Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight. I own a tour guide name tag from my alma mater.
WriteOnTime and Daisy3853 are the best betas a girl could ask for. If I could, I'd buy them each a million pairs of pink flip flops.
BPOV
By the time we left Edward's apartment, my head was spinning slightly and my skin felt numb and prickly at the same time. As the four of us tromped through the snow toward Emmett's apartment, I patted my face experimentally.
"Alice, I can't feel my cheeks."
"Don't worry," she laughed, "they're still on your face." Edward shoved her a little and she went sliding across a patch of ice into Jasper. "Hey! No fair, ya big, tall, bully. Don't make me use my secret kung fu on you."
"Well, maybe you shouldn't pick on the newbie if you don't want to get pushed around a little," he said. He threw a casual arm over my shoulders. "I told Bella I'd keep an eye on her. Be nice, Alice."
If I hadn't watched Edward throw down five shots of tequila in the last thirty minutes, I would probably have mistaken his friendly concern for flirting.
"Yeah," I echoed, sticking my tongue out at her and leaning into Edward's side. "Be nice, Alice."
A couple of seconds later, I looked up at Edward from under his arm. "Edward?"
"Hm?" He glanced at me, and I noticed the way the cold and the alcohol had tinted his cheeks and nose a bright pink.
"You look like Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer," I giggled, snorting a little in the process. He huffed and dropped his arm, stomping ahead of me. "Hey, come back! Where are you going?"
He sighed and stopped, allowing me to catch up with him as Alice and Jasper got farther ahead. They reached the door to Emmett's building and waited for us.
"What?" he asked, crossing his arms. "You got some Santa jokes to throw my way?"
"Nope," I said, grabbing his hand and pulling him toward the door. "I just need an anchor." I slipped on the sidewalk as soon as we started moving again, illustrating my point.
Warm air rushed out of the building as we moved into the lobby, and he laughed and towed me inside.
"You know, Rosalie called you a disaster area today, and I defended you. I'm starting to think that was a mistake."
"Oh, definitely. I am definitely a disaster area." I followed Alice and Jasper to the elevator, marveling at how the tequila had lubricated my tongue. It was way more effective than beer. I didn't feel awkward or uncomfortable talking to Edward at all, and it seemed the feeling was mutual.
He had been acting weird all day. I got the impression that he was going out of his way to steer clear of Alice, which didn't make any sense, and I had to repeat myself a number of times when I asked him questions during training. It was like his brain was somewhere else, even though he seemed to be looking at me and listening. The awkward scene in the tour guide office with Rosalie, coupled with the fact that he practically bolted from the building afterwards, gave me the uncomfortable suspicion that he was avoiding me, too. I only hoped that Alice had kept her mouth shut about my crush on him last semester. If she had been pushing him about asking me out... mortification wouldn't even cover it.
Even Jacob noticed something was up.
"So, you and Eddie-boy getting hot and heavy in the office, huh?"
It was so ridiculously off-base that I had laughed, loudly. "You and Alice must be smoking the same crack," I said eventually, once my giggles had worn off. "No, nothing's going on with me and Edward. That's just—no." I had stopped myself before I could go on at length about how out of my league Edward was. I was pretty sure Jacob didn't want to hear about that.
"Oh," he said simply. "Hey, um, I'm really sorry about last night, the bar, the beer." He cringed. "That's... it was very out of character for me. I'm not that guy."
"Don't worry about it," I had said easily. I had been upset in the moment, but realistically, things like that happened to me all the time. It wasn't worth it to hold a grudge. "I'm incredibly clumsy. It was a small miracle I had gotten to that point in the evening without spilling anything."
He had smiled widely and changed the subject. The conversation was easy. I had been able to reassure myself that I was, in fact, capable of a normal conversation with a boy. I had even made him laugh a few times.
The elevators dinged open and I was jolted back to the present, where my hand was firmly encased in Edward's, and my blood was buzzing from booze and heat. I almost tripped over the edge of the elevator, but I saved myself before I had to lean too hard into Edward. I made a mental note to ditch my heels in a corner as soon as I could ascertain that the floors were reasonably clean.
