Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.
This fic is beta'd by SunflowerFran who saves me from embarrassing grammatical errors and is incredibly lovely.
The music was so loud that I could feel the vibrations beneath my feet, making me squirm uncomfortably in the cheap plastic chair that was biting into my back.
I regretted sitting outside, so close to the speakers. This had been the only chair I'd been able to find that hadn't been occupied, despite a few offers to sit on the laps of some guys that were passing around a joint thicker than my index finger.
I sighed quietly and brought my hand up to my mouth so that I could chew on my thumbnail. I looked around at everything that was happening, with the exception of the couples groping one another in the pool.
I didn't know why I'd let Rosalie drag me here. Well, I did, but I'd been regretting it since the moment I'd heard the sounds of Iggy Azalea.
Did I mention that I hated top forty music?
Rosalie had been my roommate freshman year, and despite my limited social skills and her extensive ones, we'd become close friends and had chosen to move out of the dorms and into an apartment during the summer after school had ended.
Despite her persistent asking, I'd managed to make it through both freshmen and sophomore year without attending one of her boyfriend's house parties. And to be honest, when she'd asked me again earlier today, Jacob's words had crept into my head and I had agreed before even realising what I'd done.
You're boring Bella, I don't want to date someone who doesn't know how to have fun.
Jacob and I had been together since high school and he was the only reason I had stayed in Washington State for college. Because he'd asked, I had turned down two other offers on the east coast so that we could be together. And while I'd remained in Seattle over the break, working all summer, he'd gone back to our hometown and proceeded to have sex with my former friend.
Leah gets me, he'd said, she understands what kind of needs I have. She isn't afraid to give me what I want and you won't even look at me when we have sex.
I didn't say much when he'd told me, finding that I felt more relieved than heart broken. I wouldn't have to pick him up from frat parties at three am anymore, or have his body heaving on top of mine clumsily while he licked at my neck like a golden retriever.
I hadn't been in love with Jacob for some time, but when he'd told me that he'd slept with Leah, one of my closest friends since birth, her betrayal had been the one that had ripped my heart open.
I hadn't told him that a few days before summer break had begun, Leah had called me in tears because she'd been diagnosed with chlamydia.
Without even having to lift a finger, I'd gotten my revenge.
But then, as if to rub salt in my wound, her mother, Sue had started giving me grief because I'd been ignoring her since I'd found out.
You need to forgive her and move on, Bella.
She had said when she'd called me a week after I'd found out. She loves you, she's apologised and you're causing unnecessary drama with your immaturity.These things happen when you're an adult.
No, Sue, I'd replied. These things happen when your boyfriend is a bastard and your best friend is a skank with no morals.
She hadn't taken it well.
"Bella!" Rosalie shouted over the music as she made her way through the throngs of people wearing brightly covered Hawaiian shirts that made my eyes hurt. I'd almost bailed when she'd told me that these fortnightly parties were themed, but had sucked it up when she'd smiled excitedly and presented me with a navy coloured sarong. She hadn't even protested when I'd worn a white, one piece beneath it instead of a bikini.
She'd just laughed and offered to do my makeup.
"Hey!" I shouted back as she handed me a bottled drink. I pulled the lid off and tasted it hesitantly. I hadn't been around alcohol enough to know what I did and didn't like, but smiled when I the tangy lemon flavour hit my tongue. "This is good!"
"Are you having a good time?" she asked me, her blue eyes hopeful and I wished I could tell her that I was.
I shrugged, fidgeting with the label on the bottle, "Everyone is so … it's just a little intimidating," I told her. "And loud."
She frowned sadly at me, understanding my discomfort.
Despite finally agreeing to come out to one of these parties, I still wasn't that kind of girl. I was a homebody at heart. I would have had more fun if I'd stayed home and had spent the evening eating mac and cheese and watching Friends reruns. Holding out her hand, she crooked her long, crimson coloured fingernails, asking me to come along with her.
Taking her hand, she pulled me up from the deck chair and began pulling me through the crowd, her hand never leaving mine as we made our way into the house. It was quieter in here, despite the crowd, and I found my shoulders sinking in relief when I could no longer hear the words of the song playing in the backyard.
