"Alice! If you don't open this goddamn door in one second, I'm breaking it down!"
I heard her clambering around on the other side of the wall. "Jesus, Edward, I'm coming!"
Finally, she yanked open the door to exposing herself in nothing but underwear and a t shirt. Behind her, Jasper was lounging, shirtless, in her bed.
"Fucking ew," I made a show out of holding my hand infront of my eyes. "Shit, do you people have no decency?"
"What do you want, brother?"
"What should I wear to the party?"
Alice looked at me like I had three heads while Jasper laughed in the background.
"What's so fucking funny, dude?" I asked, glaring daggers at my friend. "And can you put some fucking clothes on?"
"Why, am I turning you on?" Jazz grabbed his dick through the blanket and shook it at me.
"Ugh!" My sister exclaimed, pushing me out of her doorway and shutting the door behind her.
She placed her hands on her hips and looked at me pointedly. "What is going on, Edward?" She asked.
"Uh, nothing?" I responded. "I asked you what I should wear tonight. I thought you would be thrilled."
She scoffed, her blue eyes narrowing at me. "Since when do you care what you look like? What the hell is going on?!"
I groaned, my hands going to my hair and tugging. I had seriously miscalculated her reaction. "You know what? Forget it. Thanks anyway." I grumbled, turning to stalk back into my room and figure out what the fuck to put on.
"Wait, Edward," Alice said, reaching out to grab my wrist, effectively halting me. "I can't just not say something, okay? So don't get all pissy at me, but… I think this is an exceptionally horrible idea."
I shot her a glare. "I don't know what you're talking about, Alice."
"Yes, you do. And I also think you know how bad this can end up. You're not an idiot, even though you act like one."
I knew my sister must have known that something had changed between Bella and I. If Jazz didn't let it slip, I know my behavior was a dead giveaway. I just couldn't help it; having Bella back in my life made me fucking giddy.
I didn't know how much she knew, though, so I pleaded the fifth.
"Roger that, sis." I nodded, tearing my wrist out of her grasp so I could head back to my closet.
"Dark jeans and a flannel!" Alice called out once I crossed the threshold into my room. I laughed, pulling the only black pants I owed without holes in them out of the drawer.
I had to give it to him, stupid fucking Jacob did a good job with her party.
There was a big tent set up in the yard, covering the barbecue Charlie was stationed at from any potential rain, though the sky was perfectly clear. He had big, golden balloons, a '2' and a '1', tied up behind the chair at the head of the folding table. Birthday girl's seat.
There were assorted other decorations, too, and they didn't even look like they came from the dollar store.
How much expendable income did this prick have?
I followed Charlie to the coolers so I could keep the 24 pack of Old Milwaukee's cold. The red flannel I was wearing over a white t-shirt was the perfect choice for the weather today; the sun was warm enough to heat up a few beers, but there was a real autumn chill in the breeze.
I scanned the yard, taking note of who was here and, obviously, looking for Bella. I saw Newton, accompanied by Jessica Stanley, which made me shutter. Gross. Em and Rose were already here, and I came with Jazz and Alice. There were a few random people around, too, who I would have assumed to be Jake's friends, but I didn't think he had any besides us.
I snorted to myself. I was not his friend, that was for damn sure.
Finally, tucked in the corner with a cigarette in her hand, was Bella. At first, I worried about why she was standing all alone, but then she looked at me in a way that let me know she did it on purpose. I popped a cig from my pack into my mouth and strolled over with confidence.
She smiled up at me when I approached. "I swear I was gonna wear a flannel today, too, but I felt like I'd look underdressed."
She most definitely did not. Her hair was tied up in a bun that looked like it was messy on purpose, and she wore a tight fitted turtleneck shirt and shorts. Her black boots made her a little taller than she usually was when standing next to me, but I still had to look down to talk to her.
"Are you trying to tell me something?" I asked, looking down at my outfit. "Alice told me what to wear, you know."
Bella laughed, reaching out and punching my arm. Kinda hard, actually. "No! You look perfect. You're not the birthday girl, anyway."
"Oh!" I cried, exhaling cigarette smoke from my nose as I spoke. It burned in a way that I loved. "You're the birthday girl? I didn't know."
Her next punch was really hard. Should have seen that one coming. "Ow!" I laughed, rubbing the spot she hit.
"You deserved that!"
"Happy birthday, my Bella."
"Thank you, my Edward." She replied quietly, and the way she said my name did things to my insides.
"Did you see Alice and Jazz yet?"
She shook her head. "No, but I'm about to go find them."
"They have something for you."
"Oh?" Her eyebrow quirked up- my favorite look of hers. "And you don't?"
I shrugged. "I might… later."
The party was kind of fun when I managed to pretend Jacob didn't exist. I met some of the unfamiliar guests, learning they were people who knew Bella as the newest thing in the neighborhood music scene, which was kind of cool. They all seemed to be smitten by her, too, a few of them pointing out how lucky Jake was to have someone like her.
I wanted to tell them that he didn't; I did, but that seemed inappropriate and not entirely true.
He sure seemed like he had her, tonight.
He made his rounds throughout the party, but was next to Bella more often than not with his hand on her ass or his arms around her waist. It was infuriating- the only reason I wanted to be here was to spend time with her, but I couldn't bear to do so if he was anywhere near her.
I was pretty drunk by the end of the night- not wasted or anything, but definitely not sober. Newton, Jessica Stanley and Alice were sitting around the remaining embers of a fire with me. Emmett and Rose fucked off somewhere to, presumably, fuck, and Jazz was talking to Charlie Swan about charcoal grills or some bullshit like that.
I didn't know where Bella was, but I was hoping she was putting her boyfriend to bed so she would come out and share that joint we talked about.
