17
EPOV
Spending the day with Bella and Wanda has really only confirmed two things: I have a crush on this girl, and I'm in love with her dog.
Bella is kind and funny, and she doesn't make me feel like I'm a horrible person for wanting to distance myself from my family, especially after what happened with the news and them accidentally revealing my identity. I'm glad she's the person I'm splitting this win with. She deserves it, and I think it'll be nice to have the chance to get to know her better.
Alice is helping me load the U-Haul that I rented, and she's been quiet. To say that she was shocked when she found out about my win would be an understatement, but she wasn't upset about the money. She's upset that I'm moving away when we've been trying to repair our relationship.
"I think that's everything." I put the last box in the U-Haul and check the tie downs around my furniture that I'm bringing with me before I look at Alice. She's standing by the end of the truck, chewing on her thumbnail. "So, you're just gonna be silent?"
She sighs, rolling her eyes. "What do you want me to say?"
I half-expected her to beg me for money since that's absolutely what my parents did. But Alice, to her credit, told them to leave me alone and has been taking the brunt of their phone calls and texts since I drowned my old phone last week.
"Why don't you come with me? I have a couple spare rooms, and it's a nice place."
"I have a job here, Edward. I have a boyfriend, and I … I need to do this on my own. I can't move in with you."
I grab her, pulling her into a hug. "You'll come visit, right? Bring that boyfriend so I can meet him?"
"I guess." She laughs lightly, hugging me hard. "I'm envious of you. You get to start over and get away from us."
Dropping a kiss to the top of her head, I sigh. "I don't want to get away from you, or even Mom and Dad. I do love them. But I do need a fresh start. You could have that too."
"But, Edward"—she looks up at me with big eyes—"if I go no contact, who will they whine to?" We laugh, but it's stilted and sad. "I'll be fine. I'm having my own fresh start."
We lock up the truck and do a final sweep of my apartment before I hand her the keys to my truck so she can follow me to Bremerton. Alice is going to help me unload and stay the night with me before I bring her back to Seattle.
By the time we make it to my new home, we have to compete for parking because Bella's new SUV is parked in my driveway, and she and Wanda are sitting on my front porch.
"Hi." I want to pull her into a hug, but my sister will give me all the shit, so I smile broadly as Wanda barks excitedly to get my attention.
"We wanted to come by and help." Bella's smiling, and I feel my heart flip a little.
"Let's get Wanda out back, and I'll introduce you to Alice." I hand her my house keys, and she unlocks the door, calling Wanda and leading her to the back yard.
I walk over to the U-Haul in the driveway and find Alice smirking at me. "Who's that?"
"That's Bella. I told you about her."
"She won the other half?" I nod. "And you like her." It's not a question.
"Alice. Don't."
"Oh, this is gonna be great." She slaps her hands together and helps me open up the truck just as Bella comes out of the house.
"We'll have to check on her, but she seems fine for the time being." She looks between Alice and me. "Hi, I'm Bella. You must be Edward's sister Alice."
Alice smiles warmly and reaches out a hand to shake. "It's nice to meet you. Thanks for coming by to help us."
"Oh, well, what's one neighbor helping out another neighbor?" Bella and I chuckle, but Alice looks confused.
"Bella put in an offer for that house." I gesture across the street and watch as Alice's eyes shoot to her hairline.
"Oh, fun." She smiles, and we make a plan to unload the boxes, then the furniture. Between the three of us, we move a lot quicker than Alice and I would have. Once everything is loaded into the house and Wanda is inside sniffing everything, Alice lets loose.
"Edward … this place is beige." I look at her blankly as she shudders dramatically.
"I like it, Alice." She rolls her eyes, zeroing in on Bella.
"How bad is your place?"
"Oh, um, well, it's not mine yet. And it's fairly similar." Bella looks over at me nervously as I'm ordering us some food off an app.
"Alice, I've already picked out some furniture. If I agree to take some of your suggestions, will that appease you?" She sticks out her tongue at me.
"I'd actually like some advice on decorating. I've never done any. If I get the place, maybe you can come out here, and we can talk about it?" Bella looks hopeful, but I know what she's doing. She's ensuring that Alice will be out here a lot to visit. I'm grateful for that.
"I'd love it. We can figure out what's right for you; figure out your style."
After we eat, Alice offers to take Wanda for a walk around the block and that gives me the opportunity to talk to Bella. "Have you spoken to anyone about the fact that you might be moving?"
Bella shrugs dismissively, "Why should I? Charlie and Jake have only been trying to contact me because they know I won the lottery. I haven't spoken to either of them, except when I went to pick up my last check. They didn't care about me after my mom died, and they don't care about me now. They just care about the money."
I throw my arm around her shoulders. "What about your friends?"
"I'll miss Jessica, but I know she'll come to visit. That's sort of it."
"Really?"
"Oh, like you have a million friends?" She smirks, elbowing me gently in the side.
"No, but, I just—"
She puts her fingers over my lips to stop me from sputtering. "I've been okay. I had Mrs. Cope and the shelter. I have Jessica. I have Cora and Waylon, but they won't be making the drive out here—it's too far. It's time to start fresh."
Her fingers linger across my lips, and I feel the air tingling between us. Just as I think we might do something, we jump apart as Alice comes through the front door with Wanda barking happily.
We both smile as she comes back into the kitchen as we continue cleaning up and will away the blush that's crept onto my cheeks. Before it gets too dark, I walk Bella out as she loads up Wanda so they can make the drive back to Forks.
"Let me know when you get home, okay?"
"I will, Edward." I close her door behind her after she climbs in.
"Thanks for your help today."
"Anytime." She winks before backing out of the driveway and heading off into the night.
If this was hard, I wonder how difficult it will be to say goodnight when she lives across the street?
