Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns all things Twilight, but Aiden and the plot are ours. (Copyright 2021) No copyright infringement is intended.
A huge Thank You to our awesome team of ladies, Liz Vesper, our Editor, Connie Sanders and BohemianRituals, our pre-readers!
Chapter 27: Right in Front of You
Chelsea
Two words.
Two words and my brain just stopped functioning.
It's like everything slowed down and all I heard over and over again were those two words.
What the fuck was I supposed to do?
Beep, beep.
"Oh." I jumped.
"Get out of the way, lady." A middle-aged, dark-haired man frowned and honked his horn.
I shook my head. "I-I-" I swallowed. "I'm so-"
"Yeah, whatever, get out of the way." He waved his hand.
"Right." I nodded once. "Right." I blinked as I looked around, noting where I was. I was in the middle of a crosswalk. I guess I wasn't paying much attention. I was distracted, or maybe in shock still.
"Lady." He stuck his head out of the window. "Get the hell outta the way." He widened his eyes.
I stepped back. "Sorry." He scowled as he drove by, giving me the finger.
I puffed out my cheeks, blew out a slow breath, and looked up at the sky. "Get it together Chelsea." I hurried the rest of the way across the street.
Everything would change, but I wasn't sure if it would be for the better or worse, and all it took was two words.
Two words that seemed so small, yet caused the biggest pit to drop in my stomach.
Two words.
And now everything was complicated, well, more complicated than what it already was. Things had been off, way off, before today.
Since the night of that horrifying dinner, Alec and I hadn't seen or talked to each other. That was six weeks ago. Six weeks. I tried everything I could; I called him, went to his house, even stopped by the station, but it seemed he wanted nothing to do with me.
I knew Alec wouldn't be happy with what I did, but I didn't think he would be this upset. I didn't think he would just ignore me and completely shut me out.
Or act like it didn't bother him to not talk to me and not be with me…
In hindsight, I guess my plan wasn't all that genius… fool proof. I didn't expect his mother to… I don't even know how to describe how she felt about me. Dislike would be an understatement—even though I'm not sure what she disliked—but it's just not possible for her to hate me. How could she? She didn't really know me, but that being said, she apparently didn't like me.
And I didn't like her too much either, but at least his father was nice to me. Nicer to me than Alec had been.
He let her say all those awful things to me, things I wanted to forget, and things I didn't want to bother me, but they did.
"You're nothing but a low-class, poor, orphan, wannabe model who has nothing going on for yourself, that latched on to the first person who brought relevance to your pathetic life."
"You are the dirty little secret that didn't know how to keep quiet."
I thought about that more than what I'd like to admit. It made me feel worthless. She made me feel worthless.
And Alec not talking to me didn't help.
But I could forgive him. We could move past what happened. We could apologize to each other and move on.
That's all I wanted, for us to be together.
I know to some I may sound stupid, but growing up the way I did taught me to fight for what I wanted, and that was him. I loved him, and wouldn't… couldn't just give up on him and us. He was all I had.
Giving up wasn't an option.
I needed him.
Especially since…
I should call him.
"Please, please, please." I mumbled to myself as I opened my purse and blindly rummaged through until I felt my phone.
I clicked on his number and put the phone up to my ear.
It rang five times and beeped. "It's Alec, leave a message."
"Alec." I sighed. "Look, I know you're still upset with me and I get it, I do, but please…" I bit my lip. "Please call me back, talk to me, it's important." I swallowed the lump in my throat. "Please, I love you." I ended the call and threw the phone back in my purse.
He would call me back.
He had to. I needed him to.
I walked the rest of the way back to my apartment, still in a bit of a daze.
Once I was inside, I plopped down on the couch.
I rubbed my hands over my face. "What the fuck am I going to do?" I groaned.
I would be in jeopardy of losing my job. Actually, I would for sure lose my job. Not that it had been going well, either. Work had become even slower; I didn't think that it was possible, but it was. I was a sitting duck at Versace. I couldn't book jobs anywhere else, and my agency wasn't of much help.
And of course, money had slowed down as well, drastically, and concerningly. I needed to book something, and fast. Before they found out that I breached my contract.
I rubbed my temples. "I'm so screwed." And not in a good way.
I needed to distract myself. I picked up the remote, turned on the T.V. and flipped through channels. After doing that three times, without finding anything to hold my attention, I turned it off.
