And today's disclaimer: I don't own any of Twilight.

Many thanks for all the lovely reviews and all the folks adding it to their favorites. I'm so glad so many of you are enjoying the story. It means a lot to me. I'm traveling on business (pesky job) for the next few days, so I'm not sure how prompt I can be with updates, but rest assured, it's all in the can and forthcoming in the very near future.

So, it's date night! But I do have a little bit more story-telling to do first before it's exclusively Bella vs Edward. Besides, you knew she was going to show up sooner or later and here she is.

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BPOV

"One more time, tell me so I stop fretting, are you sure you're cool with this?" Rose sounded cool and calm on the phone, but I knew her well enough to hear the concern there. My first "date" with Edward was tonight and Rose had called for one last check-in/ pep talk.

"I'm fine, Rose. Really, how bad could it be? Assuming the worst and we hate each other, all I have to do is eat and try and not scowl when someone's taking my picture. Hey, remember I survived prom with Mike Newton. It surely can't be as bad as that. And at least I'm fairly confident Edward will keep his damned hands to himself, unlike Mike."

That finally got her to laugh. "Are you getting dressed yet? Do you need my help?"

I laughed as I glanced at my closet. "I probably could use your help but I'll manage. Thanks anyway."

"Do you want me to come with you? I will if you need me."

"Rose, it's already going to be a stretch to make this believable. The last thing I need to do is to bring my best friend on my date. That would be weird in the extreme."

"Ah, you're right. Forget it. Anyway, call any of us if it gets bizarre and we'll come to the rescue. Okay?"

"Okay."

"And you better call me as soon as you get home and tell me everything."

"Absolutely." I heard the buzz of my doorbell. "Hey Rose I have to go, there's somebody at the door."

"Is he there already??"

"No, too early for him. It must be a delivery or something."

Rose finally hung up after wringing a last promise for a post-date phone call from me and I ran to catch the door.

"Hi, Bella?" chirped the tiny person I found on my front step. "You don't have a fence, or a gate at the end of your drive," she said turning to point to my driveway. "And you don't have a buzzer either."

"Um…no I guess I don't..."

"Anybody could just walk right up and ring your bell."

"Well, yeah, I guess so, but…."

"But any crazed stalker could just come right up here and talk to you."

I paused, trying to formulate a response, wondering if perhaps I was looking at one. Then I dismissed that thought. This girl didn't look like anybody's idea of a crazed stalker. She was incredibly tiny and exquisitely beautiful, with delicate porcelain features and enormous blue eyes, offset by her short artfully tousled jet black hair. She was wearing a short flippy skirt and a very expensive-looking brightly colored silk halter blouse and black pumps with extremely high heels. I didn't know much about clothes, but even I recognized the signature red soles of her Christian Louboutins. Crazed stalkers don't wear thousand dollar shoes.

"I haven't really had a problem with stalkers yet, Miss…?"

Her eyes flew wide with shock and she clamped her hand over her mouth.

"Oh God! I'm sorry! You have no idea who I am, do you? I bulldozed right past the introductions, didn't I? I'm sorry, my brain just gets ahead of my mouth sometimes. Well, all the time, really."

"It's okay," I laughed, because she was so busy apologizing for forgetting to introduce herself that she forgot to do it again. I just looked at her for a minute, waiting for her to figure it out.

"Oh, God! I did it again! Alice! I'm Alice!"

My blank face must have told her that meant nothing to me.

"Alice Cullen, Edward's sister," she added quickly.

"Oh! Hi. I didn't know he had a sister."

"Yes, and I'm also his unofficial personal assistant and stylist. God knows, I won't take on either burden officially. So he got held up at a thing he's doing and he's going to get back to his place really late, and he still needs to clean up and get dressed, and your place is way in the opposite direction from the restaurant where he's taking you, which would probably make you really late, so I said I would come and get you and…"

"He sent his sister to pick me up for our date?" I interrupted in disbelief.

