A/N: So, I was going to punish you all because I think Edward requested 69 reviews for the last chapter! But then I got thinking about it and I think I got around 48 reviews, which is pretty freakin' sweet! I rewarded you lovely people instead with the longest chapter yet.

I hope everyone had a wonderful New Years! Mine sucked, but we'll save that for another day! I gotta give partial credit for this chapter to my partner at work who has no idea he's helping me write a fanfic *snicker* Thank you guys for the great reviews! Keep them coming, they help me write! And now I present to you... THE HALLOWEEN PARTY! Costumes can be found on my profile.

Chapter Ten: Come As You Are

BPOV

Friday Morning…

The entire school had been buzzing all week long in anticipation of the Halloween party at the Hale House. Everyone from the lowly freshman to the God-like seniors were looking forward to the first official non-school related party of the year. It was most likely going to go down in Forks High history as the best party of the century, as Rosalie and Alice had planned everything to a T.

But despite all that, I just couldn't find it in myself to get excited. For one thing, crowds weren't exactly my thing. Especially if I was being forced to parade around in a ridiculous costume in front of said crowd. Especially if Edward Cullen was a part of that crowd.

Even now, in the comfort of my toasty truck cab, I shivered at the thought of him seeing me in the heinous get-up that Alice had forced me to buy, completely disregarding our previous agreement on veto power of the costumes.

Of course, I still wasn't a hundred percent sure that Edward would even show up. He'd been proclaiming all week that he would, in fact, be coming, which I attributed to the fact that Jessica Stanley had been out of school sick since Tuesday. But now, as I watched her pull into the parking lot in her Toyota, I wondered if her re-appearance would change things.

I kind of hoped not.

With a sigh, I grabbed my bag from the passenger seat and shoved the heavy door open, cringing as the cool autumn air struck me. Though my truck wasn't good for much, it was good for keeping me warm in the cold Forks temperatures. I pulled my jacket tighter around my body before I slung my bag onto my shoulder.

I spotted Alice and Rosalie huddled up to Jasper and Emmett near the lunch building. Edward stood against the wall, leaning casually against the nondescript concrete.

I trudged across the parking lot, pausing as I was passing Jessica Stanley's car. My intention had originally been to simply ask if she was feeling any better and to find out if she was planning on attending the party with Edward later that night, but as her bag slipped from her hand, spilling the contents against the concrete, I hurried over to the driver's side to offer her a hand.

"Hey Jess," I greeted, as I stooped down to grab some of her scattered materials. "Are you feeling any better?"

She refused to meet my gaze, though her voice was not unkind when she responded. "A little bit, thanks," she said quietly as she picked up the remainder of her belongings before she shoved them into her bag.

"Here you go," I said, holding out her notebook, which she took with a slight smile.

"Thanks Bella. It was really nice of you to help me."

"No problem," I responded, and I meant it. She glanced up at me briefly and I could see the unshed tears in her blue eyes. Slightly startled, I pushed myself to my feet, careful not to fall and held out a hand to help her up. "Hey Jessica… are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine," she insisted, brushing a lock of her hair out of her face. "Thanks again for helping me."

"No problem," I repeated dumbly as she closed her car door and lifted her bag onto her shoulder before she took off across the parking lot. "Er… Hey Jess!" She stopped, turning to look at me quizzically. "Listen… we're having a party tonight at Rosalie and Jasper's. I don't know if you were planning on coming with Edward or not… but you should. Come to the party I mean." But not with Edward.

"I don't think I can," she responded, her voice cracking every so slightly. "But thank you for the invitation," she said. As she turned, I could have sworn I saw a tear slide down her cheek.

EPOV

"So you are coming tonight, right?" Alice asked as she cocked her eyebrow at me. It took every bit of strength I had to keep from rolling my eyes at her. She'd been asking me this question for the last week, and every goddamned time, I gave her the same answer. I was tempted to tell her 'no' just to piss her off, but according to Jasper, she was a pouter and I hated that shit.

So I settled for an affirmative answer in a sarcastic tone. "Haven't we had this discussion every day? Pretty sure I've told you at least sixty times this week that I'm coming."

She ignored my tone, but Blondie did not and I didn't miss the irritated scowl she sent me. I rolled my eyes in response and suppressed the urge to give her the finger. I'd managed to form tentative friendships with the others, but apparently, she wasn't buying my bullshit. Whatever. Like I cared.

