Chapter Eight
A/N: It's been a while but I got inspired to write some new chapters so I hope y'all enjoy. Next chapter will be coming up shortly.
For now Rosalie stays, but she doesn't seem happy about it. Bella doesn't know how else to cheer her up, other than by distracting her. She watches movies with her- those sappy badly written teen ones-, she goes to the mall with her, and she takes Rosalie hiking. The weather's finally warming up enough for it to be called summer. And soon it will be summer. Bella will have nothing to do but be around the house all day. Or get a summer job. She wonders if she can get one in the library with Rosalie?
But no, it's bad enough Bella lives with her. Working with her would be too much. Too much for Bella's poor heart. Bella was trying to stop whatever feelings she was developing because she knew it wouldn't be a bright idea to let them keep growing. Rosalie had her own life somewhere else; she couldn't stay here forever. The thought of losing her, of never seeing her again had Bella's heart throbbing with pain. She didn't want to think about it, not until she really had to, so she didn't. Instead dwelling on the soft moments she spent with the blonde.
They had gotten closer in a short amount of time, and though she's no longer quite as cheery as she was in the beginning, due to regaining some memories, when Rosalie's with Bella, she manages to brighten up the room with her smiles and delicate laughter. She makes the insides of Bella light up too, like her heart is a living ball of fire. No, like it's the sun.
Or maybe it's just the heat of the summer getting to her.
Charlie treats them with tickets to the local amusement park one evening. It's certainly a surprise. Bella hasn't been to see it in years, but she has fond memories of the place, because it was the one time they had ever went anywhere as a family. Her, Charlie, and her mother, holding hands, laughing, enjoying the night.
It's warm and fuzzy, those memories, and Bella treasures them because she doesn't have many others to treasure like these.
"You're not coming with us?" Bella asks when Charlie only presents her with two tickets.
He shakes his head no. "I figured the two of you would have some fun together. I'm a bit too old to go on those rides anyways. My joints and heart couldn't take it. And I think you and Rosalie should have some fun. You two deserve it."
Tickets, for the two of them. It's almost like a date, Bella thinks, her stomach churning nervously and yet happily. She can't wait until Rosalie comes back from the library so she can tell her about this.
The evening's weather is muggy in the only way that it happens on fair nights in Forks. The rusted gate circles the area which is only light by randomly placed lampposts on the tar path, and the bright lights from the booths and rides that spin in dizzying colors.
The smell of popcorn hangs thickly in the air, slipping in between the chatter of excited children and tired parents that are getting dragged along on rides. Bella remembers the fair being much more spectacular. She supposes for a child it must be. She feels a bit silly for being so excited to take Rosalie here. Surely, the blonde must be disappointed too; Bella talked up the fair the whole ride here and now it's quite a let down with it's singular line of food and drink and game booths. And it's abysmal offering of rides, the biggest one being a Ferris wheel that barely reaches the tree tops.
But when she turns to see Rosalie's face she sees the wonder on it clearly.
"This is nice," Rosalie says with a smile. "I've never been to something like this."
"Never?"
Rosalie shakes her head. "I don't think I ever have. I would have remembered something fun like this."
"This isn't even anything amazing. We should go to the ones in the big city. There are so many nicer things there. I wouldn't mind seeing them with you," Bella offered before she could stop herself. She bite the inside of her cheek. She was being too forward.
"I would like that. I don't have my memories but I can just feel, that I've never gotten to experience so many of these human experiences."
That made Bella feel extremely sad. Had Rosalie lived under a rock? Why had she been deprived of so much? It made Bella want to show Rosalie the world, if only because she was so good and she deserved to have the best.
"Then we have to get started on that," Bella said, and boldly taking Rosalie's hand in hers, she took her in the direction of the Ferris wheel. They went up on the ride, Rosalie enjoying the view from the top. The childlike glee on her face made Bella feel a bit better about this fair again.
They ended up going on a few smaller rides, and enjoyed some popcorn and cotton candy. Bella couldn't help but laugh at Rosalie's funny face when the cotton candy melted unexpectedly in her mouth before she could chew it.
Done with that, they decided to go and try to win something from those game booths. Bella had never won anything from them. They were always rigged so it was hard to win. When she warned Rosalie about this, the blonde shook her head and shrugged.