"No, no! I volunteered. Well, more like I barged in and took over. Mostly I wanted an excuse to come over here and meet you." She stopped to eye me up and down, "And apparently to help you get ready."

I should have been offended by every bit of this, but somehow this insane little tornado of a person was completely disarming me. How on earth could Edward have a sister so cute and charming?

I backed away from the door. "Maybe you should come in."

She beamed a huge smile at me and I finally saw a glimmer of resemblance between them, if only in the sheer dazzle-factor of their smiles. She was past me and on her way back to the bedroom like a flash and all I could do was follow in her wake.

"So," she said, standing in front of my closet with her hands on her hips and a look of extreme concentration on her face, "What are you wearing tonight?"

"I hadn't really picked anything out yet."

"Bella!" she shot me an incredulous look. "These things take planning! And we'll have to do your hair and your makeup….Okay, let's see what's here."

I waved a dismissive hand at my closet, "They hired a stylist right after we won the show to get a wardrobe for me, but honestly I've never worn most of it. None of it really feels like it suits me."

Alice scowled as she flipped through the hangers. "Well, it's no wonder. Who the hell did this stylist think she was shopping for? Paris Hilton? Ugh. None of this is right for you. Wait, I might be able to do something with this." She tossed a choice out on the bed and turned back to keep digging.

All I could do was sink into a chair and watch the force of nature that was Alice tear through my room. She was high-octane, and quite possibly more than a little crazy, but I couldn't help but like her immensely. I wished Rose was here to meet her.

She finally found a pair of skinny black cigarette pants and a deep blue silky blouse with a drapey neckline that she deemed acceptable. She settled on a pair of black peep toe patent leather pumps. I tried to explain my lack of any sort of natural coordination and that her brother might be in serious physical jeopardy standing next to me in heels all night, but she wouldn't hear my protests. She muttered something about giving me high heel lessons and spun off to my vanity to examine my cosmetic collection.

She eventually had me seated with my hair up in fat hot rollers while she went at me with a smoky grey eyeliner.

"Hey Bella?"

I had only just met her, but I could already recognize that tone of voice. She wanted something.

"Yeah?"

"Those clothes in your closet are really pointless. Would you mind terribly….well, can I go shopping for you? Please?"

She sounded so excited at the prospect, which was bizarre to me as there's nothing I like doing less than shopping, that I couldn't possibly turn her down.

"Sure, Alice. That would be really nice of you. Thanks." She practically bounced up and down in excitement.

And now it was my turn to ask the awkward question, because I had no idea how much or how little she knew about this situation.

"So, Alice, you know this isn't a….well, that we're not really…."

"That you and Edward are fake? Yes, of course. Even if he didn't tell me, which he did, I would have known. Because he doesn't have girlfriends."

Oh.

"Oh. Like ever?"

"Well, when we were in high school, there were a few. Although even then he was a bit of a man whore. And maybe when he was living in New York, I'm not sure. But since we moved to LA and all this…" she waved a hand over her head that somehow encompassed LA, Hollywood and the entirety of the film industry, "….happened, no, not one."

She must have read the expression on my face, because she laughed, a clear tinkling bell sound. "Oh, don't get me wrong, he never lacks for female company, he just doesn't keep them around long enough for any of them to gain a title like girlfriend. And he never does stuff like this with them….dinner, dates... Yeah, people will notice this for sure."

I still must have looked stunned, or miserable or both, because she continued in a hurry.

"Please don't judge him too fast, though! My brother is a good guy, he really is. Just his movie career has made him…distracted. He really wants to get back on track. He'll behave, I promise. And I bet you'll be great for him."

The fact that he had such a remarkable sister who was clearly devoted to him just raised Edward a fraction in my estimation. There must be some tiny thing inside him that was good to earn her high opinion.

Alice finished my makeup and was shaking out my long loose curls when I heard the doorbell again. Before I could even get up to answer, I heard the door open and Jasper's voice call through the house.

