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Without further ado, here is the second meeting between Edward & Bella.

It was him.

He was here. Just a few feet from us. Just across the room.

Edward.

And Rose had set her sights on him.

My hands started trembling of their own volition…

"Bella, are you OK?" Rosalie asked, visibly worried.

"Yeah, no, I don't… I don't know."

"What is it?"

I took a deep breath.

"It's Edward" I ended up saying.

Damn it, damn it, damn it! With all the hundreds of guys in the room he had to be the one she set her sights on.

Then again Bella, you can't really blame her. I mean just look at him! He's gorgeous!

Indeed, I couldn't blame Rosalie. With his dark pair of jeans that was molding his nice butt, his white shirt, the three first buttons of which were open, giving a glimpse of his superb torso, and his messy hair… Edward was simply magnificent ...

"What? That tall muscular dark-haired guy is Edward?"

I sighed.

"Didn't you tell me he had red hair or something like that?"

"He doesn't have red hair, he just, I don't know... He just has like copper highlights in his hair." I said, staring at the young man.

I couldn't hear my eyes away from his face ...

"That guy has dark hair, Bella!"

"Rose, I think you're drunk. He clearly does not have dark hair, come on! Next, you're going to tell me he has a red shirt?"

"Bella, the guy I'm talking about isn't wearing a shirt. He's in a T shirt. A t-shirt that is doing wonders for his pecs as a matter of fact. MIAM!"

Rose was clearly losing it!

Unless…

I glanced at the two people accompanying Edward and realized Rosalie was talking about the guy standing to his right: a gigantic boy, all muscles. The guy who had caught my friend's eyes was not the object of my desire! I was exulting internally ...

Finally noticing Edward, Rose understood as well and started to laugh.

"What? you are so obsessed by this guy you didn't notice the total fox standing next to him? Oh Bella ..." she looked at me with a softened expression as though she was sorry for me.

I poked my tongue out at her as a response.

"Truth be told, I have to admit he's kind of cute ..." she added, assessing Edward from head to toe.

I glared at her which only made her laugh even harder.

"Don't you worry, I think his friend is 1000 times hotter! Much more my style. I need a man, a real one, with muscles and a pretty face. And that one would absolutely suit me. Now, come on, let's go talk to them ..." she said, grabbing my arm.

"WHAT?! You want to go talk to them? But we don't even know them!"

"Well let's get to know them, then!"

"I told you this afternoon: I am not approaching the man!"

"Yes, and you also promised me that prude Bella would not make an appearance tonight! Be a little wild, it couldn't hurt! He won't eat you, Bella ..."

And yet, I would have liked him to eat me.

Grotesque, Bella.

"Hey, look! Alice and Jasper have joined them. This is the perfect opportunity!"

Indeed, Alice had once again thrown herself into her brother's arms. The girl was quite simply infinitely discreet ... After releasing Edward, she turned to us and motioned for us to come over. Rosalie immediately rushed to close the distance that separated us from the small group before turning back to me when she realized I hadn't moved. I was frozen in place. Petrified.

She retraced her steps and stood in front of me.

"Bella, what do you think you're doing?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I can't. I just can't! I'm going to humiliate myself again…"

Rose sighed with discontent. Then, in the blink of an eye, I caught a strange gleam pass in her eyes as though she had just had a fantastic idea. She seized my arm and led me in the direction opposite to that of the group. In other words: towards the bar.

She handed me a glass.

"Drink that."

"Rose, I believe I've had enough to drink for tonight."

The fact that I felt like I was seasick, and I wasn't even on a boat, was a testament to that.

"OK, listen to me. You may not want to approach dear Eddy, but you see, I, on the other hand, would very much like to get to know Sexy Muscles. So either you play it cool, you take that shot, and you come with me, or you stay here on your own all night and appear to be the asocial on duty. What will it be?" She was holding the glass a few centimeters from my mouth.

"But look at him! And look at me ..." I tried.

"I never said you had to hit on him! You are Alice's roommate, so the least you can do is be courteous and go greet her brother!"

Not untrue. She had a point. But would I be able to seem detached when really…

When really what, Bella? Seriously, you've known the guy for less than 24 hours ... Love at first sight does not exist, and you know it. So pull yourself together, drink this shot, and act like a normal person, damn it!

I grabbed the glass and gulped down the Tequila at once. I immediately felt better. Then, Rose seized my arm and we moved towards the group.

The closer I got to Edward, the harder my heart beat. I had to calm the fuck down.

"Ah, finally there you are! I thought you were avoiding us ..." Alice said.

