CHAPTER 20: A Night to Remember
"Germany was absolutely wonderful! The fans there were so crazy for us! I wish you could have been there with me, Eddie."
Edward rolls his eyes. As I'm sure the rest of us do as well. "You know I couldn't, Tanya. I'm shooting a movie here."
She snuggles closer to him, wrapping her annoying arms tightly around his. She gives Edward a little pouty face, which he ignores and takes a long sip of his beer. Tanya Denali is finally back in our lives. She was in Germany doing a tour with the rest of the Victoria's Secret models for a new line of lightweight bras and just arrived in Volterra this morning—much to our enthusiastic excitement. We barely speak a word to her.
Jacob's leaving in two days time and I wanted to gather some of the people he knew for a nice, casual summer dinner on the beach, which Tanya has to crash. Of course she'd be glued to Edward's hip as soon as she saw him so I can't just tell her that she isn't invited. Well, Alice could have and made sure she's a good distance away as if we have put a restraining order on her. But, as the host, I know she'd look to me to overrule my clearly annoyed friend, and if I still say she can't partake in our exclusive activity, who knows what this woman will do to make the rest of my stay here even more miserable. Alice also tells me that Tanya has a nasty streak when it came to spreading rumors about others to make her seem like the victim in whatever situation to get more sympathetic votes on her side.
When dinner is finally served people are relieved they can break into their own conversations. Riley brought a small radio so we have music playing in the background. The boys are gathered in one area, mostly drinking and chit-chatting. Edward can't shake Tanya, even when he suggests that she catch up with the girls. Her excuse is because she's been gone for so long, she won't know anything we'd be talking about. Again with her famous pouty face, Edward is stuck in his own little area with her and doesn't seem too thrilled about it. Tanya, on the other hand, is having the time of her life, trying to feed him and giggling. Was she for real?
"Is she always like that?" Jessica makes a face. I guess I'm not the only one discreetly observing the two. Edward keeps trying to take the fork away from her and when that didn't work, the plate.
"She thinks if she baby's him like that, he'll spoil her. When she wants something she thinks Edward will buy for her and he doesn't, she tries to make him feel guilty by saying how she does nothing but take care of him, blah…blah." Alice rolls her eyes, taking a spoonful of her salmon. "I swear that woman should just be a nanny," she says in between bites. The girls and I chuckle at Alice's bitter tone. Edward hears us and looks our way as we quickly turn to each other to dismiss awkwardly getting caught and start a different conversation.
"So, Alice," Angela adjusts her glasses, "is that really Edward's type?"
My ears perk up, my eyes on my plate. Alice makes a horrified gasp at her question. "If you remove Tanya's pretty exterior, she's nothing more but a mere Troll with a black heart." Angela's eyes widen. We're surprised at her response. If I didn't know how much she despised Tanya before, I sure do now! "Tanya got to where she is now by her looks and manipulating people. Edward's just too nice sometimes to put his foot down. When he does, she always finds a way to make him feel guilty for something or tries to play the helpless act to get some sort of sympathy from him."
"Didn't she used to, like, date James Nomad?" asks Jessica. "They seemed like a hot pair for a while." James Nomad is another young and up-and-coming actor like Edward. He has a large following much like him but James is a bit on the cocky side and directors find him hard to work with so he didn't get offered as many roles as Edward. He has cropped short hair and blue eyes, and pretty muscular, but average-looking. There's nothing remarkable about his face or body at all, if you ask me, but the ladies seem to love him, too.
"When Edward broke up with Tanya, she basically turned around the next day and got with James. Edward broke his hand punching a wall when he found out. He refused to speak to her after that and it lasted for a few months. If she can find someone else so quickly then obviously my brother didn't mean a thing to her. Ever since she found out he got the lead role in this movie, she's back to her old games of trying to convince Edward that she's changed and only got with James because she was so devastated about their breakup—yeah right!" Alice rolls her eyes again. "She's only after the publicity."
"And Edward is buying this?" Angela looks skeptical. I glance in Edward's direction and see how Tanya is talking animatedly about something while he seems to be tuning her out.
"I doubt it. But she hasn't been appearing in any gossip columns except for when she's on tour with the rest of the models so…I guess she's behaving? You can never really tell with her."
"So…tell us about your brother," Jessica blushes. I raise an eyebrow. Was she still interested in him? I was starting to get confused on who she really liked—Edward or Mike? Maybe both?
