Chapter 11 – Midnight Mischief
The next night, I'm patiently waiting for Edward to emerge from whatever dark corner he's lurking in. Only when I insisted on her leaving did Alice finally leave. I'm a big girl that can wait by herself.
"What's up, Sugar Lips? Heard you've got a midnight date with my cousin." Liz plops down in the vacant chair by me with a curious look on her face.
"Sugar Lips?" I question, afraid to know to know why she's calling me that.
"Don't worry your little head off about it. I'm definitely for Team Dick."
I stare at her, not sure what direction to take our conversation.
"What're you doing here anyway?" I've only seen her a few times at Field of Screams.
"Popping in to visit my dad and the rest of the imbeciles. If I actually contributed here on a full-time basis, shit would be going down and getting crazy."
"Why is it you don't help out more? The other's have told me you spread gossip around, but never gave any specifics."
She shrugs. "I don't really like being around this many people especially in enclosed spaces. I'll help out if they're short-handed or around this time of the season when it's crowded as fuck, but for three days a week, for eight weeks, I'll pass."
"But you seem so…"
"Extroverted?" she finishes for me and laughs. "I'm definitely like that with people I know and in small groups, but if you hang around me long enough, you'll learn that I have a very short temper."
"So, um, did you have something you wanted to talk with me about?"
"Not really. Eddie treating you right? You go from this pissed off girl to a budding romantic relationship with him. Is he threatening you with more possessed dolls and smelly brains?"
"No, turns out he was just trying to rile me up all the time and pull my pigtails like everyone also said."
She rolls her eyes. "Figures. I should've taught both of them how to properly display their affections for a woman. Esme raised them right, but put them in front of a female they like, they act like childish boys. You better build some calluses on your hands if Edward's anything like Emmett in a relationship. Can't tell you how many times she's slapped him over the years. They're totally in love, but Emmett is something else and that's how Rose deals with it."
"Lizzie," his tone warns from behind. Twisting my head, I see him approaching in jeans and a hoodie. The sight of him makes my lips curls up. For once, he's not reprimanding me. "Are you telling Bella information she shouldn't know?"
She waves him off nonchalantly. "Please, if she sticks around our crazy family, she'll hear it one way or another. I was telling her all about when we were kids and you pissed all over the slide that took my dad all day to put together! We have photographic evidence of his crime too! I'll never know why my mother took a picture of it instead of yelling at him."
Edward's eyes widen comically at her confession. "Elizabeth Cullen, what the hell?"
She gets up out of her chair and brushes herself off. "Lighten up, Edward. That's not even the worst story I could've told her. Have a good night, but not too good of a night. Wrap it up, kids!"
"I'm sorry about her," he apologizes as he guides me towards the parking lot with his hand on the small of my back.
"It's kind of cute. It's nice seeing you close to her. Makes me wish I had a sibling or cousin nearby to grow up with instead of it just being me and my parents. It got lonely." Now's not the time to reminisce about my normal, but lonely life growing up though. "So what's the plan for the next hour before I pass out?"
He instructs me to head to his apartment, and that he'll be right behind. Since I don't have a key, I have to wait in my car an extra ten minutes for him to finally pull in. But the sight I'm privy to is worth the extra ten minutes.
"How'd you know?" I ask amazed, grabbing the drink that is calling for me.
"How'd I know you'd kill over a french vanilla swirl latte with sugar from Dunkin? Easy. Alice."
My heart flutters knowing he took initiative to find out my favorite coffee from my favorite chain. It's such a small gesture, but knowing he took this route instead of just brewing something in his apartment means a lot. Especially since it's the middle of the night. "Thank you, Edward." To properly thank him, I give him a prolonged kiss with my lips tasting like my coffee.
"You're very welcome. I can't have you falling asleep on me. We've got some activities to do."
Fifteen minutes later, I'm regretting coming to his apartment past midnight. He wasn't kidding when he said he works out after Field of Screams.
"Come on, Pumpkin. Do twenty sit ups and I'll give you your coffee back," he teases, holding my feet down. I had gone to the bathroom when we entered his apartment, and he stole my coffee and placed it on the top of his fridge out of my reach.
I angrily glare at him, continuing to lay on my back with my arms across my chest. "Fuck you. I didn't come here to work out!"
"Just do a little exercise and then I'll let you off the hook the rest of the night. You can sit on your ass and watch me a little bit before our next activity that I promise won't involve physical exertion."
