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 13 – Can't Touch This
Sunday, June 8th
Bella felt like there should be foreboding theme music playing to usher her forward on her mission to watch the rest of the tagging video. Just be thankful you had an unexpected day away from it, she scolded herself. She had been scheduled to watch the rest after lunch on Saturday but something had happened with the data from the tiger shark and now it was late afternoon on Sunday. As hard as she'd tried to follow along and figure out what was so exciting to the entire team, including Esme, she hadn't been able to fully grasp it.
Watching them all work as team, though, that had been easy to understand and she'd been captivated by the way they worked together. Edward had clearly been the lead since he'd been the only one standing—and the only one wielding the magic marker on the whiteboard. He had also been open to every opinion presented. He'd even incorporated the majority of the ideas into the final paper, including a couple items from Gopher.
Lee was very analytical and spoke in technical terms that made Bella's head spin. But she was also aware her audience might have trouble following along and tried to bring things down to a level Bella could understand. That was something Edward could not do and if not for Lee translating for him, the rest of the crew would have been just as lost as Bella.
Gopher had been the most surprising to observe; Bella had expected he'd be as lost as her since he mainly worked on deck or in the kitchen. Despite not having a great deal of hands-on experience, he had a wealth of general knowledge of both sharks and the team's practices. He also knew how to read the data sheets Edward, Lee, and Whit were practically drooling over. If he could learn all of that just from watching these three, then Bella felt more secure than ever that she could learn from working side-by-side with the team.
The best suggestions for reaching people outside of the scientific community came from Whit. He had a knack for taking the jargon that Lee had already spun down and relating it to everyday things so that they went from boggling Bella's mind to making perfect sense. It was the only reason she had a basic idea of what had excited them, though she still didn't understand the why of it.
Esme had served as the moderator, the one to pull them back on track each time they'd slip off on a tangent while fighting to have their suggestion accepted. She'd also taken everything they'd decided to keep and had turned into a polished, professional document.
And now the flurry of excitement was over and it was time to finish the tagging video.
"You can do this. You want to do this. It's on a video so it's not like it can hurt you or anyone you know. And you know the outcome so it's not like that can change—everyone gets out of the water fine." Bella shook her head as if disagreeing with everything she'd just said. "More than fine! They were happy that night and Lee even talked to you. And … And Edward was nice."
She heard the door open and looked toward it, expecting to see Edward walking in. But the one sauntering into the room with a goofy grin was Lizzy. Bella's laugh was apparently some sort of signal to the puppy because she suddenly zoomed across the room and jumped right up into Bella's lap.
"Hi, sweet girl. Did you come to watch the video with me? You're probably not afraid of sharks at all. Not a dog who surfs." She snorted and rolled her eyes. "Even the dog is braver than me."
Bella leaned over and grabbed the remote from the chair Edward had been sitting in the first time they'd watched the video. She backed the DVD up a couple frames to ease the shark into the shot and to hopefully ease herself into finishing this video without freaking out again.
"We can do this, Lizzy. This is totally a-okay as Alice would say." Bella wanted her words to be true more than anything right then.
But they weren't. She was fine watching the shark come into view. She was fine watching it swim past the buoys and out of the shot. She was even fine with it coming back into view and lurking just behind one of the buoys. But once it twisted its body and made a direct line for Edward, she was no longer fine and had to turn the DVD off. Knowing Edward was perfectly fine did nothing to stop her from picturing the shark slamming into him and then biting into him. It also didn't help her to keep back the tears that often came with the anxiety.
"Hey, hey, hey," Whit said, gripping her shoulder. "None of that. You're gonna drown the puppy."
It was such an absurd thing for him to say that it made Bella laugh. "I'm not crying that much."
"Unless they're happy tears, any tears are too much. And I can see these aren't happy tears, Guppy."
"It's nothing," she said, forcing a smile while using the backs of her hands to dry her cheeks. "Just my own stupidity."
"It's not stupidity. It's an effect of an event in your life." He stood there looking down at her silently for what felt like a long time to her but was probably only a few seconds. "Let's you and me take a walk. I've got something I want to share with you."
"Won't Edward be upset if I'm not in here?"
It was the devil himself who answered her. "Upset about what?" Bella almost felt bad for thinking of Edward as a devil since he'd been pretty nice the past couple days but then she took in the view of him dressed in ripped cargo shorts and a navy blue sleeveless t-shirt and knew she was right. A sinful devil tempting her with shaggy hair, a scruffy face, and lips that gave the most amazing kisses.
Whit's voice pulled her out of her very unprofessional thoughts. "Bella and I are gonna walk and talk. I'm going to share with her what we talked about."
"Sounds good. Let's go."
Whit snorted. "I didn't invite you along, bro. This is a W and B conversation so you just C you're way out of it."
Edward rolled his eyes and crossed his arms in front of his chest, making his muscles ripple and Bella wiggle in her seat. "That's an A and B conversation, smartass."
Whit smiled in a way that made Bella think of the word gotcha. "Except my name doesn't start with an A," he pointed out to Edward.
"Sure it does. Assclown."
"Hey, Lee donned you with that name, not me."
Edward waved him off. "Go talk if you're gonna talk. We've got a video to watch and you're holding up progress."
"Come on, Guppy," Whit said as he helped her to her feet. "Hand the puppy over to Mase and let's find a quiet place."
"Was the rhyming on purpose?" she asked as she took hold of his offered arm.
"I rhyme, all the time. I'm prepping for my run, as the biggest rapper under the sun."
Bella snorted hard enough that it hurt a little.
