Author Note: Thank you for the great response so far! Readers are still taking sides and still split between which one they'd most like to smack. Everyone liked Edward's family though… except maybe one reader.
Thanks again to moosals for pre-reading. Stephenie Meyer owns all characters.
Chapter 9 – Last Night in the City
We agree to meet at the Forks diner for dinner at 6:30 before heading out to the one bar in town. Dr. and Mrs. Cullen are staying home babysitting Masen, so it's just the younger generation enjoying a night out.
When I arrive at the diner, Angela and Ben are already there and have pushed two tables together for the eight of us. They're seated next to each other in the middle, facing the door, and I smile at the idea that we're not going to have a "boys' side" and "girls' side" as I so often see with my students.
"Hey guys," I greet them as I pull out the chair across from Ben.
"So whose idea was this get together?" Angela asks curiously after the three of us have ordered drinks.
"Edward's brother Emmett. He's clearly not the type of person who could ever move to a small town," I chuckle.
"And… Edward was OK with it?" she asks tentatively, glancing at her husband. I assume Angela has not told Ben any of what happened between Edward and me.
"He said he's missed you guys," I reply with a small smile. That's almost what he said, anyway.
"Hello, hello!" Alice calls, breezing past us to take the seat on the end next to Angela. "I'm so excited to meet Edward's brothers," she squeals.
"One of them is married," I remind her. "And his wife is gorgeous."
"That's OK, I only need one man," she grins.
"There's Edward!" Angela calls suddenly, raising her hand and waving it to catch his attention. I turn around in my seat, smiling in welcome as the gang steps closer.
Emmett immediately goes for the chair next to Ben, with Rosalie across from him and to my right. Edward is sort of lagging behind, and is forced to take the chair to my left after Jasper chooses to sit across from Alice.
Since I'm in the middle, I decide to make the introductions. "It's a pleasure to meet you," Jasper says, kissing the back of Alice's hand once I've introduced her. She giggles and I can't help rolling my eyes. Maybe he's not too pretty for her after all.
Our waitress quickly returns to take the rest of the drink orders and drop off menus. Of course, the four of us locals probably have it memorized.
When Edward closes his menu fairly quickly, I look over at him curiously. "Do you eat here often?"
He shrugs. "Sometimes, when I don't feel like cooking. It's a pretty chill atmosphere in case Masen starts acting up."
Emmett sighs dramatically as he closes his menu and I look up at him in amusement.
"I could really go for a steak, but when in Rome, right? I think I'll try the catch of the day."
"The seafood is usually pretty good here," I confirm with a nod.
Once we've placed our orders, I find myself caught between the conversations at both ends of the table. Jasper and Alice seem to be comparing notes on ER cases they've worked on, delighting in grossing out everyone who can hear them, while Rosalie, who's a paralegal, is also talking shop with Ben.
"So much smarter than me," Emmett says of his wife proudly.
"You can hardly be dumb if you made it through EMT training," I tell him.
"Eh, I did flunk out of medical school though."
"Did you really?" I chuckle.
"Yep, after my second semester. I've got a touch of ADHD and couldn't handle all of the studying. I love being a paramedic though, being first on the scene. I think I watched too many episodes of Emergency! on TV Land when I was growing up."
Once we've eaten, we decide to leave our cars in the diner's lot and just walk the block-and-a-half up the street to the bar. It's an early dinner crowd with the elderly Forks residents, so it's not like our four parking spots will be needed an hour before closing.
As expected, the bar isn't all that crowded on a Tuesday night. It's dark inside, with an old Bon Jovi song playing on the ancient jukebox.
Angela volunteers to stake out a couple of high-top tables while the rest of us walk up the bar. While the guys peruse the craft beer menu, Alice and I order our usual mixed drinks — Moscow Mule for her and Eclipse for me. I notice Rosalie just asks for a Sprite and assume she's the group's designated driver.
Once we've got our drinks, we join Angela at the two high-top tables she's grabbed and pushed together.
"Your Diet Coke, my love," Ben says, setting the glass down with a flourish. Angela rolls her eyes, laughing at her husband's antics.
"You're not drinking?" Rosalie asks.
"No," Angela shakes her head. "I'm pregnant."
"Really? So am I!" Rosalie announces proudly.
"When are you due? I'm due June 24."
