[YouTube]
Swan says this is how to argue with your SO
ClarityIsClear
Posted 2 years from now

(The first thing the video picks up is Leah Clearwater's voice. She's clearly talking to someone and not just commenting from behind the camera as she says, "This is so weird."

This seems to be referring to the terse standoff Leah is filming. Bella Swan and Masen Cullen are standing about three feet apart, each of them with their arms crossed, neither of them saying a word. They appear to be in the Midnight Sun office and it's clearly off-hours, probably one of the gang's game nights judging by the games spread out on the table. Bella and Masen stare at each other with hard looks on their faces for a moment more before Bella huffs, grabs The Game of Life from the table, and marches off, only to hand it off to Peter and demand that he set it up so they can play.

Peter, bewildered, hastens to obey her.

Masen, left behind, breathes out a long sigh through his nose, presses his lips together, and turns away to engage a slightly-wary Emmett in conversation.

Another female voice replies, the speaker not visible. "How long has this been going on?"

A third female voice is the one that answers the question. "Two days," she chirps, and it's almost certainly Alice who is speaking. "Bella came back from the office, had a very angry shower, and skipped dinner."

"It was weird," says the second voice, now identifiable as Rose. "I don't think I've ever seen Bella so mad that she missed a meal."

Leah sighs from behind the camera. "But she's definitely mad," she says, turning the camera to follow her sister. Bella is now in the Midnight Sun kitchen, hastily and artlessly opening up snacks and dumping them into random bowls, a deep furrow between her brows.

"Oh, they're fighting, alright," Rose agrees, sounding dismayed. "It's just not like any fight I've ever seen."

"Yeah, no yelling," Leah says.

"No guilt-tripping, either," Alice adds.

"No audible arguments," says another voice, and the British lilt means it's Alistair who has joined the off-screen conversation. "Not even on Masen's end. He's just more quiet than normal."

"And together..." Rose trails off.

"Noticeably tense," Alistair surmises. "Quite a unique way of arguing."

Leah scoffs. "Yeah, I like our way of arguing better, Al."

"You mean where you annoy the piss out of me until I give you your way?" Alistair checks wryly.

"Yes, that's the one. Much more productive than...advanced silent treatment, or whatever the hell these two are doing," Leah says.

Alistair sighs, but he doesn't verbally disagree.

"I wonder what they're fighting about?" Alice wonders. "Do you know?"

"No clue," Alistair answers.

They fall silent as they watch Bella finish sorting through the snacks, only to take an empty glass and fill it with ice. She then takes the glass of ice and tramps over to Masen, setting the glass down hard enough that it's almost a slam. Masen, for his part, narrows his eyes at the glass, even as Emmett slowly inches away and, in the background, Peter moves to hid behind K.O.

"Here," Bella says without any sweetness. She looks down at Masen with a clear challenge in her eyes. "You look thirsty."

"Thank you," Masen says tersely. He reaches into the glass to fish out a cube of ice, places the ice in his mouth, and crunches on it without ever once dropping his own equally-challenging gaze.

Bella stiffens, looking even frostier than before, and spins around to stomp off, her hands fisted at her sides. Not a moment later, Masen pops up from his chair and follows after her, right on her heels as they both disappear into one of the offices, the blinds snapped closed behind them.

The room is still silent after they're gone and it seems like everyone in the room is straining to hear some kind of noise, some evidence of an argument - but the room is just as silent as before.

Leah blows out a gust of breath. "What the fuck was that?" she asks, the camera panning around the room to take reactions.

Rose is smirking outright. "That was the pettiest move I have ever seen in my life," she says. "A glass of ice for someone who looks thirsty? God. Brilliant, but so, so cold."

"Did you see the way he just...he just ate the ice?" Emmett follows up, shaking his head. "He didn't even blink."

"That's some demon-level shit," Peter agrees, now peeking over K.O.'s shoulder. "I can't even bite into ice cream without crying, right babe?"

K.O. nods once. He looks utterly unbothered by the whole thing.

Alice, meanwhile, looks a bit anxious. "Do you think they'll be okay?"

Alistair is the one who answers, sounding as if the answer is an obvious and foregone conclusion. "He went after her, didn't he?"

At this point, the video fast forwards to capture the remaining members of the group playing first The Game of Life, and then Twister, all while Bella and Masen are absent. It isn't until what seems to be the second game of Twister that the couple emerges from the office - and this time they're holding hands, Bella's cheeks pink and Masen seeming to radiate what might be softness if his face was easier to read.

Leah is the first to call attention to it. "Did you kids get your shit sorted out?" she asks from behind the camera.

Bella tilts her head at her sister, a delicate furrow on her brow. "What are you talking about?"

Leah makes a noise of disbelief. "What am I talking - What? The fight you just had!"

Both Bella and Masen blink at the camera. "What fight?"

At that, Peter promptly flails, manages to hit Emmett between the legs with his errant foot, and sends the rest of the group toppling onto the floor, spread across the Twister mat, each with incredulous expressions.

The last sound of the video is a capture of collective demands for explanations and Leah's colorful, "What the actual fuc-" cutting off right before the screen goes black.)

View Comments

TellTellahTellatubby
LOL what fight? clearly they weren't fighting! they were just...disagreeing lmao

DDevilDeb
If only my boyfriend argued with me this way

Wahwahwapoo
She brought a glass of ice y'all and we stan it

View More Comments

A/N: Update 1 of 2 this weekend. I was *supposed* to have chapter 34 ready, but then the week and my work schedule happened and...That's life, right? At least good things happened this week. Good and peaceful things, thank fuck. Ah. Admittedly, I did pick up this passive-aggressive argument style from a tumblr prompt I saw a year ago and I thought it was fitting for these two. A glass of ice! So cold!

It looks like we may be getting a third vaccine approved, which is great news. This vaccine won't require a second shot either or the super-cold preservation. What this means for us in a practical sense is that we really need to know which vaccine we are getting. Take notes just in case your vaccine provider loses your information or something. Please continue checking into your local or state government about vaccine distribution in your area and if you are eligible, get signed up right away. Information distribution is kind of shit right now, so you definitely need to hunt for your own information because they probably won't be mailing you about it. Your local government websites will definitely have information. Stay up to date, peeps.

As always, be honest. I can take it.

~Rae