CHAPTER 8
Edward's POV
For the past few days now I have just been sitting around, reading and eating, extremely different from my usual routine. I get bored extremely easy and already six days in to my stay over at Hazza's place I'm bored to tears.
Emily had been a change in routine, giving me something else to concentrate on. But I hadn't seen her since two days ago, and I had the feeling that if I didn't make a move, I wouldn't see her until Haz got back.
She was a sweet girl, with her dry sense of humour and cute smile. Her gorgeous green eyes and red hair perfectly framed her round face. She wasn't extremely tall, but she wasn't short either, and her slightly curvy body coupled with her thin frame could be any mans dream. But this was a nightmare...she was taken.
Worse, she was taken by my TWIN BROTHER. I knew that I had to be happy for him, he had found such a perfect girl. But deep down I knew that she could seriously get hurt by him, being my brother or not.
For some reason, I felt I needed to make sure she still smiled, that I had to protect her in some way, but it could easily come off as me having feelings for her. However, I knew I couldn't, I just simply wasn't allowed.
Harry had left school for his career, leaving me to be the responsible son. I was to go on to college, I had to get my degree and get a job, I had to be, put simply, the boring son. To ensure this, I had to concentrate on my studies and not let any girls stop me, therefore no feelings, relationships, etcetera. Mum insisted that she loved us equally and that we would both be as successful as each other in our lives, but the scales were definitely not even.
But still, I could at least have a friend that is a girl, right? I mean, there's no harm in that and I wouldn't be hurting anyone, not even my grades. I could definitely use a friend during my long holiday as the rest of my uni friends live elsewhere and Harry won't be back until next week.
Convincing myself that it was okay to befriend Emily, I pulled on some jeans, a black tee and a leather jacket before walking out into the semi-cold spring air of London.
I knew where she worked because of the time where I had found her trying to get into her car. Heading downtown, I arrived at the cafe with a large flashing sign staying that it was called 'Al's Cafe', and pushed inside. Rubbing my hands to keep them toasty, I stepped up to the counter where Emily was serving a small lady her coffee.
She looked up at me with confusion before shaking her head and smiling. "Sorry, twins, I forgot." She greeted me with a smile. I grinned back and leant against the counter lazily, looking around at the small, warm cafe. "When do you get off your shift?" I asked her, watching her eyes go wide. "Um, Edward, you KNOW I'm going out with Harry, I can't go ou-" I cut her off with a raise of my eyebrow. "As FRIENDS you ninny! I'm so bored in the flat by myself!" I explained dramatically, throwing my hand across my forehead for emphasis.
She rolled her eyes with a giggle and looked up at the clock across the room which was hung on a mocha coloured wall. "I get off in 15, could you wait?" I nodded and placed both my hands on the counter. "Could I have a long black while I wait?" I asked with a wink. She grinned and quickly whipped up my coffee, handing the steaming coffee cup to me. "Enjoy sir." She slightly curtsied and I poked my tongue out at her, walking over to an empty booth and plonking down with my coffee.
I pulled out my phone and opened up my texts, finding my brothers name.
To: Hazza Banana
Hey, how's it going? You're girlfriend is so nice, how could you not tell me about her? ;) lots of love baby brother <3
I grinned down at my phone, taking a sip of my searing hot coffee. Soon after I had sent the text, my phone buzzed and I sheepishly looked down at it, seeing my brothers immediate reply.
From: Hazza Banana
Don't you dare touch her Ed, or I will kill you. And I'm not your baby brother! We're the same age, bloody hell!
I smirked, simply sending him a wink face before stuffing my phone in my pocket. The table jolted as someone slid into the booth opposite me and I looked up to be greeted with a grinning red head. "Did you enjoy your coffee?" Emily asked, leaning forward to observe my empty cup. I nodded, looking at her closely.
Her small spatter of freckles across her nose were barely there, only visible if you looked close enough. Her green eyes sparkled with her wide grin and her circle shaped face was soft and loving, giving her a innocent look. I could tell exactly why Harry had fallen for her, being the beautiful girl that she was.
"So, where do you want to go?" She asked casually, sitting back and crossing her ivory coloured arms across her chest. "I was wondering if you would like to go out for a bite to eat. It's a friendly gesture, yes?" I winked, standing up with a stretch. Emily followed suit and we walked out of the cafe, a safe distance from each other.
