I was throwing every piece of clothing I owned over my shoulder desperately trying to find something to wear. Every single part of me was screaming that this was going to be a horrible idea, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't keep myself on the couch. It was 9:20, Edward and his friends should have been at the bar for about 20 minutes now, and if I didn't find something presentable in this mound of clothing, I was going to miss them altogether and then all this freaking out would be for nothing!!
"Ok Bella, calm down. You can do this, WWAD!!" That's what would Alice do by the way. I never gave a damn what I wore but she had an eye for fashion and could pick something out of absolutely nothing. I tried to think like she would. What colors look good on me, what makes me look fat, thin, sexy. A black sweater caught my eye sticking out from under the pile. I grabbed it quickly, it was cute, fit tightly, but not too tightly, just enough to show off some curves, black is slimming, it was a bit lower cut than I'd usually go with but I didn't have much to work with, I had found a winner! Ok on to the pants. Well there were khakis, track pants, sweat pants, jeans, or my black work pants. Khakis, too formal, so I tossed them aside. Sweat and track pants, obviously not, I threw them on top of the khakis, work pants, although they made my butt look amazing, were…work pants and smelled like the bar, so jeans it was! I didn't want to be too uncomfortable so I quickly disregarded the few way too tight, trendy, and freakin expensive pairs that Alice had made me buy on one of our many forced shopping trips. I settled on a cute pair of hydraulic jeans, one of my favorites. I threw the jeans and sweater on, and gave my self a look in the mirror. Not bad, I actually looked pretty good!
Off to the bathroom to tackle hair and make up, I had already dried and straightened my hair, so it shouldn't take long. I tried pinning up the sides of my hair a bit, but decided that was too cute and quickly took the pins out. Make up was simple, I hated lots of make up, and didn't own much. Just a light layer of foundation, some blush, a hint of dark eye shadow and a coat of mascara and I was done.
I was darting for the door when it occurred to me SHIT shoes!! Who the hell forgets shoes?? I needed to slow down and breathe, no guy was worth this much stressing. I went back to my closet, hoping the decision would be quick. This would have been much easier before I met Alice, my pre Alice days shoe selection consisted of a pair of gym shoes, my favorite doc martins, and flip flops. Simple. However now was a totally different story, I was like Alice's personal Barbie, and no outfit was complete without a pair of shoes to match! I was starting at about 7 pairs of heels, too high for me to ever even reasonably consider wearing. 5 pairs of boots, ranging from ankle to knee height. And then my meager selection I had from before. I turned my head to see what the black pair of shoes were that I caught out of the corner of my eye. I swear I heard the angels singing when I found the one pair of comfy flats Alice had allowed me to buy the last time we went shopping. I quickly slipped them on and I was off!
--
"BELLA!" Jake yelled and had me wrapped up in a bone crushing hug the second I stepped in the door! "Wow, you look really good tonight." He said, setting me down and looking at me shocked.
"I should probably be offended at how shocked you seem by that." I replied, still trying to catch my breath.
He rolled his eyes. "Harvard is here." A smile spread across his face, but quickly faded and his eyes popped as it clicked. "But you already know that don't you?!" He accused.
"Maybe." I smiled and stuck my tongue at him!
"Uh oh Bella's gonna get some, Bella's gonna get some." He sang and did a quite vulgar dance.
I couldn't help but laugh. "You know, having a toddler as your best friend isn't nearly as much fun as it sounds."
"Yeah, says the girl who just stuck her tongue out at me!" he chucked and messed my hair. I swear he fit my entire head in the palm of his hand. How the hell did he get so huge?! "he's over there with some friends." Jake pointed across the bar, where I saw Edward laughing with a few guys I didn't recognize.
"I'll see you in a little while" I called over my shoulder.
"Go get it Bells!" He was doing his charming little dance again.
I shook my head and laughed as I pushed through the crowd.
"You made it!" A grin spread across Edward's face and he wrapped me in a light hug.
