A/N: I've found some sort of inspiration, so here is tonight's chapter. I should have one more up tomorrow. Thanks to everyone for the wonderful reviews. The more reviews, the quicker the chapters.

*disclaimer stuff goes here. Not my characters, all my words, blah blah blah.*

Edward POV

It had been two long months, luckily I had the novel and of course my day job, to keep me occupied. It was finally New Years Eve and Alice had called earlier in the day to make sure I'd be coming to the party.

"Alice, for the hundredth time, I will be there. Even Emmett is coming. He's on his way to my place right now and we're going to hang out for a bit before heading to your place." I had been trying to calm her fears for days about this damned party. She held it every year for the past five years, but each year she got increasingly more nervous about it. If she kept this up, I would seriously consider admitting her to a mental hospital just so she wouldn't have to throw the damned thing. "Is Bella still coming?" I asked trying to sound casual.

"Yes, Edward, Bella is still coming to the party. When we talked yesterday she was all excited. She's bringing her roommate Rosalie with her, so that should be interesting. Emmett will probably try to hook up with her the moment he walks in the room," said Alice sounding a bit calmer, but still frustrated that I asked yet again about Bella.

"Why the hell would Emmett care about her roommate?"

"Umm… cause Emmett has a thing for models, and Rosalie is one of them. I'm gonna try and talk to her about being in my next show." Great, Emmett would probably hit it off with the model and I could have Bella's attention all to myself. This actually sounded good to me. "By the way, Jasper will be there, so remind Emmett to be on his best behavior."

Jasper was Alice's new boyfriend, and no one in the family had met him yet. She wasn't usually secretive about the guys she dated, but it was generally shortly after they met Emmett that they broke up with her, so it didn't surprise me that she had taken so long to introduce him to anyone in the Cullen family. I assured Alice, once again, that her party would be perfect and the Chicago elite would be talking about it for months and that Emmett and I would behave ourselves around Jasper.

Emmett arrived just after six and we had a quick dinner and got dressed to go to Alice's. We still had some time to kill, so I suggested we head to the bar down the street to have a drink, before hailing a cab to the party.

"Edward, surprised to see you here tonight," said James the bartender as he pulled out my usual bottle of Glenfiddich and poured me a drink.

"Come here often, bro?" asked Emmett with a small laugh. "Are you like their 'Norm'?"

"Not quite. I'm not here on a daily basis, but I come often enough," I said casually as I took a sip of my drink.

"Can I get a Corona?" asked Emmett as he effortlessly went back to the conversation we were having on our walk over from my apartment. "So, is it too much to ask that there be a few supermodels at this party? She's a fashion designer, but she never hooks me up with any of the damned models. Alice should hang out with only models."

"Nice theory Emmett, but I know Alice doesn't hang with models. She's a little more educated than that. Did you ever think that maybe she never sets you up with any models because she wants to be able to work with them again?" I said trying to be a bit serious. "You tend to hump em and dump em. Isn't that your preferred term?"

"I'm growing up and maturing Edward. I think I'm ready to settle down."

"And you want to settle with a supermodel?" I said curiously, trying to stifle my laughter.

"Well, better than some homely chick who drinks MDG and loves hockey." I just laughed at the sheer stupidity that is my brother and took another sip of my drink.

"Whatever happened with that hot chick you met here a couple of months ago?" asked James as he handed Emmett his beer.

"Dude, are you withholding info from me?" asked Emmett, eager for details on my non-existent sex life.

"She was hot man. Long brown hair, big brown eyes and nice legs. They sat here for hours before we had to close the bar and they left together," said James, clearly not ashamed at sharing all the details with Emmett, who was grinning from ear to ear.

"Is this why I've barely heard two words from you in the past month?" He asked as I frowned slightly.