I glanced at the clock hanging on the wall and chewed on my thumbnail.
Should I call Alec again?
I called him a little more than an hour ago, enough time passed since I last called him, right?
Yeah, I should call him again.
I got my phone out and pressed on his name.
It rang once and then went to voicemail. He declined my call?
I pulled the phone from my ear and looked at it.
I'll try one more time.
I pressed on his name and put the phone on speaker.
This time, it went straight to voicemail.
I ended the call.
"Great." I sighed. "Just fucking great."
Alec won't talk to me.
I was about to lose my job and no matter how hard I saved, at this rate, I would be broke in a matter of months.
And now I'm…
I really needed Alec, but he was ignoring me.
I know I messed up, but he didn't have to do this, or shut me out, not like this.
I can admit I could have handled the situation better; I shouldn't have called his Mom a bitch, but I wasn't the only one who was in the wrong, I wasn't.
"Why won't you pick up the damn phone?" I clenched my fingers around my cell, feeling heat flush through my body. "Why won't you talk to me?" I threw the phone, and it hit the wall. "Why won't you talk to me?" I whispered, feeling powerless.
I felt like my life was falling apart and I had no control over it.
I threw myself back on the couch and looked at the ceiling.
Maybe I shouldn't tell him, or anyone. I could act like it never happened. He wouldn't have to know, and I could keep my job. Maybe I could just get rid-
I heard the front door unlock and open.
I turned my head. "Alec?" I held my breath.
The door closed and loud footsteps headed in my direction.
"Alec?" I sat up.
He walked in like he normally did, like it hadn't been weeks since we had seen each other. He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. Not looking at me.
He was still upset. That's fine, I can deal with that. At least he's here.
"You came."
He nodded, still not looking at me.
"I missed you." I bit my lip.
He said nothing, did nothing.
"Can you look at me?" I inhaled and glanced down. "I need you to look at me." I looked back up at him.
He slowly lifted his head, and I jerked back.
His eyes… they were wrong. Hard and cold.
I looked back down. "Did you get my message?"
"No." His tone was flat.
"Well, I called you, and went by your house." I cleared my throat. "And the studio."
"I know."
I waited to see if he would say anything else.
"Okay." I licked my lips. "You're not happy with me, I get that." I nodded. "We can work through this, but I don't think it's fair for you to ignore me for this long. That's not right. Why do you think it's okay to treat me like that?" I looked at him.
"Why did you lie?" He narrowed his eyes. "You weren't meeting Jessica that night. I asked her, so why did you lie?"
"Are you going to answer my question?"
"Not until you answer mine." He took a step forward.
"That's not fai-"
"How did you know what restaurant we'd be at?" He arched a single brow.
I blew out a breath and dropped my chin to my chest. "Your phone." I sunk into the couch. "I saw the text your dad sent you."
He scoffed and shook his head. "You went through my phone?"
"No, I saw the notification. Your phone was still locked, I just I-I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't have done it." I played with my fingers. "What I did was wrong, but I-I didn't have bad intentions, I swear."
"You went to that restaurant for a reason, why?"
"Because I wanted to meet your parents." I bit the inside of my cheek.
"Even though I told you I didn't want you to?"
"I didn't think it would go the way it did. I thought we would all-"
"It doesn't matter what you thought." He cut me off, his tone cold. "I told you I didn't want you me meet them."
"Why are you so angry about this?" I dropped my hands into my lap. "You're acting like I'm wrong for wanting to meet them, for wanting our relationship to progress, for wanting us to-"
Alec let out a loud, exaggerated sigh and rolled his eyes.
"Why would you do that? Don't do that." I frowned and shook my head. "Don't roll your eyes, like you're annoyed, like what I'm saying doesn't mean anything."
He just looked at me.
"Look," I swallowed. "I love you, and I'm serious about us, and I should meet your parents. I should have already met your parents. That's what normal couples do, what a normal boyfriend would do Alec; they introduce their girlfriends to the people they love and are important to them."
"So, you lied and schemed because you loved me?" He blinked. "And you were going to force me to introduce you to my parents so we could be normal? Nothing about us is normal."
I bit my lip. When he said it like that, it didn't sound good.
"I told you I didn't think-"
"Exactly." He yelled, his cheeks red. "You weren't thinking." He clenched his jaw. "What you did was stupid."
