Disclaimer: I don't own the twilight characters or the pride and prejudice plot. No copyright infringement is intended with this story.

Okay- Just to update you guys: Sorry for the major delay in doing anything with this story in such a long while. Real life tends to get in the way a bit and I have to make some time to write my thesis from somewhere. I have divided the existing chapters of assumptions for the BPOV/EPOV into their own chapters. So there are now more chapters but they are shorter. I am hoping that this means that I will be able to update more frequently. No promises though! This chapter is all new so I'll let you get on with reading it (Don't forget to review!). Enjoy!

Chapter Thirteen

BPOV

Another woman, this time with a lilac dress and bobbed brown hair, was beaming at the camera. Her arm was wound tightly around the waist of Edward Cullen who in turn had politely slung his arm around her back. He smiled at the camera staying motionless, his pristine smile fixed, until the flash of the bulb indicated the photo had been taken. And then the routine continued, he signed his autograph, exchanging small talk with whichever fan it was this time before moving onto the next person and the process continued again.

It was at this point that I noticed he wasn't wearing a tux. Every other man in the room was wearing a tux of some description.

But he wasn't.

He was dressed in a dark grey suit, complete with waistcoat, a pristine white shirt and a green silk tie. He looked good. Hell, he looked fucking hot. But why couldn't he wear a tux like all the other men? Why did he have to be different?

'It's fascinating to watch, isn't it?'

I jumped slightly at the sound of Heidi's voice and its close proximity. She was sitting next to me in his empty seat, now turned to face the rest of the ballroom.

'Yeah,' I had to agree, 'It's a bit crazy.'

'You know he really hates it.'

I looked at her in surprise and raised my eyebrow in question.

'I know,' she laughed, 'he's a good actor. But if you look closely, you can tell he's uncomfortable.'

She paused and we both watched as one overzealous fan, a middle aged women, threw her arms around him in a hug. He grimaced slightly in shock but managed to laugh it off. After she released him, his right hand raked through his hair a couple of times, whilst the other was thrust deep into his pocket.

'He doesn't like the crowds of screaming fans, well, just the crowds of fans in general.'

I looked up at him again, his head bowed down as he concentrated on signing the autograph. I frowned.

'But surely, it comes with the territory? It's what celebrities do... they thrive on it.'

'Nah. There's just some celebs out there that give the rest of them a bad name. I mean, sure, dealing with some fans is inevitable, but some of them just take it to the extreme. It can be a bit overwhelming at times.'

He looked up at us, confusion in his eyes. Realizing that I was still staring at him I focused my gaze on the dance floor where Alice and Jasper and Rosalie and Emmett were still dancing.

'I guess there are pro's and con's to every job,' I answered, wanting to be diplomatic. I didn't really agree with her...the type of person that worked in showbiz generally were attention seekers.

Heidi laughed, 'What do you do?'

'I thought Edward would have told you that!' She shook her head.

'I'm a journalist. I work at Moda with Alice. I interviewed him last week.'

She let out a hearty laugh. 'It's a small world, I should have known! So what was he like?'

'Hmm...,' I paused, 'He was... difficult... kept asking me questions in response to mine.'

'Sounds like Edward,' she quipped with a sideways look at me. We both burst out laughing.

Felix returned and looked between us, 'What's so funny?'

Heidi calmed down enough to speak. 'Ah, nothing important, baby. Everything ok?'

'Yeah, fine. Would you like to dance?' He asked holding his hand out for her to take.

'Go.' I waved them away.

'Are you sure?' Heidi asked as she stood up. I nodded at them and they headed onto the dance floor.

I barely sat there for a moment before Emmett bounded up to me and pulled me up out of my seat, 'Time to dance, Birthday girl!'

'You sure?' I asked Rosalie who was following Emmett, echoing Heidi's earlier words. She shook her head at me, 'I need a drink! He's got more energy than a five year old at a birthday party. You go try to tire him out.'

And then all of sudden the room was spinning and I was being led by Emmett in some kind of waltz. I had to admit he was a good dancer.

'Having a nice time?' he asked smiling down at me.