"Yeah, I guess I should let go of my dream to be a top record-selling rap artist. If only I wasn't so damn tone def. I had the best moves, too. Learned most of 'em from Mase." Whit leaned in close to make sure Bella could hear the last part over the sound of her own laughter. "Which between the two of us, they aren't even a little good. But don't tell him. He still thinks the shirt pop move he taught me is pure brilliance."
Bella waited until they were sitting in a couple of the plastic chairs on deck to hug Whit. "Thanks. The laughter really helped."
"The talking will even more," he promised as she sat up straight. The sound of the cabin door opening had Whit turning his head and yelling. "Scram! Nobody likes a lurker."
Edward didn't seem too pleased with his friend. "I'm not lurking, you douche."
"You're lurking, Asshole. Now go inside."
Bella somehow managed to keep her laughter contained; it was absolutely absurd for Edward to look so put-out and still do exactly what Whit had told him. Maybe he wasn't as in charge as she'd been thinking.
"So why are we out here?" she asked as soon as Whit was paying attention to her again.
"After some discussion, and a slap to the back of a certain lurker's head, it was agreed I should tell you my story."
"Please let it be the story of how you get under Edward's skin because I really wanna know how to do that. It's not fair how easily he does it to me."
He gave her one of those smiles that said he knew everything, especially the things she didn't. "Trust me, Guppy, you're in deep. Now about my story ... It's kind of MMR's story too." He scooted forward in his chair and turned his left leg so the calf was clearly visible. Bella noticed immediately that something was off about it, though she couldn't pinpoint exactly what. She didn't think it was the bird tattoo—it was something about the shape of his calf.
"Looks a little odd, huh?" Whit didn't seem to really want an answer since he continued talking. "It didn't always look like this. It used to be part of a matched pair. In fact, I'd say it was the pretty identical twin."
Bella worried her laugh was inappropriate but Whit continued to smile sweetly at her. "I'm not going to like this story very much, am I?" she questioned.
"It's got a happy ending, if that helps." He righted himself in his chair, draping his arms along the sides of it. "This story is better with a beer but Mase has a no booze policy so we'll just have to settle for some fresh air and sunshine."
When Whit remained silent for longer than a normal pause took, Bella encouraged him to continue by saying, "I'm listening."
"It was a perfectly normal day. I got up, tossed on my board shorts, grabbed my board, and went to the beach. Mase was there waiting for me alone since Lee had worked late the night before and wanted to sleep in.
"There wasn't anything weird about the day. No odd feelings. No portents of disaster. Just Mase and me and the waves calling out to us. We were sitting on our boards shooting the shit and waiting for our turns. I remember thinking about asking him to hang out with me for the whole day because he was big time stressed and I knew I could get him to relax. We were done with college and supposed to be starting careers and he just couldn't settle down. It was like he couldn't find anything to focus on because he was good at everything. He's also pretty big into overthinking so if you can pull him out of his own head, then he calms down and sees his path. So I was sitting there plotting out our day in my head.
"Next thing I knew, I was underwater fighting to hold on to the breath in my lungs and not scream because I knew if I let the air go I'd probably drown. I could tell it was something big that had my leg but I didn't know what. I couldn't see anything because the water was dark that early in the morning.
"I don't remember how I got to the beach but I remember Masen kneeling over me and screaming for help. Lucky for us both, while he was busy getting his college degree I was getting my nursing license. I talked him through tying off my leg and the next clear memory I have is of being in a hospital bed. My parents were there with Masen and Esme and Lee and her parents. At first, they were scared I had brain damage because I just smiled at them. But then I explained I was just so damn happy to be loved by all of them."
Bella swallowed, trying to ease the tightness in her throat at the idea of Whit suffering such a horrible thing. She also recalled Lee's comment earlier in the week about him having an off kilter kick and now she knew why. "What kind of … What was it?"
Whit stood and pulled his shirt off, revealing a set of tattoos on his left side. The first was a grey and white shark that wrapped around him, with the tail on his back, the body along his side, and the head covering his lower abs. The eye of the shark was so detailed that Bella shivered, feeling like the thing could actually see her.
"Great White. Mine was just an adolescent but even the kids have sharp ass teeth," Whit explained, tracing the belly of the beast with his pointer finger.
He moved his finger to the numbers above the shark's head. "This is the latitude and longitude of our meeting." Then he pointed to the numbers below. "This is the number of days I was in the hospital."
When he moved to sit back down, Bella noticed a tattoo adorning his shoulder blade. It was a woman in a very red bikini standing next to a matching surfboard. "What's this one for?"
Whit smiled but Bella could tell it was forced. "Another story for another day. Right now, we're talking about my shark." He moved his leg to show the calf again. "I would've been out of the hospital sooner but Mase and Lee were both dead set on me getting my leg rebuilt. For Lee, it was all about quality of life—she was convinced my surfing would suffer. She was afraid for a lot more than that, but that was the easiest way for her to explain herself at the time.
"Masen …" This time, Whit's smile was much more genuine. "Masen was a sixty-forty split between love and guilt. He felt like he should have done something to protect me, to keep me from being bit. He also couldn't handle not knowing why that shark had gone for my leg instead of his. He needed to fix my leg for me." Whit's smile turned into a smirk and she knew a joke was coming. "Plus, I didn't have a leg to stand on to turn him down since my insurance wouldn't cover it."
Bella lifted her brows, silently letting him know his joke had fallen flat.
Whit shrugged and then continued with his story. "So one day, not too long before they finally released me for good, he comes to me with this idea. He's got that light in his eyes, the one that screams to the world that the idea in his head is so damn bright, he's gonna burn up inside if he can't share it with someone.
