I do not own Twilight or any of its' characters

BPOV

Chapter 33

Bodie Ross

It was finally Friday, and I had plans with Danielle. I finished up my last class at one o'clock, it was an early day for everyone because it was Friday, Edward's last class got out at two, and I promised to meet him for lunch after. I sat in the student center at a table with a book open waiting. Punctual as usual he came sauntering in from the outside, still wearing his sunglasses, his hair all windblown and disheveled, the necklace I had given him swinging proudly on the outside of his fitted shirt. I hadn't seen him ever take that necklace off since the day I gave it to him, which was positively endearing to me.

He located me immediately and kissed my cheek before sitting down.

"Hello love."

"Hello." I replied with a smile, it always seemed strange to me that he had a nickname for me, but I had none for him. But Edward was someone you just couldn't give a nickname to, it seemed all wrong to me to call him anything besides 'Edward'. Maybe I'd come up with something someday. "How was class?" I asked shutting my book.

"Fine, I submitted my recipe for that pasta dish I made the other night, now I just have to prepare it the day of the test."

"Excellent," I said.

"Do you want to go out to lunch today? It's still early." He asked, his green eyes piercing through me.

"I would, but I told Danielle I'd meet her around three thirty." I said regretfully.

"That's right; I forgot you had plans for today. That's fine, we can eat here."

"What are you going to do tonight?" I asked getting up and heading over to the salad bar, Edward in toe behind me.

"I don't know. Stay home I suppose, work on some music maybe."

"Edward," I said firmly, stopping in my tracks and turning to him so he almost bumped into me, "why don't you go out and do something?"

"Such as?" He asked, confused.

"I don't know, go to a bar or something, meet up with some guys, go to a party, check out a band somewhere." I said shrugging my shoulders and grabbing a pair of salad tongs.

"By myself?"

"No, didn't you say there are a few guys in your class that you get along with? Didn't they invite you to a poker game or something last weekend?" I pressed.

"Well, yes, but, I'm not really…" He started.

"Aren't they in a frat or something?"

"Bella, please don't ask me to socialize with a bunch of spoiled, entitled, drunken, date raping fraternity guys." He said handing me a bottle of salad dressing.

"That's a very closed minded approach to friendship," I scolded, scowling at him.

"I don't need friends like that."

"Who's to say that's what it would be like?" I argued.

"Can we please just have lunch?" He interrupted, his brow furrowing in frustration.

"Yes." I said, defeated. We sat back down and were quiet, until I spoke up again. "I'm just saying, you wanted the college experience and all you're doing is staying at home with our cat being antisocial." I informed him stuffing a tomato into my mouth.

He dropped his fork in irritation, "Bella," he grumbled, "If I felt like going out, I would. I just, don't."

"Why not?"

"Why do you care? I'm not stopping you from seeing your friends, why does it matter to you what I do with my spare time?"

"Because Edward, your world is so small."

"I enjoy simplicity."

"Fine," I said with a hint of finality in my tone.

"Thank you." He said picking up his fork again. "What are you and Danielle doing tonight?" He asked, taking a bite of his lunch.

"We're renting a movie, having a few drinks, just hanging out." I explained.

He raised an eyebrow at me for a second and then looked back down at his plate, "Make sure and call me if you need a ride. I don't care what time it is."

"I will." I paused for a moment and then placed a hand on his forearm; he looked up, waiting for me to say something. "Edward, do something fun tonight."

He smiled his irresistible crooked smile at me and said, "Alright love. I'll call you if I need a ride tonight."

"I don't care what time it is." I said smiling at him.

I got to Danielle's dorm shortly after three thirty; I was running a little late, not that it really mattered to her anyways. When she opened the door her room was immaculately clean as it always was.

"Hey creepy! What'd you rent?" She welcomed as she opened the door.

"A classic!" I said reaching into my bag, "The Ring," I placed the DVD down on the bureau.

"That's why I call you creepy. Perfect! We'll watch in a few minutes. But right now, I have a surprise for you!" She brimmed with delight as she reached into her bedside table and pulled out a bottle of nail polish. "I got you your own," she said handing it to me.

"Why did you do that?" I grumbled with a small smile

"Because I wanted to, I got you a maroon color because it's not as flamboyant as some of the other colors they had."

