Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. Stephenie Meyer owns anything and everything relating to Twilight. I am in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended and in order to keep it that way, No reproduction, copying, reposting, downloading, or any kind of redistribution of this story is allowed. This is to cover my arse as much as yours! And finally, the Original characters, plot, names, nicknames, songs, poems—anything I created from my very own brain—are all the property of the author of this fanfic, My-Bella. Unauthorized use of the material is plagiarism so please be kind and don't steal my creations.
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Chapter 12 – Friggin Epic!
Thursday, June 5th (later that night)
"Edward." Bella was so nervous that she secretly hoped he hadn't heard her quiet call of his name. He was sitting with his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. She could see his fingers poking out between tufts of his tangled reddish-brown hair. Overall, he didn't look like a guy who wanted to talk.
"I brought you an apple. I thought you might be hungry since you missed dinner. And lunch."
"Not hungry." His response was so quiet that it took her a second to figure out what he'd said.
"Oh … Okay … I um … I just wanted you to know I'll make things easy on you. I'll stay out of the way until we reach Africa and then I'll go home."
He lifted his head and he actually looked more miserable than when she'd shattered his prototype. "You want to leave?"
"Well … No, but … I thought it would be what you want."
"Come here." It wasn't much more than a whisper but she obeyed as if it had been a sternly worded demand.
As soon as she settled beside him on the creaky mattress of the rolling bed, he set his arm on his leg with his palm facing up and wiggled his fingers in invitation—she didn't hesitate. Sitting side-by-side with their palms pressed together and their fingers intertwined, they knew they were sharing something but neither understood what. And neither was in a hurry to question it and break their connection.
"I'm so sorry, Edward. I should never have touched your lens hood. I let my curiosity get the best of me. But what I'm most sorry for is hurting you."
"Funny." His smile was anything but humorous. "That's what I'm most sorry for too. I shouldn't have been so harsh to you, especially since it was just an accident."
They fell silent, each of them lost in the replay of the afternoon and the apologies they'd just exchanged. The only sound in the room was a slight rustling each time his callused thumb slid over the soft skin of her palm.
Bella shivered from his touch but Edward took it as her being cold. "Put this on," he said, pulling a worn blue plaid shirt from a hook on the wall.
She tried twice to say something while he helped her put the shirt on, but on the third time when nothing came out she thrust the apple she'd brought at him.
"Thanks," he said, smiling as he took it from her. "So about this leaving business."
"I could stay," she blurted out. She quickly added, "If you want."
"You need to do what you want, Bella."
"All I really want is to help you build a new prototype."
A small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "You want to work with messy substances while in a dress?"
"I could change," she offered, jumping to her feet. "I have a couple t-shirts."
"You're serious?"
"Yeah, why not?" she replied with a shrug.
He was still holding her hand and he gave a tug, getting her to sit beside him again. "You don't owe me anything. I know it was an accident."
"Accident or not, I do owe you. I can only imagine how much it upset you to see it broken. You made that prototype. You designed it and molded it and it was your very own."
"I was really excited about this one. Most of what I build fits a need for MMR and wouldn't have any practical application outside of what we do. But this hood is different. It could be used by photographers on the water everywhere."
"That's all the more reason to build another, Edward."
"Whit's already offered to help me build another tomorrow so don't feel obligated."
"I'm not offering out of obligation. I'm offering out of friendship. I know that's why you held onto your temper so tightly instead of flying off the handle like at the shark exhibit. You want us to be friends."
"I really do, Bella."
She smiled as she gave his fingers a quick squeeze and then let go. "So then it's settled. I'm going to run up and change and then I'll meet you in the kitchen." She paused at the door and looked back at him. "You won't regret it," she promised.
She headed for the stairs without waiting for a reply, too excited to wait a second longer to get started. She'd change, then they'd make a new prototype together, and then he would completely forgive her for breaking the first.
It was a good thing she hadn't been running or she would have slammed right into Lee when she reached the landing for the sleeping quarters. As it was, she stepped on Lee's plush slippers.
Penguins. Lovely. She snorted at her thought and then said, "Sorry, Lee. I hope I didn't hurt your toes. Nice penguins by the way."
"What in the hell do you think you're doing? Why do you have Masen's shirt?" Lee barked, tugging at the sleeve.
Bella jerked the material out of her grip and righted the shirt on her shoulders. It only made it look slightly less ridiculous on her since Edward had broad shoulders and long arms. "He loaned it to me. If you have a problem with that, you should take it up with him."
Lee glared and pursed her lips. "You're mighty mouthy for someone who destroyed a very personal item today. And for the record, I don't enjoy getting my head bit off for transgressions caused by a nosy klutz."
"It was an accident."
"So I've heard." She crossed her arms and assessed Bella for a moment before saying, "I'm a three strikes and you're out kind of girl. And you're exactly one mistake away from getting kicked off this boat."
Maybe it was the stress of the day or that warm feeling she'd gotten from Edward when he'd agreed to let her help—whichever it was, it gave her the courage to stand up to Lee in a way she normally wouldn't have attempted. "I thought you told him to either accept that I'll be in the way or assign Whit to be my mentor."
Lee's face paled as her eyes widened. "You read sign?"
