Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, but I do own several Harry Potter posters.

A/N: Once again, I'd like to thank everyone that's reading this little idea of mine. For those that reviewed, a big thanks. I get all excited whenever I see a new review, and then I turn around and text my beta to let her know. Speaking of betas, Chylex28, you are awesome. I can't say enough. And yes, penguins are evil.

Design For Life

"A good book should leave you... slightly exhausted at the end. You live several lives while reading it." ~William Styron, interview, Writers at Work

EPOV

I really, really disliked Rosalie. I almost hated her. She constantly picked on me and made me feel like even more of a loser. Brunch had been going fine, but I should have known that that wouldn't last. Mom and Dad seemed to like Bella, and we were all getting along rather well. Bella was extremely gracious and even offered to help clear off the table once brunch was done. She was very persistent about it, and that was when everything began to go wrong. The rest of us, minus Mom, Dad, and Bella all went into the living room. The couples all curled up together, leaving me sitting alone. I was used to it.

"Well ..."

I gave Rosalie a glare. She was up to something, but I wasn't sure what. "Well what?"

"Well Bella and I had a little chat earlier," she began.

"What are you getting at?" I spat.

She settled back into her seat, a smug look on her face. "She's not here because she likes you. She pities you."

"No, she doesn't," I argued.

"She totally does. We talked after you left. She told me, and I quote, 'to leave the pathetic little virgin bitch alone. If anyone was gonna mess with you, it'd be her."

My mind was racing. What Rosalie said couldn't possibly be true, could it? The more I thought about, the more I realized that it could very well be true. Why else would Bella be here with me? She was a beautiful woman, and I was—I was a pathetic virgin. Oh, God. There was a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. Alice, Jasper, and Emmett were furious that Bella would say those things. I was lost in my self-pity when Bella came back into the room. I vaguely heard what was being said, but all I could focus on was the fact that Bella had lied to me. My heart felt destroyed, and I felt sick. I refused to meet her eyes, but I saw the shock, and then the fury, that came over her face before she stalked out of the house.

"Bella left in a hurry. Did we do something wrong?" Mom asked, coming into the room.

"No, she did. She told me the only reason she came was because she felt sorry for Edward," Rose said.

Mom and Dad both frowned. "I don't believe that for a minute. Bella's a sweet girl. She's not the kind to do something because she pities someone," Mom said.

Coming further into the room, she sat down beside me. "Edward. You need to talk to her."

I barked out a harsh laugh. "Yeah, I don't think so. I don't want anything to do with someone who pities me."

Mom did her best to convince me that Bella wasn't like that, but I didn't want to hear it. Grabbing my keys, I headed out the door, not sure where I was going. Home wasn't an option at the moment, but as I started driving, I noticed Bella walking in the cold. Guild immediately filled me. Even if I was mad at her, it was ungentlemanly of me to let her walk the seven miles back home, especially since I was the one who invited her and drove her to my parent's house. I slowly pulled up to her and called her name. She kept on walking, ignoring me. Finally, she turned, asking what I wanted.

"Would you please get in? It's a long walk back to your house. Please?"

"Fine."

I watched as she walked around and climbed into the passenger seat. I tried to talk to her, unsure of what to say, but she didn't want to hear it. I guess I couldn't blame her, especially when she told me that I wasn't acting like a friend. She was right, but I was also conflicted over everything that had happened. The drive to her house was unbearably quiet, and the tension was thick. I was doing my best to keep the tears that I felt welling up in my eyes, from spilling over. I dropped her off, but I wasn't ready to head into my own house. I soon found myself driving to First Beach in La Push.

I parked the Volvo, then made my way to the beach, where I found a rock to sit on. It was freezing out, but I relished the feel of the spray on my face and the smell of salt in the air. I took a few deep breaths, allowing myself to slowly calm down. I was furious. I rarely got that angry, but I had thought for sure, that Bella and I were friends. Sure, we hadn't known each other long, but I really liked her. As in, I was completely and irrevocably in love with her. I was screwed. I dropped my head into my hands. I sat there for a long while, trying not to think about things, when I heard a voice call my name.

