Chapter Playlist- Ignorance by Paramore (Hey, I can do them twice if that's what I'm listening to, can't I?)

Previously…

Angela's hand caught my shoulder and stopped me. "You're welcome," she said softly. "And, Bella?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't give up on him, okay?" she said. I looked into her brown doe eyes for a second, and saw nothing there but kindness.

I nodded. "I won't."

The Hard Way To Learn A Lesson

Chapter 27- Stupidity, Recklessness and Slurs

Edward POV

What the hell? I hadn't wanted to hug Lauren, especially after she attacked Bella like that. And now she was crying on my shoulder.

"Yeah, right," Bella snorted and then stormed off.

I shoved Lauren away from me and went to follow her, but the insistent blonde grabbed me again.

"Where are you going?" she wailed. "Don't you care?"

"Um…" Not about you.

"Maybe we should just carry on the game?" someone suggested. I looked up to see Angela Weber doing the peacemaking.

Lauren pouted but sat back down, pulling me down with her, before spinning the bottle. 'Thank you' I mouthed at Angela, who nodded and then went out of the room, the same way as Bella had gone. My brow furrowed but my attention was re-captured by the girls shrieking Tyler's name.

"Truth or dare, Tyler?" Lauren demanded.

"Uh…" Tyler thought for a moment. "Truth."

Jesus, this game was boring.

"If you had to make out with any girl in this room, who would it be?" Lauren asked.

Tyler answered without even thinking. "Bella."

I felt my jaw set into a hard line.

"Why?" Lauren shrieked, disgusted.

Tyler shrugs. "She's pretty and she looks like she'd be a good kisser."

Yeah. You don't know the half of it Crowley, I thought bitterly. Good kisser? She's flipping fantastic and you'll never get some of that… then I remembered. Bella was not mine. Tyler could get some of Bella and I could do nothing about it. Tyler might even be the guy Bella was in love with, for all I knew. My hand curled into a tight fist at that thought.

It was then that I noticed Lauren eyeing me, sizing me up like a wrestler would. It took me a while to realise that she was actually wondering who I'd kiss here, whether it would be Bella too. I vowed there and then, in my head, not to pick truth if the bottle landed on me. Because Lauren would really hurt Bella if I admitted that I'd like to kiss her… again. And then she wouldn't just have the one bruise that was my fault.

"Yeah," Eric agreed after a few moments of silence. "Mike said she was a pretty good kisser."

"What would Newton know?" I muttered to myself. "I didn't even let him get close to sticking his poxy tongue in her mouth." I shuddered at that thought.

Lauren looked at me, apparently having heard me. "Why did you hit Mike Edward? I mean, it's just Swan. Why do you care?"

It should have been easy just to lie. To say 'because she's my friend', but I couldn't. I couldn't tell her that. Not because I didn't want to but because I literally couldn't force the words past my lips. I had hit him because I was insanely jealous and because Bella could not kiss anyone else. And I couldn't tell Lauren that either.

I hesitated and then said, "Are you gonna spin the bottle or what?"

Gradually realising that I wasn't going to speak, Lauren leant forward and spun the bottle. It sailed round and round and came to a stop facing me. Dammit.

Lauren grinned maliciously. "Edward. Truth or dare?"

"Dare," I answered easily.

Lauren pursed her lips thoughtfully.

"Eat a worm!" Tyler said again.

"I've already done that!" Lauren snapped.

"Oh yeah…" Tyler thought again. "Shave your hair off!"

I shuddered.

"No!" Lauren shrieked with a little too much enthusiasm. I looked at her to see her staring pointedly at Jessica. My brow furrowed in confusion, but only for a second because then Jess spoke and her words cleared everything up.

"Kiss Lauren," she said slowly.

Lauren gasped falsely. I gritted my teeth; could it be anymore obvious that this was a set-up? Jeez, how desperate was she?

Austin and Tyler laughed. "Good one Jess!" Obviously, they couldn't see through it.

Lauren ducked her head, pretending to be embarrassed but there was no red colouring her cheeks.

