Chapter 5

Edward was seriously close to breaking the champagne flute in his hand for several reasons.

First, Lauren Mallory was still talking to him. No matter how many times he tried to brush her off that evening—and he truly had—she stuck to him like a barnacle. She continued to gaze up at him with admiration and longing. He could practically hear her thoughts shouting at him to kiss her.

Second, just as Lauren had followed him around for pretty much the entire evening, Mike Newton and Tyler Crowley hadn't left Bella alone either. They followed at her heels everywhere she went, finding any excuse they could to touch her bare shoulders or her upper arm. He suddenly hated Alice for picking such a revealing dress.

Third, the servers were hovering around her as well, ignoring the other guests and bringing the canapés to her first before they circulated to everyone else. Bella was attracting attention like a magnet and he could sense her discomfort almost fifty yards away in each direction. Every cell in his body ached to be with her and sweep her away from the admiring eyes of the crowd, but the insipid Lauren Mallory got in his way every time he tried. Soon his gentlemanly patience would run out completely and he would say something that would bring her to tears—not that he much cared.

Just then, the band started to play "The Way You Look Tonight" and Edward decided to make his move. "Here, Lauren," he told her as he handed her his champagne flute. Then, without another word, he walked toward Bella and cut through her crowd of admirers. He felt his heart ring with pleasure when he noticed relief wash over her features.

"Miss Swan, may I have this dance?" he asked courteously as he offered her his hand.

She smiled at him and slipped her hand into his. Then he silently led her to the dance floor, reveling in the murderous glances all the men were shooting at him.

"Thank you," she said fervently as he wrapped his hand around her waist and pulled her closer to him. "You really saved me back there."

"No problem," he chuckled. "It gave me an excuse to get away from Lauren."

Bella swept a gaze over the crowd and noticed with sadistic pleasure that the blond girl herself was watching the two of them with an expression of pure fury. "She looks pretty upset," she told him, deciding to understate it a little.

Edward snorted. "Who cares? I had to leave. She kept babbling on and on about how she spent the summer in Los Angeles meeting famous people and trying to establish a modeling career."

She laughed and the sound warmed him to the core. "Is that why she's blonder than usual?"

"I think so."

They both laughed in unison. The beautiful sound turned heads, but the couple didn't notice.

While they were dancing, Bella didn't need to look down once, not while she was in Edward's arms. She trusted him so implicitly as he twirled her around the dance floor with ease and grace. She was aware that people were watching them—some with envy, some with awe—and she blushed at the thought, but the longer she danced with him, the easier it became to forget everyone else.

Edward didn't seem to mind either. He relished the way she felt in his hands, the way she draped her arm across his shoulders. He pulled her closer to him, hoping that he could keep her to himself. He wanted to whisk her away from everyone and jealously hide her so that she would belong to him and only him.

If only.

"So what's with the servers?" Edward asked as casually as he could. "They haven't left you alone all night."

Bella raised her eyebrows. "Oh? I thought you were responsible for that. Every time my drink runs out a server comes by with a fresh one. Jason said it was to make sure no one screwed around with my food. If it wasn't you, then I guess Alice put them up to it."

Edward would have been more relieved if she hadn't known the server's name. "Jason?"

"He tried to slip me his number," she said with a shrug.

His grip around her waist tightened. Luckily, Bella didn't notice. "Tried?"

"When I saw that he stuck his card on the bottom of the glass, I slipped it back in the pocket of his jacket with a tip."

He laughed.

They slowly rotated in their spot for a few more moments. Then Bella felt Edward stiffen in her arms. She looked up at him with questioning eyes. "Edward? What's wrong?"

"Tanya's here," he said, his voice gruff and his tone embarrassed.

She glanced over her shoulder and sure enough, the beautiful, strawberry blond was making the rounds with her sisters, Kate and Irina. They sparkled with their own incandescent beauty and the servers that had flocked to her when she wasn't dancing made their way to the triplets, fighting to offer them the freshest appetizers.

"I thought you didn't mind the Denali triplets," Bella reminded him with raised eyebrows.

"I don't," he said. "I like them well enough. I just feel uncomfortable whenever Tanya flirts with me."

She giggled. "Aww, you're so adorable when you're embarrassed."

Edward's heart flipped at her comment, but he tried not to let it show. "Shut up," he muttered.

Halfway through their second song together, Edward felt a small tap on his shoulder. He turned around and saw Newton standing there with an expectant look on his face. "Hey, Cullen. Do you mind if I cut in?"

