A/N: Hello, all! I want to apologize again for all the issues we had with the last chapter. The site must have been having some issues. I can't tell you how many times I emailed them trying to get some answers, and haven't heard anything back! Even now! It's a little infuriating, but it looks like it's been fixed, so I guess no harm done? Some of you were worried, I'd push back the schedule for this chapter, but have no fear! lol I plan on sticking to the normal schedule and I will be posting saturday nights/sunday mornings depending on how quickly I can edit the chapters. Which brings me to another point; I want to apologize for any and all grammar errors or misspellings! I'm currently working without a beta so it's literally just me and my boyfriend editing these lol and we're not exactly fool proof. Regardless, this fic has gotten a lot of great feedback and I couldn't be happier with its following, so thank you all again! Anyways, long story short, here is chapter 23! Please enjoy and hopefully no more glitches!
"Ouch, Alice!"
"I'm sorry," the small girl practically whines as she sets the brush down on the vanity in front of me, "but, I have to get these knots."
"Start from the bottom," I tell her, grabbing the brush to show her. "Like this. Then work your way up. It hurts less this way."
"Okay." She reaches her hand out, letting me know she's ready to take over. When I let her have the brush again, I'm finally able to relax in my chair as she works out the tangles without ripping out all of my roots.
"I guess I'm out of practice," she says a bit quieter, giggling to herself. "I've never worked with someone so...fragile before."
Sighing impatiently, I give her an exasperated glare through the mirror. "I'm not that fragile."
Alice bends down to whisper in my ear, but only slightly since her height brings her most of the way and casts a soft expression at my reflection. "I wouldn't have it any other way, Bella."
After detangling all of my knots, and a lecture on the importance of deep conditioning, Alice finally ties my hair back with a silky blue bow.
"Aw, B!"
For the first time, I am surprised—almost startled, by Angela's presence. Alice's touch had kept her thoughts silent, not giving me a chance to hear her coming.
"You look so cute!" Angela lets herself into Alice's room and curls into a giant pink saucer chair that sits in the corner of the room.
"Thank you," Alice responds, taking the compliment seriously. "I'm not quite done yet, though."
"You're not?" I ask incredulously. My knee begins to bounce up and down, suddenly anxious to stand. I'd been sitting in this chair for what felt like an hour now, which was fifty minutes longer than I'm ever used to spending on myself.
"Of course not, silly." Alice says this as if it should be obvious. "I still have to curl your hair. Then, I can start working on Angela."
"This is a nice room, Alice," she comments from her spot in the chair.
"You like it?," Alice questions excitedly. "Mom just rearranged it for me. She's an interior designer."
"That's pretty cool. No beds though?"
"This is actually just a hangout spot," she says, easily avoiding the blatant display of insomnia. "I share a bedroom with my sister on the third floor."
Shrugging, Angela accepts the answer comfortably.
"When is Ben coming?" I ask to distract myself as Alice brings the hot curling iron I hadn't noticed she'd had heating up somewhere out of eyesight dangerously close to the nape of my neck. I concentrate hard on not flinching away.
"He's carpooling with some friends," Angela answers from behind us. "He'll probably be here soon."
"Did he find a nice costume?" I squeeze the sides of the chair as I feel the heat radiating from the wand.
"Relax," Alice whispers, using her cold fingers as a guard. "I won't hurt you."
"You won't believe it until you see it," she says with laughter, unaware of Alice's words. "He's coming as Captain Hook. He even made the costume himself!"
"Really?" I'm able to engage more in the conversation, knowing Alice is using her marble-like skin to save me from the burning metal plates. "How'd he manage to do that?"
"He bought some ridiculous stick-on mustache from the dollar store and stole a George Washington wig from those wannabe theatre kids and spray painted it black. It's the kookiest ensemble I've ever seen, but he's put so much effort into it."
I can't help but laugh at her description, but stop short when the motion causes Alice to fumble, or whatever the majestic alternative to fumbling is, gripping the hot curling iron to keep from burning my skin.
