Chapter 118: Conflicted feelings.

[Edward POV]

*Click*

A flash of light startled the girls, which made them quickly separate from each other. They turned towards me with a horrified expression on their faces as they saw I was holding up my phone and had taken a picture of them kissing.

"What the- DELETE IT!" Abby pounced at me in a hurry. I couldn't even react before she grabbed my hand and tried to wrestle the phone away from me. I laughed and didn't keep struggling and let her take it without fighting much.

'The photo was backed up to my own personal cloud drive anyway.' I thought secretly. However, I was late in taking the picture, and what I captured wasn't actually the sight of them kissing, but a millisecond after they had separated from one another.

Still lying down on my body, Abby pressed her elbows on my chest as she opened my phone gallery to punish me at the same time. It didn't hurt much as the 'cushion' on her chest was helping her spread out her body weight, but she didn't notice that.

"Ow-Ow-Ow." I faked the pain while enjoying the soft feeling on my body.

"This…feels weird. I need a palate cleanser." Haley said suddenly. Abby was annoyed and she turned her head quickly to glare at Haley, making my face get hit by her ponytail.

"Shut up. My mouth is not weird!" She shouted in anger. However, Haley slammed her body on top of Abby, further putting pressure on her punishment towards me, while at the same time she inches her face further and further towards mine, and gave me a kiss without saying anything.

Abby was shocked, and was stuck between Haley and I in an extremely awkward position. "Wait a moment-" She tried to squirm her way out of the sandwiched position, but Haley was grabbing my hair, and I was holding her head as our tongue intertwined with each other.

Haley finally was satisfied and moved her lips away. A bridge of saliva could be seen connecting our lips and it broke off as she moved her head further away from mine. While Haley and I were locking eyes with one another, Abby hit her in the arm as she sat up from lying down on my body.

"Owww- What's that for!?" Haley whined as she rubbed her hurting arm. She was sitting on top of my crotch unconsciously, and was a bit startled as she felt something hard there poking at her skirt.

"I was supposed to do it first!" Abby said before she turned towards me with a flash in her eyes. I gulped my saliva, both in fear and turned on by her sudden approach. She grabbed my right hand and put it on her breast while she bent over and kissed me passionately.

After a minute, she finally released me to take a breath, leaving me in a dazed and confused state while I was laying down on the bed.

"Umm…what just happened?" I asked.

Abby and Haley turned towards each other with a sly smirk on their faces before turning towards me and said, "Nothing out of the ordinary." Haley even shook her bottom a bit as she sat above me and giggled while looking at Abby, and the goth girl also laughed together with her.

[Abby POV]

Although I was a bit jealous of Haley getting to kiss him first, I didn't focus on that feeling much as I had expected it could happen when I invited him here today. At the party, he told me that he became flirty when he was tired, therefore it was our chance! For both Haley and I!

And Haley had confirmed before that Edward wasn't really dating anyone right now. To be honest, when she told me what happened in the shower, I was baffled and my mind short-circuited.

It seemed silly, but girls tell each other everything, although Haley was a bit fearful of my reaction when she did it before. When she got to the part that Edward actually didn't do anything even when a pretty girl like Haley was naked in front of him, made me wonder a bit about his sexual orientation– whether or not it had changed from the time we dated before.

However Haley told me that his orientation was fine, he just has a lot of self control.

'That fact made our work more difficult. 'So when Ed came here today, we girls needed to go to the extreme offensive to tear down his defenses. Him bringing up the kiss between us at the party was a good signal for both of us to start teasing him.'

'Why going in such a roundabout manner you ask? Because that guy is infuriating that is why!'

With him being busy all the time, we couldn't actually make our moves for weeks. I was frustrated by that, and my 'frustration' was even exposed to him when he opened my laptop before.

"Abby, Haley." Edward called us in a serious tone. Haley and I stopped laughing and turned towards him with a mixture of expectancy and trepidation, but before he could say anything, we all heard the sound of the door opening.

