*Disclaimer-I do not own Twilight.
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We sit on the grass near where Jasper skates. As cold as it is now, it's getting colder, and sitting on wet grass will become more and more problematic in the weeks ahead. We should probably hold a fundraiser to add more benches. Rosalie is glaring at her phone, while Emmett subtly steals glances at her. I still feel bad about encouraging him to pursue her. On the drive here, I watched her ignore at least ten of Alec's calls before she let us know she was leaning towards meeting up with him. She has some questions that only he can answer. My idea of closure from my ex was throwing all reminders in a box and ignoring him. I don't get why she needs to do this, but I hope she'll find out all she needs to know and be done with it.
Edward isn't here. I didn't think he would be, but I know he plans to see me. He may be working, so my main priority is watching Emmett for signs of what's going on. I'm almost sure Emmett is watching the time. His phone is always in hand, and he keeps glancing at it. Either that or he's dealing with something just like Rosalie is.
"Hey, how'd you do that?" Alice asks, stealing my attention away from my surveillance.
Jasper smiles and does a move again, flipping his skateboard under his feet before landing on it. "C'mere." He holds out his hand. "Do you want to try?"
I hold my breath and close my eyes, hoping that today is the day these two really connect. I open my eyes just in time to see Alice take Jasper's hand. When she looks back at us, she's radiating with nervous excitement. I gasp as I lean across the spot that Alice has just vacated and nudge Rose. When she sees what's going on, we both look at each other with wide eyes.
Rose mouths, "Finally."
I nod in disbelief, but I doubt that there's anyone more astonished than Alice.
Emmett checks his phone again, looks at me, and says, "You ready?"
"Yeah." I don't have to ask. I stand and brush the grass off the bottom of my hoody. It's not the one I wish I was wearing, but I left Edward's at home.
"We'll meet you at Jasper's?" he asks Rosalie.
She gives him a wave and a nod without looking away from her phone. I want to say something to her, but I don't know if I can be supportive right now. Alice gives her a hard-enough time, so she doesn't need it from me too.
As we settle into the Jeep, Emmett checks that my seatbelt is securely fastened.
"I know how to put on a seatbelt." I might actually have my dad start arresting people if this keeps up.
"Just making sure," he says. "Your dad is scary."
I roll my eyes. He's really not.
"Lighten up, Swan," Emmett says as he drives away from the park. "I'm just playing. You have like the second biggest guard up of anyone I know."
I look out the window. I'm not arguing with him because I'm getting used to the things he says. "Who has the first?"
"Seriously?" The turn signal blinks in concert with the clicking sounds it makes as he waits for me to come up with a guess I don't have. "Come on now. Your boyfriend is just the slightest bit worse. You've met him, right?"
I shoot him a glare to which he gives me that huge smile of his.
"Fun times you two are. Fun times."
I roll my eyes again. "Don't say boyfriend." Although I'm curious about how he'd react to hearing someone say that, I'm more terrified of how it could go. "Are you dropping off me behind that dark building again?"
"Nah." Emmett pulls off the road and heads behind Newton's. "Car issues. He needs a ride."
When we stop, I get out and lower the front seat, so I can climb in the back. Two voices come from the back door of Newton's before I have the Jeep door closed to keep the heat in, so I leave it open, hearing the laughs of both Edward and Mike heading our way. I slide over, assuming Edward will climb back here with me, but with Mike here, I don't know.
"McCarty." Mike nods Emmett's way. Emmett gives him a nod back.
"Don't play though." Edward grabs Mike's shoulder and gives it a light shake. "Be here. I'm not covering the front."
"Yeah, yeah, I know." Mike looks back at me as if he's just now noticing that I'm here. "Hey, Bella."
I lift my hand in a sort-of wave.
"What are you up to tonight?" he asks me as he leans into the vehicle, his friendly interest a far cry from the way he was when I saw him at my locker with Tyler.
"Okay, go," Edward says, guiding Mike away from the door and climbing in the back with me and lifting the front seat back up. "Can we stop at my house?" Edward asks Emmett, not having said anything to me yet, but he takes my hand and presses his lips to the back of it.
Emmett doesn't answer, just waves a goodbye to Mike and turns up the music, so I don't know if that's a yes.
Edward holds my hand in his lap and leans toward me. It's no words, just kisses that start from body language that I can read. Who needs to talk anyway? We talk every night as it is.