"A couple of weeks after you," Rosalie replies with a smile. "Is this your first child as well?"
"Yes," Ben replies proudly, wrapping his arm around his wife.
Suddenly, I hear the sound of one of the stools scraping the floor as it's pushed back. I turn my head in time to watch Edward walk toward the door, bottle of beer in hand.
Rosalie looks up at her husband, a guilty look on her face. "I totally forgot," she says, cringing.
"Is everything OK?" I ask in confusion.
Emmett sighs, running his hand through his hair in a gesture so similar to his brother's. "Yeah. We, um, we hadn't told Edward yet about Rosie's pregnancy. We were kinda afraid of a reaction like that."
I frown, but then it all starts to make sense to me. Edward must be remembering how happy he and Bree were last year when they were expecting their first child.
"Maybe you should go make sure he's all right," Jasper suggests. Emmett readily agrees, grabbing his coat and walking out of the bar.
With the two guys gone, Angela and Rosalie begin comparing notes on their pregnancies. Angela nearly has me in stitches with her stories of feeling like one of her kindergarteners having to use the bathroom all the time.
When Emmett comes back, I'm disappointed to see that he's all alone.
"Edward's fine," he answers before any of us can ask. "He just needs to be alone for a while."
"Are you sure?" Angela asks with concern.
"This has always been his way," Jasper explains. "He's not great at letting people in when it comes to what's on his mind. He holds it all in and tries to deal with it himself."
"Yeah," Emmett nods. "He should have learned his lesson years ago." I look at him questioningly. "Edward knew for years that he didn't want to follow Dad into medicine, but instead of speaking up, he went along with it, even enrolled at Northwestern as pre-med. When he finally came clean sophomore year, there was a bit of a blow-up. It would've been easier on everyone if he'd spoken up back in high school."
"I see," I reply, frowning.
"I think Bree was the only one he ever felt comfortable talking to," Rosalie says sadly. "They were already married when I met Emmett and just seemed like they really complemented each other."
"Yeah, Bree was good for him," Emmett adds. "And she was a good person in general. We all miss her, but we came here this week determined to make it all feel as normal as possible. Not dwell on her death, you know? Because I imagine Edward spends his days dwelling on it, not talking to anyone."
"Unless… he talks to you guys?" Jasper suggests.
"N-not really," I admit. "I didn't even find out for several weeks that Bree had died. And since then… well, we've had a bit of a… falling out," I confess, although I definitely don't want to get into what happened between Edward and me.
"Oh?" Rosalie replies.
I nod. "It was their anniversary and he was upset and… I didn't realize the extent of his pain." There, I hope that vague explanation covers it.
"Well, how could you if he never told you?" Jasper says with a sad smile. "Don't beat yourself up over it."
"I'm not, not really. But I do miss the friendship we'd been forming."
"Don't give up on him," he replies, reaching across the table to pat my hand.
"How did Bree die?" Alice asks curiously.
"You don't know?" Jasper asks, sounding shocked. He glances around the table at all of us, and I shake my head in answer to his question.
"I, um, I think that's Edward's story to tell then," Emmett says. "I'm sorry."
"Could you… could you at least tell us when she died?" I ask cautiously. I'd like to be prepared when the day comes.
Emmett and Rosalie glance at each other, before he gives her a subtle nod. "In July," she answers to my surprise. Her death must've still been so raw for Edward when he showed up in Forks. "Actually right around my due date. I'm not sure if I do or don't want our baby to be born on the same date she died."
"We've already decided to name the baby after her — Brian," Emmett adds.
"And if it's a girl?" Angela asks.
"Pffttt… my first child is gonna be a boy," he boasts. "Clearly boys are in the Cullen genes." We all have a good laugh at that.
"All right, so this night is supposed to be fun," Emmett declares, hitting his fist on the table. "There's a dance floor, so I think I'm gonna go dance with my wife." Standing up, he reaches for Rosalie's hand, leading her out onto the floor.
"That sounds like a plan," Ben agrees, and I smile as he and Angela join them.
"So how long have you two been friends?" Jasper asks once just three of us remain.
"Since we were four," Alice replies. "Bella is like my sister. I do have an older sister, but there were enough years between us that I was closer to Bella."
"How many years are between you and Edward?" I ask curiously; I still don't even know how old Edward is!
