I do not own the characters!

Once I got home from my six-hour shift at Powell's, I started getting ready to go hang out with Jasper and Edward. I was excited. I couldn't wait to see Edward again.

What did I need to do before I was ready? I asked myself. A shower. Some clothes. Some make-up. Then I will be ready to go and Alice couldn't force twenty pounds of make-up on me or an outfit that showed too much skin. My little evil pixie of a roommate was often buying me clothes that I never really wanted to wear because of how revealing they were.

As I was going through my closet to find the perfect outfit, I found I was actually glad that Alice had bought me some more formfitting clothes. I wanted to dress up for Edward, which surprised me a little. But I didn't ignore the urge to do it. I pulled out a dark blue blouse with a v-neck and a khaki skirt. The skirt was short enough that Alice wouldn't bug me about it, but long enough to suit me…for the most part. It was a couple inches above the knee.

After I got out of the shower, Alice bolted into the bathroom. "I've got to get ready! Got to get ready! Got to get ready!"

I laughed at Alice as I walked into my bedroom to put on the clothes I picked out. Within minutes, I was ready to go. My outfit looked good. My hair was behaving itself and doing what I told it to do. I had just enough make-up on to accent my eyes and lips, but it wasn't caked on. I was sure I didn't look perfect, but I at least looked ready. So I went out into the living room to wait. I pulled out a book, because I knew to give Alice sometime to get ready. After thirty minutes, I was fed up with waiting for her.

"Alice! Let's go! We told Jasper and Edward we'd meet them at The Cliffs five minutes ago. It'll take us ten to get there," I yelled into our apartment. I was standing at our front door, tapping my foot. Why did Alice always have to take forever to get ready? She always looked perfect after getting ready in five minutes. Yet she continuously took at least a half an hour. "Come on, Al! Is it really that hard to make yourself look perfect?"

I heard a door slam, then Alice appeared in the living room. "Perfection takes time, Bella. You should know that by now."

We grabbed our purses and walked out. On nice nights when we went to The Cliffs, we walked. It was only five blocks away. "Come on, Bella. Can't you walk any faster?"

I rolled my eyes. "You know that if I walk to fast I will end up with skid marks on my face."

Alice laughed at me. She linked her arm with mine. "Yeah, you are such a klutz. What am I going to do with you?"

"You are going to stay away from my feet."

We joked around as we walked. I hadn't talked to Edward since the coffee shop yesterday. Alice had called Jasper to invite both of them. On the way, Alice also gave me the full details on her conversation with Jasper. I could tell that she was really starting to like him. "What are you smiling about?" Alice asked as we started to approach the bar.

"Nothing…just thinking about how much you like Jasper."

"I don't like Jasper."

"Whatever. I thought you were the one who 'saw into the future.' At least that is what you told me last week when you told me we'd both be meeting cute guys," I grinned at Alice. "You forgot about your vision all ready?"

Alice just glared at me and pulled me the last quarter block to the bar. We walked towards Lee, the bouncer. He grinned at the two of us, opened the door and let us in. Though The Cliffs was a bar, it was also kind of like a club. There was a dance floor as well as the bar and many tables pushed against the wall if you just felt like sitting and having your drinks.

We made our way into the main part of the bar, fifteen minutes after we said we'd be there. Alice always tells me that we are arriving fashionably late. I was one of those people who always wanted to get places on time. It wasn't in me to be late to anything. I just thought it was tacky. But, Alice knew more about being fashionable than I did, so I generally stopped arguing with her after my initial complaints. We stopped at the edge of the dance floor and glanced around for Jasper and Edward. I didn't see them. I looked at Alice. The look on her face told me she didn't spot them either.

I felt something touch my waist. I turned. "Edward!"

Edward smiled. "Hey, Bella. How are you doing?"

"I'm doing pretty…"
"Where's Jasper?" Alice demanded, cutting my sentence short. Edward raised his eyebrows at her and pointed to where Jasper had claimed a table. Alice rushed over to the table and started talking to Jasper.