After a while and more kisses than I could possibly count, Emmett clears his throat. "You just running in or are we going to be here awhile?"
"I don't know," Edward says as he laughs in a way that's timid and unsure. He looks away before looking back at me.
"What?" I ask, breaking our noncommunication thing for the first time tonight.
"It's just…" He laughs as he pushes his hair back and then leans closer to me. "I know I said I wouldn't spring my parents on you, and you met my dad, but I'm pretty sure they're both home right now. I can hurry."
I nod. "Okay, so we'll just wait out here?"
His brow furrows. "Or you could come in."
"Okay," I say, again with the nodding.
Edward lets Emmett know we're going in as he lowers the passenger seat and climbs out of the Jeep. He holds my hand as we head to the front door. It feels so natural that I almost wish I hadn't banned Emmett from calling him my boyfriend because when we feel like this together, how could he react badly to something like that?
There are lights on inside. I close my eyes and take a deep breath. I wanted to meet his mom at some point in whatever this relationship is, but I didn't know that point had been reached. He thinks she's judgmental and that'll she'll want to move them away if she doesn't approve of his friends, but meeting his dad wasn't so bad. I squeeze his hand. I'm not sure I'm ready for this, but he squeezes my hand right back. I take another deep breath, ready as I'll ever be, as I let him lead me through his home.
We find his mom in the kitchen with several pots and pans on the stove and many containers on the counter. It reminds me of Rosalie's forays into meal prepping. With his parents' work schedules and the Tuesday dinners I have with Edward, I'm pretty sure that's what this is.
"Smells good," Emmett says, leaning his elbows on the counter.
"I'll fix you a plate," Mrs. Cullen says before she looks over and sees me here. "Oh, hello." Her eyes dart to where Edward is still holding my hand.
"This is Bella," Edward tells her, like it's this casual thing and not the monumental deal it feels like, but then he's turning to me. His voice is lower as he asks, "You okay with Emmett for a few, while I shower, or do you want to go to the game room?"
I reply, "I'm fine here, go ahead," but I'm not really sure. His mother keeps glancing at me. I don't even know how to deal with my own mom, so this is pretty far out of my comfort zone. I notice Edward has black and gray marks on his white t-shirt. I can only imagine how dirty a back area at somewhere like Newton's Outfitters is. "Hurry, though," I say quiet enough that hopefully no one else hears me.
He nods, kisses my cheek, and walks toward his mom, who of course is seeing and cataloguing everything. Emmett doesn't seem to have a clue about anything, except for the fact that he's about to eat.
Edward whispers something to his mom as he passes that has her rolling her eyes and telling him, "It'll be fine."
I watch him as he leaves, makes his way down the hall, taps a knuckle against his father's office door and keeps walking.
I snap out of my stare when Mrs. Cullen asks, "Are you hungry, Bella?"
Am I? How am I supposed to answer that? "No thanks. I had dinner a while ago, but it smells good. What are you making?" I ask, hoping that small talk is appropriate.
She smiles and glances at the stove. "Mostly proteins to go on salads and a stir-fry I can freeze and serve if we work late this week. Oh, and I have a few loaves of zucchini bread in the oven for breakfast.
I try not to let the distaste show on my face as I say, "Oh, I've never tried that." Vegetable bread doesn't sound good at all and having it for breakfast sounds disgusting.
"Never?" she asks, eyes widening as if the idea is absurd. "It'll be done in just a few and you can try it." She doesn't give me a chance to answer as she grabs a plate and starts dishing up the stir-fry for Emmett. I guess it wasn't a question. "I made lemonade," she says. "It's in the fridge."
"You made it?" Emmett asks as if he's in awe of her as he walks toward the fridge.
"Well, no." Mrs. Cullen laughs. "It was a frozen concentrate. I added water and mixed it together. That's how I make it."
"Still more than what we do," Emmett says as he opens the fridge.
I'm standing in front of the cupboard with the glasses, so I open it up and grab two. Before I close it, I ask, "Mrs. Cullen, did you want any?" I feel like I may be the politest person ever, but I might be over doing it.
"Oh, no thank you. I'm Esme by the way, and you've met Carlisle," she says waving her hand toward Carlisle who has just appeared behind me.
"Evening, Bella," he says as he makes his way to his wife. "Where'd our kid go?" he asks her.
She points at the ceiling. "Shower."
"Ah." He looks around at what she's doing. "What can I help with?" he asks.
