Summary: When her best friend, Alice, gets engaged, Bella is thrilled to be the maid of honor. One thing she doesn't expect, though, is how charming Jasper's brother, business mogul Edward is... And how sexy the whole Southern accent thing can be. Best man/maid of honor duties to ensue.

Chapter 4: Lessons in History

Thankfully, Alice seemed to learn (at least temporarily) from the mistake of waking me up early on weekends, though not quite from the mistake of continuing to use her key whenever she felt it necessary. I was quite startled to find her and Rose sitting in my kitchen, having made use of my Keurig one Saturday morning when I returned from a morning jog. Alice proffered a cup to me, fixed to my liking, unlike her usual cups of straight sugar.

I took a seat across from them, eyeing Alice suspiciously as I caught the usual mischievous twinkle in her eyes.

"Not that I'm not thrilled to have you guys here… But is something going on that I need to know about?" Alice had called the night before to inform me that she and Rose were skipping yoga, and it didn't occur to me, though it should have, that they had had ulterior motives.

"We're kidnapping you," she announced firmly, and Rose nodded resolutely to back up her statement. I shook my head at them, standing to fix myself breakfast.

"Oh no you don't, I have scripts to read today." The two of them knew precisely how it felt to be dedicated to their job- Alice practically lived and breathed design, and Rose spent every waking morning weekday at her garage. I love my job at the editing firm, and couldn't afford to get behind in my reading, even if my best friend was getting married. I'd been lucky enough to land such a nice job so quickly out of college, anyways.

"Bells, you know you'll have time to do those tomorrow- Sunday is for being lazy and reading scripts- tonight's for going out!" I rolled my eyes, knowing the two of them were up to something.

"You're trying to set me up with Edward again tonight, aren't you?" both of them had the decency to look a little guilty, but only a little.

Rose rushed to back Alice up, always the more rational, peaceful of the two. "It's been forever since we had a night out, Bella! Alice and I just want to get some nice things at the store and then enjoy tonight with the guys, that's all. It won't be the same without you!" she and Alice turned on simultaneous pouts, and I felt her composure begin to crack.

I stood from the table, putting my plate and mug in the sink and shaking my head at them. "Just give me twenty minutes to get ready," I grumbled, and Alice did a mock victory dance. Even if she had a habit of distracting me when I needed to get things done, I had to admit I could use a night out and away from work, and we hadn't been out since at least before Edward entered the fray a few months ago.

I took a quick shower and threw on some clothes, leaving my hair to air dry and being thankful that the winter cold snap had passed- though you never knew, with winter weather in New York.

"Alright, ladies, let's go," I breezed past them, grabbing a granola bar and throwing on my rain boots. Alice jingled her keys at me, declaring that she would drive, and I snagged the front seat of her Porsche, which was parked illegally in the street, a graduation present from her filthy rich parents. Between Alice's socialite parents, and what I'd heard of Jasper's wealthy family, I was expecting quite the wedding in the winter, particularly when considering Alice's tastes.

It was made clear early on in the day that while they might also be buying things for themselves, Rose and Alice's main purpose was devoting their attention to me. They claimed I had nothing suitable for 21 Club, the upscale club we planned to hit up, but I knew that that wasn't completely true, as Alice had picked out several dresses for me over the years.

I suspected, more like knew, that Alice's unusually along attention span was for one purpose only: to get me laid.

I did alright with guys, and had had a few dates here and there… I'd even allowed myself to be taken home from a club like the one we would be going to once, but I left in the morning before he even woke up and didn't bother leaving my number. I had a good job, supportive family, and loving friends, and knew I could get a date if I really needed to, so I didn't put much stock in the 'I need a boyfriend' mentality. Still, that didn't stop Rose and Alice from feeling some sort of twisted guilt over the fact that I was the constant fifth wheel, and hadn't really had much interest in a steady relationship since my college boyfriend, Jake.

Who, need I mention, they had all hated through the relationship… They were picky.

Jake and I hadn't exactly had an amicable breakup, which, though I hate to admit it, may have contributed to my avoidance of dating these days. We had met in a seminar my freshman year of college, and became fast friends, and then more. We'd been quite surprised, initially, to discover that by some crazy coincidence, we were from the same small town of Forks, Washington. In fact, his dad Billy, and my dad often fished together… The odds were astronomical.

We'd been happily together for the last three years of college until it came crashing down around us. The only real downsides until we broke up our senior year was first, that I usually kept him separate from my friends, as they for some reason had all decided that they hated him. Secondly, he had a mean possessive streak, but I had learned to overlook that.

He was called home to the reservation the summer after we graduated, though, when his dad had an accident and became wheelchair bound. He wasn't required to go, a fact that Billy hammered into his head, but I knew he would never forgive himself if he couldn't be there for him. Family was a major value in their Quileute heritage, so he didn't even hesitate to leave.

That ultimately became our downfall, when he realized that I wouldn't be willing to pack up everything and move back home, especially not to follow a boy. I think he thought we could have a happy little future living on the reservation, but I had eventually had to tell him I wasn't planning on returning home- I had fallen in love with the city, had job prospects, and above all else, had learned from my mother to never chase after a boy unless I was absolutely sure it was the best choice.

The night we had sat down and talked about it had been one of the most frightening displays I had ever seen from him- shattering a plate and leaving a fist sized dent in my wall- and it was then that I realized I didn't want to do anything long distance, either. Jake was one of the most caring, attentive people I had ever met, but I had no intentions of becoming a domicile housewife on the Rez and putting up with some of his tantrums.

