Apologies for how long it's been since the last update. I won't get too deep into it but I've had laptop issues and some ongoing medical stuff that honestly makes it really difficult for me to read/write at the moment, so things are going to continue to be slow, but I'm still going. Thank you to anyone still following alone and thank you, of course, to anyone at all who takes the time to read my work, I really do appreciate it more than anything.
23:07 - Unknown Number: "Want a ride back to college? R"
In the end, that had been all River had managed, but it had been enough. The next morning, Bella had replied.
06:51 - Bella: "River, hey. Please, if you're coming past."
There were also a couple of smiling emojis left there that made River herself smile upon seeing them.
And that was it. From there, River told Bella that she would in fact be driving through Forks that day. Granted, she didn't tell her that, had she not been offering her a ride, she wouldn't have even been setting off for another day, but still.
All morning, on the way to Forks, River stressed. She hadn't liked how she'd left things with Bella, but she knew that Bella probably hadn't thought about it at all. Hell, she didn't know why she was still thinking about it, but she was. Even when she stopped at a gas station for the bathroom, she thought about it.
Thankfully, as time rolled past, she rolled into Forks. She followed the directions that Bella had texted to her until she found herself parking up outside a beautifully rustic, red, wooden home. It was lovely, truly, if not for the weather. The rain came down in sheets, but the group of shirtless men playing outside didn't seem to mind.
Before River could text Bella that she had arrived, a door at the top of a wheelchair ramp flew open, revealing Bella and a group of men behind her. From description alone, she knew that the man with the mustache who was cautiously eyeing her car was Charlie, Bella's father, and that the man with stunning long hair in a wheelchair was Billy, Charlie's best friend, but the few others that slipped around her with bodies chiselled by the gods? Well, Bella hadn't described whoever they were to her.
All the same, Bella's text had said that her father may want to engage in brief small talk, so River hopped good-naturedly out of the car, unable to contain her smile when she and Bella locked eyes. From the glance that Bella threw at the ground and the blush that stained her cheeks, River had a feeling that they were all good.
"Hi. Chief Swan, I'm guessing?" River, turning on her charm, stepped forward when they reached the bottom of the small ramp, offering out a hand to the off duty officer.
He smiled politely and took it, shaking it. "Hi. Yeah. Uh, River, right?" Bella hadn't been kidding when she said that he was a man of few words. For some odd reason, River found him adorable.
She grinned and nodded. "River Nivalis. Bella and I met through Angela at college." She supplied, feeling the eyes of the men around her. "And Mr. Black, I assume?" She then reached out and shook Billy's hand, too, almost feeling literal heat from his warm smile.
They chatted, the few of them, for a minute before Bella looked as though she might explode. She introduced River to Jacob, who was apparently in high school in spite of looking like he was older than the two of them and then to Seth who River could, in that moment, tell was human sunshine. Eventually though, Bella cut things short, reminding them all that they had to get on the road. River was quick to tell them all that she enjoyed meeting them, offering to help Bella with bags before climbing back into the car and making their way to the road.
The first few miles were silent, but after a while, Bella began to chat.
Amused, River nodded along as the shorter girl beside her began to ramble, listening to everything that came out of her mouth. Surprisingly, they managed to pass almost an entire hour that way before Bella eventually stopped talking and, once again, fell silent.
"Good break?" Bella decided on after a while, embarrassed.
Smiling, River nodded, looking quickly at Bella, noting mentally that she looked adorable. "Good break. You?" She didn't give more than that, wondering if she could push Bella into rambling for another hour.
Bella nodded, not looking across at River. "Good break." Oh god, they were stuck in an awkward cycle, weren't they? Dammit. Just that morning, Jacob had insisted on chatting about River with her, but fat lot of use that was doing them now. "You, uh, do anything fun?" And now it sounded like they were in preschool. Christ, she couldn't do anything right.
Chuckling, River shrugged, changing gear. "Not since you got out of my car."
