yes," she said, sounding entirely too gleeful. "Mickey ear hats are a must."
He gave her the hairy eyeball, and she pulled out the big guns. She bit her lip, letting her eyes go wide. "Please?" she said in a small voice.
"Fuck me," he muttered under his breath. "Okay. Mickey hat. But that's all."
"Ah, you say that now. I bet you by the end of the weekend, you'll be in full Disney gear."
"Don't hold your breath." He looked her over. "Why don't you have ears?"
"Ha. Come on. I have a whole collection. But…" She reached over to one of the displays and produced headband-style Mickey ears with Maleficent horns. "I've been looking for an excuse to get these."
While he perused his choices, Bella modeled her new headband for the benefit of her Instagram followers. She showed him the post. The comments section was already filling with excited comments. Bella's Disney Days were apparently a popular segment on her vlog.
When they walked out, Bella with Maleficent horns and Edward sporting a somewhat creepy set of pirate Mickey ears, he felt just the slightest bit self-conscious. But then he looked at Bella. She was pressing her lips together, trying not to smile and failing miserably. "What?" he asked, tugging at the tail of the hat. "Tell me the truth. How silly do I look?"
"You look like a man in Disneyland." She pushed up on her tiptoes to kiss the tip of his nose. "I just really wish I could take a picture of you. The comments it would get..."
He rolled his eyes, but he smiled. "Where to first?"
They stopped for breakfast at the Carnation Inn where the characters wandered around as people ate. He got a lesson in how to man the video camera as she "interviewed" characters. Sometimes with her Captain America figure in hand. Several times, he had to stop himself from laughing and thereby shaking the video.
She was funny and charming. He'd seen it when he watched a few of the videos from her feed. It was no wonder she'd caught on so well.
"Don't worry, Steve," she said, putting a protective hand around Captain America and tucking him against her bosom when Captain Hook came around. "I'll protect you. It's the battle of the Captains, but you got me on your side. I'm with you to the end of the line, buddy."
Captain Hook obliged them by waving his hook menacingly. When he slinked away, defeated, Captain America rewarded her with a kiss. Edward put the camera down and picked up where Steve left off, stealing syrup-flavored kisses.
After breakfast, they headed for Tomorrowland. They got Fast Passes for Hyperspace Mountain—Space Mountain decked out Star Wars style, which Bella promised him would be cool as hell. They got in line for Star Tours. Bella told him about when the ride had reopened, annual passholders got to ride as many times as they could in a one hour window. Just one of the perks of being a passholder.
"The sales pitch begins," he teased.
"I'm sure I have no idea what you're talking about."
The storyline of the Star Tours ride picked one of the guests as a rebel spy around which all the action was based. Edward turned out to be the rebel spy. Bella absolutely shrieked when his grainy picture showed up on the viewscreen with the dumbest "huh?" expression on his face.
Afterward, she was bouncing again. "I cannot believe you were the Rebel spy. And it's not fair. Do you realize how many times I've gone on that ride? How many hints I've dropped to the cast members that I want to be the Rebel spy? But nooooo. It's always some kid." She made a face. "I bet the cast member thought you were cute." She sighed. "You know what this means, right?"
"You're not going to go back and threaten them, are you?" he asked, only half kidding.
She scoffed. "Right. I don't do the jealous thing. Ew. No." Her smile brightened. "This means you have to get the Rebel spy t-shirt."
"Oh, no."
"You have to. It's in the rule book or something."
He tried to talk her out of it, but she wouldn't be swayed. That was how Edward found himself decked out in a pirate Mickey ear hat and a shirt that proclaimed, "I am the Rebel Spy."
"Now that's a shirt I can get behind," he said, pointing at a Yoda shirt that had the character looking up at a sign that said, 'You must be this tall to ride.' "That's all kinds of dirty."
"Only for pervs like you," she said, smacking his arm lightly.
After a trip to the build-your-own-lightsaber station—Captain America posed for pictures wielding his, making him look more like Ant Man—they headed back out into the park.
Bella dragged him over to the former Innoventions, now decked out in all things Star Wars. They took a picture with Kylo Ren. Bella posed Captain America with his hands up as though in fright.
"Excuse me. Captain America would not be scared of an emo kid like that," Edward said, affronted on his/Steve's behalf.
Kylo Ren turned and mimed Force choking him, which of course led to Bella setting up a quick video of him doing the same to Captain America.
She dragged him on Small World despite his protests. In the end, he was glad she did. It wasn't nearly as annoying as he remembered it. It was basically a boat ride where they could relax, Bella reclined against him, pointing out various parts of the busy scenery. She whispered in his ear about an animatronic only recently removed of a little boy literally choking a chicken.
"Pics or it didn't happen," he said.
Of course, she had many pics. It was indeed an animatronic boy choking an animatronic chicken in a Disneyland ride.
In Toon Town, he got to watch her face light up with absolute glee as she steered the car round and round wildly on the Roger Rabbit ride. She stopped for a few pictures of Captain America playing with some of the gags around. There was a barbell made in cartoon style where the "bar" lifted up in the middle but the weights remained on the floor.
"Poor Steve. Couldn't lift Mjölnir, and getting weaker from there," Bella quipped patting him on the back.
"This is still supposed to be me, right?" Edward said.
She just smiled at him winningly and kissed the protest right out of him.
Bella kept up a good pace, getting them through all the good rides. He tried to get her to eat one of the gigantic turkey legs.
"You don't want to see that. The first bite is great, but then you get to the point where you're just sticking your face in the meat and everything is glistening with fat." She shook her head. "This relationship is hours old, babe. It's too soon for you to see me like that."
They rode the Matterhorn. Edward was disappointed to find they'd changed the seats so she couldn't sit on his lap, but he got to film her screaming in terror at the new Abominable Snowman they'd installed.
By the end of the night, his feet ached. He was tired, but he was happy. They stayed for the fireworks, and as his gaze darted from the fantastic display—Jesus, Disney knew how to put on a spectacular show—to Bella's awed grin, he had to admit that this place really was magical.
A/N: Remember, visual aids can be found in my Facebook group.
How we doing out there?