Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of its characters.

Chapter 10: Party

That night I arrived home to find five missed calls on my phone, all from Rose. She hadn't left any messages, instead obviously wanting me to call her back. It was certainly not worth keeping Rose waiting, so I called her back on my way up to take a shower.

"Why didn't you answer any of my calls?" She demanded in lieu of a greeting.

"Well, hello to you, too, Rose."

"Yeah, yeah, Hello… now why didn't you answer?"

"I've been on set all day, I just walked in the door." I replied wearily.

"Oh, of course, the new film! How'd it go?" she asked earnestly.

"Well…okay…"

"Uh oh, what happened?"

I hadn't spoken to Rose in a while, so I had to rehash the entire 'stalker' story. When I told her about hiring a bodyguard, she responding in true Rose form.

"What does he look like?"

"He's huge, like really, really gigantic."

"Hmmm… is he hot?"

"Rosalie Hale, you are dating someone, are you not?"

"Oh yeah, thanks for reminding me…"

"No problem, what are friends for?" I asked with a giggle.

"Shut up, I meant for reminding me what I called for… Royce is insisting on throwing you a birthday party next weekend." She rushed out, knowing I wouldn't be happy.

"Rose," I whined out, "You know I prefer a small get together with my actual friends."

"I know, I know and I'm sorry, but I accidently mentioned buying your birthday present in front of Royce and he insisted." She sounded sincere and I knew she wouldn't have done it on purpose. "And," she continued, "It would be really good for his business to have you celebrating your birthday there."

"Fine." I responded, resigned.

"Really? Okay who do you want on the guest list?"

"Angela, Bree, Alice and Jasper. Oh… and I guess my bodyguard, Emmett Mc Carty."

"That's all?" she queried.

"Well, you'll be there already and that's all I would've invited to my party anyway."

"Okay…"

"Oh and ah… Edward Cullen." I interrupted, remembering my plea to spend some time with him.

"Who?"

"Edward Cullen, he's a…friend…of mine." I stammered out.

"MmmmHmmm, well you can tell me more about him at the party, Okay?"

"Alright Rose. I'm dying for a shower. Is that all? I asked, almost asleep on my feet.

"Yes, Bella. Get some sleep, I'll talk to you later in the week."

We said our goodbyes and hung up. Even though I was extremely tired, I stayed in the shower until the water started to run cold. I couldn't stop thinking about Edward and the stalker and the party and what might happen this weekend. I wasn't ashamed to admit that I was a little nervous about everything that was going on in my life.

Despite my racing mind, I managed to fall asleep quickly and sleep soundly throughout the night.

The rest of the week went by quickly and it was Friday before I knew it. No other on-set 'mishaps' occurred and all was quiet on the stalker-front. This only worried Emmett and me more about the party on Saturday night; surely it couldn't stay this quiet for long.

In keeping with my promise, I invited Edward to lunch on Wednesday. It was a little awkward with Emmett and Bree hanging around, but I least managed to invite him to my birthday party, which he promised to attend.

Friday night found me in Alice's studio, trying on outfits for the party.

"So, you invited Edward to the party?" she asked, drawing out the r in his name.

"Yes, I've decided to give him a chance… even though Ange, Em & Bree are all 'concerned' about my relationship with him." I replied, using actual air quotes.

"Well, he seemed nice enough when he dropped you off after hurting your ankle that time. I mean how many guys, let alone paps, would do that for someone?" she asked.

"Yeah, but that's what Emmett is concerned about. He thinks it's all a bit too convenient."

"I don't know, Bell. I usually get a vibe around the super skeevy guys, and he just didn't fit the bill, to me." She stated as I came out of the dressing room, "Oh my God! That is definitely what you're wearing tomorrow night." Alice was very easily distracted by pretty clothes.