"Are you sure you're against dressing up?" Alice asked, oblivious to my inner musings. "We could throw together a quick outfit and you could be the Wizard!"

"Positive," I responded with a snort. Yeah right. Not going to fucking happen in this lifetime. I opened my mouth to respond with another sarcastic remark about Emmett and Jasper being just a notch above the split-tails, but before I got the opportunity, Rosalie drew my attention to the other end of the parking lot.

"Why the hell is Bella talking to Jessica Stanley?" She asked, disgust lacing her voice.

I narrowed my eyes as I spotted her pulling Jessica to her feet. Why the fuck was she talking to Jessica? That bitch had been out for almost the entire week. I'd almost felt a little bad at that, knowing that my casual dismissal of her Monday night after our fuck session was most likely the reason, but seeing her talking to Bella irritated the fuck out of me.

What if she didn't keep her goddamned mouth shut? What if she was spilling her goddamned guts about what happened on Monday to Bella right now? Fuck. I'd definitely have to have a conversation with her later and remind her again to keep her trap closed.

I tried really hard to appear casually disinterested as Bella made her way across the parking lot and wet grass to where we stood.

"Why were you talking to Jessica?" Rosalie demanded by way of greeting as Bella joined us. My first instinct had been to bitch slap that cunt for the way she talked to Bella but I wasn't really in the mood to have Emmett break my face, so I didn't do a goddamned thing. Plus, I wanted to know why the fuck she'd been talking to Jessica too. I just would have asked in a nicer way. Maybe.

She looked slightly taken aback at the question, or maybe it was the tone in which it was asked, which increased my irritation with the Barbie.

"I wasn't aware there were restrictions on who I could talk to."

"Don't be ridiculous, Bella," Rosalie snorted with a roll of her eyes. "What did she want?"

Yeah, what did she want?

Bella rolled her eyes and shrugged her bag higher onto her shoulder. "She dropped her bag. I wasn't aware it was a crime to be a good citizen."

"You didn't invite her to the party though, did you?" Rosalie asked, though it sounded more like a threat than anything.

Please say you didn't, I thought.

"Easy now Rose," Emmett soothed, dropping his hand to her shoulder. "It's not a big deal if she invited Jess."

Yes it is!

"Yes the hell it is! The last time I checked, we were having this party at my house and there is a strict no troll policy!"

"Oh for God's sake!" Bella groaned, obviously exasperated by the entire subject. "What is with all this elitist crap? This is high school, Rosalie, not a yacht club! Yes, I invited Jessica to the party and no, she won't be coming! And if you keep up with your stupid high and mighty attitude, I'm not coming either!"

I don't think anyone was used to hearing Bella get up in arms about something so stupid, based on the shocked expressions on everyone's faces. But I felt kind of proud. Like maybe a little bit of me was rubbing off on her.

But I was still glad that Stanley wasn't coming.

"Fine," Rosalie grumbled. "I'm just trying—"

"I know what you're just trying to do," Bella snapped. "But you need to stop. Now."

"Okay," Jasper said, attempting to diffuse the situation before it got out of hand, "so I guess we're meeting up at our house around five tonight, right?"

"Works for me," Emmett said. "You want me to swing by and pick you up?" He asked, glancing in my direction.

"Yeah sure," I responded with a shrug.

"Bella is supposed to pick Edward up," Alice screeched. "You're supposed to go over to Jasper's right after school and help hang the decorations!"

"Well what the hell are we meeting at five for then?" Emmett asked.

"To start getting ready," Alice and Rosalie answered together, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Listen, there's no way I'm getting dressed at five and sitting around in that gay costume until eight. Not going to happen munchkin. Sorry," Emmett said, though he didn't sound sorry at all.

"You will, even if I have to wrestle you into it," Alice threatened, wagging her tiny finger in Emmett's face. Truthfully, it was kind of hilarious, but it was a little annoying too, so I knew I needed to get the hell out of there.

"Alright, so Bella's picking me up then?" I asked, glancing to her for confirmation. She still seemed irritated by her exchange with Rosalie, so all I got was a curt nod. "Cool. I'll see you losers later."

BPOV

Later That Afternoon…

Usually, I hate Fridays. I know how weird that sounds, because what high school kid hates a Friday? But you know what the problem with the last school day of the week was? It always ticked by at an unbearably slow pace. But apparently, God was feeling merciful because before I knew it, the last bell of the day had rung, releasing me from this Hell.

