Disclaimer: SM still owns Twilight.
Sorry for flooding your inbox, guys. Just doing some major reposting. Please bear with me :)
As usual, thanks to my darling Izzzyy :)
Chapter 7
"I brought lunch," Heidi explained, showing him a bag of God-knows-what with a pleased smile on her beautiful face.
"Oh. Uh...thanks?"
His supermodel girlfriend peered at what was behind him, making Edward frown a little. Heidi's curiosity about his room was obvious. He even saw her make a tentative step forward, most likely to ask him for a little tour. No. Not gonna happen. He quickly took the bag she was carrying with one hand while his other hand closed the door. He then guided her towards the breakfast bar, where he saw Bella talking to someone on the phone.
"Yep. See you later." A telling blush colored her cheeks, making Edward wonder who she was talking to and about . "Jess! No! Sheesh."
Jessica Stanley.
He scowled. Not good.
"No way. I won't–" Bella glanced at them discreetly, and when she caught him looking at her, her blush deepened.
Guilty as fuck.
Yep. That sub wannabe was up to no good, and pulling Bella into it as well. Edward scowled at Miss Pushover, who rolled her eyes at him, face still red, before turning her back and walking away from them, heading towards the living room for privacy.
Fuck privacy.
"That's really cute."
Heidi. She was here, in their house. Stop minding Bella's business and focus on your girlfriend, dufus. He should be concentrating on her, and not on the phone conversation Bella was currently having with Crazy Jessie.
She shouldn't be here in the first place.
Ignoring that offensive thought, he gave Heidi an inquiring look. "What's cute?"
"You and Bella," his girlfriend answered with a smile. "You two actually communicate through facial expressions."
He shrugged. "We've been sharing this house for three years and have spent an awful lot of time together. We pretty much had to form a bond − either we got along or I moved out. I chose to get along."
"And I couldn't possibly pick moving out, 'cause this is my house and I really need a roomie, so getting along it is," Bella quipped, standing beside Heidi and kissing her cheek. "Welcome to our humble abode, Gorgeous," she greeted with a grin before looking curiously at the bags. "I'd give you the grand tour, but that's Edward's responsibility, so I'll let him do that later. Anyway, what's for lunch? That is, if I'm invited, or is this a going away party for two from which I need to disappear and give you lovebirds some major alone time?" Suggestive wink.
Heidi affectionately gave Bella a side hug before opening the bags. "Of course you're invited. I brought food enough for the three of us. Besides, this is my first time to be here and hanging out with you both. I can't wait to hear stories about Edward."
"Sorry Gorgeous, but I'm pleading the fifth. Edward and I have a buddy pact of sorts. Thou Shall Not Air Dirty Laundry In Front Of Our Respective Loves," the brunette answered, winking at Edward, who froze hearing what she'd called Heidi. But, oblivious as ever, Bella thought nothing of it. Instead she marched towards the overhead cabinet to get plates.
He glanced at Heidi and inwardly cringed. She ate it up, gazing at him adoringly with both cheeks pinking a little.
Fuck.
Again, she shouldn't be here in the first place.
"I don't really mind knowing your dirty laundry, Edward. It won't change anything."
Ugh.
Bella awwwwed upon hearing that and clasped the plates on her chest while looking at them with stars in her eyes. There was a definite possibility that she was already planning what to buy as a gift for their wedding.
"The plates?" he reminded Queen Oblivious the First with a hint of irritation coloring his voice.
It may have been a hint, but Bella heard it loud and clear, because the love-struck, goofy grin she wore while watching him and Heidi disappeared. She tilted her head and eyed him in concern, her eyes silently asking him "What's going on?"
Now she was observant. Edward snorted a little.
Bella subtlety mimicked his left eyebrow lift. What's up?
He rolled his eyes at her in response. Duh.
She wrinkled her nose in annoyance. No it's not duh. I'm asking you what's wrong because I have no idea.
He smirked. Of course it's duh. You're just being your usual duh self.
She squinted her eyes. Grr.
He smirked some more and added a smug smile just to irritate her big time. Not gonna help you figure it out.
She made a face then stuck her tongue out at him. Fine. I forfeit. Whatever.
He chuckled. How mature.
Heidi cleared her throat, a bit amused herself with the silent exchange going on. "Okay you two, time to eat. Who wants fried chicken?"
"Me, me and me."
The girlfriend giggled at Bella's enthusiasm as the latter put down the plates on the breakfast bar and opened the bucket in front of them. The boyfriend watched the girlfriend's amused scrutiny of his roommate and sighed.
