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WitFit Jan/Feb 2013
90's Sex, drugs and rock-n-roll
Word Prompt: Swap
Dialogue Flex: "You'll have to wait and see."
-PoM-
"Wonder how it got up there in the first place."
Edward shrugged and buttoned his jeans. His hair was a mess—mine was too, for that matter—and there was no doubt in my mind that the people in the dressing room were going to know what we'd been up to.
"Maybe whoever drew it stood on the sink," he said. "Though they'd have to have a helluva reach to get it drawn so big and exactly in the middle."
I took one last look and crossed to the mirror to fix myself up a bit—not that everyone wasn't going to know I was freshly fucked, but I didn't have to look like a skeeze when I went back out there.
At least we hadn't been in here too long. Not that I was complaining.
Edward came up behind me, caged me in between the sink and his body.
"You're gorgeous, you know that?"
Delighted by the compliment, I stared back at him in the mirror. "Thank you. Is this just because I broke your dry spell?"
He snickered and leaned over me to kiss my cheek, and then moved away to let me finish. "No, it's just the truth. I missed seeing you, Bella."
I turned to face him. "Same here. You ready to go back out? I hope you know in advance your running interference on any teasing."
He grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the door. "It's just sex, babe. Everyone does it."
A smattering of applause followed by a few hoots and hollers greeted us when we left the bathroom. I ducked my head to disguise the blush creeping up my cheeks—it might have been 'just sex' but it was also the first time I'd willingly done it with an audience, so to speak.
Still, I didn't regret it. Until I saw his face, I hadn't realized just how much I'd longed for him the past few weeks. I had a feeling the next few weeks were going to be torturous now that I'd gotten a chance to see him again.
Thankfully the room had thinned out a bit; from the heavy thrum shaking the room, I could tell the next band had taken the stage. Rose and Em were taking up a single space on the couch while Ben lounged on the other side nursing a smoke. Jasper and Tyler were nowhere to be seen. The other stragglers were totally unfamiliar, and I tried to avoid their stares as they openly checked me out.
"Fucking stellar, Cullen," said Emmett. "Couldn't have done it better myself."
He chuckled a little but chose not to reply to Emmett. Someone handed him a beer and I took a peek up at his face, only to see his smile was all proud and smug and completely full of himself.
Typical male.
He did pull me into his side, though, and kissed the top of my head. I melted against him—that gesture, perhaps above all others, completely turned me to mush—and slid my hand into his back pocket.
Rose said something in Emmett's ear that made his teasing cut off with a quickness, and then she looked at me. "Well, now that you two have said . . . hello, wanna get out there and see the band? I don't think you've watched them live yet."
"That sounds great."
The hallway was much clearer now and we found a space off to the side, near the door to the backstage area, to stand. It was pretty much a shitty spot, right next to a set of speakers and I couldn't see over any one from there, but at least I was with Edward.
The guys formed a buffer between me and Rose and the crowd, and Edward tucked his hands into the pockets of my dress. Every time he ran his fingers over the waistband of my panties, twisting them around his fingers until they pulled tight and then releasing them, I wondered if he was trying to kill me or just absentmindedly finding any way to touch me.
It was a great show. I laughed at Emmett and Ben when they went all air-band on the floor, bounced around with Rose when a song we both loved came up, swayed with Edward behind me when a song that always made me think of him rang out. The only damper was the girls in the crowd.
Most of the people who came up to congratulate the guys or just get a few moments of face time were polite. They nodded at us girls and didn't seem offended when the guys would signal their intent to be left alone to enjoy the show. Some of the girls were too bold in coming up for autographs, though, rubbing their tits against the guys as they leaned over their arms and ignored Rose and me entirely. I tried not to let it bug me that much because Edward ignored their advances, but I could tell Rose was getting fed up.
"Honestly," she said loudly, raising her voice to be heard over the speakers when a set of brunettes shuffled her off to the side. "Bella, can you believe this shit? I mean, we're trying to watch a show with our boyfriends here!"
The taller one—currently asking Edward where she could buy their music—snorted and flicked her hair over her shoulder, continuing on despite Rose's obvious annoyance.
"My bet would be the merch table," I said. I gave up on being invisible so as to not offend any potential fans and curled myself around Edward's arm, effectively putting space between her and him. "Probably some t-shirts left, too."
