So overall the response was 'one chapter!', so, that's what I've done :-)
And the reviewers are (there's like FIFTY!!) (you guys ROCK LIKE BOULDERS!) (Okay, sorry, that was inexcusably lame):
literatefanatic27, Michelle62092, Muff'Nbutter, x-aly-x, jake.n.ash.n.edward, Erika Baby, Jade, EverstarEverlasting, Prince SILAS III, dollegirl, GinnyBrown is here and now, books and bojangles, beggingtobebitten, LookAfterMyHeart, okiegirlforever, AlwaysAround888, Bethany Knight, maryellen, HarvestEclipse31, bedwardforever, Music ADD, edwardsfavouriteflavour, Kevin the Cornbread Slice, laibballfan, EAMC620, CullenLove, secretlycullen1212, yaaaay, jeezlouise16, musicormisery4105, sunybee, jacob is the new black, booknerd14, 143twilighter (x2), Olivia, xLucidx, momma2three, Grillllz, halokat, FrEvrNvrLasts, vampiressuck, franchised., Lilly for Algernon, TwilightPassion, Tefferbee, Intoxicated By His Presence, twiroselight.
And for the sake of a slightly shorter chapter (and the fact that I'm almost dying of tiredness) the special mentions won't be as long as usual.
Special Mentions:
Muff'Nbutter: Hahah! Loved your theory on Edward's parental problems - staplers hold a whole new meaning now.
Erika Baby: The Masquerade Ball chapter is... -checks folder-... Chapter 25.
books and bojangles: Why yes, it does make me want to cough. Strange, strangeness...
Bethany Knight: Bella's letter was very short 'cos she was excited about seeing him at the cinema, plus, anything she wrote in it would have just been repeated when she saw Edward anyway.
bedwardforever: Nope, that wasn't a txt, it was just a very short letter.
secretlycullen1212: You'll probably have to wait 'till near the end to find out about the moth thing :-)
Lilly for Algernon: Well, I'm actually from Adelaide!! We're half way through the second of a three week holiday. I heart holidays! Yay, sleeping in!
Tefferbee: Jacob's going to come back into the story soon, and eventually he'll be good to Bella again... but something else has to happen first! (To do with Jasper...)
Chapter Twenty-Two Part One: Slumber Party
There was going to be a big group turning up at the Port Angeles cinema tonight; Emmett, Rosalie, Alice, Angela, Ben, Tyler, Ally, Jared, Kim, Paul, Leah, Sam, Edward and me. Being the clever girl she is, Alice had thought to ring up beforehand to give the candy stand people some warning as to how much popcorn they were going to have to produce tonight.
So Alice, Ally, Angela and I were sitting in Alice's shiny yellow Porsche, waiting for some sign that we should get out of the car and cross the parking lot to the cinema. Ally had also been caught in Alice's storm of makeovers, but at least she looked good. I reminded myself of an episode of The Simpson's when Homer shoots Marge with a makeup gun – and the setting is on 'whore'.
Okay, maybe I was exaggerating just a bit, but to be blatantly truthful, I felt more self-conscious wearing makeup than I did without it. At least without anything on my face I didn't have to worry about whether my eyes were running or if my lip gloss wasn't shiny enough.
And to whine a little bit more; Angela had gotten out of the whole 'let's give you a new face!' again; she only had mascara and some eye shadow on this time. Argh. I'm always the victim!
As for my clothes; instead of Alice attacking and completely dressing us, she said she'd give us helpful tips on whatever we chose to wear tonight. I went with jeans, my white Converse ankle high shoes and a button up, long sleeved navy blue t-shirt. I'd thought Alice wouldn't be able to find anything to make me wear, but I was wrong. I had a silver chain around my neck and diamante studs in my ears, and a thin black belt through the loops of my jeans. I didn't see the point to wearing it if it wasn't holding anything up, but Alice wouldn't take no for an answer so I just avoided thinking about it for the ride here.
"Right." Alice's voice cut through the silence, making us all snap back into reality. "Let's go."
She opened her door and stepped out, allowing a breeze to waft into the car. For once, it wasn't that cold outside. I opened my door and stood up, slinging my black beaded bag over my shoulder. It had some money in it, and my mobile. My chapstick was in my pocket and my nerves were bumping against the inside of my stomach. I looked around the parking lot and saw a silver Volvo which looked very familiar. It didn't help my nerves at all.
I followed Alice's lead as she headed over to the automatic doors of the cinema. Inside I could see some little booths and couches and some squashy chairs. Sprawled across two booths were the people we were here to meet. We, as Alice had intended, had arrived last and so everyone was glad to see us whether they liked us or not, because our arrival meant that they could finally go into the movie theatre.
I stepped forward into the warm popcorn flavoured air and looked around at the smiling faces of our friends. Tyler got up straight away and strode over to Ally, who smiled at him as he hugged her tightly. I looked away and saw Alice bounding off to see Leah, and Angela shyly stepped forward to say hello to the single Cheney brother. I went up on my tippy toes to look, but Edward wasn't there. Remembering what had happened at the Pen Pal gathering, I spun around, expecting to catch him before he could sneak up and scare me. But, turning around had been the wrong idea.
"RAWR!"