She pulls out a cutting board and he seems to know what that means, as he grabs a knife and rinses off some vegetables before he gets to slicing.
Maybe they don't think I can hear them, but I hear Edward's mom tell his dad, "She knows where we keep our glasses."
He chuckles, but whatever his response is, it's too low for me to hear. Grabbing the lemonade after Emmett pours it, I hold it up to my mouth far longer than necessary. I stand next to where Emmett is eating at the counter, determined not to touch another single thing in this house.
I can't help peeking over, as the timer goes off on the stove.
Esme pulls the bread out of the oven and turns to me. "We'll just let that cool a few minutes."
I give her a smile that probably doesn't do much to cover up the fact that I know she's aware that I've been here before. The glasses aren't the only thing I know where to find in this house. Edward did an amazing job in front of my dad, but my familiarity was on full display tonight, and I can't take that back.
When Edward appears in the kitchen with his black hoody zipped up and his wet hair brushed back, his dad throws him a set of keys, and says, "Good as new."
"Thanks." He pushes the keys into his hoody pocket and nods at Emmett.
"Yeah, so… They're all already over there, so I'm going to…" Emmett points over his shoulder with his thumb."
Emmett thanks Esme for feeding him, and Edward tells him we'll meet up with him later. Since I'm a part of the "we" in this conversation, I follow Edward down the hall to the garage. He stops in front of the saloon-style doors.
He starts to say something, but I can't let it go another second, so I whisper, "Your parents know that I know where you keep your drinking glasses. I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking."
He just laughs. "Don't worry about it. When I got back after we went out the other night, she asked me if you got spaghetti. Apparently, requesting spaghetti every time she asked me what I wanted her to make was weird. So, she already knew you've been coming over here."
"Oh, okay." I feel slightly better that I wasn't the one who gave us away, but the new information has me thinking back over the entire interaction.
He pulls back the swinging door. "You want to hang out here before we go?"
Instead of answering, I walk into the game room, take off my shoes, and sit down on the couch, not trying to hide my familiarity when it's just the two of us. Tuesdays aren't enough. I'd spend all my time right here if I could.
"Tired?" I ask when he slumps down on the couch beside me.
He nods against my shoulder as he lays his head on it.
I yawn. "I keep you up too late." I wouldn't trade our late-night talks for anything, but they may be starting to take a toll on us.
"Not too late," he says through a yawn of his own. He lifts his head and kisses my jaw. "Just give me ten minutes and then we can head to Jasper's."
"Sure." I catch his lips with mine and then take a moment to look at his face while it's so close.
His smile is lazy, and his eyes fall closed before he opens them and shakes his head, as if he can shake off his exhaustion. He clicks the TV on and maneuvers his head so it's in my lap. "We can go watch them all try not to look at each other." He laughs, but it's almost delirious. I may be tired, but he's clearly surpassed that.
"Maybe with Emmett and Rose," I say as my hands make their way to his damp hair, "but Jasper was teaching Alice how to skate when I left."
His smile widens. "He asked her, didn't he?"
My fingers pause against his forehead. "How'd you know?"
He pushes my fingers back into his hair, and once I start combing them through it, he says, "When you said some girls think he's just there to skate, he figured out you were talking about Alice."
I narrow my eyes at him. "How'd he figured that out, hmm?"
"I didn't tell him. He just mentioned it, and we told him if he thought so, he should go for it."
He yawns again, so I tell him, "Sounds like he's got this now. Maybe they don't need us there after all."
He raises one eyebrow before pulling his phone out of his packet. A warm rush comes over me as I once again see the image of us on his phone. He texts Emmett, telling him we're not going to make it. I text Alice and tell her the same. I should feel guilty for bailing on my friends, but I think they've shown me enough that they understand. Alice's response of a winking emoji is further proof of that.
"You want to lay down?" Edward asks as he lifts his head off my lap.
I would, but with as good as he feels, being close to him has so much potential to escalate. With his parents down the hall, that doesn't seem like the best idea. "Not right now." I nudge him to lay back down. "I like this."
Moving my hand up and down his arm, I stare at the TV screen. Edward's eyes are already closed.
After a while, the swinging of the partial doors startles me. I'd move from the position we are in, but I'm pretty sure Edward is sleeping.
