Disclaimer: After all this time, we still don't own it.

[ Emmett ]

There was one problem with hotel mini-bars and that was that the fucking bottles were way too small. Ignoring my brother's disapproving look, I twisted open another bottle and emptied it into my mouth. After swallowing, I tossed the empty container behind me and reached for another one.

"You've been hitting the bottle pretty hard the last few days, Emmett. Are you okay?"

I nodded my head to answer Edward's question and gave a rather large belch before speaking. "I'm peachy keen, Eduardo. How are you?"

He sat on the edge of his bed and tied his shoe before answering. "I'm nervous."

Another bottle got emptied before I gave him the dumbest advice ever. "Don't be. Bella Swan is just a normal person. She likes you and you're…well, I do believe that you are way past the liking stage, so just relax and be yourself."

My brother nodded at my advice and I had to take another drink to swallow back the sour truth that was threatening to ruin this whole thing with him and Bella. I wanted to warn him that she was, in fact, a celebrity. I wanted to tell him that all women, with the exception of our mother and Mama Whitlock, were just various forms of Satan with tits and vaginas. I wanted to tell him how falling in love was the stupidest thing that anyone could ever do because life wasn't a fucking fairy tale. Not everyone got the divine romance that Jasper and Alice had and the sooner he realized that, the better off he would be. But, he had been dreaming about a date with Bella Swan for years, and even if I was a bitter-as-fuck asshole, I couldn't hurt my little brother like that.

"You'll be okay by yourself, right?"

"Oh yeah," I nodded while he straightened his shirt; I tilted the miniature bottle of vodka in his direction. "Have fun. Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

He gave me a smile before leaving me with my misery and the half empty mini-bar as company. I glared at the tiny, empty bottles around me and shoved them off of the bed and onto the floor before opening another one. I toasted to absolutely nothing and poured the clear liquid down my throat. The empty bottle joined his friends on the floor.

I was actually looking forward to a little solitude tonight. Since the disaster that was the Shadows premiere, I'd been forced to accompany my brother and Jasper to a multitude of bullshit activities that always included Rosalie. I'd actually been thinking about trying to fly back to Washington without Edward, but Alice had arranged for all of us to get fitted for our fucking tuxedos for their wedding. So I'd sucked it up for my best friend and endured two days of absolute hell. Tonight everyone was off doing their own thing and I was left to entertain myself. I would be hungover tomorrow on our flight back home, but puking in the little bag that the airlines provided would be way better than enduring another second with Rosalie-fucking-Hale.

Maybe it was better this way. I mean, honestly, what the hell did I think would happen? That Rosalie would tell me that she loved me, too? That I would move to LA and try to fit into her world full of celebrities and shit? I'd been so hesitant to sign a contract with either one of the schools that had offered me coaching positions, but now I knew that there wasn't anything else for me to do. Jasper and Alice had found a house in LA and would be moving into it next week. Edward and Alice had been talking about him doing a bunch of work for the band's website and I wouldn't be surprised if he ended up moving to LA-especially if this thing with Bella worked out. So that left me in Washington living a life that could probably be considered mediocre compared to my brother's and Jasper's. I would be completely fine with it, though, because really, what other choice did I have? I could move to LA with Edward and run the risk of having to see Rosalie on a damn near daily basis. Wouldn't that just be the fucking icing on the cake that was my life?

I swallowed another drink to dissolve the bitterness in my throat and glared at the door when someone started knocking. I wasn't a bit surprised by who was standing on the other side.

"Emme-"

I interrupted Rosalie. "What the fuck do you want?"

She sighed before crossing her arms across her stomach. "I wanted to talk to you before you left tomorrow and-"

"So talk," I interrupted again.

She watched me take another drink before speaking. "Can we please do this inside? I would really hate for someone to overhear us."

"Oh right." I nodded and left the door wide open as I walked back to the bar. "Wouldn't want any part of our knowing each other to be made public, would we? That would be a fucking disaster."

I heard the door shut but didn't bother looking up.

"You aren't being fair, Emmett! You don't know how hard this is for me!"

I slammed the refrigerator door closed. "Right, because I'm the one that left you, naked, on the floor of a limousine, seconds after you admitted your feelings for me."

