Imperfectpictures

6/1/2019

Episode Thirty-Four: Not How It Was Supposed To Go

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Episode Thirty-Four: Not How It Was Supposed to Go

“I can't believe you bought me a wheelchair,” I complained from my seat as I was released from the hospital several hours later. Edward had also bought me two types of crutches because he wasn't sure which one would be best for me to use. He actually sent out Alice with his credit card. She was more than happy to oblige. She never had trouble spending other people’s money.

“You're going to be like this for a while,” he tried to reason.

“I'll get a walking boot next week. I'll be fine before Christmas,” I retorted. “Probably.”

"It's not like wheelchairs go bad. You can keep it for a rainy day. Or, give it to someone who needs it. Donate it. I've already bought it, and I'm not returning it," Edward told me firmly.

“This is the worst. Literally everything I wanted to show you were outdoors and sandy beaches,” I complained.

“Well, tomorrow we'll take a break to keep your foot up like the doctor said and then we can go roll around a museum the next. Where it's inside and warm,” he said in a rich sweet voice.

“New York is not designed for wheelchair use,” I pointed out.

“Then why don't you come back to California with me until your foot is all healed? It's very accessible,” he tried to slip that in very smoothly.

I scoffed. "Oh, sneaky. I see. I'll only need a cane by next week. And I still have to work."

“Would it be so bad to come home with me?” Edward asked quietly, almost worried.

“No… Not at all. But, I want to work,” I insisted. “I need to. For me.”

"Okay." He didn't argue further. "But, the offer is there if you change your mind. Look, just say the word, and I'll try my best to move heaven and earth to get whatever you want or need. "

“Thanks,” I replied quietly as he pushed me into the elevator of the hotel. We had gone to the stupid pharmacy once again to pick up my painkillers before we made it back to our room. The bag was sitting in my lap. I probably was just going to take aspirin instead. I didn't like taking them if I didn't have to. They made me feel weird.

His phone began to ring as he rolled me down the hall to the suite. He picked it up and put it on his shoulder. “Hi, Nana.”

“Tell Nana hi,” I mused softly.

“Yes, she's right here. I'm getting her back to the hotel to properly prop her foot up and pamper her,” he spoke into the phone.

“She already knows?” I asked no one in particular.

“I texted my sister Sasha,” he replied before answering a question on the phone. “She's got a proper plaster cast to hold her foot still. She cracked the top of her foot. Oh, it was gorgeous, Nan. Right in the jewels. Bastard. Yeah, she's a scrapper.”

“Oh, no. This is worse,” I complained. “Your family is going to think I'm trash.”

“How do you figure that? He attacked you while you were ordering your bloody food, the loathsome toad,” he told me before responding into the phone again. “She thinks this is going to reflect poorly on her. That's what I said! Such tosh.” He handed me the card key from his wallet to unlock the door from my level. He pushed it open when it unlocked, rolling me inside before shutting the door with a heavy thud.

“My grandfather says... Well, I'm not going to say exactly what he said because he didn't say it so politely but good job, dear," he paused and smirked a little to himself. "No, I'm not telling her that either, Grandpa. Yes, it is kinda, but you're a dirty old bugger. See, Nana agrees. I need to go and get her into bed. No, not like that, you cheeky bastard. Love you, too. I will. I promise. Goodbye."

“Aw, your grandpa is fun,” I said playfully.

“You don't know what he said,” Edward smirked a little more.

"I can make assumptions."

“And, you'd probably be right,” he grinned at me. “But, I'm not going to take advantage of your doped up state after such a trying day.”

“Aw,” I complained, frowning at him playfully.

“Alright there, princess. Neither one of us is up for that right now, I think.” He scooped me out of the chair and carried me over to the bed where he had arranged the pillows for me against the headboard. I wrapped my arms around his neck, my head on his shoulder. He put a couple of pillows under my foot after he placed me on the bed.

Edward crawled in beside me, exhausted from the day. He put his head on my lap. I stroked his hair, quietly enjoy the contact.

“Like, what the actual fuck, Bella? I don't understand why anyone would say such cruel things to you. You weren't even doing anything!” He said abruptly after a few minutes of silence.

I traced my finger over his ear and sighed. "It wasn't the first time, and it won't be the last."

“It's not fair,” he whispered.

“Life isn't fair. It's... whatever,” I sighed. “I'd like to ask him how he knows 'where I'm from' when I don't even know, though.”

“It doesn't matter,” he told me firmly.

“No, it doesn't,” I agreed a little less so.

