A/N: I apologize to those of you who thought my last post was a chapter. But seeing as how there is not currently a Host section, I thought the best way to get out the news of my fic was to tell the fans of Meyer's other books! If you haven't read my host one-shot, and would like to… head to my Author's Page and it's called His.
But here is my official apology… in the form of a chapter… that I'm writing at 3:00 a.m. instead of sleeping. Because I love you all that much!
Previously:
"Bella?" A male voice asks, before stepping forward from between the two girls.
He watches as Bella immediately drops her hair in front of her face to provide a sort of shield.
His elevated hearing detects the quietest of groans before she finally speaks.
"Hi Mike."
Chapter Fourteen
War of Wits
December 14th, 2008
Bella's jaw is clenched tight and her eyes close momentarily, before she opens them and fixes a half-hearted smile on her face.
"Hello Mike."
Edward has never seen someone smile so wide as Newton now.
"You remember Edward, right?" Bella's eyes plead with him, but a small part of him is enjoying her discomfort. She looks so adorable and it is helping to take his mind off of the thoughts running through Mike's mind.
"Yeah. Yeah, I think I remember you." Mike shrugs, though Edward knows perfectly well that Mike remembers him. Somehow over the years, Mike had seemed to build up some kind of imaginary rivalry between the two of them. It was all completely one-sided of course, but it didn't change the fact that Mike's poisonous thoughts were enough to drive him crazy.
"Cullen, right?" He asks.
Edward smiles politely and nods.
"So, Bella, how have you been? I've missed you." Mike smiles hopefully, his blond hair spiked up just as it always was.
"I've been good." Bella gives a miniscule roll of her eyes, "In the, oh, four or five years since I last saw you." She glances briefly at Edward, before grinning widely, "Quite good as of late."
What are they even doing together?
How do they even know each other?
Edward sighs… it had been a peaceful few moments without any thoughts going through Lauren and Jessica's minds.
"So…" Jessica begins, "How do you two know each other? Bella left before you moved here."
"Work."
"School."
Edward and Bella answer simultaneously.
"Uh, the first time we met was at Edward's work." Bella begins.
Edward quickly cuts her off, "I work as a volunteer at a hospital in Seattle, that's where we first met, and then again later at school."
It wouldn't do for them to find out about his internship, when technically he was supposed to attend eight years of school before qualifying for such a job. He couldn't exactly explain that he'd gone to medical school before he'd ever been in high school with them.
Mike seats himself on the bench beside Bella, scooting too close in Edward's opinion.
"Same old Bella… what did you hurt that time?"
Bella blushes her classic blush, and a quick reel of Bella in a number of ridiculous catastrophes flash through Mike's mind.
Edward smiles wickedly, "You mean she's always been this way? Hmm… I would love to hear about all the things Bella got up to when she was younger?"
He's been concentrating mainly on Mike's thoughts, so he is caught a little off guard when Jessica and Lauren slide into the booth, sandwiching him between them. Bella lifts her eyebrows playfully, and he scowls in return.
"I swear everyone in the Forks Hospital knew Bella by name when we were younger." Jessica laughs shrilly. "The first time I met her I think she had at least three broken bones."
"Is that why your nose is so crooked?" Lauren replied acidly.
Bella's eyes widen, and Edward lets out a growl that can only be heard by his ears.
"Cool it, Lauren." Mike orders.
Edward hates that Mike is the one that defends Bella. It should be him. He should have been paying closer attention to her thoughts instead of tuning her out.
It is nearly physically painful for him to subject himself to it, but he makes sure to focus more on Lauren's thoughts to prevent another rude comment.
"Crooked? It seems very straight to me." Edward answers nicely, trying to lighten the mood. "And I happen to have very good eyesight." He throws Bella a small wink, and she seems to relax a bit more.
"So, let's continue with those embarrassing Bella stories, shall we?"
Her relaxed state immediately disappears, and she glares at him harshly. He only grins in return, knowing that he'll probably pay for this later.
"Remember the time you fell into the tide pool, Bella? And you stepped on that starfish and got all that green stuff in your hair?" Mike laughs.
Bella groans and lays her head down on the table, hiding behind her hair.
"That was our first date." Mike winks.
Edward narrows his eyes and moves to change the subject.
"How did you fall in?" Edward asks.
She mumbles something that he can't hear.
"What was that?"
"I said I was walking."