"He tells me he finally knows what to do with his life and he wants me and Lee there with him. He wants to use his marine biology degree with his engineering and photography experience to explore the oceans. We both know sharks are what he really wants to study but we also know he'll make time for whatever Lee and I want to explore. That's Masen. He wants what he wants but he also gives you what you need if there's any way he can.
"And so right there in my hospital room, we decided to go into business together and shook on it. Lee joined up the next day when she came to visit and we told her about it. And once Esme found out, there was just no stopping her from joining us. Not that any of us seriously tried though. A couple years later, Gopher joined us, having fallen hard and fast for our Lee.
"And that is my story. Questions?"
Bella thought long and hard about what to ask and she also thought about the type of person Whit seemed to be so far. When the question came to her, she couldn't hold back her big grin. "A bird? Really? Your best friend spends all kinds of money to build you a leg and you go and put a bird on it. What kind of gratitude is that?"
Whit cracked up laughing and was having such a fit that both of his arms were wrapped around his stomach while he was just barely remaining in his chair. Bella was busy shaking her head at his foolishness, wondering how much of his laughter was amusement and how much was relief at being done with his story.
When Whit finally collected himself, he told her, "You're special, Guppy. Everyone else always asks how I can get back in the water."
She smiled as she touched his arm. "But I already know that ... It's a part of you. It's your passion the same way the sport is to the athlete and the painting to the artist. You could no more give up the water than you could breathing. Well, I mean technically you could, but you'd be miserable and empty."
He nodded in agreement as he leaned over and ran his hand over his calf. "It's not just any bird, you know. It's a swallow. For sailors back in the day, they were a sign that they would have a safe return home. No matter what body of water I'm in, I've always got mine with me."
"You're a pretty amazing guy, Whit."
He smiled at her. "Thank you, Guppy. You're not so shabby yourself." It was his turn to touch her arm. "You don't have to share just because I did, but when you're ready, I want you to know you have a friendly ear available."
"I wish I was ready. I wish I was as brave as you are and could just put it out there. But I'm afraid that if I tell it right now when I'm still so afraid to even look at them … at sharks … It will change how everyone sees me. It'll make them change their minds about my ability to be a good intern and to help MMR grow. I don't want to be judged that way."
"I get that. And you might even be right about one or two of us. But Masen will get it. He'll understand and he won't see you differently. He'll treat you a little differently but only in that he'll adjust his mentoring to fit your specific experiences."
Bella shook her head slowly. "I would like to think you're right about that, but his behavior with me has been kind of erratic so far."
Whit nodded while giving her shoulder a squeeze. "Just think about it, Guppy. If you still feel that way tomorrow, then hold off until you're more comfortable. In the meantime, we better get you inside to finish up with that video. I'm sure the door is tired of having Masen lurk behind it."
Once again, Whit's comment was just so absurd that Bella couldn't help laughing. She also couldn't help warming on the inside at the sight of Edward pacing behind the cabin door and knowing that he was waiting there for her.
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Masen let out a groan as he ran a hand over the scruff on his chin while heading for his room and longing for the hot shower in his immediate future. He had managed to get Bella all the way through the video but not without fraying both of their nerves so close to the breaking point that he was honestly amazed they had made it through at all. Then again, he hadn't known just how much of a trooper Bella could be. She would take a few minutes to herself and then come right back to it, trying her hardest to separate her shark from the one on the video. She'd even stuck around after the video to give her report on skipjacks, refusing his offer to do it tomorrow instead. She had fears but she also had heart, something he was really starting to admire about her.
He was so busy analyzing his time with Bella that he didn't notice the wall of Gopher coming out of Whit's room and nearly collided with the man.
"How'd it go with Guppy?" Gopher asked as he shifted the laundry basket to rest under his arm.
Masen didn't even hear the question because he was too busy yanking a shirt from the top of the pile. "What the hell, bro? What are you doing with my lucky shirt?"
Gopher's eyebrows lifted as high as they could go. "Uh, laundry. Hulk see dirty clothes, Hulk wash them."
"This wasn't in the laundry basket. It was on my bed."
"Yeah. And so were quite a few other items in need of a wash. You wanna dig those out of the basket too?"
"This wasn't with the rest of the stuff. It was hanging off the headboard. As in out of the way."
Gopher snorted. "Look, Mase, if you have something against the shirt being washed, that's fine, bro. I didn't know. My bad."
"I don't have anything against it. I just don't think it needs it."
"If you say so." Gopher's smile widened some more and for some reason he couldn't quite pinpoint, it was really starting to piss Masen off.
"Trouble, boys?" Esme asked, standing in the doorway of her room which was where Masen had been headed before getting sidetracked by Gopher.
"No trouble, Esme," Gopher replied, giving her a wide, toothy smile. "Just Masen not wanting his precious shirt washed is all."
Esme's frown immediately turned up into a smirk. "Kid, let's you and me have a talk."
"Mom," Masen whined without an ounce of shame. "I just want a hot shower. Please."
"This won't take long. Promise."
His head fell forward with his chin nearly touching his chest. "I just want a shower."
"You've got to come in here for your clothes anyway," she pointed out.
"Fine." He lifted his head and followed her into the room, hoping for a quick, short chat with her. He loved talking with her but just not when he wanted a shower and some time alone.
She sat on the end of the bed and crossed her legs in front of her, then patted the spot beside her. "You look tired, Kid."
Masen stretched out across the bed so that his head was resting on Esme's leg and his feet were touching the floor. "I feel it. My plan was to grab a shower and then a nap before dinner. But someone wants to talk."
