.
Disclaimer: twilight ain't mine. the plot of this here story is. but characters and such belong to them copyrighted folk and their fancy shmancy lawyers.
A/N: PIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE FIIIIIIIIIIGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHTTTTTTTT.
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Bella
Edward had the Polaroid camera around his neck, a green hunting hat on his head, a pink polo shirt with one side of the collar popped, his usual ripped jeans, and red Converses. The polo shirt had clearly never been worn before, but Edward said it was because it was from when his mother tried to make him into a prep. He also said he brought it to Forks for "shits and giggles". And as for the hunting hat, I didn't even bother to ask.
I was wearing the ripped jeans I hadn't worn since forever, a black tank top, Edward's blue Dodgers baseball cap he let me borrow because he was wearing his hunting hat, and a purple zip-up hoodie that was currently slipping off one shoulder. Even the hoodie had holes in it. The holes in my jeans were genuinely earned from various spills and casualties, while the holes in my hoodie were earned from trying to fall back on my elbows or getting caught on some sharp object.
And, to be honest, it felt nice to be sporting holes again.
The whole sewing myself up was getting old. Just a bit. The needles were getting rusty.
Alice was wearing a pink tutu skirt around her waist, ripped, acid washed, and bleached red skinny jeans underneath, and a white 'Superman' t-shirt. She had bright white, yellow, and pink plastic pearl necklaces hanging around her neck and black flip flops with colorful plastic beads glued to the straps. Honestly, it didn't look that different from her average outfits, but I guess she thought it was worthy of getting pelted with pies.
Yes. Today was the day of the pie fight.
We were standing by the bus stop in town. The bus that traveled from some faraway place that held grandmothers with knitting needles visiting their grandchildren, weepy runaways looking for a new life, and the hobos just looking for a ride. The bus that would drop of Jasper, the fourth addition to our little pie-fighters' union.
We must have looked pretty ridiculous standing there. Three lost, wretched teenagers standing under an old bus stop sign with the hope of pie and memories and freedom.
"Bella," Edward said from my right side.
I turned to my right, only to see that he was holding the Polaroid in my face to take an unexpected picture. I stuck my tongue out at him and the camera snapped, the buzzy noise resounding through this quiet part of town. He laughed and took out the picture, waving it and raising it up so the sun was behind it. He squinted and smiled.
"That one's a keeper," Alice said, standing on Edward's right and leaning over to examine the picture with him.
"Deserves the blue ribbon, I think," Edward added.
Before I could respond, the sound of big wheels on pavement drowned our laughing. We all looked to our left, where an old, stereotypically small town bus came rolling up to the bus stop. We waited, watching it stop with a weeze and a cough of black exhaust. The doors opened, Alice whispered something to Edward, and people started coming out.
I looked for people who matched Alice's description. Then suddenly, Alice squealed and bolted by Edward and I, jumping into the arms of someone getting off the bus with two duffle bags and a guitar case. There was laughter and talking and kissing before Alice finally climbed off the stranger (keeping an arm around his waist) and we got a good look at him.
Shaggy, sandy blonde hair. Male-model-eque face and smile. Grey eyes. White v-neck t-shirt and silver necklaces around his neck, along with a red, metal peace sign on a thin gold chain. Dirty jeans that looked like they'd seen too much sand and soil. And something about his demeanor held and understanding and knowledge that reminded me of Alice. For some reason.
So this was Jasper.
Alice introduced us, her eyes glancing back at Jasper whenever they could, and I shook hands with the infamous Jasper Hale that I'd heard so much about. But something about him just fit right in. Into the situation, into the friendships, and into the pie fight.
And after the formalities were over, it was like he'd been here forever. Tugging on Alice's tutu, playing with her beads, laughing at Edward's snarky remarks, grinning at me when someone said something that made me blush.
How did people pull that off so easily?
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"My sister and her fiancé own a bar here in Forks," he said, "Maybe you've heard of Rosie's?"
We were driving in my truck. Well, I was driving, Edward was in the passenger's seat, and Alice was sitting in the back with Jasper. I'd rather Alice sit in the front because, knowing me, we'd probably get lost and, knowing Edward, Alice would probably be a much bigger help with direction giving. But of course, she was snuggling with her soul mate, and I couldn't really tear that apart, now could I?
