I couldn't help but feel a little excited about lunchtime studying with Edward. Last night when I got home from school and had made Charlie dinner, I went upstairs to my room to sort out all of my biology notes. I wanted to make sure that they were all organized and that my writing was legible for someone else's eyes.
An hour later I was satisfied with how they looked and slipped them back into my biology folder and back into my book bag.
I dodged Jessica after Spanish class by mumbling something about having a project I needed to do research. She shrugged me off dismissively and went to go in search of Mike.
The library was nearly empty during lunchtime, only a few stragglers who have a free fourth period and loners who enjoy the solace of the library were there. I made my way past all the study rooms, peering in the small windowed doors, trying to find Edward. When I got to the last of the study rooms, I saw Edward inside with a girl and a guy. Suddenly feeling awkward, I gently opened the door and went in.
"Hey, Edward. Sorry if I'm late."
"Oh, hey. No you aren't late. I'm early."
I smiled lightly and turned my attention over to Edwards company.
"Hi, I'm Bella," I said with a small wave.
"I'm Angela and this is my boyfriend, Ben," the girl, Angela said. Her boyfriend Ben nodded his head in acknowledgment. "We're seniors."
"Oh yeah, I think I've seen you around." Honestly, I don't think I'd ever seen them before.
"Well, we'll let you two get to work." Angela said, standing along with Ben. "Bye Edward. Bella."
Ben headed out the door in front of Angela, who gave Edward a pointed look before shutting the door behind her. Weird.
"They seem nice. Are they your friends?"
He shrugged. "Yeah, they're nice. They sit in the library at lunch and started joining me. It's kinda awkward though. Third wheel and all."
I nodded and started pulling papers out of my book bag. "Well, lets get this started."
"Wow, you guys did a lot of work while I was gone," Edward commented, breaking the twenty minute silence that had been plaguing our tiny room.
"Yeah, we did. Were you on vacation or something?"
Edward cleared his throat, looking uncomfortable. I instantly felt bad. "Look, it's okay. You don't have to tell me where you went or whatever. I shouldn't be so nosy."
"No," Edward shook his head. "It's not like top secret or anything. I was in Chicago. My grandfather died and I was at the funeral."
"Oh," was my smart reply. I was never one to know the right thing to say. "I'm sorry."
The bell rang and I hastily picked all my stuff up and shoved it back into my book bag.
"I'll see you in bio," I called out behind me as I left Edward in the room.
I don't know what I was expecting. Maybe for Edward to talk to me or acknowledge me, especially since I had spent all lunch with him. But no. He spent the entire period looking straight ahead at the whiteboard, furiously scribbling down notes as Mr. Banner spoke.
0-0
That was how Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday panned out. Edward and I would work in silence and I found out he didn't actually need my help with any of the biology. He was smart. Really smart. So while he wrote down notes and filled out worksheets, I read my English book.
He always finished the work early and we would spend the last five awkward minutes before lunch ended making small talk.
However, on Friday he ended up finishing the last of the work with fifteen minutes to spare.
"I, uh, I have something for you," Edward said as we packed up our book bags.
"Oh?"
"Yeah, my mom actually wanted me to give it to you. Do you want to come to my car? I forgot it there."
"Sure," I said hesitantly. I couldn't imagine what his mother would have to give me.
We walked out of the school into the parking lot, it was drizzling lightly and we both pulled the hoods of our jackets up over our heads.
He lead me through the cars to the far back corner, farthest from the school entrance and pulled out car keys, pressing a button on his key ring that caused the lights of a black Volvo to flash.
"You have a car?" I asked.
"It's a hand-me-down. It was my fathers, but when we moved here he bought a new car and gave me his. It's only a couple years old. In Chicago, I never needed a car because of all the public transportation."
"That's cool," I commented dumbly. His car was nice. Way nicer than my beat up old Chevy.
We reached his car and he opened up the passenger door, looking through the glove box and retrieving an envelope. He shut the door and pressed another button on his key ring, locking the car.