'You know, Em, I have to admit I am. This was a good idea.' It surprised even me what a good time I was having. 'A really good idea'

He beamed at me. 'Best birthday ever?'

'It's definitely up there,' I responded.

'May I cut in?' a smooth voice asked from behind me. Emmett stopped abruptly a confused expression on his face, 'I dunno...'

He paused, 'Ok. Fine. I guess it's your turn to dance with the birthday girl.'

Jasper took Emmett's place, and once again the room and people were spinning around me. We circled around the dance floor evenly, at a slower tempo than Emmett's vigorous waltzing. It was soothing and we fell into an easy rhythm, chatting away amiably. After a few circuits of the floor, and a change of songs, I chanced a glance back out across to our table. The rest of our friends were standing or sitting, drinks in hand, laughing and talking. Except Rose.

She was standing talking to a guy whose back was to me. Her expression was animated as she talked to him, her brow furrowed and I knew that had I been close enough to see her eyes would be flashing with icy anger. We circled around the other side of the room, and I turned my head to see Rose again.

She had her head thrown back in laughter, a sarcastic smile played at her lips as she stared him down. All I could see was the back of his head. He was wearing black trousers and a white shirt, the remnants of a tux. Oily hair slicked back and hanging in a ponytail down his back. And then he turned, looked at me with a small smile and I froze internally, making me stumble mid-waltz.

I gave my excuses distractedly to Jasper and hurried back over to the table, my stomach filling with dread. By the time I was half way across the dance floor, he was fleeing from Rosalie with one final painful glance in my direction.

'Rose?' I hissed, 'What the hell did he want?'

'Nothing. It was nothing...' She replied, but her flushed face told me that it certainly wasn't nothing.

'It didn't look like nothing...' Alice piped up from where she was stood next to a concerned looking Jasper.

I glared at Rosalie, who looked back as if defying me to get an answer out of her. I raised my eyebrow at her, indicating my right to know what had gone on and she let out a dejected huff.

'He was asking about you, obviously. Who you were seeing... where you were working...that sort of stuff.'

'You didn't tell him anything?' The question shot out my mouth before I could think about it.

'No, what sort of idiot do you take me for?' Rose looked at me indignantly, 'I told him to fuck off and leave you alone.'

My body relaxed in relief that he had gone, and I let out a big breath, 'Good. Thanks,' I smiled shakily at my still fuming best friend.

Jasper, satisfied that nothing was wrong wandered back over to the table but Alice, ever inquisitive, wasn't giving up so easily, 'Who was it?'

Rosalie glared at me once again. She was sullenly reminding me that she didn't like my method of dealing with this. A conversation we had had many times before. Alice sensing something amiss huffed, folding her arms and joined Rose in her intimidate-Bella stare-out. With best friends like these who needs enemies. I groaned internally. Fine.

'Jacob Black...' I admitted, quietly. I watched for Alice's reaction, noting the moment the name registered with her.

She gasped, 'As in...Vertigo, Jacob Black?'

'Yup...as in Bella's-weirdo-stalker-ex-boss-Jacob-Black,' Rosalie added.

'I made the mistake of going on one date with him...' I began.

'He's the reason you left vertigo?' Alice blurted out.

'Yeah...we went on the worst date ever! He was all gropey…he apparently thought we were some kind of thing and told the whole office...sacked me when I set him straight.' I explained briefly my history with Jacob Black, leaving out some of the more grizzly details. The times he would catch me in a corner of the office, propositioning me for another date. The way he would look at me, the touches that used to chill my bones and turn my stomach. I always managed to find an excuse why I was busy but he never got the subtle hint. In the end when I finally snapped he turned nasty, and sacked me.

'And then he kept calling the flat and Bella's mobile. Oh god, and he used to send stuff, do you remember?' Rose face showed her

'Yeah. Flowers. And lingerie. Sex toys.' Just the thought of the dread when those packages used to arrive made me shiver.

'Wow,' Alice's eyes bugged out and she took a deep breath as if processing the information. 'Sex toys? That is so creepy.'

'God, I know...' I covered my face with my hands willing the memories to go away. My stomach was churning, the heavy feeling of dread filling my chest again. I could feel a headache beginning to pound in the back of my head.