"No Emmett, I've been working on my book. I've told you that like thirty fucking times. Nothing happened with her," I lied. "She left for New York and I haven't heard from her. End of story. New topic of discussion," I said trying to sound cool and relaxed, when inside I was bursting with excitement to see her tonight. Part of me wanted to tell Emmett the truth, but not in front of James. I would tell him before we got to Alice's.

We left the bar one hour and two drinks later, and both of us were in fairly good moods. When we finally got in the cab that James called for us, I decided to tell Emmett a bit about Bella.

"So, Emmett about that girl that James mentioned," I started out slowly.

"Your dating her huh? When do we get to meet her?"

"I'm not dating her, but she's gonna be at the party tonight. Her and Alice have become friends." Emmett cocked an eye brow at me, curious to know how that happened. "Don't ask. Just steer clear of her though. I really like this one and I don't need your help to fuck it up."

"That's right Edward, you always manage to fuck it up without me right?" he laughed as he punched me lightly on the shoulder.

"On a positive note, according to Alice she is bringing her roommate, some model chick, so you have something to look forward to," I said, switching topics so that I didn't need to tell him anymore about Bella. For the rest of the cab ride, he talked about which models he thought were the hottest and what qualities he liked. It was really kind of scary. Just before we hopped out of the cab, I finally remembered something to tell him. "Oh, and Alice said we needed to be extra nice, Jasper's gonna be here. So no scaring him away. Not tonight anyways." Emmett shook his head in agreement and we paid for the ride and headed into Alice's building.

Our parents had always been a little more extravagant with Alice, so when they decided to buy us all apartments, as an investment, Alice got a penthouse with views of Lake Michigan. I didn't complain, I loved my apartment, but hers was just so damned huge. It was a benefit on nights like tonight when she had 200 people invited over for a party.

"Edward, Emmett," she screamed the moment we walked in the door. She had a DJ playing tons of random music, trying to please everyone as per usual. "It's about time."

"We're not late Alice. If it was 12:01, we'd be late." Said Emmett as he gave her a big hug and finally put her back down on the floor. "Now where is this model you ordered for me?"

"Thanks Edward," Alice spit sarcastically at me. "I didn't order you a model Em. She's coming with a friend of mine. I really want to work with this girl so don't fuck it up for me." She glared at Emmett and he took the hint.

"Fine Alice, but if she wants me, who am I to say no?" Emmett was such a selfish prick sometimes; I really had to wonder if he was adopted. If he didn't look so much like Esme, I would be certain he was. We wandered up to the bar together and I asked the bartender for my own bottle of Glenfiddich, why waste a glass. Emmett took two Coronas, just in case he passed a beautiful woman, he said happily and we wandered around the huge room aimlessly.

It was about half an hour later when I noticed Bella walk in with some statuesque blonde. I nudged Emmett and had him look towards the door. "That's Bella and the blonde must be Rosalie," I said as I saw his mouth hang wide open. They both looked absolutely gorgeous. Bella's hair was curly and loose, whereas Rosalie's was pulled back on top of her head. Bella wore a simple black dress, and Rosalie was in a skin tight red dress that went to the floor.

"Edward, that's Rosalie Hale," breathed Emmett slowly. I grabbed his chin and closed his mouth, hoping that no one saw him looking like a complete idiot. "I told you man, I'm gonna marry a supermodel." He joked as he immediately started to walk towards her.

"Take it easy man. It's only 9:30. Do you really want to look that desperate?" Emmett nodded his head in agreement and we walked over to Alice, who was talking with some tall, thin blonde guy who we assumed was Jasper.

"Edward, Emmett… this is Jasper. Jasper, these are my brothers," said Alice as she kept her arm tucked in under Jasper's. He extended his hand to us politely. Well, he seemed nice enough.

"Nice to meet you man," said Emmett as he leaned over to Alice and whispered something I couldn't hear. Alice just scowled and turned back to our conversation, completely ignoring whatever it was he said. Emmett and I both agreed to try and play it as cool as possible, so we headed to the bar together so that Emmett could get himself another drink. He gave his first two to a couple of trashy looking blondes who were standing near the kitchen.

