Okay, now we can get to the party. Not sure if I will be able to update later tonight because Jensen, Devon, Paul, Ollie, Matt, and I are going to a concert downtown and have no idea what time we'll be getting back home. If I do update, it will be very late at night and probably a pretty short chapter.

Please review!

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EPOV

"Hey stranger."

I looked up from my tie and saw Victoria standing in the doorway of my room, wearing a tight black dress and a big smile.

"Hey." I smiled back at her as she walked over to me and placed a soft kiss on my lips.

"Let me help." She murmured, gently tying my tie for me. Once she had finished, I kissed her again, this time pulling her closer and resting my hands on her hips. Victoria pulled away after a while, breathing heavily.

"Do you like my dress?" She asked playfully once she managed to catch her breath, splaying out her arms. I laughed and took her hands in mine; looking her up and down.

"You look beautiful." I said honestly, releasing one of her hands and running the pad of my thumb across her jaw.

"Thank you." She said, looking me over as well. "And you look very handsome in your suit." I thanked her with a quick peck on the cheek and peered at my watch.

"You're early." I said, pulling her out of my room and shutting the light off behind me.

"I know." Victoria laughed, following me down the long hallway and towards the stairs. I stopped at the railing, looking at the scene below. Alice, already dressed, was directing waiters around, while Emmett stood in the corner with Rosalie and Jasper; talking and observing Alice's overpowering behavior. Dad and Bella were nowhere to be found. I laced my fingers in Victoria's and started down the stairs, walking at a slow pace so that she didn't trip in her high heels.

"Edward!" The moment my foot hit the bottom of the stairs, Alice was storming over to me. "Where the hell do you get off messing with my seating charts?!" She screeched, and Emmett burst into laughter. Alice whirled around, pointing her manicured finger at him. "Don't even get me started, Emmett Cullen! I know you helped!" With one last stomp of her foot, she turned around and huffed back to the kitchen, shouting at waiters as she went. Victoria stood motionless at my side, obviously very amused by my twin sister's antics.

"So that's Alice." Victoria whispered in my ear, giggling.

"Yep, the one and only." I replied, wrapping my arm around her waist and pulling her against my side. Before Victoria could reply, I heard footsteps on the stairs behind us. Carlisle and Bella had started to descend the stairs; Carlisle's hand dangerously low on Bella's back.

"Hey guys." Carlisle said easily, approaching us. He looked completely put together, but Bella was a little red in the face and breathing heavily.

It was obvious what they had been doing.

"Hi." I said, and they both smiled at us.

"Who's this?" Carlisle asked, nodding towards Victoria.

"Dad, this is Victoria. Victoria, this is my father. And you remember Bella?" Carlisle shook Victoria's hand and Bella nodded in a friendly fashion, her smile bright.

"It's very nice to meet you both." Victoria said, resting her head against my shoulder.

"It's nice to meet you as well." Carlisle said warmly, patting me on the back. "I'm just glad to see that Edward is finally taking a relationship seriously!" I looked down uncomfortably, and Victoria's smile tightened. We both knew this relationship was not a very serious one. Victoria was simply the only one I had introduced to my father.

"I'm sorry, but I have to go talk to Alice." Bella excused herself, looking around the large room for Alice.

"I saw her head into the kitchen." I offered, and Bella nodded at me in thanks, heading off to join Alice in the kitchen. Carlisle watched her go, a smirk playing on his lips.

I rolled my eyes and tugged on Victoria's waist, pulling her a few steps away from the stairs.

"Dad, we're going to talk to Emmett and Jasper and Rose." I said, and Carlisle nodded.

"Alright. I'll go and make sure Alice doesn't have anyone killed." Carlisle said wryly, and I laughed. Alice definitely needed monitoring.

"I think I like your family already." Victoria whispered as I steered her through the room towards Emmett and Jasper and Rosalie. "They seem hilarious."

