Bella was slowly driving him insane and Edward couldn't take it much longer.

Every time he looked at her, it was like she was putting on some kind of a show for him. Once, she had the eraser end of her pencil in her mouth, biting on it gently. Another time, she was bending over and he was treated to a peek-a-boo view of the skin between the hem of her shirt and the waistband of her jeans.

She bit her lip about every ten minutes, too, and she had to know what that did to him.

Edward was going to lose it. Either he was going to get arrested for sexually assaulting her, or some of this pent up sexual aggression was going to come out in the form of a fist fight. It had been a while since he had gotten into a good fight.

Worst of all, it looked like Bella and Newton might have started a thing. Or at the very least, a thing was in the works. Mike walked her to each class and sat next to her at lunch. Edward couldn't deny his jealousy. It was juvenile. He didn't really even like her. Still, he wanted to punch Mike in the face.

Edward would catch Bella looking at him every so often. She would look away quickly and her cheeks burned a bright red. He would, of course, wonder what made her blush so profusely. His mind always took a trip to the gutter and soon he had Bella stretched out in front of him, begging him to take her.

"Jesus," Edward cursed, shoving his pizza away from him.

"Are you gonna eat that?" Emmett asked around a mouthful of spaghetti. "I love Italian day."

Edward shook his head and Emmett pulled the pizza towards him. He leaned back in his chair and, once again, his eyes found Bella. She was listening closely to something Mike was saying. He gestured widely, but Bella's face was blank, so he tried again. Figuring it out this time, she laughed politely.

"God, you're pathetic," Emmett laughed.

Edward frowned at him, but didn't say anything. He was right. It was kind of pathetic, the way he had been moping around lately.

"Why don't you just go talk to her?" Jasper complained. "You're acting like a chick or something."

"I don't want to talk to her," Edward replied sullenly, staring at Bella. She got up from the table and Mike tried to follow her, but she waved him off. Edward watched her walk back onto the lunch line, where she began to eye the fruit selection.

Edward growled in frustration and pushed away from the table. Jasper and Emmett laughed as he stalked away from them.

"Ten bucks he chickens out," Jasper called, tossing a ten on the table.

"Ha!" Emmett crowed. "I'll take that. He's had a hard on for Bella since we were fourteen."

Emmett reached into his jeans and pulled out a wad of messy bills. He started to count it then shrugged and tossed it on the table. Jasper could see fine from his seat, but Emmett had to twist around to have a good view of that part of the cafeteria.

"Here we go," Jasper muttered. "Don't do it, man."

"Come on, Eddie!" Emmett shouted.

Edward turned around to glare at him and Bella looked up at the noise. She blushed at her close proximity to Edward and knocked over her water bottle in her haste to get back to her table. Edward bent down and plucked it up, tossing it back and forth between his hands.

"Bella," he greeted her, his tone careful.

"Edward," Bella replied wearily. She held out her hand for the bottle, but Edward pulled it out of her reach. "Come on, give it to me."

He looked down at the water bottle, finding himself confused and suddenly embarrassed. He hoped his cheeks weren't burning as brightly as Bella's. What did he hope to accomplish by coming over here? What could he possibly say to her?

"What? Are we talking now or something?" Bella asked, a hint of sarcasm coloring her voice.

Edward tossed her the bottle of water, catching her by surprise. Bella uttered a cry and made a grab for it, but her lack of balance caused her tray to tip. Her apple bounced on the floor and rolled away.

"Thanks a lot, Edward," Bella said curtly. "Why don't you just go back to ignoring me, okay? I think that'll be a lot safer for me."

"Emmett is having a barbeque on Sunday," Edward blurted out. Bella looked at him as if he had five heads. "He's got this, uh, big lake behind his house. It'll be fun."

"Is that an invitation?" Bella asked, her eyebrows narrowed suspiciously.

"No," Edward said quickly, almost defensively. "I'm just spreading the word. You don't have any friends yet. So you know, you can tell people and maybe they'll like you."

"You're such an asshole," Bella snapped. "And for your information, my new friends already invited me elsewhere. We're going to La Push for our own barbeque on Sunday."

Edward rocked back on his heels and shoved his hands into his pockets. "Ohhh, La Push. You're going to hook up with your good friend Jake, right?"

Bella bent down and picked up her banana and water bottle. She didn't know where the apple was. When she stood up, she brushed past Edward and stormed over to her table. She sat down next to Angela, stewing silently. A split second later, Angela said hello to Edward. Bella's head snapped up.

"Are you serious?" Bella exclaimed, staring at him.

Edward grinned, but ignored her completely. "Yorkie, Newton, what's up?"

