hey guys. sorry this took so long to get out! i typed up the wrong chapter by mistake. so anyways here it is.
don't forget to check out my new story (chapter two will be posted tomorrow) and leave a review!
I DO NOT own twilight or it's characters. And I DO NOT own Ex-mas by Kate Brian. I am simply not creative enough to get my own story line.
Chapter 12
Outside Perk-O-Late
Seattle
December 23
9:32 P.M.
Bella POV
I could feel the slap of the cold winter air the moment we stepped back out on the sidewalk, leaving the warm, cozy atmosphere of the coffee shop. The difference this time was, I didn't care. I was warmed from the inside out. And it had nothing to do with...
Edward slowly lowered his perfect mouth to mine, keeping my eyes the whole time. We gazed into each other's eyes: his were so incredible, such a dark, vibrant green, full of emotions I could barely register in my foggy mind. I was rendered breathless.
My only thought was that I wanted him to kiss me. I needed him to kiss me. And he was going too slow!
He must have read the impatience, clear as day, in my eyes and finally closed the too-big gap between our mouths.
The moment his soft, smooth lips touched mine, a shock like static ran down my back and curled my toes. He kissed my gently, his big, warm hand sliding into my hair softly. He handled me like glass; his touch was so careful and gentle.
The emotions running haywire through my body were mind-blowing. I craved more of his cinnamon flavored lips and hard body.
Shaking slightly, I wrapped my arms around his waist and pulled him up against me. I kissed him back, heedless and happy.
From that moment on, I knew one thing and one thing only: I would only ever want Edward's lips against mine for the rest of my life.
Okay, okay, you got me! So of course that had to do with the warmth in my body. But you kiss Edward Anthony Masen and tell me it doesn't make your head spin!
I smiled up at Edward and he smiled back and it was so easy and effortless. Then again, neither of us had stopped smiling since we stepped off that stage.
Edward kissed me again, right there, on the sidewalk.
Cupping my face between his hands, he took his time, letting his lips linger on mine. Fire coursed through my body when his lips parted and he continued the kiss. My hands greedily tangled themselves into his thick bronze hair. It was silky and soft in between my fingers. When he kissed my deeper, I welcomed the electric shock from his addicting mouth and tugged at the roots of his hair, enough to make him groan softly into my mouth.
My heart leapt into my throat at the sound and I hungrily kissed him back until he pulled away.
His eyes were dark and beautiful when he grinned crookedly at me in wonder and chastely kissed me once more.
"Just wanted to make sure it wasn't just a trick of the stage lights," Edward murmured, his lips brushing against mine as he spoke. I trembled with pleasure.
"You didn't hear me complaining," I giggled like a little school girl and stood on my tiptoes to kiss him this time.
The snow swirled around us as I kissed him slowly. It all felt so surreal: it felt like we were stuck in a Christmas Snow globe, just the two of us, kissing and holding each other like nothing else in the world mattered.
When we pulled away, we were both breathing heavier and grinning like mad fools. Edward slung his arm around my shoulder and I loved the way I could feel my body molding into his. It was crazy how well we fit together, come to think of it, we always had. It was like we were made for each other, a puzzle incomplete without the other piece.
"Hmm, it does seem pretty real," Edward drawled. "But I might have to check again." He winked at me.
I blushed and stuck my tongue out at him. I really liked this flirty, goofy Edward. Actually I more than 'liked' it...
I glanced down at my watch and my stomach dropped with a sickening lurch and I stopped dead.
"What?" Edward asked, his fingertips dancing across the back of my neck, leaving goose bumps and a trail of heat in their wake.
"Oh my God," I managed to squeak out. "Edward, the train! It's arriving in ten minutes!" I almost screamed in panic.
Edward cursed loudly and rudely enough to attract the offended stares of two women who happened to walk by at the wrong time. Then Edward grabbed my hand and linked his fingers through mine quickly and was tugging, running, slipping, and sliding down the wintry Seattle sidewalks, weaving in and out of the crowds of people doing their last minute Christmas shopping.
