Disclaimer: I do not own these characters or the universe S Meyer created. There will be strong language and subjects in this chapter...
AN: sorry if there's weird random cropping in the text... and there was basically no editing soooo...
The List
Epilogue
#1 Go on a Date with Edward
"Are you sure about this?" I asked him again for the millionth time.
"That's it," he muttered before throwing his arm behind my seat and turning his head to pull out.
"No wait, I'll shut up. I'm sorry," I sighed defeated.
"Bella, I don't want to make you do something that you don't want to do."
"I want to do this, just not here…"
La Bella Italia was the nicest restaurant in Port Angeles. I'd never eaten there, but it's one of those fancy schmancy places with white tablecloths, candlelight, and even a dance floor with a string quartet. I've told Edward this, but he was still very adamant about taking me on a nice date – our first real date.
"You look very pretty," he told me as he opened my door.
"Rose and Alice enjoyed torturing me." I remembered the fights about eye shadow, lipstick, and the clothes. Thankfully Alice let me borrow this black dress that she claimed she only wore once to a funeral.
"Oh, that's why you told me not to tell them where we were going…"
"Yeah, they can't stand not knowing something, and Alice tried to get me to wear this tiny blue dress-"
"Aw…" he groaned as I rolled my eyes at him. "What? I think you look lovely in blue…"
"Right, I'll remember that next time."
"Oh next time?" he smiled. "We'll be doing this again?"
"We'll see... You might not even have a girlfriend after tonight if this goes badly."
"Trust me, this night will be unforgettable. I promise."
Unforgettable was right. You know who eats at places like this? Old rich people. Old couples celebrating an anniversary or old men trying to seduce their younger dates. Old people who don't talk too much and enjoy the comfortable silence – which lets their old minds wander off and end up thinking pervy thoughts. I usually didn't mind older guys; they were usually tame. But not when they were on dates – not when they were remembering favorite moments in their lives which usually often led to something sexual.
Like that Richard guy in the corner with his wife, Rita. His daughter Rachel is getting married, and he remembers the good stuff like graduations and birthdays, but he also remembers when he and Rita probably-conceived her during at an Aerosmith concert. Thank the gods I couldn't read women. In general, girls tend to be more manipulative, judgmental, and mean, but older women had experience and the right to be crabby. Plus their libido went into overdrive when they hit something like 50.
"Bella?"
"What?" I shook my head trying to empty my head and blocking out the gross mess.
"Did you see that waitress flirting with me?" he asked – either kind of appalled or excited. I couldn't tell.
"Oh… no." I glanced around the restaurant trying to find her.
"Watch the next time she comes by. She'll-"
"Hey sorry about that, here's your menu. What can I get you to drink?" The waitress appeared, asking him with her back to me. She was tall and had pretty red hair, and she smiled unabashedly at him. I didn't really blame her – with what she had to work with tonight, I was surprised she wasn't dry humping his leg yet.
"I'll have what she's having…" Edward nodded to me, and she turned to me with sad eyes.
"Water, please," I told her as she scribbled something down.
"Great, I'll be back with your drinks in a moment."
"See! Did you see that? I mean, I'm here on a date with my girlfriend!" Edward continued.
"Yep, I saw." His face fell and his shoulders slumped.
"You don't care. You're not jealous that she's flirting with me."
"It's not her fault that you're so attractive, and you clearly enjoy being hit on. And I'm not jealous because you're always telling me how much you like me, so it's not like you'll dump me and go home with her after she gets off work," I explained.
"You know, I don't think you've ever hit on me," he frowned.
"You want me to be jealous?" I blinked at him. "Edward… if we were anywhere else, hell yes I would be pissed at that waitress, but at the moment, I'm a little distracted and – wait! You're here!"
"I'm glad you finally noticed," he scoffed. I got up from seat and dragged my chair around the table, sitting down closely to Edward. He kept starring at me as I rearranged the crystal, silverware, and candles.
"You're here," I sighed gripping his right hand in my left. The stress and tension disappeared. "Are you a parking ticket?"
"What?"
"Because you've got fine written all over you," I laughed. "You know today I was looking at a light bulb and it made me think of you and how you light up my world."
"Wow…" he stared at me with wide eyes and a grin.
"Your father must have been a baker, because you've got a nice set of buns," I blushed as he laughed. Edward certainly had a very nice set of buns… "Something tells me you're sweet. Can I have a sample?"
He leaned over and kissed me softly. "Thank you."
"You feel better?"
"Yes, and I hope those weren't recycled…"
"Yeah right," I snorted. "But Rose is very familiar with pickup lines."
"Here are your drinks," the waitress set down our waters and blinked at us. "Are you ready to order?"
"How's the chicken fettuccini alfredo?" Edward asked as I glanced down at the menu, looking over the prices and listening to her.
"Oh, it's my favorite. The chef adds his special seasoning and it's just amazing. Blah blah blah blah blah blah You'll love it, I'm-"
"Mushroom ravioli!" I spoke the first thing I saw. The waitress was flirting with him and right in front of me. "I'll have the mushroom ravioli…"
"Oookay, one mushroom ravioli and you'll have the chicken fettucini?"
"Yes, thank you," Edward nodded, but his head turned toward me.
I continued looking down at my forks and fumbling with the tablecloth as she left with the menus. Edward rubbed his thumb along my wrist and I looked up at him embarrassed.
"So I might be a little jealous…"
"A little?" he laughed. "I think the chef heard your order back in the kitchen."
"Good, maybe then her job really is obsolete and they'll get rid of her."