"From the very beginning I was up front with you!" Rosalie yelled at me. "I told you that I couldn't be in a relationship with you, Emmett! I didn't trick you into anything or try to-"

"You're right, you did, but I told you from day one that I wasn't interested in playing these games! Each and every fucking time you were the one to come at me! You're the one that kissed me in that bathroom and again before we left after Comic Con!" She tried to speak over me, but I covered her mouth with my hand. "You're also the one that drunk called me for a phone sex booty call, and the one that initiated the sex in the back of that fucking car! So don't pretend that I am the bad guy here, Rosalie. I have never asked you for anything else than to be with me!"

She shoved my hand away from her face and pushed on my chest, making me lose my balance and fall back against the bar.

"You asked me for the one thing that I couldn't give you!" Rosalie yelled. "Do you think that I… that I liked hurting you, Emmett? That I liked not being able to tell you…"

I watched as she shook her head and tried to walk away from me. I grabbed her arm and pulled her back towards me. "Tell me what?"

She pulled her arm away from. "Just drop it."

"I have a fucking right to know!" I moved in front of her as she tried to walk away and could have sworn that Rosalie was on the verge of crying. I lowered my voice and tried to calm down. "Please just…I want to understand why."

Her blue eyes were watery with tears that she was trying to keep from falling. "I can't tell you why, Emmett."

I sighed before letting go of her arm and stepping away from her. I was so fucking tired of trying to get her to open up to me.

Rosalie slowly shook her head, looking down at the floor. "People…wouldn't…"

My heart clenched and my stomach fell to the floor at the realization of what she was telling me. Although she hadn't finished her sentence, I knew what she was getting at. People wouldn't ever get the two of us together. How could they? She was…well, she Rosalie Hale. And who the fuck was I? Just a nobody that she'd had fun with for a few months and that was it.

"I get it. Don't want to get caught slumming or anything, right?"

She quickly shook her head. "That isn't what I-"

"You need to leave." I looked away when the tears started running down her cheeks and pulled away from her when she tried to hold on to my hands. "Leave, Rosalie. Now."

"Emmett…. Please."

"LEAVE!" I yelled at her.

She took a hesitant step away from me. "I didn't-"

Tired of all of the games and everything else that was associated with her, I quickly walked to the door and held it open for her. "You and I have nothing left to say to each other. I'll see you in a few weeks for the wedding. After that, I don't…this is over, Rosalie."

I stared at the floor as she walked past me and even after she'd left and the door was shut, my eyes couldn't stop staring at the pattern in the carpet. It took me a few minutes to realize that I was crying and even though I felt the tears on my face and in my eyes, it caught me by surprise.

"I haven't cried since Mom," my voice spoke to an empty hotel room.

I slowly turned around and leaned back against the door, sliding down it until I landed on the floor. I have no idea how long I sat there, just that when Edward tried to come back inside, he seemed surprised that I was still awake.

"Are you still drunk?" he asked me.

"No." I shook my head and got onto the couch, turning my back towards him as I lay down. "No, I'm completely sober."

xXxXxXx

[ Edward ]

Never in my life would I have thought that Isabella Marie Swan would be able to consume so much food. It wasn't in a gross way, but more of a how-the-hell-can-you-eat-that-much-and-still-be-so-little way. I also wouldn't have ever thought that our first date would be at an In-N-Out Burger. But it was what she wanted to eat and who was I to argue with her?

I sat in the car Alice had loaned me and watched as Bella told me some animated story from her childhood. Her hands flew around in wild motions and she had just a small smear of ketchup on the corner of her mouth. I had to keep reminding myself that leaning across the console to lick it off wasn't acceptable.

It made me extremely happy that she seemed so relaxed and just… herself. She wasn't made up into the glamorous celebrity she had been a few nights ago, but more like the real Bella. Her hair was adorably messy and tied into some sort of knot at the back of her neck, leaving small pieces around her face and ears. One particular piece was curled around the mole that sat on the side of her neck, just behind her earlobe. My fingers ached to reach out and feel the strand that framed it.

"So, now what?"

I blinked at her question and tried to act like I hadn't been staring at her mouth and neck for the past hour. "Huh?"

Bella smiled and laughed her quirky little giggle. "Earlier you said you had something else planned. What is it?"

