AN: My first one-shot! This was inspired by "This Night" – Black Lab. Put it on now! ;]

WARNING! Mild profanity and the mention of drugs and smoking is contained. You've been warned...

Check out my story, Sing to My My Past -- Edward is a well-known musician. He's lost himself and can't understand why he has chosen his way of life. He goes back to Forks in attempt to restore his old life. Can he be redeemed or will problems rise? Find out as Edward reminisces his past!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Twilight or Shaun Cassidy. Let me hide in the corner and cry.

EPOV

James and I were loitering on the dark streets. The street lights were already on, but only dimly. James was stumbling across the street with the bottle of alcohol vertical up his mouth. I could see the liquids dripping from the corners of his mouth; he was really winging it.

"Hey, you want another swig?" James slurred.

I shook my head; I had a major headache and I felt like I was going to pass out any time. "No, man, let's get out of here. I'm dying over here."

"There's magic in this bottle, Eddie." Then he let out an echoing howl into the air.

We were across the street now and I slumped on a brick wall. James was still intoxicating himself with the spirits. He may has well been bathing in the beer, dammit.

I tightly shut my eyes and put my head between my eyes. I practiced breathing through my nose slowly. My headache was giving me hell.

"Come on, stop, James. I think you've had enough to drink tonight."

"Remember, Eddie, there is no limit. Go as far as the stars let you."

I was sober enough to know that those were not the words for that particular strife at all. In fact, it was miles away from that non-alcoholic related reason. It was for an academic goal – which is far from our reach.

"Do you believe in magic," James began to sang, "in a young girl's heart."

James was definitely losing it. Either he's into Shaun Cassidy, or he's had overconsumption of Disney. Sooner or later, he would tell me that God hit him in the face if he tripped and fell flat on his nose! The guy's brain is turning to goo, I joked.

"Check that out, Edward." He looked longingly in the distance with the bottle slipping through his fingers. Okay, I thought to myself uneasily. This must be something to pull James' attention away from the enchantments in his hands.

I followed his gaze to a girl around our age walking ahead the street. James locked his eyes on her and he staggered in her direction. I had a strange feeling that he was up to no good. I followed him at a sluggish pace, but when I finally reached him, he was already trying to strip the poor girl.

I sighed and sank against the wall as I heard the girl whimper. I had no desire to hear James to do his dirty work, so I put my hands over my ears in effort to tune them out. My hands were inches away from my head when I listened in on another thing.

"Please," I heard her whisper in a broken voice.

I sorely turned my throbbing head toward James and his victim. I felt sympathy wash through me as soon as I took in the cruel picture.

James wore a wicked smile. He snaked both of his arms around her waist, but his mouth was trying to eat at her face. The girl had her face toward me and her arms locked to her sides, trying to back away from him.

The girl had a slender figure with chestnut hair that flowed to her waist. She had creamy skin that clashed with her brown locks. But what made me pity her most was that her chocolate eyes were undoubtedly satiated with fear.

In her terror, James obviously did not feel sorrowful. A devilish smirk was plastered on his face. One of his hands cupped itself around her ass and the other crawling up her stomach, toward her breast.

I had the sudden urge to protect this girl from a night that would emotionally scar her for the rest of her life. She looked so vulnerable compared to James, and she was not fighting him off. I became angry at her lack of self defense. I inwardly growled and pushed myself up off of the cold ground.

"James," I tried saying firmly, "Just let her go."

"Why? She is too pretty to ignore, man."

"Seriously, James, this is wrong. Let her go."

"Has Edward become the saint?"

"Never. This is just sick. Think about how you'll feel about this tomorrow."

"I'll think that this was a fun night banging this one."

I heard the girl gasp, but she was benefitting from James' distraction and tried to wiggle herself out of his grasp.

"Dude, can you hear yourself? You've definitely killed off more than enough brain cells for your sanity."

"What's the matter, Edward? You don't seem to be taking advantage of yourself right now."

"In your unjust case, you mean taking advantage of a defenseless girl."

"Just cut the crap, Edward. We got drunk for your sake, remember?"

My hands instantly curled into fists and I took a deep breath. How dare he even bring it up? I knew my life was shit and he didn't need to remind me about it.

