Beautiful Disaster

"If you expect me to kick her out or something now, you’re sorely mistaken

-"

"Mom, stop it!" I exclaim, probably loud enough that the people across the street can hear me still. Taking a deep breath I tune my voice lower as I go on. "I’d never ask you to do something like that, and you know that. Can’t hold it against you if you’d want me to, though, so you’d have an excuse.

But seriously, I don’t really give a f**k about it."

I don’t know who’s more surprised about my outburst, me or her, and after opening and closing her mouth twice without making a sound she whips around and walks out. Scrunching my eyes shut I lean against the kitchen island until I hear the back door open and close, admitting Bella and Jazz back in. Bella just looks at me for a moment before she walks on into the dining room, leaving Jazz teetering between following her and coming over to me. I’m not surprised when he walks into the kitchen, and after a long, haunted look lets me hug him in silence.

The moment only lasts for a few seconds, as I step away from him quickly when a very distinct scent hits my nostrils.

"Jesus, have you been smoking pot?"

I only need to look at his blood-shot eyes, but he still nods in confirmation.

"On my parents’ back porch?"

"Yeah, on their back porch, while Bella was giving me a blowjob no less."

I don’t know whether to stare or laugh.

"She did that?"

"Actually, no, she only offered it in jest, but I think from the way sympathy was pouring out of her she would have done it if she had thought it would help any."

His laugh is real enough, thanks to the wonders of marijuana, but cuts off suddenly when his eyes fix on something behind me. Turning my head I find no other than Nate hovering just inside the doorframe, looking something between nervous and apologetic. For a moment I feel like he has caught us doing something indecent but we weren’t touching at that point, and there’s no guile in his eyes, either.

"I’m terribly sorry if what I said caused you distress, this was never my intention, and I hope you accept my apology?"

I want to groan inside at his words – also because he doesn’t even seem to know who he’s apologizing to, Jazz or me – but before I can say something, Jazz replies with more maturity than I would have guessed him able to.

"It’s not your fault, man, and no reason to apologize. Can’t really be a great moment for you when you find yourself poking an anthill like that without even knowing that it’s been there all along."

Nate has the grace not to answer, and after a moment Jazz nods, then walks by him to rejoin the others. I wait for him to say something else but when he doesn’t, I shrug.

"If you haven’t figured it out already, he’s Alice’s ex. And if you were wondering, they didn’t break up four weeks ago."

With that I leave him there alone in the kitchen, wondering if this will be the last I’ve seen of him, or not. The mood inside the dining room hasn’t changed much, Rose and Alice are still missing, and not quite surprising my mother has managed to procure a glass of Scotch for herself that she’s sipping daintily. Sagging back onto my seat between Bella and Jazz I’m surprised to see Nate return so soon, but before the awkwardness can get any worse by itself, the girls enter the room. I’m not sure if that’s an improvement.

Alice meets my gaze levelly as she takes her place again, but she doesn’t seem apologetic in the least. I don’t know why exactly that rubs me the wrong way – and it’s not like there’s a shortage of reasons, really – but I’m actually surprised that she doesn’t even seem to feel any remorse at what she has caused. It seems that me looking at her is a silent challenge for her, because when no one else says anything, she takes a dainty sip from her by now cold coffee, looking from me to Bella, and lastly to Jazz.

"Okay, I get it, so there’s a slight time discrepancy here that everyone is oh so scandalized about now, but can we see this topic as acknowledged and move on, please? This is getting a little tedious."

Bella on my right goes very still, assuming the kind of calm I’ve seen one too many times in my life. As long as she’s raving mad and screams, Bella is a force to be reckoned with, but whatever is bothering her is easily resolved. But this calm is the exact same way she was acting when I got to stammer out my fleeting apologies last summer that ended with me proposing to her. And if I’m not completely mistaken, whatever she’s readying herself to tell Alice is not something that should be uttered in present company, if ever.

I try to be stealthy as I slide a hand up her leg in a pacifying gesture, but of course she tenses up even more before she turns her head and glares at me, a clear warning to back down and let her handle this. I can see the frustration in her gaze, and that’s mostly what keeps me from just leaning back and letting things unfold. Holding her gaze I do my best to tell her with my eyes to let it go. If she wants to, she can have my ass later at home, but I really don’t want her involved in this cluster f**k.

It seems as if today is my lucky day as Bella finally exhales loudly and looks away, tension slowly leaving her posture as she mentally backs down. I’m just about to do the same, hoping to somehow get out of here before anything else can happen that might bring this powder keg to explode, but then Alice gives a small yet derisive laugh.

"And if he tells you to bark, you won’t even ask how loud, right? It’s sad to see women give up their independence like that, but your stunt with Mike should probably have been a dead giveaway that you’re prone to that."

My head whips around and for a few seconds I can only stare at Alice, dumbfounded. I half expect Bella to get in her face, but instead of letting her emotions rule, she only leans back further in her chair and regards the woman sitting across from her calmly.

"If he gave me a good reason for it, why not? There are worse things he could ask me to do, but I wonder, do any of them hold up to cheating?

Somehow I don’t think so."

So much for keeping things civil, but I still admire Bella’s calm, although towards the end some of her anger is leaking into her voice. Alice straightens at the jibe, then huffs as she spares a glance in my direction.

"At least I’m in good company, wouldn’t you say? Then again, judging from your previous behavior all should be forgotten and forgiven in a week or two and we can go back to being besties. But oh, I’m not so sure I’d even want that, seeing as you’re once again f**king my ex!"

Bella doesn’t even blink, and keeping her cool clearly doesn’t sit well with Alice. I know that I should hold my tongue, particularly as Bella seems to be doing fine on her own, but I just can’t – too often she has been fighting my battles, and with this still being my home and Alice attacking the people I care about, I just can’t sit there and let everything wash over me.

"Just when did you turn into such a hypocrite?"

Alice’s head now snaps around so that she’s glaring at me full on, but that doesn’t faze me.

"Come on, Edward, shouldn’t you of all people be careful to use that word?"

Slowly but surely, she’s getting on my nerves.

"You mean because according to the drama you helped drag out last summer I’m a cheater, too? First of all, that’s between me and Bella, and last I checked we’ve resolved that issue a long time ago. And second, wouldn’t you say that there’s a huge difference between a kiss and going behind someone else’s back for weeks before dumping them and making them feel like it was all their fault?"

"Oh, like it should have come as such a surprise for anyone! What Jazz and I had for the last months was barely more than living in the same house, that’s a very long stretch from anything that could resemble a relationship! You can’t make me responsible for him being such a blind fool!"