A/N: We don't own Twilight; we just like to mess with SM's characters a little bit for our own fun.
More at the end.
BPOV
When Edward and I woke up the afternoon following the party, we both knew we were back on track. Not that I ever thought we were off track, but things were better. I would continue to keep Liam at a safe distance and Edward was content to let me handle it, or at the very least he would try and keep most of his thoughts to himself. I wasn't going to hold my breath that Emmett would follow suit, but all I had to do was mention Rosalie and he was sufficiently distracted. All in all we were in a good little routine and went about our lives doing the same ol' same ol'.
Hours turned into days which turned into weeks and it was October before I even realized it. Edward was frequently busy with projects for his classes and I was logging mad hours in the library. We didn't even need to see a clock to know where the other was at any given time, we were so in tune with the other, which was really kind of sweet but it was a little pathetic too. He knew he could always find me on the third floor of the library and that I would be in study room number eight. I knew which project group of his met on which afternoons and in which buildings. He knew that on Tuesday afternoons that I'd need to gripe about my social media professor, and I knew that on Wednesday mornings he went back to his dorm room to shower after class because he inevitably smelled like the Designer Impostors perfume that Claire wore/bathed in. Those mornings I met him outside his door, conveniently needing a shower in his private bathroom as well and he never complained. Nor did I; I wasn't stupid.
Still, I was maybe just a little bit concerned that my life was quite possibly on its way to getting in a teeny tiny little rut, and that was not cool. If I wanted a rut, I could have stayed in Forks. I shuddered at the thought. So, throwing my pink highlighter into my bag and slamming my laptop shut a little too loudly, much to the chagrin of the librarian on duty, I decided to find something else to do. I didn't need something as life changing as London or even as raucous as another party, just something fun, spontaneous and completely random because if I had to red line another article for my class I might just lose my mind.
I walked outside into the quad and breathed in, taking in the afternoon warmth and feeling the sunshine on my face. I felt better already and decided just to plop down in the middle of the grass and see what I could find to do on the UW website. They were pretty good about listing opportunities and activities so I figured it would be an easy place to start, especially since I wasn't exactly sure what I was even looking for. There were a bunch of volunteer opportunities out there and I made a note to check with Edward and Emmett about being part of a Habitat team in the spring because that was just an incredible cause. However, as I was visualizing watching Edward work with his hands to build a house, my mind suddenly growing rather dirty, I saw a colorful banner ad catch my eye. Fuck yes...I was all over it. I didn't care what it cost or when it was. I was all over it like white on rice.
I was about to sign myself up for a Bob Ross painting class. Total win.
I can't even begin to tell you how many hours I spent watching that man create his masterpieces. During her 'we will only watch PBS in this house' phase, Renee morphed into quite the Bob Ross junkie. In fact, I'm pretty sure she has a CD, mix tape or something with all his Ross-isms that she would listen to when she wanted to meditate. I mean, was it even possible to stress out while listening to that man? Doubtful. 'People look at me like I'm a little strange, when I go around talking to squirrels and rabbits and stuff. That's ok. Thaaaat's just ok.' Ahhhh, the memories. The class was on at nine o'clock on Saturday mornings for the next six weeks...perfect. It would end right before Thanksgiving break so it shouldn't interfere with exam prep time or anything like that. I called the number on the website and eagerly signed myself up. I was so freakin' excited.
So with something fun on the horizon and a renewed sense of adventure, frivolity or something, I sent a text to Edward letting him know I'd meet him back at the dorm instead of the library and had to laugh when I got one back from him almost immediately asking if I was okay. See...predictable, but very sweet. I'd have to make sure he know I appreciated his concern later. **wink**
And I did. Thoroughly.
Still, that night found me back in my room while Edward studied and Emmett 'accidentally' ended up at the same coffee shop as Rosalie, and Siobhan was on campus auditioning for a role in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. I honestly thought about going to watch because there was no way that that could be anything but epic but eventually decided just to stay in and catch up on my correspondence. Which meant Facebook and Twitter.
Bella Swan is bored.
No. I didn't really like that because it sounded worse than it was. There was nothing worse than somebody who used their Facebook status to send cryptic messages as a silent plea for attention. So I tried again. Maybe this time I'd go introspective and philosophical.
