Day 2: Part 2

Bath Time with Edward

The air was awkward and heavy between Edward and me when Tanya finally bumbled into the dinning room again. She paused, her eyebrows low and furrowed together as she watched the two of us pointedly ignoring each other.

Oh my god, these people are crazy. I had to leave.

"You're not hungry?" she asked, putting her hands on her hips in a surprisingly Rosalie-like like.

"Well," I said, looking at the pig on the table. "Believe it or not, but I can't actually consume an entire day's worth of food in one sitting."

She shrugged and rejoined us at the table, putting the napkin she had thrown over her plate of food back onto her lap. She reached down, I assumed, to grab the fork where it lie on the table, but seemed to have forgotten the gesture halfway and instead looked up at me.

"Something you'd wish to say, Tanya?" I asked after a few moments, and I thought her behavior was amusing, but when I looked over at Edward, he was frowning.

"N-No," she said, "not yet."

"All right," I said, picking up my fork again, but put it back down when a burst of nausea rolled through my stomach. I closed my eyes. In one, two. Out one, two.

Okay, I thought to myself, Tanya is probably harmless, so there's no reason to feel panicky. Relax, goddammit.

And then it hit me completely and without warning. The food that hadn't even been appetizing to begin with seemed nauseating now and my stomach rolled violently in a way that suggested impending vomit. A door somewhere in the house opened and then shut with a defining clink, and Jasper's seductive voice floated quickly through the house and into the adjoining room where we were all seated.

"Yes, thank you. And please, send my regards to Chelsea for her contribution to the project. If it had not been for her, we would have surely fallen apart. I'm afraid I never received her contact information."

Edward and Tanya had picked up some random bit of conversation during my attempt to swallow the vomit that was threatening to embarrass me. But when the door clicked shut, signaling Jasper's arrival, I wasn't the only one who seemed unable to talk. I turned a little and saw that Tanya was almost vibrating in her seat, her lips twitching as she struggled to remain stoic.

I grimaced at the sight. Mostly out of annoyance for a twenty-something to be acting like a full-fledged child, but then something weird happened. A small, tight knot, akin to nausea but a little higher up on my torso, pulled at me. It felt like an honest-to-god pressure had been placed on my chest and I fought the urge to collapse upon myself from its weight.

Oh, fuck me. Jealousy? Really, Bella. Out of all the things. . . . But it was true; it had to be. What was all that noise Rosalie was going on about last night? Something about loneliness and sexual frustration. I glanced at Edward and was more unsurprised than I probably should have been when I saw the defining clack of his jaw as he grinded and loosened his teeth. A flash of hot warmth spread from my chest downwards.

God, that's sexy.

"Bella."

And as quickly as the warmth had begun, it was almost immediately sucked out. I stared, slightly opened-mouth, as a series of goose bumps ran in a weirdly embarrassing delicate path across my forearm. I uncrossed them.

"Jasper," I said, trying to mimic his flat tone. I turned around and my mouth snapped shut.

I hadn't recognized what he was wearing before. He had on a dark button-up, sort of similar to the one he had worn last night, but it was clearly a more business-before-pleasure kind of shirt. It hung loosely from his pants, the bottoms creased slightly as though he'd had it tucked in all day and only just recently un-tucked it. I frowned, because it really didn't fit him.

And then I looked at his face. And he looked pissed. His eyes were gray and narrowed so much I could barely tell eye from eyelid. His hands were tucked into his pockets, but through the thin fabric of his dress pants, I could see his fists were balled up tightly.

I liked indifferent Jasper better.

"Look," I hedged, waving my arm vaguely in the direction I hoped was the front door. "About yesterday, I really am sorry. I haven't had a chance to apologize, but you caught me off guard and I wasn't – "

Jasper blinked once, very slowly, and by the time his eyes had opened again I was done talking. My mouth closed slowly and without any seeming purpose. He no longer seemed angry, only slightly annoyed, as though listening to a young child discuss the wonders of pop versus juice. But, inexplicably, I found myself unable to continue speaking.

Oh my god, I thought, he's a sorcerer.

Jasper blinked at me and I blinked back.

"Bella, what were your plans for the evening?"

The question caught me a little off-guard. I must have been staring at him too long, though, because a moment later he raised one of his eyebrows at me in a way that clearly said "Anytime now."

My stomach rolled. In one, two. Out one, two. In one, two. Out one, two.