"I had been thinking of an idea for a video, but I wasn't sure how you'd feel about it," he began slowly. His eyes flicked up towards me. "One of those kits. The DNA ones. But we can do it just for us. But it's of course up to you... It's just that I know you'd like to know, but I know it's a sensitive topic for you."

“You're not wrong. I do want to know. I've considered doing it before,” I said thoughtfully. “It doesn't matter where my family is from really. It doesn't change anything.”

He looked up at me again, adjusting his face some. "No, it doesn't. But, it bothers you obviously a lot. And, since you don't have a medical history, you can have your genes checked for certain markers. I was going to do it with Seth and Tyler but, if you wanted, you could be a part of it, too."

“Okay,” I replied. “In December?”

His face was a little worried for some reason. He was so concerned about hurting my feelings.

“Yeah, I'll get the kits and then it takes a couple of months to get the results.”

“It sounds like a good idea for a video,” I agreed with him softly, running my fingers along his scratchy jaw as I spoke. He hadn't shaved in five days, the longest he had gone between shaving around me. It was surprisingly hot.

“We don't have to worry about the video part.” He shook his head.

“No. We can record it from prosperity,” I smirked, playing with his chin scruff. It was stiff in a pleasant way. I decided to change the subject for both of us. “I bet you'd look sexy as fuck with a beard. A neat one. In a suit. Mm...”

“I'll have to shave for the movie once I get home.” He enjoyed my attention with a small smile on his contented face. He loved having my hands on his face. “I've not grown my facial hair since the first year of college. It was patchy back then.”

“Maybe after you can grow it out a bit for me,” I mused, the shaving kit long forgotten.

“It's so rough right now.” He rubbed his cheek against my blue jean covered thigh. It sounded like sandpaper. “Can you imagine that with no trousers on?”

“Mm, yes. Yes, I can,” I moaned playfully. He rubbed his cheek more aggressively against my thigh, making a lot of noise. I laughed softly.

“I'd rub you raw.” Edward kissed my thigh.

I tugged playfully at his hair. “You'd die right now, anyway. You can’t breathe through your nose still. You'd suffocate.”

He snorted loudly and dramatically. One of his nostrils sealed shut because he was so stuffed up. "A worthy death."

“Ew,” I giggled.

We both drugged ourselves up and slept until noon the following day. My foot hurt more than the day of the incident. Edward had to help me cut off my jeans because I couldn't take them off over the cast. I realized when it was time for bed and just decided to sleep in my pants. He had to run to the store for scissors, bringing me breakfast in bed before relieving me of my ruined Old Navy denim.

The bottom of the leg had already been cut to put on the cast, making it easier to slice up the side. Edward also bought garbage bags and duct tape so I could take a shower without getting the cast wet. The shower was perfect because there was no step to get inside, and it already had a bamboo seat in it for the guests to use. The shower head detached from the wall as well. He sweetly helped me.

“This is the perfect height.” I looked up at him innocently as he joined me in the shower, naked. I bit my lip as I moved my hands over his hips. His erection began to stir from the simple contact. He was so easy.

“We probably shouldn't play around right now,” he tried to say like he didn't want the exact same thing I wanted.

“Boo,” I complained.

He shook his head, smirking to himself. “How can you be in any mood?”

“I took strong painkillers?” I asked brassily. “And, I've not been fucked in a week.” I slid my hands up his chest. I moved along his stomach, peppering it with slow sweet kisses. “I've missed you,” I told him in my best seductive voice.

“Is it that good?” Edward smirked down at from his full height. I kissed along his belly button.

“The best,” I grinned as he ran his fingers through my hair.

He was completely hard when I kissed his stomach as he washed my hair. His fingers were gentle as he pulled them through my curls, carefully tugging the knots free. I tilted my head back into the water when it was time to rinse, letting it slide down my body. I put conditioner in my own hair and let it sit while he washed his own. I took the washcloth and washed his stomach, back, and legs from my low height.

Edward obviously enjoyed the attention and the view, and how his erection kept brushing against my soapy breasts while I washed him. I made sure that it happened over and over again.

The shower was sadly quick, and when he turned off the water, I was a little disappointed. I dried off in the seat, and Edward carried me back to the bed where he helped me remove the plastic bags. I slipped into a nightgown since we weren't going anywhere that day.

Alice came by later that night to check up on me. We ordered dinner together and watched a movie until she had to return back to the apartment to go to bed. I enjoyed how well they got along together and how easily they made each other laugh. She was friendly to everyone, but I could tell that they both genuinely liked each other. It didn't hurt that he bribed her with food and weed. Demetri and Rosalie liked him too, it seemed. Emmett as well, but he was easy to impress. All of my favorite people approved of my new favorite person.

