Disclaimer: Twilight and its characters are the property of Stephenie Meyer, and all of the songs represented in this story are the property of their respective owners and record companies. Links to the songs will be posted on my profile.

7. Femmes Night Out

JPOV

We had been sitting at our recently reclaimed table for about twenty minutes when I received the text from Alice warning me that the girls were outside waiting for Rose. In any second they'd be come in and Alice bragged that Bella was looking "hot with a double T". I couldn't help but chuckle before responding my thanks for the heads up and returning my attention to the conversations at hand.

I was relieved to see the Edward and Emmett were in a heated debate and would not notice when the girls entered while Mike and Tyler were in their typical mode of drooling at every pair of legs in the room and occasionally shouting out the rating and location of a female that they found particularly appealing.

I tried to suppress my smile and not show my hand as I solidified my ultimate plan to utilize Mike and Tyler to serve my purpose in getting everyone in one place at the same time tonight.

I watched the ladies walk in all smiles and giggles and I couldn't help my reaction to Bella's new look. Alice wasn't exaggerating…Bella looked amazing and it wasn't going to take long for the vultures to start circling.

Alice looked over with a big beaming smile and a wink, which I returned from behind my beer before pretending to take a big swig. Bella glanced over and I saw her smile falter for a moment but she quickly recovered and rejoined the conversation. In no time Alice grabbed her hand and led the group out on the floor where they danced together while Alice manipulated their positions so that Bella's back was to our table.

Recognizing my window of opportunity I leaned over to Newton mentioning the group of girls on the floor and pointing out Bella's legs. That was all it took; I knew it would be easy. Newton was about as smooth as a prickly pear and only marginally more intelligent. It took less than twenty seconds before Mike's hand slammed on the table and I heard his voice above the music.

"Hey Edward, Emmett, I think we have the winner for the night. I don't think it's going to get any better than the brunette in the black dress with the mile long legs and perky rack at nine o'clock! MmmMmmMmm, I'd love to shove her against the bathroom wall and show her what a real man is made of."

Edward and Emmett looked up from their discussion, more to humor Mike so he'd shut up than anything and they both froze. Edward's eyes grew to the size of fucking dinner plates as his mouth dropped open and I could no longer hide the smirk. On cue and in perfect unison both guys gasped "Ho-LY Shit!" And with that the games had begun.

EPOV

I was in a heated debate with Emmett about which teams were going to make it to the Super Bowl this year when I heard Mike bang his hand on the table and make some over excited comment about a brunette who was the winner of his inane hottest girl of the night game. Every night we went out he would rate all of the girls in the building and declare a winner at the end of the night, so I was surprised when he was naming a winner at eight o'clock.

Curious about the absolute babe that would be worthy of gaining the title so early in the evening I looked up and froze as I saw the most beautiful angel in the world dancing on the floor with a group of girls wearing a sexy thin black dress and tall black heels. She rocked her hips back and forth to the beat as her hair moved in tandem behind her and instantly I was transported back to this morning when I watched this same beauty dancing in her underwear as she dried her hair. BELLA! "Ho-LY Shit!"

It was right about this time that she turned and looked toward our table again with a big bright smile that disappeared the moment she locked eyes with me. She stared at me with a wide-eyed expression before dropping her gaze to the floor with as a deep blush rushed across her face. She shot a quick look up at me through her lashes and she smirked making my dick jerk in my pants in reaction. Holy fucking shit…this morning my idea of sexy had been obliterated and replaced by cotton underwear and then just now that smirk replaced every cum face I had ever seen. The look was the hottest expression ever to possess a female face. I was so completely and totally fucked and I couldn't take my eyes away from the angel that continued to sway in front of me.

I saw Bella lean forward and say something to the group of girls who I finally recognized as the rest of the Femmes and Rose. How had I missed that before? I didn't even notice the rest of the girls or anyone else in the room for that matter. Just then they all turned to look our way and I realized I was still staring, with my mouth open. I don't think I actually blinked since I looked up and saw her. The girls all giggled and waved a little, earning a smile and wave for Rosalie from Emmett and out of the corner of my eye I saw Jasper blow a fucking kiss at them! What the fuck?

