A/N: As usual love to my fabulous Beta brwneyedgrl01. She pre-reads so you don't have to. Any lingering mistakes are mine and mine alone.
I'm bored. Let's go do something. Is there ANYTHING to do here?
Bella rolled her eyes at the incoming text, but she couldn't help but smile. Bella was familiar with Edward Cullen lead singer of Midnight Sun Alter. The world was familiar with that guy. Bella was getting to know Edward. And Edward was part genius, part Romeo, and part teenage boy with ADHD.
Nope, us locals just sit around and whittle for fun.
After sending her reply she turned her attention back to her makeup. She didn't normally wear makeup to work, but she was feeling a little more peppy lately…a little more inclined to look cute. There was a small voice in the back of her head telling her exactly why that was, but she muffled that as quickly as possible.
Well if you need to get your hands on some wood… ;-)
His message back made her laugh ring out and it made her cheeks heat. This kind of conversational flirting had been going on since their car ride. Three days to be exact. Three days where Bella had trouble paying attention in class. Three days of listening to nothing but Midnight Sun Alter on the way to school and work. Three days where she poured over pictures of the famous Edward Cullen at premieres and award shows and on videos of interviews...only to decide that she liked the snaps she saved better because they were only for her. Three days of being wrapped up in a man she had no business even knowing. It was surreal.
She pulled on her polo and tugged her hair into a ponytail. She wanted to get to work early so she could beat Mike there and pick the music for the night. Mike had already asked what the deal was with her sudden dedication to Midnight Sun Alter. She just shrugged. She wasn't telling anyone anything.
**WIB**
What criteria does Pandora use to determine similar artists? Similar chords? Similar beats? The same freaking letter used in the band name?
Bella figured if anyone could respect her rant it would be Jasper. She laid her phone on the counter to await his reply. Her friend delivered shortly, as expected.
Complicated algorithm based on total breaths taken by the artist divided by number of daily pisses taken by artist's manager.
She couldn't help but laugh. She read it twice and laughed harder the second time.
"That is one of my favorite sounds," commented a velvet voice that seemed to appear out of nowhere.
Bella felt her skin vibrate at the sound of his voice. Her blood ran warmer. She cursed herself just a little, and the command to chill resounded in her brain. Luckily, the warm gray-green she thought she could drown in was hidden by shades. He also had his mop of auburn chaos hidden away under his black hoodie.
"So," she said with a smirk. "How did the B&E go?"
He gave a fake dramatic sigh.
"The old lady was home. I had to push her down to get to her prized spoon collection. But there's some rares in there. I think it'll get a pretty good price," he replied.
Bella giggled again.
"You're crazy," she told him.
He shrugged.
"It's your fault I've got to put this getup on," he said. "If you would have just blown this place off, I wouldn't have to worry about being spotted. We could be driving around bantering right now. You could be helping write my next hit song."
She rolled her eyes.
"Who exactly are you worried about seeing you?" she asked gesturing to the empty store. Even Mike was in the back of the photo lab doing some processing.
"All it takes is one tween with Twitter, Bella," he warned sardonically.
Bella smiled. Between the brutal hotness and the wit, she was actually glad the majority of their interactions were via phone or social media. Too much time face to face and she would have already thrown her vagina at him.
"So, you're seriously not going to blow this place off and come hang out with me?" he asked.
Bella shook her head.
"Sorry, Superstar, but some of us have bills to pay."
"Fine," he huffed. "But what are you doing Friday night?"
Bella pretended to think for a moment. Her exterior was cucumber cool but her heart had picked up its tempo in a big way.
"Well, I'm pretty sure I have a date," she began. She couldn't really judge his reaction due to his incognito getup, but she thought his lips being pressed into a tight line said a lot. "But I suppose that six pack at the liquor store won't be heartbroken if I postpone. Provided I have a good reason to."
His mouth curved back up into a now familiar smile.
"There's this party at my parent's place. My father is retiring," he said. Bella was pretty sure she detected a slight twist in his voice at the mention of his father. "I can't stand the idea of being there bored out of my mind the whole time. Come keep me company?"
Bella froze. Sure, she understood where the conversation was headed from the beginning but she had thought it would be more of a low-key dinner, possibly ending up in a hotel room kind of thing. The idea of her going to some kind of fancy party sent panic clawing up her throat.
"Uh.." she stuttered.
"What? What's the problem?" he sounded concerned.
"I don't know if that's really my scene," Bella said carefully.
"Retirement parties?" his brow wrinkled in confusion.
Through the entirety of their short relationship, Bella had ignored the vast differences between their lifestyles. Anytime little thoughts of the future and what if fluttered through her brain like tiny butterflies, she stamped them down. But this kind of thing would mix their lives in a very different way from Instagramming and Snapchatting.
"Famous, rich people parties," she replied.
"No one there is famous," he replied still confused.
She looked at him pointedly.
"Well...me…but you know me," he amended. "Other than that, it's just my family and a bunch of stuffy old doctors. And you don't even have to worry that shit, you'll be with me. Taking advantage of the open bar."
