Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, Stephanie Meyer does.
This is all me! No beta, no rough draft. Just me with lots of sugar, little sleep, excitement left over from Monday (The Hush Sound concert!) and building up for Friday and the weekend (Boris concert, Hellboy II, and Batman!), and getting over the small case of Writer's Block I've had since writing the last chapter!
I ask that you be on the look out for misplaced words, my typing tonight has not been very good and I got words mixed up quite a bit. I've scoured it and I think I've fixed everything, but if you see something, feel free to tell me about it – I won't be offended and you'll get a thank you for pointing it out.
Reviews are greatly appreciated, as is constructive criticism. If there are MAJOR flaws in the personalities I've given the characters that belong to Ms. Meyer that you simply feel would kill you if I don't fix them, let me know in a way that is not rude. K THNX.
Chapter Eleven
When Bella had heard the mower start up next door, she couldn't help but glance over. Her face fell slightly when she saw that it was only Emmett; not Edward. With a groan, she put her head back on the lawn chair and closed her eyes.
After reading Edward's letter the night before, she had found it near impossible to keep her mind off of him. The only dreams she could remember – and probably the ones she couldn't – were about him, her entire breakfast was spent glancing towards the phone like he was going to call at any minute, and she'd even gone as far to check her voicemail after her shower in case he'd called. Frankly, it was getting annoying.
She didn't want to think of him, she wanted to be indifferent, but, since that was clearly not going to be the case, she wanted to be angry at him. She wanted to not think of him every five seconds and not wish that he were thinking of her every five seconds.
"Emmett. Emmett! Emmett!"
Bella's attention instantly snapped back to the Cullen's yard at the sound of Edward's voice. She gazed at him, he looked amazing – as always. He was holding the phone out for Emmett, his hair being slightly mussed by the wind, and the black-framed glasses he used for reading perched on his nose; the ones that Bella was actually quite fond of.
She couldn't stop the blush from crossing her cheek as her thoughts traveled back to the letter and her imagination ran a little wild. She could just picture Edward, writing it; those glasses perched on his nose, his utterly perfect bottom lip being held by his utterly perfect straight and white teeth, his eyebrows furrowed slightly…
She shook her head, clearly the thoughts away and looked to her lap, where the book she'd brought out to read was forgotten.
She had attempted to read inside in various places, but…it was no use, Edward had been in there too much, the only experience she'd had with him in the backyard was the embarrassing almost-drowning incident; which she had nearly succeeded in blocking out. She thought it would be safe, but had obviously overlooked the possibility that he would be out there – or…had she?
She groaned again, not sure which was worse: forgetting such an important detail about their no-privacy-from-the-other backyards or knowing this and hoping on a subconscious level that he'd be out there.
Bella got to her feet and took herself back inside. She dropped the book on the kitchen table, shut the sliding glass door, and flipped on a radio. She knew full well only one option remained: cleaning.
She swept, vacuumed, mopped, dusted, ran the dishwasher...everything was going swimmingly until some strangely familiar lyrics began fluttering from the stereo as she was applying Windex to the windows.
"I got a pocket, got a pocketful of sunshine, I got a love and I know that it's all mine, do what you want, but you're never gonna break me, sticks and stones are never gonna shake me…"
Bella stopped moving the rag across the glass, the spray bottle raised and trigger pulled half-way back. Her mind suddenly wasn't with that window, rag, and blue liquid anymore, no, now it was occupied with a memory, the memory, of Edward in the Cullen's kitchen preparing dinner as he sung – and danced, if you can call the swaying of his backside dancing – along with it.
"Take me away, a secret place. A sweet escape, take me away. Take me away to better days. Take me away, a hiding place."
Bella growled in frustration and dropped the contents of her hands before springing towards the radio.
"I got a pocket – "
She cut the music off and flopped on the floor, her back resting against one of the kitchen cabinets, a hand held across her eyes. Well, she thought glumly as she pulled herself to her feet, there can be no doubt about it: the universe wants us to be together.
There was no way that her thoughts, seeing him, and then hearing that one song were all coincidence; Fate and Destiny, and whoever else was sitting up (or down) there watching her, wanted her to be with Edward Cullen – at least, that's what she had decided.
