Beta- StacyO72 – I wouldn't be writing if it wasn't for her. It's as simple as that.
Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns all things Twilight. No copyright infringement is intended.
Ch. 14 Before the Rain
All rise you promises broken
Call my lovers by their names
Lost hearts and words that are spoken to the wind
Which blows before the rain
Little pin-pricks
And how my ears bleed
On the bomb ticks
That is my heartbeat
In every life-flash
In every car crash
I hear the silence waiting to fall- Before the Rain, Duran Duran
He doesn't say anything for the space of a minute. Finally, he raises his eyes and I can see they are moist.
"I wrote that for my mother. The last time I played it was at her funeral. She was killed three months ago."
My heart sinks and suddenly, it all makes sense. Edward's abrupt interest in a dangerous occupation, the way he never talks about his family or Milwaukee, even the fact that he doesn't have ID with him. I hold him tighter as I gently stroke his cheek. He looks so bereft, sitting at the piano, playing a song his mother can no longer hear.
"Do you want to talk outside?" I ask my voice barely more than a whisper.
He nods and we rise. I hold his hand and lead the way out, heading in the direction of the Cottage. He lights a cigarette once we're outside. We slowly walk hand in hand next to each other on the path. The mid-morning sun now shines brightly. The air is just on the edge of losing its earlier crispness and succumbing to the warm humid haze of a late summer day. The birds chirp and insects buzz but Edward remains silent, gathering his thoughts as he takes long drags from his cigarette. Finally, I heard him clear his throat. He keeps his head bowed and his eyes focused on his feet.
"My mom liked to get up early on the weekends, she'd go to yoga class, then poke around yard sales, before she'd come home and get ready for church. It was her routine, every Sunday in the spring and summer…" he pauses, swallowing hard. He crushes the butt of the cigarette on the gravel of the path then runs his fingers through his hair with his now empty hand.
"I wasn't home. It was the weekend after finals but there was a big party at my fraternity house so I stayed at school. I don't know if my being home would have changed anything. Sometimes when I was home from school, she'd skip the yard sales and come home early to make a big Sunday breakfast for me," he shrugs sheepishly. "She liked to spoil me that way. My dad's car was at the end of the driveway so she took it instead of hers. I can't help but wonder if things would have been different if she had driven my car or her own. It was a hit and run. She was driving over a bridge when she was hit from behind with so much force that her car was thrown into the river below," Edward's voice breaks. "There had been a lot of rain and the water level was really high…"
He comes to a stop in front of the Cottage. Tears run down both cheeks. His eyes are shut tight and his jaw clenched as he struggles to keep his emotions from overwhelming him. Edward shakes his head, unable to say anymore.
I reach up and cradle his face in my hands. My thumbs wipe the tears away from his cheeks. My mouth brushes against the tracks of his tears and I leave soft kisses in their place.
"Shhh…. It's okay. You don't have to say anymore."
I slide one hand into his hair and the other around his back as his head drops to my shoulder. We cling to each other as closely as we possibly can.
"I wish I could take it all away," I whisper as I run my hand through his soft locks.
He pulls back slightly so that we are eye to eye. "You do. I mean, it's not that I forget but when I'm with you, it's like I can see beyond what's happened and I know there's more. You are the reason I want to come back to port at the end of a trip, the reason I want to keep going. I know we haven't known each other for long, but Bella, you are the best part of my life right now."
"Edward…"
I'm overcome by the surge of emotion that sweeps through me. I reach up and our lips meet once more. I pour everything I am into that kiss. For his part, Edward doesn't hold back. His lips are soft but insistent as his arms envelop me and pull me even closer to him. I can feel his strong back muscles flex under the soft fabric of his t-shirt and even though I'm the one comforting him, I've never felt so safe and protected. The kiss becomes heated as ours mouths part and our tongues encircle each other. I forget about everything else- packing, the ferry home, work- until a door slams nearby.
Edward and I part hastily as Emmett rounds the corner carrying both his sea bag and Rose's familiar olive drab duffle bag.
"Hey! You guys ready? The taxi is picking us up in ten minutes."
