Key. Chapter Five: In a Townhouse

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Chapter Five: In a Townhouse

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We picked up the pizzas and arrived back at Rosalie and Emmett’s beautiful two-story townhome. She asked me vague questions about our lifestyle the whole way. I couldn’t blame her. She didn’t want to know details about her brother, and she wasn’t judgmental, just curious. Anything she knew was from bad movies, mostly misconceptions. I was happy to talk to her about everything she wanted.

Emmett’s brand-new Jeep was already in the neat two-car garage when we arrived. We walked in through the laundry room, and there was a load going. The dryer hummed softly. It filled the air with the pleasant aroma of the fabric softener.

“Aw, he remembered,” she mumbled to herself happily. “Good boy.” She patted the machine as she passed by it.

The washroom led into the small white kitchen. It was spotless, but there were tons of takeout containers in the trash can beside the sink. She laid her boxes on the counter, and I followed suit. We got so much pizza, wings, and cheese sticks because, apparently, Emmett ate like an animal. Rosalie also bought this meal, even though I offered to put some cash towards it. She said she wouldn’t allow me to pay for something her man would eat all of.

“Baby!” He spoke excitedly as he came into the kitchen with a beer in his hands. He was already in his pajamas. They were fleecy blue flannel pants and a University of Texas sweatshirt with soft slippers on his enormous feet. “Hey, Bella! Good to see you again!”

“Nice to see you too.” I smiled at him politely.

“Can I get you a beer?” He offered right away, holding his hand out to me. He tossed his empty bottle into the trash can before he pulled another from the fridge. He raised an eyebrow. “Or something else?”

“Sure,” I replied eagerly, putting my purse on the counter by the pizza. It was exactly what I needed. “I’ll take a beer.”

“You girls have fun shopping today?” He asked as he passed his wife and me one, too. She smiled and lifted onto her toes to give him a kiss on the lips. He wrapped his free arm around her waist and returned it savagely. He didn’t care that I was there with them. She melted against him, her fingers curling around his shirt tightly.

“Yeah, it was great! Next time, we should invite Alice to come over, too,” she told him, running her fingertips over his cheek lightly. He turned his face to kiss them.

He tilted his head to the side in confusion. “Who’s that?”

“Friend of mine and Jasper’s,” I explained to him before beaming at her. “She’d love that. We always need more friends. Also, it helps to suck up to your boyfriend’s family,” I joked. She grinned at me before winking.

Chuckling, Emmett pointed his beer at me. “And that’s why Caroline loves you. Good lord, the woman is already planning a big ass church wedding. It’s crazy.”

I felt my cheeks flush as I glanced away. “Well, I hate to disappoint her, but that won’t happen. If we get married, it will be a long way off, and it won’t be in a church.”

He put his hand holding the beer bottle on his chest over his heart. “Look, I get it. You do you. As long as I don’t have to be the one to tell her.” He smirked at his wife. “She is just so happy Jasper isn’t trying to be a bachelor for the rest of his life. We thought he was married to his career. We knew he wasn’t gay.”

“No. Trust me. He’s ready for a change. He’s eager to begin a new job and life,” I explained with a small shake of my head. I took a sip of my drink.

He chuckled again before pulling a slice of pizza from the box and ate half in one bite. “Whew, girl. I don’t blame him for wanting to start with a clean slate.” He finished chewing before Emmett grinned wicked. “The stories I could tell you about that moron.” 

Two hours later, we had eaten three pizzas altogether. And drank so much. Emmett kept bringing me beers whenever he got himself one. I was sitting on the couch with Rose while he laid across the floor on his side on the fluffy rug in front of their fireplace and television, an empty box beside him. There were probably seven bottles around him. I wasn’t sure how he was still awake with that much cheese in his belly.

Emmett was trying to tell me every embarrassing tale he could think of about his best friend. They were standard teenage hi-jinx. Nothing was especially wild. Sneaking out during the summer and partying, drinking too much. Vomiting in bushes and chasing skirts. Nothing surprised me, but it made me giggle. This only egged him on to continue. He enjoyed having a captive audience.

Leaning in, his nose and cheeks were pink from the liquor. “So, I have to ask you something,” he began suddenly. “You’re the first girlfriend of his I’ve ever met more than once. He is like… Wonder bread, right? That’s why he’s never dated seriously?”

I tilted my face to the side. His words confused me. “What do you mean?”

He rolled his eyes and ducked his head. Emmett was only pretending to be coy. Unlike his wife, he didn’t have a shy bone in his body. “In the bedroom. One position only, missionary-style? That’s all he’s got, right?”

I had to push my lips shut with my teeth, but I lost it when I noticed Rosalie, who was doing the same thing. We both snorted and then cackled crazily. Tears flowed down my cheeks, the lack of oxygen getting to my brain. I drank way too much.

He seemed shocked at our reaction. “Why are you laughing?” He asked his wife in confusion.

We glanced at each other again and started giggling anew. “Because she knows why I’m laughing,” I answered for her, and she swatted my arm, nodding as she still chuckled. She bobbed her head so wildly that her blond hair bounced everywhere. Rose wasn’t sober, either.

Playfully horrified, he seemed surprised we would discuss such a subject. “That is your brother, Rosalie Lillian!” He put his hand on his chest again, lifting his chin in the air. “I was just trying to make her flustered and start shit!”

His wife snorted loudly. “Well, that backfired, didn’t it?” She pushed him hard with her barefoot. “Don’t do that to people, asshole. You’re so rude.”

