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Dine and Dash
*~*~* Chapter Twelve - "Echoes of Demons" *~*~*
‘With a fierce action of her hand, as if she sprinkled hatred on the ground, and with it devoted those who were standing there to destruction, she looked up once at the black sky, and strode out into the wild night.’ (Charles Dickens)
The
entire drive is filled with tension that only I seem to feel. We're both quiet.
I'm lost in my thoughts while he seems at ease, completely in control of what
he's doing. He's unaffected while I'm losing my mind trying to get into his!
"Edward-"
I say too fast.
He
chuckles, his cold eyes still on the road, "Yes, anima gemella?"
I
wanna stick out my tongue or stomp my feet. He isn't looking at me, but he
smirks widely, sinfully wicked like I'm used to. The soft roar of the engine
heightens his presence in the car, he doesn't have to look at me to know my
reaction, he just knows.
"Behave,"
I order, folding my arms authoritatively.
He
grins crookedly at me. A blush slowly creeps up my cheeks. I mumble curses
under my breath at myself. "I'm being serious Edward! I don't want to
invite more trouble than I absolutely have to."
"Fine,
Bella. Whatever," He dismisses sharply, "just be careful till I get
back." He pulls over to the side of the road and cuts the engine when
we're hidden in the alley just to the side of the building Rach rents her space
in.
It
shouldn't surprise me that he knows where to go, but it does kind of scare me
that he's known all along. If I wasn't with him, if we weren't together... It
was terrifying knowing that they knew where Rach was day in and day out.
Suddenly, all Paul's griping about her being in Forks doesn't seem so pushy.
And them always leaving me at home when they went out on 'errands' doesn't seem
so unreasonable like I'd told them countless times. This really was bigger than
all of us. I say a silent prayer in thanks that the Clallam County Juvenile
Services is on the next street, meaning this area is covered in cops often.
"The
second I'm back, you're coming home?"
To
say I'm surprised would be an understatement. He was asking. Albeit, I doubted
he'd take no for an answer but Edward actually asked, with some hopefulness
hidden in the depths of his frustrated voice no less.
"Yeah,"
I nod dumbly, eyes large.
He
nods and stares out the glass, gesturing for me to hop out with his palms before
resting them on the wheel again. "Go."
"I'll
see you when you get back?" I ask. I know for certain how he feels about
the Grey Wolves and it makes suddenly, hesitant, this fight could've pushed him
too far.
Chewing
the insides of my cheeks anxiously I watch closely as he shakes his head and
laughs under his breath, with a sharp-toothed grin shot my way. "The second I get back Cappuccinetto," he
promises.
"Okay,"
I agree uncertainly, hopping out. Popping my head back in, I whisper,
"hey, Shadow?" He raises a brow in acknowledgement and tilts his head
towards me. I place a kiss at the corner of his mouth, "thanks for the
dress."
He
smiles, it's small but brilliant because he did it at all. "Don't thank
me." He moves forward, almost kissing me, and then stops. I open my eyes
and see him staring at me with an intensity that only he's capable of. His
breath kisses my lips and I automatically stick out my tongue to wet them. His
eyes flicker down to them. "Anything you want."
I
close my eyes, letting the words waft over me and make my body hum with
contentment. I let out an apprehensive sigh when he moves away without touching
me. Slouching deep into his seat and revving the engine when he starts her up
again.
I
hop out the car and lean in the window. "Edward, promise you're not going
to do anything stupid to screw things up for me back home."
He
lets out a deep breath and smirks devilishly at me, a glint in his eye as
strands of his bronze mane fall into them. "I promise, anima gemella, I'll
do exactly what you asked." Somehow the way he says
it makes me more nervous than content as I walk away. Looking behind me as I
enter the street, I see him peel out the alley leaving dust in his wake.
~.~.~D&D~.~.~
The
smell of coffee fills my nostrils as I walk into the little shop I'm fairly
familiar with. It's a quaint space at the foot of an office block owned by an
old lady, who'd look great in a Santa's suit, because she's too sweet and has a
stumpy, round physique.
