Yeah, I know, absolutely unheard of. But I actually got a day off (no work, no school...sweet!!) and thanks to sometimestheycallmejackie, Brandtishot, designerchick85, and roguefaery I got a sudden spark of inspiration! So this one is for y'all - thank you guys!!

EPOV

Love was a funny word that not very many people know the true meaning of. I mean, I could say "I love my dog" or "I love burgers," but was that really what love was? Or was love something more than that? I didn't think I ever knew before last night. Wasn't love something you would die for, get up every morning for, breath and live for? Yeah, but I realized it was even more than that. There was something else to it that was impossible to describe. Love was a forceful enigma that would be forever ill-portrayed by Hollywood and poets. But I knew that I didn't love my dog (okay, I didn't have a dog. But if I did, trust me, it wouldn't be love) and I didn't love burgers. I loved Bella. I didn't know how I knew or why, but I just knew and I burned with it.

I was contemplating this when Tyler pulled up in front of my house to pick me up for the party.

Beep-Beep…Beeeeeep!

Good God, did he have to make so much noise?

Taking one quick look in the mirror to make sure I looked acceptable, I ran out of the house, yelling goodbyes to my parents as I left.

"Have fun, Edward!" My mother called to me.

"Remember what we talked about." I could hear my father's voice from the living room couch .

They didn't mind. I think they were just happy that I made some friends and I was going out. It didn't matter what they thought. I was going to see Bella.

"Hey, Tyler. Hi, Angela." I greeted as I energetically jumped in the back seat of Tyler's Nissan.

"Hey." Tyler grunted.

"Hey." Angela replied softly.

I could tell right away that something wasn't right between them.

"What's up?" I tried to keep a light mood as we spun out of my driveway.

"Nothing." They both said at the same time with the same angry, bored monotone.

Right. Well. This was going to be awkward. Tyler cranked up some rap music I didn't recognize, prohibiting any speaking for the rest of the ride to Alice's house. I felt like we were going quite a bit over the speed limit, which normally wouldn't bother me…if I were driving. But our driver seemed to be in a mad rage. I wondered what happened. I have to admit that I'd never been through a real break up before, so I wouldn't know much about all the semantics. But don't people usually get pissed after the breakup? Angela and Tyler were still dating with "rough patches" Bella said to me one time.

Unfortunately, this gave me time to actually remember what my father told me. He'd come into my room a couple of hours ago…

"Can I talk to you for a moment, son?" Carlisle's normally smooth voice turned rough and serious.

I shrugged, "Sure, what's up?"

We sat in the living room with the television turned on to the Discovery Channel. As if it were hard to tell, the Cullen family is all about education. I never minded. I think I would have preferred that channel anyway.

Carlisle sat heavily on the couch next to the lazyboy chair I was sitting in.

"It's about this party you're going to." He sat forward, elbows on his knees. I'd grown accustomed to this position the past year. It was his 'fatherly-talk' position, the one where he feels the need to give me advice I already knew.

"Dad, I already told you where it is. Tyler and Angela are picking me up in a couple of hours."

"It's not about that." He waved it off, "But I wanted to be sure that there will be no drinking there."

I could feel the blood rush from my face. I knew where this was coming from and I knew that if I hadn't had a problem with drinking before, this wouldn't be an issue.

"No, there's not going to be any drinking." I said flatly.

"Are you sure?" He pressed.

I glared at him a little too harshly, "I know Alice. She wouldn't have alcohol at her party. And if anyone did bring it, she would kick them out. So, you see, there's no possibility of there being alcohol at this party."

Carlisle broke eye contact with me to concentrate on his folded hands and nodded thoughtfully, "Okay then. I just want you to be aware of your boundaries, Edward. I'm not sure if my career can get away with it again if something happened."

Again, I knew what he was talking about. It was infuriating.

"I'm not an alcoholic." I growled.

I should have tried harder to control my anger, he was my father and only cared about me. But he also cared about his career. When I got to the hospital after the Accident, they wanted to test me for alcohol consumption. Somehow, the test was taken and came back clean. I later found out that Carlisle had taken the test for me. Same blood type, no booze. He'd saved me from not only being tens of thousands of dollars in debt to the city, but he'd also saved me from some much deserved jail time.

"I know you're not an alcoholic, son, but everyone has their limits. Now, you know I trust you. But we all make mistakes…"

The conversation didn't continue. One thing I loved about my dad was he knew how to say the bare essentials and stop when he was done. There was no 'beating-around-the-bush' with him.

When we arrived at Alice's house, I was shocking. It was more like a mansion and I wondered how they built such a giant house in such a small town.

"Eddie!" Alice squealed with a confusing amount of excitement when she answered her door. Her spiky black hair seemed to bounce with her.

"Hey, Alice." I smiled politely at her. I liked her a lot, but her enthusiasm was a bit overpowering sometimes.

"Bella's in the kitchen." She winked at me before taking Tyler and Angela down to the basement. Great, now she can deal with their tension.

"Thanks." I said and hoped I wouldn't get lost on my search for the kitchen.

It wasn't too hard to find, but all the doorways reminded me of a maze. On top of that, everything was white or shades of white. Creamy carpet, white walls, etcetera. The only splash of color was the various expensive paintings and family photo frames hung with precision on the walls. Remarkably I took all the right turns and found the kitchen.