I looked up and saw Jasper making his way over to me.

"Hey, Edward."

"Hey," I said in a weary voice.

"How you holding up?"

I shrugged.

"Man, I don't know what to say. I sure as hell never saw that coming. Bella seemed cool. I never would have pegged her as a bitch."

I felt fury rip through me when he called her that, but I knew Jasper was simply trying to uplift me. Remembering the reason why he was trying to ease my pain in the first place, I was overtaken with misery. "She's not." I whispered. " I just wish she would've told me, instead of playing me for a fool and calling me a pathetic virgin."

He clapped a hand on my shoulder, giving it a squeeze. "Let it go, man. Let it go. C'mon. It's freezing out here. Alice is worried. Thought you were going to throw yourself off a cliff or something."

I rolled my eyes. Alice could be so dramatic. Reluctantly, I got up and headed home. Once inside my house, I turned on some Debussy and sat down, trying to relax and not focus on the drama that unfolded. However, my mind wasn't cooperating. All I could think about, was Bella, and how nice she'd been to me. The longer I sat and thought about things, the more I realized that I'd most likely been played by Rosalie. I was an idiot. When the tears came, I let them. I knew if Emmett were around he'd call me a, a—a pussy. I shuddered at the thought of the word. It was so crass. I got up to go to the bathroom, when there was a knock on my door. I thought about ignoring it, but figured if it was Alice, she'd just keep knocking.

Imagine my surprise, when I saw Bella standing on my porch.

"B ... Bella! What are you doing here?" my voice quivering a bit.

"I wanted to talk to you about today."

Well, that was just fantastic. I really didn't want to hash it out with her, but she looked determined. I opened the door, gesturing her in, and taking a moment to wipe my sleeve over my eyes. She sat down, then stared at me.

"Edward, what the fuck happened today after brunch?"

I flinched at the tone of her voice. I told her that Rosalie had told us what she'd said.

"So, she told you that I was there because I wanted to be, and that I thought you were perfect the way you are?"

What? I was startled by what she said. That wasn't what Rosalie had said at all.

"Um ... no. She said that the only reason you were there was because you felt sorry for me. That you called me a pathetic little virgin, and that if anyone was going to mess with me, it would be you."

Her jaw dropped. A look of shock on her face.

"After all the shit that she's said to you, you chose to believe her! Have I ever given you the impression that I thought you were pathetic? Well, have I?"

I cowered just a bit as her voice rose into a shout. I told her no, then she demanded to know why I had believed Rosalie over her. My lower lip started to tremble, and I was afraid that I was going to cry in front of her. In a wavering voice, I explained that I'd been feeling insecure as it was, and it was easy to believe what Rosalie had said.

What she said next shocked me. She told me that I'd hurt her. I was devastated. I never wanted to hurt her. I felt sick knowing that I had caused her pain. We talked a while more, establishing that we were still friends. I couldn't begin to apologize enough for my behavior.

After our talk, I was feeling a lot better. We spent the next few hours getting to know one another. I learned that Bella's favorite color was green, her favorite book was Wuthering Heights, and that she enjoyed mushroom ravioli. When I mentioned that I liked Doctor Who, her eyes lit up.

"Oh, yeah. Who's your favorite Doctor?"

"You're a Whovian?" I asked, incredulous that this woman could be anymore perfect.

"I am."

"Wow. You're the coolest woman I know." I was sure that I sounded like a teenager, but I didn't care.

"Thanks," she laughed. "So?"

"Oh, I like Tom Baker. He was awesome, but David Tennant and Matt Smith were good too. How about you?"

"DT all the way. I love that man."

