My betas, LouderThanSirens and Momma Bear, are rad.
Thank you to my twilighted jv beta, jajo, and the fabulous RoseArcadia.
Thank you to venti_turtl, who inspired Mrs. Mallory's driving music. xoxo!
Thanks to my RL people who read and don't make fun of me (too much), and much love to my RL "Smalls", who much like canon Alice, keeps me in cute clothes. Mwah. Oh and how can I forget my Sweet T? She is a motorboatin' son of a bitch, a fierce supporter of what I'm doing here, and deserves a hug for being so very cool.
I have to dedicate my characterization of Mrs. Mallory to my grams. She has Alzheimer's, which as some of you probably know, effing sucks. She's now at the point where she's almost completely gone, so this one is for her, who I would like to remember as a flashy dresser, shit-talker, and a terror behind the wheel.
Lauren Mallory was probably beautiful once, but time hasn't been kind to her. Maybe it's all the squinting through the binoculars.
Her yard is littered with cutesy signs and lawn art; she has an entire village of gnomes in her flowerbeds.
We walked over fast, and the heat, margaritas and exertion make me feel twice as drunk as I did sitting on the deck. She doesn't look especially happy to see us on her doorstep.
"Hi, Mrs. Mallory," Rose starts. We decided that she sounds the least drunk, so we're making her do the talking. "I don't know if you remember us, but I'm Rosalie Hale, and this is Bella Swan and Alice Brandon," she says, gesturing towards us.
Mrs. Mallory raises an eyebrow at us and nods tersely, prompting Rose to go on.
"I was hoping we could ask you for a favor."
Next thing we know, we're in a vintage convertible, barreling down bumpy side roads with Dusty Springfield on the radio. Mrs. Mallory has a scarf tied over her bouffant and giant sunglasses covering most of her face. She's got her seat pulled up as far as it will go, and she's chain smoking.
"So, your boys got themselves into a little mischief," she yells over the wind, smiling for the first time since we showed up unannounced. Her teeth are unnaturally white against her pink lipstick.
"Yeah, they got in a fight at Stuckey's. They're morons," Rose yells back.
Mrs. Mallory laughs heartily at that, throwing her head back. Her laugh is surprisingly infectious, and I can't help but smile. She's driving really fucking fast.
"I can see Edward starting something, but Emmett and Jasper I just didn't see coming," Rose muses, turning to look at Alice.
"Hey!" I yell up to her. "Why Edward? Emmett's like seven feet tall and raging with testosterone!"
"Edward? Is he the moody one with the nice ass?" Mrs. Mallory chirps, eyeing me in the rearview mirror.
"Yes! That's him!" Alice is laughing loudly, as is Rose. "That is a totally perfect description of him, Mrs. M," she says, wiping her eyes as I glower at her. "Oh come on, Bella," she says loudly so Rose and Mrs. Mallory can hear, "you know he's moody. As for the ass? It speaks for itself."
The three of them guffaw while I roll my eyes at them exaggeratedly, trying not to smile.
"Emmett's the oaf with the hots for this one, then?" Mrs. M jerks a thumb towards Rose, looking back at Alice and me for confirmation.
We nod vigorously.
"He is not an oaf, he's just really…large," Rose explains loudly, smirking.
"Can't blame a girl for wanting a large man, if you know what I mean!" Mrs. Mallory laughs, wiggling her penciled eyebrows at Rose.
I can't believe we're talking about penises with Mrs. Mallory.
"You must belong to Jasper, then, Smalls," she hollers back to Alice, who perks up at her new nickname, smiling. "I do love me some Jasper," Mrs. M sighs dreamily, sending us into another fit of giggles.
We pull up at the police station a moment later, and I remember why we're here. I'm not nervous, but that could be the margaritas talking.
"Thanks, Mrs. M," we chant, getting out of the car. She lights another cigarette, leaning back to appraise us standing on the sidewalk.
"Let me give you a word of advice, girls," she says, taking a drag.
"They never stop being idiots, no matter how old they get, so quit waiting," She pauses briefly, considering her words. "Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today." She puts her cigarette between her lips as she puts the car into drive, pulling it out to yell, "James Dean said that!" as she peels out, leaving us in the setting sun in front of the police station.