"Rosie's? Yeah, I think I've heard of it," Edward said, as he scanned the sheet of directions, "Never been there, though."
"Yeah, she doesn't tend to give drinks to minors. Not after some kid nearly tore up the place in a drunk rage," Jasper said with a laugh.
"She doesn't even give drinks to you?" Edward asked.
"Are you kidding me? I'm the most lightweight, obnoxious, loud, annoying drunk you'll ever meet. She'd have a death wish if she gave me anything less than a sip of Vodka."
"He doesn't really strike people as a lightweight," Alice explained, "And that's usually the worst mistake they make."
We nodded sympathetically.
"Hey Alice, are we headed like, to the middle of nowhere?" Edward asked, changing subjects and leaning his head back to look at Alice.
"Well we can't have the pie fight on Main Street, now can we?" Alice replied.
"Um, I tend to get lost in places like the middle of nowhere," I chimed in, hoping someone would have sense to either put Alice on the wheel or at least get Edward out of here so he stops distracting me with his devilish, brooding good looks and his lack-of-helping-me tendencies.
"It's okay, we've got directions," Edward said, scanning the directions and clearly not noticing my incredulous look. Or maybe he did and he just loved toying with me. Or maybe a mix of both.
"Besides," Jasper said, "Getting lost is the best part."
"Yeah, okay," I huffed and then mumbled, "What color is the sky in your world?"
Jasper laughed and Alice giggled.
"She really doesn't like getting lost," Edward explained to Jasper.
"I think he got that, Edward," Alice remarked, "Bella's made herself quite clear the entire ride."
"Well you know women. They're always so cryptic," Edward said, tossing a raised eyebrow look my way. I rolled my eyes, which made his lips twitch.
We chit-chatted some more, laughed some more, I freaked out some more when I saw more and more woods that looked like prime areas for getting lost in, and played some 'Would You Rather'.
"Would you rather…" Alice said, dragging out the phrase as she pondered with her finger on her chin, "Be the third concubine of a CEO…or the first and only spouse of the poorest person in the world?"
"Aren't concubines illegal?" Edward asked.
"Not in all states," Jasper pointed out. We pondered for a moment.
"Would you be in love with either spouse?" I asked.
"Yes. In both marriages, you're in love with your spouse," Alice clarified. More pondering.
"Poorest person in the world," I said after a moment, "Because, well, the CEO can't really be in love with you if they have other spouses…"
"They can love you and use the others for the sex," Edward said with a shrug.
"Fine, but that would be twisted love," I responded.
"And?" Edward asked, raising his eyebrows.
"And… I don't want to be a concubine?" I said, giving Edward a strange look as I finished my sentence like it was a question.
Everyone laughed, Edward smirking.
"I agree with Bella," Edward said, "But for different reasons."
"Oh yeah?" Alice scoffed, "Why would you want to be married to the poorest person in the world?"
"Exhibition sex. You probably don't have a house, right?"
"Edward, you can do that if you do have a house," I said, blushing because I'm a prude like that. I knew he was just teasing, probably to get a rise out of me.
"Yes, but having no house gives you an excuse."
"You can do it in a dark alley way," Jasper said.
"That's hot too," Alice pointed out. I shook my head, still bright red, and Edward laughed. Boy, does he love making me blush. I think his new favorite hobby is to make me into a non-prude. I can't tell if he's made any progress yet. Unless his new hobby is actually to make me permanently red. That he is definitely making progress on.
"Okay, okay, I got one!" Jasper said, "Would you rather die from falling from a building, or from drowning."
"Drowning," Edward said almost immediately, "I'm afraid of heights."
"So you don't wanna like, face your fears in your last moments?" Alice asked.
"Embracing heights to kill myself is hardly facing my fears," Edward said, rolling his eyes.
"Well I'd choose heights," Alice said, "It's like sky diving…without a parachute."
"A serene experience, no doubt," Jasper added.
"And water isn't serene at all?" Edward scoffed.
"Drowning isn't," I pointed out.
"Well neither is falling."
"But when you fall, only the impact is the non-serene part. Drowning….well, you can drown for minutes on end," I explained.
"Depends how long you could hold your breath," Jasper added.
Everyone nodded, Edward still thinking about how to respond to that. There was a brief silence. And then..
"Bella….please tell me that sign did not say we were entering Canada…"
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So we didn't end up getting lost. Believe it or not. Edward was finally helpful.
