The Transfer

A/N: Off to lunch!

Chapter 10: Cookies Anyone?

BPOV

I reluctantly accompanied Alice to lunch in the dining hall. I kept my mouth shut about her twin, not knowing what I really wanted to say in the first place. I couldn't very well be a friend of hers and ignore her brother. I sort of wanted to avoid him, yet why? He was a nice person, he was funny and I enjoyed his company. You could have friends like that, right? And besides, it wasn't as if he'd done anything wrong, right?

When we walked through the glass doors that led to the dining hall I peered over to the far side of the room where they usually sat. No one was there. I breathed a tiny sigh of relief, but that was short-lived when I noticed Edward in the lunch line with Jasper. Okay, so much for that idea. He was here. I was here. Obviously we were going to be sitting together. I was going to be sitting at their table today. I couldn't very well go off and sit somewhere by myself. Could I? No, that would be rude and it would be weird. Alice had invited me to lunch, more or less.

I glanced at Alice speculatively. Was this something she had arranged with Jasper? Or maybe I was reading too much into this whole situation. Maybe it was all a coincidence. Or maybe she just liked meeting Jasper for lunch at a certain time, and now was the time. And of course Edward would come along because he and Jasper were roommates and friends. Why was I spending all this time pondering this? It shouldn't really matter that much to me.

I breathed in deeply to settle myself and went to pick out something to eat. Alice was faster making her lunch selections than I was and she immediately went to the table where Jasper and Edward were now sitting. I became aware of the fact that I was dawdling. And I became aware that the fact that I was dawdling would not go unnoticed for much longer. I was putting off the inevitable. Alice sat down next to Jasper, leaving the seat next to Edward for me. It would be odd if I sat anywhere else. But it might feel odd to sit next to Edward. I might even feel those odd little electrical twinges.

At least I wouldn't have to sit across from him and look at him like I was looking at him right now. Of course his wild hair looked the same as it had the past few days, fabulously disheveled as usual. Today he also looked a little edgy, maybe even slightly dangerous. His beautiful face appeared paler than normal and a little drawn. He obviously hadn't shaved this morning and had a slight scruff along his chin and strong jaw line and a sprinkling of stubble above his upper lip. On him it didn't look sloppy. Not at all. It only made him look more attractive and more striking. Most guys looked like guys, but Edward exuded masculinity. But what I noticed most about his face were the purplish shadows under his eyes. They were very faint but they were there. He definitely hadn't slept much. So I guessed I hadn't been the only one to have slept fitfully.

I suddenly found myself wondering what I currently looked like. My hair was pulled back into a ponytail. Did it look sloppy? Had the puffiness around my eyes, from crying last night, dissipated? Was my face pale too, much like his? Why was I even wondering about all this stuff?

Just go sit down!

I gave up and forced myself to approach the table.

"Hey, Jasper, Edward," I said lightly as I arrived, glancing at both of them before setting my tray down and sliding into the seat next to Edward. I was acutely aware of his big, warm body only inches away. Whew, it was suddenly warm in here. And, shit, there was that little current of electricity again!

"Hey, Bella," Edward and Jasper responded nearly in unison.

They both smiled, although Edward's smile didn't quite reach his eyes. His eyes looked tired and a little bloodshot. Were mine? I could see Jasper's eyes slide to Alice's face, but he didn't say anything more. None of us said anything more for a while. We just ate in tense silence, until Jasper abruptly turned to Alice.

"Alice?" He looked pointedly at her. "Did you see the cookies they put out?"

"They put out cookies? Really? I love their cookies. Show me, Jazz."

She grabbed his hand, rising from her chair rapidly and pulling him up at the same time. The two of them were instantly gone and Edward and I were left alone. I realized Jasper and Alice had double-teamed us. This had definitely been finely orchestrated and choreographed: Jasper bringing Edward, Alice bringing me, all of us arriving at the same time, the seating arrangement, and now the sudden departure, leaving us alone to talk.

I began poking at what remained of my food, unwilling to turn toward him. "Edward, look…"

"Bella, I…" He had started speaking at the exact same moment. We both paused and then laughed awkwardly.

"Sorry, you go first," I told him.

"No, that's okay, you were about to say something." He raked his hand through his unruly hair. His eyes looked a little bleary and they looked a little tight.

"It's okay really, you go ahead," I pressed, quietly, not wanting to be the one that initiated this conversation and whatever it would cover.

