AN – Thank you truly for all of your adoring reviews! So many new people came out of hiding last chapter; it was fantastic. I got a lot of great ideas for outtakes from a lot of you, too! Here is your next chapter (in only three days' time). See, your reviews do pay off ;)
Extra special thank you to my lovely beta, Ginginlee, & prereaders, lizzylillyrose, sammielynnsmom, and morethanmyself. They still worked hard on this even though I got it to them at the very last minute. You guys are the best, and I love y'all dearly.
The beautiful IllicitWriter makes PicTeases for SW every week. They are amazing – to see them you can follow me on twitter: kas90_ or check out my blog. Link is on my ffnet page. ALSO! If you want to see what all the characters (like Seth, Rachel, Lana, Patrick, etc.) look like to me, you can check out the video I made for SW – link also on my ffnet page
And the lovely Coldplaywhore wrote up a review of SW for P.I.C.'s FanFic Corner – check out the very sweet review here: picffcorner(dot)blogspot(dot)com (Thank you, CPW!)
…
"Can I see you tomorrow?" I asked, suddenly worried that I had done something wrong and that he wouldn't want to come over. Insecurities wracked through my body, and doubt filled my mind. I knew my voice sounded pathetic and a little clingy, my usual wit and strength nowhere to be found.
I couldn't help but thinktoo much, too fast,over and over in my head.
"Yeah," he answered simply. "I'll call you."
With another quick kiss on my lips, again refusing to meet my eyes, he slid on his shoes and climbed out of my window.
I collapsed back on my bed, fully embarrassed, my heart feeling as though it had sunk out of my chest, and I cried myself to sleep.
Chapter 21
1987
When I woke up the next morning, I felt very…silly. Prying my eyes open – not without effort, thanks to my caked-on mascara – I looked around my room and tried to regroup. My window was still open, the breeze coming through and the sunshine making shadows in the small space. I took a deep breath and rubbed my tired eyes, sitting up and pushing the blanket off my legs. A knock at the door shook me from the rest of my slumber, and I hummed in response.
Uncle Charlie poked his head in, his forehead crinkling in concern when he took in my appearance.
"What's wrong, darlin'?" he asked, taking a step closer towards me.
"What do you mean?" My voice was still thick with sleep, and I removed my stare from his, sure that he could see right through me. I felt very thin and transparent in that moment.
"You just…" He paused, scratching his head. "Never mind. You've got a visitor downstairs."
"A visitor?"
"Yes, Mary Poppins has come to see you, now go wash your face. Your breakfast is getting cold."
I couldn't help but smile and rub my eye again, as if removing the traces of my leftover makeup would erase all the doubt and terrible memories I had from the night before. Things had been going well, and it felt good, until it just...didn't.
I climbed out of bed quickly after Charlie closed the door, going straight to the bathroom to clean up a bit. He didn't say who was here, but I couldn't help the sudden drop my stomach experienced when I thought about who it could be.
I simply brushed my teeth, threw my hair into a bun, and scrubbed my face practically raw. I didn't bother changing out of my long t-shirt as my bare feet carried me down the steps, the boards squeaking beneath my weight.
I turned the corner of the kitchen, smacking right into someone's back, my head hitting their shoulder blade, sending a shooting pain through my skull. "Ah, man," I hissed out, covering the top of my left eye with my hands and crouching over a bit.
I felt hands on my shoulders, holding me up before a hand smoothed out the hair pulled back on my head.
"Are you okay?" the voice asked, and I looked up to see Riley standing only inches away from me.
I flinched back on instinct, surprised that it was him who I had run into. "Yeah, sorry, I didn't see you there," I excused, walking around him this time and fully into the kitchen, my hand still over my eye.
My limited visibility allowed me to see, however, Charlie sitting at the table reading the paper and Edward leaning against the counter, though I wasn't able to decipher the look on his face.
My steps stopped as soon as I saw him, feeling very naked in just my t-shirt.