This is happening. They obviously like each other. They're fucking affectionate, with the kissing and side-hugging, so just deal. You should be happy about this.
He wasn't.
With a sigh of resignation, Edward stood between the girls, gave Heidi her plate and took Bella's. On Bella's plate he put two pieces of chicken (including a drumstick, her favorite part), a dollop of mashed potatoes, two spoonfuls of coleslaw and then covered everything up with huge amounts of gravy until everything was drowned by it. Then he placed it in front of Bella before fixing his own. On it he only placed one chicken leg, nothing more.
Heidi's eyed widened when she saw Bella's plate. "Edward, look at what you did. That's practically..." Her voice trailed off when Bella took a piece of chicken from the shudder-worthy plate, swirled it for a second over the combination of mashed potatoes, coleslaw, and gravy, and bit into it with gusto.
"Yum!"
She wisely shut her mouth after that.
It didn't end there, though. Heidi watched in part fascination, part distaste as Edward removed all the skin from his chicken and put it on Bella's plate, which she promptly picked up and ate. When he was sure that he'd given the latter everything, he then dipped his skinless chicken leg in Bella's plate, did the swirling thing himself, and took a bite of it.
She couldn't help but gape at the both them. Watching the exchange had actually given her goose bumps, not because Bella's plate looked really − well for lack of a better description − all kinds of yucky, but because it was just so...Heidi bit her lip. Intimate. It was intimate.
And they were both completely unaware of it.
"I'm thirsty. Hey Gorgeous, do you want water, soda, or beer? We don't really have any liquor here, 'cause I'm allergic and Edward does all his drinking at the bar anyway," Bella inquired after a full minute of companionable silence where only the sound of eating could be heard.
"Just water. Thanks Bella."
"Let me," Edward volunteered, standing up. Bella clucked her tongue and he automatically presented his hands to her. She wiped said hands with a paper napkin then gave him another one which he used to wipe his mouth before walking towards the fridge to get two bottles of water and a beer.
Heidi didn't know if she should laugh or be weirded out by what she'd just witnessed. She glanced at Bella. The brunette continued eating as if nothing out of ordinary had occurred.
Of course, Heidi acknowledged. For her everything's normal. That's just how things are between them. They're naturally attuned to each other, like an old married couple (minus the sex).
When Edward returned, he stopped walking in surprise, seeing both women almost huddled together talking about God knows what. Heidi had even transferred to his seat to be closer to Bella, and was dipping her own chicken on Bella's plate, all the skin removed and given to his housemate.
He frowned.
The second time around, Heidi did not just dip, but actually swirled her chicken all over the plate, with Bella cheering her on. The girlfriend giggled while Queen Oblivious the First clapped her greasy hands proudly.
Edward, on the other hand, was not amused. Truth be known, he was irritated.
For the nth time, she shouldn't be here in the first place.
"It was pretty fun."
Dealing. I'm dealing. "What was fun?" he asked, shoving aside his irritation as he placed the bottled water in front of them and sat on the stool Heidi had abandoned, while looking longingly at Bella's plate. Too far to reach now. Damn it.
"Gorgeous asked about the way we eat our chicken and the whole swirling thing. I told her about our little adventure in San Fran, and how we came up with it. Remember the road trip we had last year? The one you invited yourself on just for the sole purpose of irritating the quiddich out of me. The book signing gig?"
"Of course I remember," he snorted. "For the record, I did not invite myself. That's offensive, Bella."
"Of course you didn't. You just assumed you were coming with us. Sorry for offending you − my bad." She rolled her eyes to punctuate the remark.
Heidi smiled. "What exactly happened?"
Edward resumed eating, attempting to look indifferent, but the reddening of his ears and neck proved otherwise. Heidi was even more curious now. Within the two months that they'd been together, Edward had never blushed. At all. God knows they'd done a lot of things that were blush-inducing. To see him all red like this, over something as ordinary as a road trip?
Interesting.
"My second book, Ellie the Elephant, was quite successful. Well, at least loved enough to have a sequel. So anyway, we were told that massive sales of the book were traced to Portland and San Francisco, so the publishing company decided that a book signing was in order, just to show how grateful and thankful we all were that they supported the book. Everything was mapped out, venues were finalized, and since I was going with Jess, my researcher, and Alec, a rep from the publishing company that would handle the tour. The three of us agreed on a road trip. Alec went all out with the planning; he made sure that the venues he booked would not be compromised and thus he made the schedule, considering we'd just be driving there. He's really organized. He managed to squeeze in sightseeing and exploring with the book signing stuff."
