Chapter 38: Girls Talk.

(Sup. I just had a draining weekend and I'm fatigued right now lol. Enjoy the chap)

[Edward POV]

"Now. How should I play this?" I muttered as I reached my neighbourhood riding on Luke's bicycle.

The spring breeze tickled my nose as I rode the bike. "The weather is cold today." I muttered as the cold wind blew. Although the weather had been warmer, it was still a bit cold to be riding a bike without a jacket.

Passing through house 314, I saw Desiree walking out to the driveway with a hint of anxiousness in her eyes. I stopped the bicycle in front of her and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Oh. Edward. It's not a big deal, but I am locked out of the house." Desiree said. With her tight pink shirt and mom's jeans, she had dropped her keys somewhere while walking home a little bit drunk before this.

"Ah. Where's Abby? Does she have a key?" I asked.

"She does. She is at your house with Haley. I'm going there right now to get it. Although I hate to bother her.." Desiree said while looking like an abandoned puppy. "There is an open window, I figured if I could reach it, I wouldn't have to walk all the way over there."

"Wait. Just propel me in. I'll open the door for you. But, you'll need to do me a favour afterward."

Taking a step back in vigilance, Desiree tried to cover her breast with her hands, "W-What kind of favour?" Batting her eyes in embarrassment, she started fidgeting.

Narrowing her eyes at her, I said flatly, "What are you thinking about? I need a place to hide this bike without anyone noticing."

"Oh. That. Okay, I can do that." Desiree said while feeling relieved. Then, she saw Luke's logo on the bike. "Wait. Is this Luke's new bike?"

"Yup. He pretended to lose it so that I would paint and upgrade his old bike. So I'm going to teach him a lesson." I explained. Desiree nodded in understanding and said, "Won't Claire be mad?"

"...I think so." I smirked as I thought about it. Desiree chuckled and said, "That's what you're aiming for isn't it?"

"BINGO!"

Desiree and I walked to one of the windows at the side of the house.

"That's my room." Desiree said while looking at the window. Then, she looked at me up and down. "If you were an adult, maybe you could give me a lift. But I think it'll be easier if I do you."

"Yeah. Do me." I muttered, then I realised what I just said. "Damn. I need to stop hanging out with Phil so much. I have bad innuendo habits now."

I jumped and grabbed the windowsill, while Desiree pushed me from my buttocks to get up.

"Be careful with your hands. Don't grab the wrong thing." I yelled at her as she couldn't keep her hands steady. Her hands kept going to a place where she shouldn't go.

"You're unexpectedly heavy!" Desiree said with her face flushing as she used the last of her strength to push me up.

"I'm only 130 pounds. Pure muscle." I said as I managed to pass my torso through the window and no longer needed Desiree's help.

"If you're pure muscle, you can push yourself up." Desiree retorted as she threw her hand in the air to push me into the window one last time.

"Wa-Wait. STOP!" I tried to stop her, but it was too late. The push caused me to fall while I'm halfway through the window, hitting my jaw on the floor.

Desiree finally realised what she had done, widened her eyes in shock and asked quickly, "Are you okay?"

Rubbing my sore chin, I said, "Yeah. I'm fine. Anyway, your room smells like lotions."

"Thanks. It's a candle." Desiree replied from the outside.

With a lowered volume, I said, "It wasn't a compliment. But whatever." As I entered the room, I saw multiple undergarments thrown around everywhere and a suspicious lone cucumber inside the room.

"What's the cucumber for?" I asked to tease her.

I could hear her becoming anxious and say, "it's f-Formy eyes. I cut it and put it over my eyes. Anyway, Quickly open the door. You don't have to look around."

"Okay~!" I replied and continued to snoop for 10 seconds before I hurriedly went to the front door and unlocked it.

"Stop worrying. I didn't notice anything. Definitely not the baby oil and the cucumber's texture." I teased the moment I opened the door to let Desiree in. She was stunned, and I continued, "I'll leave the bike in your garage."

Patting her shoulder, I said, "You should go out. You know…date someone."

"W-W-W-W-"

"Well. You're single now, right?" I said while she was struggling to find the words. After teasing Desiree, I walked home with the paint cans and went straight to the garage. She was definitely crossed with me, and would tell Abby about what I said, but I am already prepared for it.

