Never Again, Chapter 8: First Attempt
Still nowhere near close to owning Twilight. But surely it can't be much longer until Steph gives it to me, realizing that I am in fact the rightful owner.
"And you're sure this is a good idea?" Edward asked again, as he put the salad I'd handed him on the table.
It had been a blissful two days, if you didn't count being at home. Edward and I had spent every second that we could together, and had gotten to know each other a lot better. Jazz was obviously peeved that a silver Volvo was turning up in his drive every morning, and that I'd been spending so much time with Edward. He just wouldn't talk to me about it.
"What shift you working Friday?" I'd asked him on Wednesday after Edward had dropped me home from school.
"I'll be home for dinner." Jazz said. "Why?"
I took a deep breath, and said "Because I invited Edward over for dinner then. I thought it'd be nice for you to get to know him better."
He'd grunted something that didn't sound like approval, but said no more on the subject.
"And he'll be here when?" Edward asked now, as we started dishing up the lasagne.
We froze as we heard his key in the front door. "Now." I whispered to him. "Hi, Jazz!" I called, louder, in the direction of the hallway.
"Hey. I'm just gonna go get changed." He called as he made his way up the stairs.
Edward raised his eyebrows. "That went well."
"Hmm," I agreed. We took the rest of the food to the table and sat down to wait for him. "Oh, God, remember: he has a gun."
Edward started laughing, but the look on my face stopped him.
"What the freaking hell have I got myself into?" He muttered. Then he looked at me. "In case I don't get to tell you this later, Bella, there's no one else I'd be doing this for. Aggravating a guy with a gun, I mean."
I smiled. I'd really been doing that a lot lately.
"I'd do the same for you," I told him, and he grinned my favourite grin.
"Ahem," Jazz cleared his throat, loudly, as he walked down the hall, as if to warn us.
"Alright?" He asked me as he sat down. "Looks good, sis," he nodded towards his plate.
"Thanks," I smiled. God, again with that. It was getting kind of creepy. "How was your day?"
Jazz shrugged. "Same old, same old."
I nodded. Then we ate in silence. Awkward.
"This their new album?" He asked suddenly, referring to the CD I'd put on. Biffy Clyro.
"Yeah. It's good isn't it? Edward bought it me."
He glanced at me in confusion for a fraction of a second, but then caught on quickly, and nodded.
"Why? Wasn't your birthday was it?" Jazz wanted to know.
"I just saw it, and remembered Bella saying how much she liked them," Edward said.
"So your brother must be well paid then, to give you money to spend as you wish on CDs for my sister."
"Jazz. You're Emmett's boss. You know how well paid he is," I reminded him.
He paused, looking at me. There it is! He remembered that minor detail and it flashed in his eyes. His cheeks reddened slightly. "Shut up," he muttered. Edward looked like he was trying not to laugh.
We lapsed back into silence.
"Are you staying over tonight?" Jazz shot out at a very unsuspecting Edward. I inhaled anxiously.
"I uhh… wasn't planning-"
"Good." Jasper cut him off. I exhaled, and shot an apologetic look at Edward, who was looking extremely uncomfortable.
The awkwardness was too much to bear, so as soon as they finished eating, I took their plates away.
"I'll get desert," I said. Neither of them seemed to acknowledge me. Jazz was busy almost glaring at Edward, who was busy looking away.
I got the cheesecake out of the fridge where it'd been defrosting and started cutting it.
"Get us a beer, Bells?"
"Sure."
I handed Jasper his beer. His blue eyes had a slightly evil tint to them.
"Aren't you going to offer your boyfriend one?" I inhaled sharply. We hadn't called each other those words yet. And so it begins.
"Oh, I can't. I'm driving," Edward said too quickly.
I turned back to the cheesecake in an attempt to distract them with something sweet.
"Oh. Not a drinker then, Edward? Not your usual type, really, is he Bells?"
I dropped the plates I was holding; they clattered noisily to the floor. I swear to God, if he…
"What was that one guy's name, Bells? You know the one; you always wrote about his 'beautiful brown eyes' in your diary…anyway, didn't Dad have to-"
Two can play at this game. I cut him off with the first thing I could think of.
"Remember when you lost your virginity, Jasper?" I blurted out. Man, I really should've thought this through…
He wasn't as affected by that as I'd hoped he would be. His eyes got that evil tint again. For a second there, I was wondering what Rosalie was doing in my kitchen. "Remember when you lost yours, Bella?"
I gasped, and Edward's head snapped up and he looked at me, his eyes questioning. I folded my arms across my chest. That was it.
"Jazz, you don't seem your normal, bubbly self this evening. What's up, did Alice not put out last night?"
Jasper's eyes narrowed.
"At least she's not a gormless shit!" He yelled, gesturing to Edward.
"She's on speed!"
"Take that back! It's endearing!"
"Only to you, you big prick!"
"Have you ever kissed a girl, Bella?"
I gasped. "It was a freaking dare!"
"Oh, yeah. That's what that was."
"Have you ever said 'I love you' just to get sex?"
"Have you ever had such a big crush on a guy that you refused to wash your arm for six weeks after he accidentally brushed past you in the hallway?"
"That was Rosalie!"
"Did you ever get so scared you were going to hell that you sacrificed your own sister's hamster to the devil?"
"Were you in diapers till you were seven?"
"Ever slept with more than one guy in one night?"
"NO!!! HAVE YOU?!" I shrieked at him. I turned back to Edward. "Edward, I swear, don't listen to him."
Edward looked really confused, sat in my kitchen, trying to digest all of the information that my brother and I had thrown at him in, like, thirty seconds.
Edward looked at me. "When were you planning on telling me about your virginity?" He wanted to know. "Or lack of?" He tacked on as an after thought.
Jasper started laughing, held his hand up in a mock salute to me, and left the kitchen.
Wow. All that from "Get us a beer".
I sat back down and rested my head on my arms on the table. Edward reached around me and started to rub my shoulders soothingly.
"It could've gone worse," he told me. "We tried."
I lifted my head up and raised his eyebrows at him.
"We're trying again," I said. Duh. "You're coming over tomorrow."
So, the first attempt kinda failed. Epically :S How is this shizzle gonna work out? Seriously, I don't know. I'm churning out crap here.
Reviews always welcome :)