"Rachel!" Bella gasps, looking at the picture over my shoulder. I look at the picture, searching or anything that could help my case, yet I find nothing.
"What?" I ask Bella, not quite ready to face Ed yet.
"What the hell are you doing?!" She asks, shocked.
"Ok, let me explain." I say as I sigh and cross to the couch. "That was my best friend, I say was because he hasn't been since the couple days before I went to London, and he wasn't because I used to have the biggest thing for him, but he didn't feel the same, he even started comparing me, harshly, to the girl he was dating, so I stopped talking to him. Anyway, he showed up last night, on the stair case, in fact, and he and I had a fight. But this morning I was on the way to-" I begin.
"Your other boyfriend's house!" Ed says harshly behind me.
"If you would've let me finish, I was about to say my VOICE TEACHERS HOUSE." I reply to him harshly, daring to look him straight on. I admit the whole Todd thing was ridiculous, but I'm not going to be punished for something that isn't my fault. Ed backs off a little. "Anyway, it started raining and Todd pulled up in a cab, he asked me if I wanted a ride. I said no, but then he convinced me." I said and Ed was then on the attack again.
"Convinced you with his lips?!" He says, furiously.
"How else can someone talk, Ed?!" I say, glaring at him, he doesn't back off this time, but he shuts his mouth and doesn't respond. "He reminded me that I have a low immune system and I get sick easily, and I can't get sick, because then I wouldn't be able to sing. I realized he was right, so I got into the cab with him, knowing it was only a few blocks, and I told him so. When we were almost there, he asked me out to lunch with him, and I refused because I had a voice lesson. He then asked me if I could skip one, but I sarcastically asked him if he could teach me how to harmonize, and he said, 'No, but I can do this.' And he kissed me. I was in shock for a moment, but then I got out of the taxi and went to my voice lesson." I finish and look at Ed, and I can't tell if he's mad or happy or anything. I think he's thinking. "Happy?" I ask him.
"Why can't you harmonize?" He asks me.
"Sang melody until I was fifteen, it just doesn't sound right in my head, so I just can't make it come out of my mouth." I say, not bothering to look at him.
"So, Todd just appeared out of the blue today?" He asks.
"Technically," I start, guiltily, "he appeared out of the blue yesterday. When I took the stairs he ran into me and I avoided looking at him as much as possible, so he wouldn't recognize me, but ya know, being best friends for so long, it wasn't possible." I said, putting my face in my hands. I feel the slight movement on the couch cushion from where someone has sat down next to me.
"Ed," Bella says, after holding her tongue this entire time, she must have been the one to sit, because she sounds really close, "if you knew anything about Rachel, you would know she is anything but a whore." I look up and look at Bella, and I was right, she's sitting next to me. She's facing Ed almost straight on, her shoulders down, making her look relaxed, yet tough at the same time.
"I think this says otherwise!" He says, motioning towards his phone.
"Oh come on, she just explained what happened." Bella says.
"Really? You expect me to believe that one of her old best friends just appeared out of the blue and kissed her?" He says, and I notice something. Ed's eyes are slight red. I get up and walk over to him, I have a theory. Either he's been crying, or... Then I smell it. Nope. Not crying.
"Ed." I start as soon as I smell the alcohol on him. "Go home, you're drunk." I say, looking him dead on.
"Maybe just a little, but that doesn't change anything!" He says.
"He has a point; most people are more truthful when drunk because their filters are incapacitated." Bella says from behind me.
"Whose side are you on??" I turn and ask her. She puts her hands up in a passive motion.
"I'm Canada, neutral." Bella says.
"But really, are you whoring around, Rachel?" Ed says, seriously.
"Holy hell, Ed!" I say, "Are you even serious?! No. Hell no. Ok, plus, we aren't even dating. We went on one date, and on said date, you paid more attention to Zayn and Bella than you did to your actual date." I say, crossing my arms over my chest.
"Well excuse me for being nervous!" He says, looking at me.
"Nervous? Are you serious?! You had no reason to be nervous!" I say unfolding my arms.
"Yes I did! Obviously, you've never listened to my music, becau-" He starts, but I'm boiling mad, so I interrupt him.
"NEVER LISTENED TO YOUR MUSIC?! You've got to be fucking with me! I know most of your songs by heart, and the fact that you just said that is so ludicrous! You know, I've actually had dreams involving your lyrics, and for you to say I've obviously never listened hurts my soul." I say, crossing my arms over my chest once more.
"Now, if you had let ME finish, I would've said that I can obviously not express things I am thinking without music. Especially to such a pretty girl." He says, rambling quickly.
"That's a load of hors- Wait." I say, about to say something crude, then it hits me that he called me pretty. "You just called me pretty." I say, looking from his face down to the ground because suddenly I feel horribly awkward.
"Well that got awkward really quickly." Bella says from her seat.
"Comments from the peanut gallery aren't needed." I say and look at her. She puts her hands up in the same defensive way before getting up off the couch and leaving the room. I just look back down to the floor after she leaves, and there is an awkward silence between the two of us. Ed clears his throat, but I don't look at him.
"Um..." Ed says. "I'm not drunk, actually." I look up at him to find that he's already looking at me.
"Then why do you reek of alcohol?" I ask, suspiciously.
"Have you ever tried to walk here? You pass like four homeless guys! One accidently spilled his container of booze on me. It wasn't pleasant." He says, small smile forming on his lips.
"And you're eyes? Why are they red?" I ask him, still suspicious.
"Allergies." He says simply.
"To what?" I ask, a small beginning to play at the corners of my mouth as well.
"A lot." He says, an actual smile coming on to his face now.
"I can bet you, I'm allergic to everything." I say, allowing my smile to come across my face as well, but it dampens as I think about his story. "But still, I don't believe you. I'm still convinced you're not as sober as you appear." I say, letting my smile drop completely, and I see a hint of some idea flash across his face before he says anything.
"So you smell alcohol on me? Is it on my breath?" He asks, taking a step closer, and the alcohol stench becoming stronger.
"I can only assume so." I say, crossing my arms over my chest again.
"So you're assuming it's on my breath, and not my person?" He asks, stepping closer once more, and there's only a couple inches of gap left between us.
"Yes." I say, letting my arms drop to my sides.
"Let's test your assumption." Ed says before closing the gap between us and kissing me. He grabs my arms and puts his mouth to mine, and I don't move. But he's right; he doesn't have any alcohol on his lips, only... Hmmm... I don't even know, but it's non-alcoholic, and that's good enough for me. I pull back and I look at him, he's smiling so brightly it hurts my eyes a little bit. I smile back at him, and hug him.
"Sorry." I say while hugging him.
"It's ok, I get it, luv." He says and releases me.
"Would you do me a favor?" I ask him as I take a step away, creating a small gap between us.
"What is it?" He asks me, concerned.
"Go home and get cleaned up? I really can't stand alcohol or its smell." I say, still backed away from him.
"Ok, sure, I don't really like smelling like it either." He says with a small smile. I smile back and we walk do the door. "I'll be right back." He says, opening the door, "Oh, and by the way," he says, turning around in the door way to face me again, "I used the wrong word earlier." He grabs my wrists and pulls me to him, kissing me again. "You're not pretty, you're beautiful." And he turns, and with a smile, heads to the elevator.