SM owns all TWILIGHT characters. I merely borrow them for amusement's sake.

The Twilight Twenty-Five
Prompt #: 2
Pen name: IngenueFic
Pairing: Edward/Bella
Rating: M

Photos for prompts can be found here:
community[dot]livejournal[dot]com/thetwilight24/13912[dot]html

Making Small Talk
Drunk, happy, and daring, Edward loses all common sense when it comes to the beautiful girl at the bar.

Edward's eyes watch her as she walks from the back hallway, where the bathrooms are, to her friends at the bar. She's beautiful and slightly tipsy, a product of the night's on-tap specials, and when she laughs, she throws her head back so that her neck is an exposed column of pale skin. It's easy for her to flag down the bartender; all it takes is a finger in the air, a lean over the counter, and a toss of her hair over a shoulder.

A heavy hand claps down on his shoulder and he turns to shoot an annoyed look at his brother. "You really going to do this tonight?" Emmett asks him and he's very obviously trying to hold back laughter. "I mean, you've been watching her all night and she hasn't even looked at you."

"So?" Edward murmurs the response. "Just 'cause she hasn't looked doesn't mean she hasn't seen me."

"Uh-huh." Emmett gives his little brother a skeptical look especially when Edward slams back another pint of dark liquid. "And, tell me, how much have you had to drink already?"

"Not enough for what I'm about to do," he admits.

For the next 15 minutes, Edward psychs himself up to go over to the bar where the girl still sits with four other women. He wants a sign of some sort but she never turns around. In the same 15 minutes, he orders and drinks three more beers, and the alcohol warms his body over the lack of food in his stomach. He's not a lightweight but he's been drinking since work let out four hours ago and still hasn't eaten anything.

Edward is pretty sure he's fucked up enough to do what he always said he would.

With a deep breath, he stands from the small table he's been sitting at for hours, nodding at Emmett who gives him a thumbs-up. The bar is more crowded than it was earlier so it takes Edward some time to make his way over to the girl. Two of the girls she is with glance over to him with amused expressions.

He clears his throat as soon as he's standing behind her. Her body tenses at the sound, like she knows what is about to happen, but Edward is positive whatever is going through her mind is not going to do him or this situation justice.

"Excuse me," he says lowly. She turns and big, brown eyes blink at him. He leans past her and pretends to try and catch the bartender's attention. This close to her, he smells a heady scent of strawberries, beer, cigarette smoke, and a floral perfume that's more than a little familiar.

Her eyes stare at him as though she's waiting. Her friends have fallen silent and there is a tension in the air surrounding them. Edward takes another deep breath then turns his head to look at her. The first words out of his mouth are, "Do you like to fly?"

A single eyebrow arches up. "Excuse me?"

"Airplanes," Edward clarifies. He shuts his eyes briefly and, when he opens them again, he continues. "There's an airport nearby. We could... Go there."

"And why would I want to do that?" She sounds amused, which is better than annoyed.

"Because then we could watch my heart take off now that I've seen you."

There is silence for a few short seconds and then she laughs loudly, a sweet sound that makes Edward want to move closer to her. When she looks at him again, her eyes are bright as she says, "And what if I'm scared of flying?"

"I'd ask how tired you are."

Her eyes turn wary. "Tired enough to say no if you follow that up with an offer to ride you."

"No," Edward says in a laugh. "But I'd ask if you found anything interesting in my mind while you running through it for the past two hours."

"Hey, man, what are ya' having?" the bartender cuts into the conversation with ease. "Oh!" He recognizes Edward and nods at him. "Same as always?"

"Two," Edward responds as he holds up two fingers just in case he can't be heard over the rising volume. With a smirk, he turns to the girl and wiggles the two fingers. "See these?" She nods. "You should always use these two fingers when you need to get off."

"What?" she screeches. One of her friends, a petite girl that Edward tries to ignore, lets out a loud guffaw.

Edward leans in close just as the bartender puts two glasses down on the counter. His mouth is dangerously close to her ear. "They're mine, sweetheart," he says lowly. "They'll give you the best orgasm you'll ever know."

She is still silent and possibly in shock when he turns to go back to the table where his brother is holding down the fort. His beautiful, blonde girlfriend is in his lap and Edward nods a greeting.

"How did that go?" she asks as she nods her head towards the group of girls.

Edward chuckles. "Amazingly."

Every time Edward looks over at the bar now, she is staring at him, watching, waiting, wanting. Her eyes are fierce in their stare and her body visibly tenses when Edward licks his bottom lip slowly, intentionally, hotly. Next to him, Emmett is laughing at the looks being sent to the table, until he feels bad and practically shoves Edward away.

"Go talk to her again. It's obvious she wants it." Again, he is trying to suppress laughter and his eyes are practically glinting in the dim lights of the bar.

This time, she is waiting for him, leaning back against the bar with her elbows up on the counter. Her legs are crossed – right over left – and Edward flashes her a smile when she not so discreetly reaches a hand down to tug up the hem of her skirt.