"Here," he said, shoving the envelope out at me.
I tentatively took it from his hands, sliding my finger under the opening to tear it. It was a note card with pictures of rose's on it. I opened it up and was greeted by the most elegant cursive I'd ever seen.
"Dear Bella,
As a token of appreciation for helping Edward this week in school I would like to extend an invitation to you and your father for dinner tonight at six o'clock. I hope you can make it. Everything will be taken care of, just bring yourself.
Sincerely, Esme Cullen"
Their address, along with directions from my house were written on a slip of paper inside.
"Dinner?" I asked, closing the card and sliding it back into the envelope.
"Yeah, Esme insisted. It's okay if you can't go or don't want to. I know it's a Friday night and short notice. I know you have friends and parties to go to."
I blushed furiously at his mention of parties. The last time I had gone to one I had made a complete fool of myself in front of Edward.
"No, of course not. I'd love to go, Edward. Unless you don't want me to, I'd totally understand if that were the case, I mean Charlie's working tonight anyways so it would just be you, your parents and me. I don't want it to be awkward or anything." I definitely had a severe case of word vomit.
"It's fine, really." Edward assured me.
"Okay," I gave a soft smile, "I'll be there."
The bell rang and Edward and I silently parted ways. Anticipatory butterflies already started fluttering in my stomach as I drifted through the rest of my classes.
0-0
Edward continued to ignore me throughout biology, but for once I didn't mind. Tonight I was going over to his house and I was determined to drag him out of his shell. At least I'd make more of an effort.
"Bella!"
"Bella! Bella Swan!" Two different voices called out to me as I walked out the school.
"Bella fucking Swan I know you can hear me!" Lauren's voice rang out.
Knowing that my lame attempt at ignoring Lauren and Jessica wouldn't help, I stopped in my tracks and turned.
Jessica ran up to me first. "Hi! Party tonight, you in?"
"I can't tonight. Sorry. Charlie wants me to stay home tonight," I lied.
Jessica pouted, "Bellaaa! You've been MIA this entire week during lunch and then you can't go out tonight to a party?"
"I'm really sorry, Jess. Next week I'll be back at lunch and we'll go to Port Angeles after school or something."
"Okay!" Jessica smiled, looking appeased.
"Where have you been all week anyways, Bella?" Lauren piped up.
"Working on a project. Remember?" I said too quickly. "It's a big project and I've had a lot of research to do. The town library sucks so I have to use the school one."
Really, I don't have any reason to hide my lunchtime meetings with Edward. After all, I wasn't there on my free will; Mr. Banner arranged all this before I had knowledge of it. If I did tell them, they would simply look at me apologetically and then go on about how lame he is and what a dick Mr. Banner was.
However, telling them that I was going to the Cullen's house for dinner would be an entirely different story.
0-0
The house way empty when I got home. Charlie hadn't even bothered to leave me a note, not like I needed one. I trudged upstairs and eyed the bathroom, debating whether or not I should shower. A shower might be good. It would help loosen up the tension that had suddenly found its way into my body the past week. I turned the water on, stripping down as the temperature grew just right.
The scent of my citrus shampoo, conditioner and body wash enveloped me in the steamy room and I allowed my thoughts to wander…to Edward Cullen. He certainly was a mystery. If I were being honest with myself, I would realize how my badly I wanted to get to know him. I might also acknowledge how attractive I found him. I had become enraptured by his startling green eyes. They were hidden behind his thick rimmed glasses and I found myself sneaking peeks at him over the top of my book. He was tall. I was able to see the lean muscle on his back as it worked under his shirt when he bent to pick up his backpack.
A tingling, coiling sensation began at the apex of my thighs as my hand drifted south, circling lower and lower, spurred on by these thoughts.
No! I pulled my hand away quickly as if I had been burnt. No. I couldn't, wouldn't, entertain these silly feelings. It would be a slippery slope that I wasn't willing to take.
