A/N: This is a long one - Edward is terribly long-winded. Hopefully that makes up for the fact that I didn't get it posted on St. Paddy's Day.

I own nothing, as usual.

Edward

God, this girl was adorable. And drunk. Very, very drunk. I'd had a few myself, but I could feel them beginning to wear off already. This beautiful, fun, bouncing girl had obviously consumed mass quantities.

She liked me now, but how would she feel once she was sober? I would probably bore the crap out of her. I was tempted to take her back over to her friends and part company to save myself the eventual heartache, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I wanted to know her, not just dance with her in the middle of a crowded street with strangers breathing alcohol stink all over us.

She smiled up at me again and tightened her grip on my hands. I couldn't help smiling in return; she was irresistible.

She stretched up and brought her mouth close to my ear. "So, what's your last name, pretty Edward?" she asked. "I hope I'm not related to you."

I leaned down to her. "It's Cullen," I answered. "And I certainly hope you aren't related, otherwise the thoughts I've been having are sick and wrong."

She threw back her head and let out a clear, musical laugh. "That makes two of us," she said loudly.

She released one of my hands and lifted the other into the air, twirling around beneath it. "And no," she continued once we were facing each other again, "I have no family by that name. But Cullen, that is a good Irish name. You need a change of wardrobe, I think." She turned suddenly and pulled me after her.

Bella stopped short in front of a vendor selling tacky trinkets and noisemakers. She turned and grinned at me, eyeing me up and down before pointing to something and saying, "one of those in medium please."

Before I could protest she'd handed the man a bill and pulled me away from the crowd.

"Take off your shirt," she ordered.

I hesitated for a moment, and she began to laugh.

"Take off your shirt, please," she amended.

How could I argue with that? I pulled off my jacket and began to undo the buttons of my blue button-down. She made a tsking sort of noise, and I heard her mutter something that sounded like "not even green" under her breath.

When I'd finished with the final button, she grabbed my shirtsleeve and tugged my shirt off, tying it around her waist. I was feeling cold and exposed by this point, standing on the street in nothing but my jeans, when she pulled a 3/4 sleeved baseball-type t-shirt on over my head. The sleeves were a garish shade of green and the body was white with a design of shamrocks around the words 'Kiss Me I'm Irish'. Emmett was never going to let me live this one down; I'd made fun of his matching t-shirt and belt buckle that very morning. But how could I say no to Bella? She'd bought it for me after all.

"There, much better," she grinned.

"Now that I'm dressed properly by your St. Patrick's Day standards, aren't you going to obey the shirt?" I asked, only half joking. Her lips were full and exquisite, and I wanted nothing more than to taste them.

She giggled and put those beautiful lips to my ear again. "I would love to obey the shirt, Edward, but there is another rule that must be followed."

Rule, what rule? I couldn't even begin to formulate a response with her so close, her warm breath on my neck.

"Save the best for last," she breathed out, rubbing her nose against the shell of my ear. God, this woman -- her touch made my bones turn to jelly, and she was only touching my ear!

Her warmth was gone far too soon, and she was once again pulling me after her. Not that I minded; we may have only just met, but I already knew that I would willingly follow her anywhere.

She didn't stop tugging me until we were in front of my friends. She reached a hand out to Emmett, saying, "my coffee, if you would, dear cousin."

A guilty look crossed Emmett's round face. "Er – I kinda finished it, cos. But only because you have obviously had enough -- I don't want you getting sick or passing out on us or anything…"

I stifled a laugh.

Bella's expression was an odd mix of anger and sadness. "You finished my Guinness? My green Guinness?"

"That was Guinness? Damn, you have good taste in beer, Bella. You're definitely a McCarty!"

She grinned at this, all anger forgotten. "Now I need something new to drink." She glanced around.

"Here, you can have mine," Alice said, offering her 'coke' to Bella. Bella sniffed its contents without taking it from Alice's outstretched hand, her nose crinkling slightly at the smell.

"That smells like crappy domestic," she guessed correctly. "Is it even green?"

"Um… no. Should it be?" Alice asked, glancing at the can in confusion.

Bella scoffed at her. "Of course it should be," she said, waving her hands at the scene around us. "I can't drink anything not-green today. Blasphemy!"