Rosalie and Emmett had been dating for two years now, having been childhood sweethearts until her family had moved her across the country. They'd lost touch, having only been fourteen at the time, but they'd run – quite literally – into each other the first week of classes and had been inseparable since. Like Rosalie, he was the kind of person who was the complete opposite of me; outgoing and confident, but he'd quickly come to understand that I wasn't a snob, just painfully shy. My introversion around Emmett had only lasted until the third time I'd walked into our dorm room to find he and Rosalie having sex on my desk. Our friendship had formed quickly after I'd screamed at him for putting his bare ass on the essay I'd been working on for two weeks.
"Taco Bell!" Emmett shouted when we made our way into to the small sitting room occupied by Emmett and his roommates, Alice and Jasper, as well as a few people I didn't know. Alice and Jasper had become good friends over the past year, both big supporters of my break up with Jacob.
They had another housemate, too. His name was Edward, and in the two years I'd been visiting their house, I'd never met him. I had been told by his cousin Alice that he wasn't very social and that, like me, he preferred being in a quiet corner to being the center of attention. It hadn't stopped my curiosity though, it had only fed my curiosity, causing me to spend an embarrassing amount of time thinking about the quiet guy on the third floor.
"Hey Em," I said, giving him a shy smile and sitting in an unoccupied love seat, draining the last of my drink. They had the radio playing in here, loud enough that I couldn't hear the rest of the party outside of the room but quiet enough that you could still talk without having to shout.
"She was moping in the backyard," Rosalie said, taking up her favourite seat – Emmett's lap.
Emmett smiled at me, his eyes shining with understanding, and not for the first time was I extremely grateful to have him in my life. He reminded me of my father; he was enormous and intimidating, but beneath the tough exterior was a fiercely loyal friend and protector.
"I wouldn't have been moping if forty people hadn't been singing along to Pitbull," I muttered in disgust, smiling in thanks when Alice leaned over to hand me another drink.
Jasper winked and his eyes glanced up at the ceiling. "You sound exactly like someone else we know."
"There was a Lord of the Rings marathon on tonight. I should have just stayed home," I tell them, swallowing down half of my drink in a few seconds.
"Bella," Rose groaned, "You have them all on DVD."
"Yeah, but not the extended versions," I told her, even though I was certain she didn't understand the significance of the extra footage.
She chuckled and smiled at me affectionately. I smiled back and finished my second drink, sinking into the comfortable couch as they all conversed around me. I didn't mind just sitting quietly while they all spoke. I listened to everything they said and answered when they asked me questions but I had always preferred being the observer to being observed.
I was a wallflower.
"Where's the bathroom?" I asked Alice quietly while Emmett and Jasper bickered backwards and forwards about an upcoming sporting event that I knew nothing about.
"There's one across the hall but I wouldn't use it right now. Guys tend to miss the bowl when they've had a few," she told me, shuddering at the thought. "But nobody is supposed to be on the second floor so the bathroom near the stairs leading up to the third floor should be empty. And clean."
I thanked her and made my way through the house, lifting my sarong as I made my way up the stairs, ensuring that I wouldn't trip and break my leg. The second floor was almost silent and I breathed a little easier when I found the staircase and then the bathroom.
I knocked on the door quietly, making sure that it was empty before I opened it, gasping at the sight that greeted me when my eyes adjusted to the light.
Three people were naked on the bathroom floor, all connected and writhing, their moans so loud I wondered how I hadn't heard them from outside of the door. However, my gasp must have registered over the sounds of pleasure, because one of the two men moved himself out from under a naked girl who looked as if she'd consumed more than alcohol. He stood up slowly, unsteady on bare feet and made his way to me. I stood still, my body frozen in shock.
He smiled as my eyes widened at the sight of his erection. He then pushed the door closed behind me before using his body to press me against it. His eyes were grey, almost colourless and blank, his pupils tiny black dots, confirming that the red-haired girl wasn't just drunk. My body shook as he ran his mouth over my collarbone, biting my skin roughly and I pushed and shoved against him when he ground his hard length against my stomach. "Aren't you just sweet," he hissed into my ear before running his tongue over my cheek.
"Get off of me!" I screamed, finally finding my voice.
"No, I think you want this," he hissed, pushing into me further, his hands moving to pull off my sarong. A tear fell from the corner of my eye as I tried – and failed – to push him away from me again. Even inebriated he was so much stronger than me.
"James! Let her go!" the girl that had been on top of him when I entered said from behind, her hand on his shoulder and her bloodshot eyes wide.
