CAPÍTULO DOS
~MR~
"Una cerveza, por favor. Bien helada," ordered Bella. The barman quickly set an ice cold beer in front of her and a small plate with lime wedges.
She downed the entire beer in one go, ordering another one. This one she took her time with, pushing a couple of lime wedges inside the bottle.
It had been a week since they arrived to Aurora, the world cup's main venue, and the heat and humidity were almost unbearable. While Bella adjusted quickly, Edward, on the other hand was still complaining about the heat.
"I thought you would be used to the sun and heat with all the photographs you take in Africa for National Geographic," Bella mocked him as they left the hotel for another interview at the stadium.
Edward frowned and wiped his forehead—he looked like a melting vanilla ice cream. "Africa's heat is dry; it's the humidity that I can't stand."
Bella had simply rolled her eyes and walked towards the rental car.
Just thinking about that car had Bella chuckling as she sipped on her second beer.
Edward had been so adamant about driving that she let him. After the third time he screamed like a little girl when he took the wrong lane and one of the Metrovia buses zoomed past him, he gave up.
Bella had cracked up at his disgruntled face.
"Don't worry, you'll get back your man card once we are back home," she had teased him.
"Watcha having, Swan?"
Bella groaned and finished off her beer, flagging the barman for another one.
Why couldn't she escape from him for just one freaking night?
Edward had been glued to her every single day. Granted, he had been sort of charming and nice—most of the time—but he quickly went back to the obnoxious and arrogant asshole he had become.
Bella often wondered what happened to the old shy Edward from school with long hair that almost covered his eyes and thick, black-rimmed glasses. She used to have the biggest crush on him, but he started to change when they got to college. He started going to the gym more, got a haircut and contacts. Suddenly, he was too good to hang out with her. Then the rumors about him having only one-week girlfriends started, and Bella mourned the loss of the nice guy who once bought almost the entire store in cookies to cheer her up after her mom passed away.
Bella sighed, pushing the memories to the back of her mind. There was no use dwelling on the past anyway.
Remembering what Edward had asked, Bella raised an eyebrow at him and tilted the new bottle of beer towards him. "I think you are smart enough to see what I'm having, Cullen."
He hummed and ordered a shot of bourbon.
Edward turned to her, but Bella kept her sight on the rows of bottles in front of her. He cleared his throat, and Bella watched him through the corner of her eye. He looked . . . nervous.
"What is it, Cullen?"
He sighed and knocked back another shot, asking the barman to leave the bottle. "Since we don't have any interviews scheduled tomorrow, and we've been working nonstop the past week, maybe we could leave the city for a bit? I heard about this great beach just an hour away where you can see the whales, and well, you see . . . I was sort of thinking that maybe you and I could—"
"Well, well, well . . . what have we here?"
A hand came down on Edward's shoulder, interrupting his speech. Bella looked up, and she did a double take when she saw the man standing next to Edward.
Tall, broad shoulders, bronze hair, green eyes, and a wicked smile, Bella could've confused the man for Edward had she not been sitting next to the man himself. The only differences were their noses—Edward's was slightly crooked to the right—and their skin tones—the newcomer had a golden tone to his skin, like the one you would get after spending hours under the sun throughout the years.
Still, for a minute there, Bella considered the possibility of long lost brothers until Edward spoke.
"Hello, Finnick," Edward greeted him through clenched teeth. "What are you doing here?"
Finnick leaned against the bar top, shooting a flirtatious smile at Edward. "I'm doing a photo shoot for a swimwear line, and you?"
"I'm covering the FIFA World Cup."
"And I assume this gorgeous lady sitting next to you is your partner?"
Bella smiled and extended her hand. "I'm Bella Swan, and I'm a journalist for the Seattle Sun Times. You're a model, right?"
