Is anyone still alive out there!?
=D If yes, don't be shy, I like to know if people are following it; otherwise its kind of pointless, aside from the enjoyment I get in writing it of course :)
Thanks to 'Thorn Twilogist' who did comment though and my hits are still reaching 300, so I'm guessing you're all just very shy people =P
Well here comes the camping trip… I think you guys might like what camping will bring for Bella and Edward over the next few chapters. The possibilities are endless =]
Chapter 15:
"Gosh, how much did you pack Alice?" I laughed as Edward struggled with one of Alice's bags; heaving it over his shoulder before throwing it into the back of his car.
"Just the bare essentials" shrugged Alice as she walked around to the front of my truck and hopped inside. We'd decided that I'd take all the camping equipment and tents in the back of my truck, and Edward and Jasper would follow with the bags in Edwards Volvo.
"I did pack a quarter length mirror though, just in case," she added as a matter of fact, before smiling coyly.
"In case of what? We want to set the forest on fire!?" Edward sniggered back, flashing me a look of complete bafflement.
She rolled her eyes in a huff, slamming the truck door behind her and trapping herself inside. I watched through the window as she screwed her nose up at the smell, I got slight pleasure from that, I must admit. In fact, ordinarily she would've gone out of her way to avoid taking a drive in my rusty old truck, but being so eager to get the gory details from my night with Edward, she'd sucked it up and succumbed to it. She really was a nosey little thing at times.
"Right, were all set. You guys can follow us then" I said as I made my way over to the drivers side. "Try to keep up, wont you" I smiled mockingly at Edward, my confidence around him seeming to grow each day.
"Don't worry, I think we'll manage" he smirked back. "Oh and if you happen to break down half way there, we'll be sure to just, er… wave and drive straight past" he grinned back at me smugly, before jumping inside his car.
I chuckled back in amusement. Silently praying that wouldn't be the case though. Despite my trucks legendary status, she was quickly turning into such a tender old thing.
"Oh-kay" I said as the door clunked behind me and I buckled up my seat belt. "You ready?" I grinned at Alice.
"Am I ready to endure 2 hours of quality alone time in your truck, probably not, but am I ready for all the gory details about your night with Edward?" her eyes lit up as she rubbed her hands together, "Absolutely!" she grinned like a Cheshire cat. "Let's do this!"
…………………………………
"That's it?" Alice questioned, her face flipping from elation to a picture of sheer disapproval. I'd informed her of our invitations to Rosalie's Christmas party first and foremost, which had her practically bouncing in her seat, already contemplating which outfit she should wear to mark the occasion, following that I went on to outline the general details of my night with Edward, hence her change in mood. Her expectations (as well as mine) had unfortunately been unrealistic.
Obviously I didn't tell her everything though, I left out the awkward bedroom parts, I was still trying to get my own head around that, and Alice would only confuse matters further, potentially seeing things that weren't even there.
"Yep, that's much pretty much it" I said, keeping an eye on the location sign posts while the road swerved off to the left.
"Well, that wasn't a date at all then was it!" she scoffed her complaint, folding her arms across her chest in a huff.
I rolled my eyes, "well if you'd have listened to me yesterday when I tried to explain it all, I did say that it wasn't a date".
"Well…" she struggled to respond, "then I don't get it" she sighed, sounding helpless, "What's his problem?"
I looked at her through a sideways glance, "What do you mean?" I asked carefully.
"Well, it's obvious he likes you. Why won't he just do something about it?"
"Alice!" I laughed back, "You don't know that! And anyway, how'd you even know I'd want him to do anything about it".
"Oh Bella, not even you're that naïve" her head tilted as her eyes opened wide. "Do you think I don't know you have a crush on him" I shifted in my seat, focusing my vision on the road up ahead, "We've been best friends since practically the dawn of time," she chuckled, "I know you better than you think".
I felt nervous then, as I took a fleeting look into my rear-view mirror, catching Edward in the car behind me as he smiled, appearing to be engrossed in a conversation with Jasper. My heart fluttered in my chest, and the longing sigh that passed my lips became unavoidable.
"Bella, why don't you just ask him out?"
My attention quickly drew back to Alice, "what are you kidding!? … I could never do that … what if he said no".
"He wouldn't".
"Alice, you don't know that. You haven't seen him. He's always so hot and cold with me, whenever we get remotely close, he backs away from me. Like, there's something on his mind…" I knew I shouldn't give too much away, that it would only make things worse, but I needed this, I needed to vent once and for all. "I have this feeling that, maybe someone in his past, a girl, probably hurt him".
"Has he said something?" her tiny doll-like pixie face was frowning with concern as she questioned me; not a look she often wore. Alice was all about the happy.
"No, not specifically, I just remember him saying something about, being taken advantage of… I can't remember what he said exactly. But, he looked so sad when he said it". I felt my voice soften before I turned back to face her, "You can't tell him I told you that. He's very weird about his past".
"Of course. I won't say anything" and I trusted her on that.