Bella Swan How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
Wood. Ha! Still, that wasn't right
Finally, I decided to go with a safe stand by...the random song lyric.
Bella Swan... choking on the splinters
Nope...inevitably some idiot, Liam or Emmett no doubt, would look past the brilliance of Loser and turn that into some backwards insult to Edwards peen, which it wasn't at all. So I just moved on to a different one.
Bella Swan...things are going to change, I can feel it.
Motherfucking perfect.
And right on schedule I heard my phone, signaling a new text message.
Somebody has a case of status ADD.
Nettie. Bless her, she was always popping up at the right time, and at that moment her randomness was exactly what I needed. I started to respond when she hit me with another classic Nettie-ism.
A pigs' orgasm lasts for 30 minutes.
While that both made me a bit jealous and a bit nauseous, because seriously that could be rather messy, I was thankful that the months of texting with Nettie had taught me never to eat or drink while waiting for her messages, because that would undoubtedly resulted in a screen spray. I also fired one right back at her, because I was prepared.
The 'sixth sick sheik's sixth sheep's sick' is said to be the toughest tongue twister in the English language.
Well played. Now, what's got you all unsettled?
This is probably better over the phone...are you home? I really wasn't sure what I was going to say to her, but there were so many ways words and phrasing could be misconstrued over texts and chats that it was probably best if we talked.
Actually...no. Tomorrow?
Tomorrow. Have a painting class in the morning, but will be around after that. No plans. Big surprise there.
Painting class?
Yup. Bob Ross. Happy little squirrels and shit.
Then there was nothing.
Nets?
OMG...I have no squirrel facts.
That's it. On Sunday, I would find myself in a church. The apocalypse was surely upon us.
Edward came over after he finished studying and we sat on my bed and watched Dazed and Confused. He went back to his room to sleep after some pretty heavy duty kissing...which sometimes I enjoyed even more than sex because the intimacy level was just off the charts and I ended up sleeping better than I had in days. In fact, I don't think I even moved until my alarm went off.
I showered and dressed quickly in some shorts and one of Edwards white v-neck t-shirts since it was inevitable that I would get paint on me somewhere. I grabbed a bag, my phone, opened the door...and almost ran over Nettie.
"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!" I grabbed her around the neck and jumped up and wrapped my legs around her waist which probably wasn't the best idea because we could have easily ended up in a pile on the floor. Still, I was just so excited. I squeezed her until she squeaked not realizing my own strength and finally stopped talking when I got hit in the back of the head by a flying shoe.
"Sorry Siobhan." Eep! I reached behind me and closed the door, grabbing Nettie and pulling her out into the hall where I could figure out what in the world she was doing here. In pure Nettie fashion, she didn't seem to think it was such a big deal and anticipated every question before I even got it out of my mouth.
"How?"
"Plane."
"Why didn't..."
"I wanted to surprise you and keep you from coming up with some half-assed excuse as to why it wasn't a good time. Besides, you've seemed a bit off lately."
"So you bought..."
"Gramps owns the plane, Sweets."
"Owns?"
"He invented something a long time ago. He adores me. He was bored, so I got him to fly me out here."
"He's here too?"
She looks around. "He is?" Then she winks at me. "Look Bella, does it matter how I got here? I haven't seen you in months and I had the chance, so I took it. You, of all people, should be a big believer in that." She was right, and she was also wearing a smock...and a beret...though she looked more like the kid from the Little Debbie packages than an artist. She was so random and so goofy and just full of awesomeness.
"You're right hon. How long are you here?"
"Well, gramps is at some Indian Casino blowing his fortune, so I figure I have about 36-48 hours before he realizes how long he's been gone and tries to check in. So late Sunday I would guess? Think I can crash on your floor?"
"I'm pretty sure I can find a space for you. I take it you're coming with me to my art class?"
"Oh, you still want to do that?" She looked confused and I looked back at her even more so because if she wasn't planning on taking the class with me, I was totally not getting the outfit. But then again, it was Nettie, and she is totally fucking random.
"Hell yes I'm taking it. Bob Ross AND Nettie? There's no way I'm passing that up. Let's go."
