Twilight isn't mine, but the idea is. I was inspired to write this after a marathon of Fast and Furious. All the songs on the soundtrack helped me create this, so you should check them if you don't know them.
Many thanks to my dear friends m0t0b33 and TeamAllTwilight for the pre-reader and beta work.
And to you, my readers and followers, thank you! I wish I had the time to answer you, but we can discuss stuff in my facebook group. ;)
When Edward pulled up in front of the garage, having driven the car again, he saw James outside. A sheer sweat covered his neck and back, and it didn't have anything to do with the heat outside.
James wrapped up his conversation with their neighbor when he saw Bella's car parking. His eyes narrowed at the driver, but he forgot about being upset when he saw his sister jumping out and waving to him over the top of the car.
"Hey, bro!" She beamed at him.
Edward looked over at him nervously as he left the car, going to the trunk. He kept glancing at James while taking their grocery bags out.
"He's not the bad guy," Bella whispered to Edward, joining him. "He's trying to intimidate you because well…he's my big brother and a cop, and you're the threat."
"I'm the threat?" Edward asked in mock hurt.
"Yup." She giggled, making her way inside the house with her arms full.
"Need any help?" James asked, appearing next to Edward.
"I got it. Thanks."
James still took one of the most voluminous bags from Edward, leading the way to the house. "I hear Bella showed you around."
"Yeah. It's a beautiful area," Edward answered truthfully. "We're going for a hike soon."
"Bella, hiking? Good luck with that, kid!" James guffawed. "Take the First Aid Kit with you, though."
"I heard that!" Bella shouted. She appeared in the kitchen doorway. She glared at her brother while snatching the bags from Edward's hands. "It happened once! ONCE, James. It's not like I'm some clumsy fuck."
"Hey, watch that mouth."
"Or what? Really. Wake up, dude! I'm no longer a little girl and I can take care of myself!" She stormed into the kitchen, banging around.
"She said it, man," Edward chuckled, but when James glared at him, he disappeared toward his room.
It wasn't hard to notice Bella was no longer a little girl. Heck, he'd noticed alright. Due to the constant heat, Bella was wearing close to nothing in the house. She even went out like that today—short pants and a flimsy top that left little to the imagination. It had been hard for him at the frozen area in the store where he could see what the cold air was doing to her.
Edward had been trying not to give in to the temptation. He wanted to be Bella's friend, because starting something might complicate his life more than it already was. Starting a relationship—something he'd never had and had no idea what to do—was always bad if the whole thing was based on a lie. He couldn't very well tell her the truth, and expect her to accept him. That would be wishful thinking on his part, besides he didn't have time for such things. He had to focus on school and helping Jake with the car without slipping.
To give him something to do, Edward booted up his laptop and sent Jasper an e-mail explaining the situation with Jake and asking for help with the car parts.
There was a knock on his door, scaring the crap out of him. Rationally, he knew James couldn't know what he had just sent, but sweat still rolled down his temple as he opened the door and found the cop on the other side.
"I need help with the grill. It's either that or helping Bella with the salad."
Edward considered his answer. To spend more time than necessary around James or be a pain in the ass for Bella? He chose the second option.
"Salad."
James snorted, but accepted the answer. "Go on. Help her." He disappeared through the back door going out in the yard to prepare the grill.
When Edward arrived in the kitchen, he was greeted by Bella's ass in the air as she was checking whatever was in the oven.
Fuck me, he thought to himself.
"Your brother said you needed help," he said, announcing her of his presence.
She whirled around. "Can you watch the potatoes? Don't let them burn."
"Sure." He walked over and crouched to inspect the inside of the oven. Kitchen and cooking was something he knew very well from staying around his mom, but he wasn't going to admit as much to Bella.
After dinner that night, Edward went to shower, and when he was done he went in search for Bella. He'd gotten used to their movie nights. Every night since the day he arrived, they had watched a movie before going to bed.
Bella wasn't in her room. Curious of why she wasn't there, Edward started searching for her until he heard voices from the living room. He stopped near the doorway, eavesdropping.
"…and there's a possibility he'll wake up," James said hopefully.
"I knew it. You wouldn't have rushed there if it was just for your usual visit." Bella was pacing, worrying her hand in front of her. "Is that certain? That he'll awake?"
"Bella, nothing is certain when it comes to Brady. You know that." James's tone was dull, lifeless. "Anyway, there's something I wanted to talk to you about."
"Regarding Brady?"
"Not everything gravitates around him. It's about me."
"Oh. What about you?" she grumbled, slumping on the couch.
"We're growing tired of this—me and Vicky—seeing each other when I go over to visit my friend."
"Don't tell me you never rushed there for a booty call!" Bella rolled her eyes making James narrow his eyes at her. "What, it's true!"
"Fine. I might have gone over to Phoenix just to see her, but that's beside the point. I want to tell you something important."
"You want to marry her and have two point five kids, but can't until the thorn in your side is off to college. I get it."
"Isabella!" he shouted making her cringe. "Marriage is still a future plan, far away future."
