Scheduled for Friday
by Anton M.

19: Blue Lights Flashing


Tuesday, January 24 (cont.)

It took us less than thirty minutes in the evening traffic to reach my subdivision, but my stomach dropped when treetops to our left flickered with blue lights on Hickory Log Road. I squeezed Edward's waist tighter as he slowed down.

We turned left on my street, and two police cars were pulled up on a driveway to our right, their lights flashing with full force without a sound.

Don't be our house, don't be our house, don't be our house.

It was our house.

Eerie silence followed after Edward turned off the rumble of his motorcycle behind the police cars. Heart in my throat, I stumbled off his bike, and I barely registered Edward setting it on its side stand and taking off his backpack to carry it on his back again. We removed our helmets.

The front door was wide open.

What the hell happened? Are mom and dad okay?

"Whatever happened, I'm here, okay?" Edward said quietly, not leaving my side.

A rustle in the hallway was followed by footsteps, and I felt like I could breathe again when my parents rushed out of the house. They were in slippers but in full, black tie clothing, dad in a white button-down and mom in a sleek, floor-length silver dress. She'd pulled a jacket over it. Their shoulders relaxed with relief the moment they spotted me, and I squeezed Edward's hand.

I'd no clue when I'd taken hold of his hand or if he realized I'd done it, but he squeezed it right back.

"They're for me," I whispered, feeling my heartbeat slow down to its normal rhythm. "The police is for me."

Dad crossed the distance between us with ridiculous speed before he took hold of my upper arms, his eyes full of fury, glaring at me with his jaw clenched before he wrapped me in the tightest hug humanly possible. "Not a word since the morning," he whispered, squeezing me. "No text, no call, no voicemail, nonothing."

Fuck. I forgot.

Dad pulled back. "Do you know how worried we were?! We thought you were—" His voice broke, and he hugged me again. "Honey."

"I'm sorry," I squeaked. "I'm so sorry."

Mom stood next to him with her arms crossed and lips pursed. "Bella Bahati Swan." Her nostrils flared before she dove head-first into fast-paced, emotionally-charged Vietnamese, and I could follow enough of it to understand that I'd worried her so deeply she ended up pissed off at me instead.

Edward stood, mouth agape, probably remembering my Vietnamese grandmother but clearly not expecting the language out of my blue-eyed mom, but I didn't dare to offer him a reassuring smile.

"Tôi xin lỗi," (I'm sorry,) I whispered when mom paused to take a breath.

"You'd better be!" mom switched to English, her voice twisting with emotion. "Do you have any idea how terrified we were?!" She poked my shoulder with her finger, and I shrunk with shame, but she tilted my chin up. "Dead in a ditch! Kidnapped for ransom! The world may never know! Why would you do that to us? Not a moment goes by when you're not recording silly voices for your TikTok videos and tonight is the night you decide you have a life outside of your phone!"

"I'm sorry."

"Skylar, Kate, Jane, Alice—not one of them saw you after school. We got Tanya and Mike to ask around, everyone from the set is looking for you, terrified. Nobody heard a blip from you. Certainly you must be dead to ignore your phone. But no, you are out gallivanting with a boy you met two weeks ago! Please, for the love of all that is holy, explain why you couldn't spend one second of your precious time sending us just one message."

"I'm so sorry," I repeated, burning with shame.

"It was my fault, ma'am."

Mom looked up at Edward, motioning for him to zip it, but her eyes revealed that she'd exhausted herself yelling at me, and her voice softened.

"Do you understand how scary tonight was for us?" She lifted a lonely curl from my forehead, her words laden with meaning. "Especially now." She pulled me into a hug, kissing my hair and squeezing me. "Don't you ever do that to us again. Ever, ever, ever. I don't care how—"

I don't care how famous you get.

She pulled back, cupping my face, her eyes searching mine. "Do you understand?"

"I understand," I whispered. "I'm sorry." She pulled me into another hug before she pinched my cheek, like I was nine, and I would've died from embarrassment had I not been so ashamed of failing to inform them of where I was.

I hadn't realized that two police officers had followed my parents: Officer Burke and one I hadn't met before, Officer Riddick, a shorter, stocky man with a round face and 4c hair.

Officer Riddick looked almost bored when he walked up to Edward, assessed his motorcycle, and held out his hand. "License or permit?"

"License, sir."

I didn't know what the difference was but the officer seemed pleased. Edward made eye contact with me, pulling his lower lip into his mouth as he patted his chest twice. I raised an eyebrow at him in confusion.

