Wait For Me

Sometimes we all feel stupid,
we say the wrong things;
you're not the only one.
Sometimes we all get left behind
in a race of style,
it's a dumb thing.
you will wait for me

---Death Cab For Cutie

"Shots!"

A whooping round of cheers burst through the small table in the darkest corner as Emmett placed six shot glasses onto the dirty table top. All were immediately snatched up by five eager fingers and downed like water to a starving man. Music thump wildly through the floor beneath their feet.

I laughed drunkenly as the liquor burned through my gullet like acid, sending a pleasant buzz to my head that could only get better. I slam the glass back on the table and chase it with a hearty gulp of beer.

Before a second had passed, all the glasses were empty and we--the lightweights that we are--were well on our way to shitfaced drunk. Luckily, Emmett had more.

"To fake IDs!" he slurred, rather loudly, hopefully not loud enough to alert the shifty eyed bartender wiping at glasses suspiciously.

His girlfriend Rosalie, who had already been a bit tipsy when we picked her up from her parent's condo, giggled and fumbled to keep herself upright on the inconvienetly rubber booth seats. She made exaggerated shushing sounds, "Shhhhut the fuck up, Emmy."

Normally, this would have been pretty sad to watch; strong-willed, no-nonsense Rosalie giggling like a grupie backstage at an Aerosmith concert. But my fogged, chaotic thought process made a sound gurgle from my throat that was more of a hack then a laugh. I downed the second glass, nudging Edward as he hesitated. "Come on," I said. "Just down it. Like peeling off a bandage."

He grimaced, his cheeks flushed and his head already wavering with the effects of alcohal. "Don't you already have to be drunk to enjoy this?"

Emmett, with his meaty claw of a hand, pounded the table. "That's why we brought Rosalie, damnit! Now drink!"

Reluctantly, Edward sipped at his glass until it was empty. I kissed him on the cheek and, with my new found liquod courage, popped a lime in my cheek and nudged it at the side of his lips.

He chuckled shakily, wrapping an arm around my shoulder. The song changed. "Come on, Bella," he said.

My friend Alice scoffed from beside me, letting her arm fall sloppily away from her boyfriend, Jasper's, shoulder and leaning over. "Shit, Edward. Live a little, would yeh?" She smiled, snatched me by the shoulders and bit the lime from my mouth, the juices squirting in between her teeth and spotting my face. I laughed as she made a warped, lime green grin at the table.

Alice was small, with elfish features and delicate bones that looked as though you could crack them between your fingers. She had an incedably light shade of green in her eyes, almost gold in their brightness. She sucked the lemon dry and let it fall to the table top, quickly slapping a wet one on Jasper, who looked shocked at best.

We were all a bit crazy when we were drunk.

"So's," Emmett slurred, tearing himself away from Rosalie's reddened lips to wag a finger at the rest of us, "how's...everyone's exams...did...went?"

We were all students at the local college, with the exception of Rosalie, who dropped out earlier last year. Three weeks of grueling exams had taken their tole, turning the most straight-laced of juniors into drunken, slurring alcoholics.

"A fucking nightmare, guy," Alice said, leaning on her elbows and speaking in her usual gender-oriented nicknames. "I thought Jasper was gunna lose it. Sitting in the corner a'the library like a fucking emo...whasit?" She looked at Jasper, who lolled happily in his own little drunken world, eyes glazed and expression default.

"I'll tell you something, man," Emmett said, pointing at me and Edward. "You guys...you got it fucking lucky. You two's're like a bunch of geniuses. You ain't got it nearly as bad as us normal folk."

Rosalie nodded her head vigorously, leaning back, Emmett's baseball cat sliding down her face. "You tell 'em, baby."

I didn't take it to heart; Rosalie and Emmett always initiated these little drinking sessions, and usually because they were either pissed or upset. They always needed to get mad at someone, and it was easier when you were all drunk and would forget it the next day.

"Just 'cause I got a brain," I said, finishing my beer, "doesn't mean I'mma genius."

Emmett looked like he was gonna say something, but the song switched once more and Rosalie squealed. "God, I love this song!"

She grabbed Emmett by the cuff of his and lead him towards the dance floor, even in her drunken staggering managing to look like an angel from heaven: blond, beautiful, and graceful. Some people have all the luck.

Meanwhile, I flicked at a hole in my paint-mattered jeans and waved at the bar for another beer. Alice and Jasper were having a one-sided discussion on the difference between country western and country blues music. From what I could tell by Jasper slowly showing signs of passing out, Alice was winning.

I turned to Edward and slung an arm around his neck. "You seriously need to calm down, Eddie---yer mother innit gunna...God, walk in or nothing." My voice sounded ridiculously nonsensical to my own ears. A waitress came over and dropped six beers on the table.

"I have to go to the bathroom," Edward muttered, smiling wainly at me and sliding out of his seat, starting towards the back.

I watched him go, with his pale, pale skin, beautifully angular features, dark green eyes. Yes, he was gorgeous---but our conversations as of late have consisted of nothing but formalities and small talk. The only time I can say anything to him without feel like I'm addressing a brick wall is when I'm wasted, and even then he just walks away to go iron his khaki jr. business man suit. Or something.

I look over at Alice, only to see her prodding a completley unconcious Jasper with the nose of her bottle, her nose wrinkling her nose in distaste. "I swear," she murmers, "he's had like two drinks and already he's out of it. Pussy."

I nod and lean back against the seat, wishing longingly for another shot. "Tell me about it. Ed can't even stomach a shot of watered-down tequila."

She snorts. "Where d'we get these guys?"