"What's the forfeit?" I heard myself asking.

Lauren's teeth came together with an audible snap. "Shaving your hair off," she decided harshly.

I was prepared to accept anything, just to throw her… but my hair? For God's sake, Edward, it's just a kiss. A kiss that doesn't mean anything. You've kissed tons of girls before her without it meaning anything, but you let them think that it did. Surely this is better than that?

I shut my eyes warily and when I opened them again, I had made my decision. "Fine," I sighed. There was a load of exclamations and cat calls as I turned to face the smug blonde. She shut her eyes and pouted her lips, waiting for me to make the first move.

Trying to ignore our audience, I took a deep breath and leant forward, turning my head slightly to the left. I shut my eyes just as our lips touched and then prepared to pull away, but Lauren's fingers came up and knotted in my hair, holding my face against hers. I tried to push her away but she was having none of it, trying to force my mouth open with her own and turn this into a full-blown make-out session. I clamped my mouth shut, refusing to grant her entrance.

Without seeming to help it, my mind automatically compared Lauren to Bella and that made me all the more eager to escape. Lauren's harsh chapped lips pushing, struggling with mine as though fighting, was nothing compared to Bella's soft mouth moving with mine feverishly, both of us wanting more, more like caresses than kisses. Remembering that night, made me see Lauren differently; all of a sudden, she morphed into Bella. I was about to start kissing her back when her teeth caught my lips sharply and bit down, affectively forcing my mouth open in a way her tongue couldn't. I could taste blood in my mouth now and not just because of the fury I felt.

I shoved harder at Lauren, knowing that I was stronger than her, and managed to get her off. We were both breathing heavily, but she looked as though she had died and gone to heaven whereas I probably looked ready to kill someone. That was certainly how I felt.

It was only then that I noticed the additions to the circle; Bella and Angela were back, Bella sat on my right and Angela next along. Bella was looking away, across the circle, her eyes sad. Angela was watching me, her gaze also upset. I subtly tried to take Bella's hand, but she moved it away. I heaved a sigh that was loud in the abruptly silent room.

"Spin the bloody bottle Lauren," I spat.

She smirked at me. "My pleasure." She leant forward and spun it again.

Unbelievably, the top of the bottle came to rest directly between Bella and I. I was beginning to wonder if this was fixed.

"Bella." Lauren smiled, but not in a way that assured me that Bella was going to get a nice dare… or truth. "Truth or dare?"

Bella looked at her, her eyes scared and I spoke up, "Actually, Lauren, I think that landed on me. Again."

Lauren eyed me suspiciously. "No, it's Bella's turn."

"No, it's not," I argued. I felt Bella's hand on top of mine, squeezing it, telling me that it was okay; she'd take it, whatever 'it' was. Not a chance, Bella, I thought. Not a chance.

"Eager for more, are we Edward?" Lauren mocked.

I glared at her. "No, I'd rather keep my mouth intact."

Lauren sighed. "It's Bella's turn, Cullen." Her tone implied that the topic was closed.

"No," Angela said. "It is pointing at Edward."

I looked at her and smiled slightly, thankful. She smiled back timidly.

Lauren scowled. "Fine. Edward, truth or dare?"

"Dare," I picked again. As long as it wasn't the shaven head, it couldn't be worse than kissing Lauren, could it?

"You can't pick dare twice," Lauren told me.

"Well, shouldn't you have said 'truth or truth' then?" I spat bitterly.

"You can pick dare twice," Ben argued.

Lauren glared at him. "My game, my rules," she said coyly.

"Truth then," I sighed. If she didn't stop this soon, we were leaving. I was pretty sure that Bella wouldn't mind us bowing out early.

"Why did you hit Mike when he kissed Bella?" Lauren demanded. "What does it matter to you?"

My teeth clamped together automatically, shying from the truth, again. I could have lied, I could have said that I had done it because she was my friend. That was the truth, but it was manipulated; it was a truthful lie.

