'What's with the blush?'

Kings of Leon - The Bucket

Chapter 11: The Bucket – Continued

~*~Bella~*~

Jessica, Alice and I made our way out of the gym and over to the parking lot.

"Ok, which one of you is giving me a ride?" Jessica asked. "I didn't drive to school today."

I hesitated. Honestly, I didn't really feel comfortable being in a car alone with Jessica after I'd spotted that bitch glare from her earlier. What the hell was that about anyway?

"You can come in mine," Alice answered.

I breathed a silent sigh of relief.

"Cool." Jessica turned to me. "The pizza place is Pete's in Port Angeles. You know how to get there, right?"

"Sure."

"Ok, we'll meet you there. Rose is waiting for Emmett to finish up in the locker room so she'll meet us there later with the team. I wanna do a little shopping before the team gets there so can we leave now, Al?"

Alice shrugged. "If you want."

"Ok, Bella, see ya later."

I waved at them as they opened up Alice's cute little yellow Porsche 911 GT3 and hopped inside, speeding away a moment later.

And I was screwed.

I had moved to Forks less than two months ago, and had been to Port Angeles about twice in that time. I sure as heck didn't have a clue where this 'Pete's' place was. Why didn't I just ask to drive behind Alice's car? Why did I pretend I knew where it was when I didn't?

It was a terrible habit of mine. The word, 'sure' was like a reflex sometimes.

Bella, do you think wearing this ridiculously loud shirt with these tight ass jeans looks ok? Sure, dad.

Bella, is it ok if I marry that twenty five year old baseball player a month after I've just met him? Sure, mom.

Hey, Bells, can I borrow your favourite pair of jeans? You know, the ones that are your most comfortable? The ones you got in Paris for three hundred bucks? The ones you know I'll never return because 'borrow' to me, is the equivalent of 'keep'? Sure, Jess.

I'd just have to wait for Rosalie and the rest of the team and then follow Emmett's car or something, because trying to find my way to Port Angeles – even with a Sat Nav – would be asking for trouble.

TTT

I was sitting in my car with the radio turned on loudly, eyes closed as I hummed along to the music.

A tapping on the window startled me, and I opened my eyes and looked out to find Edward Cullen peering at me through the glass. An involuntary flush immediately spread through my face and I groaned silently when he motioned for me to roll down the window. This was bound to be another blush fest.

I pressed the button and the window slid down, letting in the chilly November air. Edward rested his forearms on the car door in the open window and leaned in, causing his face to be in startling proximity with mine. The blush certainly didn't ease up.

"Hey," he said, his eyes trained intently on my face.

Why the heck was he looking at me like that?

"Hey," I managed to squeak out.

"What are you doing?" he questioned, eyes briefly darting around my car before landing back on me.

I shrugged, faking nonchalance, and praying that the fading light was hiding my current tomato face state. "Um, nothing really. I was waiting for you guys to finish up in the locker room."

"Where's Jessica and Alice?"

"They already left. Jess wanted to do a bit of shopping in Port Angeles before meeting us at...Pete's. I didn't wanna go with them, so I decided to wait."

"Ok," he replied.

He flashed me a lazy, uneven smirk, moss coloured eyes still watching me relentlessly. Then, unexpectedly he reached a long finger inside my car and poked my cheek playfully. "What's with the blush?"

Ok, how did it make sense that his fingertip on my cheek caused a miniscule tingling in my crotch? Get your head out of the gutter, Bella! I ran a hand through my hair nervously, pushing it back from my forehead and then shaking my head a little and letting it cascade down my back.

Edward flinched back from the window as if I'd stabbed him with a needle. He straightened up, his posture immediately becoming stiff.

Oh crap, I totally forgot about the smell thing.

I grimaced apologetically at him. "Sorry, I know you don't like me doing that around you. I totally forgot."

He swallowed, shaking his head minutely. "It's fine, don't worry about it. It just kinda...caught me off guard, that's all."

He didn't lean back into my open window though, and I was half relieved – my blood could flow to other parts of my body now – but half disappointed, I mean, I didn't really mind having his beautiful head a couple of inches in front of me, smelling his saccharine scent.

He stood straight, his hands sliding into the pockets of his jeans, legs apart at shoulders width in a casual, yet model-like stance. He had to look down at me as I sat in the driver seat of my tiny, blue Mini Cooper S because he was so tall, and the way he was standing sort of looked like he was modelling the jeans he was wearing. And he was modelling them very well, I might add. I took a moment to appraise him – my heart nearly stuttering in my chest as I took in his appearance.

He was freshly showered.

