The story of Twilight and all its characters were created by the wonderful Stephanie Meyer.
Chapter 22: Closer
When we came up to the door Edward opened it for me. I looked up at him. I felt kind of odd for a guy to do that for me. I didn't really know how to react to such a courteous unpracticed move until I remembered my own manners. I just smiled at him.
"Thank you." I said. He gave me a smile and nodded his head and I blushed. He was already starting to make me nervous. Until recently I have never thought that my dreams of Edward Cullen could become real. That I could be standing so close to him without a forced scowl on my face. I wanted to scream out of the sheer joy from it. I felt so free. Okay, okay. Maybe I should…calm down just a little before I really do it. I told myself as we entered the restaurant. The place had dark golden yellow colored walls that created a warm feel to it. And the dim lighting made it feel cozy. When we went up to the women who would be seating us, she looked up from her podium and smiled widely at Edward. I smiled at her behavior. Hey, the lady had eyes, far be it from me to shake my head at someone for knowing something gorgeous when they see it. After a couple of seconds I lifted an eyebrow and just stood by.
"Welcome, what can I get for you today?" She said flirtatiously to Edward. Wow, I wish that I could flirt.
"A table for two, preferably one away from other tables." He said smoothly to her and she smiled at him.
"A booth, coming right up. Follow me." She said. Then she winked at Edward. I couldn't help but feel caught in the cross fire and felt embarrassed. But still the whole thing was pointless, so in an ironic way it was funny to me. I had a full out smile on my face. Oh, hormones, I thought as I chuckled. Edward looked at me with a curious expression as we followed the waitress with the big bang and the thick eyeliner. After we slipped into the booth, I was on one side and Edward on the other, the waitress gave us our menus. Edward didn't bother reading his menu, but I read over mine in concentration. I always swing for what might taste the best. I really enjoyed food.
"Is there anything that I could get for you?" She asked Edward standing near him. Okay now it's annoying. Edward was looking at me still with a curious expression.
"Two cokes?" He asked me. I nodded. Wait, juice would be healthier. "Two cokes." He confirmed to her. He, already said it so I let it go and looked back at the menu and read the salad options. I really like Caesar salad.
"Two cokes." She repeated while writhing it down. "Anything else?" She asked really emphasizing anything. Ew. Now she's being creepy. It's a good thing that I had already decided what I wanted to eat, because of what she hinted at I wouldn't have wanted to keep reading.
"Nothing for me. But what do you want Jessica?" He asked me. Unfortunately for the waitress she had to turn her attention towards me. I looked up from the pictures of food and noticed the mesmerized way that he was looking at me. Was he looking at me the whole time? I asked myself. Okay, it was time to speak up. I looked up at her ordered.
"I will have a Caesar salad and fries." I said in my serious voice. Yeah, I got one. When it comes to food or shopping. I don't play.
"Okay." She said and wrote down my order.
"And is it possible to have seasoned salt poured on the fries?" I asked. She nodded. "Okay, I want that." I finished.
"Sure." She said making a note of it. She didn't seem too ecstatic to be taking my order. Awe, poor thing. I'm keeping her from Edward. The sides of my mouth pulled up a little as I tried not to smile.
"You should have something withe more sustenance." He said lifting an eyebrow at me. And the waitress sent a silent prayer of thanks that he had spoken again. Someone please get her a fan and a chair before she faints.
"I'm okay Edward. I feel just fine." I said. Unfortunately memories of what had happened twenty minutes before we had got here started to surface. I flinched my shoulder while Edward told the waitress that's all that we needed. I stared down at the floor beside me. Edward of course wasn't ignorant of my now zoned out state.
"Are you sure that you're okay Jessica?" He asked more intently. I turned away from the floor slowly and looked at him. When I saw depth his eyes, the thoughts hat my mind had just circled around had melted away.
"Yes." I spoke up, offering him a small smile. He nodded at me still looking uncertain and my mind drifted back to lighter thoughts.
"She was very taken with you." I said with a smile. He raised an eyebrow in question.
"The waitress." I answered. Of course he knew who I was talking about. He was a mind reader and thus knew everything that went through her head.
"I suppose." He said. I lifted an eyebrow at his brief answer. Hm, he's very modest. "But don't change the subject. Are you really alright?" He asked looking me directly in the eyes. Which was for some reason very soothing. Is this what romantics mean when they say 'lost in their eyes'...it could be.
"I'll be alright thanks to you Edward." I whispered. I didn't noticed that we had been leaning towards each other until we were interrupted.
