Chapter 7: A gift and homecoming
Bella POV
After breakfast dad and I got in the cruiser to go to Seattle. I may hate traveling in the cruiser but there is no way my truck could make the trip back and forth. I napped a little on the way and a little more than the 3 hours later we were there. According to the address we had, the house was on the upscale part of the city. When I saw the cute, full of clatter 2 story house I was glad I was dressed in jeans and sneakers. We parked on the street and unlocked the front door.
The house was on the big side and stifling. My first instinct was to open all the windows I could find. After a foyer you saw a living room with a large plasma TV hung on the wall. Did I mention that Uncle Greg was a bachelor? At dad's happy smile and huge eyes I knew the TV was coming home with us. Maybe I could persuade him to give me the old one? There was also a grandfather's clock I liked and a set of frames I hated it. I moved upstairs to the bedrooms. One was completely empty housing only stuff Uncle Greg tried and obviously didn't like. The master bedroom had a king sized bed, a whole stack of adult magazines, clothes in dad's size hmm is it creepy to wear a dead man's clothes? Uncle Greg had a lot better taste than dad. I called dad upstairs and showed him the closet with a meaningful glare. I went to the library that was also on the ground floor and found a lot of crime novels I loved reading when younger and packed a large box with them. Next to the back door in the kitchen was a line with keys. There were 2 sets of house keys & car keys. Car? I took them and went in the garage to see a beautiful car in a metallic dark red / bloody color. I opened the door and checked the engine. It was pretty and big. Dad joined me a few moments later and almost cried when he saw the car.
"Dad what's wrong?"
"This car, it's the car your uncle and I learned to drive in"
"Wow"
"The Impala! We're getting it"
"Oh yeah"
"Do you want it?"
"Really?"
He nodded and I jumped to give him a hug.
"Thank you thank you thank you"
Dad laughed and we went back in the house to finish packing. It was 1pm when we loaded the boxes in the cars and left. We had 4 boxes. One with clothes and personal items, one with electronic equipment (2 laptops, a cordless phone, a few other stuff), one with books and the last one had knick knacks and photos. In the study I had found a large book about divination, supernatural beings (in detail) and some other stuff I wanted to read more about. The guy was a private eye and obviously knew a lot. We passed by his office in downtown Seattle but it was empty. He had stopped working when his cancer was in the final stage.
We got a quick lunch and returned home by 4,30pm. The boys would be picking us at 6 o'clock and Angela would come over at 5.15pm to get ready here. I found a large pack sitting on my bed and when I unwrapped it I saw a beautiful green dress. The card said that mom sent it to me with all the accessories since she wasn't here to dress me herself' I chuckled at that. Hopefully the getting-ready-for-the-dance routine would be enjoying with Angela. I skipped to the shower to wash my hair and get the dust from the day off me. After I was done I simply put underwear on, a pair of shorts (I needed to shave my legs, badly) and a simple tank top with buttons. I sat on my bed to blow dry my hair and wait for Angela.
She arrived promptly at 4.15 and we headed to my room. I shaved my legs while we were talking about clothes and looks for the dance. As soon as I was done I sat her on my bed and attacked her hair with the curling iron she brought. She wanted her hair in loose curls, pinned on the sides only. When she was done it was my turn to sit on the bed and she was doing my hair. Less than fifteen minutes later my hair was up in a pretty up do on the back of my hair with a few tendrils framing my face. Simple and cute. I let her get dressed in my room while I used the bathroom. Dad was in the living room waiting on Billy to watch sports and had cleared off the upper floor knowing there would be girls there. I returned to see Angela in a pretty strapless dress that barely reached her knees in a purple/silver design and barefoot.
"Wow, you look hot" she chuckled
"You're not half bad either"
"I feel underdressed"
We laughed and sat back down to work on makeup. Angela kept hers light in soft purple tones and so did I but in green tones. By the time the doorbell rung we were ready, fully dressed, shoes on, jewelries as well. When I put the high heels I freaked a bit but tried to relax. I hadn't fallen down lately and the dance DVD I had gotten helped a lot. We went downstairs to see dad, Billy, Harry, in front of the TV with Mike and Ben behind them all shouting something at the TV. I shook my head and smiled at Angela.