BPOV

I was freezing as we stood in front of Dooley's waiting for Rose. Alice insisted that we not wear our coats so that we could dance all night without having to juggle and worry about them. I reluctantly agreed, but if I had realized she was going to make me stand outside in the autumn night air waiting on the always late Rose, I would have dealt with the coat inconvenience just to keep from contracting pneumonia!

I tried to convince her that we should wait inside, but she flipped out saying something about making an entrance as a group to draw the attention of the single hotties. I scoffed informing her that I had no desire to pick up a 'hottie' tonight. I just wanted a night to hang out with the girls. She rolled her eyes pulled out her phone; I could only assume she was texting Rose. A few minutes later a cab pulled up in front of us and Rose stepped out looking absolutely stunning, as usual. Normally Sabrina was the most noticed girl in our little group, but Rose's presence was going to skew the balance a bit.

"What the hell are you bitches doing standing out here freezing?" She asked with a big smile at Alice.

"Waiting for the resident Amazon, that's what! Why is it that you are always late? I swear you will be late for your own wedding," I answered with a teasing smirk.

She laughed and shook her head before stopping to look me up and down. "Holy shit Bella…they actually got you into a dress and heels? You look damn hot girl!"

I rolled my eyes and suggested we go inside before our appendages start falling off from frostbite. We walked in, immediately earning smiles from Mama D and several of the greasy looking guys at the bar. All male eyes surveyed the group lingering on Rose and then Sabrina with much sorter glances at Krista, Alice and me, but appreciative nonetheless.

I scanned the room looking to see if I knew anybody else here tonight when my eyes fell on my regular table to see my boys. Jasper smiled up at us with a smug smirk before I shifted my gaze to see Emmett and Edward in a heated discussion. I couldn't help but feel my mood drop about ten points. Is it really too much to ask for one night away from the drama that is Edward?

I turned my back on the scene to see Alice looking over at Jasper with a wide goofy grin on her face and I chuckled at how cute they were. "You can go over there and grab him for a dance you know. We would understand," I whisper yelled to her over the noise.

"No way! This is girl's night and girl's night is sacred…no boyfriends allowed."

I smiled and gave her a knowing eyebrow waggle, "Boyfriend? So it's official? He's really your boyfriend now?"

She sighed, "I guess. I mean do you have to have an official proclamation that you're together? We've been together every night this week, we constantly call and text. He's been a perfect gentleman and hasn't even tried to get me into bed."

My mouth fell open and I stared at her in awe for a moment. "Jasper? Jasper Whitlock? The insanely handsome blonde man sitting with my brother over there sipping on an Amstel? Are you sure that's the man you're seeing because it really doesn't sound like we're talking about the same man!"

She laughed, "Yes silly, and don't worry he's hinted plenty but when we talked about it he said that he doesn't want to rush things or ruin what we have going so he's letting me set the pace. He's really sweet you know."

I looked back over my shoulder and smiled as Jasper threw his head back and laughed at something one of the boys had said. I was proud of Jasper. It was about freakin' time my boys started growing up a bit…first Emmett, now Jasper…I was pleased.

"Now come on, we came here to have fun…let's go shake our groove thang on the dance floor," Alice chirped, as she grabbed my hand and dragged me behind her to join the throngs of people on the floor grinding to Paralyzer.

At first I felt a bit stiff and awkward trying to dance in the short dress and high heels. It was one thing to cut loose in my bathroom while I was drying my hair where I could do whatever I want, not worrying about making a fool of myself, but it was quite another to do it in uncomfortable clothes in front of a room full of witnesses. After a few minutes though I began to just enjoy the company and not worry what anybody else thought. I was having fun; we were all laughing and shifting around doing our best sexy hip shimmies when Alice started laughing. I looked up at her in question and she pointed behind me.

I slowly turned to see both Edward and Emmett staring at me and looking like someone just punched them in the gut. Emmett's face finally softened into a small smile and a wink. Edward, however, just continued to stare at me with huge eyes and his mouth looking like it was left unhinged. I glanced away in embarrassment feeling; my cheeks warm with the emotion as I thought of the look on his face. Behind the shock, his eyes were filled with something a bit more intense; there was also what appeared to be, well, desire. I looked back up to see that he had finally managed to close his mouth, but his eyes were smoldering and I couldn't help but smirk at the implication. I saw him squirm a bit in his seat before I turned back to the girls.