We finally made it to the pie fight. In one piece. My sanity, maybe not so much, but I still had all my limbs. As we got out of the car, we examined the surroundings. People in trash bags, rain ponchos, ratty overcoats, t-shirts with various names written in big letters (as a way of smiting the person with that particular name, I'm guessing), fancy suits (having the same reasoning as Edward, probably), lab goggles and lab coats, clown suits, and every other outfit under the sun.
And there were tons of people. Definitely record breaking.
There was a small stage in the middle of the flat field, where the leader and coordinator of the pie fight stood, fiddling with a microphone. There was a banner over the stage that read 'P!E' in black letters, splattered with various rainbow colors. The field was wide, and there were dozens upon dozens of pies on wide picnic tables. People convened around them, talking and chatting.
We got our numbers written on our hands and arms like we were in a triathlon, though if we were, we'd probably get them written on our legs. I was number 604, Alice was 601, Edward was 603, and Jasper was 602. Apparently the record was broken back in the 500s, but people were still coming. Edward wrote my number on my forehead, just because he could, considering I left his baseball cap in the car, and I wrote his on his neck. He looked like a troubled convict with 603 written on his neck in black marker like a tattoo, his pink polo contrasting vibrantly with it, and his hunting hat slipping sideways over one of his eyes.
He took plenty of polaroids.
"We need a 'before' picture!" Edward said to us suddenly, "Then I have to go put the Polaroid away."
He grabbed some guy with a sombrero and asked if he would take our picture. We stood together, Edward's arm around my shoulder, my arm around Alice's waist, and Alice's arm around Jasper's waist. We smiled, posing and waiting for the guy to take our picture as a scene from a crazy-convention rolled on behind us. At the last second, Edward tickling my neck with the arm that was around my shoulder, making me burst out in laughter. The camera snapped and buzzed, the sombrero guy walking up to us and giving us our Polaroid. Edward took the picture from the camera and grinned at me as I scowled.
"What? I thought you like those last-second things," he teased with a smirk.
The clatter from the people here was loud. Laughing, talking, cameras snapped, music playing. It was like we all crashed this party and no one even cared. The party was made of party crashers, and that's what made it so smile-inducing.
"Woo!" Alice cheered, clapping her hands once we put the Polaroid away and stood by one of the pie tables, "Are you excited, or what?!"
"I think that guy is wearing a bikini," Edward pointed out, looking over Alice's shoulder.
"I'm pumped, man," Jasper said as we ignored Edward, "But shit, am I hungry."
He eyed the pies and I couldn't help but laugh out loud.
"These pies probably aren't that good tasting. Considering they made them for quantity and not for quality…" I reasoned, laughing again as Jasper's face fell.
"I wasn't going to eat one," he said, grinning impishly at me.
"Sure."
"I was just saying that I was hungry."
"Okay."
"Honest to God," he said, still smirking, "You don't believe me?"
"Oh I believe you," I said, nodding slowly and averting my eyes like I was talking to a crazy person. Jasper laughed and pinched my shoulder as I grinned.
"The girl's feisty," Jasper said, turning to Alice, "A kick and a bite."
Okay….
Well, that is not a word I'd use to describe myself. Cowardly, maybe….
What kind of tie-dye has Jasper been inhaling?
"Caged," Alice sighed to Jasper as she glanced over at a smirking Edward, "We're trying to set her free."
Before I could ask what they meant by their cryptic soulmate-speak, there was a loud horn blown from the direction of the stage. All 600-something of the people here turned towards the stage, the talking dying down to a murmur as the coordinator stood with a loudspeaker to his mouth.
"I guess he gave up on the microphone," I mumbled to Edward.
"Everyone knows loudspeakers are more fun," Edward muttered back.
"Now, I don't wanna make this too formal," the coordinator bellowed into the loudspeaker, "Because that wouldn't really be in the spirit of a pie fight. But, I do wanna tell you that we did, in fact, break the record for the most people showing up to a pie fight. We got this handsome, strapping young man from the Guinness Book of World Records here to take our picture and record our location, number of people, and all that fun stuff. Oh, and he'll be taking pictures of us actually throwing some pies too."
Everyone cheered as the 'handsome, strapping young man' with black rimmed glasses wearing a red shirt and suit jacket walked up behind the coordinator on the stage. He took the loudspeaker from the coordinator and cleared his throat.