"Ready guys?"
at once all heads snapped at us. Billy, Harry and Dad were all looking at us with wide eyes and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. I went to give dad a hug and in a semi-serious voice told them
"Take pizza; don't stay up too late and no porn"
At their shocked faces a bid them "have fun" and we got in our coats ready to leave. I hadn't seen Damon all day and I missed him but I shook my head, smiled at Mike and got in Mike's car to leave. Laughing we pulled at the school and went inside, leaving our coats in the car.
The dance was held once again at the gym and the homecoming committee had outdone themselves. A red carpet led from the parking lot to the entrance of the gym, cardboard of movie stars were along the walls, red plastic rope railing that had the look of Hollywood with the gold bases and red rope railing. After getting our pictures taken we entered the gym. Jessica and a guy from our gym class were already there dancing, Lauren (who had cut her hair in a boy like style) and Tyler were talking and Eric was on the DJ's booth.
"What's wrong with Lauren? She looks like a leprechaun"
Angela whispered to me
"No, she looks like Alice Cullen"
I replied back and we both laughed. That made me think what Alice did and whether she even kept tabs on me. I shook my head, of course she doesn't. I wasn't important enough to even be bid goodbye.
After a glass of a slightly spiked punch we all headed in the dance floor. As I was dancing with Mike I saw Angela motioning me with her eyes to the entrance. I looked over Mike's shoulder and saw Damon. He looked hot and dangerous in total black and judging by the number of girls ogling him he knew it. I kept dancing with Mike and then Ben as they swapped me and Angela. The music turned to a slow tune and I took as it as my hint to leave the dance floor. A hand caught mine stopping me and I turned to see Eric.
"Eric"
"Hey Bella, you look pretty"
"Thanks" I felt a blush spreading over my cheeks.
"Do you want to dance?"
"There is a very strong possibility I'll step on your toes. Maybe you shouldn't take the risk"
"It's my decision"
I smiled reluctantly and we pulled closer and simply swayed side to side. We talked about school and when I asked if he came alone he shrugged. After the song was over I smiled at Eric and made my way back to the table to my friends. Tyler looked pissed as he and mike talked together, Angela was holding her laughter unsuccessfully watching Jessica and Lauren doing their best to flirt with Damon while arguing with each other. I sat next to her and leaned in to ask her what was going on and she replied that ever since Damon joined the table the two of them dumped their dates to flirt with him. I shook my head at the antics. Angela and I kept talking about this and that and after a while I went outside for some fresh air.
"Hey stranger" I turned to see Damon leaning against the wall
"Hey"
"What you doing out here?"
"Needed some fresh air, and you?"
He simply shrugged
"Did I tell you, you look hot?"
"You weren't at home when I left, but thanks"
"Where is your date?"
"He's not my date and he's inside"
After a few minutes of silence I turned to look at him only to find him staring at me
"What?" I asked feeling self-conscious
Damon POV
I was leaning against the wall outside the gym mentally comparing the dance that was going on inside with the dances of my youth fully knowing how stupid it was. Those dances were guarded, formal like a day comparing to the night of these ones. Inside it felt like a mating range. I admit that under this light it's fully understandable why Bella wasn't in a hurry to come. Bella...
She makes me feel like when I was alive. Before I even met Katherine when I wanted to be the man my mother wanted me to be. A happy one. I felt as if I was born in the wrong time though. No one ever fully understood me except Stefan. Then Katherine came along and while she showed me there was another way she also destroyed the relationship I had with my brother. We used to be friends before. She wanted us both and when we changed because of her she decided she didn't want us anymore and while Stefan moved on with Elena I'm still here, still alone.
I was thinking of how Bella makes me feel, how angry I felt every time I saw her smiling at someone that wasn't me in the club last night, how good it felt to hold her as she slept and then it hit me. I'm in love with Bella! Me the eternal player as Stefan called me. That's why I've been stalking her all week, why I actually followed Charlie's directions to keep my diet in takeouts from the blood banks instead of warm fresh meals. That's why I felt the need to rip the arms off of the Asian looking guy that slow danced with her. From the moment I saw her leaving the house in this dress and I knew I'd follow her once again. I went upstairs and got ready in a flash, I drove to the school right after. I entered the school and headed to the gym. I scanned the room and found her on the dance floor with the blond boy she works with. I knew there were girls around me and that people were looking at me so I turned and started talking to one of them so that I would seem too out of place. After a while 2 of them (the same two that were trashing Bella the other day) threw themselves to me and for the first time I didn't like it.
