~A/N Hopefully, this one will help you all relax a little. I was hanging onto it for a little bit, but decided to give you all Happy Thanksgiving wishes, as it is my favorite day of the year.
Copyright disclaimer: Twilight and all recognizable characters are sole property of Stephanie Meyer.
Chapter 12
Friday night had come again, but Bella was working. It was nothing like the previous week. She'd had a decent week, but she kept herself busy. Paul texted her a few times a day, but he was doing his best at giving her space in his own way. She had no idea if the time apart had helped at all. She knew he was never too far away except when she was in classes. At those times, she had her suspicions, at little spy reported her entire day to him. Quil had stuck to her like glue and they weren't in any classes together. She finally asked the day before if he was skipping since she constantly kept running into him.
"Leah's got me covered, she's sharing notes with me," was his answer.
"And?"
"That's about it, what do you have planned for the weekend?"
"Nothing much, but seriously Quil...you don't have to follow me. In fact, please stop. Paul doesn't need to know what I'm doing 24 hours a day."
He told her, no begged her to try talking to him that weekend. He was a pain in the ass and could she please stop the madness. Bella still talked to him, kinda. She made small talk if he texted, but she was too worried to get into anything else more significant. She didn't want it to turn into another argument.
"Hey Bella, can you help me with this?" Mitch called out to her from the front of the store. She went into the cafe section and helped him clean out a clog in one of the espresso machines. The early shift wasn't nearly as thorough as they were. They always seemed to be taking care of their messes.
Mitch had told her about getting together Sunday afternoon with some of his friends and he rather sheepishly asked if she wanted to join them? She was a little more than shocked, but she needed more friends. Everyone from Forks that she knew had gone away for college and it might do her good if she knew some people that weren't pack.
"I...I mean, you can bring that guy if you want. He doesn't seem like the kind of guy that would enjoy our nerd group. Not that you're a nerd, but you do love books and we've read all the same series. I thought you might like our get together."
"You're not a nerd, Mitch."
"Yes I am, but it's okay...we don't care if people call us names. Nerd is one of the nice ones."
"Sure I'll come. I'll even bring food. What do you and your friends like?" A scary thought crossed her mind. What if she was the only female in some sort of meeting in his mother's basement? "Um, will there be some other girls and what kind of snacks do you like?"
"Wings, we like wings a lot and just Millie," he informed her.
She thought about the name, Millie and decided to ask one more detail just in case that was a pet's name. "Is Millie just a friend or one of the guy's girlfriend?"
"Millie's, Chip's wife."
"Oh, wow...so one of your friends is already married? Okay."
He went on to tell her Chip whose real name was Chester. Yep, Chip was a better choice; he'd gotten married right out of high school to Millie and they had a little son. They met at their house a few times a month for games or movie marathon's. Bella was really starting to like the whole idea more and more. She was going to hang out with some regular people for a change. Not one of them morphed into a huge wolf or drank blood...it was going to be awesome.
"So again, it's good, with your boyfriend if you hang out, right or like I said he's welcome too."
"Actually, Paul's not really my boyfriend right now."
"Oh, sorry...he seemed really nice. Kinda angry, but nice enough."
Bella couldn't hep but laugh at his assessment of Paul. She still never knew what he'd said to him those 30 minutes he'd spent at the table while Mitch closed up the cafe.
She and Mitch had gotten a little more talkative with each other. She could tell talking to girls wasn't easy for him. She felt pretty confident he only wanted to be friends. Mitch told her he'd text her the directions. She'd given him her number in the beginning, for work emergencies. He'd already finished two years at the community college, and he was trying to work that job, plus another one during the day to earn enough money to go to a tech school in California the following year. He asked if she wanted him to make some coffees for the road since he hadn't cleaned up the last machine yet. She said sure and that she'd decide what she wanted after she took out the last bag of trash, but he knew he favorite concoction.
"Oh, I can do that for you?" he volunteered.
"Nope, remember our deal? It's my turn. Don't be giving me any specials favors. Girls can take out the trash too," she winked at him and he went back to closing up the cafe.
Bella grabbed the bag and grimaced. She didn't want him to know how shocked she was when she realized how heavy the bag was. It didn't matter, she wasn't about to ask for help. She tugged and heaved til she got a good grip on it, a tiny victory for equality. She pulled on her hoodie and went out the back towards the large containers across the parking lot. She wasn't surprised to see the familiar bystander who thought he was hidden. He'd been around every night she'd closed pretending that he wasn't. She'd also caught a glimpse of him at the grocery store Tuesday and outside the school library when she'd met some classmates for an evening study session.
Without looking directly at him, she calmly stated, "You know some people might consider this stalking."