"Here you go! Two cokes." The waitress said sitting the cokes in between Edward and I. I didn't bother looking up at her and glanced down at the table.
"Thank you." I mumbled. I don't feel like being bothered with her anymore. She really ruined a moment.
"Are you sure that their isn't anything that I could get for you?' She asked him again. I gotta give her props though. I could never flirt with a guy that I didn't even know. I looked at Edward and he was still looking at me. I stopped breathing a little from the intensity of it.
"No thank you." He sounded just as tired of her as I was. I let a smile form on my face, because I felt complimented that I had his attention. No one has ever treated me like this.
"Kay." The waitress said disappointed. I watched as she walked away then I looked back to Edward.
"Please drink, i'll feel better once you get some sugar in you." He said looking at the coke.
"Okay." I said smiling. It's weird to be cared for like this. But a good kind of weirdness. I took a few sips of the soda before I hiccuped, which cause my whole body to flinch. I brought the glass away from my face for a few seconds.
"I hate it when that happens." I said to Edward. I blushed when I saw how amused he looked. After drinking half of the soda I pushed it away before I became to full to eat. After sitting awhile in the calm atmosphere surrounding us my heart started to swell.
"Thank you." I said to Edward." For what you did for me. "I would've been changed in the most horrible way forever, if you didn't come for me." I said.
"You're welcome." He said seriously.I know what he would tell me if I asked about how did he know where I was. So I thought i'll make it easy on him and give him a way out. I looked away from him when I saw he waitress coming our way with my food.
"Here you go, a Caesar salad and french fries with season." She said setting the plates in front of me.
"Thank you." I said grabbing a fry and biting off a piece of it. Surprisingly the waitress walked away. I was slightly nervous to eat in front of him. Doesn't he think that this food is gross. He's gonna force me to eat more anyway might as well stop feeling subconscious about it.
"So how did you find me? Did you happen to be in the area and saw me and those guys?" I asked.
"Something along those lines." He said nodding.
"Mhm." I said nodding. He the way out. Gosh, I wonder how things will turn out for me when I find the truth out later.*Wink*Wink. I picked up my fork and started to eat my salad.
"You know you shouldn't go anywhere alone." He said. I nodded and chewed my food then swallowed.
"I know." I said putting some more salad in my mouth.
"You do? Then why did you go out alone?" He squinted his eyes a little when he asked this. I decided to be obscure about it.
"Sometimes..." I sat my fork on the side of my plate as I said this."I just have to do things that don't seem smart. Like saying that last sentence." I chuckled. He's going to drag this out. He lifted his eyebrow.
"Are you hiding something, Jessica?" He asked. I smiled at him. He was suspicious now, which was funny to me because I knew things that Edward didn't know. And in case you don't know by now, I have a weird since of humor. Edward leaned forward really interested and curious about what I was hiding.
"What are you hiding?" He asked. And I thought back to how John and I summed things up back at the book store. I may have things to tell Edward that I am not at all ready to tell him yet, but i'm not hiding myself from him anymore.
"I have nothing to hide anymore." I said thoughtful.
"Then tell me what you don't have to hide anymore." He said. I finished off my salad. Then I grabbed the ketchup bottle and made a ketchup puddle on the side of the plate that my fries were on.
"Come on Edward...Do I really have to tell you?" I asked teasing him.
"Yes." He said,playfully being serious with me. Although he teased me back, I could still see curiousness behind those beautiful eyes of his. I bit my lip shook my head gently.
"Forget about it, I don't really have much of a social life. So it could be something really small and doesn't even matter at all." I said convincingly and bit my lip again. Edward looked amused.
"Somehow I don't believe that." He said in a low voice. I didn't notice before, but we were really close to each other. The waitress came up to us again with a big frown on her face.
"Here's your bill." She said putting on the table and walking away. I looked back to Edward to see him looking at me intensely. I gave him a confused look.
"Is there something wrong?" I asked him. He looked away for second and shook his head.
"I was just wondering when you will cry or become hysterical by what happened earlier." He said sounding so sure of himself, so I thought about it.
"Oh, I probably will. I'll just wait until i'm alone in my room." I said nonchalantly. The truth had slipped by so easily that I didn't even realize it.
"Do you do that often?" He asked. I looked at him confused as I finished off my fries.
"What..?" I said shaking my head. No one has ever bothered to get into my head before. But than again, nobody wanted to be close enough to.
"Cry alone." He elaborated. My body froze so my thoughts could catch up to what I was hearing. I sucked in a breath and looked down at the floor. I didn't want to admit that the answer was yes. I shook my head slowly and turned back to him. "Do you?" He asked softly. I stared into his eyes.
