Thank you for your amazing patience with me, please read the AN at the end of the chapter!
BPOV
My date was disastrous, to say the least. He and I had nothing to talk about, London was about as fun as walking across a scalding hot cactus.
Okay, so maybe that was an exaggeration. He was nice and good-looking but I just couldn't find anything about him that sparked my interest and made me want to beg him for another date. I think the feeling was mutual, we shared a hug before I went into my apartment but nothing else. Our relationship would remain forever platonic. Not that I cared.
Edward called me earlier in the day to let me know the details for our date. My stomach hurt and became instantly cluttered with butterflies the second I thought about it. I was really tempted to ignore his call, just let him think I forgot about him, give him a well deserved shot to his ego, but I couldn't resist the call of his voice.
Two days ago I would've been gagging at the thought of going on a date with Edward but now I was strangely anxious, counting down the minutes until it would be appropriate to start getting ready our date.
He said I needed to look dressy, that the restaurant would be fancy, which meant expensive, which meant he'd be spending money on me, and I hated that. Maybe I could convince him to go dutch. Yeah, I'm sure that'd go over well with his China-sized pride.
I paced around my kitchen a few more times… okay more like a dozen more times. I checked my watch. 4:38, could time possibly be going any slower?
Benny and Roxy looked up at me with their big brown eyes. I sat down on the couch and they bombarded me with slobbery kisses and paws to the face. Love you guys too…
I grabbed their rubber ball from the side table and through it as far away from me as possible, they both jumped off of me immediately and ran towards the flying green object.
I wiped as much dog hair off of me as possible. The doorbell rang. I checked my watch three times. Edward had said seven not five! Please tell me this wasn't a miscommunication. Maybe he stopped by to cancel the date because he had movie star business to take care of or he was just regretting the decision to take me out.
I got up and slowly walked toward the black door. I opened it cautiously like there was a bomb about to explode when I finally had it open.
"God, it took you long enough to answer the door Bells! I thought you had died in there or something." Benny and Roxy rushed to the door and tackled Alice to the ground. I rushed quickly to try and pull them off of my tiny friend but Al just laughed and gently shoved them off. She pointed, "You're lucky this outfit isn't designer." I laughed along with her as she pulled in a cart behind her.
"Uh, what's all this?" I gestured to her black and silver cart.
"You couldn't expect to go on a date with my brother and not look totally gorgeous, and this is going to help." She waved her hand dramatically at it.
Wow, does God hate me?
Apparently.
"I… uhm…" She cut me off before I could finish my sentence.
"Have you even showered yet? Oh my gosh, look at your dead ends! And your lips! They look like the Sahara dessert." She grabbed my arm and pulled her cart and me back to my bathroom. "Shower first, I'll get set up."
Her eyes were glazed over and her expression was set hard, concentrating. She ran to my closet as I stripped and got in the shower. I heard the click of her heels pace around the marble floor of my bathroom while I took my good, sweet, time showering.
"Bella, hurry up! We only have a few hours!" I chuckled quietly as I continued to slowly rinse out my conditioner. I heard the flush of the toilet and the water of my shower became scalding hot. Stupid pixie needs to learn to be patient.
"Okay! Okay! I'm done." Alice threw my robe to me as I walked out of the shower. She immediately shoved me into a chair in front of the mirror.
She took out a pair of scissors and started trimming the ends of my hair. "Alice, come on. I was just gonna wear jeans and a fancy shirt, put my hair up in a nice pony tail, or maybe straighten it."
Her scissors fell to the ground with a clatter, "Isabella Marie Swan. You're going to a five star restaurant and you were going to wear jeans!? With a ponytail! That's just… just… horrid. I thought I taught you better than that."
I laughed lowly, "Sorry, mom."
A half an hour later my hair was finally dry, Alice was flipping out counting down the minutes until Edward got here and I… well, I was sitting there wishing that I wouldn't have said yes to this fucking date.
I fiddled around with Roxy's ears as she slept soundly on my lap, Benny was curled up by my feet. I hummed to myself as Alice ran the curling iron through my hair.
I checked my watch, I had an hour and a half before he was set to arrive. "Alice! How much longer until this torture is over with. All of it is completely unnecessary, by the way."
