A/N: So I thought of breaking this into two shorter chapters, but decided against it. I would probably end up with like 75 chapters if I did that. Anyways, I got into a groove thanks to Justin Timberlake (you'll see why later) and this is what came out. Things are definitely starting to get a little more flirty and will continue as such for a few more chapters.
Amigirl – you keep giving me such excellent reviews, and I will keep giving you shout outs! My box went sailing in the greek islands a few years ago, and I promise to try to work it in somehow.
grtchn – you're kind of close with your assumptions, but not quite. I like how your mind works though! Thanks for the review. I always worry that I'm not quiet smutty enough. I might get more daring in the future. Who knows!
Bella POV
I watched as Edward actually sent an email to someone in the outside world. I figured there had to be someone he wanted to talk to, but he hadn't really mentioned it during the past few days. After I sent my email to Angela, I searched the train schedule to see when the earliest train to Amsterdam was. It left at eight in the morning and luckily only took two and a half hours.
"Are you almost done?" asked Edward as he peered over at my screen to see what I was doing.
"Yeah, but you can go to our room if you're done," I remarked casually. I didn't expect him to want to stay while I did all the tedious work of planning our trip.
"Nah, I'll wait. We can pick out our next hostel together," he said as he noticed that I now switched to a new website for various hostels in Amsterdam. "We should totally pick the houseboat one."
"Seriously?" I asked as I cocked my eye brow in confusion. He didn't seem like the houseboat kind of person.
"Why not? It's near the center of the city, they have internet and there's only room for four people. I should just book the whole thing for us. How cool would it be to live on a houseboat in Amsterdam for a few days?" I had to agree with him, it would be pretty cool, so I just nodded my head in agreement and scooted my chair away from the computer so that he could try and book it for us "Sweet, it's available, and dirt cheap too."
It didn't take Edward too long to book the entire houseboat for us, and as soon as he was done, we headed back up to our room. He graciously stepped out to the bathroom to get changed while I changed in our room. It still felt weird to me to be traveling through Europe with him. It felt even weirder when he wandered back into the room about ten minutes later in a pair of flannel pajama pants and no shirt. I pulled the covers up on the bed and tried not to look. I even pretended to already be asleep, but I peeked one eye open and caught a quick glimpse. He was even more gorgeous without his shirt on. I felt like grabbing my laundry and cleaning it on his washboard abs. I shook my head to try to get the image out of my mind and rolled over, trying to go to bed. Edward set our alarm for six in the morning, not trusting my abilities with clocks anymore and climbed up to his bed.
"Good Night Bella," I heard him whisper softly, but since I was pretending to be asleep, I had to ignore him.
The next morning I was up before the alarm clock even had a chance to go off because my thoughts of Edward had kept me awake for most of the night. I hurried off to the shower before he even woke up and got dressed quickly in a pair of shorts and a slightly snug Care Bears t-shirt which Angela gave me for my birthday last year as a joke. I woke Edward up just before the alarm rang and he ran off to the bathroom a little too quickly for my liking. He didn't even acknowledge me, but I didn't care at that moment. Once he was gone, I headed downstairs to the computers to see if I had gotten an email back from Angela. Hallelujah, I had.
The night before, while Edward was emailing someone, I sent Angela an email telling her I had taken her advice and was traveling with Edward. I told her all about our trip from London to Brussels and then what we did during the day. I also mentioned at length how cute he was and how he made a comment about being jealous, that I took differently than what he said he meant. He told me he was jealous that I was getting free pralines from chocolatiers, but I think he really meant that he was jealous of any guy who got close to me. In my email, I asked Angela to decode all this guy talk for me.
Bella,
Good god girl, get you some. Just Joking. But good move on the traveling companion. I think you should take a picture of him and email it to me ASAP for my approval before things go too far. Have you told him you are going to Columbia yet? Have you guys passed notes like you used to do with Eric in study hall three years ago?
As for the jealousy thing, I asked Ben and he said that it sounds like Edward is just jealous in general, not jealous of the pralines, so go get you some!
Miss You
Angela.