"So, Edward seems to appreciate the new look," Rose yelled above the pounding beat.

"What?" Sabrina and Krista asked, having been completely unaware of anything going on up to this point as they were thoroughly distracted by a table holding three very attractive guys on the other side of the dance floor.

I leaned forward and explained what happened pointing behind me to the table that held my still slightly shell-shocked brother and friends, all the girls laughed. We continued to dance together while the music changed from one dance beat to another. It was fun being with the girls; after a while I no longer worried if I looked foolish because we would all do cheesy moves together or sing along to the lyrics of a song.

Eventually the music morphed again to the Pussycat Dolls song Don't Cha. I never really liked the song, but Rose and Alice squealed in delight, breaking out some really sexy grinding action on one another, I stood there in shock. They laughed and pulled me between them; I stood stiff as a board. Rosalie was behind me and Alice was in front of me as Rose yelled into my ear. "Trust us Bella, you want to get to Edward, just loosen up and trust us."

I was way too straight laced to fall into grinding with two girls so easily. Rose groaned, grabbing my hips in her hands and forcing me into the right rhythm as Alice pulled my arms over her shoulders helping me to loosen my upper body a bit. When I finally got the hang of it I chanced a glance over to the table to see that every single one of my boys were watching us in shock and amazement, occasionally shifting in their seats uncomfortably.

Only after I had fully evaluated the situation at our normal table did I look at some of the others around us to see that not only were my boys watching with rapt attention, but it seemed every other male in the room was too. Suddenly my bashful nature returned and I felt my face growing warm with my ever-increasing blush.

I was relieved when an instant later I felt Rose disappear from behind me as my brother stole her for some one on one dancing. A few seconds later I saw Jasper step in front of Alice and she let go of my hands, I stepped back allowing them to grind together without a third wheel.

I was suddenly feeling a bit out in the open being left without a partner when I felt warmth behind me. I spun with a glare already emblazoned on my face to find myself face to face with a rather burly looking drunken man with a shaved head. He looked down at me with lidded eyes; his large hands reached out to grab my hips roughly and began to massage them invasively. He whispered suggestively at me and then I felt his right hand slide down to cup my ass cheek.

I didn't even stop to think about the fact that the guy was nearly as big as Emmett and could probably snap me in half if he wanted. My instincts took over with a defensive reaction. I reached behind me to grab one of his offensive paws, bending his middle finger back so that it nearly touched is wrist causing him to jerk away. I quickly reached my other hand over to grab the pressure point in the wrist of his left hand and buried my thumb there causing him to scream momentarily before collapsing to his knees in pain.

I snarled through gritted teeth, "I don't believe I gave you permission to put your hands on me, much less feel me up. I highly suggest you leave me alone and don't go trying that again."

I let go giving him a slight push with my hand. He turned retreating to the bar murmuring something about me being a fucking bitch and most likely a dyke as he left.

I heard the cheers of my gal pals behind me and turned to see that Edward was now standing less than a foot behind me. He, along with Jasper and Emmett were all glaring toward the end of the bar where Mr. Grabbyhands was still cradling his hand and bitching to his friends. I moved to position myself between the three of them and their target, clearing my throat with my fists on my hips as I glared up at them.

"I took care of it boys, now just leave it be. Do not, I repeat, do not go kicking his ass and getting yourselves in trouble…well not unless you see him pulling that shit on another innocent girl, Then by all means, turn his face into hamburger meat."

Jasper and Emmett looked down at me with wide admiring smiles, obviously proud of how I handled the situation. Emmett piped up from where he stood with Rose still tucked in his arms, "Now that's how you handle the barflies baby sister. I'm proud of you. I don't remember teaching you that move though…where did you learn it?"

"Med school big brother, med school…nobody's immune to pressure points, no matter how big or strong they are." I let my gaze shift quickly over to Edward who still looked upset, but at least he let his posture settle a bit before I looked back over to Emmett and winked.

Emmett and Jasper returned their attention to grinding on their lady loves when the music changed again; I looked over to see that Sabrina and Krista were each dancing with a boy from the table that they had been flirting with earlier. So much for girl's night being sacred, I was once again the one left alone. I turned to go to the bar for a drink when I felt a warm hand on my arm.