We'd all said goodbye in the parking lot before going our separate ways. I'd offered Edward a ride home since Emmett apparently had strict instructions to get to the Hale House immediately after school to decorate, but he had assured me it was no problem to drop Edward off.

Even the drive home, while not too far, took less time than usual and before I knew it, I was in the kitchen, preparing a meal for my dad for later.

I had no idea how Charlie—my dad-- had managed to survive before I'd come to Forks. He was quite possibly the worst cook in the history of the world, and as soon as I'd realized it, I'd requested to be put in charge of all kitchen detail. Even though he assured me time and again that he would be able to manage just fine in the event I wasn't home for dinner, it still made me feel a little guilty, so I liked to have something laid out for him—something easy enough that he couldn't possibly screw up.

I shoved the pan of marinated steaks onto the shelf in the refrigerator with a note on how long to cook it in the over, along with instructions for the baked potato before I hurried up the stairs to get ready for the party.

I didn't have much to do; most of the actual prepping would be done in Rosalie's bedroom. Alice had instructed me to shower, wash my hair, and leave the rest to her.

I threw on a pair of my favorite jeans and grabbed a hoodie from the closet before I deemed myself appropriate. I scribbled a quick note to Charlie, reminding him of my whereabouts and the fact that I wouldn't be home until morning before I headed out to the truck.

I wondered briefly, as I drove the short distance to Miss Ruby's if I should go in and say hello, as it had been a few days since I'd seen her, but I didn't have the chance. Edward was already outside waiting for me.

"Excited for the party?" I asked as he climbed into the cab of the truck, pulling the heavy rusty door closed behind him. He snorted and rolled his eyes at my question.

"The party? Not so much. Getting away from Ruby for a few hours? Hell yes. Hurry up and drive before she realizes she forgot to give me a curfew."

"I'm not exactly looking forward to it either," I sighed as I put the truck into first and eased off the clutch carefully. Though I'd gotten much better at having Edward in the truck, sometimes I got a little overexcited and popped the clutch.

"Why are you going then?"

"Because Rosalie and Alice would act like I murdered somebody if I didn't show up. They take offense to anyone snubbing their invitation."

"Well shit, I wish I'd known that. I would have stayed home on principle. It's kind of fun to piss Rosalie off."

It was my turn to roll my eyes, but I understood what he meant. She was kind of funny when she was mad.

"So tell me," He said, "why exactly does everyone show up at five when the party doesn't start until eight? It won't really take you all that long to get changed will it?"

"No. Well, it might take Alice and Rosalie that long, but it takes them forever to do anything. Five o'clock just gives us time to hang out together before the party starts. We'll probably order a pizza or something, put up any last minute decorations… whatever really needs to be done."

"That's cool, I guess."

"It sounds kind of boring, but it's not, I promise."

"No, it's fine. Anything's better than sitting home with Ruby. I still can't believe you hang out with her by choice."

I didn't bother dignifying his comment with a response, so I kept my mouth closed as I turned down the long lane. As many times as I'd been to Rosalie and Jasper's home, their lane always creeped me out. It was long, almost two miles, with trees completely blocking it from the road. At night time, even the stars were blocked out by the huge canopy of leaves overhead.

"They live in the middle of fucking nowhere?" Edward asked as we drove down the winding lane.

"Why do you think they throw all the parties? No neighbors to call the cops."

When we finally pulled up to the huge white house, I didn't miss the look of surprise that crossed Edward's face. I imagined that's what my expression looked like the very first time I'd seen the Hale House.

It was a huge house that had been built sometime during the early 1900s. Though the inside had been completely renovated to reflect a more modern style, the outside had been left to its original charms. Simply put, it was beautiful.

"They live here? Jesus Christ, I didn't know they even made places like this in Forks."

"Wait until you see the inside."

I pulled off to the side of the house beside Emmett's monstrous Jeep. I parked the truck and unsnapped my seatbelt before I climbed out of the cab, shivering again Though I'd kind of come to love Forks, I could definitely do without the cold weather.

"Come on," I urged as I came around the front of the truck, still shivering slightly. I was desperate to get into the warm house.

As we made our way up to the front door, I spotted Alice's inky black hair in the window as she pranced over to pull the door open.

"About time you got here!" She greeted, throwing her tiny arms around my shoulder as she pulled me into the house. She looked Edward over, a hint of disgust on her face. "Are you sure we can't convince you to put on a costume?"

