Chapter 35: Cockblocking cat
Bella was talking with Alice when her phone rang. Considering it was after midnight, she knew it was Edward. But why was he calling? He knew she was hunting.
Before she answered, Bella spared a glance to the caller ID. It was a number she didn't know.
"Hello?" She answered uncertainly.
"Bella, I hope I didn't wake you up, sweetie." Elizabeth.
Something was wrong with Edward. Bella shot up and whispered to Alice that she had to go.
"Hello, Lizzie. What happened?" she asked, barely keeping the concern from her voice to show as she ran through the forest.
"Is Edward with you?"
"No…" She arrived at her cottage and slid in her car. She didn't want to explain the running part. "Isn't he home?"
Elizabeth took a shuddering breath. "I was hoping he was with you."
"I'll be right there. I'm sure he's okay," Bella assured her.
After hours of waiting, calling, worrying, he finally answered Bella's phone call. He sounded as if she had woken him up. Where was he?
When he arrived at his house, Bella knew she should have allowed his mother to chide him, but she was the first out of the house, probably moving too fast. She was shouting, but she couldn't even control her voice. He had been with Leah and he wasn't even trying to deny it. Bella trusted him implicitly. It was the mutt she didn't trust.
The kiss that sort of cut their fight short was better than anything else. Bella knew she had to prove him how much she trusted him, how much she loved him, how worried she'd been. So she kissed him like never before. Bella was going to regret it if her sharp teeth grazed his skin.
Elizabeth reminded Edward that she was upset from several feet away. Bella wanted to leave and allow his parents to talk to him, but she knew he needed her there for moral support. If he had called her last night, she would have come and nothing like this would have happened.
Bella had never seen Ed angry, but he was red and a vein was pulsing against his forehead when they got inside. Both his parents were both shouting and when they were done scolding Edward about last night, they started to talk about college – what had started the whole mess.
Suddenly, Edward sprang up. "If you went to college right after high school – well done!" He applauded, his eyes blazing. "I want a year off, a break from studying and all that crap!"
Ed emitted a sound close to a growl. "Do enlighten me how are you going to live? Because, son, I surely won't help. Not when you decide to rebel on us!"
"I don't need your help! And wasn't it last night when you said you'll help me?" Edward snapped.
"Not when you are throwing your life away," his dad muttered. His eyes locked on Bella's. "What about you, Bella?"
She opened her mouth, but she had no idea what to tell him so she closed it back.
He'll have time for college?
Edward wouldn't be able to go to college because he might kill his classmates?
They couldn't explain it.
Bella understood Edward. And just like him, she wanted to tell them. She wanted them to understand.
"We'll find jobs. Something small until next fall," she whispered, finally.
"Hmph!" Ed slumped back on his armchair. "Are you even mature enough to marry?" he asked after a few minutes.
"DAD!" Edward shouted, turning his hands into fists at his sides. "I can make my own decisions!"
"Can you? Do you realize that you aren't even eighteen? Your mother and I have a say in everything you do."
"Not for long," Edward muttered under his breath.
Bella leaned forward and caught his hand, tugging him back to the couch. He obeyed and sat down, heaving a sigh.
Elizabeth came to sit on his other side. "I'm not saying you aren't ready to start a new chapter of your life." Edward snorted and Bella squeezed his hand to keep him focused on his mother. "But, honey, your father is right. I'm sure you'll like to live alone with Bella. What job can do that? You're both just out of high school."
"Mom, would you stop worrying? We'll be fine!" He groaned, his shoulder slumped. He was losing the fight.
"I can't stop worrying, sweetie. You're my baby boy." She caressed his cheek with tenderness. Bella looked away. Ed caught her eye and whatever he saw in her eyes made him sigh in resignation. He glanced at his wife and son then back at Bella.
"Fine! Fine! Be as it may!" He got up and went to the kitchen.
Edward turned his red face to Bella so fast she thought he'd get a crick, his green eyes wide. She shrugged, smiling. She had no idea what she did, but somehow, she made his father cave.
His stomach decided it was time to be fed and growled loudly. Edward's already red face turned even redder, his eyes closing as he cringed.
"Oh, goodness! You must be starving. You didn't eat anything last night!" His mother fretted.
"Wonder why." Bella heard Edward mumbling.
"I'll go start breakfast. You must be hungry, too." She looked at Bella.