"How could we let this happen?" I cried.
Edward didn't respond till we came to a halt at the traffic light. He bounced up and down on his feet impatiently.
"We can't let them get past us here," Edward said in a low voice. "If they find a way to sneak across the border..."
My stomach filled with dread.
"They'll be in Canada. And we don't have passports." I finished flatly.
"Exactly," He agreed. "We're screwed."
The traffic light changed.
"Better run," I said.
So we did.
-***-
I was out of breath and even Edward was breathing hard when we reached the Amtrak Station. He threw open the door and I collided with his hard, muscled back, almost knocking the wind out of me as he came to a halt.
Edward muttered something and used his arm to lift me over a pile of suitcases he almost tripped over.
"They're everywhere!" I groaned as I looked around the station. It seemed like the entire city of Seattle was hanging out here. It was almost Christmas Eve Day, after all.
I skirted around the porter's trolley, bruising my shins somehow in the process, only to narrowly avoid getting knocked down by a couple who refused to separate their clasped hands.
We wove our way through the thick crowd of people, fighting to get in front of the big arrivals board. I glimpsed at the track number, next to the bright orange digital clock time: 9:39
"Follow me!" I shouted, running faster than I ever have in my entire life. There was no time to think that according the board, the train was arriving.
I pumped my arms and legs faster and faster, with Edward sprinting ahead of me vaulting over another pile of luggage.
We're never gonna make it in time!
I could hear the tick-tock of the clock to the countdown of the end of my life in the back of my brain.
We skidded to a stop at the end of the platform and saw that the train was still moving, pulling into the station at this very second. The moonlight gleamed off its shiny exterior.
"Thank God," I sighed with relief. My heart still pounding away in my chest and my stomach flipping anxiously.
Edward pulled his beanie farther down onto his ears. "We don't have them yet."
The good news was: the train ended its run in Seattle, so everybody had to disembark. No games this time like back in San Jose. The boys would have to get off the train to get on the one headed into Canada. I knew that didn't mean other games wouldn't be played though. I'd be an idiot to underestimate Emmett now.
We moved together down the platform as the train's doors opened and passengers began to rush out. They traveled in packs, lugging bags and suitcases behind them, smooshing together at the train doors. There were so many people. How were we going to pick out just two?
"Crap," Edward muttered.
"Just look for short people," I said as I scanned the crowd for Emmett's dark brown curls.
My heart sank. The platform was a zoo. Singles and couples leaving the train, families embracing each other, because it was Christmas. I scanned the crowd for what felt like forever. Was it bad to have your heart beating like a hummingbird's wings for more than ten minutes? I saw kids with red hair, blonde hair, dark skin, freckled skin, green eyes, brown eyes, short ones, tall ones, fat ones, skinny ones, but none that were Emmett or Jasper.
"Did we miss them?" The crowds were thinning out now and I was starting to panic.
Where were they? Were they hiding somewhere on board? Could they have done something really stupid like jump off the train before it hit the station? My stomach twisted further when I treated myself to an image of Emmett leaping from a moving train, hitting the frozen ground...
No. We will find him. And Jasper. That's it. Nothing else is possible.
But there were so many people. Children. The noise was unreal. Too many big coats and bags and not enough room.
Panic spread through my stomach and took up residence as a lump in my throat.
They could be right here in front of us and we'd never see them.
Then something caught my eye. A patch of green in the crowd. I grabbed Edward's arm.
"Edward, look." I pointed to a bench.
He looked. I couldn't move for a moment, too busy taking in the sight of Emmett. His blue eyes were wide and worried. Him and Jasper were huddled together on the bench. Emmett was holding his backpack in his lap like it was a teddy bear, chewing on his lower lips nervously. A trait we shared, I now noticed.
I narrowed my eyes at his expression.
He should be nervous.
