A/N: First of all, thank you to all of you to sticking with my story! It really means a lot to me.
Second, a huge ass thanks to my lovely pre-readers, Mommy2Tw1ns and Bewiched - Girls, without you this wouldn't be anything but a huge mess!
Third, All of you Jasper shippers will love this, I promise!
Fourth, I don't own, SM does. All hail the great SM. I just molest her characters. Multiple times.
Chapter 7
Late Friday afternoon found me and Edward waiting at Sea-Tac for Tanya's flight to arrive. I am a little nervous, to be honest. I don't know what to expect from this meeting. If she's anything like me, she'll be ready to cut me for stealing her man –and Edward is all giddy and jittery beside me, pacing the floor and checking the boards continuously for her flight number.
Suddenly, he jumps in the air, grabs my hand and takes off running towards the announced gate – I guess her flight was announced. Struggling to keep up, I fail to realize that he stopped dead in his tracks, thus I bump into his back, nearly sending us both crashing to the floor. He is counterweighted though, by a petite girl with a flash of strawberry colored hair. That's currently all I can see of her, since her entire frame is wrapped around Edward, and she has her face pressed into his neck, sobbing and laughing at the same time.
I stand aside a little awkward by their exchange. They seem like reunited lovers, especially Tanya, but Edward's eyes are shimmering too and he is whispering in her ear, while guiding her to stand on her own two feet again. He never let's go of my hand though, and now he is holding both of our hands. He drags me forward and introduces me.
"Tanya, I would like you to meet Bella – she was the first person I befriended here, and she means a lot to me." She looks at me with cold eyes and a fake smile on her lips.
"How do you do, Bella? How very nice it is to make your acquaintance." She has a clear, bell-like voice, but the words are overly formal and lack any kind of warmth. It is very obvious that she does not want me to be here. Actually, she doesn't want me within 10 miles of Edward, if you judge by her demeanor right now. Phew, this is going to be a looooong weekend!
"I'm fine, thank you; and likewise." I grab her outstretched hand, which is as limp as a day-old piece of danish in mine. She is fast to let go, and so am I.
No further words are exchanged between her and I, but she is chatting up Edward the entire way through the airport and out to the parking lot, where I parked Fred. He is listening attentively while carrying her bag and having his arm slung over her small shoulders, throwing in the occasional question or remark. I feel like the third wheel, but oddly enough I am not even jealous. I am just irritated that she is so obviously freezing me out and staking her claim on Edward.
Things between Edward and I have felt a little off for the last week. He is still a sweet guy, we eat together, study together, hang out together, but the physical side of things have cooled down considerably since Sunday night. And I am not searching for it in particular. We've never labeled our relationship; it has been casual since the very beginning. But now, it doesn't feel like a relationship at all – it feels like a really great friendship. I guess after this weekend, when Tanya's left again, we should have a talk about what we are, and where we want to take this.
But for now, I have to play the part of the supportive friend slash girlfriend and endure the company of the wicked witch from the west. Oh joy. She wrinkles her nose in disgust as she spots Fred in the parking lot. "This is what you drive? This thing?" She waves her hand in the air at her comment, and squint her eyes like the sun is irritating. I guess it's my truck she finds irritating.
"Yeah, this is my Fred," I reply, "He was a gift from my mom and stepdad, and I'm very fond of him." I have an irrational urge to defend my baby to this bitch.
"Hrmph." She exclaims, before clambering into the cab, assisted of course by Edward, ever the gentleman. On the drive back to campus, we stop by Wendy's for a bite to eat, and decide to part ways for the rest of the evening. They need to catch up, and I just need to get as far away from the witch as possible! I hope to find Beck home, I really need a distraction and a friendly face right now.
Luckily, Beck is home and ready to party – she's rambling on and on about this party at the Kappa Xi Rho house tonight and she is literally begging me to go with her. Oh well, it's not like I have been to any parties yet, and it might be a good idea to kick back and relax, have a few drinks and talk to some people. I start to get ready, finding some skinny jeans and a cute top. I leave my hair hanging in its usual carefree style. Also, my make-up is minimal – just a touch of eyeliner and some mascara, and I'm ready to go.
We arrive late it seems – the party is already in full swing. Well, it's a Greek house so guess I should have expected it to be a bit rowdy and out of control. There seems to be drunken people everywhere, and the music is blasting so loud that the windows are rattling in the frames. We maneuver our way through the crowd from the front entrance to the kitchen in search of some alcohol. I really need to hang loose tonight and am a bit anxious to get my drink on.
When we reach the kitchen, the whole counter is lined up with jello shots in every conceivable color. Ooooh, I love jello shots! They go down so smoothly. Beck and I start a line of shots in alternating colors and begin to drink from each end – a little drinking game – who ever meets the middle first, wins. It's a surefire way to get drunk fast! After seven shots I have to call it quits for now and let Beck take the last one. It doesn't take long for the shots to take effect and I start to shake and shimmy around with Beck. We are laughing and hollering and generally just having a great time.
