Two Weeks Later

BPOV

"Alice! What are you doing to me?!?!" I screeched as Alice pulled out my supposed Halloween costume.

It was the Saturday before Halloween and Tyler Crowley was throwing a Halloween party that Alice had insisted I come to. I'm not sure why, it's not like she'd be spending any time with me anyway – she was always glued to Jasper's side at these parties. She kept insisting that I needed help with my 'socialization skill'. Although I had a feeling she was going to attempt to set me up again. Alice didn't care for my non-existent love life.

"No," I repeated, backing against the wall as Ali continued to come at me with the 'costume'. For some unknown reason, Alice thought I should be a cheerleader for the party and had borrowed one of the official Forks High cheerleader uniforms, complete with a few Alice modifications. She had adjusted the top so more of my belly had to show and shortened the skirt to a certified mini. I guess I should be grateful she wasn't attempting to put me in heels. It didn't go with the outfit.

"Come on Bella, you know you are going to put this on, whether you like it or not."

For a supposed best friend, the little pixie could be vicious. Half an hour later I was dressed in the cheerleader uniform, my hair half up with Forks blue and white ribbons tied in. Despite my continued protest, Alice also made me wear make up. I was actually pleasantly surprised though when she drug me to the mirror. Except for the lack of fabric on my outfit, I actually looked kind of cute. The eye liner and eye shadow Alice had used went with the blue outfit and really brought out my eyes. I took a deep calming breath and followed Alice out of my house and toward the party. I was driving tonight because Alice had a penchant for getting a little tipsy and I was also her DD for the night.

It was a little after 8 when we pulled up to the Crowley's house and the party was already in full swing. There were Halloween decorations everywhere and most everyone had dressed up in costumes. I smirked to myself, at least I wasn't the most underdressed, Lauren and Jessica barely had scraps of fabric for costume. I think they were supposed to be variations of some type of superhero. I suddenly felt much better about my outfit.

Alice stayed by my side for the first half hour or so, dragging me from group to group to socialize before she found Jasper. We'd been talking with a group of boys and I was certain that my cheeks were never going to cool from the bright red that currently emblazoned them at the attention I was receiving. I about fell over laughing when I saw Jasper though – while Alice had her cute Tinkerbelle costume, she had apparently ordered Jasper into a Peter Pan outfit. Alice and Jasper headed towards the dance floor, leaving me with the boys. It wasn't long after that I saw Edward, looking absolutely gorgeous in khaki pants and a dark blue button down shirt. I excused myself from the boys Alice and I had been talking to and made my way through the crowded room to Edward.

Grinning at him, I pointed to his outfit, "How in the world did you make it here without Alice dressing you up?"

Edward grinned at me, "Oh, I have my ways." He took a cursory glance at my outfit, but continued to look me in the eyes, unlike the previous individuals I had been speaking too. "Nice skirt," he smirked.

"It's all your evil pixie sister's doing. If it were up to me, I'd be in my jeans and hoodie."

Edward shrugged, "Yeah, that's more you," he paused, then added, "but that does look damn good on you."

I lost track of time standing there talking with Edward. It was just to easy to talk to him.

"Bella, would you . . . " Edward started, but was quickly interrupted.

"BELLA!!!" a strong masculine voice yelled. The next thing I knew I was being thrown over Jake's shoulder and hauled into the crowd, my skirt flying up so everyone got a view of my ass. I am so going to kill Alice.

"Jake! Put me down!" I yelled, hitting his back with my fists. I was probably doing nothing but bruising my own hands, but it felt good to attempt at least.

Jake set me down once we'd reached the middle of the make shift dance floor. "Not until you dance with me at least once," he argued.

I laughed and shook my head. "And that Tarzan routine was supposed to convince me of that?" Jake was one of my oldest friends, I'm pretty sure our father's left us on the bank together when we were still in diapers so they could go fishing.

"Eh, that was just so I didn't have to watch you and Cullen make gooey eyes at each other anymore," he said with a shrug.

I felt the familiar red blush creep up my cheeks. "I was not making gooey eyes at Edward," I mumbled, staring at the floor. I gave into Jacob's dance request if for no other reason than to get him off the subject of Edward and I. It was his feet he was sacrificing.