"Yeah well I figured I'd stop in and see if they needed any help, Fridays are always crazy." I smiled.
"Right." He rolled his eyes. "Do you want something to drink?"
"Umm yeah, just a beer would be good." I was going to need something to calm my nerves!
"EM! Grab an extra!" He called to a huge guy making his way to the bar. The guy just nodded back. "Oh, let me introduce you to everyone. This is Jasper." He motioned towards a tall, well dressed man standing across from me. He was very good looking, his hair was slightly longer than Edwards, but blonde and curly. He just smiled and nodded. That's James, he pointed to a guy standing a little ways away. He was exactly what I thought of as the typical Harvard guy. Short, neatly cut light brown hair. Khakis, a sweater, and obviously expensive leather loafers, and of course eyeing every female in the bar as if she were something to eat. And last but not least, this is Emmett, he smiled at the extremely large and muscular guy approaching us, 4 beers in each giant hand.
"Nice to meet you Bella." He smiled, set the beer on the table and pulled me into a warm light hug. "I'm glad you finally showed up, maybe now our dear Eddie will be able to focus on the conversation since he won't be constantly scanning the door, hoping you'll show up." He smiled and pulled me away, letting his arm drape over my shoulders as he grinned at Edward.
"You'll have to excuse Emmett, he's a bit of a pathological liar, and an indescribably horrible friend." Edward flushed a little before punching Emmett in the stomach.
Emmett flinched slightly from the hit but quickly regained himself and smiled wickedly at Edward. "Oh Eddie you're so damn cute when you blush!" He cooed and softly stroked Edwards face. Edward quickly swatted his hand away and laughed.
"Here's your beer." Edward smiled and handed me one of the beers Emmett had just placed on the table.
"Oh thanks."
"You might as well take it back Eddie, cause this lovely lady was just about to go dance with me!" Emmett winked at me as he pulled me up from the table and to the dance floor.
When he finally finished dragging me, I steadied myself enough to actually speak. "I'm really a horrible dancer." I warned.
"So am I, but check it out." He pointed to Edward. "Eddie is hilarious when he's jealous!" He laughed before spinning me.
I was dancing horribly, but Emmett was definitely worse, but he was funny and sweet so I was having a great time until the crowd all shifted, sending me stumbling into Emmett's chest.
"What the hell." I yelled, and looked up to find Jake practically body slamming some guy towards the door.
"That guy is ridiculous!" Emmett said, his mouth hanging open.
"What?"
"Well I know, I'm a big guy and all, but that dude towers over me. He's HUGE!"
"Yeah but he's a big teddy bear." I laughed at the thought of anyone being intimidated by Jake.
"You know him pretty well?"
"Yeah, actually he's been by best friend pretty much forever."
"Well damn I better warn Ed." He laughed. "And remind me not to piss you off!" He joked as he put his hand on the small of my back to lead me back over to where everyone was waiting. "The girls got moved Eddie, and she's cute, I might have to fight ya for her." Emmett grinned as he taunted Edward.
Edward just glared at him, trying to hide a smile.
"KIDDING!! KIDDING!" Emmett's laugh boomed.
"I really am sorry you have to suffer through this." Edward apologized.
"No, really it's fine, I think he's great. He's sweet, he kinda reminds me of Jake."
"Well we better mark this down!" Edward grinned.
"What?" I asked confused.
"Emmett is my best friend in the world, and I love him like a brother, but you are DEFINITELY the first girl to meet my friends who have ever described him as sweet"
"Well maybe you just weren't bringing the right kind of girls around." Oh my god, I was freaking flirting!
"Maybe." He winked.