"I'm the middle child — two years older than Edward and three years younger than Emmett," he replies. "I just had my 30th birthday a few months ago."
"So Edward is 28," I deduce. "He said it would've been his sixth anniversary last October."
"Yeah," Jasper nods. "He and Bree got married a few months after graduating from college. Shocked us all," he laughs. "For the baby to be the first one married, I mean. Especially since he was always the shy one. He didn't date much in high school; Mom asked me once if I thought he was gay.
"Could you girls hang on for a few minutes? I'm gonna get another beer," he announces, standing up. "Would you like another round?"
"Sure," I nod, and Alice agrees as well. I only have another sip or two left in my glass.
Alice exaggeratedly smashes her lips together, watching over her shoulder until Jasper reaches the bar. "Oh my God!" she squeals once she's sure he's out of hearing range. "I thought Edward was good looking, but wow…"
"Isn't he a bit prettier than your usual type?" I chuckle.
"He's not pretty… he's handsome. Like an old-time movie star," she sighs. "Maybe I can take him home with me tonight. How does Edward's entire family sleep in that house, anyway? Isn't it a three-bedroom?"
"It is," I confirm, swallowing the last bit of my drink. "Edward has a bed set up in the spare bedroom, and maybe his couch pulls out into a bed. I'm not sure where Jasper would sleep though."
"Perfect," she grins. "He'll be much more comfortable with me. Do you think maybe you can skedaddle for a while?"
"Skedaddle?" I laugh. "Sure, I'll… go dance or something."
When Jasper returns, I have to laugh, since he looks like a waiter carrying two glasses and two bottles of beer.
"You needed two beers?" Alice asks as he sets them all on the table.
"The second one is for Edward; I figured he's probably about empty, too."
Alice kicks me under the table, and I know what I have to do. "I'll take it to him," I announce as I put my coat on. I gather up the drinks in both hands, thankful that another patron helps me with the door.
Outside, I find Edward seated on the edge of the small wooden porch in front of the bar. For a moment, it reminds me so much of that night back in October that I wonder if I should go back inside. Alice would kill me though.
"Hey Edward," I call out so as not to scare him. As he turns to look, I sit down beside him and hold out the bottle of beer. "Jasper got this for you."
"Thanks," he says quietly, taking the bottle from me. "Why didn't he bring it?"
I'm quiet for a moment, really hoping that wasn't code for "go away."
"Um, Alice kind of wanted some alone time to get to know Jasper," I confess.
"Oh."
"Brrrrr," I shiver, rubbing my arms through my coat as I look up at the sky. "I think it might rain. Or snow," I add with a chuckle.
"I'm fine," Edward shrugs. He's only wearing a leather jacket, so I don't know how that can be a true statement.
I take a sip of my drink, then clear my throat as I try to figure out how to begin this conversation. "You know, Emmett said you're all right, but…"
"I am," he says softly. "It's not like I'm not happy for them, because I am. It just brings up a lot of memories."
"I wish you'd tell me about them. Let me in, Edward," I plead, placing my hand on his shoulder.
He turns to look at me for a moment — really look at me, in a way he hasn't since before that night — then sighs, turning back to stare out at the empty street.
"I don't think I can talk about it," he finally replies in a raspy voice. "Maybe someday, but not yet."
"That's fair," I whisper. "You know I really do miss our friendship. If I could take it back, I would."
He looks at me again, then nods. "I know," he says, giving me a small smile.
And then the first cold drop hits my nose. By the third drop, I realize it's more sleet than rain. "We'd better go in," I announce… unnecessarily.
Edward smoothly gets to his feet, then holds out his hand to help me up. I take it gratefully, then step inside the warm bar when he holds the door open for me.
I've no sooner set my glass on the table and taken off my coat than the song Footloose comes on the jukebox. Alice grabs my hand, dragging me out onto the dance floor with the others. I motion to Edward to join us, but he just shakes his head.
After dancing to a few more 80s hits — the jukebox hasn't been updated since around 1990 — Jasper has finally had enough and drags his pouty brother out with us.
And we dance and drink until closing.
A/N: So, a few answers in this one! And likely more questions?
Also a bit more thawing from Edward, and some early heat between Alice and Jasper. Do you think she'll get her way and bring him home for the night?
Next update on Thursday.