I wanted to give Edward's point of view a try. It was harder than I thought for this story, but I hope it turned out ok. Let me know what you think. I'm not sure if I'll do other point of views later but it might be fun to get in Emmett or Alice's heads.

I'm sorry this chapter took so long to get up. My friends kind of kidnapped me, spur of the moment, and I just spent the last three days trapped on an island in the middle of Lake Superior with no cell service let alone internet connection… I hate camping. I'm so sun burned I look like a tomato. I hope you enjoy the chapter.

Chapter 18- Good luck kiss

POV-Edward

By the time my alarm clock started beeping I'd been up for a half hour. I towel dried my hair attempting to get it dry before I pulled a shirt on over my head. There was a soft knock on my door. It was only 5:30 and I only knew a small handful of people who would be up and about this early. Most of those people weren't here.

I opened the door without checking who it was and smiled when Bella quickly slipped inside. Angela and Rosalie had wanted to watch a movie last night so I hadn't been able to sleepover. She was already dressed for the day in clothes fit for practice and her hair was flour free.

"Good morning Edward." She rose to her tip toes so she could press a kiss to my cheek. She smelled like spice and lavender and her hair was still damp from her morning shower.

"Good morning Bella, did you sleep well?"

She nodded. "Did I sleep well, yes, was it long, no. Angela, Alice and Rose brought dirty dancing over so we didn't get to sleep until close to midnight and then I woke up at five and had to wait for them to go back to their own rooms before I could come up here."

"Dirty dancing's a good movie."

She moved farther into my room and laid down on the messy side of my bed where I had slept. I loved how comfortable she was with me. I ran my towel through my hair again and gave up on trying to fully dry it before getting dressed. I selected a shirt from my dresser and pulled it over my head.

Bella had pulled my quilt over her own head and was breathing deeply. I ran a brush through my hair, no matter how futile it was and then sat down next to her. It sounded like she was already sleeping again. The girls must have run her ragged last night.

"Bella?"

Her voice was muffled by the quilt when she spoke. "Shhh, I'm sleeping." She pulled her legs up and curled into a ball. I chuckled as my pillow also disappeared under the blanket. We didn't need to head downstairs for another twenty minutes so I let her rest. I liked the idea of her sleeping in my bed. Maybe our next sleepover could be up here instead of down in her room.

I laid down on top of the blanket next to her. She cuddled into my side and ten minutes later her head appeared out from under the blanket and she looked more awake than she had before. "Good morning Edward." She said and pressed a soft kiss to my cheek again.

"I think you already said that."

She shrugged and sat up. "We should probably head downstairs huh?"

I nodded. "Probably, the others will be heading down and if we don't show up they'll come looking for us."

"Can I use your hair brush?" She asked, catching sight of herself in my mirror. Her hair had been hanging down her back in soft curls when she arrived, but hiding under my quilt had messed it up. I thought it looked tousled and sexy, but I could see where she wouldn't want others to see it like that. I nodded and passed her the brush.

It only took a few strokes of the brush to tame her hair and then she pulled it up into a pony tail and was ready to face the day again.

"Ready? She asked heading towards the door.

I stepped into my shoes and followed her out into the hall.

"Bella, Edward?"

We both froze and I mentally cursed myself for not checking if the coast was clear. Jasper and Erik were standing in the hall just a few doors down. I tossed an arm over Bella's shoulder and tried to act like nothing was suspicious about this. Bella took a deep breath and leaned into my side.

"Morning Erik, Jasper." I said nodding in their direction.

"Good morning boys." Bella added flashing them her signature innocent smile.

Erik had a goofy grin on his face as he looked back and forth between us. "What are you doing up here this early Bella?" He asked.

"I was just coming to see if Edward was still in his room." She said with a shrug of her slender shoulders. A faint blush colored the tops of her cheeks but I was doubting Erik or Jasper would have noticed it. I was particularly attuned to Bella's blush.

They didn't seem to believe her casual explanation, but neither one of them pressed for more answers. We walked as a small group downstairs chatting about nothing in particular. Bella stopped short in the hall and pushed Jasper a step ahead of the rest of us.

"You're in the prank war. You go first." She said pointing at the door to the lounge.

He smirked at her. "Fine, thanks for springing Emmett's trap yesterday, by the way. The flour must have been a real pain to get out of your hair."

She grumbled at him and we all held our breath as he stepped inside the lounge. No pie, no flour, no nothing. The coast was all clear for now. We walked inside to find most of the dancers already eating at various tables around the room. Emmett, Leah and Jake were at one table. Alice, Jane and Victoria were at another.