They left pretty quickly after that, and I blew out a harsh breath and turned back toward the stage. Rose and Emmett were bickering pretty loudly off to the side and I worked hard on ignoring them.
"My girl has claws," Edward said, wrapping his arms around my shoulders from behind and speaking into my ear. "That was kind of hot."
"I don't like that shit," I said. "But I do like this song . . ."
-PoM-
The lights had just come back up when Edward leaned in to ask, "Wanna go?"
"I don't mind either way. Whatever you want to do."
He nuzzled my ear. "I want you all to myself."
I didn't need to be asked twice.
"Let's go."
The lobby of the hotel was still the same when we got back. The patrons hadn't changed much, and I laughed to Edward that watching people wait to meet someone famous was a riot.
"It's not like this usually," he said, pulling me toward the elevator. "Must be because it's L.A. or something."
"Still pretty cool." I stepped in to the elevator and moved to the back, where a small pocket of space was available. "I bet you've seen some out-there stuff."
"Hmm. Yeah, I guess so." He turned his back to the other people in the elevator, moved in close to me. His voice dropped down low, almost too much so to be heard. "What I'm really wanting to see is you naked." His fingers found the inside of my thigh and inched up. The sway of the elevator made me squirm when it caused his fingers to brush against the crease of my leg.
By the time we got to our floor, he'd worked his fingers under the elastic of my panties and was inching his way in. My breath hitched, and the guy who was standing in front of us turned and stared. "Quit it," I whispered, pulling Edward's hand out from under my dress.
My face heated because the guy still hadn't turned back around, and he had this knowing grin on his face. Pervert.
I shot out of the elevator when it opened on our floor, and only turned when I heard the doors shut.
"People in this town . . ."
"Don't let them get to you, baby. You'll probably never see them again. C'mon, my room is down at the end."
"Damn it, my bag is in Rose and Em's room."
"Leave it. You're not going to need anything in it for a while."
I glanced at his profile as he walked beside me. His cheek was lifted into a knowing grin. I rolled my eyes and adopted a lofty tone. "Whatever do you mean, Edward?"
"You'll have to wait and see."
-PoM-
"God, I've missed this," Edward said, lifting his head from where it lay on my breast and placing a kiss into my cleavage.
Loving how good he felt on top of me, I smoothed his hair back from his eyes and peered into them. They were droopy, all dark from where the bags had drawn his features haggard and a little bit dull. He looked so worn out.
"I've missed it, too." I rubbed at his scalp and his eyes slid closed. "Good news is your almost done and you can come home."
What I didn't say was that I wasn't sure how long that would last. From what I'd seen of the crowd's reaction, they were definitely on their way and this tour was only the beginning. The distances might get longer, and I wasn't sure yet what to think about that, or if I might want to take a cue from Rose and head on the road with them more often.
We'd have to talk about it when it came, though. This weekend's time was drawing ever closer to an end, and I didn't want to bog it down with shit we could talk about when it came up. "Yeah," he said sleepily, burrowing into me a little further.
His weight was solid and there, and I didn't even mind that it was an uncomfortable position for me. He fell asleep to my fingers rubbing patterns over his brow, and I watched his features become peaceful before I drifted in to my own dreams.
-PoM-
I woke to a pounding at the door. Edward jerked in his sleep and then woke up, too. He looked around the room bleary eyed and confused, and then dropped his head back onto me and groaned.
"What the fuck?" he mumbled.
Another pound at the door, more insistent this time.
His elbow was digging into my kidneys and I shifted to get away from the sharp, boney appendage. "Maybe it's Emmett."
"Nah, he'd call." He raised his head and shouted, "Go the fuck away!"
The knocking did stop, but only to be replaced by a thump at the door. Weirded out, I sat up and Edward fell to the side with a groan. "What are you doing?"
"I'm just going to go look out the peephole."
"Bella, don't. It's probably a groupie or something."
I threw his shirt over my head and crept toward the door. There wasn't a face staring back at me when I checked the peephole, and I stood on my tiptoes to try and peer all around.
There was, however, a pair of shoes just visible on the hallway floor.
"Edward, there's someone out here. Whoever it is, they're passed out in front of your door.