"Hey, Cullen," Mike replied with a nod. He inclined his head towards Bella and raised an eyebrow. "Thanks for the other night."

Edward felt a white hot flash of hatred course through him. He wanted to pummel Mike. "No problem. Listen, guys, we're having a big barbeque at Emmett's house on Sunday. The property behind his place has a big lake. You guys in?"

"Oh," Eric frowned, looking around. "We were going to head out to La Push and catch some waves."

"We'll have jet skis," Edward informed them; lowering his voice like it was a secret.

"No shit," Mike responded, impressed.

"Yeah," Edward shrugged nonchalantly. "Dogs, burgers, kegs. You know. Should be a good time."

"We can always go to La Push next weekend," Eric suggested. "We should have a couple of weekends left before it gets too cold."

"Awesome," Edward said. He threw a triumphant look at Bella. She shook her head and looked away. Edward nodded and turned to walk back to his table, suddenly much happier than he was five minutes ago.

Now, he just had to talk to Emmett about this party he was supposedly having.

"Fuck, Edward," Emmett exploded. "I just had a party! And my mom's gonna be home. She's going to fucking kill me."

"Relax," Edward scoffed. "It's not even at your house. It's at the lake. We just need your grill."

"You know all of the girls are gonna have to use the house to piss. They never go in the woods. They'll be tracking sand and shit all over and fucking - "

"Emmett," Edward interrupted. "Come on. I need your help. Please?"

Emmett shook his head, then cast a doubtful look at Edward. "What do you even want with her? You're kind of a douche bag to her."

Edward shrugged. "I just… I don't want her with Newton."

"So if she goes for, you know, Tyler, then you'd be okay with it?" Emmett laughed. "Yeah, right."

"Just shut up," Edward complained. "I didn't bitch and moan when you said you were in love with the Queen Bitch, did I?"

"Hey," Jasper said indignantly. He didn't defend his sister any further, though, because she really as a bit of a bitch.

"Rosie isn't that bad," Emmett said mildly. "And at least I can carry on a civil conversation with her."

"Whatever. Listen, you need to invite Bella again."

"She won't come," Emmett said in a sing song voice.

"Just do it," Edward demanded.

"Maybe you should ask Mike to invite her," Emmett snickered.


The days flew by, and Bella was more confused than ever. Edward alternated between giving her dirty looks and completely ignoring her. Bella began to wonder if she had imagined his awkward party invitation.

Mike had been so sweet all week long. He was attentive to her every need, almost to the point of annoyance. That was her fault, though. She was strung so tightly that she felt like she was about to break.

She was beginning to feel suffocated. Not just by Mike, but by Forks. By Charlie. By the musty, depressing house.

"Bella, you need some fun," Angela said sympathetically. "You need some color, too. It's actually supposed to be sunny on Sunday. Plus, it'll be so nice to hang out with some new people, won't it?"

Bella made a noncommittal noise and stared at her notebook.

"Oh, right," Angela laughed. "I forgot. Everyone is new for you, right?"

Bella smiled and picked up her pencil. She began doodling in her notebook. Angela sighed but left her alone after that, sensing that Bella's mind was somewhere else.


The closer they got to Sunday, the more appealing the party was. Her bathing suit was packed away with all of her other Arizona clothing, but she doubted she actually would go in the lake, anyway. Her Forks wardrobe consisted mostly of jeans and sweatshirts. Surprisingly, though, they did still have random, end of summer type days that made everyone want to go outside and frolic.

Friday and Saturday crawled by. As Sunday approached, Edward seemed to avoid her even more. She hadn't realized that was possible.

Bella decided she was going to have a good time. She was going to eat, drink, and be merry with her new friends. She was going to be nice to Mike and try and make up for her foul mood.

She woke up early and cheerful on the day of the party. It didn't start until twelve, so Bella had some time to kill. She decided to do a bit of cleaning in the kitchen and maybe cook some pancakes for Charlie. He needed to start eating right.

Bella pulled on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. She jogged down the stairs, pausing when she heard a funny sound. Bella frowned and walked in the direction of the sound. It sounded like snoring.

"Charlie!" she gasped. He was on the floor behind the couch, still dressed in his uniform. Bella knelt down next to him and shook his shoulder.

Charlie moaned and rolled over. "Oh, jeez, Bells. I guess I fell asleep."

Bella stood up and stared at him as he struggled to get to his feet. He reeked of alcohol, and the end table had a nearly empty handle of vodka on it. An half-full glass sat next to it. Charlie staggered over to his recliner and sank into it. He yawned and closed his eyes, murmuring something unintelligible.

Bella felt sick.