Bella's breath hitched. Why did that have such an effect on her. "Oh?" She prompted, hoping that she wasn't being too obvious in her interest.
River, however, could see right through it. "Oh yeah. I've just been counting down the days before I can drive you again."
Bushing, Bella sank in her seat. "Oh, shut up." She grumbled, actually smiling a little.
River laughed before sobering. "I was only half joking." She admitted, this time refusing to look at Bella even when she could feel her eyes boring into her skin. "I sure have thought a lot about things."
"Things?"
"Things." River shrugged. "Namely, tonight's sleeping arrangements."
Oh shit.
Bella hoped that her breath didn't hitch audibly, but holy shit. She would have been lying if she'd said that she hadn't thought at all about this since River's text had come through just the night before. Hell, it was almost all she'd thought about. Okay then, so now she just had to be brave, right? "Well, me too." She said, shocking herself.
Mimicking her from before, River simply replied. "Oh?"
Feeling brave, Bella looked across at her as she spoke. "I think we'll survive without the wall of pillows." Oh boy. If she'd been feeling braver, she'd have told River to pull over on the side of the road right there and then, but alas, she wasn't feeling that brave. Plus, if she was being honest, she had no idea how to seduce a woman. She wasn't even sure that she could have seduced a man, maybe Jake in all of his eagerness, but anyone else? She was no seductress, that was for sure.
River looked across with eyes that stilled Bella before glancing back to the road. "Oh, really? You think we'll survive?" Bella could hear and feel the teasing in River's tone. Why did it pull deliciously at her insides?
Bella very quickly felt as though she was on fire. Was this what she should have felt with Edward? Because Christ, she had never felt this with him. Trying to remain brave, she nodded, making a small noise of agreement.
They drove the rest of the way to the motel that River had chosen in relative silence, but it wasn't as uncomfortable as Bella expected. While River did seem to love watching her squirm, she didn't seem to want to make her uncomfortable, so when things died down awkwardly, she made an effort to bring about a little conversation here and there until Bella was clearly more relaxed again.
Eventually, as they pulled in and made their way up to the room that River had paid for in spite of Bella reaching for her money, they both got to relax. Bella had felt bad about accidentally falling asleep in the car as River quite literally couldn't, so she'd felt a little wired for the last leg of the drive, but she knew that wasn't just her.
It didn't take them long to unpack what they'd got with them, so once they were done, River spun to face Bella. "Say, I'm starved. You fancy dinner?" She asked, smirking a little when Bella looked a little shocked.
Dinner. Was that an invitation for a date? Or was dinner just dinner? She knew that not every invitation for food was a date, but that didn't help her to know what this was. That being said, she did realise that River would have wanted to avoid seeming rude by going out for food alone, so perhaps this was just her way of being polite? "Sure." She eventually settled on, feeling her stomach do flips.
River, seemingly aware of Bella's thoughts, smiled and nodded. "It's a date, then." She said, winking as she rounded Bella and headed to the bathroom. "I'm gonna grab a shower, then we can head out if you want? Unless you want a shower." She carried on walking as she spoke, really just letting her words up into the air as she went.
It's a date? What the hell did that mean? Was it actually a date or did she just mean that it was happening? Groaning lightly when River shut the door, Bella fell back onto the double bed. She did, however, note that there was a folded up cot in the corner. She guessed that one of them would sleep there if she decided to go back on the idea of them sharing a bed for the night. That didn't matter though, because what the hell was she going to wear? Dammit, all she'd packed was things to keep her warm to avoid using the electric heater that her mom had sent her.
At the sound of the shower turning on, Bella sat upright and looked at her bag from across the room. She groaned once more before she went over to it and opened it. She looked down at the small collection of sweatshirts and sighed. It clearly wasn't the day that she would be seducing River, of that she was certain. Hell, a couple of those were even Charlie's or even Jake's that he'd long since been too big for.
