A/N Whilst I appreaciate all the visits to the story I would really appreciate more reviews. So, please be kind and let me know what you think.
SM owns Twilight and I don't. Boo Hoo!
Fools Fall in Love
Chapter VIII
Knock Out!
EPOV
I pulled up outside Bella's five minutes early. I switched off the engine and glanced at my appearance in the rear view mirror.
I was looking good!
So, tonight was the night! My date with Bella Swan and I guess I was pretty keyed up. Bella was not usually my cup of tea compared with the other girls I dated. Sure, she had all the right physical attributes that I found attractive, she liked to read and had mentioned how much she liked Debussy and so therefore I guess she liked classical music, which was all good and well, but there was something else about her, something I couldn't quite put my finger on which I suppose, appealed to me.
Of course, there was another part of my brain, which had registered the fact she was clearly as crazy as a soup sandwich and it was this part of my brain, which was telling me very to run for the hills.
Therefore, I hoping that tonight would be the night that I saw Bella Swan for who she really was and not the socially inept bumbling buffoon she appeared to be.
I turned and grabbed the small bouquet of flowers I'd brought on impulse fifteen minutes earlier. They were a tad cliché but I thought that Bella would appreciate the gesture. I got out of the car slowly and made my way up the path and taking a deep breath, I knocked the door.
A few seconds later, it opened to reveal a small slip of a girl I vaguely recognised but could not place. Hi, I'm Edward. I've come to pick up Bella." I announced cheerfully.
She gave me a look as if she didn't really give a fuck, turned and left me standing at the door. I assumed that I ought to follow her so stepped into the house shutting the door behind me. "I'm Alice. " She said tersely as I followed her into the kitchen.
She walked towards a large table and pulled out a chair indicating with a perfectly manicured finger that I should sit whilst she made way to the vacant seat opposite. Resting her hands on the tabletop, she sat down. I smiled at her tentatively nodding my head as I did so.
She was obviously a woman of few words.
We sat there in for a few moments, the silence palpable, her eyes fixed firmly on me making me feel more and more uncomfortable. Rather than return her gaze, which by now was beginning to make me feel a little freaked, I let my eyes wander around the small but compact kitchen.
The walls were painted in a subtle shade of yellow and were covered in a huge number of framed pictures. Most were photographs of Bella in various different poses with a bunch of random people I didn't know.
I turned and looked at Alice hoping that she might fill me in as to who the people were in the photographs but she was still staring at me intently, her face devoid of any emotion.
Fuck, she was freaking me out!
So, to break the ice I decided that I really needed to say something.
"Bella's friends huh?" I questioned nodding my head towards the walls.
She shifted slightly in her chair but didn't respond or shift her line of sight so I decided to give her a taste of her own medicine and glared back.
We sat like this for a few minutes but to be honest I was beginning to get a little bored so I broke the strange deadlock and diverted my eyes down towards the table.
This was fucking weird!
"So…." She said slowly and menacingly. "What exactly are your intentions with my best friend?"
I looked up at her feeling a little startled at the directness of her question and then she began to laugh.
This just confused me further.
"Fuck, that was funny!" She managed to declare in between her guffaws. "You should have seen the look on your face."
It took me a few seconds to realise that she'd been yanking my chain and although somewhat reluctantly I began to laugh too.
"Good one!" I acknowledged but I didn't mean it. I guess I was just being polite.
As her laughter was beginning to wane she let out a long sigh and silence enveloped the room once again.
I didn't appreciate being laughed at.
I stood up, pushing the chair across the floor as I did. Alice mirrored my actions and it was only when she stood in front of me, I realised that she was so tiny.
She was like a little fucking pixie.
I stuck two fingers up, pointed at my eyes, and then at Alice, as if to say 'I'm watching you.' It was delivered as joke but I meant it.
She just smiled and gave me a wink.
Bitch!
I was just about to say something sarcastic when I interrupted by the sound of someone some one else talking.
Bella!
Thank fuck for that!
I was beginning to think I'd been stood up.
At first, I couldn't hear what she was mumbling but as she neared the kitchen, it became clearer.
"Hey Alice," She called. "Do you think that it's ever okay to pick up your bowl and drink the soup straight from it? "
She rounded the kitchen door and it was obvious that she hadn't been expecting me to be stood there. She stood there just looking at me as if I'd just declared that I had the table manners of a chimpanzee and not the other way round. "
"It's just that I dribble when I use a spoon."
What the fuck?
She gave me a smile, which under normal circumstances would have melted my heart and gave me a hard on all at the same time but now was neither the time nor the place.
Alice had by this time perched herself on top of one of the kitchen counters, her head buried in her hands obviously feeling the awkwardness in the room. I looked from Alice back to Bella who was still in a comatose state and then back at Alice. Perhaps I should say something but how the frigging hell was I supposed to react to that?
I stood there for what seemed like an eternity contemplating what to do next when Bella finally spoke
"Hi." She squeaked and then she hiccupped once loudly.
Had she been drinking?
Was Bella Swan drunk?
I looked down towards the floor and was suddenly reminded of the bouquet, which I was still holding. "For you." I said handing them to her.
"Um, thanks." She mumbled as she accepted the flowers. She turned to Alice. "Can you put these in one of those…you know one of those things you put flowers in."
"A vase?" Alice retorted a little sarcastically.
"Yeah a vase." She confirmed grabbing her purse from the counter and turning towards me. "Are you ready to roll?"
"Are you ready?" I asked concerned for her current inebriated state.
She giggled. "I was born ready." Then without warning she said eight of the most fucking irritating words in fact they were beyond irritating. Irritating is just a polite way of describing how they made me feel.
"I'm ready, I'm steady, I'm ready steady Eddie."
I hate Sponge Bob Square Pants only slightly more then I hate being called Eddie.
"Edward, Bella shouldn't drink any more tonight." Alice said sternly shooting Bella a dark look.
"Yeah, I figured." I replied.
This was going to be a long night.
Might as well get it over with.
I gestured towards the door but she insisted "No, after you."
So, somewhat reluctantly I walked towards the door. I also got the feeling that she wasn't staring at the back of my head and that lifted my mood somewhat.
Once outside I made my way towards a car that was parked just off the driveway. Bella was following closely behind. I took the keys out of my pocket and activated the central locking system.
"Is this your car?" She asked tersely.
"Yeah!" I replied as I opened the passenger door.
Who else's would it be?
She seemed a little apprehensive and I wondered whether it was the thought of getting into the car with me or the car itself that was aberrant to her.
"I love this car." I informed her flashing one of my infamous smiles trying to put her mind at rest. Moreover, it was true; I really did love this car.
She stood there with a look of disgust on her face.
"I take it that you have some aversion to Volvos then?" I said playfully.
"I just didn't imagine this would be the sort of car you would drive!" She answered frankly.
I chuckled softly. "Are you going to get in or are we going to walk to Port Angeles?" I said offering her my hand.
She stepped forward and slowly took hold of my hand then as she leaned forward to get into the car her head thumped loudly off the metal and she slumped not very gracefully in a heap onto the sidewalk.
Holy fucking shit!
She'd managed to knock herself out cold!