Feeling nauseous, Bella went into the kitchen and poured a glass of water. She chugged it down, then refilled it and tried to find some sort of painkiller for Charlie. She placed the water and aspirin next to the recliner.

She poured the remainder of the vodka down the sink.

Pancakes were out of the picture now. She wasn't hungry and Charlie was asleep again, snoring even more loudly. Bella put her elbows on the countertop and put her face in her hands. Obviously Charlie's drinking problem was more severe than she thought. A normal person couldn't drink an entire jug of vodka and be okay. That kind of tolerance was built up.

Bella needed air; she needed distance from the reality she just experienced. She grabbed her bag and left the house.

It was a beautiful day. Bella walked into town, breathing deeply to clear her mind. The walk wasn't as long as she would have liked, but Bella enjoyed it nonetheless. The knot of unease in her stomach seemed to lessen a little.

The grocery store was open and Bella remembered that she needed to pick something up for the party. Renee had schooled her to never to arrive at a party empty-handed, and she would have been upset to know that Bella broke that rule last week.

The grocery store was nearly deserted, except for a few old-timers. She skipped over the fruit and vegetable platters. Cookies or brownies would be best; something portable and that didn't have to be refrigerated.

Bella leaned over the bakery counter and peered inside the clear display. It was pretty empty so she backed up to look at the prepackaged goods. As she backed up, she bumped into someone and nearly fell over.

"I'm so sorry!" Bella exclaimed, turning around.

"It's okay," the girl laughed. She was a vibrant little thing, with sparkling brown eyes and spiky black hair. She wore hot pink capris and a white and pink striped tank top. Even with her spiky air, she didn't clear five feet tall.

"Sorry," Bella apologized again. "I was just looking for something for a party…didn't mean to run you down."

"I'm Alice," she smiled. "I'm looking for something, too. Nothing that will melt or need forks or spoons or anything. Just like, good finger food, ya know?"

"Yes," Bella laughed. "I'm looking for the same thing."

Alice leaned over and picked up a plastic container of cookies. "Cookies, maybe?"

Bella shrugged. "That could work."

"Here," Alice said, handing Bella a package of chocolate chip cookies. "I'll get the peanut butter cookies so we don't bring the same thing."

"The same thing?" Bella repeated quizzically.

"You are going to Emmett's, right?" Alice questioned.

"Yeah," Bella laughed. "How did you know?"

"Not many parties going on today," Alice grinned.

They walked to the checkout counter together, talking the entire time. Bella found out that Alice was the same age as her but she was in a grade younger. Her parents voluntarily held her back and had her repeat kindergarten. Alice said it was because her teacher told them that all she did was talk and play with dolls.

"But honestly, what else is for kindergarten for?" Alice asked, rolling her eyes as she handed money to the cashier.

Bella laughed. "Your parents must be pretty strict to have you held back."

"Yeah, they meant well, though," Alice told her. "I was a preemie baby, that's why I'm so small. My dad is a doctor so my parents were extra paranoid about my 'development' and all that stuff."

"Your dad is a doctor?" Bella asked, sneaking a glance at Alice.

"Yeah. He's pretty much the only doctor in Forks," Alice nodded. "Otherwise, you have to drive into Port Angeles. He works at the hospital clinic sometimes and then he has a private practice. I'm sure you'll meet him…he'll probably be your primary care doctor. Carlisle Cullen."

"Dr. Cullen?" Bella repeated, her voice a little too high.

Alice looked at her quizzically and held the door open for Bella. She looked at the parking lot, which was empty besides her cherry red Corvette. "Hey, did you walk here? Want a ride to the party?"

"Oh…" Bella mumbled, her mind still reeling from shock. This was Edward's sister. Alice Cullen. She lived with Edward. "It's okay. It's really early, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but I always go early to help set up," Alice said. "I just need to stop at home to grab some stuff. Come on, come with me."

"I don't want to be a problem," Bella said quickly. "I can just meet you - "

"No, no!" Alice protested. "Get in."

Bella felt butterflies in her stomach. She had never been inside Edward's house. They always met at the cottage or her house, because he wouldn't let her walk home alone.

Bella wondered what his bedroom looked like and felt her cheeks get hot.

Alice drove like a complete lunatic. They were at the Cullen house within three minutes and Bella was certain that all animals within a five mile radius had been scared off by the screech of her tires.

"Where's all your stuff?" Alice asked, gesturing to Bella's bag.

"Oh, well, all my summer stuff is packed away," Bella explained. "I'm not going to go in the water, anyway, so it's fine."

"I have a million bathing suits!" Alice said excitedly. "We always have parties here and someone always leaves a suit. Come on, I'm sure I can find one for you."