Everyone was watching me now, Bella no exception. She seemed to want to know as much as everyone else here. Hell, why wouldn't she? She probably wanted an explanation more than Lauren did. She deserved the explanation more than anyone else here did. She deserved explanations to so many things. She needed to know why I wasn't scared enough to beat up another guy over her, but was too scared to make a move. I looked directly at her and she looked back. I was about to answer, but she spoke first.

"I'm bored of this game," she said, her tone firm. She looked past me at Lauren and said, "Let's play something different."

Lauren glared at Bella for a moment and I sensed an argument, if not another fight. But then, surprisingly, Lauren said, "Fine." She got up and went off in the direction of the kitchen. I exchanged a confused look with Bella.

Lauren was back in a second with several bottles of Vodka. Oh no. She put them down on the dining room table and turned to grin at her party, "Come on then," she said, gesturing to the table. Everyone went and sat warily, waiting to hear what the new 'game' was. I had a feeling that this was not going to be good.

"What are we doing?" Ben asked, but Lauren had already gone out to the kitchen again. This time, she returned with a tray full of shot glasses. Angela, Ben, Katie and Eric all stood up and said goodbye to Lauren, wanting to bow out before things went too far. That didn't look like such a bad idea anymore. I already regretted agreeing to come.

"Who's in?" Lauren asked.

"I am!" Tyler, Jessica and Austin all shouted at the same time. That figures, I thought to myself; they were already tipsy.

"Edward?" Lauren turned to me after pushing shot glasses toward the other three.

"Um… no," I refused politely.

"Why not?"

"Well, for one thing…" I fumbled around in my head for an excuse and, thankfully, managed to come up with one. "I'm designated driver. But that doesn't even matter, because I think we're leaving now anyway…"

Lauren pouted. "Why not? It'll be fun!"

"I just told you why not," I sighed. I stood too. "Come on Bella."

Lauren looked at Bella now in a last ditch attempt. "Bella? You playing?"

Bella hesitated and then stood. "No."

Lauren laughed once. "I could've guessed," she sniffed. "Of course not. Too good to ever touch on alcohol, aren't you? Never mind, you'd have been rubbish anyway."

"No," Bella defended. "I would have played but Edward's leaving."

"So?" Lauren said. "He doesn't own you. He doesn't even like you."

"That's not…" I started to protest, but Lauren paid no attention to me.

"What is it then, Swan? Go home with him, even though you know perfectly well he doesn't want you… or join in?"

"Bella…" I said, but she paid me no attention either; Lauren's words had got to her.

She sat back down again. "Fine. I'm in."

I sat back down next to her and hissed in her ear, "What are you doing?!"

Bella's jaw was hard as Lauren pushed a shot glass at her. "Go if you want, Edward," she said. "I'm staying."

"As if, Bella," I muttered. "That would be like throwing you to the lions. Come on; let's just go."

She looked at me. "I'm staying, Edward. I want to."

And I knew as well as anyone that she was stubborn. I sighed and sat back down next to her.

"Are you in, Edward?" Lauren asked.

"No," I said flatly. "I'm watching." Not so much watching as supervising.

Lauren looked away again and opened the first bottle of Vodka before filling each shot glass. "Okay," she said slowly. "One… two… three…" And all five of them, including Bella, knocked the shot back. I sighed.

Bella POV

I could see it in Edward's eyes and I could hear it in my own mind; stop it, Bella. Don't do it. Turn around before you make that mistake. But it was too late for that now. The first shot was down; if I bowed out now, then I lost. And I knew that, if I lost, I would have this thrown back in my face. What I was doing was stupid and reckless and I knew that. I knew that I'd regret it and I knew that I didn't want to do it anyway. But that happened sometimes; people did things they didn't want to for reasons that they couldn't even explain to themselves.

Everyone watched in silence as Lauren re-filled the five glasses with the clear liquid. I felt Edward's hand over mine on my thigh. His mouth was at my ear. "Bella, please stop," he begged. "For me?"