Emmett let loose a booming laugh, garnering the attention of the crowd around us. "I love this girl," he announced, clapping Bella on the back.

She stumbled slightly forward, so I reached out a hand to steady her, giving Emmett a dirty look. His damn hand was nearly the size of her head! What the hell did he think he was doing hitting her that hard? Idiot.

He grinned at me, cocking his head to the side. I knew that look; he was analyzing me. People always underestimated Emmett because of his happy-go-lucky nature, but the man was shrewd. He could certainly read me like a book; after all, we'd been friends for most of my life.

He nodded his head, having come to some sort of conclusion. "Nice shirt," he said with a knowing grin.

"Isn't it great," Bella agreed. I hadn't realised she'd been paying attention to the weird pseudo-conversation Emmett and I had been engaged in. She ran her warm little hands up my arms and over the shirt's decal. I nearly groaned aloud at the sensation of her hands all over my chest. She sighed happily and rested her head where her hands had been, over my heart.

Emmett was eyeing me intently, wearing a smug expression. "You are so getting some tonight, brother," he mouthed at me, then waggled his eyebrows.

I narrowed my eyes. "She's drunk!" I mouthed back.

He shrugged his shoulders and rolled his eyes theatrically. "Then you'd better get drinking too, ya pansy," he said aloud.

Bella pulled away from me and turned to Emmett. I cringed internally – had she figured out the point of our discussion from Emmett's uncouth proclamation?

"Drink. Yes. We need something to drink," she agreed brightly. "Something good, something green," she added with a look towards my scowling sister.

Bella glanced around at the crowd. "Ha!" she nearly shouted, then ran towards some guy who was stumbling slightly and holding on to a leggy blond. "We have matching shirts!" she told him, before planting a kiss on his lips.

I flinched. Why did watching her kiss that guy make me feel like I'd been punched in the gut?

'You too!" she said to the blond, and stretched up to place her lips on hers as well.

The guy bugged out his eyes at the image of Bella kissing the blond girl. I growled under my breath. "Cheers!" he exclaimed, holding out a bottle with green liquid sloshing around inside it.

"No way!" the blond scolded him. She grabbed the bottle from his slack grip. "You've had enough. I'm nearly carrying you already!"

"What's that?" Bella inquired, pointing at the bottle. "I'll buy it off you."

'Sure, gladly," said the girl. "We were supposed to go out, but now I have to take his stupid ass home and make sure he doesn't die. If he drinks any more I'll kill him myself."

Bella laughed and reached a hand under her shirt, pulling out a bill with flourish. The drunken guy's hand shot out and took it before his girlfriend had the chance, and he rested it against his cheek. "Still warm," he mumbled. I held in another growl.

The girl rolled her eyes and passed the bottle to Bella. "Enjoy," she muttered, before pulling the drunken ass away down the street.

"Er – why do you have money in your shirt?" Jasper asked, voicing what I'm sure we were all thinking.

Bella snorted a laugh. "My mom is kind of a nut – she always told me to put cab fare in my bra whenever I go out, just in case. I guess I'm crazy enough to listen to her."

"And now you've spent your emergency cab fare on an enormous bottle of putrid green swamp water," Alice informed her.

"Yeah, well," Bella shrugged, examining the bottle. "Neither Mommy or Angela are here to scold me, are they?" She screwed the cap off the bottle and took a swig. "Mmmm… tastes like watermelon bubblegum, but with a liberal sprinkling of BLAH." She stuck out her tongue and shuddered slightly.

Emmett's booming laugh carried through the crowd, punctuated by Rosalie's throaty chuckle and Alice's bell-like giggles.

Bella snuggled up against my chest again. Her warmth was lovely next to the chill in the air.

"Besides," she said quietly, only to me. "I won't need my cab fare, will I Edward?"

Her chocolate brown eyes held my gaze; her long lashes fluttering flirtatiously. I stared back at her mutely, my eyes wide. I shook my head from side to side.

She wants to come home with me.

She smiled widely at my accession, and held the bottle of liqueur out for me to take.

"No, that's all right," I told her. She pressed it towards me more forcefully. "I think I should probably try to remain relatively sober."

"Relatively? Pssh," she scoffed. "Relative to what?" She pushed the bottle into my hand and wrapped my fingers around it.