She smiled down at him while running a hand through his already tortured hair; he'd lost count of how many times he'd pulled on it to keep his mouth shut and his temper in control with Bella, especially since she was actually doing really well given what he knew about her fears so far. He just wasn't used to working with someone who abhorred sharks. But he was going to have to get used to it because Bella wouldn't be the only intern they took on who didn't find the creatures beautiful the way he did.
"I heard about the incident with Bella and your lens thingy."
It was his turn to smirk. "I was going to tell you about that, you know. I just got sidetracked with the tiger shark data."
"Were you also going to tell me about your feelings for Bella?"
He groaned loudly. "I swear Whit is worse than a damn girl with his gossip."
Esme snorted. "I haven't spoken to Whit but I'm not a bit surprised he's seeing the same things I am. He's been a good friend to you for a long time."
He nodded. "Yeah, Whit's the best. He's a total shit too, but he's the best." He let out a breath and then lifted his eyes to meet hers. "I care about her. But I don't see any way to show her I care without jeopardizing MMR."
"That's because you have H-C-D-D."
"What the hell is that?"
With a devilish smile she answered, "Hard. Core. Denial. Disorder. It's your brain overthinking and overruling your heart."
"Okay," he said, laughing and rolling his eyes. "I hate to break it to you, Mom, but admitting I care is not a denial. It's not my fault that I met her as the intern and it's not overthinking to want to be careful with what we've built this company to be in the past five years."
"I think this has more to do with you not wanting to change your ways than it does with protecting MMR."
"It doesn't," he argued, getting up and walking over to his dresser to grab some clothes. He had a bad feeling about where this conversation was headed and just hoped he was wrong. Surely she wouldn't try and make a comparison like that, especially since it would be total crap.
"Edward, I know it was hard on you but—"
He spun around, fully aware that his face was giving away his anger even if he was controlling his voice. "Don't go there. This isn't about that."
"I think it is. I think it's the fear of having it taken away that's holding you back."
"No. What's holding me back is our company. It's more important than some summer fling with a girl I hardly know."
"And yet that shirt in your hand says something completely different."
Masen looked down at the blue plaid clenched in his fist. "It doesn't mean what you want it to mean. I'm not like that. I'm not like you when it comes to that stuff."
"Only because you fight so hard not to be. And maybe you're right. Maybe there is a point in life where it stops giving us things and starts taking them away. But if there is, we haven't reached it yet, Kid. So please stop acting as if we have. For her sake if not your own."
Her last words pushed him over the edge and his voice sounded like a roar in the small room. "Don't pull her into this!"
Esme jumped up from the bed and went to him, hugging him as tightly as she could while whispering apologies. His arms folded around her and he clung to her shoulders, hating that she could make him feel so weak and out of control with just a few words. And hating himself even more for being upset with her when it wasn't her fault.
"I'm sorry for upsetting you, Edward. You know I would never hurt you. I love you so much and I want you happy. Despite what we've known in the past, I believe there is a wonderful future for us both with people who love us."
"I have people who love me. I have you and Whit and Lee."
"We do love you. But there's also a deeper love that you're meant to have."
"You first."
She sighed as she hugged him tighter. "Okay, Kid. I'm going to say one more thing and then I'll leave you alone for now … When you're not so mad at the both of us, please honestly look at where your reluctance is coming from."
Instead of saying anything to her, he kissed the top of her head and left the room. He needed his shower and his time alone now more than ever.
She wasn't right. She couldn't be right. That hadn't been the reason things hadn't worked with Lee. He knew that without a single doubt in his head or heart. So she couldn't be right about Bella. Only …
Only the more he tried to come up with a reason why Esme was wrong, the more frustrated he became when he didn't find one.
As he stood under the warm spray of the shower with his head lowered and his arms braced against the cool tile wall, only he could tell which drops sliding down his face were water and which were tears born of his frustration and loss.
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After the video and the report, Edward had given Bella the rest of the afternoon off. She'd been grateful for it, knowing that she wasn't going to be much use to anyone until she was able to get herself in full control of her emotions again. She was proud of how well she had held herself together throughout the video but she was also well aware of how much further she had to go.
Wanting and needing to hear a familiar voice, she took her phone up to the viewing deck and curled up on the loveseat with it. Now that they had cleared the Panama Canal and were sailing through the Caribbean Sea, her phone could pick up enough of a signal to call home.
Her uncle answered after only a couple of rings. "Hello, Bug. How's it going?"
She smiled and closed her eyes, picturing him sitting beside her just like they did at home. "It's going really well. You would be really proud of how well I did today."
"I'm always proud of you, Bella, because you always do your very best."
"I'm trying. It hasn't been easy. And I certainly didn't help things by breaking Edward Masen's prototype lens hood."
"Oh, Bug," Carlisle said, laughing a little. "You dropped it, didn't you?"
"Yep. And when it hit the floor, it shattered. Literally thousands of little white pieces."
"How did Mr. Masen take the news?"
"Well, he didn't throw me overboard," she joked. "He was pretty upset but he also let me make up for it by helping to make a new one. Did you know you can make plastic with milk and vinegar?"
"I did not know that. Though, it must not be a durable plastic if it shatters."
"If you make the casein—that's the plastic stuff before it hardens—if you make that stuff thick, then it's surprisingly durable. But Edward says he makes them thin until he knows it works right so that he doesn't waste supplies. If he runs out of milk, he can't just hop off the boat and go get more."
"Sounds as though you two are getting along much better than before you set sail."