"If you could all just say cheese…" he said, holding up a camera with his free hand.
The crowd shifted, getting into position. Edward tugged my closer by pulling on my belt loop and I smiled to myself.
"Ready? 1….2…3," the guy said as we the crowd went, "Cheeeeeeeeeeese."
Everyone cheered again once the picture was taken and the coordinator had to blow the horn to get our attention again.
"So there really aren't any rules, now," the coordinator said, "But the next time I blow this horn, it will signify the start of the pie fight. Then you can do whatever the hell you want with those pies, as long as you hit as many people with them as you possibly can. Now, I know there are a lot of various people here; old and young, smart and dumb, insane and sane, and so on, but in this pie fight, those titles and labels don't exactly matter. So have some fun, all right? And save that working, civil stuff for Monday."
We all cheered again, holding our breath and positioning ourselves towards the pie tables. Then the coordinator raised his loudspeaker, the horn blew, and all hell broke free.
People screeched and ran towards the pies, loud footsteps resounding on the field like elephant feet. The music in the background couldn't really be heard, but it didn't matter because I had a pie in my hand and an eager elbow to my gut. I was already laughing with the adrenaline rushing through my veins.
And suddenly pies were flying, following the path of the inhibitions and worries of everyone here. I tried ducking most of them, but I remember the first pie that smacked my face.
If I tried to explain it with words, I'd make it sound too serious. Not serious like bad, but serious as in deeply inspiring and liberating and whatever the hell I'd come up with.
But it wasn't like that. Not at all. It was just….light. And happy. And maybe liberating, but it wasn't like everyone came here to be liberated. We came here to simply throw pies at strangers, laugh at strangers, slip on pie bits and hold on to strangers, and that's what we were doing.
Anyway, the first pie that smacked my face felt gooey and cold. Squishy, too, and it made me gasp and laugh in one breath as I turned around to see who threw it. But just as I did, another pie came to my face and now I was laughing pretty hard.
It was beautiful chaos with pies flying around and shrieking and laughing.
You had to wonder how it was possible for this madness to come about in the span a few minutes.
I swiped at my eyes and chucked pies at everything in my sight. It was every man for themselves, I knew that, but I still tried to look for Alice or Jasper or Edward in the madness. I chucked a pie at a kid with a polo, but he turned around and was wearing a Spongebob mask, so I was guessing it wasn't Edward. Spongbob kid threw a pie at me, hitting me on my thigh, and I laughed pretty hard.
And suddenly I was dueling with this random kid with a Spongebob mask. It was great.
After a few more minutes of constant pie fighting, a truck came by and people with umbrellas and lab goggles came running in to drop off more pies. As I watched them do this, a pie hit me on my neck and I swiveled around, ready to fire my pie at the culprit.
I saw that it was Alice and my eyes narrowed. I chucked the pie at her and it hit…well, the area around her left boob. She gasped and threw another pie at me, making me laugh so hard I thought my gut would fall out. I walked up to her and, before she could run, smashed a pie in her face. She shrieked and pulled the collar of my shirt out, smashing a pie so it was more or less down my shirt.
I squealed, and a pie came flying towards Alice's head and smacked her. It was Jasper, covered in pie, laughing hysterically. Both Alice and I picked up pies and chucked them at him. He yelped and tried to duck, but he couldn't really do anything about his impending doom.
When Alice was busy laughing, I pulled the collar of her shirt out and oh so smoothly dropped some gooey, mushy pie-debris down her shirt.
"Bella!" she shrieked, just as I felt the back of my shirt being pulled out and something gooey smashing against my bare skin. I stumbled back into a very pie-covered Edward, who was grinning maniacally.
Feeling rather….brave and seeing that there was no available pies around, I swiped a fistful of pie goop from my cleavage (where Alice had shoved the pie that had slipped down my shirt) and smashed it into Edward's very wide-eyed face.
I heard Alice and Jasper howling with laughter from behind us and I stuck my tongue out at Edward. Ready to make a run for it, I started to bolt. Then Edward, with his super human belt-loop grabbing skills pulled, me back.
This was not a good move, as there was an inch of pie goop on the ground. I slipped, naturally, and gripped onto Edward with a yelp, who fell back onto the ground with me pretty much on top of him.