I held the little bottle up to the light and examined it. As a general rule, I didn't wear nail polish, but the color was deep and subdued, and very sexy. I actually could picture myself wearing it, occasionally. "Thanks Danielle, I really like this color."

"So you'd wear it?" She asked brightly.

"Sure." I said, "Occasionally."

"How about occasionally starts today?" She asked, she reminded me a little of Alice, they would probably get along very well. I felt homesick for a brief moment.

"Fine. Go ahead, paint them." I said relinquishing control of my hands and fanning them out in front of her.

"Great! I'll get the stuff."

"Wait, there's stuff?"

"Well, yeah, I have to do my nails too, so I'll get you started and then we can watch the movie while they dry."

I hadn't the slightest idea of what I was getting into. Renee was always heavily into her appearance, she did the whole thing, the makeup, the clothes, the nails. There really was no explaining how she and Charlie ever matched up long enough to marry and have me. Charlie would wear the same flannel shirt for weeks on end as long as it didn't smell or have food on it verses my mom, who changed her clothes three times a day. I tried to find a medium ground between their two extremes, but always ended up more like Charlie.

Danielle had the whole manicure thing down to a science. First, she removed all of her old nail polish, then she soaked her hands for a total of fifteen minutes, followed by hand cream, pushing down the cuticles, filing, shaping, buffing and then finally, polish application. She managed to finish her entire pampering session in about thirty five minutes, while I was painfully lagging behind at about fifty. She didn't seem to mind, she just kept babbling on about school and her family while I struggled to avoid getting red nail polish all over my fingers.

"There," I said finally, after an hour or so.

"Let me see." Danielle said looking closely at my hands; I wiggled my fingers at her, very impressed with myself for doing such a good job. "That looks great Bells, almost salon quality, I should have you do mine next time too."

I smiled proudly at her and wiggled my fingers again, I had done a decent job, and I did like the color. I wondered what Edward would think, and then I wondered what he was going to do tonight. The thought quickly left my mind as Danielle got set up to put the movie in.

"Have you ever seen this movie before?" I asked, perching myself on the edge of her bed and crossing my legs underneath me.

"No, have you?"

"Yes," I said, "here," I handed her a pillow, "you're going to need this."

"For what?" She asked, confused.

"You'll see," I said darkly with a grin.

The first time I saw The Ring, I was in high school and was so scared by the end of the movie that I couldn't go into a room in my house without turning a light on, and if I were anywhere near a TV and it was dark, forget it, I'd get heart palpations. I took the TV out of my bedroom simply because of that movie and hadn't had one in my room since, well, not until Edward and I had moved in together.

We watched the movie together, sharing snarky comments back and forth throughout and eating chips and salsa. I don't think I had ever laughed so hard in my life than when Danielle and I got together. By the last half hour of the movie, she had taken my advice and was using the pillow to hide behind. I had my own pillow that I was protecting myself behind as well. Then, being that it was a dorm, there was an unexpected bang at the door, during a tense part in the movie. Danielle and I both cried out in response and then we looked at each other and giggled like two stupid girls. She paused the movie and went to answer the door.

Standing in the doorway was a young man with dirty blond wavy hair that towered over Danielle, his trim physique framed perfectly by his worn jeans and thermal shirt, a military style baseball cap casting a shadow over his clear blue eyes.

"Bodie!" She said in an irritated tone. Bodie Ross, a very well known junior all over campus grinned down at her. Bodie had it all in everyone's eyes. He was a part time RA, rented a huge house off of campus, had a ton of money, and a GPA of something ridiculous like 3.9999999. He was an engineering major, so his intelligence was legit and not fabricated, he frequented California in the summer where he surfed semi professionally, he was an avid hiker, etcetera, etcetera, and the list goes on. He was the most eligible bachelor on campus and the most sought after.

"Hey Danielle, sorry to bother you," he peeked around the corner and saw me sitting on the bed, casually flipping through a magazine. "Oh, hey Bella!" He said sweetly, flashing me a smile so perfect that you could picture it in a toothpaste ad.

"Hey Bodie!" I replied cheerfully, briefly looking up from my magazine.

"What are you guys doing?"

"We're watching The Ring." Danielle said flatly, placing her hands on her hips. Bodie wasn't a bad guy, but she and I both seemed to be eluded by the charms that drew most people to him. He spent a lot of time around Danielle's dorm and the novelty of him had worn off of her long ago. Now, he was just Bodie.