I finished up with my shower quickly, drying my hair with a towel and then wrapping my body in another to go to my bedroom. I looked through my closet, picking out my nicest jeans and a gray long sleeve top before pulling my burgundy sweatshirt over my head.
I still had two hours before I had to be at the Cullen household. I went downstairs, scanning the room for something to do. There was a pile of dirty dishes in the sink, remnants of Charlie's late night snack and our breakfast this morning. I turned the tv on, flipping the channels to some show about a family with a shitload of kids. Shrugging, I went into the kitchen and began doing the dishes. I then moved on to the refrigerator, making a list of necessary items and throwing out the old, expired ones. With still some time left, I run upstairs and send a quick email to Renee, asking about her pregnancy and Phil. I still haven't mentioned moving back and neither has she. Finally, it was 5:50 and I figured I could just drive really, really slowly to his house.
I closed the door to my house, making sure it was locked and turning the porch light on for when I got home.
My Chevy roared to life and I turned the heat up, knowing that it would only just start to warm up once I was practically there.
I pulled up to the house a couple minutes before six. It was a nice house, nicer than Charlie's but not too showy for Forks. However, the Mercedes, Lexus and the Volvo parked out front betrayed its modesty.
As I walked up the front steps to the house, I could hear the sound of classical music, something I couldn't recognize. I rang the doorbell and it chimed once, twice before a disheveled looking Edward opened the door.
"Hey, Bella," Edward said nervously, stepping aside to allow me to come in. The house was light and airy inside, looking cheerful and cozy with plush couches and an inviting looking fire going in the fireplace, in living room, which was to the left of the door. The smell of garlic and other spices lingered in the entryway, causing my stomach to inaudibly grumble.
Suddenly, there was the sound of pots and pans clanging and loud, boisterous laughter followed by shushing, coming from what I assumed must be the kitchen.
Edward cringed, before ushering me into the house and shutting the door behind me.
"I, uh, come on. We're supposed to go to the den for appetizers or something."
He started walking, leading me through the living room into another room with more plush couches and a huge flat screen television.
Edward goes to sit down on one of the couches and I follow suit, sitting at the opposite end from him. I glance around the room, admiring the paintings and family pictures of what I assume to be a younger Edward with his parents.
There's movement behind me and I turned to see a tall, striking, blond haired man enter, carrying a plate of cheese and crackers.
He smiled wearily at me, flashing white teeth and set the platter down on the coffee table in front of us.
"Hello, you must be Bella!" He exclaimed, reaching out his hand and I stood, extending my own arm to shake his.
"It's great to meet you Dr. Cullen," I told him, slightly in awe of his extremely good looks.
"Please, call me Carlisle. It's a pleasure to have you come over for dinner."
I blushed slightly at his words, causing Carlisle to let out a light laugh. He turned, giving Edward a pointed look before excusing himself back to the kitchen.
"Um, where's your mom?"
"I'm sorry, I should have canceled tonight. Maybe you should just go home. Let me walk you out," Edward rambled, standing up.
"Woah, wait. Did I do something wrong, Edward? I'm sorry, please tell me." I stood in front of him, blocking his exit.
"No! No, of course not. Here, lets sit down I guess."
We both sat down in our respective spots on the couch again, he raked a hand through his hair before beginning.
"The reason I wasn't in school the other week was because I went back to Chicago. My grandfather died. He was my mothers father and the one who raised her. My grandmother, she died giving birth to my mother. Mom took his death really hard, so dad prescribed her some anti-anxiety meds and she's had a few too many to drink today and she's kind of a mess. It's really embarrassing. She had this big elaborate meal planned but ended up burning it so dad had to go pick up food."
Edward avoided eye contact with me the entire time he spoke, his face flaming red underneath the curtain of hair and glasses.
"Wow, Edward. I'm really sorry." I didn't know what to say to him. All my grandparents died before I could really remember anything, so I'd never experienced death first hand.
