I haven't exactly decided where I'm going with this story yet. It may be a short story (as in 2 chapters) or I may stretch it out a bit but I probably won't make it into a full-length story because there's not much of a plotline in my head at the moment. That being said, once I'm finished my short piece, if anyone is inspired by this little story, you're free to continue it for me! Just notify me and I'll send you my version of the story and you can stretch it and change it any which way you'd like to.
PM me if you are interested in that!
I think that's it so let's get on with the show, shall we?
Only Fools Rush In
Summary: Bella is forced to go to Alice's cousin's birthday party. Although Bella has never met Alice's cousin, she reluctantly agrees. Through the course the night, Bella somehow manages to get herself in a very confusing predicament. The question is, will Edward see the humor in it? Rated TEEN with some swearing! All Human: ExB, AxJ, EmxR.
Ignorance Isn't Bliss
BPOV
"Alice, I don't know about this…" I twiddled my fingers in my lap. Maybe this wasn't the best idea.
"Bella, it'll be fun!" Her grin was reaching both ears. "Just stop worrying so much," she sighed roughly. I was probably becoming a bit of a nuisance.
"But I won't even know anyone. It's weird!" I'd been complaining all night but I just hated going to parties where I didn't know people. Actually, if I was being honest, I really hated going to parties in general. Not really my scene.
"I won't know anyone either," she tried consoling me. It didn't work.
"It's your cousin's party!" I pointed out. "And Jasper will be there. You'll have no problem fitting in," I muttered. Why was I always the lone one out?
"Exactly! You know Jasper! There, that's two people you'll know now," she beamed.
"Yeah, two people out of 300 people," I grumbled.
I'm pretty sure the entire population of the little town called Forks, Washington would be at this party. And from what I've heard, this Cullen family was well-known and rich beyond belief – the father was some top-of-the-line doctor imported straight from Chicago or something like that and the mother did pretty well for herself too with whatever it is that she does.
I shrugged further into the leather seats.
Not only was I being forced into a skimpy little number, she had done my makeup, curled my hair, forced me into small heels, and I had to come to a stupid birthday party for a person I didn't even know!
She saw the grimace that was being exuded from my whole posture.
"You'll have fun, Bella." She goaded for the hundredth time tonight. "Plus, you're a single girl now and I know there's going to be some hot single guys there too," she waggled her eyebrows at me.
I rolled my eyes. Ever since Jake and I broke up, she'd been on my back about the single-life. Either enjoy it to the fullest or find another scrumptious man to fill your time with—that was her advice on just about anything actually.
"The only decent guy there will probably be Jasper," I grumbled. "And he and I have already worked out our schedule for when we can be together without you getting in the way," I added, but this time with a grin.
She laughed. She knew me too well and she knew Jasper even better. Even I knew Jasper would rather eat his left testicle than hurt Alice in any way, shape, or form.
"Well, Edward's a decent guy," she offered. "And I think he's a recently single man too – broke up with that Tanya girl a couple of months back," she weaved down the roads at a speed much too fast.
"Tanya…as in the Tanya Denali?!" I all but screeched.
She had quite a name for herself, this Tanya. I'd never actually met her myself, but her reputation for being a Roman goddess exceeded her and had spread even to my measly small town of Sappho.
"I don't think the two of them were really serious so they decided to break it off before they both left for university or something like that. I don't really know the whole story," she sped off the 101 and onto Calawah Way.
We were getting closer and I was getting more anxious.
"So, your cousin—"
"Edward," she interrupted me.
"Yeah, Edward, is he…hot?" I couldn't help but ask though I was burning red.
She didn't miss a beat. "Are you interested?" she giggled.
"I just...want to get over Jake. Nothing else, Al," I said quietly and it was the truth. I wasn't really sure if I was ready to date yet.
Jake and I had a messy break up. We still hoped to be friends one day, but for now, we couldn't because it was just too hard.
She patted my knee. "There's not much I can tell you," she said solemnly, probably a little sad she didn't have more info about him to give me. "I haven't seen him in a while. And he's my cousin so it's not like I can really comment on whether or not he's sexually appealing to women. But from the last time I saw him, I could tell he would grow up into a fine young man," she smiled at me and then shrugged.
I sighed and rested my head against the cool window. I knew we were close because she'd already made a quick right onto Merchant Road and the Cullen mansion was at the very end.
As we drove down the long stretch, through the alley of trees, there were cars all along the curb.
I grumbled. I knew it was going to be a big party, but c'mon! There wasn't even space for Alice to park.
Finally, she parallel parked her nice little Porsche between two cars in a space I thought was much too small and we walked towards the booming music and high-pitched squeals.
