Stephenie Meyer owns all TWILIGHT characters.
The Twilight Twenty-Five
thetwilight25[dot]com
Prompt: 2 - i51[dot]tinypic[dot]com/b64l00[dot]jpg
Pen name: IngenueFic
Characters: Bella, Edward, Alice, Leah, Rosalie
Rating: PG-13
All prompts can be found here:
www[dot]thetwilight25[dot]com/round-five/prompts/
The party is a mix of her friends and Leah's friends. It's the first time they've hosted a party for New Year's but it's looking –
"So far, so good," Alice says from her side, appearing like a Christmas elf gone rogue. "I approve, Swan."
Bella doesn't take her words lightly. As one of the most successful event planners in upstate New York, Alice knows what works and what doesn't. The fact that she approves of the mini shindig must mean she did something right.
"I like that dress, by the way," Alice continues. "Where'd you get it?"
Glancing down, Bella doesn't think anything is special about what she's wearing. It's a simple gray mini-dress with a slight military look to it. She thought she'd wear it in honor of her brother who's spending the holidays overseas. She's actually pretty sure she's worn it in front of Alice before.
Which means –
"Who do you want to meet?" Bella asks with a sigh. She looks around the room and tries to figure out which guy managed to catch Alice's very critical eye. After a few circles around the room, she sees him – tall, lean, hair that falls in short waves over his eyes – and suppresses a grin. "I just met him earlier. He's one of Leah's friends."
Alice and Leah don't get along. Both of them have fierce personalities and strong opinions that often clash. Despite their mutual hatred, however, Alice narrows her eyes in determination and begins walking toward the man. She pauses only when Leah comes out of the kitchen and walks to him, hugging him with a smile. Alice shakes her head, straightens her shoulders, and continues her walk.
The entire time this is happening, Bella stands behind the bar that separates the living room and dining room. For now, it's filled with appetizers – some homemade like the quiche she's currently nibbling on and some store-bought because Bella really didn't want to roll tiny hot dogs in pieces of crescent rolls – and a few bottles. Realizing she should be a good host, she begins to collect the empty bottles of beer to take into the kitchen.
After a few seconds, she realizes someone is next to her and she looks over to see an attractive man collecting bottles with her.
"You don't have to do that," she insists.
He shrugs. "It's okay. A few of these are probably mine."
Someone calls her name and Bella turns to see Rosalie striding over to her with two large bottles of wine. "Sorry I'm late!" she says breathlessly like she took the stairs up to the 8th floor of the building where the apartment is. It's actually a feasible thing; Rosalie's more than a little claustrophobic and will only take the elevator when absolutely necessary.
"You're not late," Bella assures her as she takes the bottles from her. "You didn't have to bring anything."
"I wanted to." Rosalie winks at her. "These are fantastic years. Let's put it aside until the majority of the guests leave."
"Rose?" Both girls turn at the voice and Attractive Man is staring at Rosalie with wide, surprised eyes.
"Oh my God, what are you doing here?" she asks. Without another word to Bella, she grabs his arm and pulls him toward the living room, yapping away like a tiny lap dog.
"That's mean, Bella," she whispers to herself. "Just because she's blonde and beautiful doesn't mean she doesn't have brains and is annoying like those ugly Chihuahuas." She makes her way to the kitchen and sets the bottle of red on the counter and puts the white in the refrigerator to chill. Even though Rosalie mentioned keeping the wine for just them, Bella studies the label and decides she wants to try it. As she grabs a wine glass from the counter, she mumbles, "If she wants to leave me for Attractive Man, then I'll have wine without her."
"Talking to yourself again?" Alice pipes in from the doorway. Her sudden appearance surprises Bella and she clenches her fingers around the glass, causing it to break in her hand. "Oh shit, are you okay?"
"Fine, fine," Bella mutters, waving her uninjured hand to shoo her friend away. There are a few cuts on her palm but nothing too deep and she keeps her hand under running water for a few minutes while Alice begins talking about Leah and her inability to keep her nose out of everyone's business.
The sound of laughter fills the room; Rosalie and Attractive Man enter the kitchen only to pause when they see Bella at the sink and Alice by the counter with her forehead on the flat surface. "Uh… You guys okay?" Rosalie asks.
Bella lifts her hand to show the cuts that are still bleeding lightly while Alice lets out a pained groan, saying, "Boys."
After a moment, Rosalie nods. "I've got the boys. You get the blood, Doctor." She pushes Attractive Doctor toward Bella. "I like her so take of her, okay?" She grabs Alice's arm and pulls gently. "Come on, sulky. Tell me your problems."
When they're gone, Bella stares at Attractive Doctor for a second before she turns back to the sink. She's about to turn the faucet to stop the water when a warm hand wraps around her wrist. "Can I see?"
"It's not that bad," she says quietly but lets him take her hand. He inspects it and reaches around her to grab some paper towels. He wets them lightly and wraps them around her palm.
"Do you have a first aid kit? We should probably wrap that up better."
She's not sure if she wants to snort at the idea of her not having a first aid kit or comment on the wrapping comment. She settles on the safe topic. "Yeah, there's one in my bathroom." She begins to move but stops. "Are you really a doctor?"
He gives a bashful shrug. "Doctor Edward Cullen," he says.
"How old are you?" Bella can't help but ask then realizes how rude she sounds. "Not that… I mean, you just look young and… My bathroom's this way," she says quickly.
"Twenty-nine," he tells her as he follows her down a short hall into a bedroom. "This isn't a bathroom."
"Really?" Bella asks, feigning shock. "I thought it was!" She can't help but give him an impish grin. "This way."
The en suite bathroom is spacious with large windows over a wide tub. Edward likes the comfortable feeling in the room and says so when Bella hands him a familiar white box. She thanks him then hops up onto the counter by the sink, holding out her hand.
"You remind me of some of my patients." He chuckles and when Bella tilts her head in question, he continues, "I work with children." She raises an eyebrow. "The way you stuck your hand out – the kids do that when I'm about to give them a Band-Aid." She still doesn't say anything. "I'm blabbering a bit, aren't I?"
"It's cute," she says simply.
"So are you," Edward says without thinking. He lifts his head from cleaning her hand and Bella notices a faint tint of pink on his cheeks. "Uh, that is –"
"That's sweet," she cuts in softly. She watches him bend down again and when he finishes wrapping some tape around her hand, she flexes her fingers. "Thanks." He doesn't move from his position in front of her. "I'm Bella, by the way."
She watches the corners of his mouth turn up. "I know."
"You know?"
"I asked Rosalie about you," he confesses. "I couldn't help it."
"Oh." Her lower lip finds itself trapped between her teeth. The feel of his thumb on the space beneath her mouth is hot and sends electricity shooting down her spine. He tugs her lip free. "I'm kind of glad you did."
His eyes light up. "Me too."
Thank you to oOza for the beta work.