Jasper opened the door without knocking, and we were met with another wall of heat and sound. The lights were out, and a throng of bodies moved in time with the pulsing beat of the music. As soon as I stepped into the apartment, I was pulled away from Edward by a girl with wide brown eyes and a huge, inebriated smile. She slapped a piece of duct tape on my shirt before I could process what she was doing and un-capped a Sharpie.
"Name?"
"Uh, what?"
"What's your name, newbie?" she asked. She tugged at her own shirt, revealing a similar chunk of tape labeled "Emily" in bright red letters.
"Oh. Bella."
"Awesome. Hold still, Bella." She steadied me by grabbing me awkwardly under the arm, and scribbled my name on the piece of tape that was now covering a good portion of my left breast. "Perfect. There's alcohol and mixers in the kitchen, which is right through there." She pointed. "I think Sam is still manning the bar. Go get a cup and get to it!" She turned to Edward and slapped another piece of tape across his shirt.
"Hey, stranger!" She filled in his name. "Glad to see you out of your hermit hole in the library."
He smiled and glanced around. "Looks like most of the new hires are already here, Bella. Better get you another drink, and then I'll introduce you around."
I looked for Alice and Jasper, but they had already disappeared into the crowd. I did spot Rosalie leaning against a window across the room, though, and I could see Angela, Lauren, and a couple of the other girls dancing in the middle of a group of guys.
I let Edward lead me through the crowd, staying close to his back. Despite the fact that the apartment smelled strongly of sweat and alcohol, I could distinctly pick up the smell of Edward's soap through his t-shirt. It was almost minty; it reminded me of green, growing things and rain. By the time we made it to the kitchen, my nose was practically pressed into the space between his shoulder blades.
Leah was standing in the kitchen, hands on her hips, staring down a very tall, very tan boy. They both looked completely ticked off. She scared me far more than Rosalie did, but at least this time her anger wasn't directed at me. The day she had drilled into me during training, I had nearly cried.
"What-the-fuck-ever, Sam," she growled. "There is no excuse for cheating. None! I can't believe the two of you had the nerve to show up tonight."
Edward put his arm out and stopped me from entering the room, although the chances of me walking into the storm that was brewing without protection were pretty slim.
"It's a party for everyone, Leah. Don't be such a bitch. You could have stayed home, too, you know."
"I'm a coordinator! I have to be here!" She threw her hands up in the air. "Unlike you and the skank."
I could feel my eyes getting rounder as I stared between them, my head bouncing back and forth like I was watching a tennis match. Just then, the girl who had labeled me, Emily, walked past Edward and into the kitchen. I almost stopped her, but the look that Leah leveled at her froze me in my place.
"Sam, do you know where that extra roll of duct tape went? We're out."
"He doesn't have the tape," Leah said icily. Emily slowly turned to look at her, coolly giving her a once-over.
"I don't think I asked you," she said. There was a split second pause before Leah launched herself at Emily, hands out, fingers extended like claws. The two girls went tumbling in a shrieking cyclone of hair-pulling and scratching.
Sam tried to get between them, but ended up going down quickly after an unidentified elbow hit him in the groin. Before I could debate stepping in myself, a huge boy shouldered past Edward and I, reached down into the brawl going on in the middle of the kitchen, and pulled the two girls apart.
"That's enough, ladies," he said cheerfully. He was grinning, and his curly hair stuck up at odd angles. "I love a good cat fight as much as the next man, but this is a party, and I can't have you blocking the bar. So you can either take it outside or leave each other the hell alone. Got it?"
Leah growled something incoherent, but Emily gave a sharp nod. I noticed that Leah only looked a little ruffled, while Emily had a red scratch across her face, her hair mussed and hanging loosely out of its pony tail holder. Sam stood slowly, still wheezing slightly, and led her back into the living area.
"Hey, Leah?" Edward asked, and I jumped. It made me very nervous to be on her radar after seeing her take apart that other girl. "How much have you had to drink?"
She narrowed her eyes. "Why?"
"Just, you know, you might want to slow down."
"Fuck off, Masen. I've had three vodka and diet cokes. I'm fine."
She stormed out of the kitchen, following Sam and Emily, and Edward swore a little under his breath.
