twenty-six
The Best Friend
"Not another minute!" I pant, stepping down from the Stairmaster and wiping the sweat from my brow. "You're fucking killing me, Vic."
"You're now in a relationship," she puffs, "so I refuse to let you get complacent. You worked hard for that body."
Frowning, I rub my hand towel down my moist chest. "And I need to work harder to keep it? That doesn't make sense to me. And when have you ever been concerned about my physique? Let alone yours?"
Victoria's eyes jerk away and fix themselves on the mirror in front of us. Expression guarded, she continues to ruthlessly climb. "Fine. Do what you want."
"Vic…" I murmur, stepping closer to her machine. "What's up? What's going on?"
"Nothing." She snaps, punching the button to turn the machine off and dismounting with a huff. "Forget it. Let's go – I need to go to the grocery store before it closes."
"Wait!" I call, practically stumbling over myself to catch up with her long strides. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you – if that's what I did."
"You didn't." Victoria sighs, turning to face me once we make it into the women's locker room. "I'm just…" she starts, reaching up to tighten her ponytail. "I'm a little on edge right now and I realized just now that I've been projecting my insecurities onto you."
"C'mon, Vic." I murmur, grasping her hands in mine. "Talk to me. You know I won't judge. Especially after all you've been through with me."
After a tense pause with me staring at her imploringly and her chewing her lip thoughtfully, she sighs. "Okay." She closes her eyes and shakes her head before blurting out her next words in a rush. "I've kind of been seeing Emmett."
"Wait, what?" I laugh. "Did I just hear you say that you're seeing Emmett?"
"Don't make me repeat myself." She whines. "It's bad enough having to admit it once."
"Bad?" I hold myself back from throttling her. "Emmett is one of the most genuine guys I have ever met. Yeah, he's a little goofy but that is by no means bad. I don't know why you'd be embarrassed to admit this."
"I'm not embarrassed." Victoria insists. "I'm just…" She sighs. "I'm just… okay, I'm embarrassed." At my annoyed look, she rushes to clarify. "But not for the reason you think!"
"Oh?" I accuse. "Then, please, by all means enlighten me."
"Okay, first," Victoria interjects, "cool it with the attitude. Not appreciated. Especially after you just did this whole song and dance to me about not judging. Second, I'm not embarrassed because I think he's below me or something. I'm embarrassed because I treated him so badly initially and now we're together. It makes me look like a loon."
"I'll admit, I am a little bit confused about that." I shrug. "You seemed adamant in your dislike of him. And now you two are a thing."
"Sort of a thing." She emphasizes. "But yeah. This exactly explains why I am embarrassed. Emmett is great – perfect, even. I see this now. And god do I wish I saw it then, when I was blatantly being a bitch."
"Welcome to my world." I laugh, nudging her playfully.
"Shit," she gasps, scrambling to gather her belongings after catching a glimpse of the time on her watch. "I need to get out of here. I told Emmett I'd meet him at mine five minutes ago."
"Hah!" I snort. "Groceries – my ass!"
-Hallway-
"I'm trying to get dressed!" I cry, giggling as I try to wriggle free from Edward's groping hands. Chuckling, Edward withdraws his hands and drops a kiss to my naked shoulder.
"Sorry," His breath chills my skin as he kisses a trail up my neck. "You're just too hard to resist."
"Well," I gulp, pulling my towel around me more securely. "Try to. We're already thirty minutes late to your thing."
"Who cares." Edward murmurs, nuzzling my neck. "Let's skip it and stay in bed. I can think of plenty of things we can do instead. Better things."
"Mmmm," I hum, maintaining a white-knuckle grip on my towel. "Tempting… but we already paid for our plates. Might as well go rub elbows with your old fraternity brothers."
"Ugh," Edward groans. "Why must you be so responsible?"
"It's a blessing and a curse." I murmur, reaching up on my toes to land a kiss on his neck. "Now let me get dressed. I want you to be proud to have me on your arm."
"I'm always proud to have you on my arm." He replies instantly, eyes crinkling with happiness, affection, love. My chest warms. Our lips meet.
"I love you," I sigh.
"I love you, too." He grins.
-Hallway-
"Let's play a game." I tell Edward, fresh drink in hand. "Drink every time we talk to a doctor, politician, or lawyer."
"Hah!" Edward laughs. "Stay on my arm and you'll be drinking all night."
"Not an unpleasant idea," I frown thoughtfully.
"It's actually not as bad as I thought it would be."