"Wow, you really are jealous."
"She was so… irksome. She irked me. I mean, I'm practically sitting on your lap. I already have to deal with the creepy shit, now I have to deal with her."
"Wait, what creepy shit?"
"Ugghh," I sighed. "Edward, if you must know… old people are pervs – the worst."
"Stop! I don't want to hear anything else. I'm so sorry… I promise I won't let go of you."
The waitress came back with our food and fortunately she didn't stick around too long. Our food was great, and it was fun to watch Edward eat with his left hand since I wouldn't let his right one go. Eventually I fed him small bites, but I had to stop because Edward would stare at me in a way that I wanted him too - just not in front of so many people.
"Oh look at those kids, remember when we were their age?" An older woman's voice sounded behind me and I blushed. I turned to peek at her, but she wasn't looking at Edward and me. She and her husband were turned looking into the next room where the dance floor was.
Curious, I slid my grip up Edward's arm so that I wasn't in contact with his skin and looked to see who they were staring at. Familiar faces danced inside my head, and I nearly fell out of my chair.
"Holy crow, come on," I tugged on Edward's arm.
"Where are we... really? You're asking me to dance?" he sounded excited.
"No, look..."
"Oh my... shit."
Jasper finished twirling Alice to him and she wrapped a leg around one of his as he dipped her. She smiled brightly at him when he leaned down to kiss her as the song ended. People watching gave a little applause before continuing their dinner, and Jasper pulled her to her feet, holding her close and dancing in slow circles. As other couples joined them, his eye finally caught mine and he stopped moving. Alice looked shocked when she turned around and found us. They edged off the dance floor toward us, careful of the other couples.
"This is what you guys do, isn't it? All the time? You come here," I figured out, placing everything together.
"We get free breadsticks," Jasper shrugged.
"This is where you guys came? Edward's pulling out the big guns pretty early, but I don't think Bella is the type of girl to put out if you bought her a nice dinner..." Alice shook her head at him teasingly, and I laughed as Edward shifted awkwardly behind me. I think I'd put out if Edward just smiled at me...
"They let you dance here and give you breadsticks? I don't get it," Edward changed the subject.
"Well we can't afford to eat here, but apparently we encourage younger couples to dance. They think it'll start a trend or something."
"Jasper mentioned to me once that his mom made him take cotillion classes when he was little where he learned how to really dance, and I was so jealous. When we started dating, he took me to Aro's and we'd practice there..."
"Oh, Bella I do believe they're playing our song," Edward said, pulling me toward the center of the dance floor.
"What we have a song?" I stumbled trying to listen to the music - which was kind of hard. Sometimes violins just sounded like random notes.
"No, we never declared one or whatever, but it was the only excuse I had to get you out here..."
"I'm a horrible dancer – I've told you."
"It doesn't matter. I get to listen to some nice music and hold you really close for a long time. Sounds like a good deal to me."
We settled into a comfortable silence swaying in the crowd of older couples. Alice and Jasper went back to showing off with special twists and turns, and I actually realized I liked dancing with Edward. At least slow dancing with him...
Edward nodded to someone behind me and I growled when I saw the waitress waving at him.
"I bet she loves dancing," I rolled my eyes. "Do you want a new partner?" His hands tightened around my hips, and I almost groaned when he stared down at me with one of those mesmerizing looks.
"Never... hey, my lips are skittles. You wanna taste the rainbow?" he grinned.
...
#6 Get a Facebook
The door open and the angel's face looked surprised and happy. Edward wasn't an angel, but he certainly looked like one with all of the Christmas decorations up. Esme had transformed their home into a storybook, and it made our Christmas lights look dinky.
"Hey Cupcake," I smirked as he wrinkled his nose at me before leaning down to give me a kiss.
"Hey," he breathed when I had to pull myself away from him.
"Hi..." I mumbled still feeling dazed. We had been dating a little over a month, and he still had that dizzying effect on me.
"I thought I was supposed to pick you up in an hour."
"I told you that so I could surprise you."
"You are a very nice surprise-"
"I'm not the surprise. You know, all of these kiss-ass compliments tell me you just want to get into my pants," I joked.
"Is there another way to do it?" he asked with a straight face.
"We could add it to the list," I stammered blushing.
"So what's the surprise?" he cleared his throat rubbing the back of his neck, his face pink.
"I have to – it's in your room," I stuttered feeling so awkward that I was looking down at my socks. There was small hole so that my pinky toe stuck out and usually-
Edward grabbed my hand and rested his other around my neck, silently asking me to look up at him. When I did, he looked sorry and leaned down to kiss me. His lips seemed softer as they moved slowly against mine. I didn't mind feeling so embarrassed all the time if he was going to apologize like this…
"Eh-hummm," a cough startled me. Esme stood behind Edward politely looking out the window, and I stepped away from him even more embarrassed than before.
"Hey Esme," Edward grinned, not at all uncomfortable.
"Hey kids, I'm heading to the store, do you want anything?"
"No thanks…"
"Will you be here for dinner?" she asked and Edward glanced at me.
"Uh, sure," I nodded as she disappeared down the hall.
"I thought your dad was making you dinner. You know the whole Swan Special? - which sounds like you're eating a bird and not a fish." He led me up the stairs and I had to stop to take in all of the decorations. Esme had added more.
"Um, that was before his doctor's appointment, and he got the all-clear to use his arm however... I told him that I was sleeping over at the Hale house and that he should invite Sue over…"
"Oh," he cringed. "That was..."
"Gross," I snorted.
