Disclaimer: Twilight belongs to Stephanie Meyers. I'm just having some fun with her characters.

BPOV

"I'm not going to go into too many details about the night Edward met Bella because it would incriminate more than a few of us in the room," Emmett says, throwing a look over his shoulder at us and earning a laugh from the room.

I glance at Edward's lazy smile.

I was a little nervous that he chose Emmett to give the speech over Jasper, but if he trusted him then I'd go with the flow.

As Em tells the tale of the night we first met, my eyes search the room to find my mother who sits two tables away with a look of disapproval.

I bite my lip.

As Emmett walks the room through that first night, my thoughts start to stray to what actually happened that night.

"I promise we don't have to stay, I just need to pick up my brother's keys," Rose insists while we step onto the elevator in a very swanky building in Logan Square.

I met Rose a few months ago when I transferred to Northwestern for law school.

I left my home state of Washington due to a messy breakup with my ex, Mike. I probably wouldn't have ever left Seattle if I hadn't walked in on him and his fellow intern, Jessica. She was hiding under the desk in our shared home office.

The 'o' shape on his mouth wasn't from the surprise of being caught but from him coming.

At that moment I decided that I still had time to accept the offer Northwestern presented me instead of accepting my spot at my undergrad alma mater of UDub.

I didn't want to spend the next few years possibly bumping into Mike on campus when he started his grad program.

"He's going away?" I ask absently.

"Work trip," she says, a little distracted by her phone as we reach the twelfth floor. "I should have given you more warning but he's a douche."

My eyebrow quirks in surprise.

Rose was known to be blunt, if not overly direct, but she was also very charming. She was the star student in our criminal law class.

So maybe her brother being a so-called douche should make sense. If Rose were a man she'd be categorized as arrogant and maybe a little douchey.

The elevator stops and the doors open where there are only three doorways in the hallway.

I grow more curious about what Rose's brother did for a living, assuming that living in a place like this he was older than her.

A flow of music could be heard once we stepped out of the elevator. I started to regret not just meeting her at the bar instead of tagging along with her after we left class.

Rose reaches for the door handle not at all surprised that it was unlocked, clusters of people were spread out in the entryway, a tell-tale sign that this was a party.

I followed behind Rose taking in how sleek everyone looked and here I was in ripped jeans and a black cami ready for the bar.

These people seemed cultured and polished, they reminded me a lot of the type of people my mother surrounded herself with in Los Angeles.

We walked into a spacious living room where a man stood surrounded by a small group. He had a champagne glass in one hand and a vape pen in the other.

His audience was captivated by every word leaving his mouth.

He was tall and lanky, but still muscular.

He was wearing a black t-shirt with light-worn jeans.

Feet bare.

His hair was longer but not long, it curled just under his ears.

The color was interesting, not quite blonde, golden with red flecks showing through as the evening sun shone through his floor-to-ceiling windows.

He takes a hit of his vape, his eyes landing on where I stood with Rose.

He excuses himself while making his way over to us.

"Told you, douche," Rose says low in my ear.

I blink.

"Hey," he says once he's in front of us.

A faint smell of weed and soap waft off him.

"You would throw a party the night before you leave town," Rose says as a greeting.

He rolls his eyes which are very green.

"Aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?" he asks, eyeing me.

She looks between us with a frown.

"Where's Tanya?" she asks, lifting a brow.

"Last time I saw her, she was in the kitchen yelling at the caterers," he responds, still staring at me.

"I'm Edward," he says introducing himself.

He moves his vape pen to the hand holding the champagne and holds his free hand out to me.

His shake is firm but so is mine.

"Bella," I reply.

"Keys, Edward," Rose all but demands.

He ignores her, waving a waiter over with a champagne tray after he lets my hand go.

"Thanks," he says to the girl holding the tray.

He grabs a glass before handing it to me and then does the same thing for Rose.

She now rolls her eyes.

"The keys are in my room on the top of my dresser," he tells her while his eyes remain on me.

