I don't own twilight. What I own is my character's behavior, personality, background, and plot of my story.
Author's Note at the end.
Bella and Marco step out of the car and walk toward Irina who is waiting for them near the entrance, "I am so happy you made it," she tells them as she takes turn hugging each of them.
She mentions to the bouncer that they are with her and enters the club with them trailing behind her. They are greeted by the fluorescent bright light and the loud pop music. She can feel the air vibrating around her as she looks around and takes in the atmosphere. On the first floor there is a dance floor in the middle with the bar to its right and some stools to its left.
Behind the bar, some stairs lead to the second level which Irina steers them toward. As they climb the stairs she starts to have a clear picture of the second floor and she reaches Marco's hand and holds it in her hand because she doesn't want to face who it has alone.
The second floor is the VIP area, made obvious by the guard monitoring it. The music is more chill in the upper level and the tables are larger for gatherings. To the left, there is a dance floor smaller than the one below.
They have only taken two steps to the second floor when Tanya spots them. She lets out a loud squeal and rushes to hug both of them starting with Marco who is unprepared as he takes a step back trying to get away from her to no avail. He starts patting her back awkwardly while giving Bella who had let go of his hand and taken two steps to the side, glances of alarm.
Finally, Tanya lets go of Marco and tackles Bella, almost knocking her to the ground if not for Marco rushing and putting his hand behind her back. Now it's Bella's turn to look at Marco in alarm. Tanya's breath reeks of vodka and she feels too clammy. Bella's mum instincts almost kick in and she reaches to touch her forehead, but she stops her hand at the last minute.
Tanya is none of her business. Instead, she calmly removes her hands from around her body and hooks their hands together, and leads her back to the table instead.
She makes the customary greetings. She even gives Edward a hug. She feels goose bumps on her left side where she hugs him. The only thing that keeps her anchored in the now is her right hand holding Marco's hand. Otherwise, she would have let herself go. It doesn't help that he smells better than ever.
She sits with Marco in the two empty seats left beside Edward and makes Marco sit on the one closest to him. She doesn't trust herself that close to him. When Tanya asks what happened with Cece, she lets Marco tell them the fabricated story about her crying over the arts class tools she doesn't. He goes on a tangent all about the places they had to look in to find them.
Edward rolls his eyes and his facial expression shows his disbelief, but before he could raise his gaze and find her staring at him, she drops her gaze to her lap. She doesn't feel comfortable speaking. She is riddled with guilt. She should be over him. She did everything needed to get over him. Wanting to lean into his hug, isn't supposed to happen.
She could feel it in her gut that coming here is a mistake. That feeling is much stronger now. She makes a vow to herself to not drink tonight. She will not risk losing inhibition in his vacancy.
Happy with her decision she looks up and finds him staring at her. She looks away automatically. Any other time she would have looked him in the eye and glared, but he has drained her. Both his presence and absence exhausts her. This all has left her running on an empty tank.
She tells Marco that she would never go back to Edward. That is true, the problem is that he tends to assume that it's because she is done with him. She isn't done with him. She doesn't know if she will ever learn to be done with him. She will die before she gets over him. The true reason is that Edward is a demanding person to be with and she has nothing left to give. She knows that if they were to get back together, he will realize that she has nothing left to give him and throw her away like yesterday's trash. She knows that had they stayed together, one way or another, she would have reached the level of burnt out and he would have discarded her. He never loved her for what she was. He loved her for what she represented to him, and what she did for him.
That is why she will never let go of Marco, he doesn't demand from her. He gives freely without keeping count.
A squeeze of her hand returns her to the present, "Are you okay?" Marco asks.
She turns to him and nods her head which prompts him to raise an eyebrow in questioning, "I just have a bad feeling in my gut, but that's nothing new," she whispers.
He leans to the side and wraps his arms around her shoulder, and whispers, "I am going to do something then come back." She nods her head and watches as he stands up and kisses her forehead before leaving.
She watches as he goes to Irina and asks her something before he nods his head and climbs down the stairs, "Is he ditching you?" She hears to her left and turns sharply to glare at the source, the bane of her existence, and the biggest destructive source in her life, Edward Cullen.
She glares at him instead of answering which prompts him to say, "You still love me, or else you wouldn't be here. You are a sucker for pain. Admit it and I will tell you why I am doing all of this."
