As you all may or may not know, I make playlists for everything I write. Some of the songs fit the vibe, while others are more pertinent to the story, and let me tell you...the playlist for this little tale has gotten pretty fucking amazingly weird. xD

Let me know if that's something yall would want to see? I can share it on my Facebook, or even sprinkle in recommendations throughout the chapters.

Fran betas. Jill, Ariel, and Pearly preread. x

Everything was going so well, until it wasn't.

It happened somewhere between the time Jacob decided he needed to scoot his chair closer to Bella and when I lost my fucking mind.

He sat right next to her, pressed up against her side, brushing her hair behind her ear and whispering what I assume was debauchery and fuckery in her ear. I remained on high alert, yet kept my cool, right up until Bella's hair fell like a curtain hiding me from her true emotions of whatever foul shit he was serving.

I needed to know what he was saying. I needed to know she was okay with it, one way or the other.

I needed to be closer.

Angela returned from the restroom just as I was hiding behind a waiter, using him as cover to covertly sneak nearer.

"Cullen, what the fuck are you doing?" Her urgent whisper met my ears, but I was already on the move now. No stopping me now. The popular song from Queen may as well have been my anthem.

Don't. Stop. Me. Nowwwww.

I was able to duck down behind a booth only a table away from the happy couple without garnering any unwanted attention, my back pressed against the cool wood as I attempted to eavesdrop.

Except there was nothing to hear. I couldn't decipher Jacob's whispered words, but I could hear Bella's giggles loud and clear. Whatever he was saying, she was all for it.

My phone buzzed in my pocket and—disregarding the sharp pang in my chest—I opened it swiftly.

Weber: The chief is here. Abort mission. I.e., GET YOUR ASS BACK OVER HERE.

Fuck.

In an extremely uncharacteristic move, I shot up from my crouched position without checking my surroundings, my head colliding with the underside of a tray of drinks that promptly tipped and spilled...all over Bella and her date.

Shit, fuck, damn.

There was a moment. A non-moment, really. Where Bella looked right at me, her deep whiskey eyes absolutely on fire.

And I felt.

Something...deep. Something I had never felt before. Something that could crush me, if I let it.

It was more than I had felt in years. Maybe ever.

But I didn't have time to dwell on it because Angela's hand was grabbing my arm and pulling me away from the calamity I had created.

Even then, I knew. I knew it was far from over.