The next day I was determined to get out of the hotel and take him somewhere more interesting. We decided on the American Museum of Natural History. I had never taken so many photos at such a low height before. I had a lot more fun being rolled around than I expected, not that I was going to tell him that.

It was a warmer day, in the high fifties, so we ate a lunch of hot dogs in Central Park from the Nathan's truck by Columbus Circle. We rolled through the park in the sunshine for a while before making our way to the Museum of Modern Art.

Edward got stopped by a group of Japanese teenage tourist, and he took pictures with them. He signed their autographs and smiled brightly when they hugged him. He got a lot of curious looks from the other tourist who had no idea what was going on.

“So, what was your favorite?” I asked as we rolled through the gift shop.

“I think I liked the wall of Campbell's soup prints. I didn't realize Warhol did all the flavors,” he commented. “What about you?”

“Perhaps Dali's or Cezanne's work. It's different every time. It depends on my mood,” I answered thoughtfully.

“Ah, so melting clocks,” he pointed to a book with the picture on the cover.

I shook my head. "The Cavalier of Death, I think. Melting clocks is a little basic for me.”

“You and your skeletons. I should have known,” he teased me.

We had dinner out at a restaurant where I had to fold up the wheelchair and use my crutches to get to the table. I almost fell forward on my face, but luckily, Edward was right behind me just in case I went down. It would have been a lovely way to end the evening, my face smashed in the carpet with a broken nose.

Then suddenly I realized it was somehow our last night together. It hit me out of nowhere despite knowing his visit was coming to an end. He would be leaving the following evening, his movie starting on the next Tuesday.

We were in the elevator going back to the room for the night when it dawned on me. Perhaps it was the pain or the painkillers, but I began to cry automatically when the thought appeared.

“Love? What's the matter? Are you in pain? Are you okay?” He quickly knelt down beside me, obviously worried at my sudden outburst.

“I don't want you to leave tomorrow,” I said brokenly.

“I don't either. But, I have to,” Edward told me gently, frowning.

I shook my head, angry at myself. “I know.”

“You can come with me,” he offered me again.

“I can't,” I said quietly, trying to hold back the tears that were free flowing down my cheeks. “This is not how I wanted things to go. I wanted to give you as good a time as you gave me. This isn't what I wanted.”

“Well, of course not,” he laughed gently, holding my hand. “It's not your fault. And, I'm the one that got sick for most of it.”

“I wanted it to be as perfect as the time we had together in LA,” I repeated sadly.

“You can't control that, Bells. And, even if it wasn't perfect, I got to spend it with you. That's all I wanted in the first place. And, it's all I want for Christmas, too.” He kissed my hand lightly, letting his almost beard brush against my knuckles.

“The twentieth seems so far away now,” I told him in a tiny voice that didn't even seem like my own.

His eyes were sympathetic to my pain. “I know. At least it's not as long as before.”

“I guess,” I sighed, rubbing my cheek roughly. I was so embarrassed. I hated crying in front of people.

I sat in the chair by the balcony to look out over the city while Edward packed up his things for the next day.

“I do hate that we didn't get to play with all the fun new toys,” he complained playfully.

"Take some of them with you, and we'll play when I come," I suggested as I chewed on my thumb.

“We didn't even take everything out of the box,” Edward sighed in disappointment. We both had wanted to get laid more.

“Well, someone did go a little nuts and bought a lot of stuff at one time,” I smirked as he looked through everything we had gotten, trying to figure out what to take with him.

“I'm enthusiastic.” He wrapped his arm around my shoulders from behind and kissed my cheek. Edward pulled my hand away from my mouth to stop my anxious chewing. “You'll be missing another nail soon if you don't stop.”

I turned my face towards him, taking in a deep breath of his sweet smell. He still hadn't shaved, and though the hair wasn't soft, it was fuller. I ran my fingers through it, pressing my nose into his cheek.

“I'm not ready to lose you,” I said in a whisper.

“You're not losing me, I promise,” he tried to assure me.

"But you won't be here. I'm selfish. I want you all to myself," I told him a little too honestly.

"I know the feeling. I liked sharing you with your friends, though." He kissed my ear. "I can't wait until you come to Sydney to meet all of mine. They'll love you. Especially Jasper. Oh, and my sisters, too. And you've already won over all my grandparents."

"I can't believe I'm going to Australia for almost a month." I bit my lip and glanced over at him. "I'm glad I've already got my bill money for the next few months. I'm excited, though."

