[chapter_16]
Bella runs out of basic study supplies just after mid-terms. She considers it a miracle that her highlighters, pens, and sticky notes made it past the first half of the semester, especially because of how much studying she has to do for Professor Cullen's class. As it is, it's her first order of business to drop by the campus bookstore to stock up on what she'll need to get to finals. Her other classes this quarter don't require half as many notes, and most of them she can take on her laptop in the first place - but Professor Cullen has Bella scrambling back to old fashioned note-taking, because it's the only way she can commit everything to memory. Something in the tangibility of smearing highlighter across the textbook really ingrains the information.
Luckily for Bella, the campus bookstore is more or less empty. It's a warm mid-July day and the weather is perfect for sprawling across the courtyards, and Bella suspects that's part of the reason why the usually-busy store is slow. A pep in her step, still buoyed by the fact that Masen Cullen's number is really in her phone, Bella browses for the best deal in the stationary section. She's a bit particular with the types of materials she uses, so she spends a while searching. Gel ballpoint pens, two black, one blue; assorted neon highlighters, at least one in coveted pink, not just yellow and green; sticky notes, plain square, at least two-by-three inches; a notebook, the last of the composition type because spirals are more difficult to use. She spies a set of sticky flags on her way out of the aisle, the semi-translucent arrows that attach neatly to books to flag important information. Satisfied, Bella balances her items in one arm, mentally chiding herself for not grabbing a basket because Leah, who usually harps on about it, is all the way in Washington and will be for another six weeks.
It's less of a surprise when Bella does end up dropping the sticky flags, and more of a surprise when a slim, French manicured hand picks it up before she can stoop to do it herself. The sticky flags are deposited at the top of Bella's one-armed pile by a girl with perfectly curled strawberry blonde ringlets and a designer handbag. Bella starts to thank her, but the girl cuts her off before Bella can even open her mouth.
"You should think about how you dress now. Wearing this shade of yellow? It completely washes you out, and don't even think about orange," the girl says sharply, running a critical eye over the casual shorts-and-t-shirt configuration of Bella's outfit. "You could maybe do gold, or mustard if you have to wear that part of the wheel but - honestly, you need to be thinking about how you look now."
"Um…"
"Do you know what your best angles are?" the girl demands, and then rolls her eyes dismissively. "Ugh, of course you wouldn't. Try to tip your chin up unless you want your forehead to look huge, and for the love of Prada, don't smile so widely. Holding hands is cute and all, but pictures of a laughing, open mouth are not charming."
"…What are you-"
The girl flicks her hair off her shoulders, her face an expression of haughty perfection, every eyelash curled and every blemish covered. "This is just friendly advice, you understand," the girl says in a tone that does not sound particularly friendly at all. "If you're what he chose, then fine. But at least remember that you also represent Masen when you go out. Don't embarrass him by dressing like some pastel gremlin."
Before Bella can so much as summon a response - any response - the girl turns her chin and sashays away with a huff, leaving Bella to blink rapidly after her, struck dumb by the abrupt nature of that entire one-sided conversation.
The girl looks familiar. Who is she? It's right on the tip of Bella's tongue, a name she's heard once before. Has Bella talked to that girl? Ah, yes. She did once, for all of one ungratifying minute. That was Tanya Denali, wasn't it?
That was Tanya Denali giving Bella unsolicited fashion advice, under the guise of Bella's casual college co-ed look somehow being embarrassing to Masen. Does Bella dress like a pastel gremlin? She doesn't think so, or Alice definitely would have said something a lot sooner. Of course, given what Alice wears, maybe it would have been Rose to speak up? Wait! More importantly, how does Tanya know about Bella and Masen?
Bella casts her eyes around the mostly empty bookstore and wonders how many of these students also - mysteriously and inexplicably - know about Bella and Masen? And how many of them witnessed that fine interaction with Tanya Denali?
Nobody seems to be looking at her, but that doesn't keep Bella from tilting her head down and buying all her study materials as quickly as possible. Her only goal is to get back to the dorm and rope Alice into discovering exactly how Tanya came across her all-too-accurate information.
Bella scurries back to the dorm and, after she drops her purchases at her feet alongside her denim backpack, she loudly whispers, "Alice! I think I need your help!"
Piping Hot Tea (Group Chat)
Short Cake
You guys!
Look at how cute they are!
(Picture Attachment: Bella and Masen
sitting at a small table, leaning toward
each other over two cups of coffee)
(Picture Attachment: Masen holding the
door open for Bella as they leave the café)
(Picture Attachment: Bella and Masen on
campus, holding hands and walking under
a streelight)
(Picture Attachment: Bella and Masen still
holding hands, this time the picture is taken
from further away)
(Picture Attachment: Another hand holding
picture, but this time Bella and Masen are
far enough away to be almost unrecognizable)
Sleep Talker
Okay
When I asked you for help this is not what I meant
And I think you know that
So I'm feeling very betrayed right now
Short Cake
You blush a lot when youre betrayed
Sleep Talker
No I don't!