Rose chugs her glass, sits it on his glass coffee table, and takes off down a dark corridor just off the living room.

I start to follow, but his hand gently touches my forearm stopping me. I can feel the heat of his palm on my skin.

"So you're friends with my sister?" he asks, cocking his head.

"I am, we are in a couple of classes together at Northwestern," I tell him.

"Law student?" he guesses.

I nod.

"Do you like Northwestern so far?" he asks with a smirk.

"Yes?"

"Bet my sister didn't tell you she's a nepo baby," he whispers like he's telling me a secret.

My brow furrows as he calls over a man who looks just as tall as him. His curly blonde hair sits messily on top of his head while his sides are cropped close.

His blue eyes look a little glassy.

"Ed?" he asks, confused.

"Bella, meet my cousin, Jasper Hale," he says with a grin.

I blink noticing this guy has the same name as our professor, who also is the Hale in Weber, Hale, and Associates.

Why wouldn't Rose tell me that her uncle was our professor?

I then chug my champagne.

When I catch Rose and her murderous glare, she's heading our way.

"I'm letting all your plants die," she tells him as she takes my hand to lead me away from her brother.

I stumble behind her as I try to keep up.

Our path is blocked by a huge guy with dimples and a lithe blonde girl. The girl looks immaculate in her little black dress, the only thing not so perfect about her is the white powder on the tip of her nose.

"Rosie," the huge guy booms, wrapping an arm around Rose.

"Emmett, as always a pleasure," she says, pushing at him.

"Who's your friend?" he asks, blocking us again.

Edward has caught up and stands close beside me.

I notice the woman's eyes narrow.

"Rose's friend, Bella. She goes to Northwestern with Rose," Edward decides to answer for her.

I squirm uncomfortably from the attention I am getting and to be honest the type of people floating around this condo. This wasn't my scene.

I can feel the heat creeping up my neck.

A hand then rests on my lower back.

"Rose stay, this is probably better than whatever happy hour you were planning on going to," he offers but is looking down at me.

Rose bristles.

"And subject Bella to this world," she scoffs.

I wasn't entirely sure what this world was, he had a lot of art on the walls and sculptures on display. Maybe he was an artist, maybe not.

"I don't mind staying," I say out of nowhere, surprising even myself.

Rose turns her ire on me.

"You heard her, Rose. She doesn't mind hanging around for a bit," Edward says and I swear I feel his hand move a little lower on my back.

"Fine, I need another drink," she says before she goes to hunt down the waiter.

"My sister has been dramatic since birth," he says.

I'm a little surprised because I've only known Rose to be anything but dramatic. Level-headed and driven, yes, but dramatic seems to be a bit of a stretch.

I start to follow after her when I feel Edward's presence behind me.

I turn my head to look over my shoulder and there he is with a smile. I also see powder nose right behind him.

I shake my head, which causes his smile to drop, and search to find Rose.

It takes me fifteen minutes to find her in the crowds of people.

"We don't have to stay if it's going to upset you," I tell her.

She shakes her head before taking a pull of her drink.

"Free booze," she says. "Drink up and enjoy yourself."

I watch her warily.

We were supposed to meet up with Tyler and Pete, who also had class with us. This week has been chaotic with midterms coming up.

"Relax Bella, I pin-dropped our location to the guys and invited them to the party," she says, waving my concern off.

I knew she had been eyeing Tyler for a while now so this made sense.

"But Angela was planning to meet up with us at the bar," I say, reminding her of my roommate.

"Invite her," she says with a shrug.

"This is your brother's party," I say cautiously.

"Your friend is welcome here," Edward says out of nowhere.

"See, he doesn't give a shit," Rose says as the contents of her glass slosh out while she gestures to him.

I feel uncomfortable, but sigh and pull out my phone to let Angela know there has been a change of plans.

Rose has yet again left me as I look up from my phone. Edward is still by my side looking curious.

"Want to get some air?" he asks.

"Okay," I sigh.

He leads me out to a beautiful terrace and gestures to the seat across from him. I watch him take a pull of his vape.

