A/N: What do you mean it's about to be February?!

I'll get my ish together one day, fellows. One day.

"I'm so nervous." Bella struggled not to fidget, sitting with her eyes closed as Jessica did her make-up. "Nervous makes sense—work pressure, dumbass societal conventions and having to see the dickhead without punching him in the face and all—but this nervous? I feel all…" She ran a hand over her stomach and rolled her shoulders. Her skin was crawling; not in a creepy way, but as though a charge ran through every nerve ending she had. "Blargh."

Lauren snickered. Angela sighed. Jessica patted her back. "I'm going to give it to you straight, Bella," her best friend said. "You went and did exactly what we told you not to do. You got yourself into hard-core like with this flower guy."

"I didn't… well..." Bella flushed, and was only kept from ducking her head by Jessica's firm grip on her shoulder. "I don't mean to."

"It happens," Jessica said.

"Complicated doesn't mean it will be bad," Angela added.

"Honestly, Bella, by your age, most of us have had a few relationships, good, bad, and ugly. Gives you character and all that," Lauren said.

"Lauren," Angela hissed.

"Don't tell her she might turn out like you, Lauren, that would turn anyone into a nun. You don't need to scare her just because she's new to the world of dating people you probably shouldn't." Jessica shook her head. "But you'll be fine, Bella."

"At some point, you just sit back and enjoy the ride. Literally, whenever you guys get around to it." Lauren snickered.

Bella had to struggle not to put her hands over her eyes.

"Hey, you never got to date, so you missed out on this part," Jessica said. "The butterflies and these types of moments. You're about to get at least one fairy-tale moment out of this little complication of yours. You know that part in the movies where the door opens, the woman appears, and she's so gorgeous, you can see in his eyes there's not a thought in his head but 'wow'? This is your moment, girlfriend."

Bella barely had time to glance at herself before the doorbell rang. Jessica stopped her from jumping to her feet, telling Lauren to let Edward in. She squared Bella in front of her for one last look-over. "You're going to kill it tonight, Bella. That man downstairs is lucky to get to be the one by your side. Don't forget that."

They hugged. Angela squeezed her hand. Bella took a deep breath, reminded herself she could handle whatever tonight brought, and headed for the stairs.

The butterflies went wild as she appeared at the top of the stairs. Somehow, though, she still heard his quick intake of breath, and his murmured, "Oh, wow."

~0~

Overcome with nerves as they pulled up to valet parking, Bella couldn't help the giggle that bubbled up.

"I'm emotional," she said when Edward raised a questioning eyebrow. "Laughing is better than..."

Throwing up? Her stomach was in knots. She didn't want to do so much of tonight. But along with the churning of nerves and bitter anger, there was something else fluttering in her belly.

Butterflies. Like Jessica had said.

Edward's expression was gentle as he reached out, taking her hand and giving it a brief squeeze. "I've got your back."

She released a deep breath, warmth flushing her cool skin.

It had been a confusing few weeks. Dealing with Jacob's betrayal had her reeling. It was a different kind of heartbreak from those of most romances. Her love for Jacob had never been intense. It was steady and comforting. In some ways, that made the agony of what he'd done to her that much more unbearable. Best friends were supposed to be the people one could turn to when lovers broke you.

Yet, despite the newness of her pain, there was still room in her heart to feel something for Edward. Like. Thrill. Fire. Giddy, dizzying desire.

Bella opened her own door, but Edward was there with a hand as she got out of the car. He twined their fingers tightly together. She stepped back so he was at arm's length and gave him yet another once-over. She sighed. "It's ridiculous how good you look tonight."

His grin was stunning; literally that—her breath caught, and she couldn't remember how to function for a few seconds. He put an arm around her, guiding her away from the car bank.

"I was going to say something similar, though I don't know if ridiculous was the word I was going to use. Looking the way you do tonight, Bella, I doubt anyone's going to be looking at me. But, I took my role as arm candy seriously. One of the upsides of the insanity that is Hollywood? Everyone has an award show suit."

And that was another sprinkling of angst in the tangled mess of emotions roiling in her gut. It was always irritating to be a woman trying to be taken seriously by self-important men. Her excuse to invite Edward to this event still stood. They never said it, in so many words, but Bella could read between the lines. They saw a mechanic like her ex, as beneath them—lesser than—and so her inability to keep such an insignificant catch said more about her in their eyes.

Bella pulled them to a stop just before the entrance to the venue. She stepped off to the side, bringing Edward with her and facing him. Her heart pounded, but the impulse was too strong to ignore. "You know this is more than that, right?"

He tilted his head, his expression unreadable.

She let her eyes flutter closed as she took an unsteady breath. She swayed on her feet, lightheaded, and he put a steadying hand on her waist. At his touch, a small sense of calm fell over her; enough that she could find the words she wanted. She opened her eyes to look into his. "I want you here. Not as arm candy. I want you."

So many layers to those last words. It was the worst timing imaginable. It was confusing and confounding and probably a bad idea when she was emotionally wrought. But it was also true.

His eyes smoldered, heat and energy rife in the air between them. He swallowed hard, the very tip of his tongue wetting his lips; like maybe his thoughts were as tangled and scrambled as hers. He reached out, cupping the side of her face in his palm with a tender touch, his skin warming her cool cheek. "Bella," he said in a low rumble. "I—"

"Bella?"

It was like a bucket of ice water being dumped over her head.

Bella whirled, finding herself facing none other than her ex. Her eyes darted to the woman at his side. She had to struggle not to stare, naturally curious and instantly furious at the gall of the woman to occupy the same space she did. She took a step back, inadvertently crowding Edward. He put an arm around her, tucking her just a little closer to him, as though shoring her up.

Bella tilted her chin up. "Jacob."

There was a hard look in his eyes as he glanced at Edward and back to her. He took the woman's hand. "This is Lizzie."

Some part of her wondered where he got the audacity. "Well, that's special, isn't it," she said, deadpan.

He was glaring at Edward again. "Aren't you going to introduce me to your…friend?"

"Nope. Wasn't planning on it." She looked up at Edward and smiled. "Shall we?"

He pulled her tightly against him, a sexy smile spreading slowly as he looked down on her. "We shall," he said, and swept her away from the incredible asshat, into the foyer.

A/N: Awwwwwwwkward.