Forty-five minutes into the three hours class, we found ourselves walking back towards the dorms. Apparently we talked too much and laughed too much and maybe Nettie was right when she said my happy little tree looked a bit too much like a penis...and when she started talking about Edwards's maybe I did drop my pallet with all the paints on it. But in my defense, I'd been sufficiently pleased in that department, so maybe it was on my mind just a little bit. Still, when she asked if I ever thought he would get it pierced and I started imagining it; well, I got just a little bit distracted. So yeah...we got kicked out. Oops.
We stopped for coffee on the way and sat outside at one of the tables with the big umbrellas and caught up. I filled her in on all things Liam, in even more detail than I had done over our Skype conversations or through emails. Some things are just harder to convey over distance and she helped me understand Edward a bit more, though we did agree that he was over-reacting just a little bit. It was good to get some third party perspective and it made me realize that maybe both Edward and I were guilty of letting our pride get in the way of our relationship. Nettie was wise. She was my Yoda.
"So where is your man this morning? I'd like to finally meet him since I know what his cock looks like." I choked on my coffee...texting aside, apparently I still hadn't learned to not eat or drink in general when interacting with her. "Still can't say it?" she teased
"I'm working on it. I can say ass instead of butt cheeks now," I winked back at her and laughed as I fished for my phone which was lost somewhere in the bottom of my bag. I swear, it could be the only thing in there and I still would have trouble finding it. When I finally found it and looked at the screen, I was shocked.
Five missed calls? All from Edward?
"Oh my God, I forgot to call him this morning Nettie! Shit shit shit shit shit!" I frantically hit the speed dial button and waited while Edwards's phone rang. Voice mail. Shit.
"Hey, it's me. I meant to call you this morning but Nettie showed up and I got so excited that I just forgot. Anyway, you have to meet her and she wants to meet you but don't let her touch you inappropriately because she will..."
Nettie chimes in from across the table, "I make no promises!"
"Anyway, I signed up for a class today that was supposed to last six weeks but we got kicked out and I don't know if they'll let me back in next Saturday or not. Gosh, where are you? I'm so sorry I forgot to call you. We're at DeBeen...come find us, if you want. I'll text you if we..."
And I got cut off since my message ran so long. I debated calling him back or texting him, but that might seem a little stalker-ish since I just called thirty seconds ago, so I decided to give him a few minutes to check his messages or something. Besides, he was probably in the shower. It was only eleven in the morning after all. He didn't have anything scheduled this morning, because I know his schedule. I plopped my phone on the table and folded my arms before sighing and resting my forehead on them, effectively hiding myself from the world.
"Everything alright?" Nettie asked quietly before scooching her chair over until she was right next to me. She started to play with my hair and just listened to me go on and on about everything and nothing. Why hasn't he called me back yet and do I even have the right to ask that after I forgot to call him? By the time I stopped talking, Nettie had braided every inch of my hair. "You look like Medusa. It totally works on you though."
I tried to see my reflection in the windows of the coffee shop, but all that did was get the people inside looking at me and I'm not gonna lie, I may have been thrilled at the horrified looks on their faces. Then I looked down at the ends of the braids and realized they were fastened with what looked like twist ties from bread bags. I looked at Nettie and started to ask why she had all of them with her, but then decided it was better just to let it go. There were some things I was better off not knowing.
I still hadn't heard anything from Edward when we were done with our coffee, so I sent him a quick text just letting him know we were heading back to my room in case he listened to the voice mail I left him. We passed Siobhan, who told me she got a call back for the role of Maggie the Cat...and would have totally believed her if she hadn't snorted. She never was able to lie well. She was actually going back to see if there was any room for her in the stage crew department. Apparently, wielding a hammer was more her speed. I held my breath as I introduced my former and current roommates, but after they had given each other the once over they seemed to get along just fine. In fact, Nettie had actually heard of Seamus' band, which made Maggie a little too excited, signaling to me that it was time to separate them.
"Oh Bella," Siobhan called over her shoulder as we started to walk away, "Edward came by the room about ten minutes after you left. I told him I'd get you to call him. He muttered something about sporks and walked away."
"Thanks. I called him a little while ago, but I'm thinking I need to track him down. Oh, and do you mind if Nettie crashes in our room tonight?"