Claire was around, watching the paint slowly stripping from the bike, but Luke was nowhere to be found.

"Where's Luke? And has Phil gotten home yet?" I asked, startling Claire who was lost in the moment.

"Oh. I had a weird call from Phil before. And I don't know where Luke is." Claire replied with her arms crossed and a face filled with confusion.

"What did Phil say?" I asked as I put the paint cans on the desk filled with tools.

"He said something about finding the bicycle. I was excited after hearing that, but he wasn't. Now, I'm afraid he's injured. The call was cut off after saying he was going to print something and then come home." Claire shared with me in great detail as I couldn't help but wonder why.

Turns out that Claire's OCD had accepted my OCD-self as one of her species, making me part of her pack. She was sharing the matter for me to help her think about the possible ramifications of Phil's words.

"I see. Then Claire. Do you want to have some fun with me?" I asked with a sly smirk.

"What kind of fun?" Claire asked while remaining vigilant. At this moment, Abby and Haley called out to me from my bedroom window, attracting our attention.

"Heyyy. You're late~!" Abby said while waving at me from the second floor.

"Why are you in my room?" I asked in confusion. "Wait. How the hell did you get into my house?"

"Does it matter?" Abby chucked and called me inside.

"I'll talk to you later Claire. Call me when Phil gets home." I said and left Claire alone.

"Wait. What kind of fun?" Claire asked anxiously once more.

Stopping in my tracks, I muttered, "Oh right." Then I turned back and whispered something to her. Grinning madly, Claire patted my shoulder while laughing and said, "Okay, I'll do it."

As I entered my room, I hugged Abby with my left hand and pulled her waist close to my body.

"How did you enter my room?" I asked while staring at her eyes.

"D-Don't you remember telling me where you put the emergency keys before?" She blushed as she answered.

"So you decided to break into my house using it?" I asked, not breaking off the eye contact.

"I-I…It was Haley's Idea!" Abby deflected the guilt toward Haley who was lost in my outfits designs at my desk.

"Hey!" Haley turned to Abby in offence.

Finally releasing Abby from my embrace, "Which brings me to my next point. Haley. Why are you here?"

"What? You forgot about your promise?" Haley replied in confrontation.

"Yeah, Ed. The promise you made after using a girl's lips to prove a point." Abby said with a hint of anger in her tone.

"Ah. So she told you huh." I replied with a soft smile on my face.

…

-Flashback- 3rd Person POV.

Lunchtime at the Dunphy's, before Luke's bike was 'stolen'.

Desiree, Abby, Haley, Claire and Alex were sitting at the dining table together. Claire was sitting at the head of the table with Desiree on her left side and Haley on her right side. Sitting next to Desiree was Abby, and in front of her was Alex who's sitting next to Haley.

"So…" Claire spoke awkwardly after they had finished eating the lasagna. "Would you… care for some wine?" She asked Desiree.

"Sure." Desiree replied with a bright smile. How could she refuse when this was her first time going drinking with a friend in California.

"Over there, in front of the TV."

Claire led Desiree away to the sofa where she opened a bottle of wine, leaving the children on their own. Although the lunch was great, it was kind of awkward for them to hang out together–without the booze of course. She opened the wine cork using her mouth while holding wine glasses on her other hand.

After getting liquored up and talking for a while, Claire finally broached the topic she wanted to hear.

"If it's not too intrusive…Could I hear about your divorce?" She asked meekly.

Desiree avoided Claire's eyes and bottomed her wine glass. Claire hurriedly said, "You don't have to do it if you don't want to."

"N-No. I…would like to.." Desiree said, taking a deep breath, gathering her courage. "But I probably will need a moment."

"Okay. Sure. Please don't force yourself to do it." Claire said in understanding. Only after two more wine glasses were refilled did Desiree share her story with a flushed face.

"My ex…Well, I received a call from Abby's school, telling me that she was ill and needed to be sent home. As I was working at that time, I took half a day off to pick her up as I could not contact my husband. Then, when we returned home, we caught…my husband…with a girl barely older than Abby, just doing it on the bed that I bought for us."

"Oh. So he cheated on you.." Claire said in a calm tone, her hand patted Desiree's hand to comfort her. She understood now why Edward said Desiree would never make a move on someone's husband, as she wouldn't want to be with someone just like her ex husband was.