We stand there for a minute, marveling at what just transpired.
"Holy shit, she's awesome," Rose says, shading her eyes to watch the convertible speed away.
"We have to hang out with her," Alice says seriously.
I just nod, still in disbelief. People aren't always what they seem.
You'd think I would've figured that out by now.
We've known the chief of police for years and he has always had a thing for Rose, so we're able to get the boys out that night. He promises to talk to the bar owners to see if they can get the charges dropped as long as someone pays for all the damage, and agrees to drop the minor consumption charges on the condition that they stay out of the local bars until they can legally be there.
Rose asks him to call her tomorrow with the amount and she pays the bail. He goes into the back to get our hoodlums.
They file in sullenly, heads down.
We're lined up waiting for them, trying to look disapproving and sober.
Edward has a black eye that is almost swollen shut, and a fat lip. His hair is a mess. I want to jump on him right there.
Emmett and Jasper are in similar states. Emmett has a black eye as well, and it looks like Jasper got hit in the jaw; he's rubbing it and wincing. They are all covered in dirt, like they were in a schoolyard scuffle.
"Babe." Emmett says in relief when he sees Rose, walking quickly towards her.
She reaches up to touch his cheekbone softly, and when he winces, she does too.
"Oh, Em. That looks like it hurts."
They murmur to each other while Jasper walks up to Alice. She has tears in her eyes. She inspects his jaw quickly with shaky fingers, while he takes her face in his hands to kiss her lips.
Edward approaches sheepishly, stopping in front of me and shoving his hands in his pockets, scuffing the ground with his tennis shoe. I put my hands on his shoulders and get a better look at his eye, which looks pretty bad. His lip is cut, but it doesn't look like he'll need stitches.
"How did you get here? I heard you were drunk," Edward says, flinching a little when he smiles.
"Mrs. Mallory drove us, and I'm not so drunk anymore," I answer, preoccupied with checking Edward over for any other wounds.
Jasper's eyes widen. "Mallory? You're kidding, right?"
Rose laughs. "Not only did she give us a ride, but she's our new best friend."
"Wow. Just…wow." Jasper mumbles as we all move toward the doors.
Luckily, the boys were at the driving range most of the day and only made it through one beer before the brawl broke out, so Jasper drives us home. Emmett reluctantly gives up the keys because his eye is swelling and Rose won't let him get behind the wheel. He opts for the front seat, with Alice squished in the middle. Rose hops in back with Edward and me.
"What the hell happened?" Rose demands after we're all situated in the vehicle and take off.
"Some guys knew who you were, and were talking shit. Edward got in one of their faces, and it escalated from there," Emmett answers.
Rose turns to raise her eyebrows at me, in an 'I told you so' move.
Whatever.
Jasper speaks up. "It was Tyler and Eric and the rest of those fucking idiots."
Rose and I groan simultaneously. Those guys were the bane of our existence in our early teen years. A few years older than us, they'd harass us when we'd go into town, following Rose and I around, trying to get us to come to parties with them and offering us booze from flasks tucked in their pockets. When we wouldn't play, they resorted to calling us the names that boys call girls when they get rejected by them.
"Fucking assholes," Edward grumbles, flexing and contracting his hands. There's dried blood on his knuckles.
"What did they say exactly?" I ask. Edward starts to get angry again, his breath quickening.
Jasper answers for him. "Basically the same stuff they've been saying since we were kids. Bitch. Cock tease. Whatever."
Emmett turns around to look at us. "Yeah, but what really set Edward off was some guy named Ben who said he…." he trails off, looking between Edward and I.
I cringe when the name registers in my brain. Rose looks at me, confused, then it dawns on her and she claps a hand over her mouth. I shake my head, my cheeks burning.
"What? Who's Ben?" Alice asks, turning completely around to look at us from the front seat.
"It never occurred to me that this would come back to bite me in the ass. I seriously don't know if I thought about him after that summer," I ramble, still not believing this just happened.
I had let a boy named Ben get down my pants once during a street festival behind the co-op. I actually liked him - until he told all of his friends what we had done, in graphic detail.
From then on, they called Rose frigid and me a slut. We were just kids, though. They were idiots, but so was I at that age.