"Bells? You still here?"

Geez, Jasper, ever hear of personal boundaries? Who am I kidding? None of us had them with each other. We'd known each other for far too long, plus our years of communal living in Seattle had stripped away what was left of our personal space issues. It wasn't actually the least bit surprising that Jasper just walked into my house uninvited. I would have been more surprised had he waited for me to answer the door.

"Back here, Jazz!" I called out. Alice shot me a questioning look and I whispered, "Band mate."

He made his way through the house and started talking loudly to me before he was anywhere near the bedroom. "I was driving by your nabe on the way to Em's house and I thought I'd check on you before the big date. Em challenged me to a Guitar Hero marathon. Seriously, what is that dude thinking? He knows I always kick his….."

Jasper rounded the corner into my bedroom and stopped in his tracks when he caught sight of me and Alice. Actually, to be more precise, he stopped dead in his tracks when he caught sight of Alice. Because I'm pretty sure in that moment that the ground could have opened up and swallowed me whole and Jasper would have never noticed.

"Hi, Jasper. This is Alice, Edward's sister. She was just helping me get ready. Alice, this is Jasper. He's in Eclipse with me." I glanced up to Alice as I made the introductions and she was staring back at Jasper with the same single-minded intensity.

Damn. I'd read about shit like this happening to people, but I'd never actually seen it in action. And I had never seen that look on Jasper's face, not in all the years I've known him. It was so crazy intense in there between them at that moment that I sort of felt like I should excuse myself and give them some alone time.

I cleared my throat a little to remind them both that neither of them had actually acknowledged the introduction. Jasper snapped out of it first.

"Sorry. Yeah….Jasper. Nice to meet you Alice." He stepped forward and hesitantly held out his hand to shake hers.

Dude, he's nervous about shaking her hand! I am giving him so much shit for this later.

Alice pulled herself together and stuck out her tiny hand to meet his. Then she flashed that freaky Cullen mind-meld dazzling smile at him and I thought Jasper might jizz in his pants on the spot. Oh, man, stick a fork in Jasper…he's done.

I let them dangle for a minute, staring stupidly at each other and then I took pity on them and excused myself for one last trip to the bathroom before Alice and I had to leave. I lingered as long as I could, hoping that Jasper would man up and actually talk to her. I also needed one last minute to psych myself up for what I was about to do. I took a look at myself in the full length mirror and I had to admit, Alice knew her stuff. I looked pretty damned good, if I did say so myself. As much as I hated the heels, they made my legs look great. And these tight black pants didn't hurt either, I thought as I turned to examine my ass in the mirror. I still felt a little ridiculous that I would be trailing alongside the likes of Edward Cullen pretending to be his girlfriend, but as long as the press bought it, I supposed that's all that mattered.

I stayed in the bathroom as long as I could reasonably manage, but if we didn't leave soon I'd be late to meet Edward. When I came back in the bedroom, Jasper and Alice were standing together…just a little too close...talking in low voices. Nice work, Jazz!

"Um, Alice, I think we need to leave soon."

"Oh!" She stepped away from Jasper quickly and the girl looked seriously flustered. "I came over here to keep you guys on time and I'm the one making you late! You're right, let's go." She waved her tiny hands in front of her face distractedly as she scurried around, scooping up her stuff and getting us ready to go.

"Walk us out, Jazz?" I asked softly.

He turned and finally made eye contact with me for the first time since he'd come in the house. Ah, man. He was a goner. It was all over his pathetic puppy face. Well, I'd have to make sure I got Alice's number tonight, in case the idiot didn't manage to do it for himself. I had a feeling Alice was about to become a very integral part of all of our lives.

I fixed him with a meaningful look. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow at the studio, huh Jazz?"

He blinked at me like he was underwater. "Yeah, the studio. I'll see you there." He looked back to Alice. "It was really nice to meet you, Alice."