He turned toward me now, shoving his tray away and propping his elbow on the table, resting his face against his hand. He looked down at me and I saw that his tired face had a crooked little grin just barely discernible at the corner of his mouth. "We could just both begin speaking at the same time again, and then neither of us would have to start alone."

I smiled a small smile back at him. "That probably wouldn't accomplish much. We wouldn't be able to hear what the other has to say."

We were quiet for a moment. I decided I'd be brave.

"I don't want you to feel uncomfortable around me," I said, searching his green-blue eyes.

"I don't feel uncomfortable around you," he said softly. "You're a nice girl, Bella."

"And I don't want you to avoid me."

"I'm not going to avoid you. You and Alice are probably going to be roommates, and even if that doesn't happen, you're already a friend of hers, of all of ours, actually. You have fun with us and we have fun with you. I don't think there's a chance of avoiding each other. You'll do stuff with us and I'm not planning on finding new friends to hang with. I'd sooner shoot myself than have to hang out with Newton and Crowley."

I smiled and then nodded my head in agreement, not saying anything. Good, he was talking in generalities, mentioning his family and friends. That was safe. He was keeping this light. We could do this conversation.

"And besides," he continued, on a roll now and smiling a little more, "you're one of the few girls besides Alice and Rosalie that I wouldn't have to avoid."

"Because we're safe and attached and won't hit on you?" I asked with a small smile.

"Exactly," he grinned crookedly, relaxing visibly. "You're all safe. You're all taken. Well, Alice is my sister, so that's its own category. She's certainly not going to hit on me. But you see what I'm saying."

"Yes, I do. And you're right. We're safe and we're attached. You can rest assured, Edward, I probably won't hit on you. Unless of course we're at a party and you come out of a back bathroom to find me completely naked on the bed, waiting for you."

I immediately clapped my hand over my mouth, shocked out of my wits and blushing furiously.

Edward froze. His eyebrows were raised, his eyes widened in surprise and his mouth slightly agape. He didn't seem to be breathing. I know I wasn't.

I was hoping I'd just faint and not have to deal with this consciously. Maybe I could wake up in a nurse's office somewhere. Oh, God, I could feel the intense heat of myself blushing! I couldn't believe I just said that! Where the fuck did that come from? Oh. My. God!

That was when Alice and Jasper reentered the picture.

"What great cookies!" Alice was exclaiming as she returned to the table. "Do you guys want some?" She had a handful in a napkin. Her jaw dropped when she looked more carefully at me. She must have seen how flustered I was, how deep crimson my blush was. Then I think she must have looked at Edward. I think she noticed that he wasn't speaking or breathing. He was still staring at me in shock.

"No thanks, Alice," I quickly told her, grabbing my trash together and setting it on my tray. "I've got to get going. I think I've already overdone it. I can't take anymore." I stood up, took my tray and made a quick and rather embarrassed exit.

Crap! What the hell was that?

EPOV

Shit! What the hell was that?

I couldn't believe she had said what she had just said.

Earlier I had decided I should just go ahead and get it over with and go to lunch. I wasn't going to avoid her. I wanted to act quickly so she didn't worry or feel upset with herself or with me. We all liked her and I knew she liked us. I didn't want that to go away. So I found Jasper and asked him if he wanted to go to lunch. He agreed, but said that he was waiting to hear from Alice. A short while later he said she'd called to say, 'It's time.' Whatever the hell that meant.

I wasn't really sure what that meant at the time, until I was in the dining hall with Jasper and saw that Alice had come in with Bella. This was beginning to feel rather like a carefully mapped out set up, especially once Jasper sat down across from me and Alice joined us, seating herself next to him. That left the spot next to me open for Bella. Naturally. Jasper and Alice were in cahoots, and I didn't think I'd ever thought of the word 'cahoots' before in my life, but I did now.

Bella took her time getting to the table. I realized she was probably feeling just as apprehensive as I was. I stole a few glances across the room to look more carefully at her face. I searched her heart-shaped face and looked closely at her chocolate brown eyes. She still looked pretty, but she looked tired, like I felt. She also had a small furrow between her brows and she was biting slightly on her lower lip. She was distracted and worried. I wanted to smooth the pucker between her brows and tell her it was no big deal; this could go away.

She came to sit down with us and greeted me and Jasper. And then the tension began to creep in. Things only got more awkward when Alice and Jasper abruptly left the table for some inane reason - ostensibly to get cookies. Utter bullshit. The cookies were there every fucking day of the week. Like it was cause for some big celebration because there were cookies. Like they were some freaking delicacy. Really, Alice and Jasper could have put a little more forethought and preparation into their planned dialogue.

