Summary: Alice persuades Bella to wear a bikini to the beach. After a little clothing malfunction and a lot of embarrassment, how does Edward cheer Bella up?
A/N: Hi again! Ready for another one? This one just came to me in the middle of class, but I hope you all like it. Please review! It means so much when I know if people actually like what I'm writing or if it's just a waist of time. I would also love suggestions for more one-shots or just any other story ideas in general.
Disclaimer: I think we both know that I do not own these characters.
Enjoy!
I don't know how she did it, but somehow Alice Cullen got me into a bikini. It was just so embarrassing, because I was constantly by Alice and Rosalie who were prancing around in their beautiful suits flouncing flawless bodies. You looked at them and saw two utterly stunning and perfect women, and then here I was: pale, skinny and awkward-looking. I mean I didn't even want to go swimming either; I was perfectly content staying with Edward on the couch and watching movies. But Alice had tricked me out, using her perfect pouty lips and luring me with phrases such as 'But you know that Edward would absolutely love it! He just doesn't want to make you do something that you're not comfortable with.'
So here I was, sitting in the damp sand watching the Cullens play chicken with Edward acting as a referee. I drew miniature patterns in the sand, scowling as the damp dirt found its way under my fingernails. I picked up a handful of the stuff and threw it into the water. It landed with a gross 'plop' and sunk to the bottom.
I lied back on the sand, having given up with my pathetic drawings. The sun was blinding. I groped around for my too-expensive sunglasses that Alice had also forced upon me. I sighed and was completely still, for once enjoying the sun beating on my too-pale skin hoping for a small tan. I mean I knew I should probably go find sun block but I didn't feel like moving. Weighing my options, I decided that I would let my laziness win so I turned over onto my stomach. Ew, the sand and my face did not seem to agree. The sand was too close to my mouth and I swore I just saw something move. With a heave I got onto my hands and knees and scooted my way towards the water. I sat close enough that I was fully under, but that the waves could tickle my feet as the waves undulated in. I shivered. It was cold.
"Ready to come in now?" He appeared in front of me, his face inches from mine. It took me a little time to adjust to the rainbows shooting off of his skin.
I sighed again out loud before I could stop it; "I suppose." Swimming with Edward seemed like an interesting challenge, might as well get it over with.
"Good." His grin was breath taking. He helped me up and the water glistened under the sun even though it was only up to my knees. He took my hand in his as we began our walk towards the other Cullens who were still currently in the middle of a chicken fight. Well, it was more like Emmett and Jasper fighting with Alice and Rosalie enjoying the sun. It seemed like fun. I Saw the occasional splash and heard Alice's tinkling laugh as Rosalie threatened Emmett to make sure her hair stayed dry. But they were so far away; it would take ages to walk over there. A light bulb went off in my head.
"Wait." He stopped instantly at my words.
I let go of his hand, ignoring his puzzled expression, stepping behind him and putting my hands on his large shoulders; and with a little hop up I was on his back.
"If you're going to make me go all the way out there I'm at least getting a free ride." My grip tightened around his neck as he chuckled. He cut through the water like it was wind, a little too fast for my liking. I was used to running past the blurred trees in the woods-the water, not so much. I wondered if I would get sea sick.
My hands began to slip from being wet. He seemed to notice my struggles and gripped my legs tighter so that they were crossed on his stomach. This new position: my stomach at his back, my legs at his waist, my chest at his shoulders, turned my cheeks a nice dark shade of red. Stupid bikini. So unnecessary. A cute one piece would have sufficed. But no, I must suffer for fashion according to Alice. There was no pointing in being mad about it now though, she already had me in the thing. I instead focused my attention back to Edward. Despite feeling awkward about our closeness I leaned my head on his shoulder, planting little kisses up and down his neck. He smiled and slowed his run. The others were now about 20 feet away.
"Ready to play chicken Bella?" Emmet's voice boomed across the sound of the moving water.
"I can't play chicken." I stammered. No way. I just assumed that he brought me out here to watch, most definitely not to play. I was not about to sit exposed on top of Edwards shoulders and bear my body when these perfect vampires were right next to me.
"Let's give it a try Bella, it'll be fun." Shit. I couldn't argue against that. Not against his dreamy voice and coy smile. I grumbled an 'ok' and slid off of his back. Man this water was cold. I noticed that all of them were staring at me like they were waiting for me to do something. Where did Edward go?
