AN:
Wow it's been absolutely ages since I updated...sorry about that. I've had tons of work, my internet hasn't been that great.
Okay enough excuses, I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, especially the bit with Aphy and Chris. AND we have the first of the citrus variety hehe.
I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Please review and tell me how you found it.
Disclaimer: Ms Meyer owns Twilight and the Cullens and to quote KiyaRaven "I just like schmexin' them up"
X
Chapter Three: Let's Just Talk
APOV
"Let's go to your place. I want to meet your family"
I stared at him. Not quite what I'd been expecting.
"I don't think that's a good idea" I replied.
"Why? Are you worried they'll weird me out and I'll run away screaming?"
I thought about this. My family and Edward in a room together, there were so many ways it could go.
"That's highly probable, but it's not the reason"
"Then what is?"
Oh God. Why is my life always so goddamn complex? Why can't it be straight forward for once? I mean it's called a life line but mine is like some kind of jumbled mess of randomness.
"It doesn't matter" I said, answering both things at once, although in each case it was a downright lie. "C'mon then"
I looked up at the house. It was exactly the same. It always is; throughout my hectic life our house has been one of the continuities. Sure the grass might grow a bit and mum would make some attempt to cut it, or the curtains might change, but they were just little, inconsequential things; nothing within the bigger picture. Things that happened in the world around it, even things that happened inside it, never really affected it. It didn't care about my life; it'd been there before me and would be there after I've gone.
I turned to look at Edward. "Are you sure about this?"
"Why wouldn't I be?" He said giving me a funny look. "What's going on Aphy? There's something you're not telling me"
There are lots of things I'm not telling you, I thought, where would you like me to start?
I took a deep breath. "It's about the other week, when you walked me home…"
"Yes?"
"And…I kissed you"
"Ah. I was wondering when you'd mention that"
"I'm sorry about that. It was before I realised I had feelings for you, so I was kind of using you"
"I'm not really following this. How exactly were you using me?"
"Oh God Edward, I'm sorry" I felt so bad, I knew I'd hurt his feelings. "My brother saw us out here, and I knew that as soon as I walked in he'd ask me about you, so I needed an excuse. So I told him you were my boyfriend, which is why I kissed you"
"I don't see a problem" he responded "I mean I am your boyfriend, aren't I?"
"No. I mean yes you are, but that's not the problem"
"Then what is?"
"When you didn't reappear Chris began to ask questions, so I told him you'd slept with me and never spoken to me again"
"Oh. Why on earth did you tell him that?" He actually looked pretty pissed off.
"What was I supposed to say?"
"Oh, I don't know, maybe you'd broken up with me?"
Did he just use sarcasm with me? Nobody gets sarky with me.
"So-rry! I'm afraid I'm not Mr Braniac Planning Committee like some people!"
Now I felt bad. He actually looked really sorry and upset.
"I'm sorry I got sarcastic with you Aphy, but don't lets argue"
"It's Ok. I'm sorry I called you a braniac"
"Hey! Who said braniac is a bad thing? I will have you know I am a braniac, however a very disorganised one who is definitely not on the planning committee"
"C'mon" I said "how's my brother going to kill you if we're standing out here?"
Edward closed the front door behind him. We stood in the hallway, out of the corner of my eye I could see him looking around, taking in everything, seeing how the other half lived. I couldn't hear anything; maybe no one was home. As if in answer to me thoughts, Chris appeared in the living room doorway. He opened his mouth to greet me, but then he noticed Edward.
So the 'hello' turned into "What the fuck are you doing here?"
"Chris" I said warningly
"D'you want me to beat the crap out of him, Aph?"
"Chris. Kitchen. Now" I said pushing him out of the hallway.
"What's going on Aphy? He treats you like a one night stand and now you're all over him again"
God almighty! Chris was really starting to piss me off. I knew it wasn't his fault, he didn't know I made that up, but still. Argh!
"Number one, I am not all over him, I've barely touched him today" apart from one fuck-awesome kiss "and number two, he did not treat me like a one night stand"
"Huh?"
Oh. My. God.
"He did not…"
"No, no, I heard you, but I don't understand what you mean"
"I lied to you"
"Huh?"
"Seriously Chris!"
"Oh, sorry. Um, why?"
Good question. Come on Aphy, blow him away with your mindboggling reason. Mindboggling! Ha, that's such a cool word! Really, not helping. Okaay.
"I lied to you, because I didn't want to admit how serious this relationship is"
Uh huh, kick-ass!
"Serious?"
What was with all the questions? Loose the question marks, people!
"Yes. This is my most serious relationship I've ever had and I really don't want you fucking it up for me"
"How long have you known him?"