“Come on. It’s funny!” He chuckled, quickly defending himself as he flopped back onto the rug. “She doesn’t mind! Right, Bella?” Nodding, I smirked at him as I took a sip of my beer. “See! She’s got a sense of humor, which is great since Jasper doesn’t have one at all.”

I threw my crumpled napkin at his head. “Yeah, he does. You just don’t get it.”

Everyone had way too much to drink, so it was better for me to get an Uber home. I didn’t mind. They weren’t far from my place, anyway. It was past two in the morning. The frogs croaked loudly outside in the grassy areas around the complex. I was literally stumbling drunk, tripping over my own feet when I came into the apartment. It made me giggle in surprise, dropping several of my shopping bags and keys to the floor. Stupidly, I hissed at the mess to be quiet.

“Shit,” I snickered as I stared at it. It wouldn’t pick itself up. I threw the sacks left in my hands onto the couch before picking it up. Some of my new items had fallen out.

Edward came lurching out of Tanya’s bedroom, bewildered at what was going on. Only in his navy blue boxers, his wild red hair was everywhere. He looked at me in bewilderment, his eyes scrunched up with sleep. “Oh! It’s you. You’re home late.”

“Yeah. Sorry. Didn’t mean to bother you,” I mumbled as I picked up another sack and tossed it. It missed the couch, and the items scattered underneath the coffee table. I snorted in amusement. “Whoops. Dammit.”

“Are you…” He trailed off, turning his head to examine me. His eyes narrowed. “Are you drunk?” He asked in surprise. I wasn’t sure if he had seen me smashed before. It wasn’t like I did it regularly. We weren’t hanging out, and I drank socially.

“Just a little,” I smirked at him. I was extremely tipsy. The dizziness was fun.

He looked at me in disappointment. “I hope you didn’t drive.”

I glared at him as a scoff fell from my mouth. “Don’t worry, Dad. I didn’t.”

Crossing his arms over his chest, he was unamused with my attitude. “You know, I truly see us as friends now. I want you to know if you ever need a ride, you can call me. I’d really hate it if something happened to you because of something stupid like that.”

His words gave me pause. “Do you really consider us friends?” I had told Alice earlier in the day, but I wasn’t entirely sure I believed it myself. We were in such a weird place. I still didn’t trust him as far as I could throw him, though.

Edward dropped his arms to the side, staring down at his feet. “I am trying to be.”

Taking a deep breath, I licked my bottom lip before shrugging. “Yeah. Okay. Thank you for the offer. I don’t know if I’ll ever take you up on it, but-”

He took a few steps forward until I was almost within arm’s reach. “You’re welcome. Honestly, I just want you to make it home safe. I imagine Jasper wouldn’t be pleased either if he knew you were out like this.”
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I didn’t like his answer. “My boyfriend knows I can take care of myself,” I replied, making him chuckle.

“Yeah. I know you can.”

Then he did something that surprised me. Edward hugged me. His strong arms wrapped around me, gently patting my back. It was platonic, but it made my face heat bright red. He pulled away to look at me with his hands on my shoulders. “So much has happened in the past six months, hasn’t it?” I nodded, unable to answer in words. “I’ve been worried about you, but I think you’ll be okay.” They dropped to his sides again.

“Why have you been?” I softly questioned.

He looked off for a moment and shrugged. “Everything you’ve been going through lately. And you’ve been acting as Jasper’s twenty-four-hour nurse. That’s emotionally draining at the very least. It’s obviously taken a toll on you-”

I interrupted him. “Obviously, how?”

“I found you crying in the hall yesterday, sweetheart.”

Shaking my head in embarrassment, I glanced away from him. “I honestly don’t know what that was about.”

He shrugged once again. “Sometimes, things become too much, and you have to let it out.” Edward cleared his throat awkwardly. “Anyway, I was just checking to see what the noise was. Do you need any help with all of this stuff?”

“No,” I smirked. “I think I can handle it from here. Sorry to disturb you.”

I carried my bags into my bedroom, dumping them onto the floor beside my closet. I would wash it all the following day. Sitting on the bed, I stared at my phone for a long minute. Jasper and I had texted some throughout the day, but our last one was hours before. I didn’t want to bother him while he was working. I was sure he was asleep, but I didn’t care.

“I miss you so much right now.”

My cell rang in my hand right away. 

“Hey. What are you doing awake? Are you okay?” My worried boyfriend asked quickly. It was clear he had already been fully up. I hoped he wasn’t busy.

“Yeah, I just… miss you,” I repeated lamely. “I’m drunk, and I wish you were here in bed, waiting for me. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bother you.”

“Oh,” he chuckled. Jasper seemed instantly relieved. “Had fun with Alice, I take it?”

“Actually,” I began as I flopped back onto the mattress. “We ran into your sister, and we spent the entire day with her. I had dinner with her and Emmett at their place, too. And I just got home,” I explained quietly. I wasn’t sure what he would think about it. We spent time with his family, but I had never done so alone. It almost felt like a step in our relationship I didn’t know I was taking.

There was a pause on the other side of the phone. “Really?”

“Yeah. It was a lot of fun, actually. Emmett ate two pizzas by himself. Holy shit,” I exclaimed, making him snicker. “Rose and I are going to hang out when we get back. She wants to look at my truck. She thinks it’s cool.”

“It’s a death trap. But, if anyone could fix that, it would be Rosalie,” he replied encouragingly. “That’s awesome, darlin. I’m glad you had a good day with them. That’s… that’s really nice.”

“I love her so much. She’s fantastic. But it would have been better if you were there,” I solemnly swore. “I can’t wait to see you again. Monday can’t come fast enough.”

“No, it can’t.”

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Thanks to Gina for proofreading this chapter!

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