"Nice... for you to do. Maybe one day he'll return the favor for us," he joked.
"Right..." I still blushed.
"Okay, where's my surprise?" he asked looking around his room before he stopped to look at me. His eyes glanced down from my face to my body - using his heat vision to make me burn.
"Over here," I cleared my throat moving to his bed. I swear his jaw fell and eyes grew wide, but he closed his mouth shut when I picked up his laptop and moved to sit on his couch.
"Oh..." he muttered sitting down next to me. I shielded the screen from him as I entered my password and my picture popped up on the left side of the screen.
"This is actually part of your Christmas present, but I wanted to do it now..."
"What - oh!" he looked at the screen and picked up the laptop. He grinned looking over my profile.
"I hope you like it, and now some of those losers will believe that I'm real."
"Oh look, you have no friends. Not very popular are you?" he grinned before squinting at something. "You're wearing makeup..."
"Alice wanted to help. She enjoys torturing me too much. She's gon-"
He leaned forward and lifted my chin up and pressed his lips against mine, cutting me off. He pulled away just as quickly, still leaving my head fuzzy.
"Hey," he smiled.
"Hey..." I grinned, until a bright flash blinded me. "Edward! Did you just take a picture of me?"
"No," he laughed leaning away from me and mashing buttons on his cell phone.
"I can't believe you. No more kisses for you, Sweet Pea."
"Ah come on, Belllllaaa..." he whined leaning toward me. I jumped up from the couch but he grabbed me around the waist and pulled me back down.
"Edward!"
"Kiss me."
"Nooo..." I giggled as his hands tickled me. I gasped when one accidentally brushed my left boob, and Edward froze staring down open-mouthed at me.
"I-I uh" he choked, nervously.
Then I got scared that now he was scared of touching me because of my gasp. But my gasp wasn't a bad gasp it was a good one - definitely a good gasp. Before he could finish apologizing or stuttering, I grabbed his face and pulled his lips to mine trying to kiss him forcefully to show him I hadn't minded his touching. I smiled when his hands started moving again.
"Um, you should um click refresh," he mumbled sliding me off of his lap and set his laptop there instead. I watched him as he clicked something and his profile popped up and then there was the picture of me. I looked a bit dizzy and my lips were a little puffy. Edward clicked some more things and then the new picture of me appeared on my profile.
"How did you... That's why you took a picture of me! Was my picture that bad?" I hadn't like it that much either, but I still thought he would because I looked girly-er.
"No, you looked really pretty, but this is more you."
"Looking all... high is more me?"
"You don't look high. You look beautiful. Like always…"
"Way to lay it on all thick, but I always feel high when you kiss me," I muttered, feeling a little pathetic.
"Me too," he sighed relieved. "Look here..."
I knitted my eyes at him confused until I noticed that I had a friend request and another notification.
"Someone wants to be my friend?" I couldn't help but laugh because this facebook stuff seemed really silly.
"You have to confirm, deny or ignore it."
"Oh... Oh it's just you."
"Ouch."
"Confirm, though," I clicked the little button. "I still confirmed that you are my friend."
"Now let's confirm that I'm your boyfriend."
"Oh I think we've already established that," I laughed.
"Yeah, but I think we'll need to do more establishing later…"
…
... ... ...
Comments on Edward Cullen's photo
Bryce Hampshire: daaayyaaammm!11!
Drake Kansas: Definitely not a dude. Nice man.
Dakota Westershireton: how did u get a girl this hot?
Lee Oregon: Still think you made her up...
Lauren Mallory: wats the big deal? its just bella swan. just so u know shes really weird.
Bella Swan: Hey I'm a real person! And Edward is really hot|
… … …
"Don't put that!"
"Why not? I am real and you are hot..." I looked up at him confused.
"They'll just think I wrote that..."
"Ugh fine. I'll delete the last part," I sighed, typing quickly and pressing enter.
"Why are you typing? You're supposed to be deleting! … Hey I'm a real person and Edward is really hot and a fantastic kisser… Bella!" he groaned.
"What? You don't think you're a good kisser?" I tried teasing him and hoping he wouldn't be too mad at me.
"I could use some practice," he sighed annoyed.
"Was that an invitation? I couldn't tell…"
"Get over here," he smiled before meeting mine.
...
#? ...?.?.?.?...?..
I gripped the pillow tighter as I tried to force my tears to stop. But not crying made me feel like I was going to explode so it had become a vicious cycle of me sobbing with my throat burning to gaping for air as my head pounded. I always knew that he would leave me but like... a year away. I thought I had more time. Of course, I did - we'd only been officially dating - according to my count - for almost five months. Edward liked counting it as seven months because of his secretly-trying-to-date-me plan.
I started to cry harder remembering why I even was in the first place.
...
"If you were ever to get a tattoo, where'd you get one?" Edward asked rubbing my leg. I was splayed out on his couch resting my feet in his lap as we listened to some of his new music.
"Some place where the health department gave it no less than a hundred percent."
"No, I meant where would you put it?" he asked again calmly.
"I knew what you meant. I was trying to be-"
"Annoying. A pain in the neck. A smart ass?"
"Like you," I finished, laughing.
"Whatever..." he grumbled.
"Hmm, I don't know. I could be like Carlisle and get it on my shoulder?" I asked, actually keeping a straight face.
"No, I don't think that would do well on you," he shook his head.
"Maybe my back? Like Emmett."
"What about your wrist?" he rolled his eyes at me.
"Hmm, I think wrist tattoos might be too girly..."
"What?"