"Did you win?" the big guy asked, leaning against the cabinets with a huge smile. He had a dimple on his left cheek that made his size considerably less threatening. With the kitchen clear from brawling tour guides, I finally felt safe to enter, so I walked up to where bottles lined the counters and started looking for a cup.
"No," Edward answered. "I should have known better than to take a bet against Alice, I guess. She always wins. Every goddamned time."
"What do you want, Edward? I'm having more tequila." I had spotted some shot glasses and a bottle of Jose, and had decided that the best way to keep my warm, confident buzz going would be to follow Alice's advice and stick to one drink the whole night.
"Set me up another shot," he said easily. "Emmett, have you met Bella?"
I slopped a little on the counter as I poured two shots, then turned back to the big guy. "You're Emmett?"
"Guilty," he said, still grinning. "And you are Bella. That's... interesting." He looked at Edward, who snorted and shook his head.
"Depends who you ask, I guess?" I said uncertainly, not really sure what we were talking about anymore. The fight had disoriented me, although apparently Edward and Alice had taken bets of some kind about it. And now Emmett seemed to know something about me, even though I'd barely heard of him. I looked down at the shots on the counter and decided that pouring a third couldn't hurt.
"Come on, Eddie-boy," I said, pushing his shot out where he could see it clearly. "Do a shot with me."
"Eddie-boy?" he said archly. "I really can't tell you enough how much I hate that nickname." He grabbed the shot glass and toasted me before tossing it back. I watched him for a minute, letting myself enjoy the way his throat bobbed as he swallowed. Then I took my two shots in quick succession, not even pausing to process the way my throat burned and my stomach clenched.
"I guess I'll need to find a different nickname then," I replied, finally looking him full in the face. It was the first time I had done so since we walked into the party, and the effect was enough to make me a little woozy. His lips and his cheeks were red, and his eyes were bright, pupils dilated. He was right there, breathing heavily and staring down at me, and so close I could feel his tequila-tinted breath on my face.
"I don't like nicknames," he said, not moving away. "So that's going to be tough."
Emmett laughed, pulling my attention from Edward and our warm, tense little bubble.
"Oh, this is going to be fun," he said. The smile on his face struck me as suddenly foreboding. "I'll catch you kids later. I have a hot blonde wandering somewhere out there, and she'll kill me if I don't bring her another glass of this fine wine." He thumped his fist on a box of wine that sat on the counter behind him and left the kitchen, glass in hand.
Edward shook his head and sighed. "You ready?" he asked, giving me a crooked and completely heartbreaking smile.
Once we had been absorbed into the herd of people in the living room, I started to lose track of time. One second, I'd be talking to someone I had just been introduced to, the next moment I was dancing with Jessica on top of a sturdy coffee table. Then I was laughing in a group as people snapped pictures. One boy kissed another on the mouth, and the people around me cheered and clapped. Someone hugged me and told me they loved me so much, and then Alice was placing sloppy kisses on my cheek. My shoes disappeared, and they were replaced by a random girl's pink flip-flops.
As a rule, I wasn't a heavy drinker, and I didn't party much. Over the course of the last couple of hours, however, I had lost track of how many shots of tequila I had had, in addition to one ill-advised jager bomb that made me consider throwing up for a few dicey seconds.
Rosalie cornered me at one point, a glass of boxed wine in both hands. She handed me one, which I didn't drink, and started talking about the burden of responsibility.
"No one really gets it until they have to do it," she slurred, gesturing with her red cup. "But being in charge is hard. You have to tell your friends what to do. I like my friends, Bella."
She raised her eyebrows for emphasis and I nodded to show I understood. "Edward is my friend," she continued. "I don't like bossing him around, especially when he's being all cute and shit."
"What?" Edward was cute alright, but I wasn't sure how that related to Rosalie having to boss him around.
"You know, with the smile, and the puppy dog eyes, and the hair." She waved her free hand around her head. She sighed heavily and finished off the rest of her cup, reclaiming the glass in my hand and taking another gulp for good measure. "Okay, it's like this. When you're the boss, you're like a shepherd. And all the little tour guides are your sheep."
"Baaaaaaa," I laughed.