I screamed, jumped three feet in the air and held my heart as I whipped around to see Edward laughing at my reaction. In front of me.
"You're terrible!" I nearly shouted at him, but I couldn't make my voice sound menacing while I was smiling. I let go of my heart, but found that it still wanted to jump out of my chest – just not from fear.
"But you love me for it," he joked, gently knocking his fist into my jaw.
My heart beat its response to that, but I just rolled my eyes. I didn't think my voice would operate normally with my heart constricting my throat like this.
"I got your ticket for you," he said, holding out a piece of paper.
"Thanks!" I said, honestly grateful that I wouldn't have to worry about dropping my coins everywhere while trying to pay. "How much?" I grabbed my handbag and started to open it, but Edward's hand stopped me. I looked up at him from my half-bent posture.
"Don't worry about it. It's on me."
"No, you shouldn't have to-"
"But I want to."
Wow. Like a date.
"Um, well, thanks then. Again." I let go of my purse and he let go of my hand a moment later.
"My pleasure."
"Alright everyone, move your butts! Opening credits roll in ten!" Alice called out from the candy bar, Leah behind her with her hand in the gummi bears jar.
Emmett and Sam were the first to the lollies once Alice had made her announcement. They each seized a little candy bag and started piling things into it. Sam didn't seem to think it was large enough, so when the popcorn lady wasn't looking, he reached over the plastic divider and stole two large popcorn buckets. He handed one to Emmett and together they started shovelling their desired snacks into them. Edward laughed from beside me.
"They're going to be so sick tomorrow," he said, still chuckling.
"Yeah, probably." I headed over to the popcorn stand. The smell was getting to me and I had a very big craving for the buttered snacks.
The lady behind the counter stepped forward when I approached. "What would you like?"
"A small, please."
"Make that a medium," Edward said from beside me. The woman ogled at him for a moment before snapping out of it and busying herself in the popcorn buckets.
I turned to Edward, confused. "Edward, I can't eat that much."
"I know," he said, smiling like it was obvious. "I can though."
"But-"
"And I'm paying for it too. I'll probably end up eating the whole thing, you know."
I sighed, thinking that him paying for everything was very one-sided of me. Then, I got inspiration as Jared and Kim walked past with foam cups in their hands.
"Then I get to pay for the drinks."
He grinned in such a beautiful way that my heart started dancing around behind my ribs. "Deal."
Ten minutes later, after Emmett and Sam had stood behind Alice while she explained our situation to the doorman (who had tried to stop us 'late entries' from getting in), the lot of us had crammed ourselves into one row.
Ally and Tyler were 'watching the movie' with more vigour than was strictly necessary – especially since the movie hadn't started yet. Paul was sitting beside Tyler, feeling and looking utterly uncomfortable. Beside him was Ben, and Angela, and both their hands were out of sight from the faint cinema lights, extended in the same direction. They each had silly grins on their faces that no one but me had noticed.
Kim was next to Ange, and she had put her arm rest up so she could lean more comfortably on Jared. He had his arm around her shoulders, and she was holding his hand with both of her own, mindlessly playing with his fingers. They looked like they had been together for so long that everything they did around each other was an unconscious movement.
Edward was next to Jared, and he was hogging the bucket of lollies he'd stolen from Emmett once the lights were too dim to see anything properly. I was looking at him, smiling, but on edge enough that I could look away as soon as it seemed he was about to catch me staring.
Alice and Leah were next to me, talking about something in whispers. Sam was tearing up the edge of his popcorn bucket, obviously nervous. Emmett kept trying to steal Sam's lollies, but he incurred a thump in the leg every time Sam caught him. I knew Emmett was going to complain about the inevitable bruise tomorrow.
The last person in the row was Rosalie, who looked serene in the faint light from the screen. Even her profile was stunning. Emmett, when he wasn't bugging Sam, was content to stare at her face and kiss her lightly whenever she wasn't expecting it. They would look at each other with smiles in their eyes every few minutes.
I tore my gaze from the couple and looked at the screen. The reminder about turning mobiles off was playing, and I remembered with a jump that mine was still on the loud profile. I reached down for my bag and grabbed my phone out; trying to be speedy as I switched settings so the doorman wouldn't see the light of my phone and kick us out.
"Naughty, naughty," Edward whispered as I straightened up. I looked over at him, and could see in the bluish light that he was smiling at me.
I rolled my eyes, knowing he could see it. "Uh huh." I leaned over and stole a handful of confectionery from his horde. "And you're not?"
"Me? No! Never! I'm an angel, in every right." He grinned cheekily and I scoffed at him as quietly as I could.
"You wish," I whispered, leaning in close to him so I wouldn't disturb anyone else in the theatre.
The lights dimmed and we were all in total darkness. A few girls sitting behind us squealed at the change. I didn't move from immediately beside Edward's face, afraid that I'd give myself a concussion in the darkened conditions. The light slowly came back on then, but the only available was that coming from the screen. I could faintly see Edward's outline, and was shockingly aware of him, and how close he was.
But then I moved back sharply, hoping like anything that he didn't realise what I was thinking.
For a long time after that, nothing changed. I tried to be subtle about my sideways glances, but was doing terribly at it. Edward would catch me almost every time, but he just smiled when he did.
