Second exception: We're backtracking a little for this chapter just to the confrontation among friends at the pavilion. It's not much
Thanks for following along! Here's our last chapter. Epilogue will be posted immediately following this one.
If you enjoy my ramblings, catch the A/N at the end!
BPOV
"So how are we doing this, ice cream or alcohol?" Rose asks once we separate from the guys at the pavilion. Jasper and Edward are off to the airport to meet Edward's parents and Emmett is headed back to campus in his car. Rose and Alice join me in my car for the way home with nothing else on their minds except getting answers to all their questions.
It's more like an interrogation than a ride home, but whatever. To be honest, I'm happy to be getting the third degree from them – it means that everything is out in the open and I can let go of the burden of keeping secrets from them.
"Nachos?" I suggest instead and receive two nods of approval.
"Let's go."
I barely make it out of the parking lot before the questioning resumes at a rapid-fire pace, laughing as I try to keep up with answering them. I'm amazed at how one mistake, admittedly a huge mistake, can turn out to be a blessing. When Edward had called to tell me about the video being sent on the group chat, I panicked. For multiple reasons in no particular order. My friends seeing me naked. Sounding like someone begging for a release. Our secret exposed. Who else did Liam accidentally send our video to?
But now, after spending the last hour getting everything out in the open, I feel relief. Finally, after five weeks of stress, I feel like I can breathe again.
The bar we pull into is still serving Happy Hour and we take advantage of the half price apps. We settle into a high-top table, our order of Nachos already put in by our server who knows our order by heart. Once our drinks arrive, they get right back into the questioning.
"Alcohol," I answer when Rose asks how Edward and I were able to do it on camera for the first time. "A whole lot of it."
They shake their heads in equal parts shock and amazement. I take a sip of my drink and see Rose point a finger at me over the top of my glass.
"You didn't do like, a practice-run before you just started filming?"
I shake my head. "No, we didn't think of that." I think about it for a moment. "I was too nervous as it was. I think the camera helped remind us why we were doing this in the first place."
"I can't believe that fucking on camera was your go to," Rose laughs, playing with her straw. "And that it actually worked."
We think about the balance in the bank account.
"Obviously, something changed somewhere," Alice interrupts Rose's train of thought and substitutes it with her own. "Was Edward nervous?"
I shrug, "He said he was, but he didn't show it." I cannot help the small smile that tugs on the corner of my lips. I try to hide it but it is impossible when I think about our first time together. The first time I had seen him under a different lens, a different focus. The first time I came around him, surprised I was even able to considering the awkwardness that could come with a first encounter, especially a first encounter between friends while also on camera. I can tell that Alice and Rose are eager to hear details but some things I save for just Edward and myself.
"I still can't believe this actually happened," Rose keeps repeating sentiments along that line. It's not often that Rose is rendered speechless. I remind myself to tell Edward that the next time I speak with him. "How were you able to keep it from us?"
At this I sigh, hoping that the sincerity I feel is reflected in my face for my best friends to see across the table. "You have no idea how hard it was. I wanted to tell you guys so many times." I spot our server bringing over our nachos and start to make room on the table. "Especially when I realized that I was feeling more than what I was prepared for."
Alice, always the one to read the emotional plea in my voice, smiles but I can see the regret mixing with her happiness. "I wish you didn't have to go through it alone."
I shake my head. "It wasn't as bad as it could have been. We could be sitting here with me crying about how I fell for Edward and how he didn't feel the same," I counter.
"We would be having a completely different night if that were the case," Rose threatens, handing out the smaller plates for us to dig into the Nachos.
"When did you know that he started to feel something more?" Alice asks once we start eating. I think for a moment.
"I was too caught up in what I was feeling to really notice the signs as they were happening," I answer, thinking back over the last five weeks. "But I can see more of them now that I look back."
I swallow a large chunk of beef and cheese and reach for my drink for assistance.
"Really?" Alice asks excitedly.
"Bella, you're killing me." Rose says.
"When!" Alice is almost shouting.