"He's really serious about helping me, Uncle Carl. I can even say it now. I can say shark. And the best part is that Edward and Whit don't make a big deal out of it when I say it. It's just done and we move on. And you won't believe this, but Whit was actually bitten. He was surfing with Edward and a Great White bit his leg. Edward got him out of the water and then Whit talked him through tying off his leg so it's like they both saved his life. And you know what? Whit's not even mad at sharks. He wants to save them. You should see how upset he gets when they talk about shark finning. How amazing is that? He's so brave and I want to be brave like that and I really think that with all of their help I can get there." Bella finally took a breath and then she laughed. "Sorry, Uncle Carl. I must have channeled Alice for a moment."
"I'm happy for you, Bella. You're making progress and you're enjoying yourself. But I must admit, I do miss you."
"I miss you too. And Alice. And land. I miss stable land a lot." She laughed again. "Gopher says I'll get my sea legs any day now and that I won't even notice the boat's swaying anymore. I think he was just being nice by saying it."
"Sounds like everyone there is being welcoming to you."
"They are. And Esme has been checking on me every day to make sure I have everything I need. She's so different from anyone else I know. She can go from being silly with everyone to pulling out the mom card in no time flat."
Carlisle chuckled. "Parental supervision. Now I feel even more okay with you being there."
Bella grinned, glad to know that he wasn't worrying for her. She hoped her sister was doing just as well. "Is Alice home? I was hoping to talk to her too."
"I'm afraid she's out this afternoon. She was invited by some of her sorority sisters to dinner and a movie."
"Is she doing okay?"
"She's doing remarkably well. She misses you very much, but she's been able to stay focused on school and work and she's doing great at both. It also helps that she enjoys the attention she gets when she tells people she has a sister traveling the world by boat."
Bella snorted and rolled her eyes, easily able to picture her sister doing such a thing. "Yeah, that sounds like my baby sister alright. Has she gotten her letter yet?"
He chuckled again. "She has the envelope proudly displayed in her room. She loved your choice of stamp."
Bella shrugged. "Yellow orchids are her favorite." She suddenly felt incredibly sad and her eyes started to water.
"Try not to feel too homesick, Bug. You'll see us again soon enough."
She didn't want to end their call on a sad note so she forced a smile. "Yes. I'll see you soon and I'll get to share everything I've learned with you. In the meantime, I'm going to let you go and head inside to see what I can help with."
"I love you, Bella."
"I love you too, Uncle Carl. Please give Alice a hug from me."
"I will, Sweetheart. Talk to you soon."
"Bye." She set her phone on the cushion beside her feet and then relaxed against the arm of the loveseat, laying her head against the back of it. She figured she'd take in the view of the Caribbean for a bit and then head inside to go over her blog one more time before handing it over to Lee for review. But she hadn't counted on the breeze feeling so good or the motion of the boat being so soothing and she ended up falling asleep.
She woke late in the afternoon, roused by the laughter coming from inside the cabin. At first she didn't move from her spot, content to listen to the crew. She couldn't pick out exact words but the tone was clear—they were enjoying their time together. She was excited to fully become a part of their team and she had used that today as another reason to push herself to face her fears. She was pretty sure she'd done a good job since Edward had managed to remain patient with her. I need to thank him for that, she thought as she stood and stretched.
She headed inside and found Esme, Lee, Whit, and Gopher chatting while setting up for dinner. "Is there anything I can do to help?" she asked.
"We're nearly done, Sweetheart. But thank you for asking," Esme replied, giving her arm a pat as she passed by.
"I know what you can do," Lee said as she set a couple of glasses down on the table. "Go down to Whit's room and let Masen know dinner's almost ready."
Bella narrowed her eyes slightly. "This isn't some kind of setup, right? Because if he's working and I get in trouble for interrupting him, I'm taking you down with me."
"Uh, oh! Look out!" Gopher teased, smiling wide. "Little fish found her backbone with Lee."
"Zip it, McCarty," Lee said, giving him a quick glance and a smile to show she was teasing right back. "It's not a setup," she said to Bella. "Even if he's working, he knows he's required to come to dinner. There is rarely ever an exception to that rule and he has no worthwhile reason to skip tonight. And you can tell him I said that."
"Alright," Bella agreed with a nod. "I'll give it a try then."
She headed down to the sleeping quarters and found Whit's door halfway open. Peeking inside, she was treated to the view of a shirtless Edward sprawled across his bed with Lizzy fast asleep on his chest. He had one arm thrown over his eyes and the other bent so that his hand was resting on Lizzy's back. It was such a sweet sight that she hated to wake him and ruin it.
She started by knocking on the door. Lizzy lifted her head, saw it was Bella, and then yawned and put her head back down. Bella giggled at the puppy as she pushed the door fully open and entered the room.
"Edward. It's time for dinner."
Once again, Lizzy was the only one to react. She scooted her way off of Edward and came to stand at the end of his bed. Her tail was wagging and she looked as if she was waiting for something.
Bella smiled and picked her up, cuddling the puppy under her chin and accepting a lick to her wrist with a laugh. "Hello, sweet girl. Sorry I had to wake you."
"Why are you waking us?" Edward was scrubbing his face with his hands when she looked up.
"Dinner time. The table's being set right now."
He glanced at the clock on the bedside table and then got out of bed. His arms went up over his head and he lifted up onto the balls of his feet, stretching himself out. The position made his muscles look more defined and had the added benefit of causing his shorts to slip down his hips and reveal the top band of his underwear.
"Briefly in boxers," he said, causing Bella to jump.
"What?" she asked, honestly confused.
"You were wondering if I'm wearing boxers or briefs."
"I was not!" she argued, her face a shade of red to match the collar around Lizzy's neck.
"Then why are you blushing?"
"Because … Because that was a really absurd thing for you to say."
