Hiii =] Sorry again for the wait. Once again I struggled a little with this chapter =S I think by the end of it, you'll see why =P
Thanks again for the comments! You always make me smile… another reason why I really don't want this fic to end lol. I love all the love xP
Ok, so to answer a couple of your questions – Yes Bella and Edward are going to the same Uni in September! If you remember they discussed the idea of living together a few chapters back! Its all very exciting … We'll venture into the world of University life in the following chapter =D
Also, I may be able to squeeze a couple more chapters out of this fic. Truth is I don't want to drag it out too long as I fear it may ruin it :S Also I'm going away on the 18th and really wanted it finished by then =S (Probably wont happen) But we shall see.
Hope you enjoy!
Chapter 21:
Waking up to the sound of her phone vibrating, Bella was forced to drag her sleepy lump of a body out of bed at an ungodly hour. Strictly ordered to go around to Alice's where some major therapy was required. According to the text it was supposedly 'a matter of life and death, not meaning to sound overly dramatic or anything'.
On her way out she grabbed a carry-out drink container (one of the few items left in the kitchen) and filled it with coffee, before she left a note for her family informing them of her whereabouts. There was no saying how long she would be, but by the melodramatic tone of Alice's text, Bella had a feeling this wouldn't take ten minutes…
"You. Are. My. Nemesis!" a distraught Alice chastised, still wearing her pale pink Pooh Bear pyjamas as she stood before her large walk in wardrobe disapprovingly. She looked so small standing in front of it, like it could swallow her whole at any minute; not that she'd probably mind right now, it would save her the drama of having to choose an outfit.
"So many clothes, so many choices, what to do" she muttered, shaking her head helplessly as she paced back and forth her bedroom in a panic. And with Bella's dry and heavy eyes, Alice was starting to look more like a blurry figment than an actual person. Grabbing her coffee container from off the side, Bella forced another gulp down her throat. Surely this coffee would kick in soon?
"What do you think Bella?" she spun around to face her bleary-eyed best friend; hoping for some answers. "Should I go casual or dress-up? I mean, I don't want to look like I just rolled out of bed, but I also don't want to look like I've tried too hard. How does one draw the line?" her voice was starting to whine; characteristic of her current mental state.
"I don't know, maybe you could mix and match, go smart casual, wear jeans but add a little jewellery. I'm sure whatever you come up with will be great. Honestly, I don't think he'd care what you wore, he really just wants to see you Alice".
"Yeah, maybe" mumbled an unconvinced Alice. It had been a fair few years since Bella had witnessed Alice in such a frenzy. Usually Alice was the confident, level-headed one. But today she had done quite the one eighty.
As predicted and much to Bella's delight, Alice had text Jasper that day, supposedly just to thank him, but the arranged date scheduled for precisely 2 hours and 25 minutes from now suggested otherwise. She was to meet him in the heart of Forks City. In Starbucks to be exact, providing Jasper could find it of course. He'd never actually ventured much further than his country-side vicinity, so finding his way into the City centre would no doubt prove a challenge for him. But considering his boyish excitement over giving his details to Bella, who as promised gave them to Alice; it seemed the drive across town was something Jasper was up for.
"What if we don't know what to say to each other?" she found another reason to panic. "I mean, he is a porter, and I know nothing of the porter industry".
Bella's brow quirked, "Well I don't think it's so much an industry Alice, more of an unfortunate family hand-me-down. And I'm pretty sure he wanted to go to University this fall".
"Oh ok, good, so Uni is a possible conversation point, but what else? He's lived on a farm his entire life, what if he doesn't know stuff?"
"He's not an alien Alice" Bella felt compelled to remind her.
"But we don't even know each other!" implored Alice; "were from completely different worlds. What if we can't hold a conversation for longer than 5 minutes and it turns all tense and awkward? What will I do then?"
"Alice, listen to me" Bella hopped off the bed to stand in front of her friend, clasping Alice's sweaty hands within her own. "I fell in love with my step brother, ok? You can do this" she told her.