"You okay there, slugger?" Charlie asked before taking a sip from his coffee cup, not even bothering to look at me as he continued reading the paper.
"Sure," I said, not being able to take my eyes off of Edward's.
His eyes only left mine to travel further down my body, lingering on the tan skin of my visible thighs.
"What are you guys doing here?" I finally was able to ask, thankful that my tone sounded more curious than it did bitter.
"I just wanted to come see you." A smile played at Edward's lips then, and he seemed to visibly relax. "Aren't I allowed to come see my girlfriend?" Pushing off the counter, he took the extra steps to where I was standing and wrapped his arms around my shoulders.
I closed my eyes in relief. He still wants to touch me, see me, I thought, hugging his waist tightly as my eyes screwed shut against his chest.
"Hey, Riley," Uncle Charlie said while Edward was still holding onto me, "go over to the skillet and get some breakfast. Bella," he addressed me then, "why don't you go fetch me the mail."
I moved back from Edward's embrace just a bit as I looked at my uncle strangely. "But the mail doesn't come until…"
"Edward can go with you," he interrupted, hastily turning the page of his paper.
"Oh," I said. "Okay."
Edward gave me an equally confused look before he followed me out of the kitchen and onto the front porch.
"There's no mail to get, is there?" he asked after he closed the door.
"No." I sighed, playing with my t-shirt and avoiding his eyes.
"I think he's too perceptive for his own good." He tried to laugh, but it came out noticeably forced.
I finally glanced at him before rolling my eyes. "Oh, please, if he had any idea of what really happened last night, sending you and me out to talk by ourselves would be the last thing on his agenda."
He smiled and took my hand, leading me to the porch swing. "Maybe you're right."
I sat down beside him, our thighs touching as he wrapped his arm around me, pulling me closer. Leaning down, he kissed the top of my head, his lips lingering there longer than normal. "Are you okay?" he eventually asked, his cheek resting where his lips had just been.
"Yeah, of course," I spoke, closing my eyes, trying to hide in my lie.
"Bella," he said softly. "You weren't okay when I left last night."
"I was just…"
"I'm sorry if I pushed too far." His voice was full of guilt, and that was not how I wanted him to feel.
"No," I said with more volume. "I wanted that. I asked you to…do that." I turned to face at him, his arm falling from my shoulder. "It was just, when you said you had to go so quickly, it kind of just threw me off, you know? I thought that maybe I did…something wrong."
Even though I was facing him, my eyes lingered on the buttons of his shirt, afraid of what the blue of his eyes might have revealed.
"Bella," he said again, "you didn't do anything wrong. I was…I thought…maybe I did…something wrong," he stuttered, very uncharacteristic of him.
"I know you've been with other girls," I voiced one of my major insecurities, "and that when I couldn't…you would think that…" I wanted so badly to get the words out, but they just weren't coming. Thankfully Edward understood where I was going with my statement, and he shook his head and sighed loudly.
"Is that really what you think? That I was comparing you to other girls?"
"Isn't that normal?" I asked, daring a look at him.
"I don't…no, Bella. I promise that wasn't what I was thinking."
I just sighed and lightly nodded. "Okay."
"Look," he said more firmly, "I know I've said this before, but I'm not dating you because I want to get in your pants. I'm dating you because I really, really like being around you. I want to do those things," he coughed uncomfortably, "with you because I like you. Not the other way around. Being, you know, intimate, with someone is supposed to be fun and make you feel good. But if you feel like the way you do, then, baby, I don't want to do that anymore. I want my fun, carefree, hilarious Bella back."
When I didn't say anything, he continued, "And I never want you to think that I'm comparing you to other girls. Ever! And if I do, it's only how I think you're so much better than them. I promise!
"I wasn't lying when I said I had never met anyone like you before," he added on more softly, his fingers pulling my chin up so I would look at him. "I'm sorry that I left like that last night. I thought that you didn't want me there."
A small smile graced my lips. "I was so embarrassed."
He just shook his head. "You had no reason to be."