"Yes, right," she said, straight-faced. "You... are a sheep. It's my job to keep my flock together, and if one of the sheep quits her job because another sheep can't keep it in his little wooly pants, that's a problem for me."
"Do sheep wear pants?"
"Hey, what are we talking about?" Emmett asked, dropping an arm on each of our shoulders.
"Sheep," I said, smiling up at him. "And whether they wear pants."
"And why the sea is boiling hot—And whether pigs have wings?"
"You aren't drunk enough," Rosalie whined. "You're quoting, that means you need more drinks."
"Okay, baby," he chuckled. "Let's go get more bad wine."
I watched them wander off into the dark, arms twined around each other. The party was slowing down, and I didn't see anyone who I recognized nearby, so I slid to the floor with a thump. My head lolled to one side.
"Whoa, there, Bee, you doing okay?" Jasper appeared in front of me suddenly, squatting so we were eye to eye.
"I'm fine," I said loudly, pushing up from the floor and standing suddenly. The blood rushed to my head and I swayed a little before righting myself.
"Hang on, kid," he laughed, standing with me and grabbing my upper arm. "How much did you have to drink tonight?"
"A lot?"
"Jasper!" Edward called, slapping Jasper on the back as he stumbled into the corner where we stood. "Where have you been? You're missing it, Emmett is chugging straight from one of Rose's boxes of wine. That shit is priceless, Alice is taking pictures."
"I'll look at the pictures later, man," Jasper laughed. "Bella is having some issues."
"I am not," I protested, shaking his hand off my arm. "I'm fine!" I touched my forefinger to my nose and did a little spin, only tripping a little over my newly acquired flip-flops. "See?"
Edward didn't stop smiling, but he did reach out to grab my arm, mimicking Jasper. "Are you going to be okay to make it across campus tonight? How did you get to my place earlier?"
"I drove," I said, then slapped my forehead in an exaggerated move. My arm felt heavy, like my hand was made of lead. I shook it out, watching it swing for a second, admiring how loosely my arms seemed to hang from my shoulders. "Edward, I can't drive!"
"No, you can't," he agreed, laughing. "I can't either."
I gave him a hard look, noticing his bloodshot eyes and rumpled clothes. His shirt was untucked and wrinkled, and his hair stood straight on end, like he had stuck his finger in a light socket.
"What am I gonna do?" I started hiccupping as soon the words were out of my mouth. I panicked, envisioning myself sleeping on the pile of coats in the corner near the front door.
"Hey, hey, hey," Edward soothed, grabbing both my hands. "You can stay with me. I have a pull-out."
"Can we go now?" I asked, looking up at him and hiccupping again. "I think I need to lie down."
"Do you really think that's a great idea, Edward?" Jasper asked, looking between us doubtfully. "She can just cab home with me and Alice later."
"Jasper, I want to go now," I whined. I winced at the sound of my voice, so high-pitched and needy, but I kept talking. "I need to lie down."
"What does your coat look like?" Jasper sighed. I told him, and he went to dig through the coats while Edward went to find my shoes. I concentrated on staying upright. I stared down at my feet and wiggled my toes, worrying a little when I had a hard time feeling the individual toes moving against my sandals.
"Edward, my toes," I said vaguely when he dropped my heels at my feet.
"Very nice toes," he said reassuringly, letting me prop my hand on his shoulder as I stepped back into my own shoes.
"Okay, Bee. Here's your coat. Edward, you can't go out without your coat. Put it on. It's really cold outside."
Jasper still looked anxious, although I wasn't sure why. Edward seemed perfectly warm to me. I could feel the heat of his skin through his shirt where my hand gripped his bicep.
"Hey, Jas, I think I see Alice getting on top of the bar in the kitchen," Edward said, a smile pulling up one side of his mouth. "She's holding a bottle of Jack."
Jasper groaned. "Edward, you have everything under control?"
Edward nodded.
"And neither of you is going to do anything dumb?"
We shook our heads in unison.
"Good enough," he sighed, turning and ducking through the crowd toward the kitchen.
"Let's hit the road, beautiful," Edward said, grabbing my hand.
I stared up at him, suddenly starry-eyed. "Huh?"
"I said, let's get going."
I followed him, but asked again, "No, what did you call me?"