"Right, yeah, good point. Nothing could be as bad as that, right?" she rambled, and Bella knew not to take offence, in fact she found Alice's blabbering's rather adorable; amusingly adorable. "Pheuw" Alice breathed a sigh of relief, "I feel better now. That really puts things into perspective".
"Well, I'm glad I could help" Bella flashed a broad closed-lipped grin Alice's way, "Look why don't you go jump in the shower, and I'll have a look in your closet for some possible clothing options."
"Yeah, thanks. That'd be great. Oh but nothing pink, or frilly" she lingered at the doorway before leaving, "and no low cut string tops. Maybe something black would do best, like the lacy one with the capped sleeves?" suggested Alice as she went back towards her wardrobe and fumbled around for the outfit of her choice.
"Ok, so apparently you don't need my help after all" Bella stated with an amused smile, retreating back to the bed where she sat down.
"Sorry, I'm hopeless aren't I?" laughed Alice shamefully, moving from the depths of her wardrobe with her hand on her head. "I do really appreciate you coming over though. I know it's kind of early".
"No, it's fine. Whatever you need" insisted Bella. "You were there during my guy troubles, and I'll always be here for yours". Despite the early morning wakeup call, the drowsiness was thankfully starting to wear off, the coffee helped considerably, while the fact that she was still on a high from last night also did wonders for Bella's mood. The evening had turned into the dream date for Bella, and much to Bella's delight, it hadn't ended once they'd kissed goodnight. Edward had of course honoured his promise to Charlie by no longer sneaking around and remaining in his room all night; however that didn't rule out other forms of bed time interaction. Even if they couldn't physically be with each other, they found other ways to connect, that being by the use of mobile phone.
They'd stayed up for hours in their rooms, sending each other messages over the phone via Bluetooth. And it wasn't until Bella had momentarily fallen to sleep, another message received jolting her out of her slumber, that she then realised how late it was.
"Thanks" smiled an appreciative Alice; putting her pre-date nerves on hold for a minute or two to check in with the outside world. "How is everything at home anyway? With Edward and your dad I mean?" she folded a leg beneath her as she took a seat beside her friend on the bed.
"Pretty good actually; we kind of had a break-through this week" Bella's eyes lit up. "For the first time ever we actually talked, like a proper grown up talk you know, about life and our hopes and concerns for the future. It felt really good, like Charlie was actually in the room with me, really listening to what I was saying. I no longer felt like a misbehaving child" she reflected aloud, now able to smirk about it. "It was like he actually acknowledged that I'd grown up. I'm not that naïve little girl anymore, even if he still wishes I was" Bella turned thoughtful as she reminisced. "I just wish that he'd work things out with Edward. I mean I understand that it's probably weird for Charlie, he saw Edward as the son he never had, but, it's not like Edwards done anything wrong. He shouldn't be punished for falling in love with me," she sighed, and her light tone started to diminish. "All Edward needs right now is a good father figure, someone he feels he can talk to and connect with, especially being around girls his entire life, he really needs this".
Alice placed a comforting hand to her best friend's knee. "I'm sure in the long run it'll all work out Bella, just give them time. Maybe in a few weeks, it'll seem like nothing even happened," Alice offered; sympathetic to Bella's concern.
"Yeah, I hope so…" Bella's face gradually softened and a small smile lifted her face. "Anyway, enough about me, go get showered! You're down to 2 hours 15 minutes!" Bella teased her, and just like that those wide and panicked eyes of Alice's promptly returned.
…
"Well, that's the last box" confirmed Charlie, half way bent over as he placed the square heavy object down onto the floor. He made a light agonized moaning sound as he stretched back upright, his body not as limber as it used to be.
"Good work guys!" he called out from where he stood at the bottom of the stairs, looking up towards the upstairs landing, where Edward gave him the thumbs up, before he headed into one of the back bedrooms.
"Now just to unpack everything again" uttered Charlie; his shoulders lifting and then slumping as he exhaled a heavy breath. And although the space currently consisted of a countless number of packing boxes, a few cupboards which at present, resembled nothing more than four white lumps of bubble wrap, and small polystyrene balls which had overflowed from the boxes and sprawled across the lino flooring, their new home was slowly but surely starting to take form.