"Oh! That's still a surprise." I held the paper bag open to collect her trash. It didn't escape my attention that her fingers seemed to linger a little on mine. The blush on Bella's cheeks confirmed that she'd done it on purpose and was embarrassed about me noticing. God, she was adorable.

"You know I'm not really fan of surprises."

My gaze drifted from Bella's cheeks to her eyes and I tried to gauge the purpose of her telling me that. Immediately I was worried that she wouldn't want to go but when I saw her eyes I knew that wasn't the case. I smiled and waited for her to finish talking.

"I never…" Bella softly sighed before leaning her head to the side and smiling at me. "You were a very good surprise, Edward."

The nervousness that I had always felt around Isabella Swan seemed to have morphed into something more like excitement. With more courage than I'd ever had, I leaned across the car and gently brushed my lips against hers. When Bella's hand moved to the side of my neck, holding me there, I realized that this was the first time I'd ever kissed her. In the car she had kissed me both times. But now, now I was the one making the first move and she wasn't stopping me.

xXxXxXx

"You're sure no one will know who I am?"

I put Alice's car into park and nodded my head. "Bella, I swear on everything I have, you will not be noticed in here."

She gave my hand a squeeze before taking her seatbelt off and tentatively getting out of the car. I tried not to laugh as she looked around the parking lot and back to the dilapidated metal building. A broken neon sign was flickering, making it hard to read what it said.

"Bit dodgy, no?"

I locked the car and gently took her hand in mine. "I thought you trusted me."

Bella smiled. "I do. I just want you to know that if this turns into some sort of bar fight then I will be of absolutely no use to you. All of my fight scenes were performed by stunt doubles."

I laughed loudly before opening the front door for her. "Trust me, that won't be an issue."

Hesitantly she walked inside and looked around. I smiled when she turned around and looked up at me. "Are we visiting old people?"

I shook my head and led her to one of the tables. "We're playing Bingo."

Nearly an hour later Bella's hands were covered in purple ink from her Bingo marker. She was sitting on the edge of her chair, completely enthralled in the game. As it turns out, Bella Swan had a competitive side and was getting annoyed.

Neither one of us had won anything, but I had no problem forking over another fifty cents for a new card every time we lost. Currently, I had three cards in front of me while Bella had seven. Her leg was bouncing up and down while her eyes frantically flew over the numbers in front of her. If it wasn't so endearing I would have laughed at her.

"B-23!" The caller yelled to the room. "That's a B as in boy, twenty-three!"

In a quick second, Bella flew from her chair and screamed, "BINGO!"

For the first time since I'd met her, the stares of the people around her didn't seem to bother her. I watched while the reader came to check her card and verified that she did in fact have a bingo. She bounced up and down, clapping her hands, and acting a whole lot like Alice.

When she threw her arms around my neck, I laughed and hugged her back. "Congratulations."

She kissed my cheek before going and claiming her prize, which was a very nice pillow that had an embroidered cat on it. It looked like something my great-grandmother would have had. As we left, I saw her give it to an elderly woman who seemed a little pissed when Bella had won.

"This was fun." Bella fastened her seatbelt while I started the car. "I'm really glad you asked me to go with you."

I was immensely grateful for the fact that it was dark. Bella's gratitude was making me blush and I knew I had to be the color of a tomato. "I'm really glad you accepted my invitation; it's just kind of sad that it went by in such a hurry."

"It doesn't have to end, you know." Her voice was quiet and shy and I had to look at her to make sure I'd heard her right. She gave me a small smile and reached over for my hand. "You're leaving tomorrow and I really… I'm not ready to say good-bye yet."

Even in the dim light I could see the small purple smudge on the bridge of her nose and another on her chin. She was looking at me, her eyes wide and questioning, and that made me giddy and nervous at once. Isabella Marie Swan was asking me to stay with her.