"Ugh, no way! I love this movie!" He said pushing his way into the room. Danielle and I both rolled our eyes at each other. He flopped down on the bed beside me, slightly disturbing the comfortable position I had settled myself into.

Danielle spent more time with him than I did, he was an acquaintance to me really and I didn't know very much about him. I tolerated him, he was outgoing and liked to be noticed, and clearly, judging from my past history of friendships, he was not my type. Angela, Jacob, Alice, Edward, myself, we tend to stay under the radar, Bodie liked to be right out in the open.

"I don't remember anyone inviting you." Danielle said sardonically.

"I invited myself." He said smiling. "I won't stay long; I just want to see this one scene."

"Well, move over then, you're practically in my lap dude." I said grinning at the look on his face.

"How do you know that's wasn't what I was aiming for?" He asked smoothly, turning to face me.

"Gross Bodie," I grumbled, kicking him lightly in the thigh.

"I'd like to hear you say that in front of her boyfriend." Danielle teased, pulling his hat over his eyes. Okay, so maybe he could still charm her a little.

"Aw, he wouldn't mind," he said readjusting his hat.

"Really?" I asked crossing my arms.

"Really." He said firmly.

"You've never even met him, how do you know?" Danielle snickered.

"I think you made him up," he said ignoring Danielle and smirking at me.

"Is that so?" I instigated crossly.

"Yes, I do. I've never seen him, you're never together, I think you have an imaginary boyfriend."

"Dude, they're always together, he walks her to every class, and eats lunch with her all of the time, they even live together for cripes sake." Danielle argued.

"It's true," I said nodding smugly.

"Why doesn't he ever hang out with you guys? I mean, I see you and Danielle together all of the time, why doesn't he every come?"

"He's not the most social person you'll meet." I said in Edward's defense, "He keeps to himself mostly."

"Alright," Bodie said, noting the seriousness in my tone, "I can respect that, but it'd be cool to meet him someday, meet the person who won the heart of Bella Swan. Tell you what, are you guys going away for Spring Break?"

"No," I said glancing at Danielle.

"I am." Danielle smirked, I shot her a questioning look, "I'm going to Mexico!" She added.

"When were you going to mention that?" I asked.

"Yeah, seriously," Bodie asked, just as dumbfounded as me.

"I just got the tickets the other day, so I would have mentioned it this week."

"Anyways," Bodie said, looking back at me, "I'm not going anywhere either, but I am throwing a huge party the night spring break starts, and if you and your mysterious boyfriend aren't busy, you should come. "

"We have friends coming to stay with us."

"That's fine, bring them too, they'll be plenty of food and booze, probably more than I need, so the more the merrier. Come on Bella, you never go to any parties, it'll be fun."

"I'll mention it to Edward and see if he wants to go, but if not, I'm sure my friend Angela would come."

"Awesome, I'll email you the date and time. Are you sure you can't make it Danielle?"

"By the time your party is underway I will be sitting in a lounge chair sipping a margarita and reading Lord of the Rings." She said with a satisfied smile.

"Alright, maybe we can do something before then." He said, looking a little disappointed.

"You know where to find me," Danielle said casually.

He got up from the bed and sighed, "Okay, I'll leave you guys to your movie and your naked pillow fights." He said shrugging his shoulders and hurrying to the door.

"You're an ass." Danielle grumbled as he shut the door behind him. She locked it behind him and turned back to me.

"Please don't make me go to this party without you." I pleaded with a begging gesture.

"Sweetie, I'm sorry, I've got plane tickets. Besides, Edward will go with you right?"

"That's highly doubtful," I said, disappointed.

"What's he doing tonight?" She asked, reaching into her mini fridge and handing me a beer.

"He was going to stay home, I had to basically beg him to go out and do something fun." I explained, twisting the cap off.

"So what? He's not into it, that's okay." She shrugged.

"I know, but it just makes me sad, thinking about him alone in that house."

"Bella, if that's what makes him happy, then who cares? He doesn't care if you go out does he?"

"No of course not, he encourages it," I moped.

"Then just let him be, he's a grown man, he can make decisions for himself. Some of us are just, loners, we only need a few people who love us and a sense of who we are to make us happy."

"I suppose that's true." I agreed, knowing that I fell into that category with him.