Getting up, I put in the fifth season and we spent the rest of the night watching it. Around eleven, I walked her to the door. As we said goodnight, she turned and gave me a hug. I froze, hardly daring to breath, astounded that she had her arms wrapped around me. Realizing that I was standing there like an idiot, I wrapped my arms around her. She fit perfectly. All too soon, the hug ended, and reluctantly, I let her go. I stayed on the porch, making sure that she made it safely home, before heading back in myself.

I woke up the next day with a smile on my face. What had started off as a crappy day, had ended up with Bella hugging me. After completing my morning ritual, I climbed into the Volvo to head to work. Normally, I walked, but some ice and snow had come down in the night, and I didn't feel like falling all over my self. Work was slow as usual, although we had a class from the elementary school come in. Thankfully, Angela gave them a tour.

"Hey, Edward."

I looked up and saw Jasper standing near me, a weary look on his face.

"Hey, Jasper."

"So ... uh," he began, rubbing a hand over his messy hair, "how are you?"

"Good. I'm good."

His eyebrow raised. "Really?"

"Yeah."

"Huh. Wasn't expecting that. I figured that you'd be upset after everything that happened with Bella yesterday."

"Speaking of yesterday, someone needs to have a talk with Rosalie" I scowled. "She lied about what Bella said. Bella and I talked last night, and she told me the truth. Why the heck Rosalie felt the need to lie about what Bella said, is beyond me."

"Wait. What?" Jasper asked, looking confused.

"Rosalie lied. Bella told me what was really said between the two of them. For some reason she decided to lie. I want to know why."

"And you believe her?"

"Who? Bella? Yeah, I do. Mom was right. Bella isn't the type to be with someone because she pities them. Bella has never been anything but nice to me, to all of us. It's no secret that Rosalie abhors me, and is always putting me down. It makes sense, if you think about it. "

"Well, fuck! I feel like a complete douche. And Esme's right. Bella isn't like that, but there was no reason for me not to believe Rose. Rest assured that I'll be getting to the bottom of this. I'll also be apologizing to Bella."

"Yeah, she was real upset that you believed Rosalie. Heck, she was pissed at all of us for believing Rosalie. Not that I blame her."

The rest of my day went by rather quickly, and before long it was closing time. I was going to head home and see if Bella was around. Maybe she'd want to have another Doctor Who marathon. Jasper caught up with me as I was leaving and asked me if I wanted to go to dinner with him and Alice.

"Sure. Why not?"

We met at the local diner, where we had a nice dinner. I explained things to Alice, and she, too was very upset with the way she'd acted toward Bella, as well as being upset with Rosalie. After dinner, Alice headed home, while Jasper asked me to go to the Broken Bottle with him. The Broken Bottle was kind of a dive bar, but it was a favorite of Jasper's since they played lots of country music. I wasn't a huge fan of it, but I tolerated it.

"So, why are we here?" I asked him as we found a spot at the bar.

"I wanted to talk to you about Alice," he said before ordering two rum and cokes. I wasn't sure what he needed to talk about that would require two stiff drinks. The bartender put the drinks in front of him, and he slid one over to me.

"Go on," he urged.

I reached out and took a tentative sip of the drink. It was coke, but with a spicy taste to it. Not quite as awful as I'd thought it would be.

"Are the two of you having problems?"

"No! Not at all," he said, quick to reassure me. "I ... uh ... well, you know I love her, right?"

I nodded, taking another sip of my drink.

"Iwanttoaskhertomarryme!"

"What?" I asked, unsure of what I'd heard.

He took a breath, then downed half his drink. "I want to marry her."

"Okay."

"Okay? It's cool with you?"

"It's fine with me, but ultimately, it's up to Alice. I can assure you that she wants to marry you. Just be prepared for a huge wedding. She's been planning it since she was seven," I warned him.

"Will you go with me to Port Angeles to get her a ring?"

"Sure. I know nothing about jewelry though."

He frowned for a moment. "I could ask Rose for advice on a ring."

I took another drink, noticing that my glass was quickly becoming empty. "You can if you want, but I sure as he—heck, wouldn't trust what she has to say," I got out, noticing that my speech sounded funny.