"Yeah. And it was the last straw for our marriage as it wasn't the first time he'd done it. Therefore, I brought Abby with me to California to get away from everything after the divorce."

Desiree glanced at her daughter and muttered to Claire, "She was disgusted by men before she met with Edward. Even tried her hardest to keep them away – going goth, being unpleasant, picking fights. But now, she is happier than I have ever seen her before. I wonder, when we go back to New York, will she still be happy there?"

Without Desiree noticing it, a teardrop fell out of her eyes. Claire was flabbergasted and hurriedly gave a tissue to Desiree.

Desiree forced herself to smile and said, "I'm sorry. It's the first time I have talked to anyone about this," while wiping her eyes.

"No-No. It's okay. I'm sorry that I couldn't be more comforting." Claire said with a hint of panic in her voice. "But I can lend you an ear if you want to vent."

"That'll be great." Desiree said and blew her nose on the tissue. "But I'm done crying. All I want right now…is for Abby to be happy."

Claire held Desiree's shoulder and said, "You moved to California, a place where you have no friends or family, just to make sure that your daughter can heal from her traumatic experience. You already made her happy."

While the mothers were bonding, the girls were having a conversation of their own.

"Wait, you guys were at his recording session?" Alex opened her mouth in astonishment after Abby had spilled the tea.

Haley smirked at her sister and said, "Yeah. There is a 14 years old age limit to go there, so you're not invited."

"Oh yeah? Is there an age limit on kissing someone else's boyfriend too?" Alex retorted, making Haley flinch as . Abby turned toward her with widened eyes.

"Whose boyfriend did you kiss?" Abby asked hurriedly.

"N-No. It was not a kiss." Haley replied while avoiding Abby's eyes.

"Anyway Abby, did you really score 2000 in your SATs?" Alex skillfully changed the subject. Although she did want to cause trouble for her sister, she wouldn't go so far as to destroy her sister's friendship with someone.

Abby stared at Haley for a moment before turning to Alex and answered, "Yeah. Do you want tips or something?"

"Please. I can just do that on my own. Anyway-...I wanted to ask you…" Alex said to Abby, paused a bit and she turned to Haley, "Go Away."

Flabbergasted, Haley said, "I'm not going anywhere! Just ask your questions!"

"What is it Alex?" Abby asked.

"We-Well.. You know…You're smart(Like me)…So how…long was it till you…got a boyfriend?"

Haley just laughed at Alex, causing her sister to glare at her. Abby was stunned by the question before she took a deep breath and answered with a red face and blushing cheeks, "To be honest with you. Edward is my…first boyfriend."

Abby avoided Haley's questioning look and Alex's looks of astonishment by lowering her eyes.

"Wait. Seriously?" Haley asked in disbelief and looked at Abby's body. "Even though you're so… hot?"

"Aww really?" Abby was flattered by Haley's words. "You think I'm hot?"

"Y-Yeah?" Haley replied in confusion. "Didn't Edward always say it to you? Why are you reacting as if this was the first time you're hearing it?"

There was a hint of jealousy in Haley's tone that was visible for someone with a high emotional intelligence. However, the two black haired girls beside her only have a high intellectual intelligence and didn't notice it in the least.

"Well. It was the first time a girl ever said that, so I'm a bit embarrassed."

Alex was annoyed by Abby's and Haley's conversation, so she decided to make a new topic. "You know, there is a rumour in school that Edward has an IQ of 167."

Abby widened her eyes and said, "Seriously? That's even higher than mine!"

"Is 167 high?" Haley asked in confusion. Before Alex could say anything sarcastic, Abby explained, "Yeah. It's really high. The average IQ is around 85 to 114. 160 is considered exceptionally gifted."

"Oh." Haley exclaimed in realisation. "So, he's super smart smart?"

"What is your IQ again? 70?" Alex asked sarcastically. Haley was mad and retorted, "What's your cup size again? A minus minus?"

Alex was offended, and before they could argue with each other, Abby stopped them. "Well, I'm going to go to Edward's house after this. I can ask him the question myself to confirm it."

"I'm going to go with you." Haley said casually.

Abby and Alex turned to Haley with a confused expression. "Why?" Abby asked. With eyes staring directly at Abby's plump lips, Haley replied, "He promised me 2 new outfits. I want to claim it."