I wrote her back a quick email, which ended up being a long description of his abs and hit send. Thank god I had Angela to keep me sane. I ran back up to our room and found Edward already dressed and packing his bag. I threw my last items in my bag, packed my purse with my iPod and camera and we eagerly left the room. Before we left, Edward grabbed my camera and took a quick picture of the room, as I looked at him a little confused.
"You're gonna want all these memories when you're sitting in your dorm room at Northwestern missing me. And I didn't bring a camera so you better send me copies," he said with a laugh as he handed the camera back to me and led me down the hallway. We ended up taking a cab to the train station because we were running a little bit late, but surprisingly, Edward actually let me pay for it. We bought our tickets and had a quick breakfast before boarding.
The train trip was boring as hell. Sure the countryside was lovely, but I was exhausted from my lack of sleep, so I ended up pulling my bag closer to me and using as a pillow to take a little nap. Edward woke me with a small nudge to the shoulder as we pulled into the station. "Ready to go?" he asked casually as he swung his backpack onto his back and offered to help me with mine. I just nodded my head sleepily as he grabbed my hand in his and led me from the train. I made a mental note to ask him later why he was always doing that. Every time we seemed to board or depart a train, he was holding my hand sweetly in his and taking me with him.
Amsterdam was very busy for a Wednesday morning. Edward looked down at the map he had bought at the train station in Brussels and guided us towards the houseboat he had rented for the next four days. I had to pinch myself to believe that I was really spending the next four days and nights in Amsterdam with Edward. We walked peacefully and enjoyed the warm weather when Edward stopped and pointed to a cute little boat docked near a small bridge. I glanced at him and offered up a big smile, because I knew this was definitely one of those once in a lifetime experiences I had hoped to find in Europe. He reached into my bag and took a quick photo of the boat before offering it back to me.
"Wait," I said nervously. The moment he turned around, I clicked a quick picture of him, reminding myself to download it later and send it to Angela. When I stared down at my camera to see the picture I had just taken, I was surprised to see he looked just as hot in photos as he did in real life. I could only imagine all the things Angela would be telling me once she saw the photo.
I followed close behind Edward as he wandered over to the boat and introduced himself. The gentleman, Herold, was very polite and showed us where everything was and where we would be sleeping. I felt an instant surge of relief when I noticed there were four beds. Edward paid him generously and Herold gave me an odd look, before we headed down below the boat and put away our bags.
"Let's go, there are places to be seen and weed to be smoked," he laughed as he grabbed my hand again and led me from the boat. The area where the houseboat was docked was actually surrounded by tons of stuff for us to do. "What do you want to do first?" I honestly had no idea.
"How about we do something you want to do today and we can find something I like either tomorrow or the day after. We are in Amsterdam for four days right?" I asked, feeling slightly curious as to what he would want to do. "If I wasn't here, what would you do?"
I watched carefully as a light went off in his head. "Well, if you weren't here I would probably go get high at one of those lovely little cannabis cafes and then maybe head over to the red light district," he said with a slight laugh. "However, I will modify those plans for us. Do you have your passport on you?" I nodded reluctantly and held a tight grip on his hand as we wandered through the streets. It was only noon and I had no idea what he had in mind.
"Why do I need my passport?" I asked nervously.
"Cause your eighteen and you can drink here. I'm not gonna get you high or take you to some skeezy sex clubs, so we're gonna drink. Then tonight, after dinner, we're going to get dressed up we're going to some bars, I think we deserve a night out." Okay, I could handle the drinking. I came from a small town, the only thing we did was drink or smoke weed, but I was never a big fan of the latter. We wandered into a small pub and each ordered a Heineken, and some lunch. I was fricking starving.
"So how dressed up do I need to be to go out?" I asked curiously after we had finished lunch and I was nursing my second beer.
"Did you bring anything resembling a dress?"
"Not really. Did you bring anything resembling a suit?" I asked with a smirk.
"Of course not, but I have a few nice pairs of jeans and shirts I can wear out. You didn't bring anything?"
"I brought jeans, t-shirts, pajamas, swimwear, bras, panties, shorts, a sweater… you know the regular stuff," I said in frustration. All of a sudden, I was overcome with the fear that he was going to drag me out shopping, one of my least favorite things in the world, and I was right. He paid our bill and grabbed my hand, dragging me out onto the street. He looked around the road we were on and saw no where we could buy anything even remotely dressy, but if I wanted a sweet ass tie-dyed shirt with Bob Marley on it, I was set.
