Dating in the Dark Chapter 4: Shampoo sucks!, a twilight fanfic

A/N: Hello! Hello! Hello! So glad everyone's enjoying my story. Your reviews are great to read! Apparently, I had readers crying, peeing, and going into full blown asthma attacks. I do apologize for any harm I may have caused, but from what I heard, it was well worth the momentary discomfort.

Also, I do respond to every review, but you have to sign in all the way for me to reply (FF sucks like that). Sorry for anyone I missed. Rest assured, I loved every single one of them and smiled ear to ear when another one pinged on my phone.

So… THANK YOU (yes, I'm yelling) for all the reviews, alerts, and favorites. I truly do love them all… but not that way, because, well, that would just be weird… and make my computer grody.

Thanks to my beta and prereader: Sovereignvision and Twifan82

Thanks to my VBs: Jenny Cullen, Angel_eyes1_uk, and TwifanUK

*~*BPOV*~*

After getting settled into our side of the mansion and being briefed by the producer, we hunkered down for the evening like any group of girls on vacation would… we raided every bottle of alcohol in the kitchen and went to town. They had the good shit, too.

The next morning, we were all nursing hangovers, chugging water, and wishing we'd thought through the consequences. Damn Long Island Iced Teas get me every time. I should've known to stop when Alice started shedding clothing and Rose decided it was a good idea to shoot food out of her nose. Neither one of them ever held their liquor very well, but they made for a great show. It's all fun and games until someone gets a jelly bean stuck in her nose.

"Why doeth my nothe hurt?" asked Rose, walking into the kitchen in the morning, rubbing her nose. "Don't tell me I went inthane with the food again."

I pulled some fruit out of the fridge, shut the door, and turned to the counter. "Yes, my dear, you decided we should all have a contest to see who could shoot different foods the farthest. I believe Alice won with peanuts, but you prevailed when raisins were the food du jour."

She sat down at the table, shaking her head and covering her face with her hands. Rose was regretting last night just like me and Alice, who was currently resting belly down on the couch.

"Mmfd dng trs," Alice mumbled, face buried in pillows.

"What was that, sunshine?" I questioned, bringing her a bowl of fruit. "I didn't quite catch that."

Alice turned her face sideways and replied, "My ears hurt. They're throbbing to the beat of my heart. It's like they're revolting and trying to detach themselves from my head."

"Well, after all the vodka you consumed, I imagine that would be about right. Eat this and I'll get you some more water."

Setting the bowl of fruit on the coffee table next to Alice, I took her empty glass and went to the kitchen to refill it. While I was at it, I got Rose a glass of water, too, and popped some bread in the toaster for her. I'd always taken care of them in the past after drunken nights and hellacious parties, so now was really no different. Despite the fact I was feeling crummy, too, I couldn't stand to watch my girls suffer. I really didn't know where I'd be if it weren't for them. They'd been there when… well, when my life exploded into a million pieces, and I know I wouldn't have survived without them. But I wasn't about to let the past ruin my spiffy vacation. The airline was doing enough of that on its own, you know… losing my luggage and all.

After finishing off two pieces of toast and three full glasses of water, I wandered aimlessly around our side of the mansion. Not looking for anything in particular, I found my way to a balcony that overlooked the front driveway. I could see the doorway we'd walked through last night, and the other half of the mansion, where I assumed the boys were staying. Several trees lined the driveway and speckled the yard in front of the house, and I thought they were hiding all the windows. That was until the wind blew and revealed the lower half of a small window… and the naked midsection of one very nice boy toy.

I ducked down automatically, hiding my face between the slats of the balcony railing, inadvertently licking my lips. The wind must have heard me praying for it to pick up again, and a good long gust whipped through the front of the mansion. As it touched the trees, the branches danced beautifully out of the way, and I was now staring at the unclothed backside of said boy toy. Rawr!

My mind started running rampant with what he must look like all put together. But if the pieces I was glimpsing were any indication, he was a fine specimen of man. Tall, lean, and just enough muscle definition to make me want to run my fingers… and my tongue over his abs. He seemed to have a fine smattering of happy trail fuzz by the way the light shown through his window, and his ass was nice and round, not flat like most guys.

By the time the wind blew through a third time, no one was standing in the window anymore. I sighed in defeat, slowly standing up from my crouched position. As I turned to go back to my room, I smacked right into one of the security guards who was glaring at me, arms crossed in front of his chest. I stumbled backwards, but caught myself on a table before I fell.

"I don't believe you should be out here," he said, staring me down.

"Oh… umm," I stuttered, hoping I wasn't in big trouble. "I was just going for a walk and got lost."

"Yeah, right," he rolled his eyes and motioned for me to follow him. "I'll take you back to your room… where you need to stay until someone from the film crew gets you personally."

With a simple "yes, sir," I followed him back to the suite where Alice and Rose were waiting for me. I could tell they were keeping something from me the minute I stepped into the room, but I didn't know why.