"Three weeks" That actually sounded quite bad now I thought about it.
"Three weeks and you call it serious?"
I gave him one of my drop-dead Aphy glares.
"Ok, next question. How many times have you fucked him?"
Sometimes, he really makes my blood boil.
"I haven't 'fucked' him, as you so eloquently put it"
Chris rolled his eyes "All right, how many times have you 'made love' to him?"
"I haven't"
"Huh?"
"God Chris, there are other words in the English language! And do I really have to spell it out? Edward and I have not had sexual intercourse of any kind!"
"Are you sure?"
Oh my fucking God. Did he actually ask me that?!
"Am I sure? Do you honestly think I would forget that I'd had sex with someone?"
He thought about it. He actually had to think about it!
"There was that time with…" he began.
"Christopher Joseph Harte, do not bring that up! Edward is my boyfriend and I love him and you are not to lay a finger on him. Now we are going upstairs so fuck off" I said as I made way out into the hall to join Edward.
"Are you gonna fuck him now?" Chris asked.
"Fuck off Chris!" I yelled "Go sell crack to twelve year olds or something!"
I turned to Edward "C'mon" and I led the way upstairs.
EPOV
"After you" she said gesturing to the white-painted wooden door.
I stepped forward, turned the brass handle, pushed the door open, and walked into her room. She followed behind me and closed the door with a gentle click. I looked around. There was a wardrobe, a desk, cupboards, shelves, a dressing table, and a double bed. The first thing I thought was: lucky bitch has a double bed, the second thing was: that might be useful. Then Mr Rational Conscience said: 'don't get ahead of yourself mate' in a strange Australian accent.
It was all pretty normal, I must admit I had been expecting something weird and wonderful, but instead I got conventional: beige carpet, white wood, and blue. There was a lot of blue: the duvet was blue, the curtains were blue, and the walls were blue, even the rug on the floor…The walls. I'd got my weird, but I wasn't so sure about the wonderful. I stared at the wall opposite the door. The wall itself wasn't that riveting, walls never are, it was what was on the wall. Silhouette figures; men and women, I swear one of them was holding a knife. Empty people, shadows. They scared the shit out of me.
"What do you think?"
I'd almost forgotten about Aphy, I'd been so engrossed in the shadow people.
"Did you do that?" I asked, turning to look at her.
"Yep. Do you like?"
"Yes. No…I dunno. They're good, hell they're amazing, but they scare me"
She snorted "They scare you?"
"They don't have faces"
"That's because they're silhouettes Mr Big IQ, shadows of people"
"Fine. What's with the knife? I don't appreciate some random guy standing next to my girlfriend's bed with a knife"
She laughed again.
"I seriously don't get what's so funny" I complained
"It's not some random guy, it's Chris"
"I'm even more disturbed now"
"It's symbolism, darling, very big in the art world"
"What does your brother holding a knife symbolise?"
"That he's an annoying little prick"
"Hm" I frowned "What about that girl?" I said poking one of the shadows "she looks evil"
"Fucking hell" she spluttered "you're hilarious"
"Gee. Thanks" I said sarcastically
"Sorry!" she giggled "That one's me"
"Oh"
She regained her composure and ran her hand along my jaw line, turning my face towards hers.
"So" she said, stepping closer, pressing her body close to mine "do I scare you, Mr Cullen?"
"Hell yeah" I groaned as she nibbled my ear.
Her hands left my face and travelled slowly down my back, ending up wrapped around my waist. I crushed my lips to hers and she let out a sigh, opening her mouth and letting my tongue slide inside. I pulled her closer and she moaned as she felt my erection. She walked us over to the bed and pulled me down next to her. I sat up with my back against the headrest and she climbed on top, straddling my hips. She began to rock back and forth on my increasingly large erection. She moaned again.
"Oh fuck" I swore, her little noises of pleasure turned me on so much.
"So fuck is in your vocabulary Mr Goody Two Shoes Braniac" she panted.
I grabbed her hips and rolled us over so that I was on top. She reached up and kissed me, her lips burning mine.
I peeled off her jacket and grey hoodie, throwing them onto the floor beside the bed. Her blue dress was loose fitting, the material flowing off the peak of her breasts in irregular folds. I cupped one of her breasts in my hand, feeling the nipple harden through the material. I looked up and met her eyes, smouldering with lust. I lowered my head and grabbed her nipple roughly with my teeth. She gasped. I massaged her breasts with one hand, meanwhile moving the other one down to her thigh, sliding the blue material up it.
"Edward, stop"
I looked up, my hand frozen just below her hip.