"Yeah, cuz thirty is way too young to get married."
"I want to ask Vicky to move in with us. She's wanted to leave the hospital in Phoenix for a while now," he blurted out, waiting for his sister's reply. He was never nervous, but admitting his desire to her scared him. If she said no, he'd accept her wish. Her word was more important to him than anyone else's.
Edward was gaping at the wall in the hallway, willing his legs to carry him back to his room. He had intruded enough on their private conversation. Even though he had learned a little more on that Brady person—he was apparently in the hospital, Edward had already heard too much about James's love life.
"I never liked her," Bella answered, getting Edward's attention. "But she's your girlfriend, James."
"You don't want this. I expected as much. I understand. Okay."
"Are you okay? I'm sorry, Jimmy. I know you're trapped here because of me, and no amount of me telling you I can take of myself would make you leave."
"Leave you alone here? Are you insane, baby sis? I think Mom and Dad would haunt me forever if I did such a thing!"
Bella let out a dry laugh. "Yeah, I bet. Let me sleep on it. I'll tell you in the morning what I decided."
"Think about it. Take as long as you want, it's not something I want to do tomorrow," James told her, hugging her.
She returned the hug, snuggling into his warm embrace. "What are the chances for Brady to be…alright when…if, no... when he wakes up?"
"Alright? As in remember things? Be able to move? I have no idea, Bella. Time will tell."
She sniffed, looking up at him. "If anything like that would happen…I'd regret my decision on keeping him wired in this stupid coma. He'd hate me."
"Bella," James's voice broke. "That would be Collin's thing to worry about. He had more of a say in the whole thing than you," he reminded her, but his sister was already flying out of the room.
Still stunned into place, Edward had time to flat his back to the hallway wall as Bella zoomed past him. She didn't notice him, thankfully.
When he heard footsteps coming to him, knowing it was James, he walked casually to the kitchen. James gave him an inquisitive look, but shrugged and went to his own room.
After hearing their conversation, Edward had more questions about Brady than he ever had. Of what Bella had said, he figured he was her boyfriend, but then it seemed that Collin guy was closer to Brady—a brother, or boyfriend?
"Oh, you're awake!" Bella gasped from the doorway. Her eyes were red-rimmed and swollen from crying.
"What happened? Have you been crying?" Edward asked concerned, trying not to give away that he knew the reason she was upset.
"It's nothing." She waved her hand around.
"It's not nothing." He walked to her and cupped her cheek. "Tell me."
"It's a long story, Edward. Another time?" She looked up at him, smiling slowly. "Thanks…you know for…caring?"
"That's what friends do, right? We're friends."
"We are." Bella wrapped her arms around his waist. They had only known each other for a week, but they had grown close and developed a strong friendship. "Movie?"
"Can I choose tonight?"
"Sure. You know where I keep my movies."
He nodded, though he had another plan. It was time to introduce her to his own stack of movies. Lucky, he had put some in his laptop before leaving. After thinking about his decision, he thought fuck it; he put on Gone in Sixty Seconds. It was a great movie and there were cars. If he couldn't tell her about himself, he was going to show her. If she figured it out, that remained to be seen.
Bella poked her head in Edward's room. "Ready?"
"Yeah. You mind if we move the quarters to my room? The movie's on my laptop."
"Oh, no! That's great." She grinned, happy to see what he had chosen.
They settled on the bed, their backs resting against the headboard, laptop at their feet on top of a pile of blankets. Bella wrapped her arms around her legs which were drawn to her chest, staring at the screen.
Edward could tell she wasn't present one hundred percent, but kept his tongue. Eventually, she focused on the action and became as animated as he had come to know she was during a movie. She always gestured, gasped, shook her fist at the screen and held her breath at the appropriate moments.
When the movie ended, she turned to Edward with wide eyes. "I'm not pro stealing…anything, but damn. I think it would be cool to do that."
"Steal a car?" he joked, feeling the tips of his ears turn red. It was much more complicated than she thought, but he didn't tell her.
"Steal anything," she whispered. "I'm a horrible liar. When I was younger, around five, I think…I stole Jimmy's car. His toy car—it was one of those fancy, shiny collection cars. A Ferrari, I think. I really liked it and I snagged it from his room. He searched for it frantically, because it used to sit on his desk. I was stupid."
"He found it in your room?"
"No." She laughed nervously. "I brought it to him a few days later, apologizing. He told me I was a crappy thief and that he knew it was me because of my guilty expression every time I looked at him."
Edward chuckled. "Lying is hard," he acknowledged. His words held more meaning than he cared to admit.
"Thanks for the movie. Maybe you can choose again tomorrow?" Bella offered, crawling out of the bed.
"Sure. G'night, Bella."
"Night." She waved to him over her shoulder before leaving his room.
Settling to sleep, Edward found himself hugging the pillow Bella had used, sniffing it. Her fruity scent lingered on the pillowcase, and once he asleep, he dreamt of his housemate—Bella, of course—and wished these weren't just dreams and that one day he'd be able to tell her everything.
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