A/N: Three updates in one week… I think this is a record! Haha! Thanks for the reviews! Just to let you know, the description for La Bella Italia isn'tthe one from the book- this is just how I pictured it. Hope enjoyed the little teaser, but here's the real thing! I was really excited about this chapter, but when I wrote it, it didn't work out like I wanted it to. I'm not too crazy about this chapter, so I completely understand if you don't like it either! Sorry for any mistakes! Enjoy!
Chapter 14: The Not-a-Date (RPOV)
It only took about an hour to get to wherever Nik had in mind.
We drove to a town called Port Angeles. It didn't look much bigger than Forks, but it had a lot more. It was fine to spend a few hours in.
When we pulled into the parking lot of La Bella Italia, I texted Edward, telling him the city we were in, and the restaurant we were at.
The restaurant was cute, a subtle white, almost house-like, building, a white front porch with plants sitting beside the door, and a swing and two rocking chairs sat on either side of it. The white double doors had a streak of a glass window that was half covered by short blue curtains, allowing some light from the inside to shine on the porch. We walked up the three stairs to the front of the building.
Nik opened the door for me, and held the door as I stepped in. There was a little podium as soon as you walked through the door, manned by a redhead with curly hair. We stepped up to the little podium.
She looked up, and blinked a couple times.
"Do you have a reservation?" she smiled, recovering a little. Her name tag read Angie.
I looked over to Nik, hiding a smile.
"Yes. De Luca," he smiled back.
She looked down at a little book, and looked for the name. "Ah. Yes. De Luca, party of two." Angie smiled again, and grabbed two menus. "Right this way please." She began walking through the crowd of tables, to a booth in the corner. "Is this okay?"
Nik flashed a grin again. "Perfect."
Angie blushed, and waited until we were seated before she handed us the menus. "Your server will be here momentarily."
"Thank you, Angie." Nik thanked her, and she turned to go back the way we came, hips shaking. Nik watched her the entire way.
I bit my lip, trying to control my laughter. It didn't work as well as I'd hoped as a chuckle escaped.
"What?" Nik asked, still smiling.
"I-nothing." I laughed, looking down.
"Why aren't you looking at me?" he asked, amusement coloring his tone.
"Because, if I look at you, I'm going to die by laughter." I laughed. "You know what? I might just do that anyway." I amended through my laughter.
He started laughing too. "So… I wasn't as… Subtle… As I thought?"
That did it. I laughed until my sides hurt. I got looks from the few people in the restaurant as my laughter quieted, all of which were adults. When I looked up, Nik was watching me, grinning, and had amusement twinkling in his green eyes.
"Better?" he asked.
"A little." I chuckled again.
Our server arrived to our table then, smiling brightly. She was blonde, tall… and if I had to guess, had been through her fair share of men. She had the top of her uniform pulled down so that anybody looking at her got an immediate eyeful of her cleavage. Her shorts were so short, that I didn't doubt that when she turned around, her ass would be hanging out of them.
I tossed a look over to Nik. He was grinning still, looking the woman up and down. I shook my head, looked down, and chuckled.
"Hey sweeties, I'm Miranda, and I'll be your server for tonight. What can I get y'all to drink?" When she spoke, it was clear she wasn't from around here; her country accent was too thick.
Nik coughed once, and shifted. It took everything I had to keep from laughing.
I cleared my throat.
"Uh… Ren? What do you want?" he said thickly. His smile was gone. I covered my laugh as a cough.
It didn't fool him. He scowled at me. I smiled.
"Umm… I'll take a sweet tea, please." I told Miranda. She wasn't looking at me. She was too busy looking Nik up and down.
"Two sweet teas, please, beautiful." he answered her question. He grinned a grin that I wouldn't be surprised to learn had gotten girls to drop their panties right then and there.
Miranda took a deep breath, and nodded, writing down the order.
"Got'cha. Be right back, darlin'." she said, looking at him as she walked away.
He did the same.
Turns out I was right about her shorts.
"Ya happythere, bud?" I teased, in my best country accent.
"Shut up."
Fifteen minutes later, Nik and I were busy eating pasta- me: five cheese ravioli, and Nik: spaghetti. Breadsticks were sitting in the middle of us, our half-full glasses of sweet tea on either side of our dishes.
"Let's play Twenty Questions!" Nik suddenly exclaimed while I took a bite of my ravioli.