Thorny
Aww, how pure
You have to admit it does look cute
So wholesome
Like a Hallmark movie
Paparazzi
Hallmark movies are awful
Thorny
I know
But these pictures also give me a
toothache so
Paparazzi
The pictures are alright
Where are they from
Sleep Talker
Ugh don't ask
Short Cake
Cardinal trees!
They did a whole mini series on
Bella and Masen!
Thorny
LOL really
I didn't know our virgin was so interesting
Sleep Talker
Rose you have to stop calling me that
Thorny
I will when it isn't true
Sleep Talker
FFS
Paparazzi
Wait so
Youre telling me that someone that good
is voluntarily working at that stupid gossip blog
That's criminal
Thorny
Way to fixate on so-not-the-point Leah
Paparazzi
I'm just appreciating the artistry
I could gush over all the mooning like Ali
if you want
Sleep Talker
Please no
One is enough
Thorny
The only one mooning over anything
Is Bella and Masen Cullen in those pictures
Short Cake
IKR?!
They're so cute together!
We're so lucky to have these pics!
Sleep Talker
No we are not lucky
We are mortified
We are wondering if this is an
invasion of privacy
Thorny
Well, you were in public
Paparazzi
And its not like the pictures are scandalous
Short Cake
Plus they're so precious!
Why wouldn't you want them?
Sleep Talker
Because it's like
It's like ACTUAL paparazzi
Not just Leah, but like real paps
On a college campus!
I'm not interesting enough for paps!
Thorny
Welll…you are now lol
Paparazzi
Tbh, if I was there, I'd be capturing the same
content so...
Short Cake
Plus the blog is kind of invested
You are the reigning campus beauty
Sleep Talker
Omg how could I forget?
Now it all makes sense
No wonder they were following us
Thorny
Not to mention your reputation
And his honestly
Paparazzi
Its more shocking how shocked you are
Ali is she getting worked up
Short Cake
Not really
Oh wait
She went for the gummy worms
Paparazzi
Huh
So she is bothered by it
Sleep Talker
Only a little
I'm sure interest will die down soon
Thorny
Not likely
Have you seen the poll
Sleep Talker
What
Paparazzi
There's a poll?
What about?
Thorny
Are Bella Swan and Masen Cullen the New
Campus Power Couple?
67% Yes
13% No
16% No, But Only Because Masen Graduated
Sleep Talker
What is happening
Am I on an episode of Black Mirror?
Paparazzi
This is great
I wish I could see your face right now
Ali, take a pic
Sleep Talker
Don't take a picture!
Short Cake
Okay!
:)
(Picture Attachment: Bella looking
right at the camera, horrified and clearly
mid-shout)
Thorny
Beautiful
Paparazzi
Perfect
Short Cake
I have more!
Sleep Talker
I want new friends
In the wake of learning that Cardinal Trees really did send a photographer after Bella and Masen to catalogue their date and then springboard an entire poll off of it that seemingly the whole campus has an opinion on, Bella is admittedly a little paranoid. Regardless of the fact that the gossip is true and the overarching public opinion is positive, she can't help but feel like more eyes are on her than usual. And Bella, who is used to a certain kind of attention, now has to learn how to be a little less bothered by the way it feels like eyes follow her every move.
But, really. She's only a little paranoid - she does have classes to study for and games to play and Alice to wrangle, after all. She's too busy to be honestly bothered for more than a few minutes at a time.
Thankfully, most people have short attention spans too. Within a few days, most of the buzz dies down and she feels less shell-shocked to go to class like everything is normal. No more Tanya Denali approaching her out of some misguided sense of duty, no more photographer following her around, no more polls on insipid gossip sites. Just Bella, and her computer, and her games, and her classes. Just Bella and Masen arranging another date - this time far off campus, because while Masen had also discovered the Cardinal Trees story and had been mostly neutral about it, it was still obvious he wasn't looking for a repeat.
Bella gets it. It's a world of difference to be Leah's willing subject and to be the subject of a gossip blog again. She imagines that for Masen, who is trying to build a brand and reputation from scratch, that the attention is equally as burdensome. By mutual agreement, they decide the smart thing to do is to lay low and keep their time together as far from campus as possible. After all, Cardinal Trees might have sent a photographer, but that photographer only took pictures on campus, honoring the implicit agreement that the campus gossip blog be something that only captures information on campus, neatly insulating themselves and bound by a physical limit to not overstep bounds. If Bella and Masen meet off-campus, then Cardinal trees has nothing to work with - end of story.
Bella doesn't mind. She's lived in the area for almost three whole years by now, but she hasn't really explored anything that isn't more than a stone's throw away from wherever that campus shuttle can take her. Which is really a shame because she happens to live in a hub of interesting places and she hasn't really seen any of it. Now, she can, with Masen Cullen as her guide.
Masen sends a Lyft to pick her up at the campus gates, which then takes her down to a quieter part of town, right on the fringe of where all the off-campus businesses that serve Stanford students ebbs away into the rest of Palo Alto. Just as promised, Bella arrives at an actual arcade that looks like it's seen better days, but is still busy enough that she can imagine losing Masen in the shuffle.
He's standing by the entrance, tapping on his phone to pay for the Lyft ride, and looks at her with the faintest of smiles as she approaches, grey-green eyes soft as he pockets his phone. "Was the ride okay?"