He leaned forward, wanting me to meet him halfway before he kissed me. Holding the sides of my face, he pressed his lips firmly to mine, not trying to go further, but not backing away, either. My heart couldn't help but melt when he treated me this way. He was generous and understanding, taking the time to talk with me to make sure that I was okay instead of just blowing me off and moving on. My chest hurt with how much I was falling for him. It was scary and exciting and terrifying and exhilarating, all wrapped up in one man. But I couldn't think of a better person I wanted to experience this with, because it honestly felt like that he was going through exactly the same thing I was, and my heart swelled at the thought.
"But wait," I broke the kiss and held up my hand. "Why is Riley here?"
Edward just shrugged. "Boy's night."
"So you left Riley to come here last night?" I couldn't help but laugh.
His devilish smirk returned. "Yeah…do you have a problem with that?"
"I'm just," I put my hand over my heart, "so honored, Mr. Masen." I laughed harder then, and he pulled me into a hug, placing a kiss on my forehead.
"You should be honored. My presence is highly desired among the masses."
I smacked his arm when we pulled away from the hug. "You're so full of it." I chuckled again as he licked his lips.
"Come here," he said, lowering his voice but still smiling like a fool.
"Ah, I don't know…maybe Riley would appreciate the kiss more than I would," I joked. "Since you're so desired and all." I didn't even notice when his hands shot out to my sides, but I was suddenly kicking and squealing as he started tickling my ribs. "MERCY! MERCY!" I yelled between breaths of air.
"What's that, baby? I can't hear you," he taunted as I fell over his lap, still trying to remove myself from his grip.
"Fine, I'll kiss you!"
"That's not good enough."
"EDWARD!" I tried again, yet to no avail. "Fine! Riley doesn't want to kiss you, okay? HAPPY!"
I could finally take a deep breath when he stopped, sitting back and looking smugly at me. "That's better," he said with a nod, and I punched him in the arm before standing up and shooting into the house, Edward hot on my tail.
"Hi, kids," Charlie said as I ran into the kitchen, my screams and laughter stopping as his words made me halt my steps. I laughed again, though, when Edward didn't see me stop and ran right into me, knocking us both over.
"Ha-ha," I deadpanned at Edward, who was lying above me, laughing when he started to tickle me again.
An orange came out of nowhere, though, and hit Edward right in the head, causing him to stop immediately and rub the sore spot. We both turned to look at the table, and Riley was just watching us with wide eyes as Charlie was reading the paper, acting like nothing had happened.
"Mr. Swan, did you just throw an orange at me?" Edward asked in disbelief.
"You're lucky that's not the only thing I aimed at your head, boy," he rebutted, taking another sip of his coffee. "Now, you have about three seconds to get off my little girl before I do some real damage."
I laughed at this; however, Edward didn't look so amused. With his face suddenly very pale, he stood, reaching a hand out to me and pulling me to my feet. But when I looked at Riley, my face drained of color just as Edward's had, since both of us had clearly forgotten that I was only dressed in a t-shirt, and my legs and underwear were on clear display.
"I'm just, um, going to go get dressed," I stammered, which caused Edward's head to whip to mine. He had obviously forgotten, too.
"Good idea," he added, pushing me out of the kitchen, which caused Uncle Charlie to chuckle in his seat.
"You two kill me," he muttered, but I couldn't hear if he had said anything else when I ran up the stairs.
When I got to my room, I shut the door behind me, leaning against it and sliding down to the floor. I couldn't keep the huge grin off my face, my fingers coming to brush against my lips just so I could make sure if it was really there or not. I was just so happy. It was just a drastic change to how I had felt before I fell asleep the night before, and I was in wonder of how just a few minutes alone with Edward could make me feel so different. He made me feel different.
It was a feeling I never wanted to lose.
O.o
It started to seem like the days just blended together, a mix of moments containing long, knowing glances, lingering, soft kisses, and crafted touches that burned right through my skin. Spending time with Edward never seemed routine or predictable, however – it just got to the point where my constant state of happiness blurred the lines of specific memories.