"Nothing," I croaked.

He nodded once, abruptly, and un-tucked his hands from his pockets to cross his arms over his chest. "I spoke to Emmett about your . . . situation and have discussed the matter with Edward and we agree that it would be in your best interest to stay the evening in my home."

I turned around in my seat, completely ignoring the squeaking sound my pants made against the leather. Edward, though with determination in his eyes, had the grace to give me a sheepish, apologetic smile. He bowed his head a little so his hand could pull gently at the strands of hair that were smeared across his face. "Why, if I may ask, do you have any say in this? Kind of presumptuous, don't you think?"

His mouth remained parted and I watched in horror as the tip of his tongue swiped the corner of his lips. He was fucking nervous. He should be fucking nervous.

I glowered at him sharply before turning back to Jasper. "I'm fine, really – "

Edward cleared his throat. "You could freeze to death in that apartment."

I clicked my tongue, annoyed, and Edward made an indignant noise behind me but shut his mouth.

"Sir, can I draw her a bath?" Tanya said suddenly. I looked over at her and she was grinning broadly at me, just as clearly excited about this development as she was impervious to the apparent subtleties of Jasper.

"A bath?" As delectable as being in this overwrought dungeon of a house was, I was almost positive I didn't want to be trapped naked in a bathroom with creeptastic Jasper running around. "Look, unless I didn't something particularly stupid in the last few minutes that I'm unaware of, I did take a shower this morning."

"Thank you, Tanya," Jasper said in a slow, drawn-out voice. "Bella, I would much prefer you not argue so excitedly against people who have your most best interests in mind." A small smirk tugged at the outer corner of his lip and almost immediately another flash of goose bumps ran down my arms. "And, if I am not mistaken, you are currently without electricity, yes? In fact, I believe you are completely without a home."

I suddenly felt very uncomfortable. Not in a "oh my god I'll never get out of here alive" sort of way, but in a "I'm pretty sure I'm not going to like whatever happens next" sort of way. My stomach churned in agreement.

"I appreciate you checking in with Emmett and everything," I said in a nonchalant voice, though I was pretty sure Jasper could detect the sarcasm, "but I've been surviving for a while, and I'm just as dandy now, so if you'll excuse me . . ."

I went to make a motion to stand up, but legs wouldn't comply and I swayed a bit precariously with only one foot on the ground. Edward's hands were warm and large and he gently tugged on my waist in a silent plea to get me to sit the fuck down. I plopped back down in my chair and crossed my arms petulantly over my body, bravely ignoring both Edward's and Jasper's gaze. My stomach rolled on itself. "Fine."

Twenty minutes later and I was standing in some sort of massive, sprawling bathroom with Tanya and Edward, who insisted on helping me up the steps, and staring at a small box of purple things Tanya was shaking in her hand.

"Lavender," she said, as though the scent itself was intrinsic to the round objects sliding around through the clear plastic. I tried to read the description on the front of the box, lest I make a fool of myself, but Tanya was shaking it too fast for me to discern any text.

"Awesome," I said. "But lavender what?"

Edward coughed and rounded me so he was standing next to Tanya. He tried to mouth what they were to me, but Tanya swung around unexpectedly and hit him in the chest with the box.

"There's a huge mirror in here, Edward," she said, pressing the box against the middle of his chest. He gripped it as she pulled away to bend under the sink and grab a large, fluffy towel from a dark wicker basket.

Keeping a keen eye on Tanya, Edward slid up next to me and though I was still mad at him, I allowed him to pass me the box. Bath beads. "What the hell are bath beads?" I asked.

Tanya, who was now trying to refold the towel into a perfect square clicked her tongue.

"Oh, La Bella," Edward whispered. "You're in for it now."

She waved a hand at him without looking at him and flashed me an exasperated sigh. "Bath beads, Bella?"

Well, fuck. Bath beads were hardly on the priority list back in my little Podunk town of birth. In fact, at almost twenty-two years old, Rosalie had to show me how to properly apply mascara after I came over one time looking like a raccoon who had been crying for a while. My mother used to put sanitary pads in her shoulders back in the 1980s, for god's sake, because she couldn't afford the fancy shirts with the pads already in.

Tanya went over to the tub and turned on the faucet, perching herself on the lip to stick her finger under the water. Suddenly, I was very aware of Edward's presence next to me. Tanya was in the process of pouring some sort of liquid into the place where the water met the tub and I couldn't discern Edward's delicious scent from the heady flower smell that was hanging heavily in the air.