"Curious?" he asks, holding his vape pen out to me.

"No, thanks," I say with a tight smile.

"Not into weed?"

"Uh, not really?"

"What are you into?" he asks like he is genuinely interested.

"In general?" I ask as he answers with a shrug.

"I like to read when I'm not studying," I tell him honestly.

When I tell this to most guys they roll their eyes at me. It usually gets worse when I tell them I enjoy the classics. Edward, however, looks intrigued and tells me he's a reader too.

"How are you even friends with my sister?" he asks after I tell him what music I'm into.

I laugh because I've asked myself the same thing.

"Sometimes it's nice to have someone in your corner whether you have a lot in common with them or not," I explained.

He muses over what I've said before adding. "I suppose Rose is quite loyal."

"She's very loyal," I agree.

His smile is lazy as he takes another hit off his vape.

"You know I'm in law school, but what is it that you do?" I ask because to have a party of this magnitude says enough to know he isn't a CPA.

"I'm a composer," he says breezily like it's nothing.

"Oh?" I have even more questions now.

He knows I love Fleetwood Mac and Johnny Cash, but I'm not sure what a composer does other than write music. Also, he seems too young to have such a prestigious title.

I watch him shift uncomfortably, his ease shifting.

"Rose already thinks I'm an asshole and I feel if I go into more detail you might think that as well," he explains as his brow furrows.

"Think of this as a safe space," I encourage because now I'm very curious.

"I'm flying out to L.A. to compose for a movie," he says.

"That's impressive even if it sounds a little pretentious," I tease, holding my finger up about an inch apart.

He laughs and it's not an amusing one, it's a full-on belly laugh.

"I wasn't expecting that," he says once his laugh has calmed.

His eyes roam my face and I can see the amusement in them.

It's when his hand pats my hand closest to him that I feel something in the air shift.

My phone buzzes on my lap.

I flip it over seeing that Angela is here and looking for me.

I'm on the terrace. – B

"My friend is here," I tell him.

He's still watching me intently until the terrace door opens and Ang's head peeks out. "This place is so easy to get lost in," she says with a relieved smile.

Edward laughs as he stands.

"I better head back in," he says almost reluctantly.

I nod as I watch him go through the door.

"Okay, who was that?" Ang asks eagerly.

"Rose's brother," I say with a sigh.

"He is such a babe," she gushes.

A smile creeps up on my face.

"And you are so taken with him," she teases.

I shake my head.

"Pete is in there looking for you," she informs me when I stand.

Pete definitely has a thing for me and I might have slept with him last weekend. I wanted it to be a one-time thing but he keeps hanging around. God, can nothing be casual anymore?

"I think I was pretty clear with him last weekend," I tell her.

"Be that as it may, the guy is persistent," Ang says, patting my shoulder. "I also heard Rose giving him a pep talk as I passed."

I roll my eyes while we leave the terrace.

I see Rose speaking with Pete and Tyler at the other end of the room, they didn't hold my attention for long. It was the lithe blonde from earlier stalking toward Edward and suddenly sucking his face.

I don't know why, but I felt like the wind had been knocked out of me.

Ang must see it too because she intertwines her fingers with mine.

"We can either hang with Rose and the guys or we can bail, it's entirely up to you," she tells me.

I just keep nodding as I watch Edward pull away with a confused look or maybe I'm hoping he's confused for my benefit.

"Let's bail," I say, firmly holding Ang's hand in mine.

I hear my name being called as we maneuver around the room to the hallway and out the door.

"To this day a select few of us refer to her as Cinderbella," Emmett finishes earning a huge laugh from the room.

I roll my eyes.

"Just say the word and I can have us on a private jet to Vegas," Edward murmurs in my ear while he holds my hand on his lap.

His thumb brushes my engagement ring.

I turn my head toward him and can feel his smile against my cheek.

"Maybe have it on standby," I reply back.

A/N: As a treat I'm posting the first chapter but regular posting will resume once I'm done with In the Weeds. As always let me know what you think!