DISCLAIMER: I don't own Twilight. I own this really cool Britney Spears laptop cover though.

A/N: DUDE. I got such a kick out of the six positive reviews I got for the prologue of this story, I wrote this whole chapter today. BAM. I love you guys!

Like I promised, this chapter is a whole lot more detailed and explains a WHOLE lot more. :)

Hope you like!

-nikki. :)

Sleepwalker
Chapter One - "Nostalgia and Male Strippers"

*

I smoothed away the incessant wrinkles of the yellow bedspread as I looked to my right at the bright, bold numbers of my alarm clock. It was 1:27 AM.

Midnight, my ass.

I was almost ashamed to say that I was used to Edward never coming home before midnight. On the occasional night, he wouldn't come home at all.

I sighed and laid back down, pulling the covers up to my chin. Edward and I weren't even married yet, and our relationship felt worn out and loveless.

It hadn't always like this though. He and I had been happy once. We had started dating in our junior year of high school. His father, Carlisle Cullen, had relocated to the small town of Forks, Washington and took up a job as a heart surgeon in our local hospital, while his mother, Esme, worked as some interior designer. Edward and his sister, Alice, entered Forks High School, and almost immediately she and I became the best of friends.

It wasn't shocking, I suppose, that we became friends. I was one of the popular girls in school, though not snobby and conceited like a certain Lauren Mallory, who insisted she ran the school. Maybe that was why Alice and I became friends. Even though she and Edward had been the new kids in town, people were immediately intimidated of them -- which was obviously because of their financial status and striking good looks.

Alice was around 4'10", thin, and had spiky, jagged black hair that, in all truth, only she could sport and make it look fabulous.

Edward himself was incredibly beautiful. He had deep, emerald green eyes and was a little over six feet tall. In high school, he had tussled bronze-colored hair that no one could even think of taming; now it was cropped short in an official and serious manner. He wasn't as built as some men, but he had a nice set of abs on him. His overall physique was lean, and he was…adequate in a certain area, sure enough.

It was actually through Alice that Edward and I developed such a strong connection. We hung out at first at parties and small group hangouts, then it eventually escalated to the point where we were dating and couldn't keep our hands off each other.

When we reached the time for college, our physical contact had decreased some. Of course, it had to what with all of the assignments that were loaded upon us. It wasn't a problem, though. We were both pursuing our dreams. Edward was well on his way to becoming an excellent defense lawyer, and I was having the time of my life majoring in photography.

We were both happy, but once Edward finished law school and actually began to work as a lawyer, most of out time spent together was cut short; he was always at his office or the courthouse, working on an important case. It had been okay, though. He would always come home for dinner, and would sometimes swing by my photography studio and surprise me with lunch.

Then, on my twenty-fifth birthday, he proposed. He came home with a big purple with a bright red bow on it and told me to open it up. When I did, there was another box in it. Same thing happened when I opened that one. When I finally got to the last box, I was giggling and almost hysterical at such a comical sight. The laughter changed to shock when I opened the small purple box. Inside was a three-stone diamond ring, banded in white gold.

Edward didn't ask for me to marry him. He simply nodded and told me he got a promotion, and that later that day he went and bought the ring, fully set on becoming engaged by the end of the night.

I was too happy to care that what he had said sounded a little lame and a tad unromantic, because I was too excited that I was finally engaged.

So later that night, I went to bed with a pretty, shiny diamond ring sitting on my hand and loads of useless purple boxes, kept for wonderful memories.

Those purple boxes, by the way, were thrown out the next day. Edward didn't see a need to keep them.

I had thought being engaged would be fun and thrilling. I thought I'd be smiling nonstop and gushing over the wedding details, anticipating the big day.

I was so wrong.

Edward and I had been engaged for only six months now and our relationship slowly spiraled into nothing more than a few words spoken to each other each day. Sometimes, we didn't even say anything.

With his new promotion, long, extensive hours were called for and gradually less time was spent together. I rarely saw him anymore.

I even gave up wedding planning. We hadn't set a date, and he never participated in anything. I found it useless.

It was only the two of us living in this apartment in Seattle -- well, really one if you take in the fact that Edward barely steps foot inside here anymore --, but I eventually had to quit my photography job so I could take care of this place.

The apartment wasn't small, but it wasn't overly huge. Located on the seventh floor, it opened up into a large living room with bay windows overlooking the town; a modern kitchen adjoined it. On the right wall as you walk in, there is a door that leads to the master bedroom with a contemporary bedroom attached to it and a walk-in closet. On down the wall, there is another door that leads to a small office that Edward insisted on having. And never used, of course. So its usual inhabitant was only me.

I tried not to believe that I actually quit my job because I was bored, but everyone once in a while the small thought would dance across my mind. I was so unhappy that even my pride and joy, photography, had grown uninteresting and tiring.

Now, I usually spent my time cleaning already spotless things and shopping. Shopping for what I don't know, but that's all I did. I had so many outfits that I had never worn; they simply hung untouched and alone in our walk-in closet.

Like me.

Occasionally, I would call Alice, and we would go shopping together as it was her favorite thing to do. Well, besides spending time with her husband, James.

Alice was twenty-six and had already made a big name for herself in the fashion business. She liked to design clothes and was the co-creator of the latest hottest fashion line, "Premonition". This was actually how she met James. He was head of the financial department or something, I forget easily. They didn't hit it off right away, but he finally grew a pair and asked her out on a date. It was actually that night he confessed how long he had feelings for her.

