Parrot Head

I laid on the bed flat as I struggled to suck in my gut. The scale said that I had lost almost ten pounds and dammit if I wasn't going to try to wear my 'skinny' jeans. Skinny for me was just a size smaller but still. I didn't care. Smaller is smaller.

After a few minutes of struggling with the stiff denim and the cranky button, I finally got it into place.

"Hell yes! Fourteens!" I said as I hopped up off the bed after zipping up. "If I don't eat or breath, we're good to go," I said, looking down at the dark denim. Now I just needed to find a shirt to wear that would be both cute and comfortable.

That was easier said than done. I searched and searched through my closet, pleased with nothing I really had. Everything was really out of fashion since I hated to shop so much. I finally settled for a red top that my mom had gotten me for Christmas the year before. It showed off my ta-tas more than I liked but at least it covered my massive rear.

After settling on a shirt I put on a thin layer of makeup and styled my hair up into a fancy ponytail. I even put on a pair of big hoop silver earrings, a necklace, and a cuff bracelet. All of them were from target but no one else needed to know that.

I actually felt fancy for once. I even wore a cute pair of black leather boots. I wouldn't be exactly comfortable but I at least looked nice.

When I answered my front door, Alice whistled. "Very hot Mama."

"Look! A size smaller!" I said, turning around to show her the jeans.

"Going to the gym is paying off rather quickly, huh?" She asked as she linked arms with me. I just shoved some cash, my license, and a credit card in my pocket. There was no way I was going to carry a purse all night.

"Surprisingly, yes. I've been trying really hard," I informed her as we rode the elevator down.

"Keep it up. At this rate, you'll be sexing it up by Thanksgiving. The boys won't know what hit them," Alice teased.

I rolled my eyes as I crawled into the tiny Porche. I was just thankful that we would be going in Jasper's massive SUV. It was a lot easier to get in and out of it. Also, I didn't feel so huge getting out of it. I felt like a clown coming out of that tiny car at the circus in that bright neon yellow thing.

When we arrived at Alice's place Jasper was setting up the grill. As soon as I came into sight his eyes zeroed in on one place.

"Stop staring at Bella's rack," his wife snorted, handing me a beer. It wasn't one of those taste like piss ones but a malted fruity one from like Sweden. I was glad me and Alice had similar tastes on this sort of thing.

"They're staring back at me though!" Jasper said, his face turning red. I started laughing and adjusted my bra.

"Getting a good view, baby?" I cooed at him. I squished them together for him.

"Why do I have a feeling it's going to be a long night for me?" He frowned, poking the hot coals with a stick from the yard.

"Aw! I'm sorry," I said as I wrapped an arm around his waist and laid my head on his shoulder. "I'll tell them to stop looking at you." I looked down at my chest. "Girls, behave."

"I wish I had a set to talk to," Alice pouted, trying to squeezing her small breast together with her arms. It wasn't working.

"Why are these woman trying to kill me?" Jasper muttered to himself as he went into the kitchen to fetch the meat for the grill. "Fondling themselves in front of me. They're just mean. Unless they're planning on doing something about it..." Jasper said, his voice fading into the background.

Alice and I started laughing at the same time.

"We should leave him alone," I said with a little laugh.

"Let's work on the fries then. Think you can keep those from exploding?"

"I don't know," I snickered, "I'll certainly try though. Wait... Is this Jasper's recipe?"

"Nope, from the freezer. We should be safe."

We cackled like morons, just having a good time. Poor Jasper pouted when he came back having heard the whole thing. He muttered under his breath as Alice planted a kiss on his cheek before we headed into the kitchen.

We made the fries along with a tossed salad. Hey, it had to be at least a little bit healthy. We also made a fruit salad for dessert.

The burgers were awesome.

"Alice, you're lucky you're already married to him because I'd steal him away. He's good looking and he cooks. Does it get any better?" I asked, making Jasper blush a cute shade of red. He pursed his lips and smiled shyly down at his bowl of melon.

"Yes, it does get better. But there are certain things we can't talk about at the dinner table," she winked at me. Jasper almost turned purple as he hacked on a piece of fruit. Alice fussed over him, patting his back hard until he stopped. His eyes were actually watering. Poor thing, we went just a little too far.

"I'm going to do the dishes real quick," he wheezed out, leaving me and Alice alone.

"See, it does get better! He does the dishes, too!" She said teasingly. I giggled at her happy expression. Two beers and Alice was tipsy. It was kind of cute actually.

"Come on. Let's go help him so we can get going."

We left early enough. We should have gotten there sooner than we did. Jasper tried to defend himself and say that it had been a while since he had driven around Texas. Alice was just annoyed that he was too stubborn to turn on the GPS before he got so fricken lost. So, by the time we got there, the concert was going to start in like thirty minutes which was probably barely enough time to get to our seats.