Finnick took her hand, but instead of shaking it, he kissed the back of it. "Enchantez, Miss Swan, and yes, I'm a model. In fact, I have worked with Mr. Grouch right here," he said, smirking at Edward. "We were in Belize, right? After the shoot, we went to this club and got plastered. You wouldn't believe the things this man does when he is ten sheets to the wind!"
Bella leaned in closer, her mind reeling with all the juicy gossip she could get on Edward. "Oh, do tell…"
One hour later, Bella couldn't stop laughing. Finnick, true to his word, had some serious dirty laundry on Edward. From jumping on bar tops and dancing drunkenly to the beat of a rock song, to performing a striptease on a subway pole, and to horrible karaoke nights where he practically slurred the words, Bella ate it all up.
Too bad she wouldn't remember anything the next morning.
She should've stopped on her sixth beer.
Finnick chuckled, sipping from his piña colada. Bella was sitting on his lap, and Edward sat next to them with a murderous look on his face.
"So, anyway, after the last photo shoot, we went to this club with loud music and laser lights. We thought it looked cool, y'know? Turned out it was rave night, and somehow, someone had slipped us some E in our drinks because suddenly I couldn't keep my hands off—"
Edward stood up, almost knocking both Finnick and Bella back.
"You know what, man? Let's meet up some other time. We have places to be and things to do, not to mention my partner here looks like she needs to be cut off."
Bella hiccupped. "Oh, pish posh… please finnissshhh what you were saying, Finniiiick!"
Finnick chuckled, exchanging a look with Edward. "Some other time." He winked at her, setting her on the barstool, and then turned to Edward. "Don't leave without calling me, Edward."
Bella watched Finnick walk away, his tight leather pants providing her a nice view of his toned thighs and backside.
"He's got a great ass," Bella slurred, her filter long gone.
"You have no idea," Edward answered, throwing back another shot of bourbon.
Bella's eyebrows rose in surprise and shock.
Edward, realizing what he just said, started spluttering and coughing. "I mean, it's not like—"
"That's kinda hot."
Edward's jaw dropped. "It is?"
Bella bit her lip and nodded, her cheeks warming, and this time her blush wasn't only because of the alcohol in her system.
Edward smirked. "Interesting . . . "
~BoH~
Monday. Lunes. In any language, it sucked wind. Another weekend behind them, another precious chance to make progress with Bella Swan squandered.
Sure, there had been "moments" where she'd set down the daggers while the two of them were out and about the city, pulling together the human interest stories and laying the groundwork for the drama of the World Cup matches. Edward had caught Bella more than once looking at him with a moony, far-off longing he vaguely remembered before she started hating his guts.
Each time, though, the good feelings seemed to evaporate just as quickly as they had come on. One step forward, two steps back. Fuck, Edward didn't know how much farther back he could go before his ass landed in the Pacific.
The one good thing that could be said about this little trek out to the rainforest of Crepúsculo was that Santiago Oliveira would not be part of it. If Edward had to listen to that smarmy son-of-a-soccer-player—discúlpame, FOOTBALL player—talk about his "gift for the game" for one fucking minute longer, he'd need a barf bag attached to his hip. Hopefully, the guy's parents were slightly less grating than the cocky fucker they'd spawned.
"Our bus leaves in ten minutes. Are you ready to go?" Crouched intently over her olive-green backpack, Bella couldn't even be bothered to look at him while she issued the warning.
Was it hot in here, or was it that fucking sliver of cinnamon skin between the top of Bella's skirt and the thin white blouse that was no longer quite fully tucked in? Maybe it was the creamy section of thigh peeking out from the other end? Some combination of the suffocating humidity and his partner's minimal clothing was surely to blame for Edward's inability to stop leaking water out of every damn pore.
"Yes, I filled up my water bottle at the hotel like a normal person. What'd you do, Swan, buy out the entire country's supply of Dasani bottles?"
Without dignifying his comment with a reply, Bella gave her backpack zipper a firm tug before looking up. The saddest part was she didn't look the least bit angry or even disappointed. Almost as if she'd just expected him to be an asshole, and there he was walking right into the role like it was written with him in mind.