"Stop whining, your hair is almost finished." She tugged and twisted and pinned and finally sprayed. "And voila! You're hair is done." Her smile grew wide.
She opened up her make up kit and put out a bunch of applicators. She pulled one out and tapped her chin with it. I just close her eyes and let her do whatever with my face.
It took hours for her to finish.
Okay, maybe I was being a drama queen. But it did take way longer than normal.
"Okay Bella, I have your outfit picked out, and you're going to be very happy with me. No heels!" she handed me a pair of silver and black gladiator sandals. "I just couldn't risk it, being the first date and all, but this is a one time thing, so don't get used to it."
I saluted her and turned to face the mirror. My mouth dropped open. I looked at myself in the mirror. My hair was placed in thick, beautiful curls, the pieces in the front were pulled back and twisted away from my face.
But what captured my attention immediately were my eyes. I had the normal black mascara and eyeliner but Alice had thickly applied purple eye shadow. It was dark and gorgeous, making my eyes just come to life. "Alice… holy fucking shit."
"I know, Bella, you really are stunning, Edward's gonna piss." We both laughed lightly, "Come on Bells, we only have so much time."
She tore me away from the mirror and sat me down on my bed. I watched as she pulled out a beautiful dress. It was sheer black with a white slip, the neckline was embedded with clear crystals. "I love it!" I never thought I'd ever say that about a bedazzled piece of fabric, but I said it, and I actually meant it.
I slipped it on along with my shoes. I took one final look in the mirror and beamed. Alice handed me a black Coach purse. "Don't forget this." She checked her watch. "Shit, I've got to go, Jasper and I have a date. But remember to just be yourself and have fun. Don't let him irritate you either. Love you, bye!" She quickly kissed me on the cheek and ran out of the apartment. Leaving me there to wait. By myself.
My stomach was cramping, twisting and turning. My hands were shaking and my leg was jumping.
Well, this was fun.
I remember what my mom told me before one of the biggest nights of my teenage life.
I was just about finished getting ready for my first date with a boy I really liked, Aaron Richards, he had slate blue eyes, shaggy blonde hair, and a killer smile. Not to mention he was a sophomore and could actually drive.
I finished curling my hair, or my best attempt to, and started applying some brown eyeliner when my mom walked in. "Bella, Bella, Bella." She sighed sadly, "You'll never be pretty, I don't know why you even try. I mean, this boy that you're going out with tonight, Eric?" I didn't even stop to correct her, just let her finish. "I'm sure he doesn't even like you, probably just had a bet with his friends to see how long it took for you to give it up." She pulled on one of my curls and laughed sickly.
"Mom I-."
"Ha," Her laugh curdled my blood and twisted my stomach, "Bella dear, when will you understand? You're not pretty, you have a dull personality and all you do it sit at home with those fucking books all day. No one wants you and no one ever will."
Her words were ringing in my mind as I picked up the phone and dialed Aaron's number. He picked up on the first ring, "Hello?"
"Hey Aaron, it's Bella." I tried my best to keep back the tears that were quickly forming.
He sounded almost happy. "Oh hey! I'm going to leave soon, I can't wait for tonight!"
I swallowed hard, making a noticeable gulping sound. "Actually, I don't think I can make it tonight. I'm not feeling well." I coughed to reinforce my lie.
"Oh, okay. Well maybe another time. I'll see you on Monday Bells."
"Yeah, alright. Bye." I hung up before he could say anything else to encourage another date, it would just never happen.
I ripped my fingers through my thick, bouncy curls and wiped off my make-up. Soon I was drowning in tears.
No one wanted me, and no one ever will.
I can't do this, I just can't. How could I possibly go out on a date with the most sought after man in Hollywood? How could he possibly be interested in me? How could I possibly live up to his standards? The answer to all of these questions was that it was just impossible. I'm not good enough, I never will be and never even could be. I'm a monster, a person who should be dead, not going out to a five star restaurant with an Adonis.
I need to get away, maybe catch a flight to Canada or, better yet, Japan. Somewhere where I could escape and just forget everything.
Grabbing my purse and my leather jacket I sprinted for the door. I held back my tears as I walked out the door, and into something rock hard. I looked up.
Edward.
Just my fucking luck. I tried not to let my disappointment show. I plastered a smile on my face. My nerves were showing through, I suck at hiding them.