Edward shoots me a quick look and I squeeze his hand in reassurance. I'm not about to share his secrets with anyone else. We mumble something about packing and rush back to our room to get ready.
ﻝ ﻝ
"Emmett? Were you wearing that shirt at breakfast this morning?" I ask. I genuinely didn't notice the t –shirt featuring the words Master Baiter over a picture of a fishing lure earlier. It's hard to miss now that the four of us are sitting across from each other in airplane style seats on the hi-speed ferry. Alice and Jasper are outside on the benches braving the damp morning fog that has yet to lift this far offshore. The rest of us chose to stay inside.
Rose rolls her eyes and Emmett leans back in his plush seat and the looks down at the black shirt with bright red lettering.
"Yeah. I guess you and Richie were too busy trying to cop feels off each other to notice."
I blush while Edward shoots Emmett a death stare.
Emmett raises his hands in surrender. "Easy Richie, I don't blame Bella one bit. If I had a hot piece of ass like you, I wouldn't be able to keep my hands to myself either."
Edward's eyes widen as I try to stifle a giggle.
"Um, what?" He asks.
"Well, I'm not a trout smoker so I wouldn't know, but that's what I've been told and not just by Bella here." Emmett replies nonchalantly shrugging his shoulders.
"I haven't said anything to you!" I protest as Rose laughs.
"Trout smoker?" Edward whispers then looks around the ferry to see if anyone else in the lightly populated crowd is paying attention to us.
"Yeah." Emmett clarifies. "You know a …"
"I know!"
Edward stops Emmett and I'm sure he's afraid Emmett will say something even more offensive. He then he turns to me and raises an eyebrow.
"So, if you didn't say anything to Emmett, does that mean you don't think I'm a hot piece of ass?"
I smirk as I reach over and give his backside a good squeeze. "Oh no, you're definitely a F.I.L.F." .
"F.I.L.F.?"
"Yeah. Fisherman I'd like to fuck." I clarify before I lean forward and kiss him deeply as Rose and Emmett complain about PDA
The ferry docks at Old Harbor thirty minutes later and I've got just enough time to run home and unpack my overnight bag before I need to get to work. Edward offers to come with me but I'm not quite ready for him to face Charlie. It's not that I'm not ashamed of dating a deckhand, I just want to prepare my Dad. Unfortunately, I should've known that I couldn't take a ferry home without someone I know seeing me. I was set up almost the second I stepped through our front door.
"Hey Dad!" I call.
"In the kitchen, Bells."
I walk through the living room and find him at the table cleaning his service revolver.
"No fishing this morning?" I ask as I walk past him into the small laundry area which is separated from the main kitchen by a waist high counter. I start sorting through my dirty laundry.
"Nah. We just set the traps yesterday and neither one of us felt like navigating through the pea soup this morning to check 'em. Was it foggy up in the bay?"
"No, the morning was clear in Newport; beautiful day there."
"That's nice. So, who'd you go with?"
I pause, feeling a trap. Charlie never forgot details like where I'd be and who I'd be with.
"I told you yesterday, Dad. Remember?"
"Hmmm. . . Alice and Rosie. Anyone else join you?"
I feel my stomach lurch. He knows. I know he knows. Shit. This is the worst part of living on a tiny island: goddamn busybodies. I hadn't been able to get away with anything as a teenager here. Like most island kids, I couldn't try to buy alcohol at the one liquor store since Eric Yorkie's parents owned it and knew all of us. Skipping classes in high school was almost equally impossible. I glance up, which is a mistake. He's eyeing me like I'm a suspect under a bare light bulb. I quickly look down and clear my throat. There's no point to saying anything other than the truth. It's too late for that. I square my shoulders. I'm twenty one and if I want to spend the night with someone, I certainly can. I just wish my dad didn't hear about it before I had the chance to ease him into the idea of Edward and me.
"Actually, we ended up going with the Vampress crew. You know, they're actually all really nice guys, not typical longliners at all. Rose got to know them this past trip and it looks like she's actually interested in Emmett."
I pause, letting him digest this. He's well aware of Rose's romantic history and knows the significance of her being involved with a fisherman. However, he says nothing. He sits back, crosses his arms and quirks an eyebrow, waiting for me to continue. Shit. I nervously throw the clothes and detergent in the washer and start the cycle.