My eyes widened, and I opened and closed my mouth a few times.
He had never talked to me like that before. He had never been angry with me before.
"Is that what you want to hear me say? Will that make you less angry with me? Fine, okay then." I shrugged. "What I did was stupid and impulsive. I'm sorry. Can you stop being angry with me now?"
He shook his head and turned away from me.
I took a couple of seconds to gather my emotions so I wouldn't cry.
"You were wrong too." I whispered.
"What?" He turned back to me and looked me in the eye. "I was wrong?"
"You didn't stick up for me, or protect me."
He jerked, a crease in his forehead. "Protect you?"
"Yes."
"From what?"
"Your mother."
"No." He shook his head and chuckled; it had an edge to it. "No, you're not going to blame me for what you did. I did protect you." He pointed at me. "I told you I didn't want you to meet her."
"Why?" I frowned. "You keep saying that, but never explain. Why didn't you want me to meet her?"
"Because."
"Because why?" I threw my hands up. "We've been together for too long for this to even be a discussion. I get it, your mother is crazy, but she's your mother, she's not dead, and we're together. One way or another, I was bound to meet her, so why didn't you want us to?"
He rubbed his eyes. "It's complicated. I don't want to get into that."
"Why not? Tell me Alec." I crossed my arms. "I don't think I'm being unreasonable here; I deserve to know." He just looked at me. "Alec, tell me. Why didn't you want me to meet your mother? Why didn't you stick up for m-"
"Because it wasn't supposed to get this far." He raked his fingers through his hair, breathing hard.
"Huh?" My mouth fell open. "What wasn't supposed to get this far?"
"You were never supposed to meet my mother, my parents."
"What?" I blinked slowly.
He sighed and placed his hands on his hips. "I let this go on for too long."
I shook my head. "What… what are you saying?"
"I'm breaking up with you. That's why I came here, to end it. We're done, Chelsea."
I felt my chest tighten. "You can't break up with me. We love each other. We're just going through a rough patch. You can't break up with me."
"It's over, Chelsea."
"No." I stood up from the couch. "You can't break up with me. You love me."
He looked away from me.
"You love me, right? You-you still love me."
He dug into his pant pocket and placed a key—his key to my place—on the coffee table.
I took a step. "No, you can't leave. You're not leaving me."
"Goodbye, Chelsea." He turned and headed toward the door.
Two words.
Two words and he couldn't leave me.
"I'm pregnant."
He froze.
"You can't leave. I'm pregnant." I took a small step toward him. "I found out today. I'm twelve weeks. I have ultrasound pictures in my purse." I took another step.
I was still trying to wrap my head around that myself. It was weird hearing the heartbeat.
"I can show you the pictures." I rushed out. "We have to decide what we're going to do. I'm essentially out of a job. The contract I signed said I wasn't allowed to get pregnant while working with them." I took two steps.
When I signed with my agency, they made it known from the beginning. I had to stay a certain size. It's not like they couldn't work with pregnant women or that pregnant women couldn't book jobs, they just weren't as highly sought after. My agency wouldn't budge on that. They made that perfectly clear. At the time, I didn't care. I didn't think that would ever be a problem for me.
"I don't even know if I want kids. I didn't even notice my clothes were fitting different until today." I stepped closer.
I knew I was rambling, but I needed to keep him here.
"We have to decide if we're going to keep… You can't leave me." I placed my hand on his back.
He tensed; his shoulders so high they nearly touched his ears.
"Don't leave me."
He jerked away from me.
I held up my hands. "Alec, please say something."
He started for the door.
"Alec, no." I pulled on his arm. "You can't do this to me."
I felt bile rising in my throat.
He pulled away from me and went for the door again.
"Stop. You can't go." I followed behind him.
He unlocked the door and opened it.
"Alec." I croaked. "Please."
He paused.
"Don't do this."
Tears slipped from the corner of my eyes.
He stood in the doorway with his hand tightly gripping the door.
"I need you."
He shook his head and walked out. The door slammed behind him.
Bella
Meanwhile, in Montana…
"Ugh." I groaned when I saw the time on the clock. 6 o'clock. "I'm on vacation. Go back to sleep." I mumbled into my pillow and closed my eyes tightly.
Open your eyes. We're not getting any sleep, not after what happened.
Just let me sleep.
There's too much to talk about, you can sleep later.
I rolled over as if I was turning my back on someone. Go away.