"What?" I started laughing as he yanked my ankle, pulling me closer to him. He moved over me and rested comfortably between my legs, and I pretended to resist even though I wouldn't have him anywhere else. "Edddddwarrrd. You're crushing me."
"What? What was that? Wrist tattoos are too girly? Is that what you said?" he nuzzled into my neck, holding my wrists above my head.
"Well, they're not as girly as the ankle..."
"Ooo, the ankle is a good place," he grinned.
"I wasn't aware that you had an ankle fetish."
"If it's your ankle, I do... actually any body part would suffice."
"Like my nose?"
"I love your nose," he mumbled kissing it.
"My elbow?"
"Elbow..." he whispered as he leaned up to kiss my arm.
I breathed hard trying to decide what body part next, but I wouldn't have enough courage to say exactly where I would want him to kiss me.
"My hh-hip?" I choked as he pulled back with a huge grin on his face.
"Bella, are you trying to get to third base?"
"No I was going for home plate…" I laughed awkwardly as his eyes grew wide. "Where do you think I should get a tattoo?" I changed the subject, completely embarrassed.
"Oh, I have a few ideas," he smirked, sliding his hand down my side and gripping my thigh.
"Hmm strange," I quirked my head. "Like father like son..."
"What?" His eyebrows furrowed.
"That's where Esme got hers, so Carlisle would-"
"Stop!" Edward rolled off of me onto the floor. "Ah stop, that was so mean!" he dug his head into the carpet.
"I just thought it was curious that-"
"Stop," he groaned. "I thought Dad was good about not ... thinking when you're here."
"Well sort of, and plus nowadays I never hear anything because you're always touching me," I explained. "And I learned that little piece of info a looong time ago."
"How exactly... never mind I don't want to know."
"Hello? Somebody? Can you come here for a sec? I need some help with the groceries!" Esme called from the bottom floor and Edward groaned.
"I'm never going to look at her the same ever again..."
"I'll go help her," I sat up.
"No wait here, I'll be just a minute," he dragged himself off the floor and moved out of the room.
I stood up and paced the room trying to forget that I just cockblocked myself. At least it was kind of a good thing because Esme came home, but good job Bella. Nice going...
I stared at Edward's desk looking over his math homework and glanced at a piece of paper with an odd shield looking thing in the corner. I pulled it out and regretted it as I started to read it.
Dear Mr. Cullen, we are fortunate to congratulate you on your acceptance into...
The words turned my brain into mush as I read about Dartmouth's prestigious summer program for high school students. High school students like Edward. Where he could start earning college credits. In a fun and exciting eight week program. At Dartmouth. In New Hampshire - east coast. West coast - that's where were now... I couldn't even try to figure out how many miles apart it was. It was enough for me to hyperventilate.
"Bella, you staying for dinner? I'm making some of Mom's famous potatoes," Esme asked as I walked down the stairs. I knew I would fall if I hurried.
"No, I'm not feeling well. Tell Edward I - I said good-bye," I choked, shutting the front door.
...
As soon as I had got home, I started crying. It was amazing that I hadn't started in the woods, but I think I was determined to make home as soon as I ran past the meadow. I knew I was overreacting, but eventually Edward was going to leave. I guess I was just getting started on the whole crying thing - maybe, hopefully, I'll grow immune to it, and one day I won't cry anymore... yeah right. But Edward was still leaving me for the summer and he was also coming back. That was what I needed to focus on - the coming back part.
I rubbed my face in my pillow again, and it felt like a swampy sauna. Tears, snot, drool - my pillow was soaked and I sat up to pull the case off of it. I grabbed a new one from the hallway closet and washed my face before falling back into bed. I heard a door slam downstairs and I wondered if Rose was PMSing or something. But then I heard the footsteps on the stairs and I knew it wasn't Rose. He appeared in my doorway drenched from the rain, looking kinda pissed.
"You... you are such a... coward," he said, pulling something out of his pocket. It was that dumb piece of paper I read...
"What?"
"I feel like you're always running away from me, and one day I'm going to stop chasing you," Edward lowered his head, and I felt like I was just kicked in the stomach.
"I wasn't running from you. I just didn't want you to see me cry like a stupid girl," I sniffed. My voice was thick and I had to clear my throat a couple of times.
"I was going to tell you about it," he held up the letter. "And that-"
"You should definitely do it. I think you should go. It'll be good for you," I tried being optimistic.
"Oh I'm not going," he shook his head moving to sit at the end of my bed.
"Edward, you have to. It's a good oppor-" His hand moved to cover my mouth, silencing me.
"I do not have to go, and I do not want to go. Not even because of you, but that is on the list for staying here for the summer," he explained. "I went last year and it was the worst thing ever. It was boring and there weren't any pretty girls, and I'm not going back. I'm going to use my last real summer vacation like a normal guy which consists of making out with my hot girlfriend. A lot. The only reason I went in the first place was because I got a letter in the mail because Dad's an alumni and my family was going to the beach for two weeks."
"You don't like the beach?" I asked when he removed his hand.
"That's all you have to say?" he laughed and I stayed quiet waiting for an answer. "I hate the beach. I burn easily."
"Oh..."
"You sound disappointed."
"I am," I smiled. I was.
"I am too now." His face fell as he thought about it. "I've never seen you in a bathing suit."
"Oh well..."
"But I have seen you in nothing but a towel," he smirked proudly. "Twice."
"Yeah, but everything was covered up, and I've seen you in your underwear..."
"Those are pajamas. Doesn't count," he shook his head.
"No, I'm talking about those black boxer briefs that leave little for my imagination."