"Only if she promises to fix my hair like that too," called back Siobhan with a serious expression on her face and we all just laughed at the complete fuckery of the situation.
After the sleeping arrangements were established, we finally made it back to the dorm. The plan was to drop Nettie off at my room because she wanted to shower after her flight and maybe take a little nap since she flew all night and didn't really sleep. I had to chuckle at the vision of Nettie flapping her little arms up and down as she made her way to UW...because if anybody was going to have the ability to fly, it was her. Then I was going to walk down to find Edward and once Nettie was awake, we would all meet up for some sort of fun tonight. What I didn't expect was to turn the corner to our suite and find Edward sitting outside my bedroom door.
"Hi," I said looking at him and wanting to curl up in his lap.
"Hi," he answered simply. He didn't really seem mad or irritated, he almost seemed a little sad.
We stared at each other for a few minutes not really saying anything until Nettie chimed in. "I can't believe I flew all this way just to meet you and you can't even give me a hug!" She reached down and grabbed his hands and pulled until he stood up. Then she wrapped her arms around him and mouthed the words "he's hot" over Edwards' shoulder before grabbing his ass. I laughed so hard I cried.
Effectively breaking the ice, Edward started laughing awkwardly and I reintroduced them to each other. I gave the key to my room to Nettie and she promised to text me when she was cleaned up and rested. I grabbed Edwards' hand and we went back to his room, he seemed like he needed some cuddles, and I could deny him nothing.
I sat on the edge of his bed and patted his pillows until he came and lay down. I curled up beside him and filled him in on everything. The class, how Nettie surprised me this morning and how that threw everything off, Siobhan and even the pig orgasms, which he didn't believe until I made him wiki it. He still seemed a bit off though and I could tell he had something on his mind.
"Hey. You okay? You don't seem like yourself this morning." I looked at the clock beside his bed. "Um, this afternoon."
"I'm okay. I didn't sleep all that well and I've just got some shit on my mind. That's all. I'm okay." Which meant he wasn't. Two 'okays' in the same sentence never boded well.
"I really am sorry I forgot to call you this morning. I was just surprised and excited."
"Bella, don't apologize okay? You should never apologize for going and doing something fun with your friends. I said I was fine. You don't need to tell me everything going on all the time." Edward paused for a brief moment and I could tell that even though he said he was fine, I knew he wasn't. He also wasn't really telling me what was wrong either. "I don't want to ever make you feel like you have to check with me before you do something. I just missed you this morning, that's all. I just feel like I haven't seen you lately."
Which was odd because I saw him every day, just like always.
"You don't make me feel like that at all, baby. I tell you so you'll know, not because I feel like I have to ask permission. It's always good to let somebody know where you're going to be in case there is an emergency. Cops' kid, remember?" I elbowed him remembering that wonderful afternoon in my mom's car.
"How could I forget" he joked back, and while the smile didn't quite reach his eyes, at least it was there.
"By the way, Bella… what the hell happened to your hair?"
"Nettie happened."
For the next little while, we lay on his bed and Edward rubbed my lower back and I held on to him tightly, both of us dozing off until I heard my phone chime on his table.
"Umph. Pbbbffft. Ow. Dude, you need to learn how to control your hair." I looked over and Edward was pulling a twist tie out of his mouth and one of my braids was coming undone. Oops.
"Sorry. I'll take them out, or you could do it before we shower?" He looked a little bit hopeful, but then I read the text message from Nettie. She was on her way down. "Oh wait, rain check...I don't think I'm ready for a threesome just yet."
"Did I hear somebody say threesome?" Edward and I jumped at the sound of Emmett's voice from under his covers. When the hell did he show up? "I came in to see you two sleeping, um, beauties?" He looked at my hair and cocked an eye brow in curiosity before continuing. "You looked so peaceful and you weren't fucking, so I figured I'd just let you continue to sleep since there was nothing fun to watch.
"Gee thanks Em, you're awesome," I replied sarcastically as both Edward and I rolled our eyes.
"Anything for you sweet cheeks."
Just as Emmett finished speaking, there was a loud knock on the door and then Nettie stormed in, taking a look at Edward and I in his bed and began talking in circles. "Macaques, cheetahs, hyenas and goats also perform oral sex–and, in many cases, swallow!"