He snorted. "Fucking positive," he responded, his tone leaving no room for any arguments. I'd have to take notes from him on how to be assertive, I decided as Alice started to tug me towards the stairs.

"Where are we going?" I complained.

"To start getting ready!"

"For God's sake, Alice! Can't we do pizza first? You know if you make me put on that costume, I'm going to get pizza sauce everywhere."

She pursed her lips as she considered this before she dropped her head back to call up the stairs to Rosalie. "Rose! Change of plans!"

"What?" Rosalie asked, peeking her blonde head out from the top of the steps.

"We're going to eat first. That way no one has a chance to sabotage the group by getting their costume messy."

I turned to Edward and rolled my eyes. He didn't even bother to hide his snicker, which earned him a harsh glare from Alice. "Do you need us to do anything?" I asked, eager to get away from the pixie before she changed her mind about the costumes.

"Just go order the pizzas," she commanded. "I'm going to go upstairs and find Jasper."

And with that, she turned and pranced up the stairs.

----

I knew agreeing to this whole costume business was going to be a bad idea. The costume was bad enough on the hanger, but as I looked at my reflection in the mirror, I felt a little dizzy.

"I don't remember Dorothy looking so trashy in the movie," I cringed as I tugged against the bottom of the dress, trying to pull it down to cover more of my thighs. Unfortunately, every time I tugged, even more of my chest was exposed. I truly was between a rock and a hard place.

"Don't be ridiculous Bella," Rosalie chided as Alice attached the tail to her Cowardly Lioness costume and I really wanted to laugh at her. Who was she to call anyone ridiculous when she was going to be parading around with a furry tail, but the giggle caught in my throat as I caught sight of my rear end in the mirror.

"You guys, seriously, this dress is way too short."

"Bella," Alice sighed, "please just go along with this tonight. You really look amazing. Do you know how many girls would kill to have a body like yours? You should show it off more often!"

My cheeks were flaming at this point.

"Besides," Rosalie said casually as she checked her reflection in the mirror, "there's no way you won't get Edward's attention tonight."

I nearly choked. "I don't want Edward's attention! Not like this!"

"Don't be stupid, Bella. You've been pining over him since the first day you laid eyes on him. It's about time you took control of the situation and Make. Him. Notice. You."

"Is that why you made me get this stupid outfit? So that you could try out some ridiculous match-making plan?"

"It's not ridiculous, and it's going to work."

"That is the dumbest thing I've ever heard of and I'm not playing along with this."

"Look," Rosalie snapped, apparently irritated with me, "I'm tired of watching you pussyfooting around the whole issue. It's obvious to everyone in the whole world that you're interested in him, though only God knows why, so stop being a little bitch and do something about it!"

"You don't have to be so harsh, Rose," Alice glared, her face softening when she turned to me. "We want you to be happy, Bella and I just know that he'd be the one to do that. He just needs a little… nudge in your direction. That's all we're trying to do. It's obvious that you already have his attention because we can all tell he's the most comfortable with you. We just need to get you out of the 'Friend Zone'."

"This costume is so not me," I protested lamely.

"That's what's so great about Halloween."

EPOV

I almost pissed myself at the sight of Emmett and Jasper when they stumbled down the stairs, matching grimaces on their faces. I hadn't laughed so hard in years.

"You two—" I wheezed, doubling over, "—are the biggest douchebags on the planet right now! Oh man, I wish I'd brought my camera!"

"Shove it," Emmett growled, while Jasper skulked away to the kitchen, hopefully to find a large butcher knife to put himself out of his misery.

"I c-can't believe you let them talk you into this! I think this would be a deal breaker."

"You just wait," he warned. "One day, some girl's going to have you doing the same thing."

"Yeah, don't count on it. I have these things called balls and I don't let bitches order me around," I snorted, shaking my head in disbelief as I clapped my cousin on his straw-filled shoulder. "But that's okay, Em. You go on and tell yourself this is an act of love or whatever. Anything to help you sleep at night."

I had just managed to get my laughter under control when Jasper came back out of the kitchen, and I lost it again.

"Shut up," Jasper mumbled, trudging pathetically into the foyer to pull the front door open as the first of the guests arrived. I was almost positive that there would be at least a handful of other saps who were forced into ridiculous costumes at the threat of revoked pussy privileges, so I settled myself into a chair with a view so I could watch and laugh.

