Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Twilight. The are property of Stephenie Meyer. I just like to have a little fun with them.

Chapter 6 – Preparation and Intrepidation

Opening the front door I stepped in to be met with the usual pile of junk mail. I couldn't remember the last time I'd received a proper letter, it was all emails now. I picked up the bundle and casually flipped through it as I wandered towards the kitchen "junk, bill, bill, more junk, another bill..." The kitchen was in it's usual disarray with Charlie's work boots on the table and last nights pizza box on the counter.

"I wonder if the boys down the station know you're such a pig Charlie," I mumbled to myself, as I set about clearing up and wiping down the surfaces.

I glanced at the clock which showed just before noon. A whole three and a half hours before Alice would arrive. My stomach growled but food was the last thought on my mind. I couldn't stop thinking about what happened this morning and what Edward and I had done. The memory of his hands on my naked body and the new found intimacy made my stomach lurch, my heart thunder against my ribs and the all too familiar heat to reappear between my legs.

"Must think of something else" I chanted to myself as I wondered around the empty house. If I didn't occupy my hands fast I would do myself a mischief, and the last thing I wanted was for more of those thoughts of Edward invading my day.

Seeing my old battered copy of 'Wuthering Heights' I grabbed it and settled myself on the couch. I'd lost count of the amount of times I'd read it but I was sure it was in double digits now.

"Bella! Bella!! Wake the hell up," Alice screamed whilst banging furiously on the window.

"Wh...what the fuck!" I screamed back, jumping up too fast and falling over, cracking my elbow on the floor. "Ow! Motherfucking feet!" I cursed as I tried to crawl back to the couch and use it pull myself up, before making my way to the door still in a daze.

"I have been waiting outside for 15 minutes Isabella! It's raining as well and my hair's going to be frizzy!" Alice huffed, as she pushed her way through the door. "Time is precious today, so much to do and so little time," she muttered, looking me up and down as if I was a piece of meat.

"Sorry, I must have fallen asleep," I apologised sheepishly.

"No shit Sherlock, now get your ass upstairs and in the shower so the make over can begin," she ordered as she ran up the stairs with me following sluggishly behind. "And I've no idea what I'm going to do with the birds nest on your head! I mean, seriously, did you nap in a hedge!"

"Oh great, let the game of 'Barbie Bella' begin," I whined, only to be completely ignored by Alice.

As I walked back into my room from the bathroom wearing just a towel, I was greeted with the sight of Alice's ass in the air as she rummaged through the bottom drawer of my dresser.

"Alice, what are you doing?"

"Bella do you have any underwear that matches or doesn't have holes in it?" She sighed, holding up a pair of off-white panties and an old bra.

"It's all in the wash...and those are my period pants," I replied dryly, pointing to the shameful garments she was swinging around her finger.

"Ew!! No!!" She screamed, throwing them at me before furiously wiping her hands on a towel.

"Serves you right for rifling through my stuff," I smirked as I sat down on the edge of my bed. "My fancy underwear is in my closet on the second shelf under my jeans, although I really don't see why it matters so much. It's not like I'm going to flashing my underwear to people tonight."

The following three hours went pretty much how I expected. I wasn't involved in the process. My only job was to sit and let Alice work her 'magic' on me. Plucking, primping, painting, pouting, curling, and breathing in so much powder I was sure I'd just guaranteed myself lung cancer in the future.

"Right, strip!" Alice ordered, holding out a set of midnight blue lace bra and boy short set to which, I, in response looked at her in horror. "Oh puhlease! Don't even try to pull the old shy card after what I had to witness this morning! It's burned into my brain and I'll probably need therapy in a few years!" she laughed, pulling the towel away from my body and turning around to admire the dress hanging on the door of my closet.

I inspected my reflection in the full length mirror and as much as I hated to admit it, Alice really had done a great job. My hair was curled to within an inch of it's life and fell loosely around my shoulders. My make up was applied lightly with the emphasis on my eyes really bringing out their chocolate brown colour, and it was finished with a light application of lip gloss. The dress fit perfectly and hugged me in all the right places. Not too much cleavage or thigh exposed, just the way I liked it.

"Bella, you look stunning. My brother really is a lucky boy," Alice gushed, grabbing my hands and gazing into my eyes. "Come, on. It's time to party."

As we arrived at the Cullen's I was completely lost for words. The driveway was lined with white fairy lights and all the trees were adorned with similar lights twinkling in the dark. It looked like something from a fairytale and I was the princess...arriving in a Porsche rather than carriage.

"Alice, it's beautiful," I gasped, my mouth agape.

"Wait until you see inside," she beamed, as we approached the front of the house.