Not my scene.
Alice skipped up the small flight of stairs in front of the massive house and I trailed behind her, cringing into myself as I glanced in the window seeing the huge number of people. I groaned and she opened the door (it wasn't locked—a further indication that it was a huge party) and slipped inside.
There were people everywhere. And by everywhere, I do mean everywhere. In the corridor, along the hallway, in the living room, up the staircase, even upstairs.
"Stay close," Alice yelled over the music and I wouldn't have known what she'd said if she hadn't looked back, allowing me to read her lips.
I nodded and clutched the back of her almost backless shirt with all my might as we threaded through the crowd. First, we stopped by the kitchen and grabbed two chilled Coronas with lime, and then set out on a search for Jasper. After scrambling through four rooms, we found him outside with a group of guys underneath the large tent that was set up. I lost my grip on Alice as she shot off towards him and jumped into his open arms when he caught sight of us. How he managed to find tiny Alice in a crowd like this, I would never understand... but then again, Alice and Jasper always had a strangely tight bond.
"Bella, you came!" Jasper grinned and offered me a one-armed hug, his other arm tightly around Alice.
He introduced Alice and me to a couple of guys around the circle but I'd only managed to capture a couple of the more memorable ones.
Emmett was beyond memorable because he gave both Alice and me bone-crunching hugs and bellowed a loud 'hello' and Mike was unfortunately memorable because he gave me the strangest, wide-eyed stare as he grinned like a kid at Christmas.
After standing in the circle with Jasper and Alice giggling together, I'd finished my beer and was in desperate need for another one.
I knew Mike had been eyeing my bottle for a while, probably waiting till I'd finished so he could offer to get me another, and so to avoid that, I slipped away while he was distracted. I motioned to Alice quickly that I was going to get another one and she gave me a brief nod before turning back to Jasper.
It took a while for me to find my way back to the kitchen because I didn't have perky little Alice leading the way through the clustered crowd. After countless elbows and being stepped on painfully, I made it into the kitchen through another entrance. The drinks table was being cleared of all the empty bottles and someone was bringing out more cold ones from the massive stainless steel fridge at the side.
Huh, I didn't know they had a bartender. But I guess it made sense for a party this big.
I crept around the table, weaseling my way through a crowd of girls that were standing there giggling. I rolled my eyes. They were talking about some guy, obviously.
I perched over the table closer to him to try and get his attention but he was too focused on clearing the bottles.
"H-hi," I yelled over the music and giggling.
His eyes shot up and I froze.
Damn. Everyone knew bartenders were hot but…damn.
"Hi," he yelled, loud and velvety.
Even his voice was sexy.
"Are you the bartender?" I yelled again, my eyes just eating him up entirely.
His bronze tousled hair was completely chaotic and uncontrollable. It made me was to stick my fingers in it and pull him closer to me. His eyes were a vibrant green that scorched my insides with fire. His jaw was taut and narrow; it made him appear rough with the little bit of stubble I could see. He was even dressed for the part in a crisp white button-up shirt and black denims.
Hot.
"I guess you could say that," he chuckled. It sounded like singing angels.
At that moment, a group of guys ran through the kitchen so I couldn't hear what he'd said next.
"What?" I yelled.
He scrunched his face in confusion, not hearing me either.
Eventually, the crowd dissipated and I could just barely make out his wonderful voice again.
"Can I get you a drink?" he called over to me.
"Yeah, can I get two Coronas actually," I asked, deciding to get Alice one also as she was probably finished hers.
He turned and grabbed me two bottles straight from the fridge and took my empty one.
As we made the exchange, his fingers touched mine gently and I pulled away sharply when I felt a sudden shock.
"Sorry," he grinned sheepishly, looking between his hand and mine.
I was about to turn and walk away when I heard his voice again.
"I didn't catch your name," he said, leaning over the table closer to me.
"Bella," I smiled at him as I held the bottles by the neck in one hand and outstretched my other one to shake his.
He took my hand in both of his gently and smiled, laying a soft kiss on the back of my hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Bella," he smiled against my skin. "Maybe I'll catch you around?" he asked expectantly.
I grinned. Did he—the beautiful Greek god standing in front of me—just ask to spend more time with me?
"Sound good," I smirked at him the way Alice had taught me, and then spun on my heel, flipping my brown hair over my shoulder and walked out the kitchen to find Alice.
I pushed my way through the crowd holding the beers close to me so I wouldn't spill it on anyone. My shirt was damp from the condensation down the side of the bottles but I continued on.
The crowd was even denser; I had to almost use brute force to get my way through the groups of people. And when I finally made it through the back door of the house, Alice was no where in sight. Neither she nor Jasper could be seen. The circle of people that had once been there chattering away were no longer there.
