[Edward POV]
"No."
The word kept ringing inside my brain even after I left the mall.
I met up with Alex and told her what happened.
"So, what are we going to do now?" She asked, her eyes flashed with concern.
Disappointment etched on her face as she resented her father for saying no to our relationship.
"I mean, I could just knock you up, like your dad did to your mom." I replied.
Alex giggled and said, "Alright. I'm game."
"Wait, really?" My eyes widened a bit, startled by her response.
Alex was also stunned, "No. I'm joking. Wait, you want a baby? Isn't that too soon? I want to wait at least one year after we're married–"
"Married?" I was shocked again.
Alex froze slightly. She turned and walked away, leaving me standing there speechless.
Suddenly, a grin grew on my face. "Oh we're soo getting married!"
"NO! NOT YET!" Alex shouted. "NO I MEANT NOT NOW– NO– Damn it!"
The bad mood from the conversation with Phil had lifted. Although, it still remained a mystery why he said no to the idea of Alex and I getting together.
"Maybe it's because you're such a man-whore. Who wants that dating their daughter? I know I wouldn't."
Max Black, my godsister from New York came to the mansion in the evening, an hour before the dinner party with Haley and Andy.
I decided to hold it at my place, since I cook better than all of the chefs in the world anyway.
"I'm not that guy anymore!" I grimaced as I put the plate of braised short rib in front of Max. It was for dinner, but she pawed it immediately.
Max basically inhaled one of the ribs and said with a dirty mouth full of sauce, "Phil didn't know that. You guys didn't hang out forever."
"Ah!" I realized she was right. "Don't drop the bone back into the plate–"
It was too late. She cackled like a witch and said, "This whole plate is mine now."
"Speaking of the things that are yours, how's married life with Randy?" I asked.
Max licked her fingers and said, "It's alright."
"Why do you sound dissatisfied?" I was shocked. "Did he do anything? You want me to beat him up?" I asked with a teasing grin.
"Yes. Do beat him up. That's one of his kinks." Max replied gleefully.
I frowned in disgust and said, "Don't tell me that."
Max sighed and complained, "He's too… healthy."
"In the boudoir?" I asked, slightly disturbed.
"He is healthy there too. But, I'm talking more about his lifestyle. He woke up at 5 for the sunrise." Max shuddered, speaking with a horrified face, "Then. He jogged!"
I gasped in horror, matching her energy. "That son of a bitch."
"He even eats avocado toast for breakfast. Me, I don't even eat breakfast!" Max complained.
I laughed slightly. Despite all of her complaining, she was really enjoying married life. Caroline moved in next door, so they hung out all the time.
Alex suddenly approached us wearing a worried expression.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"Haley…. Just cancelled." Alex replied hesitantly. "Damn it. Edward, is this a bad idea? We kept stumbling at the first step."
"Hey–" I stopped her from panicking, holding her face slightly. "It's fine. It's going to be fine."
"But–"
"Alex. I've been in situations much much worse than this." I smiled softly. "I've stopped world war 3 from happening seven times. I think I can handle the challenges. I mean, I have to. Since the reward… is you."
Alex blushed, gasping slightly. Max looked at us in surprise, a grin growing on her face.
I was being honest. For once, I wasn't going to back down, or be depressed by the rejection.
I would fight the entire world to get us together.
"Eddy! I didn't know you had it in you!" Max cackled again.
Embarrassed, Alex brushed my hands away. She held it as both of us turned to Max.
Max grinned, "So, are you two dating now? FINALLY!"
"Wait. What do you mean, 'finally'?" Alex was confused.
"He's been talking about you, and only you for years!" Max exposed me.
"Max! Shut up." I warned her and turned to Alex. With a soft smile, I said, "Since your sister isn't coming, I think we should have dinner, just the two of us."
"Hey! Don't cut me out! I'm hungry too!" Max complained.
"You go back to New York." I snapped at her.