That's how I got out here to clear my head. I heard a noise and a heartbeat and I turned to see Bella.
"Hey stranger" She jumped and turned to see me.
"Hey"
"What you doing out here?"
"Needed some fresh air, and you?"
I shrugged what could I tell her? I just realized I'm in love with you?
"Did I tell you, you look hot?"
"You weren't at home when I left, but thanks"
Hmm did she sound sad?
"Where is your date?"
I sneered
"He's not my date and he's inside"
We were silent after that. I was looking at her and saw her under a different light and trying not to kiss her.
"What?"
In a movement that took less than a quarter of a second I stood us up, turned her around and pressed her against the closed door to finally claim her lips in a kiss. No amount of imagination had prepared me for the experience of her warm plump lips against mine. She was unmoving for a moment and then relaxed and kissed me back. Hmm so right.
Her hands reached up and her fingers threaded through my hair, pulling me closer. I complied eagerly, and then caught the faint scent of her arousal in the air. For a moment, I lost control of everything and I closed the distance between us even more. She trembled against me in response. My hands that had so far remained on the door to either side of her decided to join in, running down her sides, over her hips, and onto her ass. I wanted more. I needed more. As I lifted her up, trying to bring her closer to me anyway I could, she wrapped her legs tightly around my hips.
The burning heat of her core scorched me through my jeans, and I forced myself to pull away from the kiss before I lost control completely. I breathed her name as our foreheads touched in a gesture that seemed even more intimate than anything that had happened before. She initiated the second kiss; it was just as desperate, and passionate as the first. Before I had a chance to fully respond, light flooded the room. The door disappeared from behind Bella, and I took one, shaky step forward into the corridor, too shocked to keep my balance without moving. My hands shifted to the backs of her thighs to get a more secure grip of her as I tried to remember where we were. It was then I saw her friend Angela standing in the doorway smiling and blushing at the same time.
"Took you two long enough. Bell you need to come back inside. They're crowning King and Queen and we need our queen. "
She chuckled at Bella's wide eyes and hauled her inside. I laughed and followed them to see Bella being pulled up to the stage and being handed a tiara and an Oscar award? She took them both and blushing danced the theme of Mr & Mrs Smith with Mike and then got her purse from Angela, threw her a wink and came to me. I took her hand and led her outside. As the door closed I looked at her realizing I still had her in my arms. She was wide eyed and her eyes sparkled while her lips were a little swollen. 'I did that' I thought and I carried her that way to my car.
"Home?"
I asked her as I opened the door and put her inside on on the passenger side.
"My coat is in Mike's car"
"Tomorrow, home?
"Home"
As I drove I kept sneaking glances at Bella only to find her looking at me already. She had a soft smile on and I knew we'd have to talk about this. I didn't want her just for tonight or just for a meal. I wanted to throw caution to the wind and just live it. We pulled up outside the house. The lights were off and no foreign cars were parked. We got out of the car and I led her in the attic. She pulled away to tell me she wanted her clothes from her room and after I nodded she left. She came back 10 minutes later dressed in a pair of dark orange shorts and a matching top with thin straps, clean face and hair cascading her shoulders. I pulled her in for another kiss, less heated that the previous ones but still filled with passion. I led on the bed and she cuddled to me. I turned the lights off and held her. In the darkness she seemed to find her courage and simply asked me
"why did you kiss me?"
"I wanted to. I ... I think I love you"
"You... love me? Please tell me you mean it or else this is a very sick joke"
"It's not a joke, I only realized today myself. Just before you came outside."
I started talking to her and said everything I thought tonight. As I spoke the smile on her face only got bigger and when I was done she was positively beaming. She kissed me and hugged me to her. Then she proceeded to tell me about her side of the things. How she was intrigued in the beginning and how she came to be jealous last night to how she realized she might actually feel something for me. I understood her being hesitant to allow herself to fall in love with me only three weeks after being thrown again like yesterday's trash. I held her closer and fell asleep.