"The only thing absurd around here is how red your face can get, Guppy."
Bella gave him a clearly fake smile and then turned and walked right out with Lizzy still in her arms. She wasn't going to stand there and give him a chance to make her face get even redder.
She had just put a foot on the first stair when Edward caught up with her, grabbing her around the waist and pulling her back against his chest. Since her dress was sleeveless she could feel that he'd put on a shirt—soft cotton from the way the fabric felt against the back of her arms. She closed her eyes and smiled, enjoying the feel of his palm resting just before her hip and his fingers spread out and gripping her side. It was so unbelievably good to feel wanted, especially with the memory of their last kiss on her mind.
"Are you really mad at me?" he asked, his warm breath making the hair on the back of her neck stand on end.
"I probably should be, but no. I'm not mad."
"Can we talk after dinner then?"
Bella pulled away so she could see Edward's face and gauge his mood. "Is it about the video? I thought I'd done pretty well."
"You did great, really. You pushed through it and finished it. I just wanted to see if you had any questions about it or about what Whit shared with you."
"Oh. Okay. Yeah, that would be nice. There is something I was wondering about."
He smiled and started walking up the stairs backwards. "So then come up and keep me company at the helm after dinner."
"You're gonna fall like that," she warned.
"I don't have any plans on falling, Guppy." For some reason, she had the strangest feeling he wasn't talking about the stairs. She thought for a second about saying something but then decided to wait until they were sitting together at the helm.
They found Esme and Whit already seated together at the table so Edward slid in next to his mom while Bella set Lizzy down next to her food and water bowls. After making sure Gopher didn't need any help, Bella slid in until she was next to the window. Once Lee and Gopher sat down, dinner became the usual hustle and bustle of trading plates accompanied by the sounds of multiple conversations being carried. For the most part, Bella just took it all in, only commenting when she felt she had something worth adding to a conversation.
Dinner was nearly over when Lee nudged her in the arm with her elbow. "How did you do on your skipjack report?"
"Okay, I guess. Edward didn't really comment on it. I think I had worn out his patience by then."
She nodded as if she was agreeing but then Lee looked over at Edward and asked, "How did Guppy do with the skipjack report?"
Edward didn't hear her at first, too busy arguing with Whit about something called a Soul Arch. After she repeated the question, he smiled and locked eyes with Bella. "I'll say this for her, she's thorough. She even looked up the Hawaiian name of skipjacks."
"Aku," Bella immediately replied with a smile. Not only had she found the name, she'd pronounced it correctly on the first try. She was also pretty sure she'd impressed Edward a little with it.
"Not bad," Lee commented. She even looked and sounded genuine in her compliment. "But did you retain any knowledge about them or just throw together a report?"
Bella smiled, confident she could meet this challenge. "Skipjacks are part of the tuna family and inhabit tropical waters across the world. They live in shoals of up to 50,000 fish and feed on small fish, crustaceans, cephalopods, and mollusks. They have a short life span of seven years but they manage to keep up their numbers because they begin to reproduce after only one year of life.
"Their natural predators are sharks, like the tigers from yesterday, and wahoo, the mackerel-like fish Edward and I spotted my first official day with MMR. The other danger to their numbers comes from commercial and game fishing. The ones that aren't deemed trophy material are sold fresh, frozen, canned, dried, salted, and smoked. They serve as an important part of the culinary culture in both Hawaii and Japan, and luckily for both, the fish are deemed sustainable at the current fishing levels.
"As for their appearance, skipjacks are silvery fish with four lateral bands that appear reflective under water. Unlike typical fish, skipjacks don't have scales except on the corselet, a dark blue band of large, thick scales running directly along the top, from their mouths to their tale fins. In my own personal opinion, they look similar to juvenile swordfish minus the long, pointed upper jaw."
There was such a long silence when she was done that she started to fidget in her seat. She'd thought Edward's silence had been from tiredness but now she was beginning to worry it had been from boredom, that her report had been too stiff.
"All that knowledge is sitting in your head?" Lee finally questioned.
"Well, yes. But that's only because it's fresh in my mind. In a couple of days, I'll only remember the highlights, like their life span and natural predators." Bella knew she would be able to remember more later on if she had gotten to note the skipjacks in her journal now, but since she had only seen them on video the sighting didn't count.
Lee eyed her closely and then quickly said, "Favorite cephalopod."
Bella answered just as rapidly. "Cuttlefish because it's the chameleon of the sea and can change its skin color at will."
"Yeah, like Bella's blush," Whit joked, giving her a friendly smile that she returned while blushing.
Lee grinned and gave a nod. "Alright, Guppy. You know your stuff. I'm impressed."
"Bella, I wonder if you've heard of my favorite cephalopod," Esme stated. "It's the blue-ringed octopus."
"Oh, I saw one!" Bella excitedly replied. "I was in New South Wales with my uncle and sister and there was one in the tide pool we were exploring. We didn't know it at the time, but we could have really been hurt if we'd tried to get any closer to it."
Esme nodded in agreement. "They're as beautiful as they are deadly, recognized as one of the most venomous marine animals in the world."
"I love the way their skin darkens when they're agitated and it looks like the rings are pulsating on them," Edward added.
"Yes and because Edward enjoys them as much as I do, he's promised to have an aquarium built for my room just so I can have my own blue-ringed octopus," Esme proudly shared.
"That was a joke, Mom, and you know it," Edward told her, looking annoyed. "I'm not about to put a potentially deadly creature in your room where you sleep."
"Why not?" Lee questioned. "It's not like the octopus can crawl out of the tank."