"When they want to be." I said dryly, squeezing her hip gently. "But they are definitely a rare breed."

She laughed as we approached the others, interrupting what looked like a boring conversation.

"Emmett, Jasper, Rose, this is Victoria." I said, and they are looked at us with open curiosity. "Victoria, this is my older brother Emmett," Emmett shook Victoria's hand graciously "his fiancée Rosalie," Rosalie and Victoria exchanged hello's. "and this is Alice's boyfriend Jasper."

"It's so great to meet you all." Victoria said sweetly, placing her hand on my chest. "Edward has told me all about you."

"We're all happy to meet you as well." Rosalie said, looking pointedly at me before continuing. "Edward rarely brings anyone to meet us."

I smiled ruefully and started to lead Victoria away before anyone else could contribute to the conversation. It was heading down a road I'd rather not explore.

BPOV

The party was officially in full swing, and I was still petrified. Every single time Carlisle would introduce me, I earned scorning, skeptical looks from women and curious, leering glances from the man. Carlisle didn't seem to notice; he was too preoccupied.

Alice however did rescue me several times, making up a fake problem to get me out of a couple of very awkward conversations.

"Alice, who are they?" I whispered in Alice's ear, still holding Carlisle's hand. He was talking to one of his various golf buddies, and Alice had come over to keep me company. The two women I was talking about were young, around my age, and keep looking at me before whispering in each other's ears.

Alice grimaced before taking a large sip of her champagne.

"Those" she said, tilting her chin towards the women "are the ones I warned you about- Jessica Stanley and Lauren Mallory. Both of their fathers have worked with Carlisle at the hospital for ages, so they, unfortunately, are always at these things." She explained under her breath.

"They're talking about me, aren't they?" I asked, keeping my face straight. Alice gave my free hand a sympathetic squeeze as she nodded apologetically.

"Just ignore them, Bella. They seriously do not deserve a shred of your attention. Focus on the party, alright? And have some fun!" She released my hand and scanned the crowd. "I'm going to find Jasper…why don't you find Edward? I'm sure he'd be willing to entertain you." Alice said in a chipper voice before disappearing into the throngs of the crowd.

I sighed, debating what to do. I would love to have a real conversation with Edward, he was simply irresistibly charismatic and seemed amazing…but he was here with that Victoria girl, and the last I had seen of the two of them was an hour ago, when I caught a glimpse of them running upstairs, unable to keep their hands off each other.

So I squeezed Carlisle's hand and stepped closer to him, trying not to interrupt the conversation.

"I'm going to check up on some things." I whispered in his ear. "I'll be back in a little bit." He nodded and kissed me on the lips before I turned around and headed aimlessly through the crowd, looking for a familiar face. Luckily, I spotted Emmett towards the door, talking to a woman with warm, light brown hair and a very sweet smile.

"Hi, Emmett." I said cautiously, looking from him to the woman. She was very pretty, and looked like she was in her early 40's. "I'm sorry to intrude, but Carlisle was talking with some of his golf friends, and I-" The woman cleared her throat, instantly looking from me to Emmett uncomfortably. Emmett scratched behind his ear, looking put off.

"Um, Bella, this is my mother. Esme Platt. Mom, this is Bella Swan, dad's, uh, girlfriend." The blood instantly rushed to my face the moment Emmett said my mother.

Esme Platt. My boyfriend's ex-wife. The mother of his three children. The woman who had spent almost twenty years married to him.

Dammit.

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Off to party at the concert! Taking a sick day from work, but I will undoubtedly be pretty drunk still/hungover, so I won't be updating til tomorrow night. Maybe. I'll either update this story or 'In Search of Euphoria…yeah, probably 'In Search of Euphoria' instead of this one.


I still need to know if you want Carlisle/Bella and Edward/Victoria lemons. Let me know ASAP, so I can work them into upcoming chapters.

Xoxo- Melodyella aka Mellie