She laughed teasingly and said, "Fine! I'm leaving with your jet, and I'm never going to give it back!"
Max was only playing around. She has plans with Heidi, my father and Frankie this evening. Heidi wanted to see her, that's why she's here.
…
Alex and I ate dinner together outside by the pool. She had on a black bikini with a thin black pareo skirt tied at her waist.
The pool light reflected on her skin, and the soft night breeze made it much more comfortable since it has been a hot couple of days.
"So, how do we move forward?" She asked. "To be clear, getting me pregnant is out of the picture."
"For now." I teased, which made her embarrassed. She smiled at me, brushing her hair behind her ear.
"Hmm…" I thought about it and said, "I feel like I'm Scott Pilgrim."
"But instead of defeating my evil ex, you need to defeat your own evil ex." Alex interjected with a grin.
I nodded, smiling softly, "You do get me. Although, calling your own sister an evil ex is too much, isn't it?"
She rolled her eyes and said, "Fine. Crazy exes. You know, we wouldn't be in this mess if you could keep it in your pants."
I shrugged and said, "My pants are defenseless against the might of my Excalibur."
She shot me a disgusted glare. After staring me up and down, she said, "Maybe we can go to her house."
"Just go there, unannounced?" I was taken aback.
"I mean, it does seem rude. So we'll consider that a last resort."
"I thought the last resort was knocking you up?" I asked, pretending to be confused.
"See here? No ring. No children." Alex said, pointing at her left ring finger.
"I can put the ring on tonight, no problem." I replied.
She grimaced and said, "Not until a year of us dating. I want to make sure you're really the one first. Who knows if you'll change once we start dating."
"Change? Like how?" I asked as I finished pulling out all of the lobster meat from my plate, and switched it with Alex's to make it easier for her to eat it.
"Like this." Alex was helpless. "I can do that on my own. But you took care of me. If we start dating, will you still be doing that?"
"I didn't even realize I was doing it, so I'll probably continue doing it." I said with a teasing smile.
"Damn you and your book boyfriend characteristic." She cursed. "The only flaw you have is that you're constantly stressed out, and have a really colorful past."
"Everyone has a past." I said with a chuckle. "Even you. Like that time you wanted to experiment in college, so you dyed a lock of your hair blue, and tried to make out with the lesbian–"
"Shut up. Don't bring that up again, like ever." Alex blushed, really embarrassed.
"What? I still think it's pretty hot."
"I'm warning you Newgate. I'll bite." Alex warned me.
I threw my hands up in defeat. "So, what should we do tonight?" I asked her.
"Netflix and Chill." She replied. "It's been a stressful day. I'd like to get on top of things."
My grin widened as I inhaled sharply, fully excited.
Alex was confused, "By… relaxing…s-so our stress level goes down."
"OH." I exclaimed flatly. "So you really mean watching Netflix?"
She nodded, saying, "Told you, I'm not sleeping with you until we get the blessings."
"Damn. Here's an idea. Brainwashing. I never studied it before, but I guess if we put our mind together, we can create a brainwashing machine."
"A machine to wash brains?" Alex teased.
"Heh." I snorted flatly as I got what she was referencing. "Brain, washing machine. That's funny."
"No, it's not funny." Alex laughed. "But it's fun to see you try to be polite."
Alex's eyes suddenly flickered, as she thought of something. "Wait, you mentioned the evil exes."
"You did. Not me."
"Right. I did." Alex rolled her eyes. "So, how many people can be called your exes now?"
"Um… Are we really doing that?" I wiped my mouth slightly and drank the wine.
"Come on. I want to know how many people I need to fight."
"Alright then. I'm going to count only the people I have been in a relationship with."
"That'll be best. If you started listing the one night stand, we would be here all night long." She joked, snickering playfully.
I mocked her with my expression slightly before saying, "Alright. First there is Abby."
