Author's Note: I'm soaking up your guys' awesomeness. So, for those of you who are interested I have officially begun writing the sequel to Tinsel Town; I'll put up a little preview of it on my homepage (which is not yet linked on my profile, I'll let you know when I do that) when I get closer to finishing this story. Also, this is of absolutely no importance, but I'm giving all the chapters for the sequel actual names (coming up with them amuse the hell out of me).

Nice reviews are better than chocolate, unless maybe you're licking that chocolate off someone.

Twenty Two

I had known Jasper for almost ten years and I'd never once seen him act like this, even with Maria. With her, it was always work; it was always Jasper not quite living up to her expectations, no matter how he tried to lie to me about his happiness.

Now, as we started getting ready to leave, Jasper had that glazed over afterglow look on his face; an expression I knew I'd been sporting for the last few weeks. He looked at me and composed himself, "that was Alice?" He cleared his throat.

I grinned, "yeah, you should have made the time to meet her sooner. She's a cool girl."

He looked obviously regretful, "yeah."

"Alice just sent me a text message, she says she has some things to do right now and that we should go to dinner without her…She says she'll meet us for an after party she wants to go to tonight." Rose sent Alice a message and put her phone back in her little handbag. We all filed out slowly, making our way through the hoard of socializing and name dropping. Bella was complimented on her dress by a journalist, which we all took as a good sign. Reviews for the show would be coming out now.

I hope this doesn't undermine my edge, but I thought it was fun. The energy was high, everything went smoothly, and Alice looked ecstatic at the end.

"What time is Alice meeting up with us?" Jasper feigned a light indifference in his question, but I knew better.

Rose answered, "she has some interviews to do, she needs to get the clothes and everything back in order, and she'll probably want to clean up – so maybe not for a while. She'll call us when she's ready; we can send the driver for her."

I heard Emmett chuckle to himself at the back of the group, "Jimmy Stewart." He was very easily amused.

They had me choose the restaurant and I picked one that was out of the way enough not to be packed, but still on trend as far as I knew. Jasper knew the hostess and got us a table right away which impressed Rose. I could tell he was rushing through dinner like it would somehow make Alice get there faster; I smirked when he caught my eye and he gave me a definite fuck you glare. He pulled up the cuff of his sleeve no less than eleven times, I counted, to check his watch, but never went so far as to ask where Alice might be. I would have laughed out loud if I wasn't a little afraid he'd bite my head off. By the time dinner was over I thought the poor man was going to pass out.

We walked out into the still warm night air to find our limousine idling at the curb, which was odd because no one had remembered to call Jimmy until we were already outside. He got out when he saw us and opened the back door; I could hear Alice's voice from inside. "Hi! Have some champagne!" She poked her head out and smiled widely.

I glanced over to Jasper, trying to hide my grin.

"Don't even start," was all he said. He reluctantly let Bella and Rose in first before jumping ahead of Emmett in line, a risky move I'd venture.

I got in last, pleased to see that Bella had saved a space for me right next to her. She was on the long bench on one side of Alice (who was still wearing those leather pants, I could practically see Jasper salivating), Rose was on the other. Jasper and Emmett were sitting together on the shorter bench and I stifled a laugh. Alice poured everyone a glass of champagne as we congratulated her on a perfect show. It wasn't until then that she even noticed Jasper in the limo; she leaned forward a little to catch his eye, which wasn't hard to do. "Hi," she said, handing him a glass. "I don't believe we've met," she smiled in this way I hadn't seen her do before. "I'm Alice."

Jasper lifted half his mouth in a grin, "I'm Jasper, it's nice to finally meet you." He brushed his fingers on hers as he took the glass in a way I knew wasn't accidental.

I chanced a look at Bella who was trying to force down the huge smile that wanted to spread across her face. I pressed my face to her hair because I couldn't force down my own grin.

We went to a nightclub that had been transformed into a space for one of the many after parties going on that night. With Alice leading the way, we were let right in; we made our way across the room toward the bar. I made a quick mental note to pay attention to Bella's alcohol intake. Alice ordered drinks for all of us; I wasn't sure how she knew what I liked, but I didn't ask. When she got to Jasper, she turned around to look for him and he perked up visibly. He's a pretty soft spoken guy so he had to lean down close to her ear to tell her what he wanted.