"Dad?" Bella entered the house with caution, stepping over boxes and shimmying past packing crates which had been left everywhere and anywhere in the hallway, all filled to the brim with ornaments, utensils and whatever else Charlie had accumulated over the past 18 plus years. With care Bella made her way across the obstacle course. "Wow, it looks like a bomb's hit this place" she muttered to herself upon entering.
"Oh, Bellz, you've decided to grace us with your presence at last! Great timing as well, we just finished moving everything. Shame you missed out" there was a tinge of amused sarcasm in Charlie's voice as he greeted her.
"You already finished?" she gave a meek look of interest.
"Yeah, and you're timings uncanny" he pointed out, presuming she had only left to get out of helping.
"Come on Dad, you make it sound like I planned this. Believe me, I didn't. Alice needed my reassurance, she's meeting Jasper today, you know that porter from the wedding?"
"Oh yeah, how could I forget him" Charlie gave his daughter a knowing look. How could he forget the guy he'd continually tried to set up with his daughter during his denial phase? Answer – he couldn't.
"Yeah... right" her eyes sharpened a little as she turned away, fiddling with the bubble wrap. "Well anyway, it's their first official date today, and she was sort of in a state over it. You should've seen her, her voice was reaching levels only dolphins could hear, her hair was up at all angles and I'm pretty sure her head was about to explode. But, thanks to me, she's now only… mildly jittery" she told him as she popped a couple of the tiny air-filled domes between her fingertips.
"Wow. Sound's like she really needed you over there".
"Well like I said, I wouldn't have left if it wasn't essential, for her sanity if nothing else" Bella then placed the bubble wrap back where she'd found it, her thoughts now elsewhere as she heard movement from up the stairs.
"Well I guess that's what best friends are for" relayed Charlie as he transferred some boxes from the living room into the soon-to-be kitchen area.
"Yeah, so is Edward about?" she called over to him, not moving from the small section of empty flooring she'd chosen to stand on.
"Yeah, I think he's sorting out the bedrooms". Bella didn't need to be told twice, not when it referred to her boyfriend's whereabouts anyway. She gave a nod to her father and turned towards the staircase, stepping over the various obstacles in her way before she made it onto the landing. She found Edward in the bedroom located closest to the staircase, and found butterflies fluttered her stomach as soon as his figure came into awareness. She hoped that feeling would never die.
"Hey hard worker" she peered around the doorframe to Edward who had his back to her.
"Oh, hi slacker" he grinned back on seeing his girlfriend for the first time since they'd parted ways the previous night.
Bella groaned at his assumption. "Not you too!" she laughed. "I just had this from dad… I'm telling you, shorthand version - her head was practically spinning around on her shoulders, I've never seen her so nervous. I guess first dates really are unknown territory, well, unless you're us of course" she smiled, and Edward gave her the all knowing head bob. "But I am sorry I wasn't here to help, if I could've split myself in two, I would've done" she assured him.
He grinned back at her, glad to have her company. Finally rebuilding cupboards seemed that much more appealing now. "That's alright, as it turns out, we got things done a lot quicker without you here" he lightly teased her, and Bella frowned at that; slightly offended. "Some people just get in the way I guess" he added, only to have a pillow tossed his way, it hit him on the back of the head when he wasn't looking, catching him by surprise.
"Ow" he laughed, stupefied, as he rubbed his head; his body recoiling at the impact.
"That was harsh" she informed him, arms folded across her chest.
"Yeah, and so was that" he angled back to face her, still rubbing the wounded spot. "Truth hurts, doesn't it Bella?"
"Well it hurts a lot less now" she grinned, feeling pleased with herself.
He exaggerated a smile her way before turning back to the cupboard he was re-building. Picking up a tiny screw and a hammer, he whacked it into place. "You know, if you stand there watching me much longer, I might have to start charging you" he told her; whilst he scrutinized the screw he'd just embedded into the wood.