"No Tory, it's so obvious how much she wants this. You can see it in her eyes," he said, turning his face to grin at the redhead before moving his attention back to me. He pushed his mouth to mine then and I fought the urge to throw up as he shoved his tongue into my mouth, not hesitating to bite down on it ... hard.
"Ah fuck!" he shouted as he drew back from me. A river of red was now running from his mouth, down his sweaty, bare chest. He levelled me with a glare that made my entire body shake before spitting at me, his blood splattering over my entire body.
I screamed and turned as he moved to trap me again, my hands shaking as I struggled to turn the door handle. Just then, the door flew open, barely missing me as it slammed into the wall. I didn't hesitate before pushing my way out, bumping into the person who'd probably just saved me from being raped.
I stumbled halfway up the stairs before my body collapsed in a sobbing heap, barely hearing the sounds of punches being thrown and people shouting before everything went silent. My sobbing subsided in the silence and I wiped the tears from my face, pulling back my hand to find that my tears were tinted pink by his blood.
My stomach flipped at the sight.
I didn't hear the sounds of the footsteps as they approached, but my entire body stiffened as I was lifted from the stairs by a strong pair of arms. They tightened around me as my body started shaking and I tried to move away, frightened that the man called James had come back to finish the job.
"Shh," a low, velvety voice whispered in my ear. "You're okay, I promise."
I took a deep breath then, and my eyes widened when I realised that this man was wearing clothes, and that we had just made our way into a part of the house that I'd never seen before.
Edward's room.
"Edward?" I asked, my voice cracking with each syllable. I felt him nod as he continued to carry me through the room and into the bathroom. He lowered me to sit on the lid of the toilet, letting me go before he sank to his knees in front of me.
"Are you okay?" he asked and I lifted my head to look at his face, almost gasping at my first sight of him. I'd heard from Rosalie that he was attractive, but it hadn't prepared me for the intensity of his jade eyes or the shock of his perfectly, angled face. His face was dusted with a few days' worth of dark stubble that served to emphasise the strong line of his jaw.
"The blood," I managed to choke out, turning my attention back to the streaks of red dotting my face and swimsuit.
"You can use the shower to wash it off," he offered and I nodded shakily, refusing to look into his eyes again. He rose from the floor to turn the water on and almost immediately, steam started filling the room as he turned to leave.
I untied my sarong, dropping it to the floor. I moved under the hot water, watching as the blood stained the water orange around my feet as it washed away from my body. I could feel the nausea in my body receding as it ran down the drain.
With shaking hands, I move to pick up a bottle of shampoo, crying out in frustration when it fell from my hands to the floor. The door opened then, and I looked up to see Edward hesitantly poking his head inside, relief in his eyes when he noticed that I wasn't naked. He looked at me with concern in his eyes and I felt my cheeks heat in embarrassment. "I'm sorry," I whispered, feeling completely helpless.
His expression was cautious as he made his way inside the bathroom, leaning down to pick the shampoo up before handing it back to me. I clutched it to my chest, willing my hands to stop shaking. "Do you need help?" his words were soft and I found myself nodding, my body feeling faint, from both James' touch and the sight of the blood.
I didn't look as he took off his shirt, but my body was entirely conscious of his as he moved into the shower stall behind me. It seemed to me that his body heat had warmed me more than the temperature of the water. Reaching around to my front, he carefully pried the bottle from my fingertips, squirting some into his hands before he began to lather my hair.
"Thank you," I whispered as he massaged my scalp, washing the last of the blood from my body.
I said nothing as he rinsed the shampoo from my hair trying to resist the urge to lean against his body. When I turned and looked up, I found myself completely blindsided by his green eyes. He looked at me softly, lifting his hand to run his thumb across my cheek where James had licked me, wiping away the memory before he moved his arm around me to turn off the water.
He stepped out of the stall and grabbed a few towels, wrapping one around his hips before he reached under it to pull off his soaked shorts and underwear. I blushed as they hit the ground with a wet thud. Then he moved back over to me, wrapping one around my shoulders and turning me around to where my back faced his front so he could run the towel through my wet hair.
His gentleness struck me hard and I sighed softly as he continued to dry my hair, wondering how in the world I'd been to this house so many times and had never seen him before.
When he finished he left the room, returning with a large shirt and a pair of boxer briefs before leaving again, this time shutting the door behind him. I blushed as I pulled off my bathing suit and slid into the white, Calvin Klein underwear, my mind wandering to the fact that they'd now touched the most intimate places on both of our bodies. I chastised myself for the thought immediately, my cheeks flaming.