He stepped out of the shadows and walked towards her. "Nope, that's where you're wrong, Blue. Most people would consider it stalking because it pretty much fits the definition to a tee."
"Then stop it," she insisted. He grabbed the bag from her and tossed it in the metal receptacle.
"Only if you finally agree to sit down and talk with me."
"I've talked to you almost everyday and you still follow me around or have Quil do it."
"Come on... I mean really talk. I'm about to lose my mind. 'Hello, yeah okay, I'm good, Charlie and I are watching TV' that's all the shit you've said to me and that's not really talking. Let's go get that coffee or I'll buy you dinner, have you eaten?"
She chewed on her lip while she debated a few things. "Come inside with me, Mitch is about to make us coffee, but I'm not going out to dinner with you. That sounds too much like a date and I need more time."
"Fine, whatever. Why's Captain Kirk making you take out the garbage at night? I need to have another word with him, obviously."
She put her hand on his chest at the door. "Stop it, you better not or you can stay outside. It was my turn. He's really sweet and you need to be nice."
Bella bumped into Mitch as she and Paul came back in.
"Oops sorry, I was getting worried, since you were taking so long."
"Thanks Mitch, but I ran into my friend, Paul. Do you mind making him a coffee too?"
She was pleased that he'd let the trash thing slide and was being quiet for a change. Bella asked Mitch if he wanted any help but he was twice as fast as her, so she told Paul to trust that he'd make them the best specialty coffee he'd ever had. They had a seat at the small table. Mr. Robbins was the owner and he was very laid back so she knew he wouldn't mind her having a guest, but she jumped up to clock out since she'd finished all her jobs. Technically, the store was open 8 more minutes, so Paul was the last customer of the day.
Mitch sat the drinks in front of them, "Two hazelnut lattes...that's Bella's favorite so I fixed you the same. Is that okay?"
Paul held up the coffee and smiled sweeter than the confections swirling around her java. "Of course, Mitch. Thank you very much. It looks and smells wonderful." Mitch breathed a heavy sigh, and started back behind the counter. "Oh yeah, one more thing..." Bella and Mitch both looked alarmed. "Don't ever let her go outside alone again at night. If something was to happen to her because of that, I'd come in here and feed you through your coffee grinder, nice and slow. Do we understand each other?"
Bella slammed her hand down on the table and kicked him in the leg with her foot, "Paul!" She looked at her terrified co-worker, and tried to calm his fears, "He's joking, Mitch. I know, his sense of humor sucks, but thanks again. These are great." She stood up and handed him a ten dollar bill, "But we have to head out, so see you Sunday. Bye, thanks again."
Paul followed her and she elbowed him in the side. He nodded and took a sip of his hot beverage and said, "Yeah, man thanks, but..." then he did that gesture where he pointed two fingers at his own eyes and one finger back at Mitch before they left.
He walked to her car like everything was cool. He held out his hand waiting for her to give him the keys.
"You're not going with me."
"But we're supposed to be talking, remember?"
Oh, she remembered. She'd been looking forward to it, til he scared poor Mitchell half to death again. "Forget it, you'll never change." She unlocked her car with her free hand on her remote inside her bag.
He sat his coffee on her roof and caged her in, not allowing her to open the door. His warm breath ghosted over the back of her head and down the side of her face. "That's kinda good, isn't it, Blue? I thought you liked me the way I was. Have you already forgotten so quickly?" His hand moved up and down her arm and he didn't back up at all. In fact, he moved a little closer.
She wanted to push him off and tell him to go again, but fear and familiarity had rendered her paralyzed. One wrong move and she could be crumbling, giving in and letting him have his way with her against the car. She couldn't wiggle out of his grip or he'd only hold tighter. She needed to say something, but her voice was sure to be shaky and he might misunderstand and think he was having a desired effect on her. "Tell me what to do, you know I'll respect your wishes, Bella."
"Please, let me in my car," she whispered.
He stepped back from her instantly and she wasted no time pulling the door open that time.
"Can I ride back to Forks with you?" he picked his coffee back up. "So I can finish my coffee. I wouldn't want your money to go to waste."
She shook her head up and down and said it was fine. They started driving and both of them were quiet despite it being the perfect opportunity to talk.
"What's up with Sunday? I thought you were closed on Sundays."
"We're hanging out."
"Huh, you and Kirk? Oh, you're fucking shifty, Blue. What are you trying to pull?"
"Shifty? I don't know what the hell you mean. We work together and he's friendly. We have a lot of the same interests so I'm going to hanging out with him and his friends."
"You do realize you will be fulfilling some long standing fantasy for a group of misfits. I swear to God, I bet they'll ask you to put on a costume."