He sensed it immediately, "Uhm, are you okay Bella?" He rubbed his hand up and down my arm soothingly. Even through the leather, the touch made my stomach settle slightly.
"Yeah, I'm great. Are you ready?" I smiled up at him, he bought it, nodded, and led the way to the elevator.
He looked nervous standing there in his black dress pants, emerald button up covered with a black jacket left unbuttoned. He looked like he was stretching and almost put his arm around my shoulders, at the last second he backed out and smoothly ran his hand through his hair.
I bit back my laughter, "You okay, Cullen?"
"Erhm, yeah. Thanks. You look beautiful by the way." His eyes grazed over my body, landing on my eyes for the longest amount of time possible. I shifted uncomfortably, not knowing what to do or say.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
EPOV
God, why am I acting like this? All shaky and sick to my stomach. Edward Cullen does not get nervous. Not over anything. I wasn't even nervous when accepting my Oscar, or any of my other awards for God's sake. I've never been this nervous over a girl. This is just ridiculous.
I got off the elevator, fisting my hands to keep them from trembling. I unclenched them for a moment to wipe off the moisture and run them through my unruly hair. I smoothed down my button up and stood at her door.
I hope I'm not too early, I thought to myself as I lifted my fist to the door to knock. Before it could make contact it swung open.
Bella stood in the doorway looking shocked to see me. Eyes red and puff, filled with tears. Shit. Maybe she wanted to cancel, maybe she was regretting her decision. I sucked in a deep breath and waited her to shoot me down… once again. I don't know how many more times my ego could get battered by this girl.
She said nothing, so instead, I did. "Uhm, are you okay Bella?" she looked up at me and swallowed hard, and blinked back her tears and smiled. I reached out and rubbed her leather-clad arm in my attempt to soothe her, even though I wanted to do so much more than rub her arm.
"Yeah, I'm great. Are you ready?" She smiled, even though I could see through her transparent lie.
I led her to the elevator and pushed the lobby button and waited, the silence between us wasn't awkward but it wasn't exactly comfortable. I didn't know what to do in this situation, girls are always talking my ear off in an attempt to impress me, trust me it never worked.
She still looked upset, I just, God, I wanted to tell her everything would be okay and comfort her and just hug her. My arm had a mind of it's own and was almost put around her shoulders. But I stopped it and tried to blow it off by running my hand through my hair.
I looked down at her, she looked breathtaking, she smiled, "You okay, Cullen?" Last name usage, not a good sign.
"Erhm, yeah. Thanks. You look beautiful by the way." I took in her appearance slowly, appreciatively.
But what stopped me, surprisingly, were her big brown eyes. They showed strength, passion, anger but also fear, vulnerability, beauty, and fragility. She was like a puzzle waiting for me to solve, and it drove me absolutely fucking crazy.
I broke contact and waited for the elevator to ding to a stop. I had made sure Chris had exited the building five minutes before I entered to make it look like I had just been at Tanya's, the press followed him around the block a few times before they got bored and moved on to the next celebrity they saw.
I opened the door to my Volvo for her to get in, this, surprisingly, was something I do for all my dates. I may be an arrogant prick most of the time, but my mom taught me some chivalry.
She thanked me quietly and I jogged to the driver's side and sped off to 'Chez Moi'. Traffic was light, thank God, and it only took us a few minutes to get there. A few agonizingly long, silent filled minutes.
It's not that I didn't want to talk to her, I just didn't know what to talk about, I mean, I didn't want to make more of an ass of myself than I already have. I barely got her to agree to this date and I didn't want to ruin it by saying something stupid or offensive.
We pulled up to the front of the restaurant and were escorted in, the host greeted us with a cheesy smile, "Welcome to Chez Moi Mr. Cullen. We have everything ready as you requested."
"Thank you." He led us back to the private section of the restaurant, it was lit with black and maroon candles, and a crystal chandelier hung over directly over our centered table. The host sat us down and handed us our menus.
Bella looked around her, eyes wide. "Wow… this is fancy. It's really nice Edward."
I silently agreed with a smile, "So, uhm, how have you been?" I hoped she wouldn't laugh at my lame ass question.
"I've been good I guess, everything seems so…" She trailed off not thinking of a word to complete her thought.
"Hectic? Confusing?" The words came out on their own.
