All recognized characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.
This chapter has been beta'd by the ever amazing: Strae
The exhaustion wore me out quickly. I felt dead behind the wheel. Numb, and not in the sleepy way. My body felt tired, but my head was wide awake, yet still slow. The silence would have been unbearable with anyone but Bella. Even with the hint of strain and tension in the air, it still settled into being a comfortable silence. Most of the time. Sometimes I would feel her staring at me, I could almost hear the wheels turning in her head. We both had things to say, but neither of us wanted to go first.
My mom had packed us sandwiches for supper to eat on the road, so wordlessly, we ate. Bathroom breaks were few and far between. The dark came so quickly. I refused to stop. I wasn't tired.
"There's a town in a few miles, we could find a hotel."
"I'm okay."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"Alright."
That was our big conversation of the hour. It was close to midnight already. Headlights were random and scattered on the highway. I expected her to go to sleep after the discussion. She did not.
I recall reaching to turn on the radio four separate times, then changing my mind. The radio would have put off the conversation even further, and as badly as I didn't want to talk about it, she might. Or maybe I'd find courage in a road sign or something. Lords knows it would be fleeting and the time it would take to turn down the radio would have been enough to dissipate it. Plus, Bella's breathing was soothing.
The long stretch of dark road ahead of me seemed fitting. I had no idea what was lurking just out of sight of my headlights. It was frightening. Unknown. It wasn't just the trip to LA that was scary. The woman next to me was my life. What I was sure of was that I would spend my life with her, if she'd have me. I wanted to get decked out in a tux and say "I do" to her. And before that, I wanted my college life to be at her side. We'd get a house together there. I'd ask mom for the family ring, pop the question.
I had it all pictured. Our future, our life together. We'd agree the wedding could wait 'til after we finished college. There might be a pregnancy scare along the way, I'd be ecstatic and nervous. Our babies would be perfect, whether they came before or after the wedding.
As I pictured it all, I couldn't help but steal a glance at her. Much to my surprise, she was half facing me. She had her legs curled up on the seat, she was reclined slightly and she was fast asleep. Her lips were parted just slightly and pouting as she slept. Most of her hair was tied back in a ponytail, but some rebellious strands were loose on her face. I reached over and gently brushed them from her face.
Remembering that I was driving, I placed my hands back at the 10-2 position and tried to watch the road. Six hours into the trip and already I wanted nothing more than to go back. Go back to my house, my room, my bed, Bella with me. I wanted to curl her into a sleeping ball of perfection and hold her. And keep her there for the rest of the weekend. Safe from the outside world. Safe from Charlie. Safe from what was going to happen in Los Angeles.
And something would happen in LA. Tanya was not the type to say, "Oh no biggie, Edward. Glad to meet you, Bella." Hell no, not a chance. Something would happen and I'd probably make shit worse. I'd never hit a woman, but my mouth just couldn't be stopped. If she even-
There to make peace, Edward, not fight. Right. No fighting. No matter what, no fighting. I'd give my apology, or whatever it was I was suppose to be doing, and that would be that, even if it wasn't accepted. And I had to face that fact. I wasn't going to be accepted. So, this trip was just pointless. Even more reason to turn around. Yet I kept driving. And Oregon was just so boring. Can't say California was much better though.
The sun was just rising when Bella started to groan. She'd been quiet, frighteningly so, the entire time she slept. Not the faintest hint of a snore, no teeth grinding, hell, she didn't move. But now she was groaning. But groaning was too manly of a word to use for the sound she was making. She was purring. Yes, purring. And damn it all to hell, my masturbation binge only worked… just over twelve hours. Erection free for twelve hours, and this one put all the others to shame, damn it. My blood missed being in my cock so much that it all tried to get there at once. Fuck that hurt. Maybe that was just still the overuse talking. But no, it felt bigger. Jesus, if I'd made the thing bigger…well, okay, I wasn't going to complain.
Bella's gasp was loud enough to startle me, and apparently herself. She grabbed the center console and jolted forward, her eyes wide and staring.
"Are you okay?"
Her hand flew to her chest and she turned her head towards me. She nodded slowly. "Just a dream." She muttered it again to herself.
In the quiet, I could hear her accelerated breathing. With a quick glance, my eyes landed on her throat and the pulse point in her neck was jumping as her blood raced from her beating heart. Her scent seemed stronger. It was probably just the close proximity and the heat in the car. My eyes caught the sight of a bead of sweat on her temple before she wiped it away. The smell of her… her… fear. No. This smell was too good to be fear. Far too good to be of fear. My body knew this smell. I refused to acknowledge it. But just because my mind refused to acknowledge it, didn't mean my body refused. My body recognized each and every sign of her arousal, and worshiped it.
"You drove through the night?"
"Yeah." I chose that inopportune moment to rub my eyes.
I could feel her frowning at me. "You must be tired."
"Not really," I answered honestly.
"Edward, next rest stop we're going in. You need to rest." Her tone said, "NO ifs, ands, or buts about it, mister!"