Bella smirked as she replied with her hands. "Read and sign, thank you." With her voice she added, "Guess I forgot to mark that on my application."
"Does Masen know?"
"No. And I'm not going to tell him."
"Why not?"
"Because it seemed like signing with you made him feel better. I don't want to take that away from him."
Lee appraised her as if it was the first time they were ever meeting. When she nodded, Bella knew they had finally reached an understanding. "Alright, Bella. Let's say I believe you, that you'll let him keep it. Why? What's it matter to you?"
Bella shrugged as if it was nothing when in fact it had quickly become a driving force in her choices. "I care about him."
"If you hurt him …"
"Maunu?" Bella questioned with a grin, confident that Lee would be okay with the joke.
"Tiny pieces," Lee agreed, holding up her pinched fingers to show the size she had in mind.
"I probably should shut up while I'm ahead but … Why are you letting me off easy?"
"A very wise man I know believes today's incident was a true accident brought on by poor communication and bad luck. I wasn't really inclined to believe that but he swore on his favorite type of cheesecake so …"
Bella grinned, feeling grateful for her new friend. "Please thank Gopher for me."
Lee didn't give any indication if she'd relay the message or not before turning around and heading toward her room. She stopped just outside of the door and said, "Give that shirt back. It's his favorite and he'll be pissed if it gets lost."
Once the door closed, Bella sighed and leaned back against the wall, pleasantly surprised and pleased with how this day was ending after the crazy way it had imploded earlier in the day. The best part was that it wasn't even over—she still had a prototype to make with Edward.
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Masen couldn't believe his luck. The only thing Bella should have had to say to him was to tell him he was a jerk and she never wanted to speak to him again. But she did want to speak to him. Even more, she wanted to spend time with him. She was even willing to change clothes and get messy to help him build a new lens hood prototype.
But what exactly did that mean? Did she feel a pull toward Whit the way he did with her? Was she Whit's dream girl and just a fantasy he could never have? If she wasn't, could he take a chance with her without endangering his company and his family? Why did he care so much with her when he'd barely noticed anyone before?
"Only one way I'm going to find out," he said as he set the apple she'd given him on top of his filing cabinet. He grabbed the sketch from the cabinet and the mold from his plan table, then headed upstairs to wait for Bella to join him. If he was very lucky—and very careful—he could end this night with a new prototype and with Bella's friendship.
As for the situation with Whit and Bella … It was time he had that conversation with his best friend that he'd been putting off since seeing the two of them together at the ocean center.
But that was for tomorrow. Tonight, it was just Bella and him. And his snorting laughter at the sight of her. She was wearing a black t-shirt with purple, green, and blue Dr. Seuss fish that matched up with the printed words "one fish", "two fish, and "three fish".
Bella smirked. "I also have a Thing 1 shirt that matches Alice's Thing 2."
"Of course you do," he said, snorting all over again. "What am I gonna do with you, Guppy?"
Her cheeks immediately began to redden and he expected her to look away. She held her ground instead and asked, "So how do we make a prototype on a boat?"
"With milk and vinegar." He explained the process to her while gathering his materials from the cabinet and arranging them on the counter.
"That doesn't sound too hard," she said as she placed the container of milk next to one of the pots. "How come more people don't make plastic items at home?"
"For one, it can be pretty messy. For another, it's a very exact procedure so if you get any one part wrong, you have to start all over again. And I guess the biggest reason is that most people aren't interested in creating things from scratch when they can just pick it up at the store on the way home. In my line of work, there's no store I can pop into so I have to come up with my own tools. Plus, I like it. I find it calming to have a task that requires attention to detail and exactness in my movements."
"If you'd rather not have help, I'd understand," she offered.
Masen could see tense lines around her eyes; he doubted she really wanted him to take her up on the offer. "I'm glad to have help tonight, Guppy. Now take this measuring cup and pour three cups of milk into one of the pots."
She gave him a warm, genuine smile as she took the cup from him and then it became all business.
Despite Bella's attempt to follow his every instruction, the first batch of casein failed, just as Masen had known it would. He explained why it had failed while she measured out the milk and vinegar for a second batch and he cleaned the pot of the remnants of the failed one.
"Sometimes in order to get something right, you first have to get it wrong," he told her. "Once you know what it's not supposed to look like, it's a lot easier to tell when you're about to mess it up."
"Well that explains everything," she said with a wide smile. "You were so awful to me the first time we met so you would know how to be nice the next time."
He made a half-hearted attempt to look annoyed with her. "No, smartass. I don't try that approach with people. And you're getting us off topic. We're talking about creating things. Now that you've seen what casein is not supposed to look like, you're better equipped to tell when a batch is going wrong."
After putting the clean pot on the stove, he let her pour in the milk and start it warming—he also verified for himself that she'd measured out one tablespoon of vinegar for every cup of milk she'd poured. When the milk started to foam, he turned off the heat while she poured in the vinegar. With his hand over hers, he showed her the right angle and speed to stir the mixture.
Once he was satisfied it was mixed well, he held the strainer over the second pot for her. "You want to pour in a steady stream but not so fast it looks like a waterfall is happening," he instructed.
She did just as he'd said and now they had a strainer full of casein. "It doesn't seem possible that this goo is going to harden into a lens hood," she remarked as he carefully dabbed away the excess liquid with paper towels.