Jasper joined Alice, and Erik left to sit with some of his other friends, dancers I didn't know well personally, but recognized. Over the weeks I'd been acquainted with all twenty of the other dancers but there was still quite a few I hadn't had the chance to talk to directly.

Bella and I both grabbed a cup of coffee and some breakfast. I watched as Bella's eyes moved from one table of our friends to the other. She didn't appear to want to sit with either side of the prank war.

She glanced up at me and then sat down at a table with Jessica and James, a neutral table for our currently neutral group. We weren't joining the prank war just yet but no one needed to know that. It made sense for Bella to play up like she was mad at both groups for now. I sat down with her and Jessica slid a copy of today's paper across the table at us pointing to a small article along the bottom.

"There's a small article about the show on page two."

Bella pulled the paper closer and I peeked over her shoulder as she read. The article had our names and some information about the show. A few of the group shots were under it but other than that it was a fairly boring article. Thankfully this article didn't mention Bella's accident.

Breakfast moved by slowly. Bella didn't talk much and Jessica provided enough conversation to make up for the lack of enthusiasm on our part. She chatted nonstop about the different pairs and who she thought would move on and anything else that seemed to pass through her mind. She and Emmett could have a very good conversation as neither of them seemed to know how to shut up. Emmett approached our table around 6:30 and tried to apologize to Bella.

"Bella? He actually looked nervous as he stopped by her side. I couldn't wait to talk to Bella about how team Switzerland was going to get even later. With her help I would finally get the chance to seek ultimate revenge against Emmett for all of the pranks he had pulled on me as we grew up. Revenge was going to taste almost sweeter than Bella.

Bella looked up from her cereal and gazed up at him through her lashes.

"Yes, Emmett how can I help you?"

She was trying to be polite but I could tell she was mentally strangling him. She had a death grip on her spoon and her eye brows were pushed together. I had to restrain myself from reaching forward and smoothing the skin down. She looked absolutely adorable when she was irritated. Unless she was irritated at me.

"Um, I, well we, I guess." He waved over to where Leah and Jake were sitting. "We're sorry you got hit with the flour boom yesterday."

She smiled at him and even I was having trouble not believing her fake nonchalance about this situation. "It's ok, Emmett. I overreacted yesterday. It was a mistake and I understand that. I forgive you."

She had him wrapped around her little finger.

"Thanks Bell. I was hoping you would understand." He punched me in the arm. "Sorry about the flour Eddie."

I shrugged, trying not to snap at him for using the damn nick name that he and Tanya both seemed so insistent on using on me. We would get him back later and it would be worth it. "Bella's more forgiving than I am. Just try to remember we are a neutral team. We don't want to get involved." (Yet)

He nodded. "Deal."

Emmett walked away and Bella shot me a sly little grin. He had completely believed us. Bella turned back to her food and sunk into her thinking mode. Bella was a very sweet girl but I was willing to bet she could be fierce if she wanted to be. Her friend Summer sounded like the kind of influence Bella could have learned a few tricks from. Emmett wasn't going to know what hit him.

A crew man arrived and instructed everyone to get their costume boxes and load up on the bus out front. Cat would be waiting at the stage and we would get more instruction on the flow of the show once we arrived.

I grabbed Bella's dishes and tossed them out with mine once she was finished eating. We followed the tide of other dancers upstairs and Max's task force of beauticians and costume makers was waiting to give out instructions. Jason found Bella and myself and started waving us over to him.

"Bella, Edward, so good to see you again. Are you both ready for tomorrow? It's the big day, the first show. Are you nervous? I can't wait!"

I nodded and Bella gave him a hug. "I'm so excited I can't wait either!" He was practically bouncing in his place.

We fought through the other dancers to get our boxes and meet up with him downstairs near the front doors.

"You guys are going third tomorrow. Once you get to the stage, I'll show you where to store your things. I'll see you soon. We have our own van to get us there."

Jason and the other assistants left and the dancers were herded towards the bus.

"Edward, look at the bus."

Bella pointed to the side of the bus. Instead of the large blank space that had been there before, a large group picture of us had been added to the side of the bus. It was the last one, the one Alice and Bella had given Nigel bunny ears in.

"Good picture." I said pointing to her enlarged face.

She shook her head and blushed at the picture. "You look pretty good too, I like the ears." She said pointing out where I was in the picture. Emmett and I were standing behind Bella and Alice. Emmett had given me bunny ears without my knowledge.

"I'm going to kill him."

She nodded. "We're going to kill him, and Alice too."

"You're kind of scary when you get angry." I pointed out.