We were up to the part where the main character was running from some invisible force when I heard one of the girls along our row squeal in fright. I looked over to see who it was, expecting to see Alice or Rose or Leah with their fist in their mouth or hand over eyes. But what I saw reminded me of Edward's letter, and how Sam didn't handle scary movies well.
I tried not to laugh as I looked at the burly boy. He had his hand clamped over his mouth and was leaning back in his chair, eyes wide and clearly frightened. Beside me, Edward wasn't so subtle about his amusement.
"Keep your daks dry, Sam," Edward warned seriously once he was done chuckling. "I don't want my car smelling like pee."
Alice shot Edward a venomous look, and he immediately leant back in his chair, removing himself from the situation.
"I'll go with him," Alice said as Sam stood and started battling to get over Emmett's legs.
"Are you sure?" Leah offered, half-standing. "He can be a bit of a handful."
"No problems," Alice reassured her.
I turned to Edward. "Why do you guys go to scary movies if Sam hates them?"
"It's the best part of the movie," Edward grinned mischievously at me. "Besides, he's not that hard to watch when he's being a baby anyway."
However, no more than two minutes later, Alice came bounding back into the cinema, almost invisible for the black jeans and jacket she was wearing.
"Leah!" she hissed from the end of the row. "He's too whiney. And he's taking forever! Wanna swap?"
Leah rolled her eyes and looked at Alice like she must be joking. "Oh, man… they were just getting to the bit where everything gets explained!"
"I promise I'll buy you the DVD when it comes out!" Alice hissed. "Hurry up! He'll be out soon!"
"Geez Alice, you owe me one, girly." Leah got up and slapped Emmett's knees out of the way, gracefully jumping over Rosalie's long legs on her way out. She plodded down the theatre stairs and was gone by the time Alice had regained her seat.
Alice sat down and claimed Sam's lolly bucket, much to Emmett's dismay.
"I wanted that!" he pleaded with Alice.
She shrugged. "You snooze, you lose."
We all walked out of the cinema, talking about the best and worst parts of the movie. I wasn't really noticing what anyone else was doing, because Edward had given me his jacket and I was on Cloud Nine.
Jared cleared his throat and jumped on a park bench to address all of us. I turned to him, Edward still at my side.
"Now, I know the original plan was to stay at my place tonight, but I don't think we're going to have enough room. So, my buddy here, Edward, offered to have everyone around to his huge ass place. Oh, and just to be loud and annoying, Edward made up with his Aunt and Uncle after their argument and he moved back in. Applause, if you wouldn't mind!" Jared hopped down and started clapping, saying "jolly good man, jolly good" while we all laughed and settled back into our other conversations.
I held the collar of Edward's jacket and inhaled as subtly as I could, trying to work out why it was so familiar. Edward cleared his throat and I turned to him to show I was listening.
"Bella…" He kicked a loose stone as we crossed the pedestrian crossing and entered the parking lot. "Would you mind riding with me back to my house?"
I was a little shocked, and hesitated in saying the only answer I would ever consider for such a question. Edward took it the wrong way.
"Of course, you don't have to. Sorry. I shouldn't have asked; it's just a bit lonely in my car."
"I'd love to," I said, blurting the words before I could edit them.
Fortunately, he didn't mind. He grinned beautifully, almost making my heart faint from loveliness. "Cool."
"Alice," I called, looking for the camouflaged girl. "I'm going with Edward."
"Why?" she yelled back from some twenty feet in front of me.
I shrugged and hoped she saw it. She did see it, but she seemed determined to embarrass me. She skipped over and was standing in front of Edward and me a second later, cutting off our path.
"Do you guys love each other? Do you? It's okay if you do. I love you both!"
My cheeks were burning, and I cursed the day Angela let her watch The Notebook. Argh. I was surprised Edward wasn't removing his offer right now. He was actually smiling.
"That's a good movie, Alice. Nice to know you appreciate the classics."
Alice nodded and bounded off in the direction of her car where Angela was standing, shivering. Edward noticed, too.
"Are you cold?" he asked me.
I was, but I had Edward's coat already. I suddenly felt bad for being the reason he was probably cold.
I realised that he was probably freezing without second layer of clothing. "Sorry," I said, removing the jacket from my shoulders and holding it out to him. I immediately sneezed when the cold air touched my neck.
"Put it back on!" Edward laughed, pushing the jacket away from himself. He then put his arm around my shoulders. What he didn't know, though, was that just his presence made me feel much warmer, especially in my cheeks and in my heart.
A minute later, I was in Edward's car - the Volvo I'd seen in the parking lot. It smelled faintly of leather, but mostly of Edward himself. It was a better scent than any air freshener in the world.
"So," he said as he checked his mirrors and clicked his belt into place. "How did you like the movie?"
I thought for a moment, watching the cars containing our friends pull out of the parking lot ahead of us. But then I made the mistake of looking at him before I answered; his dark honey eyes were smouldering at me. "I don't know, I wasn't paying a lot of attention to the screen."
If I were a more dramatic person, I would have immediately slapped my hand to my head. But I wasn't, and thought I wished there was a hole in the car floor for me to disappear into, that didn't exist either.
Edward didn't seem embarrassed at all... other than the slight flush I saw in his cheeks before he pretended to look over his shoulder at his blind spot.