We finished watching the movie, forgetting how terrifying it was until it was too late. Once it was over, I begged Danielle to escort me to the bathroom, because there was a light out in the hallway. When we got back to her room we got out a deck of cards and played rummy 500 until all hours of the night, just talking and drinking the dwindling twelve pack that she had somehow managed to purchase for us. I assumed that Bodie Ross had something to do with it.

Sometime around midnight I found myself staring at her skeptically, narrowing my eyes at her in deep thought. I played my last run, and then boldly asked, "So Danielle, what's going on with you and Bodie?"

She nearly choked on her beer, spilling it, "What do you mean?" She asked using a napkin to wipe up her shirt.

"I don't know, he seems to spend a lot of time hanging around you, but you two aren't a couple, how do you know him?" I asked, putting my cards down and placing my chin neatly in my palm.

"Oh, at the beginning of freshman year, he moved in onto the floor as a part time RA. He knows everyone."

"But of all the freshman girls, he seems to take a particular interest in you." I hypothesized.

"No he doesn't, he's like that with everyone. Besides, we're just friends, if we're even that. More like friendly acquaintances."

I was still very suspicious, he wasn't that friendly with everyone, he seemed to like Danielle a lot; maybe he had a little crush on her. Who could know?

"Besides, he's not my type. He's a womanizer, and I'm sure I'm certainly not his type."

"Why would you say that?" I asked.

"You should see the endless parade of girls he brings up here. He dates these women, brings him up to the dorm so they feel all safe and secure, him being an RA and all, and then, if their first date goes well, he brings them up to the house the following weekend. He's kind of gross, it all seems very methodical." She explained.

I thought about that for a moment, my head wasn't exactly clear at this moment in time but those few sentences had piqued my interest and I would file them away for now. "What kind of girls does he like?" I asked.

"Your type actually."

An icy chill ran through me when she said that, "what do you mean my type?" I didn't even realize I had a type.

"Well, brainy, quiet brunettes, usually underclassmen from out of state."

"Wait, are you calling me a nerd?" I slurred, "Because I'm actually very cool." I giggled a little at the sound of my own voice.

"No," Danielle chuckled, "I'm not calling you that, I know you're very cool, otherwise I wouldn't hang around with you." She teased, "No, you know what I mean, you're not like some of these uppity girls who strut around campus like it's a meat market. You go to class, you're responsible, you socialize with only a select few, you're quietly confident."

"I'm far from confident."

"I disagree. You seem to know what you want and determined to get it without causing a stink, you're…" she trailed off trying to think, "passively aggressive."

"I think you're mistaking being responsible with being confident."

"I disagree." She sang, taking a swig of her beer."Anyways those are the types of girls that Bodie likes. That's probably why he gave you such a hard time about Edward."

"Well, now it's official, Edward has to come to that party with me, just so I can rub it in Bodie's face." I said flipping my hair off my shoulder angrily.

"Passive aggressive," Danielle said under her breath.

"How do you know all of this about Bodie?" I asked, my suspicious mind working in overtime.

"I pay attention, and he also gets very talkative when he drinks."

I shouldn't have driven home, but I did. I should have called Edward as he had requested, but I didn't feel like coming home half in the bag and have him be as sober as a stone. I still had somewhat of an image to keep up around him. He struck me as a judgmental creature and I felt like I would disappoint him, as silly as that sounded. So, irresponsibly, I drove myself home after having six beers. It would have been seven, but I had spilled it while I was still at Danielle's. I trudged into the house as quietly as my wavering body would allow. I tried to avoid turning on the kitchen light, but realized that would be impossibility when I accidently kicked Topaz's dish over, spilling water everywhere.

"Dammit," I grumbled, clumsily clicking on the light. I half expected to see Edward sitting there waiting for me with a disapproving look on his face. I didn't know how I was coming up with this image of him. I grabbed a dishtowel off the counter and sopped up the water while Topaz watched curiously. "Why are you up?" I asked him, sounding ridiculous, "shouldn't you be in bed with…" my voice trailed off, Topaz cocked his head at me slightly. I looked back out into the garage, Edward's car was there, but for some reason I didn't think Edward was home.

I scanned the kitchen quickly in search of some kind of note. I was relieved when I found one. Tucked neatly beside the stove was a piece of paper with Edward's elegant, old world script that said, gone out with some guys from class. Don't worry, they drove. Hallelujah social life. Love you, E. I smiled to myself, I could practically hear the sarcasm in his voice as he wrote the note and I chuckled softly.

