Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight.
Sorry I took so long to update! I'm not abandoning this story; I was just thinking of how I wanted to write this chapter. But don't hate me! It's longer than usual!!
Enjoy!
I woke up to stomping and a door slamming. My eyes flung open and I threw the covers off my bed. I immediately realized Bella was gone. I turned to my bathroom door, which was closed. I hesitantly opened it, for I had heard her heave over the toilet. I stepped in and took the cup from the counter and filled it up with tap water before grabbing two aspirins.
I kneeled next to her, smelling the scent of throw up that Bella was emitting. She hadn't acknowledged me yet, but I knew she knew I was there. I set the water and aspirins back on the counter so I could hold her hair back. I rubbed her back gently making slight shushing noises; I remembered when I was little and I got sick, my mother would comfort me this way. I could only hope it would do the same for Bella.
I handed Bella a towel so she could wipe her mouth when the gagging noises stopped. She reached for the water and aspirins, gulping them down with need.
"I'm sorry. That was disgusting," Bella said, keeping her eyes away from mine.
"It's okay. It's to be expected when you get as drunk as you did." I've never gotten drunk before, but whenever Emmett had his hangovers at my house I learned how to care for him and what to expect from hangovers.
"Did I say anything… embarrassing?" She bit her lip and finally let her eyes wander to mine; I felt like I could stare into her eyes for years on end.
I blushed, thinking back to last night when she made out with my neck and literally attacked me with her mouth.
"No, I don't think anything you said last night was embarrassing. But, I wasn't with you at the party." I watched as her eyes danced across my face, searching for a lie I hadn't told. Her eyes went to my neck and her eyes immediately widened.
"So, you and Angela had fun last night?" she mumbled. I wanted to know why she suddenly looked away and hid her face behind her hair. What did Angela have to do with this? Was she talking about what happened in the kitchen with Angela? Was she sober when that happened?
"Angela? What are you talking about?" She faced me again and she had pain in her eyes. Why was she upset all of a sudden?
"I saw you and Angela in the kitchen," she paused momentarily and let out a humorless laugh before continuing, "I guess I never pictured you and her together."
"Me and Angela together? She was drunk and threw herself on me before Ben could pry her off!" Bella blushed in the cutest way and I was tempted to continue where we left off last night.
"So then where did you get that thing on your neck?" I stood up quickly to look in the mirror, Bella following suit. I stared at my reflection; my hair was tousled a little more than usual and there were dark circles under my eyes. But, the most noticeable features on me were the purple circles on my throat. Hickeys. There were only two, one slightly bigger than the other one. Angela wasn't the one who gave me these though; it was Bella.
"Hickeys, right?" I was a little surprised by the angry tone she used and the disapproving face she wore. Even though this threw me off, I didn't think it would be right if I told her that she was the one who gave me the hickeys. She would probably die of embarrassment, even though I was secretly happy she had marked me, even if it's only temporarily.
"Yeah, I guess," I managed to whisper. Lying to her was going to be harder than I thought. Her fists clenched together and her eyes narrowed on my hickeys.
"I never really pictured you being the kind of guy to make out with a girl that wasn't your girlfriend at a party." She had venom in her voice, as if she expected more in me. I felt like a child getting scolded. I didn't want her to think I was some kind of player; I was far from it. Before last night I didn't even think girls knew who I was, but then suddenly Jessica flirted with me and Angela confessed!
"I'm not! I didn't!" If I were smart I would have allowed her to think I made out with some girl at the party so she wouldn't know it was she who gave m the hickeys. At this rate, I was going to end up blurting out the truth to her. But was that really so bad? Maybe it would push us in the right, or what I hoped was right, direction.
"I'm not following, Edward." She held her hand up to her head and I could only guess what kind of killer headache she had. "Look, if you don't want to tell me, it's okay. It's really none of my business anyways. I just thought since we are friends you'd tell me, but you don't have to."
Hearing her call me her friend sent a feeling through my body that made me want to spill my guts out to her.
"I want to tell you, Bella, but I don't think you would want to hear it," I said, truthfully. She gave me a curious look.
"Now I really want to know." A smile played on her lips, causing my heart to stutter.
"The hickeys are from you, Bella." She froze in place but her face paled slightly. Was the idea of kissing me, even on the neck, that repulsive? "I don't want you to be embarrassed, you were drunk."
