Hey y'all, I'm so sorry that I took a giant break from this story, I hope to be back, but no promises, school/work/family shit is killing me.
First, this fic is going to be Bella/Emmett/Jasper, so if that's not your thing, no worries, but please stop here.
Second, this story will have dd/lg themes, bisexuality, m/m relationships, polyamory, and sex in it. All characters are over 18 years old and all sexual partners are not related and are not engaging in acts of incest.
I get that this type of story is not everyone's thing, so if you're not into it, I totally understand, but please stop here.
Also, thank you to anyone who comments and follows! I love and appreciate you.
We walk up the driveway, I'm gripping Em's hand like a tether. This will be fine. Everything is ok. It's fine. It's fine. It's fine.
When we reach the porch, he gives my hand an extra squeeze before opening the front door.
Oh God. I'm going to puke.
Stepping into the house, the smell of delicious tomato sauce hits my nose. Instantly, I'm transported to my final foster home. Marcus, my adopted father, would always make pasta on Sunday nights and we'd all just take a break and spend time together. It was one of the best memories from my childhood.
Usually, reminders from the past make me nervous, but this time I feel comforted.
"Are you ok?" Em asks in a whisper, he's smiling.
"Yeah, why?"
"All of a sudden you have a huge smile."
"Why? Is smiling now a bad thing?" I smile up at him. "No it's nothing. I just...I-It just smells familiar that's all. Are we going to go in?"
"Now you're so eager?" Em asks skeptically. "You're a confusing person."
I ignore him and take my shoes off in the little entry area. Em leans against the wall waiting until I'm done and then turns around and walks straight toward the kitchen. I appreciate the fact that Em walks first because even though now I'm not steeped in anxiety, I'm still a little scared.
I want to grasp his hand, but we haven't established how much I'm allowed to touch him at his house, if at all, so I just avert my gaze to his back.
In the kitchen, Jasper is standing behind a wood-topped island, chopping lettuce. He's tall, almost the same height as Em, and has dark hair, but that seems to be where the similarities between the two men stop.
Em has curly hair cut close to his scalp, while Jasper has long straight pulled back into a small, low bun. While Em is clearly very muscular, Jasper is more slim. Em's wearing dark washed jeans and a light fitting black sweater, while Jasper is wearing straight-cut, dark navy chinos cuffed at the bottom with a loose fitting light gray button-up.
Em goes behind Jasper and whispers something in his ear. I stand awkwardly where Em left me, watching. A serious expression takes over Jasper's face, he nods and looks over to me.
"Bella, come in! Have a seat. I'm just finishing the salad."
I move to the stool at the counter. "Here," I place the bread on the counter, "I figured bread goes with nearly everything. Your sauce smells delicious by the way."
"Thank you," Jasper picks up the bread and lifts it to his nose, inhaling. "Wow, you made this?" At my nod, he says, "You'll have to teach me some time, I'm a terrible baker."
Kind of shocked at the offer, I just nod with a small smile.
I don't really know what to say, and I feel weird just sitting here while the two men work together putting the finishing touches on the salad, stirring the sauce, placing dirty cookware in the sink.
Playing with my fingers, I keep my glance down. I can feel the silent communication happening between Em and Jasper, but I feel awkward and don't want to look up.
"Em said you're studying to be a lawyer?"
"A paralegal," God, is my voice shaking? I'm so fucking nervous, even though Jasper seems nice enough. "So like I can do all the research and writing documents and stuff, but I like don't practice law alone or anything like that...if that makes sense." Why is this so hard? I was in and out of foster homes for years, you would think that I could fucking figure out how to introduce myself.
"That sounds pretty cool. How long does that take?"
"It should only take two years. But I'm still working almost full time and everything, so it's taking me a bit longer," Jasper just nods along. "What about you though? You're a graphic designer, right?"
"Yeah, I mean that's what I went to school for, but I'm doing more freelance artwork."
"That's so cool. Do you do like commissions or work for companies or…?"
"Mainly I work with companies to do logos or animations. But I'm starting a zine, so like a mini graphic novel kind of thing."
Nodding along, but not really sure how to respond, our little exchange ends awkwardly. I'm not sure what comes next. I gave him the bread, we talked about work and school, what else are we supposed to say.
"Okay, well, I think dinner is ready," Emmett declares. He takes the bowl of pasta and the salad, Jasper grabs the sliced bread and they both walk around the counter and towards the kitchen table behind me to my left. "Grab the wine and glasses, please, Bells," Em says over his shoulder.
Doing as he asks, I follow behind the two men. Taking a set across from Jasper and next to Emmett, who's sitting at the head of the table.
In relative silence, we all reached for the bowls of food, passing them around until each of us was settled with full plates. The pit returned to my stomach, nerves taking over making me feel like I was about to puke again.
Trying to calm down, I can hear my heart pounding in my ears, my breath uneven. Sitting up straight becomes a chore and I can feel all the bones in my body turn to jello. I think Emmett might be trying to talk to me, but I can't hear him over the pulsing in my ears.
Em kneels down in front of me and puts my hands on his chest over his heart. I try to just focus on his face, but it's so fucking hard. "Bella, look at me. Just breathe, baby. You're ok. You're safe here."
Jasper gets his attention and then walks behind Emmett out of the room while I try to regain control over my brain.
"He hates me now for sure. Fuck."
"No he doesn't. You're ok, Bell. Just focus on the breathing." This day is just fucking full of panic. I hate my fucking brain. This one thankfully doesn't last that long, and I relax when Em puts the glass of ice water against my forehead.
"I'm ok. Sorry."
Smiling, Em says, "How about before we eat we all sit down and just talk it out. That might help."
At my agreement, Jasper comes back into the room. Sitting on the couch instead, me with my glass of water, Em and Jasper each with glasses of red wine.
"Is it ok if I start?" Jasper looks between the two of us. "Ok. I think it might be helpful if I start by saying that I hold no resentment or ill-will towards you. We have talked between the two of us extensively, and still do. I love that Em has this relationship with you."
Why does that just ease nearly everything? How did he know exactly what I needed to hear?
Blushing and looking down at my lap, I say, "Thank you. That helps…. A lot, actually." After a few awkward seconds of silence, "Do you have any questions or anything like you want to ask me, specifically?"
"I mean Em and I usually talk about it if I do have questions. I guess I've wanted to know what kind of relationship you want to have with me."
"Oh...um… I hadn't really thought about that. I was more just like focused on getting you to not hate me. Um… but I feel like it would be cool to like be friends or something. No to be an asshole, but I just don't really think about your relationship with Em. But, I'll totally follow your lead. Like I'm ok with whatever." Jesus I'm rambling. Did I even like say anything that made sense?
"Yeah, that sounds good with me. Here," he hands me his cell phone. "Why don't you give me your number and we can just see where it goes."
I'm not sure if this was that satisfying of a first meeting, but I hoped you liked it. Let me know what you think!
Also, I just wanted to say that I read all the comments and they only fuel my writing.