"Inner pocket on the left," he said, quietly, eyes alight.

Oh. I have his license.

Under the curious, watchful eyes of my parents, I unzipped his jacket, found his license in a zipped-up pocket inside, and handed it to Officer Riddick.

"Do you split lanes?" Officer Burke asked, crossing his arms, frowning.

"No, sir," Edward answered, showing no visible signs of discomfort. I felt terrible that he was being interrogated because of me but he was handling it much better than I would've. I'd been pretending not to be intimidated by the police ever since I was a kid.

"Are you intoxicated?" the other officer asked.

"No, sir."

"Alcohol? Drugs?"

"No, sir."

Officer Riddick walked to his car and returned with a breathalyzer.

"Have you ever blown into one of these?"

"Yes, sir."

Officer Riddick raised his eyebrows but nodded. "You know what to do, then."

Edward blew into the mouthpiece, and the officer gave Edward a tight-lipped smile after the breathalyzer confirmed his words.

Had I not known Edward as much as I did now, I, too, would've assumed that the motorcycle, buzz cut and eyebrow piercing meant something, and his tall, self-assured attitude certainly didn't help people's first impression of him. It was easy to read his quiet calm as arrogance.

"Were you involved in any illegal activities?"

"No, sir."

"Where were you?"

"I took Bella to…" Crossing his arms, Edward glanced at me, and he had this secret glint in his eyes when we made eye contact. "Play chess, sir."

"Chess?"

"Yes, sir."

The officers looked skeptical.

"There's a restaurant across the city owned by an old grandmaster where a chess club from Roswell meets up. My grandfather was there, too. I can give you his number."

"That's not necessary." Officer Burke straightened as he looked at us. "I think our work here is done."

Officer Riddick returned Edward's license to him. The officers shook hands with all of us, expressing their joy for the happy ending and admonishing me not to disappear again, and Edward pushed his motorcycle out of the way before the two police cars turned off their lights and drove away. I started to unzip Edward's jacket just as he stepped in front of my parents and held out his hand.

"Edward, sir," he said before turning to my mom. "Ma'am. Nice to meet you both."

His grip appeared just as deadly as his grandfather's because I saw both my parents flex their fingers after they finished shaking hands with him, but there was something attractive about seeing Edward casually introduce himself to my parents after the whole ordeal with the police. He didn't have to.

"Please don't punish Bella for what was almost certainly my fault."

"You're quick to take responsibility," dad replied. "But I disagree. We are not upset at Bella for being out with you. We are upset because she did not inform us where she was, which cannot be your fault."

"It is when you hear that I proposed the outing."

"Doesn't make a bit of a difference unless you physically kept our daughter from her phone."

Edward turned to see me, and I couldn't begin to interpret the look in his eyes before dad said, "Step inside for a moment, Edward."

His tone and words were casual, and yet, if I were Edward, I'd have been daunted by the invitation, but Edward only gave my dad a small smile and took out his phone.

"Let me just call my dad, sir."

Both of my parents tilted their heads and looked at me with the clearest expression of, 'See? This is a good kid who considers his parents.'

Ugh, Edward. Stop it. You're making me look bad.

My parents and I shut the front door behind us to give Edward privacy before mom told dad, "Ten bucks says the boy will take off instead of joining us."

"Oh you are on," dad said. "No way will a boy with a justice boner for Bella run away."

Mom chuckled.

My parents eyed me from the top of my head to the bottom of my shoes, with all the worry and love in their eyes as well as… disappointment.

"Your coat was stolen, wasn't it," mom said quietly. I shrunk in shame, even if Jake, my faithful little fur ball, rubbed his face against my leg. I petted him.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, apparently the only sentence I was capable of this evening. "I've never owned stuff worth stealing before."

"It is what it is." Mom sighed but hugged me again. "At least you're okay."

Edward knocked on the door, and I picked up Jake before opening it. It was such a surreal moment, Edward stepping into our house in all his tall, pierced glory, taking in the painfully ordinary house as he left his backpack in the hallway and casually joined us in the living room. Dad offered Edward sweet tea before dad sat next to mom on the couch. Edward took the armchair, and so I crossed my legs on the carpet next to Jake.

"Thank you for getting Bella a helmet," mom said.

"You don't have to thank me, ma'am. I'd never allow anyone to ride without one."

A smile tugged at the corner of dad's lips. "But you don't split lanes?"

