Chapter 9
"Nothin' but a good time" (edited/extended version 2023)
Bella's POV
I stood by the mirror, turning around for the 1000th time, inspecting myself in the dress. I wasn't really keen on wearing a dress, and in fact it was a piece of clothing I rarely wore. But the Cullens always had an air of elegance to them and I didn't want to risk being underdressed in case we'd end up at some fancy restaurant. I still felt out of place wearing the dress though so I put on a cardigan over the dress to feel a bit more like myself. I figured that it would be enough and went downstairs to wait for Edward to come pick me up.
Charlie was sitting by the TV in his chair as I entered the living room and sat down on the couch. He looked up and smiled at me.
"Ehum… You look really pretty, Bells", he said a bit awkwardly.
"Thanks, dad", I said and did my best to give him a sincere smile. I definitely didn't feel pretty, more like I was out of place and someone was going to blow my cover anytime now.
"So…" Charlie said and took a sip of his beer. I was already sensing that he was about to say something that was going to make us both very awkward so I braced myself for it.
"Yes, dad?"
"Well, should I invite him in when he comes to pick you up? I don't really know what to do in situations like these, seeing as I haven't had a dating teenage daughter under my roof before. I'm not gonna bring out my rifle or wear my badge or anything, but what would Renee…"
"Dad, dad! Whoa!" I interrupted him, "This is NOT a date. It's me and Edward and his siblings catching a movie and some dinner in Port Angeles. Unless we were living in an Amish community there's no one who'd consider this a date. So you can relax, really."
Charlie looked relieved and laughed an awkward laugh.
"Boy, I'm glad I dodged that bullet. I love having you live here with me, Bells, don't get me wrong. But I'm not sure I'm ready to have a dating teenage daughter under my roof just yet, not even a sensible one like you." He took another sip of his beer to relieve himself of the awkwardness he'd created.
"We're good, dad", I assured him, "I don't plan on dating anytime soon, so we're good. But if I do decide to date you'll be the first to know."
"That's all I ask!" he said and sank back into his chair, looking as if I'd lifted a big rock from his chest.
At the same time I heard someone coming up the stairs to our front door and the doorbell rang.
"That's probably them", I said and walked over to open the door.
As I'd suspected Edward had dressed up a bit too much for it to be just a regular dinner-and-a-movie-evening and I was glad that I'd opted for the dress instead of my regular jeans and sweater.
"Hey, Bella", he said smiling brightly at me, "You look great! I like the dress."
"Um, thank you", I said and cringed awkwardly at the comment. Why did I get the feeling this was more of a date than I'd bargained for? "I'll just get my jacket and we can leave."
"Hey there, Edward", Charlie said. He stood in the hallway of the living room and smiled brightly at Edward, hardly playing his role of the protective father very well.
"Good evening, Chief Swan", Edward said and smiled brightly at Charlie.
I'd never quite understood how Edward managed to get away with dorky lines like that, pleasing the parents but still not alienating himself from people his own age. The mystery remained…
"So you kids are going to sling some cocaine and rob a couple of convenience stores this evening I hear?" Charlie said and looked way too pleased with himself.
I had to stop myself from drawing a deep sigh of embarrassment, but Edward only laughed good-humoredly at Charlie's dad joke.
"Well it is a Friday night, Chief Swan. I hope you'll bail us out when the Port Angeles PD calls you up in the middle of the night", Edward said with a straight face.
"You bet!" Charlie said, still looking as he enjoyed his joke a bit too much, "I'll be picking you up with my rifle in the backseat. Can't promise I'll take you home though."
Okay, so that's enough.
"We should probably get going!" I interrupted as I put on my coat, "Port Angeles is a bit of a drive and we want to get there in plenty of time to eat before the movie. I'll see you later, dad." I gave him a kiss on the cheek and headed out the door.
"On a more serious note, I'll be sure to have her home by eleven at the very latest", I heard Edward say to Charlie behind me.
Edward probably hadn't caught up on the fact that Charlie loved that I was hanging out with him and his siblings on a Friday night instead of sitting at home and making him nervous. He probably wouldn't have argued even if Edward had said that he'd be bringing me back at dawn.
As I walked down the stairs of my porch I couldn't see Edward's car parked anywhere.
"Where'd you park your car?" I asked hesitantly as Edward caught up to me.
"Rosalie and Emmet had some business to attend to in the afternoon and I didn't want to come with them, so I figured I'd just meet them here instead. They'll be here any minute now", he answered, sounding nervous.
"So you walked here?"
"Oh no. My dad dropped me off nearby. He's working a night shift at the hospital tonight so he offered to drive me here", Edward replied, still sounding a bit nervous.
"Okay then."
For a brief minute we just stood there, looking at each other.
"So you look really nice tonight. I don't think I've seen you in a dress before", he suddenly said pleasantly.
I could feel my face turning red at the compliment.
"Yeah, I figured I'd be best to dress up a bit. I know you've mentioned that Rosalie can be a bit of a snob about restaurants," I started but then halted. "Not that there's anything wrong with that…" I went on, trying to smooth over the fact that I'd criticized his sister.
He shot me a wide grin.
"It's fine. Rosalie is a total snob, she'll even admit to it herself. There's no harm in you pointing out the obvious", he said and laughed.
"She'll definitely make us go somewhere fancy, so the dress was a good idea", he said, still laughing. "And you look really nice."
He looked shyly at me and I could feel my cheeks burning. Where the hell were his siblings?
As soon as I'd finished my thought I could see the Cullen's car coming down the street and then parking by my mailbox. Saved by the bell, I thought to myself.
I saw Edward's siblings Emmett and Rosalie sitting in the front seat of the car and I walked over to it and opened the door to the back seat.
"Hey guys", I said as I sat down in the back.
"Hey, Bella!" the both said in unison.
"I'm so glad you wanted to come with us to Port Angeles this evening. It's gonna be so much fun", Rosalie said excitedly and leaned closer to me where I sat, "And more fun for Edward not having to hang out with the two of us alone."
"Yeah, about that. I thought Jasper and Alice were coming too?" I said, feeling a bit awkward about the fact that this once more resembled a double date rather than hanging out.
"Oh, Edward didn't tell you?" Rosalie said, suddenly sounding a bit strange , "Jasper has been accepted to this art school in New York. Not a lot of people know that about Jasper, but he's quite the artist. Anyhow, it all happened quite out of the blue and the arrangements had to be done in a haste, so he and Alice have gone to New York for the weekend. I imagine she wanted to help him settle in a new town. Our parents weren't really thrilled about it, but dad arranged for him to stay at the house of a friend so I think it'll all work out for the best. And I think it was a good thing actually, Jasper has never been good with small towns. I think he'll be better off in a new environment."
When she said the last sentence Emmett shot her a look that I couldn't quite figure out, but my thought was interrupted by Edward opening the door to the backseat.
"Jump in, 've got to get going", Emmet exclaimed cheerily.
I smiled to myself at the fact that Emmet had referred to Edward as Eddie. Edward was so not an Eddie.
"I figured you two lovebirds would wanna snuggle up in the back seat", Emmett said pointedly with a big grin and nudged Edward's arm.
Edward looked awkwardly at me and smiled, shrugging his shoulders. Somehow I got the feeling that it wasn't only me who'd gotten the feeling that this was more than a regular Friday night hang out session…