"Showing me some leg, hmm?" Edward smiles at her and notices the way her friends shift the slightest bit so he can easily slide in next to her. "You gonna tell me when they open?" he asks lowly.

Her eyes are practically dancing in amusement. "For you?" she scoffs. "Possibly never."

Immediately, Edward presses his hands against his own chest and pretends to stagger away. "You know, rejection like that can lead to emotional stress, which can potentially lead to physical and mental complications. You don't want to be the reason I fall apart and die, do you?"

"Oh, really?" She uncrosses her legs before slipping her left leg over her right knee. The movement causes the fabric to slide up her thighs a bit more. "And how would you know this? Are you a doctor of some sort?"

It's the perfect thing to say to him. "As a matter of fact, I am." Edward winks at her and reaches out to trail a single finger down her neck. "When's the last time you had a full physical?"

"Not too long ago," she says in a low whisper. Her heart beats the tiniest bit faster at his touch.

"Shame," Edward says before he follows the curve of her shoulder and stops touching her. "I could have shown you what a great doctor I am."

A smile curves onto her lips. "Oh, so this isn't just for me? You say things like this to all your patients?" Edward flounders for an answer because crap, that wasn't supposed to happen. Seeming to sense the sudden discord in the air, she giggles. "So what's your name? Or should I just call you Doctor?"

"You can call me anything you want to," he says with a smoldering look. His tongue darts out to press against his upper lip and he continues in a breathy voice, "That is, if I can call you Milk because I'm pretty sure you'll do my body real good."

It's the final straw for her and she laughs until she can't breathe. The combination of cheap beer and bad pick-up lines has her stomach hurting from laughing and she opens her legs enough that she can pull Edward between them. "Stop," she requests through her laughter. "Baby, I can't take anymore."

Edward laughs and places his hands on her waist, smoothing down the skirt to make sure she isn't showing anything to the rest of the crowds. "Did I impress you?" he asks. Before she can answer, he bends and kisses her neck, licking away the salty sweat that covers her skin in a thin film. "Will you come home with me?"

"I go home with you every night," she teases. Her hands are warm and a little sticky from holding glasses with condensation all night but she lifts his head away from her body and grins at him. "Tell me you didn't really use those pick-up lines before you met me."

"Oh, he did," Alice says with laughter. She rolls her eyes at her brother. "The fingers line, Edward, that was horrible. I couldn't hold in the laugh."

"So I noticed." He rolls his eyes at her before turning back to the beautiful girl in front of him. "None of that worked on you tonight, huh?"

She shook her head slowly while mouthing No. "It's a good thing I was the one to walk up to you at that bar."

The girls, now surrounding them since playtime is over for the night, are listening intently. One of the things they don't know about their friends' two-year relationship is what happened the first night they met. It's something they're both silent about.

Even Alice doesn't know and she's the one to ask, "What happened then? What did you say to him?"

Edward lets out a deep laugh. He remembers how drunk she was that night, drunker than she is tonight, definitely. Her cheeks flush a deep pink and she buries her head against Edward's chest. When the others keep asking, she finally sighs and tilts her head up. Edward's eyebrows rise up in question.

"What's your last name?" she asks. Her friends look at her in confusion.

"Cullen," Edward answers promptly. His lips are curved in a magnificent smile. "Why?"

"My name's Bella. That sounds perfect with your last name.

Alice is the first one to screech, "Shut up! That is not what you said to him!"

Bella flushes even more and hides her face in Edward's chest. She can feel the rumbling of his laughter and she bites at his shirt playfully, holding onto him tightly when he yelps and tries to move away.

Alice isn't done. "And you!" She turns to her brother. "You fell for that?"

"Well," he says simply. "She was right. It did sound perfect." He kisses the top of Bella's head. "You ready to go?" he asks, referring to the apartment they share. She nods and hops off of the bar stool, swaying only slightly.

Bella stops him when Edward starts to pull her away. He looks back and notices the mischievous look in her eyes. She tugs at his arm and he dips his head so that she's able to speak directly into his ear. "You know... I'm like a tropical island right now." Edward waits. "Hot, wet, and waiting for a tourist to explore me."

The laughter escapes his mouth and Bella nips at the skin behind his ear. He jerks away but pulls her after him again, waving at Emmett who's in charge of paying tonight, and when they're outside the bar, Edward kisses Bella fully, licking at her lips until he can taste the light lager she was downing earlier. "No more pick-up lines, baby," he requests when he pulls away.

He's able to flag down a cab within minutes and, as the scenery flies by on the 20-minute drive, Edward can't help but rub his thumb lightly over Bella's left hand. The motion tickles her and every time her hand twitches, the dim lighting from the small television near their knees catches the twinkle of the diamond ring. Bella smiles and is glad she was right – Bella Cullen does sound perfect.

Thanks to Sara for looking this over and not judging me on the horrific pick-up lines used here (or, at least, for not telling me she was judging me). Speaking of the lines spoken by both Edward and Bella – they were found on the website, linesthataregood[dot]com.