The only one I recognized was Mike and his obnoxious blonde, spiky hair. I swiveled quickly and walked away before he could see me and notice that I was alone.
After searching the entire ground level for either Alice or Jasper, I decided to make my way upstairs.
It probably took about a good ten minutes before I actually reached the top. It was then that I noticed the house had another story but it appeared as if it was off-limits to guests as there was no one going up to that level.
I stood at the top of the stairs and glanced down quickly for a flash of blonde or spiky black hair. Neither were to be found.
I slipped through the crowds and tried every room.
Most of the doors were locked except for the bathroom and one bedroom that was relatively empty except for a bed and a couple of people looking for quiet as they spoke on their cell phones.
Cell phone!
I pulled mine out and pressed 2. She programmed herself onto my speed dial. I had to fight with her to make it number 2 because I needed number 1 for home. She reluctantly gave in after I used my puppy dog eyes on her.
It rang several times before going to voicemail.
Dammit. She probably couldn't hear it over the loud music anyways.
I'd spent over half an hour looking for her. One bottle of beer was already finished and I had started on the second.
After scouting out the ground level again, I concluded that Alice was officially lost. And that those three beers were good enough to get me the right level of tipsy. I wasn't too drunk, but I was gone enough that my brain filter was probably out the window and I was becoming more and more like a blubbering idiot.
As long as I stayed away from people and tried not to make any conversation, I should make it through the night.
It was then that I caught sight of a massive figuring lurking up ahead and I made my way to him as fast as I can.
"Hey Emmett," I yelled, hoping my voice was loud enough to reach his ears.
He spun around and rocked back when he looked down and saw me.
"Belly," he laughed and gave me another bone-crunching hug like I hadn't seen him just an hour ago.
"Have you seen Alice or Jasper?" I asked after straightening out my clothes.
"Um, they're some where around I think," he said looking over the tops of peoples head to see if he could find them.
I was debating climbing up on his shoulder and looking myself. He looked to be tall and strong enough to handle my weight.
"You want me to help you find them?" he asked, not even yelling. His booming voice was more than loud enough.
"No, no" I insisted. "I'll find 'em," I smiled. At least he'd offered which was really very kind of him.
I gave him a quick wave and made my way through the crowd again.
It was getting late. Alice needed to get home in about another hour and it was at least a half an hour drive back, given there wouldn't be a lot of traffic. That gave me another half an hour to find them.
I spun around the corner to head back to the kitchen, planning to start back from where I'd started.
My plans flew out of my head as I smashed into a hard, toned chest and stumbled back on my tipsy feet.
Warm, strong hands wrapped around me and caught me before I bumped into anyone or anything.
"Th-thanks," I stammered, righting my footing once again.
I looked up and was caught in that familiar green stare once more. It made all my worries melt away.
"Bella!" he grinned down at me.
"Hey again," I smiled. "Is your shift over?" I asked.
"Shift?" he asked puzzled.
"The whole bartending thing?" I explained briefly.
He laughed. "Oh yeah, my shift," he winked at me. "I'm just walking around making sure everyone's okay," he smiled warmly at me.
I caught a sight of blonde hair and my eyes whipped over his shoulder quickly but it wasn't Jasper. It was a girl with long, straight blonde hair who looked an awful lot like Jasper. She was also breathtakingly beautiful.
Behind her I noticed a sleek white piano and I couldn't take my eyes off of it for a second or too. It looked so pretty in that one room that no one seemed to venture in to.
The bartender caught me looking at it.
"Do you play?" he asked, bending down slightly to whisper in my ear. I shivered when his breath wisped over my neck.
I shook my head no. I wished, though.
"Do you?" I asked him.
"A little," he smirked. I was sure he would be fabulous at it. Something about him made me feel like he was perfect at just about everything.
My eyes traveled away from the piano and around the house, just taking in everything. I'd spent so long looking for Alice and Jasper that I didn't even notice how beautiful the house was. And rich.
"Nice house?" he asked me, watching as I took it all in like a lost child.
I nodded my head. I heard the family was really rich. They probably hired some decorator to do it all for them.
"I heard the family's really rich or something," I yelled, realizing my brain-to-mouth filter really was gone. "They probably paid a bunch of people to do all of this." I couldn't stop the eye-roll.
He just laughed. "Actually, I believe the owner's wife is an interior decorator," he notified me. "She did most of the decorating for this house and she even did a bit of renovating on her own from the original," he said.
"Well, they have money so why not make an already huge house bigger?" I smirked at him.
He grinned, apparently finding my little rants amusing to him.