"How did you like it?" I asked, trying to regain some dignity.
He grinned devilishly. "I don't know, I wasn't paying a lot of attention to the screen." His grin widened slightly.
Once we were on the highway which lead from Port Angeles to Forks, both Edward and I had become silent. It wasn't awkward. I knew he was lost in his thoughts... and I was trying desperately to go back in time and not say that response to his 'did you like the movie' question. He turned off to the right then, and a few minutes later we were weaving through the countryside. From what I could see of the high-topped hills and proud forest, I knew we were in the wealthier part of Port Angeles' suburban area.
"I'm surprised you haven't asked yet," Edward mused in the darkness.
I'd have expected myself to jump at such a break to the silence, but stupidly, I instead regretted that his sentence wasn't longer.
"Asked what?"
"About my parents." He looked at me across the cabin, effortlessly negotiating the twists in the road like he could do it in his sleep.
"Oh." In truth, I had been curious as to how things had amended so quickly. And why he'd been lied to in the first place. "I won't ask you," I said carefully, "if you don't want to be asked. But if you want to tell me, I'll listen."
He smiled while still looking ahead. "That's probably the best answer any of my friends have come up with."
"Thanks...?"
He chuckled. "It's complicated, but... basically I forgave them because I worked out that they've been better parents than Elizabeth or my Dad... well, my Uncle, have ever been."
I smiled. "That doesn't sound so complex."
"You haven't heard the whole story, yet," he reminded me. I folded my hands and pressed my lips together for a moment.
"Tell me the tale then, Edward." I tried to use a mock fortune-teller voice to lighten the mood.
"Well, I'm not exactly sure how things went because this is just Esme and Carl's side of the story, but Esme was only sixteen when she had me, and Carl was twenty. Her parents made her give me to her newly-married sister to care for until she was settled - but Esme said that she could have taken care of me if she was allowed. My grandmother just didn't like the idea of people thinking of our family as the ones with a bastard child.
"But then Elizabeth and her husband split and Esme wanted me back, but by then I already thought Elizabeth was my mother, so every time she came to get me I would cry when I heard them fighting. I don't remember this though. And when Esme and Carl were first telling me what happened a week ago, I started getting angry because I thought Esme hadn't been fighting hard enough for me. But now I know she was just trying to give me the best home possible.
"Esme wanted me to call Elizabeth 'Aunty' and call her 'Mum', but again, I was too old and my habits were already established. Carlisle wasn't happy about any of this, but there wasn't a lot he could do. Of course he wanted his son back, but he also knew it would cost me a fair bit in the emotional department to do so. Eventually they decided to wait until I was eighteen to tell me, and for me to visit Esme and Carl as often as possible during breaks."
I was silent for a moment. "Wow." It seemed inadequate for the situation.
"Yeah." He looked at me across the space. "Sounds like a script out of 'Days Of Our Lives', doesn't it?"
At least he's comfortable enough to make jokes.
"Eighteen seems a bit late to leave it, don't you think?" I watched him carefully as I asked to see if I was approaching the uncrossable line. But his face remained calm.
"That's what I thought. I think they all just wanted to put it off for as long as possible."
I didn't say anything. I was so caught up in Edward's world, the pictures that had formed in my mind were flying through my head at the speed of light. But then the car turned to the left - I only felt it very slightly, Edward was a very good driver - and we headed up the driveway to a lovely old Victorian house.
Everyone else was already there, waddling up to the steps of the house with bags in their hands. I noticed with an internal 'awww' that Emmett was carrying both his and Rosalie's bags. She was protesting by the looks of it, trying very hard to get something to carry for herself, but then Emmett managed to throw her over his shoulder and he walked into the house with every bit of luggage on him. He was laughing along with Rosalie.
"Home sweet home," Edward said with a wink as we pulled into his too-long-to-count garage.
I grinned at him and unbucked my seat belt as the engine cut off. "Thanks for the lift." I paused. "And thanks for trusting me."
"My pleasure."
--
(A/N: 'jelly' in Australia is 'jello' in America.)
I couldn't believe it. I was standing in Edward Masen's bedroom… along with six other girls, but never mind that.
Leah and Kim had managed to kick the guys out of the upstairs area altogether. It was quite an achievement. So now Ally, Ange, Kim, Alice, Leah, Rosalie and I were floating around Edward's room, picking up things that weren't ours and opening drawers that contained things Edward probably didn't want us to find.
There was knock.
"You'd better not be going through my stuff, you lot!" Edward's threatening voice came through the locked door.
"We're not," we all chorused together, then erupted in giggles as Alice ran around the room, waving a pair of boxers over her head.
There was a pause on Edward's side of the door. "Put them down, Alice," he said calmly, but I could hear the fury in his lovely voice.
Alice squealed. "How did you know that?!"
"I know all," he said in a mock mystical voice. "Get outa there, I need a shower. Emmett dunked jelly on my head when he worked out what happened to his bucket of lollies."
"Serves you right!" Kim yelled. "He wouldn't shut up on the way back here about those stupid things!"
"Yeah, well, whatever. Let me in!"
Everyone else giggled and ran to his bed, piling on top of the golden cover. I went over to the door and opened it for him, stepping back quickly as he barrelled through to his en-suite bathroom.