"So have you talked to Harry recently?" I casually asked, casting her a sideways glance. She blushed slightly and looked down at the pavement with a small smile. "I talk to him more than once every day." She answered. I nodded, slowly grinding my jaw. "How long have you been seeing each other?" I asked, hoping I didn't come off as weird for asking. "Well, it's about a month and a half if you count his courting." She laughed.
I looked at her with a quizzical frown. "Harry Styles courted you?" She giggled with a nod, looking around as if she was picturing it in her mind. "When we actually met, Harry had kicked a ball at my head. It was crazy, and he was so full of himself, leading me to believe I'd never see him again. But then somehow he found where I worked and came in, being suave in his coats and jeans.
"Every time he would come in, every day for that manner, he would buy two coffees and leave one behind for me with his number on the lid. I never called him though, enjoying how hard he was trying. Then one day, he only bought one coffee and left. I was so pissed off, but I kind of blamed myself for not calling. Then that night he called and asked to go out on a date...and the rest is history." She finished with a sigh.
"Yeah, that sounds like Harry." I muttered, picturing how he would've acted to win her over. "You make out like he's a bad guy." Emily half laughed, looking up at me. I shook me head vigorously, my curls bouncing around as I did so. "No, Harry's a good guy. He just better treat you right of he'll pay." I stated simply. I earned an eyebrow raise from Emily, but I pretended to not notice, concentrating on all the restaurants, cafés and bars lining the street.
"How about 'Paublo's Bistro'?" I asked her, pushing into the small restaurant and holding the door for her. We were seated and casually ordered a mozzarella pizza to share. Sitting there quietly, I played with the napkin in front of me, thinking of what I could say. It wasn't normal for me to be lost for words.
"So how long will you bee staying with Harry?" Emily startled me and I looked up at her with a dumbfounded expression. "Huh?" OH, uh, well for about a month and a half, and a week has already passed...so..." I trailed off, giving her a nervous smile. "Oh." Was all Emily replied with and I gave her a questioning frown. "No, it's just that it's a very long time, I'm really surprised..." She looked down with a blush and I felt that that wasn't the only reason as to why she was 'surprised'.
I wanted to ask her if that was the only reason but was interrupted by an old woman placing our pizza in front of us. "Enjoy you two love birds, call if you need anything." My heart jumped and my head snapped up to look at the woman, my eyes wide. "We're not going out." Emily was quick to state, shaking her head vigorously. The woman held up her hands in surrender and slowly backed away. "Okay, I'm just saying that you would look cute together." My mouth dropped open in shock, unable to say anything as we watched the lady walk away.
"Well that was interesting." Emily mumbled, picking up a slice of pizza and shoving it in her mouth. I smiled at her comment and mirrored her, eating the surprisingly tasty pizza. Suddenly there was a high pitch scream right in my ear and, in shock, I choked on my pizza. I looked up at the two teenaged girls jumping up and down next to us. Before I could say anything, they were both hugging me, cutting off my air.
"Girls...stop!" I gasped, pushing them off me. They quickly let go of me and stood eagerly beside me. "We just want to say that we love you and we thing that you and Emily are the most adorable couple and that we don't want you to ever break up." The blonde blurted in one breath. It dawned on me that they thought I was Harry and both Emily and I cracked up laughing. The shock on the girls' faces only made me laugh more, making it even harder to stop. "What's so funny? We're serious!" The brunette huffed with her hands on her hips.
I tried my best to stop laughing and took a shaky breath. "I'm not Harry. I'm his twin, Edward. I'm sorry girls." Their faces were priceless, their eyes practically popping out of their heads. "Bu-but why are you out with Emily?" I was caught out and had no idea what to respond with. "We're friends and we're just hanging out." Emily stated with a smile. I caught her eye and gave her a small smile, loving how she had called me her friend.
"Well, okay. But can we still have your autographs?" I looked over at the girls who were offering us both a pen and paper. We signed for them and waved the girls off, trying to hide our laughs.
As soon as they were out of ears shot, Emily started to laugh again. Her eyes scrunched up and her smile spread across her face, unmasking a single dimple in her right cheek. She looked beautiful and cute at the same time, her charming smile making me grin in response. It was so easy to like Emily, and equally easy to want to want to keep her as a friend at any cost.
