A/N A huge shout out to my beta cdunbar, her Geeky Edward is sex in glasses!! If you don't know what I'm talking about..go read Resident Geek...now.

To EclipseoftheTwilightMoon...here it is!

To the ladies on the Twilighted threads...come over and play when you're done here :-)

For some Hot Helicopter Pilot Edward...go read Second Chances by crazyforedwardrn...you know you want to.

Disclaimer: I am now the proud owner of a new iPod Touch. Twilight and all its characters still belong to Stephenie Meyer, I'm just borrowing them.

CHAPTER 3

Rockstar

BPOV

Edward glanced down as he took a half step towards me and his eyes slowly made their way up my body, pausing only when they reached my lips.

I felt a blush rise to my cheeks as I was suddenly self-conscious about the way he seemed to be drinking me in and I managed a nervous smile as I raised my hand between us. He took my hand as his eyes met mine and I felt a rush of energy flow through me. Whoa.

Our eyes were locked for a little longer than was comfortable when I decided to take the initiative. Clearing my throat I said, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Edward."

"Believe me." His voice was low and smooth, like velvet. Can a sound have texture? "The pleasure is all mine."

His choice of words coupled with the sound of his voice caused me to blush even deeper. Get a grip, Bella. Out of your league, remember?

With that sobering thought, I was brought back to reality and reluctantly released his hand from mine.

"Let's have a seat," Jasper said as he pulled out a chair for Alice.

Edward took two long strides around him and pulled out the chair next to it. "Bella?"

"Thank you," Alice and I said in unison as we slid into the seats offered to us. Mmm, gorgeous and gentlemanly. Their mommas sure raised them right!

Jasper moved around to pull out the chair that was directly opposite from Alice while Edward came around from behind me.

"What can I get you ladies to drink?" he asked as Jasper shot a surprised look in his direction.

Before I had the chance to protest that I could pay for my own drinks, like she knew I would, Alice answered, "Bella will have a pint of Guinness and I would like a dry martini, please."

"Sure, I'll be right back," Edward replied before heading to the bar. In keeping with the traditional pub theme, there was no wait staff at O'Flannigans. Customers ordered and brought their own drinks from the bar and the three bartenders took it in turns to retrieve empty glasses and trays from the tables at regular intervals.

I glared at Alice for a moment before turning my attention to Jasper. "So, Alice tells me you're a History major. What is it about the past that compels you to study it?"

His eyes sparkled as he told me how he had always been interested in learning about history. The way people acted and reacted in different cultures and eras, how certain events came about to forever change and mold society into what it has become today. Also, how he believed that if we did not study and learn from the mistakes of our ancestors, we would be doomed to repeat those errors in the future.

Edward returned to the table with our drinks and set them down in front of their respective owners before settling himself in the seat opposite mine. We all expressed our thanks and he nodded towards Jasper, urging him to continue.

"I'm hoping to go on to teach high school history once I've finished with college. I've just started writing my thesis on the role of the Confederacy in the Civil War and I am really enjoying doing all the research involved."

"Why the Confederacy?" I asked, genuinely interested.

"I find it fascinating to study the mindset of a group of people who feel so fervently about an issue that they are willing to lay down their lives in order to uphold that belief, whether I agree with their ideals or not. Plus, my dad's family is from Texas so I also get some insight into where I came from." He chuckled as he leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table in front of him.

I smiled at his obvious passion and conviction regarding his chosen subject. So many people waste their college years by going out of a sense of obligation, switching majors and partying, rather than truly having a goal in mind from the outset.

It was the same passion that I had seen in Alice whenever she talked about her Fashion Design classes. I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Alice sat up a little straighter, puffing her chest out slightly, clearly proud of Jasper for making such a good impression.

In just a short amount of time I had learned enough about him to know that I could trust him with my best friend's feelings, so I decided to change the direction of the conversation. "So Jasper, how did you two meet?"

"Belllaaa," Alice groaned as she poked her elbow in my side. I had heard the story from her, more than once, but I was anxious to see if Jasper's take on their meeting mirrored hers.

"It's OK, Alice." Jasper reached out to take her hands gently in his and began rubbing circles on the backs of them with his thumbs. She instantly calmed and he continued, "I love how we met."

