Alright I made you guys wait over a month for the next update. The next batch isn't going to finish TLG, but I didn't want to leave you guys hanging for who knows how much longer.
Chapter 29: HE – Still Do
Drunk Bella is a Bella he doesn't like to deal with. When he got a call from Riley to pick her up and asked if she could stay over at his house, he instantly regretted letting her go to that bar. Sometimes, Bella's stubbornness and impulses leads her into undesirable situations. This was one of them. Then again, if it wasn't for her drunkenness, he wouldn't have found out sooner than later than Riley had a girlfriend.
A girlfriend.
He really was jealous for nothing. He was jealous over a guy that would never have a remote romantic interest in Bella. The fact fills him with guilt. He lived with the jealousy for weeks and any more would have made him do something he would berate himself later.
So here he is a week later, distracted by his thoughts while Tanya and his friends sit at a table with them at a McDonald's. It's another usual Friday hang-out and he hasn't been able to shake off his lingering guilt about Riley. How could he? He had secretly been a person Bella would have despised had she known how he viewed Riley.
"Edward!"
He blinks. Tanya is snapping her fingers, a concerned expression on her face.
"Hm?"
"Kate asked if you wanted to see the new Avengers movie next week Friday or Saturday."
"Oh! Ummm… what do you guys want?"
"We all want Saturday," Gianna tells him. "You?"
"I'm free next Saturday."
Kate claps her hand. "Saturday it is!"
The group finishes the rest of their meal before they exit the fast food restaurant and head home. Since he and Tanya live on the same block, he's walking next to her on their way home.
A few blocks away from their houses, Tanya speaks.
"Edward?"
"Yeah?"
She bites her lip. "Never mind."
He turns his head to look at her. "What is it? You can tell me anything."
"Anything?"
"We're friends, Tanya. Whatever's on your mind, you know I'm here to listen."
"I know that. It's just…" She hesitates for a few seconds before continuing. "I feel like Rachel right now."
"Rachel?"
"The one from Friends."
"Oh. That Rachel. What about her?" He has watched many episodes of the Friends show, so he's aware of the basic info about the old sitcom.
"Well… this was when Ross and Rachel was already broken up. Rachel still loved Ross and she told him so in an episode to get it off her chest. Ross took it okay and they didn't fight."
He looks at her, confused. Where is she going with this?
"Why'd you mention that?"
"Because I feel like Rachel in that scene." She looks at him nervously. "I know that Bella is her girlfriend and I'm not saying this because I want to break up the two of you. I would be a terrible friend if I did that. I know you let me down before and I know you're going to do that again anyway and it's pointless to even say this. But it's still bothering me after all this time and I haven't been able to get rid of these feelings till now. I think if I say it, it might make me feel better and maybe… I don't know… I don't know what I'm expecting out of this. This is a terrible idea. Forget I said anything."
"No." He knows where this is going. Her rambling is her way of delaying the words she thinks would change their friendship. But being friends with her for six years won't make him dump her as a friendship due to unrequited feelings. In a different world, if he didn't fall in love with Bella, it would have been with Tanya.
He understands her. And, like Ross, he's going to talk with her through her feelings to help her.
"Tanya." He puts his hands on the sides of her face. "Tell me."
"But-"
"Say it. I'm not going to leave until you do."
"Edward-"
"Say it!"
Her lip trembles. "I still love you."
And then he does something that will chew at his conscience more than his jealousy with Riley.
He kisses her.
*cringes* Read on before you kill me.