Last
year Rach moved out her folk's place and much to the displeasure of Jake and
Paul alike, she decided to keep her residence in Forks where she grew up. She
wanted her independence and she wanted it quickly, after a fight with her
parents over her then new relationship status with Paul. The rent for her
apartment was, to put it mildly, cheap, really cheap. So she took over the
place with money Jake insisted on fronting for her, cause Rach, in a bout of
genius, left home completely broke. She paid him back the cash, but to make
rent and ultimately live on her own, she, of course, needed a job. She took up
a receptionist job at the doctor's office, followed by a sales lady job at the
sports store. That lasted two glorious weeks until Paul broke the face of a
customer for grabbing her ass. So then came her trying her hand at telephonic
sales which, much to her gratitude, ended when she got a job here at the coffee
shop before she died of utter boredom at Call-A-Bargain.
She manned the front of the coffee shop until Mrs. Summers, the owner, put up a
sign to let out the small space above to ease some of the bills. Rach
immediately jumped at the offer and convinced Mrs. Summers to let her run a
'Mani-Pedi-Facial' business upstairs. She named it Forksy her spin on the word 'foxy'. It 's a small business. She
rents a single space upstairs that's divided into 'rooms' by pretty drapes,
most of her customers are the patrons from the coffee shop so it pay's the
bills. Much to the surprise of us all, it's working out pretty great. Not that
we'd ever admit that to her. Rach is too spontaneous the day we tell her she's
doing a good job she'll close shop just to spite us.
My
phone vibrates in my palm. ~ Sei molto
bella – E ~
Now
that's Italian I understand. All fights and apprehension are forgotten just
like that. I smile as I type out my reply. ~
Grazie Shadow;) –B ~
I
watch the little envelope spin across my screen until it disappears. With a new
skip in my step I throw open the door and prance in, a grand entry indeed,
"Honey, I'm home!"
"Well,
look what the cat dragged in," Lee stops mid-sweep, with her ass still
frozen in the air and the dustpan pressed against the floor with her other
hand.
"Yupp,"
I smack my lips exaggeratedly, "when I heard how horrific your love life
was I just dropped everything and came quick."
Rach
snorts behind the curtain of her 'rooms' and then pops her head out.
"Haha,"
Leah sniggers, "whatever, Sugar, grab this for me, will ya?"
I
lean over and take the dustpan from her, holding it in place while she sweeps
in the dirt.
"Times
when you need a camera!" Rach laughs, smacking both our asses.
Lee
and I snort. Righting myself, I grab the broom out Leah's hand while she
reaches for the dustpan to empty it.
"Oh,
shit," she groans, grabbing her phone from the chair beside us.
"What?"
I ask, trying to peek at the screen to see where the fires at. Turns out, I
don't have to.
"Again?"
Rachel bites back, smiling at Leah's warning glower, "seriously, gotta
hand it to him Lee, guy's persistent."
Ahhh,
it must be the latest addition to the Leah pile. Rach gives me a nod to confirm
what I'm thinking.
"I
need less persistent! Way less!"
Lee grits her teeth, frustrated, "He's mental. He's crazy as fuck."
I
lean inconspicuously towards Rachel as she passes by. "After she dumped
his ass, he showed up outside her window and sang Unchained Melody," she
whispers conspiringly.
My
answering bark of laughter sets off her own.
We
pull it together quickly at the glare Lee hits us with, "Shutting
up," I gesture quickly between Rach and me, "please, continue with
the hating."
"Just
take the call and tell him you're seeing someone else," Rach suggests,
grabbing the keys to Forksy.
"You're
closing now?" I ask, following them both out and waiting for Rach to lock
the door behind us. I check the time of my phone . 10:05
"Yupp,"
she pops the p, "Mrs. Claus has to go to her grandkids recital, so she'll
be closed soon anyway," she says, referring to Mrs. Summers. Sweet old
lady doesn't mind the nickname, in fact, the first time we used it Mrs. Summers
baked us gingerbread cookies, "good thing, too, needed a day off,"
Rach loops her hands through mine and Leah's, leading us down the stairs.
"Later, Mrs. Claus," she calls over her shoulder.
"Oh,
my!" Startled at our sudden appearance, Mrs. Summers says with a hand to
her chest. "You girls have a fun day," she smiles wide and crinkly at
us, before going back to her customer. "Good seeing you again,
Isabella."
"You
too," I wave at Mrs. Summers over my shoulder, letting Rach drag us out. I
shoot her a quizzical look and her less-than-innocent grimace tells me all
things are not well.