His mom walks in with a plate carrying a few slices of the bread I was supposed to try. "One is warm, and I chilled the other because I wasn't sure what you'd like. Oh, also I just put some butter to the side, in case you didn't want it." She almost places the plate on the coffee table. "Are you allergic to nuts?" She straightens up. "I'm sorry. I'm not used to worrying about that. I can make a new batch."
I hold my hand out as if it's a stop sign. "It's okay. I'm not allergic."
She hands me the plate. I thank her, but instead of leaving the room, she looks at Edward sleeping on my lap and gives him a wistful look that I've only ever seen in movies.
She sits down on the coffee table. "He works too much. It's like he thinks we're going to cut him off when he graduates."
I take a bite of the zucchini bread, so I don't have to respond. Turns out, it's the cold piece and way sweeter than I expected it to be. If she doesn't know he's preparing to stay in Forks in case she ever decides to uproot his life again, I won't be the one to tell her.
"Do you work, Bella?" she asks, her smile curious. I know Edward thinks she's judgmental, but I haven't gotten that impression from either of his parents. His dad seems accommodating and supportive and his mom seems caring and more curious than anything.
"Not right now," I say, lifting up the warm bread for comparison and in case I need to put it in my mouth to keep from talking too much. "I worked at the pool over the summer, but I'm thinking about finding something else."
Her expression sours at my answer. Maybe this is the judgment Edward talks about. "Maybe try not to work too much. This one," she nods down at where Edward's head is resting in my lap, "is a bad example with that. We hardly ever see him. Maybe he'll cut back his hours for you."
I put the zucchini bread in my mouth, knowing he already changed his schedule, so he'd be here with me when his parents work late on Tuesdays. I'm sure that's not what she's hoping for.
"So, do you like it?" she asks.
Since my mouth is full, I reply with a nod.
She leans forward a bit. "Warm or cold?"
My lap starts vibrating before I hear Edward laugh out loud.
"What?" Esme asks him.
"You didn't give her a hot piece or one that's room temperature. How is she supposed to answer that?" He sits up, and my lap is immediately cold. "How did you not think of this?"
Her hands go to her hips. "Are you making fun of me?"
"No." He stands and stretches his arms up as he yawns, revealing a sliver of his torso that I'd be leaning over and touching if it weren't for the presence of his mom.
She looks at me, and I ignore Edward laughing again as I tell her, "I like both ways."
Edward reaches for my hand and says to his mom, "We're heading out so…"
She stands. "You sure you're not too tired to drive?"
He helps me stand and keeps a hold of my hand. "We have caffeine, right?"
She follows us out of the room as we head to the kitchen. "I could start some coffee or fix a cup of tea."
"Yum," Edward says as he heads to the fridge and pulls out two Cokes before handing me one. "Do you need me to do anything before we go?" he asks his mom.
"Well, no," she says, and I can feel her disappointment at his departure even when she spins around as if she can hide it. "Just let me package up some of this bread, so Bella can take some home."
He gets close to my ear and says, "Sorry."
I just shrug because there's really nothing to be sorry for.
She hands me a whole loaf of bread wrapped in foil. I thank her and she smiles, but it's tight. "It was nice to meet you, Bella. Have a good night."
"You too."
I expect her to hug Edward goodbye. I imagine her pinching his cheeks, but she just steps aside, and we pass by.
As we sit in Edward's car inside the garage, he tips his head back and drinks the rest of his Coke.
"Your mom's nice," I say, filling the silence.
"Sometimes," he says as he places his empty can in the cupholder.
I've barely touched mine, but I put it down next to his.
He doesn't turn the car on. He doesn't open the garage. What he does is look me up and down before he grins.
My cheeks flush under his gaze. "Would you just come here?" I ask, but I'm meeting him halfway.
Kissing in the garage is nice, but it would be even nicer if his parents weren't home.
His breath is warm against my face when he asks, "What are you thinking?"
"That I like this." I lean back in and kiss him again.
We end up leaning our seats back, and he puts music on through his phone, never turning the car on, but it's warm enough. We stay like that—sometimes kissing, sometimes talking or just gazing, but always, always touching. Despite what he told his mom, we don't go to Jasper's.
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A/N:
Hi! Thanks for reading! I hope everyone's doing okay!
So many thanks to YourVixen for prereading and dazzled eyes22 for betaing!
Thanks everyone for sticking with me. Right now I'm really working on making writing a better habit, so hopefully I'll get more up soon.
I'd love to know your thoughts!