A/N: Guess who finally updated?! Me :) Haha. First off: Thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter, you guys are awesome! Secondly, sorry for the lack of updates! I've been SO busy with school. I though senior year was gonna be easy. Pffft. I was very wrong. I have a shitload of HW every night and then I have college apps and scholarships apps on top of all of it. Ick. Anyway, hope you guys enjoy this chapter :) Lots of E/B action and some naughty E/B and everyone loves naughty E/B!

Take Me On the Floor

"So the Halloween Masquerade is coming up…" Alice trailed off.

"And that's important because…?"

"Because we have to get dresses!" Alice cheered.

"You mean, you have to get a dress," I retorted.

"You mean, we have to get dresses," she paused, "or more than two dresses -- you always need a back up."

"I'm not going."

She scoffed, "Yes, you are."

"I am not."

"Bella," she tried staring me down.

"Alice." I gave her a look just as fierce.

I guess she realized her 'death glare' wasn't working so she stopped. "Why don't you want to go?"

"Because the whole thing is A) totally pretentious, B) defies the whole purpose of Halloween, and C) the girl has to ask the guy. I mean, whatever happened to chivalry?"

"I hate to break it to ya, sweetheart, but chivalry is dead."

"Well, it should be resurrected."

Alice shrugged, "So basically what you're saying is that you don't want to go to the Masquerade because you don't have a date--"

"No!" I exclaimed. "I just don't--"

"Don't worry, I'm sure Edward will say yes when you ask hi--"

I scoffed, "I'm not gonna ask Edward to the dance."

She rolled her eyes, "Oh-kay."

"I don't like him."

"Alright."

"Seriously."

"Okay."

"I don't!" I practically screamed.

"I wasn't insinuating anything, geez." She sounded so innocent.

"Right."

"I wasn't," she said. "You're the one making this more of a big deal than it is."

"I am not."

"Psh, you so are. You guys just gave all this pent up sexual frustration for each other."

"No we don't," I said, sounding a little too defensive. She gave me this 'whatever-Bella' look that I've grown to love and hate over the course of our short friendship. "Whatever."

She smiled, "So you should come over tonight…"

"Why?"

"To try on dresses!" She beamed, "It's gonna be the time of your life--"

"I seriously doubt that," I quipped.

Alice ignored me and kept talking, "I already have a few picked out for you--"

"Alice!" I scolded. "I told you I'm not go--"

"See you tonight," she said, throwing a few books into her backpack and walking away.

I shook my head, she was so demanding sometimes, I thought as my cell phone buzzed in my purse.

I had one new text message.

From Edward.

My place or your place? ;)

I faintly smiled when I read it. We'd been doing this for the past few weeks.

Flirting.

It's a simple concept, really. One person says something witty and innuendo-y and the other person tries to top it. Easy, right?

Wrong! Totally and completely wrong. Flirting comes easy to some people.

Unfortunately for me, I'm not one of those people.

I read into what the other person is saying too much. I think everything has a double meaning. And with such an over-analytical nature, I tend to complicate things. Which is very, very unfortunate since I have a tendency to say the wrong thing at the wrong time.

Ugh. If only everyone knew how hard it was to be big-mouth Bella Swan.

But in this case, it's not. Because I don't like Edward. At all. I mean, he's cute. But I think puppies are cute too so it's no biggie, right?

My place, no one will be home ;) I quickly typed back, mentally giving myself a high five as I anxiously waited for his reply. I bet the lady sitting next to me on the subway thought I had OCD because I checked my phone about a million times until he responded.

Lately, I'd been doing this a lot. Thinking about Edward. Ever since Saturday night and our almost kiss, that's pretty much all I've thought about: how it would feel to kiss him. Would he be a soft, gentle kisser? Or a oh-dang-let's-bang type of kisser?

I have a sneaking suspicion he would be a mix of both.

What time should I be there 2morrow?

Around dinnertime, I typed back.