He stopped a gentleman on the street corner and asked him where he could buy something for me; he even motioned up and down with his hands. I suddenly felt like Julia Roberts in 'Pretty Woman', except for the whore thing. He paid close attention to what the man said and then grabbed my hand again, dragging me down two more blocks until we came across a small open air mall with stores like H&M, Zara and Mexx.
"Go get something," he said as he sat on a bench in the middle of the mall. I lowered my head in defeat and wandered into Zara to find something suitable. The saleswoman was actually very helpful and almost instantly put together for an outfit for me with a short skirt, tank top and a cute little blazer. Her English was mediocre at best, but when we were done, I looked very pretty. Definitely good for a club, and she agreed. I paid for everything and wandered back into the mall where Edward was still waiting.
"That was fast," he said with a huge smile. The closer I got to him, the more familiar he smelt.
"Did you smoke up without me?" I asked with my hands on my hips in frustration.
Edward POV
I was flabbergasted that Bella was mad that I had gone into one of the local smoke shops while she picked out an outfit. Did she honestly expect me to wait an hour while she played dress up?
"Sorry," I said as I shrugged my shoulders. "I didn't think you'd want to join."
"Edward, I come from a tiny town in Washington. All we did was drink or smoke up. Cut me some slack," she said as she pulled me up from the bench and we walked down the streets and back to our houseboat. It was almost five when we stepped back onto the boat. She wasn't nearly as drunk as I hoped she would be, and I was definitely as high as I anticipated because I suddenly felt very hungry. Ooh, there's a mini bar. I quickly opened it and chowed down on two bags of some sort of disgusting Dutch candy.
"When do you want to leave for our dinner date?" I asked while I lounged in the main common area and Bella was down in the lower cabin, pulling all the tags off her new outfit.
"We're going on a date?" she yelled up curiously.
"You know what I mean Bella," I stammered slightly, not realizing I had called it a date out loud, even though I had been doing it in my head all day.
"Why don't we just get dressed and leave when we're ready?" she said as she climbed up the few little steps to the common room. "You look like you're ready to eat the country of out their entire supply of Doritos, so we should get some food into you." I headed down to the sleeping quarters and pulled some clothes out of my backpack and quickly got dressed. Everything was wrinkled, but I didn't care. When I walked back up to the main room, Bella stepped down and started to get changed. When she came back up the steps, she looked really cute. A short black and white skirt, with a white tank top and a cute white blazer. The folks at Zara did her good. I grabbed her hand and pulled her with me from the boat. I had seen a few little restaurants and bars during our walk a few hours earlier, and I took her to the nicest one I had seen.
"I'm paying, don't bitch," I said as we wandered inside the restaurant and I asked to be seated on the patio overlooking the water. The waitress was eyeing me up suspiciously, but I ignored her completely, my attention completely focused on Bella. We ordered more beer and some quick dinners, when suddenly Bella leaned back in her chair and looked all serious.
"Why do you always hold my hand when we get on and off the trains? In fact, today you've been doing it more than usual." She looked a little bit angry, so I thought honesty was the best policy.
"I do it so I can make sure you stay with me. I thought if I didn't grab it, you might not get on the train and I'd never see you again," I said, feeling like a complete idiot. When I looked up at her, she had a surprisingly sweet expression on her face.
"I'm not going anywhere," she said fiercely. I just nodded my head in agreement and tried to relax by taking a big gulp of my beer.
The rest of dinner was very casual. We finished just after nine and decided to head out to the first bar we found. We didn't want to end up too far away from our houseboat, just in case we got completely wasted and had no idea where we were. We ended up at some club called Java and I immediately grabbed Bella's hand again as we walked inside. I saw her look down at our hands, and I just shrugged my shoulders."Do you want to go home with someone else?" I asked suggestively. She shook her head in disagreement. "Then stay with me."