An hour later I was somehow still on the dance floor, though this time my dance partner was much more entertaining. Emmett and I almost matched. I saw Rosalie standing off to the side in a football jersey, while someone had managed to get a huge customized cheerleader uniform for Emmett, complete with pom poms. Thankfully, the skirt for his was much longer than mine. I was still laughing with Emmett when I saw Edward sitting on the couch across the room. Lauren Mallory and her scantily clad superhero costume were practically in his lap. He did not look pleased and I knew the sight put a frown on my face. And then she kissed him.

EPOV

Damn it. Damn it. Damn it. I ran my hands through my messy bronze hair, watching Bella be hauled off by Jacob Black. I knew they were good friends, but the way Jacob looked at her left little doubt that he wanted more. I watched long enough to see him set her down and Bella blush and look down at something he said to her. I guess that's what I get for getting my hopes up.

Watching them dance was too much and when Jasper offered me a beer, I gladly accepted it. An hour or so later I was on my fourth beer, maybe it was my fifth. I'd never had much desire to drink and knew I had a low tolerance for alcohol, but drinking myself into oblivion seemed like a good idea at the moment, but with ever drink I took I knew I was becoming more heartbroken over Bella. My attention was so focused on her, I didn't even notice when Lauren curled up next to me. I knew she was trying to get my attention but I really couldn't have cared less. I was still in my own little Bella obsessed world when I felt Lauren shift and suddenly her lips were on mine.

Even in my inebriated state I was well aware that I had no desire to kiss Lauren. I gently pushed back to on her shoulders and slid farther away from her. I was trying to be a gentleman about the whole situation, but Lauren was making it extremely difficult. She pushed back against me and swung her leg over so that she was straddling me. I quickly stood, knocking Lauren to the floor.

I wandered around aimlessly until I spotted Mike and a few of the other guys from the baseball team. They seemed to be laughing and having a good time.

"You want in on this Cullen?" Mike asked. He appeared to be collecting money from the rest of the guys in the group. We all had a tendancy to gamble more than we should.

"What are we betting on this time?" I asked, reaching for my wallet.

James smirked, "These losers don't think I can get that hottie over there into bed before the end of the night."

I slid my wallet back in my pocket, not glancing back at whomever he was referring to. James exploits with girl was not something I needed to bet on. "I think I'll pass on this one guys."

"See, even Cullen thinks James will get into Swan's pants, or, er, short little skirt," Eric chimed in.

That caught my attention, "What?" I screeched, jerking my head around for the first time to see that James had, in fact, been motioning towards Bella a moment ago. My hands involuntarily curled into fists and I was seething. "You will not go anywhere near Bella Swan."

James laughed, "What, you interested in her Cullen?" He shrugged and made a few explicit and derogatory comments about Bella's body, "I'll tell you what, I'll go in and get her loosened up, then you can have the leftovers."

I lost it, I absolutely lost it. I flew at James, landing a right hook square on his nose. I felt his fist connect with my lip before w were both on the floor, arms and legs swinging at one another. A few moments later I felt strong arms pulling me back, restraining me.

"Edward," Emmett yelled, tightening his vice grip on my arms. I saw Jasper in front of me, holding James back.

I jerked against Emmett, trying in vain to hit James again. "If you touch her, I swear to god, I'll kill you!" Emmett tightened his grip on me and we both nearly fell backwards. It was a good thing Jasper had a good grip on James.

"Forget it," James yelled, turning out of Jasper's grasp, "She's not worth it." And with that James stormed off in the opposite direction.

I sagged back into Emmett, bringing a hand up to assess the damage to my lip. It was bleeding, but I didn't think I'd need stitches.

Emmett pulled me back and out of the house, "What the hell was that about Ed?"

I didn't know how to answer that. How did I explain myself to Emmett without him getting suspicious of my feelings for Bella? I just shook my head.

Emmett's expression softened. He knew I had quite a temper, but also, that I didn't get that furious without a good reason. "I'll go get the girls. We need to get out of here before James decides to come back and we all get in trouble."

BPOV

I had seen the fight. Pretty sure everyone did. I thought my heart was going to beat out of my chest as I saw James fist connect with Edward's face. I'm pretty sure I didn't take a breath until James had finally turned and left, although I had felt slightly better seeing Emmett and Jasper get involved. I left Angela's side to join the boys outside, but ran into Emmett before I could make it there.