Two weeks had passed since Edward and Riley showed up in my kitchen, and if felt like nothing and everything has changed at the same time. The spark hint of falling for someone has turned into a full cliff dive, tumbling down with willing, open arms. Was I setting myself up for disaster? Maybe. Was it worth it…I sure as hell hoped so.
"What are you thinking about?" Uncle Charlie called me out of my thoughts, looking at me with a raised brow. "Don't think too hard, child, you're going to hurt yourself." He went back to running a brush through Jenna's mane. "And get that stupid grin off your face," he tacked on, laughing at his own private joke.
"Don't be hateful, old man," I said back. "You just wish you had an Edward of your own to smile over."
This made Charlie scoff, and loudly at that, before rolling his eyes and running the brush through the beige hair again. "Oh yeah. Who knows, maybe I'll just steal yours. Since I'm into that kind of thing and all."
"Ah, yes, I always knew it." I shook my head, laughing at the absurdity. "But I think Edward might be partial to…you know, girls."
"Who's partial to girls?" a voice said, entering the barn.
Uncle Charlie and I just looked at each other before laughing.
"Am I missing something?" Edward walked over and picked up an apple, handing it to the horse I was working on.
"Not a thing, boy. Now what are you doing here? Ain't it your day off?"
"Oh, come on, Mr. Swan. You know I can't keep away." He turned to wink at me.
"Or keep your hands off," Charlie muttered under his breath.
"What was that?" I asked, eyes wide.
"Child, you know better than to talk when two men are talking. Learn your place." The smirk on his face was clear to see, but I still didn't feel bad at all when I threw an apple at him.
"Don't throw too hard, Bella, you might break him," Edward added on, ducking when Charlie threw the apple back in our direction.
"Kids these days – no respect."
"Don't be so violent, Uncle Charlie. That is just unnecessary," I said very seriously, mocking him. "You need to start acting like an adult."
"You know what I need to do?" he rebutted, putting the brush down and taking a step towards me with a deathly stare.
"What's that, old guy?" I egged on, even though I ducked behind Edward and used him as a shield.
"This," he said, as he was standing only a foot away, picking up the bucket of water and tossing the contents in our directions, soaking Edward completely as a few droplets trickled down my face.
"HEY!" Edward yelled. "What did I do?"
I was just laughing behind him- full hands-on-knees, trying-to-catch-my-breath, laughing.
"Is that funny, Bella?" Edward asked in a grave voice, turning around to watch me in my hysterics.
"You…you…" I pointed to him, barely getting out the words between my deep inhales of air.
But he just wrapped his arms around me, encasing me in his grip as his wet clothes soaked through mine.
"Stop!" I cried, still laughing as he picked me up, my feet hardly even dragging on the ground.
Walking me outside into the sunlight, he threw me down on the grass, only he was a lot faster than I, and he ran to the hose, pushing down on the nozzle that was directed right towards me.
"How does that feel, baby?" he asked as he laughed, getting me wet all over.
"You play dirty, Masen!" I yelled out, trying to stand up but slipping and falling as the dirt became mud.
"I play what?" he yelled louder.
"Dirty. You're a dirty, dirty man!"
After my comment, Edward shut off the hose, a look of wicked mischief dancing across his face. With a loud smack, the hose fell in the mud, and Edward took the few steps towards me, offering his hand out to help me too my feet.
I'm not that stupid, I thought to myself as I took his hand and pulled – hard – so he slipped on the wet ground and fell down beside me. The look on his face as he was falling only added to how funny I thought it was, and I was literally rolling back and forth in the mud, trying to catch my breath between fits of laughter.
"How…does…it feel…Masen?" I laughed out, but he just gripped onto me, wrestling with me until he was pinning me down on the ground, straddling me so I couldn't move.
"Oh, Bella, you're so dirty," he said as his hand came across my face, smearing the mud. "Why are you so filthy?" he said again, rubbing it through my hair. "Did you forget how to shower?"
