The Twilight Twenty-Five
Prompt: rapacious
Pen name: LightStarDusting
Character POV: Bella
Rating: M

Chapter 13 – Why Don't We Do It in the Road
1999

The beginning of the evening was much like the end.

I stood in the room, nearly naked.

Scritch scritch scrrrrrritch.

"Um, Bella? You've been staring at your open dresser drawer for the past three and a half minutes." Lucy was lying on her bed, head resting on her hands, with a book in front of her. She'd been taking notes and I'd been listening to her pen move across the page instead of figuring out what I was going to wear that evening to this thing.

Murmuring, I didn't really answer and she went back to her notes, scritching away. I chewed my lip and stared some more at my dresser. I stood there, imagining the clothes would just jump out and hop onto my body a la Mary Poppins, where the toys just put themselves away. When that didn't happen, I finally turned to her. "What are you supposed to wear to a private party at a fraternity house?"

She sat up and slammed her books shut quickly, as though she had been just waiting for me to ask. "Finally!" She was next to me in an instant. "Okay, so is it a date party?"

"Uh… well, I'm going with Jasper. But not as his date. As his friend."

"Rigggght." She patted my bare shoulder. "Semantics. Good luck with that. Anyway, are they calling it a date party?"

"I don't know what they're calling it; all I know is that it's a private party at their house. We are going to be upstairs rather than down in the dungeon."

"Ooh la la, that is fancy. That sounds like quite an event; clear plastic cups instead of the colored ones and everything," she quipped as she raised an eyebrow and sorted through my shirts.

"Well aren't you singing a different tune from the first week of school? I remember the days of heels and purses to the dungeons."

"Live and learn, B." She walked to her closet and pulled out a chiffon blouse. "You aren't going to the pit of despair tonight, though. Pair this with jeans. Fancy yet comfortable so you aren't too overdressed but you'll be a bit dressier than average. You'll also need to upgrade your normal shoe choice, so let's start that debate now rather than before you leave."

I dressed, and Lucy and I were having the ever-so-important shoe discussion when Makenna threw the door open. It was common practice for people to forgo knocking. "Girlfriends! Maria and I are taking a study break from French. We are famished so we figured we'd call for Chinese. You interested?"

I saw who I assume to be Maria behind Makenna and recognized her from the library the previous day. She was the one working her Marilyn bedroom eyes on Jasper. She had been talking to Jasper.

Lucy was talking but I'd been slyly staring down Maria so I'd missed part of what she was saying. "…Bella's going out with Jasper in a bit."

Maria piped up then. "Oh, you know Jasper?" Her eyes widened slightly and she giggled while whispering something into Makenna's ear. There is nothing I hate more than people who whisper in front of me. Rude.

"He's a good friend." God, what is wrong with me? Stake your claim. Oh, that's right, you don't have one. "You know him?" I asked, knowing full-well that she did after seeing them together in the library. I just didn't now exactly how well. Jasper seemed to know everyone to some extent.

She smiled and shot Makenna a look. "A little, but I'd like to know him more. He has this weird time thing, likes to meet on odd numbers."

I opened my mouth and then closed it again, afraid that if I said something it wouldn't be anything nice and I remembered that old adage.

Lucy wasn't about to let it slide though, and she wrapped her arm around my shoulder like a proud parent sending her child off to prom. "He's taking Bella to a date party. They are very good friends." Leave it to Lucy to stake my non-existent claim for me.

Makenna and Maria disappeared to order their Chinese soon after and Lucy grumbled an apology about speaking on my behalf but it didn't really sound as though she was very sorry. Turning her attention back to the task at hand (me) it wasn't long before she had properly primped me, thrown me in some of her favorite "fuck me" heels and sent me on my way out the door with a slap on my ass. I met Jasper in the courtyard (at 8:42) and he looked at me funny for a moment before gallantly offering his arm. With a grand sweeping gesture of my hand, I explained my outfit and hair away with a single word: "Lucy."

Felix was waiting on the steps of the porch of the house with his girlfriend, Gianna, when we got there. He had his arm slung over her shoulders and she was wearing his jacket. When he saw us approaching, he stubbed his cigarette out on the step before standing to greet us.

Felix ushered us inside and I chatted with Gianna while Jasper made the rounds and said hello to most of the brothers, meeting a few that he didn't know along the way. After Jasper was done with his "meet the brothers" experience, he returned to my side. Felix threw his arms around both of our shoulders and led up into the room that houses both the beer pong table and the bar. Raising his chin, he motioned to the pledge behind the bar and told him to hook us up with whatever we wanted. Handing us our cups he jovially exclaimed, "Fuck the cleanse!"

I raised my eyebrows at Felix's knowledge of the cleanse and Jasper just shrugged. We echoed his toast together, short and to the point, before we clinked the plastic cups together. While they had sprung for the good beer and hard alcohol, at the end of the day we were still drinking out of plastic cups.

We quickly drained our cups, smiling at each other while we did so. It had been nearly two months since either of us had anything to drink and we knew that our tolerance would not be what it once was. It should have been an indication to slow down when I felt slightly buzzed after that first drink, but I was foolish, so instead I made my way to the bar and asked for another one.

Gianna appeared by my side and grabbed my hand, pulling me over to a rickety tray table where a loose-leaf paper held a place of honor. "Bella," she grabbed my hand with hers and got down on one knee, "will you do me the honor of being my partner during beer pong?"

I tried to pull her up off her knee but she remained firm in her proposition stance. I'm sure looked as uncertain as I felt. "I don't know if you'll want to be my partner, Gianna. I've never played before and I'm not exactly… athletic."

