A/N: Okay so as of press time I'm not quite done with Brand New, BUT I should be finishing that up relatively soon and I was too excited to start this one, so I thought I'd give it a go.

I'm trying out the all human and changing POV for the first time, so go easy on me. Also, playlists for Bella and Edward are on my profile.

I do not own the characters; they belong to the amazing Stephenie Meyer. Major kudos to her. Also an FYI: drew a little inspiration from One Tree Hill, so kudos to Mark Schwann for that.

Edward

The bass was so loud, I was surprised it didn't knock anything off my wall. Thump thump, thump, thump. Emmett must be having another party next door. It wasn't even his fucking house. Ever since Swan moved in 3 years ago they've been attached at the hip, literally and figuratively. He felt he had full privilege to her house especially when her mom was gone for the weekend. As if he didn't own enough shit in this town. It wasn't a case of sour grapes. I came thisclose to having everything that he had, and now I'm glad I don't. I shook my head as his drunken slurs danced through my open window.

"New rule! New Rule!....NO BRAS ALLOWED IN THE HOUSE! Or outside the house, actually hand them over at the door as a cover." His stupid laugh followed a crowd of cheers, probably from his minions.

"Arrogant prick," I muttered under my breath.

I lifted myself up to sit on my elbows. 1 a.m., nice. They'd be at this for a while. I pulled the curtain back from my window and a sliver of light invaded my dark room. I squinted into the brightness. As my eyes adjusted, I saw a crowd of people in the backyard and another bunch inside the house.

"It's SUMMA TIME bitches!" Emmett yelled, smacking that skank Lauren on the ass.

"Emmett, what the hell?!" I could see her now. Bella Swan. Her long dark hair swept into a low loose ponytail at the nape of her neck. She wore a modest summer dress, her bathing suit straps peaking out at the top.

"Babe…" Emmett pawed at her.

"Save it," she shouted back. Their voices lowered and I couldn't hear what they were saying now. Whatever he said, she must not have liked it because I saw her hand go back and connect pretty violently to his face.

"Shit Bella!" He grabbed at his nose, where blood started pouring out.

She smirked towards him before stalking off into her house. That made me laugh. Pretty entertaining girl. Lauren rushed to Emmett's side, all to ready to comfort him. Everyone knew he was screwing her, I think even Bella knew. Both of them were just too stubborn to end it.

I stumbled out of bed towards the balcony for a smoke. Liz, my mom, hated it when I smoked in the house. Well she hated it when I smoked period but that was beside the point. I brought the cigarette up to my lips and lit it before taking a long drag. I looked out across the Swan yard. Empty cups littered the grass, along with beer bottles and the occasional brassiere. I chuckled to myself. Teenage wasteland.

The air was starting to cool, so I turned to head back inside to grab my jacket. There she was. Bella was sitting on her roof, muttering to herself and rubbing on her right hand. I looked down to see Emmett and Lauren making out in the dark corner of the house. Pathetic. I felt a little sorry for her.

With one more look at the girl on the roof, I swept inside and crept down to the kitchen. I knew there was an ice pack in here somewhere. I wrapped it in a dishtowel and started towards back towards the stairs. I grabbed my jacket and fumbled for the flask hidden in my desk before reemerging on the balcony. Good she was still there. Emmett and Lauren had taken their escapades elsewhere.

A tall tree stood directly in between our two houses, long thick branches extending towards each roof. Here goes nothing. I stepped hesitantly on the closest branch, reaching up to balance myself with another. After a minute or two I had safely navigated my way across the treacherous maple to come within inches of her rooftop. Just to be safe, and to make sure I hadn't underestimated the gap, I lunged forward landing with a thud.

"What the fuck?!" Bella stood up cautiously and looked around. Graceful, Cullen, very graceful. "Damn raccoons," she muttered before sitting back down.

I finally got up and started walking towards her, cautious in every step. I really didn't feel like falling off a roof tonight. I was two steps behind her when the creaky roofed warned her of my arrival.

She spun around with a gasp.

"Shit Edward, you scared me!" Her hand flew up to her mouth. Bella and I had never really been friends, I think mainly because of Emmett. Him and I didn't have the best track record, but she was always pleasant. We had lived next to each other for years, we were bound to notice one another.

I tossed the ice pack towards her and sat down next to her, pulling my flask out.

"What's this for?" She asked, holding it up.

"Nice right hook," I said, taking a swig of liquor.

"Oh! You saw that." It was more of a statement than a question.

"I did."

"God he is such an ass sometimes." She shook her head as she attempted to place the ice pack across her knuckles.

"Here, let me help." I placed my hand over hers, holding the ice pack in place.

She looked down at our intertwined hands.