"Well you do provide a fascinating show" she humoured him, and in return his head swung round, his eyes trailing up and down her body for a moment before resting on her face. "What's up?"
"Nothing really" she shrugged, loitering around the entrance.
"No you want to say something" he pressed her, sensing her hesitance.
"Well … I just wanted to thank you again really, for last night".
"Bella" he sighed with a smile, "you don't have to keep thanking me. It wasn't a chore you know" he said as he stood up, eyebrows raised.
"I know, I just …" she finally went over to him. "You were right. The time we've spent together has been great, obviously. But, we haven't actually spent quality one on one conversational time together" he played with the strands of her hair as she stood before him. "Not like we did last night anyway, not in public. I just wanted to say, that I loved every second of it" he fanned the hair away from her neck, spreading it down her back, before he ran his hands down the sides of her arms. "I might've loved it more if you'd let me pay my half though, but, I guess you can't have everything" they clasped their hands together, and Bella knew full well they'd reached a full gone conclusion with that one.
"No, you can't" he then pecked her on the lips. "Well, not unless you're me, who does have everything" he smirked back swinging their hands together.
"So you feel like giving me a hand?"
"Two if you want?" she grinned. "Where do you want me?" she asked, and if Bella Swan would have said that to him 3 months ago, she probably would've had a sexually promiscuous connotation thrown her way, but instead, Edward simply smiled back at her. It was then that Edward realised just how much he'd grown; as an individual and as a boyfriend. "You can help me with this" he signalled to the cupboard he was assembling. "Keep your hand there for me, hold it tight". Bella did as she was told, and earned another kiss from it in the process.
"This rooms pretty nice huh" Bella took a precise glance around, managing to peer out the window and down the immaculately well kept street whilst maintaining pressure on the wooden board. It was nothing like the neighbourhood she'd grown up in. And where were all the people? Was there even life down there at all?
"Yeah, it's the biggest one of the two. You want to toss a coin to see who gets it?" Edward suggested with humour in his eye. "A wrestling match maybe? A naked one that is, clothes would just get in the way; they're unethical restrictions if you think about it, and I'd like things to be fair between us".
"Sounds like you've thought that one through".
"Long and hard Bella, long and hard". Bella chuckled to herself at his logic; nothing had changed really, no matter how much Edward had grown up as a man, his thoughts remained the same. Whether it was library sex, truck sex or naked wrestling sex, there were some things you just couldn't shut off. And Bella honestly wouldn't have it any other way.
"I guess it doesn't really matter though, I mean it's not like either of us will even be here much longer" Edward added somewhat absentmindedly, as he grabbed his tools off the floor.
"Excuse me?" asked an unknowing Charlie, as he now stood in the doorway with his wife. "And why exactly wouldn't you be here?"
Bella jumped in shock at her father's voice, accidently releasing the wooden side panel she was supposed to be holding onto. It fell to the floor with a crash, scarcely missing her feet. But that wasn't her concern, what bothered her most was how long her father had been standing there. She only hoped he hadn't heard the naked wrestling match comment. By the look on Charlie's face though, that was the least of her worries.
"What's going on Bellz?" Charlie prodded her as silence filled the room.
Simultaneously, they turned to face their respective parents. "Look, we were going to tell you, but we just thought that with all the chaos of the house and everything, we should wait" she started cautiously.
"Tell us what?" prompted Emse'.
"Well, you know how I'd always planned to live on campus when I went to Uni" she reminded her father, "but back when I decided that, I never thought I'd be in a serious relationship" she glanced a look at Edward, who looked awfully mortified at being busted yet again, although he tried to hide it. "Anyway, I spoke to the accommodation people the other day, and they've agreed to let us have a shared room. Which means … we'll both be moving out".
As predicted Charlie's face contorted, his brow so taut across his eyes it almost became one long mono-brow, he didn't appear mad though, he looked very much like a person who was calculating a major subtraction in his head. "Look we know it's a big step, and we probably should've consulted you sooner" Edward added, putting a hand to Bella's back supportively. "But, it's such a great opportunity for us. Uni would be right on our doorstep and we'd be living in a fully furnished, affordable place".
