March 4, 2011
Prompt: Giggle
Pairing: Edward/Bella
Storyline: Be My Valentine
…Continued from Chapter 48
~*Witfit*~
Night of the Girl's Choice Dance
I pulled into the parking lot of the school and felt sort of sick to my stomach. The car ride from Bella's house had been quiet. Neither of us had said a word. The stillness in the car was unsettling. It was no different than the feelings that had coursed through me when I'd pulled up to Bella's house, except this time, she was sitting next to me in the passenger seat of my car.
After putting the car in park and turning off the engine, I shifted in my seat to look at her. She was so pretty. Little pieces of hair had started to pull loose from the ponytail she wore, and they curled softly against her cheeks. Her eyes met mine and she smiled shyly before looking away. I wanted to reach over and touch her hand or arm or something to get her to look at me again, but I wasn't sure if it would be okay. So, I sat there, and waited for a second, before finally saying her name.
"Bella?" Hearing it roll off my tongue felt and sounded foreign to me. It felt good and I liked it, but it felt strange.
She turned her head, and her eyes shifted to meet mine. A soft pink tinge colored her cheeks, and I could tell she was nervous. I wondered why. She was always so confident. She was the popular one, the girl every other girl in the school wanted to be. A nagging thought, one that I'd been noodling on since she'd asked me to the dance the day before, ran through my mind.
She's probably nervous to be seen in public with you. She probably regrets asking you.
I tried to push my inner thoughts aside, but they were there, bubbling under the surface. Was that really why she felt nervous? She seemed excited about the evening and the concert tickets.
But that was to some place none of her friends would be.
"Listen, um… if you are having second thoughts about this," I said, motioning to the school building, "we don't have to go. I don't want you to be uncomfortable… you know, being seen with me."
Even as the words came out, I felt my stomach tighten. I knew people thought of me as some geeky math guy, but I didn't see myself that way. I knew I didn't have a lot of friends, other than Alice and Jasper and a few other random people, but it still kind of sucked to think she might actually be embarrassed to go with me.
"What?" she asked. "I don't… that's not…" she stammered, but nothing coherent came out.
"It's okay. You don't have to explain. I can just drop you off or take you home or whatever. I get it."
My head started to ache from over thinking, and my stomach was twisted in a very uncomfortable mess of knots. Turning back to face the steering wheel, I reached up to turn on the car, when I felt the warmth of her hand on my arm.
"Edward, please stop."
My hand fell in my lap, but I couldn't bring myself to look at her. I hated feeling this way. It was stupid and immature and so not me. I'd never really had low self esteem. I had always been comfortable in my own skin. At least I had been until Bella Swan sat at my table in the cafeteria.
"I'm not embarrassed to be seen with you. If I was, I wouldn't have asked you. It's just… I, uh…" she paused, her fingers twisting awkwardly.
I looked over at her and couldn't help but reach out and touch her. I didn't want her to be uncomfortable, and seeing the way she was fidgeting made me feel even worse.
"I like you, Edward. I have for a while."
What did she say?
"What?"
She giggled nervously. "I like you. I don't know what it's going to be like in there, how people will treat you, and I'm just a little bit nervous for you."
I sat back in my seat, feeling like a moron for being so self centered and annoying.
Her face had flushed a deeper shade of pink, and without a thought, I leaned over and brushed my lips against her cheek. Her skin was soft and warm, and I could smell the sweet scent of her perfume. She smelled good. She felt good. And I wanted to linger there, to breathe her in and kiss her properly. A big part of me wanted nothing more than to turn the car around and go back to her house and get to know her better, away from what would definitely be an uncomfortable night. But I wouldn't do that. I wanted to be with her, had for a long time, and this was my chance to show her how special she really was.
As I sat back, she lifted her hand to her cheeked and smiled sweetly.
"I like you, too, Bella. And to be honest, I don't really care what people think. If you want to go to this dance, I'm happy and proud to be your date."
She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and nibbled on it for a split second before a beautiful smile spread across her face.
"Let's do this."