No, we have to talk about what happened.
I popped my eyes open. We don't know what happened yesterday.
A moment, that's what happened.
Or I'm delusional. I could be making things up; you know, only seeing what I want.
You're acting crazy.
Exactly my point. I could be crazy; we both could be crazy.
This trip hasn't gone exactly as I expected, and we hadn't even been here for two days.
Now, I don't mean that in a bad way, not necessarily. However, I thought we would come here and just relax, enjoy each other's company as a group, and for me, personally, try not to consistently think about Edward and me being just friends.
The key word being try and let me tell you…
That has not happened. Not the relaxing and enjoying my friends' company thing. That was still in progress. But I have yet to avoid thinking about Edward and me being just friends.
And it's just… shit. A lot of shit.
That plan was doomed from the moment we got on the plane.
I mean, he held my son's—my son's—hand while we were on the plane. Who does that? Not his father.
Okay, that was mean, and unnecessary. I'll slap myself on the wrist later… bad Bella.
But a girl could only take so much. Seeing him care for Aiden like that was very—very—nice. It made me feel many warm tingly things inside and let me tell you I haven't been warm and tingly in a while, a long while.
So, yes, I was still thinking of Edward as more than a friend, and before you ask, yes. Unfortunately, the answer was still yes. I hadn't said a single thing to him.
Why? Because I am a coward.
And even though that was something that has been on my mind, it wasn't exactly what had me up so early, and what kept me up most of the night.
That actually would have been simple, to sit in my cowardly feelings and think about what if's, but no, I've been arguing with myself.
Moment versus delusion.
Something versus nothing.
Reality versus fantasy.
Now, I'm aware I may sound a little crazy, and could even be making things up, but obviously some part of me thinks it's possible that Edward and I may have had a moment last night.
That being said, I know I sound like a thirteen-year-old with a crush—which, at this point, I might as well be—but I don't know what else to call it, unless I am crazy.
And if I am, well, that would be another set of problems for another day.
Flashback:
"Here you are." Colton set our luggage down in the small, cozy living room.
"Thanks for carrying our bags."
"It was my pleasure." He smiled at me, staring.
That's kind of intense
"Uh." I rubbed my neck and looked down. "Right."
He chuckled. "Thanks for holding my hat." He grabbed it off of Aiden's head.
"You're welcome." Aiden said. "I have a hat just like that."
"You do?" Colton gasped, acting surprised.
"Mm-hmm." Aiden nodded. "And boots. I'm gonna be a cowboy."
"You'll have to show me what you can do then."
Aiden frowned. "How do I do that?"
I chuckled softly.
"Well." Colton tilted his head. "You would have to ride a bull."
"A bull?" Aiden's eyes widened.
"Yeah." Colton nodded.
Aiden bit his lip, quiet for a moment. "Okay, I'll ride one. Can I do it tomorrow?"
I ruffled his hair. "I think we should save that for another day."
"But I wanna be a cowboy." Aiden pouted.
"How about we make a deal?" Colton bent down so he could look Aiden in the eye. "You ride a horse, and then you'll be a cowboy."
Aiden narrowed his eyes. "But you said I had to ride a bull."
Colton held up a hand. "Well, as a member of the cowboy club, I say you can ride a horse."
"Cool." Aiden smiled. "I have to tell Ren; she'll be a cowboy too."
"Girl, Honey. She would be a cowgirl."
He shrugged his shoulders. "Okay."
Colton chuckled as he stood. "I'll let you two get settled in."
He headed to the door, and I followed. "Thanks again for carrying our stuff."
"Don't mention it." He opened the door. "Let me know if you need anything." He said as he stepped onto the porch.
"Will do."
He tipped his hat and smiled. "I'll see you around, Beautiful."
I waved at his back and watched him until he disappeared and closed the door.
Beautiful.
That was the second time he called me that, and I wasn't sure how I felt about it.
"Mommy?"
"Yes." I turned; Aiden was right behind me.
"Why does he call you beautiful? That's not your name."
"I, um, I…" I sucked my teeth. "Why don't we go see what Edward and Renata are doing?"
"Okay."
"Let's go." I opened the door.
We walked around for a bit before we found their cabin. It wasn't too far from ours, but the cabins had a lot of space between them.
I knocked on the door.
"Hey." I smiled as soon as Edward opened the door. "Aiden and I just wanted to see if you wanted to go on that walk yet."