"That's terrible. But I still want to try and win you something," she said, picking up the plastic shot gun and aiming it at the highest score marker.
"You can try," Bella laughed to hide the red blush to her cheeks that such an idea caused her.
Rosalie pulled the trigger and the cork smacked hard into the score marker, knocking it over. Each target she aimed at, she hit. The booth owners face widened in surprise, but Rosalie's face was super serious. A few people in the crowd had stopped by to see this, impressed with her skill.
Rosalie put the toy gun down, having won the top prize. She smiled as she handed the toy over. The booth owner gave a shaky smile in return. "I guess today is your lucky day," he said and took down the giant stuffed bear from the top shelf. Rosalie plopped it down into Bella's hands. It was so big, it was hard to see over it.
"That was fun," Rosalie said, acting like she hadn't just won at a rigged game. "What other games should I win at?"
That night, Rosalie cleared out every last booth owner, and Bella was adorned with the benefits of such actions. And when they returned back home, Bella found herself cuddling up to the giant bear that Rosalie had won for her. And she swore, she could smell a hint of the blonde on it.
Summer flies by. It's crazy that it does, but Bella is just having way too much fun with Rosalie. She enjoys spending time with her, even if her traitorous heart wants more than friendship with each steady beat. And is it so wrong, to think that maybe Rosalie wants something more too?
She's always so kind to her, and smiles so brightly when they send time together.
But maybe it's just because Rosalie is like that to everyone.
"You got an invitation to La Push?" Rosalie asks as Bella hangs up the phone, having inadvertently having heard some of the one sided conversation.
"We both did. It's from Jake. He's an old friend. I see him over the summer, but I haven't had the chance to do so this summer."
"I've kept you busy-"
"I don't mind," Bella quickly interjects. "Will you come with me?"
"Sure. I'm interested in meeting more of your friends."
"Jake's the friend, the others are more acquaintances," Bella clarifies.
They pack the back of the truck with some bags of chips to be shared and then drive over to the reservation. Bella hasn't seen Jake and the boys in a while so she's a little nervous. Also, whenever they meet, they usually drink. Bella doesn't know how Rosalie will deal with that. Will she think worse of Bella for such things?
"Uh, before we go...I should let you know they like to drink and get rowdy a bit," she explained as she stopped the truck down by the beach where the shapes of her friends could be seen trying to light up the giant bonfire.
Rosalie arched a brow. "Will you drink?"
"I...I have a beer or two," Bella said, a bit embarrassed to say this.
"I won't have any so that I can drive us back," Rosalie said.
"You're- you're fine with this?"
"Why wouldn't I be?"
"I don't know. I just can't imagine you ever drinking," Bella said with a shrug as converse shoes sunk into sand cooled by the evening.
"Bella! And mystery new girl Rosalie!" Jake hollers when he sees them, rushing up to them, giving Bella a big hug.
"Jake, the chips!" Bella warns with a laugh of affection and he sets her right back down, when he hears the crinkle of the bags in her hands.
"Sorry," he says abashedly and he turns to Rosalie. "Nice to finally see ya. I've heard the buzz about you around town. My condolences to what happened to you, and to the motherfucker who did it, if I ever get my hands on him."
"Jake," Bella whines, "don't scare her off."
Jake huffs. "You know how I feel about assholes treating women-"
"Let's not bring it up. In case it makes her feel bad," Bella said pointedly as Rosalie's face had a blank look as if trying to prevent emotion from occurring.
"Uh, right. Come meet the rest of the crew," Jake offered instead and they joined the group at the now blazing fire.
"This is Paul, Embry, Seth, and Leah," he points to them and they all wave in greeting, clad in black shirts and cargo shorts except for Leah. She's got on a crop top and tight black jeans, brown hair swept over one shoulder, light lip stick coloring her mouth, nose piercing reflecting in the fire. Leah must be new; Bella hasn't seen her before.
"Nice to see ya Bella, and nice to meet ya, Rosalie," Paul gives a goofy salute.
"We've heard a lot about you, Blondie," Embry chuckled.
"I heard you've got the magic touch," Paul said.
"Magic touch?" Leah asks, eyeing Rosalie up and down with intrigue now. Bella doesn't like the look; it comes off as hungry.
"I guess you could call it that," Rosalie gave a single forced chuckle. "I just fix things."