"Is Edward okay?" I asked, willing him not to notice the shake in my voice.

Emmett shook his head, "He'll be fine. I think we'd better get out of here though."

I nodded, "I'll go grab Ali."

Alice was concerned about Edward, but wasn't exactly in a hurry to go.

"Don't worry Bella, I'll get her home," Jasper said, walking up behind them.

I eyed Jasper warily, "Weren't you drinking earlier too?"

Jasper laughed and smiled confidently at me. "I had a beer about two hours ago, I'm fine." I could tell from the twinkle in his eye that he wanted more time with Alice, but at the same time was happy with my protectiveness of her.

I nodded in acceptance and headed back to find Edward, Emmett and Rosalie. They were just outside the back door, discussing arrangements to get home. Rosalie was Emmett's ride home, but her little convertible would only fit two people.

"B, do you think you could give Edward a lift home since you're already taking Alice?" Rosalie asked, sending dirty looks Edward's way. I'm sure she was pissed at him for drinking and not making arrangements beforehand.

I looked down to my feet, playing in the grass with my shoe. I had been alone with Edward on numerous occasions before, but it seemed so different with no one else around and in a dark car. "Uh, sure. But Alice is staying with Jasper."

"Look," Edward looked thoroughly embarrassed, "I'll find a lift from someone later, I don't want to inconvenience anyone."

I know he was just trying to be polite, but the thought that Edward didn't want to accept a ride from me still stung. "Hey, come on," I pushed. "How far out of your way did you go for me a few weeks ago?"

Edward shook his head, "It was nothing, I wanted to help."

I snorted and bravely reached forward to take his hand, "Well, this is me wanting to do something to help you." I smiled reassuringly at him, "Besides, it's not like I don't drive to your all's house about daily anyway."

Edward reluctantly agreed and followed me to my car.

The car ride was quite, the only sound was my radio playing quietly in the background.

EPOV

I was fairly humiliated that I had to beg a ride off of Bella, but still responsible enough to know I had absolutely no business driving. I was trying desperately not to say something completely inappropriate and embarrassing in my mildly inebriated state. Silently cursing and thanking Alice for forcing Bella into that outfit. I was surprised when we got to my house and Bella got out of her car. She followed me up to the house as I opened the door for her. She made her way to the kitchen as I slid my jacket off. Bella spent so much time here, she probably knew this house as well as she did her own. I quickly made my way to the kitchen after her. She had pulled a zip lock bag out of the cabinet and already had it half full of ice and wrapped in a towel.

"Here," she stated, shoving the ice at me. "Put that on your lip, it will help keep the swelling down."

Leave it to Bella to try to take care of me even when it was my own damn fault. Well, the intoxication was my fault, the statements James made, well, that I blame on him.

"Thank You," I mumbled, placing the ice to my lip as instructed.

I watched as Bella pulled out some Ibuprofen and a glass of water and handed it to me.

"Thank You," I said again, catching her hand and squeezing it. "You're too good to me."

Bella shrugged her shoulders and smirked at me, "What, you mean you don't think Lauren would be attentive and know the difference between the Ibuprofen and the dog's antibiotic that you have stored up there?"

The reference was pretty funny but I couldn't understand her bringing Lauren up, and I certainly didn't understand the venom in her voice when she said her name.

"Pretty sure Lauren would've gone running the moment she saw the blood." I saw Bella cringe at the thought of blood. But there was one thing I had to set straight immediately. "Not that it would've made a difference anyway, she's not exactly my type."

Bella looked confused for a moment and then looked up to meet his eyes. "But . . " she stuttered, "you . . . she . . your lap."

I smiled and her blush intensified. She looked absolutely adorable. I laughed, trying to lighten the suddenly tense atmosphere. "She wouldn't get off of me. You should've seen the look on her face when I dumped her on her ass on the floor."

Bella couldn't help but laugh, I could tell she was trying to hold it in. "I think I would've loved to have seen that." She smiled, that heartbreaking smile, at me. "Well, I suppose now that you are safely home and well medicated, I should head out."

"Thanks again, for everything." I offered, following her to the door.

Bella nodded, "Anytime." She turned and kissed my cheek. "I'll see you later."

I stood at the door, watching as Bella got in her car and pulled down the driveway. I leaned against the door, placing my hand to my cheek, relishing in the feeling of Bella's lips being there.