"Edward!" I yelled, "You made me fall!"
He was laughing pretty hard, looking rather ridiculous with his hunting hat covered in pie and his polo somewhat pulled over one shoulder because it slipped like that in the fall. I smacked his chest and noticed a pie near his head. I picked it up and held it over him.
His laughing slowed down, morphing into a sly grin.
"You're going to hit me with that?" he taunted, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes."
"Shy little Bella…" he said, shaking his head with a sigh, "Surely you know the consequences for hitting me with that pie."
"You can't sweet talk your way out of this one," I said, noticing that we were in a compromising position, but not unlike the other wrestling pie-fighters around us who were going ballistic as well. I also noticed that I had one hand on his chest. After noticing that, I pushed any strange fantasies from my mind.
Focus, Bella.
"If you wanted to throw the pie, you would have already done it."
"I'm more of a leave-'em-in-suspense kinda girl."
Edward grinned.
"So do it," he said with a shrug, "Hit me."
And I didn't have an epiphany. Honestly, that's not what it was. It was just a moment where, as I looked down at this 'criminal' beneath me, this 'troublemaker', this enigma of a boy…I wondered if I would really hit him with the pie. And why.
Then I realized….that I would hit him with the pie.
I just would.
Maybe it was symbolic or meaningful, but I looked down at Edward's ridiculous outfit and ridiculous grin, and then I thought…he wanted me to hit him with the pie.
So without making things too serious and without breathing into the essence of this pie fight with too much carbon monoxide, I took a slow breath and smashed the pie against his face. In an instant, so fast I wondered briefly if I had a brain lapse or something, he was pinning me to the ground with a pie in his hand. Looking dangerous and beautiful and sly and smug. As always.
This was not good.
I had a feeling he planned this all along.
But strangely enough, I didn't mind the planning so much as the grinning. The grinning was dangerous.
My heart raced because now my body realized exactly how close together we were and how he was straddling my waist with his legs, not putting all of his weight on me. I blinked up at him, shocked, before I narrowed my eyes.
"You know better than to hit a girl," I reasoned with an innocent smile. Edward just laughed his low throaty laugh.
"I grew up in the slums of Chicago, sweetheart. My mama never taught me those things."
Before I could register that I had actually just learned something about him that I didn't know, the pie came to my face and all thoughts were lost. I squealed and wiped the pie from my face, pushing on Edward so quickly that he lost his balance and we tumbled backwards (well, I went forwards when he went backwards), a tangled mess of pie and limbs and laughing.
We stumbled to our feet and chucked as many pies were left at each other, but the supply of pies was trickling down, and before we knew it, the horn was blown again. I slipped, know a complete knot of laughing and ecstasy, and stumbled into Edward's arms. We were still laughing as the coordinator finished up the pie fight and everyone cheered.
Me in his pie-covered arms, him dumping his hunting hat on my head, and the both of us grinning at each other.
Then I knew we had shared a moment here.
Whether for our friendship or for something more, we shared a moment.
And suddenly, we were closer.
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We stood by the car in our pie-covered mess, reliving the pie fight with gut-regurgitating, laugh out loud stories. The euphoria was still there in our laughter, and I thought about how I was planning on keeping it here. How to capture the euphoria. Maybe with a glass jar?
"Wait, wait," Edward said as he grabbed the Polaroid, "We need an 'after' picture!"
He pulled over some random guy with a toga and handed him the camera. Then we stood as we did in the 'before' picture, but possibly grinning even wider this time. Edward thanked the man and smiled somewhat softly at the moment captured in the developing picture.
"Bella that shirt is soaked through with pie," Alice laughed.
"At least I had the decency to wear black," I said, pointing at Alice's quite see-through shirt. She laughed, not even bothering to cross her arms over her chest.
"Silly Bella, I brought a change of clothes," Alice said, "But you did too, right?"
"Of course," I replied, popping open the trunk of the truck. Alice rummaged through the bags there, finding hers with triumph as my gut dropped.
"Oh great," I sighed, "That's perfect."
"What?" Alice asked, "You can't find your bag?"
"I swear I put it in here this morning!" I groaned. I would have to drive my truck in my gooey pie-covered self.
"What's wrong?" Jasper asked.
"Bella forgot her change of clothes," Alice explained as she searched through the bags for mine.