"Uh…thanks."

"No problem," I said taking another gulp from my flask. "So what'd he say to you anyway?"

She laughed without humor.

"He asked if it was okay if he slept with Lauren."

"Ha." She glared at me. "Sorry….but that is pretty funny. Who does that?!"

"Oh he's done it plenty of times, I've just been too drunk before to care."

I offered her a drink from my flask.

"Single malt whiskey," she said in an approving tone. "Nice."

"Very impressive," I said smiling at her. Girl knew her liquor.

"I did grow up with my Dad in Hicksville, USA. If you didn't know who Jack, Jose, and Sam were by the time you were ten there was something wrong with you."

We both laughed.

"You really don't strike me as a country girl," I said with a wink.

A cool, brisk wind brushed by us and she shivered.

"Oh here." I shrugged out of my jacket and put it over her shoulders. She grabbed for my flask, flashing me a brilliant smile.

"Thanks."

"But yeah..I guess I've…changed a lot since I've been here. It's so different, it's hard not to change a little bit."

We sat for a few minutes not talking, just passing the flask back and forth until it was gone.

"Well," I started, "Any girl that can drink straight whiskey is okay in my book." I slapped her knee and she started laughing.

"You're not too bad yourself."

I looked back at her, staring into those big brown eyes. I had lived next door to this girl for how long, seen her plenty of times, but never actually paid attention. She was beautiful. Her cheeks were flushed a little from the alcohol and it perfectly complemented her creamy skin. She peered at me from under her long lashes, and I felt myself holding my breath. Her lips parted, almost expectantly. No, Edward. This is bad news. Get the fuck out of here Emmett hates you enough already, you don't need to get caught fooling around with his girlfriend.. She leaned forward, closing her eyes.

"What the hell is going on?!" Emmett stuck his head out the nearest window.

Shit. The shit has just hit the fan.

Bella opened her eyes and pulled back quickly, embarrassed and frantic.

With two large bounds, Emmett was in front of Bella placing his body between me and her.

"What are you doing here?" He snarled at me.

"Looking after your girlfriend while you were screwing Lauren in the downstairs bedroom."

I looked past Emmett's large shoulders to Bella's face. She looked surprised, but not like it was any news to her. Emmett looked back at her.

"That's bullshit."

She crossed her arms, tapping her foot.

"Fuck you Emmett." She started to turn and stomp back to the window. She whipped around quickly and tossed the ice pack back to me.

"Thanks," she said before climbing back through the window.

"I best not find you over here again," Emmett shouted, stepping forward to get in my face.

I raised my hands up, in surrender.

"Hey Cullen!"

"What?!" Emmett and I said simultaneously, turning towards the voice.

"Not you Tony Little, the other one," Jasper said with a smile. He ran his hands through his shaggy blonde hair, before flicking his cigarette to the ground. "Get back to your house and let me in." He motioned to my back door. He always crashed there when Emmett had a party. Jasper was a "crowd pleaser" as he called it. He hung around with everyone: the jocks, the hippies, the nerds, the Goths…and me, the outcast rebel.

I made my way back to the tree and climb across.

Once I made it safely back to my side, I shouted back to Emmett.

"Yeah you know Jazz is right, you should really lay off the 'roids man. Serious shrinkage, and you don't have much to work with anyway."

He started to say something, and then realized he didn't have a comeback for that.

"See ya little brother," I said ducking back into my room. I laughed to myself at the unintentional joke I'd just made.

Jasper was waiting impatiently at the back door.

"So what the hell were you doing with Bella?" Jasper asked once we were safely back in my room.

"What? Did you see us?"

"No Alice told me. You better watch out man, Emmett will kick your ass if you start messing with her."

He stretched and took his normal spot in the Lazy boy chair in the corner.

I shook my head.

"Yeah man…I don't know what I was thinking." What was I thinking? Bella and I live in two completely different and separate worlds, even though we sleep 25 feet away from each other. She was the jock's girlfriend, I wouldn't be caught dead at an athletic event. She wore designer threads, I rocked vintage. Lastly and most importantly, she was dating my ass of a brother.

"I don't blame you though man, she's an ace," Jasper said, settling into the chair. He was snoring within minutes, but I couldn't get my mind to shut up. It was the first time I'd really talked to her, but I couldn't get her out of my mind. Her voice, her eyes, her lips. The way her cheeks flushed or the way she championed that flask. No way. Edward Cullen does not do crushes. He does occasional make out sessions with girls behind the gym or in the back seat of my junker Volvo. He lights up his cigarettes in front of the principal and squeals his tires out of the parking lot. He's the rebel without a cause. I shook my head. Now he was the rebel with a crush.