I nudged Bella, "what do you want to bet he said 'you'."

She blushed and elbowed me playfully. I took perverse enjoyment out of making her blush, not in the angry way, but in the way that reminded me of how innocent she was.

Who was I kidding; I had it worse than Jasper.

We went to sit at one of the several loose U-shaped striped booth style seats scattered randomly around the club when I noticed Jasper scoring a seat next to Alice. Good for you, man. Before he could actually speak to her, another man infiltrated our group. He was tan and had curly dark hair and was wearing what looked like a very expensive suit. "Alice Brandon!" He took her hand and pulled her up before she even registered he was there. Jasper was not pleased in the slightest and I watched him fighting the urge to stand up with her. I could only make out parts of their conversation, but it sounded like he was complimenting her on a successful show. Alice smiled and giggled, obviously enjoying the flattery. After a minute he kissed her on both cheeks and said goodbye.

She sat back down with a huge smile on her face and leaned forward toward Bella and Rose. "Oh my God," was all she could manage before having a high pitched fit of giggles; Bella looked confused, Rose looked excited. Jasper looked annoyed. "That was Zac freaking Posen!" She squealed. "Zac Posen came to my show! Zac Posen liked my show!"

I had no idea who that was, but it was giving Alice a heart attack.

Her and Rose talked animatedly about that while I tried to give Jasper subtle encouragement. Emmett moved to sit on Rose's other side, next to me. "Hey," he said quietly, well, quietly for him. "Does your friend have a thing for Alice?"

Bella stiffened next to me and squeezed my hand; neither of us were in the mood for "Papa Bear" to make an appearance. I shrugged, "I don't know, I don't think so."

He nodded, eyeing Jasper warily before getting up to get another drink.

Jasper leaned closer, "should I be afraid of that guy?"

I huffed a quick laugh, "who, Emmett? Naw."

The six of us talked for a while and while I would never normally put this much effort into it, I did try unsuccessfully to get Jasper and Alice talking, but Alice was far too excited to focus on a conversation with just one person. After a while I gave up and dragged Bella out onto the dance floor; I knew she didn't want to, but I didn't care. I wanted to dance with my girl. A slower and admittedly pretty sexy song came on and I used it as an excuse to pull her tighter. She wrapped her arms around my neck; I felt her relaxing so I pressed a kiss onto her shoulder. I had to stop myself from telling her I was in love with her right then and there, figuring a crowded dance floor might not be the best place.

Once the song changed to something a little faster, I grabbed her hips and pressed them against mine. Bella grinned, knowing exactly what I had in mind. After a minute or so of dancing and getting pretty damn turned on she looked away from me to something over my shoulder. I loosened my grip on her and looked behind me to what she was staring at. It was Jasper and Alice, standing at the bar together, alone. Bella and I shared a look before turning our attention back to them. Jasper's back was to me, but whatever he was saying to Alice was making her smile. She took a little step closer and reached out, running her hand along his arm which was still covered in the jacket she made him. When she got to the hem, he grabbed her hand before she could let go and pulled her even closer, which she seemed to enjoy.

Bella took my arm, "I feel like a voyeur now."

I led her away from the floor back to where Emmett and Rose had struck up a conversation with someone I vaguely recognized as an actor. We joined in, but after having Bella dancing practically on me the way she was, my effort in the socializing was half hearted. When we'd talked for what I thought was enough time, I excused us, saying we'd take a taxi so they could have use of the limo.

It was a lot like the first time, kissing and panting and undoing the top of my collar in the elevator, stumbling down the hall to my apartment. I dropped my keys too, but only because I was a little more inebriated than I'd originally thought. Bella giggled at me as I let us inside so I pushed her up against the door and slid a hand up her dress to the waistband of her underwear, tugging them down with more force than I ever use. She gasped and I stopped to look at her; she looked way too sexy for her own good. I grabbed her hips and lifted, her back still pressed against the door; she wrapped her legs around me at the same time. Everything about it was urgent and intense, both of us painfully aware that our time was coming to a close. I didn't want to be farther than arm's reach from her, especially now.

I used my teeth on the soft skin where her neck met her shoulder; I knew it would leave a mark, which gave me a strange kind of satisfaction in the moment.

She pulled my face so it was level with hers, "bedroom," she breathed.

"Screw the bedroom."