"Great. Great driving," Bella answers dumbly. Great driving? Well…it is a valid concern for ride-share apps. Sometimes the driving isn't great. It doesn't make her feel any less insipid that that is the first thing she says to him, though, and she breathes out sharply before offering a slight smile. "Hi."
Masen inclines his head. "Hi."
"This is an arcade," she notes needlessly, trying to grasp some concept of normal conversation. Her heart is fluttering in her chest, a butterfly trapped in a jar, mind stumbling over itself in a still-stunned disbelief that she's on another date with Master Culler Who Is Masen Cullen.
She probably won't get over it for a while, but she hopes she'll acclimate soon, because it's mortifying to be so tongue-tied. She was talking to him normally the other day! Bella fiercely wants to go back and reclaim some of that confidence from her past self so she can use it now.
Masen, seemingly amused at her flustering, simply says, "Yes, it is."
"Arcades feel like relics of the 80s and 90s," Bella muses, tucking a flyaway hair back into her loose side braid. "Like, on Stranger Things? Am I going to walk in and see Mike Wheeler?"
"Better Mike than a Demogorgon," Masen says seriously.
Bella titters and tension drains right out of her back, spine loosening along with her smile. "I don't know, I thought Dart was kind of cute," she says, walking into the arcade as Masen holds the door open for her. Inside, the arcade is dimly lit with dark wooden flooring and three rows of games with neon lighting that paint the entire place in rainbow hues. It's loud inside, between all the people laughing and cheering and all the sound effects of the games. She stops just on the threshold, twisting around to keep track of Masen as he follows her inside.
And then, natural as anything, Masen places his hand on the small of her back and guides her down one of the rows. His hand is warm, a searing brand she can keenly feel through the cotton of her loose high-neck tank top. He seems intent on a particular game, which she finds interesting because it indicates he has a preference and she is eager to soak up all information about him like a sponge. The thought to ask about coins or tickets dies on her tongue when he stops in front of a game and clunks down a bucket of quarters that he's definitely been carrying the whole time and that she definitely only noticed right now.
Masen Cullen has a worrying knack for completely obliterating her observational skills. She'll need to work on that.
Tuning back into the present, Bella examines the game with a gimlet eye, takes in the joystick and the round yellow buttons, and then squints at Masen. "Mortal Kombat? Really?"
"It's a classic."
"It's cut-throat is what it is!"
"Have you played before?"
"On my brother's PS3," Bella admits, taking her place in front of one joystick while Masen inserts the coins to boot the game up. "Not on an upright machine."
"Mm." Masen gives her a calculating look. "Should I go easy on you?"
"Absolutely not!" Bella huffs. "I'll be mad if you don't give your best play."
Masen lifts a brow. "Is that so?"
Bella purses her lips and stares at the tilted screen, flipping through character selection until she gets to Sonya Blade. "Just you wait," she mutters, competition already singing through her blood. "Give me one game to learn the controls and then we'll see if you're so confident."
Masen selects Johnny Cage and predictably wipes the floor with Bella within minutes. But Bella is a quick study and, while much different than the Play Station control she first played the game on, the upright configuration is easy enough to get a handle on. The second game goes on for much longer than the first as Bella still acclimates, but by the third she uses a quick combo attack that bests Masen in under a minute.
"Hm." Masen matches the competitive gleam in her eye with one of his own. "Another."
"Oh, you're on." Bella grins, matches Masen's ninja selection with her own, and proceeds to trade wins with him for the next long while.
At some point, they move on to other games, and the same pattern emerges - each of them play at full-tilt, or as much as is possible on an arcade game, and they find themselves evenly matched. It doesn't seem like the genre matters, either. Racing games, shooting games, even high score games like Pac Man - no matter what, the one-ups keep coming.
She's never had so much competitive fun in her life, and by the end of the first hour, Masen's slight smirks have broken into intense expressions of concentration, of smugness, of gloating, of frustration. He's startlingly animated when he games, and Bella understands that she is being allowed to see something that most other people don't. The knowledge makes her grin madly, feeling silly and giddy and free as she weaves around him, jumping and clapping and taunting him with friendly trash talk that makes him roll his eyes.
They don't look like the other obvious couple in the arcade, where the boy is helping the girl clumsily play her way through a shoot-style game. Bella spares the thought that maybe she should try to downplay her abilities, if only to create the opportunity for Masen to do that kind of close-range demonstration, but she swiftly rejects the thought. She won't make herself lesser for anyone, not even Masen, and she honestly doesn't think he would want her to.
But that doesn't mean that the opportunity never arrives. Bella just doesn't see it coming.
After they manage to work through most of the games in the arcade, she finally catches sight of the claw machine tucked into one of the front corners, and swiftly makes a beeline for it. "I have a love-hate relationship with these games," she tells Masen when he catches up. She meets his eye in the reflective glass on the other side of the machine and notes that he has his brow quirked inquisitively. "I know they're rigged," she explains with a wrinkled nose, dropping her gaze to peer in at the plush characters inside. "But I can't help but play them, hoping that this time I'll win, you know?"