"And Emmett is definitely crazy about her. You saw him sing to her at the Wolf? He did it again last night in Newport. He sang Rosalita and he didn't even know about Big Jim being a Springsteen fan."
I babble on about Emmett's outfit and our dinner at The Black Pearl but still get nothing than a few grunts from Charlie. I clear my throat again to buy a few more seconds. Even though I'm done with the laundry, I stay on that side of the counter, keeping it as a shield between us.
"Alice seems to be really falling for Jasper. He's been really upfront about his past mistakes, you know…"
I trail off, and make eye contact. Charlie nods, indicating he understands that I'm referring to his drug problem.
"He's been clean for three years and he seems really dedicated to staying that way."
Charlie mumbles something as he grabs a coffee mug from the table and takes a sip.
"What's that?"
Charlie glances up as he places the mug back down on the table.
"I said that yeah, that doesn't sound like a typical longliner at all."
I don't miss the sarcastic tone in his voice. I sigh. I knew he wouldn't like this. I give it right back to him.
"Well, if by that you mean that most twenty-six year old deckhands aren't ready to go into rehab and pay their delinquent taxes, then yes, Jasper isn't a typical longliner."
Charlie rolls his eyes. "I'm sure Jim and Miranda will be thrilled to know their daughter found such a responsible young man. Now, what about you? Anything I should know?"
His mustache practically twitches, he's so tense. I take a deep breath.
"Actually, yes. I'm dating Ted Platt." As I say the words, I try not to cringe. I know Edward said there was no one else but it felt awkward to use the word dating. Could I really use that term to describe what we were? Boyfriend sounded even stranger. It wasn't that I didn't have feelings for him but everything was still so new and there was so much I still didn't know about him. Boyfriend was a label that belonged to someone you went to prom with, not someone I've spent a handful of days with over the course of a couple of months.
My father clears his throat, bringing me back from my wandering thoughts. "Is that so?"
"Well, last night was really our first date…"
I trail off as I see my dad's brows furrow in annoyance. Oh crap, that was the wrong thing to say. Nothing like reminding my father that I spent the night with him and it was only our first official date. I try to backtrack
"But we've been emailing each other when he's at sea and spending a lot of time together when he's in port."
Charlie takes another long sip of coffee. He wipes the edges of his mustache after he sets the cup down.
"Don't forget the quality time on the ferry too. I heard during the ride back from Newport this morning his tongue was so far down your throat he could check your shoes for worn soles."
Fuck! I hate living here sometimes. I run my hand through my hair before letting fall forward, covering my face as I try to think of the right response for this sort of situation. Of course, there really isn't a correct answer when your dad has just told you he's heard that you were playing tonsil hockey in full view of the passengers of the morning ferry.
"Dad…." I sigh, but Charlie raises his hand indicating I should stop.
"Bella, I know you're an adult and I know that you know that while you're living here, I don't expect to see this guy sitting across from me while I drink my morning coffee. At the same time, I'm well aware I probably won't see you sitting across from me for the next few mornings either."
Charlie raises an eyebrow and I nod. I'm grateful now because I'd been trying to figure out how to tell him I wouldn't be sleeping at home while the Vampress is in port. Obviously, he already knows I'll be staying with Edward in his hotel room. He nods back and continues.
"From the little that Doc's told me, Ted seems like a good kid who's been through a rough time recently, a family tragedy, I guess, he didn't say much more than that."
Charlie clears his throat before standing up and walking over to me.
"I know what it's like to fall hard and fast for someone. I just want you to try to keep some perspective about this. He's gone more than he's here and there's no guarantee he'll be back at the end of the trip. I'm talking about more here than just the dangers of fishing, Bella. He wasn't born into this like Doc and me and even Jasper. He could decide at any time that this life isn't for him and then what? He goes back to wherever he's from and forgets all about you."
Charlie's eyes shift to the floor and I know he's not really talking about me and Edward anymore. He looks back up and gives me an awkward pat on the shoulder. His eyes convey much more than his few words.
"Look out for yourself first. O.k. kiddo?"