----

The house was filling up in no time flat. It seemed like everyone had planned their arrival at exactly the same time, and it wasn't long before a fairly big crowd had formed. Jasper had taken over the music duties while Emmett was attempting to get a game of beer pong going in the kitchen, though Bella, the pixie, and the bitch had yet to make their arrival.

I wouldn't put it past Rosalie to plan some stupid grand entrance. She was a huge attention whore.

Though Bella had informed us earlier that morning that Stanley wouldn't be attending, I couldn't help but glance towards the door with every new wave of people that showed up. Not that I really gave two shits whether or not she showed up. I just wanted to make sure she was going to keep her fucking mouth shut like I'd told her to. I didn't want to deal with any bullshit that might hit the fan if she chose the party as the perfect venue to disclose what a prick I was.

After the first twenty minutes or so, I pretty much gave up on that shit and got up to see how the beer pong game was progressing. Back in my old school, I had owned that shit and I was positive that it'd be no different here.

I made my way through the thick crowd of people that had congregated in the large living room to dance to the heinous music that Jasper was currently playing, snickering to myself at the ridiculously costumes that everyone was wearing. Halloween was stupid anyway. All it did was give females permission to dress like complete sluts and tease any dick in the general vicinity.

Of course, I wasn't complaining about the ample amount of eye candy, but it made me laugh nonetheless.

"Going somewhere, Toto?"

I rolled my eyes at the sound of Rosalie's voice as I passed the staircase and turned. I had opened my mouth to spit out a retort, but at the sight of them, I lost all train of thought.

I'd been physically attracted to Rosalie from the minute I saw her. I didn't take pride in that, because she was a huge bitch, but I had no control over the way my dick reacted to the very sight of her.

And Alice… well, Alice had always been fuckable, as far as I was concerned, but she was the complete package. She had the looks, the brains and she was witty as shit. Not to mention she had a nice little set of tits on her.

But even now, standing there in their skimpy ass Cowardly Lioness and Glinda the Good Witch costumes, I had eyes only for the one in the middle.

She was clearly uncomfortable as she tugged the bottom of her dress down slightly, desperately trying to hide the creamy skin of thighs that visible between the hem and the white thigh-highs that hugged her legs. Her face was set in a grimace that rivaled Emmett and Jasper's from earlier.

Her long brown hair had been twisted into two long French braids that hung slightly past her shoulders and I watched as she brought a hand up to finger the end of her braid, chewing nervously on her lower lip.

"I'm going to find Jasper," Alice chirped as she bounced down the stairs and brushed past me, throwing Bella a little wave as she went.

"And I'm," Rosalie announced, like anybody cared, "going to find Emmett. Try to keep the drool to a minimum, mutt."

I resisted the urge to stick my foot out and trip her as she went by before I returned my attention to Bella.

Without the presence of Alice and Rosalie, she seemed to shrink even further into herself and I suddenly found myself irritated. She was gorgeous, there was no doubt about that, but she was also so obviously out of her comfort zone. Why the hell would she allow them to talk her into doing something she wasn't comfortable with?

I hated bitches who conformed.

"Well," I said, looking her over from head to toe, "I see you've taken a page of Barbie's book for the night."

"What do you mean?" She asked, her eyebrows furrowing.

"It's sexy as hell, but I didn't quite peg you for a tramp." That was quite possibly a low blow and I knew that. "That wasn't very nice," I conceded. "Sorry. But this… this costume is so not you, Bella. What are you doing?"

"That's the best thing about Halloween," she responded, her voice wavering ever-so-slightly, "because on Halloween, I don't have to be me."

And with that, before I could even offer up a better formed apology, she hurried down the stairs and stomped passed me before she disappeared into the crowd of people.

Well shit.

BPOV

Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid.

That's what I was for letting Alice and Rosalie talk me into getting into this stupid costume. I brushed the tears angrily from my cheeks as I disappeared into the kitchen, my blurry eyes scanning the crowd for the tall blonde. Luckily for me, she towered most of the population of Forks anyway and I spotted her in the corner of the kitchen, sucking face with Emmett.

I squeezed my way through the crowd of people and tapped her firmly on the shoulder, scowling when she attempted to push me away. "Rosalie! We need to talk!"

She pulled away Emmett with a groan of disappointment before she turned to me, startled to see the traces of tears still on my cheeks. "Emmett," she commanded, "disappear for awhile, would you baby?"

"But Rose--!"

"Emmett, now! I'll find you in a little while. Go play beer pong or something."