"Forensic Scientist. Working at the Concert City Forensic Laboratory. Making $150,000 a year." Alex replied.
I looked at her with confusion. "How did you know all that stuff?"
She took out her phone from under the table, "I made Oracle list out their characteristics for me to check if I could take them."
"So, can you?" I asked.
"Wait, I'm looking at her Instagram account." Alex said as she scrolled on Abby's face. "Slutty. Emo. Lace. BELLY BUTTON PIERCING?!" Alex was shocked.
"She even has a tattoo on her shoulder! It's a violin– That bitch." She cursed.
I laughed slightly and said, "Really? Did she get a tattoo?"
"No! You're not peeking at her account." Alex pulled her phone away as I tried to peek. "What's next?" She asked angrily.
"Next is Taylor."
"Multi-billionaire. Multiple record breaking albums. Still single. Her last song is called, 'Boy Savior'. So, she's not moving on too." Alex said with disbelief. "Next!"
"Um. Your sister."
"Hundred millionaires, fashion mogul, runaway model, extremely famous… Why do all your exes have truly impressive resumes?" She looked at me with a glare.
I shrugged and asked, "Still want to continue?"
"Next one!"
"Then, it's Hudgens."
"Also a billionaire. You bitch! She made a movie about you too!"
"Um… Next is Barbara Palvin."
"Ugh." Alex rolled her eyes. "She's also really famous, and has started acting."
Alex realized something, "Wait. You only have 5 that you were really in a relationship with?"
"Yeah." I nodded casually.
"Huh… Don't you have two more?"
"You want to quote the seven evil exes line when mentioning them, don't you?" I narrowed my eyes at her skeptically.
She fluttered her eyes, feeling caught by my gaze, "No… it's just, saying five evil exes doesn't really roll off my tongue."
"Then, don't put 'evil' in there. They are just normal people."
Alex laughed, and so did I.
Alex wasn't intimidated by my exes at all. She was also a hundred-millionaire herself.
After getting the patent for the diabetes checker sold to my company, she invested in multiple startups, and also, traded using Oracle's predictions.
At 20 years old, she already has her Phd in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, has 20 patents under her name, spoke in many academic lectures and events, and more.
She has an inherently competitive nature, so she wouldn't allow herself to be bested in her field.
We watched 'Game of Thrones' in the living room while cuddling. It was the episode, 'Battle of the Bastard' in season 6 and it has incredible cinematography.
"I don't think anyone can really mess up the show now, don't you think?" Alex asked. I choked on my water a little.
"What's wrong?" Alex asked curiously. "Did you hear something from your friends in the industry?"
"Not really. No. The next season is also going to be great."
The final season was the problem. But I didn't tell her that. Maybe I could intervene and do something about it.
…
[Alex POV]
I went home in the morning, and was greeted angrily by my dad at the door.
"Did you sleep at his place? Alex! I didn't give you my blessing!" My dad asked nervously, and with annoyance.
I rolled my eyes and said, "We just watched Game of Thrones together. Then, I fell asleep on the couch."
"YOU WATCH GOT!?" My dad was furious. "I thought we were going to do that together!"
I looked at him with confusion, "I never said that."
He froze and calmed down slightly, "Oh yeah. I promised Luke that."
"Then you're going to be disappointed," I said, a bit annoyed. "He already watched it with Mom."
He loved doing things with Luke, but not with me. I think he thought I was boring.
Luke came downstairs, having heard everything, and grimaced. "I'm never doing that again. She asked questions every ten seconds."
I laughed. "She did that with me during the ZomWorld finale."
"That reminds me. I want to rewatch the whole thing," Luke said. "I loved the fight with the AntKing."
"Yeah, Eddy really knows how to dazzle with his body," I laughed, feeling secretly proud.
"WHAT?!" my dad shouted, horrified.
"IN HIS FIGHT SCENE! GEEZ!" I blurted out, embarrassed. "You react like that every time I say his name. And you told him 'No' to us being together? What's up with that?"