"You are doing pretty," Edward told me. "You look amazing tonight." I blushed a bright red and looked down at my hands. Edward chuckled at my response and grabbed my hand and took me to the table that Jasper and Alice were sitting at.

Edward and I had just sat down when Sam came over to chat with us. "My two favorite lades."

"What would Emily think?" I asked. It was kind of scary how much I knew about all of these guys. It just proves that I spend way too much time in Muddy Waters, listening to Jacob, Embry and Quil talk about their friends.

"Emily knows I love her. What would you guys like to have?"

We ordered our drinks and then sat around talking, waiting until the band started to play. They were scheduled to start playing at eight and it was only 7:30 now. It was nice to be able to sit back and relax with people other than Alice and people I worked with at Powell's. Our drinks came and we all started sipping them, making casual small talk. Not the uncomfortable, don't know what to say, small talk. But the kind you have with friends right before all the fun of the evening starts.

Jasper told us stories of his three years in the army. Most of the stories were funny, but some were a little disturbing. He seemed to be really happy to be out of the army and all the military entails. Jasper told us he didn't like the fact he was making a living by hurting others. Because Jasper is a big guy, some would think that him being in the army would be a good thing. "Some people think that because I am tall and well built, that I like to do the hurting. It was the hardest thing I had to do, knowing that some of the actions I took while in active duty hurt people. Also, I didn't like not having a voice of my own. The army is all about telling you what to do, when to do it and not letting us have any choices. Plus, they really wanted me to do things that should never be done."

"What do you do now?" Alice asked.

"I just finished getting my masters degree in psychology. I want to work with children who need help."

"What kind of work with children?" I asked.

"Are you going all journalist on us, Bella, or do you want to know?" Alice asked, laughing. She knows that I love to ask questions. Sometimes my questions got annoying.

"I can't ask questions?" I asked.

"Alice, it's okay," Jasper said. "It's nice to be able to sit and talk with everyone. I want to work with teenagers who are in foster care. Their emotional and mental well being are often forgotten about. I want to make sure they can come to me. Also, I want to help them get into a good system when theya re eighteen so they don't have to drop out of high school."

"That's awesome, Jasper. That sounds like great work," I said. A few mintues later, I asked, "Edward, how 'bout we go dance?" I realized that four was a crowd. The band was still setting up their equipment, but there was music playing through the stereo. I knew I would start asking Jasper too many questions. Also, I knew that Alice wanted some alone time with her guy. Edward and I at the table got in the way of their…dating ritual thing. Hopefully I didn't break any of Edward's toes while we danced, if he agreed.

"I would love to," Edward responded. He stood up, offered me his hand. When we walked away from the table, I heard Alice giggle. Probably about my lack of dance skill I would soon be showing off.

I shoot her a glare, then looked up at Edward. "Just so you know, I don't dance very well. So, watch your toes."

"It's all in the leading," Edward whispered in my ear.

Edward pulled me towards him and wrapped his arms around my waist. My arms snaked around his neck. He pulled me even closer. We weren't really dancing, just swaying and slowly moving in circles. It felt wonderful to be in his arms. I rested my head on his shoulder. Edward laid his cheek on the top of my head.

We kept swaying back and froth until the band was fully set up and playing. Edward looked up at the band, and then looked back at me. Jasper and Alice joined us on the dance floor. They were dancing…if you could call it dancing. They were getting personal with each other on the dance floor. It was almost funny to watch. Edward too my hand again and pulled me towards him so we could start dancing again. By the way he was starting to move, I knew he wanted to do the same kind of dancing Jasper and Alice were doing.

"I can't dance like that, Edward! I'd end up killing you or me."

"Don't worry, Bella," he told me. "I won't let you hurt anyone. Just let me do my thing, and you'll be okay."

We started dancing a little more risqué then I was used to. Well, a lot more risqué then I was used to, because I generally avoided dancing. I was surprised that Edward was willing to dance with me like that. I knew we were getting to know each other, but it was amazing that we were okay with grinding against each other. Maybe Edward wouldn't mind dating me. Well, that is a thought for later. The dancing was great. Edward's hands were all over me. It felt amazing. We danced for another hour. We were constantly touching each other while we were dancing, almost like if we weren't holding onto each other while we danced, someone would take the other away.