Masen nodded in understanding. "First time I read how to make this stuff, I couldn't believe all it took was milk and vinegar. It seemed too easy."
"Did you try it in Esme's kitchen?"
He nearly missed her question; he was too busy noticing how closely she was standing to see the casein being pressed into the two halves of the mold. "No, I know better than that. Whit and I tried it in the backroom of his dad's shop using a hotplate. The heat wasn't completely even so it made the casein lumpier than usual, but it was enough for us to know it would work."
Once he'd locked the mold and moved it aside, they cleaned the kitchen together. Masen took care of the pots and strainer while Bella cleaned the stove and counter tops; it didn't take them long to have the kitchen back into the shape they'd found it in.
With his sketch tucked under his arm, he carefully lifted his mold with both hands. "Thanks for the help, Guppy. I'll let you see the fruit of your labor after it's had time to dry and be tested, just in case you have another bout of clumsiness."
"Gee, thanks," she replied, rolling her eyes at him.
An awkward silence fell over them as they continued to stand at the edge of the kitchen. He wanted to keep talking to her but he wasn't sure what to talk about. It didn't help to have the responsible side of him pointing out that she needed sleep. Then again, she didn't seem in any hurry to leave. He tried to guess from her expression what she might like but he couldn't read her.
As much as he hated doing it, Masen put his responsibility for her well-being above his selfish wants. "Good night, Guppy. Thanks again for the help."
"Anytime." Something about the way she'd said it made him reconsider his earlier idea that she didn't want to go to her room yet.
Not knowing what she wanted on top of not getting what he wanted was making him feel unsure and awkward around her again and his fingers twitched to be able to scratch the bridge of his nose. Since he had no clue what to do, he put the choice in her hands by saying, "Unless you don't feel like going to bed yet."
She brightened up immediately at his words. "I'd really like to show you this article I read about going green for the ocean."
"Green?" he replied with a loud snort. "Guppy, if the oceans go green, the whole world's in deep trouble."
"Not literally green," she said with a roll of her eyes. "They want us to be eco-friendly to the ocean."
"Alright. Let's see it then."
Bella's smile widened and she practically ran for the stairs; he was pretty sure she would have gone down them two at a time if her legs had been long enough for it.
Once inside of her room, she went straight for the trunk in the corner while he set his mold and sketch down on her dresser. He didn't notice the two picture frames there because his attention was on his shirt neatly folded at the end of her bed. At the time he'd put it on her, he hadn't thought anything of it. She'd been cold and he'd had a shirt hanging on the hook above his crash cot. But looking at it now, it dawned on him that he'd loaned her his lucky shirt—favorite among favorites and treasured so much that no one but him had been allowed to wear it over the years. Until Bella.
Until Bella. That was becoming a recurring theme with him and he didn't know how to feel about it. He'd meant what he'd said to Lee earlier today about not wanting his work interrupted. But he also didn't want Bella to be anywhere else. He wasn't always the sharpest tool in the shed, as Esme would say, but even he realized something was going to have to give. He had to either accept Bella would be a distraction or give her up. Standing there thinking about every moment with her since she'd arrived, Masen felt giving her up wasn't an option he wanted to explore.
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"So what's the magazine? Is it Cosmo? I love their surveys," Edward teased, lounging against Bella's pillows with his arms folded behind his head. He'd made himself at home in her room after giving her all of about a minute to find the magazine. He was definitely the most impatient person she'd ever come across.
"Shut up," she replied, looking at him over her shoulder just long enough to catch his smirk and roll her eyes at it. She checked another stack of magazines and finally found the one she wanted.
Her room had a slight chill to it so she stopped at the end of her bed long enough to put on the blue plaid shirt Edward had loaned her earlier. She could have found something in her closet but she figured this was quicker and easier since Edward was already looking as if he was trying to will her to move faster.
But as she sat cross-legged beside him, she decided she should make sure he was okay with her wearing it still. "Do you mind me borrowing your shirt again?"
"Just take care of it while you do. And I want it back at some point. It's a favorite of mine."
She wanted to say she knew but she felt it was important to keep it quiet for her future relationship with Lee. Although they'd gotten off on the wrong foot, Bella was looking forward to them becoming friends.
He must not have been too worried about the shirt because he was already busy reaching for the magazine. "I'll find the article."
"I can do it," she assured him, leaning away to keep him from taking it. "Stop being so impatient."
"I want what I want when I want it."
Bella really wanted to tell him what she felt was the truth—he had no idea what he wanted. One minute he wanted her gone and the next he wanted to be friends. Instead of saying that, she focused on their reason for being in her room. "The article talks about how important it is for marine researchers to move toward eco-friendly materials to help preserve the oceans."
"So what? Solar boats?"
"Eventually but it talks about starting small, like developing biodegradable fishing nets and twine." She found the article and handed him half of the magazine to hold so they could look over it together.
"Stop hogging it," he accused, giving a light tug.
"I'm not hogging. You are holding exactly half of it."
"Yeah, but the article is mostly on your half."
She rolled her eyes while trying to contain her smile and keep from encouraging his silly behavior. "Shut up."