Rose was taken by a giggle, and I pinched her arm to call her back to order.

"Rose, Bella, allow me to introduce you to Ben, a friend, Emmett, my cousin, and Edward, my brother." She said, emphasizing the last word.

Did she think she was funny?

"Guys, this is Rosalie and Bella."

"Hi." Rose greeted, anchoring her gaze to Emmett's.

"Good evening." I greeted with a small smile before looking down at my feet.

"Nice to meet you." They responded in chorus.

When I looked back up, I noticed Edward staring at me, an intrigued expression on his face. Meeting his gaze made me blush from the root of my hair and I dropped my gaze again.

"You look familiar." He eventually said.

"Of course, Ed, Bella is my roommate. You ran into her this morning when you came to see me!"

I blushed even harder remembering the toothpaste episode.

Edward's expression then morphed into something akin to ... surprise?

"Yes, that's right!" he said, a smile on his lips. "By the way, I'm sorry I interrupted you while you were getting ready. You left so quickly I didn't have time to apologize and ..."

"No worries!" I cut him off, without raising my eyes to him.

If I looked at him once more, I would literally melt. I was almost certain ...

Sensing my embarrassment, Rosalie changed topics and seized the opportunity to talk to 'Sexy Muscles'.

"So Emmett, what do you do?"

"I'm a Mechanical Engineering student, sophomore…" he answered.

Rose's eyes lit up. Clearly, the fact that Emmett was interested in mechanics made him even more interesting in her eyes.

"That's wonderful! We share the same major!" she enthused.

"Ohh" He said, diverting his eyes towards the dance floor.

Was I hallucinating or was Emmett not receptive to Rosalie's charm and seduction? Well, this was certainly a first!

"So why don't you guys go and get us some drinks?" Alice suggested.

"Good idea! I'm thirsty as well. Who wants a beer?" Emmett inquired.

I shockingly found myself raising my hand. Maybe drinking a bit more would help relax me. At the very least, I would be able to focus my attention on my drink as opposed to my feet.

"Coming with you!" Rosalie declared, refusing to admit defeat.

Emmett shrugged, and he, Rose and Ben headed for the bar, when the notes of an old, sultry ballad started to fill the room.

"Oh, I love this song." Alice commented, clapping her hands. "Jasper, will you dance with me?"

"Um… sure." He stuttered.

In 3 minutes, we'd gone from 7 people to 2. Only Edward and myself.

This was inarguably a set up. There was going to be hell to pay for this…

"So, um, Bella, are you a freshman too?"

Oh God, he was talking to me. With his heavenly voice. I wanted to scream, to run away at full speed, to take him into my arms, to kiss him, to undress him, to slap him, and to throw up all at the same time!

When you're done with your personal musings, you could – oh, I don't know – maybe answer the man, Bella?

"Yes. I am. A freshman. Studying English literature." Great, I was speaking in sentence fragments now. I chanced a quick glance at him.

He arched a brow, then smiled. A 4-star smile. Oh Lord.

The man was not a human. No human being could possibly be this handsome. So perfect. So…

"Want to danse?" He asked, extending his hand to me.

HUH?

I looked up at him. He was still smiling at me, his eyes reflecting a certain curiosity mixed with a sort of nervousness.

Perhaps, he was asking me to dance so we wouldn't have to talk. Or maybe…

Relax, Bella. He's inviting you to dance. It's not a marriage proposal.

"I don't – I don't really know how to dance, Edward, and I…"

"Are you kidding? Sure you do! I saw you earlier with Alice and your blonde friend."

Oh my God… He had seen me on the dancefloor earlier in the evening. I was mortified…

"Rosalie. Her name's Rosalie." I said in an effort to push the embarrassing picture of me dancing out of my mind.

"Yes, that's right. Rosalie…"

This was certainly the first time a guy who'd met Rosalie didn't remember her name.

There I stood, staring at his extended hand, weighing the pros (that is to say the fact that the most gorgeous man in the history of humanity was asking me to dance with him) and the cons (my obvious state of intoxication, my total lack of coordination, and my inability to dance to name just a few) when he asked me again in the most sensual voice ever:

"Bella, please, dance with me…" The sexy smirk at the corner of his mouth made me lose all composure.

I'm not sure whether it was his eyes, his voice, his mouth, our closeness or the aftereffects of my last Tequila shot, but for a second, I forgot who I was and where I was. I placed my hand in his and allowed him to lead me to the middle of the dancefloor, under the bewildered gaze of Rose and the envious ones of almost all the girls in attendance.

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