"What?" was all I got out before Alice spoke up.

"So, we have…news. Some good, some bad, but it's news," she babbled, wringing her hands so roughly that I thought she'd burn a hole straight through her palms.

I looked at her without emotion, just wanting her to spit it out already. As I took a seat on the couch, she began, "While you were on your walk, the airline dropped off your luggage."

"That's great!" I responded, feeling exponentially better that I'd have clothes now. But as I glanced between Alice and Rose, I realized it really wasn't going to be great.

"Well, yes… and no," Alice paused and peeked over at Rose who was standing in the hallway. Now that I looked at her better, it was clear Rose was hiding something behind her legs.

"We don't want you to freak out, Bella," Rose interjected, panic glazing her words. She reached down behind her and picked up a large, crumpled, severely beaten piece of luggage. It actually looked like parts of it had been melted, and there were obvious tire marks running directly down the center of it.

"Holy shit!" I screamed, bolting for my bag, and regretted it immediately.

Alice went running from the room and Rose got teary-eyed as I knelt down next to my suitcase on the floor. Apparently, it had been to hell and back with all the scars to prove it. Dumbfounded, I stared at my bag hoping the contents came out relatively unscathed.

Pulling open the zipper, catching it on the fabric several times in the process, I slowly opened my bag while holding my breath. Peering inside, I felt the air leave my lungs in a whoosh. I guess I should've double wrapped my toiletries in Ziploc bags because they exploded over my entire suitcase.

I felt a tear creeping down my face, and I angrily wiped it away. All of my clothes, my shoes, my hairdryer and comb… everything ruined by Herbal Essences Totally Twisted shampoo and conditioner. Oh, the irony.

"I… my… fuck!" I shouted, unable to form a coherent thought, then face-palmed due to my lack of verbal filter. Hearing Alice going into convulsions from down the hall, I sat back and brought my knees to my chest, yelling toward her room, "Ali, I'm so sorry, babe. I'll try to control myself."

Rose knelt down next to me, both of us wiping tears from our faces. She placed a hand on my shoulder then casually rubbed my back. "I'm thorry, Bella. I can't believe them! Thith blowth!"

"You're telling me," I sobbed, dropping my head to my knees. "I have absolutely nothing to wear, except what I have on, and I doubt I have time to get everything dry-cleaned. Most of this stuff is beyond repair, anyway."

"You can wear my clotheth."

"That's very sweet of you, Rose, but you know I won't fit into anything. Your legs are miles longer than mine, and your boobs are way more awesome. I'll just have to see if anything in here is manageable."

Rose nodded and sighed, "Well, I know one thing… we're going after the airline for what they did. They won't get away with thith."

Just then, Alice came walking down the hall, glancing at us on the floor. "Bella, I'm so sorry, hun," she whispered and wrapped her arms around me in a comforting hug. Then she took my face in her hands, gave me a half smile and said, "This is terrible… but I have a plan."

The next few hours were spent trying to salvage my shoes and a couple of outfits that were somewhat spared from the gooeyness that was my suitcase. Thankfully, the pair of sweatpants I insisted on bringing for pajamas saved two main outfits and most of a third from complete soap annihilation. Alice cleaned what she could, but the third outfit and one pair of shoes ended up with gnarly stains.

"I think you should still be okay, Bella," Alice assessed, holding up the dress with stains. "It'll be completely dark when we're on the date, so the guys won't notice, and the shampoo left a pleasant scent behind."

"Great, now I'll smell fruity," I joked, unexcitedly. "Not exactly the best first impression."

"I think it thmellth good," Rose added, taking the dress from Alice and spinning it around to look at the damage. "It'th very… thtrawberrieth and cream."

"I actually think it's supposed to be cherries and orchids," I dead-panned.

"Whatever," Alice huffed, rolling her eyes. "I think the guys will love it."

I hoped she was right, because our group date was in less than two hours, and I had absolutely no other options. To make matters slightly worse, the film crew was coming to take us and film our introductions in the next fifteen minutes, and I had yet to get changed and do my hair.

"Don't make that face, Bella," chastised Alice, grabbing me by the wrist and pulling me forcefully to the bathroom. She threw the dress and a pair of shoes at me while getting her make-up bag and said, "Hurry up and put those on. I'll work at warp speed on your hair. Rose, can you help me, sweets?"

In no time at all, I was primped and proper with hair that would've made Kim Kardashian jealous. The dress really wasn't stained too badly, and the hem bore the brunt of the discoloration. It actually blended in pretty well, and like Alice said before… the guys wouldn't be able to see me, so what difference did it make?

Now, all I had to do was fake some smiles for the camera, and hope no one noticed I smelled like a Beauty Brands store.

A/N: Okay, so I told a little, white lie last chapter and said we'd have the group date this chapter. RL got in the way (the bane of my existence known as PhD coursework), hence the shorter chapter. Good news is chapter 5 is started and EPOV is up next… and I PROMISE the group date will be in there.

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