I nod and give him a quick hug before he gets even more flustered. "O.k., Dad."
He backs up and then waves in the general area of my torso. "And make sure that… you know… you're both you know…smart about stuff."
I feel my cheeks heat as it's my turn to look at the floor and mutter a hasty yes before I exit the kitchen. I need to get to work.
ﻝ ﻝ
"So then it went well?" Edward whispers in my ear as his tongue traces the shell down to my lobe. He gently sucks on it, making me lose all conscious thought. We're entwined together in the king size bed of his room at the Mallory Arms. My back is pressed against his front, legs and arms tangled together. We're warm, naked, and thoroughly sated. As soon as my shift at the Wolf was over, we had practically run back to his room at the hotel. Clothes were strewn in a straight path from the door to the bed. An empty condom wrapper lay crumpled on the nightstand, the box had been torn open and its contents scattered in our haste.
"What?" I ask, still a bit fuzzy from the post-coital bliss. Sex with Edward has made me finally understand what all the fuss was about.
He chuckles, the sound vibrating through my ear, straight to my clit. He knew the effect he was having on me.
"I asked if the talk with your dad went well this morning." His lips brush against the sensitive spot where my ear meets my neck.
This morning felt like it was a thousand years past. The Vampress offload took most of the work day. The guys had worked until six pm hauling the catch of tuna, sword, and various other fish out of the hold. Everything was sorted by weight and species, cleaned up, and packed for truck shipment to the auctions and wholesale markets throughout the East Coast, and air shipment to the Midwest and West Coast. Fish offloaded today on Block Island would be served for dinner tomorrow night in the best restaurants in Chicago and Los Angeles.
After leaving Newton's right at five, I had put in a full shift waitressing at the Black Wolf. Edward, Jasper, Emmett and Rose had come in around seven thirty with a group that included Mike and Jessica. Every time I glanced in his direction, I'd catch Edward watching me. Whenever I walked past him, I'd feel his hand brush against my hand, my arm, or back, wherever he could make contact. More than once I'd caught a few of the locals watching us. I guess word spread quickly that the chief's daughter was canoodling with one of Doc Cullen's crew. At least with my dad working the late shift, I didn't have to worry that he'd camp out at the bar, or worse sit with the Vampress guys and do something completely mortifying like ask Edward about his intentions. I knew Charlie wanted to spare me the type of heartbreak he endured when Renee left but it was really too soon for that conversation. Edward and I needed to spend a lot more time together before we figured out where this was going, if it was anything more than just a summer fling.
For my part, I knew I would certainly be ready for more. I don't think I'd ever had such a visceral reaction to a man before. I both wanted Edward and wanted to be with him. My first real relationship with Garrett had been just that, a first relationship. It was sweet at times but the feelings had never evolved past the initial attraction. In hindsight, it's apparent to me that Garrett and I were more compatible as friends than lovers. The awkwardness we underwent when we finally lost our virginity to each other never faded. At the time, I had attributed it to our inexperience but now I realized it was because we didn't have the type of chemistry I'd found with Edward.
Edward's hands were currently tracing circles on belly, following an imaginary path from my hips to my ribs, just below my breasts, then back down. I'd been so lost in my thoughts that I hadn't yet answered his question.
"Um, yeah, it went as well as any father/daughter 'By the way, I heard a deckhand had his tongue down your throat in front of half the island and I guess you'll be sleeping with him the next few nights' talk can go."
Edward laughs and I can feel a part of him jiggling against a certain part of me. I press my ass back and he groans.
"I don't think that your father would approve of that behavior, little girl."
I immediately move away from him. "Well, if you're only interested in his approval…"
Edward grabs my hip and pushes me back against him. His other hand snakes up to palm my breast.
"Let's just keep your brazenness our secret." His voice rumbles in my ear. I can feel his smile against my heated skin.
Instantly, my senses are on Edward overload. His hands and fingers, lips and tongue caress and fondle, leaving me a quivering mess. His voice is low and velvety as he whispers dirty words in my ear, telling me what he wants to do, how he wants to make us both feel. I know I'm flushed from my ears straight down to my nipples. I've only been with Garrett and one other guy, a one night stand with a guy I knew from school, and neither of them had ever spoken to me the way Edward did now. A thumb strokes back and forth across my now puckered nipple while the hand on my hip slides down between my legs.