"Yeah, and if you think about it, it'll get us out of your hair. You'll have the house to yourselves for once, you'll get the space you've always wanted" Bella went on; trying to push the more positive aspects their parents way. It was beneficial for all really. "And its not like we'll be gone forever, we'll be back over the holidays and you'll be wishing we'd stayed away" Bella tried to lighten the mood, but to no avail. "Dad? I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, I hope you're not upset?"
A burst of air surged from Charlie's mouth. "I'm not upset Bellz, or angry. If anything, well we probably should've seen this coming" admitted Charlie, as he glanced a look at his wife. She gave him an encouraging smile back, urging him on. "I think, that if it's something you both want to do, then you should go for it" he told them, despite his clenching hands. "You're right; it's a good opportunity for you both. And as long as it doesn't disrupt your studies" he warned them, "then I can't see a problem with it".
"That's great," Bella rushed forward, embracing her father in a hug. "Thanks dad" she squeezed him tight; thankful he'd taken it so well.
"Besides, I was two seconds away from laying down the new house rules anyway" he said as they pulled away, but Charlie kept an arm around his daughter's shoulders. "I guess it gets me out of that one". And Bella smiled through closed eyes, as she hugged at her fathers waist.
"Lunch is on the table anyway, you guys come down whenever you're ready" Esme' informed her family, before silently walking away.
"You know what mom, I never get tired of hearing you say that" Edward grinned back, dropping his tools and following them out.
…
Sitting outside on the garden decking Edward felt a presence approach him from behind. A moment later his step father took a seat beside him, and by the look of his rigid posture, this wasn't a loving father to son encounter; it was his girlfriends overly protective father laying down the law.
"I think I know what's coming Charlie" noted Edward, half way through his sandwich.
"Yeah, I think you do. And truthfully, I know that I probably don't even have to say this to you. But, Bella is my daughter, so I'm going to say it anyway. If you hurt her, or lead her astray in any way, well, you know how that conversation goes…"
Edward nodded robotically, helplessly, silently wondering what on earth he would have to do, to regain Charlie's reverence. "I don't know what you must think of me Charlie, I guess I really did lose all of your respect for me when we lied to you. I hope some day I'll get that back" he spoke forward, before turning to face his step father, looking him in the eye. "But I promise you now, I'm not going to hurt her, having Bella in my life means more to me than anything else in the world. I'd die before I let anything hurt her ... I hear what you're saying though, and it's good that you're so protective of her. I guess being her only blood parent, it's understandable."
"Bella's been the centre of my entire life for the last 18 years. She was the reason I didn't sink into a pit of depression when her mother left me. I just want her to be happy, safe. I never want her to feel the pain and heartbreak that I felt" admitted Charlie.
"Yeah well that makes two of us".
"And" Charlie paused, a thoughtful line across his forehead. "You didn't lose my respect for you Edward. You just let me down, there's a difference" he informed him, and hope surged through Edwards veins.
"Hey there you are" Bella appeared at the conservatory French doors, not realising until afterwards that she'd probably interrupted something serious, but Charlie welcomed her out anyway. "Oh, sorry, I can come back?"
"Don't be silly Bellz, come on out" Charlie urged her into the garden. "I'm going to go find your mother…" he then turned to Edward before standing up and heading inside, on the way giving his daughter a light kiss on her forehead as he went. "Get this unpacking started".
As Charlie left Bella took the seat beside her boyfriend. "Is everything alright?" asked Bella following her father's departure; immediately concerned by their one on one discussion.
"Yeah" Edwards face softened out, his hand finding its way onto her knee, "it couldn't be better".
A/N: Ok, so that was another semi-boring chapter =/ Haha! Well, kind of. I just really wanted to get through it. It needed to be done. I really don't want to leave anything out! And you're in luck! This fic still has life left in it! In the form of a chapter anyway, maybe two at most. The next chapter should be a little less 2ndary characters, and a little more B/E related =] Thanks for reading :)