Yes, I mind, Edward wanted to shout. But instead, he plastered a strained smile on his face and stepped aside. Before he walked away, though, he wrapped his fingers tightly around Mike's upper arm, enough to cut off circulation. Then he leaned in and whispered in a low voice, "If I catch your hands straying where they shouldn't be, I'll cut them off so they can't do it again. Do you understand?"

Mike gulped, but Bella scowled. No matter how many times she tried to tell him that she could take care of herself, he still insisted on intimidating anyone who tried to get near her. She would have found it sweet if sometimes it weren't so absolutely infuriating.

When Edward reluctantly drifted away, Mike's face visibly relaxed. "Have I told you how beautiful you look tonight?"

Bella smiled benignly. "I think you have." Several times, actually.

He leaned his head in, much too close for Bella's comfort. "Because you are really lovely. You're the prettiest girl here."

"Thank you."

They rotated a little bit longer before Mike tried to make his move. "You know, Bella, I was thinking…"

Oh, God, Bella internally groaned. Here we go.

At the beginning of every school year since they were in sixth grade, Mike asked Bella on a date. And at the beginning of every school year since they were in sixth grade, Bella turned him down. Emmett and Jasper found it hilarious, but she found it incredibly frustrating. Clearly the boy was an idiot and she simply had no patience for idiots.

"I was thinking that maybe you and I could go out for dinner some time. Like a date."

Luckily, Bella was already prepared. "What happened to Jessica?"

Mike flushed. "Uh…well she—she and I…"

"Aren't you still together?"

He grimaced. "No, we're not."

She frowned, though she already knew. "Why not?"

He cast his gaze downward, scowling at his feet. "Because I found her in bed with Tyler Crowley two weeks ago."

Inwardly, Bella felt a little bad for Mike. He didn't deserve that.

"Anyway, Jess and I are so over. And I'm ready to forget her."

"It doesn't sound like you are."

He looked up with a confused expression. "Huh?"

"It sounds like you still like her."

Mike hesitated before turning his glance away. "Does it matter? She doesn't like me back."

Bella shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not. But I don't think the best way to get over her is to start dating again just two weeks after you found her cheating on you."

To her great surprise, his eyes started to water. "I loved her." Then the tears started overflowing, trailing down his cheeks. "And she said she loved me, too. But how could she do that to me? How could she betray me like that?"

Bella rubbed his back sympathetically. "I know. That was really low, what she did. But I don't think you're ready to go out on another date just yet, Mike. You're still not ready to move on. Give it some time."

He sniffled—rather loudly. "I don't think I'll ever be ready to move on."

"You will," Bella said reassuringly, hoping to calm him down enough to stop his tears.

Mike smiled gratefully. "Yeah, I guess. Thanks, Bella. I really appreciate it."

She smiled back. "No problem." Sometimes it was really easy, being Mike's friend.

The song ended and the two of them stepped apart. "If you don't mind, I think I'm going to head home." Tears were still trailing down his face, but now that his hands were free he could wipe them away. "Thanks for listening, Bella. Tell Alice thank you for the invite, will you?"

"Of course." She gave him a big hug and watched as he navigated his way through the crowd and disappeared.

The moment she could no longer see him, Edward materialized at her side. "I leave you alone for five minutes and in that time you manage to drive Mike Newton away in tears." His words were meant to sound disapproving, but the smile on his face betrayed his delight. "What in the world did you say?"

"I didn't mean to," Bella said, feeling slightly guilty at the whole ordeal. "He was asking me out on another date and I asked about Jessica and he told me all about how he found her in bed with Tyler and then he started crying."

Wordlessly, Edward took her back into his arms and started dancing with her once more. "Poor Newton," he allowed generously.

"Yeah. That was really low of Jessica."

"But are you really surprised?"

She sighed. "No, not really."

They danced for a few more songs when Edward declared that he was starving. They made their way back to their table when Bella grinned triumphantly. "By the way, you owe me ten dollars."

Edward's mouth dropped open. "What? No I don't!"

"Yes you do. I believe your exact words were, 'five bucks says Newton asks you dance with him six times tonight.'"

"But that's only—"

"Then your words after that were, 'and another five bucks says that he tries to start a fight with Crowley when he cuts in for the seventh.' Therefore all ten bucks lied and now belong to me."

Edward sighed. "That's hardly fair."

But Bella simply smirked. "Haven't you heard, my dear? Life isn't fair."

"You made Mike cry and leave on purpose just to weasel me out of ten dollars."