I
follow her gaze and see a boy mumbling to himself outside the shop. He's tall
and fairly good looking. He had broad shoulders, with clothes that give him a
crisp, well-bred college boy look. From the looks of him as he paces, he seems
really undecided on some something.
"Brace
yourself," Rach says to Lee, who goes completely still, seeing what we
see.
Curiously,
I watch the color drain from Leah's face, "you've got to be kidding
me!" she grumbles under her breath, "what are you doing here?"
His
head snaps up. From her tone, I'm going to go out on a limb and assume he's Mr.
Melody.
I
find this odd because, now that I can see his face, he looks really good
looking to be that crazy.
"Lee,"
he holds up his hands defensively, "Baby, okay, I know I was a bit out of
it yesterday," at Lee's pointed look, he backtracks, "okay, more than
a bit. But, I swear, I was high as a fucking kite."
Now
I'm rethinking the crazy thing. If he came down all this way with that as his
defense, dude must be crazy.
Like
at a tennis match, my head swings back to Leah.
"Liam,
go home," she stresses, with forced politeness.
And
Mr. Melody's name is Liam. Honestly, I favor Mr. Melody a bit more than Liam
but… details.
"I
know I went too far yesterday with the stripping," Liam starts to beg
desperately, his face falling and I swear to God, I'd feel sorry for the guy
but wait, hold the phone, What? "I swear, Lee, I didn't know your parents
where home."
My
eyes bug out their sockets and I start to squeeze the life out of Rach's hand.
I feel her shoulder shaking violently. I can practically see her bursting on
the inside, dying to either laugh or fill me in on the other details. It's
innate and immediate, the need to laugh crazy un-fucking-controllably when I
finally process what this guy just said and what it was that Lee prevented Rach
from spilling in Forksy.
I'd
have killed to have seen this. Honestly mowed down a preacher man to see it!
Neither
Rach nor I give in to the humor of the situation, out of pure and simple love
for our Lee girl. However, we will hold this over her head until we're senile
and on our death beds.
"Liam,
stalking isn't doing much
better," Leah snaps pointedly, then groans, "look, Liam, you're a
nice guy, but this," she gestures between them, trying and failing to keep
the grimace off her face, "isn't going to work. I'm with someone
else."
Liam
looks bewildered, "No," he shakes his head and takes a step forward.
Instinctively,
I do too. Followed by Rach.
"Okay,
bro. Back it up. Now!" Rach says solemnly.
Liam
looks at Rach briefly before trying to talk to Leah again.
"Mr.
Mel—" I clear my throat, " Liam, you and Jake must be tight."
He
looks down his nose at me, "Jake?"
I
nod innocently, cause I'm trying to be helpful, " Jacob, Rachel's
cousin." I jab my head toward her.
It's
obvious when the connotations dawn on him. His body stiffens uncomfortably, he
looks like he's gonna be sick, "Black?"
I
nod in confirmation, "But you already know that, right? I mean, you
must've met Seth, too?" My grin slowly increases as Liam's darts his gaze
around us anxiously, taking an unconscious step back, "cause, I mean,
you're dating his sister."
Liam
takes another step back, progressively putting space between us, "You're
lying," He says quietly.
"Why
don't you stick around and find out," I challenge, pulling out my phone,
"they're picking us up right about now," I draw out my words
annoyingly, making the lie flawless.
Liam
backs up quicker, "Yeah, whatever," he says trying to remain
nonchalant, "yeah, Leah, I'm not really feeling this. You're a great
girl," he adds at super speed, misinterpreting Leah's gape of 'bitch, are
you kidding me right now'. "But I can't pull of the long distance thing.
No hard feelings." With those memorable parting words Mr. Melody is a blur
of movement, disappearing down the street.
I
roll my eyes, heart of a lion, this one.
"Why
didn't we think of that?" Rach thinks out loud, as we continue towards her
apartment, unaffectedly.
"I
cite post traumatic stress. I had a stripping serenading boyfriend in my backyard,
while breaking bread with the 'rents," Leah quips, "you try thinking
after that."
Rach
and I nod sympathetically, "makes sense," we say.
"I'm
dating Paul," Rach says thoughtfully with a snigger, "I lost my mind
a while ago."