Feeling defeated, she dug her hand into the bag to pull sweatshirts out, shocked when it came into contact with plastic. She'd only packed that bag with clothes, no bags, so what the hell? She grabbed and pulled, breathless when out came a folded gown. "What the hell?" She muttered, eyeing it with both awe and concern.
Only then did she see the note that was inside the plastic, hanging from the dress.
"Have fun.
Rose + Alice"
With that, it all made sense.
The handwriting was, of course, stunning. Bella could even faintly smell actual roses. Had Alice had a vision of her having a meltdown over having nothing nice to wear? Bella actually chuckled at that thought as she went to get her cell, texting both Alice and Rosalie.
19:23 - Bella - "Thank you both" with a photograph of it attached and a love heart emoji. Bella decided that she kind of liked emojis. Edward had never texted her with them.
She didn't wait for a reply though, instead grabbing a towel, deciding that such a dress required an actual effort. She waited for River to emerge from the bathroom, this time wearing only a towel from the chest down, her hair slicked back, still wet. Trying not to stare, she passed her, informing her quickly that she was going to shower before they went out. She took the dress with her, partly wanting it to be a surprise. After all, Alice and Rose knew that she'd look good in it, right? Right.
She kept that in mind as she showered quickly, scrubbing speedily and shaving with a disposable razor that was still packaged on the side. When she was done, she noticed the razor in the trash and wondered, did River have the same hopes for the night as she did? Though, she didn't actually know what her hopes were. She also didn't know how much to shave. Everything? She shook her head, she didn't have time, plus she'd just worry about having missed tiny bits.
As soon as she was done, she all but flew from the shower, drying herself with the towel that was hanging on the heated rail. From there, she did her damn best. She'd never been that into hair and makeup, but she did her freaking best, okay?
Before long, she found herself pulling the dress from the bag that Alice and Rose had managed to keep it safe in, but she found her hands shaking. This was clearly a beautiful, expensive dress. Had she not proven to them once before that stuff like this was wasted on her? She knew that it would fit, but she knew that even their magic could only do so much. Before the self doubt continued creeping in though, she shut her eyes firmly and pushed it aside before opening them again and climbing into it. She had to admit as she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror while leaving the bathroom, she looked pretty damn good.
.
.
.
.
.
Lying back against the couch in the room, River toyed with the hem of her shirt. It was a nice one that her mom had gifted to her one year. They didn't always get on, but her parents at least had good style and enough money to flaunt it. It wasn't anything special, just a gentle light blue with a small logo of some kind embroidered over the left breast. Still, it paired nicely with the grey jean style pants she'd chosen and the more formal pair of sneakers that she'd packed. Of course, she had a nice suit or two, but she didn't want to overdress.
When Bella left the bathroom though, her mind melted. Long gone was the short, awkward girl who had spilled drinks on River and thrown up on her shoes. Instead, in her place, stood a seemingly confident, beautiful woman in a perfectly fitted royal blue dress that did everything for her body shape.
"Holy shit." River muttered, literally rolling herself off the couch and standing a few feet from the bathroom, mouth agape. "I'm under dressed." She then admitted as Bella chuckled and came a little closer.
Without another thought, she kicked off her pants. She was under dressed, dammit! There she had been, feeling so confident about how she'd dressed, but no. She could hear Bella actually laughing, saying something, but she was unintentionally putting her effort into quickly grabbing a pair of nicer pants and shoes that hadn't been run in. It didn't take long, but she still felt almost unworthy of the sheer sight of Bella Freaking Swan in that damn dress.
"You know," She started, looking at Bella through hungry eyes. "We could always stay in."
So, to stay in or to go out. I would make a joke about them, uh, "eating something either way", but I don't want to push my luck here.
Regardless, I'll try to update as quickly as I can after this. I'm writing the next chapter (starting it) as I type now, so I'm hopeful that I'll have it posted soon. Until then, please let me know what you think and have a great day!