Bella gave the still-silent man a pointed look before continuing. "The night before we left, though, Edward learned about the entire road trip thing, and the next day I just saw him all packed up waiting for me outside my bedroom door. He informed me he was coming with us. On top of that, he insisted that we use two cars, instead of just Alec's SUV like we originally planned. Jess complained about wasting finite resources etc., etc., but Mister-I-did-not-invite-myself argued with her for about thirty minutes about the merit of taking two cars, until both Alec and Jess had to agree just to shut him up. Then he asked Alec what the plan was for the road trip."
Edward choked over his chicken. Heidi rubbed his back and gave him his beer to clear away whatever it was that temporarily clogged his throat and looked inquiringly at Bella again. "Then?"
"Chaos."
Edward started to make protesting noises but Bella ignored him.
"What do you mean 'chaos?'"
"He," Bella groaned, pointing at Edward for emphasis, "made several changes in the plans that Alec painstakingly made, and proclaimed himself the boss of us."
"Now wait a minu−"
"Shhhh."
Edward looked indignantly at Bella. "You did not just−"
"Shhh. Shut up, Edward."
Heidi started laughing, making the brunette chuckle. "You haven't heard the good part yet, Gorgeous."
Edward scowled at Bella. "Touchdown."
Bella promptly closed her mouth and suddenly found the remaining food on her plate fascinating.
Heidi stopped laughing. What just happened? She looked at Bella and then at Edward in confusion. "Umm, I'm kinda lost. What did I miss?"
Bella gave her an almost apologetic smile then stood up with her plate. "Sorry to eat and run you guys, but I'm meeting Jess and I have to leave now."
Wait, what? "But you haven't eaten dessert yet! I brought tiramisu."
The confused one watched Bella carry her plate to the sink, wash her hands and mutter something about needing to hurry, and almost run towards her room. Then, two seconds later, after calling out a "bye, and thanks for lunch!" she was gone.
Heidi turned her attention to Edward who was openly scowling now. "Edward?"
"Are you done eating?"
He is angry. "Y-yes."
Edward stood up and cleared the table. When Heidi attempted to help, he refused, thanking her oh-so-politely. An uncomfortable silence followed while Edward cleaned and put the plates in the dishwasher. Another first, the model thought. They never argued nor had any lover's spats in their relationship. They always got along so well, especially in the sex department.
Heidi smiled as an idea came to mind. She stood up and quietly approached her sullen boyfriend, whose back was turned from her and was presently busy fussing over the dishes. She hugged him. Edward was only three inches taller than her, so she dropped small kisses on the nape of his neck, slightly licking the adorable moles there. When she felt Edward freeze, she pushed her body suggestively against his and tightened her arms around his waist, hands slowly inching their way to the front of his shorts.
"It's just us, hon. Fuck me here, in the kitchen. Right now," she moaned licking and sucking his right earlobe as her hands neared its target.
Edward stopped them from wandering further though. "We can't."
Misunderstanding him, Heidi backed away a little and removed her denim jacket. "Then let's go to your room." Her black tube top followed.
"Heidi, that's not—" Edward turned to explain the situation face to face but the sight of his topless girlfriend robbed him of words.
Hello Heidi's naked breasts.
Anthony twitched.
Once.
Then nothing.
What the fuck?
The model gave him a seductive smile as she pulled down her denim mini-skirt and kicked it away. With a playful wink, she turned and strutted towards his room.
Edward watched her walk away, eyes on his girlfriend's firm ass emphasized perfectly by the black thong she was wearing. Then Bella's round butt came to mind and he snapped to attention.
So did Anthony.
His formerly subdued dick became twitchingly alive when an image of Bella and her delicious butt appeared. What's your fucking deal, Anthony? You're selective now?
"Ho-neeeey," Heidi's sing-song voice called out, interrupting his one-sided talk with his dick.
Fuck, she did not just enter my room. No fucking way.
He hurriedly picked up the discarded clothes and ran towards his room. Yep, Heidi was there alright. Sitting on his bed, legs just far apart enough for him to see she was no longer wearing the thong. She smiled enticingly at him as she then scooted backwards, putting her feet on the edge of the bed, and then parted her legs widely in front of him.
Open. Way too open.
Hello Heidi's pink, wet and ready for a serious fucking pussy.
Anthony twitched once, acknowledging the sight, but that's all he did. He did not even harden.
Erectile dysfunction?
No. Wake up Anthony. Fucking wake up. Look, there's pussy!