As we reached the house I could see Edward leaning causally against the door frame. Dressed in a tuxedo he looked every inch the Prince Charming... the Prince Charming I wanted to violate in every perceivable way. "Dirty Bella!" I scolded myself silently. "Elegance, poise," I chanted, as my eyes made their way to his crotch lingering longer than necessary. Before I had chance to gather my thoughts Edward had opened my door and was offering his hand to help me out.

"Eyes on the prize Swan," he whispered into my ear, obviously noticing my ogling.

"That's exactly what I was doing..." I mumbled, standing up and teetering on the ridiculous heels I was wearing.

Pulling me into a tight embrace Edward kissed my neck, a low groan erupting from his chest. "Bella, my love, you look stunning," he breathed into my ear, causing my heart to thump and sending shivers down my spine. I instinctively wrapped my arms around his neck and pressed my mouth to his.

"Ahem," Alice coughed behind me. "If you think I'm going to spend three hours on your make up for you to smudge it before you even get in the house you're sadly mistaken!" She was not budging, standing with her arms across her chest and tapping her foot impatiently. "Your audience awaits..."

If the driveway decorations had left me speechless, then the interior most definitely knocked me sideways. Silver fairy lights hung from every surface and everything was silver and midnight blue to match my outfit. The enormous lounge had been converted into a dance floor with a DJ in the corner, and the dining room had the most fantastic buffet laid out with a huge chocolate fountain as the center-piece.

"Happy Birthday Bells." Charlie greeted me wearing a smart suit holding out a glass of champagne.

"Police Chief Swan, encouraging under-age drinking with your own daughter?" I laughed to myself as I took the flute from him and took a sip, the bubbles going up my nose making me sneeze and spill some of it on floor.

"Happy Birthday sweetheart," Esme greeted, kissing me and hugging me tightly. "I hope you don't mind, but we thought we'd have a little family only time early on before everyone else got here."

"N-n-n-no, this is perfect," I stammered, looking around at everyone dearest to me through tears. Everyone had made such an effort. I would never have expected something like this. Scratch that, this is exactly what I would have expected with Alice organising things. It still didn't cease to amaze me though

"Dude! Is that a keg in the kitchen?!" Emmett bellowed, walking out of the lounge.

"Yes it is," my father said gruffly. "We've provided you with alcohol but we expect you to be sensible. It's not a license to to get drunk and run amok. If we hear anything of you causing trouble or have to deal with any of your little friends down at the station there will be hell to pay. Do you understand me?"

"Yes sir" Emmett saluted.

"Right, before we go I just want us all to raise a toast to one of the most generous, beautiful and selfless people I have the privilege to call a daughter," Charlie announced, raising his glass. "I can honestly say I'm proud of the woman you have become. Of course I can't take all the credit though. Esme, Carlisle, I want to take this opportunity to thank you for all the support you have given Bells and myself over the past eight years. You're more than friends, you're family to us."

"Charlie, you don't need to thank us," Esme said, her voice shaking and a tear running down her cheek.

"To Bella," Carlisle announced, raising his flute.

"To Bella," everyone chimed at once in response.

"Right kids, we're out for the night. Edward, Alice, your Mother and I are staying at Charlie's tonight, but will be home early tomorrow afternoon. Be good and if you can't be good, be careful," Carlisle warned, as he held Esme gently around the waist and left with Charlie.

Edward had wrapped his arms around me and traced lazy patterns into my stomach, his chest was pressed up against my back with his chin resting on my shoulder. "I, I still can't believe..." I choked out.

"Don't you dare cry Swan!" Alice warned, pointing her finger at me. "I'm not having everyone arrive to be greeted by you doing your best impression of a panda!"

"Woo hoo! Let the party begin!" Emmett boomed, holding his hands out with a beer in each one and instructing the DJ to start. The whole house erupted with the thunderous bass as I made my way into the kitchen to grab myself a drink.

I could hear commotion coming from the hallway, and as I went to investigate, streams of people started to flood through the doorway.

"Bella!" Angela, my close friend from school shouted as she saw me, wrapping her arms around me and spinning me around. "Happy Birthday! This place looks amazing."

"It's all Alice," I mumbled, before being grabbed by countless arms and exchanging the usual pleasantries.

That was one of the reasons I was dreading such a party. I hated being the center of attention and it was completely unavoidable tonight. I just prayed that the novelty would wear off sharpish and people would enjoy the party, leaving me alone to enjoy it in my own way. It's not that I was ungrateful or anything, this was amazing but the type of social situation I had never been comfortable with.

As if sensing my anguish Edward appeared, wrapping his arm around my shoulder and whisking me away from the madding crowd. "Lets mingle."

"I need to pee," I said excusing myself, and heading to the nearest bathroom. Whenever I was nervous I always needed to pee. Something made me think I would be spending a lot of time in the bathroom tonight...