The room suddenly fell silent and you could practically hear crickets in the background. There was lots of blinking and open mouths. But the silence didn't last, it never does.
"You don't know any facts about squirrels, but you know goats swallow?"
"You asked her about squirrel sex, Bella?" Edward questioned as his fingers twirled awkwardly around my odd braids.
"Who the fuck is this girl and why have I never met her?" Emmett shouted out, clearly frustrated that he hadn't had the chance to meet Nettie previously. With Emmett's small outburst, things seemed to be back to normal, well normal for us.
The rest of the night flew by. Edward insisted that I spend time with Nettie...but I wasn't so sure it was because he was being generous or because whatever it was that he had on his mind was bothering him. I was a bit worried honestly, though Nettie and Siobhan's karaoke rendition of Islands in the Stream did manage to distract me a bit. Then again, maybe it just traumatized me enough to realize that I only had a few hours left before Nettie left the next morning - apparently her grandfather, Aro, met a woman at the Indian Casino and they were jetting off to some Sandals Resort or something. Both of us squeezed into my twin bed and talked until the wee hours of the morning.
"Edward loves you a lot you know," she whispered during one of the few minutes that Siobhan wasn't snoring.
"I know he does and I love him too. It has been so awesome lately, which is why I can't figure out what's going on with him today, or with me lately, if I'm being honest. There isn't anything I would change about Edward or us, I just feel stagnant. No, that's not the right word. I just, I don't know. I just feel like I'm losing myself when I don't even really know who I am to begin with."
We both were quiet for a moment while I contemplated my words and my thoughts and tried to make sense of whatever it was I was feeling. I wasn't unhappy, I was happy...but it didn't seem like enough. I just couldn't figure out what.
"I read a quote one time that you may need to think about. 'Love is the condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.' I don't know him well, but I feel pretty safe saying Edward doesn't love you because you are at UW or are a journalism major. His love for you isn't based on what you do or what you wear or what you decide to do with the rest of your life. He'll love you if you move back to Forks after graduation or if you decide to interview penguins in Antarctica. All he wants for you is to be happy...and maybe come along for the ride. I think he knows you're struggling with some internal decisions and he doesn't know how to fix it. Just don't lose him while you find you. Do you still have your E.C. Lips playlist?"
"How did you know?"
"I didn't until just now, but I thought I might have been right. Anyway, do you still have it?" I nodded as I thought about what she was saying. "Good. Listen to it and remember how he made you feel before you had him, though you and I both know you always had him.
"I love you Nettie." And I did.
"I know you do and I love you too, but keep your hands to yourself tonight."
She was right. In the process of being me, I was risking losing the person I loved the most. Tomorrow I was going to find Edward and talk about everything. Once she left the next day, I logged on to Facebook to upload some pictures from our night. I left my status alone.
EPOV
"You're annoying me," scolded Emmett as I sat on my bed, anxiously looking through Facebook to see what some of my former classmates were up to these days. Mike Newton apparently got really drunk at a party and puked in some bushes. Really classy to put that as your Facebook status, idiot.
"How am I annoying you? I'm silently sitting here reading shit on my computer. Is my breathing bothering you? Do you need me to stop living?" I snapped back as Emmett tossed his pencil down on his drafting table and let out a groan of frustration. Over the past few days he had been relatively quiet and that was a little disconcerting. Emmett talked to me about everything, especially things I didn't want to know about like sexual positions, the mass quantity of food he consumed on a daily basis and even bodily functions, to put it nicely. However, he wasn't upset, not in the least. Just quiet.
"You're moping and seeing your sad face is distracting and annoying. I'm having trouble getting my work done."
I certainly didn't think I was moping; I was just trying to keep myself busy as my mind ran a mile a minute, wondering why I hadn't heard from Bella, even though it was only ten in the morning. It wasn't like her to be so… unavailable. Sure, I didn't expect her to be at my beck and call 24/7, but she was usually so open with me about where she was going and what she was doing. Even when we weren't dating and we were simply Edward and Bella – best friends since birth, she would tell me when she was going to the mall with Angela, or to do some new fangled activity with her mom like bonsai tree trimming or macramé. I was beginning to get worried, though I would never tell Emmett that, so instead, I changed topics and put the focus back on Emmett.