"Bella, are you okay?" My breath caught in my chest as the liquid velvet voice full of remorse and hope sent chills down my back.

I turned to meet his concerned green eyes. I felt a surge of annoyance mixed with sadness. "Yes Edward, I'm fine, thanks."

"W-Will you dance with me?" he asked holding his hand out questioningly.

"Edward, I'm sorry but I…I don't want to do this tonight. I'm here to have fun with my girlfriends. I need a break from the drama. Thank you for checking to make sure I'm okay and being willing to step up to help me, but we're going to need to really sit down and talk about all of this stuff and I just don't want to do that right now…okay?"

He looked down, the disappointment obvious on his face; he nodded, apologized before tucking his tail between his legs and walking back to the table to rejoin Mike and Tyler.

"I'm proud of you kiddo," Jasper said from behind me on the dance floor. I looked over to see that both he and Alice were watching with small smiles. "Make the motherfucker work for it for once!"

I chuckled before making my way to the bar to grab a drink and then returned to the other side of the room where my friends had taken a seat at the table with Sabrina and Krista's new friends. Jasper and Emmett were back at our regular table with the other three boys. I slid into the open seat and took a long swill of my strongly mixed drink. It paid to be pals with the owner!

"Bella, I'd like you to meet Chris, Dan, and Trevor. Guys this is our other friend Bella," Sabrina said when I was settled. I smiled and said hi to the guys before me. Sabrina was always good at finding a hot group of guys to spend time with in social settings and this time was no exception.

Chris was a tall thin man with sandy blonde hair and gray eyes. He was already situated next to Sabrina, arm draped casually behind her chair marking his territory for the evening. She seemed pleased with the situation, yet I couldn't help but notice that she would cast an occasional annoyed glance over at Trevor who was actually quite adeptly managing to ignore all of the girls.

Dan was shorter with dark hair, blue eyes and a really cute set of dimpled cheeks. He seemed a bit shyer than Chris and sat quietly to himself casting furtive glances at Krista ,who also being shy, would toss occasional glances his way followed by a blush. I found it funny that she had managed to dance with him earlier and still be so awkward with him now…but that was Krista. She didn't have much faith in herself when it came to guys. She was pretty, sweet, and funny with a love of all things sports and NASCAR…basically she was a guy's wet dream and yet she never believed that she had much to offer a guy.

Finally there was Trevor, ah Trevor…the epitome of tall, dark and handsome with a strong angular jaw, dark mysterious eyes and hair so deep and dark it was almost black. I couldn't say for sure, but I would have guessed him to be somewhere around thirty. I couldn't help but notice the frequent looks he got from not only Sabrina, but most of the other females at the surrounding tables. He was definitely this group's version of Edward, so I was glad to be ignored, not wanting to travel down that road again.

I took another long sip of my rum and coke and tried to settle my nerves after the whole Mr. Grabbyhands and the subsequent Edward encounter. I found myself taken aback when Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome himself leaned over and asked me a question.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't catch that," I replied sucking in a breath when I realized how close he was to me.

"I said that was an excellent display of using pressure points in self defense. Where did you learn to do that?" His voice was smooth and masculine and very sexy. He had an amused look on is face that made his mouth twist up in a very appealing smirk that slid all the way up to his eyes. I fought the instinct to roll my eyes at another Edward type encroaching on my night.

Not knowing this very attractive and most likely very smooth gentleman well, I decided to play the brother card to keep him honest. "Well, most of my self defense techniques I learned from my brother and his friends. They're cops so they taught me a thing or two." Okay, so I didn't give ALL of the details about what kind of cops they are. I mean, I didn't need to be cockblocking myself if he ended up being worth my time after all. I also didn't know if I really wanted this guy to know too much about me in case he turned out to be some kind of strange stalker or something.

I was pleased to see that his reaction to the news about my brother wasn't a negative one. He raised his eyebrows looking a tad impressed. "I think it's incredibly sexy to see a woman capable of defending herself. So many women get this idea that men want their women to be weak and incapable so they can save the damsel in distress. There probably are a lot that do, but I find independent women far more interesting."

I could feel the heat invading my face to hear this handsome man refer to me, however indirectly, as sexy. I dropped my eyes to the table for a moment to collect myself before looking up to smile at him through my lashes, earning a wide smile back.