I couldn't help but give a little yelp of surprise when Edward's head worked its way between my legs and lifted my body out of the water. My hands automatically went to his head to steady myself. His hair felt amazing when it was wet.
"Jazz, Em, take it easy." Edward warned. Jasper nodded and Emmett just grinned. Lovely.
"Edward, you and I both know that I won't be able to do this. I'm surprised I haven't fallen off yet." Now I wished that I had gotten that sun block when I had the chance, then maybe I'd still be back on the nice warm sand instead of dripping with water and sitting awkwardly on top of Edwards shoulders.
"Oh, I have a plan." He whispered only for me to hear.
Let's go already!" Alice whined.
"Spread out first, so we can start fairly." Edward suggested while moving us back a good distance away from the others. "Just hold on tight Bella." Another whisper, he definitely had something up his sleeve.
"GO!" Emmett's booming voice was easily loud enough to me to hear. But it wasn't enough for me to register the fact that Edward took off like a torpedo through the water, away from the others. I crouched down purely out of fear of flying off. Even though he had a good grip on me, I could never be too sure.
Ah. So this was his plan: don't give the others a chance to catch us. Simple enough.
"Watch out Bella!" Alice's voice cut through the roaring sound of the waves. I turned, just in time to see Rosalie reaching for my back, her fingers inches away from the string that held my top together. I felt Edward speed up and I was glad for it, this game of chicken had just turned into a race to see who could catch me first. But I knew that Emmett must be close by. What would happen if he caught us?
Suddenly I was airborne. I heard the sound of clashing boulders- a landslide. Someone must've hit Edward and he must've thrown me off so I wouldn't get hurt. I hit the water, hard. That would leave some sort of bruise for the morning. I spluttered my way to the surface in time to see the chicken fight in full action. Thankfully, the water only came up to my stomach so I could stand. I had no desire to go any closer to the fight that was taking place so I just stayed put. The waves brushed past my body as they rushed towards the shore. A patch of blue caught my eye as it tangled with the water, fighting to stay above the surface. I chuckled to myself; it must've been a coincidence that it was the same color as my bikini top. At that same moment a breeze rustled my wet hair. My chest felt oddly cold. I reached to adjust my top a little better; I knew it should've been a size bigger, but no, Alice had insisted. The top wasn't there. Nothing was there. I was completely bare-chested. So I did what any shocked girl would do: I screamed.
The chicken fight stopped dead in its tracks and I was instantly surrounded by five vampires. My face was redder than a tomato and I was desperately holding my arms across my bare chest. Embarrassed tears leaked out of my eyes as I willed them to go away.
"I'll find her top. Emmett, Jazz, Rose, go away." Alice's voice was no longer cheerful.
"It's ok Bella, we didn't see anything." Emmett's voice was a little reassuring.
"Yeah, because there was nothing to see." Rosalie's snide comment was audible even as she swam away. Edward and Alice hissed as she snickered. I closed my eyes tighter. Cold arms wrapped around my torso and I could feel Edward's chest cover my body. He lifted me out of the water and began walking back towards the shore.
I whimpered.
"It's ok, no one can see." He sounded disappointed. In me? My arms were still tightly wrapped around my body. I wished I was at home.
"Are you ok? Did you get hurt? We have your top." Edward set me on the sand with his arms still around me. I didn't answer, I was too embarrassed.
"Sorry about that Bella." Alice slid my bikini top back on even with my arms in the way and wrapped a towel around me. "I'll give you some privacy." I couldn't hear her leave.
"I'm so sorry that I ruined your day." Edward held me close and buried his face into my hair.
"S'not your fault." I mumbled into his chest.
"I didn't see anything." I knew he could still feel the chagrin rolling off of me.
"Promise?" I still didn't want to look him in the eyes.
"Yes, I promise." I couldn't help but trust him. "Will you open your eyes now?" He kissed my eyelids.
I grumbled and opened them. I was greeted with his amber eyes and a crooked smile.
"Thank you." His lips moved against mine when he spoke because of the proximity of his face. He must've felt bad for me because this kiss definitely made up for it. I was dizzy and panting for air, but I wasn't about to stop. I automatically reached up to wrap my arms around his neck for better access but the action caused the towel around my shoulders to slip.