"No they won't. That doesn't make a bit of sense. It's completely normal, nothing weird. His friends that are having us over are a married couple with a child. I'm going, it's not up for debate. Remember that you can't chose my friends or tell me what to do."
He shrugged and claimed he wasn't doing any such thing.
"He actually invited you before you threatened to grind him, but I told him you and I are on the outs."
"So I'm invited? The hell you say, okay I'll go."
"No, I said we're not together which we're not, so you won't be going and so help me; you better not follow me either or I'll call my dad and file a report. You admitted to stalking earlier, remember?"
He tried to tell her what a good boy he'd been despite his problems with her. He'd made a tentative truce with Jacob and he was working on a new house for work. He was trying to soften her up a bit and she didn't mention that she and Jacob had discussed a little bit of their agreement. He said they were both trying but overall they'd only agreed to stay out of the other's way for awhile. She soon pulled in her spot at Charlie's. She knew that meant he'd be running out to the woods soon.
"Wait, before you go in. Do you have any idea how frustrating you are?"
"Seems to be a lot of that going around."
"No really, you broke up with me because I don't talk enough," he held his fingers up in quotes. "And now I run around all week chasing my tail, doing tricks and shit trying to get you to talk and all you do is brush me off. Yes, I'm following you. I sleep under your window most of the night and I'm a jealous asshole, but you knew all those things when you said you loved me. Why are you changing all the rules on me now?"
She saw the lights seemed to be out in the house. Charlie probably was asleep. She remembered he worked all weekend. Bella pulled her leg up under her body and turned towards him.
"I didn't, I mean...I'm not. I don't know. All I know is you're right, I loved you despite your faults and you did the same for me. That's one of the good things about us, but I guess the biggest issue is I feel like you don't trust me. I'm not talking about obvious trust, although immediately assuming I would throw myself at Jacob just because I was excited to see him safe and sound was pretty disheartening. I had proven how much I loved you, or so I thought. What I really mean is something deeper like trusting me by you showing me things that make you feel vulnerable." She didn't expect him to cry on her shoulder, she just wanted him to be honest. She added that she was trying to understand, "I get it now, you don't talk about your parents, but I thought we could talk about some of the emotions that causes you. I also want you to trust me to take care of myself a little more, as well as respect my choices."
"Blue, you know I'm worried about a little more than some pervy nerds, right? You've had creatures of the night after you more than once, you attract them for some reason, so some of that worry is justified. I know we haven't talked about him much lately, but I'm still not totally convinced Edweird won't be back. He didn't seem to believe you really said no and meant forever."
She smiled and told him he had a point. He asked why she was smiling. Paul didn't realize it but he'd inadvertently shared a fear with her. He was afraid of Edward coming back delusional, not that she'd leave, but it was an important moment between them.
"I should go inside."
"Oh, okay. May I walk you to the door?"
"Yes, you may."
They walked to the steps and onto the porch. She unlocked the door and took a deep breath because she was about to invite him inside.
"Do you want to come in a minute? Charlie's asleep."
They walked in and the only light on was a dim lamp. Bella headed straight for the kitchen and threw away the coffee cups. She pulled out a water bottle for each of them.
"Thanks," he opened the bottle and drank a huge gulp of water. "I mean for a lot of things: the coffee, the drive, the conversation, but mostly for putting up with my bullshit. A lesser woman would have called the cops."
"You mean a smarter woman? I'm not known for making the best decisions, but I get it. However, you promise about Sunday, right?"
His eyes rolled around in his head and his eyelids twitched, "Fine, Blue...I swear I will not follow you or send one of my minions after you while you hang out with your friends god knows where, doing some odd, nerdy ritual."
"Thanks, that means a lot."
"Sure, anytime. If you can't trust your stalker, ex-boyfriend that sleeps in your woods who by the way, will soon not be your ex; who can you trust?"
"Soon will not be my ex?" she questioned.
"Yeah...I can tell you've been dying to make out with me all night, so it's just a matter of time."
She smirked at him because he was so right, ever since he'd pressed her against at the car, she was dying to feel his kisses again, but she continued to pretend. Bella walked over to the backdoor, "Goodnight, Paul."
"Worse than I thought, isn't it?"
"No not at all, I just need to get to bed." She exaggerated the word, 'bed' and faked yawned and stretched her arms above her head and tousled her hair.
"Fucking cocktease," he chuckled. "I'll remember that, Blue." She was pleased with herself and the night as a whole. She thought he was going to dart out the open door, but he surprised her when he grabbed her and lifted her up. He held her tightly against his body and pressed his cheek against hers. "We're going to be fine, don't ever doubt it. You were made for me. I love you more than anything." He left a delicate kiss to her cheek before sitting her down and disappearing in the darkness.
~Thanks for reading