Edward assessed my dad, hesitating, trying to figure out the cost of telling the truth. "If I do I'm not stupid enough to tell that to a police officer."

Dad laughed. "Good. You would've been the first biker I've met who didn't do that. Just don't do it with our daughter."

"It's not a habit, sir," Edward replied. "I only do it if I'm stuck between trucks."

Happy with his answer, dad nodded. He held out his fingers for my fur ball, and Jake, the little traitor, stood up and walked to dad to get his pets instead of mine.

"Bella," mom said. "Please call Tanya and Mike to confirm you're alive."

I hesitated, not only because, eww, calling people (though it was a fair punishment), but because leaving my parents alone with my crush felt like a recipe for disaster.

I did have to show up at Alec's Recording Studio bright and early tomorrow, so I definitely needed to make this call sooner rather than later.

Stifling my groan, I got up, took out my phone and pointed at Edward with it. "Just know that whatever they say about me is 90% lies. Don't believe a word."

"Hey, that's not true," dad replied. "50 at most."

I made a face at dad, silently begging him not to embarrass me to the ends of the earth. He squinted at me, promising nothing. Having no other choice, I went to my room and shut the door as I discovered that day-gremlins had created a floordrobe of my clothes (it certainly wasn't me, I was neat and tidy and always knew what to wear).

I had fifty three unanswered calls as well as numerous messages from all my friends and neighbors, and I was actually glad I hadn't discovered this at the restaurant because I would've freaked out and feared the worst (a leak of the teaser). Now, knowing it wasn't that, I returned calls to Tanya and Mike. Tanya was beyond relieved ('Do not do that to us again!') whereas Mike seemed pretty nonchalant ('Knew you'd just gone out, that's what I'd have done if I were you.'). To everyone else, I wrote and copy-pasted a concise message explaining what happened with no mention of Edward.

I closed my bedroom door before joining the others in the living room, and they were laughing as I approached. Edward's eyes were beautifully lit when he turned his head.

"I hear you are quite the ice queen," he said, stifling his smile. "So how come you haven't poured anything on my head yet?"

I narrowed my eyes at my parents.

"Was never presented with the opportunity," I answered before I closed the distance between us, reaching for his drink. Edward leaned away, holding the tea away from me with his abnormally long arms.

"Hey, how upset would your parents be if you poured sweet tea on my head?"

"Not very," dad answered, grinning.

"A little bit," mom said. "But only because I'd have to teach Bella to clean the armchair."

Edward blinked, surprised by the lack of support, but I stopped reaching for his drink anyway.

"Relax," I said, patting his shoulder before I sat on the armrest next to my parents. "I do not have the energy to clean that armchair tonight."

Edward smiled, resting against the armchair and eyeing us with a question in his eyes.

"It's okay," I said, stifling my smile. "You can ask."

I loved the way Edward pulled his lips between his teeth before he searched my eyes. "Are you adopted?"

Dad gasped, eyes wide as he clutched his chest. "How dare you. A dagger straight to my heart."

Edward hesitated, glancing at me and my mom, but I couldn't help my grin.

"Ignore him," I said. "It's dad's favorite joke ever since I was a kid. I'm not adopted."

"Well…" mom said.

"Well, I am and I'm not," I continued. "My mom's my biological mom. My dad's my real dad but not my biological one. He officially adopted me and gave me his name when I was around two or three. My biological dad is not in our lives."

Well, not outside of the occasional movie trailer and late night show, anyway.

"Gotcha," Edward said, pulling his lower lip in his mouth. "Sorry for prying."

"Don't worry about it," I replied. "I'd be curious, too."

"Also, I swear if Bella wasn't half-black nobody would question Charlie's fatherhood," mom said. "Bella and Charlie are much more alike than Bella and me. If I didn't know for a fact he wasn't the father I could be convinced he was."

"Really?" dad asked, excited. "You think so?"

"Practically the same person," mom replied to the gooey, soft grin of my dad. "Both eat garbage if nothing else is around," (true,) "—both are all grumpy-grump-grump until their first coffee," (also true,) "—and both keep me on their toes with their spontaneous shenanigans, which is lovely and sweet on some days and drives me up the wall on others," (guilty as charged on all accounts.)

I slid off the armchair next to dad, and he wrapped his arm around my shoulders, grinning. "You hear that? Practically the same person."

I grinned back at him until mom rubbed her eyes, stood up, and held her arm out to dad. Her smile was soft. "We have to tell the neighbors Bella's fine. You take the Halls, I take the Gibsons. Edward, will you make sure Bella doesn't escape for five more minutes?"