She looked down at her feet and then up at him through her long black lashes and gave him a little smile. "It was great meeting you, too. I guess I'll see you around sometime?...You know, with Bella and Edward?"

Jasper's face lit up like clouds parting in front of the sun. "Yeah, I guess you will. Until later then!"

Christ, these two were so fucking sweet they were giving me a toothache.

Jasper managed to stay upright walking us out to Alice's car, casting one last lingering look at Alice before climbing into his own car. Soon Alice and I were on our way to Edward's place.

We were quiet for the beginning of the ride, me having multiple mini freak outs about Edward, Alice clearly lost in her Jasper-induced coma.

Finally I decided to plunge in, because I knew she was desperate for it.

"You know, I've known Jasper since we were five. Isn't that crazy?"

Her face lit up and she turned to look at me in eager desperation.

"Really? Yeah, that's a long time. He seems really…interesting." She seemed to settle on 'interesting' for lack of a better descriptive. Then her face clouded, as if she was remembering something unpleasant. "Are you and he….?"

"Me and Jasper?? No way! Not ever. He's a brother to me. Seriously."

"Oh, I was just wondering, because he walked right into your house like that."

I chuckled. "Yeah, we've all been joined at the hips so long that we've lost all sense of personal space. Pathetic, really. One day maybe he'll walk in on something really embarrassing and then he'll be sorry!"

"So you guys grew up together...where was that?"

And the rest of the drive was taken up with the Abbreviated Life of Jasper Hale, which fed Alice's new obsession and also helped keep me distracted from dwelling on what I was about to do.

We arrived at Edward's, at least Alice said this was it. All I saw was a tall brick wall running the whole length of the street on one side. At the break in the wall there was a short drive that led to a tall black iron gate. Alice leaned out of the window and keyed in a code on a little keypad and the gate swung open electronically.

No freaking way. I can't believe this is his house. And I haven't even seen the actual house yet.

We pulled through the gate, and started up a curved drive lined on both sides with rows of some sort of tall spear-shaped trees, but didn't get much farther because Edward was there in the middle of the drive, leaning on the hood of a silver car…Was that a Volvo? Seriously?....with his arms crossed, waiting for us. He looked bored and annoyed. He also looked amazing, in black pants and a very dark red dress shirt open at the neck and rolled up at the sleeves. He had on dark Ray Bans concealing his eyes. I pushed down hard on the butterflies that bubbled up involuntarily at the sight of him. I really, really needed to cut it out. And anyway, what the fuck was he up to meeting us in the driveway like this? Like he didn't want me to get near his house or something? I was irritated already and I wasn't even out of the car.

Alice pulled up beside him and got out, running up to him and throwing her arms around his waist. He straightened off the car and wrapped his arm around her little shoulders, planting a kiss on the top of her head.

"Hey! Watch the hair!" she smacked him away playfully and he chuckled. God, he was gorgeous when he was happy. Too bad he so rarely seemed to be.

"So," Alice said with a smile, gesturing towards me as I climbed out of the car, "I've brought her, all dressed up. Doesn't she look great?"

The smile he'd just shared with Alice vanished completely and his face turned sullen as he looked at me briefly. "Yeah, she looks fine." Then he addressed me, with no emotion in his voice, "You ready to go?"

I felt completely invisible. He could at least pretend to be pleasant. I swallowed a lump in my throat. This was going to be a long, awful night. But I'm a big girl and I can handle it. I squared my shoulders and crossed around the two cars to the passenger side of Edward's.

"Ready as I'll ever be," I said without looking at him. "Hey, Alice?" I called to her over the roof of the car, "Thanks for helping me get ready…it was fun."

Alice beamed me that killer smile again, "It was, right? See you soon? Can I call you tomorrow?"

I smiled back. "Sure, that would be great."

I took a deep breath and lowered myself into Edward's car. Well, whatever else happened tonight, I'd gotten Alice out of this deal, and that wasn't so bad.