"Come on," Edward said in a rough, velvet voice. He sounded like a grown-up. A pissed off grown-up. But his eyes showed something else.
I realized he didn't seem to consider the outcomes as he strode towards them at an angry pace.
I did consider them, though. What if Emmett bolted? What if he claimed Edward and I were abducting him? I wouldn't put it past him by this point.
But maybe Edward did consider the bolting problem because he gestured with his long hands for me to go around one end of the bench while he took the other. They looked so small and pathetic as the big crowds passed around them. Keeping our eyes on each other, we circled the boys, until we had them cornered.
"Oh," Emmett said when he saw us.
"Oh?" I echoed, all the tension and panic leaking out of my body. "That's all you have to say?'Oh?'"
But I wasn't as made as I expected to be. In fact, looking at his brown curls and big blue eyes on his chubby face with a chocolate smudge on his rosy cheek, I did something I never intended to do the moment I saw him.
I hugged him.
The feeling to hug was accompanied by the urge to strangle him as well. He was maddening but he was my little brother and I couldn't deny that I was glad to have found him in one piece.
Emmett was shocked at first but after a moment, he wound his arms around me and buried his face under the base of my throat. The feeling of Emmett, safe in my arms, caused me to choke up and tears filled my eyes.
He was okay. He was okay and here.
...And close enough for me to beat him into a bloody pulp!
I was still infuriated with him.
I pulled away and scrubbed my tears away with the back of my hand, ignoring Edward watching me, and put my hands on Emmett's shoulders and leaning down so we were face to face.
"How could you do that, Emmett?! Don't get me wrong, I'm glad you're okay, but I could just... GAH! Why did you do that?" I yelled.
"I had to rescue Santa! I still do! It's an emergency!" Emmett cried, his eyes wide and serious.
"Santa can take care of himself," Edward interjected, flicking a look at me. He had one hand on Jasper's shoulder and I couldn't tell if he was giving him some kind of almost-guy hug or if he was just making sure Jasper didn't take off again. Both, probably.
"But-"
"He's been around how long now?" I asked following Edward's lead as he started to walk through the crowd propelling Jasper before him. Emmett let his sneakers scuff against the floor more than necessary but followed too. I stayed slightly behind him, ready to tackle him to the ground if he even so much as thought about running for it.
"The ice caps!" Jasper cried, his dark green eyes (exactly like Edward's...well we can see whose going to be the next lady magnet...) wide and his wavy, blond hair (funny since no one in Edward's family had blonde hair) shaking with his head. "What about the ice caps!"
Edward threw an exasperated look over his shoulder at me. His meaning was clear: You made this mess, clean it up.
I rolled my eyes but nodded.
"Guys," I said as we stepped out onto the street in front of the station. The cold Seattle twilight around us. "Are we talking about Santa Clause here or what?"
"So?" Emmett grumbled.
"Does he or does he not possess flying reindeer?" I asked in my best are you dumber than Paris Hilton? voice. "And does he or does he not have an entire workshop of elves?"
Jasper looked adorably hopeful behind his rapidly fogging Harry Potter glasses. But Emmett just scowled.
"So what?" Emmett demanded. "What does that have to do with Global Warming?"
"I think Santa can handle himself," I said with a dramatic sniff. "He manages to make Christmas happen every year. He flies around the world and delivers presents to billions of houses. Plus he knows whose been naughty," I gave him a pointed look. "Or nice. What's a little warm weather compared to that? Are you doubting his mad skills?" I finished incredulously.
Emmett's scowl turns into a small smile at my last question. I'm speaking his language now.
We arrive at Jake's car. Em and Jasper stare at it in confusion.
"My sister's boyfriend's car," Emmett said after a minute, rolling his eyes at Jasper like that was a punch line. Jasper sighed in commiseration.
I glance over to see Edward bristle at the word boyfriend. His jaw was clenched and his eyes darkened.
"Not anymore," he growled.
Funny, he looks even more attractive jealous, I thought with a blush.