"I-I don't understand! I only had one drink! The rest of the drinks were from Jake..." A sudden shocked expression appeared on her face, followed by a groan.
"Is Jake the guy you were talking to outside?" I asked carefully.
"Probably. His dad and my dad are best friends. He doesn't know about my dad's... punishments," I winced noticeably at that, "But he's always trying to be more than friends with me. This time he went too far! I thought that the drinks tasted funny! He spiked them!" I really wanted to give this Jacob guy a piece of my mind.
"I'll let you take a shower now." I said before turning around. I really needed to cool down before I went to this Jacob guy's house and beat the living shit out of him.
"Edward?" I felt Bella's hand on mine before I could make it out of the bathroom. I turned to face her again.
"Yes?" I asked, trying my best to keep my anger hidden. I didn't want to get angry in front of her and scare her away.
"How far did things go... last night?" she asked with worrying eyes.
"We didn't even kiss. It was only my neck. I stopped things before it... got out of hand." She nodded at this. Her hand got tighter around mine.
She went on her tiptoes and wrapped her arms around me. I could feel her body against mine. She felt amazing in my arms, as always. I felt familiar pressure on my cheek. She had kissed my cheek! While she was sober!
"Thank you for being a gentleman," she whispered. I could feel her hot breath against my ear. I was thankful when she let go of me because the arousal from last night was coming back full throttle.
I shut my door on my way out and flopped down on my bed.
This was going to be a long week.
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It was the Monday back from spring break. Spring Break was the best week of my life. After the morning after the party, things went pretty smoothly. We stayed at my house and just talked. But it was far from boring. I was a little nervous about how to act when we go to school. Would we be as close as we were at my house? Or would we act like total strangers? If I was ever going to be more than friends with Bella, I couldn't have the second option.
I eased out of my Volvo, my mind still wandering to Bella, when I noticed that everyone was staring at me. I looked behind me as I walked through the halls to make sure they weren't staring at some kid behind me. They weren't.
I filed into my first period, along with most everyone else, once the warning bell rang. Seconds later Alice took her seat next to me, glaring at me as if I had just committed the worst crime known to man. Mr. Banner announced free period to the class because he had some personal problem to attend to. I didn't notice Bella anywhere.
"You're disgusting." I snapped my head to Alice. Disgusting? What had I done?
"What? Why?" Everyone in the classroom was staring at me. I was starting to get confused.
"Everyone knows that you had sex with Bella while she was drunk. I would have expected this from Emmett, but not you Edward." She turned away from me, indicating that it was the end of our discussion. That must be why everyone was staring. I was the talk of the school. I didn't want people thinking that I did that to Bella, but I couldn't allow people to know about her and her dad.
"Alice. I didn't have sex with Bella. I offered to take her home since she had been drinking." I sounded convincing, even to me. Alice turned back to me, examining over my face. I was lucky the hickeys had cleared up or Alice never would have believed me.
"I believe you. But only because I've known you long enough to know you would never be able to have sex on such a short notice, no matter how many drinks you had." Thanks, Alice. What a logical reason to believe me.
"You better get this whole rumor cleared up. Bella is one of my best friends and I don't want to see her hurt." Her voice sounded deadly.
Just then, the door opened loudly and everyone stared at the late arriver. It was Bella. Her eyes were puffy and red. I knew she had been crying. Had something happened with her dad? I felt the need to throw up when I thought of the possibilities of what happened between them.
Bella looked me square in the eye. I could see the disappointment in me in there. I could also see the unshed tears there as well. She shook her head and wandered to her seat. But she couldn't be upset that I used her, because I didn't!
"If you're wondering why she's mad it's because she thinks you started the rumor. She was crying in the bathroom until now because Lauren called her a slut." I felt sudden anger toward Lauren, who before this I never really cared about. Lauren is the type of blonde bimbo that has slept with any guy that is willing. She has never made advances towards me but I can assure you that my answer would be no.
"Should I talk to her?" I asked Alice. Alice always knew what was best in any type of situation.
"I think you should, yes. Do it when nobody is around." I nodded and waited for the bell to ring, signaling my escape.
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All throughout third period Bella made it a point not to look in my direction. I knew she was hurt; people were being cruel towards her when they had no right to be, but I wish she would at least give me a chance to explain myself.
