Chapter 9
The next few weeks after the fight went on in a blur. I was fucking depressed, finding joy in nothing but the night, when I was finally able to be alone with Bella. She healed me with her body, her comradery, and that big ass bottle of tequila we were still working on.
Alice seemed to be walking on eggshells around me. We didn't speak about my phone call with Carlisle, but I can tell by the way she'd been acting that she wasn't happy with the way it went down. I know she would never move to Seattle, she was way too fucking obsessed with Jasper, but it seemed like she really wanted me to go. I wasn't fucking sure why; there was no way I'd leave her alone withour dad, but found out from Jasper that his mother had invited her to move in with them after hearing about all the bullshit dad put her through.
Unfortunately, that invitation didn't extend to me. I'd gotten in enough trouble with Jasper in the past that I was basically public enemy number one in his mother's eyes. Alice, of course, was nothing but an angel.
I realized Alice wasn't taking the Hale's up on their offer because she didn't want to leave me alone with Dad. I'd tried to confront her about this multiple times, but she always shut me down with excuses about school work or needing to go see Jasper. It was so uncharacteristic of her to not want to talk my fucking ear off, and now I couldn't even get her to have a five minute conversation with me.
I was so out of reality, stuck in my own fucking mind, that I didn't even realize in was Valentine's Day when I'd invited Bella to dinner with me.
"What, like, a date? Are you my Valentine now?" She asked, smirking at me as she passed a joint my way. We were walking home from school alone; Alice, Jazz and Rose all stayed for some college seminar the school was hosting that evening.
"Fuck, is it really Valentine's Day?"
Bella laughed, bumping her shoulder into me. "Yeah, it's really Valentine's Day. That's okay, though. I'll still grab a bite with you."
~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~
We ended up at Guigino's, the Italian restaurant I washed dishes for sometimes. The owner was a woman named Irina who was good friend's with my mother and Carlisle back in their high school days, hence the pity job. She also gave my sister and I a big fucking discount whenever we stumbled in to eat here.
It was nothing fancy, but walking inside with Bella, I realized how much it really seemed like a fucking date. I tried not to overthink it, but the thought made me tense. Bella's eyes flashed to mine, noticing the change in my demeanor. I exhaled, trying to regain control when the hostess approached us.
It was Lauren Mallory, a chick I'd fucked around with a few times about a year ago. It was before we both worked here, but I luckily didn't run into her at work often; she had little reason to be in the back of the kitchen where I stayed.
Still, whenever we did happen to see each other, she managed to turn on the flirt. Hard.
"Hey, Edward!" She chirped, batting her eyelashes at me. The sight of it disturbed me, for some reason. "Long time no see," She slapped my arm playfully. Bella stiffened next to me, and when I glanced over at her, she was glaring daggers at Lauren.
The thought of her being jealous made me smirk, which Lauren mistakenly took as a pass at her. She made a show of swinging her ass as she walked us to our table in the back of the restaurant; Bella did not take her eyes off of her.
When she finally gave us our menus and departed, Bella's eyes finally shot up to mine.
Fuck, she was pissed.
"So, what? You brought me out to some nice restaurant on Valentine's Day so I could watch you flirt with some blonde bitch?"
I snorted, astounded by the conclusion she came to so quickly. "You're fucking insane, Bella," I said with humor evident in my voice.
She snarled at me. "Fuck you."
"Wait, wait," I said, reaching my hand out to her as she prepared to rise from her chair. No way I was letting her walk out on me, no matter how entertaining I found her. "Sit down, Bella."
Glaring at me, she sat back down in the chair, her eyebrows raising expectantly.
"I work here sometimes," I explained to her. "I get a discount on food, and I'm fucking hungry and have nothing at home."
Her eyes narrowed.
"I really didn't know it was Valentine's Day, either." I added.
"So flirting with that bitch was just a coincidence?"
I couldn't help it- I laughed out loud again. Where was she getting this shit from?
"I didn't flirt with her, Bella."
"Yes you fucking did, asshole. I saw you." She spat, her nostrils flaring with rage.
"You did not fucking see me, because it didn't happen."
"She was definitely fucking flirting with you, and she looked pretty fucking comfortable about it."
I groaned, placing my face in my hands. Someone came over to fill up our water glasses, and we sat silently as we waited for them to finish the job.
When the kid walked away, I finally spoke. "We kind of fooled around for a few weeks a couple of months ago. Long since over. She's embarrassing herself, really."
Bella's face turned beat red at my words. I stared at her, waiting for a response, but she said nothing.
"What, Bella?"
"You're a cocksucker." She spoke between clenched teeth. What the fuck? She was more angry now than ever.
