Hooray! Thank you all for the reviews. I really appreciate it. I had no idea so many people read my stuff. It's pretty cool. Here's part five, sorry it took so long. Go, go college! There is an end in sight. When I started writing this, I had no idea how I would end it, or when. I think I will be wrapping it up by part seven if not part six. Thanks so much! (PS, expect more fluff in part six (and seven if neccessary))
Cupcakes Part 5
By Ren
Edward was pacing. He had been pacing for several minutes. At first I had tried pacing beside him but I had grown tired with my human fatigue. Now, I sat cross-legged on the sofa watching him pace instead. I fiddled with the hem of my blue jeans absentmindedly. I knew Edward well enough to know he would stop when he figured something out. When that would be, though, I didn't know. And we needed the cupcakes for class tomorrow. I sighed deeply and Edward paused in his pacing and looked over to me. His pensive face softened and he walked over, sitting down next to me on the sofa.
"I'm sorry, Bella."
"You know, Edward, based on the speed you drive, we could have gone to the store, gotten more cupcake mix, and put more in the oven by now." I smiled dryly.
"I know. But it's the principle of the thing."
"You reek of cabbage." He grimaced.
"I threw it out; at least, there shouldn't be anymore cabbage." I sighed.
"So now what do we do?" Here, Edward's eyes turned amused. I felt my heart flutter faintly and his crooked smile only widened.
" 'We' don't do anything," he purred, watching me.
"Well, what are you going to do?" Honestly, I was so tired of having to stay put. It was never 'we' it was always 'Edward.' Not because Edward was selfish in that regard, but because 'I', or better defined as weak, slow human, couldn't physically do what he needed done. Infuriating.
"Actually, you, are going to go talk with Emmett. I will find Rosalie." Er, me? Had he really said that?
"Me? Go find Emmett?"
"Yes. He adores you, like a little sister. Besides, if I went after him, he'd destroy the cupcakes."
"And why can't we just make more?"
"Principle." Of course. I sighed. Edward and his principles. "Emmett's in his room. Good luck." He kissed my temple and vanished, probably running to find Rosalie in the garage before she could escape. Grumbling, I trudged up the stairs. I knew he would hear me coming. He better. Angry grizzlies had nothing on this. I paused outside his door and raised my fist to pound on it. Before my fist could come into contact with it, however, the door swung open and Emmett stood there, smirking at me. Slowly, I lowered my hand down to my side.
"Hey, Bella," he grinned.
"Emmett, can I please, please, please have the cupcakes back? Pretty please?" I begged mercilessly, and I looked ridiculous, I was sure. Emmett just stared at me, shocked. A bellowing laughter erupted from him and he sank into a chair, gesturing for me to come inside the room. I did and glared at him, waiting for him to finish laughing. When he finished, he leaned back in his chair to study me. After carefully composing his face, he answered me.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Right. Emmett was a worse liar than me. If I could see through him, then he was terrible.
"Emmett… please?" Before Emmett could respond, Edward had appeared in the doorway, his beautiful golden eyes absolutely livid. Destroying angel. His lip was curled back and he was positively snarling at Emmett. I cringed away from him and Emmett only raised his eyebrows indicatively.
"Yes, Edward? Did you need something wittle bruddah? I- ow! Ow! Ow!" I blinked. In a very narrow time, Edward had gone from crouched in the doorway to on top of Emmett. In that same amount of time, Emmett had gone from taunting Edward to uttering explicatives. I knew Emmett was colorful, but he was redefining colorful at the moment. Because Edward's motion took him by surprise, it took a full minute for Emmett to retaliate against his 'younger' brother. I just stared, frozen in shock, eyes wide. Edward was really upset about something. Something that was so bad, it caused him to deviate from his original plan. Emmett was quickly realizing this wasn't a friendly tussle.
"Whoa whoa… hey Edward, calm for a minute…"
"You-put-icing-inside-my-Volvo!" Edward was hissing out each word through gnashing teeth. I gasped; surely Emmett hadn't been that careless.
"Don't worry, the cupcakes are still alive. I just used the icing. Payback's a bitch." Emmett was matching Edward's strength now. Edward was the faster of the two, but not the stronger. Emmett was winning. And it was infuriating Edward even more.
"Emmett you idiot… do you know how difficult icing will be to remove?"
"Cabbage wasn't too easy, you know."
"But cabbage is solid. There is icing rubbed into the upholstery. My leather seats!" I hopped up and moved over to them slowly. Edward's eyes glanced toward me, and he shook his head. "No, Bella. Go back." I backed away as he liked, and just watched, worried, as the boys continued to struggle. Finally tired of the game, Emmett tossed Edward onto the sofa. Before he rebounded back to his burly brother, Emmett held up his hands.
"Okay, okay. You're right. I… didn't realize it would be so bad. I'll clean it up, don't worry." Edward sank dangerously into the sofa; his eyes never leaving Emmett. I sighed. I was glad they were finished fighting. Emmett glanced over to me. He looked amused and eyed my hand speculatively.
"So… what happened to Bella? Did she fall in the oven or something?" I choked, and Edward snarled softly. "Oh my God! You really did fall in the oven!" He stared at me incredulously, and I just blushed madly, hiding my hand.
"Not… exactly," I said through gritted teeth.
"Only you, Bella," Emmett laughed, then quickly grew quiet with Edward's dangerous look. He coughed softly. I felt my cheeks flame slightly. I decided to try again.
"Please, Emmett? Can we have the cupcakes back?" I tried to pout; I batted my eyelashes a bit and watched him through their lengths, tucked out my bottom lip slightly. It seemed to work; Emmett looked apologetic at least.
"Sorry, Bella… I actually don't have them." I can't believe he had the nerve to say that.