"Girls. Edward. It's time for dinner- Oh my." My mom broke into a wide grin as she saw what was happening inside the room. She leaned on the door frame and asked, "What do we have here?~"

Both Haley and I blushed hard and we pushed Edward away forcefully. Victimized, Ed fell off the bed after Haley climbed off him. "No-NOTHING HAPPENED!"

"Don't worry. I was also young once~ I understand~ I understand~" My mom laughed 'Ufufufu' before waving dismissively with her left hand she held her burning cheeks with her right. "Just don't forget to lock the door next time. A useful tips is that, if you need privacy, just play some music so that people won't hear-"

"MOM!" I couldn't allow her to continue and humiliate me much longer. With a burning face and cold sweats on my back, I ran towards my mom and pushed her out of the room.

"L-Let's eat guys!" I tried to change the subject.

"M-M-My mom pro-probably cooked dinner at hom-Home. I will go eat there- I mean, back at my place.." Haley stammered hard and even stumbled as she got off the bed before she ran away out of the house at full speed.

Edward was in disbelief about what just happened and he joked, "Desiree, shouldn't the first tip you give supposed to be locking the door?"

I glared daggers at him while my mom laughed at his response, "Yeah. That is supposed to be the first tip-"

"MOM!" I called out with tears in my eyes. "Please, can't we just pretend this never happened?" I begged her.

She showed her innocent, crescent moon eye smile and patted my head. I was feeling relieved for a bit, but then she subverted my expectations by saying, "Also. Next tip would be to use protection. And don't gang up on Ed okay?"

…

[Edward POV]

I swear I could almost see Abby's soul flying out of her body as her mom teased her. I laughed and stood up from the floor, but I finally realized what was happening underneath my pants so I plopped down on the edge of the bed with my back bent.

"Oh my Ed? Did the fall hurt you?" Desire asked, but her eyes hid traces of teasing as she definitely knew what caused it. I crossed my legs together and said, "Yeah. I just need a moment."

"Oh. Do you want me to check-"

"Okay Stop. Don't come closer. I'm fine." I raised my hand to stop her from turning back and entering the room. She giggled as she was having fun with the whole situation. Abby was still standing frozen outside the room, her soul slowly trying to return to her body.

"Are you sure~~" Desire asked teasingly.

"I'm fine. Yeah. Totally fine." I replied with a wry smile on my face. Desiree stifled her laugh and finally relented and walked outside the room. "I'll be waiting for you guys in the kitchen~ I will also add 3 extra minutes in case Ed needs to 'handle his hurting area'. Poor Ed."

I lowered my head and cursed with a smile on my face, "Fuck. She got us good."

But honestly, I was also feeling thankful for her. If it wasn't for her timely intervention, I would've done something that I would definitely have regretted tomorrow.

…

"Cougar town?" I asked as I picked up the Tangerine chicken chinese food container in front of me. I was sitting next to Desire while Abby was pouting and sat at the single-seat couch adjacent to us.

Sitting on the couch in front of the TV in the living room, I joined Desiree in eating dinner together. They usually eat the food at the dining table, but today was a special day because Desiree was waiting for the show to be broadcasted for a long time.

["What the hell is that? I look like a farm animal?" Monica Lewinsky stood naked in front of the mirror and played with her saggy body parts.](Seriously).

Desiree laughed and said, "Yeah. You don't have to watch it if you don't want-"

"No-No. I wanted to watch this for a long time." I said as I used the chopstick to eat a piece of chicken from the container. She bought a couple dumplings, fried rice, beef with broccoli, and shrimp with lobster sauce. The delivery man also gave her a few extra food and fortune cookies, making the table filled with food.

Abby stabbed her food with her chopstick as she watched me having fun with her mother. The show was basically an older woman trying to get her love life back, which for some reason, resonated deeply with Desiree.

"Oh. Cougar town is…actually a town." I muttered in surprise as I saw it.

Desiree giggled and asked, "What do you think it was before?"

"I don't know. A town with lots of pretty 'cougars'." I replied.