Masen passes her the near-empty buck of coins. "Play," he says.
Bella sucks in a breath through her teeth, weighing the offer. There really isn't that much to consider. Claw machine games might be the only games Bella can never win, but it doesn't stop her from trying and clearly Masen is okay with using the last of their coins for this. She smiles at him, feeds the machine two coins, and gives the machine a try. Naturally - because the game is rigged - she doesn't get the plushie she was aiming for.
"Try again," Masen suggests, moving to stand at her shoulder.
Bella does try again, and again after that, and each subsequent failure is more amusing than it is frustrating. "Wow," she giggles, even as the claw fails to grasp at the yellow arm of a stuffed Pikachu. "I'm really bad at this. Should you be wasting these coins on this game? I'm starting to feel bad."
Masen shakes his head. "Not a waste," he counters quietly. And then, much to her shock and delight, Masen moves behind her, his chest lining up with her back as his long arms reach around her body, taking the control from her. "Let me try. Which do you want?"
Bella points at a random plushie. She doesn't care which one he gets, if he gets one at all - her thoughts are almost entirely swallowed up by the heat of his body and the musky cinnamon of his aftershave. She tries to get her heart under control but his proximity makes that impossible.
She feels safe. Protected. Warm. She likes it.
Bella manages to unscramble her thoughts in enough time to see Masen set his jaw in the reflected glass, jostle the claw into position, and manage the perfect timing to pick up a plushie, which is then deposited into the shoot. He'd done it in two tries.
Masen retrieves the prize for her, a plush Eevee that he passes to her with a brush of his fingers and a lingering smirk that makes him entirely too handsome. Bella blushes fiercely, even as she stutters a thank you around a beaming smile, the plushie hugged to her chest.
Later, when she's back at the dorm and her heart is finally calming down, the plush Eevee gets a place of honor on her bed and she feels an echo of warmth every time she looks at it. Not even Alice's teasing or gossip blogs can deter the brook of happiness bubbling quietly through her entire body.
Lee Lee
Ugh
Why
Why did Old Quill do this to me
Bell Bell
So PBS too the pitch huh
Lee Lee
Yes
Yes PBS did
Is PBS dumb?
I haven't even graduated!
I'm not qualified to make a
documentary
Bell Bell
I mean…
Lee Lee
Okay whatever
So I make them all the time
But not about anything serious!
Bell Bell
A valid point
You don't have to do it though?
You could just...not?
Lee Lee
Bullshit
I'm not going to be the one
responsible for breaking Old Quill's
heart
He's ancient
He literally might not survive
disappointment
Bell Bell
He's like 70 something
That's not that old
Lee Lee
How is that not old
Bell Bell
People live to 100 all the time
Lee Lee
Listen
100 years or 70 years
Old is old
Bell Bell
I disagree, but okay
Lee Lee
You've changed in our time apart
First you get a boyfriend
Now you disagree with me
Bell Bell
Youre so extra
Lee Lee
Now you call me dramatic!
Who are you?
Where's my sister?
Bell Bell
(eye roll emoji)
Alice sidles up to Bella in their bathroom one night as Bella is brushing her teeth and asks, "Have you kissed your boyfriend yet?"
Bella coughs in surprise and toothpaste foam splatters onto the mirror and sprays half of Alice's face. Alice rears back and wipes at her skin with a mighty frown while Bella hastily rinses her mouth. "You deserved that," Bella tells her frankly as she cleans the mirror.
Alice giggles. "I guess I did! But spitting toothpaste on me doesn't answer my question!"
Bella has the unenviable pleasure of watching her own face heat to a rosy hue. She turns away from the mirror resolutely and marches herself out of the bathroom. "Alice," she complains, plopping down onto a bean bag. "You can't keep asking the same question every day."
"I can too!" Alice argues cheerfully. "See, if I ask every day, then I'll be the first one to know when that changes."
It makes sense, but Bella doesn't have to like it. When she says as much to Alice, her friend only loosens a tinkling laugh and drapes herself across another beanbag. Bella shakes her head, begrudgingly amused.
"So, how's your internship?" she asks when Alice has settled down.
Alice's expression turns into a thoughtful moue, lips pushed out and eyes squinted. "It's going real well, I think," she answers after a moment. "Great, actually. It was supposed to be an internship in their gaming department, but I guess they needed more staff in HR, so that's where they put me. It's easy! All I do all day long is sort paper into files."
"Sounds like busy work," Bella observes. "Are you okay with that? I mean, internships are supposed to be about experience…"
"Are you kidding? I'm getting paid for a few paper cuts!" Alice laughs. "It's great, way less stressful than I thought it was going to be."
"Well, that's good…"
"But you know what? Even being in the same building has made the whole technology and gaming thing much more interesting," Alice says conversationally. "I actually went and got an account for that game you play, that Warcraft game?"
Bella's brows shoot up in surprise. "Really? Why didn't you tell me? I could have helped you set it up!"
Alice waves her away. "I know, I know, but I wanted to see what all the fuss about was myself. It's kind of fun! I get why you like it so much. I mean, I'm not very good at it yet, but it's still fun…"
Bella beams at her. She never thought anyone in her inner circle - other than Seth - would ever be into gaming, and learning that Alice is giving it a whirl is beyond exciting to Bella. "That's so cool. Ali. We should game together sometime."