I only caught a glimpse of him, but it was enough to make me laugh.
His bronze hair was streaked with dried jelly crystals and matted balls of what looked like marshmallows, or gum. The top of his shirt was streaked with the red colouring, and it'd crusted itself onto him in a way that didn't look like it was going to come out very easily. Everyone else in the room laughed long and hard, and then squealed when the sound of the shower water came on.
Alice ran up to me and whispered in my ear so no one else could hear. "Do you realise Edward is naked with nothing more than a flimsy wall between the two of you?"
"Thanks Alice, way to give me something calming to think about."
She laughed and ran off again, digging through Edward's bed side table now.
"He certainly does have different tastes to regular teenaged boys." She held something up, and I recognised it immediately. The photo from my locker was held between her thumb and index finger like it was infected. I only knew what it was because it was so covered in dust. I leapt over the bed in an impressively fluid motion and landed on my own two feet in front of Alice. I snatched the photo from her, wiped the dust away, and wondered why the hell Edward would want a photo of me and a certain pixie.
It had been taken on my most recent birthday. It was Alice's gift to me; a free professional photography session. Her cousin or something was in the business, so she got it all done for free. That way I couldn't feel guilty about her spending money on me, and so I couldn't refuse it.
Alice and I were in a garden somewhere in Seattle, arms draped over each other's shoulders and laughing at a joke I could never remember when I tried to tell people about my seventeenth birthday. It was a good photo of us, un-photo shopped at Alice's request, yet we both looked as good as we ever have.
I sat on the bed and stared at the photo for a long while, wondering how Edward had gotten this – and why? Then, Leah squealed at something over on Edward's dresser, which was by the door. I jumped up and ran over to see what she was looking at. It was a photo album, filled with pictures of toddler Edward. She turned the page and there were pictures of him a little older, as was with the next page. But the page following that contained pictures of a new child, who looked very familiar…
"Kim!" Leah called over her shoulder without looking away from the innocent boys. "Come here!"
Kim rushed over and I stepped aside so she could see the photos of Jared when he was a little kid, throwing toys around with Edward and playing golf with a set of plastic clubs. Kim stared at them, her eyes sparkling, and I knew that no matter how old or young Jared was in a photo, she would love it to bits.
We were all cooing over the pictures, the ages of their occupants getting older with every turn of the page, so no one heard the bathroom door open. No one noticed Edward sneak up behind us until he leant forward and said in the space between my head and Kim's; "What are you doing?"
Kim shrieked and spun around, coming face to face with Edward's deliciously muscular chest. She took a step back and frowned up at Edward's face. As soon as I noticed he was wearing only a towel, I tried to stop staring - but couldn't do it. It was like trying to not shiver when you're cold.
Leah turned around and came close to hitting her cousin as she did so. Her head reflexively pulled back, and she looked up at him in all his messy haired glory, suddenly snapping at him. "Geez Edward, put a shirt on. You'll take someone's eye out with those things." Her head height, like Kim, was also at his glorious chest. And pecks. Then she pushed him away and stepped around to spit her gum in the bin.
"I need some clothing. Alice, what'd you do with my boxers?" He looked around for the black haired girl but couldn't see her until she jumped up with a lollipop in her mouth; and Edward's boxers on her head. "Real nice, Alice," he said, snatching them from her smiling little face.
Then he turned and grinned at me before heading out the door, closing it behind him.
Leah bent down and picked up something from the rubbish bin. "What the hell?" she said, holding a drink container in her hand. I recognised it from somewhere, but couldn't put my finger on it until Alice said, "A pop-top?"
It was a drink bottle, a pop-top, and it had come from the Athletics Day canteen. I'd given it to Edward to throw out or something at the grounds, but apparently, that's not where it'd ended up. I was about to say so but caught the breath in my throat, thinking that that would only end up in an awkward place of conversation.
--
It was nearly time for all of us to go to bed. Edward's mum, who had Edward's smiling eyes, had served us a roast with potatoes and carrots and peas and lots of other yummy things I wished I had enough time to make.
I was now in Edward's bathroom with Leah, brushing my teeth while she stood at the sink and washed her face. She towelled the water off, then reached over to the door and closed it. I was baffled. What is she doing? I stopped brushing my teeth, but she went back to lacing her toothbrush with toothpaste so I assumed she just didn't like people seeing her brush her teeth or something.
I took a step to the sink, and rinsed my mouth out. I turned to the door and tried to open it, but my first thoughts had been on the right track. It was locked. I didn't know how to open it.
"Leah?" I asked, looking at her. She was just rinsing the foam from her mouth.
"We need to talk," she said, waving her hand for me to choose somewhere to sit down. I leant against the sink beside her, not wanting to be at a height disadvantage.
"What's up?" I said, trying to sound casual.
She cleared her throat and folded her arms, thinking of how to phrase her words. "I think you've probably noticed that my cousin is a really good guy." She waited for a response.
"Yeah, he is. And I love being friends with him."
"Is that all it is? Friends?"
I was a bit baffled as to why this was her concern. "I don't mean to be rude, Leah, but why are you worried about me being friends with Edward?"
She looked down, and I knew from her change in stance and expression that this was the part she didn't want anyone else to hear.