'Did you call the police?' I heard Alice question.

'No.' Rose responded, 'She wouldn't. I was all for it but she Bella didn't want a fuss. She left vertigo and we changed the phone numbers.'

'Having fun girls?' Emmett's voice suddenly boomed and I looked up to see him smiling sloppily at us, one arm around Rose holding a beer bottle, the other around Alice.

He pointed his beer at me grinning, 'You look like you need a drink, birthday girl!'

I couldn't help but smile at him. Rosalie smirked at me with an evil grin in her eye, before suggesting 'How about some shots? It is Bella's birthday after all!'

'Yeah! Shots! Great idea, Rosie baby,' Emmett enthused loudly.

'Rose! You remember what happened last time we did shots!' I tried to reason but Emmett was already dragging me towards the bar by my hand.

In no time at all, I was stood at the bar clutching a glass of tequila in my hand as I waited for Emmett to hand everyone, sans Edward, their shot. Emmett was beaming- at least someone was having fun. I put all thoughts of Jacob Black at the back of my mind. He couldn't get to me here. I was determined that he wasn't going to ruin my night.

Emmett raised a toast 'To our birthday girl,' and we all downed the shot. I winced at the taste. Urgg! I hate tequila.

I had now progressed to drinking fruity cocktails the girls were supplying me with. It was way past the end of the evening and the alcohol was starting to make its full effects known. Surprisingly I was having fun, although I don't know how much that was down to what I was drinking.

I was feeling quite drunk. Actually, scrap that. I was feeling very drunk.

I was fucking wasted. But, hey, it was my birthday.

We were still hanging out by the bar. Conversation and laughter was free flowing. I had spent some time chatting with Jasper and Emmett, getting to know them. I had been observing Rosalie and Emmett, who had been very touchy feely all night. I had never seen Rose like this with a man before…she was almost tender, loving. Well. As tender as Rosalie 'ice-queen' Hale ever gets.

Nobody seemed concerned that Edward was still missing. Fuck.

I can't believe I had thought of him.

Why am I so bothered by him? He hates me.

Argh, the way he stares at me. It took all my willpower at dinner to ignore him and not to turn and look him in the eye even though the prickles on the back of my neck told me he was watching me. Constantly. His green eyes had locked onto mine on a couple of occasions before they flickered away again. The underlying emotions deep within them were hard to figure out. At times they darkened minutely, reminding me of the hunger of his stare that night in the club. God, how he had looked at me that night…

I huffed not liking the path my thoughts had taken me.

Deciding it was time to visit the ladies I asked Alice the location of the bathrooms, turning down her offer to accompany me. I made my way back out into the lobby of the hotel, in the direction Alice pointed.

I walked quickly hoping nobody would notice me, stumbling slightly unsteady on my feet. Whoa! Definitely not drinking any more alcohol tonight.

I made a mental note to drink some water when I got back to the bar as I continued through the throngs of people. I so didn't want to have a hangover tomorrow morning…not like the last time I went out with Rosalie... shit.

I was on a direct collision path with someone moving swiftly in my direction, I realized a little too late. I managed to stop short of crashing into them, but my alcohol skewed reaction time resulted in me almost toppling into a very hard and definitely masculine chest.

Two hands came out, grasping me by my forearms and steadying me. My skin tingled, becoming warm where the mysterious hands came into contact with my skin. Faced with a broad waistcoat-clad chest, I watched the thin pale fingers that grasped my arms, flexing and unflexing their fingers.

I looked up to into the face of the person I had almost collided with, intending to apologise but was unable to stop the gasp from escaping my mouth as my heart leapt in my chest.

Unmistakable green eyes were bore down at me.

He had removed his jacket and tie and I was momentarily fascinated by the fact that his shirtsleeves were now rolled up, exposing the length of his arms. Returning my gaze to his face, he was eyeing me intently still. His eyes steady, gaze unwavering, fire dancing behind the dark green.

I squirmed as my heart began thumping rapidly beneath my ribcage. I didn't like the way he was staring. There was no guarding against his probing. I felt like my whole soul was visible for him and only him to see. I took a step back anyway and he released his psychical hold on me.