Shortly after our brief conversation the girls grabbed my hand pulling me up to dance again when Pink's U and UR Hand began to pump through the loud sound system. We laughed and shook our hips as we sang along with the girl's night anthem. Even though we weren't totally opposed to maybe walking home with a number or two if we could find someone decent to talk to, we definitely didn't want the type of guys in the song to bother us.

As the girls and I stood together singing along with the powerful girl rock lyrics, I couldn't help but feel a swelling of joy in my chest in spite of everything I had been going through lately. This was definitely something I had been missing in the last seven years. Even though I hadn't known them all that long, we had bonded in the trenches of the hospital and in our relationships with my boys. I could feel us becoming a bit of a sisterhood and I couldn't be happier. I felt the wide smile on my face throwing my head back in laughter at Rosalie getting a little over enthusiastic with her gestures to the lyrics.

When the song ended the music morphed into a song I didn't care for and my feet were in dire need of a rest. They were definitely not accustomed to being in heels at all, much less dancing for hours on end. I slid back into my seat wishing I had thought to get another drink before I sat down. No sooner had the thought crossed my mind, a fresh rum and coke slid in front of me as Trevor settled into the seat next to me.

"After that kind of dancing I figured you might want a drink to cool off. It was a rum and coke right?"

I smiled up at him with a nod wondering for a minute if I should trust the drink in my hand. I did after all just meet this guy less than ten minutes ago. After considering that I was surrounded by my friends and boys who were most likely watching like hawks from their table across the room, I figured my back was covered. I took a long drink, relishing the feel of cool liquid in my mouth that turned warm as it traveled down my esophagus to my stomach.

"So, tell me a little more about yourself Bella." Trevor smiled from his seat next to me leaning closer in interest.

"Oh, I don't want to talk about myself all night. I'm boring." I answered with an exaggerated eye roll. Trevor chuckled.

"Okay, make a deal with you, if you share one thing about yourself then I'll share something about myself. Tit for Tat. How does that sound?"

I took another sip watching him with wary eyes before sitting down my drink and agreeing. "You first," he said with a wave of his hand toward me.

"Hmmm, well I actually grew up downstate, about three hours from here."

His eyebrows shot up. "No kidding? I just moved here from Springfield. Where did you live?"

My eyes grew wide as I turned towards him engaging him more actively in the conversation now. "Seriously? Wow, I grew up in Lincoln."

He smiled knowingly and thus began our back and forth comparing experiences and discussing people that we knew from our respective hometowns. We finally decided that we had at least one set of friends in common, commenting on what small world it was.

After about thirty minutes of chatting the girls were getting antsy for me to dance again, so I excused myself from Trevor and joined them on the floor.

"So…" Rose began as she and Alice crowded on either side of me as we danced to the Nine Inch Nails song Only, "What's going on with you and Mr. Hottie? You two were looking pretty cozy there."

I blushed and looked down to which they squealed. "Stop guys, I don't really know. I mean we've just been talking. He recently moved here from Springfield which is only about thirty miles away from where I grew up, and we just seemed to have a lot in common."

"Well I can say one thing," Alice chimed from next to me, "He definitely seems to find you interesting. He hasn't taken his eyes off of you since Krista and Sabrina first started talking to his friends right after we got here." I blushed again and she giggled.

"And an added bonus," Rosalie laughed from next to me, "it's driving Edward in-fucking-sane!"

I looked up at her in surprise. "Why?"

Rose scoffed, "Because he's starting to take his head out of his ass, enough to realize that you're more than just his friend or little sister, figures he does so just in time for you to finally get the attention you deserve from a spectacular example of the male species!"

I rolled my eyes, "I wish you would stop with the whole Edward having feelings for me stuff. I don't believe it for a minute. He's just a horndog who can't keep his pants on and he simply forgot who he was with. He truly only thinks of me like a sister."

Rosalie was laughing out loud then, "Yeah, if he thinks of you as a sister then the boy has major issues with inbreeding. He's had a chubby all night watching you dance."

My mouth fell open as I smacked her on the arm. "Rosalie Lillian Hale! Stop that, he has not!"

"Um Bella?" Alice chirped from next to me with a big goofy grin, "that boy's been sporting wood ever since he first caught sight of you dancing. You haven't noticed the way he keeps fidgeting in his seat?"