"A corona," he said to the bartender again.

"Gin and Tonic," said Bella as she ordered her drink, not noticing I was 3 feet away from her. "What do you want Rosalie?"

"I'll have whatever he's having," said Rosalie as she pointed happily at Emmett. Bella turned around and was shocked to see me standing there.

"Another Corona then," said Emmett as he continued to face the bartender. His smile was so huge; I thought his face might crack from the pressure.

Bella POV

Rosalie took so long getting ready, I seriously considered leaving her behind and going to the party without her. Of course, I knew I couldn't do that. When I got home she would surely force some sort of torture on me, like shoving bamboo under my fingernails or making me listen to the new Britney Spears album. I couldn't handle either, so I waited. It was just past nine when she emerged looking like the goddess she was. Her hair was up in a chic little updo and her dress looked like it was practically painted on.

"Are we going to the playboy mansion? You look like one of those painted ladies I always see on Girls Next Door." I laughed as she grabbed her purse and led me from the apartment.

"Bella, why are you watching the Girls Next Door?"

"It's on after 'The Soup'. You know I am obsessed with Joel McHale. If only he was single," I added dreamily. Rosalie just laughed at me as we headed downstairs and hailed a cab to Alice's penthouse.

When we finally walked into the party, Rosalie's shoulders were straight, and she looked like the owned the place. I glanced around quickly hoping to find Alice, but I didn't see her anywhere. There had to be at least 150 people there already and there was 2 ½ hours until midnight. Rose and I insisted on getting there early so we could talk a little business, but I see now that it would be virtually impossible. The music was loud, the drinks were free and it was packed. I would just enjoy myself. After the stress of my trip to New York, I needed to relax.

We headed over to the bar and I quickly ordered a Gin and Tonic. Rosalie was distracted from the moment we stepped over to the bar.

"I'll have what he's having," she said huskily as she pointed to the fairly tall, very built, curly haired brunette beside me at the bar.

"Another Corona then," said the man as he tipped the bartender and turned around, with his friend. Edward.

"Bella," he said politely. "This is my older brother Emmett. Emmett this is Bella."

"Oh hi," I said, actually surprised to see him, even though he was Alice's brother. I shouldn't be so shocked. Close your mouth Bella Swan." Sorry, Edward and Emmett, this is Rosalie Hale."

"Nice to meet you Emmett," said Rosalie as she extended her hand and started to work her magic. Part of me wanted to crawl into a hole and die. I had avoided Edward for two months now, of course I was out of state, but still it was avoidance. Rosalie and Emmett immediately hit it off and started chatting as though they had known each other for years, not seconds.

"How are you?" asked Edward casually as he handed me my gin and tonic.

"Tired. I just got back from New York yesterday," He looked genuinely interested in what I had to say, and he definitely looked sexy in that suit. He was sexier in nothing, but the suit worked too. "I was away on a photography internship and took a few jobs while I was there. I'm glad to be back home."

"I'm glad to have you back," he added casually as he took a drink from his bottle of whisky.

"No glass?" I asked curiously as I pointed at his bottle.

"Why bother? It's not like I'm drinking from the tap of the keg. I figured I would probably drink a whole bottle tonight anyways. It's New Years Eve after all," he said as he laughed. I nodded my head in agreement and took a big gulp from my drink. "Take it easy, you have all night." I wanted to walk away from him and go find Alice or Rosalie, who had mysteriously disappeared, but I couldn't. Instead I followed him as he walked to towards the large windowed wall of the penthouse and we started to talk about the most meaningless shit.

"So New York was stressful?" he asked as he looked out at the view of the city, with Lake Michigan in the background.

"It actually wasn't overly exciting. When I wasn't in a darkroom somewhere, I was being shuttled between sites and jobs. I hardly saw any of the city. Rosalie was supposed to come visit for a few days, but she got a job down in L.A., so I just worked some more." I said, slightly flustered. I wasn't nearly as cool tonight as I thought I would be.