"That's the second time you've told me to shut up. Did you forget I'm your boss?"
"You're not my boss right now. You're my friend. And if my friend needs to be quiet, I'll tell him to shut up all I want."
Edward snorted. "If anyone needs to be quiet, it's you. All of your talking is interrupting my reading, Guppy."
She ignored his teasing and pointed out the part that had caught her interest the first time she'd read it. "A biodegradable fishing line engineered to degrade in both landfills and marine environments in five years. It even comes in the most popular weights, ranging from four pounds to twelve pounds."
From the look on his face, he didn't seem all that impressed. "That's great in theory but I've got a couple issues with it. First, the weights they're talking about are used by your lake, river, and pond fisherman—guys going after bass, perch, and salmon. You need at least a thirty pound to go after big game fish like Marlin.
"Secondly, the main danger of nylon lines is their transparency. They're extremely difficult to spot under water, making it far too easy for marine animals to get entangled, leading to permanent harm or death. And depending on the how much line there is, it can also trap swimmers and scuba divers."
Bella tried not to show how disheartened she felt. "Sorry. I thought this would be helpful."
"All knowledge is helpful. Just not all of it is usable." He took her half of the magazine from her, folding his side under, and then tapped a section of the article with the side of his thumb. "See this right here? This is a big deal."
Bella had to lean partly on the pillow and partly on his shoulder to see what he was pointing out. "Reduce, reuse, recycle at your marina."
"Exactly. Marinas taking recycling seriously is a big shift. Easily reachable facilities for oil, aluminum, glass, plastic, and antifreeze recycling would be a huge thing, especially for crews like ours. Right now, we keep most of our trash on board until we dock at home where we know recycling facilities are available. In a few years, we might have places we can recycle our stuff at nearly every port."
"And the easier it is to recycle, the more people will be willing to do it."
He nodded in agreement then unfolded the magazine and flipped back to the front. "Let's see what else is in here."
Bella smiled, glad that he wasn't in any hurry to leave and end the nice night they were sharing. "I don't remember if there's anything else good in this one, but I've got one that has an article on if dolphins can sense the future."
"Oh, that's good. Flipper can give me the winning lottery numbers," Edward said with a snort, turning his face to look at her, putting them nose to nose.
There are moments when the silence is so quiet that the intake and exhale of a breath can seem as loud as a firework exploding. They were in that moment. Just breathing.
Then came the leaning—mutual leaning. Same distance, at the same speed, with the same intent.
And then it happened. His lips met hers and they clung together, time spinning out and standing still. They both still had their eyes open and she swore his eyes were the most beautiful shade of green she'd ever seen. She had her wits long enough to question how she could notice his eyes when his mouth was pressed to hers and then he started to pull away and conscious thoughts fled her.
Her hand gripped his shoulder and the retreat of his lips immediately turned into the claiming of hers. He held the side of her face in his large hand and she could distinctly feel the hardness of the calluses on his fingertips on the shell of her ear while the softer skin of his palm rested against her cheek. And the warmth. Warm hands, warm lips, warm breaths mingling with hers. The kiss was slow, continuous and utterly breathtaking. And just when she thought it couldn't get any better, he rolled her way and covered her body with his. She had missed the weight of him pressing into her. There was some probably some dark corner of her mind—as dark as the one in the bar—that had known it, but her conscious mind had been blind about it until now. The thought disappeared as quickly as it had come, lost in the crash of a tidal wave of desire created by the swirl of his tongue around hers. Her eyes closed from the sensational overload, losing sight of the green and gaining a heightened awareness of every place his body touched hers.
As unforgettable as their kiss in the bar had been, this one was infinitely better. This one wasn't a mistake and wouldn't be regretted.
"~~~^~~~~^~~~^~~~~^~~~^~~~~^"
It had taken strength Masen didn't think he possessed to stop at just kissing Bella. He wanted her in ways he had never wanted a woman before and as much as the strange sensation bothered him, it was nothing compared to the conviction he held that once with her wouldn't—couldn't—be enough.
He gazed down at her sleeping form, waiting to feel remorse for kissing her without having made a decision about whether or not he could ever be more than her friend. It didn't come. Instead he smiled over how small she seemed wrapped up in his shirt and took in how pretty she looked relaxed in sleep. He also wondered how she could be relaxed with the way she was curled into a contorted ball—head on his abdomen, chest curled toward his body, and legs and feet pointed away from him and pressed against the headboard. And to top it all off, his puppy asleep and snoring, nestled between him and Bella.
It was Lizzy he had to thank for stopping the kiss before it had gone past the point of no return. She'd figured out he was in the room and had scratched and whined at the door until he'd had to go get her or risk having her wake everyone. She'd pranced right on in and jumped up onto the bed to curl up in Bella's lap as if she had done it her whole puppy life. And Bella had been as thrilled about it as Lizzy.
Reaching out to lift a stray hair from her face, Masen realized Bella had fallen asleep with her hair still locked in a ponytail and he knew from Lee and Esme that it wasn't pleasant to sleep that way all night. As gently as he could, he slipped the band out of her hair. It snagged when it was almost free and he thought he would have to wake her to make her get it out. Finally, he freed it and her hair spread out across his waist. He settled back against the pillows, surprised she was still sleeping and expecting her to wake at any second. But she continued to slumber and he continued to watch.
