Bella:
And I don't come here for the exclusivity
I just come here for the view
And the miniscule chance of some close proximity
Or an awkward conversation with you
That'd be cool
My hands absent mildly rub over my small bump as I wonder into the living room. Everyone else seems to be in the kitchen, attempting to make some cakes for Rosalie.
I sit down on the sofa, glancing up to see Edward. Reading a Thor comic.
"Not helping with the baking?" I ask in an effort to make conversation with him. Since Rose gave birth last night, things have been different between us.
"What?" he jumps a little, clearly not having seen me walk in. "Oh, uh, no. I'm pretty sure as soon as Rose comes home she'll go straight to her room and not want to be disturbed. And she'll be complaining about losing the baby weight," Edward shrugs, peering up at me over his comic book.
"You two seem to be pretty close. You know her well," I comment, maybe a little jealous.
"She beat up this guy at school who stole my comic," Edward shrugs. "Ever since then we've been friends, not that she likes to admit it," he adds.
"She can be very protective," I say.
"Yep. No harm will ever be inflicting on her child," Edward chuckles. "How come you aren't helping with the baking?" he adds, putting down his comic.
"I'd rather not get covered in flour, so I claimed I had back ache. Plus, there's only so much Alice I can handle a day," I tell him, making him laugh.
I want to make him laugh again and again.
"Try being her twin," Edward says, shaking his head.
"Fair point," I chuckle.
Edward looks up at me and seems to be debating whether or not to say something.
"Any thoughts on a name for your baby?" he eventually asks.
"I have absolutely no idea," I sigh, hand on my stomach.
"It looks like you're getting a bit of a bump," Edward comments.
"Are you calling me fat?" I ask, pretending to be outraged.
"What? No! No, you're not fat, at all! I didn't mean…no," Edward stutters, making me laugh just a bit.
"I was just kidding," I grin over at him.
"Oh," Edward mutters, attempting to glare at me.
Before I can apologise, there's a knock at the front door, and Rose arrives home with her baby.
"Awww! He's just the cutest!" Alice coos, peering through the blankets. "He has your nose," she decides, nodding.
I hear Edward laugh next to me.
Rose protectively hugs Dexter to her chest, beaming. "Everyone, meet Dexter," she announces. She threatened Edward and I to keep the name a secret from everyone.
"Awesome name!" Jacob booms.
"Inside voice," Angela reminds him.
"As much as I'd like to talk to you all, Dexter and I need sleep," Rose says, glancing over at Carlisle.
"Rest is a must," Carlisle agrees with her.
Rose waddles away upstairs, everyone still a little in awe of her beautiful baby boy. He's definitely got her looks.
"It would be so cool if you had a girl. They could fall in love!" Alice grins over at me.
"We'll start the match-making after my baby is born," I tell her.
At school the next day, it's definitely strange to not have Rose here. Lots of people ask us questions about her and the baby, too.
"Hey. You're Bella, right?" A bulky, muscled guy comes up to me when I'm at my locker. He has short, slightly curly black hair, and is at least a foot taller than me. He's grinning slightly, and I'm wracking my brain, trying to remember if I've been introduced to him before. I don't think so, but I honestly have no idea.
"Um, yeah. Why?" I ask, a little cautious.
"I wondered if you wouldn't mind giving this to Rose. She, uh, mentioned that you two were pretty close," the guy says, holding out a blue gift bag.
"Who are you?" I ask him.
"Oh, shit, sorry! I'm Emmett," he says, holding out his hand.
I shake it, still a little unsure of him.
"Hey, Em!" I hear a voice behind me say.
"Hey, Edward. I was just asking Bella about Rose," Emmett explains.
Edward walks over and stands next to me, making butterflies form in my stomach. I almost forget what's going on.
"She's fine. Dexter's the cutest little baby," Edward tells him, smiling.
I'm still frowning. Am I missing something? I've never met this guy before but he seems to know Rose and Edward pretty well.
"Are you dating Rose? Because she never mentioned you," I say to Emmett.
His face falls a bit. "Uh, no. We're not dating. Just friends."
"Oh. Sorry," I mutter, feeling a bit awkward.
Emmett hands me the gift bag, which I take, and he quickly flees. And I feel pretty bad.
"Don't feel bad. Pretty much everyone can see how much he wants to date Rose, apart from Rose," Edward shrugs.
"Still, though. I don't have much of a verbal filter," I reply, putting the gift bag in my locker.
Edward and I start walking towards the cafeteria together just as my stomach starts grumbling. Edward hears it, and he glances over at me, grinning. I try to glare at him, but it doesn't work because he's too cute.
Not fair.
"Well, Rose was early," I overhear Seth saying as Edward and I walk over to the usual table.
"And? That doesn't say anything important," Angela replies.
"I still think Bella will be early," Jacob says. My curiosity peaks when I hear my name.
"Um, what?" I ask as I sit down. Edward looks equally confused.
Everyone glances around at each other, no one wanting to answer. Finally, after much glaring from me, Seth breaks.
"We were placing bets on when you'll go into labour!" he blurts, receiving a hit on the back of his head from his brother, Jacob.
"Awesome. Can I join in?" I ask, grinning.
"You can't bet! It's your pregnancy!" Seth complains.
"Yeah, but I can't control when he or she comes," I shrug.
"Still…" Seth says, frowning.
"Fine," I huff. "When have you guessed?" I ask.
"I say one week before, because Rose was early," Seth explains.
"Nah, I think you'll be late," Jacob disagrees.
"I say it'll be on your due date. Most teen pregnancies are either on schedule or early," Angela reasons.
"I think a couple of days early," Alice says. "Oh, and Bree thinks early, too," Alice adds.
I look up to see Bree staring intently at her food. When she sees me looking, I offer her a small smile.
"How about you, Edward?" I ask him.
He purses his lips and thinks about this for quite a while, seemingly examining me. "I think a day or two late," he finally answers.
"Well, I'm hoping for early," I say, rubbing my stomach.
After finishing our lunch, Edward and I decide to head over to biology. Just as we're walking across to the biology building, I spot Emmett sat alone at a picnic table.
"Give me a minute?" I ask Edward before quickly walking over to Emmett. "Hey," I say to get his attention.
"Hey," he mumbles, not looking at me.
He really has it bad.
"I thought you might like to see this." I hand him my phone, ignoring his protests.
Finally, he looks at the image on my phone. A large grin spreads over his face, revealing a deep dimple on his left cheek. I scroll through and show him all the pictures I've taken of Dexter and Rose – which is a lot – and tell him about Dexter. I see him get more and more relaxed; a larger smile on his face. Edward was right; it really is obvious how much he likes Rose. If only I could find a way to make Rose see that Emmett really does care about her.
"Thank you. You're a good friend," Emmett says, hugging me while we're still sat down.
"I'm sorry about before," I apologise.
"That's ok. You didn't know," Emmett smiles at me. "I better let you go, now, though. Edward's getting impatient," Emmett points out.
I look up and see Edward looking over at us, smiling when he seems me looking at him.
"It seems I'm not the only lovesick person," Emmett comments.
"What? No. You…you need your eyes testing," I tell him, shaking my head.
"Women really are blind," Emmett huffs, standing up.
As I walk away I roll my eyes. Emmett's wrong. Edward's just my friend, right? He's never shown any interest in me. So he happens to be clumsy around me. He's clumsy around everyone.
"Hey, Bella!" Edward beams as I approach him.
Maybe I am blind?
A/N: Thoughts on the introduction of Emmett? :D
Lyrics: Your Body is a Weapon by The Wombats