"Excuse me, I'm perfectly capable—"

"I will, ma'am."

"Perfect."

As fit as he was, dad groaned like a wooden ship when he got up, and the two disappeared behind the front door. Edward bit his lip, his eyes alight with some unnamed emotion before he put down his tea and walked to our fake mantlepiece with all of my embarrassing childhood photos on it. Jake purred against my feet when I walked up to Edward.

"You don't have to keep me company," I said quietly, embarrassed by my parents' request.

"I don't mind," he replied, voice equally quiet, tearing his eyes from the pictures.

As surreal as his presence was in my home, I felt alive in his eyes, tingly and breathless and jittery with suppressed nerves. Had he been anyone else or had I not known that he, too, grew up in a trailer park, I would've hidden in shame of our worn, mismatched home, but instead, I just felt… I felt seen. He wasn't looking to judge, he was just curious, and I desperately wished that the sheer unvoiced energy I felt between us wasn't one-sided. Even the dark red puffer, too large for him, didn't hide his tall, lean frame.

"I'm sorry I got you in trouble," Edward said.

"You didn't," I repeated my dad's words. "It was my own fault I didn't inform them. I'm sorry they forced you to spend time with them."

He brushed me off, and I resisted the urge to lick my lips when his gaze lingered on them.

"What is 'especially now'?" he asked. "Your mom said tonight was scary for them, but especially now? Why now?"

"We had an… almost burglary a few weeks ago," I improvised, trying to keep my lie as close to the truth as possible. "There was a guy right outside our window—" I pointed behind him. "In the middle of the night. I was still up, and he was… holding something. It scared us. I guess my parents were worried the guy might've come back or something."

Edward frowned at the old but giant windows. "You don't have a security alarm?"

"No," I replied. "We're working on it."

Edward's eyes snapped on mine. "Bella, that's… terrifying. Even our double wide has a security alarm. Tell me you're joking."

I gave him a tight-lipped smile.

"Hell, I'd be scared too had that happened outside our window. How do you sleep at night?"

I started to answer when Jake began to climb up Edward's jeans. Edward, hilariously, lifted both of his arms as if someone had pointed a gun at him, and I was glad for the distraction.

"I've never had a cat," he said, wide-eyed. "What am I supposed to do?"

Maybe I shouldn't have, but I laughed. The curious panic in his eyes was a sight to behold, and I wished I could've hugged him.

"Is he hurting you?"

"No."

Jake kept climbing until he stretched out his T-shirt, but he stopped near his chest, and I took hold of Edward's elbows and made him support Jake's butt against his chest. Jake, my fluffy, grey, one-eared spirit animal, purred and began to brush his tongue over Edward's Adam's apple.

"Is he licking me?" Edward asked, laughter in his eyes.

Fuck you, Jake, for getting to do the thing I want to be doing. Traitor.

Jake jumped off of Edward when my parents returned.

Edward and I agreed that I'd return Jasper's extra helmet to him (Edward had nowhere to put it) and that he'd begin to tutor me on Saturday. Edward's trailer park was only ten minutes away by motorcycle, and my parents, thankfully, didn't hover by the front door when he prepared to leave. It was no less surreal saying bye to him late at night under our cheap hallway lights than it had been to spend the evening with him in the first place, and I felt aflame when he assessed my face with his bright green eyes. He pulled his lower lip in his mouth, not quite smiling, and yet I felt his smile in my bones.

Before I could reconsider, I crushed him in a hug, and it was only when I felt the warm, lean muscle under his T-shirt that I realized I'd hugged him underneath his jacket, but he was hugging me back, and I could've melted from feeling his soft hum against my cheek.

"Thank you for the best evening ever," I whispered, pulling back, keeping my tone friendly and casual even if his scent filled me with masochistic longing.

"Likewise," he said, his sparkly eyes full of things I wanted to imagine, and I floated all the way back to the living room after he'd shut the door behind himself.

My parents squinted at me. I lifted my arms. "Nothing happened! Friendly hug, no kiss, nothing. Promise."

"Bella," dad said, tilting his head sharply at me.

"I told you, nothing—" I looked down at my jacket. "Oh fuck!" I ran to the front door, throwing it open as I yelled Edward's name, but the loud rumble of his motorcycle was already fading away.

A/N: I don't have words for how lovely your thoughts are. Thank you.