Our night was going perfectly. Edward was charming, funny, polite and just a real gentleman, I was starting to like him entirely too much, I knew I was really going to have to watch myself, it would take almost nothing for me to start falling for this guy and that definitely was not part of my plans. I didn't need any more complications when it came time for me to leave, saying goodbye to Charlie would be hard enough, even if I was still going to only be a few hours away. Emmett and Jasper were great. Emmett was hilarious, I couldn't believe how much he reminded me of Jake, he was just a huge goof ball, definitely not your typical Harvard frat guy. Jasper was quiet, but sweet, he didn't say a lot, but he was always polite, they both did an amazing job of making me feel like I fit right in with them. I barely said two sentences to James, he was too busy trying to take home anyone that seemed even the slightest bit interested, but I didn't mind I already knew my fair share of men like that, I for sure didn't need to know another one.
Edward had just excused himself to go to the restroom when I heard a man yelling my name.
"Bella? Bella Swan?!" I turned, trying to find who was calling my name.
My heart stopped when I saw him. It had been 3 years since I last laid eyes on him, he was a little older, but still looked generally the same. Handsome, tall, short black hair, pretty blue eyes, olive skin. Most women would have been thrilled to have this man yelling for them, but my eyes were frantically darting around the room, looking for the quickest escape. I groaned in defeat as I realized there was no way out.
"Bella is that really you. Wow! You look great Bells." His smile was huge.
"Thanks Sam, you look good too." I said half heartedly, still looking for a way to get away from him.
"I can't believe you're here, Leah told me you had moved to California after graduation. I often wondered what had happened to you. Wow you look really good." He ran his hand down my arm. I winced and shied away from his touch.
"Well that's nice that you and Leah keep in touch." I glared at him. Leah had been my best friend in the world other than Jake. We met in the 2nd grade and were inseparable. We were, that is until 2 months before high school graduation, I was dating Sam, and I had been since the summer before our senior year, he was a junior at Harvard. He invited us to a party on campus, we were thrilled to be going to a college party, and Leah could barely wait to meet all the Harvard guys. She did end up with a Harvard guy that night, unfortunately it was my Harvard guy. I walked in to him on top of her, both of their shirts were off, but I didn't bother to stay around and see anything else that was going on. I never spoke to Leah again, and of course Sam and I broke up. He broke my heart and took my best friend, I swore I'd never forgive him. That just made California seem even more appealing. My stomach turned at the memory.
"You can't still be mad about that Bella." He laughed, and ran his eyes over me. I felt disgusted with even just his eyes on me.
Before I could shoot back at him, an arm wrapped around my waist. I closed my eyes and sighed with relief. If he had held me like this at any other point in the night, I probably would have subtly wiggled away, I didn't need to fall for him any quicker than I already was. But in that moment he was my savior. I squeezed his hand, I wanted Sam to see his arms around me. I wanted him to see it and know there was no chance of there being anything with us ever again. I wanted to pretend like Edward was my boyfriend just so he would go away.
"What's up Sam?" my mouth fell open as Edward greeted him! How the hell did he know Sam?!
"Not much Edward, just catching up with Bella here." Sam smiled at me.
"You two know each other?" Edward asked me.
"Umm yeah, I knew Sam before I left for California." the last thing I wanted to do was tell him the whole story. Sam chuckled at my half truth. "How do you know him?"
"He works for my father's firm."
"Yep, been there for 3 years. Edward should be joining us soon." He smiled, still not taking his eyes off of me. "Are you two together?" His eyes looked us both over, doubtfully.
Edward's arm tightened protectively around me, I leaned into him. But before either of us could answer, we were interrupted.
"Problem here?" Jake's voice boomed from behind Sam.
Sam, obviously annoyed, turned around quickly, only to find himself barely looking Jake in the chest. His eyes made their way up to meet Jake smirking down at him. Jake was an amazing friend, and had been over protective since we were little kids. I remember him beating up the boy who kissed me on the cheek in kindergarten. He had hated Sam since the first day I met him. He said he was cocky, and there was just something about him he didn't trust, if only I had listened to him.
He would have loved nothing more than to kick his ass when everything happened with Leah, but at the time Jake was still pretty much a string bean, his real growth spurt didn't really happen until the first year I was gone. I about fell over the first time I came home and saw how huge he had gotten, he had laughed and said it was all my fault, he didn't have anything to do besides hit the gym since I left.