"Emmett we know you-" Edward cut me off before I could finish.
"Actually, he's right. He doesn't have them anymore." I glanced at Edward, startled.
"Then who has-"
"Alice," Edward and Emmett said in unison. What was it with these vampires not letting me finish my sentences? Was it because I spoke too slowly for their taste? Whatever the reason, it was irritating. I pressed my lips closed tightly to keep from saying something I'd regret.
Alice. Alice had them. Why would Alice have them? And what about Rosalie?
"What about Rosalie?" I voiced my last question out loud. Emmett just shrugged.
"Rose never had anythin' to do with the cupcakes. I was hopin' Edward would go after her – which he did – and see the Volvo, and you'd come see me. You're so much fun, Bella," Emmett beamed, quite proud of himself that his somewhat shallow plan had worked. Edward just rolled his eyes.
"What does Alice want for the cupcakes, then?" Edward kept glancing around the room as he spoke. "Since she won't tell me with her mind?"
"What's she thinking?" I looked at Edward, and he slowly lowered his gaze to mine.
"…I feel pretty… Oh so pretty…" Both Emmett and I started laughing in unison; it was quite funny to see Edward mime Alice's voice. He glared at Emmett, but not me. I wondered why she would be thinking that. Emmett was just grinning like an idiot. Edward's temper was rising with Emmett's mounting amusement.
Without warning, Edward's face softened into an unemotional shell. I stared at it, worried. Was he angry? Was he so angry he was trying to hide it? What was he thinking? I nibbled on my bottom lip. Could what Emmett was thinking be that bad? I looked over to Emmett, and he was staring at me, a wide smirk on his face. I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Why did I feel like this wouldn't bode well for me?
I looked up to Edward next, and he, too, was now staring down at me. I could see in his eyes what I couldn't on his face: he was fighting with amusement and anger. I was definitely missing something.
"Okay, will someone tell me what Emmett just thought that's so damn amusing and somehow has to do with me?" My irritation was rising now. Emmett started to speak, but Edward cut him off. He caught my chin and turned my face so I could look at nothing but his eyes. Smoldering.
"Bella?" His voice was sweet and low. I felt a thud in my chest and I thought I heard Emmett chuckle.
"Y-yes?" I squeaked at the very end, hardly breathing. I know I heard Emmett chuckle that time.
"What would you do for our precious, innocent, defenseless cupcakes?"
"Uh…" Coherent thought anyone? Edward's gaze left me powerless.
"What would you do for me?" That was an easy question to answer, and he already knew it. Why was he asking…? Something told me I should be able to reason through this, but his cheating gaze was ruining any chance at that.
"Anything…" I could barely speak; the answer came out in a whoosh of air. Emmett was definitely sniggering. I should be worried, but I couldn't bring myself to care at this moment.
"Right… Anything. You know how much I'm concerned about principle, right?" I still couldn't figure out where this was going. I felt like it should be obvious.
"A lot…"
"Right. And you know I would do anything for principle… and you would do anything for me, right? So naturally, you would do anything for principle. Right?" What had he just said? I blinked dizzily. It sounded about right.
"Sure." I wasn't sure what I was agreeing to. His crooked smile lit up his face.
"Anything, right?" Why was he qualifying this? Why did I feel like I was getting backed into a corner? I should be suspicious. And he was cheating. This so wasn't fair.
"Anything," I repeated without thinking about it.
"Well, Alice has our poor cupcakes… and you need to be brave and get them back. Will you do that for me?"
"Of course." Anything for Edward. I felt my heart flutter. Did it bother me I couldn't remember the first part of the conversation? Not at all. Edward smiled again and leaned down and pressed his lips against mine briefly. My heart thudded again and he chuckled, leaving his face near mine. His breath blew across my face, and any remote suspicion I had was long gone.
"Will you go appease Alice so we can get our cupcakes back?" Appease? That didn't sound so bad. Would it be bad? Of course not. Would what be bad? What was I doing again? All I did was nod. Edward pressed his lips against mine again. "Alice loves to play with humans… the things she couldn't do before… she promises to return the cupcakes if you play dress up for her." That didn't sound so bad. My head was swimming. I nodded vaguely. "She's in her room now. You remember where that is?"
"Of course…"
"Do you remember what we just talked about," he asked skeptically.
"Not really…" All I heard was his soft chuckle, and then his cold lips were against mine once more. I kissed him. Of course I kissed him. I held onto him, wrapping my arms around his neck and crawling closer until he pushed me away and reminded me to breathe. Still in a daze, I got up and teetered out of Emmett's room – when had I gone in there? I hardly remembered.
Alice's room was never hard to find. I was already at her door when my head cleared. I realized I had just agreed to let Alice play makeover in exchange for cupcakes. Why couldn't we just go buy more? I was not about to go let Alice-
"Bella!" Alice had opened her door and she was smiling sweetly. Oh crap. Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap. I turned away from her but her stone hand had already grabbed my upper arm. "Bella, you promised Edward…" of course she would know. I couldn't believe this!
"That doesn't count! He was cheating…" I pleaded with her. Alice just shook her head, smiling.
"Please, Bella? For me? I'll give you the cupcakes back…" I think I had a look of terror on my face because Alice suddenly looked concerned. "I'm not going to eat you or anything, sheesh. Now come on in." Before I could protest, Alice dragged me into her room.
"Stupid, Cheating Vampire!" I yelled; I knew Edward would hear me. I swear I heard a ghostly chuckle right before Alice's door closed behind me, the click of the lock signifying my doom. She just smiled at me sweetly.
"Principle, right?" With a bell-like laugh that sounded far more menacing than it should have, she towed me toward the bathroom. God help me.