"Well, do you have extra, Alice?" Jasper asked.
"I guess, but Bella's almost a head taller than me," Alice said with a sigh. Edward walked over from the front of the car, slamming the passenger door closed and looking at us quizzically.
"I forgot my change of clothes," I explained. He raised his eyebrows.
"Didn't you put it in the trunk this morning?"
"I thought so," I sighed, muttering to myself about how stupid I was.
"I have some you can wear," Edward said with a shrug, "I knew someone might forget."
"Really? You have extra? Well, that's perfect then!" Alice said, "Good thinking, Watson. Jasper and I are going to go change behind some trees."
Alice grabbed Jasper, skipping off. I looked over at Edward, who was humming to himself as he searched through the trunk.
"Well, I don't have extra pants," he said and I wanted to die right then and there, "But I do have a shirt that will definitely be big enough on you to cover you pretty decently."
He emerged from the trunk, handing me a crumpled, dark green shirt. I sighed and smiled thankfully at him.
"You don't, by chance, have an extra bra in there?"
"I have tape?" he teased. I huffed.
"I wouldn't need it if two people hadn't shoved pie down my shirts on both sides," I said, stomping off and opening the door to my truck as he laughed.
"No peeking," I warned, pointing a finger at him.
"Bella," he said, rolling his eyes, "How indecent do you think I-"
"Pinky promise."
I stuck out my pinky. He grinned wryly, but did the same, and we hooked pinkies. Satisfied, I climbed in the truck and slammed the door. I ducked down behind the front seats, and though it was rather cramped back here, I was able to pull off my jeans and t-shirt. I pulled on Edward's t-shirt, which smelt like Edward, a tinge of sunscreen, and a bit like cinnamon. It went down about four inches above my knee, which wasn't too bad. About the length of the skirts Alice wore, maybe even longer.
But I wasn't wearing pants.
And that was embarrassing.
I climbed out of the truck, wearing the flip flops Alice left here and trying not to flash any departing pie-fighters that were still hanging around. I tossed my clothes in one of the plastic bags we had brought and wiped down my hair and face with one of the towels Alice brought.
I walked back to the trunk where Edward, true to his word, had his back towards me and his face to the sky.
"I'm clothed," I said with a sigh as I opened the trunk to put the plastic bag back here. I resisted the urge to add, "barely."
Edward turned around, looking startled all of a sudden. The smile wiped away as he looked at me, a strange expression I'd never really seen on him crossing his face. Maybe because he's never seen so much of my legs. Understandable, I guess, but I still felt awkward as I reached up to close the trunk.
"Thanks for the shirt," I said, "You can go change now if you want. We're going to have to hose down my truck when we get back. There are pie bits everywhere."
Edward was still staring. I looked down. The shirt was fine, I thought, but maybe something was amiss?
"What?" I asked Edward. He shook himself out of it and cleared his throat.
"Yeah, err, I'll go change."
Weird. That boy and his mood swings.
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Edward
"Bella, you should wear dresses like that more often!" Alice said as we climbed out of the truck. We were back now, at Bella's house. I still didn't get the feeling it was my house yet, but occasionally I called it 'home'. It was, for now, I guess.
Alice had parked her Porsche here when we left to go pick up Jasper in Bella's truck, so she skipped over to it with her and Jasper's stuff.
"Alice, for the millionth time," Bella sighed, "My legs are pasty looking."
"Are you kidding me?! You have great legs! And great skin! What the hell is wrong with your eyes?" Alice said, dropping one of the bags she was holding on Jasper's foot so she could put her hands on her hips.
Jasper cursed under his breath, glaring at Alice who was gaping at Bella, and limped off towards the trunk of the Porsche.
"Alice, we are not discussing my wardrobe right now," Bella said, "Edward is your Barbie."
Alice grinned slowly.
"For now," she said, the innocent and creepy fire in her eyes. I'm not sure if she's ever unleashed it on Bella, but Bella was unaffected, shaking her head and mumbling to herself.
I was still gaping, as I had been when she first emerged in my shirt. She had her hair pulled up into a messy bun, Alice's flip flops on her feet, and my shirt reaching her mid-thigh. I had a near heart attack, to say the least. Just the way her innocent smile and warm vibe looked in my shirt….ugh.
I can't believe I needed a cold shower.