"Geez!" Angela reacts loud enough, I remember I'm supposed to pretend Alice isn't an immortal heat resistant vampire. "Are you alright? Let me take a look—"
"Oh, it's alright," Alice interrupts her, taking us both by surprise. She shakes her hand off as if she's merely grazed the thing instead of bare-handing it. "No big deal, I'm fine. See?"
I'm staring at Alice through the mirror, panic evident in my expression, but she doesn't meet my gaze, probably knowing I'm just a hair's breadth away from exposing her secret. She only acknowledges Angela, calmly to show her there's nothing to worry about.
"You must have tough hands," Angela relaxes, taking her seat again in the chair.
"Ah, it's not my first run-in with a hot iron," Alice replies easily and turns back to focus on my hair. When she finds me still staring in the mirror, she pinches the back of my neck quickly to jostle me out of my state of panic.
Blinking the stress out of my eyes, I shakily speak. "Right...pain is beauty, I guess."
"Now, you're getting it!" Alice winks at me, subtly and I release a breath to relax my shoulders so she can continue finishing my hair.
When loud music rages to life somewhere on the lower levels, I meet the girls' eyes in the mirror. "We're not late, are we?"
Giggling behind me, Alice winks. "Fashionably late."
Thankfully, it doesn't take her long to finish up and Angela and I swap places. Me in the comfy slouch chair and she in front of the vanity shaking out her long dark hair from the confines of her hair tie.
Damn, the Cullens know how to party! Can't wait till…
Omigod, omigod, omigod! Joey's gonna freak when he sees my…
Shit, my costume sucks! I shouldn't have listened to that bitch, she just…
As the Cullens continue to invite the small population of Forks High into their living room, I can't help but wonder if its populace will still seem small while enclosed in such a confined space. The miserably modest total of four hundred fifty-three children suddenly seemed a lot less modest and a whole lot more miserable. Though the music did its part in softening the blow that usually came from hearing their thoughts, I still wasn't eager to face that size of a group head on.
"I'm going to find Edward," I decide, rising to my feet and not waiting for any response from either of the girls. Instead, I race up the stairs to the third floor where I know Edward will be moseying around in his room until Alice forces him down to the party.
His door is wide open, a relief to my growing anxiety. However, I can't say for sure if I would have waited for an answer to begin with, had I found the door closed. Marching in, I plan to demand him to tell me how on God's green earth, he is able to subject himself to such a mass group without his head exploding and to beg him not to leave my side for one second tonight. But I'm brought to a startling halt at the scene before me.
The last thing I had anticipated was seeing Edward dressed in what could only be described as a forest green leotard with a darker green robe over top and a lopsided feathered top hat, hanging on for dear life on the crown of his disheveled copper hair.
"Don't laugh," he says, but it's too late. I feel my face turning pink from the lack of oxygen as I try and fail to keep the snickers to myself.
"Did...Alice…?" It's all I'm able to get out before I start laughing again.
"I told her this was ridiculous."
"No, no!" I do my best to sober up and wrap my arms around his waist, relishing in the silence. So silent, I hardly hear the bass thumping downstairs. "It's not ridiculous, it's cute!"
"It's horrid," he corrects bitterly.
"You're Peter Pan!" Standing on the top of my toes, I chastely kiss him on his cold lips. "I think it's wonderful! I only laughed, because it took me by surprise."
"Is that so?" he challenges, my favorite smirk creeping onto his face.
"Very."
Tucking his chin into his chest, I feel cold lips brush against my forehead. "Is everything alright?"
"Huh?"
Laughing softly in my hair, he tilts my head up to meet his gaze. "You seemed...hyperfocused on something when you came in."
"Oh…" My face warms and I bite the inside of my cheek to keep from groaning in embarrassment. "Um, I don't remember."
"You don't remember?" he repeats innocently.