"Why the fuck aren't you doing this shit on computers? Isn't everything done on computers these days?"
"Not everything, idiot," Emmett remarked as he got up from behind his desk and grabbed himself a can of Dr. Pepper from our small fridge. "One of my professors thinks it's beneficial if we can draft on paper and on the computer. He said it makes us more versatile, but I just think he's too lazy to learn the software since he's like 900 years old."
"Hey, I bought that," I said as I pointed at the drink he was about to consume. Emmett clearly thought that what was mine was also his.
"Yeah well… consider it your apology for annoying me. Now, tell me why the hell you are so fucking depressed when you are getting the pooty like crazy these days," he asked as he cracked open my drink and stared at me while chugging down almost half of it with a grin on his face. "Where is Bella, anyways?"
"I have no idea."
"What do you mean you have no idea, I thought you like lowjacked her or some shit to keep her away from Liam," Emmett said with a laugh, thought I didn't find his joke all that funny. "Did you chip her? Put on one of those collars that dogs wear for invisible fences?"
"You're an idiot," I replied as I sat up on my bed, my knees pulled to my chest defensively. "I tried to call her this morning and got no answer. When I went to her room earlier to see if she wanted to have some breakfast, I woke up Siobhan and she went all mental on me and I don't think anything she said was in English. I ended up getting flustered by her and muttered something about needing sporks before I walked away feeling like an idiot."
"I saw her in the HUB the other day and she told me I was as useless as a chocolate teapot. What the fuck does that even mean?" Emmett asked curiously as I ran my fingers through my hair and shrugged my shoulders. I had no fucking idea myself. "Anyways, how do you not know where she is?"
"Do you know where Rosalie is?"
"No, but I'm not dating Rosalie."
"Oh okay… you're not dating Rosalie," I said sarcastically as Emmett narrowed his eyes at me. "And I'm the fucking pope."
"Listen dude, you know I'm not dating her. I can't date her."
"Then where did you sleep the night of the frat party a few weeks back? Bella and I saw you leave with her and you never came home," I said suspiciously as Emmett smiled from ear to ear, making me immediately wary.
"I did come back actually. When I walked in the room, you and Bella were sprawled out naked in your bed. I didn't exactly want to sleep in the room with you guys, so I went down the hall to Teddy's room and stayed on his roommates bed since he was gone home for the weekend," Emmett declared with a straight face as I raised my eyebrows, unsure of whether to believe him or not. I continued stared at him, still trying to figure him out, when his mouth upturned slightly, one of his tells that he was lying.
"Ah-ha. I knew it. You got laid and you are using Teddy as your alibi."
"I didn't get laid."
"Yes you did. You went with Rosalie back to her room, boinked like bunnies and then claimed you came back here and found Bella and I naked, all so you could hide the fact that you have a secret girlfriend."
"I didn't sleep with her… we just… kinda made out and cleared third base." Emmett now had a huge smile plastered on his face and I couldn't help but kinda feel happy for the guy. He had basically pined over this girl all summer and things were moving along for them, even though they weren't supposed to be fraternizing at all. I knew Emmett wasn't worried about being caught, but Rosalie was. "I just wish she would let me drop the class she TA's. Life would be so much easier."
"What are you going to do?" I asked curiously as Emmett's phone began playing Mc Hammer's 'U Can't Touch This' as a ringtone and I immediately burst out laughing as he grasped for his phone, trying to answer it. His smile was so bright, I instantly knew it was Rosalie on the phone and then I laughed at the irony of his ringtone. He was such a moron.
He talked quietly to her for a few moments and I gave them a bit of privacy as I headed to the bathroom. When I came back, Emmett was grabbing his jacket off the back of his chair and was heading out. "Leaving so soon?"
"As much as I love this heart to heart and I would love to stick around to paint our nails, I have a better offer."
"Fine, abandon me in my time of need."
"You don't need me, Edward. You need Bella. You should go find her," Emmett said as he strolled out the door and closed the door firmly behind him.
