1
"No, Masen."
"Yes, Cullen."
Bella was sitting in the passenger seat of my car, glaring the ever loving fuck out of me. It was bad enough that she couldn't drive her own car to L.A., but, now, I was refusing to let her control the music. I was just that kind of a son of a bitch. She huffed, folding her arms in front of her and looking out the window. She looked so cute when she pouted.
"We had an agreement," I reminded her. "I get to pick the music for the first leg of the trip and you get the second. Besides, this season's Glee has sucked major ass."
"But this shit sucks," she whined, looking back at me. "I mean, seriously, The Beastie Boys?"
"They rock," I muttered, feeling embarrassed. Bella shook her head but smiled.
"Whatever you say, Baby," she murmured, reaching over and pulling my hand off the wheel and weaving her fingers with mine.
She was nervous, I understood. I was nervous, too. Bella and I were on our way from Forks to Los Angeles. Making the decision to leave Forks, and the state of Washington, was surprisingly easy, once we got back home from the tournament in Vegas, anyway. All it took was one more confrontation between us and the Stepford bitches, and the decision was made.
Bella and I had just returned from our epic wins in Las Vegas, looking bruised and battered but alive at least. We had both fought so hard to secure the titles of champion. It hadn't been easy and it wasn't always fun but we did it and fought through it and it paid off for us. Anyway, we had just walked into the cafeteria to grab our lunch to take down to Marcus' classroom when Lauren, Jessica, Mike, Tyler, and Eric surrounded us. Now, most people would have learned the first time we beat all their asses to back the fuck off, but the Stepford bitches were stupid as fuck. However, Bella and I were still sore and I knew that neither of us were exactly in the mood to play nicely with anyone.
"Looks like you two got your asses kicked," smirked Lauren, pushing out her fake boobs. "Guess you aren't as tough as you look, are you, Cullen?"
"Did you get a boob job, Mallory?" asked Bella. "I would get your money back. They did a shitty job on them. I mean, fuck, one of them is way bigger than the other. Unless…wait, could you only pay for one? The doctor wouldn't let you suck him off for the other one, would he? Here I had heard that your oral skills were way better than that."
"No," snarled Lauren, covering her chest as everyone laughed at her. I do mean everyone; including her bitches. She turned and glared at them. "Shut the fuck up."
Bella and I laughed and turned to leave when suddenly, Lauren was on Bella. Not in a sexy, girl on girl kind of way, either. Lauren jumped Bella from behind, pushing her to the ground and trying to hit her. However, Bella, being the super badass bitch that she could be, had Lauren under her in the blink of an eye, pinning her to the ground. But she didn't hit her, which was a step up for her.
"You fucking bitch," screeched Jessica, jumping Bella and pulling her off of Lauren.
I went to grab Jessica when Tyler and Eric grabbed me, throwing me back into the wall behind me. Mike was smirking as he came at me, throwing his fist at my head. However, I was smarter than the three of them combined and ducked. Mike hit his hand on the wall, breaking two of his knuckles and dropping to his knees as he cried out in agony. Tyler and Eric both tried to hit me but I, once again, ducked and they hit each other, knocking the other out cold. I looked over as Bella fought both Lauren and Jessica off, merely by blocking every weak punch they threw at her. They really were quite possibly the two stupidest bitches in history.
When Esme came running in, stopping the fight, I expected both me and Bella to get into trouble for fighting back, as we had before, but I never expected what happened, to happen. Just when I thought that the vein in Esme's head was going to explode, an underclassman named Hannah Bright stepped up and told Esme what had happened. Once she backed us up, a few more people spoke up, confirming that Bella and I had just been defending ourselves.
It turns out that while Bella and I were out of town, that the Stepford bitches had taken to terrorizing Hannah and her friends. They had gone as far as scratching a series of four letter words into the new paint job on Hannah's father's car and Papa, who happened to be the Chief of Police, wasn't happy. Not only were they expelled from school, but all five of them had been arrested and sent to Juvenile Detention.