To you, I thought, but I gripped the offered bottle anyway, ignoring the knowing wink that Emmett threw my way.

The sickeningly sweet alcohol nauseated me immediately. I grimaced as I pulled the bottle away from my lips. "Ugh. That's hideous," I complained. It tasted like cough syrup.

"Yeah," Bella nodded in agreement. "I think it's meant to be mixed with something." She pressed the rim of the bottle to her lips again anyway, and took a long drink.

I grimaced again just watching her. Surely we could find her something better to drink if she was bound and determined.

"Okay," Bella said, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. "Introduce me to everyone." She looked at Emmett expectantly.

"We kind of already covered that part. I think you missed it when you went into your Edward-induced trance there, Drunky."

I felt blood pool in my cheeks; Emmett could be such an insensitive jerk sometimes.

But Bella didn't react like I expected her to; she didn't seem to care in the slightest. "Yeah, I suppose you're right. But can you really blame me?" She looked at me and winked.

"Right then," Emmett chuckled. "Let's try this again. Keep your hands and eyes away from Edward so you can concentrate this time."

She giggled. "I'll try my very best."

Emmett wrapped one of his bulging arms around Rosalie's narrow waist and pulled her forward. "This right here is Rosalie Hale, my wife," he said proudly.

"You're lovely," Bella said to Rose, and leaned in to kiss her daintily on the cheek. Her apparent sweetness was ruined, however, when she turned around and stage-whispered "HOT" to Emmett and gave him two thumbs up.

Emmett nodded at her with a lewd expression on his face, and then stage-whispered back "I love you, my cousin."

I shook my head; I was beginning to think the two of them actually were related. Rosalie was laughing at their antics; she must have been thinking along the same vein, otherwise Emmett's comment would have likely pissed her off. She was notoriously jealous and vindictive when it came to Emmett and female attention from anyone but her.

Emmett continued with the introductions. "And this distinguished gentleman over here is Mr Jasper Whitlock."

"Pleasure to meet you," Jasper said to Bella.

"Texas?" she asked with a grin. What was it with girls and accents?

Jasper returned her grin. "Yes, ma'am," he drawled. He was purposely exaggerating it now. I rolled my eyes at him.

"Cute!" Bella gushed, clapping her hands and jumping in place.

She turned towards my sister. "And you? You are the most adorable person I have ever seen."

Alice giggled. "I'm Alice. Tex there is my fiancé," she motioned to Jasper with her head. "I'm Edward's sister."

"Cullen!" Bella yelled, and grabbed the startled Alice by her shoulders. She pulled their faces together and kissed my sister very thoroughly on the mouth.

It was so beyond the realm of unfair and wrong that I could do nothing but stand there, aghast. I had never been so jealous of my sister, not even on her 18th birthday when Carlisle had bought her a Porsche while I was still driving his old Volvo.

After an eternally long moment, they finally pulled apart, and Alice had Bella's saliva glistening on her lips. I pouted internally. It was so unfair.

Jasper and Emmett looked way too pleased with the situation, so I petulantly pulled Bella away from Alice and glared at them. Perverts.

"Damn, Bella," Alice said in an astonished tone. "You're a great kisser."

Bella giggled. "You taste like cherries," she replied.

"Yeah, Jasper loves this lip gloss," Alice said, pulling said lip gloss from her purse and spreading more of it on her lips.

Alice was looking at me smugly. I glared back at her. "I hate you so much," I mouthed from behind Bella's back.

Alice grinned evilly in return. "Come on, Bella," she said, still staring into my eyes. "Let's walk down to the river. You'll like it, it's green." She grabbed Bella by the hand and turned away from me.

We all wandered down to the river and stared into its unnaturally green depths until Emmett suggested that we head to a nearby pub. The sun was beginning to go down and the unseasonable warmth we had been enjoying all day was coming to an abrupt end in its absence.

After several hours of live music, dancing and more drinking, I was more than ready to go back to my house, but not ready to be parted from Bella. Even through the drunken party-haze of our surroundings, I was finding myself becoming attached to her, and I dreaded being separated when I returned to Seattle and my life in two days time.

She sidled up behind me and wound her arms around my waist, putting an abrupt end to my musing.