"What? You're lying."
"Nope. When you were sick - a long time ago. Right after we had that truce and I brought you soup and you broke that green vase and I glued it back together for you…."
"Shit. Shit. Shit," he covered his face with his hands.
"Don't be embarrassed. I found you very attractive..."
"I'm still mortified because I say stupid shit when I'm sick," he cringed.
"I'm sorry about how I reacted before. I overreacted but it just startled me I guess. I promise I won't act like that next year."
"Yeah you won't because you'll be going to college too, and if I can't convince you... we'll do the long distance thing. Seattle isn't too far..."
"Edward, I don't want to be that girl who makes you stay when you could go off and do something awesome."
"How far away do you think I'm going? Even if we were still living in Chicago, I would still go to a instate school. I don't want to be so far from home."
"But what if-"
"Christ Bella, just... just let me love you okay?" His voice was agitated as he moved closer to me, and he gripped my face in his hands. "This isn't just puppy love or first love or whatever - this is real shit. I love-love love you."
"I love-love you too," I cried.
I would have hated myself for crying right at that moment, but Edward started to kiss and touch me so I wasn't really concentrating at that moment. I could only focus on his lips and the way he made my skin tingle and burn.
And then Edward finally saw me naked.
And he certainly did not have a vagina.
...
#17 –o-t—Pr-m-wit—our-W—OM—B—fr—nd—
"Go to prom with my awesome boyfriend was not on my list," I grumbled. "I crossed it out like a majillion times."
"Funny how it kept appearing on there then…"
"Prom is just an excuse for teenagers to drink and get high and do other stupid things…"
"Hmmm, I don't think we'll be doing any of those things," Edward tried to be teasing, but I wasn't having any of it. "Bella, if we seriously didn't think you'd have fun, none of us would be making you go. And we're not even making you, just… encouraging."
"Yeah like when Alice encouraged me to get a manicure and pedicure."
"I promise we don't have to go next year. Just let me have this, you know, do it for me?"
"You know, you want a lot of things…"
"I know. I'm a selfish prick, but you love me for it."
"Sure, I do," I laughed.
I stretched out my arms when he opened my door; I'd spent the whole day sitting and prepping for tonight, and I was sore.
"Please don't do that again," Edward swore under his breath.
"What?" I asked, taking another chance to look him over. Edward was wearing all black and there was something about a tuxedo that made him... yummy? God I can't believe I used that word, but it might have been the glasses that were affecting me. Esme had even asked him why he was wearing his glasses, and he'd shrugged something about his eyes itching. The real reason was that he knew what it did to me... I never should have told him that.
"You look too... pretty in that dress," he said with his eyes glued to my chest.
"Pretty huh?" His eyes flew up to mine, and I held my breath as he stared at me.
"You know what? You were right. Prom is stupid. We should ditch..."
"Oh no Pumpkin, it's too late. Plus Alice would kill me if I let this go to waste," I motioned to my face and dress.
"Oh it hasn't. Trust me," he whistled as I started for the restaurant.
Because of Alice and Jasper's friendly relationship with the managers, we got a reservation and a good discount at Bella Italia. We were all supposed to meet
here, head to the dance and then we were all sleeping over at Edward's house - with parent supervision.
"Just so you know, I do not plan on you taking this dress off..."
"The dress never has to come off," he smirked. "I can still-"
"There's no way I'm having sexing with you to-"
"What? Why!"
"Because my dad's idea of a sex talk is telling me to pregnant!" I stopped to face him. "Edward, he was going on about how much he wants grandchildren and sooner the better. He said to forget the condom and go for it, and he tried to tell me positions for better chances of conceiving. It's not that I won't have sex - I can't. I'm dry as a desert."
"That is so... genius actually. Reverse psychology really does-"
"Okay well, I'm ready to stop talking about it," I turned to keep walking. "Especially since I think that part of him was serious..."
"Well don't all parents want grandchildren?" he asked opening the door for me.
"Yeah, all parents want their teenagers to get knocked up," I rolled my eyes.
"Maybe now we can stop sneaking around and I can stop climbing through the window."
"But that's your favorite part," I laughed as we joined the rest of our group.
...
"Guys this was such a good idea. I'm having so much fun."
"Well you're the only one," Rose snapped at me.
Dinner... hadn't gone exactly as planned. Our favorite waitress Amber returned with no memory of me and Edward but with all of her focus on Jasper and Emmett. Amber wasn't too bright, and I bet she didn't get too many tips by flirting with all her male customers.
Jasper and Emmett were upset because Rose and Alice were annoyed, and Edward was a little down because Amber wasn't flirting with him like last time. Then Alice asked one of the managers for a new server, and instead of chicken, the new guy gave her a cheesy potato thing as he leered down Rose's dress so then Emmett and Jasper were pissed. That waiter was going to have a hard time finding his tips at our table...
It kinda got worse when we got to the school. The gym had been decorated and it looked like... a poorly decorated gym. The seniors had chosen the theme from some movie about a hangover or something. I'm not sure how they persuaded the teachers, but our gym was made into a mock casino with green felt-covered card tables scattered around the room and the DJ and dance floor were setup on the far side. Groups of neon colored balloons were tied up to random things around the room, and the black twinkle lights gave them a weird glow. And the dance floor turned into a bump and grind session and everyone was apparently fair game because Rose didn't even make it through a song. She'd joined Edward and me as I kicked Mr. Varner's ass at black jack. There was a rumor that there was a 500 dollar prize for whoever won the most poker chips, so I was having fun.