Alice makes a face. "I don't know. My Foresight probably won't stand up to your Swansong."
"I could show you a few things," Bella offers.
Alice laughs. "I know! I'm so lucky! I get to live with a walking-talking guidebook!"
Bella rolls her eyes. "I'm not that good," she disagrees. "If you want a walking-talking guidebook, then Masen would be - Oh!"
"Oh?" Alice echoes, sitting up with mild alarm. "Oh, what? What is oh?"
"Shoot! The time!" Bella squirms gracelessly out of the beanbag and scrambles to her feet, shooting Alice an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, Ali! I would talk more, but I promised Masen that we would complete a dungeon and I'm late, so I-"
"I get it! Don't worry about me!" Alice chimes, shooing her away with another giggle. "Have fun!"
Bella scuttles quickly to her room, where she logs onto the game and apologizes to Masen for her tardiness, because God knows both of them are going to be sensitive about being late for a while. But even as Swansong swirls through the instance dungeon with Master Culler at her side, Bella makes a mental note to make time to play with Alice sometime soon.
Peter C. ʘpeteypete
Hey ʘmaestro jsyn in this household we believe in telling our bros when our SOs are coming over so they aren't walking around in their undies
Em for MC ʘmathmagician
ʘpeteypete You're fully clothed, I'm literally looking at you right now
Peter C. ʘpeteypete
Yeah, so what? I COULD have been naked so my point still stands
Alistair the Recluse ʘratherbealone
ʘmaestro I will quit if Peter walks around naked
Masen Cullen ʘmaestro
Noted ʘratherbealone
Bella had, at some point after the time she realized Master Cullen is Masen Cullen, entertained a thought to what Midnight Sun, his company, would look like. She imagines it as something high-tech and savvy, a hub of bright minds all working toward the same goal of completely revolutionizing the quality of games that can be churned out by the gaming industry. She imagines something calm, organized, cool, peaceful.
She does not imagine what Midnight Sun actually is, which is a warehouse-turned-multi-purpose building, all of it very industrial and exposed with open wiring and bare brick walls and recycled wood. It's clean, of course, but the entire office space is one sprawling land of computers broken up into vague departments marked only by neon signs that swing overhead. In retrospect, it's all very Masen - a solid mixture of functionality and innovation, everything stark and out in the open and designed for productivity above all else. She likes it; she can see how a studio like this can produce something like Pagan Immortals.
By the same token, Bella isn't sure what she expects of Master Culler's gaming friends in real life, but the dissonance of their online personas and their real life personalities makes a sort of sense after only a little observation. Peter - Pestulent - is a bubbly chatterbox with bright eyes and a friendly smile; Emmett - Pythagoras - is tall and curly-haired, just as quick to joke as he is to sneer; and Alistair - Hermit - is a pallid, sarcastic, light-eyed shadow slinking and muttering in the background.
Bella, standing politely at the edge of the lobby, watches all three of them roll through early-morning motions as they wake up, alternately yawning and staring at her with varying levels of surprise. It's immediately clear to her that Masen hadn't told them she would be dropping by so early, or that she was here to talk about the possibility of interning at Midnight Sun for the rest of the summer. They all stutter through introductions, and then each of them stare at Masen, who says nothing.
Bella spares a thankful thought that it's a weekend, because otherwise there would probably be a dozen more awkward stares to contend with. She clears her throat delicately, twining her fingers around themselves behind her back. "So…What would you have an intern do here?"
Blank stares.
Masen still says nothing, though he does observe with a marginally sharper eye.
Peter is the first to speak, which seems pretty par for the course. "Wait. You're here for…an internship, and that's why we had to wake up this early on a Saturday morning?"
Bella side-eyes Masen. He really didn't tell them anything. He just arranged for her to arrive, apparently woke all of them off, and stood back to watch the show. She wants to pinch him.
"Well…" Bella bites her lip. "Do you…not need an intern? It's fine if you don't."
Peter flaps his hands. "I didn't say that! I did not say that we don't need an intern, especially if that intern is Bella Swan! I definitely did not say that!"
"We heard you," Alistair mutters.
"I just want it to be clear!" Peter exclaims. "I don't want her to misunderstand!"
"Chill. I think she gets it," Emmett says. He scratches the side of his nose, stifles another yawn. It takes her a moment to place his face, but she recognizes him as one of the guys who likes to try to talk to Rose at the library - and for that matter, Peter looks vaguely familiar, too. She must have seen them on campus, back when they were students still. "An internship, huh? I mean…I guess let's vote?"
Peter and Alistair nod with vastly different levels of enthusiasm.
The boys exchange a series of facial expressions, a silent conversation that is met with a blank stare from Masen, and it seems like Alistair is about to speak on behalf of the others - but then a high-pitched sound and a wet gurgle and a faint tinge of burning arises from the kitchen area just off the lobby and Alistair's mouth snaps together, expression twisted with annoyance.
"Fuck," Emmett groans, pressing the heels of his hands into his eyes. "Not again."