Jake's eyes were practically dancing, as he stood, arms crossed across his chest looking down at a taken back Sam.
"Well I'll be damned, Jacob Black all grown up!" Sam stepped back a little. "No there's no problem, I just came over to say hi to Bella."
"Bella if you'd like, I'd be happy to show Mr. Uley the door." Jake looked at me hopefully.
"Get him Jolly Green! That jackass is finally gonna get the beat down he deserves!" Emmett mumbled and chuckled beside us.
"No Jake it's fine, Edward was just getting ready to walk me home." I looked up at Edward, hoping he didn't mind me speaking for him. He squeezed me, so I assumed he didn't.
"Oh, well ok." Jake sighed, obviously disappointed. "I'll see you around Uley." Jake threatened and slapped Sam on the back about twenty times harder than necessary.
Sam winced slightly in pain with Jake's slap. "Uh yeah, see you around." he waved sarcastically. "It's a shame you're leaving so soon Bella. We should catch up sometime."
"See you around Sam." Edward answered before I could, as he grabbed his coat and lead me through the crowd to the door.
I stopped him as I saw Jake standing by the bar. "Hold on just a second ok."
He just smiled.
I walked quickly over to Jake and wrapped my arms around him. "See you later."
"You ok Bells?" He whispered in my ear.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"Ok, I'll stop by tomorrow."
"Ok." I smiled and returned to Edward. "Ok, I'm ready."
He didn't say anything, he just went back to leading me to the door. His eyes were dark and his jaw was clenched. I wasn't sure if he was angry with me or Sam.
We stepped outside and the cold air instantly swirled around me. I was frozen to the core already.
He chuckled, his eyes a little lighter now. "Here." He held out his coat for me to put on.
"No, I'm ok." I shook my head.
"Bella, your teeth are actually chattering." He grinned.
"Ok fine." I rolled my eyes and blushed. Did men still do this?! I thought chivalry had died long ago.
"Thank you." He smiled as I slid into his coat. I missed the feeling of his arm wrapped around me, but he held out his arm for me to hold onto, I quickly grabbed it, not being able to even begin to convince myself to protest. "I'm sorry about the way I acted in there." He looked down.
"What do you mean?"
"Eh, Sam just gets to me. He's such an ass, he's just always got this cocky attitude and is willing to push anyone down on his way up. My dad of course thinks he's wonderful, a real golden boy ya know. He puts on a great act whenever my father steps into the room, always looking for a way to secure himself a position as partner. He just rubs me the wrong way." He sighed. "When I saw him talking to you, I guess I just overreacted, I didn't have any right to act like you were with me. I had no right to keep you from catching up with a friend, so I'm sorry."
"Sam Uley is no friend of mine, trust me. You have nothing to apologize for, I actually appreciated it." I hugged his arm a little tighter.
We didn't say anything else the rest of the walk home. It was a completely comfortable silence. Being with him just felt right, he made me feel safe.
"Here we are." He smiled and stopped at my building.
"Thank you for walking me home."
"My pleasure." He smiled and leaned slightly towards me.
YES!!! My head was screaming. If you had told me two days ago that I'd be standing here with Edward wishing he'd kiss me, I'd have laughed you out of the room, but tonight, there was nothing I wanted more.
I looked down awkwardly.
He chuckled softly, and softly brushed the blush now flooding my cheeks before leaning in and pressing his lips gently to my cheek. "Can I see you soon?"
Did he just kiss me on the cheek?! On the freaking cheek?!?!?!?! A week ago he was stalking me, and now I was practically begging him to kiss me and I get a peck on the cheek. I was trying hard to keep the disappointment off of my face. "I certainly hope you will." I smiled.
"Good." He grinned and made my heart stutter. "Goodnight Bella."
"Goodnight." I smiled and turned to go inside.