As much as I disagreed that I needed to rest, I planned to stop at the next rest stop. Which was just up ahead, 14.5 miles to be exact. I don't know if the silence made the distance seem longer or shorter, but either way, it was more silence between us for those one four point five miles.
The rest area had a well stocked vending machine and a coffee machine and I loaded up on mini muffins and mini donuts as well as a strong cup of coffee with ten packets of sugar.
It was like being caught with my hand in my pants. "You were suppose to rest!"
The sugar pouring out of the packets and into the steaming hot cup of coffee sounded louder then a M14 rifle clip being emptied.
I'm sure I looked as guilty as I felt, but I just shrugged. "I told you I wasn't tired."
"Which explains the caffeine and sugar overload you have going on there."
I grabbed her sweatshirt sleeve and pulled her close to me, kissing her hard on the mouth for being a sassy little brunette that made my heart soar.
I groaned against her lips. "You always taste so good." The mint of her just brushed teeth meshed with the perfectness that was simply Bella. It was exquisite.
"You taste sweet," she said, licking her lips. "Donuts," she said, eying my breakfast in a bag.
I grabbed one of the cinnamon-sugar coated spheres and bit it in half. The other half I offered to Bella. Her mouth opened slightly and my fingers and the donut slid into the heat. And her lips wrapped around them. The heat built up around my finger and her soft tongue slid along my fingers, retrieving the donut. I swear to God, everything was in super slow motion. I forced my super slow brain to work, pulling my finger out of her mouth. The soft sucking sound and the light smack of her lips nearly did me in.
I had to look away as a chunk of donut lodged into my throat. I grabbed my coffee and downed half of the blistering hot liquid. I think it set me on fire it was so hot. Incredibly distracting, too. Note to self: Burning hot beverages make great distractions when on the verge of blowing a load. Noted.
After stocking up on a few different bottled drinks and some more unhealthy snacks, we headed back out to the car. Bella cut me off and walked around the front of the car. I wasn't firing on all my pistons quite yet this early in the AM on no sleep.
It took Bella saying, "I'm driving while you rest," to clear up my confusion.
"Are you sure?"
"Yup."
I shrugged and plopped myself into the passenger seat where she'd been previously sleeping. Dreaming, about me. Aroused. I was now the passenger, in much the same frame of mind as she seemed to be when she was dreaming. I hope it was about me…
"Don't forget it's an auto," I said with a smirk as Bella positioned the seat for her much shorter legs.
I got absolutely nothing in return as she pulled the seatbelt on. The car purred to life and she slid it into drive. She checked all of the mirrors and over her shoulders before pulling carefully into a lane. I had to chuckle to myself. As she eased down onto the highway, a rush of drowsiness settled over me, despite my high blood sugar.
I rubbed my eyes and shifted in my seat. My gaze landed on Bella's profile. I stared, and memorized, and stared some more. The concentrated set of her eyebrows, the small button nose, the perfect complexion, the reddish tint hiding just below the surface of her light skin, the luminous glow of her dark brown eyes – like there was a light shining out of them – the full, perfect curve of her soft, pink lips. God, I wonder if her pussy's the same color…
I cleared my throat. "So what happened with Jasper and Alice, you know, the whole Charlie thing?"
Her lips turned down and her eyes took a quick sidelong glance at me. The question had been weighing on my mind since it happened. The lack of finesse in my choice of words clearly didn't make the answer any easier. If it weren't for the fact that I knew she heard me, I might have asked again. There was dead quiet for what seemed like a lifetime.
Finally, Bella inhaled like she was about to speak, and I found myself holding my breath. "Charlie walked in on them…together…on top of each other."
"Charlie caught them having sex." I'd expected as much.
"No."
"Oh?" I was lost. Again.
She coughed lightly, swallowed loudly, then continued. "They were on Alice's bed. Charlie wasn't suppose to be home 'til after five. I was grocery shopping. Jazz and Alice weren't suppose to be alone in the house together. Um, but they weren't…having sex."
"What the fuck were they doing? Selling bibles? I don't get it!"
Her knuckles turned white as she gripped the steering wheel. She mashed her lips mashed together angrily. She absolutely hated that I was making her spell this out, but her vagueness and my slowness were not a good combination.
"Ugh," she groaned. "They were… goddammit, they were going down on each other."
I snorted, because I just couldn't help it. "Charlie caught them 69'ing?"
I got glared at for the few milliseconds Bella thought it safe to take her eyes off the road. "Yes."
I laughed. "Jesus. Can you imagine if Jasper would have been on top! What a view Charlie would have got! Ah, but man, poor him for getting the shot of his niece's goods."
"Jasper was on top," Bella muttered, "and they weren't naked. Thank God."
I took a moment to think that over. "Huh."
Bella read my mind. "Alice is-" she cut herself off. "I should not be talking about this!"
"I don't mind."
I got another sidelong glance and a snippy, "I'll bet you don't."
