Bella goes through a bad break-up, Rose and Alice decide she needs a night out to celebrate/cheer up : )
P.S! I wrote this with no sleep at all! Seriously, I've now been awake for about 30 hours straight. I cannot guarantee there are no spelling mistakes and/or grammatical errors etc. I have done a quick check, and nothing popped out to me but if you notice any don't be afraid to let me know : )
Disclaimer applies: if you recognise it, it's not mine!
Chocolate, check. Alcohol, check. Friends re-runs, check. What more could a girl need after a bad breakup?
"Move it, Bella-butt. We need to be ready to go by nine, you cannot possibly waste time watching TV!"
Hmm. I could do without the nagging for once, but that's not gonna happen.
"Alice, it's only six, I do not need three hours to get ready. Will you just take a chill-pill? Better yet, Rose is making Margarita's, go grab one of those."
Just as the next episode starts to come on, Alice sits on the table in front of me, giving me a half scowl that shows me she means business. But tonight, I will not back down. I shift myself on the couch trying to see around her but she snatches the remote off me, turns off the TV, and throws the remote across the room. It makes a surprisingly loud crash as it hits the wall, but Alice doesn't even look away.
"Don't mess with me tonight Swan. You are in serious need of a good night out,"
"Or just a good lay." Rose adds from the kitchen, absentmindedly adding ingredients to the drinks.
"That too. We need these three hours, hair and make-up is a must tonight, I'm not letting you out looking like this." She waves her hand at me and I look down at my baggy sweats and jumper.
Well clearly, I'm not going out like this, is that not obvious? I glance back up at her, and she stares pointedly at my hair. Ok, so that looks like a mess, but its not something that will take three hours to fix.
"Alice, I look fine. I'll just put my hair up and find something to wear. It's not like it's anything special."
Her eyes go wide. "Yes, yes it is!"
Rose skips over from the kitchen to wrap her arms around my neck. "Tonight we are celebrating your release from the mental institution we call Jacob Black! We haven't had a decent night out for the last two years, and I lay all the blame on him." She plants a kiss on my cheek, and wanders back to the kitchen, turning music on along the way.
"You need to relax and have some fun, and by making you look amazing and gorgeous, you will feel amazing and gorgeous."
She's wearing me down, and she knows it! "But three hours? Seriously?"
"Ok, we can knock it down to two. But that is my final offer!"
"Deal." She sticks her hand out for me to shake, and then flops onto the seat next to me. She starts to sing along quietly to the music. After a few minutes, all three of us are dancing around the room, singing loudly and very off key, and loving every second of it.
Definitely a good soother for a breakup.
Three hours later, I have been primped and preened to within an inch of my life. There's no arguing how good I look, I always do when its Alice getting me ready, but I feel out of place. I haven't been this dressed up for a night out in a long time. Actually I haven't had a night out in a long time, so it feels weird. I keep expecting Jake to appear and tell me to put more clothes on, or to wear less makeup. But Jake is not here, and he can no longer control what I do.
I take one last look at myself in the mirror, and try to remember the last time I looked this good, or felt this good about myself. It's been a while; probably in the first few months of dating Jake. But then he would drift for a while, and I never knew what he was thinking. Every time I thought about ending things with him, things would start to look up; he would actually pay attention to me, and we would have a great few months until he drifted off again.
When I finally came round to ending it, he beat me to the punch.
Just remembering that conversation makes me want to scream.
I'd been waiting at home for him, having finished the dinner he asked me to make, and cleaning the house as he'd asked me to. I kept looking up at the clock, thinking that maybe it was just fast, but in the back of my mind I knew it wasn't, and I knew then that I was making the right decision. Tonight I was finally going to break up with Jake.
Another hour went past, and dinner was ruined. I'd just got everything out to start over when I heard his car crunch over the gravel, his loud footsteps followed by a high, girly giggle that certainly hadn't come from Jake. I was already angry about dinner, but my anger levels were rising with every second.
As Jake walked in with a girl practically wrapped around him, I felt like my head was going to explode.
"What the hell is going on?" I shouted, throwing down the plate I had been holding.
Jake glared at me as he untangled himself from the girl. "Was there really any need for that, Bella?"
"Yes, actually there was. I was aiming for your dignity, but clearly you left it wherever you picked her up."
Without looking away from me, Jake pulled the girl close again. "Leah babe, why don't you go wait for me in the living room, I won't be long." The girl pouted up at Jake, turned to glare at me, and then swaggered into MY living room.