"Sure, yeah. We're ready." He turned his head. "Come on, Jellybean."
Renata ran to the door and squeezed past Edward.
"Ren." Aiden said. "We're going to be cowboys." He said as he pulled her down the stairs.
"Hold on, Aiden." I said as Edward and I followed behind them. "There's a sign over there that we passed, leading to a trail." I pointed to the right.
The kids were in front of us, Aiden telling Renata all about how she would become a cowgirl.
Edward and I walked in comfortable silence.
"This place is beautiful." I said as I looked at the mountains and grassy fields.
Edward snorted.
"What?" I looked at him.
"Nothing, it's nothing." He shook his head.
"That snort wasn't for nothing, tell me."
"There's nothing to tell… Beautiful."
"Shut up." I laughed and lightly shoved him.
"Hey, don't attack me." He grinned.
"Well, don't make fun of me. It's not like I told him to call me that."
"I wasn't." He chuckled. "I just repeated what he said."
"I don't like you right now." I stuck my tongue out at him.
"Oh, come on." Edward said as he put his arm over my shoulder. "Don't be like that, I'm sure he was just being…" He paused. "Friendly."
"Mmm." I hummed.
We walked a few more steps in silence. His arm still wrapped around me.
He's just a friend.
He's just a friend that is really good looking.
He's just a friend that holds another friend's kid hand.
He just a friend that-
"He wasn't wrong, you know." Edward squeezed my shoulder.
"Hmm?" I looked up at him.
"You are beautiful." Edward stared at me.
And I stared back at him.
How we could stare at each other and keep walking, I don't know. But I knew I wouldn't look away.
"Edward. Bella. We've been looking for you guys." Alice yelled. "They're ready to give us the tour."
Edward turned his head in whoever's direction. "Okay, we're coming."
I blinked. Was that… Did he just…
Edward grabbed my hand and pulled. "Aiden, Renata, we have to get back guys."
We walked back the way we came; Edward held my hand the whole time.
End flashback.
See that? That was a moment.
I don't know. I know what I want it to be, but…
How can you even say that?
He said he wanted to be friends. That's how I can say that.
God, you're clueless.
No, cautious.
Do guys tell their women friends that they're beautiful and then hold their hands?
It could be a friend thing that I just didn't know about. I didn't really have a lot of guy friends. I mean Demetri was a guy who is a friend, but he never held my hand. Then again, I didn't want him to.
I inhaled and rolled over again before looking out the window. I had a clear view of the mountains.
I should have been able to get lost in the gorgeous view or get excited about what we planned for today, but that was nearly impossible.
I was still trying to wrap my head around the fact that a man—that I really, really liked—a few cabins down thought that I, Bella Swan, was beautiful.
Yeah, I was warm and tingly, people.
Warm. And. Tingly.
STB
Once it was a reasonable hour, I got Aiden up so we could get dressed and head to the mess hall for breakfast.
Everyone was already inside, sitting at a farmhouse style table that was covered in food.
"Hey." Edward smiled as if he hadn't kept me up all night.
He didn't actually know that, but still. "Morning." I said as Aiden and I took a seat on the bench across from Edward and Renata.
"What do you want to eat?" I looked down at Aiden.
He looked at the table. It was a lot to choose from. There were eggs, hash-browns, sausage, bacon, bagels, pancakes, waffles, biscuits and gravy, and fruit.
"Can I have some eggs and sausage?" His eyes moved up and down the table. "And pancakes?"
"Sure." I yawned, picked up the plate that was in front of him and gave him a little of everything.
While making his plate, I saw that there was a pot of coffee at the end of the table. I grabbed a mug and filled it up. There was also orange juice, so I got some for Aiden.
"Here you go." I placed the cup beside Aiden.
"Thanks, Mommy."
I yawned again as I sat down.
"Are you okay?" Edward frowned.
"Yeah, why?" I took a sip of my coffee
"You look like you didn't get any sleep last night."
I choked a bit. "Oh." I coughed. "No, I'm fine. I slept like a baby."
Edward squinted his eyes at me.
It's not like I was going to tell him I didn't sleep cause I was thinking about him. I may be crazy, but I'm not stupid. Well, at least not all the time.
"Who's ready to shoot some stuff?" Emmett stood up and held his fingers like they were two guns. "It'll be like we're in the wild west."