"Yeah, I mean. He was kind of like a second father to me, you know? He would watch me while my parents went out of town or they were at work. It really sucks."
Edward played with the hem of his t-shirt before looking up at me, giving me a tentative smile and pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "I'm sorry I'm being such a downer. Come on, dinner's waiting."
He led me through the den, the appetizer platter forgotten and into the kitchen. There was a dining table over in the corner, set with plates and take-out cartons. From the adjoining room, Carlisle entered, leading what I assumed to be Edward's mother. For them not being related by blood, they still shared the same shade of green eyes. She was tall, taller than me and slender, her petite frame covered in a modest short-sleeved dress. She had shoulder length caramel colored hair, framing her pale face and hazel eyes. Which I noticed were slightly glossy dilated.
"Hi, you just have to be Bella!" She exclaimed, shaking her grip from Carlisle's hand and rushing to me, wrapping me in a full hug.
She squeezed me surprisingly tight and I squeaked a little, wincing.
Esme noticed my reaction and released me, chuckling. "Oh, I'm so sorry dear. It's just such a pleasure to meet you."
"Thank you for having me, Ms. Cullen. Your home is really lovely."
She laughed, please, as I'm sure Carlisle told you, we aren't formal around here. Call me Esme.
"Okay," I smiled, "Esme."
"Besides, I feel like I practically know you already, Edward has told me so much about you!"
I had to catch myself to make sure I didn't react negatively. Carlisle stifled a laugh with a cough and Edward directed his gaze down again.
"Esme, dear. Let's not embarrass poor Edward. How about we sit down and eat, yes?"
Esme clapped her hands together, "Oh come on. You know how much he talked about her! Reminded me just of your mother, talking about the second coming of Christ!"
Edward just groaned and stomped off towards the dining table, pulling out my chair before sitting down in the chair next to mine.
Esme and Carlisle sat down across from us. Carlisle opened up the containers of food while Esme poured herself a glass of wine. When she set it back down on the table, he moved the containers closer to Esme, effectively making the wine bottle farthest from her.
"We got Italian, Bella. Do you like Italian? Your given name is Isabella, correct? That's Italian. Right Carlisle?" She asked, turning to her husband.
"I love Italian, actually. It's one of my favorites. My mothers maiden name is Higginbotham and my fathers is Swan, I'm not too sure about having Italian in me." I told her, scooping out lasagna and salad and putting it on my plate.
"Oh, what lovely names!" Esme exclaimed, passing me the garlic bread. "Isabella Swan."
Carlisle made eye contact with me and gave me a fatherly smile, silently thanking me for enduring the night so far.
We fell into conversation, about school, about my father, chief of police and the exciting crimes in Forks. They asked abut my hobbies, reading and listening to music. Edward remained silent the entire conversation, only answering questions when asked. Carlisle told me about his job at the hospital, the entire time Esme listened with rapt attention.
"Such an amazing man, my Carlisle. The Cullen men are such a catch, Bella." Esme told me with a wink.
I smiled, not knowing what to say. Is she trying to hook me up with her son?
"Well, I'm stuffed. I think I'll go lay down. Edward, why don't you let your father do all the clean-up and go show Bella the rest of the house. She might really enjoy it."
Okay. Maybe she was trying to hook me up with her son.
Edward wordlessly got up and motioned for me to follow him. I got up and he lead me through the living room, up the stairs and down a hallway to the very end of it. He opened the door and let me in first.
"So. This is my room."
I walked in further, taking it all in. It was a pretty big room, probably double the size of my own. On one wall, he had a full sized bed, facing a flat screen television on the wall that rivaled the size of the one in the den. There was a double closet and just past that, a little nook type place, the walls filled floor to ceiling with books, cds and vinyl. I walked over to it, eyeing his collections. He had a little something of everything it seemed and it was all organized by title.
I turned back to him and he looked nervous. "Wow. You have a really, really cool room. Your music and books are so organized."