I sat back on my bed and looked out the small window, our view of the student parking lot not giving me any sort of epiphany. I had been worried for the past few days that things were turning to shit between Bella and I, but of course I didn't want to tell her that. Back when we were just friends, things seemed so easy, but these days it seemed like it was much harder to keep us together. We each had our own routine and we knew the others like the back of our hands, but it was so predictable. Bella was infinitely more adventurous than I was, and I felt like I was holding her back or something. Sure, it could be completely irrational, but I never said I was smart when it came to matters of the heart.
This girl owned every ounce of me; heart, body and soul. I couldn't even fathom losing her, so I decided that rather than tell her my concerns, I would just keep my mouth shut. I didn't want to worry her, especially if she thought things were going well between us. Why rock the boat, right?
I turned back to my computer, looking for some comfort, but finding nothing but Bella's most recent status 'Things are going to change, I can feel it.'
My mind went back into overdrive as I began analyzing her status, wondering what the hell she was trying to say by quoting Beck. After over five minutes of stressing myself out, and worrying even more that I didn't know my girlfriend as well as I thought I did, I gave up. Her status could be nothing more than she was listening to him on her iPod. I lied down in my bed and felt my cell phone under my back. What the fuck?
"Jesus," I groaned as I looked at my phone and noticed Bella had called and sent a text. She must have called when I stepped out to give Emmett some privacy, and the douche couldn't be bothered to let me know. I listened to her frantic sounding message and groaned at how simple everything was, signaling that I had been worried for nothing. Her text mentioned that she was coming back to the dorms, so even though I knew I would look pathetic, I went upstairs and sat in front of her door, waiting for her to come back.
When I heard her voice through the hallway, my heart instantly jumped. Then, I heard a second voice that sounded somewhat familiar. I looked down at my feet, feeling even more pathetic and like I was intruding on Bella and Nettie. I was caught completely off guard when Bella walked up to me and said a soft 'Hi'. Her hair looked absolutely atrocious, but I wasn't going to say that to her. Especially not when she had such a huge smile on her face.
Nettie and I shared an awkward initial meeting, complete with her grabbing my ass a little too roughly, and she excused herself to have a shower and get some rest, as Bella dragged me back down to my bedroom. We curled up together and chatted, her anxiety over forgetting to call me soothing me somewhat, but Bella continued to press on as she thought something was wrong with me. I deflected her questions as best as I could and then managed to distract her by rubbing her back until she fell asleep. Of course, with the sound of her soft breathing and her body against mine, I couldn't help but fall asleep too.
When we woke later, courtesy of Nettie calling to let us know she was visiting, Bella could still tell something was off with me, but I didn't want to talk about it. Thank god Emmett and Nettie interrupted us because Bella deserved a weekend to have fun. She didn't need her boyfriend to ruin things for her or hold her back. She needed time with Nettie and I certainly didn't want to intrude.
I practically forced Bella into spending the night with her friends and I decided to stay in my room and try and catch up on a few movies I needed to watch for class. It was boring and I found myself wishing that Bella would just walk in the room and crawl into bed with me, making all my worries go away, but nothing happened. I never got even so much as text from Bella that night and I felt uneasy for the rest of the night, wondering why everyone was doing something but me. I checked my Facebook one more time before deciding to change my status.
Edward Cullen …There's a hole in my pocket, that's about her size.
A/N: Did you miss us? We had a bit of a busy time recently with CPW being sick and Risbee going away to the shore for a few days vacation. But, we are back and with Nettie no less. There's a few quick things we need to point out.
Fandom Gives Back Auction starts on Saturday and if you are interested in an outtake from this wonderful little story, search for Risbee in the auctions. We are auctioning off ABM through her profile. Risbee is also auctioning off a one shot of the buyers choice and CPW has a plethora of stuff for auction including 3 original one shots / outtakes from stories (not including MIFFY or ABM) and is auctioning off chapters of her soon to be expanded one shot, Room 15.
ABM has been featured on the Twi Fic Vagabond blog as their fic of the month. Woo Hoo! We are in the process of being interviewed for it, so check out the site, the interview will probably be up in a few days. Twificvagabond . blogspot . com
Also the super fabulous bgwillis has set up a thread for us on twilighted. Come play, even though we have been slack lately due to illness and vacation etc… www . twilighted . net/forum/viewtopic . php?f=44&t=9877
Ok, we're all good, now leave us some love and possibly some interesting squirrel facts!