So when he finally left that night, it was the last time I saw him.

I'd asked Charlie about him out of the blue one night a few months ago, and I could hear the sigh that come over the phone in response.

"He's not the same boy he was in New York, Bells… Billy's worried, and frankly, so am I. He's been drinking, and I picked him up for disorderly conduct earlier this year… And I think there's a bit of a gambling problem too." Some small, selfish part of me was glad that I'd gotten out of that, and Charlie was too.

The two times I'd been home for Christmas since our breakup, I'd avoided running into him, though that wasn't too hard because he rarely left the Rez. The last night of our relationship wasn't a time I wanted to relive, so I'd only glossed over it when I talked to Rose and Alice. I think they blamed themselves a little bit for letting me date him for so long, though there was nothing they could've done to stop it to begin with.

The one regret I was left with was not listening to them when they first told me that they were a little wary of him at the very beginning of the relationship.

Now, though, they seemed eager to make up for some of the tensions during our college years by forcing Edward and I together, and I wasn't quite sure what I wanted. He was quite the smooth talking flirt, though I'd managed to hold my own.

Tonight, though, should be interesting.

Sure enough, Rose and Alice picked out something completely formfitting and likely highly uncomfortable, but no doubt not as bad as the hours of cosmetic torture that lay ahead of me by their hands.

When we arrived back at the apartment Alice shared with Jasper, I was plucked, waxed, and buffed within an inch of my life, though thankfully they trusted me to do most of that by myself. The one thing I usually didn't mind was Rosalie's talents- she could do a flawless manicure just as easily as an auto body job, and usually did everyone's nails before we went out. Unlike Alice, she didn't scold me too much when I messed them up with every handful of popcorn.

As much as I liked to grumble and whine when they kidnapped me like this, I did love spending time with my girls, and usually grudgingly admitted to their success when I looked in a mirror at the end of the day.

Finally, 10 o'clock rolled around, and they shooed me to the closet to get dressed while they perfected their makeup.

I did love the final look, though the tight red dress left little to the imagination, and the heels were a little uncomfortable. Perhaps it was worth all the hours of torture, though I would try not to tell Alice and Rose that. A wolf whistle sounded in the doorway, and I whirled around to see them standing in the doorway, dressed similarly.

"Edward's gonna die," Rose smirked, and Alice held her hand up for a silent high five. I blushed, turning once more to look at myself in the mirror, as they crossed the room to join me. Rose, as usual, was a knockout in a simple strapless black dress, and Alice somehow managed to make her deep violet dress look both sexy and cute at the same time.

I examined myself, admiring the subtle smokey eye and pouty glossy lips- most celebrities would kill to have Rose at their disposal, and Alice was a wizard with hair, curling it loosely to fall in waves down my back.

"Emmett and Jasper will be drooling per usual," I said with a grin as they made last minute adjustments, hearing the door crack open down the hall and the boy's raucous voices spilling into the kitchen.

"Don't let this go to waste," Alice teased, squeezing my hand before we made our way towards the kitchen.

Though it sounds overly confident, I can honestly say that there was a moment of pause where the boys just stared… Before Emmett broke the silence and bound over to Rosalie, sweeping her around in a circle, grabbing her ass, and no doubt whispering something that I absolutely didn't want to hear.

I could feel eyes on me, and when I looked over, I caught the tail end of a long heated glance from Edward, perusing my body. He was already holding a bottle, as they'd obviously been pre-gaming a little, and he blinked at me a few times before meeting my gaze. It didn't take long for him to return to his usual self, though, flashing me a lazy grin and nodding his approval at what I was wearing. I pretended not to notice his gaze lingering on my legs, chalking it up to the half empty bottle of Jack he held.

Alice clapped her hands in excitement, ushering us out the door and into the cab waiting for us on the street. The cabbie expressed some annoyance over cramming six people in, but Jasper slipped him a $50 and he shut his mouth. Unfortunately, though, this meant I ended up perched on Edward's lap, smushed up against Rose.

He offered me a swig from his bottle, which I gladly took, relishing in the burn of the liquor as it slid down my throat. I took another sip just for good measure, patting myself on the back as I managed not to choke either time, though I did sputter a few moments later when Edward's hands slid onto my bare legs, and heard his cool chuckle at my reaction to the contact.

"Just makin' sure you don't fall off, sugar," he murmured throatily in my ear, and I rolled my eyes at the obvious lie as his fingers started tracing careless patterns on my upper thighs, raising goosebumps as my body reacted against my will. I had been trying to ignore the way it felt to sit on his lap, knowing I was pressed up against some parts of anatomy that created a tight pit in the bottom of my stomach, and thanked God that the dress hadn't been too tight to go braless under, because I knew I'd be showing precisely how I felt. I tried to sit as still as possible, but delighted in the small catch in his breath when I tried to readjust my position, inadvertently pressing myself against him, and resulting in him gripping my thighs a little bit tighter.

Grabbing the bottle again, I took a huge mouthful of liquid courage, before passing it back to an obviously already not-sober Edward.

One thing was for sure, it'd be a long night.

Thankfully this wait wasn't as long as the last... Still unbeta-ed, so any mistakes I make are entirely my fault, apologies in advance. Thanks for reading, as always.

Seven