It was hard to look at her lips and not want to kiss them again; it was even harder to restrain himself when he thought of kissing her earlier. He tried not to, but his mind was on a loop with replays of tonight and that first night in the bar. Bella's soft lips and cheek … the way she'd held onto his shoulder, anchoring them together … her palm rubbing against his stubble … the feel of her curves fitting against his as they moved across the dance floor … the sweat running down his back with his every attempt to get closer to her in that dark corner of the bar.
He carefully lifted her head and moved it up, wanting to avoid waking her by poking her in the back of the head. This was completely ridiculous. He wanted her, she was right there, and yet he wasn't going to do a damn thing more with her tonight. He couldn't without knowing how she fit into Whit's life. If worse came to worse, he could find another girl but he couldn't find another best friend who knew him the way Whit did.
Masen scrubbed his face with his hands, tired of thinking. He considered getting up and taking his mold downstairs but just as quickly killed that idea in favor of staying right where he was. He was comfortable propped up on her pillows, Lizzy was comfortable nestled between them, and Bella was comfortable sleeping with her head on him. Plus, now that he'd forced himself to stop thinking, he found he was actually tired enough to sleep.
He reached an arm out to turn off the lamp but thought better of it once his hand was on the switch, remembering that Bella didn't like the dark. He settled for draping his arm over his eyes but that barely lasted any length of time because he decided he'd rather fall asleep with her face being the last thing he saw for the night.
And that was exactly how he fell asleep.
"~~~^~~~~^~~~^~~~~^~~~^~~~~^"
Friday, June 6th
Bella woke up alone. The only proof that last night had happened was the lone pillow standing upright against the headboard and her feet being where her head should have been. As she stretched, she realized that wasn't completely true—she had the plaid shirt that had kept her warm while she slept.
There was also the hairband lying on the small bedside table by the still burning lamp and the pillow under her head. She'd had a ponytail and only a chest for a pillow when she'd nodded off listening to Edward talk about all the places he'd visited. It wasn't that she'd been bored—quite the opposite. He'd been to some amazing places and with Whit, Lee and Esme at his side he'd never had a bad trip. No, what had put her to sleep was his voice vibrating beneath her ear like the gentle hum of a fan.
But where was he now? Why had he left without waking her? She looked around hoping for a note but there was nothing. Then she noticed his sketch and mold were gone and figured he must not have been able to sleep and had gone down to his project room to work. She'd overheard he was an insomniac, just like Alice.
Well, maybe not just like Alice. Alice wasn't a true insomniac where her inability to sleep more than a few hours at a time was constant. Hers was stress-induced and she would go two or three weeks with a few hours of sleep a night and then as soon as things calmed down, she was back to getting eight or nine hours.
Then again, Edward didn't exactly fit the typical insomniac pattern either. Sure he never seemed to sleep longer than an hour or two here and there but he never seemed fatigued and he certainly wasn't despondent. So maybe it was just that his body ran on low sleep instead of it being a problem.
Bella glanced at the digital clock on the table and saw that it was getting close to her scheduled bathroom time. She'd hoped to get an early slot but she'd ended up with the very last. She was just thankful there hadn't been a morning yet without hot water, something that had really worried her. She hated cold water on her face first thing in the morning. It felt too jarring of a way to wake up, like having a rooster right outside the bedroom window. Not that she'd ever had a rooster but she could imagine it would be annoying if she did.
My mind is all over this morning, she thought as she gathered her clothes and toiletry bag. Her thoughts were usually orderly and focused on the day ahead of her and she wondered what was making her feel off.
Her pondering was interrupted by raised voices outside of her door. She opened it to find out what was going on and got way more than she'd ever expected. Edward was drenched with his hair sticking straight up and the ends of a towel fisted in his right hand. The body of the towel was haphazardly covering the body of the man as he stalked past her door, yelling death threats to a laughing Lee who was hiding behind Esme in her bedroom doorway.
"You deserved it and you know it," she shouted at him.
"Hiding behind my mom is only going to save you for so long, Hale," he promised. Bella couldn't tell if his skin was red from hot water or a hot temper.
Lizzy charged out of Whit's room and began circling Edward, trying to bark at everyone at once. Bella figured Edward must have taken the puppy in there whenever he'd left her room. She had a second to think how cute it was that Lizzy was trying to protect him and then the puppy was nipping at his towel and pulling it down, leaving Bella to wonder if she should cover her eyes or let out the laugh building inside of her.
Whit picked up the wriggling puppy and held her against his chest. "Bro, it might be easier for Lee to take that threat seriously if you were dressed. Right now the only thing she has to fear is an eye full of your hairy ass."
Edward stopped adjusting his towel to look at him. "Were you in on this?"
"No, but I'm damn sure enjoying the aftermath."
"What the hell?" Gopher asked, entering the hall from the stairwell. "Mase, why are you dripping water all over the floor I cleaned yesterday?
Esme snorted and then pressed her lips together tightly as if that would stop it from happening again. When Edward whipped his head around to look at her, she said, "Yes, Edward, please tell us why you're making a mess in the hallway."