"Do you not like the family?" he asked quietly, probably excepting some sort of mystery behind it all.
I shook my head. "No, I've never met them actually. I heard they have a son though," I said, "but other than that, I don't know much else. I know they're pretty well-known to this area. A lot of people have told me they have maids and like a hundred cars and four different homes and stuff like that," I told him. "I don't know, they just sound so pretentious to me," I said truthfully, eyeing the expensive molding.
"Well," he said, "you can't believe everything you hear," he advised me. And then smiled at me again when I looked back at him.
That smile.
"I suppose," I said. "But still—they're so rich! There must be something better they can do with all that money instead of spending it on useless stuff like this," I gestured to the huge party. "I'm sure the son is wonderful but still, this is a bit much, don't you think?" I asked him.
He smiled. "The family's well-known in this town because of all the charitable work they do," he told me. "And this is the son's birthday-slash-going away party and so they decided it would be better to just have one big collaboration of the two. And it does also have it's up-side," he grinned. "It gets everyone's spirits up about moving away." His smile was so gentle and warm.
"Hopefully they'll invest more money in charity than this, though. God knows how many people can benefit with even just a dollar a day," I told him.
He nodded vehemently as me. "You're right," he said. "The family's been looking for outlets to invest more time and money into. I hope you stick around, you might be of some help," he grinned and gave me a quick wink.
I grinned back. Who knows? That could one day turn out to be something great; Swan and Cullen working side-by-side to save the world.
"So, would you like a tour or something?" he asked.
"Oh," I said, a little bit surprised, "do you know these people well?"
"I come here a lot, actually," he said with some weird smirk on his face like he knew something I didn't.
"Oh, that's cool. You bartend for all their little parties?" I asked.
Again with that beautiful little chuckle of his.
"Something like that," he offered me. He held his hand out for me, allowing me a tour of the house.
"Actually, I'm looking for some friends," I told him, sadly declining his inviting hand. "I came with my friend Alice and I was just looking for her or her boyfriend Jasper. If you find one, you'll most likely find the other," I said getting on my tip-toes to peer over more heads.
Still, no Alice.
"Oh, I know Jasper," he said leaning back to search the room. "And Alice."
"Really?"
"Yeah, Jasper's a close friend of mine and Alice comes by here sometimes," he said.
That made sense, I guess. She probably came to some of the family parties they held here and he probably bartended at them. And knowing Alice, she probably befriended him really quickly with the amount of trips she takes to the bar.
"Do you want me to help you find them?" he asked.
I nodded eagerly, not wanting to give him up just get.
He held out his hand again and this time I took it as we ventured through the mansion, weaving through the crowds.
The people seemed to part ways for him and so we made it from room to room rather easily.
After going through the living room, the family room, the dining room, and the kitchen, we made our way outside.
I clutched his hand tighter as we walked passed Mike and some other guys I couldn't remember the names of.
He pulled me closer to his body and smiled at people as we passed. Most people gave tentative smiles back or some—mostly girls—giggled and batted their eyelashes at him.
Wow. I knew bartenders were respected at parties like this but people were treating him like he was a god.
Finally I saw the top of Jasper's hair over a bench and pulled the bartender with me.
Alice was snuggled under his arm and they were whispering and giggling.
"There you are!" I called over them, making them both jump. "I've been looking every where for you. I even roped in the bartender to help me!" I scolded them.
Again, the bronze-haired god chuckled. I didn't understand what the joke was he kept chuckling at. I'd have to ask him about that later.
"EDWARD," I heard Emmett's recognizable voice call.
I'd forgotten it was a birthday party. I didn't even get a chance to meet Alice's cousin, Edward.
The bartender waved over at Emmett and he waved back.
"Yo, come cut your cake man! I'm starving," Emmett yelled from the door way.
"Okay, I'm coming!" the bartender yelled.
I froze. The bartender was coming…to cut the cake?
It wasn't processing in my mind. The alcohol in my system wasn't helping matters either.
The bartender—whose name I'd never gotten—was going inside…to cut a cake…because it's a birthday party…and it's his birthday!
Crap.
The bartender is Edward?
The bartender is Edward!
Crap, crap, crap!
I just had a conversation with Edward—the son of the owner of this mansion—that I thought his family was pretentious and rich!
Shit. Shitty shit!
He turned back to me, his green eyes glowing with amusement.
The stupid bastard! Couldn't even tell me who he was. I narrowed my eyes at him and he grinned.
"Guess I'll see you around, Bella," he emphasized my name. He took my hand in both of his once more and kissed the back of it gently.
And just like that, he was gone, sprinting off into the house to cut his birthday cake.
Gah. How in the hell did I end up in this position?
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