As I finished my 'human moment' I stood in front of the mirror washing my hands, staring at my reflection when someone knocked on the door. "It's occupied," I shouted, but the knocking persisted. "I said, it's occupied! You'll have to wait a minute." Surely that would give whoever it was the idea that they'd have to have some patience, but no, the knocking continued. I huffed and stomped towards the door and threw it open to speak my mind to whoever it was who felt the need to irritate me like that, only to be pushed backwards by someone in a dark suit and a hand put over my mouth to stifle the screams.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing!" I screeched at Edward, who was looking down at me with a smirk on his face.

"As soon as I saw you get out of the car earlier I couldn't wait to get you alone," he breathed, running his hands up and down my sides and kissing long my jawline. "Do you know how sexy you are tonight in that dress?" His breath was ragged as he sucked on my earlobe, making my legs feel like jelly as he lifted me onto the counter, settling his body between my thighs.

"Mm hmm," was the only response I was able to make. All coherent thought had gone as his hand ran up the outside of my thigh, underneath my dress to cup my ass causing a moan to escape from my lips.

All of a sudden there was a loud banging at the door.

"Fuck off!" Edward growled at whoever was interrupting us.

"Eddie, dude I gotta pee...quick," came the pleas from Emmett outside. "Put Bella down before my bladder explodes! If you don't I'll just get Alice and I'm sure you don't want that experience again!"

"Oh for all that is Holy!" I moaned, pushing Edward away and hopping down to the floor. "If we don't come out he'll just make our lives misery."

"I swear I'm going to kill him," Edward hissed, as he adjusted himself so his erection wasn't as obvious.

"Don't worry, if he carries on like this I'll be wearing his balls as earrings before the end of the night," I laughed, as I grabbed Edward's hand and lead us out of the bathroom, coming face to face with Emmett holding his cock in a bid to stop him pissing himself.

"Took your damn time," he huffed as he rushed into the bathroom, not even waiting for the door to close before relieving himself.

"I need to go and sort myself out," Edward whispered, nodding down at his crotch. Dress trousers really weren't great at hiding excitement and from the look of it, mount Eddie was about to erupt.

"Ok I'm going to get myself a drink," I laughed, before placing a chaste kiss on his lips and heading towards the bar, formerly known as the kitchen. "Try thinking of my dad in his underwear! It usually makes me calm down instantly!" I shouted back to Edward as he was running up the stairs taking two steps at a time.

"Charlie in his pants, Charlie in his pants..." I chanted silently to myself, to quell the throbbing that was spreading through my nether regions.

As I stood in the kitchen watching everyone around me I came to a decision. One that terrified me but also filled me with excitement. Nervous terror if you please. Tonight was going to be the night.

I definitely needed some Dutch courage beforehand and I surveyed the vast array of bottles covering the work surfaces. Tequila! That was the answer. A couple of those and I would be well away. I poured my first shot and downed it flinching as it burned down my throat and then grabbed a bottle of beer before heading towards the lounge. The place was bursting at the seams with people dancing, drinking and making out in random places. "Yup, going need more courage," I thought, heading back to the kitchen to grab a couple, or six, more shots.

The house was physically vibrating with music as I walked around mingling, talking to people I was positive I'd never seen in my life before. My feet were hurting like crazy in the God-forsaken heels so I kicked them off, not even bothering to note where they landed as I walked across the back patio. Edward was busting out his best moves with Jasper and Emmett in the middle of the room. He'd long since discarded his jacket, and his shirt was opened half way down his chest and wet with sweat. "God, what I'd give to lick that chest dry," I thought to myself as I walked, as seductively as possible, over to them.

"Ouch! Watch where you're dancing fucktard!" I shouted at random people bumping into me and standing on my toes. "Do these people not see me?!"

"Ed-ward" I sang, leaning my body against his and running my finger down his chest and abdomen, before tucking it under the waistband at the front of his trousers. "I's loves you slo much!" I shouted, pulling him closer to me and planting wet kisses over his face before my legs gave way from underneath me, almost crashing to the floor. "Whoops! Furkin legs."

"Bella, how much have you had to drink?" he asked, looking in my eyes.

"Not smuch, only enough to know I's love yoooooooou and want you," I laughed, groping his package and kissing his chest again.

"Bella, you're hammered!"

"ME?!? Nooooooooo!" I screeched, waving my finger.

"Whoah! Bells!" Emmett laughed behind me, causing me to spin around and crash into his chest.

"Aaaaand I love you too Emmie Wemmie!"

"Eddie you need to sort your woman out! She called me Emmie Wemmie," Emmett scoffed, before spinning me back around and into the arms of Edward once more.

All of that spinning wasn't a good idea. Surely I wasn't still moving? How much did they want to turn me? Why was the room still moving?!

"Ed..... I d-d-d-don't feel too goo.......eugh!"