"Edward is a confident person and can be totally cocky if he wants to, but he's very composed. Rarely do I see him making a spectacle of himself. He's a lot more cool, calm, and reserved than Emmett, that's for sure," she laughs. "Edward is a pretty simple guy, really. He enjoys doing normal guy things like…racing cars, playing sports, watching movies, hanging out with friends. He needs someone who can keep him grounded. He only goes to celebrity events because Rosalie makes him, and it's good for his career, but I know if he had it his way, he'd be…racing, or playing baseball with Jasper or something."
"Racing…that's hot," Jessica blushes again.
We see Edward suddenly get up with Tanya right on his heels. He walks over to the boys and grabs a beer, easily assimilating into their conversation and is laughing for the first time since we got to the beach. Tanya has her arms folded in front of her chest, pouting once again, because she's being ignored. She keeps trying to tug on Edward's shirt, even whispering in his ear with a smirk but he continues to wave her off her advances. He says something to her and points in our direction like he wants her to hang out with us instead.
She looks our way with a snotty expression and storms away. Edward sighs and to my surprise, doesn't go after her. He goes back to his conversation, shrugs off Tanya's foul attitude, and apologizes to his friends. Jacob starts laughing, patting Edward on the back. Edward and the rest of the boys begin to chuckle like a weight has just been lifted off their shoulders. Even the girls are happy she's gone. It's like everyone was awkwardly tip-toeing around her. Good riddance! And after Tanya leaves is when the real party began.
The boys and girls finally get together as one big group again with mixed conversations and laughter. Jacob keeps trying to make me take shots of vodka with him, saying I need to build up my tolerance now that I lived in LA. "Are you crazy?" I glare at him. He knows I was a lightweight with hard alcohol. Even Jessica and Angela refuse. I understand their refusal because they both have an afternoon shoot the next day, but regardless they look terrified of the clear liquid.
But Alice…Alice is like one of the boys. "Another!" she hollers.
"Are you sure she'll be okay, Jasper?" I ask him quietly. "Remember that incident at the bar when you had to carry her home?"
Her boyfriend nods. "Of course I do. That's why we've been mixing her shots with water."
"What?"
"When she's not looking we replace the vodka with water and only coat the tip of the shot glass with it to make it seem like it's a real shot. Practically works every time," he winks.
I laugh out loud. "That's pretty clever." I shouldn't have done that because Alice hears me.
"What's pretty clever?" she eyes both of us.
"The wide angle shots I do when I focus in one subject and the rest of the image looks blurry," Jasper quickly answers. "You thought it was pretty clever, too."
The Hobbit thinks for a moment and finally smiles. "Yeah, it is!" I inwardly sigh with relief. I don't want to get Jasper in trouble for his clever little trick. I wish they were doing that with my shots so I don't have to taste the strong liquid as it goes down my throat. "Bella! Take a shot with me!"
"What? No! I'm done, Alice," I wave her off. I think three shots are about all I could take.
"Just one more, Bella…" Edward hands me a shot glass. "I'll even take one with you."
I refuse the offer. "No, I can't." I can already feel my toes tingling and my cheeks warmer than usual.
"Aww, c'mon, Bells!" Jacob eggs me on. "We'll all take one!"
"That's a great idea!" Alice takes the plastic bag with the other shot glasses we bought at the store earlier today and start filling them up with vodka. Jasper takes hers from her. "Hey!" she frowns.
"We'll share," he tells his girlfriend. She isn't happy about it, but Jasper looks pretty serious about not letting her take a full shot. She sighs and continues to pour the alcohol for the others. I don't know how she convinces Jessica and Angela to take one but they have shot glasses in their hands, ready to go. I think I'm the only one cringing at this point.
"Relax, Bella." I can feel Edward's soft touch on my back. How did he expect me to relax? I'm wearing a halter-top so his cool hand is exposed against my warm skin. It feels so good that I wish he'd just keep it there for a while longer. I close my eyes briefly, concentrating on his closeness to me.
"To a great vacation and seeing you again, Bells," Jacob winks at me, "and new friends. Bottom's up!" he yells. I hold my breath and swallow. All the girls except for Alice make a disgusted face. The boys drink theirs like water, cheering. I suddenly don't feel so good.
"Just breathe through your nose," says Edward. "Let it sit in your system before trying to move or you'll feel sicker." I do as he instructs and eventually I don't feel like yakking out what I had for breakfast. "Here, drink this. It might help." He gives me a can of Sprite to try to cancel out the taste in my mouth. It helps somewhat but I still feel lightheaded.