"It's not fair," I tell him, elbowing him aimlessly. "Can't you tone down your dazzle?"
"Do I dazzle you?" Edward wears a confident smile, so confident, I'd almost call it arrogant. But his fingers drawing gentle circles behind the lobe of my ear and his other hand caressing my lower back, sending chills running down my legs, I can't help but shiver under his touch.
"Frequently," I admit, stupidly.
Then, he comes in quickly with a brief, but forceful kiss. It's enough to snap me out of his spell, and I blink a few times to get my body to remember those heavy jello-like limbs are actually attached and functional.
"Come downstairs with me," Edward says, leaning against the doorway, hand outstretched as he waits for me to take it. "I won't leave your side."
"You promise?"
Amber eyes sizzling with emotion, he winks. "You have my word."
"Come dance with me!"
Glancing over at Edward, who's chuckling silently underneath the thumping bass, I narrow my eyes at Angela. "No way."
Somehow during the night, the tight bun Alice had tied her hair into fell away and her dark hair flowed down her shoulders, sticking slightly to her neck with sweat. It feels as if the night is never ending. I'm not sure we made it even forty-five minutes before the alcohol started circulating. I tried to tell Alice, but she swears that Charlie's not going to find out. Even with her foresight, I'm not sure I'm willing to put anything past him.
"Come on, B!" She stomps her foot petulantly, almost losing her balance in the process, but she catches herself before I can reach. "You said you would."
My hand, still gripped tightly in Edward's, prevents me from getting a true glimpse of Angela, but I don't need to hear her or touch her to know she'd been drinking.
"I thought you told me you'd take it easy tonight. I mean, didn't we learn our lesson after—"
"What?" Angela cups her hand over her ear and I push down the annoyance of having to repeat myself.
"I said, haven't we learned our lesson from—"
"Huh?! Sorry, can't hear you, it's time to dance!" Angela tries to pull me away, but I dig my heels into the floor, holding my place. "Bella, what the hell?"
Ignoring her, I turn to Edward. "Can you get us some water please?"
"Of course." He gives a soft squeeze to my hand, a warning that he's about to let go and I ready myself to face the noise.
I'm preparing for a train wreck of emotions when he leaves, but with Angela still hanging onto me, it's not bad. I'm mostly only tuned into the pure serotonin that courses through her body. The effects of the alcohol puts a filter over everything. Suddenly, all the music sounds better, all the people look twice as attractive as they did before and there's a vibration or a buzz, if you will, that travels from her core into mine.
"I'm not letting you get shitfaced tonight," I tell her, no longer concerned that she can't hear me after her little stunt. "Not after seeing you after Homecoming."
"Aw, Bella." Angela laughs too hard at a joke that hasn't been spoken yet. "Do you regret seeing my titties?"
"I regret cleaning the vomit off your titties," I correct her.
"So, you did like my tits?"
Her buzz must be affecting me more than I realize, because I find myself giggling and have to lean on the island to keep me upright. "That's not the moral of the story!"
"It is to me! C'mon, let's dance!"
Edward, who had been taking an extremely human amount of time, finally appears before us with two bottles of water. "Here you go, ladies."
Taking them gratefully from him, sober enough to know that Angela won't, I shove one into her arms without question. "Drink this."
"Then, will you come dance?" she bargains.
"I'll think about it."
Angela's giving me an irritated expression when Ben suddenly breaks through the wall of people that separate the living room from the kitchen.
"There you are!" His beard dangles haphazardly around his neck. The glue must have melted off of his face from all of the sweat, or maybe he just got tired of the damn thing, because as he gets closer, I can see small patches of adhesive still stuck to his chin. "I thought I'd lost you!"
Turning my attention to him once he figures out I'm in the room, I huff impatiently. "I thought you said you'd watch her."
"I am," he assures me, easily brushing off my sour mood. "I'd only turned my back for a second when—"
"She's drunk," I interrupt, pointing towards Angela, who sways gently side to side, too off-beat to be called dancing and more like she's started getting the spins.