I put on my thinking face as a façade and tap my chin like I'm actually thinking about it. "As tempting as that is, I'll pass. Bella Swan isn't exercising at one in the morning."
"Please, baby. Your coffee's getting cold." He pouts and sticks his bottom lip out.
"You're an ass."
I surrender to his little game, doing the wretched sit ups. When I finish, he claps as if I ran a marathon and jumps and gives me my coffee back that I coddle like a baby, afraid it'll run away again. He kisses me again, telling me that I'm so cute.
He finishes up his workout solo which consists of pushes ups, some free weights, and planks. I quietly observe, but it is quite a show of watching his muscles flexing and his heavy breathing. The show's good, but I can feel my eyes begin to droop despite my coffee.
After a quick shower, he asks me to sit at his table while he gets the partner activity we're going to do. I'm left alone, wondering what's up his sleeve now.
He returns with a huge smile on his face and two pumpkins in hand.
"Isn't it a little late to be carving pumpkins?" I ask as he sets them on the table with knives.
"Oh, Bella, Bella, Bella," he sighs, taking the seat next to me and begins spreading some old newspaper. "Pumpkins rot so much quicker once they're gutted and carved. If you're smart you don't carve them until the week of Halloween." He pauses, thinking of his next move. "I don't know about your pumpkin carving skills, but yours better not be some bubble gum pop pumpkin. Try to make it scary."
"I've never carved pumpkins before," I confess. He looks like I've just told him I've committed a murder.
"You've never carved pumpkins? We must rectify this!"
It turns out to be an entertaining experience for both of us. He laughs at me when I initially have trouble piercing the pumpkin then cringes when I jokingly wave the knife at him with attitude. Hearing him laugh then seeing him cringe is such a stark contrast to what I've seen. He can work in a haunted house, but can't deal with a knife being playfully waved at him.
The gooey guts are tossed at one another in a joking matter. One clump catches me right in the eye. I turn my head slowly towards Edward and he really looks scared for his life. I merely toss a large handful of the guts right in his face. At that point, more guts are on us than the newspapers surrounding us.
An hour later and guts and pieces of pumpkins spewed everywhere, our pumpkins are carved. Mine's just a simple, traditional carving with triangle eyes and nose and a smile with two teeth on the top and one of the bottom. Edward's is more complicated with crescent eyes, triangle nose, and pointed, jagged teeth. Honestly, I'm surprised he didn't do something more elaborate.
"Well, it was an honor to assist you in breaking your pumpkin carving virginity, but we've made a mess," he says, looking around the area and at us. A hand comes up and runs through my hair, pulling some guts I missed out. "How about you take a quick shower, and I'll clean up here?"
"I don't have any extra clothes." I know where he's going so I play with him. "You think you're ready to share your clothes with me? Second date and you're already willing to lose your clothes."
He shakes his head, stating that I'm being ridiculous. He escapes to his room for a moment then returns with a few clothes. In his guest bathroom, he quickly shows me how to work his shower and the shampoo I can use which I'm grateful for. I've seen too many posts about people being naked and afraid in a friend's bathroom that they can't operate so they end up in a freezing cold or scalding hot shower.
The shower's refreshing, the steam billowing around me and nearly lulling me to sleep standing up. I didn't have a chance to catch the time, but it has to be close to three in the morning. I need to head home after this to get some sleep.
Drying off, I take note that he's given me an old baseball shirt and a pair of grey sweats that are entirely too long and big, forcing me to roll them several times to the point that they look ridiculous on me. My own opinion is proven true when I enter the cleaned living room/dining area, and Edward looks me up and down, focusing on my lower half and holding in his laughs.
"Laugh all you want, me and your saggy sweat pants are out of here." I go to reach for my bag and begin putting my shoes on when he takes my wrist.
"Don't be like that, Bella," he teases, turning me around. "Come on, you just took a shower and your hair's wet. Let's watch an episode of ATLA or two before you go braving the elements." His fingers twirl around a lock of my wet hair.
Gently, he tugs me over to the couch with not much resistance from me. ATLA doesn't sound too bad, but with a quick glance at his oven clock, it's almost three-thirty now.
We settle in on his couch like the last time we did this: his hand caressing random parts of my body, me leaning against him taking everything in, and a blanket draped over us.