He looked sheepish as he ran a hand through his hair. I was becoming very captivated by his messy head of bronze colored hair and his long, long fingers.
"Yeah, I don't go out much." He blushed at his words. "I mean, I like to be organized."
I walked over to the desk adjacent to his bed, picking up a stack of sheet music.
"You play an instrument?"
"Yeah. Piano, my grandfather taught me."
"Oh. Maybe you could play for me sometime?"
He seemed surprised by my words. "Yeah, sure. I mean, if you want me to."
I smiled in response and went back to the bed, sitting down and kicking my shoes off. I was suddenly worried that I was being too forward, too intrusive in his personal space.
However, the strange expression on his face didn't display any annoyance, just maybe…discomfort?
"You look so uncomfortable, I can leave? Or you could sit down…something?" I offered.
He sighed, eying the bed before sitting cross-legged in front of me.
"I'm really sorry about tonight. Thank you for being so…understanding about the whole thing."
I shrugged. "Your parents are really nice. Besides, I can't even imagine if anything happened to my parents. I don't know how I could even cope."
"Neither can I," Edward responded. He was quiet for a few minutes, playing with the same frayed hem on his shirt that he had been earlier.
"Are you okay though?"
He shrugged, still looking down. "Yeah, I mean, I'm doing good. It sucks he's gone, but it wasn't exactly unexpected. He had dementia, his mind… it had been going for some time now. He had lived with us for a couple of years up until a year ago, but it all just became too much for my mom. She had to put him in a home in Chicago that was nearby. He needed nearly constant supervision. He hardly recognized us before we moved. Dad was offered the job at the Forks hospital, he wanted to go someplace where he could make more of an impact, you know? But when Grandpa started getting worse, dad wanted to decline the job, but mom insisted."
Edward Cullen, my shy, mysterious lab partner just opened up to me with something intensely personal, that I did the only thing I knew I could. I reciprocated.
"My moms pregnant," I blurted out.
"Pregnant?" He asked, clearly surprised by our change of topic.
"Yeah. Phil, her new husband and her are having a baby. She's really excited."
"Oh. And you're not?"
I sighed, "No. I mean, yeah, I am. But it's weird for me, you know? I'm seventeen and I'm going to be a big sister. My mother is going to have a baby. A baby. I still don't think she really grasps that. She was young when she had me, but I've been pretty self sufficient my whole life. My mom, Renee, is older now. She has Phil, but he goes on the road and may not always be there. She wants me to move back in with them."
He gulped, looking up at me. "Move back? Where to?"
"Jacksonville, Florida. She really wants me to. I told her I'd consider it,. It's junior year though, I don't want to just pack up and move back across the country."
"Don't you want to be part of your new siblings life, though?"
"That's the thing. I feel so…disconnected from it all. All of this stuff is happening thousands of miles away from me. She has a new husband, she's going to have a baby. I don't want to intrude in on my mothers new life."
"Bella, I'm sure your mother doesn't feel that way."
"I know its stupid," I said with a shrug.
"It's not stupid," he argued.
Carlisle's knock on the door disrupted our conversation. "Bella? It's getting late, almost nine. I wouldn't want the chief sending out squad cars looking for you." He winked at me and then walked away.
"Let me walk you to the door," Edward said, standing up.
I slipped on my converse and followed him downstairs.
Carlisle was in the living room when we got down. "It was great meeting you Bella, unfortunately, my wife is fast asleep, otherwise she would definitely tell you the same."
"Thank you. I had a really good time tonight," I answered honestly.
Edward and I went outside to my truck.
"Your cars are really nice. My Chevy looks like shit compared to those."
"You should see my dad's car in the garage, it makes mine look ready for the junkyard."
I rolled my eyes, figuring it couldn't be that ostentatious.
I unlocked the door to my car and climbed in, turning on the engine to let the car heat up and rolled down the window.
"On Monday…what's going to happen, Edward?"