"Like me?" Desiree asked teasingly. I turned to her and said seriously, "Nah. You aren't a cougar yet. You're in the MILF category."

"MILF? What's that?"

"OKAY! STOP!" Abby shouted and forcefully ended the conversation before I could explain. Both Desiree and I were confused by her reaction, but we didn't say anything and turned our focus back on the TV.

Honestly after binge watching Community TV series before on Netflix, I was curious about the show, but not so much that I would watch it on illegal streaming sites as it wasn't available in my country.

'But it was broadcasted around the same time Community does… This show is up, but there aren't any signs of the other show. So does that mean…the college actually exists here?' I thought secretly as I focused on the show.

[Oh Travis. Your math teacher Mrs Pritchett got new boobs!- Monica said]

Both Desire and I spat out our food as we broke into a laugh as we heard a familiar name.

"Oh my god. Why?" Desiree wiped her mouth with a napkin as she kept giggling when they discussed Mrs Pritchett's new boobs in the show.

Abby was confused and she asked whisperingly towards me to get me to explain, "What? Why did you guys laugh?"

"Well Claire's name was Claire Pritchett before she took Phil's last name." The joke suddenly seemed not funny anymore when I explained it, which made me regret it a little.

"This show is really for the older audience huh." Desiree said as we watched the part where Monica proclaimed that she wanted to lick a muscular teenage boy's body as they watched the football game from the bench. She glanced towards me and Abby, feeling a bit uncomfortable and awkward as they show relates to her current situation, way too much.

"So older women have it rough huh." I said while smiling awkwardly at Desiree as we accidently made eye contact. She sighed and said, "You guys should go continue what you were doing in Abby's bedroom before-"

"MOM!" Abby admonished her mother. "Ed. Once you eat, get out!"

"Abby, that's not nice!" Desiree backed me up.

"Yeah Abby. I wanna watch Cougar Town with your mother." I said. Desiree's eyes lit up and she asked, "Really?"

"Yeah. The show's sucking me in." I replied.

Desiree suddenly hugged me and said, "Yeay! I finally have a TV buddy!"

"Heh. Cougar." I mumbled to myself as I enjoyed the hug. Abby broke her chopstick as she saw us, and harrumphed away. When Abby was gone, Desiree finally let me go and asked, "So. Mind telling me why you wanted to get back at Abby?"

"She took advantage of my vulnerability even though I specifically asked her not to. So I'm punishing her a bit." I replied casually. Desiree was actually quite sharp in these kinds of matters, so I thought by confessing to her, I may get some insight about what I should do after this.

"Well … Abby's a nice girl, but sometimes she doesn't think too far ahead." Desiree said with a slight shaking of her head.

"I know she's nice. But if we really were about to do…what it seemed when you caught us in the room before, and if we did it would have just hurt both of us in the end. I have already made her cry once when we broke up. I don't want to go through that again."

Desiree was silent for a while before she said, "Well…tough luck Jr."

I raised one of my eyebrows and turned towards her, "That's it? I pour my heart out, and all you can say is 'Tough luck Jr". I guess men's mental health is overlooked everywhere in the multiverse huh-"

Desiree pinched me before I could spiral further, and she then continued, "Tough luck cause…no matter how much you plan, you cannot actually plan what you're feeling. And even Abby couldn't help it when she fell for you. She's just now putting herself back out there, but-"

"But. You guys are going back to New York, so it's going to hurt her no matter what. It's better not to start. It'll hurt her less." I cut Desiree's off with the harsh fact, silencing her. She realized that and turned her attention back to the TV.

The credit scene finally showed up and I stood up from the couch. "Besides. I'm not looking for a relationship. I barely have the time now with my never-ending work. And if I do date someone, who knows what my crazy fans will do to them."

…

[General POV]

As Edward waved goodbye to Desiree and walked back to his house, Desiree who was standing in front of the door suddenly asked, "So…Did you listen to what he had to say?"