His attention returned to me. " It was two weeks ago and a class of mine had been cancelled at short notice, due to the professor being called away suddenly, so I decided to go to the cafeteria to grab a bite to eat before my next class. When I walked in, my eyes were immediately drawn to a small group of girls at the opposite end of the room." He turned to look at Alice and his gaze remained locked on her for the rest of the account.

"I was sure she hadn't noticed me as she chatted with her friends, but I had an overwhelming urge to speak to her. So I made my way through the crowded dining hall until I was just a couple of feet away. Her back was turned to me and I was just about to speak when she said, 'I wondered how long it would take you to get over here.'" He grinned at Alice and his face positively glowed as he finished the tale, "So, I leaned forward and whispered in her ear, 'I'm sorry if I kept you waiting.' We both ditched the rest of our classes for the day and spent the rest of the afternoon talking."

As soon as he was done, both he and Alice leaned closer to each other across the table and stared into each other's eyes with such intensity that I suddenly felt as though I was intruding on a very intimate moment. Effectively ending our conversation.

Quickly looking away, I turned my attention to Edward.

"Edward, are you at school too?"

"Ahh…yes," he said, pulling himself out of whatever daydream I'd caught him in. He's probably bored. "I'm taking my pre-med courses right now at WU."

"Oh, have you always wanted to be a doctor?"

"Pretty much, my dad's a doctor and I've always admired his ability to help people. It's the only profession I've ever really considered, and I've been working towards it ever since I can remember." His lips turned up into a heartbreakingly adorable crooked smile and then he took a sip of his drink before asking, "What about you, Bella? What are you studying?"

I stared at my hands, that were wrapped around my glass, for a second before answering, "I'm not…ah…I never had the opportunity to go to college." I stumbled over my words, no doubt reinforcing the idea I imagined he had, that I wasn't intelligent enough to attend higher education.

"Why not?"

"Well, it's a long and boring story that I'm sure you wouldn't want to hear." I raised my eyes to look at him and then shrugged my shoulders to indicate that it really wasn't a big deal. "Let's just say it didn't work out for me."

He leaned forward in his chair, resting his elbows on the table, exactly as Jasper had done earlier. "You're wrong. I'd very much like to hear it, that is, if you want to tell me?" His emerald eyes shone with genuine interest.

"Ok, but just remember, after I've bored you into a coma, that you asked for it!" I laughed, trying to lighten the mood before launching into my story.

He simply smiled and shook his head. "Impossible." He said it so low I wasn't sure I was meant to hear it.

I told him, as briefly as I could, about Renee and how we were more like sisters than mother and daughter when I was growing up. If anything, I played the role of caretaker or older sister most of the time, making sure the bills were paid and the grocery shopping got done. My mother's somewhat flighty personality didn't allow for an attention span long enough to organize such 'trivial' matters but we loved each other and made it work for us.

"It's not that I never wanted to go, I did, I'd even been accepted to a few places. I was going to study English Literature and Creative Writing; I had hopes of being a writer or possibly an editor of some sort. But, like I said, it just didn't work out…."

Then I recounted the tale of Phil and his ridiculous attempt at Fatherhood.

"After I moved out, Renee and Phil's relationship went from strength to strength, he loves her, takes care of her and makes her happy, which is really all I ever wanted for my mother. When I see them together, I know I did the right thing.

"So, basically, I've been too busy working and paying rent ever since then to even consider college. Maybe someday I'll take some evening classes or something but right now I'm happy where I am."

When I glanced up to ensure that he was still conscious, I was shocked by the expression on Edward's face. A few creases were marring his previously smooth forehead as his eyebrows scrunched together and his lips were pulled into that hard straight line I'd seen earlier. He looked…angry.

Confused by his reaction, I tried to change my tone to one of lightheartedness, "Anyway, my boyfriend at the time, Mike, thought it was the 'coolest thing ever,'" I said in a mock surfer dude voice, "to have a girlfriend with her own place. I thought he was being sweet at first but then I started coming home from work to find half the guys in our class passed out in my living room surrounded by pizza boxes and empty, bootlegged beer cans."

I shuddered at the memory. " I broke up with him shortly afterwards and the last I heard he was married with kid number two on the way. He and his beer gut host a huge Superbowl party at his house every year," I deadpanned.

Edward's face smoothed out as he threw his head back and laughed, causing Jasper to whip his head in his direction with a shocked expression before he slowly turned back to Alice and resumed talking to her in a low whisper.