"Bella. That's your name." He looked down at me, those red lips pushed into a quizzical pout.
"Oh, right." I shook my head a little, wondering if tequila could make you hear things.
Jasper wasn't kidding about the cold. There were little snow flurries blowing across the sidewalk, and I could see my breath steaming in front of my face. Edward still hadn't put his coat on, but kept it draped over one arm as we walked.
"Aren't you cold?" I asked, biting my lip to stop my teeth from chattering.
He smiled widely and shoved his hands in his pockets, walking a little faster. "Nah, it's just a little farther. By the time I get my arms in the sleeves we'll be at my door anyway."
His argument seemed reasonable to me at the time, although part of me did wonder why he hadn't put the coat on immediately after we left the party. As soon as we got inside his building, my teeth started to chatter in earnest.
Edward took his coat and wrapped it around me, rubbing my arms quickly as we hurried toward the elevator. He stayed mostly behind me, and I wasn't able to move quite as fast as he was. As a result, I stumbled quite a bit, giggling as he caught me every time I fell forward. Little puffs of breath hit my neck as we walked, and I could feel Edward's chest like a force field behind me, hovering but never quite making contact with my back or shoulders.
Only when we got to his apartment did he close the gap between his body and mine, leaning forward to unlock the front door. I shivered, and he looked down at me in concern. "Hey, you okay?" he mumbled into my ear, and my neck broke out in goosebumps.
"Come here," he said, a little louder this time, pulling me after him into the apartment and toward the couch. "I'll get you a blanket. Hold on."
I hugged Edward's coat closer and inhaled in what I thought was a stealthy way, but when he returned with a fuzzy fleece blanket, he was smirking.
"I hope my jacket doesn't stink," he said, tossing the fleece over me and pulling the ends in tight to my front. He started to rub my arms, but when his hands touched a spot of bare skin on my neck I yelped.
"Your hands are freezing! Aren't you cold?" I looked him over, half-expecting blue lips and tiny icicles to be hanging off the ends of his hair.
"I'm fine," he insisted, still rubbing rapid, tiny circles in my upper arms and back.
"No, you're not. Your skin is all white and red and blotchy. You might have frostbite! Here, share my blanket."
Without thinking, I reached out and grabbed his hands, pulling him under the blanket and his coat. I readjusted the ends, scooting forward so my knees bumped into his. His hands slid from my shoulders to my waist, and I could feel his fingers dig into my hips. I jumped a little at the feeling, and the movement propelled me forward. Edward adjusted automatically, and suddenly his lips were lightly pressing into the bridge of my nose.
He looked down at the same moment I looked up, and his lips brushed against the apple of my cheek.
"Uh, Bella," he whispered. His voice was strangely high. I shifted again, lifting up from my knees so my eyes were just below his.
"Yeah?" I whispered back. Unlike Edward, I sounded husky. My head was spinning, and I was having trouble concentrating. This had to be a dream. It had the same hazy quality most of my best dreams did.
"Do you... are you..." His breathing got faster and more labored.
And then I kissed him. I started out slowly, a little unsure of myself, even in dreamland. I pressed light kisses on his bottom lip, pulling it halfway into my mouth before releasing it with a barely audible pop. I began to pull away, but before I could get too far, one of Edward's hands came up from my waist and tangled into my hair.
There was nothing unsure about the way he pulled me back, or about the way his mouth attacked my own, with tongue, teeth, low, gasping groans. I half-climbed onto his lap, and his hands pushed further under my coat, shoving it off my shoulders. My knees slid down around his waist, while one of Edward's hands snaked up under my shirt. When his fingers traced up my bare spine, I gasped and dropped my head to one side, only to feel his lips attach to the crook of my neck.
He moved again, dropping his hands to my butt and scooping me up. I let my legs wrap around his waist as he staggered to his feet, tripping toward his bedroom. He didn't turn the lights on, just walked until the backs of his knees hit his bed, then dropped backwards, cushioning my fall with his body.
We rolled a little, and he collapsed on top of me, still dropping kisses wherever he could reach. I pulled his face back to mine, enjoying the hungry way our lips came together. This was a far cry from the stiff way we had interacted when we first met, and radically different even from the awkward, pseudo-friendly chatter and small touches from the night before. It was indescribable. I hadn't been kissed in at least a year, and I was fairly certain that, even in my dreams, I had never been kissed like this before.