That's just ridiculous.
But then, looking at Bella's effortless way of turning me on, I realized maybe it wasn't so ridiculous.
She looked warm and inviting. I made the mental mistake of calling her mine upon seeing my shirt on her. Then I didn't want it to be a mistake, and then I pushed the ideas out of my head.
"We better get going," Alice said, "Lot's of catching up to do, you see."
"I thought you had your share of that behind the trees," I called out as they climbed into Alice's Porsche. As they shut the doors and pulled out of the driveway, I saw Alice's middle finger sticking out from the open driver's window.
Classy.
"Ugh," Bella groaned, "I'm wiped out. Can we unpack the trunk later?"
She walked into the house, well more like slumped, and I followed. I shut the door behind me as she collapsed on the couch with a contented sigh. I walked over to her, moving her feet so I could sit down, and then dropping her feet into my lap. She sighed again and snuggled into the couch, looking quite comfortable.
"Your shirt smells really good," she mumbled with her eyes closed.
"Thank you?"
She laughed and opened her eyes, turning her head so she could look at me.
"Did you have fun today?" she asked.
"Yes, I did. Loads of. More than I ever thought possible in Forks."
"Yeah, we Forks folk do the strangest of things. We've been known to shock and surprise."
"Did you have fun?"
"Too much," she said, yawning on cue. I laughed.
"We should take a nap," she mumbled, her head turning and her eyes closing again.
Together?
"You have a head start, you know," I replied.
She didn't respond except with a small grumble. Her breathing was getting slower and slower. I smiled, resting my head against the wall behind the couch. That's when I noticed a brown box sitting on the kitchen counter. Slowly, as to not wake Bella, I removed her legs from my lap and stood up. She didn't stir and I made my way to the kitchen.
There was a post-it note underneath the box.
Edward-
This package came for you today. I called Carlisle, and he said you can open it. Don't worry, I don't need to check the contents or anything like that. We trust you and respect your privacy.
-Charlie
I frowned, getting a knife from one of the drawers and opening the tape on the box.
Once I opened it, I wished I never had.
First, there was that old, familiar glossy brochure with the scripted green lettering and 'About Our Organization' and other details that made my heart lurch. Then there was a letter in a white envelope, but I knew what it was. I'd seen Elizabeth reading them over and over with that smile on her face. The only smile I'd see on her back then was when she read those letters.
Then there was the tiny, clear, palm-shaped box filled with thin metal sewing needles. My breathing shook when I saw the last thing.
The tiny stuffed bear. Pink, like the way it was under the Chicago sun as Elizabeth sat there toiling over how to get his ear just right.
My hands were shaking. How did they find me?
I looked at the return address on the white envelope: Renee Dwyer.
Come on, Edward. You knew it was a matter of time before they did.
I wanted to know what they knew. How long it took them to realize that Elizabeth Masen was dead. How long after that did it take them to realize she had a son. I wanted to know how they got the tiny pink bear.
My hands were shaking hard as I shut the box. I looked over at Bella, who was still napping. I tried to breathe, but I choked on the air.
Neverending Needle Society. It said so right there in the embellished green letters on the glossy paper. The image of those words would be forever burned in my mind. The society that my mother breathed and smothered herself in during the last year of her life.
I took another breath, this time letting it out shakily. I had to calm down before I got myself worked up again. My hand twitched towards my pocket reflexively, where my lighter once was, and I cursed myself for not being able to get rid of that habit.
I tilted my head up to the ceiling and squeezed my eyes shut. I clenched my fists. I clenched my teeth. I didn't breathe.
Why won't you leave me alone?
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
As always, I apologize for the wait. I always delete my stuff, you see, because I'm a fidgety and anxious woman who gets frustrated with words that don't come out right.
The plot's a'movin and a'shakin. Get excited. So I gave some pretttyyy big clues as to what's going on. And yes, the whole 'Caesar' part of the title will be explained too. The 'Youth' part is pretty self explanatory. But look! Neverending Needles! (points and jumps excitedly).
If you don't remember what the pink bear is, here's a hint: look at the prologue in Chapter 1
Here's another clue: Neverending Needle Society does involve both Bella and Edward in some way.
LEAVE ME A REVIEW WITH YOUR THEORIES! Even if you think it's wrong, I still love hearing them. I love hearing your thoughts in general.