I like my dessert first too ;)

I deeply blushed when I read his last response. How can he manage to get me all tingly inside--and apparently he can manage to make me cheesy as well--with a simple innuendo-y text message about a Bio study session?

Haha, I typed, trying to figure out what to say next. Sooo, I'm coming over tonight. Get excited!

Oh trust me, I am :P

I gasped, not exactly sure what to say to that. I contemplated saying something like 'I'm glad I can do that for you' until I realized how totally lame that sounded. And how lame I was for ever considering saying that.

So I went with the safe choice: change the subject. Haha. Yeaaah so Al is making me go to that stupid Masquerade thing :/

Why are u so sad? Girls like that type of stuff…

Well not this gal. The whole dance is ruining Halloween which is supposed to be about candy, pranks, & masks, not dressing up. & I don't have a date so now I have to ask some random guy…

I believe the masquerade has the mask part covered :P U don't have a date?

DOTFL…not. Nope, but I'm sure you don't have that problem. Girls are prob lining up to ask you.

DOTFL? Why would u think that?

DOTFL=Dying on the floor laughing. I'm guessing you understand the 'not' part :) Um bc you're…I stopped typing for a second as I tried to think of another word for 'hot.'…an appealing guy.

I believe the correct term is ROFL :) Aw, thanks for telling me I'm pretty, I think ur pretty too ;)

Well, I like DOTFL better. Whatever, Mr. Self-Confident. So who's asked you so far?

Well, I like ROFL better. I'm choosing to ignore the next statement. A guy doesn't say no and tell :P Besides there's only one girl I'd say yes to…

DOTFL kicks ROFL's ass, I typed, getting out of the subway. I wasn't sure what to say next because all I kept thinking was who's that bitch that he wants to go with? And one question followed that question: why was I so jealous? And when I asked myself that, I got a very logical answer that I didn't like.

Ignoring my jumbled thoughts, I kept typing. Ah, and who would that lucky lady be?

ROFL pwns DOTFL. Welllll…she has brown hair, her b-day is Sept 13, and though she might not want to admit it, she's COMPLETLEY enthralled with me…you might know her ;)

I nearly tripped over my computer chair when I read his text message. He wanted me to ask him. Me. Bella freakin' Marie Swan. The Brooklynite. And the thought of going to the Masquerade scared and excited me at the same time.

I cannot believe you just said pwn! Hahah. As for the girl, she does sound pretty amazing :)

What's wrong with pwn?! So…you think I have a chance?

There ? isn't what's wrong with pwn, it's HOW MANY things are wrong with pwn. And, I believe it's under consideration.

Lol okay. That's all a guy's asking for :)

And this is the point where a text messaging conversation gets sort of awkward because the conversation you just had was over. And you're not sure of what to say next.

So…

What are you wearing? ;)

He such a guy, I thought, shaking my head, but secretly I enjoyed his little over-the-top-sometimes-rude-crazy comments.

I'--I began typing when Charlie swung open my bedroom door.

"Dad!" I screeched and even I knew my voice sounded weird.

"Bella!" Charlie exclaimed, a semi-concerned look on his face.

"Wh-what are you doing here?"

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm in my home…"

"I mean, what are you doing here so early? You usually don't come home till, like, 6 or something."

"Well, I thought I'd change that," he paused, "I've been working so much lately that I've sort of forgotten how my own daughter looks like." He pulled up a box of Chinese take-out, "I thought we could have some father-daughter time…"

I smiled, "And how did the station feel about you going home early?"

"Who cares? You're Daddy's tha boss!" He chuckled.

I laughed, "And that is something I never wanna hear you say again--"

"Why not? I'm just using teenage lingo."

"Teenagers do not talk like that. We talk just like adults. Except we're more sarcastic. And snarky," I shrugged as walked to kitchen and sat down at the island.

"So basically what you're saying is that you guys are a little meaner."

"Something like that," I giggled.

Half an hour and many laughs later, Charlie and I were both done eating. I was laughing at some story he was telling me about poker night at Carlisle's when Charlie's face turned solemn.