"Edward had a girlfriend for just less than two years. She died in a car accident around ten months ago. That's the real reason he moved here. It's nothing to do with his mum – well, apparently not his 'mum', but anyway – nothing to do with her business arrangements. The thing I want you to understand is; Edward is not like other guys. He went into somewhere very dark after she died. He loved her very much. It's not something he handled well.
"But then, once I convinced Paul to bet him fifty dollars that he couldn't get a reply from someone in this pen pal thing, Edward became happier. He came almost all the way out of his hole because of you." She looked at me completely, trying to convey her vitally important message without any kind of misunderstanding. "You are very important to him, friend or not. Don't hurt him. Please, don't hurt him."
So that was why he wouldn't tell me about his ex when I asked him on the bus.
My throat was caught. I couldn't speak, and the level of emotion in Leah's voice couldn't be matched. I chose to whisper my reply; it was harder for my voice to crack if I whispered. "I won't."
--.--.--
Chapter Twenty-Two Part Two: Caught
-Edward's Point Of View-
I left my bedroom and walked down the hall, one hand holding up the towel around my middle and the other tensed, prepared to fight off Sam or Jared if they decided towel abduction would be a funny idea. Fortunately for them and their pretty little faces I made it to my parents' room- it was still weird to think of them that way – without any problems. I flicked on the light and pulled my boxers on under the towel, wary of my friends and their habits of biding their time when it came to practical jokes.
Emmett was, apparently, very good at doing that. He was being perfectly nice to me all night until his offer to get me a drink ended with a bowl of red jelly on my head.
I dropped the towel in the laundry basket of their en suite and crossed the room to Carl's chest of drawers. I pulled out a pair of his track pants and an old Ivy League shirt, pulled them both on, then reached into another drawer for a warm pullover. My thoughts wandered briefly to whether my jacket was going to smell like Bella now, but pushed them away before any related memories could appear.
Being careful as to not disturb anything, I went back to the hall and down the stairs, rounded the corner into the lounge area and dropped myself like a sack of potatoes onto the couch. Someone threw a pillow at me before I'd settled myself, and I pulled it off my face to see Paul grinning from ear to ear at me.
"You just sat on a little sauce packet, idiot," he said, laughing at me.
I groaned and shifted to find the inevitable little plastic lump which would by now have stained Esme's white leather couch. But my searching hand found nothing, and when I looked questioningly at Paul he laughed even harder.
"Fooled ya!" he laughed. I threw the pillow at him and reached for the remote.
I was scanning through the French channels I used for school when the rest of the guys came back from the kitchen, their arms laden with the spoils Esme had baked or bought. Tyler and Ben wrestled each other for the bean bag in front of the television, Jared and Sam sat down on the other couch and Emmett sat beside me. After a minute or so, Tyler won the fight for the beanbag and Ben happily jumped off, catching the second beanbag that Sam threw at him.
"Your mum is a legend, Edward," Emmett said from beside me, shoving two muffins into his mouth in one go.
It was an innocent mistake, but now, it didn't upset me. I saw Sam, Paul and Jared stiffen out the corner of my eye, and was thankful that they were observant friends.
I laughed and saw them all relax. "Yeah, she is pretty great."
Emmett continued to chew, unperturbed by the awkwardness.
We all sat in silence for a while, Sam and Jared throwing skittles across the room at me to try and get them in my mouth. Ben had a go from down on the beanbag and ended up being the only person to succeed. After a while Jared got bored with aiming and contented himself with simply throwing them at me.
Eventually, the late news came across the TV and Tyler yawned, setting off a domino reaction in each of us. I was glad that these pants were fairly loose; they were going to be easier to sleep in.
"Where are we sleeping?" Ben asked. I remembered the mattresses and stood up.
"I'll get something for you." I turned to Emmett. "Do you want to give me a hand?"
"Okay," he said, jumping up and showering Tyler with crumbs. Sam stood up too.
"Thanks," I said to him. With three of us getting the blow up mattresses, we were going to be done in one trip. "Back in a minute," I said to the remaining men, who were all scrabbling around on the floor for skittles to use as ammo in a newly waged food fight.
I lead Sam and Emmett out to the storage room which was partially built under the stairs. The door was under the stairs, at least. Emmett was fascinated by it; the endless piles of junk, unfinished projects, old school books and boxes of memories. I saw a fallen broom and stood it up, leaning it against plastic-covered canvases that we'd never quite gotten around to using.
I followed a well known path to the far wall and grabbed a couple of mattresses from against it. I walked back and handed them to Emmett.
"Isn't it bad to leave these things blown up?" he asked, shifting the mattresses so he had a better hold on the two I'd handed him.
"Yeah," I said, turning back to pick up another two. I handed them to Sam. "But these are some I prepared earlier."
Emmett laughed, and I smiled. Sam rolled his eyes, having heard the joke too many times to find it funny any more.
I walked back and picked up the last two mattresses, then avoided all obstacles and went through the storage room door, flicking the light switch and clicking the door shut behind me.
Back in the lounge, the guys were setting themselves up on whichever mattress they'd been thrown. I laughed when I saw that Emmett had put his on top of a couch and was intending to sleep there. Sam had thrown both of his to the Cheney brothers, so I handed my second one to him. I put mine at the foot of the couch but pulled it a little way away in case Emmett rolled too far over during the night.