Alex muttered without thinking, "Oh. So that was how he calmed you down after kissi-"

Haley closed Alex's mouth quickly, but Abby managed to piece the puzzle together.

"Di-Did he kiss you?" Abby asked, her face ashen and her chest hurts from the prospect of Edward's betrayal.

"Wait! NO! THAT'S NOT WHAT HAPPENED!" Alex said quickly and then explained the entire situation. Finally, Abby understood everything.

"Haley. I'm hurt that you didn't tell me about it." Abby said in a fake sadness as she wiped her eyes.

"..." Haley was stunned, and Alex invited Abby to their room to talk in private. Haley explained everything that happened, and Alex explained the things that Haley had missed.

"I see. So, he was trying to help my mom huh." Abby muttered.

Haley explained anxiously, "Yeah. So don't be mad at him. He really didn't kiss me. He only pretended to."

…

[Edward POV]

Abby punished me by pulling my cheeks. "Anything else you're keeping away from me?" She asked angrily as she kept pulling.

In a muffled voice, I replied, "Yeah. I was just in your mom's room a few minutes ago." Abby flinched and pulled my cheeks harder, "Why are you there!?"

"Your mom pushed me inside. What else?" I reply ambiguously on purpose to freak her out.

"What!?" Abby's face contorted in confusion. I laughed and I explained the whole situation to her.

"Ah. Unlocking the door! Damn it! You were messing with me!" Abby said angrily and tried to punish me by biting my neck. Avoiding her, I said, "If you want to flirt, let's wait till Haley is gone."

"How about you don't flirt in front of me in the first place?" Haley interjected with a dissatisfied tone. "Oh, I miss being in a relationship."

"Wait. It hasn't even been 2 weeks since you got out of one right?" Abby asked as she blinked her eyes twice.

"Yeah. But for a popular girl, that's like 2 years." Haley replied smugly.

"More like a girl who didn't know how to love herself on her own." I replied, causing Haley's smile to freeze. Abby thought my words were too harsh, and she nudged me to apologise.

"Sorry."

"Anyway. Are you going to pick from the designs here, or are you going to make new designs on your own?" I asked casually to change the subject.

"..." She didn't reply and thought for a while.

While holding the designs, Haley's eyes took a quick scan and said, "I want to design on my own, but I don't think I'll do a great job like you did. So I'm just going to go with what you have made."

"Nah. Draw the ones that you want to make. Then, come back to see me with the designs. I will help you to upgrade it if needed." I said as I snatched all of my designs from her hand.

"HEY! What- Wait!" Haley tried to stop me when I was putting all of my designs in the desk drawer and then locked them inside.

Annoyed, she whined, "Ugh! Why are you being like this? Just pick one from there!"

Turning toward that girl, I said, "You have the opportunity to finally bring your creativity to life. You don't have to fear what anyone will think about it, and you especially don't have to fear me putting your efforts down. If you don't know how to design, I can teach you about it. It's okay to go slow if you need to. I will guide you on how to do it."

Haley was stunned, and Abby broke into a wide smile. She backed me up without me even needing to ask her to do it.

While hugging me from the back, she said, "Yeah. Do it yourself Haley. I want to see what you'll come out with. You always dress so fashionably, so I'd already know you have a good fashion sense."

"Well…I know that." Haley agreed with Abby's words, but she was still being hesitant.

"Then. Do it. If you really couldn't, then we'll just pick something from the pile. I also won't bring up the topic again" I added.

Finally, Haley gave up and decided, "Okay. I'll do it."

"Excellent." Abby exclaimed. Nodding my head in agreement, I realised that my phone was buzzing. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to play detective at Haley's house."

"My house?" Haley was confused, so was Abby. I smirked and I didn't tell them anything. They could've come and watched if they wanted, but Haley wanted to go to the mall in search of ideas, while Abby had promised to drive her.

"I'll see you tonight?" I asked Abby.

"Sure. Dinner at your house, right? Do you need me to buy anything while I'm outside?"

"No need. Just come by when you're ready. I'll prepare some nice meals for both of us."

With a peck on the lips, Abby said goodbye and went with Haley to the mall.

Once I received the call from Claire, I walked to the Dunphy's to settle the bike theft incident. But first, I needed to change my apparel first to be something of an old school, British investigator.