Thank you all for your reviews and taking the time to read this story.
SM created the puppets, I just like to pull their strings sometimes.
The next couple of days I manage not to make a complete ass of myself. I don't call Bella. I don't text her. Although everything in me is almost demanding me to find out what happened.
I want to scream into the phone and ask her why she had to drive the knife in further. I want to plead with her until she comes back. But it is knowing how weak I am that stops me, or maybe I am just too afraid to hear the truth.
Today is finally the day when we will see Jessica again. I am nervous. Will Bella act different after everything that has happened? Should I say something? Should I talk to Jessica about it in private or bring it up with Bella present? Should I talk about it at all?
Bella is already waiting in her same seat in Jessica's office when I arrive and I again sit in the lone chair. Leaning back I rest my head on my hand and Bella smiles slightly at me. She almost looks shy. I decide right then that I am not going to say anything about the other day.
Jessica is all smiles her eyes passing between Bella and I.
"How are you both doing?" I feel like a child sitting in the principal's office and I feel myself begin to sweat. Does she know something? What is she implying by asking this? I have to clear my throat a few times before I am able to say anything and even then I am only able to supply a one word answer. "Alright well I guess we'll just jump right in then, who would like to share first?"
"I will," I say before I can think. My palms are sweating as I turn the page on the notebook. "The first time I met Bella was our junior year of college. My roommate-slash-brother, Emmett, had been going on all day about some girl he met. Apparently she was apprehensive about coming over to a guys apartment alone so she agreed to come only if she could bring her best friend. He needed me as a kind of...buffer to keep her friend distracted so he could work his magic."
I laugh at the memory and look up to see Bella smiling a true smile and I continue on, letting us fall back in time with one another.
"Edward please, I don't care what you do I just need some time alone with her and I don't want her friend interfering." Emmett pleaded. Leaning against the counter I brought the cool beer to my lips assessing the situation.
"Alright, but you owe me."
"Whatever you want!" Emmett promised before running off, probably to stare at himself in the mirror for another hour. He was so pussy whipped by this girl and he'd only talked to her a couple of times. It wasn't long before the doorbell rang and I could hear Em cursing from the bathroom. How could he seriously still not be ready?
"Dude can you get that?" He shouted out to me which made me roll my eyes. He seriously wasn't going to come out and let them in? Some impression that would make. Opening the door I was greeted by a tall leggy blonde. This was definitely the girl he'd been talking about.
"Welcome to our home," I said, stepping aside my arm outstretched in welcome.
"Thanks, Bella come on!" The modelesque woman said pulling on her friends arm and I could see her roll her eyes before allowing herself to be dragged inside. "I'm Rosalie, by the way, and this is my best friend Bella."
"Hey." Was all I said, nodding my head in Bella's direction while I checked her out. She was a little shorter then I was with long brown hair. Her eyes were also brown and seemed to have a fire in them. The way she was sneering made her look like a bitch.
"Emmett!" Rosalie said before Emmett had wrapped her into his arms and they began making out furiously.
"Great." I heard Bella mutter and I couldn't have agreed more.
"Beer?" I offered before taking another sip of my own.
"Just to make one thing clear, we will not be hooking up, fucking, making out. In fact if you just keep about 5 feet between us at all times that'd be great." She sneered. Who the fuck was this bitch?
"I was just offering you a beer. Thought it might be easier to watch the fuckfest that we're both going to have to endure tonight." I countered, taken totally by surprise by her outburst.
"I just wanted you to know what the ground rules were. And I'll take a beer, if you have anything worth drinking."
"Look, I'm just doing a favor for my friend here." I spat, it wasn't until I was nearly touching her that I realized I had moved closer to her. "As if I would ever go after someone as frigid as you." I said huskily. I didn't wait for her to say anything else before I turned and walked out of the room. Bitch could get her own beer.
The next morning when I walked into the living room I was surprised to see tousled brown hair laid out on our couch. Peeking over the edge I saw Bella cuddled up, her arms wrapped tightly around her. She looked like she fucking freezing and I silently cursed Emmett for not being more hospitable towards her, and what kind of friend was Rosalie?
It wasn't until Bella moaned in her sleep that I realized I was staring at her. In her sleep she looked almost nice. The lips that had been drawn into a tight line last night looked like they were almost pouting and I fought the urge to brush my fingers across them. Her skin was cream colored, and she had a cute little button nose. When I saw her shiver I went into my room grabbing my own comforter off my bed before throwing it across her. Snuggling deep into my blanket I heard her inhale deeply, and suddenly her eyes popped open and the fire was back.
"Don't get any fucking ideas."
"You looked like you were freezing, I was just trying to be nice." I sighed, it was too damn early to be trying to fight with someone.
She sat silently on the couch while I moved around the kitchen getting ready to make coffee. It didn't escape my notice that she was still wrapped in my blanket and for whatever reason that made me happy.
"Coffee?" I offered.
She shook her head, so instead I made up my own cup before settling at the end opposite end of the couch.
"Thank you." She said so softly I almost wasn't sure if I had heard her correctly.
"No problem. I love Em, but I can't believe he was such a dick that he didn't even give you a blanket or a pillow. Does Rosalie do this to you often?"
"Not usually," she snorted shaking her head from what I imagined must be disbelief.
"By the way, I'm Edward." I introduced myself extending my hand to her. A smirk played on her lips as she looked between my hand and my face.
"Nice to meet you." She finally said grabbing my hand just when I was about to put my it down. Her fingers felt soft against my own and I suddenly didn't want to let her go. Her eyes shot down to our hands between us too and I knew she had to be feeling it too. She recovered from the initial shock pulling her hand back from my own and I marveled at the blush that spread across her fair skin.
"Even if I didn't want to admit it to myself back then I think somehow I knew, that she would be the rest of my life." I finished, finally looking up at Jessica and Bella. The tears were running down Bella's face, and I couldn't help but reach out to her, brushing my thumbs beneath each eye wiping the tears away.
Bella opened her mouth and I thought for a moment she was going to say something, but instead she let out a deep breath. Looking over to Jessica I saw her watching us in reverence a small smile on her own lips.
"Well Bella, is there anything else you would like to add?" She asked while Bella just shook her head. "Okay then, next week we will talk about your first date."
Remember they were in college. It was their start and apparently both of them had a little fight in them in the beginning.
Would it be too much if instead of outtakes I do a companion story? You tell me which you'd prefer, outtakes or the entire story from BPOV.