"Except, it's not wild." Edward said.
"And you probably shouldn't have a gun in your hand." Jasper said.
"He makes a valid argument." Jacob nodded and pointed at Jasper.
"Yeah." Alice blew out. "Knowing him, he'll graze a cow."
"We could have a moment of silence for it." Demetri said.
"That poor cow." Ivey sighed.
"He had so much life ahead of him." Demetri said.
Emmett lowered his fingers. "Wow." He put his hand over his chest and looked at everyone. "No one has faith in me." He looked down at Rose. "Babe, did you hear what they said?" He pouted.
"Yeah." Rose sighed.
"You believe in me, right?"
"I believe… that you believe… in yourself."
"That…" He frowned. "Wasn't the answer I was looking for."
"I wanna shoot some stuff." Aiden said.
"See." Emmett pointed to Aiden. "That's the type of energy I need; excitement, not negativity." He looked around the table again. "I should leave you guys here and take Aiden and Squirt with me." Emmett plopped back down.
"Can we?" Renata looked at Edward. "Shoot some stuff."
"You're going on your nature walk, remember?" Edward said.
"And…" I poked Aiden's arm. "You're supposed to ride horses today and be a cowboy."
"I forgot." Aiden frowned. "We'll have to shoot stuff later Ren."
Renata sighed. "Okay."
Edward and I chuckled. "Okay then." I took another sip of coffee.
Everyone went back to their separate conversations while they continued to eat.
I felt more awake, so I picked up my plate and grabbed a bagel, some fruit, and eggs.
"I was thinking." Edward put his elbows on the table and leaned toward me.
"What's that?" I took a bite of bagel.
"Would you want to-"
"Morning."
Colton stood at the head of the table, smiling down at me.
"Hi."
"How are you doing, Beautiful? Did you sleep well?"
Why was everyone asking me that?
That's only the second time you've been asked.
Well, it's two times too many.
I opened my mouth to respond.
"She slept fine." Edward's tone had a bit of an edge to it. "And her name is Bella."
I turned to him and raised my eyebrows.
What was that?
He looked down at his plate. "I mean." He cleared his throat. "She slept fine."
"Uh, okay then." Colton pointed behind him. "I'll be over there if you need anything."
I nodded. "Okay."
Colton smiled and turned.
I looked back at Edward, who was still looking at his plate. "What was that about?"
He moved food around on his plate, a frown on his face. He must not have heard me.
"Edward?"
He grunted.
"Edward." I waited for him to look at me.
"Yeah?" He looked up, finally.
"What was that about?" I blinked.
"Nothing." He tried to smile. "It was nothing."
"Mm." I nodded. "Okay, if you say so." I didn't want to push him if he didn't want to tell me. "What were you going to ask me?"
"Oh." He ran his fingers through his hair. "I was going to ask if you wanted to go to Rock-"
"If you folks are ready, we can head out to the course." Colton looked over at everyone.
"Yes." Emmett shot up. "Let's get 'er done." Accent in full affect.
"Please, don't start talking like that again." Rose stood up.
"The kiddos will be with me." Bailey said as she walked toward us, and we stood.
"Okay." I kissed Aiden on the forehead. "Be good."
"Let's go Ren." He held out his hand for her, she put hers in his and the headed over to Bailey.
"Are you guys ready?" She smiled at them.
"Yes." They nodded.
She looked at Edward and me. "We'll meet you back here when you're finished in the fields." She said before they walked out the way she had come.
I looked up at Edward. "Where were you asking me to go?"
"Uh." His eyes were wide.
"Yeah?" I chuckled.
He opened and closed his mouth a few times. "Never mind." He shook his head. "Maybe another time."
"Oh well, are you ready to shoot some stuff?" I smiled.
"Yeah." He narrowed his eyes, not looking at me. "I'm ready."
I frowned. "What are you looking at?"
I turned to see what he was looking at. "Nothing." He grabbed my arm. "I wasn't looking at anything." He pulled me toward the door.
Colton and Dylan lead us to a large open field that was far from our cabins.
"Alright folks." Colton clapped his hands together. "We're going to go over gun safety, then I'll show you how I shoot my shot." He winked at me.
"Dude." Dylan looked at him. "Really?"
Colton shrugged and smirked.
Dylan rolled his eyes. "Always treat the gun like it's loaded, keep it pointed down, in a safe direction and-"
"That's the gist of it." Colton cut him off.