I wanted to cough.

"Do you have any freesia?" Edward asked and I sighed deeply.

"I don't like freesia," I said.

"You're just being difficult."

Tanya shook her head. "Those are the only ones we have left." She took the box that Edward was still holding and poured the whole mess into the tub. I watched as the pellets floated for a minute before sinking under the bubbles.

"So," Edward cleared his throat. I felt him move next to me, but kept my eyes trained on Tanya. She pulled the bottle of whatever she had poured into the tub to her nose and took a long whiff of whatever was inside. She made an orgasm face. "I saw that you didn't eat much. Want me to bring you some food?"

"In the tub, Don Juan?" I said, my voice dropping, inexplicably, an octave or so lower. I didn't know what his goddamn, flipping, back-and-forth, problem was, but I was still annoyed with him and I was going to make him work for my forgiveness.

Tanya recapped the bottle and stood, giving Edward a piercing stare. He smiled obnoxiously at her, placing a hand on his chest, swearing his oath to play nice. "I'll behave."

"Yeah, actually," I said, keeping a wary eye on Tanya. "I'm kind of hungry. Something with an insane bread to cheese ratio would be great."

They left me to change and I stripped down immediately, relishing how nice it was to be naked indoors without feeling like my toes were about to freeze off. I stepped into the tub – the perfect temperature – and settled myself among the bubbles.

I was through my third rendition of "Silent Night", trying to see how long I could hold my breath, when I noticed movement from somewhere above the water. I poked my head out and glared at Edward, who was sitting cross-legged on the floor next to the tub, eating something with a pair of chopsticks. He looked quite startled, the utensils a few inches from his mouth, as though I'd caught him doing something particularly unseemly.

"Really?" I said. "You swore." He waved his chopsticks at me. A little bit of the food dropped into the tub. I looked at the green blob as it slowly dissipated in the water. "I hope that's kosher," I said.

"Sushi," he said, gesturing at the tub.

"Ew."

He mock gasped. "La Bella doesn't eat sushi?"

"Yeah, not big on the raw fish part of it," I said. I scooped up the small piece of something green that still remained in the water and made a disgusted face as I shook my hand off over his plate.

"Ew," he said, pulling the plate away from my hands.

I pointed at it. "I see neither bread nor cheese, so you fail. In fact, I'm pretty sure this is as far away from bread and cheese as it gets. Thanks for the effort, though."

He pointed at the food. "Cooked crab, avocado, rice, a little seaweed, and creamed cheese." I eyed it dubiously and he sighed. "What are you, five? Just try the damn thing."

"Yes, Captain." I spent a few seconds vacillating before blurting, "So, uh, not to make it awkward or anything, but what the fuck happened back there in the dinning room?"

Edward shook his head. "I'm sorry. It wasn't you, Jasper pisses me off . . . a lot. And I let it get to me. Forgive me?"

I rolled my eyes.

Edward and I ate in amicable silence. He teased me when I tried to use chopsticks and when my eyes watered after I tried wasabi. I refilled the tub twice, adding more bubbles each time as he closed his eyes to allow me some privacy. After almost an hour, I was pleasantly dense and bloated from the water. I pulled a single foot out of the tub and pointed at it.

"Pruny."

He stared blankly at me for a moment before he sighed. "Please watch out," he said quietly, staring sort of at me but not quite. His eyes were a little glazed; the same sort of look I probably had last night after downing that scotch.

"Right, well, I'll do that. But I have gotten out of a tub before, I think." I paused. "So, please let me do this all by my big girl self." He was now looking at the ground and I wondered briefly if he had blown some sort of gorgeous boy fuse, because his face looked sad.

"Jasper treats people with respect," he said. "At first. But once you're in his company under his roof, he'll start to act differently."

"Like, be an asshole? I think he covered that."

"He'll be the best friend you've ever had."

I wasn't sure what to say to this. He reached into his pocket and took out a folded piece of notebook paper, which he tossed on top of my discarded clothing. "I don't mean to be too forward," he said, "but call me if you need anything." He stood up and smiled down at me. "La Bella."

I watched the floor as he left, fighting nausea. I pressed my hands against my stomach. In one, two. Out one, two. But it didn't work and I barely had time to scramble from the tub before I vomited violently into the toilet.