"I hate this coffee maker!" Peter yelps. "First it's backordered, now it doesn't stop bitching! I hate it! Let's throw it away, or-or burn it, or something! Seriously, fuck Keurig!"
Even Masen looks displeased, his mouth pulled into a frown. Bella follows his gaze to the contraption in the kitchen and, without much more thought beyond the vague sense of urgency that says someone has to deal with the machine before it starts a fire, she trots past the boys and rounds the island counter. Pressing her lips together, Bella swiftly unplugs the overly complicated machine and runs a critical eye over it. She's unfamiliar with this exact model, of course, but the Keurig she and Leah pooled their cash for last Christmas had an issue that she fixed a few weeks ago. She could give this a shot - no use a fledgling company wasting money on a coffee pot when she might be able to clear out whatever mechanical failure is causing this baffling dysfunction.
"Do you have a tool box?" she asks the room at large. When nobody answers, she raises her head with a furrowed brow, looking between all of them. Her brows shoot up at their sheepish expressions, or in the case of Masen, the way he looks away at a middle distance instead of answering.
Really. Four grown men, and not one of them with a toolbox. She vows then and there to never let it slip to Leah, because her sister would break a rib laughing so hard and make a joke about computer geeks overlooking basic supplies or something.
Bella shakes her head. "What about a screwdriver?" she tries. "Or even a nail file? A hex key?"
"Uh…"
"You really don't have anything tool related?" she asks incredulously. "What about the computers? What do you do when one needs a repair?"
"That's what Geek Squad is for," Peter says.
"I just buy a new one," Alistair interjects.
"Even Masen doesn't do repairs himself," Peter adds, and Masen doesn't contradict him.
Bella barely restrains her gaping mouth. "So, none of you…?"
Four shaking heads. Bella almost snorts.
"I could have tried to fix this," she says. "But if you don't have any tools…"
Emmett snaps his fingers. "I have an eye glasses repair kit!"
Bella thinks about the tiny screwdriver in those kits and nods her head. It'll do. Emmett runs upstairs to retrieve the lone tool in the entire building and Peter fills the silence by chattering about the upstairs rooms and how awful the coffee pot is and how, really, they all hate the demon Keurig, so there's no reason to try to fix it. Bella waves him off, because it's better to at least try to see if it can be fixed, and when Emmett returns, she swiftly pries off the casing protecting the electric components. None of the wires are corroded and the internal chip isn't corrupted, so the problem probably is a mechanical error.
"When was the last time you cleaned it?" she asks as she pops the casing back into place, before spinning the machine around and working on getting to the internal mechanisms. Again, nobody answers her question and Bella sighs, casting each of them a moderately despaired look. "These have to be cleaned. They like to clog up. Are you using distilled water? These machines don't do well with tap - the minerals are too corrosive…"
Masen coughs. "We didn't realize."
How have any of you survived past 20? She wonders with no small amount of humor, which she's sure is obvious on her face because of the way Masen narrows his eyes. She quirks a brow in return, and then pointedly walks the other three on how to properly clean and maintain the machine, since apparently none of them read the instruction manual at all. By the time she's done, the coffee maker is humming sweetly and happily gurgling away, and the boys have reached the conclusion that they do, in fact, need an intern.
Wryly, she wonders if her internship is going to be as a glorified handyman. But even if it is, that's okay. She can see for herself that Midnight Sun is a small company, and their only IT support is their own experience and the troubleshooting they can find on Google - they're simply too small now to have a dedicated division for tech support. Experience is experience; any internship looks good on a resume, and since Bella was passed over at Denali Corps, she might as well do her best to secure a different internship. The fact that it's at Masen's company and the fact that Midnight Sun produced her new favorite mobile game is just icing on the cake.
Bella doesn't realize Masen has circled around to the kitchen until she feels a hand on her hip. She turns toward him, intending on ribbing him about his basic life skills, but her motion puts her cheek right against his mouth - and based on the glimmer in his eye, it's obvious that's exactly what he intended to happen.
Immediately, Bella blushes to the roots of her hair, her cheek positively burning as Masen pulls away just a fraction, the wide-eyed stares of his friends riveted on them. She inhales sharply, trying to control the sudden thunder in her heart.
Masen, on the other hand, has leveled an expectant stare at the others. "What are you staring at?"
Peter points a finger at Masen, jabbing with accusation. "You! You just kissed the new intern!"
"No," Masen disagrees with a smirk, leaning further over Bella's back, his voice right in her ear as he responds. "I kissed my girlfriend, who happens to be the new intern."
Bella's heart races harder, her eyes widening as she twists to stare up at Masen, at the hinge of his jaw and the straight line of his nose and taunting glint in his eye. He's using her presence to tease his friends - and honestly, she doesn't expect anything less, because it's a very Masen thing to do. Expecting it doesn't make it, or the entire situation, any less stunning. She wouldn't put it past him to have orchestrated the entire morning - with probably the exception of the busted coffee maker, because it was painlessly obvious he was as clueless as the others - just for this one moment.
Too cunning!
Peter is stammering and Alistair has cast his eyes heavenward. Emmett gathers himself enough to ask, "Isn't that a conflict of interest?"