All the while, I was struggling beneath him, trying to get up by pushing on his chest, but to no avail.
"Who's dirty now, baby?"
"Is that an innuendo, sweetheart?" I mocked, laughing again.
This made him laugh, too, but he only shrugged at my comment. "Could be."
"Yeah, yeah, I knew it. I think perv is a better way to describe you."
"Hey…I was just referring that you needed to bathe, you're the one who turned it into a sex thing," he rebutted.
"Don't pretend you weren't thinking about it." I rolled my eyes, chuckling.
He leaned down closer to me then, putting his mouth right next to my ear so I could feel the warm air on my neck. "I'm always thinking about it."
A visible shudder ran through my body as my eyes closed tightly at his comment. This is what Edward and I have been dealing with these past two weeks. After that night in my bedroom, we tried that again, and it seemed that each time we were by ourselves, one thing would lead to another, but we never went that far.
I wanted to, and I was almost certain that Edward felt the same way.
In response to his comment, I moved my muddy hands from his t-shirt and brought them to his neck, maneuvering his face so he his lips were just above mine. With one last look in his eyes and a smile on my lips, I kissed him, our muddy faces pressing together as he still sat on top of me, keeping me to the ground.
It was probably only a minute later that Edward jumped off of me, the water from the hose hitting us both with a lot of force. I screamed as the water hit both of our faces, and I tried my best to block it with my arms.
Finally, it shut off, and Charlie stood there with a scowl on his face, while Edward and I just looked at him with shocked expressions.
"It's a little warm out here, don't ya think?" he began, fidgeting with the nozzle of the hose. "Just wanted to help y'all cool down a bit." He then threw the hose back to the ground and walked away, heading into the house.
"Yeah, Edward, you need to cool down a bit," I deadpanned, but it really only earned me a ball of mud to the face.
Peeling it from my eyes, I turned to glare at him.
"What?" he said, shrugging. "Just consider it a facial."
O.o
The water was cool and refreshing as it ran through my hair and down my back, rinsing out the rest of the shampoo before I put in some conditioner. I scrubbed off all the mud, the pile of stained clothes lying as a heap on the floor of the bathroom.
Edward headed home not long after Charlie had gone inside, not without a promise to be back in an hour to pick me up. He had said that he wanted to do something special for me, whatever that meant.
When I climbed out of the shower and headed back into my bedroom, I wrapped my wet hair in the towel, wanting to pick out something nice to wear. Settling on a light, cotton yellow dress, I slipped on my sandals, put on some mascara, and shook my hair from the towel, using a hairdryer for a couple minutes before I let the rest of it air dry.
I walked into the kitchen to find Charlie stirring something in a pot on the stove and humming some song I didn't recognize.
"You look nice, darlin'," he turned around and commented. "You have a date with Rachel or something?"
Okay, sly guy, I thought to myself as I sat down at the kitchen table.
"I'm glad to see you're so supportive of my experimental behavior, Uncle Charlie!" I smiled widely at him, crossing one leg over the other as I leaned on the wooden surface.
"Just trying to be a good uncle, baby," he responded, putting the lid back on the pan he was using to cook.
"So…you would be supportive of other things I might try to, you know, experiment with."
He just released a single laugh. "Loving a girl is one thing, Bella, snorting up cocaine is another thing entirely."
"Ah man," I pouted, slapping my thigh in disappointment. "Well, there goes tonight's activity."
He turned his head towards me and winked, walking over to the sink to wash his hands.
"So what are you cooking?" I had to admit, it smelled delicious.
"Oh, nothing you would be interested in."
"You sure about that?"
"Uh, huh. It's terrible. Probably poisonous."
"I mean, you are cooking it, so I don't doubt that."
Throwing the dish towel at me, he laughed and shook his head. "It's not like you're a much better cook, though, honey." You're right about that.