At some point, I register that I am standing on top of a table, dancing around in my sneakers. Somehow my top is on backwards – when did I take that off again? Oh, never mind, this is so much FUN! A cute guy is standing up here with me – he tries to grab my ass every ten seconds, but I manage to ward him off. We may not have labeled ourselves, but I don't fuck around. Whoops, where did the table go? Oh, I'm on the floor now. Okay, this is gross – it's sticky and dirty. Beck gives me a hand to get up, and we crack up laughing.
Wait, what's that? Isn't that? Naaah, it can't be Edward, can it? A familiar shock of bronze hair appears in the corner - and there's strawberry blonde as well. What are they doing? Is he whispering something to her? No, the music's too loud for whispering. Why are they standing so close? Why is she grabbing his ass? I must be seeing things – Edward wouldn't make out with her! He said there was nothing more than friendship between them! I grab Beck's hand and make my way over there.
"EDWARD!" I yell in my drunkenness – they are awfully close, and it actually looks like they ARE making out.
No response from either of them. I yell again; "Edward, Tanya, HELLO!" Finally, he straightens up from his awkward position and turns his head towards me – he is actually holding her up against the wall. His eyes locate mine, but they seem unfocused and half-lidded. He licks his lips, and that's when he finally registers who I am. It's almost comical the way his eyes widen at the sight of me.
"Bella? Bella, what are you doing here?"
"What am I doing here – what are you doing? I thought you wanted to catch up tonight? But I see you're catching up just fine! Catching up with her lips!" I feel pissed off, betrayed, humiliated, confused – all of these emotions are crashing down at me all at once. I am so mad that I am shaking and tears bust out of my eyes in my rage.
"Bella, I'm sorry, I never meant for this to happen. Will you let me explain? He watches me with pleading eyes and I can literally feel the regret coming off him in waves. It seems Tanya is more or less passed out, barely hanging on to his tall frame. I am taken aback by his sincerity and I can feel myself calming down. The hurt is still there, but rational thinking begins to kick in. I guess the shock have sobered me up somewhat.
"Edward, I don't think we should discuss this now. I am still drunk, and so are you it seems. Tanya is almost passed out and I think you should take care of her now. I'll talk to you in the morning. I expect a damn good explanation to this though. I know we haven't discussed our relationship, but I thought of us as exclusive, so this is quite hurtful." I surprise myself with the cool way I am able to address this, without yelling or screaming and without hitting him.
"Yeah, I think you're right. I'll come get you for some breakfast and then we can talk. Is that okay?" He asks, with sad eyes and an unsure smile.
"Fine, just come around 10, okay?" I don't wait for his response; I just grab Beck and turn on my heel to leave.
On the walk home, Beck is uncharacteristically quiet, and so am I. My head hurts with all the thoughts that are whirling through it, and my heart hurts a little by the feeling of betrayal that lingers. I can feel my cheeks getting damp from the tears that leak from my eyes. Dammit! I hate crying. Especially in public – it's so humiliating. Right now, I really need a hug from my best friend. But then again, I never mentioned anything to Jasper about dating Edward, so seeking his comfort would require me to explain this whole mess. I am really not in the mood for that!
After returning home, I brush my teeth and wash off the mascara streaks that are left behind on my cheeks before I crawl under my cold and lonely sheets. I am emotionally exhausted and luckily I fall asleep quickly. It's a restless sleep, where I wake up several times, drenched in cold sweat – the only thing that can make me fall back to sleep is listening to Jasper's voice on my I-Pod. After setting it on continuous play, I finally fall asleep undisturbed for the remainder of the night.
I wake up early, hung-over and miserable. After a couple of Tylenol and a quick shower, I sit on my bed with my laptop while waiting for Edward to show up. I don't know what to make of this whole mess. I am in love with Jasper, crushing on Edward, who apparently is in love with Tanya, while crushing on me. Talk about a cluster-fuck. Well, I can't even really blame him for choosing to be with her. If the situation was reversed and it was me who had a chance to make out with Jasper, I'm not sure that I could have resisted either. Of course I am hurt, because rational or irrational, I still perceived us as a couple, even if we hadn't discussed it.
I am pulled from my stupor by a tentative knock on the door. It must be Edward. I just hope that he managed to come by himself, since I really don't want to involve Tanya in our private discussion. I want to get an honest explanation and I don't think he will be completely honest with me, if she is present. Besides from the fact that I really don't like her!
I open the door without a word. He looks sheepish and apologetic as he stands there with his eyes glued to my shoes. After a pregnant pause, he raises his eyes and says: "Bella, please…" I stand as still as a statue, raising one eyebrow. A sadistic side of me enjoys watching him squirm while he's waiting for my response. "Bella, aren't you going to speak to me at all?" Yes, I am, but you don't need to know that yet. Muahahaha…
I open my mouth to speak and Edward looks at me expectantly.
"Edward, just take me out for breakfast. I don't want the whole dorm to know my dirty laundry." I say in an icy tone. Yes, I'll let him squirm for a bit. It's only fair. But deep down, I think I've already forgiven him.
A/N: REVIEW PLEASE!
And if you're looking for a great B/E story to tide you over while you wait for my next update, try out Remind Me, by jmj3. You won't regret it.