"So, it's true?" Edward asks, his expression dark.
"Unfortunately, yes, but I can't believe he brought that up. I was like 15," I say, kind of pissed off.
"Brought what up?" Alice asks again, frustrated at being out of the loop.
"I can't believe I have to say this out loud," I groan, embarrassed.
"Oh, whatever, you pussy," Rose jumps in. "Ben Cheney fingered Bella behind the co-op during a street dance when were 15."
Alice and Jasper are chuckling and Emmett is flat out guffawing. Edward grunts his disapproval.
Rose jumps in to deal with that situation for me. "Quit brooding, Edward. As I said, she was 15 years old. It was like a different lifetime. Plus, it looks like you had your opportunity to punch the shit out of him, so what's the big deal?" He slumps a little, relaxing.
"Well, I hope you did some damage," I say, taking one of his hands in mine and checking his hands for cuts.
"No worries, B! We kicked ass!" Emmett goes in for a fist bump with Edward; both of them tense in pain when their hands collide. Rose, Alice and I giggle at that.
"Well, I hope you didn't actually hurt anyone, because if one of them presses charges …" Rose warns.
Emmett shakes his head. "Don't worry about it, babe. If anything happens, we're covered. Daddy wouldn't let anything happen to his golden boys." The last part comes out stiffly, which is strange coming from Emmett, who rarely has a bad word to say about anyone. Apparently Edward isn't the only one with father issues. Emmett just hides it better most of the time.
Back at Rose's, she gets out the first aid kit and we tend to their wounds in the kitchen while they knock back shots of whiskey for the pain.
Well, they say it's for the pain.
Alice seems upset while she's cleaning Jasper up.
"Alice, are you okay?" Edward asks her when we're finished. The rest of us are talking, and Jasper's got his arms wrapped around her from behind so he can't see her broken expression.
She squirms a little, uncomfortable. "Yeah, I just really hate physical violence," she mumbles. Jasper looks horrified.
"Shit, Alice. I am so fucking sorry. I wasn't thinking." He turns her around to face him and looks into her eyes. "We'll be back in a minute," he says, guiding Alice out of the cabin.
Rose and I do a shot with Emmett and Edward and try to decide what to have for dinner. We end up ordering from the only pizza place that delivers to us, and while we wait we make the boys shower and then argue about what movie to watch. Jasper and Alice come back to Rose's, both of their eyes red, but looking happy again.
Finally compromising with Spaceballs, we eat our pizza and drink beer, taking shots of whiskey every time someone says "The Schwartz". By the end, we're all buzzed and all I can think about is getting Edward alone.
When we get to my cabin, I pull him carefully into a kiss, pushing him toward the bedroom.
He stops me before we get there. "Bella, I don't think we're ready for this yet."
I feign innocence. "Ready for what, Edward? I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Sex. I don't think we're ready for sex," he clarifies, ending my charade.
"But, I'm ready," I insist.
He flexes his jaw, shutting his eyes. I have to restrain myself from touching his hurt lip, wanting to kiss his bruises.
"I'm not," he says resolutely.
I stiffen, taken aback. I'd assumed that he would be ready when I was. He's a guy, and not only is he a guy; he's Edward, known Lothario. Insecurity floods over me, and I back up a little, rejection stinging my skin.
"Oh no you don't," he says, pulling me back to him. "It's not because I don't want you, you know that, don't you? I just want to do this right. I need you to know what I'm in this for, and it's not your body, although I'm not complaining that it comes with the package."
He tips my face up, and kisses me sweetly, and gently.
"So, does that mean we can't do anything?" I ask hopefully, not forgetting Edward's talent in all areas when it comes to making me feel good.
He just smiles, pulling me into my bedroom and shutting the door behind us.
...I know I'm a total cockblock. BUT. I assure you Prickward is mixing up lemonade and you'll get some when it's ready.
The chapter title refers to the last car that James Dean rode in, and the car that he died in.
Last but not least, I'm going on vacation next week and will not be posting a chapter. I know! I'm sorry! It's not you, it's me. I will be back the following week and back to my usual posting schedule, and I'll also be tan (I hope) and rested (definitely). xoxo!