So sorry for the wait :( Went to London for a few days… will try to be less slacky next time!
Hope you enjoy… PS. After this chapter, we'll move things along quite quickly. I think it's about time something gives with this pair, don't you!
Chapter 24:
"You know Bella, if you wanted to swim, you could've just joined us in the pool area" acknowledged Alice, from where she stood on the side next to our Jacuzzi tub.
"Huh? I never said I wanted to swim" I looked up at her oddly.
"Your hair is wet" she stated the obvious.
"Oh" I rolled my eyes, "right. Yeah, well that wasn't my doing. Apparently Edward thought it would be a neat idea to almost suffocate me with water" I turned to Edward as I said it.
"Well, you asked for it".
"Actually, I believe that was you," I mocked a smile. "You said I was a comedy act" I looked at him unimpressed.
"Well, it's not my problem if you can't handle the truth Bella" Edward placed his arms back onto the tiled rim of the Jacuzzi tub either side of him.
I glared back once again, loving every minute of our banter, before turning to the rest of my friends. "Are you guys heading off?"
"Yeah, I'm getting kind of hungry" Alice pulled a face as she placed a hand to her empty stomach.
"Kind of? Your stomach was groaning all sorts. In fact I was almost certain it was two seconds away from having a full blown argument. I'm surprised you guys couldn't hear it" teased Jasper, which earned him a second whack of the day. And I tried my best to stifle my amusement.
"Anyway" Alice emphasised, "How'd we go about getting food around here?"
"Oh, I'll talk to Lissa, get her to rustle something up for us. Say, meet in the breakfast room in 30?" Edward proposed, standing upright in the water. And Alice and Jasper eagerly accepted.
They left a moment later, and it was then that I realised I would now have to make my dreaded-escape. But how? I hadn't brought a towel with me, thinking I wouldn't even touch the water, and my T-shirt which I'd come in was soaking wet, thanks to Edward.
I looked with a thoughtful frown at the surrounding space of the Jacuzzi. Wondering how I'd get myself out of this one, unseen. But I think Edward sensed my dilemma, and after he'd stepped out of the Jacuzzi and grabbed his towel, not even attempting to dry himself off; he handed it to me.
"Here. Take mine" he offered, and I forcefully had to tear my focus away from his body and onto the towel in his hands. It proved to be somewhat of a challenge though, as the trickles of water crept down the curves of his abs, teasing and tormenting me. Visually speaking, it was quite the masterpiece.
And of course I could never refuse anything Edward could offer me. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah, totally. I can do without".
I smiled back nervously, "Thank you" and sheepishly took it.
As I did, our hands connected, his soft, long musically designed fingers touching mine. Everything seemed to stop in that moment, and as I flicked my vision up to Edwards, I was delighted to see that he too seemed affected by it. His expression didn't reveal volumes however, it left me more confused than anything else. He didn't look particularly delighted having touched me, but nor did he look annoyed. I couldn't work it out, and as it happened within the blink of an eye, his hand quickly retracting, I was left wondering if I'd even imagined it.
It was my combined preoccupation with both the grasping of the towel to conceal my body, and the fact that his body was on show before me, that I missed the second to last step out of the Jacuzzi.
It all happened so quickly, my foot slid on the slippery tiled surface, my hands went down to alleviate my fall, but as I found myself literally two inches from the tiles, his hands had grabbed onto me. Clinging onto my upper-arms to prevent my terrible fate.
As if the same thing could (almost) happen to the same person, twice, in less than two weeks!
I scrunched my face up in the drama of it all, my body so tense as he helped me to my feet. Never for a second did he let me go though, and it wasn't until I opened my eyes again, that I realised how close he really was.
It was his face that I saw first and foremost, that look of concern for me in his eyes, which eventually softened out into a small smile of relief. Seconds after that I felt his hands at my waist and the knowledge that I was standing before him practically naked, induced a surge of frantic butterflies in my stomach.
"Thanks" I tried to smile, unable to look into his eyes out of embarrassment. And he released my waist, leaning down to pick the towel up which had fallen to the floor.
Silently he swung it over my shoulders and around my body, wrapping me up. "You're certainly a test for my reflexes, that's for sure" he commented, amusement in his eyes.
My smile grew wider; my cheeks warming up. "Well, you passed".
I hugged the towel around my frame, hoping to conceal as much of my pale wet body as I could, not that it did much good now that he'd seen everything, but I tried not to dwell on it.
The towel felt so soft, the kind of feeling I imagined Edward's hair to be like, if I ran my fingers through it.