As we walked to the front of the ticket area, Jasper called his sister to find out where she was at. "Yeah, I realize I am. Hey! I'm sorry. Ugh, yeah, okay. Be there in a minute."

"Did you put garlic in your pocket?" Alice whispered to me. I snapped my fingers dramatically, giggling at her.

"Knew I forgot something."

"Hey, bro!" A booming voice called. I turned quickly to see it belonged to a hulk of a man. I mean, he was like six foot six and four hundred pounds of muscle. More like a human wall. He brought Alice into a quick hug before slapping Jasper's back. "Get lost?"

"No," Jasper groaned. "Stupid traffic."

"Yeah, blame traffic," Alice mumbled under her breath. When he shot her a nasty look she just smiled innocently. "Emmett, this is my friend Bella. Bella, this is Emmett and you remember Rosalie."

Rosalie gave a feeble wave before crossing her arms back over her massive chest. Emmett, on the other hand, gave me a bone crushing hug.

"Nice to meet you!" He boomed.

"You too," I wheezed before he finally set me down.

"Oh, yeah. And this is Edward," he said to me, moving to the side. Standing behind him was the beautiful red-haired Edward with cheeks so flaming red that they matched. His eyes were huge and surprised. "T backed out at the last minute so I invited Ed," Emmett said, talking over my head. "I knew you wouldn't mind."

"Hi," I breathed, my face heating.

"Ello," he said, his accent thick as he swallowed. Then he smiled at me. It was wide and welcoming and just beautiful. I couldn't help but smile back. After that, his blushing slowly began to fade.

"Did I miss something?" I heard Rosalie ask somebody in the background.

"More than you'll ever know. Don't worry about it," Jasper said. "Come on. Let's go get our seats."

"I'm sorry," Alice whispered to me as we headed down the noisy aisle to our seats. "I didn't know he was coming. I thought Jasper's cousin Tanya was coming."

"It's fine," I assured her. "I'm a big girl. I'm mature. I can handle it."

"If you're sure," she said worriedly. "We can go-"

"Hell no!" I almost shouted at her before controlling my voice. "I need to cross something off my list and there is no better way, right? I'm fine."

Of course, Edward would have to be seated next to me. But, as I said, I was mature enough to handle it. I really didn't have that much time to worry over it because the area was soon filled with music.

"Is this okay?" Edward whispered down to me. It made me think of the night we were together. It actually made me shiver.

"It's fine," I promised but he didn't look convinced. Just the way he was looking at me was making me warm. Thankfully the crowd really started up then and we all stood up just to be able to see.

One of my favorite songs came on first, putting me in a really good mood. It reminded me of my dad. It was called Fruitcakes. I couldn't help but sway to the music as it played, singing along. When I glanced over Edward was watching me, smiling.

I winked at him. Okay, I was flirting and that was bad but it was nice to know that I could make someone blush on purpose.

Both Alice and I squealed when Cheeseburger in Paradise came on next. She pushed Edward out of the way to come dance with me. We were singing along loudly, dancing stupidly with each other with our arms over our heads as we swayed our hips. Jasper snapped a picture of us with his phone of us hugging each other. That slowed us down for all of three seconds.

It was amazing how I hadn't listened to these songs in a couple years at least but I still knew all the words. So did Alice.

When the song ended Alice and I fell all over each other giggling like schoolgirls. It had been a while since I had that much fun. And then he started playing another great song called Pencil Thin Mustache. It was my Dad's all time favorite. He played it all the time. Not that he probably should have around kids, but he still did.

Alice and I continued to dance with each other. Though I was having fun and laughing it put into focus that I really needed to take dance lessons. I would look into that on Monday.

"Blacktop dirty bop, copping a feel. You're rubbing on the living room floor! SO SOFT! Send you off to college to gain a little knowledge and all you want to do is LEARN HOW TO SCORE!" We screamed along, laughing afterward.

Towards the end of the song, Jasper tugged Alice back over to him so she could finally dance with him. She shimmed up and down, giving him a really good show. He laughed, kissing her hard on the mouth. I smiled at the scene, just happy that they were so happy together.

Edward was standing next to me again as another song began to play. One that it took me a minute to realize what it was. It hit me just as the chorus started, my gaze set on him.

"Why don't we get drunk and screw?"

"I'm going to get a drink!" I shouted uncomfortably at Alice. She nodded her head and frowned a little bit.

"Me, too," Edward said afterward, following me out.

"Are you that uncomfortable?" He asked me. "That you can't even listen to a song about sex?"