Hannah's dad, John, had brought her into Carlisle's gym and somehow talked him into training Hannah how to box. She still had a ways to go but she was getting there. A few other kids from our school had come in and started training, too. Something that Bella was very resistant about but since we were heading to school at UCLA. I guess she figured that at least Carlisle would be busy.
"I need some coffee," I sighed, looking over at her. "You?"
"I could use some," she smiled. "But only if I can pick the next play list."
"Fine," I muttered, pulling off the road.
I parked my car in front of a small diner in Sutherlin, Oregon. Bella and I climbed out of the car just as the cars driven by her brothers pulled up next to us. Carlisle, Emmett, and Jasper had insisted that they be with us as we drove south and with them came Alice, Rose, and Esme. Bella and I pretended to whine and gripe about it but, honestly, we didn't mind. This was going to be a new experience for all of us.
"How far were you thinking of going tonight?" asked Emmett, ignoring me and Bella, and asking Carlisle, this being his trip and all.
"I don't know, maybe try to make it to Sacramento," said Carlisle, shrugging his shoulders.
"That's quite the drive," mused Jasper, stretching. "Maybe we should think about stopping before that. I mean, surely one of these little piss hole towns will have a Best Western, Holiday Inn or something."
"We're driving all night," said Bella, grabbing my hand and pushing past her brothers. Just as she got to the doors, she stopped and looked back at them. "Of course, you are free to turn and go back to Forks. It's not like we need babysitters."
Leaving them all standing there, yelling at her that we weren't driving all night, Bella and I headed into the diner. I leaned down and kissed her head before heading over to the bathroom. I took care of business and washed my hands. When I came back out, I found Bella sitting at the counter eating a bowl of blueberry cobbler with two huge scoops of ice cream on top. Her brothers, my sister, Alice, and Rose were sitting at a couple of tables on the other side of the diner. I took the seat next to Bella leaning my chin on her shoulder, causing her to smile.
"Don't even think about it, Masen," she said.
"Just one bite?" I asked, sliding my hand onto her leg. Her breath hitched. "Please?"
"No," she said, breathing a little heavier as my hand traveled up her thigh. "Edward."
"Just one little, tiny bite?" I murmured, kissing the outside of her ear. Bella shivered. Oh, yeah, I knew my girl.
"Fine, just one," she whispered, breathlessly. She turned on her stool, slipping her leg between mine, pushing my hand up her leg. She scooped up a mixture of cobbler and ice cream, licking her lips as she brought it up to mine. "Open."
I parted my lips, letting her slid the spoon inside. I clamped my lips around the spoon, licking off every little bit. Bella dropped the spoon on the counter as she grabbed my face, crushing her lips to mine. Pulling her so that she was straddling my lap, I thrust my tongue into her mouth, causing Bella to moan, weaving her fingers into my hair, pulling hard. I growled, letting my hands slide around to her ass, clutching at her cheeks.
I needed her to be closer, naked even, but, as we often did when we started making out, we forgot that not only were we in the middle of a diner, but that our family was with us. It wasn't until she was pulled out of my arms by Emmett and Jasper and Esme grabbed my ear, pulling me off my stool that I remembered they were here. Carlisle looked deadly as he stepped up, jabbing his finger into my chest.
"What have I told you, boy, about sucking her face when we are in public?" he asked, teeth grinding together. I thought about mentioning that it was bad for his teeth, but decided against it.
"Car, stop it," hissed Bella. He turned and glared at her, clearly telling her to shut the fuck up. "Fuck off, Car."
I loved her and her determination to defy him.
"Not to do it," I said, dryly. Pulling my ear free of my sister's fingers, I pushed his off of my chest. "We've had this discussion, Carlisle. When you stop pretending that you 'came over early for breakfast,' Bella and I will stop making out in public. Okay?" I asked.
"I really don't like you, kid," he muttered, clearly embarrassed that I called him out in public. "Let's hit the road. We have a long trip to make tonight."