I glared a hole into the side of her face, just waiting for her to look again. She did, and her features softened. "Sorry. Er, yeah, so Charlie caught them. He seriously took a couple of Jasper's hairs out of his head by pulling him off of Alice. Er, umm, Jasper was quick to get…himself back in his jeans so I don't know that Charlie really knew both were…going at it. Actually, I'm pretty sure he thinks it was just Jazz…umm…giving. Ali said Charlie went apeshit on him, telling him he'd have him put away for statutory because Alice wasn't eighteen. After he threw Jasper out, he threatened to put Alice in a foster home."
She took a deep breath and held it. I didn't know whether I should have gotten pissed or afraid or just felt really bad.
There was more stretched out silence as Bella drove. I thought. Alice seemed to have Charlie so wrapped around her finger, heck, even Bella said it. I just couldn't imagine him going off on her that way. But, then again, I'd thought maybe he'd hit her for the fear that had been on Alice's face. Charlie went off on Alice and threatened her with the one thing he'd never do but she feared the most. And he couldn't do it. Alice was like a daughter to him, a sister to Bella, he'd lose two daughters by sending away the one. But he knew it would work.
"Did he apologize? He and Jasper seem okay now."
"Edward, of all people, you should know that Jasper has his ways. No one can stay mad at him for long, he's just too…empathetic."
Yeah, I guess I did know that about him. And I guess I knew Charlie well enough to know that he never apologized unless it was an absolute necessity.
"No sex in the Swan house."
Bella laughed a little at my comment. "None."
I grimaced at the fact that I was even thinking it, let alone going to say it out loud. "I think your dad just needs to get laid, he probably wouldn't be so uptight."
Bella made a gagging sound. "Please do not even broach this subject."
"Oh c'mon! It's life. You are the fruit of good ol' dad's loins. And by the sounds of it, that was the last time he had any."
My slow reflexes didn't catch Bella's hand flying at me. She smacked my arm, twice. "Don't. Edward. Cullen."
I thought of my own dad with his stupid little grin. "Yeah, yeah. Okay, sorry."
Bella sighed. "No sex in the Swan house."
"My parents are okay with it, you know. Both of them think we are just buying ourselves some time away from everyone for a weekend of fucking. My dad supplied those condoms that Emmett stole."
Her mouth opened and closed multiple times before she managed to mutter, "What are you suggesting?"
"Oh. Nothing. I was just saying. Future reference, I guess."
A hint of a smile twitched at the corner of her lips. "So what exactly did you tell your parents, Edward? I mean, since they assume we are getting away to-" her throat cleared, "-fuck."
I had another near "Jizz In My Pants" moment. "They just, um, jumped to conclusions, I guess."
"Uh-huh," Bella said sarcastically.
"Alright, fine. I told them I was stealing you away so I could jump your bones."
She grimaced. "Emmett used that term, it's forever ruined." She shook her head. "I can't believe they were okay with it."
"They're a bit… free-spirited. Well, my dad more so than my mom. As long as we're safe, they're on board."
Bella giggled. "I think your dad just knows you are your father's son."
I laughed along with her. "That could be true."
Neither of us had anything else to say after that and I apparently fell asleep because things happened in that car that we so far from possible it wasn't even funny. The shaking of my shoulders woke me.
"Edward," Bella whispered softly, "wake up. Edward."
"Guhhh, what?" I opened my eyes and blinked repeatedly trying to figure out if I was actually just getting out of a warm bath with the love of my life.
"We're in Sacramento." My first thought was that I was still dreaming. What in the hell were we doing in Sacramento? But then I remembered the stupid road trip. So much for that nice, warm bath… and other nice, warm things. "I want to stop for a while."
"I'm hungry," I groaned, rubbing my stomach.
"Yeah, we'll get food. Do you think you can drive or are you still tired?"
"Food," was my only thought.
Bella found the nearest drive thru and I ordered half the menu. Chili-Cheese fries were so not going to sit well, but damn I was starving.
"Chili-cheese fries, mottz sticks, and extra onions on everything! Edward, I'm not going to kiss you for a week!"
I frowned around my mouthful of garlic tasting cheese sticks with marinara sauce. "Seriously?"
She rolled her eyes at me. "Just eat your food," she said with shake of her head.
I grabbed my chocolate shake and took a long draw. My stomach growled at me for not getting it down fast enough. I watched as Bella speared a single piece of lettuce and carefully placed it in her mouth. I looked back at my lap to the wide variety of dangerously fattening fast food. I wiped my grease covered lips with a paper napkin.
I considered saying something like, "Oh my God, I'm such a pig," but I was too hungry to get all girlishly dramatic about what a load of fat and carbs was going to do to my figure. I stuffed another forkful of chili-cheese fries in my mouth.
We switched spots after we finished eating and I took the last five hour drag without a problem. Bella dozed some during those last couple hundred miles. As soon as I took my exit and the lights of LA were glaring through the windows, she was as wide awake as I was.
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