Alice literally dragged Bella upstairs, which was an amazing feat considering her tiny stature. They were in what Bella presumed was a guest bedroom. On the way up she glanced inside each open doorway but she didn't spot Edward, or anything that resembled a boy's bedroom.

"Here," Alice said, tossing a two piece at her. "Try this one on. It's clean."

"Oh, no," Bella said quickly. "I can't wear a bikini."

Alice laughed. "Don't worry, I'm really white, too. No one gets tan in Forks."

"No, I mean - "

"Try it on, okay? I'm going to change really quickly," Alice called over her shoulder. She shut the door and left Bella alone in the room.

Bella had a feeling that if she didn't try it on, Alice would start ripping off her clothes for her. She shimmied out of her jeans and kicked off her panties. Bella pulled on the black bottoms, grateful that they weren't too skimpy. The bottoms were almost like boy shorts.

The matching black top looked too big. There was no way her boobs were going to fill out those cups. Bella threw her bra and tank top onto the bed and pulled the top on.

"Wow," she muttered, looking in the mirror. Alice was right. The suit did fit and it actually looked better than any of her own suits. The top had some kind of miracle bra built in, and Bella admired her new chest.

She was looking over her shoulder to check out her ass in the mirror when the door flew open. A very sleepy looking Edward walked in and shut the door. Bella froze, but Edward didn't even look at her. He didn't even register her presence.

Bella took a moment to stare at him. He was wearing just a pair of boxer shorts and his hair was a hot mess. The muscles of his back moved fluidly and visibly as he stretched his arms over his head. Bella was afraid to breathe.

Edward almost tripped on a pair of jeans. He cursed and tried to kick them out of the way but his foot got caught on a pair of pink panties. He heard a gasp behind him. "Shit, Alice, your crap is always all over!"

Bella watched him turn around and it was like he was in slow motion. His boxers hung low on his hips. Bella could see his happy trail leading down until it disappeared under the blue fabric. His stomach muscles were much more developed than she had guessed.

"Bella," he said in a husky voice. Edward's eyes traveled up and down her body. He rubbed his stomach and wondered if he was still sleeping.

"Sorry," Bella blushed. She awkwardly tried to cover herself, but her clothing was out of reach and there was nothing handy. Edward took a step towards her and Bella let her eyes drop below his abs again.

She felt her heart stop pumping blood. The front of his boxers was tented outwards. Bella couldn't tear her eyes away from that huge bulge. He took another step towards her and she finally looked up at him.

His lips looked swollen and redder than they had any right to be. His eyes were an electric green and the way he was looking at her was enough to make Bella's knees weak.

"Bella," he said again. Edward reached out and took her hand, pulling her to him.

"This is a bad idea," Bella whispered.

Edward nodded and licked his lips. "I know."

Bella looked over his shoulder at the bedroom door. Part of her prayed that Alice would throw the door open. Part of her prayed desperately that she wouldn't.

Edward dipped his head and Bella's breath tickled his face. He angled his head and captured her lips gently, testing her willingness. Bella stretched up onto her tip-toes so he didn't have to bend so low and she wrapped her arms around his neck.

Edward groaned and the kiss quickly became rougher. Her skin was so soft and so warm against his. He pushed against her and loved the tiny gasp of excitement she gave. He wanted her so badly that he ached.

He fisted his hands into her hair so he could control and deepen the kiss.

"Wait," Bella whispered. "Alice is - "

At that exact moment there was a knock at the door and Alice poked her head in. Bella froze and tried to move, but Edward's hands dropped to her waist and held her still.

"Don't move," he hissed.

"Edward?" Alice asked. "Do you know Bella?"

"Yes," Edward ground out. "I know Bella."

Bella was still plastered up against him, his erection throbbing against her stomach. She knew her cheeks were neon red and she was too embarrassed to look at either of them.

"Well…Bella, how does it fit?" Alice asked.

"Fuck, Alice, give us a minute, please," Edward said irritably, half turning to look at her.

"Oh, ew!" Alice squealed. "Go take a cold shower or something."

"Oh, my God," Bella whispered, hiding her face in her hands. Alice slammed the door behind her and they could hear her giggling in the hallway.

Edward shook his head and turned to face forward, but not before risking a glance at his crotch. Nothing was poking out. Just…very defined. Christ, could this get any more awkward?

"Um," Bella said. She extricated herself from Edward's arms and stepped around him. Edward didn't turn around to look at her while she yanked on her clothes.

"Bella," Edward called over his shoulder.

Bella hesitated, her hand on the door knob.

"I'll see you at the party," Edward said in an ominous voice.