She shrugged and pulled me along behind her onto the bus. The ride to the stage felt shorter than it had been the first time. People pointed at the bus and I heard Bella groan next to me.

"What's wrong?"

"I really don't like being the center of attention." She said staring at the couple in the car next to us. They were pointing to the bus and the teenage girl in the back took a picture with her phone.

"They can't see through the tinted windows." I pointed out.

"I know that."

"If you didn't like cameras why did you audition to go on a show that will be aired all over the country?"

She shrugged. "Moment of insanity?"

"You'll be fine. You're a great dancer Bella."

"Thanks."

The bus was noisy as we pulled up in front of the stage. We didn't have to worry about having our pictures taken anymore so we parked out front. Crew men directed us inside and Jason met up with us on stage where all of the other assistants were waiting.

"Bella, Edward over here."

He led us to a small alcove in the maze of backstage. There were several little nooks, each outfitted with a long mirror and a pair of simple folding chairs.

"This is our booth." Jason said as he took our costume boxes.

"You can store your costumes here." He opened up a long drawer under the counter filled with brushes and makeup and showed us how to store the boxes.

"After the group dance I need you to run back here as fast as you can. You'll get changed in that mass changing room and then come back here and I'll do hair and make up." He showed us a larger room with fabric doors that the dancers would use to change.

All of the doors were made of fabric back stage to eliminate extra sound. The lights back stage were set up in rows and Bella and I followed along as Jason gave us a quick tour. He showed us the entrance to the stair level and where we would wait for our cue when we were dancing on the main floor.

He showed us the staircase we would go to when we were on deck so we could wave to the camera. Bella hooked her arm through mine and leaned against my side.

"This is crazy." She mumbled.

I nodded along brushing a strand of hair out of her face. "Kind of overwhelming."

"Just a little bit."

Jason finished the tour and led us back to the main stage. Most of the groups were already gathered there looking as overwhelmed as I felt. The stage looked big on TV but in reality it was even more massive.

"Look at all the chairs." Bella said waving out to where the live audience would be sitting during the taping. There had to be room for a thousand people in here. Off to the side, the judge's box was sitting empty already looking intimidating even though the judges weren't here.

"You ready for this?" I asked Bella as we sat with the others and waited for our next instructions.

She nodded. "As ready as I'll ever be. I always get nervous before a show."

"Me too."

Cat came out with some of the show producers and they gave us a run down of how things would work back stage. Everyone knows the flow of the show. Cat comes out, she introduced FOX and the judges. Sometimes there's a group dance or she'll introduce us as the boys and the girls and we do the little opening dance that hasn't changed since the first season.

There would be a few shows throughout the season where we would start with a group dance and then Cat would get introduced and walk out through us. Then, one by one the pairs would do their dances, the judges would comment on them and then we all had to tear our hair out for twenty-four hours until we knew who was in the bottom three couples.

That seems fairly straight forward, right? LIES!!! We had to learn the names of some of the different back stage settings and places we would need to know how to get to. Each couple had a small nook where our helpers from costumes would be waiting for us. Depending on where you were in the show line up for the night you might only have two and a half minutes to get changed between commercial breaks.

We all had to learn the different cues we would get from the crew workers. If you were still waiting for your chance to dance you had to stay out of the way in your little nook. If you had already danced and would not be doing another routine that night there was a small space in front of the judges booth where we could stand and watch the others take their turn.

The staircase where dancers stood before their dances to wave at the camera was called "The Loft" and from the loft you moved to one of the "On Deck" spaces depending on where you were going to come out of. Choreographers had the option of starting your dance above the stage on the stairs, you could use the normal stage entrance in the back or start out already in place.

A crew man or woman would give your pair the cue to get on stage and then you ran like a bat out of hell to get in place before Cat cued your music to start. Since it was all live, messing up was fairly easy to do and hard to fix.

The only person who would be wearing an ear piece was Cat so she could talk to the stage manager and the rest of us had to hope nothing went wrong. All in all it was very confusing and I was glad Bella seemed to be understanding it better than I was.

"Now" Cat clapped her hands and smiled at us. "I want you all to go get into your group routine costumes and we're going to try running the whole show from top to bottom. There won't be any cameras allowed in this room as we don't want anything getting out before it's supposed to and the judges are not even allowed in the building. If you get lost, follow the backstage crew, they know what they're doing. Good luck everyone."

I took Bella's hand and led her back stage to where Jason was waiting for us.

"All done getting your ten minute run down?" He asked, our costumes were already set up on our chairs so all we had to do was grab them and slip into the dressing room.