I had to admit, looking in the mirror, that it was the quintessential party dress. Fitted across the bust, and then floating outwards to my mid thigh. The top half of the dress was a brilliant magenta silk, and starting from the bottom, going up to about the waist was a pattern of dark metallic coloured flowers. It was gorgeous.

"Oooh, and I have the perfect shoes!" Alice yelled and ran off to the shoe cupboard. She reappeared holding a pair of Jimmy Choo's. They were gunmetal grey, patent leather peep toes and when I put them on; I noted that they were indeed the perfect shoes.

"Awesome, as always, Al. Thank you!" I exclaimed as I did a small twirl in front of the mirror.

She promised to be at my place tomorrow night at six to help me get ready for the party and I went home and crashed in bed, worn out from the long week of filming and worrying.

Alice and Jasper arrived right on six, and Alice ushered me straight up to my room to take a shower.

"Emmett's in the living room watching football, Jazz. Just go introduce yourself." I managed to call out as Alice practically dragged me up the stairs.

When I came out from my shower, clad only in my robe, Bree was in my room, getting her makeup done by Alice. She stopped what she was doing to roll out my hair, and then finished with Bree.

Two hours later we were all ready and decided to go down to hang out with the guys before we left.

"The stalker could be anybody, guys, so let's all keep our eyes open, kay?" Emmett said as we were sitting around the living room, killing time before we were being picked up by Royce's personal limousine at nine.

"Em, come on. This is supposed to be a party. Let's all just try to have some fun." I replied, annoyed that he had to bring it up, at all.

"B, nothing has happened since Monday. That's the longest he…or she… has gone without contact so far. We need to be vigilant." He replied, serious-face on.

"Alright Em." I sighed as the security gate intercom buzzed. Emmett verified it was Royce's driver and we went outside to wait.

The party was in full swing as we arrived and I tried to inconspicuously look for Edward. I couldn't see him yet, though I did spot Rose as she manoeuvred her way through the crowd to get to me.

She wrapped my in a tight hug and whispered "Happy Birthday!" in my ear, before greeting Alice, jasper and Bree. When she got to Emmett, they both stopped and blatantly checked each other out for a minute, before I realised I hadn't introduced them yet.

"Ah, Rosalie Hale, this is Emmett McCarty." I said.

Rose held her hand out to Emmett, but instead of shaking it, as she intended, he brought it to his lips and whispered "Charmed" before he kissed it. Then Rose did something I never thought I'd see her do. She blushed… and giggled.

"So, Rose where's Royce?" I asked, trying to divert her attention from Emmett for a moment.

"I don't know, in the back office, I think." She replied without looking up, my diversion tactic failing miserably.

"Can I get you a drink, Rosalie?" asked Emmett.

Rose batted her eyelashes at him, "Sure," she purred out. Emmett's grin went from ear to ear as he disappeared toward the bar, Rose in tow.

Jessica Stanley came over to wish me happy birthday and as we were talking about all the trivial things going on in Hollywood, Alice, Jasper and Bree all took off toward the bar or the dance floor.

I began searching over Jessica's head for Edward again when I spotted someone I truly did not want to. James.

"Happy Birthday, Bella." He practically sneered at me. I realised he was probably still pissed about the way I had yelled at him in London. I decided to try and be civil.

"Thank you, James."

"Ha, you thought I was being serious." He spat out at me. I didn't reply and began looking around for anyone who could save me.

"What's the matter, Bella? Don't want to talk to me?" he asked, noticing me looking around.

"No, I just thought I saw someone." I tried.

"Bella, Bella, Bella," he started, shaking his head at me; "you better get some better acting skills if you want to win that Oscar. Who'd you sleep with to get nominated for that anyway?"

"Okay, James. I don't know how much you've had to drink tonight, but I think that's enough." I replied as I tried to step around him. I didn't get far though because he grabbed my wrist as I was almost beside him.

"You don't go anywhere until I say you do. We are going to stand here and have a nice conversation, got it?" he asked, my wrist starting to hurt.