"I'm…going to go for a walk," I announce to my crush. Standing around makes me dizzier and I feel like walking along the cold water to cool my body down a few temperatures.
"I'll accompany you," he quickly replies. "If that's alright with Jacob?" He looks toward my best friend who is preparing to take another shot with Riley.
I give Edward a strange look. Why is he asking for Jacob's permission? It wasn't like he was my dad or anything. "Yeah, man, that's cool," Jacob says, barely paying attention to us.
"No, no…I'll be fine. I'll be right back," I ward them off. For some reason I feel like giggling, which I manage to suppress.
Edward shakes his head. "It's not a good idea for you to be walking around by yourself. Not in the condition you're in."
"Who are you? My father?" I let a giggle slip out. I push pass him and make my way over to Jacob. "Jake, I'll be right back." I smile at him, too, giving him a kiss on the cheek, which seems to irritate Edward…good!
Jacob just pats me on the back, chuckling at my behavior. "You really are a lightweight, Bells."
"You shush! Making me take that shot," I say back bitterly.
"Bella, maybe we should take you home?" Alice sounds concerned for my well-being, but I shake my head in protest.
"I'm fine, Alice. You took more shots than me, remember?" I wink at Jasper letting him know I was good at keeping their little secret of switching out Alice's shots. Alice eyes Jasper who merely shrugs, pretending he didn't know what I was talking about.
"Let her walk it out, she'll be fine," Jacob smirks. "Bella might have two left feet in everything she does, but she's pretty durable."
"See!" I nod, slightly stumbling. Edward catches my fall. "I'm fine. I'm fine," I fix myself and try focusing on walking like a sober person, which is harder than I imagined. I continue on my expedition down the beach without giving anyone else another thought.
I briefly turn around to wave good-bye when I see Jacob elbow Edward. Edward gathers himself and jogs after me. "Bella, wait!" he calls out.
"Have fun you two!" I hear Jacob laugh. I glare at him and keep marching down the beach. Edward looks embarrassed at the comment but that doesn't stop him from following me.
"Shouldn't you be off chasing Tanya or something?" I ask somewhat bitter that she was out here with us earlier.
"Did you want me to?" he looks at me curiously.
I stop and face him, not really knowing what to say. I attempt to open my mouth but the words I think I should say aren't there. "Well, I just mean…you know…her being your girlfriend and all. What was that saying? Don't go to bed angry at each other or something?"
Edward laughs softly, placing his hands in his pockets. "Yeah, I know what you mean. But…Tanya's not my girlfriend. We're not back together, regardless of what she may say or think." He's looks annoyed.
Again, I almost choke on my own spit and a sudden rush of blood to my heart erupts. "Oh…" Shortly after that lame reply, I panic, so I start walking again—faster this time. Why is my heart pounding so loudly in my ears?
"Bella, wait! Slow down. You might hurt yourself!" I feel his hand brush my forearm. "What's the rush?" he smiles.
"I'm not rushing," I shrug. But I am. My feet are digging into the sand making it harder to walk in my flip flops because I'm scooping spoonfuls of sand every time I lift them. Edward must have noticed because he's smirking at me. I roll my eyes at him. "So, you didn't answer my question."
"What question?"
"Why aren't you after Tanya? Just because she's not your girlfriend anymore doesn't mean you shouldn't go after her."
"I'll answer your question if you answer mine," he smiles back.
"Answer what?" I tilt my head, confused.
"Did you want me to go after her?"
"Huh?" His question catches me off guard. I forgot I asked him that question only minutes ago. I'm having a short-term memory span. All I can focus on is the loud thumping in my head that's coming from my chest.
"Well…did you?" he folds his arms with a look in his eyes as if he already knows the truth. Am I really so transparent?
I try to act as cool as possible and shrug. "I don't know, it's—whatever."
The gorgeous actor laughs once more, shaking his head at my pathetic reply. "Really, Bella?" he eyes me. "It's…whatever?"
I ball my fists. And in that moment something inside me explodes. "Okay, fine! No, I don't want you to go after her! What the hell is she doing here anyway? Every time she's near you, it makes my skin crawl and I can't stand how she's always throwing herself at you! And why did she have to be so beautiful? I know I'll never be like her in all my…simplistic ways. All this…" I tugged at my clothes, "…all this is Alice. This isn't me. I would look like a mess without her. And you…" I gave him an exasperated look.