His scent engulfed me after I'd pulled on his shirt, and I found myself inhaling deeply at the masculine fragrance. Jacob had worn Brut since he'd turned fifteen and the scent of it had made me nauseous towards the end of our relationship. I'd scrubbed at my flesh until was red and raw after we'd broken up, until the smell was finally gone from my skin.
I opened the bathroom door after hanging my bathing suit over the claw-foot tub, my heartbeat racing as I stepped into the unfamiliar room. He stood between the bedroom and what seemed to be the living room, his gaze flying to mine when he heard me enter. He then pointed to the phone at his ear and mouthed Rosalie.
I had nodded in response before I walked over to the couch, my eyes widening when I noticed what he'd been watching. The opening credits for The Return of the King played quietly across the screen and I smiled at him as he replied to Rosalie with short, clipped answers.
He didn't like talking, I surmised that as he ran his hands through his hair in exasperation, and guilt settled in the pit of my stomach at the thought of me causing his discomfort. "I'm sorry," I whispered when he hung up the phone, standing from where I'd sat, fidgeting nervously. "You helped me out and I imposed on your night. I didn't mean for that to happen."
My gaze was trained on the floor, my bottom lip tucked between my teeth when he moved closer, his hand lifting my chin, forcing my gaze to meet his. "It's okay, Bella."
His voice was soft and deep, wrapping around me like a velvet blanket and my heartbeat stuttered pathetically in response. "You know my name," I replied, shock coursing through me.
He smiled a little, one side of his mouth pulling up a fraction higher than the other. "I've seen you here before," he told me.
"I haven't seen you."
"I know." He smiled wider, catching me off guard when it hit me, something that I'd never experienced so intensely before - not even with Jacob.
Lust.
He moved his hand from my chin but continued to look at me for a few seconds before he sat down on the black leather couch. You can stay," he said, turning his attention from the television, to me. "If you want."
I didn't waste any time before I was seated on the opposite end of the couch, trying desperately to lose myself in middle earth only to be distracted by the quiet man a few feet away. I tucked my legs under me, my fingers playing nervously with a loose thread on the well-worn shirt he'd given me, the one I'd pulled down to cover most of my thighs.
"Bella," he said after twenty minutes of silence. I looked up from the television to find his gaze trained to where my fingers were tapping on the edge of the sofa.
"I'm sorry," I whispered for what seemed like the tenth time that night, heat flooding my cheeks. I was embarrassed at my reaction to this man. I had seen plenty of handsome guys on campus before, yet here I was, acting like a starry-eyed teen towards someone I'd just met.
He said nothing in reply and moved so quickly that he took the breath out of me. A second later I was sideways across his lap, his arms around me and his body warmth bringing feeling back to my numb limbs.
I wasn't sure what the hell I was doing.
I wasn't this kind of girl.
The one who cuddled up to a guy as soon as she'd met him. I was the girl who thought everything through, who weighed up the options and made lists of pros and cons before I made a decision. It had taken Jacob two years of begging for me to finally go on a date with him. And now, in less than an hour of knowing Edward, I found myself nuzzled into his side, wearing nothing but his shirt and underwear, more content than I'd ever been before.
I wasn't conscious that I'd been running my hand along his arm. But when I heard him wince as my index finger brushed along his knuckle, I looked up at him in shock before I realised what had happened. I lifted his hand, studying the forming bruises and split skin from having hit someone - multiple times.
"You washed my hair with your hand like this, it must have hurt," I whispered, guilt deep in the pit of my stomach. He shrugged with indifference, watching me while I studied his cuts, his heartbeat picking up pace against my ribcage as I lifted his hand to my mouth, laying gentle kisses on each of his fingers. "I'm sorry that you hurt yourself for me."
He moved his hand until once again both of his arms were wrapped around me, my face resting against his chest. "I'm not," he whispered into my hair and I buried my head deeper into his chest to hide my smile.
The steady rhythm of his heart against my ear lulled me into unconsciousness long before the movie ended; his arms wrapped around me and his chin resting on the top of my head.
That was the first night I dreamt of Edward Cullen.
Back with fic recs for you!
Thicker than Water by twistedcoincidence.
Sisters have a special bond, stronger than friendship, more sacred than a significant other. Bella has always been the perfect big sister, then again, her sister has never possessed something so appealing.
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