S. Meyer owns Twilight. I own the bar!
BPOV
It was winter and in this crappy town, that meant it was cold. I wanted an extra few minutes of warmth under the covers this morning, so that meant a hat to cover my bad hair day. When I got to school I saw him and smiled. I was early for my meeting so I slowed my walk and enjoyed the view, who wouldn't slow down when he walked toward you? That's when the wind flew by and took my hat with it.
"Damn you" I muttered under my breath. I started blushing and just kept walking; no hat was worth the embarrassment of talking to him with bed head.
EPOV
Classes sucked and I just wanted to get home. I've been a bum for the past month and the last thing I needed was to go home and sleep, but it sounded so good. It was cold and my car seemed so far away. I was trying to focus on anything but the long walk to my car and when I looked up and saw her smile, I felt warm. I wanted to talk to her but she was shaking and I didn't want her to be too cold. That's when the wind blew. I shivered and pulled my body in closer, and then a hat flew into my chest. I looked up and she was walking faster towards me, staring furiously at the snow covered ground. I actually felt excited that she was going to say something. That is until she walked straight past me and I swear I heard her damn me.
"Excuse me? Did you just damn me to hell?"
What the fuck was that? I couldn't control the volume of my voice and that is certainly the last thing I wanted to say to her. She turned around surprised and looked at me puzzled.
"Um…no…I was talking to the wind, it doesn't seem to like me today." Ahhh…she was talking to the wind, what a pompous ass I must be for me to think she was talking to me.
"I'm sorry. Let me make it up to you, how about coffee?" I asked as my palms started getting sweaty.
BPOV
He was talking to me. He was asking me out for coffee. He had a British accent and he was gorgeous. And I had a meeting. Today really wasn't my day.
"I would love to…but I have a meeting and I'm actually running a little late now." As I said this, I saw the smile gracing his face fall and I felt my heart twitch. Poor dude.
"That's okay, maybe next time?" He was being polite.
"Sure, that sounds great." I walked away thanking the wind, a change from a few minutes earlier. My meeting was so long but turned out to be productive. Who knew bad grades and the ability to cry on cue could keep you in school? As I walked out of the office I saw my hat sitting on the bench, on top of his head and a crooked smile on his face.
"You forgot your hat…coffee?" He was persistent. He had the coffee in his hand so there was no way I could say no.
"Sure, thanks." Man I was having a good day.
EPOV
"This is hot chocolate, but thank you." Shit. She didn't like it, but she sounded sincere.
"How about we go grab a drink?" Sure it was 3 in the afternoon but it sounded appropriate, she looked like she had been crying and I couldn't help but think she needed it.
"It's five o'clock somewhere" That was her answer? God, she knew how to make me smile. "I'm Bella, by the way." Then she did the sweetest thing, she grabbed her hat of my head and kissed my cheek. "Thanks." She grabbed my hand and started leading me outside, "So what's your story?" That's when I smiled even bigger.
"Well, my names Edward…"
BPOV
"Well, my names Edward. I'm 22 and moved here from the UK. What about you? Are you even old enough to drink?" Ha. He was a joker.
"I'm 21 and I could probably drink you under the table. I've lived here all my life and I love your car." How could I not? I was staring at a 1967 cherry red Mustang with a black hard top.
Then the most beautiful words left his mouth. "Wanna drive?" My answer of course was "Hell yeah." With a smile he handed me the keys and got into the passenger seat.
"Okay, so it's an older car, you need to be careful not to ride the clutch" Aw. He was trying to tell me how to drive a classic. Little did he know I restore with Rosalie for fun. Then again, what 21 year old girl can rebuild a carburetor with one hand tied behind her back?
As I pulled out of the parking lot I asked the simple question "Where to?"
"Well, we could go to Boomer's or we could go to McKee's. I prefer McKee's because it's almost like a true pub." Goodness, he was perfect. I couldn't help but giggle.
"Why are you giggling? Do you know where it's at?" Shit, I can't give this away.
"Um, yeah. On the corner of Walton and Telegraph…right?" Of course I knew where it was. "I think I have been there before. I might even be able to sweet talk the owners into free drinks."
"I don't know. The bartender seems to be kind of angry at the world. Last time I asked for a discount cause I'm in there so much and she looked at me like I asked her to kill a puppy." Yeah, that sounded like her.
EPOV
When we walked into the pub we sat at the bar and she excused herself. As I watched her walk away I sighed. She drove my car like a pro and she could have an intelligent conversation it too. She was beginning to look like a keeper.
"Okay, wanna start with a beer or do you wanna head straight to the Scotch?" She was behind the bar now and holding a bottle of Scotch with two shot glasses on the bar.
"What are you doing? The bartender is going to kill you. I told you, she's mean." That's when the bartender walked up to us and kissed Bella on the cheek. "Or she could kiss you."
"Edward this is my aunt, Roxanne. Welcome to McKee's, my family's pub. Now again, beer or Scotch?" She owned a pub too? She was my new best friend.
"Let's go with Scotch. I really don't think you can beat an Englishmen at drinking. It's just not possible." As I said this she was laughing. So were her aunt and the guy sitting at the end of the bar. I must have missed a joke because there was no way a small girl could out drink me.
"Okay, but when I win you can put your picture up on the wall of shame just like the others." She pointed to a wall of Polaroids and my eyes went wide. There were tons of pictures of big men and some women looking drunk out of their gourd and Amber was standing next to them smiling. Fuck, what did I get myself into?
"Take your shot Edward. This is gonna be a long game of 'get you drunk' and I have plans with the girls tonight." Well that shot my hopes of taking her home. I picked up the glass, threw it back and grinned.
"I don't get drunk sugar. My blood alcohol level is whiskey. Set 'em up gorgeous." I might as well flirt while I'm at it.
-*-*-*-*-
"Your eyelids are looking a little heavy there Eddie. Sure you don't want to accept defeat?" I still had my pride so I took another shot. So did she. I looked down, there were 12 shot glasses in front of me and I groaned. She looked refreshed and I felt like I got hit by a truck.
-*-*-*-*-
"Say uncle and we can stop this. You don't look too good Edward. Give up…I won't think any less of you." I looked her in the eye, grabbed my glass and choked it down. So did she. There were 18 glasses in front of me and I was having issues staying upright on the stool so I leaned over and put my head on Bella's shoulder. She smiled then poured another shot. She took hers first and I did the only thing I could. I turned my head, nibbled her ear and kissed her neck.