"You were walking and fell in? Were you walking along the edge?"
"No." She answers grudgingly.
"Then how?" Edward nudges.
She sighs unhappily before answering. "I saw a branch and was worried I would trip over it. And in trying to avoid it, I tripped over my own feet and then fell in."
Edward tries not to laugh. "So let me clarify this. You tripped into the tide pool, while trying not to trip into the tide pool?"
"Oh shut up!" She cries, kicking him gently underneath the table. She's learned by now that kicking him in anything more than a playful manner only hurts her. "We can't all be perfect."
Mike bristles at her comment, and Edward smiles smugly.
"Enough about me!" Bella cries out. "Let's talk about what Edward was like in high school?"
"Gosh… there's not much to tell." Jessica starts, "He mainly hung out with his siblings."
"Yes, how are the two married couples?" Lauren asks haughtily.
"They are doing wonderfully, actually. Spending the holidays at home after a long vacation around Europe."
Lauren rolls her eyes and slumps defeatedly in her chair.
"So you're telling me that there was nothing embarrassing? No scandals? How unfair!" Bella pouts.
"Well there was the gaggle of girls that always followed him around."
Edward wants to laugh because she had been one of the leader's of that gaggle, but didn't seem so keen to admit to it now. He rolls his eyes so that Bella knows not to be jealous.
"And then there was the whole thing with the La Push guys." Mike adds derisively.
Edward immediately goes rigid and Bella's eyes snap to his. He pleads for her to understand with his eyes as Mike continues his story.
"No one ever really found out what that was about. Just one day, a big group of guys from La Push, all of them looking twenty-something instead of like a bunch of high school kids, show up and there's like this big standoff in the parking lot between them and the Cullens."
"It was all just a misunderstanding really. Nothing to worry about." His comment is directly addressed to Bella and no one else. But her eyes tell him that they'll be discussing this later.
He nods almost imperceptibly.
"So Bella." Mike hedges, "While you're here in Forks, we should get together. You know, for old time's sake."
He can see the panicked look in her eyes and decides this is a fate from which he can definitely save her. There is nothing remotely amusing about the words Bella, Mike, and old time's sake.
"Actually Mike, Bella is at home to meet my family and spend the holidays with us."
Mike dodges easily, "Surely she can spare a day for an old friend. Your family won't mind."
Bella jumps in quickly, "We actually are trying to spend as much time with his family as possible because we're flying out to visit my Mom at the end of the week."
Edward raises an eyebrow in response to her lie, but goes along with it.
"She's correct. My family only agreed to us not celebrating Christmas Eve and Day with them if we promised to spend all our time with them."
Mike looks like he still wants to argue, but Bella's response stops him.
"Speaking of which, we did promise Esme we would be back quickly."
Bella scoots out of the booth and motions to Edward to join her, but he is trapped by the two brainless bimbos at his sides.
"Wait!" Jessica says, just now catching up with the conversation. "You mean you two are spending Christmas together? As in together together?"
Edward nudges her out of the seat and she stands numbly. He moves to possessively wrap his arms around Bella's waist and places a small kiss against her neck.
Bella smiles at the two jealous girls vengefully and replies, "As together and together can possibly be."
Lauren's jaw drops and Mike is seething in his seat. Edward didn't miss the innuendo in her statement and apparently neither did they.
Edward decides to play along. "We better get going. We have so much to do today."
His voice is low and sinfully sweet, and he can tell by the look on everyone's faces (especially Bella's) that it worked as intended.
"Nice seeing you." He nods to the group before pulling a dazzled Bella out of the diner.
The fresh air helps bring her back to her senses.
"So what are all these things we have to do today?"
They've reached the Volvo and he gently pushes her up against it.
"Oh, just a little of this." He smiles pressing his body against her and wrapping her up in his arms.
"And this." He nips lightly at her neck.
"And let's not forget this." He drags his lips across her jaw before stepping away and unlocking the car. He opens the door for her, but she doesn't moved from against the car.
"Bella?" He asks, stepping back in front of her.
"You forgot something." She whispers.
He glances back to the diner, certain he hadn't left anything behind.
"What?"
"This." She whispers before crashing her lips against his.
He returned the kiss blissfully, and knew positively that this was something he never would forget.
A/N: Not terribly long, I know. But what can I say. It is far past my bedtime… my mind just couldn't go any further.