Sweet Perfection

Chapter Fourteen

Ringing in the New Year was just as big of a holiday to my friends as Christmas was, and Emmett always threw a huge party for it. His excitement was that of a six year old when he began shoving insane amounts of alcohol in the huge fridge the night before, and it just made me laugh. He was still setting up when I went home at midnight.

The next day, Alice conference called Jessica and me at about four and told us to come over to her house immediately, so of course, we did (you never crossed Alice). When we got there, she had three gorgeous clothing ensembles hanging on her newly installed wall rack (for helping her figure out what to wear).

"I took the liberty of buying you two outfits for Emmett's party tonight. I thought we all needed to sparkle."

Alice's beaming smile and jumpiness reminded me of my boyfriend's excitement the night before, and I came to the conclusion that I surrounded myself with kids trapped in teenagers' bodies. When she pointed out which ones were ours, I walked straight to mine, admiring it and thanking the mall gods that I didn't have to wear a skimpy dress tonight like Jessica in the cool air of Forks (she didn't seem to mind at all, though).

"Well, try them on!" Al yelled at us, and we did.

We walked into her closet/dressing room and pulled on the clothes. I had on a loose, pale cream, three-quarter-sleeve shirt with minimal black and silver detailing on the front, which tucked into a pair of black, sequin hot pants along with black, translucent tights underneath and black booties with sky high heels. My legs looked miles long, and it was surprisingly comfortable. I looked over at Jessica and saw that she had on a long-sleeve, dark silver, sparkly, form-fitting dress. The entire back and sleeves were a black translucent material, which traveled across her shoulders and all the way down to right above her belly-button, showing off the tops of her breasts but very little in between them. Sadly, she didn't have the luxury of tights, but her black heels were to die for. We gave each other thumbs up and walked out to meet Alice, who also had her outfit on – a loose, long-sleeve, bright gold shimmer dress, black tights similar to mine, and black heels with a long, layered, black necklace.

"I picked the perfect outfits. We look hot!" Alice exclaimed, and we laughed and agreed. She definitely did.

Instead of doing our normal spa day routine, we took our outfits and went separate ways. I got home at about five-thirty and cooked and ate some fettuccine alfredo with Edward before going upstairs to shower and get ready. I took my time, shaving and moisturizing every part of my body before shampooing and deep conditioning my hair. When I got out, it was a little after eight, and I walked over to my vanity. I decided on very light brown eyeshadow to define my crease slightly, black winged eyeliner on top, two coats of mascara, peach blush, and red lipstick. After drying and texturizing my hair, I threw it up into my signature top bun, then I pulled on my clothes, grabbing a red clutch from my closet and tossing my things into it. I looked at the time – 9:27 – and hurried out to my Mustang, driving to Emmett's just a block over.

"You look gorgeous, babe," Emmett told me as soon as I walked in, and he kissed my lips softly.

I admired how hot he looked with his dark grey, long-sleeve button down, open black vest, and dark jeans, smiling. His five o' clock shadow was my undoing, and I wanted to jump his bones right then. "So do you," I replied before kissing him again harder, entangling my fingers in his hair.

I pulled away when I heard Alice say my name and looked to my right to see her and Jasper standing there, both of them looking amazing. She was growing out her hair, and even though it was in that awkward mid-length stage, it looked beautiful with the curl in it. We chatted for a bit until more and more guests started arriving, and Emmett drifted off to attend to them (what a good host compared to Halloween). After Jasper and Alice walked off to mingle, I walked into the kitchen to make a drink and found Jessica and Edward standing there talking.

"Hey, guys," I said to them, and they turned.

"You look damn good, Bells," Jess said, and I threw the compliment back at her. After we finished our drinks, she grabbed my hand. "Time to dance."

I followed her into the dance hall, strobe lights flashing and music blaring, and we moved me to the beat, the vodka I drank getting to my head. We laughed and danced for a bit, and finally, my boyfriend appeared.

"Hey, stranger," I murmured against his lips as our bodies swayed together, and his lips began trailing kisses down my neck (much easier than normal due to my six inch heels).