"What did I do?!"
"You just are. What, do you just plan to sleep with every girl on the South Side? You just fuck them for a couple a weeks and throw them away like trash, calling them embarrassing when they fucking hit on you? You're pathetic, Edward."
What the fuck? Now I was fucking pissed. "How fucking dare you." I spat at her. "What the fuck gives you the right to say that to me? You were fucking at least one other dude at the same time as me." Her face was turning redder as I spoke. I tried to keep my volume down, but my anger was making it difficult. "Not to mention, I haven't fucked a single person since I slept with you."
"You think that makes you any better? You're just going to throw me out of your life and laugh at me with the next girl you're sleeping with? At least I had the decency of keeping a relationship with James, unlike you."
"You have a fucking relationship with James?" I spat at her, bewildered by the surge of jealous rage that flushed through me.
"No!" She yelled, causing a few other diners to glance at us. The waiter that was making his way to our table turned on his heel, walking in the other direction.
Bella took a deep breath before continuing. "Jesus, Edward. We're just friends. I fucking told you-"
"I know what you told me." I cut her off.
"So why don't you fucking believe me?"
"I do."
Bella's big brown eyes tore into mine as she searched for whatever the fuck I was going to say next. I didn't really know what I would say, either.
"You're nothing like Lauren." There. That wasn't that bad. Honesty is good.
"What does that mean?" She implored, her gaze still boring into mine.
"You're nothing like any of them, Bella," I said, laughing incredulously as I spoke. "It's ridiculous to compare yourself to these…" I drifted off, unable to come up with an apt word for the girls I'd been with without sounding like a misogynistic prick.
Bella sat silently across from me for a while. I just looked at her, letting her take her time while I took in her beauty. How could she think I would treat her like Lauren? This whole time I'd been concerned that she had me pegged, that she knew just how fucking obsesse with her I'd become. I guess it just simply was not true; she had no fucking idea.
Good.
"You're nothing like any of them, either." She finally spoke. My stomach clenched at her words, fucking smitten.
Thank you, God. I could not handle being compared to James, or anyone else she'd been with. I wanted to be different for her, like she was to me.
"Can we finally order our food, now?" She asked, and I laughed, nodding and waving our waiter over.
~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~
I ordered the chicken Parmesan, my favorite, and Bella ended up going with the mushroom ravioli after a long debate with herself. She ended up loving it, which really fucking pleased me; I was happy to have brought her somewhere she enjoyed.
Things got lighter after our argument; we chatted about school and friends, and for once, Bella didn't try to dig into me for information about my dead mother or some other bullshit. I guess she filled her Piss Edward Off quota for the day. But for some reason, though I didn't want to admit it to myself, I kind of missed her probing questions. Something about the way she got under my skin was endearing to me, a part of her charm, I guess.
Regardless, there was no more probing to be done that night. By Bella at least. So, when we finished our meal, I took care of the check while Bella was in the bathroom, and waited by the door to escort her out.
When we stepped out of the restaurant into the cold Chicago air, we were greeted by Lauren, smoking a cigarette around the side of the building near the dumpsters.
"Goodnight, Edward," She mewed, waving her fingers at me in what was supposed to be some sort of flirtatious wave. It creeped me the fuck out.
Bella stiffened next to me, and I swear I heard a rumble come from her chest that sounded like a fucking growl.
"What the fuck is your problem?" She asked Lauren, approaching her slowly. She looked so fucking sexy in her black peacoat, stalking over towards the offending girl like a lioness on the fucking prowl. If she wasn't so stunning, I might have been afraid of her in that moment.
It was clear Lauren was.
"Um, what?" She asked, her eyes nervously flicking to me. I shrugged, a smirk planted on my face. I had no fucking idea what Bella was going to say to her.
"Why are you flirting with my fucking Valentine's date?" Bella snarled, causing Lauren to gasp. I couldn't help my persistently growing smile at the display.
Lauren's eyes flicked back to mine, the expression on her face evidence she was about to make the biggest mistake of her eighteen years.
Looking back at Bella, Lauren snorted, rolling her eyes. "Yeah, right, you skank."
Seconds later I was watching Bella swing her arm back before catapulting her fist forward into Lauren's face.
"Oh, shit!" I heard myself yell.
Lauren screeched, her hands immediately going up to her face as Bella stood back and stared at her with wide eyes, motionless, like a deer caught in headlights. Was she okay?
I took a step forward, ready to approach her and comfort her or whatever the fuck I was supposed to do, when suddenly, she threw her head back and started laughing.