When I heard Jess ask my sister about her sex life, I turned my attention towards Mike- a desperate attempt to get out of that conversation.
But Newton wouldn't make eye contact with me. In fact, now that I thought about it, he'd kind of been avoiding me all night.
Weird, but I knew to count my blessings. The dude could be annoying as fuck. He probably didn't think I'd be here when he decided to bring Jess; it wasn't exactly a secret that I'd fucked her just a few months ago. Even Bella knew that, unfortunately.
Sighing, I hoisted my drunk ass out of the lawn chair, leaving that weird ass circle jerk behind.
I was hoping I'd find Bella.
I did, but under pretty fucking disappointing circumstances.
Jacob, clearly drunk, had his arms wrapped around my girl as he guided her towards the back door.
"Yo, Edward!" He called out, and I cringed. I wanted to sneak away undetected.
"Sup, dude?" I asked, pulling a smoke from my pocket to make it look like I came this way for a reason other than finding Bella.
"We're about to hit the sack. You know, birthday afterparty." Jacob slurred.
I looked at Bella, who's eyes were fixed on my face and full of apologies.
Oh.
"Oh, yeah, dude. Whatever. Cool." I mumbled as I fidgeted with my lighter, struggling to make it work with my suddenly shaky hands.
"Thanks for coming," Bella squeaked out, and her voice gave even more away than her eyes. It was a miracle that her boyfriend was so stupid, because she was being so obvious. "I'll see you tomorrow, maybe?" She added, her intent clear.
She'd apologize for this tomorrow, when she had the time. When she was done with Jacob.
"Yeah," I agreed, stepping past them until I reached the front of the house, and when I knew I was out of thei line of sight, I bolted out of the fence and across the street, far the fuck away from them.
My head was clearer when I woke up the next morning. I may have been drunker than I thought.
The sickening feeling in my stomach from the night before had not disappeared, but it dissipated at least a bit.
Obviously, I knew she was still with him. I knew that when she hung up the phone last night and the night before, she crawled right back into bed with him.
I knew, but it was still hard to see it.
Bella called around three the next day, as I was getting ready for work.
"Edward," She sighed into the phone when I picked up. "I didn't think you were going to answer."
"Why wouldn't I answer?" I asked, putting the phone on speaker so I could use both hands to smear shaving cream on my face.
"I don't know, you've made a habit of ignoring me after I've upset you in the past."
I watched my eyes roll in the mirror as I brought the razor to my face. She could be a condescending little bitch, couldn't she?
One of the things I loved most.
"You didn't upset me." I said, focusing on shaving to keep any emotion out of my voice. It worked.
Bella was quiet for a long moment before saying, "Okay."
"Okay." I agreed.
"Anyway!" She said, raising her voice so much it startled me, making me nick my chin with the razor blade.
"Ow, fuck!"
"What? Are you okay?"
"Yeah, fuck," I grumbled, grabbing a piece of toilet paper and pressing it to the spot. It stuck there, and it reminded me of my fucking dad, half shaven with cuts all over his face because he's a fucking alcoholic. I groaned, squeezing my eyes shut so I couldn't see my reflection.
Keeping my eyes closed, I continued to shave blindly, but very carefully. "I just cut myself shaving." I finally explained. "It's cool, though."
Bella snorted. "Got it. Glad you're okay." She paused again before continuing. "Anyway…"
"Did you have fun at your party?" I asked.
"It was fine, thank you. Did you?"
"It was fine."
We were quiet again until the absurdity of our conversation got me laughing.
"What?" Bella asked with humor evident in her voice.
"I dunno, Bella. You called me. What's up?"
She laughed. "I was wondering what you were doing tonight."
"Hmm," I pretended to think about it as I finished my shave. Finally opening my eyes, I inspected my work in the mirror- not bad. I fixed up some spots I missed before rinsing off the razor. "I have work until around eleven," I started, "then I was probably gonna have some beers and jerk off. Unless…"
"I'll meet you at Guigino's at eleven."
"Out back, around the kitchen exit, okay?" I added.
"Got it. Roger that. Over and out, Masen."
And that was how we began to figure out our groove.
I wasn't sure what Jake did in his spare time, and I didn't really care, but he seemed to be busy most often on Thursdays and Sundays. If I had work that day, Bella would meet me out back when I was done, and we would walk back to my house slowly, maybe take a detour to smoke some weed in the park.
Until it started to get colder. Then we walked quickly.
Bella would stay with me until around 6:30am, when she had to get back to Jacob. I didn't ask any questions, didn't care if he ever wondered where she went in the middle of the night if he got up to pee.
Most nights, she couldn't get away.
I, of course, wondered where she was every waking second that she was not with me. Hell, I wondered it in my sleep; my dreams were constantly convoluted visions of Bella in unfamiliar places with unfamiliar people.
I would have wondered what that meant, but I didn't fucking care.
She called me every night, though. Without fail. Sometimes, it was right after I got home from work, as if she'd seen me turn the lights on from across the street. Sometimes it was in the middle of the night. It didn't matter; I wasn't sleeping until after I'd heard from her, anyway. But I missed her while I waited.
God, I always fucking missed her, and she was right across the damn street.
On a cool day nearing the end of October, I sat on the couch with Alice to watch a movie. She popped popcorn, I grabbed some beers. She picked the movie; The Nightmare Before Christmas. Not what I would have chosen, but it was fine.
I guess I was a little relieved when there was a knock at the door, interrupting the film.
"Damn it!" Alice exclaimed, pressing pause on the remote before standing. "Who could that be?"
I shrugged. "Probably your boyfriend."
The front door was out of my line of sight, so I didn't know who it was until I heard her voice come from the entryway.
"Is your brother here?"