And believe me, a freshly showered Edward Cullen was just as good – if not better than – a sweaty, half naked Edward Cullen, because although he still had the sexy, wet look going on, he wasn't wet with sweat. Not that he ever smelled bad or wasn't utterly mouth watering when he was sweaty, but still, a damp, sweaty guy – although hot as hell – was still a little gross. A damp, just washed guy was certainly more appealing.

His faded blue jeans didn't have a belt around them, which meant that they were falling down his hips, stopping at the point where a good amount of his ass crack would be showing, if I could see it. And usually I thought sagging pants on a guy just looked silly, you know, like his pants were gonna fall down around his ankles at any moment. But on Edward, Jasper, and most of the hot guys around here who either seemed to lack belts, or didn't know their correct size in pants, sagging was ok in my book. Hell, sagging was fuckhot in my book.

He had on black boxers poking out of the top of his jeans. And although I tried really hard not to direct my attention to his...ahem...groin area, I noticed Calvin Klein written in white, running along the top of them, and um...I could also see the button on the front of his boxers. Yes, that little button that guys could open up and stick their schlongs through to pee, instead of having to pull down their underwear, lucky bastards. And yes, if I could see the button you'd better believe his pants were deliciously low.

I think I salivated a little, before I managed to tear my eyes away from that area and up to his upper body.

Doing so, however, did not help with the salivating at all.

He was wearing a plain white t shirt. Nothing special, right?

Except for the fact that the t shirt was a little snug fitting. It hugged his biceps whenever he bent his arms, and...and...he probably hadn't dried off properly after his shower because the shirt was clinging to his skin a little, and there were a few damp spots where I could clearly make out a defined muscle or two, because it made the t shirt a little see-through.

So I chanced a glance at his gorgeous face – this was dangerous, seeing as my own face was most likely ridiculously red again from ogling him so shamelessly, right in front of him – and his hair was still damp, some tendrils casually hanging over his forehead, while the rest of his hair was slicked back with water.

After a moment it was too much. I looked away from him, letting out a deep breath and keeping my eyes glued on some trees to the right of my car, for fear of getting out and jumping Edward Cullen's bones.

Luckily, a loud chorus of masculine voices started up, and Edward and I looked towards the school entrance to see the rest of the team – and Rosalie – making their way over to the parking lot.

"Looks like everyone's ready," I commented pointlessly.

"Uh huh," Edward answered. He sounded distracted.

I glanced at him quickly – to find that he was staring at me again.

"What?" I asked him tersely. His staring was really making me uncomfortable now.

"You know how to get to Port Angeles?"

"Um, no. But I'll follow you or something. We're all going there, right?"

"Hmm," he said, pouting his pink lips – still staring at me. "Why don't you leave your car parked here and ride me?"

"Excuse –?"

"Shit," he interrupted. "Sorry, I meant ride with me. Freudian slip, I guess."

I was dumbfounded. Freudian slip my ass. He had that half smirk wafting around his lips as I glared at him, my face aflame.

He snickered. "I was kidding, Bella."

I rolled my eyes.

"So what, are you gonna ride with me to Port Angeles?"

"Why?"

He shrugged. "I just don't see a point in taking two cars when we're both going to the same place and only have one person inside each car. Haven't you heard of a little thing called, Global Warming?"

"I thought you didn't believe in science."

"No, I don't believe in biology. Well, some aspects of it anyway..." he trailed off, grinning.

I ignored his innuendo, or whatever the heck it was, and sighed. It did make sense to ride with him. "Ok, I'll come." The word 'come' sounded...dirty as I said it, in light of our previous discussion. Edward's grin widened, showing that his thoughts on my word of choice had probably gone in the same direction as mine. "In your car with you," I added quickly.

"Cool. Come on," he said, opening my door so I could get out. I rolled my eyes at him again, ducking my head and walking briskly over to his car so he wouldn't spot my blush.

TTT

Edward was freaking hot when he was driving.

I mean, he fucking owned the car. He had total power and control over it – even though he was speeding like a maniac. His hands were firm on the gearshift, and he changed gears fluidly, and with poise. His fingers around the steering wheel were loose, exuding confidence, and he mostly drove with one hand, his right hand casually resting on the gear stick, or flipping through the radio.

He practically oozed manliness. His car was a stick shift, which I was in awe of already because I hadn't dared to try and learn how to drive that. I guess they didn't call it a Manual transition for nothing. My pathetic little Automatic seemed so...weak now, in comparison.

"Can you drive it?" Edward asked me, keeping his focus intently on the road.

"What?"

