Author's note: Thank you so much to those who reviewed! I love knowing that at least some people appreciate this story. It makes me write so much faster. This chapter is over 2,000 words! That's so long for me, haha. Anyway, here is the first chapter we have from Edward's POV. Hope you'll like it!

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EPOV

This was so pathetic. I am so pathetic.

A week ago, I had been blackmailed by my two best friends to go to a loud and crowded club. I didn't mind going out partying, I just didn't like clubs. I was more of a pub kind of guy; not as many drunken girls that threw themselves at you.

And now I sound like I'm a monk.

I don't date very much. One of the reasons why is my piano. I have played the piano for as long as I can remember; my mother was very into classical music when I was little. Another reason is that I just don't find that many girls attractive. I'm not like every other guy just trying to get into girls' pants and then run away. I wanted to find something more than that. I know that's not very common for a twenty-one-year old to say, and it was certainly not normal for a guy of any age to say, but it was honestly how I felt. I needed more than the physical stuff.

Anyway, I had been blackmailed into going to one of those sweaty clubs, and I didn't think the night would be any more exciting than our club nights usually were. I was so desperately wrong.

When we got there, it was the same as usual. We ordered some beer and found a high table, Emmett was being rowdy and Jasper was being shy. Actually, those are very accurate descriptions of my best friends. Emmett was loud and kind of insane. He was obsessed with lifting weights and clueless with the opposite sex. Jasper was nothing like Emmett, he was quiet and very shy. There was no actual reason for him being that way, that was just how he was. But he had some great humor in him when he felt relaxed and at ease.

I had known both the guys since high school. We had instantly bonded through our differences. Emmett had been an all star football player, I was sort of a band nerd and Jasper had been... Jasper. We started hanging out after I had stopped Emmett from trying to beat up Jasper. Apparently Jasper had made a quiet comment about football players' intelligence, or their lack thereof, and a second later Emmett had him in a headlock. So I grabbed them both by the ear and pulled them apart while people cheered us on all around. After that, we were inseparable.

But that night at the club, I was seriously wondering why I was friends with these idiots. They had threatened my greatest Debussy CD, saying it would be broken when I least expected it if I didn't party with them. What choice did I have?

They left me alone, none the less! I sat at our table, bitterly sipping my beer, while Jasper was walking around and observing the dancing people and Emmett had apparently set eyes on some beautiful blonde girl at the bar. That's when it happened. I could feel a pair of eyes on me and turned around, and there she sat. The most strangely beautiful girl I had ever seen.

She had very long brown hair and dark eyes, her skin was so pale it would have felt see-through if it wasn't for the slight blush that colored her cheeks. Her frame was kind of tall and gangly and it fit her so well that I could almost feel my mouth water. To top it all off, she was wearing red and black together; which was my favorite color combination.



I quickly turned away when I realized I had been staring at her. My heart was beating faster than normal, and I felt so silly. Suddenly a hand gripped my shoulder tightly and I almost jumped. Then I heard Emmett's booming laugh and relaxed, though I still had the beautiful girl on my mind.

"Ready to go, Cullen?" he said, socking my shoulder playfully.

I tried not to wince and rub it. "Sure," I said uncertainly, not really wanting to leave. Who knew if I ever would see that girl again? I didn't have the guts to tell the guys about it, even though I saw that Jasper was suspecting something strange about me. I reflexively turned around to glance at the girl, and saw her still looking at me. I snapped my head back around, cursing inwardly.

I didn't want any of the guys to comment on it, so I quickly stood and said, "Let's go then," trying to sound nonchalant.

They shrugged and followed me out of the club, but not before I could steal one last glance at the girl I had found myself so drawn to. She looked up and met my eyes, and her blush looked so lovely that I had to smile at her. I turned around again, damning my weakness. She must have thought I was some crazy stalker type, staring at her and smiling like a fool.

The next week was pretty normal. I spent most nights either in front of the piano or at Jasper and Emmett's place. I lived alone since none of them appreciated the sound of a great piano piece. Thursday evening, we were sitting in front of the TV of their apartment, watching some lame sitcom Emmett was obsessed with. He followed about five sitcoms, but Jasper and I were sworn to secrecy on the matter. It seriously was excellent blackmail material.

I decided to be very cool. "Wouldn't tomorrow night be a great night to party?" I asked casually.

"Sure," both guys agreed without giving it a second thought.

I glanced at them out of the corner of my eye. "We could go to that club from last weekend…"

Emmett, who had been laughing loudly and slapping his knee, stared at me. Jasper frowned. "Why do you want to go to a club, Edward?" he asked seriously.

Cover blown, cover blown, my brain screamed at me. "I just thought it had great atmosphere," I shrugged. "Besides, didn't Emmett find some blonde girl he was too scared to approach?"