"Bella," he said, "there's something we need to talk about."

What could he want to talk about--Oh God! I thought. Not that talk.

"Dad, I don't need to hear it."

"You don't?" Charlie looked puzzled.

"I already know everything."

"You do?" He now looked very shocked. Either he was stupid and never recognized my Sex and the City DVD collection or he was just in total denial.

"Yes," I stated. "And I really don't know I need the birds and the bees talk now, I mea--"

"No!" Charlie exclaimed, "I, um, don't need to talk to you about that."

"Oh," I said, completely embarrassed.

"It's something else."

"Okay," I said. "Tell me."

"I got a phone call the other day…"

"From who?" I asked.

Charlie took a deep breathe, "Before I say anything I just want you to keep an open mind."

Okay, so now he was sort of freaking me out. "Okay," I nodded, pretending to be calm when on the inside I was freaking out.

"I got a phone call from your Mother's husband--" Charlie was saying some other stuff but after those last two words, time had stopped for me. The clock stopped ticking. The drippy faucet stopped dripping.

My whole world stopped.

"What?" My voice sounded shaky. I didn't like the fact that this was affecting me so much.

"Your mother's husband invited you to brunch."

"Brunch?" I questioned, getting more annoyed by the second because Charlie was being so blasé about this.

"Yeah."

It's been twelve years. Twelve long years. And her new husband--which I had no clue she had--just invited me to brunch. To freakin' brunch! I'm not even special enough to get a real meal like breakfast or dinner.

I get brunch.

"No," I said.

"What?" Charlie asked.

"I'm not going," I paused, "you can tell Renee's husband I won't be attending that brunch."

"Bella," Charlie scolded, his face serious.

"I'm not going."

"You should think abo--"

"Think about what?" My voice went up a few octaves as I tried to keep my emotions in check. "Think about how she left us? Or how she never called or e-mailed or visited after that?"

"She's tr--"

"I'm not going and that's final. I can't believe you're even considering this--"

Charlie looked away from me, "She's tried contacting us before…"

The whole world stopped again. "She...you…" I trailed off. I couldn't take this. Not right now. I couldn't believe Charlie had lied to me. "How long?"

"Ever since she left--"

"You're lying."

I felt like a kid who's just been told that Santa Claus doesn't actually exist.

"I didn't think you'd be ready t--"

"I need to go," I cut him off. My voice was emotionless.

"Bella, d--"

I got up and grabbed my cell phone off the coffee table, "Alice wants me to come over and try on some dresses for the Halloween Masquerade--"

"Don't--"

I ignored him, walking to the door, "Don't wait up."

"You can't just leave, Bells. We have to talk about this," Charlie said.

"There's nothing I want to talk about."

"Bella."

I shook my head, "You lied to me."

"I was protecting you--"

"You were being selfish," I retorted. "You were mad because she left you and you wanted to hurt her back, so you kept her away from me."

"That's not true--"

"Do you even know what the truth is?" I asked. "God, I feel like my whole life's been a lie."

"Bells--"

I ignored him, slamming the door shut in his face.

Going up the elevator to the Cullen Residence, I decided not to think about Charlie or Renee at all. Or the fact that my life's pretty much been a lie. I spent years hating my Mother when all along Charlie was to blame.

Ping.

Ping.

Ping.

I relished when the final 'ping' came because I wanted to escape my mess of a life even it was only for a few hours.

"Miss. Bella," Dorota greeted me.

"Hi Dorota," I mustered up a smile, "is Alice up in her room?"

"You just miss her," Dorota said. "Miss. Rosalie was having some troubles and Miss. Alice went to go comfort her."

"Oh okay," I said. "Did Alice say anything about me trying on dresses?" I didn't really want try on the dresses or go to the dance, but I really needed a distraction
"Oh!" Dorota exclaimed. "Yes, she leave note for you with Mr. Edward."

I nodded, "Thank you, Dorota."

Knock.

Knock.

Knock.