Behind her, a red-eyed Abby slowly walked towards the stairs. "I…heard."

"What are you going to do about it?" Desiree asked.

"I…" Abby's eyes shook and she gripped the stairs railing tightly, "I…don't know."

Desiree let out a sigh, but then Abby continued, "But…I do know that…I won't give up!"

Desiree smiled as she watched her daughter run upstairs. But before she closed the door, she saw a small U-haul truck pulling over to the cottage styled house next to hers. She walked slowly to the neighbor's house and asked the moving men, "Is someone moving in?"

On the pickup platform at an airport nearby, a latina wearing sunglasses and jacket raised her hands up and said, "Finally! California again! I can't wait to meet my babies!"

Camila excitedly walked to gate number 4, and there she was finally reunited with her shiny purple car. She kicked out her friend who drove all the way from Calexico to deliver the car to her and said to the car while sitting in the driver's seat. "Ooowww how I missed you baby. Now, let's go meet my other children!"

She drove the car quickly despite her friend's protest as she just left him there, but she just ignored the guy. " I can't wait to see the look on Ed's face when he sees I moved into the neighborhood. Although I don't know where the house is… I really hope that it's nearby."

"Hmm… Their house is under construction right? Maybe Ed can come live with me!" Camila said excitedly. "AHHH I CAN'T WAIT!"

With a fat bank account from her sister's generosity that was also hiding an ulterior motive underneath, Camila charged into the highway in high spirits. But the second she went over the speed limit by 1 Mph, a cop's siren suddenly bellowed behind her car.

"OH COME ON!" Camila shouted in frustration as the cop car next to her asked her to pull over.

On another part of the airport, a teenage pop-star finally landed in California after finishing the first part of her tour. She was wearing a fur jacket and sunglasses, her face was a bit annoyed from the flashes of light from the paparazzi's cameras.

While the paparazzis were taking pictures of her as she walked out of the gate, she asked the assistant beside her, "The MV shooting is starting on Tuesday right?"

"Y-Yes. You can rest for a day before-"

"No need. I want to go see Ed." Taylor said with a smile on her face.

"But- It's already so late." The new assistant said whiningly. She was a petite, blonde woman with a height of 150 centimeters, and had a baby face even when she was nearing 30 years old. "He might already be sleeping."

"Hmm…if he's asleep, then that's that."

…

[Edward POV]

I put on a mask as I entered my house. The dust flew all over as the construction crew were cutting some wooden planks in the middle of the living room.

"Oh. Small boss. How are you?"

"I'm fine Alexandro. Is my dad here?"

"Yeah. Big boss is at the back."

The muscular latin man pointed in the direction with his thumb before he went back to work. I nodded and went back to my room to pick up some stuff before I went to my dad and said, "Dad, can you send me over to Jacob's house? If you can't, I'll just use the bike-"

"Nonsense. I'll drive." Dad replied quickly before he put down the beer bottle from which he was drinking from before.

"Are you sure? If you'd been drinking-"

"No. That's non-alcoholic." Dad explained.

"Huh? Non-alcoholic beer? Why the hell are you drinking non-alcoholic beer?" I asked in confusion, but dad ignored me and walked to the newly made patio and asked, "What do you think?"

"I have already seen it yesterday."

"Jay is putting the hot tub in tomorrow, and the outer part will be finished." My dad said excitedly.

"Yeah. Then, you can invite Mrs Desiree to enjoy the hot tub together. Just text me the time. I will make sure I'm not there."

Dad frowned and wanted to hit my head, but I was already taking a step back, making him miss his aim. "Too slow old man!" I joked.

He laughed and retaliated, "But Ed. Are you sure about putting the hot tub in…after all…you can't swim."

"Hitting it right where it hurts huh." I nodded in acceptance before it turned into a full blown insult battle between me and my dad.

"China-made Popeye."

"Night-time Alleycat singer!"

"The one who killed Glenn."

"Playboy."

"Beer gut."

"No armpit hair."

"Hey I've got armpit hair now."