Edward pulled me to the side of the dance floor. "We've been dancing for a while. Do you want to sit for a little bit?" I nodded. We walked towards our table. "I'm going to get us some drinks. I'll be right back."

"All right." I sat down and my eyes went towards the dance floor. I easily found who I was looking for. Jasper and Alice were still doing their thing out there. Alice couldn't quite reach her hands around Jasper's shoulders because she is so short, so her little hands were resting on his chest. Jasper's hands were on Alice's lower back. They were thoroughly enjoying themselves as much, if not more, than Edward and I. A drink was sat down in front of me. I looked up at Edward. "Thanks."

He smiled at me as he took his seat. "Are you enjoying yourself?"

"Of course." Edward looked at me, with slightly sad eyes, which confused me. I thought he was having fun. I was getting a little worried that he wanted to leave. "What? What's wrong?"

"You're too far away. I want to be close to you." Edward scooted his chair closer to mine, so we were sitting right next to me. Our arms were touching each other's. I smiled. "Do you have another article to work on yet?"

"Yes," I said sulkily. "I'm not really looking forward to it. It'll be a good article to write and it should be written, but I don't really want to be the one to write it. I can't really say no, because then I wouldn't get my pay for the next two weeks. I get paid when I finish the article. The longer they give me to write it, the harder the article will be to research and write. They gave me two weeks to write this one…and I am rambling on and on. I'm sorry."

"Well, you never told me what you were writing about."

"Know what? You might know some people I could interview. I have to write about the prostitute situation up on 82nd. I'm suppose to interview the prostitutes to get their…"

"No."

"No what?" I asked.

"No you can't do that!" Edward stated.

"Edward, I know it is not the most ideal of situations, but it is my job. I need to write this article. It'll give me more money than a normal article. It is four times as long as what I normally write. Plus, it will get their story of why they are out on the street."

"Bella, it's not safe. We have some of those women locked up."
I rolled my eyes at him. "That's what I am trying to ask you. I was wondering if there was any way I could talk to the ones locked up or for you to come met up with them when I set of interviews."

Edward stared at me, like he wasn't expecting me to ask that. He looked me straight in the eye, "Of course I would come with you. I can't promise about setting anything up in the jail though." I nodded, understanding.

"Can we change the subject now, please? I'd prefer not to think about work if I don't have it."

Jasper and Alice came over to the table and sat down in the extra seats. Jasper got drinks for the two of them. As we started talking with each other, Edward took my hand that was resting on my thigh and held it. We were sitting so close; our arms were pretty much intertwined. I leaned against him and his arm went around my waist. It felt so comfortable.

After some more dancing and a couple more drinks, I was ready to go home. I was tired. I saw that Alice was still dancing with Jasper and wouldn't want to stop for a while. I turned to Edward, "I am getting tired. I think I'm going to go home. Can I call you tomorrow?"
"Of course," Edward replied, bringing his hand up and brushing his fingers against my cheek. "I don't think Alice is ready to go, how are you getting home?"

"Walking."

"I'll drive you. Jasper and I had to meet here because he got off of work right before he came here. I'll get your coat and bag if you want to tell Alice that you're leaving."

"Sounds like a plan."

I started walking towards the dance floor when Edward called out, "Can you tell Jasper that I am taking off?" I turned towards him and nodded.

I felt a little bad interrupting Jasper and Alice dancing, but I didn't want Alice worrying about me when she couldn't find me once she was ready to leave. "Alice, Edward is taking me home. I'm tired. Jasper, Edward wanted to let you know he was taking off."

Alice stepped away from Jasper and leaned in toward me to whisper, "Don't be surprised if I don't come home tonight. I just might get lucky."

I smiled at Alice and walked over to Edward. He helped me into my coat and handed me my purse, then we walked out into the night, hand in hand.

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