I stared at her with wide eyes. "No, I've been doing my best to ignore him altogether so I can actually enjoy my night out. Are you serious? No way!"

"Isabella Marie Swan…have you even bothered to look at yourself in the mirror? You look so sexy it's not a wonder that we don't have to chase them off with bats tonight!"

I snorted in a very unladylike fashion. "Please Rose…you and Sab are the show stopping beauties of this group. I'm nowhere near being capable of drawing that kind of attention and you know it!"

Rose just sighed in defeat; Alice rolled her eyes. The song changed as our conversation came to an end and Rhianna's Disturbia began to play when I felt a warm presence behind me. I turned with a glare already in place, ready to fend off another Mr. Grabbyhands, only to find a smiling Trevor standing with his hands securely grasped behind his back.

"May I have this dance Miss Swan?" he asked holding a single hand out for me to take. I blushed before smiling and reached out to take it. He stepped a bit closer and placed his hands respectfully on my waist. I placed mine on his shoulders and we began to dance to the rhythm with several inches separating us.

I hadn't really noticed before this moment, but Trevor smelled amazing. I immediately recognized the Hugo cologne, which has always been one of my favorites, but it was mixed with the smell of his masculine shampoo and another scent that I couldn't quite place. I closed my eyes, reveling in the sensation of being so close to a male who wasn't one of my boys. It had been two years since I had even been relatively close to someone outside of our circle of friends.

By the end of the song we had managed to close some of the space, but were still not grinding on one another, I was pleased with his respectfulness. At one point in our song I happened to glance over at my boys' table to see all of them glaring in our direction…but Edward's expression was the most vehement of them all. I shot a warning look at each face before trying to ignore them once more.

Trevor and I continued to dance as the song changed once more. I didn't recognize the tune, but to be honest, I didn't really care. I didn't move to break the dance and neither did Trevor so we continued to dance slowly moving closer and closer until there was an infinitesimal amount of space left between our bodies. I was finally getting my nerve up to close the last of the space when Trevor jumped and apologized before pulling a Blackberry out of his pocket, cursing at the screen.

"I've had a really great time getting to know you tonight, but this is work, I really have to go. I'm on call tonight and it appears that they need me."

I was a bit shocked, but I definitely understood having a job that demanded you at all hours. I smiled and nodded thanking him for the nice evening.

He turned to me with a smile. "I had a really nice time and, well, if you're game I'd really like to see you again. Would you be willing to trade numbers?"

I smiled wide and felt myself nibble at my lip in my excitement. I nodded, "That would be great actually. Give me your cell phone; I'll put it in for you."

He smiled, handing it over while asking if I had mine with me. I reached into the small purse that Alice had crammed my money, id, and phone into before we left the apartment and handed it to him. We took a moment to type in our names and numbers before he grabbed his jacket off of the back of his chair and gave me a soft kiss on the cheek before rushing out into the cool October night.

Immediately all four girls were crowded around me asking for details. They all squealed and jumped up and down clapping as I told them about his smell and how respectful he had been and how he said he wanted to get together sometime and even traded numbers. Then Alice asked me what his job was that called him out in the middle of the night, but I couldn't answer her. I actually had forgotten all about work. Come to think of it, neither one of us had mentioned it.

We continued to drink and dance, occasionally being joined by one or more of my boys as the time inched past midnight. The combination of my long, taxing day the exertion of dancing and the effects of the alcohol, I was starting to get really tired and slightly wobbly on my feet. I stumbled for the fourth time during Kid Rock's All Summer Long when I felt a warm pair of hands on my waist steadying me. I didn't have to turn around to know who it was the tingle in my body and the smell of his cologne mixed with beer told me all I needed to know.

Before I could turn around to face him I felt his hands slide around my waist as he pulled me close and leaned down so that his lips were at my ear causing his breath to caress my face when he spoke sending goose bumps down my arms.

"You look stunning tonight Bella. Every guy in this room was drooling over you, but none of them are good enough for you Bella. You deserve the best and you're not going to find that in a bar in downtown Chicago."

His words angered me and I ripped his arms from my waist. I spun immediately to face him, pulling myself off balance in the process and fell forward against his chest. He grabbed my arms and pulled me quickly away but not before I felt what Alice and Rose were telling me earlier. Edward was definitely flying at full staff, that didn't necessarily have anything at all to do with me. I mean, this is Slutward, who knew what sets the boy off!