"Nah, she's not drunk." Ben wraps his arm around Angela and smiles when she leans into him. "Just tipsy."
"Bella wants to dance with me," she tells him lazily. "It's true. She does."
Rolling my eyes at the both of them, I push the water bottle a little harder. "Please, drink this."
Angela finally has enough of my nagging and snaps the cap off of the bottle and makes a show of chugging the entire bottle, letting the plastic crinkle and pop as she sucks its entirety into her mouth. A drop of water turns into a small stream as it dribbles from her bottom lip down to her neck and then her chest.
Ben is making no effort to be subtle as he stares and I'm left to choose whether I find it endearing or disgusting. Meanwhile, Edward seems to find entertainment in watching me watch them and I can't help but sigh, too exhausted from everyone's emotions to feel embarrassed.
"Ah." Angela exhales dramatically, as if she's just had the most refreshing drink. I guess, I shouldn't complain, it'd been what I'd asked her to do. But she didn't need to be so theatrical. "That was delicious."
"Good," I answer, talking the obliterated plastic bottle from her and tossing it into Esme's recycling bin.
"Will you come dance with me now?"
I look over to Edward, not completely understanding why I want his permission, but it still feels comforting to do so. When he nods at me, I suddenly feel a wave of dread wash over me, and I realize, it wasn't his permission I was looking for. It was an excuse for me not to go.
I must have this written on my forehead, because Angela suddenly comes crashing into me full force—arms squeezing around my waist and her clammy cheek pressed against mine. It's enough that I'm overwhelmed by her inebriation again. So much so, I can literally feel my inhibitions melting away.
Come dance with me, B. Like old times. Just you and me.
Her internal voice, usually soft and quiet, is now loud and boisterous inside my head. But with her exhilaration pumping into me, I don't seem to care.
Something winsome and irresistible starts to pull at my lips and I find myself smiling at my best friend. "Yeah, okay."
"Yes!" Angela grips my hand and into the maze of people we go. My sense of direction is fogged by whatever the hell she'd put in her system and inadvertently put into my own. Suddenly, the space around me shifts and I only realize I'm in the middle of the crowd, because I can no longer put my arms down without bumping elbows with somebody else.
The lack of personal space seems to sober me up a bit and I squeeze Angela's hand to get her attention. "Angela!"
I know she hears me, but I can't hear her response over the roar of music.
"Don't let go of me, okay?" I hate the panicked tone in my voice, but Angela doesn't even blink. She only looks me in the eye and pulls me closer so I can hear her better.
"Don't worry," she says. "I've got you."
And that's all I need to hear. I let Angela's emotions, thoughts and energy take over me completely.
We jump and sway and dance, all while holding hands. Angela holds her promise, not letting go for even a second. I'm so happy to be here with her, I don't care that I probably look like a crazy person, as my hair slowly slips out of the blue hair bow Alice had tied my hair with. I don't care that everyone in this house besides the Cullens and Angela think that I'm a spaz and I certainly don't care that Lauren Mallory is burning holes into my back with her eyes as she watches Tyler cross the floor to meet me.
"Hey, Bella!"
"What?" I'd heard him just fine, but it was funny to pull the same joke Angela had on me even though I hadn't found it funny at the time. "Sorry, I can't hear you calling my name!"
Angela grins at me with an all-knowing look and turns to Tyler. "She's a bit tied up right now, if you hadn't noticed."
"I just wanted to ask if you wanted to dance." Tyler reaches his hand, like I've already given him an answer, but I smoothly move my hands farther away, pretending it was part of some elaborate skip-prance thing I was trying to do.
"No, thanks!" I answer, and turn back to Angela.
"I just feel really bad," he goes on. "About what happened last month."
I have no idea what he's talking about and look to Angela for help.
"He's talking about the accident," she whispers in my ear.
"No thanks," I tell him again, not wanting to think about the disaster of my birthday again.