"This was not how it was supposed to turn out," I said deadly.

"Whatever, man. Now, if you'll excuse me…"

He turned back to the topless girl and crashed his lips to hers. My body felt enflamed and I could not take James' behavior anymore. Fuck you, then, bastard! I thought.

I stumbled over to him. I threw my arm back and my fist collided with his face.

He lurched and said, "What the fuck, Edward?"

I then knocked him upside the head and he fell over out cold.

I stepped back and muttered, "You make me sick, James."

I was fuming, but I heard ragged breathing behind me. I took a deep breath to calm myself down, and then slowly faced the victimized girl.

She was crouching against the wall with her tattered blouse clutched in her fragile fingers to her chest. I could notice that she was breathing quickly because her back was moving up and down rapidly. One of her frail hands ran through her wavy hair and she looked up at me. Her face was tearstained and it made my heart twist.

From where I was standing, she looked like she was traumatized.

I didn't know what to say nor do, so I muttered, "I'm sorry."

I turned on my heels and ran away from James and the girl.

"W–Wait!" she called.

I ignored her plea and kept running. I pushed my toes against the gravel beneath my feet and exercised my arms in front of me and behind me. I felt the air blowing through my disheveled hair and against my pale skin.

Heel, toe, heel, toe, heel, toe…

I skidded to an abrupt stop and fell on my knees. I held my face in my hands and breathed heavily. Each breath that ripped through my throat hurt from the cold air, and each pain triggered one stupid mistake of my life from the many.

Seriously, there's a pool of them, so it's easy to fish one out.

I dropped my hands so they fell to my sides and breathed in deeply. I felt the wind tousle my hair and my eyes gazed at the stars above me.

I fell back and my back touched the crumbly cement. I just stayed like that, staring at the stars in hope that some truck would come and run me over.

As my breathing evened out, I eventually drifted off.

I dreamt of myself as the happy and carefree man I was before my life became tangled with James. Everything was so simple and warmhearted, but all of that changed when I started hanging out with James.

It all began with petty things; I refused to do my homework or excuse myself with white lies. Then the more time I spent with him, the more serious my behavior became. I was scolding off to my teachers and arguing with my family.

And then James introduced me to the world of alcohol, smoking, and drugs. The three things that I promised myself I wouldn't involve myself in…ever.

I've smoked occasionally, but I had quit roughly one year ago. It only posed as a relief to me when I was too tense. I am satisfied to say that I have not cheated nor plan on it. I need to get my life back in normality in any shape or form.

I did not take drugs often – but I had done it two or three times. James tried pushing me further into doing it more or trying other things, but I was humane enough to reject his offers. But the wholly fact that I even did them is enough to confiscate my staircase to heaven to the abyss.

But I did not care for heaven as much as I did for my family. I knew that I was hurting them as I continued to hang out with James. Each time they confronted me with the issue, though, I would become furious.

My parents were more than disappointed to the person I had become, and then they had no other choice than to kick me out when I was eighteen. I was irate that they had told me, but I understood at the same time.

I had never seen Esme so heartbroken. I thought she was on the verge of groveling on her knees to make me stop. I still remember the tears that threatened to spill down her cheeks and the throaty noises she made to hold her back from cracking.

Carlisle had tried to give me a father-to-son conversation. I've never seen him so disappointed in me. He told me that I needed to be the son that he raised and not this monster who didn't give a damn about anything else. I knew he was just as forlorn as Esme because he was a compassionate man – so disowning his son must have been difficult.

My friends tried talking to me and, unfortunately, even they did not pierce me.

Rosalie told me that I was being a jackass and I needed to stop. She told me that I was being stupid and it defied against everything I had ever convicted.

Emmett tried to give me a man-to-man talk. He told me that I was being stupid and mean, and that I didn't give a damn about what I was doing with my life. I managed to catch his traitor tears.

Jasper tried talking to me. One would think that with his talent for sympathizing, he would get to you – but he failed. He told me that I chose a friend erroneously and that consorting with him just poisoned my life.