"Eh," I shrugged, "it's not like I have a family to cook for. I'm sure once I have kids, I'll learn to cook for them."
"Yeah, sure you will, sweetheart."
I just laughed and rolled my eyes. "Whatever, Uncle Charlie, you just wait. I'm going to be the next Betty Crocker."
There was a knock at the door, and I glanced at the clock, noticing that it hadn't been an hour yet since Edward left, so it shouldn't have been him.
"Are you going to get it, child, or just sit there?" Charlie asked in disbelief, putting a hand on his hip for extra effect.
"It's your house," I deadpanned, even though I got up off my seat anyway to go see who it was.
A very nervous looking Edward, dressed in dark jeans and a blue plaid button-up, stood on the other side of the door, and I couldn't help but look at him strangely, for a number of reasons.
"What's wrong?" I asked right off the bat, not liking how he was bouncing from one foot to the other as his hand was prying his hair from his scalp.
"Wrong?" he stopped moving and matched my confused look.
"I don't know, you look like something is bothering you or something."
The fact that his face heated and his gaze shot down to the ground did not go unnoticed by me. Why is he acting so weird?
"Nothing's wrong," he answered, lifting his head as his face morphed back into one of sexy confidence. "What made you think that, baby?" His voice was low, and he took a step towards me, stepping just inside the house as his arms circled my waist.
"I'm not used to seeing you fidget."
"You make me nervous," he whispered in my ear.
"Is that a good thing?" My soft volume matched his.
He nodded his head and kissed right beneath my ear. "Maybe."
"Are you ready to get out of here?" I asked, anxious, once again, to be alone with him.
He stepped back and smiled at me. "Sure."
"Bye, Uncle Charlie!" I called into the kitchen, running back into the living room to grab my purse.
Walking to the doorway with a wooden spoon in hand, he waved goodbye. "You kids have fun! No sex, drugs, or alcohol," he yelled out when we had almost reached Edward's truck. I was happy that we were far enough away that he wouldn't see my reddening face.
"Have I mentioned that he's too perceptive for his own good?" Edward asked as he climbed into the driver's seat.
Strapping in my seatbelt, I responded, "I don't think it's that he's perceptive, I just think that teens having sex, smoking pot, or binge drinking is just very cliché and expected."
"Expected?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, it's certainly common."
"Just admit it, Bella," he began as he started chuckling, "you want to have sex with me, and it's so obvious that even your uncle has caught on."
I smacked the side of his arm. "That's nasty, Edward! I don't want my uncle knowing that."
"So you admit it?"
"You better watch it, buddy, if you make another comment about how I'm the only one who wants to have sex in this car, then there will be serious consequences."
"Ha," he laughed out. "Okay, baby…my lips are sealed."
"Thank you." I winked at him, which caused him to laugh again. "So where are we going?"
"Somewhere special."
"What's so special about it?"
He reached for my hand and laced his fingers through mine. "Everything," he answered, throwing in another wink for good measure.
I knew what he was talking about when we pulled up to the field that he had brought me to once before. The sun was starting its decent in the sky, and the deep yellow and orange colors splayed like a painting across the overgrown grass.
I noticed Edward's hands shaking as he put the truck into park and climbed out. He picked up a blanket, basket, and a bottle of wine from the back cab, and my stomach was all of a sudden in a dozen knots.
Was this going to be…? My thoughts trailed on as Edward spread out the soft fleece blanket beside the tree that we had deemed as ours. He sat down and leaned against the hard bark, reaching his hand out for me to join him.
Yes, I concluded.I looked around again, taking in every shadow, color, and sound of this moment, wanting it to stay in my memory for the rest of eternity.
I took his hand, my smile matching his as I lowered myself down onto the blanket, thinking as I sat between his legs, this was it.
This was our moment, of our summer, that would change my entire life.
…
END NOTES—
Uh oh…crazy kids.
Next update will be either Thursday or Friday…probably Friday.
Like these two updates a week? Then review!
Now, I'm going to go crash because I'm so very exhausted…