Turning to look at me, her eyes were wide and glistening as she laughed, clearly very fucking happy with herself. I couldn't help it; her laughter was so fucking contagious. Soon, the two of us stood there in stitches as Lauren spit blood on the floor, most likely needing fucking stitches.
"You're so fucked, Edward!" Lauren yelled, pointing an accusing finger at me.
"What the fuck did I do?" I asked between bouts of laughter.
I watched as Lauren's eyes filled with tears, feeling fucking guilty for a quick moment, before Bella's laughter brought me back. Fuck this bitch for talking shit to my girl.
"You brought this psychotic cunt here!"
"Whoa!" Bella yelled. "I know you did not just call me a cunt."
Lauren stiffened at her words, flinching away from Bella, which caused her to laugh again. She was really fucking enjoying herself.
"Bella," I chuckled, grabbing her by the wrist and pulling. "Come on. Let's just go, okay?"
Bella narrowed her eyes at Lauren once more before turning, stalking off down the block. I gave Lauren a shrug as I started to follow her. "Shouldn't have messed with her, I guess."
When I finally caught up with Bella, I tossed my arm around her shoulders playfully. "So, you are my Valentine's date, then?" I teased.
"I think I've certainly earned the right to call myself that after all of tonight's bullshit."
"Touché, Bella," I said as I grabbed at her hand once more, this time interlocking my fingers with hers. If she was my fucking date, I was going to play it right.
We walked hand in hand towards the El train that would take us home. We had to disconnect as we got on, fighting our way through the decrepit humans that basically lived on the train, until we could reconvene in the back corner of the car. I took her hand in mine again, unable to stop what I had started. She smiled up at me when I did it.
"My Dad's not going to be home tonight," she said finally. "If you want to come over."
I chuckled, bringing her tiny hand to my lips and placing a small kiss on her knuckles. "It would be an honor, Valentine."
~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~
Once we were in her front door and had disposed of our outerwear, Bella skittered to the kitchen while I walked around her living room, taking the time to appreciate the photos of her as a little girl strewn throughout the house.
There was nothing like this where I lived. There used to be, when my mother was alive, but all of those photos have long since been gone. I'm not even sure what happened to them; I had assumed Dad burned them or some shit, unable to look at the face of the woman he killed.
Bella came back carrying a bottle of wine and two glasses. She set them down on top of her baby grand piano before pulling herself up on its ledge, as well, with her legs dangling. "I figured since it was Valentine's Day, we'd keep up the mood." She smirked as she poured the red wine into the glasses.
I laughed, taking a glass from her and clinking it with her own. She was so fucking… cute. I was starting to find myself glad it was Valentine's Day.
"You really got me going today, Masen." Bella spoke seductively as she took a sip from her glass. "I was about to burn that damn restaurant to the ground."
I snorted, nearly choking on my drink. "You really are fucking insane, Bella Swan."
She raised an eyebrow at me, giving me one of her now famed sexy looks. "Don't even go there, you bastard."
I smirked, approaching her on the piano slowly. "Or what? You gonna go postal on me?"
Suddenly, she flung herself from the piano and on to me, knocking me back onto the couch. Her arms shot out, grabbing mine fast and pinning them above my head. As she straddled my waist, I knew she could feel my dick digging into her ass, but she didn't acknowledge it.
"You haven't seen postal yet, fucker." She giggled, leaning down to press her lips against mine, her hair falling around our heads like a curtain. I immediately lifted my head forward, attempting to deepen our kiss, but she pulled away.
Tease. I couldn't help the pout that formed on my face. Bella seemed to find it hilarious.
Using way more of my strength than I would have thought necessary, I pushed myself free from Bella's grasp, quickly flipping her over and changing our positions so I was on top of her. This time, I purposely ground my erection into her.
What can I say? There's only so much restraint you can expect from a high school senior.
Bella let out a light moan at the contact, making my dick twitch.
"I have to admit," I breathed, watching as my breath hit her face. Her pupils dilated as she watched me speak. "I was kind of scared of you for a second back there." I leaned down, pressing my lips to her neck gently. "But after you hit her all I could think about was how fucking hot you looked doing it." I spoke against her skin.
She moaned again, her back arching and forcing her breasts against my chest. I groaned.
"Edward," she panted, her face tilting up to meet mine. I gazed into her big brown eyes, fucking lost in them, as per usual.
Eventually, she started to fucking laugh again. I felt my eyebrows lift.
"What's so fucking funny?" I asked, half in humor and half in fucking desolation.
She kept giggling, her little hands moving to my chest and pushing until I let off of her. She sat up with me, leaning forward to wrap her arms around my neck. "I want to try something." She told me, standing up and holding out her hand. I took it.
I'd fucking follow her anywhere.