A/N: Hellllllloooooo. How ya doin, kids? Good? Yeah? Let's continue.

"I had a dream."

I held my breath and closed my eyes, glad we were on the phone so she didn't see. Alice hated when I made the face I knew I was making. Her dreams came in two flavors: wishful thinking and full on panic mode. It wasn't so much that Alice's dreams were prophetic as it was she believed they could be.

"I know you're making that face, Edward Cullen."

"I'm sorry. Your dream. Continue."

"It was simple, really. We were all hanging out. You, me, and the boys. They liked me. Emmett hugged me and Jasper… Well, that's another story."

Right. Wishful thinking. My heart twisted for her. Every time I tried to get Emmett and Jasper to see what a great person she was, something went terribly wrong. Alice didn't help matters, that was true, but still, it broke my heart. "They would like you if they got to know you. It's just…"

"The excessive drinking and my, uh, flare?" Her voice was tired, and I could hear the pain in each word. Alice was lonely.

"They just don't understand you," I said.

"Yeah. No one does. No one but you." Her voice was thin, but she cleared her throat and went on. "Anyway. Speaking of you. There was something else about my dream."

"What's that?"

"You were on the phone."

"While you were visiting? That's awfully rude of me."

"You know how dreams work. I just knew you were on the phone with your girlfriend."

"Oh, right. Her. I seem to have misplaced her permanently."

"You were happy, Edward. Like insanely happy. I saw it in your eyes. And your smile. Fuck. I've never seen you smile like that."

I sighed. "You still haven't, Alice."

"But I will. I believe this one. It's how it was meant to be. The boys were meant to be friends with me. That's how it was supposed to go. And you should be happy. You deserve it."

"You deserve it too, you know."

Alice hummed. She knew if she said she didn't believe me, I'd just have to argue with her. "So how are things with the new girl?" she asked, changing the subject.

I clucked at my phone. "She's hardly new anymore, Alice. She's lived here for five months now."

"My, my, my. The time does fly. So how are things with the not-so-new girl? Have Frick and Frack boned her yet?"

Even though I knew she was kidding-mostly-the question still irritated me. "I'd hope she had better taste than that." Though she and my brother were awfully chummy lately. I frowned and wondered if I should be checking to make sure he wasn't getting too close, as per our agreement. Emmett wasn't good at impulse control.

"What taste do you think she should have?"

"That's not the point. I'm trying to ask for your help, Alice."

"Me help you. That's a novel idea. I'm all ears."

"New girl…" I rolled my eyes. Alice's insistence in not calling Bella by her name had rubbed off on me. "Bella's birthday is this month. I need gift ideas, and you're good at that. I was an ass to her for a while, so I'd like to make it special."

"Oooh. Is she having a party?"

"No. She said she doesn't like parties. She doesn't like the attention."

Alice was silent for a handful of seconds. "This woman's hair was electric blue when you met, wasn't it?"

"Yeah."

"Then she can't possibly mind attention that much. Everybody says they don't want attention, but that's a load of crap. We all like to feel special now and again. I like feeling special every day." She squeaked. "Edward, I know! You can throw her a party."

"What? Are you insane?"

"Debatable, but that's not the point." I could hear the excitement mounting in her tone. "No, this is a great idea. You should throw her a party."

It was good to hear the smile in her voice, but I wasn't sold on the idea. "No way, Alice. I've never thrown a party."

"Well then we can cross it off the bucket list. Besides, you won't have to do much except finance it. I can put it all together. Like you said, I'm good at this kind of stuff. Why not a party? We'll do something fancy. Themed."

"Her birthday is in less than two weeks."

"Pffft. I can pull it off. Come on. It'll be fun. And we can kill two birds with one stone. If I throw a kick-ass party with you, Emmett and Jasper can't hate me anymore. I'll be moved up the ladder to mild dislike."

"They don't hate you."

"What. Ever. You and I both know I need some points in my corner when it comes to them. That's all I'm saying."

A little voice in my head was screaming that this was a bad, bad, bad idea. But Alice begged, and it had been a long time since either of us had done anything social. Emmett and Jasper were constantly trying to get me to go out. This might get them off my back for a month or two at least. Plus, if nothing else, Bella would appreciate the effort. She was the type. Even if Alice was wrong and she did hate all forms of attention, she was a 'it's the thought that counts' type of person.

What could possibly go wrong?

~0~

Emmett and Jasper thought it was a great idea. They started drawing up a guest list the minute I told them. I was confused until I realized what they were doing. They were listing all our friends who were single. Apparently, they thought setting Bella up was a great present.

I supposed I should be grateful they were keeping to their word about not trying to get in her pants themselves, but it bugged me.

After them, I told Peter and Charlotte. They were thrilled. Of course, they had been doing that dance for the last five months where they talked about how we really all had to get together sometime but we never did. This would fill their quota until the wedding.

Then I called Bella's best friend, Rosalie.

I'd been gone at the bar or otherwise occupied the few times Rosalie stopped over, so I'd never met her. Emmett was borderline obsessed. He asked Bella how "Rosy" was doing almost before he asked how her day had been. Jasper said she was a bitch, but Jasper was also the kind of person for whom the title of bitch came with a degree of admiration.

She answered the phone with a curt, "Who is this?"

"Um. My name is Edward Cullen, I'm-"

"Bella's forlorn, brooding, mysterious roommate. I almost thought they'd all made you up for funsies. They said you existed, but you know, five months is a long time to go without meeting someone my best friend lives with."

"I do exist."

"So it seems. How did you get this number?"

"I…" This wasn't going to go well. "I stole Bella's phone for a minute."

There was what could only be described as cold silence on the other end of the line. "You stole her phone? That's really creepy and stalkerish."

"Whoa. It was for a good cause." Jeez. Well, at least she was protective, I guess?

I outlined the plan for Rosalie so she wouldn't call the police, and she burst out laughing. "A party for Bella. Well… that should be an entertaining evening."

"You're her best friend. If you think she'll hate it…"

"She will turn beet red, but she'll forgive you, and she might even have a good time despite herself." Rosalie laughed again. "Yeah, yeah. I'll give you some numbers. Bella attracts some, uh… interesting people, so be sure you're ready for that."

I felt satisfied with myself when I had gained Rosalie's stamp of approval. All that was left was to try to rein Alice in.

What could possibly go wrong?

A/N: Thanks so much to songster and barburella and my cohort, Bella.

Sooo. Party. This should go smoothly, right?