As promised, chapter 8. Sorry for being late, but like I explained in my author's note at the end of the last chapter, I was away all weekend with no access to my computer and only came back home at around 3 AM this morning.

I hope you all enjoy.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 8 – Aftermath EPOV

The further I walked from Bella, the emptier I felt. It was like I left a part of me in there.

I slowly made my way outside, where the guys were waiting for me in Emmett's jeep at the curb. I climbed into the back seat and tuned the guys out after Emmett began to go on and on about Rosalie.

It must have been the girl that he spent his time with… wasn't her name Lily? Anyway… I really wasn't in the mood for Emmett's blabbering.

Just as Jasper was pulling away from the curb, a black car came out from the alley beside the bar. I wondered if Bella was in it and if she was safe? As we made our way back to the apartment I shared with the guys, I just watched the scene fly by me. I saw a few restaurants, book shops, cafes… the book shops made me think of her and our earlier conversation. She appeared to me as the kind to like quiet nights. I'm sure she enjoyed reading a book to pass the time. I'll have to remember to ask her next time I see her. We weren't done with my twenty questions, after all.

I noticed that Emmett had turned around to talk to me at some point, but what he said didn't register. It's not like I gave a shit right then anyway. I really wasn't interested in hearing what kind of prowess he had with 'his' girl in the private room.

I just wanted… Bella.

I've only known her for a few hours, but I already missed her so much.

I didn't notice the car being pulled into a parking space next to our apartment complex. It only registered when Emmett pulled my door open.

"Hey bro, what's up? You haven't said a word all the ride back!" His enthusiasm was usually contagious but not tonight.

"I'm not in the mood, Emmett," I replied, as I made my way to the main door.

"Why not?" He sobered instantly when he saw my face.

"Em, just leave him be," I heard Jasper say.

The way up to our apartment was a blur to me. Before I knew it, we were in front of our door. Jasper unlocked it and we made our way inside. I made a beeline for the couch, sitting down with my head in my hands. What was going on with me?

Suddenly, a beer bottle was presented to me. I looked up and saw Emmett was offering it.

"Thanks," I said after taking a sip. "Where's Jas?"

"Went to bed." Em sounded worried, not a tone you heard from him often.

I just nodded.

"So…wanna tell me what's got your panties in a bunch?" Emmett asked after a moment of silence.

Ugh…he's worse than a girl sometimes. Maybe I should just give in, only to get him off my case.

"I had a great night, don't get me wrong," I started, and then it seemed as if I couldn't shut up. "At first I really wasn't sure about this, but now… Em, that girl… I don't know what's going on with me. I want her. She's so far from what I thought she would be."

He sat his beer down on the table and raised his eyebrows as he asked. "Did you guys have sex in there?"

Real nice, Em. Real nice.

"No!" I shouted a little louder than I should have.

"What? Don't look at me like that! I had sex with Rosalie in her room!" A large grin that showed off both of his dimples eased across his face. He got a far off look in his eyes as well.

"Oh geeze… Em, is she even clean?" I knew it was mean as hell to say but I couldn't help it, I was not in the mood to deal with anyone else's problems right now, so I went for the mean approach.

"Hey, don't talk about my Rosie like that! Of course she's clean! She told me they got tested regularly. And sex with the customers doesn't happen very often anyway." Emmett defended himself.

I looked at him doubtfully for a second.

"Yeah, okay," I accepted, taking another sip of my beer. I realized that attacking Emmett for falling for his girl was not going to get me anywhere so I dropped it.

"So, you enjoyed your night?"He asked out of the side of his mouth while he picked up his beer again and took a sip.

"Yeah, I did." I couldn't lie to him, I really enjoyed my night with Bella. I was just torn as hell about the parts that happened after she left the room. I mean how could I have left her there in that place? No matter the amount of misery I felt right then, I still smiled when I pictured her sweet face I couldn't help it.

"That's all you're going to give me?" Emmett pressed.

"Yep. There are some things I want to keep private, Em. For now, at least." The beer was cold as I took a large drink, hoping that Emmett would hold off on the questions for now. At least until I got my head on straight and I figured out what the hell I was going to do about Bella.

He was silent for a moment.

"Alright." He turned to take his empty bottle to the trash. He turned on his heel and faced me again, "If there were anything wrong, you'd tell me right?" I saw the depth of his love for me written on his face and I had to reassure him that nothing was wrong.

"Of course I'd tell you Em. But I promise, nothing's wrong. I'm just…thinking." It really wasn't a lie as much as an omission. I knew that something was wrong; I just didn't know what yet. I had to find out more about Bella's situation.

"'Bout what?" there were days when I really wanted to kill Emmett. This was one of those days.

I sighed.

"That girl. I like her." I responded to him, giving up as much as I was willing to right this moment.

"You like her?" Emmett's head must be filled with rocks, didn't I just say that?

I nodded.

"Well then, get her out of there and sweep her off her feet man! That's exactly what I'm gonna do with Rosie." The simplistic plan sounded like heaven to my ears but I knew it was not going to be that easy.

"Really?" I couldn't help but ask, I wanted it to be that easy with every fibre of my being, I wanted it.

"Yeah." He shrugged as if to imply that it really was no big deal, we sweep in, take the girls and leave. People do it every single day.

"How will you get her out of there?" Again, I was praying that he had suddenly formed a plan for us.

"Um… I don't know yet. But I'll think about it."

"Okay. Let me know?" Regret and doubt flooded me but I pushed it away because Bella meant that much to me.