"Edward," she breathed into my ear. "Are you ready to leave?"

The bar? Yes. Chicago and you? Never.

"Yeah," I answered simply. "I'll let everyone know and call us a cab."

She smiled at me and nodded. "I'll meet you right back here," she said, then wandered towards the ladies' room with Alice and Rose.

I walked back over to our table where Em and Jasper were seated, engaged in a beer chugging contest. I shook my head at them.

"Bella and I are leaving you kids to your fun," I informed them.

Emmett grinned hugely at me. "`Bout time," he slurred. "Do me a favour and tap that tonight, would you?"

I glowered at him, knowing it was a waste of energy. Sober Emmett wouldn't have understood, so I shouldn't expect anything of Drunk Emmett. "Haven't you been going on all night that she's your cousin? God you're a pig."

He just grinned all the wider. "She's plastered, Em. I'm not going to take advantage of that fact."

Emmett scoffed. "Ed, my brother, I sincerely think that you…. are an enormous pussy." He broke up laughing at his own stupidity and high-fived Jasper.

'"Call it what you want, but I can't do it."

"I hardly think you'll have a choice. That girl is feisty, and she's been jonesing for your ass all night. Just do it, man, get your rocks off. You'll never see her again anyway." He shrugged his shoulders and refilled his glass from the pitcher on the table.

You'll never see her again anyway. The thought was so abhorrent that I felt physically ill.

The three girls returned to the table, Bella laying her head against my shoulder and looking at me with her big doe eyes. She was so beautiful.

"Ready to go, Romeo?" she asked. I heard Emmett snort but purposely ignored him, pulling Bella away without so much as a look in his direction.

"Night all," Bella said sweetly.

Emmett's answering voice was rife with implication. "Have fun," he said.

There were no cabs parked near the pub, or anywhere within sight. I pulled out my cell and dialled information for the number of a cab company. When I'd finally gotten someone on the line, I was told it would be a bit of a wait, as the city was overrun with drunks in need of a ride home. I snapped my phone shut and scowled at it. We could walk back to my house faster than the amount of time the dispatcher had said it would take a car to arrive.

I sighed and turned to Bella. "We may as well walk. Cabs are all backed up."

She shrugged. "Bound to happen, I suppose. But luckily it's a beautiful night, and I'm in good company." She smiled at me and took my hand in hers. "Which way?"

I pointed down the street and we strolled along. It was a lovely, clear night, though the air had become bitingly cold.

When we passed under a streetlight, I noticed the state of Bella's lips – they were parched and cracked. She was dehydrated. I'd been unbelievably neglectful; I was the only relatively sober one and I hadn't been making her drink water. I hadn't made any of them drink water, though she was the only one I cared about at the moment.

"Bella, we should stop somewhere and get you some water. You're dehydrated."

"Not unless it's from the river."

I curled my lip in disgust. The river? It was polluted -- god only knew what was in it. Oh, it was green. I sighed. "It's just water, Bella. You have to drink some. The amount of alcohol you've consumed today, it's a miracle that you're still upright. You're going to be sick tomorrow if you don't get some water into you."

"Well, I guess I'll have to stay upright for…" she studied her watch under another streetlight. " Another hour at least." She grinned up at me. Stubborn girl.

There was a convenience store still open on the next block, and I pulled her inside.

"I'm not drinking your water, Edward," she warned with a smile. She stood near the door with her arms folded over her chest. Stubborn, yes, I'd certainly been right on that account.

I furrowed my brow and grabbed a large bottle of water from the cooler, then searched the dusty shelves. And there it was – food colouring. There was one battered box stuffed between a bag of crackers and can of something that vaguely resembled pasta.

I took the water and dye up to the cash and paid the bored guy his $13. Who pays $11 for a box of food colouring? I was clearly insane. I opened the water and unscrewed the cap off the small, green bottle of colouring. I added several drops to the water bottle, put the lid back on and shook it around. Ta-da! Green water.

I pocketed the green dye, and the blue and yellow in case I ran out, then passed the rest back to the cashier to throw away. He took them in the same bored manner as he did everything else, and turned back to the magazine he'd been reading. Obviously some idiot buying $11 food colouring wasn't strange in his line of work – especially not on St. Patrick's Day.