Raising my eyebrows, I tip my glass in his direction. "Free drinks," I warble around a mouthful of martini. "You won't catch me complaining."
"Drunk ass." Edward chuckles, dropping a kiss to my temple. "Oh," He exclaims, spotting something over my shoulder. "Oh, shit, babe! Come on." Grasping my forearm, he hauls me after him. Teetering on my heels, I struggle to keep up with his long-legged strides. Stumbling, I almost hurtle into his chest when he comes to an abrupt stop.
"Dude!" He exclaims, releasing my arm so he can do that whole bro-hug clap on the back thing with a tall brunette. "Long fucking time."
"Cullen!" The brunette exclaims, grinning from ear to ear. "Still as good looking as ever. This your lady?"
"Yeah," Edward smirks, pulling me forward. "Derek, this is Bella. Bella – Derek."
"Pleasure," I smile, shaking Derek's proffered hand.
"Likewise," He grins, eyes sparkling with good humor. "Say, Edward, you still in law?"
Frowning, I step into Edward's side, and take a huge gulp of my drink as I watch their conversation volley back and forth. Flitting my eyes across the room, I observe the other men in the ballroom. My face splits into a wide grin when my eyes land on a familiar face.
"Hey, Ed!" I interrupt, eagerly grasping Edward's arm. "Isn't that Ben over there? By the bar?" When he and I make eye contact, I nod my head toward the bar where Ben stands amongst a group of similarly dressed guys.
"What?" Edward says, glancing toward where I motioned to with my head. "Oh, yeah! It is Ben."
"I'm going to go say hello." I tell him, patting his wrist.
"Okay, babe." Edward smiles, "I'll meet you over there."
Weaving through throngs of people, I sidle up to Ben. Tapping his shoulder, I grin in anticipation of his reaction to seeing me. However, the grin dies when he turns to face me and his eyes widen in panic.
"B-Bella?" He stutters out, eyes flitting over my shoulder to scan the room nervously. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm with Edward?" I reply, raising my brows in confusion.
"Shit," he mutters, tossing back the rest of his drink. "I better… I don't know… Fuck…" He starts and stops several sentences, biting into his bottom lip nervously.
"Ben, what's wrong?" I ask, frowning in confusion.
"Bella, I don't know how to say this…" He starts, fidgeting nervously.
"Ben!" Edward exclaims, swooping in on our awkward conversation. "My fucking boy!"
"Edward," Ben replies, hesitantly slapping Edward on the back. "I… It's good to see you."
"Likewise, brother," Edward grins. "What're you drinking? Let me get the next round."
"I…" Ben starts before his eyes widen to the size of saucers. Frowning, I twist to see what Ben's looking at over my shoulder.
"Fuck," I bite out, watching the last person I'd like to see on earth make their way toward us.
"I…" Ben repeats, scrubbing his hand through his hair.
"Shit, man, when did you get married?" Edward exclaims, pointing to the gold band on the fourth finger of Ben's left hand.
"I…" He starts again, grimacing and looking away.
"Last week." A voice clarifies. The last voice I'd like to hear on earth.
"Wait, what?" Edward says, face genuinely confused. We both watch in awe as Angela sidles up to Ben and tucks herself under his arm. Smirking, Angela thrusts her hand forward to show off her set of rings. Two gold bands, both dripping in diamonds.
"I… uh," Edward starts, looking to me for help. Frowning, I shrug as if to say, 'I don't know, either.' Lips pursed, Edward continues nevertheless. "I guess congratulations are in order."
"Thank you." Ben murmurs stiffly, smile fixed uncomfortably on his face.
"I didn't realize you two knew each other." I add, saying the words both Edward and I are thinking. His arm, which was draped around my shoulders, tightens ever so slightly.
"Isn't it nice, hon?" Angela smiles, eyes shooting flames at us while she addresses her new husband. "When people do the unexpected?"
"I need a drink." Ben stutters. "Let's get a drink, Angela."
Grinning, Angela wiggles her fingers at us in parting. Frowning, Ben mouths 'sorry' before towing his psycho wife to the bar.
"Well." Edward says after a pregnant pause.
"Well." I repeat, completely flummoxed by the situation.
"Want to get out of here?"
"I thought you'd never ask."
Hi all - happy Tuesday! I hope you all enjoyed Chapter 26 (: What do you guys think about Victoria x Emmett? Before you freak - she's supposed to be a Rose/Victoria hybrid character so it's pretty much canon. What about Angela? Let me know in the comments!
See you tomorrow!
xo