"Me?" he points at himself like I'm accusing him of a horrible crime. "What about me?"
"…You're…you're beyond marvelous. You're all I think about. When I wake up in the morning, when I go to bed at night—I know it sounds stupid and cliché but it's true. It hurts when I'm not with you and even more so when you're with her. I can't stand the way it makes me feel. I feel like I can't breathe half the time." The tears are already trickling down my cheeks. I suddenly feel tired and weak. "I've never loved anyone like you before and—"
The next thing I know I'm hushed quietly by his lips with his big, soft hands cupped around my face. My eyes fly wide open and my body goes stiff as a board from the shock of his actions. But the more Edward kisses me, the more I begin to relax in his arms. He pulls me closer and deepens our kiss—giving him access into my mouth, as soon as let myself return his affections. My whole body is tingling and I yearn for him that much more. I hold him tighter, not wanting to let go in case I'm hallucinating because of the alcohol in me. Eventually we have to break apart for air, but Edward continues butterfly kisses on my cheek and neck that make me giggle.
"So you love me, huh?" he asks with the biggest smirk I'd ever seen on anyone. I swallow the lump in my throat, feeling even more embarrassed than before. It finally hits me how I really did just confess all of that to him. I bury my face in his shoulder. I can't look at him right now and my head is starting to spin again. I can feel Edward quietly laughing against me.
He kisses my hair and gives me a tight squeeze. "What about Jacob?"
"What about him?" I say into his shirt. His smell is intoxicating.
"I thought you said you loved him, too?" he asks, pulling me away from him so he can see my face. I was so comfortable taking in his scent that I wish he hadn't done that.
I smile, chuckling. "I do love him—Jake's my best friend. And now that he's finally found himself a girlfriend back home, I won't have to worry about him as much."
"Oh…" his face softens with a sigh relief. "And this whole time…"
"This whole time, what?" It's now my turn to start asking the questions.
"Well," he tucks a loose strand of hair behind my ear, "just like you thought I was with Tanya, I thought you were with Jacob. And you know," he lowers his head, "…it hurt me just as much to see you with him."
"What?" This is hard to wrap my head around as it's all news to me. It has to be the alcohol. This whole thing is a dream—I'm sure of it!
"Ever since he arrived that night, the way you looked at him and how excited you were that he was here…it almost killed me," he chuckles in a scoffing way. "And every time I saw you two together, you looked like you really cared for each other. So when you told me you loved him, I thought I lost my chance. And you seemed happy with him, and your happiness wasn't something I wanted to get in the way of. When Tanya arrived and you and I began to drift apart…I was miserable."
"You, too?" I ask quietly frowning at all those days I kept myself locked in my room, buried in my books trying to forget about him.
"I wasn't sure if you and Jacob were official. Emmett tried to get me to go out and do things with him to get my mind off my troubles and it worked for a bit, but then I saw you guys at the restaurant and—"
"Wait…is that what you were upset about?" I remember spying on their conversation and the look on Edward's face, how frustrated his features were. I had no idea it was because of a personal matter and surely would never have guessed it was about me!
"Don't you notice how upset I always am when I see you around with Jacob?" he half-smiles at my poor observation.
"Well, no…I…" I shrug again. "I mean, I could tell you're irritated sometimes but I just figured it was because of the way Jacob can be so boisterous and cocky at times."
Edward laughs. "Yeah, well…that, too. I was also confused when he had me go after you just now, but I guess it finally makes sense. I didn't want to step on any toes."
"So…you like me…back?" I ask, blushing in the pale moonlight. His eyes are sparkling green as he smiles at me. Before he can answer, our attention is drawn to a faint whistling in the distance.
"What is that?" he wonders.
"It's Jacob."
"Jacob?"
"They're probably getting ready to leave. We should head back." In Forks, when he and I used to hike around the mountains and forest, Jacob would always whistle really loud in case I couldn't find him when he knew I was looking for him. He has a tendency to wander off by himself. And sometimes it was to get my attention, which he is most likely doing now.
Edward smiles his perfect godlike smile at me and grabs my hand. "Shall we?"
I nod, smiling from ear to ear as we take our time walking back to our friends.
Author's Note: And there you have it, folks! Finally! Still lots of other surprises along the way. I also described James the way he is in the books, not the movie. Not a fan of the long hair. Since he also doesn't have a last name, I figured Nomad suit him well since they were nomad vampires, haha. Hope you liked it!
Please review!