She shook her head. "No, thank you."
"Oh, don't be like this, sweetie. I'll make you both some omelet." She disappeared from the room before Bella could protest.
"Can you eat two omelets?" she whispered.
"I'd eat an elephant."
"I haven't tried it," she said, giggling.
His eyes met hers, surprised. Then they both started laughing.
"Sooo," he mumbled once they stopped laughing. "Last night… I'm really sorry."
She patted his knee. "It's okay. I overreacted a bit."
"Just a bit?" he asked incredulously.
Bella shoved his shoulder lightly. "Don't be difficult."
.
.
.
As the end of April approached, Alice and Elizabeth started fussing around them about the weeding. Bella granted them total control, in the end. They knew what they were doing, they were both married. Edward and Bella only had to work over the guest list.
Dress fitting – that was torturous. Alice designed the dress, and Elizabeth knew a tailor and so the dress was made. It was perfect – just like the one she would have worn in her time. Words escaped Bella when she first saw the drawing. Alice took it the worst way and said she'd rectify it, already mumbling about what she should add or cut. Bella was flying her hands around, trying to make a sound and tell her how much she loved it. Finally, she managed to snap her out of it when she grasped Alice's shoulders and hugged her tightly, kissing her soundly. Edward had taken that moment to check on them. His eyes darkened when he saw their position.
"Should I worry?" he had asked, shifting slightly.
Bella shook her head, still unable to talk. Alice snapped out of her shock and wiped her lips, glaring.
"Get out of here, kid! You aren't allowed to see the dress!" She had screeched, looking at Edward.
He had looked between them and shrugged then backed away with his hands up. Alice had made Bella promise she'd never kiss her again. Bella agreed, knowing it had been the only way to make her see how she felt for the dress.
The tailor was a woman around Elizabeth's age. She was very careful, but unfortunately, her finger slipped. Bella saw the movement, but didn't make the connection right away. She was busy arguing with Alice about flowers.
"Oh, goodness! Did I hurt you, sweetheart?"
Bella's eyes widened and she glanced at her through the mirror. "Uh, no. I'm good."
It was awkward. The lady looked weird at her perfect skin then shrugged. It should have been bloody. A phone rang somewhere and she excused herself.
Alice quickly changed the sewing pin that should have hurt Bella. It was bent.
.
.
.
"How did it go?" Edward asked. They met at the only café Forks had after her dress fitting.
"Good?" Bella shrugged.
"I'm sure it was better than my day," he grumbled, touching a finger to the hot mug in front of him. "I had to listen to everyone whine about something. If it was possible, I'd have gone tux fitting alone."
"What happened?" she asked, curiously. She put a hand over his bouncing knee.
"Where should I start?" He groaned, exasperated. "Emmett kept saying 'ouch' every ten seconds, Jasper was trying to lighten the mood – so much that I ended up rolling around from laughing, Jake was being the dumbass you know he is."
"Sounds…"
"Best time ever, huh?" Edward nudged her with his shoulder. He'd end up with a bruise if he did it again. "Were the bridesmaids behaving?"
Bella shot him an equally exasperated look. "It will take me all day and night to tell you," She laughed.
He chuckled and sighed heavily. "Give me one good reason why we aren't wasting gas for a trip to Vegas," he said seriously, sipping from his cappuccino.
"You want your parents to be there, Edward."
"I'm starting to regret the whole thing. We could send them pictures?"
"Don't forget that we have to live with Alice for the rest of forever. She'd never forgive us if we eloped."
His forehead banged against the table. "Fuck." She heard him swearing under his breath.
"Change of subject," Bella declared. He didn't move. "Do you want to go to the movies?"
"Not today. Not this week," he corrected himself.
"Why not? There's an interesting one."
"Some of us are still human," Edward hissed. His cheeks turned red when a middle aged man turned his head to them. Thankfully, he lost interest quickly. "I wonder what he's thinking," Edward mused.
"Probably that we're weird teenagers." She shrugged. "You want to start studying this week?"
"Yes, Bella. June is around the corner. If I could, I'd altogether skip finals."
"You'll find it easy, soon enough," she reassured him as he took a sip from his drink.
They lapsed in comfortable silence. Edward's gaze was trained on his mug and Bella's on his face. Suddenly, he looked up.