Before I could say anything, he had pushed me back into the kitchen and slammed the door. He walks over to the fridge and pulls out a beer, clearly oblivious to the tension rolling off me in waves.
"Bella, we need to talk." He pulls out a seat and sits down, pushing out the one next to him for me, but I have no desire to be near him right now. I cross my arms and lean up against the door.
"Obviously! I didn't realise we were in the 'let's go out and find a random bimbo' portion of our relationship!"
"We no longer have a relationship. It's been over for months now."
"So why the hell are you still living in my house? Why am I cooking for you, and cleaning up after you?"
"I just needed time to get my head around it, and I didn't know what to say."
"How about, 'Hey Bella, I'm breaking up with you, because I'm an asshole.' That would have worked."
"I thought maybe we could have worked it out." Looking calmer than the situation would suggest, Jake shrugs his shoulders and takes a long swig of beer.
"Is that why that girl is here? Because we're working out our relationship? You're so full of it."
A tense silence fills the room as things slowly start to slot into place in my head. How long has he been with that girl? Is this the reason for his funny behaviour in the last few months?
"So did you meet her tonight, or has this been going on for a while now?"
"It's been a few months." For the first time in this entire conversation, a small smile flickers across his face.
Anger crosses over to rage, and I'm once again thankful that I don't live with Charlie anymore; having a gun so close at hand right now would not be a good thing. "Don't you dare smile about this! You've been cheating on me for months, and you come in here and smile about it?"
The smile is replaced by a grimace. "I haven't been cheating, we weren't together."
"Yes we were Jake!" I take a deep breath, and feel tears start to form. I refuse to cry in front of him! "You know what, I don't even care anymore. I want you, and all your crap, out of my house tonight." I turn away and start clearing away the debris from the dinner-that-never-happened, and carefully try to collect the broken pieces of plate without cutting myself.
"I'm not leaving."
There is a beat of silence. I stop and turn to face him, trying to work out if he's being serious, or just trying to piss me off.
"You really think I'm letting you live here?"
He shrugs again, finishes his beer and throws the bottle absentmindedly into the bin. "You don't have to let me do anything, but I'm not leaving." He gets up and calmly gets himself another beer from the fridge.
For once in my life, I am now glad that my Dad is the Chief of Police. I usually hate his scare tactics, but now I'm hoping it actually might work. "Do you want me to call Charlie? 'Cause I will. I'm pretty sure he's had a bullet with your name on it for months now, probably since Christmas, when you wouldn't let me see him."
Finally, I get a reaction out of him! He slams the bottle down, beer splattering over the table with the force, and leans forward to glare at me. "You know that's not what happened, I was sick."
"Yeah, you had asshole-itis." I laugh as I push the door open. The first scare tactic didn't work, but maybe this might.
"Bella! Come back here!"
I quickly push the living room door open and sit myself on the chair next to the girl. "Hi, you probably haven't heard about me. I'm Bella, Jake's girlfriend."
Jake stumbles into the room and stands in what I think is meant to be a menacing way at the end of the sofa. "Bella, get out."
I plaster on a fake smile, and put on my fakest, sweetest voice. "But I'm working out our relationship Jakey babe, isn't that why She is here?" I wrap an arm around her, resisting the urge to wring her neck.
Another great reaction! He steps forward, his fists clenched at his side as he looks between me and the girl. She looks a little bit panicked, which is not surprising really, this is a bit of a crazy situation to find yourself in. I could almost feel sorry for her. You know, if she wasn't some skank who had been sleeping with my boyfriend for months.
"I'm warning you; get out of this room right now."
I push myself away from the girl, and stand to face him. "Or what, Jake? What are you gonna do?"
Before I can do anything else, he wraps his arms around my waist and hoists me up onto his shoulder. "Jacob Black you put me down right now!" I scream and punch his back as he carries me out of the room, but honestly, I think I'm doing more damage to my hand than to myself.
He practically throws me onto a seat and stands over me, the meant-to-be-menacing look back on his face. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
"You have no right to be mad at me; you're the one who's been screwing around."
"Ok fine, I was wrong." He sits next to me but seems unable to look at me. "I should have told you about Leah months ago, but it never seemed like the right time. What do you expect me to do? I can't change it now."
All the anger I had been bottling up seems to disappear, and I'm just left with the hurt and pain of the situation. I don't want to be around him anymore. "Leave. Get out of my house."
"Where am I supposed to go?"
"I honestly don't care. But hey, why don't you ask the girl, I'm sure she would take you in."
"Fine, I'll go."