Bella looked amazing. She was standing in front of a French glass door, letting the evening light caress her body and shimmer on her golden top. Curled chocolate brown hair spilled over her pale bare shoulders. I tried not to think about her bare skin. It only made me want to ravage her, not caring where we were.

"Hey." I think my voice cracked.

Bella nearly tripped over the heels she was wearing when she turned to me. Thankfully I wasn't very far away and helped steady her before she could fall. But having her in my arms really did not help my situation.

She giggled softly, "Hey." She looked up at me, rendering me almost speechless, "How are ya?"

I cleared my throat this time for good measure, "Good, you?"

Bella released one of her dazzling smiles on me, "Me too." She seemed to suddenly become nervous. "Um…Can I talk to you for a sec?"

I nodded, intrigued, "Sure. I've been wanting to talk to you too."

"After last night…" She bit her lower lip roughly, "I was wondering…"

"What is it?" I pushed.

"Well…I was wondering what happens now?"

I tilted my head in confusion, "What do you mean?"

"I mean…well…what are we to each other exactly? Are we like dating?" She concentrated on my eyes, looking for my answer before I said it.

I smiled at her seriousness and held back my bursting laughter, "What do you want to be, love? I will be whatever you decide."

"I don't know. I want to date you, but I feel like we're…" Bella hesitated again and took a deep breath, "…more."

My smile brightened and I didn't fight the urge to kiss her, "I would never doubt that we are more than that. But we have time to figure out the correct term for it later, because I don't think that there is one in the English language."

"'Kay…" I could feel her smile as she kissed me one…two…three more times.

"Shall we?" I pulled away before I'd lost all control over myself.

She nodded, smiling, and she led me down to the basement. There were only a few people there, awkwardly drinking soda and standing around in defined groups.

"Come on, I want to introduce you to someone!" Bella tugged at my hand, which I had unconsciously intertwined with hers.

She led me to Alice, who was sitting on top of a beautiful mahogany bar and talking to a guy. She was obviously flirting with him, laughing ecstatically, lightly touching his hand or arm.

"Jasper, I wanted you to meet Edward!" Bella interrupted their moment.

Alice looked only slightly annoyed. Jasper turned to shake my hand, "Hey, man. How's it goin'?"

"Good." I said, shaking his hand.

All of a sudden, there seemed to be twenty more people inviting themselves into the massive basement. The music boomed loudly, lights were flashing and dancing, the air was suddenly filled with smoky chalk, and a few people started to scream excitedly.

"This is more like it, Ali!" Someone screamed from the other side of the room.

"That's my queue to mingle!" Alice jumped off of the bar, "Bells, come with me." She grabbed Bella's hand and jerked her with more strength that I would have thought she was capable of towards the crowd.

"Uh, okay." She said, giving me a pleading look.

I shrugged helplessly as I watched them disappear into the sea of bodies.

Jasper and I gave each other a knowing look that said…girls. We laughed.

"So-ah…you and Bells?" He asked curiously right before he stuffed a handful of chips in his mouth.

I nodded, "Yeah…you and Alice?" I raised an eyebrow.

He chuckled, "Yeah." Shrugged, "I'm stuck with her for life."

"Stuck?"

A wide grin spread over his face, "Yeah, that girl just won't let me go. I tried to escape a couple of times," another shrug, "but it's no use. She keeps on reeling me back in." We laughed.

Something ran into me from behind and I had to grasp the bar for support. A heavy arm fell on my shoulders.

"Yo, dude, Eddie, ya gotta go out there, man." Tyler yelled in my ear, "There are some fiiiiiiine ladies dancin'!"

"Where's Angela?" I peered at him.

Jasper shook his head at Tyler, "Dude. Not cool."

"Pfsh!" Tyler spate at Jasper, "What do you know, punk?"

"Have you been drinking?" I could smell the alcohol on his breath now.

"Nho." He breathed on me.

A blistering thought hit me, "I'm going to find Bella." I told Jasper and slipped from under Tyler's arm to face the sweating dancers.

It was difficult to get through them. Where did all these people come from? There must have been at least fifty more people than there was five minutes ago. Some were swaying, others flailing their limbs uncontrollably. It felt like a city rave the way the bodies were smashed against each other, letting little room to actually move against it. It reminded me vaguely of a giant mosh pit, one of the one's you don't want to trip into for fear you would be pummeled. Somehow I was slowly making through them in the direction I thought Bella and Alice went.

"Don't touch me, freak!" Bella's shrill cry pierced my senses but seemed to have no affect on the dancers.

My adrenaline flowed. Was someone hurting her? I had to find her now! I searched fiercely in the direction of her voice.

A masculine yell rumbled in pain, "You little bitch!"

I finally caught sight of them as I bulldozed through the rest of the sawyers and launched myself at a fuming, drunk Mike.

OUCH! I know, I feel the pain of this cliffy for you...No worries, midterms are over and I'm down to only two jobs now so I should have a lot more time to write. Love you guys!! (Oh and please review...I'm pouting...puppy-dog look...I know you guys are super-awesome, but it would be an act of showing your awesomeness hehe)