"Apparently, I pissed off that one right there," he said, pointing at Lee with his free hand. "So she decided to get back at me by dumping a bowl of ice cubes and cold water on me."
She turned her gaze to Lee. "This true?"
"Revenge is a dish best served cold," Lee taunted, smiling extra wide at Edward. To Esme she said, "He deserved it."
Esme's gaze turned to Edward's now shivering form. "That true, Kid?"
He huffed and grumbled something only he could hear while scratching the bridge of his nose.
"What was that?"
"Yeah, okay," he said, looking as annoyed as he sounded. "I deserved it."
"Then it's settled. No retaliation allowed. Agreed?"
"Yeah. Agreed."
"Good." She smiled at him but it wasn't a sweet, motherly kind of smile. It was the kind of smile a person wears when they're about to embarrass you. "Now put some clothes on. Nobody here wants to see you naked."
"Oh, I wouldn't say that," Whit immediately replied, as if he'd been anticipating the comment.
While Esme, Lee, and Gopher were busy filling the hall with their laughter, Edward tried to push Whit into his room but slipped on the wet floor, nearly taking them both down. That just made them all laugh harder while Bella stood in her doorway wondering which of them would be the first Edward turned into maunu.
Edward finally regained his footing with Whit's help and stormed off to the bathroom, slamming the door closed behind him. There was a brief moment of silence and then more laughter from his family and barking from Lizzy.
"Gopher, I hope you've got a hardy breakfast planned for us," Esme said as she wiped a tear away with her thumb. "My kid's had himself a busy morning and we haven't even started the day yet."
His face was still stretched in a huge smile. "Eggs, bacon, and biscuits. I think that oughtta be enough to replenish his energy."
"And warm him up," Lee added with a snort.
"I get the cold water but the ice cubes?" Whit questioned. "That's just down right mean, Lee."
She shrugged. "Like I said, he deserved it. Besides, he agrees. You heard him."
The bathroom door opened and Edward emerged in a pair of olive green cargo shorts and a tight white shirt that had become see-through where his body was still wet. He looked around at the faces of his family, seeming not to notice Bella at all.
With an angry scowl, he pointed at Gopher first. "Fuck you." Then Whit. "Fuck you." And finally Lee. "Fuck you. And sorry for yesterday."
He smiled at Esme and told her, "Love you." He lifted his thumb toward the ceiling and added, "I'll be upstairs waiting on breakfast."
Bella waited for someone to be mad and yell at Edward. What happened instead was Whit laughed and clamped his free hand on Edward's shoulder, giving it a shake as the two of them climbed the stairs with Lizzy still nestled in Whit's other arm and once again barking. Gopher and Lee met in the middle of the hall where he smacked his lips against her cheek loudly and praised her devious mind. Esme yawned and went back into her room, closing the door behind her.
As quickly as the ruckus had started, it was all over. And Bella was all kinds of amused. Edward Masen had a sense of humor even at his own expense. That was definitely something she wouldn't have expected to find out about him. She slipped past Gopher and Lee, making her way to the bathroom and wondering what the rest of the day would have in store for her after such an eventful morning.
"~~~^~~~~^~~~^~~~~^~~~^~~~~^"
The View from Whit's eyes …
Something changed. Whit didn't have solid proof of his theory yet but he had some compelling observations. First, there was the sudden appearance of Masen and Lizzy in his room this morning just before his alarm had gone off. If Masen had spent his night awake and in his project room, the puppy would not be with him. She was never brought down to that level of the boat and had never shown any interest in going down on her own. If he'd spent the night at the helm with Lee, Lizzy would have probably wanted to be with them. The only problem with that scenario was that if he had spent the night talking with Lee, he would have apologized enough to make her trash her plan for revenge and the ice bath he'd gotten this morning wouldn't have happened. So then where had Masen been that Lizzy was intrigued enough to want to follow?
The second observation he'd made concerned Bella. He was sure she thought she was being sneaky with her quick glances in Masen's direction. She might have even gotten away with them if Whit didn't have such an eye for detail. But he did so her blushing and her weak efforts to hide her smile were like bright, neon signs to him.
And the final observation—and this was the one that yelled out the loudest that something had happened last night—Masen was unable to sit still this morning. He was like a little kid hopped up on soda and pop rocks, bouncing his leg under the table, drumming his fingers along the top, and generally just being loud and obnoxious. This was the behavior they saw from him on mission days when he couldn't wait to get started and firmly believed they were all moving slower than usual on purpose. But today wasn't a mission day. It was a data collection day.
Whatever force had been keeping Masen somewhat in check let him loose and he moved so that he was sitting on the back of the booth with his feet on the seat. "Assignments for today."
"Masen, sit your butt down and let us finish breakfast," Lee told him, using that mothering tone on him that worked more often than not.
Today was a not since he ignored her and continued on with his train of thought. "I'm breaking today up into two sections … before lunch and after lunch, with lunch being at one o'clock today. So before lunch, Lee, you're at the helm again. Whit is with me for data collection. Gopher and Guppy are taking care of the boat. Any questions?"
It was standard stuff so there were none. At least not about the assignments. Whit had plenty of questions for his friend but he would wait until they were in the office. Masen was much more likely to answer honestly without the rest of the crew in the room.