I laugh at their impatience. "Okay, so we had signed a bunch of rules – "
"You guys had rules?"
"Yeah –"
"And you signed them?"
"Do you guys want to hear it or not?" I retort before continuing when they promise to be on their best behavior. "Anyway, once we started breaking some of the rules, it started to become more noticeable."
"Who broke the rules first?"
"I did," I respond before we all burst out in laughter. I hold a hand up in my defense. "But he was the first one to say out loud that he liked breaking the rules."
I remember hiding behind my sunglasses that day as I watched him on the beach, realizing that feelings these intense don't happen with just anybody. My heart warms at the memory.
"So, by the time that things actually changed, you kind of knew that you were both okay with things changing," Alice offers, looking at both Rose and I for confirmation.
I nod. "Pretty much. The night of the formal made it official." That night. That kiss.
Rose brings my thoughts back to the table. "So tell me how you guys filmed this. Were there rules for that, too?"
"We had rules for pretty much everything," I respond with a laugh and a shrug before continuing. "Not like it mattered, since we broke them all anyway, but still."
"So, I'm assuming that Edward was in charge of the technical stuff and you brought in the viewers," Alice says, pointing up and down suggestively at my body.
"I directed each video," I say proudly with a pretend bow at the table.
"And the Oscar goes to – "
"Isabella Swan in Bungalow Bargains," Rose jokes, and when the laughter from the three of us takes over our corner of the bar, I realize everything is truly going to be okay.
I've got the bungalow, finals are practically done, my friends aren't too mad, and I got the guy.
I got the guy.
Later, when we're back on campus and curled up in our beds, Rose asks into the darkness, "And this was worth it? I mean, you could have jeopardized your teaching career before it even happens."
The thought sobers me again. Now that we've reached our goals there really isn't a reason for keeping the videos up. I think about the profits we've made and what it's given us: a place to live, a car to drive, a place to rest our head at night. As addicting as it is, I'm smart enough to know that these material things are all replaceable. Two blossoming careers, however, are not as easily replaced.
I sit up in bed to answer her and I see Rose's face lightened by the TV screen in the darkened room.
"Was posting the videos worth it? Probably not. I'm beyond happy that I made rent for the bungalow, but I never forgot how risky it was to actually post them online."
An incoming text from Edward makes me smile. "But on the other hand, it's worth more than I ever imagined for myself."
-PtP-
"I can see why you went in the backseat first," my voice comes out in a huff of stolen air before Edward takes the air away from me again with his lips. His lips on my mouth, his hands on my hips, his cock connecting us as one, my heart on my sleeves.
"Had to make sure," he breathes once we part again, his head resting on my shoulder as he looks down between us in the backseat of his newly purchased white 2019 Volvo XC40 on the night of his college graduation.
Much to the dismay of both Carlisle Cullen and the car salesman, Edward had bypassed the front seat and instead opened the back door of the car and sat himself right down in the middle of the backseat. Claiming it was to make sure that it would accommodate his surfboard, Edward made sure to check out a lot of the features that the backseat had to offer. Pleased with his assessment of the generous space allotted in the backseat, he settled on both a down payment and monthly car payment and walked out of the building, tossing the keys to the car happily into the air.
Now, his parents sleeping peacefully at their hotel, Edward's showing me just how wise his purchase earlier today is.
"I definitely approve." I manage to say between my downward strokes and Edward's mirrored upwards.
"You better," he growls, his hands leaving my hips to slide up to my shoulders, pressing me harder onto his lap.
The sky is dark, the road is empty, his car parked behind an overgrowth of grass and shrubs. His car is partially hidden on the same road where I took him in my mouth for the first time, our phones somewhere abandoned in the front seat, long forgotten.
Almost everything is long forgotten at this point; I can only focus on the way Edward pants in my ear, the way his hands slide against my skin in the darkness of the car, the moonlight shining through the only thing lighting the way. I can feel the way my dress gently brushes against his thighs before his hands grip the material and moves it out of the way so he can squeeze my ass in a tight grip, using this grip to pull me up and over and down on him again and again.
