Two: Hot And Cold

His dark eyes widened, the whites surrounding the blue, but his features smoothed out a moment later, into a slow grin, revealing two dimples in each cheek. I wasn't so drunk I didn't remember him from the night before. Not yet anyway, my memory didn't start to get hazy until around the time I got into my taxi.

"Well, well, well." He crossed his thick arms, "You're the whiskey stealer. You owe me five bucks."

I scoffed, fingers tracing the edge of my wine glass, since I was taking it slow tonight. Contrary to popular belief, I did actually care for my brother, no matter how much he acted like a moron. "I forgot you're working on a teacher's salary, you need every penny don't you?"

"Rosalie!" Alice said, hand over her mouth and Jasper gave me a hard glare. What? It was true; it was well known teachers didn't make much money. Now, college professors on the other hand… But, far from being offended, he laughed, the sound a deep baritone rising from his stomach. Alice grinned, and I almost felt myself smile at the infectious laugh. Almost.

"You're a feisty one aren't you?" His laugh died down into chuckles as he placed a poorly wrapped gift on the marble island.

"That doesn't even begin to describe her." Jasper mumbled, putting a warm hand on my shoulder and squeezing, a clear warning to behave. "This, Emmett, is my sister Rosalie. As you can guess, she doesn't really have a filter."

"You're related?! But you sound so country, and she isn't!"

"Jasper likes his God awful accent, for reasons I won't even pretend to understand." I stood up, and smirked, not missing the way the big brute's eyes lingered on my legs. I grabbed the wine bottle, and prepared to pour another glass when the bottle was snatched from my fingers.

"Jasper!" I snapped, and he shook his head.

"You've had three glasses. Enough Rose." His voice was firm, and I sighed, before nodding. I felt an arm loop through mine a second later.

"I'm so happy! We just need Edward and Bella and we'll be complete. Everyone I love, under the same roof!" Alice squealed in my ear and I flinched, "Jazzy, you and Emmett are gonna be best friends!"

"Befriend all the riff raff." I mumbled, tossing my hair. Alice seemed to be the only one to hear, as Emmett and Jasper were enthusiastically trading deer camp stories.

"Rose, can I talk to you for a second?" Alice asked, already pulling me out the kitchen and down the hall, till we were in their living room. For a tiny thing, she sure was strong.

"I believe you meant, 'Rose, can I drag you to the living room?'" I yanked my arm back, and straightened my sleeve, giving her an annoyed look.

"Rosalie, Emmett's my best friend, okay? I'd appreciate it if you don't try to cut him down every time he talks. And-" She paused, eyes widening as if a thought just struck her.

"You two know each other?!" She screeched suddenly.

I shrugged, "We've met."

"Oh, come on Rosalie, there has to be more than that!" Alice whined, tugging on my dress. I didn't respond.

"Rosalieeee!"

"You're acting like a child!" I snapped, and she pouted.

"Fine, I'll just go ask, Emmett. He's nicer anyway!" She stuck her tongue out at me and skipped back to the kitchen. I turned back to the kitchen, prepared to follow them when there was a knock on the door. I rolled my eyes, knowing exactly who it was.

"Well, hello, Edward." I smirked as I pulled the door open, the frown I wore gone.

"Aren't you handsome." I murmured. Yes, I found Edward attractive. Would I sleep with him? Definitely. It didn't mean I had to like him though; he still annoyed the hell out of me. What was so special about Bella that he didn't even look twice at me anymore? That bothered me more than anything. I was superior in looks and she… was average. Average hair, average face, average body. What did she have that I didn't?

Yet, I had no true desire to break them up. I only flirted so much, and threw suggestive comments at him to get under Bella's skin. The only sure way to get his hackles raised and on the offense. Quiet by nature and with a thick skin, it was normally hard to annoy him. Until Bella that is. And, I loved annoying Edward.

"Rosalie." Was all the response he gave me, arm tightening around Bella as they swept past me to the kitchen. I laughed, he'd barely gotten through the door, and he'd already seemed agitated. It was shaping up to be a very nice night indeed.

"So," I looked across the counter hearing a booming voice, "How come Jasper has the accent and you don't?"

I sighed annoyed, I'd come to the kitchen to escape the scene of disgustingly cute couples under the guise of grabbing an extra bite and something more to drink. If only for a few minutes at least. I was happy for my brother, I was and even I could see Bella, -surprisingly- made Edward happy, but… being the only single one surrounded by a group of couples tended to grate on my nerves.

I looked back down at my glass of tea, tone bored, "Why would I? I don't live there anymore."

"And? It's your roots. Don't you have to work to keep from letting it show?"

"I've gotten pretty good at it over the past few years." I shrugged slightly, watching as he picked at our leftover cake, running his finger through the white frosting then popping it in his mouth. I quickly looked away, picking up my drink.

"Sorry about the gift thing by the way. I didn't know Jasper had a twin."

"I'm sure you-" I paused remembering Alice's words and sighed, "It's fine."

"No, what were you going to say?" He grinned, right in front of me now, arms crossed.

"Nothing."

"Aw, come on! You were gonna say something."

"It was nothing, Emmett."

"Was too!"

"Was no-" I glared at him, cutting myself off again, slamming my glass down on the marble island and glaring at him.

"Someone's getting a little temperamental."