I moan as he whispers "Are you ready for me again? I want to feel how wet I make you."
I feel one finger circle around my clit as his lips softly glide over the indent where my neck meets my shoulder. I press my hips firmly against him as I reach back and pull his body even more tightly against mine. He thrusts forward and I can feel that he's hard again.
"Do you like my cock there, baby?" He asks.
I turn my head so that our lips meet, the tips of our tongues touching. I part my legs so that his cock hits the entrance to my vagina every time we move and we are moving, our bodies press and push, creating a delirious friction that has me close to the edge.
"Bella…" he moans and I know what he wants, what he's asking of me.
"Yes, please." My voice is breathless and needy when I reply, as if my answer could be anything else.
I feel him pull away. Seconds later I hear the telltale rip of a condom wrapper. I glance over my shoulder and watch him roll it onto his hard length. I'd never found that act to be erotic before Edward but seeing him do that causes a Pavlovian reaction in me. I can feel the moisture pool between my legs as my body responds. I start to roll onto my back but he stops me.
"Can you stay just like that? I want to feel you come this way, with your ass up against me and your tits in my hands." He asks. I felt my cheeks heat. I haven't had sex in this position before but I'm eager to try.
Edward lowers himself down to the bed and returns to his place behind me. His arms wrap around me. One hand gently grasps my breast, first palming it before he rolls and pinches my nipple, causing me to moan. His other hand glided over my folds, stroking and circling my clit. I move one leg over his, giving him enough access to position himself against my entrance. He pushes in and I immediately feel the difference in the angle.
"Oh God!" I cry out, as he fills me completely.
Edward freezes. "Okay?"
"Yes. Don't stop." I answer pushing back against him. I don't care how I sound, I just want him to keep fucking me. I may have actually said that aloud.
He chuckles before he begins pumping into me. It's slow at first as we get used to the feeling of him being so deeply in me. I swear he hit places in me I've never felt anyone else touch before as he pulls back and pushes in deeper each time. His hands continue to work their magic on my body. Once again, I'm more vocal during sex with Edward than I've ever been before. I can't seem to stop moaning and crying out for more. He quickens his pace, telling me again how much he likes feeling my ass against him. Those words combined with the sensations caused by his fingers, tongue, and cock send me quickly over the edge. I lose myself in the most intense orgasm I've ever experienced. I've heard about seeing stars and forgetting where you are but until Edward I've never had that happen. I feel Edward pump erratically a few times before he stills and comes hard, his cock pulsing inside me. We lie there whispering sweet words to each other until Edward falls asleep, his soft snores intermingling with the sounds of the waves outside our window. I don't know how I'll ever settle for mediocre sex again. As long as I'm with Edward, I won't have to. My logical side tells me to go slow and find out more about him before I commit my heart and soul to someone I barely know. However, the crazy pull I've felt for Edward from the moment I first saw him gets stronger with each passing moment and that little voice of reason is growing fainter and fainter.
ﻝ ﻝ
Just like summer vacations when I was a little kid, and weekends during my first year of work, the week with Edward flies by much faster than I want. We spend every spare moment together. There are romantic dates like a picnic lunch at Mohegan Bluffs, with Edward carrying a big basket down all two hundred and fifty steps to the beach at the base of the cliff. Another day, we find him a spare bike and the two of us bike out to a few of the more secluded spots where he somehow convinces me to have sex in the middle of a field in broad daylight. There are breakfasts and dinners, beaches on sunny days and his hotel room on the one rainy day. We talk about our likes and loves, our dislikes and hates but I still can't seem to get him to open up about his family and what happened to his mom after our one conversation about it in Newport. I convince myself that he just needs more time even as part of me resents that he won't trust me with this side of him. It never occurs to me that there could be something else going on until I agree to meet Angela for lunch. The Vampress is set to leave the next day and Edward is busy with Emmett and Jasper loading bait and ice on the boat. I've gotten my period, which has pretty much put a damper on my plans to give Edward a going away present he won't forget. I'm cranky and bloated and definitely could use a good dose of greasy food.