She looked up from her menu and smiled slightly, "Yeah, exactly." Our eyes locked for a moment and her cheeks grew red, "I can't understand any of this, I took Spanish in high school." She laughed and put her menu down, "You can order for me, I'll eat anything, except wasabi, I can't handle anymore of that."
We both laughed, "Trust me, I'm completely with you on that one. Is chicken okay with you?"
"Perfect." As if on queue, our waiter came by and got our orders.
"So how did you get into music?" I took a sip of my wine, she took one of her coke.
She pondered, thinking of how to word the question. "Well, when I was little I was diagnosed with asthma so I could never do sports or anything too strenuous, so when I turned five I spent a few months here in New York with my Grandpa Richard and he started teaching me how to play piano, I was musically gifted I supposed and picked it up easily, I started composing by the time I was twelve and then I started the guitar, which I learned by myself." She beamed proudly.
"Wow, that's impressive. I can only play the piano amateurly, I've become a bit rusty over the past few years." She smiled understandingly, "But, where did you learn to sing like that? I mean, you're amazing."
She blushed to a cherry red. "Uhm, I'm not sure. When I was younger, I would sing myself to sleep every night, to uhm, block things out. And I guess I never stopped singing." She tiptoed around the subject, keeping up her walls of secrecy that I wanted to break down.
I nodded back in return, our food returned at that very moment. I ordered us both the same thing. It was some chicken dish that I get every time I come here. She snorted loudly, did I do something wrong? "What?"
"Are they serious, this chicken is the size of my fist, no its actually smaller." She had a point…
"I've never really noticed before. But you're actually right. I guess there's a first time for everything." My hand flew up to my mouth before I knew what I was saying. Foot in mouth moment much? "Shit, Bella. I'm sorry. I, God, I didn't mean it, I swear. Word vomit." I hit myself in the head with my fist. Fuck me.
She didn't say anything. She just sat there and ate her midget chicken slowly. Silence, as we both ate. Silence, as we got the check and got into the car.
I seriously fucking blew it. things were going amazingly well, but I had to go and say something stupid and offensive. "Bella, I really am sorry, fuck, I don't know how many times I can say it. this type of thing is new to me I guess, I'm used to being able to say whatever I want and no one getting upset about it."
"That's not a good habit to have." She looked over at me as we pulled up to her building, "Shit." She let her head fall against the window.
I saw what she saw. Paps, everywhere. They rushed up to my Volvo, instantly recognizing it. I pulled away, some hopped on their mopeds and sped after us. One of them wiped out after taking a turn too fast bells started laughing hysterically.
"What a fucking douche." She snorted and her face instantly became beat red.
"I like your laugh, it's cute, and quirky." She rolled her eyes and smiled.
She sat upright in her seat and smiled, "Take a right up here." I followed her directions and they led me to a McDonald's.
"Uhm, what exactly are we doing here? We just ate dinner." Duh, Edward. Fucking dumbass.
"No shit, but that was more of an appetizer than an actual dinner, for me anyways. Now for those of us who have a lighter, more sliming, ladylike appetite, that could possibly be considered a meal." She snickered and got out of the car practically skipping to the door.
When we reached the cashier she quickly ordered without looking at the menu. "I'll take a Big Mac with extra ketchup and pickles, hold the lettuce, add a large side of fries and a side of ranch. Edward, do you want anything?"
The cashier, who was thankfully male, looked at me expectantly, recognition struck him and he winked and blew a kiss at me, Bella chuckled quietly. I reached my foot up and kicked her in the butt. I leaned in closely, "Bella, I've never actually been here before."
Her eyes grew wide in shock, "Never!" I shook my head, embarrassed, "That's a fucking crime!" She turned back to my admirer. "He'll take a Big Mac as well." She handed him a ten-dollar bill.
"Bella, no let me pay." I grabbed her hand, I felt a sudden shock and dropped it quickly.
"No, Edward, I've got more money than I want, I have to get rid of it somehow." She laughed with an edge, and subtly shook her hand.
We got our food and headed back to my car to avoid the stares of the other customers. "Bella, just so you know, this is a big deal for me. I never eat in my car. Ever."
"Well there's a first time for everything." She mocked my earlier insult.
We got in and she passed out the food. "I'm not gonna lie, this looks like shit."
