The next eight days passed with nothing really important having happened. Two days after he bunkered himself here, Carlisle's dad found him and made him come back home. I gave him a spare key to my house we had made for him- in case he needed to go somewhere again.

Caius came over to the house two days ago to tell Rosalie that their relationship was over, because he didn't want to be with her anymore. It took her and me both to stop Jasper from springing on the bigger boy and getting hurt. I can't recall having seen Rosalie once for the past fifty hours.

That event led to Jasper plotting a "cheer-up Rosalie New Year's eve party". Everyone invited- that being Maria, Edward, Tanya, and Carlisle- had agreed to come. Jasper had brought me to this shifty little store just outside of town. Tanya and Edward met us there.

Jasper seemed more enthusiastic then usual when he bounced over to Tanya. "So, what are we picking up?"

She handed him a list with small, uneven handwriting scribbled down on it. "I took the order by phone while we waited. If it's out of a bag, or microwaveable, it's on this list. We're going to need like three carts."

The two of them entered the store. I was about to follow, but Edward distracted me as he slipped out of his little silver Volvo. He looked shockingly improved from when I last saw him at Alice's house. His deep emerald eyes were bright with life today, and he was rather perky.

"Hey, Bella!" Edward greeted me as he strutted across the parking lot. I was surprised when he tossed his arms around me and smiled. "We are all going to have such a good time tonight."

I glanced at him from over my shoulder as we entered the store. "Do you have something planned?" I smiled playfully and reminded, "This is all a mission to make Rosalie happy again, remember that."

Edward's eyes glittered darkly and set off the warning signals in my brain. Had I ever seen him look so… devious before right now? No, I don't think so.

A hard chuckle rumbled out of him, and he flashed me a crooked smile. "Oh, don't worry about Rose. I'll have her so giddy you won't even recognize her. Before midnight."

Edward grabbed a little green cart and disappeared into the back of the store. I shook my head and sighed a little. It was really great to see he was feeling better after his dad left, but since when was he all mysterious and confident? Huh, maybe Tanya had been able to help him!

I sought out Jasper, finding him in the frozen foods section in the back. His entire cart was full of boxes already. He saw me and asked, "Do you see anything we're missing?"

He had enough stuff to feed half of our grade! I shook my head. He glanced at his watch and frowned. "We're already running behind schedule. Let's get going, Tanya and Edward are taking care of drinks and munchies."

"You have a schedule for a New Year's party?" I asked, though I was not very surprised.

Jasper wandered over to the checkout counter and shrugged. "Organization makes everything easier. Now hurry up, and help me." He smiled at me as he plopped an armful of his mini foods onto the counter.

-------------------

It was almost eight by the time we got back to the house. Maria and Carlisle both helped us unload everything and stick it in the extra freezer in the laundry room. With that done, we migrated to the living room. Maria went upstairs to try and get Rosalie down to join us.

Carlisle sat beside me and sighed. "So, you two ready for school to start again?"

"Yes." Jasper answered immediately. I didn't have to ask why to know. General Hale came home the day after school started again. That was a fourth of a day that Jasper didn't have to worry about getting into a fight with him.

I shrugged rather indifferently. School had never bothered me too much.

We fell silent when Maria and Rosalie rounded the corner by the stairs. It was the first time I had seen her in two days, and she looked terrible. Worse even then when she and Emmett broke away from one another. Her eyes were puffy and red, and she looked like she hadn't slept in a week.

Jasper frowned and patted the open spot on his other side. With a deep sigh, she sank down beside him, setting her head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her and tried to comfort her. "In five hours, it'll be a new year, Rosie. We can try to make it your best one yet!"

I decided to try and be helpful. I was surprised that I felt genuinely hopeful as I promised, "Yeah, Rose, you don't need any of those idiot guys. You've got all of us."

Rosalie turned her head to look directly at me, her eyes gentle for the first time I could ever remember. She actually smiled a little bit and seemed to spark with energy.

She glanced over my shoulder. "Well how about it, Carlisle? Should our resolution be to try and make 2005 the best year of our lives?"