And without another word of protest, Emmett trudged off, leaving a trail of straw in his wake.

"Ooh, are we having a private party?" Alice squealed as she came up behind me, draping her arm casually around my shoulder.

"What happened, Bella?" Rosalie asked, ignoring Alice.

"He called me a tramp!" I blurted out, the ridiculously fat tears sliding down my cheeks again. "I told you guys this was a bad idea! I told you it wouldn't work! There's no way he'd ever be interested in me anyway!" I cried.

"He called you a WHAT?" Alice shrieked, and I felt grateful for her outrage. At least someone else was irritated by it as I was.

I wasn't sure exactly what I expected Rosalie to do, but her reaction was not it. "Here," she said, shoving a red plastic cup into my hand.

"What? What is this? I don't want it."

"Just drink," she commanded, the scowl darkening her pretty face. "You need to just calm down."

"Rosalie, what are you doing?" Alice asked.

"She needs to relax, Alice. Don't worry about what that shithead said to you, Bella. This is our party and you should be having a good time."

I was never one to succumb to peer pressure when it came to things like underage drinking, but the embarrassment I felt over Edward's casual dismissal of my feelings won out. I threw my head back and closed my eyes as I downed the contents of the cup, cringing at the taste.

"That's a good girl!" Rosalie cheered as she reached for another cup of the vile tasting liquid, before she shoved it in my hand. "This'll help you to loosen up and forget all about that dog."

APOV

Three Plastic Cups and Four Shots Later…

It was probably a bad idea to let Bella drink, I mused as I watched the way she stumbled towards us, the bottle of Popov vodka clutched in her hand, swaying her hips slightly to the bad 80s music that Jasper currently had blasting from the speakers.

"We should have cut her off after the beer."

"Nah," Rosalie disagreed, shaking her head. "Look at her; she's having a good time."

"Tomorrow is going to be rough on her. Maybe we should take the vodka away."

"Leave her alone," she demanded, her tone leaving no room for argument.

I rolled my eyes and shook my head, before I turned my attention back to my intoxicated girlfriend. Her hair had started to come out of the braids and her once-flawless makeup was smudged from the tears and sweat, but she didn't care.

"What are we watching?" Emmett asked as he came up behind us, dropping around me and Rosalie.

"Bella."

"What's she doing?"

"Other than being drunk? I think she's trying to dance."

"What do you mean drunk? Bella doesn't drink."

"Correction: Bella didn't drink. Apparently she does now."

"Sonofabitch! Who decided that was a good idea?"

"Oh get over it, Emmett," Rosalie scowled, rolling her eyes as she pulled away from her boyfriend's touch. "She's a big girl. She's allowed to drink if she wants to."

"How much has she had?"

"A few beers and a couple of shots."

"What? Jesus Christ, Rose! That shit's fine for us; we're used to it!"

"She'll be fine. Why does everyone insist on babying the poor girl? No wonder she has no backbone."

"Why the hell would you encourage something like that?"

"Because she needed to relax!"

"So you got her tanked?"

"It worked didn't it?"

"Yeah, until she's puking her guts out later."

"She'll be fine."

BPOV

Man, did I feel great! I grinned as I waved to Jasper before taking another sip from my bottle. I cringed slightly as the clear liquid burned my throat on the way down. I wasn't exactly sure what this stuff was, but Rosalie had assured me it was okay to drink as she'd poured me the first shot. It was uncomfortable at first, but the burning didn't bother me quite as bad now.

Feeling slightly breathless as the song ended, I stumbled my way through the crowd of people towards the last place I'd seen Rose and Alice. I took another sip from the bottle, shuddering slightly as it slid down my throat.

"Having fun?" Rosalie greeted with a smirk as they came in to view. I spotted Emmett scowling in the corner of the room, glaring in our direction, but I grinned and waved.

"A blast!" I squealed, throwing my arms around her. "Y'know, I think this might be the best party in the his'ry of the world."

"Really? In the whole world?"

"In the whol' wide biiiig world!" I agreed with a nod, laughing as some of the liquid sloshed out of the bottle. "Oopsie poopsie. Sorry," I cringed.

"Bella, are you feeling okay?" Alice asked, looking at me with her wide eyes. Sometimes, I thought Alice looked a little like a cartoon character. One of those anime thingys that artsy people always drew.

"I feel grrrrrreat!" I laughed. "Oh wait, Rose, you should be saying that. You're the tiger!"