"Jesus fu—"
He rolled out of bed and slid into his jeans, and then came to look out of the peephole, too.
"Again? Bella, watch out. I need to open the door."
"Who is it?" I asked worriedly.
He didn't answer, just nudged me gently out of the way and undid the chain. He was careful in opening the door, and a moment later I understood why.
Tyler slid backward into the room, and Edward barely had time to catch his head before it bounced on to the floor. He was so fucked up he didn't move at all, only muttered something incoherent, and I barely stifled a scream. The light of the hall highlighted his face, newly formed dreads covered in something I didn't want to think about.
"Oh my god, is he all right?"
Edward grabbed his jaw, rolling his face toward him. I winced when he started slapping his cheek and said, "Tyler! Ty! Wake up man."
Tyler rolled his head to the other side and groaned.
"I'm gonna get him to his room."
"Do you need me to call an ambulance?" I said, leaning down to help him lift Tyler.
"I've got it," Edward said, his voice irritated.
Hurt by the tone of his voice, I pulled back and stepped away. "O—okay. Sorry, I just wanted to help."
"I'll be back in a little bit. Lock the door behind me."
Feeling sort of helpless, I waited until he'd pulled Ty up and got him walking, and then shut and locked the door. My body was pumping with adrenaline and I felt antsy so I grabbed my cigarettes, wrapped myself in the sheet, and shuffled out onto the balcony and sat in a chair to wait.
I remembered Rose saying that Tyler had been getting in to some heavy stuff, but Edward had acted like it wasn't that big of a deal. Now, though, the way Ty had acted in the backstage area took on a new meaning: where I'd thought him exhausted earlier, I wondered now if he wasted already fucked up before the show and had disappeared after to get even more torn up. I also didn't like how Edward had snapped at me when I was trying to help.
The sky was beginning to lighten when there was a knock at the door. I rushed to check the peephole, and then fumbled with the chain.
"Is he okay?"
Edward looked even more exhausted that he had earlier. "Yeah. I stuck him in the shower and made sure he was done puking and propped him up in bed. I'll check on him in a bit."
He collapsed backward on to the bed, and I gathered the sheet around me and sat beside him. I lit a cigarette and inhaled, and then held it over his face so he could hit it, too. He took a deep drag and then rubbed his hands over his face. We sat in silence for a few moments.
"Not exactly what I imagined the rest of our night would be like," he said, immediately lighting another cigarette.
I reached over and put my hand on his leg. "Yeah, that was . . . I don't even know what that was. I'm just glad he ended up here. Imagine if it was somewhere else and we couldn't find him."
Edward stared out of the balcony window. I watched as the rising sun shifted over the planes of his face, noticed how thin his cheekbones looked.
And, as much as I didn't want anything else to further drag our time together down, I had something that was bothering me that needed to be said.
"Hey, Edward?" He looked back at me. "Not to start anything, but I don't really like people yelling at me when I'm just trying to help."
"Fuck." He sat up and grabbed my face. "I'm sorry about that, really. I was freaked the fuck out and I didn't want you to touch him, Bella. He was a fucking mess. You don't need to deal with that shit."
"I know. I saw him, too. But, just . . . don't snap at me for being worried. You can want me to stay out of it, and that's fine, but it bothers me when people yell at me."
"I won't do it again," he said. "I'm sorry that I jumped down your throat. And I'm sorry our night was ruined."
I nodded, accepting his apology. Like I'd told him, it wasn't that big of a deal in the face of everything else. But he also needed to know that I wasn't going to sit there and take being treated badly, either.
"It's okay. I'm just glad we got a little time together," I said after a moment's pause.
He sat up and stood from the bed, pulling me with him. "I need a shower. Come and join me?"
"You bet," I replied, and vowed to make the best of the hours we had until I had to leave.
-PoM-
Less than twenty-four hours later I was back in Seattle and settling in to my routines again. The office of The Rocket was quiet this morning, and while I steeled my nerves for what I was about to do, I reminisced on the weekend.
The rest of the trip had been uneventful, thank God. The shower with Edward was a highlight, and he'd checked on Tyler afterward, and then we'd slept until noon. Jasper never made an appearance, and I was kind of glad not one second of my trip had been wasted on speaking to him.