"Oh my god, there you are!" Emmett screamed over the music at Rose. "I turned around and you werent there. I thought you got lost in the crowd so I went in deeper," he shook his head. "I've never felt so violated before..."
"Sorry I couldn't do it," she rubbed his cheek before he leaned down to kiss the top of her head.
"Where's Jasper and Al?" Edward looked behind them.
"Don't know. Maybe they... daaaaamn!"
I turned to see what Emmett was looking at, and my jaw dropped. Jasper was leading Alice towards us with her hands cupping her nose with paper napkins.
"What happened?"
"Effing Lauren Mallory was humping Jasper so I pushed her off and started yelling-"
"Lauren Mallory did that to you?" Emmett gaped.
"No let me finish you dodo," Alice snapped, her voice nasally. "When she pushed me back, I moved out of the way and into Tyler's elbow. I think it might be
broken."
"It's not," Jasper tried to reassure her.
"How do you know? It effing hurts!" she argued as Jasper's head fell.
I've had a broken nose, and it's not broken. Jesus...
"I think it's time we head to your house," Rose grabbed Emmett's hand.
"But..." I started, but fell silent, staring down at my chips.
"We'll meet you there in a little while. We'll finish here soon," Edward nodded as the others started to get up and I smiled when he turned back to me.
"You're not ready to leave?"
"Not if you keep winning. You look so cute when you do," he smiled.
We played a few more hands with Mr. Varner until he shooed us away from his table. I played poker with Coach Clapp and Edward didn't touch me so that I could beat him. I'd wanted to prove to him that I was good at something, and it was amusing to watch him loose. After Edward lost half of my chips at the roulette wheel thing, he jumped up from his seat with an excited smile.
"Let's dance. It's a slow song, please?" he begged.
"Alright," I sighed because Edward had been patient with me all night. I dumped the rest of my chips at Ben and Angela's table and told them to have fun because I had a feeling we would be leaving after this. Dancing was foreplay to Edward and our bodies don't even touch that much.
"Thank you," he kissed behind my ear when he pulled me close to him.
"Anything for you."
"Anything?" he raised an eyebrow.
"Down boy, still no lovin tonight," I shook my head as he huffed. "But I hope you still had fun though?"
"I did. It was pretty... entertaining."
"Yeah, I'm glad you all encouraged me to come since we all had such a great time."
"Well maybe next time we'll listen to you..."
"No, they'll still want to come next year, I bet. But maybe..."
"Maybe...?"
"We can dress up, but um take a… detour. It really is a shame - you look hot in that tuxedo. Kind of a waste..."
"Not if you take mental pictures," he smirked.
"Mental pictures? Do you have any mental pictures of me?"
"Oooh yes ma'am I do... you know, this tux doesn't have to be a waste."
"Oh will you buy it and wear it everyday?"
"The others won't be expecting us for a while..."
"Carlisle gave you condoms, didn't he?"
"With spermicide, and I promise I'll double bag it," he whimpered.
"What if I promise tomorrow? Dad's leaving at six to go fishing with Billy..."
"Alright, only if we can be at your house at 6:01..."
"AM? You're such a horn dog," I scoffed.
"It's not my fault you're so attractive."
"Right, so we can check this off your list now?"
"Yeah, right after we take our picture," he smiled pulling me toward the photographer in the corner with the cheesy background setup.
"Edward..." I whined.
"Yes my love?" He stopped to look at me.
"Thanks for making me take my awesome boyfriend to the prom."
...
#7 Go to a Mariner's game with Dad AND Edward and preferably a White Sox game
"Jesus H! Catch the dang ball!" Dad yelled as the outfeilder dropped the ball.
Carlisle and Emmett sat there with quiet grins as Esme and Sue chatted about lobster or something.
Edward... Edward was doing whatever the hell he was doing.
We had been fighting and now we weren't even talking.
It started a few days ago and now it seems like we'll never stop.
...
I laid in bed whispering and mumbling - praying to every helpful and non-helpful god. I made promises that I probably couldn't have kept and offered other bad things to happen to me. I even prayed to my uterus, trying to make a deal with it that I would go on the pill as soon as possible. I even almost called Jessica.
When Edward came over, I wouldn't move from my bed pretending to read a book. I felt like a hypocrite for not saying anything then. I had once thought that Jessica was being... irresponsible or whatever, but she was scared. I was petrified. I mean I was only two days late, but my body was like clockwork - every twenty eight days - ever since I was thirteen. And you can bet I was damn sure of my schedule when we started having sex.
Edward joked about me being a lazy bum that day and I made a comment that he was always laying around listening to music and doing nothing useful.
Then his exact words were "Wow someone's PMSing this morning..."
I snapped.
Told him he could leave if he couldn't be quiet.
He left. I cried.
Because I wanted to be PMSing - because I could have maybe been pregnant with his child that I had no intention of keeping... But that's why the real fighting started.
When I woke the next morning, I jumped up practically screaming hallelujah as I ran into bathroom. Then I invited Edward over to apologize and told him that I thought I had been maybe a little pregnant.
"Shit Bella, you should have told me. I was trying to annoy you yesterday because you were being so snippy. I would have been able to..."
"Worry and pull your hair out like I did? It was for nothing anyway, and I love your hair too much to let that happen."
"This is not funny Bella. I could have been reassuring. We could have talked about it. I could have told you that I would make sure that the baby would have been cared for..."
"There wouldn't have been a baby to care for..." I admitted shamefully.