Sam and Jared set theirs up beside me, and Tyler and Ben put theirs over by the other couch. I was surprised to see that we still had plenty of walking room between our blow-up rectangles.
Soon, the sugar each of us had consumed made it impossible for sleep. We did the noble thing and played a game of Truth or Dare.
It was currently Tyler's turn to be Truthed or Dared.
"Truth," he said.
"Sissy," whispered Ben from beside him. Tyler promptly threw his elbow into Ben's ribs, but Ben dodged it and rolled off his mattress, laughing.
"Okay," Emmett said, his mind calculating a good Truth question. "Have you ever fantasised about our English teacher, Miss Faulkner?"
Tyler didn't even have to answer. His face flamed red and he squeaked out a "No!" before we all burst out laughing. I vaguely remembered a teacher named Faulkner from the Athletics Day bus trip, and if she was anything like I remembered, Tyler should have shouted praises of his fantasies for her.
"Shut up," Tyler said, regaining his macho stance. "Okay, my turn to ask someone…"
He looked around the circle, and in a typical decision, picked on his brother.
"Ben. Truth or Dare?"
Ben wriggled uncomfortably, knowing that whatever he chose was going to land him in an awkward situation. He seemed to decide that Dare was too risky …
"Truth."
"Okay. Umm…" Tyler looked around the room, trying to come up with some kind of evil question. "If you had to choose a guy from in this room to date, who would it be?"
"Ugh, Tyler, that's gross!" Ben stuck his tongue out and scrunched up his face, disgusted.
"That's the game," Tyler returned smugly.
Ben frowned. He shoved Tyler off his beanbag, so while Tyler couldn't see what he was doing, Ben caught my eye and asked me without words if it was okay if he said my name. I nodded subtly, hoping that he'd help me out if I needed it.
"Dork," Tyler muttered, righting himself. "Now. Answer the question."
Ben took a breath. "Edward," he said, throwing me a very apologetic look.
Tyler broke out into hyena type laughs. I laughed too, as did everyone else in the circle, but we were laughing at Tyler, not Ben. Tyler eventually wiped a tear from his eye and sat back on his beanbag.
"Okay, go Ben."
Ben looked around the circle at everyone, and picked on Emmett.
"Truth or Dare?"
Emmett didn't hesitate. "Dare! And make it a good one!"
I knew Ben was too nice to think of something nasty, so I waited in silence with everyone else while Emmett bounced in his seat the way Alice does when she's excited. After a minute or so, Ben spoke.
"I dare you to go into the kitchen, get a jar of honey, and pour it on Rosalie."
Emmett nearly fell off his chair. "Really?" He sounded excited rather than horrified.
Ben was shocked at his reaction, too. "Um, yeah. Now."
"Okay!" Emmett flew out of the room and returned a second later with the honey in his hands.
"How'd you know where that was?" I asked him, a little annoyed that he'd found it so easily when it usually took me more than five minutes to locate the stupid jar – and I lived here!
"Esme left it out."
"Oh."
Emmett headed for the stairs. "Let's get started!"
We all jumped up and followed him from the room. He took the stairs two at a time, crazy-excited. He didn't even knock. All I saw of the girls were the shocked looks on their faces before the door swung shut behind Emmett, Rosalie slung over one shoulder.
"Whazzat?" she said sleepily, raising her head slightly. Once she'd seen us staring at her as Emmett carried her down the hall, she started banging her fists on Emmett's back. "Put me down, you idiot, you'll break my neck!"
"Not yet," he said mischievously, and Rose's protests stopped for a short second before she furiously beat her hands into his spine, screaming profanities at him.
Then Emmett went into the guest room, and we all ran to the door, but it was locked.
"What are you doing?!" Sam yelled through the door. "We wanted to see you get it in her hair!"
Silence on the other side of the door, then Emmett laughed a booming laugh. "You never specified where to get it on her!"
I looked at Sam with the same horrified look he had on his face. We both turned away and walked toward the stairs, defeated and slightly disturbed.
"Lucky bugger," Paul muttered from behind us. "Wait!" he shouted. "Emmett," he called at the closed door.
"What?"
"Who's next?"
Emmett was silent while he thought. "Edward!" he said suddenly, and I felt my stomach twist into a knot. "Truth, or Dare?"
"You suck, Emmett." I paused and thought. "Dare," I shouted, feeling adventurous.
Emmett laughed evilly and I heard some whispering behind the door. "Good idea," he said quietly to Rosalie. "Edward, I dare you to take off your shirt and go kiss Bella."
Ha. If he could find loopholes, so could I. "Fine!"
I yanked off my jumper and t-shirt, then walked over to the girl's door. Behind Emmett's door, Rosalie started giggling furiously. I tried very hard to block out the disturbing images in my head as I raised my hand and knocked twice.
Leah opened it. "Edward?" She looked sleepy. "I told you to put a shirt on!"
"Sorry, Leah. I won't be like this for long. Can I have Bella for a minute, please?" I looked over her shoulder to Bella, who'd just jumped up and was walking over.
"What's up?" she said, eyeing me suspiciously. "What happened to your shirt?"