“I plan on putting you to lots of work while you're there,” he teased me. “So, don’t worry about money.”

“We have to get through the December list first. What is it up to now? Thirty, thirty-five?” I asked him.

“Forty-two,” he answered without missing a beat. We had officially started a Google Drive doc together to add things as we thought of them. It mostly ended in us sending each other funny memes and jokes.

“There is no way you can do that many in three weeks,” I laughed.

"Some of the cooking videos we could film all at once, and then I could make them into different videos. We could probably do three or four at a time. I don't know, you're probably right. I've got to start planning our videos for Australia, too. I need to make sure I have enough videos made until I get back. Fuck, January is going to be nothing but editing," he sighed heavily.

“You love the editing,” I told him. “I can tell.”

“I might, but I could stand to do less of it.” He was ready to change the subject. “Anyway, what would you like to do tonight?”

“Make love to me,” I begged quietly, my words barely a whisper. We kissed deeply for a moment, his perfect lips delicate against my own before pulling away in concern.

He face was twisted in worry. “I'm afraid I'll hurt you.”

I reached forward to the table to get my bottle of painkillers. I hadn't taken one the entire day. I swallowed one down with a sip of water. “There. Now you won't. And it'll be extra fun for me in about twenty minutes.”

Edward chuckled, considering what he wanted to do for a moment.

“You have to tell me the second something hurts,” he said firmly. “Seriously.”

“So, no ball gag then?” I joked dryly. “Darn.”

He grinned wickedly at me.

He was as delicate and as sweet he possibly could be. I was stuck on my back, but he showered me with affection.

We made love once that evening, once in the middle of the night, and then once in the morning. And then I gave him a blow job from my comfortable shower seat because I was going to be damned if I didn't get to before he left. His stamina was amazing. By the time we left the hotel for the apartment, my chest was covered in hickeys, and my inner thigh was rubbed wonderfully raw from his scruff.

We had an hour on my couch before he had to leave. He held my hand the entire time. I didn't want to talk. I just wanted to be held by him in his big safe arms.

“I have to go,” he said as he glanced at his watch anxiously. “They won't leave without me, but...” he sighed and stood. Edward pulled a bag from his suitcase. It was the ones filled with all those unopened oil weed pens. “For you and Alice, yeah?” He tossed it on the bed. “I don’t like it as much as my joints.”

“She'll love you forever. I think I'll open one of those, take two pain pills, and go to bed until my doctor's appointment on Tuesday,” I told him, not at all joking.

“It's not a terrible idea. I wish I could join you,” he replied softly. “I don't know how I'm going to sleep without you again. Do you need anything before I go?”

“A kiss.”

He bent over me from my position on the couch, holding my chin as he kissed me for several minutes. “Now I really have to go,” he breathed slowly afterward. “Feel better, my darling.” He gingerly brushed his nose against mine, leaving a light peck on my forehead.

“I'll be fine in a few days,” I promised him. “Be careful. Text me when you're on the plane.”

“I will,” Edward kissed my forehead again. “Goodbye, love.”

As soon as the door closed behind him, I began to sob. My chest ached, and my stomach twisted into knots. Alice came into the room silently. I fell into her lap, covering my eyes as I literally shook with the force of them. She stroked my back, letting me get it all out for several minutes.

Only ten minutes had passed when I heard the door open again. Edward popped his head into my bedroom. "I'm sorry. I realized I forgot to give you your keys back... Oh, no, no, no. Don't do that," he rushed over to me and practically slid to the floor on his knees. He rubbed tears away from my eyes quickly with his thumb.

“What did you expect?” I asked, my words watery and weak.

“I don't know, but I don't want this. It hurts my heart so much.” He held my hand against his face, kissing my palm several times.

Alice quietly left the room. She took a vape pen with her for her troubles.

Edward sniffled deeply, his eyes turning red. “It's not that long. It's just until the twentieth. We will both be so busy it will fly by. I promise.”

“I know. Don't cry,” I whispered softly. It made me feel even worse. At least I had tried to keep it together before he left.

"That's not fair," he scoffed a little as he pressed my forehead against mine. "If you can cry then so can I." When I stroked his cheeks, I could feel his tears on my fingers. I wasn't sure how long we stayed like that, both so overwhelmed with our emotions.

"Go before they do decide to leave without you," I told him after finally pulling back. Edward kissed me again briefly before leaving for real. This time when he left, I just felt hollow, though. All my tears were gone, and I was just tired.

I slept all day on Monday.

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