"You mean you would - you would have an abortion if you'd been pregnant?" he asked disbelievingly. "Shit Bella, I know we're young but-"
"No, I'm not having children. I can't have kids. I won't do that to them."
"Do what? What can be worse than killing them?"
"I won't let them have the curse. It's not fair. I won't do it to them."
"You don't even know if it's genetic or anything else about it. How can you not let them have a chance-"
"How can you? My life - it was hard Edward. You don't know... if I hadn't been living in Forks and if I didn't have Tilde or Dad... and then if I didn't have you, I think I might have killed myself."
"Bella..." he looked at me with teary eyes.
"And there's a good chance that it's genetic. Think about it - my mother left us. She probably left because she couldn't handle living with the curse and a family. She couldn't handle it. She-"
"But you're not her. You're strong Bella. So strong and any child of yours would be too. And your mother... she's just shit Bella. She left because it was easy. You wouldn't be able to leave your child-"
"I wouldn't! But he or she would grow up resenting me for it," I sobbed into my hands. "I hate her so much."
"For leaving? Or the curse?"
"Both! I don't know!"
"So if you'd gotten pregnant with my child... you would have had an abortion?" he asked and I nodded. "Would you have at least told me beforehand or would you just have gone to a clinic and done it?"
I waited a moment before answering, wondering how much he would hate me for it. "I wouldn't let you have the chance to talk me out of it..."
"I would fucking sue you. I could petition it and then you would have to have the baby but I could get full custody and you wouldn't have to care of it. I can do it. My parents would help me..."
"Then I better make sure you never find out."
...
"Ah come on, he was out by a mile! Booo!" Dad yelled, pulling me out of my bubble.
Other than the hand holding, we had very little interaction with each other. Everyone else could obviously tell that we were fighting - everyone had tried talking to me, even Dad - but I guess they just had to leave it alone since Edward and I wouldn't talk about it. At least I couldn't tell if he had talked about it - no one else was thinking about how disappointing my abortion views were.
It wasn't that I wasn't pro-life. I mean, people shouldn't just have abortions because they don't want a baby - there are other options. But... abortions shouldn't be banned because there could be certain cases like mine... and for the people in those horror stories you hear about screwdrivers or coat hangers...
Was I such a terrible person because I didn't want my child to go through hell? I was lucky. So lucky - I don't know how it happened. I guess I do have gods looking out for me or something because I have - had Edward.
"I have to use the restroom..." Edward mumbled and I let go of his hand as he stood up to go.
Honestly, my head was okay. It was overloaded with thousands of people's thoughts, but it didn't bother me. I think I was building a tolerance with Edward's help, but I wasn't going to share that with him anytime soon. I was reveling in the last moments I basically had with Edward, and if he thought he needed to hold my hand... so be it.
I was also rethinking our last conversation over and over and it was irritating that I was reconsidering everything...
There was a chance that my children wouldn't have the curse... a small chance.
And if they did have the curse, I would be there to comfort - to help - to love them, and I didn't really know how my curse would affect them. Their curse could turn out differently than mine.
There was also a chance that if my child did have the curse, they could find their Edward – their soul mate... a tiny chance.
But there was a big chance that I -... The truth was that I could never kill Edward's child.
I tugged on my Mariner's cap and wiped my eyes as Edward came back, shuffling through our row. I kept my hands in my lap, but I was grateful when Edward reached for one, giving me a comforting squeeze. Then he pulled out his sunscreen again and started to put on another layer. How much sunscreen did this boy need? I watched as he easily squirted a little bit onto his arm and applied that amount onto his face and his left arm. He tried rubbing his right arm on his left because I was still clutching his hand. When he gave up, I grabbed the bottle from his lap and turned to put some on his left arm. He turned in his seat wordlessly so I could have better access and I could feel him breathing on me as he stared. When I finished his arm, I smoothed out places on his face with my thumb; when I pulled away, he grabbed my wrist and kissed my palm before holding it in his hands.
I turned my attention back to the game noticing that our row hadn't been watching the White Sox score another run...
"Alright alright, let's get some hits now," Dad cheered as our team rushed off the field.
"Oh look... they're doing that kiss cam thing," Sue pointed up at the big screen, and we watched couples kiss. One older couple got really into, and then lonely music started to play and three familiar faces appeared on the screen... The entire stadium started to laugh and boo because there sat Emmett, Carlisle, and Edward - three White Sox fans at a Mariner's game. As Emmett waved and Carlisle shook his head, Edward whipped off his cap and leaned down to kiss me.
I basically turned into gooey mush and hot fire at the same time. Nothing else mattered when Edward's lips moved against mine like that.
"I'm sorry I couldn't resist," Edward mumbled, pulling away and reaching for his hat.
"Three days is too long..."
"Four. Four days," he nodded.
Some of the people in our section were still cheering and yelling at us, but I turned back to the game, not even embarrassed. The first batter was up and got a hit, and then the next one got a double. Then Felix Hernandez hit a homerun. Edward and I sat still as everyone rose to watch it fly over the fence - cheering and groaning.
"I'm sorry. I was wrong!" I yelled.
"You better not be just saying that!"
"I'm not. I could never do it to you..."
"I'm sorry too. I love you."
"Love you," I mouthed before leaning up to kiss him quickly before anyone noticed us.
"Can I ask you something now?"
"Yeah..."
"What the hell does a moose have to do with baseball or the Mariners, huh?"
"Because he's just a mascot - every team has one. Now why in the hell aren't they wearing white socks?"
...
#12 Consider and Research Colleges
"I'm feeling so lucky today," Edward smiled as we trekked to our meadow with a picnic basket and blanket in hand.
