"Jasper, are you sure you want to leave this here?" I ask, pointing to the small wine rack he purchased last week and subsequently filled with wine.
"Yeah," he says as I roll my eyes. "Although, I will take this one. I have something special planned for it." He grabs a bottle and smiles at me as I pretend to gag.
Alice is in his room meticulously packing his uniforms, and I take this moment alone to ask how things are going between them.
He gets a sort of far-off look and smiles. "Good; it's going really good."
"Still don't want to live with her?"
"No." Jasper laughs. "But I don't mind the sleepovers."
"Ew." I nudge him out of the way and move a box of his DVDs next to the door.
"Can I ask how things are going with Edward?" I turn to face him as he continues to tape up boxes.
Edward and I haven't seen each other since I helped him move, but we've been texting and talking on the phone a lot. He's opened up to me about a lot of things from his past, and we've found way more common ground than I ever believed possible.
"He told me about Makenna," I say as I grab another box, and Jasper sighs.
"What did he tell you?"
"Everything? He told me about proposing before boot camp, her cheating, and—"
"Did he tell you about how he whored around after they broke up for good?" Jasper is looking up at me from his spot on the floor, and I sigh. "That's the catalyst for all of this?"
"Yeah, he did. He also told me that he's been talking to someone about all his big feelings … finally." I kind of want to stick my tongue out at him when his jaw goes a little slack. Apparently, Jasper didn't know that.
"Have you seen him?"
"No; tomorrow will be the first time," I say, handing him the last box and flinging myself onto the couch.
"You nervous?"
I have to think about it for a minute before I realize that I'm not; not even a little bit. "No. Should I be?" I lean forward to look at Jasper and he laughs.
"Only you would be worried about whether or not you should be worried about seeing your friend again." He stands, stretching.
"That's just it." I lean back again. "I think I like Edward."
**BoU**
The move is simple enough between all of us. Emmett and Rose were absent, but they promised they'd show their faces soon since they had big news for us. Edward and I are loading Jasper's dishes into his new dishwasher and talking about the couple when he mentions the obvious.
"I'm pretty sure he proposed," he says quietly as he unwraps dishes and hands them to me. "He sort of mentioned something before they went away that weekend I moved."
Nodding, I close the door and turn it on. "I knew it was coming. They're good together; they make each other really happy. I guess we'll have to wait and see."
We're close to each other in the galley kitchen, and even after this short amount of time, Edward even looks different. He's let his hair grow out a little bit; he's still within regulations, but he's not keeping the harsh buzz cut he used to. It gives him a softer look, and I can see what I once thought was brown hair is closer to auburn.
"What are you looking at?" He smiles as I focus my gaze.
"Your hair. I've never seen it this long." I start to reach out to touch it but halt midway. He leans toward me, inclining his head. "It's softer than I imagined."
"You should see it when it gets really long; I can't do anything with it." He laughs, and I smile. I'm about to ask about whether or not he's still shooting for Chief when Jasper comes in and tells us he's taking us out for lunch.
Edward offers to follow me to my place to drop off my car, so we're not all separate, and once we're in his truck and on the way, it sort of feels like old times. But now, instead of worrying about how much we're going to drink or who's room we're going to end up in, I'm just thinking about our next topic of conversation.
When we reach the restaurant, Edward parks and runs around the truck to open my door, and I'm a little shocked. He's never, in all the time that I've known him, done this for me. It may seem like an arbitrary thing, but it's neat to me.
Lunch is fun and quick with Alice and I musing to each other about whether Emmett and Rose are engaged and when they'll tell us. "If they are, you'll know before me," Alice says firmly, and I wince a little.
Rose and Alice's relationship has always been strained. They're half-sisters, and while I don't know the exact situation, I know it has something to do with the reason Rose's parents eventually separated. The two women are friends, for sure, but Alice isn't her go-to. In the last few months, it's become me, and I'm grateful for that. But I feel for the girl next to me.
"Is it getting any better?" I ask as Alice packs up her leftovers.
"Yeah, I mean, we love each other. That's how we're wired." Alice sighs. "She introduced me to Jasper, and if that isn't a sister, then I don't know what is." We laugh.
"I know she wants you two to be closer." I wrap an arm around the tiny woman. "I think it's just hard."
"For me too. Maybe I need to just talk to her, let her know that we're both on the same page." Alice shrugs, and I offer to help facilitate something for them. The couple leaves us to head back to Jasper's new place and continue setting things up, leaving Edward and I alone.
"Do you want to take a walk?" Edward is gesturing down the beachy boardwalk. We weave around skaters, joggers, and dog walkers as we chat. Edward's talking about how his counseling sessions have been going; he seems really upbeat about his progress. "I treated you like shit. I'm really sorry for that, Bella. You deserved better from a friend, and I should have treated you better since we had an intimate relationship."
I steer us over to the retaining wall where I can sit down. I'm quiet for a few minutes, but he doesn't prod me to say anything. "I don't know that I was any better, so I'm sorry too. But thank you. I felt like the friendship we had meant nothing; that in the long run, it was just a means to an end to get into my bed."
"The truth is … I liked you when Jake first introduced us. I was messed up—I am messed up. So, to me, it didn't matter if I liked you right off the bat; it never would have worked." He takes a seat next to me on the wall.
"That was then … what about now?" Sighing, I grab his hand, "Maybe this makes me sound like a loser or something, but I've missed you. You were my friend when I desperately needed one. You showed me that I was desirable and sexy when I thought I wasn't. You helped me realize things about myself and my body. I'm grateful for the time we had; I just hate how we had it."
He's quiet for a few minutes. "I've missed you too. But if we're gonna do this, we're gonna do this right." He hops off the wall and pulls me down with him. Heading back to his truck, he never lets go of my hand. "How about dinner tomorrow?"
I laugh, feeling carefree. "Sure."
"Dates, Bella. Actual dates." He's laughing as we pull up to his truck and smiles broadly.
"So, no Ferris wheel rides?"
His eyes darken ever so slightly, and this is the first glimpse of the old Edward. "No, we'll leave the Ferris wheel in the past." He gently presses me against the passenger door of the truck, and before I can register what's happening, he swoops down to brush his lips against mine, briefly, chastely.
As he's pulling away, a convertible swings into the empty spot right next to us, and the woman who climbs out shoots us daggers until she stops dead in her tracks.
"Edward? Edward Cullen?" She lowers her sunglasses down her nose and looks us both up and down.
Edward sighs deeply next to me, and he doesn't have to say a word; I already know who this is.
"Hi, Makenna. Nice to see you." Edward grips my hand and leans slightly into me as I look between the two former lovers.