"Do you want me to walk you back?" he offered, always the gentleman, even when awkwardness threatened to suffocate us. But I politely declined; finding it hard to even look at him as he wore only his white checked swim shorts. Not to mention he'd done far too much for me this weekend already.
But even at my decline, he still proceeded to walk me to the elevator, making sure I made it to the elevator in one piece (I'm pretty sure he thinks I'm virtually incapable of doing anything without unintentionally harming myself these days, but oh well), and took the correct floor up to my room, before he left in the opposite direction.
Some 30 minutes later having washed my hair and half-heartedly blown it dry, leaving it as a long mass down my spine, I stepped into some fresh clean clothes. The door went soon after, it was Alice and Jasper, and together we walked over to the dining room building, where we'd planned to meet Edward.
Jasper walked on ahead of us, as Alice and I strolled at our own pace. And as we crossed the expanse of the garden, my eyes scrutinized the area. The place wasn't trashed like you'd expect it to be following a night of partying hard. There was the odd empty wine glass dotted around the area, but nothing major, nothing that betrayed its stylishness and beauty.
Heading towards the main function room, the French doors already open welcoming us in, I passed a couple of the butlers who were cleaning and disposing of the trash. They gave us a small nod and a smile as we neared them, I attempted to greet them 'afternoon!', but my eyes caught onto something else, and a memory flashed into my mind at the sight of it.
I noticed a lonely glass filled with peach coloured liquid sitting on the wall nearest the open French doors. Most wouldn't bat an eyelid, but it almost spun my head 360 degrees. I remembered exactly how that had gotten there, and my heart crumbled at the fact that I'd carelessly left it there last night; an offering of Edwards, and I'd left it there un-touched.
"Bella? You coming?" Alice called to me; she was already half way through the door, and Jasper had long gone, as I'd found myself rooted on the spot near the wall; staring at the glass before me.
I examined it carefully, remembering how excited Edward had been in having me try it. And without thinking, I picked the glass up, taking a gulp and swallowing it away.
"What are you doing!" a panicked voice rushed towards me, as Alice observed my quite bizarre actions; tearing the glass out of my hand and placing it back onto the wall where I'd found it.
But I was glad I did it. And Edward had been right, it was nothing like I'd ever tasted, even after it had sat out for over 15 hours through the cold and frosty night, it still tasted delicious.
"Are you crazy? Have you actually lost your mind! You just consumed someone's random old drink Bella! You could catch all sorts!"
"It wasn't someone's Alice, and it wasn't random. Trust me, its fine" I told her; feeling delighted.
"You're still drunk" she accused me; her forehead crumpled like paper.
"Hardly" I laughed a little, unable to prevent the dorky smile that covered my face. "It was just… something I had to do" I gave a light shrug as I walked past her, but by the look on her face, I could tell she thought I was losing it.
…
The meal, as with everything else was exquisite, when Edward had said he'd get the cook to 'rustle something up,' I figured sandwiches of some kind. So I was hardly prepared for the four course meal that was laid out before me. So much food, my eyes were overwhelmed while my taste buds went into a frenzy.
Thankfully I enjoyed every mouthful, sickness was no longer a problem, despite being slightly unnerved by Alice who sat up ahead of me, every now and then flashing me the strangest of looks, like I had two heads or something. No doubt the consequence of my earlier antics.
But aside from that, the atmosphere was an easy one. There was a comfortable silence as we ate, and the odd conversation and light banter made me desperately want to savour our moment together. Returning home meant school work, chores and ... Emmett. So I enjoyed taking a breather from my usual responsibilities.
It wasn't until Rose had made an appearance some 30 minutes later, that the peacefulness shifted. While Alice and Jasper welcomed her with bright eyes and toothy grins, I noticed Edward grow silent and stiff in his chair. That smile of contentment abruptly disappeared, eye contact was kept to a minimum and pleasantries went straight out the window. I could tell it bothered Rose, that she only wanted to make it better with Edward, and although tension crackled between the three of us, we managed to conceal it from everyone else.
"So if you want to drive Bella home in dad's car, I can take Alice and Jasper home" Rose offered, from where she stood beside the table, while Edward continued to fiddle with anything on the table that meant he didn't have to look at her.
"Yeah, that's fine" he said, grabbing his drink and taking a gulp. As he did our eyes connected, and I couldn't prevent the furrow in my brow as I looked at him. I knew how much she'd hurt him, but a little effort and good manners wasn't too much to ask for, was it?
He tore his vision away from me a moment later, and internally he was probably rolling his eyes.
Rose didn't stick around much after that, and dinner ended in silence not long after, and come 2pm I was stood waiting in the Hotels reception area, suitcase in hand ready for Edward to drive me home. The weekend had flown by, and although I was disappointed to be going back to school work and grocery shopping, I remembered there was more to come from the week ahead. Edward's Music Concert. And a frazzle of excitement sparked my nerves.