"I just—"
"Hey, dilweed!" Angela stops dancing abruptly, glaring at Tyler angrily. "She said no, already! Give it a rest, will you?"
Tyler finally loses interest and sulks back to whatever corner he crawled from and Angela and I fall into a fit of giggles once he disappears.
"Dilweed?" I nudge her playfully. "That was the best you could come up with?"
"I got rid of him, didn't I?"
We're laughing again when a sudden movement from across the room catches my eye. There's a girl standing by the front door as if she'd just walked in. Her hair is a bright and brilliant orange and skin pale. Something about her features seems familiar, like I'd seen her, or maybe someone like her before. I don't think I recognize her, which is strange because I know most of the students here. I may not know all of their names, but I'd seen them all at least once in the halls. Had I ever seen this girl before?
I'm pulled from my thoughts, or rather bum-rushed from them when Mallory rams her shoulder into me, hard enough to break my connection with Angela. She mutters something insignificant as she passes me, but I'm too panicked to focus on what she's said to care.
Suddenly, the music and the thoughts of this mass group that's surrounded me is too much to handle. I'm blindly searching for Angela's hand again, but she may as well be a needle in a haystack.
I'm trying to focus on her voice, but I can't hear anything over all this music. It's all just noise. So much noise, it blurs my vision. The last thing I see before squeezing my eyes shut is the girl with the orange hair, staring straight at me.
My stomach turns violently, and I push and pull my way out of the sea of people until I reach the kitchen and escape through the sliding door and into the yard. The cold night air stings my cheeks and freezes the small droplets of sweat that had beaded up all over my skin and I desperately drink it all in, in hopes of settling my stomach.
A few minutes tick by before I realize what had made me so uneasy about that girl who'd been staring at me. Her eyes were blood red.
"Bella?"
I recognize Edward immediately, but I'm unable to answer him as my stomach finally expels its contents.
Edward's hand rubs circles into my back while I cough and spit into the grass. "Have you been drinking, love?"
I shake my head no, allowing myself to heave one last time before standing up straight. "I got separated from Angela, and everything just hit me at once."
"Are you feeling a bit better now?" He asks, moving his hand down my arm and interlacing our fingers together.
"Yeah," I respond, a little too breathy and turn my head in embarrassment when I remember he can probably smell the acid in my mouth. "Sorry."
"There's nothing to apologize for," he assures me. I see him coming down for a kiss, but I turn my head last minute, so he gets my cheek. No way, am I letting him come anywhere near me after blowing chunks. "Angela's coming."
No sooner than the words are spoken, I hear her panting as she chases after us into the yard.
"Bella, omigod, omigod!" I let her hug me, subtly keeping ahold of Edward's hand behind her to help block her from me. "Are you okay? What happened?"
"I just needed some air," I tell her, hoping that my attempt at a smile soothes her. "I'm fine, I promise."
"That bitch, Lauren, needs to learn her place. Want me to go smack her for you?"
Chuckling softly, I shake my head. "That's the alcohol talking, and you know it."
"Well, duh," she quips. "But like, we can talk shit on her, right?"
I pull her into another hug, still holding onto Edward behind her back. "Would you be upset if I go home early?"
Angela squeezes me tight, and I hope she's not trying to communicate with me silently, because I'm really not up for it at the moment. "Want me to come with you?"
"No," I say. "Stay, have fun, I know you want to. But I'm going to call it a night. Thanks for making me dance with you."
Angela laughs, pushing me playfully. "I knew you'd love it."
"I'll text you," I promise her, as Edward guides me around the house and toward the garage.
He seems to understand my need for quiet and doesn't speak the entire time that we walk, but it isn't awkward. It's peaceful. Our joined hands sway gently between as we walk and he only lets go when we get to his Volvo so he can open the passenger door for me.
"You're sure you're feeling alright?" he asks after climbing into the driver's seat. There's no one around, but he must be worried someone will pop in unexpectedly, considering he's keeping his human pace.