"No," Masen says simply.
Bella grabs at the hand curled around her hip and squeezes it between her own, waiting until Masen glances down at her to widen her eyes and raise her brows.
Meanwhile, the others are squabbling with internal discussion that, somehow, is directed at Masen without involving him at all.
"I think it is!" Peter says loudly, his tone argumentative even though nobody is disagreeing with him. "It's definitely a conflict of interest."
"Doesn't he have to file that with HR?" Emmett wonders.
"We don't have an HR department," Alistair mutters.
"We should get one!"
"I think we need one!"
"Wait, if we don't have HR, then who's doing payroll?"
"The payroll fairy, you idiot!"
"There's a payroll fair-"
"Obviously Masen is processing it!"
"Okay, well, obviously I knew that and I was just messing with you! "
"Look, Masen, what do you think? Do we need an HR department, or what?"
Masen doesn't look away from Bella when he answers, his hand twisting around to intertwine their fingers together. "Decide for yourselves," he says. "We have to go."
And then Masen takes her upstairs through a discreet door near the kitchen, both of them ignoring the quick shift from squabbling to catcalling that they leave behind. Masen bypasses the open area on the second floor and continues up another set of stairs, which opens directly to a short floorspace with a single door that has been left open. Bella hardly even sees anything of Masen's loft before the door has closed behind her and Masen has leaned down into her space, taking up all of her attention.
Bella licks her lips. "So, I'm your girlfriend?"
Masen lifts a brow. "Haven't you always been? Right from the very start, right, Swansong?"
Bella doesn't really have an answer for that, but it's hard to dispute when she knows she's been thinking of Master Culler fondly right from the first time they chatted, when she knows that some part of her has been attracted to Masen Cullen for almost two years because of how much she admires his independent software. If Masen says that, for him, it's been the same - well, then, all she can do with that is accept it and be relieved that he's been thinking about her in that way for so long.
Masen cups her cheek carefully, tenderly, a gentle stroke of his thumb just under her eye, just over where his lips had pressed only minutes earlier downstairs. "I've been trying to woo you for months," he says lowly, smiling ever-so-slightly when Bella's cheek gets even hotter under his hand.. "Do I need to try harder?"
"Masen Cullen," Bella warns shakily. "If you try any harder, I might actually die."
He huffs a laugh. "Unacceptable."
Bella blinks up at him. She feels dizzy. Are her lungs working? Is she breathing?
Answering her silent query, Masen continues. "If you die, then I can't see you anymore. Or the way you blush for me so easily." He pauses, considering. "Did you know you don't blush for anyone else?"
"I don't?"
Masen softens, almost imperceptibly except that she is so close and she can see the way the tense planes of his face relax. "No, you don't," he murmurs. "It makes me privileged. I get to see what others can't. Will you forgive me for being greedy?"
Bella leans into his touch, helpless to it, swaying into him because it feels like the only thing she can do. "Are you being greedy?"
"Always, with you. Selfish, too."
She lowers her gaze, feeling shy. "I don't mind. Not if it's you. I'm…the same way, for you. Greedy."
Masen hums, sounding pleased. "What do you think that means, then?"
The question is clearly rhetorical. Bella answers it anyway. "It means I can do this, too," she whispers, right before she rocks onto the tips of her toes and presses her lips against his cheek, lingering for a moment longer to really embed the feeling into her mind.
Masen is smiling gently at her when she pulls back.
It almost looks like adoration.
She turns the expression as best she can, and hopes he understands what she doesn't yet have the courage to say.
Piping Hot Tea (Group Chat)
Sleep Talker
Okay
Now I have a boyfriend
Thorny
Omg that's what we've been telling you
Short Cake
Omg!
Bella!
Paparazzi
You couldn't even wait a month to
make it official so I can check him out?!
Bella
Where's all that famous self-control!?
Sleep Talker
I think I lost it
Poof
Gone
Thorny
It's not the only thing you'll be losing
Paparazzi
EW
Short Cake
Lolololol
Alice is in a deliriously good mood. The second she got home from her internship, she had dragged Bella away from studying and insisted that they have a pampering session because everything is going so good and we should look good to match! Bella hadn't resisted, more than happy to take a break from her schoolwork and treat herself to a few hours of relaxation.
While Bella sets her laptop up in the common room and brings up the dorm's shared Netflix account, Alice bustles around the bean bag chairs, humming a jaunty little tune as she digs out nail polish and hunts down snacks from their hidden spaces.
"Movie or binge watch?" Bella calls as Alice sorts through sheet masks in the bathroom.
"Binge!" Alice calls back.
Bella scrolls through the impressive Netflix library. They have many shows set aside on their queue, but some of them, like Sex Education, they only watch when the entire dorm is together. Bella is still scrolling through when Alice plops down beside her and together they pick a sweet-looking Chinese drama. Bella sets it to play, then pauses when the theme music starts, joining Alice in rifling through nail polishes, carefully painting on her first coat on her toes, and then applying the sheet mask.