"Good." He doesn't move, and I can't sit here while he does nothing. I pick up my phone and the keys to my truck, and start to type out a message to Alice. There is no way I can stay here tonight, and I know she'll be happy to take me in. "I'm going to Alice's for the night. I expect you to be gone when I get back in the morning."
"Ok."
I reach the door, but stop and turn to him. "Oh, just one more thing." I lean down towards his, and for a second, it looks like he expects me to kiss him. I lean close and whisper, "If I find out you've had sex with that girl in MY house, it won't just be Charlie you should run from. I know how to use a gun too Jake."
When I returned the next day, after a lot of alcohol and ice cream and plenty of cussing towards Jake from Alice, I was happy to see that all his stuff had been removed.
After a few hours of feeling blissfully free, the house just felt empty.
For the last two weeks I have been existing in a kind of daze, living in the routine I had been so used to for two years now. I thought it would be easy to get over him, we had barely spoken in the past few months after all, but it was still rough.
A knock on the door shakes me from my reverie, and I blink back a few traitorous tears that have dared to free themselves.
"Bella, I think Alice is about to explode, would you please come out." Rose laughs, amused by Alice's eccentric behaviour as always.
"I'm coming." I call back, checking my make-up, trying to be sure no tears have smudged it. I can only imagine how long Alice would take to re-do it all, and she would if she noticed anything out of place.
Satisfied there is no evidence of tears, I make my way to the kitchen for a last drink before we leave. I need all the courage I can get if I'm going to make it through tonight without a breakdown, and that means at least a few more drinks.
Alice and Rose join me for shots, and we toast the night. Alice is already a giggly mess, and Rose looks very flushed, her eyes wide as she pours herself another Margarita.
It's going to be a very interesting night.
As we make our way to the third club of the night, I start to wonder if Alice will make it that far without getting arrested for being drunk and disorderly. After two years of barely drinking – and not even coming close to the amount that my two closest friends usually drank – I thought I would be the lightweight of the night. But thankfully, after a few well timed soft drinks and some water, I was pretty clear headed.
I still had enough of a buzz to keep me happy, but I was sober enough to recognise how loud Alice was cussing, or squealing, or generally being very loud. Rose wasn't much better, but at least she was able to walk straight, stumbling once or twice only when Alice dipped further away from her. Rose didn't seem to care though, laughing heartily anytime Alice nearly fell over. It was a brilliant sight to see, but I heaved a sigh of relief when Rose pointed out the club we were headed to.
Having had far more experience with the night life of Port Angeles, I had listened to my two friends and followed them to each club that was 'The bestest ever club' they had been too. I couldn't argue, they were all brilliant, but now that slogan was wearing thin. This club didn't look half as good as the others we had been in, and the little music we could hear didn't spark my interest either. But Rose said we were meeting a friend here, and that we would not be disappointed. Honestly, I think they were probably too far gone to be disappointed with anything right now, but I put my trust in her judgement, and pulled them both along.
As we neared the door, the bulky bouncer looked up at us briefly, before flicking his gaze back down to the shiny black clipboard in his hand. "Names?" He said in a bored tone, clearly not wanting to be there.
My mind went blank. I had never been to a club and had to give my name before. Was this some kind of exclusive club? Would we be able to get in?
Rose stumbled forward and flashed a smile, "Rosalie Hale, Alice Whitlock, and Bella Swan."
Bulky scanned the list quickly before nodding and moving aside for us. Alice started to fall, Rose quickly grabbing one arm as I grabbed the other, as Alice giggled and waved at the bouncer.
"Damn Pixie, you need to sit down." Rose muttered, lacing her arm around Alice's waist to hold her better. "Ok, do we find Emmett, sit down and get her a glass of water, or just head to the ladies and dunk her head in the sink?"
The absurd image of dipping Alice's head in the sink flickers through my mind, and I can't help the loud laugh that escapes. "Seat and water, she'd kill us if we ruined her make-up, even when she's smashed."
"Too right." Alice mumbles incoherently, making me laugh once again. Rose chuckles and heads towards the booths while I squeeze my way across the crowded dance floor towards the bar.
Considering this place looked pretty naff from the outside, the inside was amazing. All sleek black and silver, with accents of red to finish; deep red lamps along the walls, red furnishings. You get the drift. It was classy, but still clubby. Even the music sounded better from the inside, and I was glad I trusted Rose rather than listening to my initial instincts and running as far away from the club as I could.
I make it to the bar, but there is no way I will be served quickly. I stay close to the end where there aren't as many people, and keep trying to catch their attention – I only want a water after all, it's not gonna take them long to do that.
