-FIVE-
"So, what do you think?"
Bella shakes her head, laughing as she pushes the glass away from her.
"It's gross!" She giggles.
Edward huffs a laugh.
"It's your delicate American palate," he teases her.
"And your American palate is much more sophisticated?"
He gives her that lopsided grin that makes her stomach drop out from under her.
"It's been given proper time to acclimate," he tells her.
She sniffs the stout in the glass and shakes her head.
"Mine's a refined palate." She giggles.
Looking at him is taking her breath away. She's dizzy with how much she likes him, how hopeful she is that it could be… more.
"What sort of drink would match your sophisticated tastes?" he asks, grinning at her. She pretends to think about it, and when she does, she misses the look in his eyes as he watches her.
He's gone for her. Well and truly gone.
Across the pub, a blonde watches them both with a heavy sigh.
"Are you about ready to get out of here?" Emmett asks, breaking her concentration. She blinks and looks up at her boyfriend.
"Just about," she tells him, looking across the pub again. Bella leans forward, pressing her hand into Edward's thigh, and a moment later, they are standing, gathering their things to leave the pub.
Emmett tries to track what his girlfriend is staring at, but no one in the pub looks anything out of the ordinary. "What is it?"
Rose stands swiftly from the table. "Let's go," she announces.
Emmett scrambles after her, barely remembering to gather their coats as they go.
Rose is outside, and when Emmett catches up with her, he shakes his head. "Oi, what is going on?"
She silences him with a gentle tap to his chest. He looks up the street where her eyes are fixed, but there is no one around.
"Can we go?" he asks, feeling impatient.
Rose sighs and turns to him.
"Yeah, let's head to your place."
"Why can't we go to your place tonight?" Emmett asks. Rose lives around the corner. They'd have to take a taxi back to his.
Rose looks up at him.
"Because," she says, rolling her eyes. "It's December 21st."
Emmett frowns. "So?"
Rosalie looks at him. "Emmett, you remember what happens on the twenty-first, right?" When he gives her a blank look, she grunts. "Come on."
She takes him away from the curb, marching up the hill. Emmett is confused as he follows her, wondering why they are headed this way when she's made it clear they will not be going to her place tonight. Rose sighs as they reach the cathedral, stopping abruptly.
"What are we waiting for?" Emmett asks when he appears beside her.
"Shh," Rose admonishes him.
He frowns and looks around in the dark. No one is out.
He's about to ask again when Rose lets out a soft sigh, her eyes fix across the street. Emmett looks up as a couple under an umbrella stop in front of the cathedral. Emmett frowns.
"Is that the couple from the pub?" he demands.
Rose doesn't answer him. He watches as they gaze between the building and each other. "Why are they wet?" he asks. There is no rain, but it's clear they're being rained on. Emmett looks up at the clear sky, baffled. He looks back at the young couple, lost in each other's eyes.
"What the hell?" Emmett demands as the couple moves on, heading away from them.
Rose sighs.
"That's Bella and Edward," she tells him. Emmett stares at his girlfriend, clearly needing more. "She used to rent my flat. She and Edward died fifteen years ago. Every December twenty-first, they come back and relive their last night together."
Emmett is gaping at her. "What the fuck are you saying?"
Rose gazes up at him. "The woman who lived in the flat before me explained it all. She said they were soulmates who never got their future, so now they are stuck, repeating that night over and over, finding and losing each other again and again."
Emmett shakes his head. "Rose, that's…" There isn't a word strong enough to describe how utterly insane it is.
Rose shrugs.
"Every December twenty-first, I leave the flat to them, so that they can have their night uninterrupted."
Emmett lets out a breath. He doesn't believe in ghosts, but it's clear that Rose does, and he doesn't really have any sort of explanation for what he just saw.
Still, it sounds crazy.
"You're seriously okay with ghosts shagging in your flat?"
She looks up at him and shrugs lightly. "Yeah," she says softly. "This night is theirs."