"Don't worry you haven't missed anything here. There was the one time I got recruited to be an astronaut, and then I became a stonecutter, that was a fun time. Emmett and I started a barbershop quartet with James the bartender and Alice's boyfriend Jasper. It was boring as hell." He said in all seriousness and I laughed so hard my side started hurting.

"Well Homer, I started my own pretzel company, tried to be a cop and painted Mr. Burns in the nude. The thought still sends shivers down my spine." I started to giggle uncontrollably.

Edward then leaned into my ear and softly whispered, "You send shivers down my spine." I was screwed. I wanted to tell him that he couldn't say stuff like that to me, but deep down, I really wanted to hear it. Just before I could respond, Alice bounced over to us with a huge grin on her face.

"Welcome back Bella. I am so glad you could make it. Where's Rosalie?" I shrugged my shoulders and looked casually around the room.

"I'm not sure, but if you find your big brother, you will probably find her." I snickered as she gave me a sour expression.

"Alice, it was out of my hands. Rosalie came on to him first," said Edward, trying to be supportive. Alice just wandered away, promising to talk with me again before the end of the night.

"What was that about?"

"Oh, Alice doesn't like Emmett to hook up with her models, or potential models. He always dumps them and they never want to work with Alice again. She just doesn't want it to happen with Rosalie, but the moment Emmett saw her walk in, I think he fell in love." He said easily as he took another swig from his bottle.

"Don't worry, if Rosalie likes him that much, she'll knock that shit out of him fast," I joked as I headed back to the bar for a refill. "It was funny because when I invited Rose to the party with me, she said that Alice supposedly had two hot brothers and she would hook up with one of you."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, but she doesn't know about what happened between us, so I guess I got lucky that she picked Emmett." I said quickly, without realizing what I had said. He just cocked his eye brow and looked at me curiously. "I didn't mean it like that; I mean that Emmett would have been disappointed with me if Rosalie had picked you."

"And what if she had picked me?" he asked inquisitively. His deep green eyes were practically sparkling at me, as he smiled a huge grin.

"You would have had an interesting night, and an excruciating morning," I joked as I picked up my latest drink and took a sip.

"You wouldn't have been jealous?" he asked, still curious.

"Edward, you would have been bored to death. After five minutes of conversation with her, you would have come to find me to discuss literature, comics, music, anything other than what Rose wanted to talk about." I said confidently.

"Wanna bet?" he asked eagerly. "I bet I can handle five minutes of conversation with Rosalie, and if I win, I get to dance with you."

"What if I win?" I asked, excited to prove him wrong.

"You get to dance with me?" laughed Edward.

"It's the same prize moron. I've only had two drinks, not a bottle," I chuckled as I looked at his almost empty bottle of whiskey.

"Ok, you name the prize and it's yours." He smiled as he headed back to the bar and asked for another bottle. I agreed to the deal and watched from afar as he went to talk to Rosalie. He would never be able to do it. Rose likes to talk about Oprah, cupcakes and teacup poodles. I glanced at the clock on the mantel of the fireplace, practically counting down the seconds. I watched as his mouth moved ever so slightly as he talked to her. He didn't fidget or fuss; in fact, he didn't even take a drink to ease the pain of the conversation. It was over five minutes later when he finally walked back to me.

"Ok, we get to dance." He smiled as he took a sip of his drink.

"What did you get her to talk about for so long, without wanting to off yourself?" I laughed as I peered over at Rosalie, who was now talking to Emmett and Angela, the receptionist from Alice's studio.

"Simple, I asked her about herself. All girls like to talk endlessly about themselves, plus Emmett now has a ton of information on her," he said smugly as he grabbed my hand and pulled me onto the dance floor as a slow song came on the speakers.

"Fucker," I muttered. He didn't play fair.