Carlisle was still having quite a hard time with his life. It hadn't been too long since his mother passed, and then the support group we had tried to build for him fell apart. Now his dad was getting a little worse than before, and he wasn't used to that at all.

His pretty hazel eyes shined sadly, and he agreed with an overly optimistic smile. "2005, the best year of our lives! Forks better watch out for the Cullen-Hale tag team. They won't know what hit them."

We all laughed softly, and then the door opened. Her arms loaded with bags, Tanya pranced inside and made way for the kitchen. She announced over her shoulder, "Jasper, Bella, Edward wants you outside."

I led Jasper outside and over to the Volvo. Edward glanced anxiously over his shoulder before popping the trunk open. I felt my eyes widen as I glanced inside at the contents. There were three cases of beer, two very big bottles of what I think was vodka, and a little brown bag that was stapled shut.

Jasper frowned, his brow furrowing. He was usually up for the things Edward wanted to do, but he suddenly looked very, very serious. "Hey, man, I don't think this is a good idea. Last time-"

Edward cut him off with a dismissive wave of the hand. "Last time Marcus let you have too much. I'll make sure you're locked away when you start to slur your words and trip on imaginary cats."

For the first time ever, to my supreme surprise, I saw Jasper blush. He laughed nervously at the, apparently embarrassing, memory.

"And what's in the bag?" He asked, raising his eyebrows at his friend. Edward grinned, glancing at me knowingly. I figured that meant I was about to find out what he was talking about earlier.

Edward stuffed the bag in his pocket and handed me the two large bottles. I should have shoved them back at him, but I stupidly took them.

Isabella Swan, daughter of the police chief, was now officially in possession of alcohol underage. That was just wonderful.

He smiled, answering the question. "Ecstasy pills. Alice gave them to me. If Rose still feels depressed later, we can slip one in her drink. It'll cheer her right up!"

I nearly dropped the bottles I held. What!?

Jasper's face masked my shock, but his eyes were suddenly dark and furious as his protective vibes began to stir. "Edward, throw those away. You're not passing them around."

Edward glared at Jasper. "And who is going to stop me? You? Maria and Tanya already know, and they don't care. Stop being such a daisy picker."

Did it surprise me when Jasper lurched forward at Edward and tried to snatch the bag from his friend's pocket? No, not at all. I was totally expecting it, in fact.

What did surprise me was Edward's reaction.

With those faster-than-lightning reflexes of his, he grabbed Jasper's arm and fiercely slammed him against the side of the car. His forearm was shoved against Jasper's neck to pin him in place. There was a dangerous flash in his dark green eyes that made my heart skip a beat.

He snapped, "Jasper, don't start with me right now. She may be your sister, but she's my friend you know. I've known her longer than you have! I won't just sit around and watch her sulk over a jerk like Caius."

Jasper's entire demeanor suddenly changed. His confidently relaxed muscles tensed like coiled springs, and his eyes shadowed with fear as he limply tried to struggle out of Edward's stronger grip. Edward's too-aggressive gesture had changed my Jasper into General Hale's Jasper. The one that shied away from dominance so he could retreat into the shadows.

Edward noticed the change in him as well. He looked regretful as he hesitantly removed his hold on his friend. He sighed, "Just get the damn cases and bring them in."

Edward grabbed one and stalked towards the house. I watched sadly, too stunned for words, as Jasper obediently and silently pulled the other two out. His head was lowered, and he asked, "Can you shut the trunk, Bella?"

I tucked one of the bottles under my arm and did what he asked. I wanted to talk to him, say something, but the look on his face was a clear warning to me that it would not be the best idea right now. I just followed him back towards the house.

Don't ask me what the hell happened, but less then an hour later, we had rock music shaking the walls of the house. We were sitting in a circle on the living room floor. All seven of us, even myself, had downed at least two beers already, and been convinced into trying Edward's ecstasy.

Smooth talking bastard.

Maria somehow got our too-happy asses into playing a no restrictions shot game of never-have-I-ever. Because she thought of the game, she got to start it. Her eyes glinted evilly. It was pretty obvious she was just going to try to see who died of alcohol poisoning first.

"Never have I ever sworn in front of my parents." Maria started mildly to kick the game off. Carlisle, Tanya, and Jasper all downed a shot, being poured another by Edward.