And Alice…my little sister became a maniac. I thought that she would have to be situated in a mental hospital because of her tantrum. Alice was screaming at me with furious tears pouring out from her eyes. She was pounding me in the chest and scratching at my arms. She made it look like a tornado flew through my room – she threw everything around and stomped on anything that touched the floor. But I was solid, rock solid throughout all of this.

That's what I was with all of them – I was a rock. No matter what they did or said to me, nothing would change. Inside and out, I remained as I was, no matter how much I didn't like it myself.

So then James took me in. And for the past three years, he and I have been doing something. I hadn't gone to college. I wanted to, but neither of us had the money to do it. I could have gotten a scholarship; I did have the brains – but that privilege disappeared. And my parents could have given me the money, but I was so nasty to them, they didn't offer and I wouldn't have accepted if they did. I needed to be good enough for them – in my opinion, I was the furthest thing from good to them.

In what only seemed like a few minutes, I groggily awoke to someone hauling my back off of the ground. I muttered something and this person gently put my head on its lap.

"Edward?" The voice belonged to a young woman.

I mumbled to the woman to leave me on the streets and die.

"I won't allow it." She laughed humorlessly.

"Who are you?" I wondered tiredly.

She hesitated, but then said quietly, "I want to thank you."

"What?" I asked directly.

"Thank you." I heard her voice crack. "For saving me back there. You have not the faintest idea how grateful I am for standing up to that man."

I fluttered my eyes open to chocolate brown eyes that were staring straight into me.

I swallowed as I realized that this was the feeble girl that James had nearly raped.

"You," I breathed.

The unfathomable depths of her eyes could possibly burn me with the intensity. I could practically see the monster reflecting in her eyes. I suppose I would not mind for the girl to burn the monster. His actions were unforgivable so he needs to be punished.

She nodded and she tentatively brushed her fingers against my forehead to move my hair from my eyes. I blinked away from my mild trance. I realized again that my head was on her lap, so I tried to lift my head. It hurt as I tried sitting up, so I just let my head fall back.

She chuckled and said softly, "You need to rest, Edward."

"You do, too," I countered, but then I realized. "Wait, how do you know my name?"

"James," she sneered, "did speak to you and said your name."

"Oh, right." I wanted to slap my palm to my forehead at my futility.

She moved her head up and down. She was looking at me, but I could tell through her eyes that she was thinking about something else.

I think I could take a good guess…

"I really am sorry for what happened. I wish I could kick James' stupid ass to Jupiter."

She laughed and it resembled to bells.

"It would be very wrong, but can it be Pluto?"

I liked how she and I were trying to make the tension lighter.

"Well, what James did to you wasn't so right, either. So he actually gets to be ass-whooped all the way to the edge of the universe."

"Out of this world," she said in a subdued voice.

I looked up at her eyes. I remembered that I still did not know this girl's name.

"Do you mind giving me your name?" I asked gently.

She smiled like an angel to me and answered, "My name is Isabella Swan. But I prefer Bella."

I smiled back at her and replied, "It's nice to meet you, Bella. I'm Edward Cullen."

"I'm sure that the way we met was not exactly of the formality," she joked.

"Definitely one for the books," I muttered.

She breathed a laugh. "I appreciate you very much for saving me, Edward."

"You're very welcome, Bella," I told her tenderly. I don't know what got into me," I began babbling. "I knew what James was doing was wrong and I just felt the urge to protect you. So now look where I stand. I'm accountable for alcohol and public violence."

"I would bust you out of jail," she joked. Then I felt her shiver.

"Come on, we better head off. I bet it's really late and it's freezing out here."

"Definitely," she agreed.

I got up and helped her stand, too. Then, I took in what shredded clothing she was wearing.

"You didn't think to change?"

"Well," she said sheepishly, "I didn't want my savior to run off without giving him the proper thank-you."

"Ah, yes, this is the ideal way to say thank you."

"Hey," she said sharply. "If I didn't come here sooner, you would have killed yourself." Her eyebrows furrowed and her voice hinted a tone of anger.

"What makes you accuse me of that?" I questioned.

"When I was trying to help you up, you told me to leave you there to die," she reminded me.