It was lunchtime now and I was sitting with Emmett, Rosalie, Alice and Jasper. There was talking amongst themselves but I couldn't put it in me to talk as well. I saw Bella's friends laughing loudly and sneering as people they didn't like walked by. Bella was nowhere to be found. In the few days Bella had spent at my house she had told me that sometimes, she hated being with her so-called friends. She said that they were mean to people who didn't deserve it.
I looked towards the lunch line and spotted Bella by herself picking up food. Once finished, she stood in the middle of the lunchroom, looking for a spot to sit. Had this rumor really caused her friends to hate her that much? She made eye contact with a few people at her table and I watched as they rolled their eyes at her and looked away.
Then she made eye contact with me. Before I could even think about smiling at her, she was out of the lunchroom and making her way through the halls.
"Hey, I'll be right back," I told the others, not waiting for a reply. I dashed through the halls looking for Bella.
Finally, I found her. She was outside sitting in the wet grass next to a large oak tree. Nobody else would dare ruin their clothes by sitting outside, but that's what I enjoyed about Bella. She was so carefree at times.
I walked slowly over to her; her hair was in her face and her knees to her chin.
She still hadn't noticed my arrival when I took a seat in the grass next to her.
"Do you want to talk about it?" I asked quietly, trying to not scare her. But she practically jumped out of her clothes despite my efforts. Not that I would mind....
I shook my head to rid any perverted thoughts.
"There's really nothing to talk about. I betrayed my friends, or so they think, so they don't want any part of me." She finally lifted her head by the end, which I was thankful for so I could look into those wide brown eyes.
"Betrayed them? Even if you did sleep with me," just thinking about that possibility caused my heart beat to increase, "How would that be a betrayal towards your friends?"
Bella let out a sigh and let her head fall back against the tree trunk. Even in a too big sweatshirt she managed to be the most beautiful girl in the world. How did I never notice her before? My eyes were missing out, that's for sure.
"Well I guess it shouldn't matter if I tell you this anymore. But Jessica has had a crush on you for a really long time now and when they heard that I slept with you, it was basically backstabbing her and since all my friends knew that I knew she liked you they think of me as... well a slut."
Jessica liked me? I didn't think Jessica was nice or pretty. For as long as I've known her she was the girl who would turn the simplest story into the juiciest gossip.
"Well I can honestly say that Jessica and I will never be together. So it doesn't really matter," I told her truthfully. There was no way I would ever date Jessica, hearing her voice for more than a few minutes made my ears bleed.
"It doesn't matter. If your friend likes a guy, he's off limits and she thinks I slept with you. I'm dead to her." She tucked a lock of her tresses behind her ear giving me a clear shot of her pale face with a pink tinge on her cheeks, from the cold I imagine.
"Can't you just explain to her that you didn't have sex with me? I'll even tell her we didn't." I couldn't help but feel guilty for Bella's loss in friends. I was the one who took her home and took her to the party. Although, if that Jacob boy hadn't given her drinks she didn't want, we wouldn't be in this situation right now.
"Thanks Edward, but that isn't how it works. To them, once they get something in their mind, it's permanent. Forgiveness isn't in their vocabulary." A light breeze blew through the wind, making her shiver. I was tempted to put an arm around her and draw her closer to me. I had to go over the reasons in my head why that wouldn't be a smart move so I could stop myself.
"Why would you want to be friends with people like that anyway? In my opinion, you're too good for them," I said truthfully.
"I don't think I'm too good for them. I just think we're much too different. But, we all have been friends since elementary, so it's just weird letting go all of a sudden." I nodded in understanding. It was kind of like Emmett and me. We have been such great friends since the beginning. But now, we're so much different. However, there are good qualities about Emmett that remind me of why we've been best friends all along. Like the fact that I hate perverted jokes, though if the source of perverted jokes (Emmett) had suddenly disappeared from my life I would feel different.
"Well you have other friends, too. Alice and I are your friends and I'm sure Rosalie, Emmett, Jasper and you would get along great. So, if you ever need some place to sit at lunch, feel free to sit with us instead of alone outside." The bell rang indicating fourth period was about to start. I wanted so much to skip this period with Bella, but that wasn't like me. Instead, I helped Bella up and we walked together to fourth period with all eyes on us.
I guess this rumor is what people call a blessing in disguise.
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