I met Bella by the door and handed her the green water. She appeared confused. "Food colouring," I explained. "Drink it, you're going to feel wretched if you don't."

She examined the murky water for a moment before turning her large eyes on me once again.

"You dyed water for me." She looked touched, her eyes were glassy with what appeared to be unshed tears. "Thanks," she sniffed, and went up on her tiptoes to kiss me gently on the cheek.

I held open the door for her, still a bit dazed from her innocent kiss, and she exited onto the sidewalk, chugging the water all the way.

She pulled the bottle away from her red lips and shrugged her shoulders. "Huh," she said, "guess I was thirsty."

She grinned up at me and I shook my head, laughing.

"Silly Bella."

"Want some?" She held the water bottle out toward me. It didn't look appealing in the slightest.

I grimaced.

"Edward," she said in a teacher sort of voice. "You'll be dehydrated if you don't get some water into you."

I threw her a mock glare and took the bottle from her hands and drank from it. It tasted strange. "Grape?"

"Lip gloss," Bella said. She reached into the pocket of her jeans and pulled out a small tube. "Your sister gave it to me."

I passed the water back and told her she should really finish it. She needed it far worse than I did.

When the water was gone, she reapplied her grape lip gloss and stuffed it back into her pocket, then held out a hand and wiggled her fingers at me. I took it with pleasure.

We'd been walking in comfortable silence for a few moments when she stopped suddenly. "Edward?" she said shyly.

I raised my eyebrows questioningly in response.

"I'm done," she said in a quiet voice. "You're the last."

What? I looked at her stupidly.

She raised one eyebrow and placed her hands on my shoulders, backing me towards the wall of a nearby brick building.

There is another rule that must be followed.

Ah, she was finally going to kiss me.

It had been torture watching her kiss numerous rowdy, drunken buffoons all night, no matter how chaste those kisses had been.

Save the best for last.

It was finally my turn. And judging from her current demeanour, I had a feeling my kiss was going to be anything but chaste.

Using my shoulders and the wall as leverage, she pushed her way up my body, wrapping her legs around my waist. She licked her lips once, twice, then slowly leaned forward. I felt like I was trapped in a slow motion scene in a movie, staring at her luscious mouth moving closer and closer to my own, her little tongue, stained with green, darting out to moisten her lips for the third time in what I was sure was only a second or two at most, though it felt like an eternity.

Patience, Edward, I told myself. I wanted to close the distance myself and roughly claim her lips. They were mine, my inner caveman growled, and she had been sharing them with anyone whose name began with Mc or Mac or O' all day long.

Her lips finally met mine, softly at first, tentatively. Her hands moved from my shoulders, sliding slowly up my neck, until she brought them to rest on my face. She tilted my head slightly to one side, moving hers in the opposite direction. I felt her tongue lightly caress my bottom lip, so I opened my mouth at her silent request. A low, embarrassing moan escaped me as she slipped her tongue between my lips. The sound seemed to egg her on; she gripped my face more forcefully and pulled herself upright, her legs tightening around my waist.

Our tongues tangled together in my mouth and she moaned loudly. I slid my hands up her back and threaded my fingers into her hair, pulling her even closer. She sucked my bottom lip into her mouth, biting down, then licking away the sting. She pulled back slightly, then pressed our mouths together again in a chaste kiss. She repeated this gesture a few times, before pulling her face back and staring into my eyes.

"We'd better stop," her voice was husky. "Or I'm going to have to have you right here. My dad's a cop, he won't take it well if I'm arrested for public indecency." She grinned at me, before leaning in to kiss my lips softly once more. She brushed her nose back and forth over my jaw up to my ear, where she sighed. The pleasant warmth of her breath made me shiver.

"Best," she whispered in my ear. "Best ever."

"Me, too," I copied her quiet tone. Understatement of all time, I added mentally. I couldn't bring myself to say anything further, or to even move, though the sharp bricks were freezing cold and sticking uncomfortably into my back and ass.

She threw her arms around my neck and hugged me tightly before sliding down my body and back on her own two feet. I very nearly whimpered at the loss.