"Did not!" she protested.

Edward raised his eyebrows.

Bella sighed. "Okay, I was trying to get him to leave me alone for the rest of the evening, but I didn't set out to make him cry. In fact, I would have preferred if he didn't."

He dropped his stern expression and chuckled. "I'm glad he did. But I guess this means I owe Emmett ten dollars, too."

It was Bella's turn to raise her eyebrows. "What did he bet?"

"Don't worry, it wasn't about you. We were taking bets on why Jessica and Mike broke up."

"And what did you think?"

"I said that Jessica broke up with Mike because he was still so hung up on you."

She rolled her eyes. "You're so focused on finding the worst in Mike that you completely overlook all the crappy things Jessica does. It's hardly fair to either of them."

"You're right," Edward allowed. "How about this: they're both equally immature?"

Bella was hesitant to agree (after all, she felt that cheating on one's boyfriend was an unforgivable offense), but that was probably the best compromise she was going to get from him. Suddenly, she was very glad that they hadn't invited Jessica after all; no doubt she would have caused a huge scene.

"I bet the entire time she was cheating with Tyler, she wishes she could have been cheating with you," Bella said in a teasing voice.

He rolled his eyes. "Like I'd ever."

For some reason, this statement made her very smug. She stopped to examine this irrational feeling; why was she relieved? If she had to hazard a guess, it must have been because she didn't want him to get hurt, if he ever did say yes to Jessica.

But that thought made her furious, though she'd no reason to be. Edward didn't like any of the girls at school, he'd told her a million times. Not to mention, he'd sooner cut off his right arm before ever dating Jessica. So her anger toward the thought of the school's second biggest bimbo (Lauren earned the honor of number one) hurting her best friend was ultimately pointless, since it would never happen.

In the end, Bella chalked it up to her protectiveness. Though Edward never had romantic troubles, he had more than his fair share of emotional abuse. She felt it was her duty as his best friend to protect him from further scarring. Additionally (and she admitted, this wasn't very fair), she considered Edward hers. She didn't love him—not in that way—but he was still hers. She had taken the time to know him, to learn everything she could about who he was. If he belonged to anyone, he belonged to her.

Bella tugged him closer to her at the thought. No one could take him away from her. No one.

Three hours later, the party started to wind down. Alice grudgingly allowed her to go home and the Cullens and Hales hugged and kissed her before she drove back to her house. When she walked through the front door, she found her father sitting in front of the TV, as usual. But when he looked up, his eyes were dull and bloodshot.

Uh-oh, Bella thought. Not good.

"Where the hell were you?" Charlie demanded. His words were more slurred than usual and too late did Bella notice the empty bottle of gin on the coffee table. Her heart plummeted and her whole body went cold with dread.

"I was at the Cullen's party. Remember? I left a note for you on the fridge."

"Who gave you permission to go?" he screamed.

"Dad, calm down," she said as soothingly as she could. She easily recognized the violent drunk stage and it was best to allay his fury before he destroyed something.

"Don't tell me what to do!" He threw the empty gin bottle at her to prove a point.

Bella ducked out of the way just in time. The empty bottle shattered against the wall behind her. "I'm sorry, Dad," she said, trying her best to keep her voice calm. "I didn't think you would mind. I promise, I'll ask permission next time."

Usually, this would have been enough to mollify her drunken father, but tonight he refused to be placated. "There isn't going to be a next time! You're not allowed out ever again!"

Bella knew it was just the gin talking and that Charlie wouldn't remember the next morning, so she nodded quickly. "Of course, Dad. I promise. Here, why don't we get you to bed?" She reached forward to help him to his feet, but he slapped her hands away.

"I can do it myself!" he screamed. "I don't need your help, you stupid slut!"

She stopped. His words were like a sock to the gut.

But Charlie wasn't finished. "You're a whore, just like your mother! Look where she is now! Every guy she meets treats her like the crap she is! You'll end up just like her. You already look like her."

After a brief pause, Bella pushed aside her hurt and approached her drunken father once again. "Come on, Dad. Let's get you to bed." She took his arm and tried to sling it across her shoulders.

This time, he really did sock her in the gut. He punched her so hard that she crashed against the coffee table. She hit the sharp corner and it hit back with a vengeance.

The room was deathly quiet for a prolonged moment. Then Bella struggled to her feet, her expression carefully blank.

"Okay, Dad. Goodnight."

And with that, she climbed the stairs to her room, limping ever so slightly.