But Edward's bed was soft, and his pillows were full. Eventually, I started to yawn in between kisses, and he laughed lightly as he trailed softer, slower kisses on my cheek and down my neck. As I drifted off to sleep, I felt the comforting weight of his arm across my stomach and his head on my shoulder.
~||x||~
Someone had bashed in my forehead with a bottle of tequila. It was the only explanation that fit: my head was throbbing, my mouth was dry, and my tongue tasted like it had been coated in alcohol and then dipped in something fuzzy. On top of that, my whole body ached, and when I tried to move, my arms and legs seemed to be pinned.
Then I opened my eyes, and I nearly screamed. My arms and legs seemed pinned... because they were. Someone big, heavy, and very male was draped over me. I looked down in a panic, exhaling sharply when I saw that I was still fully dressed in my party clothes. I wracked my brain, trying to come up with any detail about how I got here or where here was. At first, all I could come up with was a pair of pink flip flops and a cat fight in the kitchen of Emmett's apartment. None of that helped me identify the cluttered room I was currently lying in, or the faceless boy who lay beside me.
Then my bed buddy mumbled in his sleep and shifted slightly, and I saw his face. It was enough to make me want to scream again. Edward. I was in Edward's bed. I had come home with him last night, too drunk to drive. He offered me his pull-out and then...
I closed my eyes and whimpered. I had practically thrown myself at him. Attacked him, really, like I was a starving person and he was a big, juicy steak. I had never done anything like that before—I had never even kissed a boy before going out on a date with him, and now I was waking up in bed with one who I was barely friends with. I closed my eyes again, silently praying that when I opened them again, I would be at home in my own bed, or at least in Edward's living room on the pull-out couch.
I peeked out my left eye. No good; I was still underneath Edward's heavy arm. Last night happened, and it had happened in all its hot, heavy, scintillating, and wildly embarrassing glory.
There was a chance, of course, that Edward wouldn't remember any of this. We had both been ridiculously drunk, and when he woke up he would probably be in rougher shape than I was. I only hoped he had blacked out completely. I didn't think I could deal with the humiliation that would come with him telling me what I already knew—that last night had been a huge mistake.
Moving as slowly and carefully as I could, I inched my way out from under Edward's arms and legs, propping him up with pillows and falling to the floor as gracefully as possible. I hobbled to his bathroom, splashed some water on my face, and then grabbed my purse and coat and let myself out.
It took a few tries to start my truck, and as I sat shuddering in the cab, bits and pieces of my night started to come back to me. Oh, God, I danced on a table last night. I groaned aloud as I remembered the step-and-shimmy Jessica and I had done together. I closed my eyes when I distinctly recalled Mike, Eric, and Tyler catcalling from directly in front of us. There was a conversation with Rose, too. Something about sheep keeping it in their pants...
And then I groaned again. At the time, Rose's words about shepherds and sheep were hilarious, but now, in the full, glaring light of day, I realized what she was trying to say. Edward was the one with the little, wooly pants, and from the sounds of it, she had already warned him to stay away. And what did I do? I jumped him. Sure, he didn't say no, but he was drunk and probably horny. He was a twenty-something college guy, what was the likelihood he was going to turn down a drunk girl throwing herself at him? Now he would probably get in trouble with Rosalie, maybe even lose his job.
The guilt made my stomach churn worse than the hangover had. I didn't want Edward to suffer because I had a moment of impulsive stupidity. There was only one real solution I could think of. I would have to pretend it never happened. Not only would it mean not having to talk about any of this with Edward, ever, but it would have the added bonus of keeping him safe from any repercussions from my bad behavior.
When I got to my dorm, I took four ibuprofen, chugged an entire bottle of water, and passed out again on top of my comforter. I didn't wake up again until two in the afternoon.
A/N: So... now you've seen the long-awaited party. What do you think? Worth the wait? And what will our heroes do next, I wonder?
I tend to make bad decisions when I'm drinking cranberry vodkas.
Have you ever seen a girl fight (or been in one! haha)?