"Alex. I'm trying to protect you." My dad said seriously.
I was taken aback, and suddenly my blood boiled. "From what? Eddy? The kindest man in the world?"
My dad was caught off guard.
"Dad, you don't trust Eddy, or me. You think I'm just a little girl that you need to protect, but I'm not. I want to be with Eddy."
"Alex…" My dad looked at me with disappointment. Honestly, it stings. But I didn't care. I think he had really crossed a line here.
My mother saw the confrontation and intervened quickly.
"Phil, honey. Why don't we put this aside for now, and we'll talk more about this later? You have a house showing to get too. You don't want to make Andy wait, do you?"
She separated the both of us, and I went to my room. Then, I began packing up my clothes into a bag.
My mother saw it through the door and became frazzled, "Alex. Honey, what are you doing?"
"I'm moving in with Edward." I replied, rebelliousness and heartache has overtaken me.
My mom held me down and stopped me, "Alex. Please, let's do this rationally. I have no problem with you dating Edward. I'm on your side. So– So just, let me talk to your dad. Give us another chance."
I calmed down slightly and said, "Fine. But I am leaving soon anyway."
"It's– That's fine. It's fine. It's totally fine."
[Claire's commentary]
"It's not fine at all." Claire said with a high pitched, choked up voice. "I don't want Alex to go away. She just came back from school. Haley's already gone, and now Alex? I'm not ready yet to let her go."
Claire sighed and said, "I also don't know what's going on with Phil. He's usually more… sensitive, and understanding. He sees the best in people. So I wonder what happened that made him so adamant here."
[Commentary ends]
…
[Edward POV]
Finneas's house, inside his recording studio.
"So, have you and Billie written something for the wedding yet?" I asked playfully.
"No, we're leaving that to you." Finneas replied with a grin. He had long hair that reached his shoulder, a middle part on the top, and he wore tank tops to show his gym muscles.
It was amateurish compared to Jacob and mine's muscles, but he was consistent in doing it.
I scoffed and said, "I thought you won a Grammy for best songwriter this year."
"Last year. I'm taking a year off this year." Finneas joked. "Enough about that, let's talk about the bachelor party. Are we getting Bunnies from the Playboy Mansion?" He grinned sleazily.
I shook my head and said, "Elsa will literally shoot you."
"Hey, as long as it's in the leg, or somewhere I don't use much, I'm fine with it." Finneas replied. "Stripper? Should we go to Japan to party?"
He was truly excited about the bachelor party. The party planning fell on my shoulders. I have a few plans, but I wasn't sure if everyone would enjoy them.
"But the most important thing is that, the future groom will enjoy it, right?"
"Screw that. I WANT BUNNIES!"
Finneas was angry when I told him about my plans. Since Jacob's mind was perfectly divided into three quadrants, I'll use that to plan for the bachelor party.
Quadrant 1: His fiancee.
Quadrant 2: Football
Quadrant 3: His friends. (mostly me, his best friend)
I went to Elsa to ask her for a favor. But she couldn't do it since the bachelorette party would be held on the same night as the bachelor party.
"Oh… I KNOW!" Finneas stood up as he thought of something. "We can play football… ON THE MOON!"
I was stunned when I heard it. "That's… not a bad idea. But he won't make it in time for his wedding."
"Then pull the bachelor party sooner!" Finneas argued.
"He has to do a lot of wedding prep. The tux, the place, the wedding cake, the officiant, the centerpieces–"
"What's the use of the wedding planner if he needs to decide those things himself?!" Finneas was angry.
"Mostly giving him choices. There's like hundreds of them. We can do it after his wedding, like for a wedding gift. But not for the bachelor party."
I cracked open a can of cold beer and sipped on it. "You know, there's another thing. We can do that."
Finneas waited, his eyes shifting around. "Do what? Tell me the details, you son of a bitc–"