His naked girlfriend was inside his room, and wanted to fuck him so badly she was dripping. Okay, message received. But no, not gonna happen. Aside from Anthony's disinterest for some mind-boggling reason, he personally didn't think it was a good idea.
No, he was sure it was not a good idea.
He gave her back her clothes. "I'll be in the living room."
"Edward?"
"I'll explain outside."
I'm so confused. Heidi sighed and put on her clothes. What's going on here? If there was something that she was sure of in her relationship with Edward, it was their mutual lust for each other. Their sex life was phenomenal. They were always hot for each other. Sleep was literally not an option whenever they were fucking. There had been numerous instances where they would go all night. All day even, with breaks just to eat, and even then they would remain naked and playful. Just the sight of her breasts alone could arouse Edward in an instant.
That certainly didn't happen now, Heidi. She'd been all naked and seductive with him. What's the matter?
She was about to go out of the room when something caught her eyes. There, on top of Edward's dresser, was an eight by ten black picture frame, but what stood out was the picture it displayed. Bella and Edward, with the Fisherman's Wharf sign behind them.
San Francisco.
She picked up the frame and couldn't help but smile at the picture. They were wearing identical gray hoodies, both zipped up, although Edward wore a cap underneath his. Something or someone must've been funny because Bella was laughing while Edward was grinning behind her. A stolen shot; neither of them were looking at the camera. Caught unawares, Edward was gazing down at the laughing Bella with the most tender expression on his grinning face. His green eyes were sparkling and happy while watching Bella laugh uninhibitedly.
Heidi felt something twist inside her. They didn't have any pictures together, outside of paparazzi photos taken once or twice, and the shots those whackos produced did not deserve to be framed and cherished. She returned the frame to his dresser and studied the picture for a bit. On top of that, he's also never looked at me that way, not even once. Not even when we were fucking. No tender looks aimed at me at all.
She cringed, recalling how brazen she'd been a while ago. Using sex to make things right when the boyfriend was all scowly and in a bad mood. That's what their relationship had been about since they hooked up: hanging out for short periods of time to fuck, and fucking, period. They only called each other girlfriend/boyfriend to make it somewhat official. But in truth, they were not far from deserving the "fuck buddies" label.
They were in it for sex.
So why would Edward bother putting up a picture of you two, Heidi? Why seek tender looks from him now? Come on, you know the answer. You figured it out the moment you saw Edward fix Bella's plate. You also witnessed firsthand how, just by looking at each other, they were able to have a conversation-slash-argument about something you could never get. Denying the obvious won't help at all. Besides, you're way too smart to resort to that. You're in for a world of pain if you insist on something that's nothing in reality.
And just like that she wasn't confused anymore. Accepting the inevitable, she opened the door and walked outside of Edward's room. She caught him pacing in the living room. When he saw her, he stopped and faced her running his hand over his already messy hair.
"Heidi—"
"You don't have to explain. I completely understand."
"You do?"
She nodded.
"Did I mention the housemate agreement before?" Edward asked her, clearly surprised.
"Yes, in passing. No sleepovers, right? I totally get it."
Sigh of relief. "I hope I didn't offend you."
"Technically, if we did fuck here it wouldn't be considered sleeping over, because I'd leave afterwards," Heidi said then straightened. "And I truly believe that Bella wouldn't mind if we had sex here." You, on the other hand...
Edward shook his head.
"Please sit down and let me talk. I think you need to hear what I have to say, Edward."
Heidi looked so serious and resolute all of a sudden – determined to make a point. On what, exactly, he didn't know. So he did sit.
"We have to break up."
What?
"No, I take that back. What I meant to say was we need to break up."
Edward just looked at her.
"I like you. A lot. I think if circumstances had been different, I would have eventually fallen in love with you. It was bound to happen sooner or later." Liar. You're half in love with him already. Heidi shoved that thought aside before continuing. "You're wonderful, Edward. It didn't hurt that the sex was beyond great. If it was up to me, I would keep you. I would want to still be the Energizer Bunny's girlfriend. But the fact remains that this isn't about me. However much I want to stay with you, I can't... I won't. Why? Because you belong to someone else. To Bella."
Edward scoffed. "And here I thought you were different from the others." He pinched the bridge of his nose and stood up. "But you're not. You're spewing words like that because you're jealous of Bella's presence in my life—"
"No," Heidi calmly interrupted him. "I'm not spewing words − as you called it − out of jealousy. I'm saying these things now because I don't want to end up like them. I don't want to become bitter and hate Bella. I liked her. I still do. Very much. I could actually see us staying friends for a long, long time. She's different from the usual people that I am surrounded with. She's real. She doesn't have any agendas. She liked me for me. She talked to me because she wanted to, not because she had to gain something from it."