Silence filled the car then, Alice clearly deep in thought, and I myself now feeling in no mood to be going on a fun camping trip. "Look, let's just, forget about it for now. According to the Sat-Nav, we'll be there in less than 20 minutes, so, let's just, try and have fun" I spoke, unfortunately not very convincingly. But she nodded back in agreement, her straight faced expression switching back to that usual widespread smile, "Agreed!"
…………………………………
"That's it!?" her eyes were wider than I'd ever seen them. And we all nodded back in response. "Well, where's our individual toilet and bathroom en suite?" she asked, clearly inexperienced when it came to Camping.
"Alice" I laughed back at her as I hit her on the arm, if I didnt know her, I'd think she was joking around, but sadly for her, she was simply clueless. "It's a camp site. There are no individual bathrooms. There are toilets and showers, but, they're all communal".
"Communal?" her face held a look of horror. "As in, other people have used them? Strangers? People, with diseases?"
"Yeah. I sure hope you had your tetanus shot" Edward looked at her seriously, but I could tell he was only teasing her.
"Well… no, nobody told me too" her voice went as quiet as a mouse.
"What about your malaria jab? Tell me you had that!?" he pressed on.
Her face crumpled, her lip starting to quiver as she turned to face her boyfriend. "No" she shook her head in fright. "Jass?"
Jasper looked at her with worried eyes, before his face beamed a goofy smile, and we all erupted into a burst of laughter. Poor Alice was not amused.
"I hate you all" she glared at us in a huff, as she stomped her way back towards the vehicles.
"Alice, wait up!" I chuckled as I jogged back towards her. "You know they were only teasing you" I said as I wrapped an arm around her shoulder.
"Yes but, it makes you think doesn't it. What if one of us does get malaria?" her voice lowered into a secretive whisper, hoping no one would hear her, despite us being the only ones there.
"It won't happen" I snickered at how gullible she really was.
"You don't know that! I'm starting to think this was a bad idea".
"Alice, it was your idea!" I burst in a laugh.
"Yes well, that's beside the point" she brushed it off as she sped up, going around towards the trunk of Edward's car and unlocking the boot. She grabbed her oversized bag from where it was stashed down the one side, before pulling it out with one all mighty heave.
I watched from the sidelines in amusement. "Erm, don't you think it'd be a better idea to sort the tents out first?"
"Well" she turned to face me, "I thought the guys would do that" she answered sheepishly, her words stuttering slightly.
I gave her a pointed look before shaking my head. "No way, you are not getting out of this one Alice Brandon! Camping requires team work!"
"But, I don't even know how to put a tent up" she tried to argue, but I was in no mood to back down on this one.
"Well, what a fantastic opportunity for you to learn a new skill then" I grinned delightedly. "Come on" I grabbed her unwilling hand as I literally dragged her back towards our camp spot…
………………………………
"I'm going to poke my eye out!" she whined some 15 feet away, as Alice struggled with Jasper to put their tent up. It was an extremely entertaining performance.
Edward's tent was the first to stand tall, given he had the most camping experience, whilst mine was coming along quite nicely. I had help from Edward though, so it wasn't a surprise that it took no time at all.
"There we go" he cheered, giving it a waggle to ensure it was stationary. "Should be alright".
"Cool, thanks" I grinned back, unzipping the tent to reveal the inner compartment. I threw my rucksack and sleeping bag inside before sealing it up again.
"Hey, are you guys done with that yet?" I tried to stifle my laughter as I watched Jasper ordering his girlfriend to stop messing.
"They're funny aren't they?" Edward appeared at my side. "I swear they could start up their own comedy act" he smirked.
"Too right. I'd pay" I added with a chuckle, before forcing myself to keep a straight face as I turned back to them. "Look, I thought we could check out the lake nearby. Apparently it's a mile or so away. It's sign posted so we shouldn't get lost or anything!" I called out to them.
"Yeah sounds good, you guys go on ahead, we'll follow you there" Alice smiled at me.
"Yeah. Just give us another hour or so and we'll be right along" Jasper grunted back in sarcasm, "Alice! Will you stop messing; I've already done that side!"
"But the wire was sticking out" she moaned, her lips pouting as she sulked.
"How about we just leave them to it" I whispered, pulling a worrying face towards Edward, to which he gladly nodded in return. "Well, just come along when you're ready, ok!? I've got my phone on me if you need us!" I raised my voice to inform them, but I doubt they were even listening. So we made a brisk exit and headed for the sign posts.
Several minutes later and further into the forest, I swear we could still hear them arguing!
…………………………
We'd trudged our way through the depths of the woodland, finally coming to a set of wooden steps sloping downwards. They were pretty narrow which meant we'd have to go down single-file. So he allowed me to go first, before following me close behind.
We hadn't spoken since we left Alice and Jasper. And it felt strange to think we'd spent the majority of the previous evening in each others company. Truth was, I'd tried not to think back to it too much. It led to far too much confusion and disappointment. And I really didn't want to have to deal with that right now, especially considering we were both trapped in a forest with only each other to talk too.
There was one thing that played on my mind though, and I suddenly felt the need to apologise.