"Sure bro. Alright, I'm gonna crash too, I'm wiped. See ya in the morning." The transformation from playful to serious to playful always astounded me. Emmett truly could shake things off and move on. I needed to take a page out of his book. Worrying would not solve this problem.

"Yeah, night Em." I responded half-heartedly.

"Night." He called over his shoulder as he walked down the hall to his room.

I sat back on the couch and took another sip of my beer, I pondered over what Emmett said. To be with Bella, surely, the best option was to get her out of there. But how? I couldn't possibly just put her over my shoulder and run, right? Was she even hired there, or is she there because of a pimp? Now that I think about it, her answers earlier when I asked her about her studies and her parents… they were kind of vague. I must have read too much into this. I mean, I did have one too many drinks tonight, maybe it's best I just go to bed.

I took the last sip of my beer and dropped the bottle in the trash. I stripped down to my boxers and got under the covers. I fell asleep as Bella gently floated around inside my mind.

It's a good thing the next day was a Saturday, because I woke up with a headache. I'd had worst, the night of my 20th birthday, for example, courtesy of Emmett, but I'd take things slow for the day. I lounged around the apartment all day, just watched a few movies and listened to some music. There's one thing I couldn't get off my mind though: Bella. She was everywhere. I saw something and wondered if she'd like it, or would like to do that with me, etc. I was almost frustrated with myself. Key word here: almost. Because I couldn't really be mad about the fact that I thought about her, for god's sake.

When Emmett got home from work, he wanted to play Guitar Hero on the Xbox 360, so I indulged him, I didn't really have anything else to do, so why not? But once again, all the time I played, I thought of Bella, wondering if she'd like to play this game? If she would be able to beat Emmett?

"Dude, seriously." Emmett's voice slapped me out of my thoughts.

"What?" I asked with a frown.

"Are you even paying attention to what's going on in front of you?" He always took his games very seriously and I apparently wasn't today.

I looked at the TV screen and saw that my character had been beaten by Emmett by a long shot.

"Um, I guess not," I said with a sheepish grin.

"What's going on man? You've been out of it since last night. It can't be the alcohol; you hold it even better than I do."

I snickered.

"No, it's not the alcohol. I just can't get Bella out of my head, man. I don't know what's going on with me."

"Ah, Bella. You gotta do something man, or you're gonna go crazy." He clicked on our next song and began to play. I still wanted to talk so I play half assed as I tried to talk.

"Ugh, don't I know it. Any idea as to how we can get them out of there?"

"Nope. All I could come up with is putting her over my shoulder and run." At least I felt better about thinking this last night, I guess it wasn't as stupid a plan as I originally thought it was.

I laughed at that.

"Yeah, same here."

Emmett paused the game so that we could bump fists. Just as Emmett tried to restart the game I heard hear my cell phone ring in my room. I put down the guitar and rushed to get to it in time.

"Hello twin," I answered after looking at the caller ID.

"Hello twin," Alice repeated.

"To what do I owe the honor?"

"Can't I just call my brother to say hi?"

"Alice, I know you. You never call to just say hi. I'm even surprised you didn't call earlier." I knew without a doubt that she had something up her sleeve, something that she knew.

"I was working today, I'll have you know." Her answer was cool and casual but I knew she was anything but deep down inside. These little insights always put her over the top happy.

"That usually doesn't stop you," I replied with a smirk.

"Pfff. So how was your night last night?"

"It was nice. Not really my type of outing, but I had fun." I replied honestly, she would know if I was lying anyway.

"From what Jasper told me, it wasn't just a bit of fun." Her tone was teasing as she dropped the info she knew. I would kill Jasper if I could get my hands on him. The last person that I needed hounding me about Bella was Alice. I just didn't know what to do yet and I needed time before Alice began to ask me all of her questions.

I groaned, "Well for your information, my dear sister, I did enjoy myself last night, but that was mostly because of all the alcohol I drank, courtesy of Jasper and Emmett."

"Yeah, yeah. Keep telling yourself that."

"Alice… do you know something that I don't?" It was stupid of me to ask, I could tell that she did.

"Why?"

"Just… forget it." I sputtered.

I could hear my sister giggle at the other end of the line. Damn pixie.

"By the way Alice, why did you let Jasper go out with us last night?"

"Well… I thought you would enjoy a night out with your male friends for your birthday, Edward. Plus, you needed a designated driver." I could picture her sticking her tongue out at me in jest and also because she was sure she was right about us.

I thought back to all of the drinks I took in last night, and I wanted to be upset about it…but I couldn't be. The courage to talk to Bella, hold Bella, be myself with Bella partially came from those drinks so I would never lament the amount that I drank last night.

"Uh huh. You have never let anyone getting out of any party you planned for our birthday Alice. I don't believe you." She still hadn't revealed what she had up her sleeve but I was willing to wait for it, Alice's reveals were always done to perfection. She never let me down yet and I prayed that she wouldn't let me down this time either.

"Edward!" I could hear the indignation in her voice. Oops… "I'm not 18 anymore! I think I'm past the stage of holding a grudge at anyone that doesn't make it to any party I organize!"

Maybe I should just shut up…

"Besides, you didn't make it to my Halloween party last year; you're not getting out of the next one." I could hear the huff in her voice. "And I decide what you get to wear." She finished off so sweetly, how could I say no to her, she was my twin after all and I lived to make her happy. Not!

I knew it was useless to fight her so I just gave in and let her win. "Alright, fine. Was there anything else, sister?"

"Nope."

"Good. See you later, then."

"Bye!"

Speaking with my sister always took a lot of energy.

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