Dylan narrowed his eyes. "Jerk."
"Bitch." Colton grinned.
Dylan shook his head, a small smile on his face.
Brotherly love… I guess.
"Why don't we have nicknames like that?" Emmett mumbled to Edward.
"Cause you will not call me a bitch." Edward mumbled. "Jerk."
"Okay, you're going to want to cup your dominate hand into the other, and firmly hold the gun, like this." Colton pointed the gun at the target. "Spread your legs, lean forward a bit, and when you're ready, fire." He shot the metal target and looked back at us. "But do not put your finger on the trigger until you're ready to shoot."
"Who wants to go first?" Dylan asked.
"Me." Emmett's hand shot up.
Demetri wrapped his hands around his mouth. "Moo."
We all laughed, and some of them even made different animal noises.
"I need new friends." Emmett said.
"Wanna give it a shot, Beautiful?" Colton held out his hand out to me.
Everybody turned to look at me, except Edward.
"Yeah, Beautiful." Demetri drawled. "Why don't you go first?"
Alice and Rosalie giggled.
"Um." I crossed my arms. "I'm fine. Someone else can go."
"Me. I'll go." Emmett said.
"Be careful, Em." Rose said as he walked toward him.
"You're supposed to believe in me, Rose."
"I do Honey, you'll do great. Just take your time." Rose said.
"Yeah, don't make any sudden movements." Jasper said.
"You worry too much." Emmett waved his hand. "Worst-case scenario, you get shot in the ass. Calm down." He smiled.
"That… actually sounds about right, unfortunately." Jasper grimaced.
"Better than hurting an animal." He shrugged
"Leave him alone." I laughed. "He'll do fine."
"Thank you, Bella. You're the only one who doesn't treat me like a child." He turned to Dylan and held out his hand. "Now, gimme the gun."
"I wouldn't let anything happen to you anyway." Colton said.
Edward sighed and crossed his arms.
Demetri snickered.
"Stop." I hit Demetri's arm.
"Okay, everyone put your protective gear on." Dylan said.
I placed the earmuffs and glasses on.
Emmett was good, damn good, actually. He hit his target every time.
"Welp." He gave Dylan the gun back, blew out and put his hands on his hips. "I think we all see who's the superior one here."
"It was just 'beginners' luck." Edward said.
"How dare you." Emmett put his hand over his heart. "I can't believe my own brother would try and diminish my amazingness."
"At least no animals or asses were harmed." Jacob laughed.
"Thank god." Demetri said.
"Wow." Emmett shook his head. "The disrespect, I just can't take it."
"Alright little lady." Dylan handed the gun to Alice. "Let's see whatcha got."
Alice shot off her rounds, hitting more than she missed.
"Not bad Alice. You hit the bullseye a couple times." Colton said.
"Really." She raised her brows. "I had my eyes closed the entire time." She said as she walked back to her spot.
We all laughed. "That's all right." Jasper kissed her cheek. "You did good."
"Seriously." Emmett held his hands out. "No one is going to say anything about that? She could've clipped something."
"Your right." Jasper nodded.
"That's all I'm saying." Emmett's arms dropped to his sides.
"You looked good holding a gun babe." Jasper crooned.
Emmett blinked. "I never liked you."
"Your turn Rosalie." Dylan handed her the gun.
"You got this baby." Emmett smacked her butt.
She missed half but got the other half. Jacob, Jasper and Ben followed Rosalie and did sorta okay. Which, of course, Emmett enjoyed. Angela got six out of eight, and Ben hit the target five times. Ivey did better than Jacob only missing twice, while Avery only hit the mark twice. Demetri, on the other hand, was quite entertaining, not hitting the target at all. He missed every shot.
"I think someone owes me an apology." Emmett said.
"I most certainly do not." Demetri handed the gun back to Dylan. "Wait, why would I owe you an apology?"
"Dude, you missed every time, and with aim like that you could've taken out someone's eye."
"Well." Demetri paused for a second. "At least I would've looked good doing it." He shrugged. "This was the poncho I was telling you guys about." He said as he took his spot next to Avery. "Don't you think it looks good, Avery?"
"Yeah." Avery nodded. "Totally worth losing an eye over."
"Edward, you're up next. Let's see what you got." Colton said.
Edward clenched and unclenched his fists. "Yeah."