"After lunch, Lee gets the rest of the day off to catch up on her sleep. Whit's at the helm until dinner and then I'll take the night shift. Gopher, you'll be handling the boat on your own the rest of the day since Guppy has some work to finish."
Bella's mouth was wide open as she looked directly at Masen; it was so priceless that Whit had a hard time not laughing at the poor girl. She looked like someone had just kicked her puppy. "Not that video again?"
For his part, Masen was smiling entirely too wide. "You thought breaking my lens hood would make me forget you have a video to finish and a report to give on skipjacks."
"I didn't think that." In a lower voice she added, "Not until you said it anyway."
Lee burst out laughing and then tried to cover her face with her hands. It didn't do a thing to muffle the sound and Whit couldn't hold back his own laugh over her losing it so thoroughly.
"Edward, can't you give her a pass?" Esme asked, putting an arm around Bella's shoulders. Whit respected the hell out of the woman and little things like that protective move just made him love her all the more.
"No passes. No free rides aboard Galeos," Masen replied without hesitation. "Besides, she might get inspired by something she sees. Her blog post is due tonight for Lee and me to review it. If everything is great, Lee will post it on Sunday. If not, Guppy will have Saturday to work on it."
"I'm inspired alright," Bella said as she poked the remains of her biscuit with her fork. "I'm gonna write about the evil dictator of MMR."
Whit winced, knowing any second now Lee would jump in and defend Masen, and make it that much harder for her to befriend Bella. The sad part was that it made Lee come off as a hard-ass when it wasn't done maliciously at all. She hadn't always been like this, so territorial over her friends. It was one of the nastier side effects of Whit's attack and he had trouble controlling his guilty feelings whenever he saw the effects manifest in Lee and Masen. It was no more their fault for how it had changed them than it was his for being attacked, but sometimes he couldn't help feeling responsible.
Instead of defending Masen, Lee encouraged Bella. "If you want to really hook your readers and keep them coming back, make sure you put in the ice bath he got this morning for being such a dick tater."
Even odder than her not defending him was Masen acting like it hadn't even happened. "Since there don't seem to be any questions or comments related to work, let's get started."
While the others were busy bringing dishes into the kitchen, Whit stayed where he was and did some more observing. He also managed to do some overhearing as well.
First, he observed Masen and Bella standing a little too close for it to be work-related and smiling entirely too much for it not to mean something to both of them.
Then, he overhead their conversation. "Where's my shirt? I want it back, Guppy."
"In your room. Well, Whit's room. I put it on your bed before I came up for breakfast."
"Good."
"Thanks for letting me borrow it. It made a good blanket last night. And you weren't half bad as a pillow."
"So what was Lizzy?"
"My cuddle buddy. She's welcome any time to come snuggle with me."
"And me?"
Masen didn't get an answer because Lee chose that moment to call Bella over to her. Whit tracked the girls and managed to make out "shirt" from Lee and "this morning" from Bella before Masen interrupted by grabbing his shoulder, wanting to get downstairs and get started.
Whit grinned, thinking of how much fun he was about to have collecting data on his best friend.
He waited until Masen was distracted with pulling up the tracker results on the laptop before setting his plan into motion. "Hey, what shirt did you loan Guppy?"
"One that was hanging around."
Generic answer and you're not looking at me. So busted, Whit thought as he surveyed the forced blank look on Masen's face.
"Hanging around? That wouldn't happen to be your lucky shirt from downstairs, now would it?"
"We've got a lot of data to work on, Whit."
Whit's smile widened. "Oh, I know. Favorite shirt loaned out to the new girl and then there's Lee, your long-time friend, who got her hand physically slapped for trying to borrow it one chilly night."
Masen scratched at the bridge of his nose while asking, "We're gonna do this now, huh?"
"Where were you last night, bro? 'Cause you weren't at the helm, you weren't in your project room, and you didn't come to my room until morning."
"Nowhere. I mean, I was in the kitchen for a while. Bella offered to help me make a new prototype and I figured it would be good to teach her."
"And then?"
"Nothing." He shrugged but his leg was bouncing again so it was very much something. "She had an article she wanted to show me." He must have noticed the change in Whit's smile because he quickly added, "An article in an oceanography magazine."
Whit snorted and held back his 'article' tease for now. "Too bad it wasn't Cosmo. You love their surveys."
Masen grunted.
"I'm pretty sure you enjoy playing pillow too."
Masen's eyes widened. "How the fuck?"
It was Whit's turn to shrug. "I know all. I see all. I hear all."
"Nothing happened."
Whit didn't buy that for a second. "Nothing beyond sleeping with the intern."
"I didn't sleep with her. Well, okay, yeah, but it was just sleep. I wouldn't … Look, I know I should have had this conversation with you before and I'm a total dick for putting it off. I just … If I'm right then I'm happy for you because you're my best friend and a great guy. It's the what if I'm wrong that bothers me because I shouldn't want to be wrong but I can't seem to stop myself."
Putting off a conversation and being happy for me while wanting to be wrong? What would have Masen tied up like a damn pretzel and involve me? The answer, Whit quickly realized, was in the miserable yet somehow hopeful look on Masen's face. Now as his best friend, he had two options. He could give it to Mase straight and easy or he could get him good and worked up until Mase had to admit the truth to himself and to Whit.