Just as I was about to try and diffuse the situation, a familiar voice boomed out from my right.

"Bella! Happy birthday! I was just looking for you. Oh, who's your friend?" Edward asked, knowing full well who James was.

"Edward," I said with relief, "Um… this is James Turner. We've worked together a couple of times."

"Oh, well nice to meet you, James. But I'm gonna steel the birthday girl, here for a dance, okay?" Before James could protest, Edward grabbed my hand from his grasped and whisked me off toward the dance floor.

We started dancing, to keep up the pretence before he spoke: "Are you okay, Bella?"

"Yeah, thanks for that." I replied earnestly.

"No problem," he smiled, "he didn't hurt you did he?" he asked as he grabbed my wrist and ran his thumb gently over the angry red marks that were there. The butterflies exploded in my stomach at his touch.

"No, he's just mad at me, because I put him in his place a while back and he didn't like it." I responded.

"Okay, well I still would like to dance with you. It wasn't just a ruse to get you away from the creep." He smirked at me and I could hardly refuse.

"Sure," I purred, taking a lesson from Rose.

As I said it, though, a slower RnB song came on. Edward didn't miss a beat; he just spun me around so my back was up against his chest, put his hands on my hips and started moving to the music.

Moving against Edward was like nothing I ever dreamed of. The butterflies in my stomach had turned into a slow burn that was making its way throughout my entire body. It wasn't enough; I pushed myself back until there was no room between our bodies at all and before I knew what I was doing, I pushed my lower half back into him.

He groaned lowly into my ear and pushed his lower half back into me. Even with me heels on I was still a tiny bit shorter than Edward, so when he did this I could feel his very obvious state of arousal press into my lower back.

I gasped in surprise and he went to step back, misreading my gasp as one of displeasure. Not wanting him to continue that train of thought, I turned and grabbed onto his shoulders, bringing him back closer to me, face-to-face this time. He wound his arms around my waist as I did the same to his neck. We continued dancing like this, looking only at each other, for a moment, before he started bringing his face closer to mine.

I realised immediately his intention was to kiss me, but before I overanalyse the situation, his lips were on mine.

I froze, for a split second the warnings of my friends ran through my head, but he wasn't taking no for an answer, his lips insistently moving over mine. I gave up and gave in to his kiss, the warnings of my friends fading to a distant whisper in the back of my mind.

I thought I was on fire when we were dancing, but this was something else, entirely. It was like tiny explosions were going off throughout my body and when his tongue asked for permission to enter my mouth, I didn't hesitate. After a minute of making out on the dance floor, I remembered where we were and pulled back.

"Wow"

"Shit" He and I said simultaneously.

"I've got to go." I replied breathlessly as I turned and sped away from him. My thoughts were a jumble; I had to get away from him.

"Bella!" I could hear him calling after me, but I just kept walking, looking for someone, anyone to get me out of here.

I came across Emmett and Rosalie first, looking awfully cosy in a booth.

"Em, can you take me home please?" I asked, the look on my face must have been enough to convince him, because he was out of his seat saying his goodbyes to Rose immediately.

He ushered me through the door and to the car without a word.

He asked if I was alright and if I wanted to talk about it on the way home. I declined, not wanting a lecture on not trusting Edward, before I could wrap my own head around what just happened.

Emmett dropped me off at home and I showered and went to bed. Sleep wouldn't come, however as I replayed the nights events over and over again in my mind.

At around three am the phone rang. I was nervous to answer, but decided I would just hang up and call Emmett if it was the stalker.

"Hello?" I answered warily.

"Bella? It's Bree. I'm calling from the hospital."

"What happened? Are you okay?" I asked in a rush.

"I'm fine. It's Rose, she was found in the alley behind the club, beaten unconscious. She's being taking in for surgery now, you better get down here."

A/N: Seven reviews again! Thanks guys…

Any new theories?