Once I had cleaned up the mess I made, I grabbed a juice box from the fridge and sipped it before going to bed. I stood in front of the fridge zoning out, it was one thirty already, I was exhausted. As I stared at the fridge, I noticed that Edward had been fooling around with the magnetic poetry letters I had gotten a couple of months ago. He had formed song lyrics to a Dave Matthews Band song out of all of the tiny letters.

I was just wondering if you'd come along, hold up my head when my head won't hold on, I'll do the same if the same's what you want.

I knew the song well and absentmindedly I finished my juice and grabbed the box of letters off the counter. This would take a minute or two, but it was already one thirty and way past my bedtime. I formed the letters into one of the verses of the song, placing them under the chorus that Edward had left.

I need so, to stay in your arms, see you smile and hold you close.

A satisfied smile crossed my face as I admired my work and I shut off the light and went to bed. He hadn't come home yet and I was starting to worry a little now that it was pushing two a.m., I tried not to let it bother me and shut my eyes, letting sleep wash over me. I hadn't been sleeping too long when I heard footsteps, familiar ones, Edward was home. His footfalls were heavier than usual, he was tired, in the time I had known him, I was able to imprint every expression, phrase, and movement that was part of him into my brain and at this point I could pick him out of a crowd without having to see a thing. I knew the sound of his gait, his breathing, I knew his scent, and I could always predict the mood he was in.

I heard him enter the room and drop his keys, wallet, belt and shoes onto the floor and lumber into the bathroom. Even though it was nearly day break, he still had the presence of mind to change and brush his teeth, which was more than I could say for myself tonight. The light clicked off and he crawled into bed, groaning slightly, like something was sore. His hair smelt like a bar and he didn't bother to curl up next to me like he usually did. It was clear to me that he had been drinking and I knew that in a moment, he would be asleep, sure enough, within five minutes, I heard his breathing slow and felt him pull the covers over his head.

I had gotten up the next morning before Edward and put coffee on for the both of us, knowing that it would be needed. I sat at the island with a plate of toast beside me, reading a magazine, my leg swinging freely on the edge of my chair. Shortly after the coffee pot started gurgling, Edward entered, coming right over to me and kissing the top of my head.

"Morning love," he said hoarsely, grabbing his mug down from the cabinet.

"Morning," I said without looking up. "Did you have a good time last night?" The curiosity was killing me.

"Not really," he said sitting across from me.

"No?" I asked looking up at him for the first time. His eyes met mine and I nearly fell off my stool, "my God Edward what happened to you?!" It was an overreaction really; an overreaction that I think startled him. He had a shiner under his left eye and his bottom lip had a split going right up through the center of it.

"I had a slight altercation last night." He said casually, taking a sip of his coffee like he was giving me a weather report.

"An altercation? You look like you just got into a fight with a kangaroo!" I wasn't exactly sure where I came up with that comparison.

"That's not the worst of it I'm afraid." He explained getting off his stool. He lifted the hem of his shirt up slightly; his right side was blackened with bruises.

I gasped out loud, "Should you have that looked at?"

"No love, nothing's broken."

"This is preposterous. You got roughed up in some bar fight, Edward, you could have been killed."

"Oh I don't think so." He said with a smirk, as if he couldn't resist, "you should see what the other guy looks like."

I had to admit that I didn't condone this behavior, but something about the way he made his last statement gave me Goosebumps and sent my heart racing, I smirked back at him, "Really?"

"Oh yeah," he said nodding with a wide grin.

"You didn't hurt anyone did you? As in, like permanently damage them or put them in the hospital right?"

"No, of course not. He might need a few stitches, strictly outpatient though," he scoffed.

"What happened?" I asked.

"Nothing significant, I got into a fight, let's leave it at that. I had a bet with someone that, well, never mind, it's not important."

I knew he wanted to tell me, I knew he was itching to tell someone. He wanted to regale in stories of how he had beaten some kind of adversary, he was excited, I could see it in his tired green eyes, but being who he was, he would think that boasting was inappropriate and beneath him. Therefore, I would never get to hear his version of the story, to him, it would ruin the image that he put across to me. I understood perfectly, and didn't press the issue; all I did was smile mischievously at him and said, "You should probably put something on that eye."