He got into position and held the gun up.
Pow. He hit the target.
He looked very attractive with a gun in his hand.
Pow. He shot again and made it.
He had defined, but lean arms.
Pow, he hit that target again.
He had broad shoulders.
Pow. He hit it again.
His body was rigid, showing muscles I had never seen before.
Pow. He was still going strong.
He had shapely, muscular legs.
Pow. He made it again.
He looked powerful. He looked kinda… sexy.
Pow. He missed.
Get the drool off your mouth.
I shook my head and quickly brushed my hand over my face.
"That's okay." I clapped. "You got this, Edward."
He repositioned his footing and waited a moment.
Pow. He made it.
Yeah, sexy as hell.
"That was pretty good man." Colton said.
Edward jerked his chin. "Thanks."
To everyone else, I'm sure Edward walked back normally, but in my mind, he looked like one of those actors in an old western action movie. You know, after they defeat the bad guy.
Walking in slow motion, all squinty eyed and pouty lipped with a straw of wheat hanging out of his mouth and a great view behind him.
All he was missing was the horse.
And the chaps. Can't forget the chaps.
"Not bad Eddie." Emmett said. "Not better than me, but not bad."
"Yeah." I tucked a piece of hair behind my ear. "You did good."
"Thanks." He smiled. "I just took my tim-"
"Okay, Beautiful." Colton smiled. "You're up." He said as he loaded the gun.
I was a little nervous. I never held a gun before, and I had no idea what I was doing, even with Colton demonstrating.
"You can call me Bella, you know." I walked toward him.
"It's the same thing." He held the gun out.
I took the gun. "Bella's fine."
I spread my legs wide, took a deep breath, and aimed at the target.
"You need to lean forward." Colton said.
I nodded and leaned forward.
"That's too far." He walked to me.
"No, I got it." I leaned back. "Like that?"
"Let me just show you." He placed his hands on my waist, pulling me back more.
"Okay, now shoot." He was still behind me, with his hand on my waist.
"You're still touching me." I looked at him from the corner of my eye.
"Oh." He stepped back. "My apologies."
I took another breath, aimed, and shot. Completely missing the target. I shot eight more times before I emptied the magazine. I missed more than I made.
I gave Dylan the gun, took off the earmuffs and walked back to where Edward was. "I suck."
"Nah." He shook his head. "You weren't as bad as you think, we're all stil-"
"That wasn't too bad. I think you got a few shots in, but…" Colton walked over to us. "If you want, I could give you a private lesson."
Edward stuffed his hands in his pockets, blew out a breath through his nose and walked away.
"Uh." I glanced at Edward. "Thanks, but no. I don't think that's necessary. I appreciate the offer though."
"Well, if you ever change your mind." He trailed off, looking at me the same way he did yesterday in the cabin and slowly backed up.
Dylan pushed Colton. "That'll be a wrap for the pistol range today. We hope you enjoyed yourselves."
"Hey." I ran to catch up with Edward. "Where are you going?"
He didn't say anything, and he didn't stop walking, or slow down.
I grabbed his arm. "Hey, are you okay?"
He shook me off. "I'm fine."
I stopped mid-step. "Edward."
He sighed, stopped walking, and looked at me. "I'm sorry, I-I'm just tired. I'll catch you later, okay?"
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing." He said quickly and walked off.
"Hey." Alice bumped my hip with hers. "We all wanted to go to the lake. You two wanna come? Where is Edward going?"
"I don't know." I frowned as I watched his back.
A/N: We've finally finished all of the revision chapters. YAY! So, now we're back to our regular weekly update.
Did you see that one coming… with Chelsea and Alec? Is Alec every bit of the douchebag some of you thought he was? Do some of you feel Chelsea got exactly what she deserved, or do you feel she was done wrong too?
How do we feel about Colton? What are your thoughts about Edward and Bella?
Thank you for all the love and support you're showing for our story. Including those who PM asking when we're going to update. (shit-eating-grin) We truly appreciate all of your encouraging reviews, theories, favorites and follows.
REC: This is an old but goodie! In Pursuit by Sarge's Girls. A normal night out changes everything for two innocent sisters, who stumble upon something that will change their lives forever. Two brave U.S. marshals have to keep them hidden and keep them safe. How far are they willing to go to do what's right? Are the consequences worth it all? AN/Canon couples Rated M