"Want to start that list?" He offered off-handedly. "Guest list. Wedding," he added when she kept staring at him.
"Oh, sure." Bella nodded.
Bella asked the waitress for a pen and she gave them one, along with a look that said 'the bookstore is around the corner.' She took a napkin and tested the pen on the edge. It worked.
"So?" Bella looked up at Edward, expectantly.
"What? Me?" he asked, shocked.
"Well, you were here before," she pointed out. "You had years to make friends. I know who I invite."
"Ben," he mumbled under his breath.
Bella wrote the name and waited for the next, pen in the air. Nothing followed. She glanced at Edward, and he was concentrating on the contents of his mug.
"I'm not a social person, okay," he hissed, not looking at her.
"I think I know that. What about we invite our class mates?"
"You said you wanted something small. Ben and Angela won't come alone. They'll bring their families. Already too many people."
Bella added Angela's name to the list and made an accolade over their names, adding plus family.
"La Push friends?" she asked.
"Implicitly. Jake's Dad and Leah's family," Edward told her as if it was obvious.
"Besides our bridesmaid and best man's families," she mocked him, poking him with the pen.
"Ow," he said half-heartedly, rubbing his bicep absently. "Sam? Quil? Embry? I don't know, Bella."
"Okay. La Push gang. If they're comfortable around us." She scribbled away as he looked out the window.
"Is it so sad that I won't miss anyone besides my parents and a few others?" His tone was detached.
"I have no idea how many friends a seventeen year old should have."
"I'm serious."
"So am I," she insisted. Bella wished she could help him. In any way.
Bella added Peter and Charlotte to the list, but she'd have to think about it. And she'd have to ask the Cullens about their friends in Denali.
On their way to Edward's house he told her about Easter plans, starting defensively.
"You don't have to come, but Mom sort of… she made me beg you to come for Easter this year." His whole face and neck were red.
"Would she believe if you tell her I already made plans with the Cullens?"
"Why don't you tell her that? I'm sick of being the messenger… She should have told you this, but no, she thinks I can manipulate you into coming," he muttered.
"Well, you could if you wanted. I can't say no to you."
His lips twitched up. "And if I don't want you to come?" He challenged.
"I'd demand an answer as of why."
He parked the car in front of his house. "It's enough you stay for dinner sometimes. I don't want you there, where you'd obviously be uncomfortable. Food, dogs…"
Bella laughed at his concern. "I'm getting used to the dog stench since I have to endure a few hours every few days around Leah."
"Suit yourself." He shrugged, walking to the front door.
Bella giggled, following him and wrapping an arm around his waist. "It will be okay, I'm sure. I want to spend time with your family."
He snorted, unlocking the door. "Of course you do! It's like you're her daughter not me!"
"Are you a girl?" she teased, toeing off her shoes.
"You know what I mean. Did she tell you she wasn't coming back home?" he asked, just realizing he unlocked the door.
"You're so distracted," Bella mock chided him, pushing his back against the wall. Edward groaned when his head collided with the wall.
"Are you trying to kill me?"
"Not yet."
He rolled his eyes and wrapped his arms around her, tilting his head to kiss Bella. They switched positions, and he was humping her stomach, moaning, when the front door opened. Bella opened her eyes in time to see the newspaper hitting the back of his head as Elizabeth came inside.
"What is it with everyone today?" Edward mumbled, rubbing the nape of his neck.
"You can have more dessert, dear," his mom told Bella. She tried hard not to laugh at Edward's expression.
"Thank you." Bella grinned.
"Anytime, sweetie. Just tell me if he molests you again."
"I'm going to need a stack of blank papers." Bella molded her voice to sound honest and innocent.
"Hey!" Edward shouted, glaring at the two of them. "What am I, chopped meat?"
"Did you hear anything?" Elizabeth asked Bella, ignoring her son. He turned red, annoyed.
"Must have been Ginger," Bella said thoughtfully.
"Bella," he exclaimed, his voice rising so high, birds understood him better.
"Definitely the cat," she said, her voice muffled by his hand that suddenly came over her mouth.
Elizabeth whacked the newspaper over his ass. "Do something productive, Edward. Clean your room."
"It's clean," he complained, still glaring at Bella.
Soon enough, he was exiled to his room while Bella was in the kitchen, helping Elizabeth with dinner.