Jasper shook his head at me. "Want another drink?"

I looked down, surprised to see my glass was empty. I was feeling pretty good. Like I could take on the world. "Sure," I slurred. We drank our drinks, took a couple of shots, toasting to his impending engagement. We made plans to go to Port Angeles on the weekend to look at a ring. I told him we should invite Bella.

"She's a girl. A very, very, pretty one. She likes jewelry. I bet she could help."

He was nodding enthusiastically, agreeing with me. "That's a good idea."

I told him that I'd ask her. We lost track of time, sitting there drinking, and then I saw Dad come into the bar.

"Dad! Hey, Dad!"

He chuckled as he approached us. "Had a bit to drink, huh Edward?"

"No," I said, while nodding.

"C'mon, boys. Let's get you home."

I stumbled off my stool, and out the door to Dad's car. It took a few tries, but I got the door open and fell into the backseat. "Hey, Dad! What'cha doin' at the bar?"

"Coming to get you."

"Huh. It's like you're psychic or something. I was thinking that we needed a ride home and there you were!" I exclaimed.

Dad let out a laugh. We pulled into my driveway, and Dad helped me out of the car and unlocked my door for me. He settled me down on the couch, handed me a glass of water and some aspirin.

"Take these. You're going to be feeling this in the morning."

I said goodbye to him, and lay down on the couch. I sat up suddenly, realizing that I'd promised Jasper that I'd talk to Bella. Grabbing my keys, I left my house and headed to hers. I knocked on her door until she answered.

"Edward, are you drunk?"

I gave her a sloppy grin. "No. I'm just happily happy. There was something I was going to ask you. Oh, yeah! I remember. Did you know that you're pretty?"

Actually, I wasn't so sure that's what I was going to ask her, but that sounded good. She let out a giggle as she ushered me in.

"Sit down, Edward."

I flopped onto her couch, feeling boneless. A glass of water was thrust into my hands, as well as a couple of aspirin. "Take these."

Grumbling, I took the pills, and set the glass down when I was done. Bella was truly beautiful. Her long brown hair was down, and she was wearing pajama pants that had penguins on them.

"I hate penguins. They're evil, you know," I told her as I squinted at them.

She let out a laugh. "Oh, really? Is that a proven fact?"

"Yes!"

"Not that I don't enjoy your company, but what brings you over here so late? We both have to work early in the morning."

Late? It wasn't late, was it? I looked at the clock over her mantle and saw that it was indeed late. "Whoa. I didn't know that it was that time. What time is it?"

"Oh, Edward," she said, shaking her head. "You're going to be feeling this tomorrow. It's almost one. In the morning. Now, what did you want to ask me?"

I frowned. I was going to ask her something? Oh, yeah! "Yeah, I remember. Jasper's gonna ask Alice to marry him, but he knows nothing about rings. He wants your help."

Her eyes took on a frosty glint. "I'm not going to help Jasper with anything at the moment."

"He's sorry. So is Alice. I talked to them. They're going to apologize to you. I promise. Jasper also said something about talking to Rosalie. I hate her. She's a witch. She's evil. Like penguins."

Bella reached over and ruffled my hair. "You're too cute."

"You're cute, too. I thought you were an angel the first time I saw you. You're my tattooed angel."

I woke up with a pounding headache, and my mouth felt like cotton and had this horrid taste in it. Like an animal crawled into my mouth and died. I sat up, stretching, and a blanket fell off my lap. Mid-yawn, I paused. Where the heck was I? Looking around, I realized that I was in Bella's house, on her couch. How the heck had I gotten there?

"Morning, Edward. How's the head?" she asked, coming into the living room, two cups of coffee in hand.

I groaned at the drumming in my head. "It hurts," I mumbled.

"I bet," she snickered. "Have some coffee and aspirin."

"Bella? How did I end up here?"

She let out that beautiful laugh of hers. "You don't remember?"