"Just get in," I ordered them.
Instead of getting in the passenger seat though, I walk around to the back of the car and lean against the bumper as I stare at the moon. And instead of hearing Edward tell me to get into the car; I hear the click of the doors lock. I turn to see Edward holding the key pressing the button on the little control pad. We ignore the grumbles and protests from our brothers inside the car.
"Everything okay?" Edward asks softly once he takes in my, I'm-trying-so-hard-not-to-cry-and-look-tough-instead expression.
"Yes," I manage to croak out.
"Then why do you look so sad?" He asks and wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me up against his chest, with his back leaning against the car. He leans his chin on my shoulder as he waits for me to answer. This of course takes me a while to remember, momentarily forgotten by his touch.
"That's just it. Everything's okay now," I sniffle and try to push away the stinging in my eyes. "I mean you probably think I'm so emotional wreck right? Why on Earth would a girl be crying if everything was okay? But I'm just glad it is. Like this journey after Emmett and Jasper. Anything could have happened to them, and it would have been my fault. Because I was being a stupid, selfish, spoiled brat." I said trying to keep the water from falling down my face.
Edward listens quietly, patiently moving his hands up and down my arms in a soothing motion.
"I just want to be so mad at myself and yet I can't. Because also from my being a selfish brat, it brought me to see the guy Jake really was." Edward stiffened at his name but I had to get this out. "At first I was so mad and upset... I though Jake meant everything to me..." Edward started to pull away but I continued quickly to get the wrong idea out of his head. "But he didn't. And I'm relieved he cheated on me. I'm relieved I won't have to pretend I love him, anymore. And I'm happy. Happier than I've ever been in my whole entire life because being who I was brought us together on this journey. Brought me to realize I'd never loved Jake. Brought me to realize that I...I..." I stopped speaking when my throat closed up. The tears were dangerously close now...
"That you what, love?" Edward whispered quietly, sweetly in my ear. The tears started flowing at love.
"I still care for you, need you, and want you more than anything in my life. That's why I just can't be mad at myself. I can only be happy. If I had never acted so childish, Emmett never would have ran off with Jasper, we wouldn't have had to go find them together, and I'd never be feeling what I'm feeling right now. And it's the best feeling."
Edward is silent. And now I'm scared. What if he doesn't feel the same way? He pulls away from me and the tears fall harshly in big fat drops down my face but, he spins me around to face him and cups my face in his hands.
"I feel the exact same way," Edward whispers, smiling so beautifully and happily, I cry harder.
"Really?" I croak out my vision blurry.
"Of course. Why do you think I left the scolding part to you? If I would have had to do it, I would have ended up thanking him and having a victory touch-down dance with him and Jasper." Edward chuckled and I laughed.
"And you've never been stupid or selfish. You've always been you. Sweet, caring, beautiful Isabella Swan. It may not have been present for a while, but it's always been there. And hopefully it always will be."
"But," He continued. "About the spoiled brat thing… well…" He trailed off mockingly.
I laughed through my tears and punched his shoulder.
He pretended my punch hurt him with a whiny "Oww" and grinned down at me.
Edward wiped my tears away gently with warm fingertips, then kissed my forehead and leaned his against it. His hands rested lightly on my hips and I automatically rested my hands around his neck.
"Bella?" He asked quietly after a moment.
"Yes?"
"May I kiss you?" Edward asked somewhat shyly, grinning crookedly at me. It made my heart thump even more unevenly. I ignored the fact that I probably look terrible and puffy-eyed, and red-nosed and told him the truth.
"Like you even need to ask." I smiled at him, losing myself in his jade orbs.
He leaned in and when our lips were less then a millimeter apart, we heard a chorus of,
"Eww!"
"Gross!"
"Get a room!"
"Nasty!"
"I'm officially scarred for life!"
"I think I'm gonna hurl!"
"Oh hush up!" I yelled at them, glaring over Edward's shoulder.