I laughed, rubbing the back of my neck. "Not exactly."

"I'm sorry," he apologized.

"Hey! Don't do that. I told you that I was fine. And I'd really like to be friends with you. This can be a good start," I said as I walked towards the concessions. When I saw the massive line, I sighed. It was going to be a while.

"I'd like that," Edward said softly, coming to stand beside me in the line.

"So," I said, searching for something to talk about. "Um, how do you know Emmett and Rosalie?"

"Oh, Em is actually my uncle."

"Your uncle?" I laughed. "He's not that much older than me. And he seems like a good old boy. How'd that happen?"

He laughed, nodding his head. "He is a good ol' boy and he's only like eight years older than me. My mother is originally from Texas."

"Okay, so wait? How did you get the accent?" I asked, pointing at his mouth. It turned into a crooked smile as he leaned against the railing.

"My father is British. My mum went to London for schooling. They met and fell and love. You know that type of thing."

"How did you end up here then?" I said, biting my bottom lip. "If you don't mind me asking, anyway."

"You can ask me anything," he assured me. "Well, we lived in London until I was about ten or twelve. We came back to go to Emmett and Rosalie's wedding and my dad saw how much my mother missed being around her family so he arranged to get a job at the children's hospital here a couple year after."

"Wow, that's awesome. You've been here ever since?"

"Yup," he said, popping the letter with those pretty soft lips. "Just never lost the accent."

"Do you ever think of going back to London?"

"Well, not to live. My dad retired last year and they moved back so they can be closer to all the 'romantic' places they want to visit in Europe. I wouldn't mind visiting them soon. It's been a while since I've seen them."

"Do you like Texas better?" I asked.

"Let's just say there is a lot more natural beauty here," he said, winking back at me.

Okay, I melted a little bit. It was only fair though. I had flirted with him. I cleared my throat, trying to think of a way of changing the subject.

"So, I never asked what you did for a living."

"I'm a musician."

"Ah," I nodded. "That makes sense."

"What makes sense?"

"Well, you're just so smooth. I should have figured that and-" I stopped myself before I could finish but it was too late.

"That and what?" He smirked, waiting for me to answer.

"You're really good with your hands," I whispered. His smile grew big as his cheeks flushed. I cleared my throat again quickly, moving on. "What do you play?"

"Piano, guitar, bass, and the violin," he answered with a shrug.

"Ah, a man of many talents," I teased him as we finally walked to the counter. We both ordered diet cokes to drink.

"Well, I started piano when I was a toddler. Then I started violin in school because I wanted to do something different. And then of course as I got a little older I tried the guitar and bass to be cool," he said, paying for our drinks. I slipped a five into his pocket, making him smirk. I wasn't going to have him buy anything for me. Luckily, he ignored it and continued to talk. "It pays the bills."

"So, what? Do you play in a band or something?"

"No, actually. I play at special events, birthdays, weddings, and such. Or, I play in clubs or restaurants. I've actually been booked up solid to just after Christmas."

"So..." I drew out, smiling at him ruefully. "You're a wedding singer."

"No! I don't sing!" Edward said quickly, his cheeks heating once more. "Besides, do I look like Adam Sandler to you?"

I laughed, "no. Not at all."

"Thank goodness." He smiled, touching his large hand to the small of my back. "So, should we go back in?"

"Would you mind if I finished my drink first?" I asked, leaning against the wall beside the door to the arena. "It's kind of loud in there."

"Oh, you're right. Yeah. It is kind of too loud at the moment."

So we listened to a couple of songs as we had our drinks and talked a little bit more. He was such a nice guy and so shy, which surprised me. Everything seemed to set off his cheeks, much like me. At least we had that in common. He also didn't seem to like the wild crowds all that much either. I was kind of happy we were outside when Jimmy started playing Margaritaville because the crowd's shouting rattled the walls.

We slipped in between songs once he finally finished. Alice raised an eyebrow at me but I just shrugged and smiled. She shrugged in return and looked between Edward and me. Once again, I just shrugged. You had to love psychic conversations.

"Well, since we're getting so close to Halloween, I have a special song for you guys! Just right for such an occasion." Jimmy shouted, grabbing everyone's attention. 'Creepy' music began to play in the background and it made me laugh. I glanced over at Edward and he was smiling down at me. "I'd rather walk through fire than converse than my shrink, but I'm getting better or at least that's one some people think."

I understood that feeling.

"Vampires, mummies, and the holy ghost are the things that terrify me the most..." The entire crowd sang along with the chorus. I felt a little out of place because I didn't know the words. "I was never ever frightened of the murderer on my block. He nurtured orchids and raised hamsters. The neighborhood is still in shock!"

Both Edward and I burst into laughter at the same time.