"I'm fine, now, honestly." I crack the window just a bit to get some fresh air flowing in. "I mostly just want to get the taste of vomit off my tongue."
"I grabbed another water bottle for you," he answers, pulling the drink seemingly out of thin air.
"Oh." I take the bottle gratefully. "Thank you."
After taking a few swigs, I turn to him questioningly. "Why did Alice invite another vampire to the party?"
"What?" Edward's tone is unexpectedly stern and cold, I almost jump at the sound. I'm not used to seeing him so caught off guard, it suddenly makes my heart pound in my chest. Edward more than likely hears its change of pace and places a hand on my knee. "I'm sorry, sweetheart, come again?"
"I saw a woman with red eyes and skin like yours. You didn't see her?"
Edward looks at me suspiciously, like I'd said something totally out of the blue. "Are you sure it wasn't someone's costume?"
"Do not," I warn him.
"What?"
"Do not patronize me, Edward!" I sigh hard into my bottle of water, bringing it to my lips to take another sip. "I know what I saw. Should I be worried, or not?"
"Bella, there weren't any other vampires there tonight."
"Why, because your family is the only group of vampires around, or something?" I challenge him.
"No." His answer is dark and heavy and I wait for him to explain, but after two whole minutes pass, I'm pretty sure it's safe to say he's not going to.
"Fine, whatever, you don't have to tell me now, but that woman was staring right at me. Like, in the eyes! I think she knows something."
Edward makes the familiar turn into my development and I can't help but sigh internally. He's about to use our arrival as an excuse to end the conversation. "Bella, if there were any vampires anywhere near Forks, we would've known about it."
"How?" I ask, as he pulls in front of the driveway.
"Alice would've seen them," he says, easily. "Or I would've heard their thoughts. Or caught their scent."
"Edward, I saw her."
"You were under extreme stress tonight," Edward counters. "I'm sure whatever you saw was just—"
"My imagination?" I squeeze my hands tight into fists and ground my teeth. "I swear to God, if you finish that sentence—"
"I don't want to fight," he interrupts. His thumb is tracing over my skin gently and I let him lean over the console to press his cold lips against mine. "I'm sorry, if I've upset you. It's not my intention."
"You swear you didn't see anything?"
Edward pulls me in again, caressing my chin softly. "Do you trust me?"
"Completely," I whisper.
"You're safe," he tells me. "This, I promise you."
Nodding after a moment, I pull away and open the car door just in time to see Charlie duck his head back behind the curtain as if I hadn't seen him. "Will you meet me upstairs?"
"Once Charlie falls asleep," he agrees.
I shut the door, his amber eyes still visible even after the interior lights fade out. "Goodnight, Edward," I say loud enough for Charlie to hear.
He follows my lead, chuckling quietly under his breath. "Goodnight, Bella."
As Edward drives down the road, I prepare myself to greet Charlie as I open the front door. "Hey, Dad. I'm home."
"Oh, I didn't even hear you come in," he lies, avoiding my eyes front the couch as he stands up. "You're home pretty early. Didn't you have fun?"
Shrugging, I turn towards the steps. "I guess, parties aren't really my scene. I'm going to shower and head to bed, if that's okay?"
Charlie seems to be happy with my answer, and gestures towards the bathroom. "By all means."
After raiding my dresser for some pajamas I deem acceptable for Edward to see, I take them in the bathroom with me and start the water. As I run my face over the warm stream, I can't help but picture those red eyes again.
Edward had assured me that there was no way any other vampires were at that party tonight, but there's something about that girl that I just can't shake. Something just didn't feel right. Is it possible that Edward and his family could have missed something?
Shaking my head, I force myself to focus on the task at hand. Besides, the Cullens' senses were heightened. There's no way I could've seen something without them seeing it first. Maybe it was just my imagination getting the better of me. With Edward around, I know I'm in the safest place imaginable.