"I just have to bring the car around, I wont be a minute" Edward told me as he left through the main entry doors, and I decided to take a seat on one of the brown suede chairs while I waited for him...
"It went well, don't you think?" A voice I vaguely recognised appeared at my left, and I turned my head to see three people stood at the reception desk with their backs to me. A tall couple, clearly husband and wife, and a short silver haired Italian woman who lingered in the background.
"No question of it. Our Rose petal did good" the man responded. He had neat blonde hair and wore an expensive tailor made suit. I'd never seen him before, but at the evident fondness in his voice, I'd already guessed it was Edward and Rosalie's father. "I can't say I saw much of Edward though".
"Oh… well you know Edward" Esme' sighed hopelessly.
"Will you be checking out of the Royal suite?" the lady behind the desk enquired.
"Yes, thank you".
"How was your stay?" the lady checked, half paying attention, half typing on the computer.
"Delightful, as always" the man answered, handing his credit card over, he then took a glance around, his vision eventually falling on me. He did a double take at first, before he offered me a small friendly smile. I wasn't sure if he even knew who I was, we'd never met, so it was possible he was just being polite. I smiled back either way, before he turned away from me and back to the receptionist.
"All done" Edward then re-appeared to my right. "Are you ready to go?"
"When ever you are" I rose to my feet, and as I went to grab my suitcase to wheel it along, he'd already picked it up, ready to carry towards the car.
I walked down the steps after him, towards the vehicle that was parked on the verge; feeling very much like a princess walking towards her waiting carriage. It was a deep royal metallic blue Jaguar, and it looked as if it had come straight from the show room.
"Wow. Nice car" I noted as I sat inside, hoping not to scuff the seats or dirty the carpet, my eyes scanning the black shiny dashboard; so well polished, I could practically see my reflection in it. While that fresh leather car smell struck my senses – if there was one thing I loved about new cars, its was the smell.
"Yeah, it's my dads. Well, one of my dads".
"How many does he have?" I enquired amused, as I pulled the seatbelt around me and clipped it in.
"Three. This is the smallest and most practical one he has… Give me a Volvo any day" he smirked as we trundled out of the parking lot; the engine so silent, if I closed my eyes, I wouldn't even tell we were moving.
"Was that him? Your dad I mean, at the reception desk?"
"Yeah, that's him" he informed me, slightly disheartened.
"You don't, get along with him?" I asked cautiously; his eyes glancing sideways to meet mine. "I'm sorry; it's none of my business".
"No, it's fine. I get along with him great, I just, never see him" he explained. "He works shifts. Some days, our paths just don't cross".
"Must be hard" I muttered, mostly to myself.
"So I hope you had fun this weekend" he changed the subject, "I mean, aside from the hangover".
"I did, thanks" I smiled.
"I'll be sure to tell Rose to go easy on the champagne next time. I swear there were gallons of it. No wonder you drank so much, I guess somebody had too" he smirked.
My grin dimmed to a thoughtful frown. "Will you talk to her?" I asked, and the illumination in his face drifted away. But how could I not bring it up? I felt so guilty about it, if ever their bond became so sabotaged, turning into hatred or sibling rivalry. I'd never forgive myself. After all, this was all because of me anyway. "Look, I know it's not my place to say it, but go easy on her. I know she hurt you, but she only did what I asked".
His hands gripped the steering wheel harder. And I hoped I hadn't just sent us into another tension-filled car trip. He breathed a heavy breath. "I know", before swallowing hard. When I guessed that was the end of that conversation, I tried to lighten the mood.
"So can you believe its Christmas in a few weeks?"
"I know. Came around quick huh… you made your Christmas list yet?"
"No" I grinned, shaking my head.
"Come on, you must have thought of something?"
"I'm not much on presents" I felt my cheeks grow red at his persistence.
"There has to be something you want".
"Nope, I have everything I need" I smiled. And he flashed an amused but intrigued sideways -look my way. The colour on him was beautiful.
But I was lying. There was something I wanted, more than anything. But Santa couldn't help me now. No one could. Not unless he had connections with cupid, and cupid could fire his arrow in the direction of this car.
Edward was all that I wanted. And if I could put him on a list, I would. I'd put him at the top of it; in capital letters, with stars and hearts all around it.
Coming soon: Let's find out if the School's Music Concert goes to plan! And someone makes an unexpected appearance… but who?
And you know what I love about Christmas? … Mistletoe ;)
Stay tuned to watch their relationship unravel!