I stood there, still resting against the wall, deaf, dumb and blind, absently licking my lips. I could certainly still feel and taste. Grape. That damned lip gloss tasted a hell of a lot better on Bella's lips than it had on the water bottle.

She grabbed me by the hand and tugged my arm, pulling us in the direction of my house. And somehow, without my brain's involvement, my legs began to move in response.

We reached my house 15 minutes later.

I showed Bella around a bit before going into the kitchen and mixing up another batch of green water for her. She smiled at me as she took it from my grasp, chugged it quickly and placed the glass in the sink with a grin.

"More?" I asked.

She shook her head, squirming strangely with an odd grimace on her face. I began to wonder if she was going to be sick. "Edward, do you have a shirt I could borrow?" she asked instead. She had spilled beer all over hers at the pub, and it was still looked damp and sticky.

I nodded, hoping the gesture didn't come across as eager as I felt. Could anything be better than Bella in my clothes? Bella out of your clothes, the dirty part of my mind whispered. I growled at it and told it to shut the fuck up. The last thing I needed was more encouragement at this point.

I led the way up the stairs to my bedroom, if I could reahly call it that – I only slept there a couple of times a year. I watched Bella closely as she took in the décor; I hadn't bothered to redecorate in all the years I'd owned the house. Esme had wanted to, but it just felt weird to change anything.

I whipped a shirt quickly out of the top drawer, not even bothering to look at it before handing it to her. She turned her back on me, pulling her smelly shirt over her head without so much as a pause in our conversation. My eyes bulged slightly in shock before I had the decency to look away. My legs were embarrassingly shaky, so I seated myself on the edge of the bed.

"Edward?" she sounded confused; she must have asked me a question. I snapped my eyes back in her direction without thinking, just as she unhooked her bra and started sliding it down her slender arms. Oh my God. I cleared my throat.

"Look, Bella, I'm trying very hard to be a gentleman and not peek at you right now, but you're making that very difficult with all your chatter."

She snorted. "You can peek if you want. All you're gonna see is my back, which is not very exciting."

That's what you think. I examined the smooth, pale expanse of skin, and the way her shoulder blades dipped as she removed her bra.

"Or," she continued, "maybe, if you're lucky, you'll catch a little bit of side boob."

I chuckled, broken out of my poetic contemplation of her back. "Side boob?"

"Yeah, like this." She turned slightly to the side, and I caught the briefest flash of the rounded swell of her left breast. I stifled an embarrassing groan, hoping that she hadn't heard.

"Well, yes, that is side boob, I suppose," I stuttered out. "Very beautiful side boob."

She giggled, before pulling my t-shirt out from where she had it clasped between her knees, and tugging it on over her head. She turned to face me, pulling her hair out of the shirt's neck and rearranging it over her shoulders. "Why thank you. I hope you think just as highly of my front boob."

I stared into her wide, brown eyes and shook my head slightly. "There is no doubt in my mind," I said in a quiet voice.

She unhooked her jeans and slid them down her legs. Kicking them off her feet along with her socks, she turned and grinned again, then launched herself at me, knocking me backwards onto the mattress.

She giggled, running her hands up and down my bare forearms. "Must. Obey. Shirt," she breathed, leaning closer to my mouth, pressing her soft, full breasts into my chest.

She needed to stop or I was going to be a horrible cad and take advantage of a drunk girl.

"It's after midnight," I whispered. "You don't have to listen to the shirt anymore."

She pulled back at once and I nearly groaned in frustration.

I am a cad.

"Stickler for the rules, are you?"

I shrugged.

"Neither am I." She waggled her eyebrows at me and slid her small hands over my 'Kiss Me I'm Irish' shirt. When she reached my waist, she continued under the fabric, running her nails lightly over the bare skin of my stomach.

"You feel nice," she mumbled. Her hands ventured farther up my torso, pulling the shirt up as they went. "It's no longer St. Paddy's Day. We can get rid of this." She tugged the shirt and, without thinking about what I was doing, I put my arms up and allowed her to pull it over my head. She flung it across the room and pressed her hot, grape-flavoured mouth to my chest in a wet kiss.

This was already going too far. I couldn't allow it to happen; I'd never forgive myself, and worse, Bella would never forgive me for taking advantage of her.