Jasper snorted from where he sat on the couch with Felix. I shot him the patented death glare. "Sweetheart, you admitted it yourself. And I seem to remember your shocked look when you pitched my Black and Milds when we first met."

"It's one thing to be self-deprecating. It's another for you to imply it!"

Gianna had already released my hand and was putting our names down on the list after Jasper and Felix's. She leaned into me and whispered, "Nurse that drink. They'll continue to get shit-faced and we'll have the advantage of being less drunk. Show a little cleavage while we are playing and we're golden." Gianna had obviously done this a few times.

Slowly, they made their way down the list to where Felix and Jasper's names were. I had taken Gianna's advice and nursed my beverage. Well, actually, I had nursed a few, entirely missing the point of Gianna's message, and I could feel the alcohol hitting me regardless of the slow pace.

Before long, it was Jasper and Felix's turn at beer pong and I paid careful attention while they played, watching Jasper as he concentrated on sinking the balls into the cups in front of the opposing team. At one point, both he and Felix both hit cups so they were able to have a second turn. There were a lot of rules for a game that involved throwing plastic balls into plastic cups. Gianna leaned over to me when she saw the look on my face. "Don't worry, I'll keep you updated on what's going on. It looks like Jasper and Felix are going to win so we'll just use our feminine charms to our advantage."

"That might work for you but I'm not certain it will fly for me."

Gianna let out a snort of laughter and glanced over at Jasper who was watching us. "Bella, you're not going to have any trouble."

As Gianna had predicted, we were standing across the table from them in minutes. We played decently although they still beat us. During Jasper's turns, the ball kept coming dangerously close to my chest and then I realized that was on purpose. Mock glaring at him, I put my hands on my hips and admonished him. "Backboard," was his explanation.

"Drunk," I shot back at him.

After playing beer pong for awhile and both being ousted from our spots in the tournament, we wandered away from the table. Nudging my shoulder with his, he leaned to rest his head near the crook of my neck. "Are you having fun? Relaxing?"

"Chillin' like a villain."

"Oh dear god, you're wasted."

I giggled.

"The giggle only confirms it!" He reached over and tickled my side and instead of pulling away like I normally did, I leaned into him more, wanting to feel his fingers closer and against my skin. "Damn, I fucking need a cigarette right about now."

I shrugged. "Do it. We're breaking the drinking part, why not go for the smoking as well?"

We shared a cigarette that we bummed from Felix as we moved outside to sit on the porch as we watched the rain beating on the pavement of the street. I sat on one of the lower steps, while Jasper sat behind me, acting as my own personal chair. I slipped Lucy's shoes off, giving my feet a much need respite.

He looked at the cigarette that was making a slow burn toward the filter before taking a long swig of his beer. "Well, you know what's left, right?"

Suddenly the wind picked up and the rain that had been falling in front of us began to blow under the awning shielding the steps and onto the two of us. Holding my shoes, I rose to my feet and turned to face him. He was looking up at me, and seemed to be waiting for an answer.

"Rain," I said. Rain? He's staring at me with an expectant look in his eye and I say "Rain"? I'm an idiot. The lessons from our speech class came flooding back to me, and I decided to stop being me, just for one brief moment. I held my hand out to help him up from the steps. I moved slowly up the steps, stopping at the step above his with purpose, and gave him a look. My eyelids were heavy and I wanted to believe I had some of the Marilyn mojo going for myself that night. I whispered into his ear loudly over the rain, "Well, maybe we'll just have to go three for three."

I looked for his reaction. Looked to see if he was going to take the bait or if I was going to be cast aside. Because I wanted this. Wanted him. And I had to believe that in that moment, he wanted me too. Not just a body, not just a girl. Me.

As he stood there on the step below me, we were able to face each other, nose to nose. He froze for a minute and I thought in my drunken mind that that was it, he was turning me down. My eyes automatically looked down at the worn wooden planks below my bare feet and I was trying to work through the emotions of feeling rejected when I felt his hand on the back of my head. His eyes flashed before mine for an instant before I squeezed mine shut and we were kissing, our lips mashed together before parting and deepening the kiss. The rain seemed to pick up the pace in how it fell and it spurred our kiss into a frenetic pace as well. All I could focus on was how good his lips felt, finally pressed against mine and the sound of the drops falling, heavy on the earth around us.

When it seemed like I might pass out from lack of oxygen, he tore his lips away from mine. Although we were under the overhang of the porch, it did nothing to keep us protected. "Fuck, we are playing with fire here, Bella."

He grabbed the back of my head and once more, our tongues danced together. My mind tried valiantly to race and overanalyze everything but the alcohol aided in shutting that process down. Instead all I could do was feel and be, and there was no place I would rather have been. I had wanted this to happen for so long and it finally was. I couldn't get enough of the feeling. My hands grasped the back of his shirt and I never wanted to let go of it. Of him.

Once more he tore his mouth away from mine, panting, as the rain took it's time sliding down us. Taking the shoes out of my hand, he placed them on each foot, calling me Cinderella. It was nearly midnight and he said he needed to get me home, to his bed. Before I had time to say anything, I was on his back while he weaved his way through the campus, toward his room.

Thanks to my idea bouncer, fantastically wonderful beta, KrisBCullen. These kids wouldn't be where they are without her holding my hand and I appreciate her more than words can express.

The usual suspects – the pre-readers – TheHeartofLife, LoreliD, ElleCC, and Miztrezboo. You girls make me gigglesnort and blush with the comments. ILY.

No one will be watching us – The Beatles