That did some work to quell Bella's fear, but the issue didn't dispel totally.
"I don't even have anything to wear to something like that," she told him.
"Wear that. I don't give a shit," he said. "That polo is hot."
Despite herself she giggled. It was stupid. It was a bad idea.
"What time?" she asked.
**WIB**
When the band had first started charting, Alice hired a public speaking coach after a couple of not-so-smooth interviews. Truthfully, the coach had been just for Edward. The rest of the guys seemed to do just fine, but Edward had a filter problem. If it was in his brain, it had a good chance of falling out of his mouth. It took months, but the coach finally instilled in him the tools to not make an ass of himself by telling reporters how good their legs would look over his shoulders. For years, the little problem didn't rear its ugly head unless he was fucked up. But when he was fucked up, his bandmates were usually around doing far more fucked up shit than going off at the mouth. It was funny how one small town, brown eyed girl shook that all up.
He didn't plan to invite Bella to his father's party, it just happened. He was just thinking that it would be better to listen to her laugh, than the festival of Carlisle Cullen ass kissing that would be going on at that party. And then suddenly, this girl...this amazing girl, would be accompanying him to what would likely turn into a total shit show. So, Edward did what he always did when he was about to fuck something up…he talked to Alice.
"Hey, Allie, can we take a walk?" he asked from the kitchen doorframe. Alice was sitting at the table with their mother looking at some interior design magazines.
His mother merely looked at him, but Alice rose with a sigh. It was a "what did you do now?" sigh. Edward had heard that sigh quite a few times.
Out the door, across the deck, Alice didn't say anything until they were near the wood line, walking in step.
"What'd you do?" she asked, quietly and directly.
"It's nothing bad, Alice," he said with a smile.
"I'll be the judge of that," she replied.
"So I've been talking to this girl," he said. Alice's brow wrinkled in concentration. She hadn't known exactly what to expect, but this hadn't even crossed her mind. Edward never told her about his girls. "And I kind of invited her to dad's party."
Alice's mouth dropped open in wonder and she stopped walking. She gaped at Edward for just a couple seconds longer than he was comfortable with. He reached out and flicked her tongue so she'd shut her damn mouth. She shook her head at him with an annoyed huff.
"Wait…a girl? Who? Do I know her? Actress? Singer?" she asked.
"No," Edward replied, purposely being obtuse.
Alice rolled her eyes.
"Who. Is. She?"
"Her name is Bella," he said moving along again, giving his sister no choice but to walk with him.
"Bella who? Not Bella Thone? Edward, you can't she's twelve," Alice said gripping his arm.
"Who? Alice, I don't even know who that is," he told her shaking his head. "She's not from home. She's from here."
"Here?" Alice's nose wrinkled. Her feelings toward Forks were quite similar to her brothers.
"She works at Wal-Greens," he said with a small smile. Edward was pretty sure his sister's head was going to explode.
"I don't understand this. You've been holed up in your room writing. You emailed everyone new lyrics," she said.
Edward smirked.
"I've been inspired," he said.
"Ok. So, you've met some girl from Forks, Washington. You'd like to bring her to our father's retirement party. Where there's sure to be at least one person with a Facebook or an Instagram or whatever. So, undoubtedly this girl will become media fodder before we even make it back home," Alice said.
"Yeah. That's pretty much it," he said with a sigh. The details were why Edward always turned to Alice.
"Edward, who is this girl?" Alice asked.
"Her name is Isabella Swan. Her dad is a cop here," he replied.
"How old is she?" Edward had heard this line of questioning before. This was Alice protecting her investment.
"She's twenty-one," he replied.
"Is she a blogger, Instagram model, vlogger, or any other kind of social media based vulture? Does she play with an unsigned band? Is she looking to get into acting?" Alice ticked off question after question.
"No, no, and no," he replied. "Alice, she's just a regular girl. Like really regular. Not LA regular. Like real job, bills, normal life regular."
"Ok, so you want to fuck up her nice normal life?" Alice asked.
Edward sighed heavily. He knew his sister was right. This was exactly why he talked to his sister.
"No, I don't want to do that," he said. "But I've already asked her."
Alice closed her eyes and shook her head.
"Ok, so cancel," she said quirking an eyebrow at him.
"But I don't want to cancel," he blurted out before he could think better of it.
"I see," Alice said. Her expression turned thoughtful. "You like her."
Edward shrugged.
"She's different," he replied.
Edward didn't have much more of an answer for his sister. As far as Bella was concerned, he'd just been going with it. He hadn't really examined his feelings. He had only known the girl a few days, but there was just something.
Alice watched her brother carefully as he puzzled through his thoughts. She knew her little brother better than anyone else walking the earth. This time, she was pretty sure she knew him better than he knew himself. Her brother was stumbling into some feelings for this girl.
"Edward, does she even have a dress?" she asked.
A/N: Hugs and cupcakes for everyone reading, reviewing, likeing, following, or even just taking a little peek. You guys make doing what I love even more rewarding.
Chapter Songs: River – Oh, Be Clever
Still Wild – La Mar