"Bella –"

"Edward," she said mockingly and giggled. I felt her tongue jut out and begin trailing up my neck. I leaned my head back instinctively. I groaned aloud as she traced my Adam's apple with her tongue, then placed her lips over it and sucked, her tongue flicking rhythmically over the skin all the while.

She moved her hands down my chest until they came in contact with the button on my jeans, which she slipped deftly through the buttonhole. I reached out a hand to stop hers as she clutched the zipper.

"You can't sleep in jeans, Edward." She smirked at me.

She was right, of course. Her logic made perfect sense. Perfectly perfect sense.

Cad. Cad. Cad.

God, I was.

I slid the zipper down, slipped my jeans over my hips and kicked them to the floor. Bella was staring down with an enormous smile on her face. I felt heat flood mine. The hard bulge in my boxers would be impossible not to notice.

"They're green," she giggled, pointing at my underwear. "You're a proud Irishman after all."

I laughed a tad manically in relief. "Just don't tell Emmett."

"Deal," she agreed, and kissed me sweetly on the lips.

I responded in kind, and our kisses quickly became more urgent. Before I knew what I was doing, I'd flipped Bella over onto her back and I was hovering above her, devouring her mouth. My hands had begun to roam over her delicate curves without my permission. My t-shirt that she was wearing had hiked up, revealing a sliver of her flat stomach and a pair of lacy green boyshorts.

I groaned, and she took it as encouragement, hooking a leg around my waist and pulling me flush against her body.

I moaned loudly this time; I could feel her wetness through the fabric of my boxers. Her little hands scrabbled all over my back, trying to press me closer still.

"God, want you," she gasped. "Want you to fuck me, Edward."

Fuck, how I wanted to. More than I'd wanted anything ever in my life. I lunged for her mouth again. But this time I tasted more than grape lip gloss there. I tasted beer, and melon liqueur, and a multitude of other drinks.

She's drunk. She'd drunk. She's drunk.

'"Bella –" I all but moaned, laying my head on her chest and weaving my fingers into her thick, silky hair. I couldn't do it, and I almost wanted to kick myself as I continued.

"Oh Bella, you're so… god. I just can't take the chance that you'll hate me for this in the morning." I lifted my head up to look her in the eye, to make sure she knew I was being completely truthful. "I don't want this to be a one-time thing. I promise you that I'll –"

"Fuck me?" She grinned devilishly.

I closed my eyes and bit back a whimper. "Yes. If you still want me to when we're both sober." God, she'd better still want to. There had better be such a thing as karma, because I wanted to cash that shit in.

"Are you sure? I can promise you that I won't regret it."

My inner pervert perked up. "You won't? How can you know?"

She smiled at me. "When a man puts food colouring in water to keep you from getting a hangover because you're being ridiculous, he's a keeper. That's basically, like, true love. Doubly so if it's on your first date – for lack of a better word – and he hardly knows you." She smiled sweetly again and ran her fingers through my hair.

Well, if she won't regret it…

No, I'm doing the right thing.

What, going to sleep with a raging erection and probably jizzing on yourself in your sleep like a 13 year-old boy?

Shut the fuck up, brain!

I sighed deeply. "I really think we'd better wait, Bella."

Do you see this, Karma?

"Go to sleep now," I added forlornly.

"Okay Edward," her hand paused mid-hairstroke as she hesitated. "But only if you promise to hold on to me."

I smiled to myself. If she knew how desperately I wanted to hold on to her, she'd likely run away screaming. "There is absolutely no chance of me breaking that promise, believe me."

"Good," she said with a yawn. "Because the bed is kind of spinning."

She had the spins? I had definitely made the right choice. I climbed off her and pulled her against me.

"Poor baby," I chuckled, holding her close to try and stop the spinning. Her breathing steadied and in no time she was fast asleep in my arms.

I lay with her warm body moulded to my side, listening to her breathing for what seemed like hours. Not in the way that I wanted it to end, but exactly the opposite. For once time was slowing down for the good things, instead of speeding up. In my mind I ran through every word she'd uttered over the course of the night, every laugh, every smile, every touch.

That's true love, she'd said.

True love.

Once upon a time, I would have found the concept truly laughable. But now? Now I wasn't so sure.

~*~

Thoughts? Suggestions?