I shook my head discreetly. It was hard to refuse Edward anything, but it was harder to let Lauren win this; Edward did like me. She'd see. One day. I didn't know how this was going to prove anything, but I had a gut feeling that it would.

Now I had the second full glass in my hand. I lifted it gingerly and waited for the command.

"Second shot," Lauren announced. "One… two… three…"

I necked the alcohol, resisting the urge to shudder. This stuff was nasty. I felt it slide down my throat, burning it. For one moment, Charlie's face flashed into my mind and I pushed it away before I could guilt-trip myself into stopping. I slammed the glass back down on the table; first one back down. Yes, I thought, get that Lauren.

Edward tried again; a different approach this time. "Bella, stop it! This is reckless and irresponsible and stupid!" He was careful to keep his voice quiet so that no one else could hear him.

I shook my head again, taking his hand inside of mine instead of having both of them balanced atop of my thigh.

Minutes later, we were ready for the third. "Third shot. One… two… three…"

The third one went back, saturating my system with alcohol. Glass down; first again.

Edward's hand was tense inside of my own, waiting for someone to do something stupid. I rolled my eyes; he was so… Edward.

"Relax," I told him under my breath, surprised to hear my voice slur a little already. "It's fine."

"Fine," Edward scoffed.

The fourth shot went down as the other three had. I wasn't the first to slam the glass down this time. Edward didn't say anything this time, though I could feel disapproval rolling off him.

"One… two… three…" Down went the fifth. And then the sixth.

I looked across at Edward when my glass was back at the table. His jaw was clenched and his eyes were full of anxiety. I lifted my other hand to cup his face. "Chill out," I muttered. "You don't have to be silly about this."

He pushed both of my hands away now, disgusted. "I'm being silly?!" he demanded, his voice contradicting none of the repulsion on his face.

I shrugged and looked back at the table, where my shot glass was full again. There was a dull ache in my head now. I ignored it and slammed back the next shot.

When I banged the glass down on the table, ready for round eight, I felt light. Kind of… happier. It wasn't altogether unpleasant but something about my unconscious smile made Edward shake his head with abhorrence.

"Eighth shot," Lauren said. "One…"

"Wait!" Jess interrupted; her face was green. "I'm out. I think I'm gonna…" she didn't finish, clamping her hand over her mouth and running for the bathroom.

Lauren smirked; she didn't seem to be affected at all. "One out. Four to go," she said calmly.

I looked around at my opponents. Tyler seemed to be fine, but Austin had his head balanced in one hand, struggling. He wouldn't last much longer. Lauren, however, was practically sober. Jeez.

Austin was out after the eighth, to no one's surprise. He didn't go out as gracefully as Jess, throwing up in the hall instead of getting to the bathroom. I was a little surprised; I felt fine. A little nauseated, yes, but not actually anywhere close to puking. And this was my first time. Maybe I could handle drink well.

I looked back at Edward, but he was looking away, seemingly determined to get all of this over with.

Tyler last until the tenth. By now, I was feeling ill. But I had to keep going. I only had Lauren left to beat and she was suffering now too. Maybe not as bad as I was, but she didn't look good. She had to cave after a few more, surely? Thirteen? Could I last that long?

Lauren stared at me across the table as she opened the fourth bottle of Vodka. Had we already drained three bottles between us? Wow. Lauren judged wrong and knocked an empty bottle off of the table to the floor. The loud smash echoed around my head and I cringed at the noise. My head was throbbing and the walls were beginning to wobble slightly around the edges.

Edward took my hand again now. "Are you okay, Bella? You can stop. You look kinda green."

"I'm fine," I muttered, the words really slurred now.

Edward wasn't satisfied, but he didn't say anything.

"Shot thirteen," Lauren declared a few minutes later. "One… two… three…"

Down it went. As I leant forward to put the glass down, a strange wave of vertigo hit and I swayed slightly, even though I was still sat down.

"Bella," Edward's voice was pained now, but I didn't know why.

I turned to grin at him. "Hi, Edward," I giggled. "This is fun! Why aren't you playing?" I prodded him in the chest and swayed again.