Tyler was okay, or so said Edward, and he'd passed on an apology to me the next day when Em and Rose had checked on him.
Rose, Em, Edward and I went to a beach for a few hours and hung out in the sand talking, and then it'd been time to take me to the airport before they were to head out for the next stop in Southern California somewhere. I seriously hadn't wanted to let Edward go, and our goodbye ended up taking more time than it should.
The next three weeks couldn't go fast enough.
At least I'd had time to scribble down some thoughts on the plane for my review. I wasn't sure that Peter would take it because I was going to tell him the truth, but I'd written it anyway for the practice. It was much more difficult to set my feelings aside than I'd thought it would be, and I was interested to see what Peter thought about the piece.
When Marcus left from the meeting he and Peter had been in, I headed for my boss' door and knocked.
"Come in." He looked up. "Oh, hey, Bella."
"Hi." I took a seat in one of the chairs in front of his desk and laid my review on my lap.
"How was your trip?"
"Too quick, but well worth it. It was nice to get away. So, um, I have the article you asked me to work on."
"Great, let me see it." He reached his hand out for my folder.
"Before you read this, I need to talk to you about something first."
He sat back in his chair. "Okay, shoot."
I fidgeted with the hem of my knee-length skirt before I realized that'd make me look guilty, and then I cleared my throat. "Well, when you handed me the CD to review, I didn't tell you something I should have. And I think it's something that could possibly alter your outlook on this assignment.
He frowned and gestured for me to continue.
"The band you asked me to review? Well, I already knew of them because . . . um, the lead singer is my boyfriend."
The surprised look on his face melted into understanding, and his lips formed a thin line. "Why didn't you tell me in the beginning?"
"Honestly, I don't know why. I was shocked at first when you handed me the CD, and then I wasn't sure if I should even write the review. You said I could have time to think about it, and I did. While I realize it's a matter of ethics, and just so you know, I pride myself on being honest, I also realized that it would be a good learning experience for me. I am sorry, however, that I didn't tell you sooner than today."
He propped his chin on tented fingers and studied me. I fought to keep from glancing away from his gaze, from showing fear or meekness because I wanted him to see that I knew where I'd messed up.
"I appreciate you being honest now. You say you wrote it anyway?"
"Yes, sir. I mean Peter—sorry. I said before that I tried to go at it as a learning experience, and I meant that. It was hard to put on a neutral hat and step back from personal feelings, but I gave it a shot. If anything, even if you choose not to run it, the constructive criticism from you would be worth it.
"Let me see it."
I handed it to him across the desk, watching nervously while he began to read.
He finished it and sat back, tapping the folder in his hands.
"So, you just came back from the L.A. show?"
"Yes."
"You were only there two days?"
"I didn't want to miss any school or work."
He nodded his head and closed the folder, swapping it for a pen. The click click click of it in his hands was almost as nerve-wracking as waiting for his thoughts.
"You hate it."
"No, actually, I like it. Quite a bit. It was very well thought out and fair to the band. It was a little gushy over the lead singer, though."
Oh, Jesus. I'd edited it so much last night I'd barely gotten any sleep, and this morning I thought it sounded very neutral to personal feelings. But maybe not . . .
"Just kidding. No, I like your style, very honest and open on the performance and great description of the songs. You have a good ear for this stuff."
I sat back in my chair. Wow. "Thank you."
"I like it so much I might want to run it."
"Really? I mean, if it's going to cause a problem, I would understand. Even if you just wanted to mark it up and tell me where it's weak, that'd be great. "
"Don't worry about it. I'll think about it and let you know on my decision. We can rework it so you can state you're a friend of the band and make it into something fair."
"That . . . that's very fair. Thank you, Peter."
"I see a good future in this for you, Bella. You might see a few other things coming across your desk in the near future."
"I look forward to it." I stood from the chair and smiled at him gratefully, and then turned to leave the office.
Marcus was waiting just outside the door, which I only just then realized I'd left open in my rush to be honest. I tried to sidestep him, but he moved in front of me.
"So, lead singer, eh?"
I didn't want to get into my personal life with him. "Really, it's none of your business, Marcus."
"Only a matter of time," he muttered.
-PoM-
Who wouldn't smile with reviews like that? xo
Alive – Pearl Jam
Dude.