"Dude, what the hell?" Emmett shouted. "I wasn't scared, alright?" He became silent. "One should respect such beauty," he finally whispered reverently.

Both Jasper and I stared at him. "What's wrong with you guys?" Jasper asked incredulously.

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After many incidents, we finally arrived at the same club as the week before. We hit the bar for a beer and then we sat down at the same table as last time. I tried to be discreet as I looked around for my mystery girl, but I couldn't find her anywhere. Too disappointed for my own good, I sighed and tried to have fun with my friends instead of thinking of her. I was doing pretty well, I had even convinced myself that I wouldn't have dared speak to her even if she had been here, and it really was much simpler this way.

Then, of course, I saw her. She was with two girls this time, one was beautiful with long blonde hair and the other was very attractive in a pixie-like way with short spiky black hair and who looked vaguely familiar. But none of them could even graze her beauty, my mystery girl. Her hair was completely curled this time, but it still 

hung long on her back. I swallowed as I took in her short but quite modest blue skirt. She had long thin legs and I could feel my stomach jump at the sight of them.

I suddenly realized that she was drunk. She was leaning on the blonde girl, laughing madly at something. I looked down and thankfully she was wearing black chucks. She probably wouldn't be breaking her ankles anytime soon. She didn't meet my eyes at all, they just sat down at the table I'd seen her at the last time. After a while, the small girl grabbed her by the hand and dragged her to the dance floor, where she started moving in the silliest dance I'd ever seen. I tried to keep from laughing but couldn't help myself when she started doing a really bad robot dance.

I suddenly realized that Emmett was gone and turned to Jasper. He was looking at the dance floor as well, and I could have sworn he was blushing. When I started to ponder whether I should begin to look for Emmett, he reappeared. He was cradling his hand, looking slightly panicked. He jumped up onto a chair and chugged down the half full glass of beer he'd left there before.

"Guys," he gasped and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "Shit, I just punched a bartender in the face."

"What?" both Jasper and I shouted.

"What the hell were you thinking?" I snapped. "Why did you do it?"

Emmett winced as I inspected his hand. It was just a bruise, nothing serious.

"He was flirting with that girl from last week, the blonde beautiful one," he muttered shamefully.

I slapped the back of his head reflexively. "Emmett!"

"But that's not why I punched him!" he defended himself quickly. "As soon as she turned away from him he kept doing these dirty gestures to the other bartenders… I saw it, and before I knew it I had punched him."

I tried to say something to let him know his behavior was wrong, but I couldn't find the words. I just shrugged and smiled at him half-heartedly.

Jasper cleared his throat. "Who is this girl, anyway?" he asked quietly.

"The most beautiful girl in the world," Emmett sighed heavily. "And she really isn't interested in me."

"Could you point her out?" Jasper asked, looking curious.

Emmett looked around and found her quickly. "Over there," he said dejectedly and pointed a thumb over his shoulder. I turned around in curiosity and saw the blonde girl I'd seen with my mystery girl earlier.

I gasped when I looked at the other patrons of their table and saw my girl. "Emmett," I hissed. "You have to go apologize to her."

"Why?" Emmett said, looking confused. "It's not as though that would make any difference."

Jasper leaned forward. "You could tell her you were only defending her honor. I've read that women love that sort of thing."

I looked at him with a sudden surge of affection. Only Jasper would not only read up on female behavior, but try to put the information at use in daily life as well. Emmett looked at me with a hopeless expression on his face.



"Go for it, man," I said, and allowed him to give me a rare high five.

He took a deep, steadying breath and left our table. I glanced over at Jasper. "How do you think he'll do?"

"From the looks of his girl of choice, he has a rough road ahead of him," he said grimly.

I nodded. Emmett wasn't known for taking the easy way out, though. Glancing over my shoulder, I looked at the girl who currently haunted my fantasies. She looked more intoxicated than ever, and I couldn't help but smile. She saw me looking at her and gave me a smile right back. Not being able to tear my eyes away from hers, I held her gaze for a couple of seconds before she suddenly winked at me. I could feel my eyes widen before I looked away, my cheeks probably glowing red. I was instantly happy that Emmett wasn't sitting at our table anymore, and Jasper seemed occupied with trying not to look at the pixie-like girl. I grinned at him.

Then I looked over my shoulder and met her eyes once again. They smoldered as they bore into mine. My God, I thought, she is trying to kill me, I know she is. I needed another beer if I was going to live through this.

I glanced once again. She smiled and gave me a little wave.

Okay, I'm going to need a shot or two.

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Author's note: So that was a bit of backstory on the boys and Edward's view of his and Bella's first… meeting may be a strong word. They really are going to interact soon, I'm just having too much fun with this. Please review and make me a happy fanfic writer :)