"Because it's my Mom," he yelled, using his hands to indicate Esme. "She'll decide she needs to pet it to show it some love, she'll get bit, and then all hell will break lose."
Bella felt concerned with how truly upset Edward appeared to be and it prompted her to speak up before waiting to see if anyone else would calm his fears. "I'm sure Esme was only teasing, Edward. And even if she was serious, she knows the dangers of the octopus. I bet you were even the one to tell her how deadly it can be in the first place."
Esme wrapped her arms around his shoulders the best she could and kissed his cheek loudly. "I'm sorry, Kid. I thought you'd know from the way I was smiling that I was only yanking your chain. I promise I'll only have safe fish in my aquarium. Like those Lionfish with the pretty barbs that we saw when we were in Australia."
Edward leaned in to her, pressing their foreheads together and fighting a smile. "Not funny." They all knew that lionfish were poisonous to humans.
"Kid, I'm flippin hilarious," she told him. Her comment cracked everyone up at the table—everyone except for Bella. She was a little busy trying not to cry, overwhelmed by the beauty of Esme and Edward's relationship. She was also feeling a sense of surprise since for the first time in a very long time, she found herself missing her mother.
"~~~^~~~~^~~~^~~~~^~~~^~~~~^"
Masen smiled as Esme's arms looped around his neck and her lips brushed his cheek. "We okay, Kid?"
"We always are."
"You left the dinner table pretty quick."
"I don't like not having an eye on the gauges for long in this part of the ocean."
"Is that all?"
He turned his head so she could see his smile. "I'm fine, Mom. And I'm not mad with you. Promise."
"Good. Want some company?"
"Thanks but Bella's going to come up so we can talk about the tiger shark video some more."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Why do you look so shocked?"
She smiled and ruffled his hair. "I guess I was just worried I'd said too much and you would pull away from her."
"Like I said earlier, MMR comes first and I'm her mentor. We're going to be working together no matter what. And after thinking about it some more, I agree with Whit that it wouldn't hurt anything for us to be friends. But that's where it ends."
She grinned and leaned forward to kiss his forehead. "I think it's an excellent place to start, Kid."
He huffed and gently pushed her away. "Out. As captain of this ship, I order you out."
"And as your mother, I love you and wish you a good night."
"You really try my patience sometimes, Esme Masen!" he called after her. Her answering laughter made him smile wider.
Not long after Esme left, Bella came into the room. "Did you still want to talk?"
"Yeah. Why wouldn't I?"
She pointed her thumb toward the hall while saying, "I was in the kitchen and heard you yelling to Esme."
"That was nothing. That was just us messing around." He patted the seat next to him and said, "Come here."
She came over but didn't sit down, choosing instead to get a closer look at the control panel. "Whit says Galeos basically drives itself."
"He's right. We have a very sophisticated auto-pilot. But just like with any piece of technology, you still have to keep an eye on it."
"Do you ever really drive it then?"
"Of course we do. We have to manually steer it in and out of marinas and anytime we're lining up for a mission."
"So the wheel's not just for decoration?"
He snorted. "No." He was going to leave it at that but then he got an idea into his head. He went to the wheel and after turning off the auto-pilot, he called Bella over to him.
"Hands on eleven and one," he instructed, standing directly behind her with his hands covering hers. "Feel the pull?"
"Yeah. What is that?" she questioned, her fingers flexing under his to grip the wheel tighter.
"The drag of the ocean current. We're cutting across the Caribbean to get to the Atlantic. Once we hit those waters, we'll turn and head straight for Gordon's Bay on the western side of the cape. It'll be our base of operation while we're researching near False Bay's Seal Island."
"How long before we reach the Atlantic?"
"Just a few more hours. We should cross over sometime around midnight. Then if the weather stays nice like it has been, it'll be a few days until we reach our destination."
"When will the big boat with the supplies be there?"
"They'll reach it sometime Tuesday, maybe early Wednesday."
"If we were to let go of the wheel, what would happen to the boat?"
"The current would push us off course."
Her fingers twitched beneath his. "Okay, put the auto-pilot back on before I screw something up."
"Relax, Guppy." He chuckled as he stepped closer, making sure she was locked in between him and the wheel. "I'm not going to let us go off course. Just relax and enjoy driving the boat."
"Please, Edward. I don't want to risk it. Just put it back the way it was and then we can talk."
"Alright, calm down," he said as he lifted his hands off of hers. "Take one hand off at a time and then duck under my arm to move away from the wheel."
She did just as he said and then let out a big sigh of relief behind him that made him laugh. "It's your fault," she said, poking him in the shoulder blade.
"How is it my fault?"
"I wouldn't be so nervous about screwing up if it wasn't for the lens hood thing."
"You were poking around in my room," he reminded her as he checked the course once more before putting the auto-pilot on.
"I wasn't poking around. I went in there to sweep up."
"And what? My hood jumped into your hands on its own?" he asked, smirking as he sat down beside her.
"Would you believe that?"
"No," he answered with a snort.
"Yeah, didn't really think so." She sat up straighter and looked directly at him, making him feel as though her brown eyes were pinning him in place. "Why did you leave my room Friday morning without saying goodbye?"
Masen took a moment to think about his choices in responding before answering her with the one that was as honest as he was willing to get. "I left really early because it wouldn't have looked right for anyone to see me coming out of your room. And since it was so early, I didn't see any reason to wake you."
She stared at him silently for what felt like a long time and when she finally spoke, she said the one thing he never expected. "You regret kissing me. Again."
Seeing her hurt once again by something he had done made him feel like an ass but leading her on would be worse. "Bella, I don't regret it. But I also can't let it happen again. If things were different, if we had met under other circumstances …" He shook his head. "But we didn't."