I gave a confused look. "What is that?"
He stared at me, not answering my question. A few seconds later he replied, though, not with an answer. "You're kidding, right?"
I shook my head. "No… I've never heard of it."
"Where the hell did you come from?" he asked, seriously.
I shrugged. "Spokane, most recently. Before that, Wyoming, Montana, California, Arizona, oh, New Mexico-"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever." he interrupted. "Twenty Questions is exactly what it sounds like. We each ask twenty questions to get to know each other." he explained.
"Any certain questions?" I asked, taking another bite.
"Nope." He popped the "p". "It can be anything from my favorite color, to how many chicks I've slept with."
I cocked an eyebrow. "Yeah, well, I don't want to know that, so… We're safe there."
"Whatever. I'll start." He thought for a few minutes. "We'll start simple. Favorite color?"
"Black."
"Okay, your turn." He sipped his drink.
"Umm… How old are you?"
"Eighteen." His eyes glittered with amusement. "Favorite animal?"
"Wolf. Birthday?"
"June 18th. First kiss?"
"Never had one. You?"
"Ahh… Jessica Waller… Seventh grade. What underwear do you have on in this exactmoment?"
"Next question." Like hell I was answering that. Nik just laughed. "Favorite subject?"
"History, though they alwaysget the facts wrong. Yours?"
"English. And how would you know that the facts are wrong?"
He stared at me for a minute, panic flashing through his eyes. "Family members. Why do you like English so much?"
I shrugged again. "I like to read and write. But if you haven't lived with your family members in years, how are they telling you that what you learned in school was a lie?" I asked. I wasn't letting this go, though I didn't know why. It was a weird answer for someone who claimed to not have lived with family for years. Something… feltweird.
"I talk to them sometimes, Ren." he scoffed quickly. "Why do you keep questioning it?"
"Because it doesn't make any sense. You never mentioned talking to them. I mean, why would you get emancipated if you had other living relatives?"
"Because I didn't want to live with any other relatives," he said, eyes flashing with anger.
"You thought it'd be easier to get the courts involved? Trust me, the courts don't do anything for you. If I knew of any family that I could live with, I would." Somewhere in there, I'd changed tactics- switching from class subjects, to family.
"Whatever." He twirled his fork around, picking at his food.
"No, it's not 'whatever', Nik! You have a family. Apparently-"
"Apparently, what, Ren?" he said angrily.
I just looked at him for a few seconds. "Do you care how they feel about you choosing to never-"
He didn't let me finish again. "I'm not gonna sit here and listen to you judge me for my choices. Are you ready to go?" He threw down money and stood up.
"I'll call Edward to come get me." I snapped back.
"Fine." he snapped, and walked away.
I pushed my plate away roughly, setting my elbows down on the table, and head down in my hands.
"Ugh!" I groaned.
What the hell just happened? One minute we were playing that stupid game, and the next, he was leaving. Why had I pushed him? It was hislife, not mine! I had no say in however he lived his life! No matter how weird it was that he kept saying things that didn't match up with what he'd to-
No. It doesn't matter what he told me earlier. He had a reason for telling me what he told me, right?
Yes, he did. Of course he did.
So why did I overreact?
I have noidea.
I didn't even think before the words came out of my mouth. There was no filter when we were talking, just me being an idiot.
Sighing, I lifted my head from my hands, and pulled my phone out of my pocket. I found Edward's number, and pressed it. I held it up to my ear and listened to it ring.
"Renesmee? What's wrong?" Edward's concerned voice answered.
"Nothing serious. Could you come and get me? Nik and I got into a fight, and I didn't want to go home with him." I explained, and gave a humorless laugh.
"Absolutely. Where are you? Still at La Bella?"
"Yeah… Thank you," I told him.
"You're welcome, love." he said. "I'll be there in twenty minutes."
"Oh-" I started, but he hung up.
How was he going to get here in twenty minutes, when it took us an hour? Don't question it, Ren. That's what got you in this position to start with.
A/N: *Disclaimer* I do not own the Twilight Saga.*
So? Yes? No? Maybe so?
A huge thank you to Dawn, who convinced me that this was good enough to post, and the main point of the next chapter!
I will also go ahead and say that the wait for the next update may be a little longer... I'm pretty sure my brain is fried from writing so much this week, lol.
Please review!
Laters,
~Em