Bella elbowed Emmett and Jasper, causing them to groan as they let her go. I tossed some money on the counter, thanking the waitress, who was watching all of this with wide eyes, and led Bella back out to my car. Once inside, she unplugged my iPod and plugged hers in, setting her Staind play list. I laughed as I started the car, and headed back onto the highway.
"Good choice, Baby," I smiled.
Bella slipped off her shoes and pulled her feet up into the seat as she started singing along to the music. It was amazing to see how much she had grown since the tournament in Vegas. While she still struggled to deal with her parents betrayal, she at least talked with them on an almost regularly bases. Nolin and Corrine had been very patient with Bella, not pushing her to give more than she was able to. Even though they didn't like the idea that Bella was going all the way to California for school, they didn't try to talk her out of it, or even worse, try to come with us. That would have been awkward.
Carlisle, Jasper, and Emmett, however, were still not talking with Nolin or Corrine at all, which made it hard for Bella, but she understood that they needed to take that step in their own time. While they may not have suffered the way Bella did, they did go through hell and, maybe one day, they would be ready. As for me and her parents, well, it might be better to say that we try to get along for Bella's sake. I still think they are major pains in the asses, who need to have their asses kicked for ever putting her through hell, and they think I am trying to turn her against them. I'm not, and Bella knows that it has more to do with their insecurities that they will lose her…again.
The only part of her family that she couldn't seem to handle was Charlie and Renee. Bella struggled to put it into words why their betrayal, mostly Renee's, was harder for her to handle, but it basically boiled down to Bella feeling that Renee never accepted her for who she was and her choosing Charlie over her own family. Of course, it didn't help Renee's case with Bella that ever since we got back from Vegas, she had been in Bella's face, trying to smooth things over. At least Corrine and Nolan gave Bella some space, you know? So needless to say, there was very little progress on the Renee and Charlie side of things.
"If Aaron Lewis ever comes to L.A. to do a solo show, we are so there," said Bella, looking over at me.
"Why?" I asked. "So you can stare at his ass?"
"Yes," she teased. I snorted, bringing her hand up, pressing it to my lips. "If my brothers weren't behind us, I would have you pull the car over so we could fuck in the backseat."
I hadn't expected those words to come out of her mouth and I veered the car onto the shoulder. Bella burst out laughing. A moment later, her cell phone rang. Still giggling, she picked it up, and flipped it open.
"Hello, Carlisle." She smiled. "Yes, he's fine . . . Fine, hold on." Bella rolled her eyes as she covered the speaker part of the phone. "He wants to know if you are okay since you nearly drove off the road. What should I tell him?"
"Tell him that you are sexy minx, who is naughty and tempting me to pull over and take her as hard as I can for God and everyone to see," I said with a smirk. Bella burst out laughing again, pulling the phone back up.
"He said, he's fine and that he thought he saw a dog run across the road . . . I know we are in the middle of nowhere but that's what he said." Bella winked as she looked over at me. "We are driving straight there, Car. Deal with it." She hung up her phone, tossing it into the backseat. "He's convinced that we need to spend the night in Sacramento."
"He just wants to fuck my sister," I muttered, grimly.
"Ugh, that's why we aren't stopping," she muttered, turning the radio up.
Esme would be the only part of Forks that I was going to miss. When she dragged me there a year ago, I never thought I would find the love of my life or be heading to college at UCLA. She and I were still close, maybe even closer. After Christmas, my father was offered a high-security level job at the Pentagon. It had been a hard decision for him and my mother to make but with Esme happy with her job, and me and Bella headed down to California, he took it. They moved just after the New Year but had been back to visit three times already. They really wanted to come with us but I think Elizabeth knew this was something that we needed to do on our own. It was us taking our first step into the real world, so to speak.
I drove my car past the entrance to UCLA just after dawn. Bella stretched in her seat and looked over at me, once again taking my hand in hers. "Are you ready for this?" she asked.
I smiled. "I sure as hell hope so."