"I guess I do." I said in a small voice. He leaned forward.
"You can talk to me." He whispered. Taking him seriously I looked at the floor. If any other guy said that I would've laughed it off because I knew that they saw me as a passing face. Someone they wouldn't remember two years later. But not Edward. I knew from not only from the book, but experience. He was a gentleman you could trust. It wasn't a mask. It was really him. And I am thankful for that. I looked at him seriously.
"Yes." I breathed. "Alright." I nodded. Then we smiled at eachother. I liked this. Why was I so intent on staying away from him? I felt like I was melting. I looked down at our table and saw his untouched coke in font of me. He must've slide it there after I finished mine.
"You don't want your coke?" I asked looking back up at him. He breathed in.
"No, you have it." He said.
"Okay." I responded. Being as full as I was I only finished less than half of it.
"Are you ready to go?" He asked as he paid the bill.
"Oh, yeah. You don't have to pay the bill. I'm the only one who ate." I said.
"I want to." He said. And he had a facial expression that also said that 'you're not paying for anything today'. So I just went with it and nodded as he slid out of the booth.
"Okay." I said getting out of the booth. And we walked out of the restaurant. When we came back to his car I reached for my door handle but he already beat me to it. As I pulled back my hand it bumped his hand. I gasped. I knew he was cold but... But not that cold. I looked at him and noticed that his mouth was pressed into a Jess, forgetful much? I looked down and I got into the passenger seat and he went over and got into the driver's seat. As we came out of the parking lot he turned on the heat, so I took of my jacket. I noticed from the side of my eye that he tensed. Opps, I forgot again. Small space equal easier diffusion of a smell. In silence we drove along the long dark road that went through the woods. It was getting awkward so I decided to make conversation. I looked over at Edward
"So what have you been up to lately?" I asked and he took a breath.
"Not much of anything really." He said then his lips made a lop sided smile.
"What is it?" I asked curious as to why he was smiling.
"This is a big change compared to what you were like before. It was better for you that way." He said. Here we go. I thought strongly.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"You seemed to not like me. And the times that you did talk to me were after the accident or when I was carrying your unconscious body. So how did we get like this?" He asked curiously. I decided to quote him.
"I decided that I don't want to stay away from you." I said. His smile disappeared. Ouch.
"You should really stay away from me." He said seriously. He doesn't know what he wants to do.
"I know what I want. And I know what I don't want. I'm more than smart enough to figure that out. When you said that I could tell you anything, I knew that I wouldn't stay away from you. I wouldn't keep you out. I have from the moment that I met you felt something for you. And I didn't want to be around you because of that. I knew that if I let it grow, how in the world was I gonna deal with it? I'm giving you my all. And the worst thing that you could do is take is take back. And yes, that will hurt a lot. I carry pain for long amounts of time before I except it and let it go. Letting you in is one of the hardest things that I had to do. It's not something that I thought about in a few seconds. You always came back around me and talked to me. I couldn't hold it in any longer. I thought about this again and again for more than a week. Before anything else happens. I'm asking you. Do you take it all back?" I asked. He looked deep in thought and was silent for a while. When the conversation had seemed to die he broke though it with a sigh and I looked at him.
"No." He said. Then he looked at me. I slanted my head to the side. "I won't take it back." He said, though his jaw was slightly clenched. " Jessica. I feel very protective of you. Remember that when you need help or just need me to be there. I'll be there." He said certainly. I smiled at him and tried to hold in tears that stung my eyes. Edward looked at me more.
"What's wrong?" He asked. I shook my head gently.
"Female hormones." I said smiling and he chuckled.
"So, I guess we're friends?" I asked. He nodded smiling at me.
"We're friends. But I have to warn you, that I won't make a good one." He said and I raised and eyebrow at him.
"We weren't friends before and you saved my life and took drove me home when I wasn't feeling well. And now I can tell you anything. Yeah... You're the worst. You should be in prison. What are you gonna do next? Adopt a puppy?" I said playfully and he smiled at me. "You are already are a great friend. And it doesn't matter how many times you tell me you're. What you have done for me... The memories are written in stone in my head. And since I haven't headed your warnings, their a good chance I never will." I said honestly. He nodded and smiled at me.
"For now." He mumbled.
Hello my beautiful readers! I really hope that you have enjoyed this chapter because it was moving me emotionally as I wrote!(And it's really long.) This has to be my favorite chapter so far. Anyway more surprises coming to you! Please Review! I want to be inside my readers head on how they felt about this!