We were forced to confront the situation. But we both began awkwardly talking at the same time. Finally she told me she didn't want me to feel uncomfortable. Or that I should feel like I had to avoid her. She didn't exactly make me feel uncomfortable, and I told her as much. I felt something, sure, but I couldn't very well explain that all to her. I wasn't going to be paying any attention to that feeling anyway; I had already decided that. I told her I wasn't going to avoid her. We all were developing a friendship with her already. And damned if she didn't already fit right in with the rest of us. Just like she belonged.

I told her I didn't have to avoid Alice or Rosalie or her, hoping she'd make the connection about already being taken. She'd understood immediately, calling herself 'safe' because she wouldn't 'hit on me'. I began to relax, feeling like this just might work out okay.

But that was when she'd said it.

And I couldn't breathe after she'd said it. The wind had been completely knocked out of me. I had been flabbergasted. 'Flabbergasted?' 'Cahoots?' What the hell was happening to me? This was all just so far out of my comfortable norm. Now I was even using weird vocabulary just to try to deal with it all. Fuck!

'I probably won't hit on you, unless of course we're at a party and you come out of a back bathroom to find me completely naked on the bed, waiting for you.'

What the fuck was that? And what was with the "probably"? Did that mean I might come into a room to find her completely naked on the bed waiting for me? But it wasn't just what she had said, it was also her reaction when she'd said it. She had blushed brilliantly. And then she'd slapped her hand over her mouth like she hadn't known that whole thing was going to come flying out of it. And she didn't laugh it off, like you would if you were just making a joke. Maybe it was supposed to be a joke, or maybe it was something else. And now what was I supposed to do with that statement?

Why had Alice and Jasper left when they did? This would never have happened if they'd stayed at the table. Cookies. Cookies my ass! Could they possibly be any more fucking lame? It was probably a good idea, to leave us alone to talk, but not right now, we should have been eased into it. Or maybe we should have both had more sleep. Maybe that had been Bella's problem. Maybe she hadn't had enough sleep and wasn't functioning at full mental capacity. I knew I was in that boat. At least now I was.

And then after she'd let that little tidbit escape, she'd practically run from the dining hall.

I had to get out of there too. I had to go for a run.

I was sure running a lot lately. I'm not sure where I thought I was running to. Or maybe I was running away?

You can run, but you can't hide. You can try to hide, but you can't hide for long.

Shit, Cullen!

BPOV

I hadn't seen Edward much since Sunday. I still blushed, thinking about what I'd inadvertently said to him. I'd left instantly and headed back to the dorm, hiding in my room and trying to read and just flipping the pages blindly. Much like I'd done earlier that day. Somehow Sunday had passed and I'd managed to avoid Edward. I couldn't face him at all now. Maybe I'd just been overly tired and that was why my brain-to-mouth filter hadn't worked properly.

The next day was Monday and classes were starting up. Thank God for the distraction. I got up early Monday and decided that I would just skip breakfast and just pick up a coffee on my way to my first class. I headed across campus, stopping at the Student Union building where there was a little coffee shop. I waited in line for a few minutes before placing my order for a large café latte with two raw sugars tossed in.

The guy who took my order made some comment about me looking sweet enough, that he wouldn't have thought I'd need any extra sugar. I smiled at that goofy line. Then he asked me if he could get me anything else. That's a normal thing to ask, when you are placing an order, but the way he said it, and the expression on his face, seemed to mean more. It seemed inappropriate. And then he just kept staring at me as he went about preparing and pouring my drink. He had a smirk on his face. It wasn't a cute, friendly smirk like Edward's. Something about it was downright creepy. When my coffee was finally ready, he handed it to me, but actually swept his other hand against mine as I took the cup from him. He seemed to take enjoyment out of my discomfort and I quickly left the coffee shop, deciding that I probably wouldn't be stopping back in there again anytime soon.

I was busy all morning, finding classes, making a list of things I still needed to get for those classes. I had to buy a few things and I decided to take my truck and head off campus, just to get away a little in the afternoon. I wandered around the same store I'd gone to on Saturday morning with Alice and Edward. I found myself in the row where the desk lamps were displayed, smiling at the sturdy variety of lamp that I now owned. I stood there a few minutes before I realized that there was really no need for me to be looking at lamps and I wandered elsewhere. I picked up a few supplies I needed and then I grabbed a bite from the little fast food counter in the store so I wouldn't have to worry about eating lunch in the dining hall.