"What's the matter?" I asked. What was I doing wrong? Didn't she like this? She was probably used to people with more experience than me, but I am pretty good at this kind of thing. I thought she'd been enjoying this.
"God, Edward. It's not you, what you're doing is amazing, I'm so fucking turned on"
Just the idea of her being turned on sent new waves of longing down to my throbbing erection. I rolled off, and lay on my side watching her.
"It's just…I can't do this" she closed her eyes
"What do you mean?" I was starting to get worried, was she breaking up with me?
"I don't want us to have sex right now"
APOV
He lay there watching me, shocked, confused…and disappointed. I felt awful. I'd led him on, turned him on, and let him down. I had to do it; it was my duty to myself.
I started again "I don't want us to have sex right now, because I don't want us to ruin everything"
No change in his facial expression, it was quite sexy really. That set my girl parts all a tingle again. Focus, Aphy, focus.
"So many of my relationships have just been about the sex and they've always fallen apart in a matter of weeks, sometimes days" I paused "I don't want that to happen to us. I don't have a problem with sex; I've had plenty of sex, a lot more than is good for me. That's what I am, a slut, an easy ride"
I looked away, letting my hair form a barrier between us so he couldn't see my damp eyes.
"Aphy"
"Let me finish" I cut across, feeling the tears running down my cheeks "I'm a bad influence, I mess people up; you'll only get into trouble if you stay with me. I'm giving you a chance to back out"
"You're crazy"
Did I hear right? He's calling me crazy!
"I'm crazy?" I turned to stare at him
"Definitely, if you think that you can get rid of me that easily. You're not a slut; you are an amazing, beautiful girl who I love. I'm not going anywhere; I'm staying right here, with you"
He leant over and kissed me, wiping the tears from my eyes.
"Let's just talk" he murmured, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me close.
EPOV
"What do you want to talk about, then?" she asked
"I don't know" I replied
"Oh come on, it was your idea so get the conversation flowing darling"
"Fine, let's talk about you"
"Me? Why me?"
"You told me to think of something to talk about, so I did. Now tell me about yourself"
She glared at me "What do you want to know?"
"Everything"
She rolled her eyes "You have to start somewhere. Ask me a question"
I thought about it. There were so many things I wanted to ask, so much I didn't know. Where to start?
"What's your name?" she looked at me like I'd gone mad.
"What's Aphy short for? It's short for something, I'm guessing"
She sighed and propped herself up on one elbow. "Promise you won't laugh"
"Why would I laugh?"
"Just promise" she said poking me.
"Ok, ok, I promise"
"Aphrodite"
"Huh?"
"God Almighty! What is it with you guys and that word? My full name is Aphrodite May Harte, Aphy is short for Aphrodite!"
I started to laugh, I couldn't help it.
"Oy! You promised!" she thumped me
"Sorry, sorry, sorry" was all I managed to get out as I defended myself from her blows "God woman, you have anger issues!"
She gave me the finger.
"Why are you called Aphrodite?" I inquired gingerly, preparing to defend myself again if need be.
"My mum was high when she went to get my birth certificate"
"Ah"
"It could've been a lot worse"
"Oh. How?"
"My mum and her crazy friends had a baby naming party and they all got rather pissed. So they went down the road of famous women in history"
"What did they come up with, besides Aphrodite?"
"Elizabeth, Helen of Troy, Marie Antoinette, Cleopatra, Marilyn Monroe, Boudicca…you get the idea"
"Boudicca?"
"Yep"
"Good God!"
She laughed "So Aphrodite isn't that bad then"
"I suppose not. Imagine saddling a child with 'Boudicca'. What if they turned out a total wimp?"
"Like you, you mean?"
"Fuck off"
"See I'm being a bad influence already, you're swearing more"
I shrugged.
"It's quite sexy y'know" she said vaguely looking at me, her head tilted "you swearing. Say 'fuck' again"
I looked at her, slightly confused "Fuck?"
She kissed me.
"Mmm" I moaned "Fuck, fuck, fuckety fuck"
"Say it babe" she ran her hands over my chest, feeling the muscles.
"Fuuuck" I drew out the syllable.
She grabbed my cock through my jeans "Oh fuck!" I yelled
"Shh!" she giggled, breaking away.
I waited until my breathing and heart rate had settled before speaking again.
"So I'm going out with the goddess of love then" I said raising an eyebrow.
"I suppose you are"
So there you go. Yes I know, Aphrodite, slightly cliche, but there are people called that and I think it's a beautiful name, and also the wackiness of it suits Aphy I think. What do you guys think. Let the thoughts fly...REVIEW, it kicks my writing brain into action.
Love, Libi xxx