"Yeah?" I laughed. Because now that he was 18, Edward bought twenty dollars worth of scratch-off lottery tickets and only won two dollars from them. But just the same, he was ecstatic.
"Maybe… you'll get lucky too," he wiggled his eyebrows.
"Oh, I'll be looking forward to it..."
Once we got to the meadow, Edward laid the blanket out for us but sprawled out in the middle, leaving me little room to sit on the edge.
"What are you doing?" he sounded offended.
"What?" I looked down - nothing. I wasn't doing anything.
"Come here," he pulled on me until I lay against him.
"Oh, we've never done it here be-"
His lips were against mine and I forgot everything. He wasn't gentle or slow as he kissed me, but determined and hurried, and it caused me to burn differently. After an immeasurable amount of time, he slowed his kisses and his lips started to trail across my jaw and down my neck.
"Thank you," he mumbled pulling away, sitting up, and crossing his legs.
"What?" I stammered confused. I thought that we - that he wanted to...
He was opening the basket and pulling out bottles of water, forks, and a lemon meringue pie. But then he pulled out a large stack of papers...
"I wanted to get a lot of kissing done before I asked for my birthday present..."
...
I sat across from Edward sifting through piles of college applications and brochures. I was supposed to be looking through them and considering my options for the future, but I didn't really know what I wanted to do. I never thought I could have a real future... something not in Forks or that required a degree.
"Hey! You better be thinking about your future over there and not daydreaming about me," Edward scolded me halfheartedly.
"But what if they're the same thing?" I questioned, hoping for a distraction, but he just huffed and rolled his eyes at me. "This is the worst birthday present ever..."
"Says the girl who doesn't even like them - you can not judge me. It's my birthday and I want to do this."
"But we have a whole year to do this, and this wasn't even on my list."
"Yes, but it was on mine. If we wait to do it, you'll just keep putting it off, and when I turn nineteen, it'll be too late…"
"Are you sure you don't want to do something else...? We could go to my house. My dad's not home."
"No. I'm not in the mood," he shrugged staring down at the pamphlet in his hands.
"Gah, fine... Seriously, what kind of careers do you see me having?"
"A teacher..."
"Are you joking?" I gaped. "Me in a school? Without you? No way am I teaching high school."
"Doesn't have to be. You could do pre-K or kindergarten. Get them while their young and I think you could be great..."
"Yeah okay, what else?"
"A psychologist of some sort..."
"I've actually thought about that, and I don't want to use my curse for evil."
"I don't think that's really considered evil since you'd be helping people..." Edward quirked his head me, confused.
"It would be evil because I would be stealing their thoughts or at least, the male patients. I think half the part of therapy is opening up and willing to talk about stuff."
"What about a police officer? Would that still be evil? Seeing if suspects are lying or whatever..."
"I guess it wouldn't... But I don't want to be a cop because there's so much other crap I would have to deal with, and you need evidence to prove everything, and it's dangerous and-"
"Okay, what about writing? You like writing, and you're good at it."
"I'm okay. I'm not-"
"You get A's on all of your reports and I haven't seen Mr. Mason put smiley faces on anybody else's papers," he smirked at me.
"Maybe he has a crush on me."
"He has a crush on your writing, and… you would have told me if he did... Right?" He raised an eyebrow at me, unsure.
"Maybe," I laughed. "But what would I even write about?"
"I used to pretend that JK Rowling really was a wizard and was giving us insight into her world. You could use your anomaly in sorta the same way - write what you know..."
"Maybe, it's a good idea..." I stayed silent thinking it over.
"Good, because there is something else I want to do for my birthday..."
"Oh?" I tried hiding my smile.
"I want to love you," he whispered leaning over to kiss below my ear as I reached for the hem of his shirt.
...
Later that night as we gathered with the rest of our friends, I couldn't help but think about Edward and what he said about my anomaly. He hated it when I called my special gift a curse. He said that I needed to be more optimistic and stop seeing it as a bad thing. Of course he could say that because he didn't have to put up with it, but he did have to put up with me and for eternity because there was no way that I was going to let go of him now or ever again.
But write what I know? I didn't know if my curse was interesting or amazing enough that a million people would want to read about it... Maybe I could write about Edward because he was the best thing that had and will ever happen to me. Not even including the whole silence-when-I-touch-his-skin-thing, Edward was perfect and not annoyingly perfect, just... perfect perfect. Smart, funny, kind, good, HOT, humble, and blind as a bat.
I had been wrong when I first saw him; he was an anomaly.
Edward was my anomaly.
AN: So yeah, the title was a reference to Edward the whole time - I didn't even consider the mindreading thing until I was posting the third chapter :) But I wanted to do this epilogue differently - not so much as a happily ever after feeling... just leaving it open because anything could happen to them. But there's plenty of fluff - made sure of that. ;)
Sorry this took so long though... everything in my life went wrong. Jury duty scarred me for life - pray you never get a criminal case! I injured my hand - I havent been able to type well. I lost my cell phone which had a LOT of FF stuff on it like parts of this and my new story. There were two other parts I wrote for this, but I just dropped it because I didnt feel like writing them and I felt that 10,000 words was pretty good, right?
A sequel? NO. I don't do sequels, but never say never... but there may possibly be an outtake of like 5 years later or something. It hasn't been written but it's in my head sooo... you can put this on alert if you want...
I just want to thank everyone - all of you. I'll miss this story and you guys a lot and sorry...I didn't mean for this story take this long. 8 months! My bad. :)
THANKS FOR READING!