Smiling, I respond, "They mass produce them at the monastery. Two for one special."

Alice laughs and falls over, burying her face into my shoulder. I blush slightly, but keep laughing even though I don;t really know what's funny anymore.

Finally, she says, "So, you and Edward going back to the dorms after?"

Alice lived off campus, since her parents lived a block from the college. Saves money, at least.

"No," I say, "Edward has to go to the airport---Alaska or something. Visiting his parents during break."

Alice nods. "Yeah, I might have to call a cab for Jasper. Don't think he can make the walk."

I chuckle softly. "And you know Emmett and Rosalie are gonna do their own thing."

"Yeah."

There's a silence as we watch Rosalie and Emmett dance in the middle of the bar, before Alice finally says, "Hey, wait for me after, okay?"

I see Edward come out of the bathroom. "Yeah. Sure."

xXxXx

I meet Alice outside, considerably sobered and already feeling the signs of an early morning hangover. She's shoving Jasper into a cab, handing a wad of bills to the driver. As it speeds off, she spots me.

Waving, she says, "Let's go to my place, it's closer."

I pull my coat tighter over my chest, crossing my arms against the chill and nodding.

We chat as we walk down the sidewalks of Port Angeles, about everything from exams to my upcoming art festival, to her submissions to some dancing school, to Jasper's writing career ("He's crap, but I haven't the heart to tell him"), and to Edward's admission to medical school.

"I mean, he'd be a great doctor," I say, "but...it's not like he has a bedside manner. He's just always...brooding."

Alice makes a face. "Right? Jaspers just the same, always sitting around and looking like he has to take a shit. It's depressing. Plus, he always knows what I'm thinking."

I turn to her enthusiastically, nearly stumbling over the cracks in the sidewalk. "I know. It's like Edward can read my mind! I mean, at first it was sweet, but now..."

"...it's just creepy," Alice agreed.

We reach her parents house, and she invites me in. "My mom has some---whatsitcalled? Peach schnapps."

"Are they home?" I ask. She shakes her head.

"Nah," she says. "Some retreat in the Bahamas."

We go inside and, true to her word, there is very little parental guidance and plenty of peach flavored beverages. We drink merrily without the pouring of music and drunken slurs from other tables flooding out ears, outdoing ourselves with every shot. Finally, she tells me;

"You know, Bells, you can do a lot better then Edward."

"You," I slur, "can do a fuckload better then Jasper."

Suddenly, without warning, consent, anything, she leans over the table and plants her lips against mine, her tongue probing my clenched teeth. Her lips are warm, soft, her tongue smooth---

I pull away and look at her in disbelief. "Alice, what the fuck?"

"You just said I can do better then Jasper," she whispers, a stupid grin on her face, "and I can't think of anybody better then you."

The taste of her mouth is still fresh in my mouth as I take a swig of schnapps. "That...you can't just..."

"I can't what?" she says. "I can't kiss a pretty girl? Guys do that all the fucking time." She's so drunk I can barely understand a word she's saying.

"Alice, that is so different you have no idea," I say, stumbling from my seat and starting towards the door. "I'm going home. Call me when you sober up."

Her hands on my shoulder in a second; she's surprisingly fast for a drunk girl. She spins me around and presses me to the door. She leans in close, and I can smell the alcohol on her breath. "Howsit different? This is the twenty first century, girlfriends cheat on their guys all the time---"

"But not with each other," I point out. I picture Alice, only the day before, nuzzling Jasper's shoulder in the college cafe, whispering to each other like they had everything in the world to say and no time to say it.

Her hand finds my waist, and I push it away. I lean away from her. Her breath stinks.

She leans closer, and I can feel the pressure of her petite body on mine. "You said," she says, "your not happy with Edward."

"I didn't say that---"

"You meant it," she reasons, and suddenly she seems to sober up. "You meant it, Bella. He's a conservative, boring, stick-in-the-ass pussy and you know it."

I did. "Shut up, Alice," I breath.

She presses closer. "And I'm not happy with Jasper."

"We can't just...do that to them." This was ridiculous. This was just a drunken mistake.

Her hand falls back at my waist, the other on my arm, and this time I don't swat it away.

"We can do anything we want, Bells," she says, pressing her lips--gently, this time--onto mine.

And, for a moment, it's perfect.

Author's Note: This is pretty old, from a few years ago, actually, when I was eleven or twelve and had no idea how to write romance (I added the lyrics now, but whatever) , and I'm posting it because A) I like odd couples and B) I want to let all of you know I'm still active, just working rather obsessively over this new blog I have (book reviews, music reviews, author interviews, etc, linked to my profile as Homepage and also at the bottom of the page) So, hope you enjoy.

By the way, here are some things I'm working on:

Figments: A Twilight Minific about Bella waking up one day in a mental hospital, told that Edward never existed. Set in New Moon time period, with verrrryyyy twisty ending. Okay, not very, but still. It's a twist.

Blood Red: AU Twilight fic, Apocolyptic. Very complicated, hard to explain. Just know that Vampirism in it derives from a radiation disease caused by a nuclear holocaust. Heavy stuff.

Thaw: An old AU Twilight fic I had, thought I'd pick up again. About Bella coming home from school one day to find her mother and stepfather viciously murdered. She goes to lvie with her father in Forks, cold and reserved. But once she meets vampire Edward Cullen (durr), he begins to thaw her icy exterior. But what happens when shocking revelations are made about Edward's past---and what, oh what, happens when it intertwines with hers? I think I'm doing a rather fine job with it, if I do say so myself.

Plus, there is the matter of finishing Hallelujah and my other fandom fics, so.