His back rests against the middle seat of the back, his shorts pooled at his ankles, and the way my hair is pulled up on top of my head leaves a vacant space on my neck that his lips love to visit.
The hustle of the week between our confrontation at the pavilion and graduation night has done an effective job of keeping us apart. The last two weeks of the year are always guaranteed to put distance between everything and everyone other than exams and papers, and when I had turned in my last final yesterday, I officially closed the chapter of my junior year of college.
Next year would be different. Heightened. Not some far away destination that you hear about for three years of undergrad. I had received my placement for Student Teaching next semester; I was placed in an elementary school a few miles away from campus and vowed to spend the upcoming summer learning all there was to know about first grade.
Well, first grade and every inch of Edward Cullen's co –
"Fuck," he groans into the car, his voice louder than the music drifting through the speakers. I can tell by the way he pushes and pulls, reaches and tugs, that he's close but wants me to finish first. I know he likes the way it feels when he can feel me come, the way it feels when I clench around him with aftershocks sets him off to completion.
Watching him lose control always brings me to a second round of stars.
I never want the rounds to end.
He promises they never will.
As I welcome those rounds in my life, I say goodbye to another.
Dorm life wasn't as horrible as it was made out to be. I never had someone pee in my laundry when I wasn't looking. I didn't have drunken knocks on my door in the middle of the night and pranks boobytrapped down the hallway. Instead, I had stumbled upon a set of friends who became family. I had three years of memories in these walls, and even though my car is stuffed to the top with everything that I own ready to head over to the bungalow, I find there's more memories in these walls to sift through than physical objects.
This room was where Alice, drunk, had woken up to use the bathroom and mistakenly shoved her legs into the arms of her sweatshirt thinking they were the matching sweatpants. Rose and I were laughing too hard to stop her.
This room was where we had stayed up for hours on our first Netflix binge.
The walls of this room hold many secrets, and even though we know they will be filled with many more from the incoming tenants, it doesn't stop us from signing our names on the inside of the closet wall.
When we walk outside of our dorm Saturday morning after turning in our keys to the RA, we're pulling out a different set of keys this time, ready to see what this new chapter unlocks for each of us.
-ptp-
By the time that we've made countless trips back and forth from the car to our new rooms, I'm glad that Dad had convinced me that him renting a car was the better idea.
Once we start unpacking the cars, all we want to do is get it done. All six of us are here, moving quickly in and out of the bungalow so the moving portion of the day could be over and done with. The back patio with unobstructed views of the ocean and a cooler full of beer are calling our names.
The furniture arrives sometime around noon and we spend the next three hours putting everything in its proper place. Well, the guys put the furniture into said places while we orchestrate and shout orders around them.
"Right there!" I shout over my shoulder to Edward when he asks where he should put an end table.
"Hey, you two can make your videos later," Emmett says, plopping a box of DVDs against the wall in the living room. "Some of us are moving furniture around here."
I sigh as everyone stops to have a laugh at our expense. Edward isn't helping – the smug look on his face has made it difficult for him.
"How long is this going to go on?" I ask, emptying a box of dishes into the freshly painted cabinets. "Just so I can prepare myself, you know."
"I don't know," Rose thinks, turning over to look at Alice. "Five weeks sound about right?"
"Five weeks should do it," Alice agrees.
"Better get used to it," Edward shrugs and comes over to help me lift another box of dishes onto the counter. He pulls the tape from the box so the flaps bounce open, kissing me on the cheek and slapping my ass before joining Emmett and Jasper as they move the couch to where Rose and Alice want it.
I can definitely get used to it.
That's a phrase that flashes across my mind a couple of times during Moving Day. It's when the last piece of furniture is put into its final resting place. It's when we look at the unpacked boxes of random stuff we acquired over three years and think with a laugh that we'll get to it tomorrow. It's the way Edward and I avoid my bedroom and new bed for fear we'll never leave it.
It's the look on Charlie's face when he arrives from the airport and eyes the place I can finally call home.
"I can't believe you did it," Dad says as he takes a tour of the bungalow with interest, taking the time to tell us random things he notices we need that we don't even know we're missing.