"Edward?" I spoke out as I took a brief look over my shoulder; grasping a hold of the railing as I suffered a mild head-rush. For someone who had a history of being a klutz, I desperately needed to concentrate on my footing.
"Mmm?" I heard him mumble in response.
"I hope you don't mind us all coming to your sisters Christmas party? I felt really bad last night, having said yes" I spoke through that nagging feeling of guilt.
He chuckled softly. "Don't be silly. You shouldn't feel bad about anything."
"Yeah but, you said yourself, you don't really like attending them. I feel like I've kinda forced you into it now".
"You haven't. And like I said last night, Rosalie would've found some way of getting me there anyway. I'd have to literally be on my deathbed to avoid one of her Christmas parties" he smirked and I smiled to myself in response…My feet then touching the final step as we reached the bottom.
But it simply led to another sign post, this one directing us down yet another pathway. At least this one was flat and less woodlandy, and thankfully provided me with fewer reasons to trip. I had to focus on the positive if nothing else.
"Do you think it's much farther?" I turned to him as I stood at the bottom of the steps.
"I don't know. We've been walking for about 25 minutes, so probably not" he said as he took note of his watch. "Why?" his eyes zoned in on mine, "do you need a rest?"
I scoffed in response, "No" and marched on ahead. I didn't want him thinking I was some lazy and inactive person, who would crumble at the first sight of exercise.
He laughed as he jogged to keep up, "I won't judge you if you do, you know".
"I told you I don't" my feet routed on the spot, and I looked at him with wide eyes, "but, maybe you do!?" I turned it back on him.
He sniggered as he ran a hand through his hair, and my eyes couldn't help but watch in total awe of it. "Well, to be fair, we have been walking for awhile... How about we get to the end of this path and if we still haven't reached the lake, we'll take five for a break? Deal!?"
"Ok. If you so wish. I'm not one to judge or anything" I smiled smugly, before continuing on. Just hoping that the end of the walkway wasn't far to go…
……
"Ow" I winced as I felt a sharp pain scratch the skin of my foot. I hopped slightly to avoid the pressure, and thankfully his hand on my arm and back prevented me from losing my balance.
"What is it?" he said as he looked down at my dangling foot.
"Probably a stone or something" I answered as his hands hooked beneath my arms and he ushered me onto my backside. He followed me down onto the pathway, sitting cross legged beside me, as I removed my shoe, tapping it against the surface to allow any pebbles or wood chippings to escape, before I ran a hand over the base of my foot, inspecting it for any damage.
It was just a scrape.
"Are you alright?" his head tilted a little as he questioned me.
"Yeah" I smiled. "I'm fine. It's just a scratch".
He grinned back, looking awfully relieved. "Good". Before we both simultaneously went for my sneaker.
Our hands connected. And every sound and image around us appeared to fade away. I felt like we were the only two people in the world then, and the sudden possibilities seemed endless.
For a moment I stared at them dumbly, as his hand lingered over mine. It was so large compared to mine, but very warm and soft, like a blanket or a shield of protection. And I was reminded of the first time he'd held my hand. That overwhelming feeling of security he'd given me, as my small hand locked so snugly into his.
I flicked my eyes towards his face, as neither of us even attempted to move, and his focus lay on our touching hands.
Within a second he was staring straight back at me. I felt like we'd done a total 180. And we were back in his bedroom, consumed by that feeling of awkwardness we knew so well.
I hated this; I hated not knowing what he was thinking. I knew he cared about me, but I needed so much more than that...
And in that moment I almost asked him, I almost spoke the words I'd been dying to say. Just to know what he was really thinking. What even happened last night? Did I imagine it? Did he even like me at all in that way?
But alas, we were rudely interrupted, and a wolf whistle followed by a whooing sound struck our ears from behind, and his hand retracted like he'd touched a hot iron. My heart sunk into my chest… A familiar sensation I'd experienced over the last few weeks.
We turned to see our friends catching up to us. "You two slacking already?" Jasper called out, as Alice clung happily onto his hand. They weren't known to argue for long. And I felt an overwhelming feeling of longing to be that close with the one I loved.
I tried not to let my disappointment show though, or dwell on the fact that it was yet again, another opportunity missed. But I swear I saw Edwards brow furrow more so than usual as our moment was harshly cut short.
I ignored it and switched back to my alter-ego for the sake of my friends. "Yeah yeah, I bet you're secretly dying to sit down too" I teased them as I shoved my foot back into my shoe and scrambled to my feet.
"Please!" Jasper scoffed lightly, "these feet were made for walking" he smirked smugly as he went straight past us, pulling Alice along to keep up.
I laughed back at him, but my face quickly fell as I found myself once again left alone with Edward. With much hesitation, I managed a feeble smile his way, to which he offered me one back, looking extremely sheepish as he did so; before we both carried on up ahead, that bitter taste in my mouth re-appearing, as I silently wished for life to be much less confusing…
Preview: There's more to Edward Cullen than just a shining personality and startling good looks, as we find out! Meanwhile, Bella finds herself with unwanted company :S
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