The bar was already pretty busy and we headed straight to the bar. I ordered beers for me and Bella, and then she ordered two shots. She slid it along the bar over to me and I took it eagerly, watching intently as she swallowed hers. It wasn't meant to be erotic, but it was anyways. We ended up finding a small booth in the back of the club and people watched for the first hour, as the liquor made its way through our systems. We were making fun of various people on the dance floor and enjoying ourselves when our waitress brought us another round of drinks. I was shocked because Bella was keeping pace with me, and that was almost as attractive as when she took her shots.
It was only a few minutes later when a familiar song started to pulse through the speakers and Bella grabbed my hand. "I want to dance now," she said with a sexy drunken smile. The song was 'Summer Love' by Justin Timberlake. Thanks to Alice's musical preferences, I knew almost every word to the song. Bella led me onto the overcrowded floor and grabbed my hips in her hands, pushing herself onto me seductively. She had skills, I was definitely impressed. I was so impressed, I often forgot to dance and just let her grind all over me.
I listened closely to the lyrics as I pulled her close to me. I knew every single word and I wanted to whisper them in her ear, but I held back. I could completely imagine her bolting on me if I sang 'I can't wait to fall in love with you. You can't wait to fall in love with me. This just can't be summer love, you'll see. This just can't be summer love.' I didn't pull back from the dancing, if anything, I suddenly became a little more aggressive. Bella followed suit quickly and before I knew it my hand was cupping her firm ass while her leg was hitched onto my hip. It took all my will power not to force my raging hard on into her. It brought back a memory from earlier in the morning when I woke up with morning wood in our hostel in Brussels and I practically ran to the bathroom to spare me the embarrassment.
Bella suddenly lowered herself from me and I watched closely as she pulled off her little jacket and tossed it back into our booth. She grabbed my waist and pulled me back into her. I loved drunken dancing Bella. The dancing continued for a few more hours, but every time something even remotely slow came on, Bella went back to our table and downed another drink. By midnight she had me beat by almost four drinks and I desperately wanted to slow dance with her. It was frustrating. I decided to throw caution to the wind and when the next slow dance came on, I held her to me on the dance floor, not letting her go fetch her drink.
"I hope you don't mind?" I asked, feeling slightly self conscious for forcing her to stay with me.
"No, its fine," she said with a big smile on her face. I was suddenly surprised though because she laid her head down on my shoulder and pulled me closer to her. I loved drunken slow dancing Bella even more now. Unfortunately for me, the song wasn't very long and they replaced it with another fast electronic one. She decided not to stay on the dance floor though. Instead, she leaned up to my ear and whispered 'I think we should go back to our boat now." I couldn't agree with her more. She stumbled to our table and grabbed her purse and jacket and I went to the bar to pay the tab. When I turned around, there was some guy standing beside her, talking to her. I practically sprinted over to her and grabbed her by the waist.
"Are you ready to go baby?" I asked as I kissed her neck tentatively, hoping this guy would get the hint that she wasn't available. Well, technically she was available, but no one needed to know that. You'd think he would know she wasn't available by the way she was grinding up on my junk all night. She shot me a curious glance and went with it, thankfully.
"Yeah sexy, let's go." I grabbed her hand tightly and we walked out into the warm evening air. "That was fun. You should plan what we get to do tomorrow" I just nodded my head in agreement and wrapped my arm around her waist, helping her balance as she walked down the streets back towards the boat. When we finally got there, she was stumbling a bit more than I remembered and made her wait so that I could carry her down the stairs and into the sleeping cabin. I was so glad that I booked the entire thing for us because Bella would wake the dead with all the noise she was making. I headed up the stairs to the common room to wait while she got changed. I tossed my pajama pants on quickly and finally realized after about ten minutes of staring at the lights reflecting on the water that she was taking way too long.
I climbed down the stairs quietly and found her passed out on the bed, still fully dressed. I pulled her shoes from her feet and slid her jacket off, leaving her in the rest of her clothes. She even looked beautiful passed out, so I grabbed her camera and took a quick picture. This was definitely going on my wall when I move into my dorm, I thought to myself. I pulled the light blanket up over her body and crawled into my bed, only a few feet from her. I lay on my side and watched her sleep for a few moments, wondering why the hell she had to be going to Northwestern in the fall. Chicago sucked.