His gaze briefly flittered somewhere else in the room and something inside me snapped, and I was suddenly reminded of why I really didn't like him.

'Why are you looking at me like that?' I questioned boldy, my tongue loosened by the alcohol.

'Come and dance with me.' A statement not a question. His voice was low and gravelly, it didn't waver. He expected me to submit. To just agree to dance with him despite his behaviour towards me tonight. Asshole.

'No. I don't want to dance with you.'

I cringed at the way my voice sounded to my ears. I was acting like a petulant child.

He spoke so quietly. 'Why?' His gaze never left mine and I could see the imperceptible softening in his eyes. His smile wavered before failing, his brow furrowing.

I could tell he was hurt, yet I couldn't stop the words before I spat them out viciously.

'Do I need a reason?'

He held his hands up and muttered gruffly, 'My apologies.' And then turned and walked away.

I watched his retreating steps until he disappeared into the crowd out of view, before remembering that I was stood marooned in the lobby. Turning away swiftly I practically ran for cover into the ladies bathroom and locked myself into a cubical.

What the fuck just happened?

I turned down the lid and sat down with my head in my hands.

Did I really just turn down Edward Cullen?

Holy shit.

Oh god, I did. I did.

Why did I do that?

Warm, soft lips tasting of beer and cinnamon...Hair, so silken, grasped in my fingers as our tongues battled…Tasting...these kisses were heaven…

No! No. He's an asshole. A sullen, egotistical, asshole. But a beautiful asshole, a small voice somewhere in my consciousness reminded me.

But, no. He's an asshole. Who hates me. The way he looks at me with such distain painted on his face.

I won't let him get to me. I can't.

Finishing up in the bathroom I took a deep breath and exited. I headed back towards the bar, but before I had taken a second step I found myself being pulled backwards. I stumbled looking down, trying to find my footing until I felt my back slam against the wall.

Confusion panicked my alcohol-addled brain until I looked up to see who had grabbed me. A hard body pressed into the length of me, my back crushed against the wall.

I froze. My stomach lurched and I fought back the bile that was rising in my throat. My limbs started shaking as I automatically tried to shrink away from the man before me.

No. No!

'Isabella,' he crooned, 'At last…'

With one hand either side of me Jacob Black had backed me against the wall caging me between his arms. And all I could think about was that Rosalie was right. I should have told the police. I should have let Alice come to the toilet with me. I should have said yes to Edward Cullen.

A quick survey of the surrounding area told me that I was trapped and alone.

'Beautiful, Bella,' I froze as he reached a hand out to stroke a coil of my hair, 'I've missed you….'

He leaned in towards me and I instinctively turned my face away from his. My body jerked in response as he buried his face into the crook of my neck.

'I was waiting for you…' he crooned into my neck, 'After our little lovers tiff, I thought you would come running back to me. When you realized you had been wrong.'

'I..I…' My mouth moved and sounds came out but I couldn't formulate any words. I was frozen.

'Why didn't you come back to me?' He pleaded, his word innocent but laced with an undertone of menace. I could feel his hot breath fanning into my neck.

One hand moved to grip the hair at the nape of my neck. 'Answer me!' He spat his tone raised, pulling harshly on my hair.

Help. Somebody help me. I wanted to scream, to shout. Anything. But my body would not obey my thoughts. My eyes flitted about the room, searching swiftly. No one had noticed. To the rest of the world we were a couple in an intimate embrace. Not a women in a dangerous chokehold.

Black's other hand began wandering about my body. Palming my breast roughly. Please someone. Anyone.

And then he was there. Watching me once again, like he had for the entire night. Only this time his gaze was edged with anger. I pleaded with him, with my eyes. I'm sorry. I was wrong. Save me, please. But then he was gone again. He just disappeared.

Jacob's began to make its journey southwards.

Oh my god this is it.

Help. But then I heard a familiar booming laugh and the sounds to call for help finally came tumbling out my mouth.

AN: What did you think? Leave me a review to let me know your thoughts! Go on, press the green button, I know you want to! Billy xx