"Emmett happened to my shirt."
She grinned at me, seeing double meaning to my words.
"Get your mind out of the gutter," I said, smiling. "Would you mind coming into another room for a minute?"
She seemed thoroughly confused. She looked uncertainly over her shoulder to Alice, who was nodding vigorously and motioning with her hands for Bella to go with me. I smiled and waved at Alice, who waved back.
"I guess so," she said. I took her hand and headed for the door three doors down from Emmett's. Rosalie's giggling was a little off-putting. My nerves were taking a hammering.
What if she thinks I'm horrible? Or sleazy? Or she screams and runs for her life?
As we passed Emmett's door, I heard him yell out my name.
"What?" I called back, hoping he was going to take back his dare and I would be able to put my shirt on again. I was starting to feel chilly.
"Make it a proper one! No scared-little-freshman business." Emmett called out. Rose giggled. I walked faster.
Finally, I pulled Bella into the room and slammed the door in my friend's faces, shouting "LOOPHOLE!" as I did so. I turned to Bella, who was now beyond confused.
"Uh," I said, wondering if I should just go for it or ask her permission or explain the situation. I hoped that if I told her what was going on she wouldn't hit me. "I got dared to kiss you, with my shirt off. Is that okay?"
She was completely silent, staring at me like she was made of glass, or wax.
"Bella?" I said, waving my hand across her vision.
She shook her head and blinked a few times. "Sorry. Dunno what happened." She put a hand to her head. "You're supposed to kiss me?" she asked doubtfully, sounding like she thought – or hoped – she'd heard wrong.
My stomach twisted into another uncomfortable knot.
"Yes."
"On the cheek?" She moved her hand to her cheek.
I got a better idea – I loved loopholes. Plus, I didn't want to put her in an awkward situation where she had to kiss someone she didn't like. Though, I wouldn't mind kissing her… lately those lips had plagued my dreams.
"Or on the hand, if you'd prefer." I lifted her hand from her cheek and kissed her palm. "There. No pain."
But she looked in pain. I ducked to see her eyes, because she'd averted her face downwards, away from me.
"Bella? What's wrong?" I tried to lift her chin but she pushed my hand away.
"I've got to go." She turned and dashed for the exit, covering her eyes with her hand. I was sure I heard a sob as she pushed through the eagerly awaiting boys on the other side of the door.
Paul piped up first, once the sound of my bedroom door slamming was heard. "You know Edward, if you did it right, she shouldn't be crying."
"Shut it." My words were a little sharper than I'd intended, but Paul didn't seem to take offence so I didn't bother apologising.
I turned for the stairs, Paul acting like a child and stepping on my heels as he followed me. Jared came up beside me.
"You alright?" he said, concerned.
"I'm okay." It wasn't a lie … not for what he was asking, anyway. I was okay, but Bella wasn't…
"Paul! Quit it!" I snapped as the heel of my sock slipped down.
Jared turned and caught him in a headlock, and didn't release him 'till we were downstairs and wrapped in sleeping bags and blankets again.
"Your turn," Ben said. I noticed he'd been rather quiet since it was his turn. "Who's it gonna be?"
I looked around, and Sam was unfortunate enough to draw attention to himself by sneezing at that moment.
"Sam," I said. "Truth or Dare?"
"Dare."
"'Atta boy, Sam!" Jared congratulated, slapping him heartily on the back.
I thought for a moment, trying to think of something Sam might enjoy. "I dare you to… go upstairs, knock on the girls' door, and pash whoever answers it."
There was a deathly silence around the circle. We all knew that if the wrong person answered that door, Sam was going to receive a black eye. Sam must have known this too, but he hid it very well as he rose to his feet and strode toward the stairs. The rest of us stared at each other for a moment, but were scrambling to be free of our warm blankets half a second later, chasing him to see if he would really do it.
Soon, we were all crowded around the corner of the stairs, watching with our breath held in our chests as Sam approached the door. He raised a fist, and knocked. There was a loud squabble, then the door handle was turned, and a familiar voice told everyone else to quieten down while she checked what they – us – wanted.
I tried to see where Bella was, but Alice, Angela and Bella were all missing. The light to the bathroom was on, though. Girls were weird like that; they always wanted company when going to the bathroom.
Sam saw who had opened the door, and was relieved at least to see he wasn't going to have to pash one of his friends' girlfriends. He pulled Leah toward him, and for some odd reason, she didn't protest. He put a hand gently on the back of her neck and kissed her, making it into a really long pash rather than what a regular Dare would have required. I knew something was up when Leah's hands twined themselves around Sam's neck, and she drew herself a little closer to him.
Jared whistled, low and long. Sam broke away from Leah, somewhat reluctantly, and looked back at us, smiling. Leah continued to stare at Sam.
"What's going on? Did you tell them?"
Sam froze and looked like he very much wanted to swear. Leah started playing with his hair in her hand.
"No," he said. "It was a dare, as in Truth or Dare."
"Oh." She could tell she'd just put her foot in it. "Then they didn't know."
"No. But I guess they will now."
Well!! What do you think? Do things make a bit more sense now? ...this was why I wasn't taking a stance on the Leah/Jacob suggestions :-)
Review!!
-Shaps