She paused for a full minute then sighed. "Modelling is a tough industry to be in, Edward. It's full of backstabbing, conniving people who do their best to one-up you. I'm exposed to resentment and bitterness all the time. I never wanted that kind of poison in my personal life, and I'm sure that if I insisted on continuing this relationship, there would be no avoiding that. So I made a choice. Instead of losing you and Bella in the near future, I choose to just be a friend. At least with that I have you both in my life without the soul-eating bitterness and resentment that could age me tenfold. "
Silence.
Heidi patiently waited, letting Edward figure out what he wanted to say. She watched him run his left hand over his crazy hair again then pull on it for a second before dropping said hand. Then he cleared his throat.
"In a nutshell, you just want to be friends," Edward clarified.
She nodded.
"Because you don't want to hate and resent us – Bella and me – in the end," he added.
Another nod.
"Because you think I belong to Bella," he continued, now using a patronizing tone.
She shook her head, partly in exasperation from hearing the tone of voice he was using.
"You don't think I belong to Bella? But you just said—"
Irritated sigh. "I don't think you belong to Bella. I know. I'm sure you belong to Bella."
Snort. "That's crap, Heidi. We're just friends. Best buddies, nothing more."
"That's crap, Edward," she mocked, sneering a bit. "You're way beyond friends."
"Whatever," he rolled his eyes, waving the white flag just to end the absurd conversation. "Fine. If you want to be just friends, then just friends it is."
Heidi smiled at his acquiescence then reached out to hug him. He hugged her back. When she released him, Heidi gave her now-ex-boyfriend a measuring look before walking towards the couch where she'd left her purse. When she faced him again, she opened her mouth then hesitated.
"What?"
"Promise me one thing."
Edward looked dubious and did not answer. Promises were always a huge thing for him.
"You owe me big time for breaking up with you and making things easier for you, Edward Cullen. You may not appreciate it now, but I'm one hundred percent certain that once you totally figure everything out, you'll be so grateful to me you'll name your firstborn Heidi. So make me a promise. Now."
Yeah, yeah whatever. "Fine. Promise."
"Good," Heidi grinned at him, "Promise me that you'll open your mind, even just once, and go through everything that you've done with Bella for the past three years, looking at it as if you're not the one involved, but a bystander. Recall how Edward interacted with Bella. How Edward treated Bella. How Edward looked at Bella. Then reconcile everything. Start by looking at the picture in your room. But remember, you have to have an open mind while adapting a male's perspective devoid of any prejudices and thoughts made by someone who has conditioned himself that he's just best buddies with Bella Swan. In short, look at things as a detached Edward observing a man sharing a house with an exceptionally attractive, funny and amazing woman for three years."
Edward did his left eyebrow lift move.
"Do not even attempt to intimidate me, Edward Cullen. You already promised."
He shook his head in disbelief. "For an ex-girlfriend, your vigilance in pushing Bella under my nose astounds me. I didn't know you were into matchmaking, Heidi."
"Say what you want to say, Edward. At the end of the day, you still promised that you'll do something for me, and you will honor that promise. You're that kind of a man. I may not know you that well, but I can figure things out," Heidi replied, walking towards the door, telling him via a hand signal that he needn't walk her out. "Besides, it's about time you finally admit the truth, Edward. You deserve it. It's high time you acknowledge the fact that you're in love with Bella Swan." With that, she opened the door and left.
Heidi thought he was in love with Bella.
The fuck?
Jealous.
Yep. Heidi was jealous alright, however much she denied it. Just like the others before her. She just had the decency to be the one ending their relationship and in a classier way compared to the others who ranted and raved about how awful Bella was for ruining their relationship. Heidi was nice and it didn't hurt that she truly wanted to be friends with Bella and him, but God, what was up with her annoying interpretations? That was one of the big differences she had with the others as well. Nobody blamed him for the demise of their so-called relationship. All of those girls blamed Bella. Now, not that Heidi was blaming or anything, an ex-girlfriend told him he was harboring romantic feelings over Bella and that's why their relationship would never work.
'Coz apparently I belong to Bella. He rolled his eyes.
Silliest. Most. Ridiculous. Fucking. Statement. Ever.
Of course he loved Bella Swan. She was his only female friend. She was his best female buddy. Life had been better with Bella around, there was no denying that. But in love with her? He scoffed.
Hell no!