I nodded my head before reaching over and rubbing the purple ink off of her chin. "I don't want to say good-bye, either."

xXxXxX

[ Bella ]

Edward Cullen was full of surprises. I'm the kind of girl who doesn't really go for things like that, but somehow a surprise coming from him wasn't too terrible. Like tonight, for example. I was nervous, I won't lie. I'd already told myself that I was going to trust Edward-and I did. He was a great guy and every new thing I learned about him made me want to be around him even more. Alice was spouting off words like "marriage" and "true love" left and right since she'd landed Jasper and, while I tried to ignore it, I had been wondering if there was someone out there for me, too.
I wasn't a huge believer in having one true love. It sounded like a great idea and something that everyone should want, but it seemed like it wasn't in the cards for me. I'd fallen hard, and fast, numerous times in my life, but it left me feeling sick afterwards when nothing worked out the way I had planned it to. I was an all-or-nothing kind of girl. And lately I had nothing. So I'd basically given up.
But once I put some of my nerves to rest, I was starting to see that there could be someone out there for me. And not just someone, a "one." And not just a "one" but a "one" especially for me.
I'd been having a great time getting to know Edward, and letting him in was getting to be easier than I thought it would be. Somehow he crept up to the walls I had built and was taking the bricks down one at a time. I'd barely even noticed what he'd been doing, whether it was intentional or not, and we'd reached a level of comfort where I felt relaxed around him. And I hadn't felt that way in a long time. It felt good.
Us having dinner at In-N-Out Burger, sitting in Alice's car, might not have seemed romantic or special to anyone else. But to me it was Heaven. We didn't have to walk through crowds of paparazzi or have fans chasing us down the sidewalk. And I could eat whatever and however much I wanted to. Which was good because I was hungry.
And Edward was such a saint for not putting up a fuss. He definitely seemed like a romance kind of guy, and I know it's true because Alice told me that Jasper had told her so. I was learning all sorts of things about Edward, so I felt it was time I started telling him things about me.
Which led to a wild story about when I was a child and my Mum had this hair-brained idea that I should be in a beauty pageant. Edward listened while I waved my hands around, making gestures every time I would imitate her. It was such a nice feeling to be able to share stupid stories with him and not have to worry about them showing up in the tabloids the next day.
My stomach did a flip-flop and my toes started to curl the moment he leaned over the car and kissed me. Any reservations I had about Edward Cullen were pretty much out the window at this point. I felt a warmth seep all over my body and I felt like I was a pile of melted butter in the seat. I was euphoric and I felt like one of those cartoon animals with big puffy hearts shooting out of my eyes.
Maybe Alice was right. Damn.

xXxXxX

Ever since I was a small child I had this obsession with winning. I didn't care what it was, but if I was going to make an attempt, I wanted to win it. This passion was probably what had helped me become successful in the film industry, but sometimes would annoy the piss out of Rosalie, another competitive girl herself. But it was part of who I was, and it was a take it or leave it situation.
Edward was apparently taking it. He saw my frustration every time someone else won Bingo. I just wanted to stand up and call a fake one, but Edward quickly shot that idea down, saying that he was sure some of the elderly women in the room had "done serious time."
My leg was twitching and I kept shaking it up and down as my hands ran frantically over the paper cards. Each number that was called sent me into fits of excitement. I was two away from winning the next round and I felt like I was going to burst. I was completely focused on the announcer's voice and when I heard her call out the last two numbers I needed it took all I had to not jump up and do a touchdown dance.
"BINGO!" I shouted, a grin a mile wide across my face. I felt accomplished. My pulse was thumping loudly and I ignored all the scowls from the other patrons in the room. Edward was beaming at me and I strolled up to the front to claim the prize. A small pillow with a cat sewn on it? I gave it to a woman who looked like she would treasure it more than I would as we left that night.
And cue the sinking feeling in my stomach. Edward was leaving to go back to Washington and I was really going to miss spending time with him. I'd grown really attached to his companionship and it was definitely safe to say that I liked him. A lot. I felt treasured by him, something I'd never felt before. Everyone in Hollywood just wanted a picture, a piece of information, or teaser for the movie I was working on. But Edward didn't want any of that. He wanted to make me happy, to spend time with me, to know the real me, and to protect me. He was the rare diamond in the rough that Mum had always told me would be out there. I only hoped I was smart enough not to fuck this up.
So I invited him in to my apartment rather then ending the night. We both didn't want to say goodbye and I didn't see anything wrong with that. Although I did try to remember if I had any dirty clothes lying around in the living room or any other place he might see. I chewed on my lower lip as we walked up to the door and I fumbled with my keys. I flicked on the light and cringed when I saw all the trash lying around and the dusty couch with the Afghans from my Nana's house back in England. And sure enough, there was a dirty t-shirt slung over the back of a lamp that had fallen over.
"It's a bit messy," I apologized as I stepped in and let him follow. I didn't dare meet his eyes. This was weird-my entire life I had never felt bad for being messy, but suddenly it was the most embarrassing thing in the world. I quickly shuffled through the room, picking up a few empty soda cans and the t-shirt, hiding them behind my back before turning to face him. And he was smiling, surprising me.
"It's fine, Bella. I live with Emmett-you can imagine how messy that can be."