I eventually made my way back to school. I spent the late afternoon in my room, taking advantage of the fact that Victoria would be gone to classes most of the afternoon. I got to spend some time Celtic-less and Victoria-free. The magic crystals were still there, though. There was no avoiding them. I figured it would be smart to get a jump on my schoolwork, so I spent a while reading.

Much later in the afternoon I heard bagpipe music and smiled to myself. I realized that I wasn't doing my part and took out my CDs so I could read the lyrics. Maybe I'd start singing along. Victoria hadn't been quite as bad as she'd seemed, but then again, I'd spent very little time in my room. I'd spent almost all of my time with the Cullens.

EPOV

I'd gone for a run on Sunday afternoon. Right after that very emotionally disturbing lunch. I ran along a number of walkways and pathways I'd taken before, getting in a slightly longer run than normal. I was definitely trying to run away from something or someone. But there was nowhere to go. It was as if I was running in place. When I got back to the dorm, to my room, I didn't feel any more settled than I'd been before I'd left.

I'd showered and changed and went to see what Emmett was doing. He was Mr. Video Game. I figured maybe we'd hang out a bit and play something and it would keep me busy and distracted. We started with X-box and then we finished with Wii. Emmett just got more and more pissed off at me for being sidetracked and absolutely no competition for him. He said it was worse than playing against Alice. And usually, he and I would argue about everything as we played, but my mind just wasn't really on it, so I wasn't the belligerent opponent that he was looking for.

"Well, Edward," he finally said, as he put everything away, "what the fuck is going on with you? You're not yourself. Usually we would have had a few good arguments by now, but today you're just sitting here all mopey and quiet. And you're going along with everything I say. Where's the fun in that for me? Where's the challenge in that? You know how I love a good challenge."

"Uh, oh, sorry, Emmett. I don't know. I don't know what's wrong with me." Oh yes you do! "I guess my mind is on other stuff." Or people. Or girls. Or a girl. Or… fuck!

"So, what's your mind on, Edward? As if it isn't obvious." He grinned at me and I wanted to belt his grinning face.

"Nothing," I told him belligerently.

"Oh, for fuck's sake, Edward. Get over yourself! Let yourself have a little fun once in a while. You spend so much time PMS-ing and having cramps. Just enjoy yourself once in a while. Bella seems like a really nice girl."

"This has nothing to do with her!" I glared at him.

He rolled his eyes at me. "Yeah, okay, you tell yourself whatever you want, but you're not telling me that. I know better. As your Resident Advisor and your brother, I feel it's my duty to tell you that you've got to let yourself get involved a little and go with the flow. Why don't you think about asking her out?"

"I'm not sure her boyfriend would be pleased."

His eyebrows hiked up a little at that. "There's a boyfriend?" he asked me. I nodded. "Where is he?" he asked.

I shrugged. "I guess back home, not here. Anyway, I don't think I can do that."

"You will, sooner or later. Maybe it's not going to be her, but there will be someone at some point. So for now, you should just go with the flow. But let yourself relax a little. You know, people probably wonder if you're the adopted child. This reflects poorly on me and Alice." He was grinning again. Emmett didn't do 'serious' very well or for very long. It actually felt a little weird when he did.

I shook my head as I stood. "Well, thanks, Dr. Cullen. Today's session has been enlightening."

I exited his room as he yelled, "I'll send you my bill!"

This wasn't working out quite like I'd thought. I figured I could squash my thoughts about Bella back down inside of me. But that wasn't happening. Especially not after what she'd said and the visual image that kept stealing into my thoughts, playing over and over again in my annoyingly overactive imagination.

Sunday night I went to bed, not having seen her for the rest of the day, although I didn't really expect to. Naturally I thought about what she'd said. How could I not? By the time I woke up Monday morning I was in deep shit. I'd dreamed about her. About what she'd said. About her doing what she'd said. And it had been so vivid.

I'd woken up plenty of times before with morning wood, but by Monday morning, when my alarm woke me, I was sporting some serious lumber and it refused to be ignored. I took one of the longest showers of my life that morning. And I was thoroughly exhausted by the time I was done.

It was frightening to realize that my fantasies had become real-girl specific again. For a long time now, I'd only ever conjured up images from porn mags, or maybe a scene from a movie with some actress; someone that didn't seem too real. But suddenly there was a real girl in my thoughts as I stood under the shower spray.

This was so totally fucked up.

I hoped she couldn't read it on my face.

A/N: Edward might be establishing a morning ritual. ;)