"I'm a lion, Bella," she corrected.

"Oh right. Lions and tigers and skunks, oh my!"

"Okay," Alice said with a nod. "I think it's time to take the vodka away," she decided, reaching for my bottle, but I batted her hands away. I wasn't sharing.

"Nuh-uh. Get your own bottle!" And as if to prove my point, I took another sip.

Rosalie snorted, which turned into laughter, but Alice shook her head and made kind of a sad face. I didn't really like when Alice was sad, but I didn't really want to share my good stuff with her either so I patted her on the shoulder.

"There, there. S'okay. We'll find you your own bottle, k? There gots to be more floatin' 'round here somewhere!"

I linked my arm through hers and tugged in the direction of the kitchen, but I immediately stopped when I spotted him, huddled in the corner with two skanky seniors.

I really tried to ignore him after he hurt my feelings, because Rosalie said it would have been pathetic if I'd tried to make him apologize to me or something, but I was so aware of him. It must have been that stupid bronze hair that he never brushed. I bet he got that stupid color out of a bottle too. No one's real hair was that shiny.

"Wha's he doing?" I grumbled, my pout matching Alice's as my eyes became glued to him. "Why's he talkin' to them but he wouldn' talk to me? Wha' I do wrong?"

"Don't worry about him," Alice soothed, trying to pull me into the kitchen, but I brushed her hand away.

"Stop. I'mma go talk to him."

"No sweetie, you don't want to do that."

"Sure she does!" Rosalie said with a nod. "You go get him, Bella."

"Rosalie, are you out of your mind? She's going to make a fool of herself if she goes to talk to him to like this!"

"Am not a fool!" I grumbled childishly. "An' I'll prove it!"

I threw my braids back over my shoulders and stood up just a little straighter. I'd go show that idiot that I was just as sophisticated as those stupid seniors. And my outfit was not as trampy as theirs, thankyouverymuch.

I took another sip from my bottle and drew a deep breath before I marched myself right over to where that stupid, impossibly good-looking jerk stood, with his back to me. I scowled as the two seniors girls eyed me and resisted the urge to stick my tongue out at them.

I reached up and tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey!"

He whirled around and startled me, causing me to stumble backwards. I cringed as the bottle slipped from my hand and landed with a crash against the hardwood floor.

I turned to Rose to mouth an apology for the mess, but she waved me on.

"Bella?"

The sound of his voice reminded me of my task, so I turned back to him, snorting loudly. "Well, well, well! It looks like the Wicked Witches have already arrived!"

Behind me, I could Rosalie's distinctive snicker. I turned again, eyes wide, and found that for the most part, the room had gone silent and all eyes were on me.

Ooops.

"Is she serious?" The Wicked Witch of the East asked Edward when I turned back to face them, amusement evident in her voice. "You've got to be kidding me."

I knew there was a reason that bitch got a house dropped on her within the first half hour of the movie.

"I need'a talk to you!" I informed Edward, planting my hands on my hips.

"Are you drunk?" He asked, disgust lacing his voice.

"Why are you so mean to me?" I countered, ignoring his question, and ignoring Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb as they snickered at me behind their hands.

"Bella, we'll talk about this later," he said with a shake of his head as he turned back towards the Witches.

"No, I wanna talk 'bout this now!" I retorted, grabbing his arm to force him to look at me.

"You're being stupid!"

"You're th' stupid one, Edward!"

"Bella, you need to stop before you make a fool out of yourself," he cautioned, his voice steady, even though his green eyes were flashing with anger.

"I already did that in hopes of you payin' attention to me! But I'm so sorry; obviously you prefer blonde tramps over the brunette variety! How dumb of me to make that mistake!"

"What a loser," Wicked Witch of the West snickered before Edward turned his anger on her.

"Shut up!" He snarled.

I turned away from them, heat rising in my cheeks as the tears burned my eyes. I could feel my stomach churning and my head was beginning to pound. I needed to get the hell away from here.

"Bella!" He called as I hurried away from him. "Bella wait! Where are you going?"

"There's no place like home," I choked out, pulling away when he reached for me.

"Sonofa--!" I heard him curse, but I didn't care. I didn't want to look at him. I didn't want to look at anyone.

"Bella!" I heard Alice call, but I ignored her too as I brushed passed Emmett and Jasper.

I managed to make it into the foyer before I lost my footing in the stupid red high heels that Rosalie had forced me into. A cry escaped from my lips as I tumbled to the floor before everything went black.