Talking with a sheet mask on is always something of a challenge, but Alice still babbles happily while they paint each other's fingernails - a cheerful sky blue for Alice, a soft lilac for Bella. It's not unusual for Alice to be in a good mood, but Alice is in a really good mood and Bella doesn't understand it until Alice starts on about a guy in her class, the same one she'd had that awful run-in with before.
"He's so nice now! I mean, he still brings me apology coffee every class, even though there's no reason to apologize now! And it's not just a small cup, either. He even figured out my favorite flavor without me saying anything!" Alice gushes.
"Double-shot espresso, two pumps of caramel?"
Alice giggles.
"He just figured that out?"
"Uh huh!"
"Wow," Bella laughs. "He's good."
"He really is," Alice says with a dreamy smile. "Smart, too. Like, he's obviously taking the class for the first time, but he's passing all the random quizzes. Did you know he gave me his notes? They're color coded!"
"He sounds sweet," Bella says, pleased that the guy who caused such an upset before is now one root of her friend's happiness.
"He is! He's really…" Alice trails off, a blush creeping up her cheeks. "I mean, someone should tell him his glasses are so last season and he could benefit from a haircut that compliments his bone structure better, but he's still so…You know?"
For once, Bella does know. She understands what Alice is saying and she's happy for her friend, because Alice's naivety makes it easy to take advantage of her innocent view of the world and it sounds like this classmate of hers is doing what he can to treat Alice gently. Bella thinks it's a good sign for Alice's tender heart, should her friendship with this guy turn into something else.
"Oh! And did I tell you that I got married?"
Bella jerks in surprise, the second coat of nail polish missing her toenail completely as it smears across the top of her foot. She raises her head to stare at Alice, who is blowing on her fingernails with a pleased little shimmy.
"Yeah, in the game! I found a new player, like me. What is that called? A newbie?"
"Newb," Bella supplies faintly.
"Right! He's a newb like me, but he's actually kind of bad at the game? As in, way worse than me? I mean, I guess I have you for pointers - and thank you for teaching me how to use my sword thingy - but he's kind of hopeless," Alice giggles.
Bella shakes her head, a smile curling on her lips. "You've been so busy," Bella says in amazement. "First that guy in class, now that guy in the game."
"Totally different things!" Alice declares, face bright red. "Like, okay, Wit Monger is my friend but we only got married because of this quest and it made sense, you know?"
Bella does know. There are several quests on every level of game play that require an in-game spouse to advance further, but those also aren't the only quest options - a different quest can still level a player up, so gamers always have a choice. But she's well-aware that most players view that in-game marriages casually, trading spouses or making temporary alliances that last less than a week. She figures Alice is the same, so she nods her head, waiting for Alice to continue.
"Anyway, Wit Monger and Jasper - the guy from my class - are totally different," Alice declares in a sing-song voice. "One is my friend, and the other is my hopefully more than a friend."
"I believe you," Bella laughs. "I wish you luck on both!"
Alice looks like she wants to cover her face with her hands, but remembers the mask on her face at the last second. Instead, she trills out a tinkling laugh, a smidge embarrassed, and motions for Bella to start their show.
As she and Alice settle more comfortably on the bean bag chairs, shoulders leaning together, Bella spares a moment to genuinely hope that Alice can navigate her online and offline relationships with as much luck as Bella has had.
It isn't until later that Bella wonders if the name Jasper sounds familiar.
Alice Bee ʘaliceseesyou
Ever feel like the world just falls out from under your feet?
Ever since they met in person, Bella and Masen have continued on their previously established gaming schedule. Even though they are no longer training for a tournament, it's still fun to duel each other and take on dungeons and complete advanced quests. They meet online twice a week for this reason, and Bella is quietly pleased to learn that she is even more comfortable than before - knowing who is on the other side of the screen means that she's no longer watching her words so she doesn't slip too many details about her real life. Now, she and Masen regularly chat about their daily events while they game, and those conversations usually continue by text when they are pulled away.
Bella enjoys it a lot. It's like nothing has changed, even though everything has changed. So as it is, one night a couple of weeks after she's gone on two dates with Master Culler Who Is Masen Cullen, she is about to complete a dungeon quest with him when the main dorm door slams closed, quickly followed by a thump and a clatter and a clear sound of frustrated crying.
Bella startles, and half-stands to go see what's happening before she even thinks about it. She quickly taps out a message on the private chat dialogue.
》Swansong: hold on
》Swansong: Alice just came home
》Swansong: I think something's wrong
》Swansong: brb
《 Master Culler: take your time, I'll be here
.
.
.
《 Master Culler: Bella, is everything okay?
.
.
.
《 Master Culler: Bella?
.
.
.
Swansong Has Logged Off
This Is Really Masen
Bella?
What happened?
You logged off so suddenly
The Missus
(read at 8:49PM)
This Is Really Masen
Bella?
The Missus
Masen
Can I come over?
This Is Really Masen
I'm sending a Lyft
I'll be waiting for you
The Missus
(read at 8:51PM)
A/N: Oh my! I wonder what happened? Hey, don't look at me! I don't know what's going on either!
Anyway, expect the next update next Saturday!
As always, be brutally honest. I can take it. Stay at home, stay inside, and stay smart - warm weather is not a reason to relax!
~Rae