He didn't answer me, just stood up and moved away from the table. I didn't know why he did that either.

"Sshottt fourtteeen," Lauren slurred. "One… three… oops!" She laughed at her mistake and I joined in, though why I had escaped me.

She tried again. "One… tw- twoo… three!"

We both knocked back the shot, and then I fell forward on the table as I put the glass back down. I laughed at myself.

Lauren looked around for the bottle, but she couldn't find it. "Whoops!" she said drunkly. "The fairies must have taken it! Edward!" she exclaimed seeing him. Even in my drunken state I still felt irritated at the way she said his name. "Did you see the fairies?!"

Edward ignored her, hiding something behind his back.

"Never mind," Lauren said. "Bel- Bellaaa, go and gettt another bottttlle; they're in the… uh… the room with the drrrrink."

"Sure thing," I replied, getting up.

Edward moved to block the doorway. "No. Bella stop this. You don't need anymore drink."

I beamed at him and lurched toward him. "Eddie! Are you jealous? You want drrink, don't yoou?"

"No, I don't and you don't either," he told me. "Come on Bella. We're leaving."

He grabbed my wrist but I fought against him, my head spinning. "N-n-no!" I protested.

He pulled me once and I staggered forward. Then suddenly, the cream carpet seemed to get closer. I wondered why… but then it hit me. And the moment it did, the world went black.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Stupid Bella. Poor Edward D:

I'm not entirely sure about this chapter but hopefully you guys thought it was okay. It's very different from my usual fluffy innocent chapter kind of thing but I know that loads of teenagers do underage drinking so I thought I'd put it in. However, I am not one of the teenagers that does do that and I have never had much more than the odd glass of wine at a party under parental supervision and I have definitely never gotten drunk so I don't know how accurate this is. I have a friend that's a bit of a rebel and she told me that at about 8 shots she feels tipsy and 15 is full-blown pissed. So I thought I'd lower it a bit for Bella, as she's a first time drinker.

So I know that this is really different and quite a bit more morbid and angsty than my chapters usually are but hopefully you appreciate the chance to see Bella in a different light? Maybe? She did only do it to prove Lauren wrong though, if there's any confusion on that. And nice to see Edward trying, and failing, to protect her from herself. I think that's what Jacob says in Breaking Dawn; no one can protect Bella from herself so I thought I'd illustrate that here :D

And OMC I have two new posters to add to my wall of awesomeness. Seriously, you've never seen a more obsessive wall- there is literally no space for posters, most of them Twilight. And yesterday I got the official New Moon one and a Paramore one! :D Love it! And Ignorance is just amazingly awesome. It's probably my fave song at the moment and that's saying something. Does anyone else think that these ANs are kinda like a blog? Maybe I should start a blog? I'm considering getting one of those 'Piczo' sites so that I can write all this c**p somewhere so that people who care about it can read it and those that don't… don't have to :D And also add photos of my obsessive poster-wall. My walls are great. I have one covered in posters, one in photos and the other two are boring (one has a window and the other is kinda weird-y shaped with a desk in it). Do any of you actually care about whether I do this? I probably won't tbh. I'll probably just keep boring you with my life here but, then again, it may be an interesting idea and you guys can chat to me or whatever… hmm. I'll think about it and you tell me what you think… :D

I have the plagiarism thing sorted now I think but thanks for all of your advice! :D

Oh and 'Suffering Ink' has asked to translate this story into French (how awesome is that?!) and I gave the go ahead so the link to that will be on my profile soon! I know you probably won't read it because (obviously) it's in French and you've already read it but I just thought I'd let you know! :D

So… I really hope you liked the chapter. There won't be an update tomorrow as it's my Mum's birthday but there will be Friday and maybe even Saturday! :D I know! Two updates! :D Possibly.

Love it? Hate it? WTF? Fave part? And what do you think about my life which I incessantly seem to feel inclined to tell you about. But once I start, I just can't stop really… stopping now. Before it goes any further…

PLEASE REVIEW!!!

Thanks

Steph