He looked confused. "I mean, we won't have the lunchtime studying to do. You don't acknowledge me in biology. Are you going to return to being…strangers?"
"Is that what you want?"
"No!" I yelled a little to loudly. "Not at all. I just want to be…prepared. Maybe you don't want to associate with me. I know my friends can be bitches."
Edward looked very surprised at my words. "We can talk. I thought you didn't want to."
"I do, Edward," I admitted. "I should go. Thanks for the great time."
Edward stepped away from the car and I drove away. Watching him grow smaller in the rear view mirror.
0-0
Monday at school, Rose stopped me on my walk to the cafeteria from Spanish class. Jessica had skipped fourth period to go over to Mike's house. I had no clue how she planned on graduating with all the ditching she was doing.
"Hey, Bella," Rose greeted me. She looked like a model, as always yet I couldn't help but feel a little less attractive than usual today. She was wearing a black, hooded, wool toggle coat and dark denim skinny jeans tucked into black knee high stiletto boots. I looked like an ogre.
"Hey Rose."
"I have that CD that you wanted to borrow. It's in my car. Can you come get it with me?"
"CD? I don't remember asking to borrow a CD."
She huffed dramatically. "God, Bella. Just come to the car and you'll remember it when you see it."
"Fine! Don't have to get all bitchy about it," I shot back.
Rosalie dragged me through the parking lot, stopping suddenly somewhere in the maze of cars.
"Okay, Bella. Spill. Don't even think about bullshitting me."
I feigned ignorance. "What are you talking about? Listen, I thought we were just going to your car to get the CD."
"You and Edward Cullen. You spent every day last week with him and now I find out that you went to dinner at his house? Is there something going on with the two of you?" Her tone was slightly accusatory and I struggled with what to say.
"What? How would you even know that?"
"So I'm right? Tyler was driving home with his grandmother Friday night from Church. He drove past the Cullen's house and saw you two standing outside."
"Oh," I said dumbly.
"Yeah. Oh. I told him he better not tell anyone else. You know he won't though, he's been dying to get in my pants."
I sighed, relieved.
"Are you two having some secret romance? Is he like your boyfriend or your fuckbuddy? He doesn't seem like he'd be a Casanova in the sack, but you do need to get laid."
I blanched.
"Don't be dumb, Rose. Mr. Banner asked me to help him catch up and that's what I'm doing. His parents invited me to dinner as a thank you for helping him. I didn't want to be rude."
"So you guys are like…friends, then?"
"No, like I said. Edward is just the kid I sit next to in class and was told to help. He's nothing to me. Not friends, barely acquaintances."
"You still went to dinner at his place. You could have said you weren't able to, or that you didn't need thanking," Rose continued to pry.
"His dad's a DILF and his mom was all loopy. Edward hardly talked. They're all freaks."
Behind me, there was the sound of books falling onto the wet cement, Rose's eyes flashed from my face to where the noise came from, her eyes widening. I turned, wondering what caused her reaction, only to see Edward standing a few feet away from me on the other side of a car.
"I'm…I'm sorry. I wasn't eavesdropping," he said as his gaze met mine.
I could have handled a look of anger or even fury in his eyes. I couldn't handle the look of sheer hurt and disappointment I was instead greeted with. His face flushed red and he quickly bent down to retrieve his fallen books before rushing away towards his Volvo.
"Shit, Bella," Rose shook her head.
Yeah, shit.
Hi! I first off want to say a HUGE thank you to all my readers. Especially the ones who have put this story on alert, favorited it and reviewed. You guys ROCK! Seriously. This chapter was a bitch to get out and is the longest one from this story yet and i still didn't get to everything i hoped to cover in it. The pictures of Edward and his parents cars are on my LJ. There's also a couple pics of how i envision Edward in this story. The link for that is on my profile. I'll send you a teaser of chapter five if you review! Or if you follow me on Twitter (link on profile) i'll put the teaser up on there.