"What if they were different?"
"They're not."
"But what if they were?" she pressed. This time he was pretty sure her cheeks were red from frustration with him.
It was probably going to hurt her more, but he felt compelled to be honest with her. "Then we wouldn't be talking right now."
"Alright. I quit the internship."
"I can't let you do that, Bella. Your future is riding on this as much as MMRs."
"Don't use your company as an excuse. I may not have been here long, but I've seen how important it is to you and everyone else on this boat. I would never do anything to hurt it."
"I'm not saying you would. But you're smart enough to know that a perception can be just as damaging as an actual event." He took hold of her hand, running his thumb across her soft skin. "Listen, I'm going to be your mentor, and if you want, your friend. Just nothing else."
"Is this because things didn't work out for you with Lee?"
Masen barked out a laugh, shocked by Bella's question. "What did Gopher say to you?"
"Nothing. I just … I see things."
"If you're talking about how protective Lee is of me, that predates any attempt we made at being more than friends. When she moved to the island, I was the first friend she made. Plus, I was the only guy in our engineering group that thought her capable. All the others were too busy betting on when she would drop out to notice that she's maddeningly brilliant."
"But there was an attempt," Bella pressed, obviously determined not to let this go until she'd heard the story. "And it's not just her being protective. It's the way you are with Gopher."
He glanced toward the hall entrance, wanting to make sure they were really alone and also wondering what the hell had gotten in to him that he was actually going to share this with her. He leaned in closer so she could hear his low tone of voice. "You repeat a word of this and any chance we had at being friends is over. That clear?"
She nodded twice, her brown eyes never losing their intense focus on him.
"Lee wanted us to try dating and I didn't have a reason why not so I went along with it. I figured it would be just more of the same for us. We'd work on getting MMR off the ground, we'd hang out on the boat, and we'd surf. No real change to everyday life. When she told me she wanted more time with me and only me, I knew I'd made a mistake but I wasn't exactly sure how to get out of it without hurting her. Lee is a great woman and she deserves to be treated right. I had MMR on my mind and was barely focusing on anything else. I think she knew we weren't going to make it but just like me, she didn't know how to get out of it.
"And then she met Emmett, our very own Gopher," he said with a rueful smile. "He's an alright guy but even more, he treats Lee the way she deserves and needs. My attitude with him, I'd guess you'd call it, is from my own guilt. I should have been upset that he was suddenly all Lee could talk about but all I felt was relief. It was a way out of a bad situation for us both with no one getting hurt. And it allowed us to be what we truly are … family. If I'd felt a deeper kind of love for Lee, then I would have been able to change, to drop everything for her the way she needed." He smiled wide as he said the last bit. "But I only love her as an annoying, brilliant, amazing friend. And as she's fond of telling me, I'm her favorite pain in the ass."
Bella snorted. "I have to agree with her that you can be a pain."
"Says the woman who broke my lens hood."
She rolled her eyes and let out an exaggerated sigh. "That was days ago. Just how long do you plan to hold that over my head?"
He gave her his most devilish smile. "For as long as possible."
"That's really not fair."
"What?"
"For you to smile like that when you only want to be friends."
He tried to look and sound apologetic. "Sorry."
"Okay," she said, giggling a little. "You sit there and pretend and I'm going to head down and go to bed."
"I'm honestly doing what I think is the right thing, Bella."
Even though she smiled, he could tell she didn't completely believe him. "See you at breakfast, Edward."
"Night, Guppy."
Bella stopped at the edge of the hall and turned toward him. "I'd kiss you goodnight but you said no more kissing."
Masen spluttered a couple of times but never actually managed to say anything before Bella left, giggling all the way out of earshot.
What the hell just happened, he wondered as he shook his head. One minute she'd seemed upset that he only wanted to be friends and the next she was teasing him—no, taunting him. He had been just fine all throughout their talking, not feeling any particular urges towards her. And now all he wanted to do was go get that goodnight kiss she'd mentioned. She was like a lionfish—beautiful to look at but dangerous to touch. The thought should have been just what he needed to feel like he'd made the right decision to stop at being her friend. But if it was the right one, why was he still thinking about kissing her?
Because you weren't honest with yourself just now, he answered in his head. There had been a definite urge when she'd been trapped between his body and the boat's wheel. He'd wanted to move her ponytail aside and kiss her exposed neck, to rake his stubble across her soft skin and see if she opened up for more like she had in the bar that night. He'd wanted to press against her more, to fit her curves into his and feel the weight and warmth of her body against his own. What was it about this girl that made him lose focus whenever they were within touching distance?
Masen did what he did best when people confused him—he focused on his company. He checked one last time to make sure the boat was perfectly on course and then he began studying the maps for Seal Island and its surrounding waters.
"~~~^~~~~^~~~^~~~~^~~~^~~~~^"
A/N: We hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I'm sure a few of you were frustrated by Masen's decision—if it helps, he's going to have a really hard time sticking to it for the little while that he does ;)
Bella's first blog post for MMR was written by the very talented EternallyAddicted and is up on the Sharkward blog for more reading pleasure – links on my profile page. Not only do you get to read her take on what she's learned so far, she got permission to share some of Masen's photos.
Also, we want to remind everyone that time is running out to make a donation to Fandom for LLS and receive a Twilight / Hunger Games compilation. EternallyAddicted and I have both written brand new oneshots for the cause. Teasers are up on the Fandom site, along with plenty more from other talented authors. Donations will be taken through August 31st so make sure you get yours in – all it takes is $5.00. For more details, visit the Sharkward blog or EternallyAddicted's blog – links on my profile page.