"What school does he go to?" Angela asks as she liberally shakes a bottle of malt vinegar over her fries.
"Concordia. It's a small school in Milwaukee, which is where Ted grew up. He's in the music program. You should hear him play piano. He is incredibly talented." I say before biting into a clamcake. I revel in the greasy, salty perfection of deep fried dough and clams. I eat two before switching over to my fries. If I eat any more I'll feel like I've got rocks in my stomach. Damn Auntie Flo making me crave this stuff.
"Oh, I've heard of Concordia. They have a pharmacy school. It's not quite as big as URI's School of Pharmacy but it's a good program. Ben went there last semester with a group of Kappa Psi members. They wanted to open a new chapter there but the school won't allow any kind of fraternities. Ben was really disappointed." Angela rambles on in between bites of her sandwich.
I freeze. That can't be right. I distinctly remember my first conversation with Edward about frat versus fraternity.
"No fraternities? No, Concordia definitely has fraternities. Ted's in one." I correct Angela.
Angela knits her brow. "Bella, the whole reason Ben and the other Kappa Psi members visited Concordia was to try to convince the administrators that a professional fraternity like Kappa Psi is different than a social fraternity. Concordia is a Lutheran university and they wouldn't make an exception their rules. They don't allow fraternities."
"Then why would Ted say he was a member of a fraternity there?"
"Bella, are you sure he said Concordia in Milwaukee?" Angela looks at me as though there's no way I could be right. She pulls out her phone and googles Concordia and fraternities. There are no results.
I sit there staring at her phone, my lunch forgotten.
"Of course I'm sure. Ted told me he lived at the fraternity house. He was there the weekend his mother died in the car accident. He lied to me but the question is why?"
A/N: Hello? Remember me? So it should seem obvious, but let's just get it out there: I had trouble with this chapter. Yes, there was some RL stuff and some Twific stuff that distracted me but basically, I got hit with a bit of writer's block. Hopefully that's now over and the next update won't take so long.
So just a brief update on the crappy RL stuff: five days before we were supposed to move, our buyers pulled out, which meant we couldn't buy the house we wanted and everything fell apart. The good news is we still have our house and the contracts protected us. We're done with the whole process for right now.
I did have some AWESOME RL stuff happen: I spent Monday night in New York City rubbing elbows with Duran Duran. I was lucky enough to score tickets for an exclusive VIP Reception before a showing of their 2011 David Lynch concert film. The event was fabulous and I got to speak to each band member and pose for pictures with them. Even better, I got to share the night with six of my closest friends. I only wish Stacyo72 was with us but alas, she was on vacation. It was well worth the seven hour round trip journey on a weeknight!
Next, the Twific stuff: Thank you to whomever it was that nominated me as a Favorite Newbie Author on the Twific Fandom Awards! Voting is over and the winners will be announced later this month. I was up against some fantastic writers like Planetblue , Hoodfabulous as well as my lovely Lellabeth so I don't expect to win but it really was an honor to be nominated with such talent!
Speaking of talent, I am participating in the Countdown 2014: Fact or Fiction. The link can be found on my profile. The Countdown, organized by Breath-of-Twilight, features one-shots by a number of different authors, some very well- known and some new. The readers guess if the o/s are based on fact or if they are purely fiction. My Halloween o/s Ghos t Note is chapter 5. I've never written anything in this genre before so it was a good challenge. I'm pretty happy with the way Ghost Note turned out. There is also a longer collaboration piece that will post soon as well as upcoming Fall and Christmas o/s.
Last, have you read the Age of Edward entries? Have you voted? I think you all should. I did. Voting is open until November 15 – one week from today! There are some other great contests happening too. Dior Rob and Lyrics to Life entries are up. The Friends to Lovers, Light the Darkness, Blue Watch, and Deep South contests are all accepting submissions.
I'm sure most of you know that The Fictionators website is no more. I was very sad to see it go. Fictionators was the first Twific rec site I found when I got into this fandom. now offers a new place to post teasers. When I have teasers, I will post there, A Different Forest, and Twific Central. Find me on Twitter: shelly_duran (2 underscores).