~.~.~D&D~.~.~
Rach's
place is a one bedroom apartment on the first floor. It's square and divided
into four parts. Kitchen, bedroom, bathroom and lounge with no dining room.
It's small and prefect for her.
A
year ago, this place was a dump. Jake almost shit a brick for the second time
that day when we first walked in and I can still distinctly remember the 'I
told you so' look Paul had shot him. Paul never wanted Rach here. He offered to
move her in with him, which was the first thing that made Jake want to shit a
brick, until Paul brought him here. Paul's reasoning behind his suggestion
wasn't too unreasonable. It wasn't unreasonable at all. If the fact that they
were dating and the place was in bad condition wasn't reason enough, the fact
that she chose to live in Shadow Fang territory was a deal breaker for him.
They fought for weeks after she moved in. He eventually let it go because she
wanted to live a block away from her parents. He had a security system
installed thanks to Jake taking his side when she argued him on it and Collin's
cousin, Duncan, lives downstairs. Duncan is a college boy, he isn't involved in
any gang activity but he was more than up for a fight if one showed up and he
would definitely look out for Rach while she was here.
Her
place looks much better now. Thanks to the work Paul puts into it, it's
probably the best apartment in the rundown complex. He's painted the walls,
worked with Jake to fix up the heat and wiring, and last month he ripped out
the old stained carpets and called in a favor with a 'friend' to have it
redone. An inexpensive one replaced it, in a simple pale yellow color, but it
looks brilliant against the burnt orange, almost rust, color of her walls. Miss
Independent doesn't mind him doing anything in the apartment anymore because it
makes him feel better, and happy Paul is a livable one in her book.
"I
just got dumped by the dumpee," Leah chortles, letting me in before she
closes the door, "I don't know if I wanna kiss you or kick you,
Bells," she scowls.
"Go
to your happy place, woman," Rach bumps her hip hard, making Lee wince and
stumble to the side where the kitchen just so happens to be.
Leah
catches the hint with a grumble and goes to her 'happy place' to work on lunch,
because our culinary skills may be zilch but Lee in the kitchen? Fucking A.
"No
complaints," she sing songs as we collapse on the couch, "I'm
freaking thrilled he's gone."
Water's
put to boil and spaghetti is broken to the medium size she likes to cook them
before she comes into the lounge to join us. "So, Bells, what's new? Jar
said you weren't at the Res much this week."
I
dig my nails into my palms, suddenly, desperate for a cigarette or a wall to
separate us while I answer. "Not much. Just school." I'm about to
mention my 'job' in a sugarcoated version, when Rach starts signaling with her
hand wildly at her neck in a way that says 'cut it'.
I
shut up and smile when Lee looks up to see if I'm really done talking. I don't
blame the woman, I hadn't sounded like I was finished yet.
"Hey,
I think the waters boiling," Rach distracts Lee, causing her to bolt to
the kitchen to work her magic on her spaghetti. She loves cooking. She just
won't admit it.
"Honey,
baby, little Wolfy wonder," Rach turns to me with dramatically widened
eyes, "let's not freak the freak out when she's already freaked out."
I
groan, suddenly grateful. "She doesn't know about Nell' Ombra?"
"No,"
Rach whispers back, signaling for me to drop my voice with the Fang business,
"and if you want to keep things less stressful for you, let's try and keep
it that way."
I
nod enthusiastically. I know Lee as well as Rachel does. If Rach is healthily
laidback, Leah is brutally opinionated. The only way to love Leah is if you
know her. We know her well. We get her. She blows a fuse fast and will be an
angry bitch to deal with until she's had enough time to stew. I'd much rather
not deal with that right now. Judging by no one informing Leah as yet, I'm
going to go out on limb here and say they feel the same way.
Things
progress well after that. We light up, pig out and plan on getting ourselves
shitfaced, avoiding the topic of guys in totality. It's what we do in these
cases. We're not the ice-cream, chick flick and sobbing over the injustices of
the male population types of girls. No. We simply take the day to ourselves
when the love lives of one of us goes south, well one of their love lives goes south seeing as I've had only
one boyfriend so far and they don't even know about it.
I
check my phone to see if he's called. Nada,
I'm not the clingy type, but yes, I miss him.
~.~.~D&D chap12 cont~.~.~
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