"Was that even ten minutes?" Bella asked from behind her curtain. "She talked so fast I was having trouble following along."

I tossed my day clothes onto the bench in the boy's dressing room and pulled on the T-bird outfit I would be wearing for the Grease dance.

"I'll be here to help you both, so don't worry about it." Jason comforted her. "This is my third season with the show. I think I know what I'm doing."

"Let's hope so." I said reentering the room. Jason had me sit in a tall chair in front of a mirror and started pulling on my hair.

"Are we doing hair and makeup today too?" I asked as he reached for a tub of hair gel. That was going to be a pain to get out before the Bollywood dance.

Jason squirted some on top of my head and nodded. "Yep, we'll do it just like the real show so the assistants can time themselves and make sure everything goes right tomorrow." He ran a comb threw my hair and soon it was slicked back like John Travolta's.

Bella tripped as she hurried out of her changing room and shoved the curtain aside. She looked stunning. She had on a white top that fit her like a glove and I bit my lip to keep from laughing at the poofy pink skirt again. There was more gel in my hair than there was left in the bottle I had no reason to laugh.

"You look just like a T-bird." Bella commented as Jason had her hop up into her own chair next to mine.

I pulled the sun glasses out of my pocket and shoved them on my face. "I think the sun glasses really tie the whole thing together."

She giggled and Jason worked like a mad man to whip her hair up into a neat pony tail and run make up over both of our faces.

"Do you both see that light?" Jason asked while he worked on Bella some more. He pointed to a small light on the wall next to the mirror in front of us.

"What's it for?" Bella asked.

"Just in case I'm ever not here you should both be looking out for that light. When that light goes on, it's red, it means you need to go meet the stage manager. He'll be the one to direct you to either the loft or the deck or the floor. Whereever you need to go, he'll get you there."

We nodded along and soon after he was finished talking, the light started flashing red. The back stage lights were turned off and small running lights along the floor lit up so we could still see where we were going.

Bella jumped from her chair and grabbed my hand as we both hurried down the hallway. All of the other dancers were dressed in their Grease attire, waiting like a confused heard of pink and black sheep. Emmett punched me the shoulder.

"Looking good little Eddie."

"Don't call me that!"

He shrugged and moved off with Jake and some of the other boys. The stage manager was calling directions for how this number would run. When the timing leader gave us the cue the girls would run out the center door and the boys would move in from stage left.

The stage lights came on and we could all hear Cat speaking into her microphone.

"And here they are, people who aren't really watching. For their first dress rehearsal of the season. Let's hope it doesn't fall apart. It's your top twenty!"

Obviously she wasn't really being filmed. Bella squeezed my hand and I looked down at her. She smiled up at me and stood on her toes to whisper in my ear.

"You ready for this?"

I nodded. "I have a feeling tomorrow's going to be even more nerve wracking than this is."

"At least there aren't any cameras today." She pointed out.

"True." She moved over a little and caught me off guard when she pressed her lips to mine. A very brief thought flashed through my mind that we were in a public place but it didn't last long. My arms snaked around her waist and I pulled her closer and kissed her back.

Someone cleared their throat next to us and we jumped apart, like kids caught making out in the hallway at school. Jake was standing next to us with a dumbfounded expression on his face as he glanced back and forth between the two of us.

"What the hell was that?" He asked shooting Bella an odd look.

She hesitated and I couldn't think of anything to tell him. It was just a kiss after all, nothing too scandalous about that. A hot, sweet kiss from a girl who was quickly becoming my favorite flavor and he had interrupted it before I was finished. The only one who knew about the relationship forming between Bella and myself was Alice, and I was hoping we could keep it like that for awhile longer.

Bella squeezed her fingers around my hand one more time before she pulled farther out of my grip and jumped to Jake's side. She flashed him a brilliant smile and wrapped her arms around his neck like nothing was going on.

"Just a kiss for good luck. You can have one too." She pecked him on the cheek and quickly moved off to where the other girls were standing. A wave of jealousy ran through me and I took a deep breath to shake it off. Bella was just covering for us, we were going to have to be more careful about our physical contact around the others.

Jake shot me a look like he hadn't fully bought Bella's cover story, but he didn't get a chance to ask more about it. We got the cue to move and it was a mad rush to get on stage and in place. My worries about Jake and Bella shifted to worries about making it through the first round of competition.

~Darkrose

I'll get the next chapter up as soon as I can. I still haven't decided whose point of view I want to do the show in. I'll probably go back to Bella since this is her story, but maybe I'll work in a flash of the others points of view as well. That way we can see more than just Bella and Edward's dance. Let me know what you think.