It was the first time that I'd seen Edward truly relaxed and it was a beautiful sight to behold. I vowed to try and keep him in this jovial mood for the rest of the evening. I assumed, judging by Jasper's reaction, that this was not a side of him that revealed itself too often.

"I'd say you made a lucky escape then," he managed with a breathless smile.

"Most definitely!" I shot back, grinning. I paused briefly to watch him compose himself once again. "So, what do you like to do when you're not in class or studying, Edward? You know, for fun?"

"My course load is pretty heavy, so I don't have a lot of spare time. I do enjoy listening to music but I can usually do that while I study so I guess it doesn't really count as fun." He shrugged his shoulder and leaned back in his seat. "What about you?"

"I work most evenings so I don't get the chance to go out much either, but Alice and I do make a point of trying to come here every Thursday night. It's become a bit of a tradition." A huge smile spread across my face as I was struck with sudden inspiration.

"What happens here on Thursdays?" Edward asked nervously.

"Well…" I replied, turning my head to eye Pat setting up the Karaoke machine on the small stage. "It's something that Alice and I usually do together but since she's a little…um…preoccupied right now I think you should do it with me."

Edward followed my gaze and then threw his hands up in the air between us, "Oh, no. No way," he said shaking his head violently. "I'm not getting up there, embarrassing myself."

"Awww…come on," I whined, pretending to have a tantrum like a toddler who'd been denied candy at the grocery check out. "Your roommate stole my best friend so it's only fair that you stand in for her. It'll be fun, I promise!"

He just looked at me as though he thought I'd lost my mind so I dropped my face forward, looked up at him through my lashes and stuck out my bottom lip, trying to mimic the 'puppy dog pout'.

"Please?"

Edward let out a sigh and his eyes rolled up into his head, "Fine," he sounded exasperated but a little amused but my outburst. "But just this once, OK?"

"Okay, I'll go get our names on the list," I said as I stood up and then walked over to Pat to give him our names and song choice.

The first of the customers was up on the stage by the time I made it back to the table and the whole pub burst into applause, encouraging the terrified looking middle aged woman to sing. Her music started and then she belted out a pretty decent rendition of Connie Francis' 'Who's Sorry Now?'

Next up was a group of college age guys who drunkenly sang 'Fight For Your Right' by the Beastie Boys, and then a grey haired, older lady got up and sang a 'tongue in cheek' version of Britney Spears 'Oops…I Did it Again.'

The crowd was still laughing and clapping when Pat announced in his thick Irish accent, "Can we have Bella and Edward up here please?"

Edward looked mortified as I reached across the table and grabbed his hand. Standing up, I dragged him out of his seat and started for the stage, pulling him along behind me before he could back out of his promise.

As we looked out over the sea of people, I nudged his arm with mine, nodding towards the screen that hung from the ceiling directly in front us, indicating that the lyrics would be displayed there.

There was no real musical intro for Nickelback's 'Rockstar' so as soon as the first few lines appeared on the screen I began to sing.

I'm through with standing in line to clubs I'll never get in.

It's like the bottom of the ninth and I'm never gonna win.

This life hasn't turned out quite the way I want it to be.

I thought Edward was just going to stand there at first but then he joined in with the spoken line,

Tell me what you want?

I smiled as I started to sway my hips slowly to the beat of the song. Edward still looked uncomfortable, but at least now his velvety voice was singing along.

As we progressed through to the first chorus I noticed that he had taken a step back, effectively pushing me to the front of the stage. Oh, no you don't! I reached back with my free hand and snaked my arm around his waist, pulling him up beside me. Our close proximity forced him to sway his hips to the beat of mine.

When we started to sing the chorus for the first time the whole pub sang along, some people waving their arms or pumping their fists in the air.

'Cause we all just wanna be big rockstars

And live in hilltop houses, driving fifteen cars…

I felt, rather than saw, Edward relax and begin to enjoy himself, his hips swaying more naturally and a smile in his voice as we continued. When I was sure he wasn't going to go anywhere I released my grip on his waist and we finished the song to whistles and cheers from our 'audience'.