Oh, Option B how I love you, Whit thought as he leaned back in his chair and prepared for battle. "Mase, I'm sensing a question here but I'm just not getting it. What's wrong, bro? Talk to me."
Masen slumped back in his chair, seeming lost as to where to start. He sat silently for nearly a minute before nodding and sitting up straight. "When I got called up to the office in middle school and they told me I would be showing you around, it was the last thing I wanted to do. I hated getting picked for stuff like that because the new kid always wanted to latch on to me like I was some kind of life preserver. It always ended up with me having to tell the kid to get lost and looking like an asshole for being selective about my friends. So the next day I'm annoyed as fuck because I'm dreading the inevitable end and here you come walking up and the first words out of your mouth are to ask if we can ditch this planned bullshit to go surfing. That was it. You were in."
He stopped talking while he scooted forward in his chair and set his arms on the desk. "It took me three years before I figured out the reverse was true. I was the one let in. You didn't have to accept all the shit that comes with being my friend. Hell some days I wonder if you even notice it. But here you are and that's why I'll never purposefully do anything that wrecks our friendship."
Whit once again had a couple ways he could respond but in reality there was only the truth because no matter what else Masen was, he was a standup guy and a loyal friend. "I love you too, Mase. And you're lucky I do because I was really going to make you sweat before admitting this."
"Admitting what?"
"Hang on there, bro," Whit replied, chuckling as he mimicked Masen's leaned forward position against the desk. "Nothing in life is free. So here's the deal … I admit something and then you admit something."
"Fine but whatever I admit can't be bigger than yours."
Whit grinned. "Oh, it won't be. Trust me."
"So what is it?"
"Bella's not my dream girl."
The fact that Masen remained motionless said more than any words. He didn't believe it was true because he couldn't—he wanted it too badly.
"I know my girl and it's not her," Whit assured him. "Some of the personality traits are similar but Bella's not my girl."
A pleased smile started creeping across Masen's face and Whit knew it was the perfect time to demand payment.
"Say it. Out loud. Admit it to yourself."
"I want to be her friend."
"Bullshit. If a man needs a friend, he gets a dog. With a woman like Bella, he storms the beaches or dies trying. And, Mase, you already have a dog, bro."
With his elbows resting on the desk and his fingers massaging his temples, Masen quietly admitted the truth his friend had known from almost the start. "I want to storm the beaches. I want to be with her. Not just for a night and maybe not even just for a summer. I don't know. She confuses the hell out of me."
Whit snorted. "Yeah that's been painfully obvious, bro." He noticed the change in his friend, the reappearance of the tightness in his shoulders. "There's a but coming."
He nodded in agreement. "But MMR is more important than what I want."
"That's certainly something to consider. But so is this … You don't think that way when you're with her."
"So then what do I do?"
As much as Whit wanted to help Masen and give him all the answers, the hard truth was that he couldn't. Not this time. It wasn't an instruction that could be given and followed. It was emotional and either Masen felt it or he didn't.
"Until you want her more than anything, there's nothing you can do. Anything less would be hurtful to her. And as much as I love you, if you hurt her, I'm going to kick your ass. And I'm pretty damn sure Gopher will help."
Masen slumped into his chair, looking completely defeated. "Why the hell did I have to meet her as the intern?"
"It's your lot in life, Mase. Just like mine is to dream of my girl until it's time to meet her."
"It's hard to be alone with her and not want to be with her," Masen admitted.
Whit could tell he was hoping for some wise advice. He really didn't have any so he gave his friend a joke guaranteed to get his mind off of Bella, at least for a little while. "You just tell Little Masen to keep his head down low and I'm sure it'll be fine."
Masen snorted. "You're an asshole."
"Is that any way to talk to your best friend?"
"Yes." He grabbed his laptop and jumped right into work, calling out statistics for Whit to record on the forms they had developed over the years to document their research.
Whit smiled, happy he could help his friend, even if it was only getting him to admit what had been eating him up inside for the past week. It put Masen one step closer to understanding that he could have both Bella and MMR without either being neglected. It was a conclusion he had to come to on his own in order for him to truly believe it and truly let himself have a relationship with Bella. That wasn't to say that Whit couldn't give a gentle nudge here and a slight push there to help things along the way. He would get Masen and Bella together before the summer ended and then it would be up to Masen to keep them that way.
A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed this one! I especially hope Whit's POV was a nice surprise for all of you. It was a lot of fun to crawl around in his head and see Masen through his eyes. LOL And it was very nice to have Masen just be himself with dear Guppy during their mold making session. EternallyAddicted has been sweet enough to create a polyvore for their time together and it's up on the Sharkward site at .
Thanks for all the reviews for the last chapter - and the well wishes! I'm sorry I couldn't reply to all of you like usual. Real life decided to introduce some very unexpected items into my world and I had to take time off from everything. Everything is on the mend thanks to my amazing family and friends - especially EA for keeping me sane - and I hope to be back to 100% within a couple more weeks. I also hope to get back to posting every 3 weeks. It all depends on how cooperative Masen wants to be. LOL As you guys have already seen, he's a bit stubborn. LOL
I hope you all are having great weekends with those you love! Thanks for reading!