Chapter 19

He opened his eyes slowly. Needles of light pierced his eyeballs as the kaleidoscope of a ceiling gradually came into focus. It felt like something was stabbing him repeatedly in the head. He tried to move, but couldn't. It was too painful. The room felt like it was swaying. Was he on a boat? It wasn't outside the realm of possibility. At this point in time he had no recollection of last night's events. All he knew was there was way too much alcohol involved. That was a certainty.

"Duuuuuude, you look sick. And not in a good way." He recognised the sleepy voice. It was Eric, Leah's stoner of a roommate. Edward realised he was lying on Leah's sofa. Definitely better than waking up on a boat in the middle of nowhere. Eric pushed Edward's legs off the couch and sat down, munching on a bowl of Cap'n Crunch. He picked up the remote from the table and turned on the TV. Edward cringed as the loud noise sent a ringing through his ears. "Oh, sorry dude," chuckled Eric, turning the volume down.

Edward pulled himself up, wincing in pain, and rubbed his bleary eyes. He didn't know what time it was, but he knew it must be late in the morning – even early afternoon – if Eric was up eating breakfast. "Where's Leah?" he asked, his voice gravelly.

"Making coffee," said Eric, through a mouthful of cereal. "Looks like you need it, man." Edward rubbed his temples with his forefingers, as if trying to erase the excruciating pain. He felt his stomach lurch. Oh god, no. He held his breath and tried not to move a muscle, waiting for the wave of nausea to pass. Eric, seemingly oblivious to his agony, continued to chew happily on his breakfast.

Leah walked in with a steaming cup of black coffee. "Good morning, sunshine," she whispered, passing the mug to Edward. "How's the head?"

"Broken," mumbled Edward, staring into the hot, dark liquid. He couldn't bring himself to even try and drink it. He didn't think it would taste so good coming back up again.

"What the hell got into you last night? Apart from the whiskey, that is." Leah perched on the arm of the sofa and gently rubbed Edward's head. He leaned into her and groaned. "Do we have to talk about this now?" he asked.

"Yes," she replied, handing Edward his glasses, which she'd taken off him and left on the coffee table last night. "I'm just worried about you, Edward. I've never seen you drink like that before. I mean, I know you're a lightweight, but you usually know your limits. That bottle of whiskey was empty before we left here. So tell me – what's up?"

Edward put on his glasses and squinted his eyes. How was it possible for the room to spin even more now he could see properly? He looked round at Eric, not wanting to pour his heart out in front of that moron. Eric just grinned a stupid smile. "Oh, don't worry about me, bro. You can say anything in front of me. I'm the definition of discretion." He'd put down his cereal bowl and was starting to roll a massive joint.

"What Eric's trying to say," explained Leah, "is that he'll have forgotten anything he hears within the hour. He has a mind like a sieve." Eric beamed and nodded proudly.

"Ugh," moaned Edward. "Okay. It's just… it's Bella." Just saying her name felt like a release, a weight off his shoulders. He was usually so open with Leah when it came to talking about girls he liked, but for some reason he'd kept his feelings for Bella to himself, like a secret he was nursing close to his heart.

"So, you like the girl. Tell me something I don't know," smiled Leah, laughing at the look of shock on her best friend's face. "C'mon Edward, it's pretty obvious. You never stop talking about her. 'Bella this, Bella that.' And I've seen the way you look at her. It's clear you've got it bad. Oh, and let's not forget the fact that you told Bella and Alice I was a fan of some band I'd never even heard of so you could drag us out to that shithole of a bar last night. You are so busted, Edward Cullen!"

Edward sighed, defeated. "God, Leah, you know me too well. I don't know why I bother trying to keep anything from you. She's… I don't know… there's just something about her."

"No, Edward, I get it, I really do. She's hot, talented, smart, fun. And did I mention she was hot?" Leah laughed. "But that doesn't explain the drinking. I know you're not the most confident of guys around women. But you must know Bella quite well by now - you can't possibly be shy around her."

"No, you're right. I'm not shy around Bella. In fact, she's one of the few women I feel really comfortable around. I can just be myself, you know?" Edward dropped his head into his hands. The throbbing was getting worse. He took a deep breath. "We were on the shoot and this guy – the model – asked Bella to go and see that band with him. So I told them you were a huge fan and basically invited us along with them."

Leah burst out laughing. "What! Edward, you gatecrashed their date? You little shit!"

"What was I supposed to do? Okay, don't answer that. I know it was a stupid thing to do. But when I heard him ask her out, something in me just snapped. I was jealous, I guess. I had to do something."

"Fighting for your woman, man. That's cool." Eric was looking at Edward like a nodding dog, a fat reefer hanging out of his mouth.

"No one asked for your opinion, Yorkie," said Leah. "But Eric has a point. I didn't know you had it in you, Edward. You're usually so passive. You must really like this girl. So, I guess you got so drunk because you'd idiotically just signed up for a night out with Bella and her hunky date." Edward nodded, painfully.

"Spare me the lecture, please Leah. I'm suffering enough."

"Edward, I'm not going to tell you off. You're an adult, you're big enough and ugly enough to make your own mistakes. But if you really like Bella this much, don't you think you should maybe take a different approach? Like asking her out on your own date rather than gatecrashing someone else's?"

"It's not that simple, Leah. Firstly, she's kind of my boss. Secondly, I don't even know if she's interested in me. And thirdly, she's just got over the most horrendous of break-ups."

"Oh, the pink strap-on dude," said Eric, knowingly. Edward looked at him in surprise, before turning on Leah. She shrugged. "What? That story was too good to keep to myself."

Edward, too hungover to get mad, continued, "And then there's the fact that I probably made such a complete ass of myself last night that Bella probably wants nothing to do with me, on a professional or personal level." He groaned again.

Leah chuckled and ruffled Edward's hair. "Don't worry, you weren't that bad. Apart from the bit where you pulled down your pants and mooned Bella and Alice on your way out…" Edward's head flew up in shock, a look of horror on his poor face. "Ha ha, I'm just kidding, Edward! Chillax! Seriously, if Bella is still speaking to you after your little karaoke stunt from the other week, you have nothing to worry about."

"I should probably call her to apologise," said Edward, reaching for his cell phone on the coffee table. There was a text message. From Bella. Oh crap, he thought, his stomach churning. He read the message out loud to Leah: "'Hey Edward, I guess you won't get this 'til the morning but just checking in to see if you're okay. You were pretty twisted last night! Hope the head doesn't hurt too bad! Bella. Kiss.' Oh my god, Leah, she put a kiss. What do you think that means?"

"I think that means you should stop being a girl and over-analysing text messages. She's obviously been thinking about you, though – that's a good sign."

"I need to see her, to say sorry for last night," said Edward, standing up with determination and having to sit straight back down again as his head felt like it was going to spin right off his shoulders.

"Whoa, steady on there, Eddie!" smiled Leah. "Don't you think you should at least take a shower first? I don't think stale alcohol and bedhead is the way to a woman's heart."

"Fine," grumbled Edward. "But then I'm going straight round to Bella's. You're right, Leah. I need to take a different tact. I'm going to tell her how I feel."

A/N: Some of you had been asking if there would be an Edward POV - so while I don't really write from POV, I hope you like this little insight into Edward's side of the story. Looking forward to reading your reviews! x

Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns all things Twilight.