She put her hands on her hips, "There's simply nothing else that can be done, I have to go to him. Yes, I simply have to," she looked skywards, "Because that's what you want, isn't it?"
The ceiling didn't answer.
Bella, not really caring that she sounded completely insane just then, headed towards the stairs. Her plan was a simple one: she'd get Edward's sweatshirt, take it back to him, they'd end up making-out in every room of the Cullen house, and then, once that was done with, they would each profess their love for the other and that would be that.
Of course, this plan would never happen.
Bella had only just made it to the first stair when she was interrupted by the doorbell. She debated a quick moment on whether or not to open it, decided to, and was surprised to see Alice standing there.
"Alice! I was just coming over there!"
The pixie-esque girl shook her head, "No, you weren't…you and I were just on our way to the mall!"
Alice grabbed Bella's wrist and had begun pulling her out the door before Bella managed to convince her to let her go back and get her wallet, keys, and purse; as money was generally part of shopping.
"I was going to loan you some, I probably still will, I want you to be wearing the perfect thing! Now, c'mon, let's go."
Bella couldn't help but wonder what exactly she'd be doing that she needed to be wearing the 'perfect thing'…
--
A couple hours later found Alice and Bella sitting at a table in the food court, a couple bags surrounding each one of them.
"Bella," Alice leaned forward, "I have a confession to make."
Bella sipped her juice and eyed Alice suspiciously for a moment, "…Oh?"
Alice nodded, "Today wasn't just about finding you a great outfit for tomorrow…but also to…well, I'm not sure…I guess drop a few good words for my bro."
"Oh! So, all this stuff we bought is for – "
"That's not important," Alice said, cutting her off, "I just want to let you know that…Edward's never had a girlfriend before."
"I'm not his girlfriend," Bella tried her hardest to keep a blush from appearing on her cheeks at the mere thought of being the girlfriend of such an attractive and fantastic person.
"He wants you to be his girlfriend."
Trying to keep her blush at bay was completely forgotten at those words, now it was trying to keep from choking on her juice, "What?"
Alice smiled, "You heard what I said – oh, but don't let him know I told you."
"I…uh…I…"
"I assume you're going to come over tomorrow."
"…I thought I was supposed to meet him at the movie theater…"
Alice giggled, "Well, yeah…at nine, but before that you're supposed to come to my house, so I can help you get ready…didn't he put that in his note?"
Bella shook her head, "No, he didn't put that in his letter…"
"Hmm, well, he was supposed to," Alice waved her hand, "Oh, well, you know now. You are going to come, aren't you? You simply must."
"I…I guess I have no choice…seeing as how you've bought me and forced me to buy all this…" Bella indicated to the bags and sighed, "What time should I be over?"
Alice grinned widely, "Oh, that's easy! Seven p.m. That gives us two hours to get you gorgeous and to the theater. How's that sound? Good, right?"
Bella shrugged and took another sip of her juice, if only so the cup would hide her smile (she secretly loved when Alice would dress her up), "Sounds good to me."
"Cool beans!"
Bella raised an eyebrow, "'Cool beans'?"
Now it was Alice's turn to shrug, "Just trying it out."
--
"Well, she's coming!" Alice announced proudly as she stepped through the door to the den Edward was currently occupying. Of course, it didn't really matter that she had said anything, for he was sitting on one of the couch, leaning over a notebook that was perched on his legs, a pair of headphones covering his ears, and a look of concentration on his face; he scribbled something down before switching the song.
Alice laughed and plopped down next to him, pushed the headphones off his head, and grabbed his notebook. She scanned the page before he grabbed it back, "Aww, you're like an adorable twelve-year-old…"
Edward simply scowled at her and paused the music, "I am not. I just want it to be perfect."
Alice got back to her feet, patted his head, and crossed back to the door she'd entered through before looking back at him, "Eddie, I think as long as you're there saying what you're going to…it will be perfect."
He nodded, but put the headphones and look of concentration back on.
I don't like this chapter, so, I hope your feelings are warmer for it than mine and that you'll leave me a comment or two, seeing as how this is the chapter RIGHT BEFORE the LAST chapter! …And, who knows, your comments may result in extras being written - or this chapter being rewritten...depending on how I feel in the morning.