After at least five minutes waiting at the bar, I grumble angrily about dodgy staff and stamp my feet – a habit I had picked up from Alice that didn't seem to want to go away.
Hearing a chuckle from behind me, I turn my head and have to strongly resist the urge to ogle the man – the amazingly good looking man – stood oh-so-close behind me.
"Frustrating, isn't it?"
"What? Oh, I mean, yeah." Way to go Bella, astound him with your intellect. "I've been here at least ten minutes now," Ok slight exaggeration there, "And they've served a million other people, they keep passing over me, like I'm not even here."
"Well that certainly won't do." He chuckles again, and smiles as me before glancing up and down at the bar staff.
"I might just ask to speak to the manager, if they ever actually get around to serving me."
I have no filter! Why can I not shut up right now?
Again, Mr. Gorgeous just chuckles, before he moves smoothly past me and steps behind the bar. He turns to me and flashes me a brilliant smile. "What can I get you?"
My mind goes blank. I look from him, to the other bar staff, and then back. None of them have noticed he's back there; otherwise they would be pushing him back out to this side, right?
"What are you doing? You're gonna get in trouble." I whisper-yell, wanting to be hear above the music, but not have the other staff hear.
"I can assure you I won't." Again with the smile, making my heart thud louder. "What can I get you?".
"Water." I feel utterly stupid now, having complained about the wait for water. He laughs quietly, a sound I'll surely remember forever, before turning to get my pitiful order. He returns, smile fixed firmly in place and his eyes glittering in amusement. "Anything else?"
I wasn't planning on getting my round in right now, but what the hell, it'll make me look like less of a weirdo complaining about a wait for water. I hope.
"Yes, can I have six mixed shots, a Margarita, and a Sex on the beach." I flash my own smile, knowing it's not nearly as intoxicating as his. I start to root though the ridiculously small bag Alice forced upon me for the night, trying to find my purse.
"That's more like it."
When I look up, he is already halfway down the bar mixing what I think is the Margarita. The bar staff work around him, not making a move to kick him out. Maybe he works there, and its his day off? He's not in their uniform, so he's not working today. My mind continues to whirl, my eyes following his every movement as he bends to find each different mix for the drinks. When he looks up and winks in my direction, I know I've been caught looking, but I don't even care. I have never been this confident with any man, even with a few drinks in me, so the sudden boost is startling for a moment but not at all unwelcome.
It doesn't take long for him to finish the order, bringing everything over on a shiny black and silver tray.
"Thank you. How much?" I open my purse and take out a $20, knowing it will be somewhere between $15 and $20.
"On the house."
I pause, the note clutched in my hand. "What's the catch?" Alice told me once of a sleazy member of staff at a cub she apparently no longer saw fit to enter, who offered her drinks on the house for a blow-job.
"No catch. Just helping to boost good customer feedback. We wouldn't want to leave you thinking all the staff are useless." He smiles and winks at me again, before pushing the tray towards me gently and walking away to serve someone else. So he does work here.
I take the tray and try to carry it as carefully as I can towards the booths at the back, spotting Rose trying to prop up Alice, who looked as if she might be sleeping sitting up.
I slide the tray onto the table and dish out the drinks. Two shots each – although, we are saving Alice's until she can sit up and drink them herself – Margarita for Rose. She eyes my choice of drink up suspiciously. "Sex on the Beach? Last time you drank that, you were on the pull. Already got your eye on someone, Bella?" She raises one perfect eyebrow and takes a look around the crowd.
So maybe this was usually my pulling drink of choice, but I hadn't been thinking that when I ordered it. Or had I? It had been hard to think straight with that dazzling smile in my face.
"So where's your friend?" I ask, sipping my drink and trying to draw her attention away from me.
"Bar, I think he's getting us all something. I swear, if he gets me a beer, I will scream."
I stopped my possibly-not-so-subtle eye-up of the bar, to study Rose instead. She was flushed again, staring out at the bar with a spaced look on her face. I followed her gaze and watched a large, seriously muscular guy turn and wave at her. She smiled and giggled, raising her hand in a small wave too. And was that a blush on her cheeks?!
In all my years of knowing Rose, since she first sat herself next to me and Alice in 8th grade English class and announced that we were the only two girls she thought were worth getting to know, I have never, ever seen her this way with a guy. And I had certainly never seen her blush because of one, that was normally my department.
"Rosie?" I say, in a sing-song voice that could rival Alice's, "Who's that?"
She smiles and finally drags her eyes back to me. "Emmett. I met him here a few months ago. We've been…well I don't know what we are exactly, but we've been really close since then."