Bits and pieces of last night came flitting through my brain. "Oh, God," I said, burying my head in my hands. "I'm never drinking again!"

She sat down next to me, reaching up to brush my hair off my forehead. "Why did you?"

"I don't know. Jasper ordered me a drink, I took a sip, we started talking, and before I knew it, we'd had a few drinks. I'm sorry if I acted inappropriate at any point in time."

"You didn't," she promised.

That didn't lessen the embarrassment that I felt. I vaguely recalled calling her my tattooed angel and telling her that she was pretty. Then a horrible thought hit me. "I didn't get a tattoo did I?"

She sputtered out a laugh. "No. I wouldn't have let you when you were drunk. Now that you're somber, if you want one, let me know. Now, it's time to get ready for work. Head home, shower, eat something, and go have a good day."

Slowly, I got up. I thanked her for being so kind, then I surprised myself by giving her a hug. She hugged me back, holding me tight. "You give a good hug, Edward."

What a strange compliment. "Thank you. So do you."

"Would you like to come over for dinner?" she asked.

"I'd love that."

I sat at my desk, wishing the day would hurry up. Jasper was looking as rough as I felt; neither one of us saying much. I spent my lunch hour taking a nap, trying to feel human again. At quarter to six, I was more than ready to leave.

"What's got you so antsy?" Angela asked as I sat at the desk fiddling with a pen.

"Just ready to head home?"

"Yeah? Why is that?"

"Oh, I ... um ... I'm having dinner with Bella."

"Seriously?"

Why did she sound so surprised? "Yes," I said with gritted teeth.

"Oh, well that's cool."

I rolled my eyes. At that moment, Jasper made his way over to me.

"Man, I'm so ready to go home and just sleep. No more drinking for a while."

"I hear that," I told him. "My head was killing me this morning. Thankfully, Bella—" I broke off, realizing that I'd already said too much.

Jasper's head snapped up at my mention of Bella, and he honed in on me like a shark does to blood. "Thankfully, Bella what?"

"Nothing. Forget it."

"No way, Cullen. Spill it."

I ran my hands through my hair. "After Dad dropped me off, I decided it was a good idea to go see Bella and ask her to come ring shopping. I'm not sure what all I said, but I woke up on her couch this morning."

Jasper let out a whistle. "Holy, shit! Look at you. Growing up, getting drunk, sleeping on girls' couches."

I hit him with a book. "I'm having dinner with her tonight."

He held out his fist, and I gave it a bump. "That's awesome."

"Yeah, it is. By the way, you still owe her an apology. She won't go ring shopping with you, if you don't."

He looked abashed. "I know. I'll stop by and visit her tomorrow afternoon, if she's okay with that."

Finally, it was time to go home. I stopped at the small floral shop near the bakery, and bought a couple of purple roses that caught my eye. They seemed more up Bella's alley than traditional red roses. I drove home as quickly as possible without breaking the law, ran inside, changed, and made my way over to Bella's. Clutching the flowers in one hand, I knocked on the door with the other. I heard her call out for me to come in, so I opened the door, wiping my feet on the floor mat before making my way into her kitchen.

She stood near the counter, wearing a brown knit dress, her long brown hair pulled back with a clip. She turned and gave me a big smile. "Hi, Edward."

"Hi, Bella. Here," I said, thrusting the flowers at her. "These are for you."

I watched her smile get bigger and her chocolate brown eyes melted. "Oh, Edward. You didn't have to get me flowers."

I felt a blush light up my cheeks. "I wanted to."

"Well, thank you," she said, leaning up on tiptoe to brush a kiss against my cheek.

My fingers reached up to brush over the cheek she had kissed, when she went to put the flowers in a vase. She had kissed me. It was taking everything in me, not to spin her around and plant a kiss on her lips. She returned with the flowers in a vase and set them in the center of the island. I was bit nervous about our dinner. I wasn't sure if this would be considered a date or not, but whatever it was, I hoped to enjoy it.

a/n: As always each and every review is appreciated! Thanks for reading!