EPOV

I knew I'd hurt her feelings earlier in the night when I'd referred to her costume as trampy, and I knew it was wrong, I'd kind of apologized, but when she'd hurried away from me, I didn't go after her and apparently, I should have,. Because now things had been blown way out of proportion.

And she was drunk.

"Bella, you need to stop before you make a fool out of yourself," I'd warned her, irritated that the stupid bitch and the little pixie had allowed her to get to this point.

"I already did that in hopes of you payin' attention to me! But I'm so sorry; obviously you prefer blonde tramps over the brunette variety! How dumb of me to make that mistake!"

You got to be kidding me, I thought as I stood there, dumbfounded. She'd dressed up in this ridiculous costume in an effort to impress me? Was she high? Didn't she know that I preferred her just the way she was? Obviously not.

"What a loser," Brandi giggled beside me and I wanted to slap the shit right out of the dumb cunt.

"Shut up!" I roared. I didn't know why the hell I'd been talking to these tramps anyway. Because they have pussies and you are weak, my inner voice reminded me. Oh yeah. I guess that's a good reason as any

When she turned away and made a dash for exit, I called out to her.

"Bella! Bella, wait! Where are you going?"

"There's no place like home," she cried, her voice cracking and I knew I was fucking done for. It always bothered me when chicks cried, though usually not enough for me to actually do anything about it. But it hurt to know I'd caused this.

"Sonofa--!"

Alice called to her, but Bella ignored her as she hurried passed Emmett and Jasper, trying to make a quick escape from an uncomfortable situation

"Don't just stand there, you moron! Go after her!" Rosalie snapped, and almost as if on command, I moved forward, hurrying after her.

I watched in horror as her ankle twisted beneath her in those stupid ruby slippers that Rosalie no doubt had forced on her and I hurried forward in an attempt to catch her before she hit the ground. I cringed when she cracked her head against the end table behind the door, but I managed to reach her before she went down completely.

"Fuck," I muttered as I lifted her into my arms, careful not to jostle her too much.

"What the fuck?" Emmett cried out from behind me.

"She smacked her head pretty hard against the table when she tripped."

"Get her upstairs," Jasper ordered as Rosalie and Alice turned the music back on in an attempt to draw the crowd's attention away from us.

I followed after Jasper, Bella still cradled in my arms, her head resting against my shoulder. Jasper threw the door open to a spare bedroom and pointed to the bed.

"Lay her down," he ordered.

"But put her on her side. She's most likely going to puke at some point. She's had a lot to drink."

"Bella," I coaxed, ignoring both of them as I laid her down gently on the bed. I shook her shoulders carefully, trying to wake her up. "Bella?"

She flinched slightly and pulled away from me, forcing her eyes open. "Go 'way," she grumbled, though I sighed in relief. At least she wasn't fucking brain damaged or anything.

"I'm going to need a bucket, some Tylenol and some water," I ordered. "This is going to be a long fucking night."

----

Long after the party had come to an end, and the two couples had gone to their bedrooms for the night, I sat at the head of the bed in the spare room with Bella's head pillowed in my lap. I was exhausted, but I couldn't sleep.

"Edward," she mumbled, the word coming out as a soft sigh, as she had for the last hour or so.

I knew she wasn't awake and the thought of her saying my name in her sleep did funny things to my chest. I could feel it constrict painfully with each little sigh and I wasn't exactly sure what that feeling meant and whether it was good or bad.

I pulled the blanket a little higher on her shoulders, careful not wake her.

I hated the thought that I was the one who had reduced her to this. I mean, I wasn't taking complete blame because she's the one who decided it would be a better idea to get tanked than to deal with the situation like an adult, but whatever. Regardless, I hated that I was the reason she'd been upset in the first place.

I liked Bella, of that I was sure. She was the one person in this fucking town—hell, on this fucking Earth-- that I was the most comfortable with, that I felt like I could actually be myself, but I didn't know what to do to. It was pretty fucking terrifying to think about it—I had only known her a few weeks, for crying out loud!

"Edward," she murmured again and I couldn't stop the retarded smile that made itself at home on my face.

Definitely a good feeling, I thought as I leaned down to press a chaste kiss to her lips. I'd just have to talk to someone and figure out how to not fuck this up. I guess a call to Carlisle was in order after all.

A/N: As much as I love Oblivious!Edward/Drunk!Bella, I love reviews more! So dazzle me!