"Rose, you're blushing." I squeal, and Alice opens her eyes wide, looking slightly confused. "You like him."
"Well duh. State the obvious much Bells?" She starts to fiddle with her drink, not looking up at me but shifting her glance to the bar once or twice.
"No, I mean you like, like him!"
She finally looks back up at me, the biggest smile I have ever seen from her stretched across her face. "I really do. He's so sweet, Bella. That's why I wanted to bring you guys here tonight, I wanted you to meet him. He said his brother was coming along too, and his cousin was meant to be here but hes not seen him yet. They all part own this place, isn't it great?" The enthusiasm on her face is infectious, and I can't help smiling along with her.
"I really need a drink." Alice mumbles.
"No more alcohol for you, until you drink this water." Rose says in her Mama-Hale voice. Alice grumbles, but takes the offered water and starts to sip it silently.
"Alright ladies," says a booming voice next to our table. "Let the drinking commence!"
One hour, three cocktails, six shots and two double vodka and cokes later, I am seriously wasted. Emmett has proved to not only be excellent company, and a great drinking buddy, but I can tell just from the looks he keeps giving her that he is absolutely mad for Rose. Alice is back to her perky self, and has been sticking to the soft drinks, something I'm pretty sure I should have done after the cocktails, but that didn't stop me. For the first time in two years, I was having the most amazing night out, and nothing else mattered.
"Emmett, I thought we were meant to be meeting other people." Alice squints, trying to remember what Rose had said before. "Your brother and your cousin?"
Emmett drags his eyes away from Rose long enough to answer. "Yeah, Jasper called to say he was running late, and Edward is covering for someone behind the bar. I swear, he would live here if we let him, he works himself to the bone most nights."
"Maybe he's looking to get laid." As the words slip out of my mouth, I wish I could just push them back in. I have no idea why I just said that! But it seems to make Emmett laugh at least, a loud belly laugh that draws the attention of most of the club. I shrink back into my seat, feeling my cheeks heat so much I must look like a tomato, no matter how much make-up Alice put on me.
"Well, it's not like he doesn't get offers. Women practically throw themselves at him, but he's very picky. Plus he has a kind of 'Don't-sleep-with-the-customers' rule, and he sticks to it pretty well."
"But what if he slept with someone, and then the next day she turned up here? Well then, he'd be breaking a rule, wouldn't he?" I smirk at my own attempt at a joke. Although now I've said it, it doesn't actually sound as funny as I thought it would.
Again, this seems to tickle Emmett, but his laugh is far more controlled now. "That's a good question. You'll have to ask him if we ever see him tonight."
The song changes, to what I have no idea, but Alice seems to know. She squeals – not an unusual occurrence for her – and jumps up off her seat, pulling me up to dance with her – again, not unusual. Rose seems happy to stay with Emmett, so we hit the dance floor without her.
Now normally, I would be seriously tense in this sort of situation. I am one of the most uncoordinated people I know, so team that up with heels and alcohol, and it should be a lethal combination. But it seems tonight I've had just enough to push me into the confidence zone, but not enough to knock me on my ass, which is a great compromise in my opinion.
Another hour, three shots, two vodka and cokes later, and for reasons best known to my inebriated mind, I have somehow ended up back at a booth just a few down from Rose and Emmett, on the table, dancing to god knows what. Alice is giggling up at me, downing a fourth shot of her own as she tries to get me off the table.
"But I want to dance, Ali!" I shout back over the music.
She tries to grab me, but I laugh and start to jump over the seats towards Rose.
"Rosie, help me, I'm being chased." I jump onto the table in front of Rose, startling her out of her Emmett-induced daze as she looks up at me with wide eyes.
"Isabella Swan, you get off this table right now!" She says, the Mama-Hale voice on in full force. This only serves to make me laugh more, and continue to dance. Rose and Alice both reach out to me, but I twist away from them both.
And that seems to be my downfall. Quite literally. I feel myself falling towards the floor, bringing my arms up to cover my face. As I brace for a hard impact, I feel two strong arms wrap around me.
My arms shoot away from my face, and I almost hit whoever caught me. I look up and see the man from the bar, a scowl and concerned eyes replacing the dazzling smile.
Emmett chuckles, and whisper shouts to Rose, "I told you, women throw themselves at him."
My heart is thumping, embarrassment and adrenaline coursing through me. My head starts to spin, and I promptly pass out in Edwards arms.
: )
So what do you think? Did you enjoy? Do you want more? Let me know!