"Speaking about fixing things, could you come look at my truck?" Leah doesn't waste any time. "It's been off a bit."
"Uh, sure, I suppose I could look," Rosalie says, taken a back by this random demand.
"I have a tool kit in the back," Leah says and leads the way. Rosalie looks to Bella, seeking guidance. Bella decides to go with her, to reassure her. It seems that Rosalie is a bit nervous with all these people around her.
They get to Leah's black truck- a newer model and yet already exhibiting issues. She pops open the back seat, taking out the tool kit. "I'm curious to see those magic hands at work," she nearly purred when she handed it off to her. "I hope you don't mind holding back on the partying for now."
"It's no problem," Rosalie assured, popping open the truck hood.
"Here, wear this to keep your hair out of your eyes," Leah tosses Rosalie a baseball cap, the blonde catching it easily in one hand without even looking up, gaze already scanning the wires inside.
Something inside Bella squirms at that, at the idea of Leah's clothing on Rosalie.
While Rosalie assesses, in her own world, Leah goes up to Bella.
"Jake's told me a lot about you."
"He didn't do the same about you," Bella can't help from getting out. She doesn't mean to come off as rude but she does.
Leah laughs at this, not offended. "He wouldn't. I'm new to the group. Just moved to the Rezzy last month. I'm his long lost cousin or some shit and he took me under his wing to show me the ropes."
"I've found the problem!" Rosalie called out. "It shouldn't take more than ten minutes to fix," she said, getting right to work. Leah and Bella didn't talk further after this, finding themselves enraptured in the way that Rosalie did her work.
Like this, elbows deep in the truck's hood and in her element, Rosalie truly shines. Despite the grease up to her naked elbows, and her hair tossed into a messy bun under her baseball cap, she looks stunning. The white tank top she's wearing is flimsy with it's material, hugging her curves and leaving not much to imagination, and her cargo pants are a size too big, hanging loosely down her hips. Bella finds herself biting on her lower lip as Leah next to her lets out an exhale.
"Fuck. Nothing beats a girl that knows her way around a truck," the girl says, uncrossing her arms over her chest. "I'm going to go and talk to her."
Bella stiffens as if someone had dumped a pot of cold water over her head.
Leah was...was she interested in Rosalie that way?
But...but Bella had liked her first! Her stomach twists into ugly knots as she watches Leah walk over confidently and start looking over Rosalie's shoulder at what she's doing. Rosalie nods her head, chatting about something. She looks at ease by Leah, their words unable to be heard by Bella who is too far away.
Bella swallows harshly and turns around. She can't keep looking at this. She's feeling ugly and she doesn't want to lash out at someone because of this. She stumbles over and gets another beer from the cooler, popping it open before she rejoins Jake at the bonfire.
Before Bella knows it, she's feeling a bit better, able to push the incident to the back of her head as she laughs at the boy's jokes, head fuzzy and heavy with drink. She feels loose and relaxed. Like everything will be alright in this moment.
Except then she spots them again- Leah and Rosalie walking together, Leah's arm almost brushing into Rosalie's as they join the group. Bella's mouth tastes bitter. And it's not because of the beer.
"Finally, you two are back," Paul says, raising his hand in greeting as they sit down. "We thought we lost you to the truck."
"Rosalie fought valiantly, but she managed to fix it for me. I owe her," Leah says, looking right into Rosalie's face intensely. The blonde laughs.
"It's nothing, really," she says, and Bella notices she's cleaned up, arms wiped free of the grease stains and cap off her head so that her long blonde locks are shimmering down her shoulders.
"I insist. Let me repay you with a dinner or something. It's the least I can do," Leah said, bumping her shoulder into Rosalie's.
Bella can't stand this anymore. She wants to go home. She rises up, dumping her beer by the log she'd been sitting on. But she can't go home. She's drunk, and Rosalie is the designated driver.
"Where you heading out?" Embry asks.
"Just...I need some fresh air," Bella slurs, heading off.
"Bella, wait, I'll go with you-" Jake scrambles to get up but Bella waves him off.
"No thanks." She says roughly. Rosalie doesn't even offer, which hurts. Probably too busy flirting with Leah. Whatever.
Bella has no right to be bitter about this. But she is. She hurries away from the fire, her head spinning from drink so she stumbles a bit as her feet hit grass instead of sand as she entered the wooded section of the beach.