"I need protection from the things in my head..."

Edward bumped shoulders with me and leaned down to whisper in my ear, "I don't think I'm the only one that knows how that feels."

I laughed and nodded. I was going to have to download this song as soon as I got home.

Then another great song came on. Gypsies in the Palace. I looked over at Alice and she was dancing with Jasper. I pouted a little bit but decided I could dance with myself.

"Can I have this dance?" Edward said, holding his hand out to me.

We could be friends, right? Friends danced. I wouldn't mind that at all. I took his hand and he instantly swept me up into his arms to dance far too enthusiastically to the zydeco style music. He dipped me back, making me laugh loudly, twirling me around in the small space.

I was an awful dancer but he wasn't half bad. I couldn't imagine what he could do with a little more space.

And it helped that he was a gentleman the entire time, keeping his hands in the right places.

"Ah!" I squealed as my hair touched the floor and we almost fell over as he dipped me back again. Luckily Edward's balance was better than mine. We just laughed as we overcorrected and fell into each other as we straightened. We moved back and forth like idiots, his hand on my waist and the other holding my hand in the air.

As the song came to an end, he didn't let go. It was a slower song. In fact, it was one of his most popular. A pirate looks at forty.

"Still want to dance?" He asked in my ear. I nodded and he came a bit closer all while still being a gentleman.

As we swayed slowly to the music I was trying to remember why I was such an idiot and pushed him away that night.

Work on me, that's right. At the moment all I wanted to do was work on him. With his clothes off.

Behave. I can do this.

Friends, dammit.

Finally, the song ended and Edward reluctantly let go of me. He gave me a stiff smile, one that didn't go quite to his eyes. I returned it and sighed.

"You guys have been a great audience! Like there was any doubt! We are in TEXAS after all! Let's have one more for the road! You better watch out for the Volcano!" Jimmy yelled from the stage, causing the audience to scream as the song played.

After that everyone began to file out but we decided to wait for the rush to end. I sat back in my seat, feeling pretty tired. Edward sat as well. I could tell by his expression that he was thinking something over.

"Thanks for the dance," I said, looking over at him with a little smile.

"I should be thanking you. I had a really good time," he assured me, looking up at me with his large green eyes. They were so pretty framed by those thick red eyelashes. I didn't know how he kept girls off of him.

"I did too," I promised him.

There was awkward silence until Edward suddenly moved, pulling what looked like a sharpie out of his pocket. He took my hand and put it face up. "Look, I know things are really awkward and all but like I said, I want to be your friend if you want to be mine. Here's my email address and you can email me sometime. We can talk and get to know each other better."

"Okay," I said slowly, biting my lip as the felt tickled my skin. He wrote out EAMCmusic at gmail dot com on there before bringing my hand up to blow on my palm so it wouldn't smear.

Bella Jello was making a reappearance at that move. I bit my lip, thinking over my next move quickly. Edward went to place the marker back in his pocket but I stopped him, grabbing his hand. I took the sharpie and quickly wrote my email address on his palm. "This is mine. Definitely write to me, okay? I'd love to chat."

"Yeah," he smiled crookedly, flushing again. "That sounds great."

He took my hand and gave it a little squeeze before leaning over to press a soft kiss on my cheek. He gave me enough time to pull away but instead I leaned into it.

"So, what was that back there?" Alice asked when we got back to the truck.

"We were just exchanging email address. You know, so we can get to know each other better and be friends," I said, blushing a little bit.

"He wrote it on your hand? That's so high school!" She giggled, "it's cute."

"Jasper, you didn't tell me that you and Edward were kinda sorta related," I said, ignoring Alice.

"You never asked," he shrugged. Jasper looked at me through the rearview mirror, a meaningful expression on his face. "He's a really good guy, Bella. He's not the kind of guy you think he is."

I chewed on that sentence for the rest of the ride home. What kind of guy did I think he was?

When I got into my apartment I went to check my email, something I did rather obsessively. I had one from my mother, with what seemed like pictures attached, that I skipped over for later. I had spam mail from my dad. I had several from clients but the one that stood out the most was the one on the very top.

Edward Cullen- Goodnight

I just want to say that I had an amazing time tonight because of you. I hope you sleep well and goodnight.

I smiled, hitting reply.

I had a good time too. Sweet dreams.

His reply was almost instant.

I have no doubt that I will because my dreams will be filled with you.

I sighed, closing my laptop. Pulling my hair as I closed my eyes, I leaned back in my chair.

"Of course the minute I focus on me, he comes along."

This was a fun chapter write. It's like going to a real concert almost lol. They're both so charming to each other in this one. It was fun to remember.

Did you enjoy the concert?

Thanks for reading!