She ignores him and keeps her eyes on the stairs waiting for Marco to come back. Keeping an eye out for him is a constant reminder of where she is and why she is here.
Right as she spots his head music changes and she is flabbergasted by that. She now understands that he left to switch to her favorite Italian composition to dance to, but she doesn't understand why.
Marco comes around and invites her to dance, she smiles and turns to Edward and says, "I used to be a sucker for pain, or else I wouldn't have dated you, but that's in the past," then she gets up and takes Marco's hand who leads her to the dance floor.
Their party that has been occupying the dance has been trickling away since the song switch happened and by the time they reach it, the dance floor is empty. Pulling her body close to his, Marco starts the Viennese Waltz.
For beginners, this dance is great since it has some basic moves that anyone can do, but not them. Bella and Marco aren't ones to settle for simple moves when they can show off.
"Why did you do this?" she whispers side-eyeing him as they dance with her back to his front.
"Have you noticed the expression on Tanya's face? She will ask to learn it. This is how I will get Edward's number. Plus, I love dancing with you. You aren't going to deprive me from having fun with you, will you?" he asks his question then spins her around till they are standing nose to nose.
For a second, she sees the wrong shade of green, but keeps her face neutral and mutters, "You could have told me in advance."
"And spoil the fun of surprising you? Never."
She smiles at him as he spins her around, and spies the expression on Edward's face. If looks could kill, she would be dancing with ashes. She smiles in his direction before she adds more flare to her moves. She never accounted for making him angry but is here for it. Edward is big on dancing, but when they were together he had to beg her to dance with him. It must be killing him to watch her willingly dance with someone else.
Marco pulls her tightly to him and tells her, "I am happy that you are enjoying yourself."
Seeing Edward in her peripheral view, she kisses Marco on the lips and tells him, "How could I be with you and not enjoy myself? That's impossible."
Ignoring the fact that his smile is doing nothing for her despite it setting her pulse racing in the past, she listens to him as he says, "That is what I want to spend the rest of my life doing. I love you," he ends muttering the last three words against her lips before he kisses her.
She kisses him back, giving her all into the kiss without coming off vulgar, then pulls back and tells him, "I love you too with all my heart. You have no idea what you mean to me."
No lie was spoken. She loves him with all of her heart. Their beginnings might have been shaky, but he is an irreplaceable part of her life. She doesn't want a future without him. His love is the safe kind that keeps you warm at night and lights up your cloudy days. It's not the thunderstorms and lightning kind of love that destroyed her in the past.
If only her treacherous heart complied with her mind.
The moment the song stops everyone attending starts clapping for them and Marco and Bella bow for added measures. Tanya jumps up and down and hugs them both once they step off the dance floor.
"You have to teach me how to dance like that. Bella please," then she pauses and turns to Edward and says, "What do you think baby? Wouldn't it be awesome if we did that for our first dance," she turns back to look at them and asks, "What is the type of this dance?"
Marco jumps at the chance granted to him and answers, "Viennese Waltz. Do you want me and Bella to teach both of you?"
Edward opens his mouth to speak but Tanya has already nodded her head, so Marco speaks before Edward can and says, "Great we will arrange this."
"I hope you aren't expecting either Tanya or me to plan this out. Our schedule is very crowded these days," Bella interjects steering the conversation where she wants it going.
Marco smiles in gratitude toward her and says, "Okay then. It has been left on us men to plan this. Give me your number and I will give you a ring. That way, you can save my number."
To the disapproval of Edward, they do just that. Marco should receive an Oscar for acting so oblivious to Edward's obvious hostility.
After a couple of minutes of resting, Bella whispers to Marco that she is going down to get a drink. Marco offers to bring it to her, but the truth is that she needs a breather and getting a drink and returning won't do it.
The sound of distant traffic greats her when she bursts onto the streets of Chicago. She takes a couple of steps away from the club's door and watches the scenery with the loudest sound in her ear being her own breath.
Too bad, she didn't notice the person who left the club after her and started counting them.
I hope this chapter met your expectations. That said, the club saga is far from over. Things will heat up in the next chapter. I can't wait for you guys to read it. I will update it as soon as I am done updating my other story. Maximum, four days and you will have it.
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Until my next update, don't be too shy with your thoughts in the review section. I love reading them.
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