We both laughed awkwardly as I gestured for him to take a seat on the couch. We eyed each other before both robotically moving towards it and plopping down. Suddenly I was nervous again.
I tried to convince myself that there was nothing to be scared of. This was Edward. I gave myself an internal pep talk and turned to say something to him at the same time he turned to me and I hadn't realized how close we'd gotten. Our foreheads banged together and we giggled like schoolgirls.
"Well this isn't awkward at all," I mumbled, rubbing my hand over my face. "What should we do now? Watch a movie? Play a game?"
His eyebrow arched. "Well there is one game I was hoping we could play together." He paused for a second, waiting to see my reaction. When I gave him a nod in assurance, his eyes flicked around the room before answering. "I've always thought it'd be fun if we played the Carlisle's Angels Scene-It game together."
His face turned a salmon pink and he looked down at his hands. I let out a small giggle as he looked back up at me. "Edward, you don't think you're possibly going to win, are you? In case you forgot, I've been in all of the movies."
He smirked. "You're about to eat those words, Bella Swan!"
Of course I accepted the challenge and went over to the closet and opened the door. My jaw about hit the floor when I saw the inside—I'd forgotten that I'd thrown everything in there when Mum came in town for the Shadows premiere. I started pulling stuff out one by one, knowing that blasted board game was in there somewhere. After a little while Edward came to look behind me.

"A bowling ball? A hat? Are those…Hot Pocket boxes?"
My cheeks had to be a dark stain of red by this point. As much as I didn't mind living the lifestyle of a slob, I didn't want Edward to think that I didn't have any proper hygiene.
"Those must be Jess' or something," I muttered. "Aha!" I cried out in excitement as I found my Smirnoff shirt. "I was wondering where that was," I said to myself as I pulled it on over the other shirt I was currently wearing.
Edward laughed and sat down next to me, shuffling through the things I'd thrown into the hallway. He'd hold up random objects, such as the neck of an old guitar that I'd bought at a yard sale, or fireworks that Alice had asked me to hold onto for her. I'd tell him a story behind each one and then he'd set it back on the ground before moving to the next.
I cheered when I held up the board game which still was half-covered in Winnie the Pooh Christmas wrapping paper. The tag read "Merry Christmas, Asshat" and I giggled at the memory. I held it triumphantly over my head as we stood and made our way back to the couch. We opened it up and put the DVD in before selecting our game pieces. I asked Edward if he was sure this was what he wanted to do before we began. I was ahead for awhile, not that I was shocked at that. But towards the end Edward started to creep up on me.
"How did you know the answer to that and I didn't?" I scoffed when he guessed a question right about my character after I'd gotten it wrong.
"It's all skill," he teased before sticking his tongue out at me. In the end, Edward won and I pretended to sulk until he pulled me tightly into him. I wrinkled my nose at him until he said one of the sweetest things I've ever heard.
"I don't even need a silly trophy or a pillow with a cat on it, I have the best prize in the world right here," he whispered as he tugged me closer.
And cue my melting heart. As we sat there quietly, not saying a word, I couldn't remember the last time I'd felt this at ease.
That damn Alice was definitely right.

xXxXxXx

JFI: So sorry for the slow update. Both LMW and I moved between the last update and this one, which took up most of our time. We will try to be quicker with our updates from here on out! Thanks for sticking with us. AND OMG EDWARD BELLA ARE FINALLY TOGETHER! Told you to trust us.

LMW: uh, yeah, I moved again. This should not be surprising to those of you who hang out with me on Twitter. Things have been a bit hectic, but how about them Cullens, huh? Thanks for hanging in there. This story will not be abandoned!