I noticed her mouth was moving and I snapped out of my daydream, trying to concentrate on what she was saying. "Hello? Ed?" She asked, furrowing her brow. "I'm sorry, what was that?" I asked, shaking my head slightly. "I asked if there was something on my face because you're staring at me and it's kind of freaky." She said with a small laugh. I smiled and without thinking, reached across the table and grabbed her hand. "There is nothing wrong with your face, it's beautiful." I whispered.
Colour rose to Emily's cheeks and she slowly pulled her hand away, mumbling a thanks as she looked down at the crumbled napkin in her plate. I cleared my throat, embarrassed at what I had just done, and called for the bill.
Emily's POV
We silently left the restaurant, an awkward distance between us two. I looked over at Edward walking next to me, his hands deep in his jean pockets, his curly hair whipping at his face in the cold wind. He habitually cleared his throat, slowly looking over at me. "I just want you to know that I didn't mean what I said earlier. I mean I did! But I didn't mean in in...THAT way." He quickly explained, stuttering and wringing his hands.
I slowly placed my hand on his lower arm, forcing him to look at me. "Honestly, it's fine. If anything, it was really nice and flattering, and I really appreciate it." I offered him a reassuring smile as I pulled my hand away. A small smile tugged at his lips as he sighed, stuffing his hands in his pockets once again.
Edward walked me to my apartment, stopping just outside my door. I turned to him and grinned. "Thank you for today, it was...interesting." He snorted, giving me a half smirk. "It's okay, it was great spending time with you." I felt heat rise to my cheeks and I adverted my gaze. "Damn, foot-in-mouth syndrome, I'm sorry." He looked at me with a pained expression and I smiled, showing him it was fine.
I unlocked my door and pushed inside. As a second thought, I turned to Edward and quickly wrapped my arms around him, pulling away before he could respond. Although he was smiling, Edward was frowning, deep lines appearing on his forehead. "I'm sorry. It was just good to go out because all my friends are away or busy...and I really don't have many friends to begin with. Um, thanks again." I smiled lightly, ducking into my room and quickly shutting the door to stop Edward from saying anything.
Biting my lip I smiled a little, glad I had actually gone out with Edward instead if working extra hours. Since the boys were all away for their conference, it only left Maddie and my brother to talk to. Inconveniently, Maddie was away spending the week with her mum and Jay was busy with some business thing since he had gotten a job as some important persons secretary. So that left Edward as my only company for the next five days.
Thinking about a whole five days left without Harry snapped me back to reality. It had seemed like forever since I had seen him last or felt his warm arms around me, and I only had a few more days to endure it.
Smiling a little, I fell back on my bed and pulled my phone from my pocket. Dialing Harry, I tapped my fingers on my stomach and chewed my lip impatiently. The phone didn't have a chance to ring twice before I was greeted with Harry's laughter. "Hello, beautiful!" The cheerily spoke down the line. A smile instantly spread across my face, just hearing his voice instantly putting me in a good mood. "Hey baby, how are you?" I asked him, pulling at loose threads on my quilt. "I'm great actually! I just found out that I'm coming back two days early! Meaning that there's only three more days until I can see you again!" He replied, excitement threaded through his words.
"No way!" I shouted, sitting up with a wide grin plastered to my face. "Yes way." He laughed. I sighed and laid back down, grabbing for my large panda and pulling it close. "I've really missed you." I mumbled in a small voice, all laughter falling away. "Me too baby, so much." He whispered, his words causing my stomach to painfully flip. "Three more days baby, and then I can kiss you again." I smiled slightly at his words, tears gathering in the corners of my eyes. "Of course." I simply replied. "Look, I have to go. But I'll call tomorrow, okay? Bye baby." I sighed in frustration, hating that he had to go and I still had three days without him. "Bye." I replied before the line cut off.
It felt like it had been so long since I had felt Harry's warm embrace or felt his lips on my own, and it was killing me that I still had to wait. Yes. I was good that it had been cut by two days, but that still left three without him. I was just sick alone like this, it was beginning to take its toll on me.
I unlocked my phone again and scrolled to find Edwards name, having exchanged numbers when we were having lunch. I quickly typed up a message before rolling over and burying my face in my panda and falling asleep, not caring what time it was.
To: Edward
Thanks for today, it was great to spend time with a friend :)
~~~~~
AUTHORS NOTE
Ohh, so now we know Ed's story O_o and Harry is coming back early, instantly taking away any attention from Ed!
It's going to get better, I promise. Just wait till Harry gets back and just see :D
Please comment, vote and I love you :)) <3