When the song ended, we made our way back to the table, people on either side of us raised their hands to 'high five' us as passed by. As we approached, I saw Alice standing on her chair bouncing up and down, her pinky fingers in her mouth as she blew out loud whistles. Jasper, contrarily, was still seated, his eyes wide and his mouth agape as he watched his friend laugh and slap the hands of complete strangers on his way back to the table.

Edward raised an eyebrow at Jasper when he saw his expression and then held his hand up for him to slap. Jasper tentatively reached up and hit the offered palm before he slowly turned away to help Alice down from her perch.

The next couple of hours were spent in comfortable conversation between the four of us, pausing only to cheer on the singers on stage, we laughed and teased each other like we'd known each other years rather than hours. Jasper's astonishment every time Edward let out a genuine laugh diminished slowly until he stopped staring completely and just laughed along with him.

As the evening began to wind down, I went up to the bar to order the last round of drinks.

Alice's face lit up when she saw what I had brought back to the table. I placed one of the four identical shot glasses down in front of each of us.

"What are these?" the guys said, eying the tan colored liquid topped with a squirt of whipped cream.

"Blowjobs," I said as innocently as I could manage.

"Oh," was the uncomfortable reply as they both reached to pick up their glasses.

Alice and I both threw our hands out to stop them. "No! Wait!"

"Haven't either one of you ever had a Blowjob before?" How Alice managed to keep a straight face when she said it, I'll never know.

I had to bite on my bottom lip to stifle the laughter I was holding back as the two boys shifted uncomfortably in their seats, mumbling, "Um…er…ah…"

God they're adorable. It's like watching twins!

After managing to compose myself to some extent, I explained, "Well, the trick with this particular shooter is you have to drink it without using your hands."

"Ah…uh, how?" Edward asked, obviously confused.

"Just watch, Alice and I will show you," My friend and I exchanged a look and I winked at her as her lips pulled into a huge grin.

"First, you should sit on your hands, to remove the temptation." Edward obediently slipped his hands under his thighs at the same time Alice and I did. Jasper, however, just let his fall into his lap. "And then…."

I bent my head forward until the glass was just beneath my lips, Alice mirroring my actions perfectly. We both slid our tongues out and used them to scoop the whipped cream off the tops of our drinks.

I heard a gasp from the opposite side of the table as we lowered our open mouths over the small shot glasses and gripped them between our lips. We threw our heads back, which caused the delicious liquid to slide down our throats, before bowing forward once again to place the glasses back on the tabletop, our tongues shot out into the vessels as we licked every last drop out of the bottom.

We sat up, leaving the empty glasses behind, and a smirk formed on my face as I took in the sight before me. Both men were staring, eyes glazed over, mouths open slightly. Edward was still sitting on his hands while Jasper's were gripping the edge of the table so hard I was afraid he might break a piece off.

I felt a drop of alcohol about to escape the corner of my mouth and my tongue flicked out to capture it. Edward closed his mouth and swallowed, hard.

My eyes caught movement to the side of me and I looked over to see Jasper reach out and catch a similar drip, from Alice's face, on his index finger. He moved his finger to her mouth and she wrapped her lips around it, sucking the errant alcohol from his skin.

His eyes rolled back in his head as he leaned forward and whispered in her ear. Alice nodded once and Jasper stood up quickly, almost knocking his chair over behind him.

"Ok, we're going to call it a night, guys," he blurted out so fast I almost didn't catch it. He grabbed Alice by the hand and practically lifted her out of her seat, she beamed at me and waved as she was being pulled backwards towards the exit.

I waved back and mouthed 'See you tomorrow, have fun' to her just as I heard Edward whisper, "What the hell was that?"

I turned to look in his direction, surprised to find he still hadn't moved. Poor thing still looks a little woozy.

"That," I said pointedly. "Was me giving Alice the green light. She's been dying to get into his pants for weeks now and the shooter just gave them a push in the right direction."

I knew I still didn't have Edward's full attention as he sat, motionless, staring at my mouth. My lips pulled into a smirk as I began to gloat internally, even if I wasn't playing a starring role in whatever fantasy that was playing in head. I was the one responsible for it happening, so I decided to play with him just a little bit more.

"So, Edward. What are your plans for the rest of the night?" I leaned in a little, closing the gap between us slightly. "Trust me. You don't want to go home right now. Alice is a screamer."

I smiled at his lack of response before adding, "You could always come back to my place."

A/N Reviews make my day...just sayin' ;-)