I squeaked and grabbed it to cover my self again.
"Bella, you're covered, why do you need the towel?" He also seemed to be out of breath.
"At the moment it's a security blanket."I whispered. I was still so ashamed. I crawled off of his lap and fumbled to burrito myself again but Edward's hands stopped me.
"Hey!" My protests went ignored as the towel was no longer in my grip but spread on the sand. I was picked up and put down on top of the soft fabric. Although he was leaning over me, blocking me from the suns rays, I still felt naked.
"So what is it that you don't like about this bikini?" His deep voice was slowly making me think that it wasn't so bad after all, but I knew his tricks and he couldn't change my mind on this one.
"I feel…exposed and so vulnerable." I wasn't going to hide my truth from him. "What do you like about it so much?
"Well…for one….this is my favorite color on you." One of his hands cupped my face to feel the warmth of my blush while the other began to lazily draw circles on my stomach. I bit back a giggle. Did he know that I was extremely ticklish?
"What?" he heard my stifled giggle.
"It tickles!" I let my giggle run free as I managed to splutter out the words.
"What, this?" He picked up the pace, moving both hands to my stomach, his fingers mirthlessly running over my sides.
"Edward!" I was overcome with laughter. He seemed to be laughing with me.
"S-stop!" I managed to squeak out. I was still laughing, squirming beneath his grasp. My face was red from laughter and lack of air. "Stop!" I choked out again. Finally his fingers seemed to slow as he laughed beside me.
"I didn't know you were so ticklish." His grin lit up his face and I couldn't help but smile back from his happiness.
"Well now you know." My breathing was still coming in hard gasps. But then I got an idea. I reached out and brushed my fingers over his stomach.
He looked confused.
"Doesn't this tickle?" My bottom lip jutted out into a pout – this was so no fair. Why did he get to have all of the fun with tickling me?
"On the contrary, it feels quite nice." Yet he stopped my fingers and moved my hand away from his stomach and to my side where I automatically moved it back to cover my stomach.
"Hmph." I turned away from him on my side, pulling the towel over my shoulders like a warm blanket. If I couldn't have fun tickling him, then he was not about to get the chance to tickle me again.
"Bella…" It sounded almost like he was whining.
"Are you really that desperate to see me in a bikini?" I challenged.
"Yes." Well that was blunt.
He gently pulled me over so that I was on my back again, letting the towel fall onto the sand. He kissed my face and whispered, "Bella, I wish you could understand how utterly beautiful you really are."
I sighed with content when his lips reached mine. I was prepared for a nice mind-blowing kiss but instead he began to kiss a little trail towards my stomach. When he reached my waistline, he stopped. I noted his closed eyes and little smug smile. What was he up to now? I closed my eyes and didn't bother to open them to see what he was going to do.
What he did surprised me.
A loud wet sound shocked me as I heard it – and felt it.
"Did you just blow a raspberry Edward Cullen.?" My tone was incredulous, Edward? Blow a raspberry? Did he even know what that was?
His innocent gaze made me question what just happened.
"Is that what they're called now-a-days?" He spoke while blowing even more little raspberries on my stomach.
I laughed because they tickled and because the thought of Edward Cullen giving anyone a raspberry was absurd enough to laugh about. The way he exaggeratedly puffed out his cheeks before he blew onto my stomach reminded me of a little boy. He was so focused on his task. My laughs turned into giggles as he began tickling me while continuing with the raspberries. Gasping for air I was going to tell him to stop but his laughter was louder than mine and combined with the joyous expression on his face made me keep my mouth shut.
I didn't know how long we laughed but finally when the sun began to set my laughs died down.
"Thank you." I held his hand to my cheek as I beamed up at him.
"I love you Bella Swan."
"I love you too." I needed to hold him, to touch him more, to kiss him, just something to express the way my heart swelled when he said those words.
"Let's go watch the sunset." He helped me up. As soon as I was standing I threw my arms around his neck and he lifted me up and guided my legs around his waist.
"Lets." Somehow he managed to walk towards the others who were still in the water while kissing me – and I was perfectly fine with that. Maybe this bikini was alright after all.
PLEASE REVIEW! I hope you enjoyed it.