My eyes keep drooping at the coziness of our position. He must feel my head repeatedly falling and shooting back up every few minutes since it's on his shoulder, but he doesn't make a sound.
One minute I'm watching Aang and Sokka climb a volcano for a flower, the next, it's all black.
*Field of Screams*
The sound of pans and pots rattling about rouse me from my sleep. My eyes flutter open to find a light gray wall across the room. The quilt that covers me is a sage green and much too fluffy to be something that I'd ever purchase. Sitting up, dazed and confused, sunlight is streaming in through the opening between the window and curtain.
This is not my room. And this is not my apartment.
I swing my feet over the bed and creep quietly into the hallway to the kitchen where the smell of bacon and slightly burnt toast has me salivating. There before me is Edward with his back towards me as he plates up scrambled eggs.
"Morning, sleeping beauty," he greets with a big smile. He walks over to me, kisses me on the cheek and places our breakfast on the table where our pumpkins are. "Coming?"
My stomach growls loudly. I sheepishly smile at him, taking a seat. It's just eggs, bacon, and toast, but it tastes amazing. Alice definitely hasn't ever made a decent meal like this. She has enough trouble making spaghetti.
"How come you didn't wake me up?" I inquire as I begin to eat.
"You want me to wake you up at four in the morning? It was much safer for you to just stay the night here. Besides, it was cute watching you mumble in your sleep for a few minutes before I carried you to the guest bedroom."
I'm mortified as the possibilities of what I said run rampant through my head. "What did I say?"
"Nothing important." He sends me a wink before resuming eating his breakfast.
I'm left wondering what I said. It could be nothing like he said or it could be something embarrassing that he can use against me later.
We don't linger after breakfast since we've both got to be back at Field of Screams in a few hours. He sends me off with my pumpkin and a searing kiss by my car.
Unfortunately, I have to do a version of the walk of shame when I meet Alice's eyes in our apartment. She eyes my appearance, the bag with my clothes, and the pumpkin in my hand.
"Looks like you've been busy," she cheekily comments, jumping from her spot on the couch and taking the pumpkin out of my hands.
"We did not have sex, Alice. In fact, we have done nothing further than kissing." I walk to my room with Alice high on my heels. "He got me a coffee from Dunkin, he forced me to exercise, we carved pumpkins, I took a shower, and we were going to watch ATLA until I fell asleep. Next thing I know, I was waking up in his guest bedroom."
She comes right up to me, analyzing every minute facial movement. "Not even a boob or ass grab?"
"No!"
She leaves me alone after that, my pumpkin in hand. I take a little nap since I didn't get much sleep in the first place. I don't even bother to change out of the clothes Edward gave me. They're rather comfortable, and I decide he's not getting these back tonight. Their new home is in my dresser.
It's a flurry of activity when we step into the barn. It looks more like a haunted NYC. Scanning around the room it looks like the makeup artists have cranked it up a hundred percent.
Following suit, I add some extra blood and cuts and extra makeup to make them look paler and on death's doorstep. Rose is donning a noticeable bullet wound through her forehead and trickling blood out of the corners of her mouth, making it look like she was on winning end of a brutal battle.
I have my back turned from her for just a moment, but when I turn around, I scream bloody murder and fall on my ass. I'm seeing red and hear his laughs.
"Now that's what I love to hear, Pumpkin." His laugh right now is reminding me of Masen's laugh. If it was just Edward who snuck up on me, I still would have been surprised, but not fallen on my ass. But no, the ass had to slip a pig mask on his fat head.
"You're ridiculous," I huff, crossing my arms around my chest.
He crouches down, leaning closer to my face which makes me cringe back. "Can I kiss it better?"
"Not while you're dressed as a fucking pig."
I return to my feet and finish up Rose with Edward breathing down my neck. He doesn't bother to remove it. The three of us have a conversation like nothing's wrong.
Rose wishes Edward good luck once she's all set, leaving it to the two of. The battle between woman and pig man.
"Baby, don't be like that." He holds his hands out like he expects me to leap into his arms.
"Take off the disgusting pig mask, and I'll give you a kiss and a hug."
He complies, shaking his head a bit once it's off. "I can't believe I like you," he says jokily.
"I can't believe I like you either." I stalk over to him and deliver on my end of the deal with a long kiss and my hands wrapped up in his hair.
Posted: October 28, 2020
See you on Halloween!