She stuck her tongue out and took a huge bite of her sandwich. "Mmm, greasy, delicious, fattening. My favorite." She smiled widely and watched in anticipation as I took a bite of mine.
It was surprisingly not awful. Actually it was really good. I gave her a thumbs up and she smiled approvingly, she took out her ranch sauce, "What's that for?"
She raised her eyebrows, "God, please tell me you've had fries dipped in ranch." I said nothing. "You've been deprived!" She took out a fry covered in ranch and shoved it in my mouth.
"Bella, you have great taste in food."
"I know. What can I say, I was raised on the best food around. Mickey D's, Wendy's, BK, and the master of all fast foods, Taco Bell."
"Cheap, fast, Mexican food. Sounds yummy." I silently gagged.
"You have a lot to learn kid."
We finished off our meal and we left the parking lot. "Uhm, do you think you're apartment is clear yet?"
She scoffed, "Last time they were there for seven hours straight, definitely not."
"Do you want to just come back to my place, just until your apartment is clear. We could watch a movie or something. If you want to of course."
"Sure why not?" She shrugged her shoulders as I turned around to head to my building.
I turned up the music and it played lightly in the background, I reached out quickly to turn the song. She shot her handout to stop mine.
"No stop, I love this song." Her cheeks tinted with pink.
"You like Debussy?"
"My grandpa used to play it all the time, told me that it stimulated brain activity and that I would thank him for it later." She laughed at the memory and I pulled up to the valet station.
"Well, here we are." I said as I opened the door to my apartment.
"It's uhm, cozy?"
"Yeah, I know. Its like a space station." I laughed and she joined in too. "So, what movie? I have just about every single movie ever made."
She walked over to my collection and she stoop studying all of them, she picked out a few of them. "You own 'The Little Mermaid'?"
"Hey, I had a weird obsession with King Triton. I dressed up as him for Halloween for three years straight, not to mention my soft spot for red heads when I was little."
"Do you still have a soft spot for them now?"
I thought about it, "No, I prefer brunettes." I winked as she turned back to my DVD's. she picked one and put it into my DVD player.
She came back and sat awkwardly down on the couch. A foot away. I felt like I was in seventh grade again. I leaned over, "I won't bite. I promise."
She rolled her eyes and scooted closer to me. I placed my arm around her shoulders as 'The Little Rascals' began to play. Nice choice, Bella.
She shifted uncomfortably, she tugged on her dress. She kicked off her heels and huffed, "You okay, Bells?"
"Yeah, fucking Alice and her uncomfortable clothes." She arched her back giving me a nice view of her chest.
"Here I can help with that. I'll be right back." I got up quickly, leaving the warmth of her body.
I ran into my room and stripped putting on an old t-shirt and pair of sweats. I picked out a pair of my smaller sweats and a t-shirt from my younger days and headed back out to the theatre room. "Here these should fit. The bathroom's right around the corner."
"Thanks." I listened to the soft pad of her bare feet as she walked away. I settled back onto the couch and watched Alfalfa hit on Darla.
Bella came out looking… scared? Yeah, that was the right word. "See a ghost?"
"Your toilet talked to me…"
"Oh yeah, I hate that thing, every time you get up it reminds you to flush, scared the piss out of me the first time too." We both laughed lightly.
Bella plopped down on the couch beside. Hello, little Eddie. Screw Megan Fox and Tanya Denali. Bella in my sweats was the sexiest thing I have ever laid eyes on.
I shifted myself to accommodate my situation. Bella eyed me curiously, "Does Alfalfa give you a hard-on Eddo? Didn't know you played for the other team." She patted my leg.
"No, this is all because of you, babe."
We watched the movie in relative silence, except for the occasional joke or funny comment.
But finally it finished and we turned it back to the TV, one of the gossip channels was on and a picture of Bella and me filled the screen, I quickly turned it off.
She let out a sigh. "I hate this."
"What exactly?"
"I hate being talked about 24/7 when I'm not even famous. Why does everyone care who I hang out with. It's none of their damn business!"
"At least you're being rumored to be dating me."
"How does that make it any better?" That stung, "No offense, but seriously. I just wish I could disappear."
"Bella, you should be happy that everyone thinks I'm dating you." She jumped off the couch and ran to the door. Stopping before she opened it.