His eyes flickered sideways to look at me, and he grinned. "A stick."

I ignored him, shaking my head at his immature behaviour and avoiding his sideways glance by looking out of the window.

He laughed. "C'mon, I tried not to make that one into an innuendo but you practically forced it out of me."

I couldn't help smiling at his laugh. "Whatever, Edward. You know you were dying to use that one from the moment we sat in the car."

He turned his attention back to the road, biting on his bottom lip as he smirked.

Dear God.

"Ok, you got me," he replied. "But you didn't answer my question though."

"I only learned Automatic. Manual looks too complicated, you know? All that stuff with the clutch."

He shook his head. "Nah, it's easy once you get the hang of it. Automatic is like fucking bumper cars or some shit. It's not real driving. I mean, a five year old could probably drive one if they could reach the pedals."

"Well...I'm sure I could drive a stick if I really wanted to. I'm just too lazy to learn, I guess."

He raised a perfect eyebrow at that, but remained silent for a few moments, keeping his eyes on the road.

"Well, maybe I could teach you someday..." he said after a brief silence.

"Teach me what?" I asked – like the idiot I was.

His uneven smirk reappeared impishly as he murmured, "How to drive a stick."

I had to roll down the window for fear of overheating. The blushing was becoming a hazard.

I noticed that his own window was already rolled all the way down, and the reason why was pretty obvious. Although he'd assured me that I didn't smell bad it still made me self conscious. I mean, why did he have such a terrible reaction to my scent if it was good? It didn't make sense.

We were in a comfortable silence for a while as we drove on, Edward keeping his attention on the road and me trying – and failing – to keep my attention on anything but him, and the way his profile looked so sexy as I snuck sideway glances at him, his jaw line strong, and smooth, and lickable... I tried to keep my attention away from how the breeze from the open windows was blowing his hair around so he had to keep tossing it away, and the way these observations were causing a now familiar tingling sensation between my thighs...

And the way the muscles in his forearms were starting to tense up as he gripped the steering wheel, and then grasped the gearstick tightly, until his knuckles were white, the skin around them taut...

"Bella," he suddenly whispered gruffly, catching me by surprise.

"Yes?"

"What are you thinking about?" His tone was curious, but his strained voice belied his obvious attempt at casualness.

My eyes widened a little as I glanced at him. The question and the way he asked it took me by surprise, but the fact that what I was thinking was how hot he looked right now, as well as eyefucking him thoroughly, made me flush with embarrassment. I couldn't tell him that!

"Um, nothing really. Why?"

His grip on the steering wheel tightened impossibly further. What was wrong with him?

"No reason," he answered, and I could tell he was clenching his teeth. Plus, I was pretty sure he had stopped breathing.

He was silent for the remainder of our journey, keeping his eyes on the road before him and remaining rigid, making things incredibly awkward. And then, when we reached Pete's, he parked the car in one swift manoeuvre and practically jumped out of it, taking in gasping breaths as he stood in the parking lot.

Weird.

TTT

We sat in one corner of Pete's, occupying three tables.

I sat at a table with Edward, Tyler, Jacob, Alice and Jessica, while Rosalie sat with Emmett, Jared and four other guys from the team. The remaining members of our large group sat at the third table.

I sat opposite Tyler and next to Jacob, who was sitting in between Alice and I. Jessica was sitting in between Edward and Tyler, directly opposite Jacob, while Edward was opposite Alice.

Outwardly, our table seemed relaxed, making casual conversation and pleasantly sharing three large pizzas between us. But the atmosphere was far from pleasant. It was just little things, you know: things that were unsaid; looks that were exchanged; movements happening beneath the table; that made things...tensed.

Jacob and Tyler were flirting with me. They made forced conversation, directing most of their questions and comments at me and flashing me encouraging smiles. Tyler leaned unnecessarily close towards me whenever he spoke. Jacob found any reason to playfully nudge me. Tyler kept using his long legs as an excuse to play footsie with me, muttering an unconvincing "sorry" whenever his knees, or his calves, or his feet brushed against mine – which was damn near every minute. Jacob managed to snake his muscular arm around the back of my chair, resting it there for the whole evening. I occasionally felt his fingers inappropriately stroking the back of my neck.

Edward had been mostly silent during this whole edgy affair, a soft frown on his face. He barely ate, not joining in the conversation, and answering questions with one worded answers while keeping his gaze on the food before him. But once in a while he would glance up, his eyes searching for mine. Whenever he managed to catch my eye, he'd stare at me fixedly, and I'd always be the first to look away.