"Don't expect me to carry that for you," he added, infuriated by her non-response.
"When have I ever asked you to do anything for me, Edward?"
The fire in her eyes should have thrilled him. Negative attention was better than no attention at all, right? Then why did his stomach lurch in that old familiar you-fucked-up-royally kind of way?
"El bus de las diez y quince a Crepúsculo está abordando ahora."
Bella swept up her backpack and heaved it over her right shoulder, jockeying for a spot by the door. Edward hung back, letting Bella sweat it out while the thick crowd filled in between them. She was playing it cool, all right, not even turning back once to see where he was.
Stepping out into the bright glare of the sun, Edward was just in time to catch Bella's backpack disappearing into the doorway of the bus. Let's see how cool Lois Lane was now, stuffed into a hot bus for the next four hours with some beady-eyed stranger.
She'll be begging for my company.
Smug smirk firmly in place, Edward boarded the bus, searching for his damsel in distress, only to find Bella deep in conversation with a dark-haired, well-dressed man seated next to her. Slowing his pace in the aisle, Edward cleared his throat and waited for Bella to initiate the apology and explain to the stranger that he would need to relocate.
"Hola!" she said brightly, gracing Edward with a beautiful smile.
He chuckled. "Hola."
The man, puzzled, looked from Bella to Edward and back to Bella. "¿Desea sentarse con este tipo?" he asked.
"No, no!" Bella answered, grasping the man's arm to keep him from leaving. "Nuh nuh nuh nuh no."
Edward's jaw dropped as understanding dawned. He searched frantically for a place to sit and a chance at regaining a scrap of pride.
"I think there's an empty seat in the back row," Bella offered, so sweetly the man next to her would never suspect the jab she had just delivered.
Edward felt it, though.
As the bus gobbled up the paved highways of Aurora beneath its wheels, Edward stewed in anger and resentment. Three hours later, as the scenery changed to the lush ferns and shade trees of the rainforest, a new attitude rose in his chest: determination.
Bella Swan would be his, even if he had to choke on his pride to make it happen.
~AF~
Edward felt the pulse of time get louder and louder with its passing, and still he had no idea of how to achieve his goal.
Bella was carrying around a beautiful Nikon D4, which had been her excuse for the detour. However, she seemed to take a picture only here and there, so Edward had no idea why she had wanted to hike in the smothering humidity when they should be interviewing the Oliveiras, not that he was in a position to question her behavior since she had unceremoniously told him to stay at the glorified guesthouse, Hotel El Peón Rojo.
He couldn't have that, of course. If he wanted to get the girl, he would have to make use of the limited time he had. He wanted her; he always had. The silent distance she had suddenly placed between them made the want unbearably acute.
Walking among the lush greens, Bella looked like she belonged in the forest, an exotic bird with her hair twisted in a messy bun and curly tendrils about her face that mimicked the newborn ferns that surrounded them. Edward found himself incapable of directing his camera at anything but her. In a way, her resolve to pretend he wasn't there worked in his favor at the moment. In a way…
"You don't even know what to do with that camera, do you?" he asked when his water supply ran out, and she showed no intent to return to the main road. Mocking her sounded like a good way to get her to react, but Bella only walked towards an orchid, and standing below it, snapped a picture. She extended a trembling finger and softly caressed the edge of a waxy petal.
Edward's lens was expectedly focused on her, so when she ran a finger under her eye, he knew the droplet she spread was not sweat.
"Bella?" he asked, concerned and disconcerted.
"Why did you even come along, Edward?" she snapped. "To complain about the heat some more? Are you thirsty? Am I in the way of a perfect picture?"
"What the fuck?" he blurted, further befuddlement in his voice that was laced subtly with irritation.
"I wanted to come here alone," she whispered so softly he was sure she didn't mean for him to hear.