Some great songs were playing, and for I don't know how long, Emmett and I stayed on that floor dancing, my body sliding up and down his as I got low and grinded my ass into him. I didn't know what it was, but tonight, he looked absolutely delectable. I wanted him so badly.

"Let's go upstairs," Emmett muttered into my ear, and I was thankful he was thinking the same thing.

As I was following him up, I saw Landon leaning against the kitchen counter from afar. He raised his glass to me when our eyes made contact, and it gave me shivers. I tried to shake away thoughts of the conversation Emmett and I never had, but I couldn't. God, why did I need to know everything? By the time we got to his bedroom, my mood had switched from horny to curious.

When I sat down on Emmett's bed, he followed suit then said, "I wanted to talk to you about Landon." Uh, what? I guess my expression mimicked my thoughts because he continued. "I think now's a good time."

"Okay," I simply replied, not wanting to lead on that I thought he wanted to get down and dirty up here.

"We just haven't gotten along since about a year ago now. He did something really fucked up, and we haven't been okay since."

I placed my hand on his leg. "What'd he do?"

"He, uh… He took advantage of Rosalie…"

"What do you mean by that…?" I had a feeling I knew, and horror was sneaking up inside of me.

"She got really messed up one night, and he forced himself upon her."

"Are you serious? Did she press charges? Do your parents know?" I rambled out question after question before taking a breath.

"No. I mean, I'm serious, but no to the charges and my parents knowing. The only people who know are me, Rosalie, and Edward." He was running a hand through his hair, and my stomach was flipping inside. "It happened at this party we threw at the end of last January. That was why we broke up the first time. It was rough on her." Wow.

"I don't even know what to say. I'm so sorry…" I placed my hand on his cheek and tried to search his eyes until he smiled slightly.

"It's in the past, but I just don't want you to be alone with him, okay?" I nodded. "Let's get back to the party and down some drinks. I sure need one." I agreed, and we did.

We hung out in the living room for a while, just mingling together, but Jessica and Alice came over and pulled on me until I went to go dance with my two drunken best friends. Thoughts of last year's incident between Rose and Landon escaped me, and I let my inhibitions down. We twirled, grinded, dropped it low, whipped our hair, and everything else because of the alcohol getting to our heads. Honestly, we were probably pretty entertaining and amusing to watch. I stopped when I got a little tired, and when I focused my eyesight, I saw Landon and Rosalie talking in the corner all alone. It looked like she was smiling and touching his arm, but he had an annoyed look on his face. I rolled my eyes, probably seeing two other people instead, and headed towards the kitchen to grab a glass of water.

"Wow, you look amazing tonight," I heard from behind me and spun around.

"Landon," I greeted in a monotone voice, a stark look on my face as I sipped on my beverage.

"What? No thank you?" His laugh was carefree as he took a swig of his beer.

"Why don't you leave me alone?"

He looked confused. "Why are you being like that when you don't even know me?"

"I know enough about you to stay away," I told him before walking away, disgusted that he'd even talk to me like we were friends.

Before I knew it, it was nearing midnight, and I headed into the dance hall to find the music had been lowered and a projector was on, showing a huge picture on the wall. I soon realized it was a televised showing of the ball drop. I saw Emmett standing at the front of the room, and I immediately walked up to him, huge smiles on both of our faces. The entire room counted down together, and right after we said one, Emmett planted his lips on mine, dipping me low as confetti guns shot out little pieces of metallic paper. He pulled me up, both of us laughing, and I pecked his lips and face all over.

"I love you."

"What?" I asked, unsure if he said what I thought he'd just said.

He stared deep into my eyes. "I love you, Isabella."

I could feel the blush growing on my cheeks, and my heart skipped a beat or seven. This wasn't happening. Emmett McCarty loved me. Me, of all people. I couldn't even form a complete thought, but after a moment of clarification, I realized I should probably say something.

"I love you, too!" I basically yelled, and he crashed his lips on mine, holding me flush against his body, every other person in the room disregarded.

What a perfect way to start the new year.

A/N: What'd you think of the chapter? Leave me reviews and let me know! I haven't been getting as many, and I'm not sure if I sure keep posting chapters or not.