Edward's mouth quirked up at the corner like he was fighting a smile.
"I love that snotty voice of yours. Especially when you use it good instead of evil."
I really wanted to close the distance between our lips now but I caught Emmett and Jasper watching us through the back window with grossed-out faces. And more importantly we had about eighteen hours to drive through if we wanted to beat my parents home by tomorrow night.
So I leaned in and whispered huskily in Edward's ear, "Later.", my lips brushing his ear for effect.
He shivered and I was thrilled I had that kind of power over him. But then the way his eyes rested on my lips hungrily reminded me who had more power.
We reluctantly disentangled ourselves from each other and walked back to the front of the car. He unlocked and opened my door for me and smiled crookedly at me when I said thanks, stuttering my heartbeats. Then when Edward got into the driver's side, I remembered Emmett's escapades and clicked the child safety lock.
"You didn't have to do that," Emmett replied sulkily.
"You're lucky you're not bound and gagged in the trunk," I told him without turning around. Edward started the car.
"Fine but I want McDonald's," Emmett said.
"Well, I want you in the trunk," I say throwing a glare over my shoulder at him as Edward pulled out into traffic and started the long drive toward home.
Emmett's mouth twitched like he couldn't decide whether to laugh or pout.
"If you don't put me in the trunk, I'll give you your phone back."
I realized as soon as he said it that I'd completely forgotten about it. How weird. Especially when my dad threatened to have it surgically removed from my ear.
Everything I'd forgotten in Edward's presence all came back to me in a rush, making me dizzy: the party I "grudgingly" let Alice throw. Jacob's betrayal. My entire life at North Valley High, that I'd stopped caring about somewhere in Oregon the night before. Even now, remembering everything that had been so critical to me, I felt an odd distance from it all.
I wasn't even sure I wanted the phone back. It was like I was almost afraid to reccconnect with it, with who I was when I had it.
But maybe I'm just being crazy; my old self was what got me into this in the first place. And I was happy about that. Besides, I could handle a phone.
I stared Emmett down, extended my hand and waited.
"Fine," Emmett sighed dramatically and slapped the phone into my hand. "But if you put me in the trunk, I'm telling."
"Go ahead," I suggested. "And be sure to explain how you happened to be in Seattle in the first place."
"You'll get in trouble!" Emmett warned.
"Sure," I raised my eyebrows. "But so will you."
When I faced forward again, Edward was grinning.
"What?" I whispered.
"I told you," He said, looking at me with a glint in his eye, then turning back to the snow-covered road. "It's that voice." He said huskily and winked.
I flushed finding it hard to breath then settled back into the seat and tried to get comfortable for the long drive ahead of us. I fiddled with my phone a bit but checked my messages when Edward was pulling out onto the freeway.
I blinked at the screen.
I had thirty-eight new text messages and eight voicemail. All from Jake.
I opened the first text after making sure Edward was still scowling at the traffic. It was dated the night before, right about when Edward picked me up in Jake's car.
I SUCK. SO SORRY. CAN'T APOLIGIZE ENOUGH. PLZ CALL. I LOVE YOU.
I gulped in a quick breath. I looked over at Edward again. Our song played in my head. I felt that warmth inside me catching fire within. I could still feel his tingling kisses on my lips, his hands against my skin. I could see the way he looked at me, like he truly saw me.
Then I stole a glance down at his bruised knuckles. When Emmett and Jasper weren't looking, I took Edward's bruised hand off the wheel and into my hand. I brought it gently up to my lips and softly gave each bruised knuckle a butterfly kiss.
Edward started at me with an expression so passionate, my face flushed. His expression held awe, shock, happiness, and love.
His eyes burned into mine, before mouthing "Later" with much eviction.
When he released my eyes, I scrolled through the menu and, with one last peek at his bruised knuckles that were lying gently in my small hand, selected DELETE ALL.
-***-
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only like two chapters left guys ); and maybe an epilogue?