They walked back to El Peón Rojo in uncomfortable silence.
*tremble*
"¿Qué quiere decir con que sólo hay una habitación disponible?"
Apparently, there had been a misunderstanding, and the hotel clerk had assumed they would be staying together together since another crew of journalists had had the same idea they did— interview Oliveira's family and friends.
Bella was fuming, ranting in Spanish and gesticulating wildly. Edward thought it was adorable…and hot, quite frankly.
"You!" She pointed an accusing finger, making Edward drop his delighted smirk.
"You are sleeping on the floor," Bella hissed.
"Oh, no. I can't do that. I have a weak back," Edward lied, theatrically bending backwards by the waist. "I'm sure the bed is big enough for both of us."
"Where would your ego fit though?" she asked with a saccharine voice, and batted her eyelashes.
Accepting her insolent capitulation, his pleased grin was back in full force, and Bella wanted to pull his hair and scream obscenities at him. The idea of pulling his hair invited unwanted imagery into her mind that Bella quickly dispelled, waving a hand as if it were a bothersome fly.
*tremble*
"Do you have to move so much? What are you doing—whacking off?"
"Ha! You wish you could see something that hot!" Edward said and continued to lie on his stomach, head on his arms, moving his foot back and forth, back and forth. The smile he wore would have driven Bella to actual violence. He was lucky there was absolute darkness.
Bella snorted.
"Right," she scoffed, but that sight would not be easily chased away.
*tremble*
"Will you stop with the moving?" Bella, frustrated beyond belief that he had woken her up when she had finally fallen asleep, yelled and punched Edward, only to realize he was holding her.
"Ouch! What?"
"Stop moving!"
"M'not," Edward mumbled, securing his hold on her, almost immediately asleep again.
Bella thought about extricating herself from the boa-like grip he had on her waist, but she bit her lip and cuddled him.
She could go back to her aloofness in the morning.
*tremble*
"¡Buenos días!" the manager greeted them when they entered the quaint dining room. "I hope the earthquake didn't keep you up."
"There was an earthquake?" Bella asked her, wide-eyed.
"Uno pequeñito. Nothing to worry about." She smiled reassuringly.
"It appears you owe me an apology," Edward leaned down to whisper in her ear. Distracted by the goose bumps he saw rising on her neck and shoulders, he couldn't escape the elbow she dug into his ribs.
As he prepared an appropriate response, the ground jumped like magic beans under their feet for a couple of seconds.
Before they could make sense of what had happened, their world started swinging and shaking, making the small hotel rain debris and trinkets on them for an endless minute.
When the earth's raging and deafening sounds stopped, and the gray dust cloud slowly settled, the yelling and crying started to filter through Bella's consciousness.
"Bella! Bella, are you okay? You are bleeding…we have to get out of here!"
Bella saw her own hand lift and touch the blood that dripped down Edward's brow before she passed out.
Authors' Note: We thank you all for the overwhelming response to this story- all the follows, favorites, reviews, and especially the JOINERS and DONORS to the cause.
Now, it's up to you! The rest of this story will become a collaboration among any and all who would care to join us, AVAILABLE ONLY BY DONATING TO THE RELIEF EFFORT. Don't leave these two stranded in the quake! Join us and/or donate to the cause! (Please find the link on our profile to the Fandom Gives blog.)
IF YOU WANT TO WRITE A CHAPTER (200-800 words), join our Facebook Group First Responders (see the link on our profile) OR CONTACT any of the three of us (see our profile for our fanfic author links or PM this account, First Responders) and we'll fill you in on how this works! Meanwhile, check out the Fandom Gives blog (also linked on our profile), make a cash donation to the relief effort to secure your copy of the compilation, write a story, donate an item to the online raffle, sign up to beta or make a banner, and SPREAD THE WORD! All are ways to help- choose yours! This is all about using our words to make a difference, and we're so pleased to have your support.
Thank you from all of us!
Mina, Ana, and BoH