"The Winter Formal is only over a month away," Jessica said brightly. "Everyone know who they're gonna ask yet?" She looked around at the guys expectantly.

Jacob shuffled next to me, rubbing at the back of his neck. Tyler started tapping his foot underneath the table. I could feel his knee brush against mine several times.

Edward, however, looked pissed.

Alice sighed deeply, picking at her slice of pepperoni pizza, while Jessica – who seemed to be the only one oblivious to the tension – grinned widely and raised her eyebrows in question.

We remained in a strained silence for about thirty seconds, before Jacob finally decided to answer. "I'm not sure who I wanna ask yet, actually."

Tyler nodded in agreement. "Same here."

Edward remained unspeaking, looking away from everyone at our table and scowling.

What was up with him?!

Jessica was relentless. "What about you, Edward? You know who you wanna ask yet?" I'm not certain, but I think her green eyes flickered to me for a millisecond as she asked this.

Edward's jaw tightened. "I'm not sure," he murmured icily.

Thankfully, a moment later, Rosalie waltzed over to our table. There were multiple silent sighs of relief at her timing. The awkwardness was borderline stressful now. If she hadn't come, I probably would have gone to hide in the bathroom for a bit.

"You guys done yet? The rest of us wanna leave now."

The relief was palpable as we all stood up hastily, dropping notes into a pile in the middle of the table to pay for our food.

TTT

"What's wrong?"

I couldn't help myself from asking him. What the heck was up with him? He was still scowling as we drove back to Forks in another stiff silence, and frankly, I couldn't take it anymore.

"Nothing," he answered almost automatically, not even bothering to glance at me as he spoke.

I scoffed, rolling my eyes. "Yeah right. But whatever, if you don't wanna tell me I won't push you."

He sighed, muttering something I couldn't make out – but was probably a swear word – before saying through clenched teeth, "Jacob and Tyler were getting on my nerves."

"Why?" I asked in surprise. That was certainly not what I was expecting him to say. "I thought they were your friends?"

"They are." He sounded exasperated. "Doesn't matter why."

"No, it does matter, cos I refuse to sit here, feeling uncomfortable. You offered to give me a ride and now you're being all moody, making me feel like I forced you into it."

He shook his head irritably. "I'm sorry. It's not you, really. It's those two fuckers."

"What'd they do?"

He glanced at me then, and he looked incredulous. "Bella, didn't you notice? They...they were all over you, like a fucking rash. Acting like they'd never spoken to a fucking girl before."

I frowned. That was why he was so pissed? I didn't get it.

"Um, oh right," I answered.

The conversation ended there. I really wanted to question him further, but I figured that in his current mood it wouldn't be a good idea. I would ask him about it tomorrow.

We got back to the school parking lot in record time, and I had to admit I was relieved to leave the awkward atmosphere of his car.

I thanked him for the ride and reached for the door handle, when I felt lukewarm fingers grasping my wrist gently.

"Bella?" he said softly.

I reluctantly turned to look at him. "Yeah?"

He simply stared at me for a long moment, not saying anything, and I started fidgeting under the scrutiny. I'd had enough of Edward Cullen's odd behaviour for one day.

Eventually he said, "I'll err, see you in biology tomorrow," before finally releasing my arm.

Ok, he stared at me for half a minute just to say that?

I nodded, smiling softly before reaching for the door handle again and getting out of the car.

He sped out of the parking lot, and I stood by my own car and watched him until his shiny, silver Volvo was out of sight.

God, he was strange. I simply couldn't figure him or his brother out. They were an enigma. A frickin' headache inducing enigma.

On that thought, I pulled open my car door, and was just about to lean into my car when a strong, cool hand clutched my bicep, stopping me.

I gasped in shock, my heart immediately beginning to race. If this person was a thief, or a rapist, or a murderer, I wanted to make sure I didn't go down without a fight. I remembered the miniature can of pepper spray buried safely in my pocket, and instinctively reached for it with my free hand as I spun around quickly to get a look at my would-be assailant.

And you can imagine my surprise at the handsome face that stared back at me, boyish grin intact as usual.

"Jasper?"

TTT

A/N: A few people have mentioned that my story is similar to Vampire Diaries, and asking me whether I based it on that. No, I didn't base it on that at all. In fact, when I started writing this story, Vampire Diaries didn't even show over here (London) so I had never watched it before. It only started showing in January. And really, I think the only similarity between the two is the fact that Dickward and Assper are two brothers that don't get along. You'll see as my story progresses. :)

Thanks again for the lovely review ssherrill115! Check out her awesome blog, The Southern Fanfiction Review! The link is on my profile.