"Okay, I was, like, half asleep – it slipped out. Remember?" I pointed to my temple; my head was still aching, but not as forceful as before.

"Whatever," she muttered shortly. Her forehead puckered and she had her arms crossed over her chest.

"Hey, now, why are you upset?" I tried to get her to look at me.

"Nothing," she mumbled. She looked down at her feet.

I gave her a reproving look.

"I don't think that being run over is the respectable way to die, Edward, especially after you just saved someone's life." She looked back up to me.

I rolled my eyes. "Right, because I plan on having an ideal way of dying. You know, in your case, I don't think dying of hypothermia is suitable, either. I wouldn't want to be responsible for your death."

She cracked a smile. "Just be glad that you're responsible for saving me."

"I very much am, Miss Swan."

She chuckled, but winced. I noticed that she had bruises on her arms.

I gasped. "Did James really get to you that far?"

"What? Oh, well I'm sure that a couple of them are."

"Bella," I said sternly, "those are more than a couple."

"Edward," she replied in my same tone, "Calm down and let me explain. I'm a pretty clumsy person – I fall all the time," she explained. But then a shiver shook her.

"Now I'm scared," I muttered. "Here." I shrugged off my jacket and draped it over her huddled shoulders.

"There. Now you won't die from hypothermia and I won't have to look at those hideous bruises."

"Thanks, but hey."

"Come on, let's get you somewhere warm."

"Nothing that hot chocolate can't fix."

I chuckled.

"Would you like some of that hot chocolate?" she asked shyly.

I saw some color creeping on her cheeks. Was Bella blushing? That's just adorable. I felt a grin forming on my face.

"It's the least I can do, Edward," she hastily said. She probably thought I was smiling out of embarrassment. No way, I thought.

"Will there be marshmallows?" I teased.

"And whipped cream."

"Yes, that is very kind of you."

"It should also help you with, you know, sobering up," she added lightly.

I smiled. "Let's go then! I feel like someone is hammering my head right now."

She giggled and began turning the other way.

Bella and I walked down the empty street. I had my arm over her shoulder to help her delicate body stay warm. She was leaning into my chest; she must have been cold and exhausted. I would, too, if I were on the search for a drunken savior.

I looked down at her and her eyes were closed. She looked so peaceful, as if what happened earlier had not existed.

Seeing her in such serenity made me realize that saving Bella was the very right thing to do.

It may not make up for all of the other horrid things I've done in my past. My mistakes are done and I'll never be able to change them. But I can always make up for those mistakes in the future.

Maybe Bella and I will be able to spend more time with each other so I can gain that forgiveness. I know that using Bella like this is wrong, but it is good at the same time.

I would gain a friend that was actually good. I actually looked forward to forming a bond with this girl. I could tell that after tonight, Bella would be someone important to me. She seemed so pure and innocent and that is what I needed to be vital in my life.

The heck, we were heading to her place for hot chocolate. How friendly can that get?

I tightened my grip on her. I wondered how Bella feels about this. I'm certain that this night is something that neither of us will ever be able to forget.

I peeked down at her again. She still had her entry ways to those depths of chocolate closed, but her forehead was puckered. It must mean that she is thinking about something.

I sighed. I wanted to know what she was thinking about – about tonight, about tomorrow, about us…

If I spend more time with her, I should be able to read her, then.

This was the start of a new beginning, I reflected.

I stared at Bella from the corner of my eye. She did not mind my arm being over her as to she was leaning in me. I could feel vibrations from her throat on my chest; she must be humming to herself.

The tune sounded very familiar, but I could not make it out at the moment. I was too distracted with my thoughts and harmless girl beside me who was Bella.

I had a tight feeling in my chest that I would be able to keep my arm over her shoulder forever.

AN: The song that Bella was humming was "Your Guardian Angel" by The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus.

This is intended as a one-shot, but I know that there is a plot to this story.

Where will Edward and Bella go from here? What will happen with James? Will Edward talk with his family again? Will James come in between these two?

I'm currently writing this from Bella's POV.

REMEMBER! Check out "Sing to Me My Past"!

I hope you all enjoyed it! Alert just in case and pretty please review! :D

- Jennifer x