Tanya smirked, officially making this game a battle of the sexes. "Never have I ever kissed a girl."

All three boys chugged their shots. Even through my strong buzz, I was glad to see neither Rosalie, Tanya nor Maria take a shot to that.

"Never have I ever eye fucked Edward." Jasper announced.

Edward and him both started to giggle like idiots as all of the girls, yes even me, took a shot to that. What can I say? Edward was one hot bitch with those tight shirts of his, and his unruly sex-hair. Carlisle was the one who refilled the tiny cups.

I randomly thought of one and blurted it out. "Never have I ever stayed up all night."

It was surprising to see only Jasper and Tanya take a shot. Those two were tied now, even though Tanya didn't look even mildly bleary eyed.

Carlisle smirked, looking quite a bit more devious than I could recall seeing before. "Never have I ever had sex."

Prick.

Everyone except for him and Maria took a shot. That shocked me- I had expected her to take the shot, while Edward sat out.

Maria echoed my thoughts. "Edward, who the hell have you been with?"

Jasper's eyes twinkled, and he took a guess, his speech a little distorted. "Never have I ever slept with Esme Platt."

Edward, grinning like an idiot, took his shot. The rest of us seemed to become shell-shocked.

"You were with Esme?" Carlisle asked in disbelief.

"Marcus would shank you if he knew that." Tanya laughed.

Edward's eyes flashed with that same little spark from outside. "I'd like to see him try it."

The sudden hostility ringing off of him made us all shift nervously. Well, except for Tanya. Her eyes seemed to glow with the light of challenge.

Rosalie broke the tension by announcing, "Never have I ever kissed Carlisle."

Drawn back into the game, I scowled and downed my third shot. It was starting to burn my throat.

"Never have I ever kissed Caius." I shot back at her. Both Rosalie and Maria drank to that one.

Exactly six minutes had passed since we took the pills Edward gave us, and apparently it was starting to affect Jasper. He spilt the bottle of vodka he was holding onto all over us both as he leaned over to randomly kiss my neck. Tanya snatched the bottle from him to save the fourth of it that was left.

Jasper whispered into my ear, and I even had trouble hearing his slurred words over the loud music. "C'mon, Bella, let's go back t' my room."

I smiled, and we helped one another stand up before we stumbled down the hall. Several of the others whistled as he went- but we paid no attention to them. Jasper held firmly onto my hand as he closed the door. A second later, I found myself sandwiched between his warm body and the hard wall.

His lips instantly attacked mine, and I found it was a struggle to get any air sucked in as our tongues began to massage each other. His hands tightly gripped my hips as I started to undo the wet button and zipper on his jeans so I could make him take them off.

It took him a moment to realize what I was doing. Once it sank in, he ripped himself away from me to allow me to breathe again. His hands began to strip my wet clothes off.

"Bella." He whispered, his sexy blue eyes locking directly onto mine. They suddenly looked clearer than they had in the living room. "What's your favorite number?"

I was distracted from answering when his body grounded against mine, and he started sucking on a very sensitive spot near my collarbone, as his magical hands worked on massaging my chest.

I groaned, wrapping my left leg around the back of his knees so I could press myself against him- searching for the friction my throbbing body was screaming for.

Jasper's hands grabbed my hips, and he held me still as he slipped inside of my body. I knew I was safe in his hold, so I daringly wrapped my legs around his waist and held on tight to his strong biceps.

He kissed me again, rougher even then before, and demanded, "Favorite number."

"Four." I answered breathily, without really needing to think.

It was a great number. It was the number of years a person went to high school. Most college degrees were four years. Counting myself, I had four family members now that Phil was around. I had four best friends- Jasper, Carlisle, Alice, and (maybe, sort of) Rosalie. It was officially an important number in my life, so it was my favorite.

Jasper smiled at me, and I felt dazzled by his handsome face and smoldering eyes. He growled, "I'm going to make you scream my name four times before the sun comes up."

I guess my record for not staying up all night was going to end.

Teaser for c26: Carlisle was… looking really bad.

All reviewers who say more than "update soon" or "great chapter" will get an extended teaser!