After I regained my equilibrium I looked up to glare into his green eyes. I was surprised to find that they didn't have the glassy look he usually got when he indulged in alcohol…he was doing this stone cold sober.

"What the hell Edward! Who are you to decide who is or is not good enough for me to date? The last time I looked I'm fully-grown and capable of making my own decisions as to the company I keep. Besides what the fuck does it matter to you? You don't want me so why can't somebody else have me?"

Edward's eyes narrowed and his lips tightened into a thin line. "Fine, go get your fucking heart broken by that player and see if I care. Trust me Bella, I can spot a smooth operator ten miles away and that guy is a total fucking sleaze. Don't let him play you Bella."

I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms. "Well, I guess it takes one to know one then huh Masen? Who are you to pass judgment on someone you haven't even spoken to? You are like the king of the players, but that didn't stop you from kissing me and then fucking ignoring me for two weeks before getting caught banging a slutty nurse in the doctor's lounge."

"I wasn't banging her. I'd been seeing her for over a week and that was the first time we had done anything but kiss."

I froze as I processed what he said. He'd been seeing her for over a week? As in dating her? As in a relationship? He kissed me and then went and decided to go have a RELATIONSHIP with the biggest slut that Northwestern Memorial has ever seen? What the fuck?! I could feel the tears pooling in my eyes. I didn't want them to come but I couldn't fight them back anymore. If I thought it hurt that he was just screwing the skank like all the other hussies in his life, this was a thousand times worse.

"You know what Edward…" I didn't get a chance to finish my sentence because Edward's pager began going off. He pulled it out and yelled 'fuck'. Just then I noticed that Emmett, Jasper, Mike, and Tyler were all holding their pagers with the same expression. I felt the blood drain from my face and my chest went cold.

It was rare for the guys to get called out on a regular night like this. They were trained for it and it was part of their job. Calls can come at any time for SWAT teams, but in the three years that they have been in SWAT, this was only the tenth nighttime call out that they had received.

Alice and Rose clung to Jasper and Emmett, begging them to be careful and I slowly looked back to Edward. The anger I felt a moment ago was immediately replaced with fear.

"Be careful," I whispered and I stepped forward, wrapping my arms around his neck squeezing him tightly. He turned his face to bury his nose in my neck and I felt him inhale deeply. "I will. I promised you and I'm going to keep that promise. We will be safe and we will come home."

I finally released his neck and stepped back from Edward to be pulled into a bear hug by Emmett and then Jasper as we all said we loved each other. I made them both promise to be careful and call when they got back to the station. I would not sleep until I knew that they were safe.

The boys rushed out the front door and disappeared into the night. Rose, Alice, and I all reached our arms around each other to provide hugs of reassurance to one another.

"Is it always like this?" Alice asked in more than a whisper.

I shook my head, "No, night calls are pretty rare, but very scary. I know I for one won't be falling asleep until they call to let us know that they are safe. Do you guys want to come over and hang out while we wait?"

They nodded; Sabrina and Krista agreed too. We all walked together up the street in a solemn group. We reached my building and climbed the stairs to the fifth floor. Unfortunately the elevator wasn't working; it would have been nice after the long night on our feet in unforgiving heels.

We were all pretty down. Krista and Sabrina only visited a little while before they begged off and headed home leaving Alice, Rose and me to worry together. I made a huge pot of coffee for us to slowly sip while we sat in silence.

Alice was especially jittery as this was her first taste of the life with a SWAT loved one. "Does it ever get any easier?" she finally asked with a sigh.

I sighed, "Easier? I guess in a way you learn to live with it, but at the same time you never really get used to it. Every day when I work the ER I constantly check every trauma that comes in to make sure it isn't one of my boys. Their job is dangerous, but someone needs to do it. They save lives and they make life safer for everyone. They are damn near the closest thing to real life heroes you can get…cops and soldiers and firemen."

Eventually we managed to move on to other topics, we talked about our jobs. Rose was actually a nurse at Northwestern but we never really crossed paths. She worked strictly in labor and delivery, which we had yet to hit in our internship rotation. She loved working there to help bring babies into the world every day. We talked about her and Emmett; how they had already discussed getting married some day and having babies of their own. The idea made me smile. I knew Emmett would be a fantastic dad.