Who knew each room should be equipped with a proper can of mace?
We order pizza and scatter across the living room in various states of exhaustion and comfort.
"All that tutoring paid off," Dad says to me, tossing a napkin onto his paper plate. I take this moment as an opportunity to flee, grabbing the garbage from around the room and placing it into the garbage in the kitchen.
"Yeah, Bella worked really hard to get this place," Jasper agrees with my Dad, flashing a knowing smile towards Edward. I watch as he hides his face in his cup.
"So did Edward," Emmett adds. "Real hard."
"Hey, I think there's another thing we have to get from the car," Edward says, hopping up from his spot on the floor and motioning for the guys to follow him outside for a proper beating.
We hear Emmett say, "Where is it, Bella's trunk?" before Edward slams the door behind the three of them.
Shaking his head, Dad chuckles and looks over at us girls. "Someone actually let them graduate?"
Dad heads out to his hotel when the time change and hecticness of the day get the better of him. I walk him to his car, and after a stealthy checking of any suspicious activity on the street, Charlie is satisfied with my new surroundings.
"I'm proud of you, Bells." He says into my hair when I sink into his hug. It's familiar and warm and another home.
"I love you, Dad."
-ptp-
"Is it everything you hoped it would be?"
I leave a window open in my room, the rhythmic beat of the waves against the shore the perfect lullaby for my soul. The breeze ruffles the curtain against the window, and it flows softly in its evening dance. Temporarily, my twinkle lights hang haphazardly in various places throughout the room with a promise of being fixed tomorrow. Right now, all I care about is how these new, fresh sheets feel against my naked skin and the boy whose arms wrap me up in peace and hope.
"More," I answer softly to him in the late hour of the night. "So much more."
He must know what I mean because he tightens his arms around me, pulling me further against his chest. He places a kiss beneath my ear as he shifts me to his side.
"Five weeks ago, I knew I'd be here for Moving Day," he says, running a hand down my back, "but not here."
The sheets are crumpled, and the bed is the first thing christened in the new space.
"I'm sorry you weren't here earlier," I say, my arm loosely draped over his waist. Here, meaning in my bed and in my heart and everywhere else he's taken over. As happy as I am that our story has brought us here together, there's a part of me that wonders how different it would be if we had done this sooner.
"I'm not."
I move a little so I can see his face, my pulls and tugs of his hair evident in its wild array. It makes me smile. I ask him, "Why?"
"I don't know," he shrugs, a shy smile peeking from his lips. "Sometimes I think that we did it the right way. How it was supposed to happen. We spent three years becoming friends. I know you, Bella. And now I get to uncover something completely new with you. It's like we're meeting all over again."
He reaches down and places a lazy and languid kiss on my lips, each kiss becoming catalogued in my memory.
"I've never felt this way before," I say, placing my forehead against his when we pull apart. "Everything about this is new, Edward."
"I know. We'll be okay," he reassures me, knowing that while I have all the confidence in us, it makes me feel better knowing that he's confident in us, as well. "You know, we could always sign off on some new rules to follow."
His remark about our proposition makes me laugh into his chest.
"Since when do we follow the rules?" I argue jokingly, reaching over to my nightstand to pull out the single piece of paper that I made sure not to misplace in the move. We glance at our signatures and laugh at each and every ridiculous rule we ever thought we could follow.
"Some rules were meant to be broken," Edward says, flipping us over so his lips become the lullaby to pull me to sleep, replacing the waves in both fervor and consistency.
-ptp-
"Now this," Jasper says the following morning when we're all outside on the back patio with steaming cups of coffee, "is something that I can get used to."
The sun beams from its place in the sky, the air around us perfectly yellowed in its response. Our view of the beach and ocean is both calming and humbling.
"This is way too early for me," Emmett groans from his spot in the shade.
"It's nine o'clock."
"Did you even go to bed yet?" Edward asks, pulling me onto his lap as he sits at the table. Rose and Emmett had wanted to celebrate in their own way and had walked to one of the beach bars on the boardwalk. Rose isn't even awake yet.
