I do not own Twilight.

Huge big thanks to SunflowerFran for her beta skills. Remaining mistakes are mine.

oOo

"You're not serious."

To his surprise, it took her a while to say something, but that was to be expected, Edward thought. Finding a magnum bottle of Dom Perignon out here had not been an easy feat.

But he'd managed so they could celebrate his birthday nicely.

Sure, he'd planned on staying sober for their entire holiday – but it was his birthday, after all, and a few glasses of bubbly would be nice. He'd proved to himself he could stay away from alcohol, after all.

He'd left with Bella's order for Parmesan cheese, strolling through the town and enjoying the late afternoon sun when he had come upon a promotion stand for champagne in front of a shop named "Makenna's Wine Haven." A blonde guy in a pink polo shirt was smiling widely at him. He looked nice. Friendly. He had a dozen of half-filled glasses of champagne in front of him.

"Hi," he'd greeted Edward. "Would you like to have a taste? We have the rosé champagne on offer this week."

"Um…"

One sip could do no harm, right? He'd been so good all this time.

"Yes, sure," he'd said.

The first sip had been fantastic. The rosé was a bit too fruity for his taste though, and when he voiced his thoughts, Joshua (as he had introduced himself) poured him a glass of the regular one. While he drank it, they chatted about champagne and wine, and Joshua told him that the shop belonged to his girlfriend. He was studying to be a vet, but had agreed to help her with the stand.

On hearing that Joshua was going to be a vet, Edward told him that he and Bella were planning to get a dog, and they fell into easy conversation. Joshua refilled his glass, and only after the third refill did Edward notice that he had a severe buzz going on. And it was nice.

So he thought he might buy a bottle to share with Bella. After all, tomorrow was his birthday.

He'd made a stop at "Ifan's Pub" to have a beer, just for the way back; which merged into a second one. After that, he'd hurried back to Bella.

Who looked pissed off.

Thoroughly pissed off.

And for some reason, it annoyed him.

He'd been perfect these past twelve days, and only now did he realize that it had been kind of hard. And now she was begrudging him this small pleasure?

"What?" he said.

"Edward."

She crossed the small distance between them and placed her hand on his chest.

"Please. Please don't do this."

"What?" he repeated.

"What made you do this?" He could see tears well her eyes.

"It's nothing." He shrugged. "I just had a couple of glasses in front of this wine shop, and I thought I'd bring us a bottle to celebrate…"

"You were so well all this time." A tear escaped her eye. Her fingers on his chest felt soft and warm.

"I'm still well," he argued.

"You shouldn't drink, Edward."

"One or two glasses won't do me any harm."

She didn't reply, sad brown eyes looking up at him.

"Fine," she finally huffed, clearly unconvinced. "You're a grown man, Edward."

oOo

Thank you for your continued support. Yes, it's about to hit the fan, and then some.

But please trust me.

Your

harperpitt