Wide awake

Chapter Thirty Six. Mysterious Mousse Melodies

B.P.O.V

Five days since Valentine’s Day.

Five beautifully perfect days and nights where everything fit, and everything fell into place with an unbelievable precision and grace. Edward and I were smug and smitten with rarely an issue arising. It was like floating on a cloud.

And now there were tears trailing down my red cheeks as I sat on my bed - inside the room I never used - and watched Esme pace in front of me with her head down and her brows furrowed deeply. I shifted my gaze down to my lap, noting the blue flannel pajama pants I hadn’t even removed yet, and bit my lip hard to suppress the sob threatening to escape.

I was wondering where everything went so terribly wrong.

This whole mess must have been my entire fault. Edward was probably beating himself up about it at that very moment as he sat next door, but he wasn’t the one to blame. Maybe no one was to blame. Maybe it was just another one of those cosmic events that sought me out to destroy my serenity. As if the universe could see how happy and content I was, and it decided that just wouldn’t do.

I sighed deeply into my lap and eased myself down onto my back, lifting my hands up to cover my face while I allowed my thoughts to drift to the morning after Valentine’s Day.

There’s nothing like waking up next to the person you love after a long night of unicorn induced coma. There was no awkwardness between Edward and me. Just sleepy eyed glances and lazy grins as we kissed at the doorway and out tongues intermingled languidly. Comfortably.

Alice drove me to school, offering me the PG version of her night with Jasper, which ended up being no more than three sentences. I was guessing the MA rated version would take hours to recite because she looked downright exhausted, likely having stayed up the entire night and come home so early for the sake of appearances.

When we arrived at school, Edward stood casually against his car waiting for me, sending me a lopsided grin as he pushed off his door and strode lithely to me.

He had a little scratch on his nose that made me quirk an eyebrow at him before he put his arm around my shoulder and blanketed me in his electricity. He just narrowed his eyes in Jasper’s direction and walked me to class.

Despite the, apparently Jasper induced nose graze, even Edward seemed… happy as we walked the halls. It was a subtle thing that the casual observer wouldn’t take time to notice, but he wasn’t glaring at anyone. He was just looking straight ahead and steering me around them silently.

Lunch that day threatened to ruin the perfection streak, however. Edward had walked me to the lunch room like he always did. But as we reached the table where everyone else was already seated, all eyes turned to us.

Emmet arched one dark eyebrow while his arm hung lazily over Rose’s petite shoulders. “What happened to your nose?” He asked in a generally curious tone, leaning his chair back on two legs precariously.

Edward grunted and sat us down in our usual spot, narrowing his eyes once again at the individual occupying the seat in front of him. “Fucking Jazz’s stupid ass.” He grumbled, glowering at Jasper while I moved close to his side like always.

Suddenly his whole body stiffened, gaining my attention as I peeked up at him and removed my hood. He groaned softly, leaning his head back and closing his eyes, as if he were bracing himself for something.

And when nothing happened, he opened one eye, casting it at Rose, who sat reading a book and tapping a pencil on the wooden table top in a gesture of boredom.

He snorted. “What the fuck, Hale. I basically handed you that one on a silver platter.” He asked incredulously while his hand came up to stroke my neck tenderly. He eyed her in confusion for a moment before she finally met his gaze.