As I listen to the conversation around me, I look over across the way at the seat I was sitting in five weeks ago when Rose and Alice had gone over all of the financial calculations we would need to make this happen. I had sat in that seat, the sand crunching beneath my toes and the seagulls singing around the yard, wondering how I could commit to something without definite proof that I could make it happen. The flowers, just as bright and colorful now as they were then, open at the sound of lively conversation. The grass is green and cut, the sand white and empty on this Sunday morning. Families, wanting to get a prime spot close to the water to keep an eye on the bustle of the children, begin to populate the beach in small trickles.
There's no rush from anyone.
There's a sense of hope floating through my mind, the exact opposite of the thoughts that had plagued my mind since signing the lease five weeks ago.
Somehow, I had pulled this off. Somehow, I had made this my new reality. A stupid, insane idea had turned into the best thing to ever happen to me.
When I kiss Edward a minute later, he knows the reason behind hit. He knows that when I look out at the wide expanse of white sand and turquoise water in front of us, it's because he took a chance on me. Or maybe we took a chance on each other, who knows.
What I do know is that pursuing this is the best idea we've ever had. And I'll make sure I spend the rest of my life letting him know that truth.
"There better be coffee," Rose grumbles her entrance and slides onto Emmett's lap. Alice and Jasper are exploring the yard, peering over the fence to gauge how far the bar is for future reference. Emmett and Rose are still recovering from last night.
Edward and I sip our coffee in silence. We'll never run out of things to say but sometimes the best words are the ones left unspoken.
An opening of a door from the bungalow two doors down from ours slams open and we see Garrett, our landlord, walk out from behind the screen. He sees us on the patio and gives us a quick wave before ushering a team of workers into the bungalow behind him.
A cleaning crew.
He reemerges a minute later.
"How was your first night?" Garrett asks, lighting up a cigarette as he heads over to us on the patio.
"Amazing," Alice gushes.
"Glad to hear it," Garrett smiles, and then runs his hands through his hair with a sigh. "Shame your losing out on some awesome neighbors, though. They were ideal. Didn't' bother anyone, minded their own business."
"They're moving out?" Rose asks, sitting up off of Emmett so she could offer her thoughts into the conversation.
Garrett nods. "Moved out yesterday, actually. Last minute family emergency," he says, finishing his cigarette. "Know anyone looking for a place?"
An hour later, after Garrett hands the guys their lease to the newly empty bungalow two doors down from ours, they look it over on the patio.
Emmett slams his hand down on the table. "How the fuck are we going to come up with this amount of money?"
With six knowing smiles, we all know how they'll get their money before Emmett can finish asking the question.
After all, Edward and I know when something is worth pursuing.
-ptp-
Thank you, thank you, thank you for sticking this out. It was meant to be fun, light, and angst-free, especially when the world around us is pretty much the exact opposite right now.
In each story I write, I have specific challenges as a writer that I set for myself to bring me out of my comfort zone. In this case, I had never written a story with alternating POVs with each chapter, and I also DO NOT LIKE WRITING LEMONS. So, what better way to set a goal for myself than making it a crucial part of the story? Experience is the only way I'll improve as a writer, so that's what I consistently do each time I publish something new.
Speaking of something new, I'll be in your inboxes again soon. I'm working on the sequel to my other story, The Rec. For those of you that haven't read it yet, do it now so you won't be lost when I start posting the sequel. As of now, it's mapped out for twelve chapters all in EPOV. I know a lot of you asked for more, especially hearing it from Edward's side, and I must admit that he asked me for it, too
Give me a couple of weeks to write it, and you'll see your inbox with the sequel to The Rec called The Reflections.
Also, keep voting for me and this story and The Rec in the Golden Onion Awards. I appreciate you all so much more than you realize!
Thanks for joining me, everyone. I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.
One little epi to follow momentarily before I mark this complete.
Oh, and I had to have Edward's car be a Volvo as a nod to OG Edward and my completion of Midnight Sun. *Sigh*