"Did you two get lost on the way back home?" she asked knowingly. Bella was happy she couldn't blush. Besides, wasn't she the one coming after them?
"We stopped at the café. Wrote the guest list." Bella beamed.
She stopped cutting the carrot on the chopping board, her eyes tearing up. "Oh, Bella! It's real, isn't it? You're going to steal him away?"
Bella looked down at the chicken leg in her hand. If Elizabeth only knew how true her words were. She didn't have the heart to promise her she'd see him again. It was a lie. A huge, fat lie.
"Stay fucking put!" Bella heard Edward grumble from upstairs. There was a loud thump. It couldn't have been the cat.
"Go, see if he's still alive," Elizabeth told her softly, shaking her head.
Bella washed her hands and on her way out of the kitchen, but she stopped in the doorway. Elizabeth looked at her curiously.
"You're still going to be his mother. He'll still love you. No matter what."
A tear slipped from her eye. "I know, Bella. And I trust you to take care of him."
Bella smiled and nodded.
"Stupid! Idiotic thing!" Edward's outburst made Bella really curious. What was he doing?
Bella slipped away and rushed up the stairs when Elizabeth couldn't see her. She opened his door and found a bunch of useless crap in the middle of his room. He was cleaning his desk. Bella closed the door behind her, as softly as she could so not to disturb him and then jumped on top of the desk.
"Shit!" His heart took off.
"What? You cleaned the desk. I thought it was for me," she said innocently.
His green eyes darkened and he came to stand between her legs. "Missed you." His nose nudged her earlobe as he breathed there. His hands trailed up and down her thighs and since she was on the edge of the desk, his bulge was rubbing against the spot between her legs.
"What about cleaning the room?" Bella whispered, running her hands through his hair.
"Fuck it."
"What got you angry earlier?" she asked, moving her hands over his shirt and stopping at his belt.
"That stupid cat thought I was playing and started moving stuff around my desk until the books fell. On my foot." That must have been the thump. "And then I decided to clean it. And the door of the desk won't stay closed without stuff inside."
Bella kissed him, shutting him up. He was happy to kiss her back. She was aware of the door being unlocked and his mother downstairs.
Edward took Bella's shirt off and threw it behind him. His head went down to say 'hello' to her breasts. That could take a while. He loved them and surely, they loved him right back for the attention. Bella worked on his belt, taking it out of the loops and throwing it away. A loud and long mewl followed the thump of the belt buckle hitting something.
"Holy shit!" Bella moaned, panicked. "Wait. I think I hit the cat."
Edward groaned and turned around. Sure enough, Ginger was licking his back, his small tail twitching angrily. Bella jumped off the desk and went to him. He tried to claw her finger off. When he saw that nothing happened, he hissed, trying to scare her.
"Don't be silly." Bella picked him up, inspecting his back carefully. There was a scratch surely, but not deep enough to draw blood. She felt awful for not being careful.
"Are you done coddling the cat?"
"Edward, I really hurt him," she hissed at him. "Can you think with your big head for just a second?"
"I am." He smirked.
"Figures. That's why you say such stupid things. The head on your shoulders is smaller than the dick's head."
He laughed, but sobered up quickly when he saw she wasn't amused. "Is he really injured?" he asked worried, coming closer.
Ginger realized she was sorry for hurting him and was now nestled in her palm, still licking the wound. Edward leaned closer, putting his finger on the small wound, and earned a claw on his cheek.
Bella slapped him lightly. "Do you realize it hurts him?"
"But I wanted to see…"
"How would you feel if I stuck my finger in your cheek now?" She challenged him, stroking the cat's head.
"Point taken," Edward mumbled. "I just wanted to see how hurt he was."
"Let's take him to the doctor. You aren't a vet."
Edward picked up his belt and Ginger cowered in Bella's hand. Crap. The poor thing was really shaken. Once Edward was dressed, she thrust the cat in his hands and put her shirt on. She picked up the carrying cage and put Ginger there.
They explained to Elizabeth that Ginger was in the wrong place at the wrong time while they were cleaning. She didn't believe them considering they looked like they had been making out. Edward's hair was sticking in every direction and his lips were swollen.
The drive to the clinic was full of Edward muttering about the cockblocking cat.
Stay tuned for my new story. I'll start posting it later.
This one will continue with updates daily since it's complete.