Alice finally told us all about the evolution of her relationship with Jasper. I witnessed the spark between them the first time they met, but I hadn't been privy to the process of them bridging the gap. They seemed to be so good together. He calmed her nervous energy and she pulled him completely out of playboy mode and settled him quite firmly into 'boy in total love mode' which was fantastic.

Thankfully both Rose and Alice stayed clear of discussing my Edward issues, choosing instead to focus on evaluating my evening getting to know Trevor a bit. Now that we were away from the bar and worrying about more pressing issues, the whole situation with Trevor felt superfluous, almost like the events had happened to someone else entirely. It was fun to talk about, but the reality of the situation was that I really didn't believe it would go anywhere long term. I had my career to focus on and he was just getting settled to life in Chicago. The likelihood that our lives would intersect enough to eke out any form of a relationship was very low.

I jumped when my phone finally rang at four twenty-three am. By the time I grabbed it off the chair arm both Rose and Alice's phones were ringing too. We all looked at one another in relief as we answered. Edward was on the other end of the line sounding completely exhausted as he told me that everything went fine and everyone was safe and that we should really be getting to bed. I told him I was glad they were all safe and thanked him for the call before hanging up.

I pulled some blankets and pillows out of the hall closet for the couch and insisted that Alice sleep in my room. Rose could sleep in Emmett's while I took the couch. Alice argued for about ten minutes before finally giving in. As soon as my head hit the pillow I was immediately out, only vaguely registering when Emmett, Jasper, and Edward came in.

Emmett and Jasper disappeared down the hallway and I called after Jasper in a slurred voice warning him that if he had sex in my bed I would murder him in the morning earning a tired laugh. Edward moved to sit on the floor in front of the couch, laying his head on the sofa cushion next to my head and ran his fingers through my hair.

"All night long, I had trouble concentrating because all I could see was your face when I told you about my relationship with Maggie. I didn't realize how much that would hurt you." I could feel the tears welling in my eyes again and I really wished he wouldn't choose to lay all of this on me when I was so tired and vulnerable.

"I just wanted you to know that I didn't realize what she was. She put on a really good show and it wasn't until right before you came out of that bathroom that I saw what she really was. And as far as trying a relationship to begin with, I only did it because I had made a promise to myself the night that you called me Slutward in your sleep that I would try to be a better guy, one who deserved your respect. It bothered me and I wanted to prove that I was capable of being more than that. I picked the really wrong girl at the really wrong time and I'm so sorry. I hope you can forgive me."

I sighed and reached forward to run my hand through is hair and run my thumb over the dark circles under his eyes. "I'm too tired to construct a coherent answer. Can we finish this discussion later?" He nodded weakly.

I scooted back on the couch, leaving space for him to lie on his side next to me and lifted the blanket. He cocked his head looking confused at the invitation before finally climbing up facing me on the couch. He reached his hand up and gently pushed my hair back, tucking it behind my ear before stretching his arm around my waist and relaxing into the pillow. I could hear the steady cadence of his breath as he began to drift off. I sighed and laid my arm on top of his, resting my hand on his shoulder. I was quickly lulled to sleep again but this time it was by the soothing sounds of his breathing.

Author's Note: Ah the drama of Girl's Night. The next chapter will have some of Edward's impressions of tonight along with a bit more of the boys' job. I've been dying to do a good SWAT focused chapter.

As I said before links to the songs will be in my profile, along with pics of how I picture Trevor. I have two words DAVID BOREANAZ. I developed a crush on that man way back in his Buffy days and still drool over him on the show Bones. He is so hot! It seems I have a thing for guys who play vampires! LOL! David, Stuart Townsend in Queen of the Damned, Gerard Butler in Dracula 2000, and of course the entire male vamp cast of Twilight! RAWR!

Okay…it's really late again. My sleep is definitely playing the price for this story…but it is SO Worth it! LOL By the way, the hits are still amazing and this story got it's 100th review on Monday! Woohoo! You guys rock and I love hearing from you so please review!

Thanks to my Beta Sihaya9 for trudging through all 15 pages of this chapter and getting it back so fast!