"I am not temperamental!" I snapped, stepping closer and tilting my head up.

"Are too. I'm not the one who just randomly got mad." He just stood there smiling with his stupid dimples. I got under peoples skin, not the other way around. The fact that he wasn't bothered just pissed me off.

"Am not, you're just an idiot! What is wrong with you?!"

"Is something wrong?" Jasper stood in the doorway with three empty glasses and an amused expression.

"Just peachy." I snapped, turning and shoving him aside to go back into the living room.

"Love the accent Rosalie!"

I nearly snarled.

Emmett laughed, watching her retreating form. So, she wasn't as good at hiding the accent as she claimed.

"I think I like you." Jasper grinned wrapping an arm around his shoulders as he led them to the living room, "He's a keeper y'all!"

Rosalie looked ready to spit at them both from the recliner, but she just tossed her hair and faced Alice who was gesturing wildly.

"So, Emmett, got a girlfriend?" Jasper asked, arm around Alice as Emmett sat back in his spot on the floor, long legs sprawled out.

"Emmett?" Edward snorted. Emmett shot him a playful glare.

"I get plenty of ass though." Emmett shot back, and the boys immediately laughed, while Alice rolled her eyes and Bella blushed. Rosalie shot him a disbelieving look.

"Who'd sleep with you?"

"Rosalie!" Alice said, but her hand covering her mouth failed to hide her giggle.

"I bet I could get you to." Emmett once again was smiling.

"Like you have anything to offer." Alice shared a look with Jasper at her words, but neither said anything.

"Oh, I have plenty to offer. Big things in big packages and all."

"Emmett that is not how it goes." Alice rolled her eyes. He shrugged; she got the point either way.

"Can we not talk about the size of your…err package?" Jasper asked.

"Someone feeling a little small?" Emmett couldn't help but to say.

"He is not!"

"Alice!" Bella shot Alice a look of horror.

"But he's not!" The guys all laughed again while the girls looked at them like they were idiots. Well, Rosalie and Alice were, Bella just looked embarrassed. Emmett almost felt sorry for her.

The rest of the night went by in much of the same way, the girls joking around and the guys taking it too far, making Bella blush, Alice roll her eyes and Rosalie smirk. For it being the first time Emmett was meeting Jasper, they got along surprisingly well. They seemed to share a fondness for making Edward the butt of all their jokes.

And, it wasn't weird for him to be the only single male in the room; the conversation flowed easily from all sides. Well for the most part, Rosalie ignored him half the time, or shot him condescending looks when she wasn't. It didn't bother him though, not too many things could.

Emmett glanced at his watch and groaned, it was almost three in the morning, "I love you guys, but I have to be up in three hours and I usually need twice as much as that to function correctly."

"Yeah, it has gotten pretty late. The missus is fast asleep." Jasper grinned down at Alice, sprawled in his lap, fast asleep.

"This one's halfway there." Edward smirked as Bella blinked sleepily a few times before his words sunk in and she shook her head.

"I'm up, I'm just-"

"Hey!" Jasper grinned a moment later before he shot Alice a worried look and lowering his voice, "Its late guys, you knows there's three spare rooms, you're more than welcome to them."

"No, thanks-"

"I was asking them, Rose. You're staying whether you want to or not." He shot her a look, then cut his eyes to the wine bottle she'd tried unsuccessfully to hide behind her chair, but it had tipped over and rolled until it was halfway under the table.

She flushed, stalking towards the kitchen, "Whatever. I might as well drink some more since I can't drive anyway."

Jasper sighed, shooting her retreating form a long look before turning back towards them, offering them yet another apologetic smile for his sisters behavior.

"No, we need-"

"You two are staying, Bella and I have plans in the morning anyway." Alice suddenly had four pairs of wide eyes directed at her. She yawned before shooting them a glare, "Don't even start. We have things to do in the morning, Bella. There's a full bed you guys can share, and Emmett can-"

"Yeah, no. I really can't, Alice. All my clothes are at home, and I have some papers I've still got to grade, and a test to-

"Its okay, Emmett, we get it." Jasper clapped his back as best as he could with Alice still curled in his arms, a pout on her tiny face.

He grinned, reaching forward to ruffle her hair, "Maybe next time, Lil' Bit."

She huffed but laughed a moment later.

"Thank you guys, I actually had fun tonight. You're not half bad, Jasper, we'll have to go hunting once the season-"

Alice interrupted him with a groan, but Jasper's eyes were already shining at having found a hunting partner. He shot her a cocky grin before saying his last goodbyes, noting Rosalie didn't make a reappearance. But, he didn't let it get to him, he whistled to himself as he finally stepped out of the door, tossing a wave over his shoulder and he finally disappeared into the dark.

Author's Note: Holy... wow guys, I am so sorry this took so long. I've been so busy with school and hadn't realized it'd been so long until I actually logged into my account today. Again, I'm so sorry about the delay. I uploaded this as soon as I could since most of it was prewritten. I apologize if there are any mistakes, if there please let me know! And I'm open to ideas and suggestions for this story as well and maybe a beta reader, I feel like I've gotten so far away from these plot characters it'd be good to have someone there to be able to kick my butt into high gear and actually UPDATE. Sorry again guys, I'm determined to finish this story even if I'm only three chapters in.