"This is exactly why I would never date you!"
"And why is that?" I threw up my hands in the air.
"Because you're a cocky son of a bitch who can pretend to be so sweet and caring one minute and the next he's acting like God's gift to Earth! It's tiring Edward, you can't be both people!"
"Don't be a fucking hypocrite Bella! You're the one who runs hot and cold with me every other day." I let out my anger, "One day you're dropping suggestive comments and rubbing your hot, little hands all over me and then the next all you can do is insult me!"
"You're so full of shit Edward!" She shoved me away as hard as she could. God, she was so fucking hot when she was angry. I grabbed her shoulders roughly, but not roughly enough to hurt her, and pushed her against the wall.
She slapped me across the face, but that didn't stop me. I grasped her lips in mine and she released my arms and ran her little fingers through my hair. God, if only she knew how amazing that felt. She fisted them and yanked, hard. My hands went to her hips and shoved them onto my growing erection.
I groaned loudly as our tongues clashed together, she tasted like honey and smelled like fresh strawberries. Heaven. She grabbed at my shirt ripping and tugging at it. I wasted no time and discarded it throwing it in our wake to my bedroom. Her legs were wrapped around my waist as we hit the big bed together.
She pulled off her shirt revealing a black, lacy bra. So fucking sexy. Our tongues kept moving in sync, electrical currents flowing through my veins, making my heart beat erratically.
My mouth worked diligently on her neck, biting, licking and sucking on her pressure points earning loud moans, "God, Edward!"
I knew that line, that was the panty dropper. My hands went to the elastic band of her pants. She caught her breath and stopped me. "Not tonight." She kissed me lightly on my swollen lips.
That wasn't a 'never', it was pretty much a 'later'. I could accept that on the first date. I agreed, "Not tonight." She put her shirt back on and straightened out her hair.
"Uhm, I better go, can you call a cab?" I scoffed.
"Bella, it's past midnight, you can just sleep here. Don't worry I'll sleep on the couch."
"Are you sure, I'd probably be more comfortable out there." She got out of the bed, but I restrained her.
"Bella, you're absurd, I would let you have a guest room but seeing as they're not ready, you can just sleep here." I kissed her forehead, "No buts, goodnight Bella." I hugged her tightly before retreating for the night.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Last night… no words. It wasn't perfect, but it was pretty damn close.
I pulled up to Bella's building, she turned to look at me, biting her lip. "Uhm, do you wanna come up? I was thinking about making breakfast."
Bella and breakfast? "Yeah, I'd like that."
We headed up to her apartment, Bella ignored all the dirty looks she was getting from the female employees, she didn't even yell at the one who muttered 'slut' under her breath. She just walked into her apartment with a huge smile on her face.
She walked straight into the kitchen and began pulling out supplies as well as bacon, eggs, sausages, and biscuits. Just as she was spraying the pan the doorbell rang.
I got up from my seat, "I'll get it Bells."
I raced to the door. I opened it up, it was a man with brown curly hair, gray overtaking and streaking the sides, along with a matching mustache stood beside a woman with honey colored hair and golden brown eyes that were adorned with wrinkles. The man's dark brown eyes were cold and hard.
"Edward, who is it?" Bella came up behind me, she dropped the pan she was holding, the metal colliding with the wood floors with a clatter, "Mom, dad? What the hell are you doing here?"
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
Wow, okay so that took me long enough right, well it was my birthday on the 10th of September and I got my license, so I haven't been at home as much.
Volleyball should be over in a few weeks giving me a TON of more time, so just a little more patience is all I ask of you.
This chapter probably wouldn't have gotten posted without the help of the amazing Joss17! She also picked out Bella's outfit which is on my homepage devynx3 . webs . Com .
Thank you to everyone who reviewed! They all were amazing and they helped me get through this chapter.
This was the longest chapter I have EVER written, I really hope you enjoyed it. it was hard to write in hour spurts whenever I got the time.
Even though I've been terrible and took forever to update a REVIEW would be very much appreciated. I'm going to try and write tomorrow some after my volleyball game.
To keep tabs on my you can check out my twitter, link on my profile.
Again thanks sooo much for you're patience and keeping your hate mail to yourself.
I love you all, and please review (:
You're very apologetic author,
-Devyn
