Monday, February 1, 2010

Chapter 5- It's What We Do





"So, you two never hooked up? After he saved you and everything?" Alice asked.

There were times after the night he rescued me when I thought we would confess our feelings for one another again, but it never happened. I was too scared to lose him as my best friend to say anything, it wasn't worth the risk. I had gotten pretty good at repressing my feelings by that point. I assumed he never said anything for the same reasons.

"No, we never did."

"Well that sucks!" Rose interjected.

"Yeah, I just learned to live with it. It wasn't much longer until he met Lisa, the girl he was engaged to."

"Edward was engaged? And who is Lisa?" Rose questioned.

"He met Lisa shortly after we graduated high school. They were damn near inseparable. It was almost sickening to watch them together. Edward kind of distanced himself from me when he met her. I don't know if she had a problem with our friendship, or if he was doing it to spare my feelings. Either way I was happy to not have to look at them." I said as I cringed in my seat.

"I'm glad she's gone. I don't like her already." Rose said in a harsh tone.

"She wasn't that bad. She was actually a nice person. It was just hard for me to be around. I soon found Brian, and we dated for a couple years. Edward and I barely talked during that time. We would occasionally have dinner or catch a movie, but it wasn't anything like it used to be. Brian was jealous of Edward, and Lisa was jealous of me. We kind of drifted apart."

"Oh, I remember Brian. You were dating him when we all met in college right?" Alice asked.

"Yeah, that was him. It was a shitty relationship, but it kept me occupied and in spite of him being as asshole, I actually learned a lot about myself during our time together."

"Yeah, he was an asshole." Rose stated.

"Believe me, I know!" I said.

"I know why you and Brian broke up, what happened with Lisa and Edward?" Alice inquired.

"Funny thing is we actually broke up within days of each other. I finally dumped Brian after finding him in bed with another girl. Edward called off the engagement after he found out she was sleeping with her boss."

"Wow. Maybe Lisa and Brian should've hooked up." Rose laughed.

"That would've been funny. Two cheating assholes." I said with a giggle. "So, yeah that was the end of those two relationships. Although I wasn't surprised at Brian's cheating, I was still hurt and of course, Edward and I did what we always do when we are single."

"Back to best friends." Alice said.

"You know it. He was hurt, and I was hur,t and we went back to our comfort zone-each other." My mind began to drift back to the first night I saw Edward after our breakups.

~ ~
Bella 21 years old

We sat on Edward's couch in his apartment. He was going to a college that was mere minutes away from mine. I was still living at home with my parents, but Edward had gotten a job and moved out on his own. We were watching some stupid movie, in an attempt to cheer ourselves up. We were like wounded animals trying to heal each other. We were eating pizza in our pajamas and laughing at the screen. We didn't talk much until the movie was over, afraid that one of us would break down and if that happened the other would break down soon after.

"That was a pretty good movie, huh?" Edward asked.

"Yeah, Martin Lawrence always makes me laugh."

"So..... what to do now?" He asked.

"I don't know. I'm not really tired are you?"

He shook his head.

"You wanna talk about our screwed up relationships, or pretend like they never happened?" I asked.

"I don't really wanna waste anymore time talking or thinking about her." He stated harshly. I understood his feelings. I didn't really want to talk about Brian either. I had wasted enough time on him already. "Do you wanna talk about him?"

"No. He doesn't deserve my sadness."

"You're right. Neither of them do. We were too good for them anyway."

"Yeah, too bad we had to waste years of our lives figuring that out." I responded. "Thanks for being here for me."

"You don't need to thank me. It's what we do for each other." He said as he wrapped his arms around me. It felt good to be embraced by him. I was certain he and I would never be this close again. Luckily for me, Lisa had fucked up royally. His smell was invigorating and all man. His arms were strong and warm. I took in a deep breath and relished in every second of our embrace.

"Can we just lay down? I just wanna relax. I don't wanna think anymore."

"Sure." He replied as he released me and began to move in his seat so that we could lay across the couch. He snuggled up behind me as I pressed my back against his strong chest. One of his arms was positioned under my neck, while the other was draped across my stomach. I closed my eyes and relaxed against him. I wanted to take it all in. I never knew when the next time would come that a woman would sweep him off of his feet, and my friend would be gone again.


We slept that way the whole night, cuddled against each other and not speaking a word. It didn't progress any farther than cuddling, but it was one of the most intimate nights of my life. Just being with him, wrapped in his arms and knowing that no words needed to be spoken was comforting.

~ ~
"I swear, I can't believe you two. Y'all should have had sex a long time before then and you still didn't do it!" Rose exclaimed.

"That's what everyone thinks, but we just didn't feel that way. There were plenty of occasions for Edward to try something, but he never did. I don't know if he was scared to, or if he was waiting on me. There were plenty of drunken nights after the breakups when we had the perfect opportunity to hook up."

"Do tell!" Alice requested.

~ ~
"Edward," I began as I sat at the bar of our local hangout. I was completely wasted, but I knew Edward would take care of me. He didn't drink much, but he would always go out with me. He never let anything happen to me and he never even made fun of me the next morning. "I love you. You know that?"

He laughed. "Yeah, I know Bells."

"No no no," I slurred out "I'm serious. I've never known anyone like you. You are perfect for me. Why do I waste time with these losers out here?" As I downed another shot.

"You have no idea what you are talking about. You won't even remember this in the morning." He said as he handed me a glass of water.

"Yes I will. You know I'm right. Admit it!" I shouted.

"Whatever you say Bells." He resigned.

Just then we heard the DJ announce that it was last call. I knew then it was time to get one last shot before Edward made me leave and get some food.

I called the bartender over and ordered another shot. I looked over at Edward, he was staring daggers at me.


"What?" I asked.

"You really think you need another shot?"

"Of course I do! That's what you do at last call!"

"Wow. You are gonna be a handful tonight." He stated.

"You have no idea!" I said as I raised my eyebrows at him suggestively.

I had never really been sexually flirty with Edward, and the look on his face was priceless. It was as if he had no idea what to say or do.

"Calm down, Edward! I'm just playing."

Just then the bartender came over with my shot. I instantly downed it and went to reach for the tab. Before I could grab it, Edward swooped in and took it.

"What are you doing? You don't have to pay for me!" I shouted.

"It's cool. I got it."

We left the bar and he took me to an all night cafe, where he forced me to eat a chicken sandwich. He knew if I didn't eat something, I would be sick in the morning. He always took such good care of me.

We made it to his apartment and he basically carried me up the stairs. I went straight to his bedroom and collapsed on his bed. He took my shoes off of me and covered me with the covers. Soon after, I felt him get in the bed and he brushed back a few stray strands of my hair.

I wanted to reach up and kiss him, but I was so out of it that I had no control over my body. When I awoke the next morning he was still sleeping facing me. He looked so peaceful that it made me feel bad for him always taking care of me.

~ ~

"Again! Edward should've taken advantage of you that night." Rose said.

"Most men would have, but not Edward. At least, not with me anyway. He wanted our first time together to be memorable. Not with me trashed and out of it."

"I swear, he's too nice sometimes." said Rose.

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