No answer. I guess I should just open the door, I thought. So I did. "Edward?" No answer, but I did hear some rustling. "Edward?"

A door opened behind me opened. "Bella."

I turned around to be face-to-face with a half-naked Edward.

He was only a few steps away from me, and for the first time I realized just how much taller he was than me. I had to tilt my head up slightly to make contact with those bright green eyes.

That was the only place I was looking at, of course.

Well, trying to. Rather than staring at his toned, wet chest. Desperately trying.

He was getting me all flustered.

"Would you mind putting on some clothes? Gosh."

"Would you mind telling me what you're doing in my room?"

"Put on some clothes," I said, throwing him a pair of sweatpants that were lying on his bed.

"I will," he said, "when you stop staring at my chest."

"I was n--"

"Quit denying," he said. "I mean you did say I was an appealing guy today--"

"Stop quoting me."

"Stop staring at me."

"I hate you."

"You love me," he sing-songed. "I'll be back." He pointed to the sweatpants. "I wouldn't want to hurt your virgin eyes."

Oh, it definitely wouldn't hurt, I thought. "Whatever."

A few minutes later after I explained the whole dress thing to Edward and after he was fully clothed, we headed off to Alice gigantic walk-in closet.

"Wow," I said.

"I know."

"Does she even wear half this stuff?"

He shrugged, "Probably not."

I walked over to the rack of dresses that had a piece of paper with 'Bella' written on it and grabbed the first dress.

I looked back at Edward who was sitting on a chair by Alice's dresses. "Well?"

"What?" He asked.

"Turn around," I made a circular motion, "I'm not gonna change in front of you."

"You're ruining the whole point of me being the judge--"

"Just turn around."
"Okay, Miss-I-had-a-bad-day."

"You have no idea," I muttered, but I was pretty sure he could hear me.

The black dress was a failure. It had feathers. And I don't like feathers. The next dress was a red one and while it was cute, I just didn't like wearing red. The next one was a yellow empire waist gown and I absolutely loved it.

"What do you think?" I turned around.

"Wow--"

"Well don't look so shocked," I joked.

"No," he said, walking over to me. "You look great." He smiled at me.

"Thanks," I smiled back, looking into those beautiful green eyes. We stared at each other for a moment, no jokes, no sarcasm. Just brown on green.

"Are you okay?" He softly asked.

"What?"

"You have that look on your face."

"What look?" I asked. "I don't have a look."

"The one when you're mad or sad but you're acting like you're fine."

"I am fine," I said looking away from him. Who was he to act like he knew me when he didn't?

He grabbed my wrist, "Bella." His voice was so soft, almost a whisper, as he tucked a stray strand of hair behind my ear.

I wanted to move but I felt like I was paralyzed. I didn't know what to do. I was confused. And hurt. And scared. We were only inches apart and I didn't know why, but I suddenly wanted to kiss him. I wanted him to wash my horrible day away with kisses. So that's why when he leaned in and placed a soft kiss on my lips, I kissed him back.

Kissing me gently at first, he began getting more passionate. He took my bottom lip into his mouth, sucking on it as he slowly lowered the zipper my gown.

I wanted this.

He slipped it off me, his hands caressing my shoulders. He leaned his head down, lightly kissing my lips. As he threaded his fingers through my hair, he looked into my eyes, his eyes gleaming.

I wanted him.

I kissed him once, nimbly untying the string of his sweatpants. As his sweats dropped to the floor, I roughly kissed him, pushing his body closer to mine. He deepened the kiss as we lowered ourselves down on the soft, plush carpet.

I bit my lip as he placed hot kisses down my collarbone and chest. "Edward," I moaned.

He immediately look back up at me, his showing some concern, "Do you want me to st--"

I cut him off, pulling him in for a fiery kiss.

A/N: Ooh lalala. Haha. The chap is titled after a song by the Veronicas.

Good, bad? Comments? Questions? Suggestions?

Review.

P.S., sorry if the 'lemon' was awkward, I'm not good at writing that sort of stuff.