Author's Note:
I know, I know, it took me FOREVER! I started a new semester in school (after I got dropped from all of my classes and had to re-add all of them, ugh) and I'm in my brother's wedding and his bride-to-be had a few wedding meltdowns plus work and time go away and I suck. I'm sorry. Hopefully this will suffice as something to make up for the long wait. I loved all of the reviews and I'm so glad that I was added to so many alert lists! I'd love getting more feedback when you're all done with this chapter!
Not my characters, I wish they were.
Three or four or seven tiny glasses later, I was feeling better. I didn't think anything could get me down, except maybe that suddenly I really wanted a Jack in the Box taco. Everyone was here to celebrate with me. These people loved me!
I slid onto a barstool at the bar. "Jazzy!" I yelled to my favorite bartender.
"Hey, Bells," he grinned and got out a glass to put ice and a clear liquid from his spigot in it. He set the glass in front of me. "Drink up!"
I took a tentative sip of the drink. Water? Why would he give me water? "Water?"
"You'll thank me in the morning." He smiled.
Jasper was a good guy. He had gone to school in So Cal like the rest of us but he was here from Texas. When he graduated, he couldn't bring himself to leave. He was full of southern hospitality and a southern drawl that you could feel. He looked like he belonged in California. He had sunny blond hair that waved and blue eyes that seemed to go on forever like the ocean. He was tall as Edward but thin, not as much muscle.
I rolled my eyes at him but drank it anyway. "Thank you."
Alice came over and sat next to me on the stool. "You ready for some karaoke?" she nudged me and then she noticed Jasper. "Hi, Jazz."She smiled shyly at him. Alice had a thing for Jasper, even though she'd never admit it. She wanted him to chase her and frankly Jasper wasn't very astute about the situation.
"I guess," I told her. "Bye Jasper!"
The karaoke announcer was speaking into the microphone, riling everyone up and suddenly, my name was called with Alice and Rosalie's. We all went up on the stage and awkwardly stood around waiting for the music to start. I had no idea what I would be singing. But when the music started, I recognized the song immediately. After the incredibly dirty nineties pop song that was mostly in French, the crowd cheered. I was feeling better after my liquid courage had hit my system and though I normally would have been embarrassed that everyone's eyes were on me but with the vodka that I had consumed, I was feeling great.
I walked down from the stage area to bump into Edward. "Edward! Hi!" I threw my arms around his neck in a hug.
"Hey, Bells," he laughed at me and helped steady me while I detangled myself from him. Walking was really hard.
"Where's Tanya?" I asked when I realized she wasn't next to him, glaring at me disapprovingly.
"She had to go home. She wasn't feeling well and she has to work early tomorrow morning." He wouldn't look me in the eye.
"Tomorrow's Sunday," I looked up at him expectantly.
He looked down. "Bella, I can't talk about it right now. It's complicated."
I frowned. It seemed like since he married Tanya, everything was complicated.
Emmet came and put his arm around me and handed Edward a beer. "You're hogging the star of tonight's show, Eddie!" He grinned at me again and steered me back to the table where Alice and Rose were standing with that Mike guy. "You get back to the girls and we'll be there in a minute."
I looked up at him, questioning.
"It's okay; I just need to ask him something, no big deal." He smiled at me reassuringly and gently pushed me toward the table again.
I stumbled to the table. "Bella! Have a Stella!" Alice yelled, thrusting a beer into my hand. "Get it? Bella? Stella?" She giggled loudly and then snorted.
"Nice, Alice," Rosalie smirked at her; she was much more sober than we were as she was the designated driver.
Mike slid his arm around my waist and pulled me close to him. "What do you think, Brittany? Can I get your number?" He grinned at me.
"It's Bella," I reminded him. "And I don't know that that's such a good…" I trailed off, seeing the disappointment in Rosalie's eyes.
Edward and Emmet rejoined the group, Em sliding between Alice and Rose and Edward taking the spot between Alice and me. I slowly scooted closer to Edward and away from Mike.
Unfortunately, I wasn't sly enough.
"Hey, baby, where are you going?" He asked, tightening his arm around me.
"Oh, I uh, have to pee?" I asked, stumbling closer to Edward, realizing suddenly that, holy crap, I was really drunk.
"I'll walk you over and then you and I can get out of here," he started to pull me toward the back of the bar. I started to panic.
"I can get there on my own." I pulled away and teetered on the heels that were too damn tall for anyone to reasonably walk in.
"Don't be stupid," he told me, gripping my arm.
I looked frantically around my friends for help but Emmet and Rosalie had left to go look through the Karaoke book and Alice and Edward had gone to the bar for another round of drinks. My subtle friends, trying to get me out there in the world, meeting new people. Possibly new rapists.
"I want to get away from you," I blurted out.
He smiled politely, "No you don't. I'm sure you're just saying that because you're drunk." He pulled me closer still and leaned in to kiss me.
I couldn't see or breathe and all I could think was how I wanted to get away and I needed someone familiar to save me and I blurted out the first name I could think into the crowded bar. "Edward!"
And he was there before Mike's lips could touch mine. "I think she said no," Edward said, pushing him away from me.
Mike still had hold of my wrist and as it twisted in his hand, it made a crunching noise.
Suddenly, Jasper was there, out of nowhere, grabbing Mike by the back of the neck. "I think it's time for you to get going, buddy," Jasper told him, ushering him to the door.
"You okay, Bella?" Edward asked me, lifting my wrist to examine it, probing gently to check for breaks.
"I think so," I mumbled. "I just want to go home."
He pulled me into his chest, ushering me toward the door. He took my jacket off the coat rack and draped it over my shoulders. "I'll take you home. Come on, you're okay."
With Edward's guidance, we made it to his car, a silver Volvo and he sat me in the passenger seat. He gently shut the door after me and jogged around to his side.
I buckled myself in and leaned my head against the window.
Edward pulled out his phone and tinkered for a second. "Just letting Rosalie know that I have you and I'm taking you home," he said, finishing his text and starting the car.
"I'm sorry I ruined everything," I mumbled quietly, fiddling with my hands.
"Bella, you didn't ruin anything." He pulled out of the parking space and out of the lot. "Trust me, you didn't ruin anything at all."
I sighed, my head still against the cool window and closed my eyes.
In what seemed like seconds, the car wasn't moving anymore and I was being lifted from the seat in the car. Edward carried me up the front walk and set me on my feet at the bottom of the first set of stairs to get up to my apartment.
"I've got you. Lean on me." He pulled my arm around his shoulders and guided me up the stairs to get to my apartment. When we had somehow made it to my apartment door where he picked me up again and carried me into the apartment and set me gently on my bed. He moved to the foot of my bed, pulled off my shoes and set them on the floor. "I'll be right back."
And that was the last thing I remembered until I woke up again a little bit later. There was a glass of water on my night stand next to my alarm clock that told me it was two thirty. I heard mumbling in the living room and decided to investigate.
"I don't know what happened, he seemed nice enough," Rosalie said.
"Yeah, he wasn't," Edward said to her. "But anyway, sorry I have to crash here, I just don't want to deal with Tanya tonight. She was pretty pissed when she left." He sighed. "I don't know what I'm going to do about her."
"Don't think about it tonight. You can figure it out later," Rosalie said to him.
Clearly this conversation wasn't meant for me so I went to the bathroom and went back to bed.
Author's Note:
Alright, guys, what do you think? I'm a review-whore, again. Love you all!