They got married four months later. It was quick and rushed, and no one thought they'd make it past the first year.

They've been married for two and a half now, and, according to them, they've never been happier.

I was jealous. So damn jealous.

I didn't know why I just didn't get up and leave Edward. There wasn't anymore love here, there was no use pretending. Yet something compelled me to stay. Whether it was the fact that I would simply be single, which sounded oddly strange, or the fact that I would be alone, I didn't know.

Though the last one sounded quite familiar.

I was snapped out of my regretful, nostalgic attitude when I heard a loud thud and some scuffling come from outside the apartment. My shoulders twitched in response, and my eyes darted towards the clock and squinted.

It was 1:40 in the morning. Only one other person lived on this floor, Marcus Volturi. He was in his late sixties and was the type of man that went to bed early and awoke early.

Not this early though.

Scuffle, scuffle. Now there were footsteps too.

I threw the bedspread off of me and swung my legs over the side of the bed. The wood floor was cold against my feet and sent slight chills through me. As I hastily made my way towards the front of the apartment, I briskly rubbed my arms, trying to create some friction to warm my tingly skin. I was only wearing a thin white cotton tank and swishy pajama pants. I didn't bother with the sexy nightwear anymore; there was no need to.

I undid the latch on the door, unfastened the chain, and yanked the door open to see a man with his back towards me, standing in front of the doorway across the hall.

"Um, excuse me? What do you think you're doing?" I said tersely. I didn't mean to snap, but I was still reeling over Edward and his asininity.

Also, the apartment across from ours had been empty for quite sometime, and I hadn't heard that someone was moving in. The last thing I needed to deal with was a homeless person taking up non-rent across the hall from me.

"Hello? I'm talking to you," I added, tapping my fingers on the side of the doorway.

The man slightly turned his head before turning fully around.

I couldn't help it when my eyebrows shot straight up and mouth fell open.

This man was hot. No, hot doesn't cover it. He was drop dead sexy.

He was tall, just a little bit taller than Edward.

Shut up. Don't talk about Edward. He doesn't even deserve to be compared to this…this god.

He had on dark blue jeans and a snug black t-shirt that clung loosely to his chest. It was through this very t-shirt I saw that he was quite muscular. Not overly buff, but just right. He looked like he was in his mid-twenties, and the way his honey blonde hair framed his face made him look even more younger. It wasn't exactly long, but it wasn't short and cropped like Edward's.

Hush up.

There were small scars on his face and what visible skin I could see, but they were over shadowed by his twinkling ocean blue eyes that somehow looked as though they had seen quite a few things. Perfect pink lips sat comfortably under his cute little nose.

One perfect eyebrow arched easily over his left eye as he slightly tilted his head.

Yep, walking sex on two legs.

"Pardon?" he said with a tinge of a southern accent.

Oh, my God. Cue the swoon.

I hastily crossed my arms, remembering I didn't have a bra on.

At this movement, the side of his perfect pink lips raised in a smirk, sending heat rushing through my body.

I cleared my throat and said in a shaky voice, "Um, what…what are you doing out here?"

The smirk slowly faded as he tossed his a quick glance into the entryway behind him and looked back at me. "What? Can't a guy come home to his apartment late at night?"

My mouth opened and closed a couple of times before asking, "You live here now?"

Another smirk graced his features. "Is that a problem?"

"Well, no. I just wasn't aware anyone had moved in."

He shrugged and replied, "Well, now you know."

"Quite the odd time to be moving in, don't yah think?" I said, nodding towards a brown cardboard box behind him in his doorway.

"I just got off work."

I wanted to ask where he worked, but that seemed oddly rude.

Maybe he was a busboy? Nah, too old.

Bartender? No. He didn't reek of alcohol.

Male stripper?

I widened my eyes at the thought of club music pumping loudly as he slowly stripped of that black t-shirt. Then the jeans. Then the underwear…ooh.

"Are you okay?" he asked, his voice oddly loud in the empty hallway. The stupid smirk still plastered across his face.

I cleared my throat and realized I was obviously staring at his nether regions. I could full my cheeks burning with, not embarrassment, but something else.

"Um, yeah. Well, try to keep it down. Some people are trying to sleep," I blurted out in a rush, twisting on my heels and hurrying back into my apartment, slamming the door shut.

I didn't look back to see how he had responded to my brash actions. In fact, I didn't want to know.

The embarrassment was finally hitting me. I'd made a fool of myself in front of my new neighbor. Imagining him as a male stripper. What the hell was I thinking? And no, it didn't even occur to me that I was imaging a stranger, whom I didn't even know for more than two minutes let alone his name, grinding against a stripper pole and had never had even the slightest fantasy with Edward.

"Ugh, so embarrassing," I groaned, climbing into bed.

Well, the guy could be a stripper. He certainly has the right physique for it…

I scoffed and pulled the covers over my head, desperately trying to hide from the humiliation.

At last, I finally able to go to sleep. The last thought I had before I drifted off to sleep was a silent thanks to God that Edward wasn't home tonight.

A/N: So...thoughts? What do you think of Edward? Jerk, much? And Alice! How do you like her paired up with James? ;) What about the new neighbor? Yums, right?

Hope you liked! I hope to have another chapter out soon. Don't hold me to it, though. Heh.

Review, dolls!

-nikki. :)