Title: Wedding Bliss

Summary: Weddings are joyous occasions full of love and new beginnings. An encounter inspired by Bestie and her hubs.

Pairing: Edward/Bella

Rating: T

Word count: 1649

"Explain to me again how I let you talk me into this?" I asked Emmett, who was frantically searching for his white dress shirt.

"Uhm… because I can't say no to Rose?" he offered, shrugging. "Have you seen my shirt?"

"My aunt is ironing it. Again," Rosalie informed him from the doorway. "I have no idea how you managed to get it wrinkled when it was just hanging on the closet door."

"Thanks, baby," he said, kissing her quickly before bounding out the door and down the stairs. "Mrs. Brandon, you are awesome!" he called down along the way.

"He really can't say no to me," Rosalie then turned to me.

Understatement of the century.

Emmett and I were inseparable pretty much since diapers, but when he met Rosalie while we were in college he fell for her instantly. He had taken his car in for its regular service and was knocked right out of his humongous sneakers by the mechanic.

"That's my wife, right there," he had told me.

I had laughed at him initially, sure he must have been joking, but he had been serious as hell. Rosalie was something else. Drop-dead gorgeous, she gave the guys in the body shop a run for their money when it came to working on cars. She also didn't appreciate Emmett's so-called smooth moves; she made him work for it and show her he wasn't playing her before even agreeing to a simple date.

Now, three years later, she managed the body shop and Emmett was smart enough to put a ring on her finger.

This summer we were doing a road trip down the west coast as a bit of a last blow-out before their wedding. The great thing about their relationship was that, even though they could be disgustingly inappropriate in the PDA department, they never hesitated in including me in any plans and I never felt like the third wheel. Also, Rosalie wasn't the kind of girl who would feel obligated to set me up with every one of her single friends. Thankfully.

To start our summer off, she had gotten us to agree to help out at a wedding her cousin, a budding wedding planner, was organizing. Apparently, some of her regular staff had quit to go backpacking through Europe and she was desperate for some experienced bartenders. I never thought my college job would come in handy again. As a bonus, we would start off our road trip with some extra cash.

"Thanks again for doing this, Edward," Rosalie said. "I know we were only planning on a quick visit, but Alice was desperate."

"Don't worry about it, Rose, I'm happy to help. I'm just not looking forward to being the new, single guy at a wedding."

"I'm sure you'll be alright. If all else fails, you could always tell them you're gay."

"And have them sic the one gay guy at me? No thanks," I laughed.

Once we got to the venue we were greeted by a frantic Alice running around with a clipboard in her hand and a cell phone glued to her ear. Her face lit up when she spotted us walking in.

"Rosalie, thank heavens you're here! I swear, the only people I was able to get are high school kids and they're not allowed to serve any alcohol. So I assigned them to serving dinner and snacks. You guys are literally life savers! Emmett and Edward, right? Nice to meet you, thank you so much for helping out on such short notice. The bar is through there, everything should be ready but feel free to arrange things your way to make it easier. I'm urgently needed with the bride now. The ceremony is in thirty minutes and will last an hour tops. The guests will then start arriving here for the reception while the bride and groom are taking pictures. Please make sure the champagne is ready to go by then, so we can have all the toasts when they get here. We'll have a few more waitresses then as well. Thanks again and I'll see you later."

With a quick hug for Rosalie and a wave to us, she was out the door.

"Energetic, huh?" Emmett observed.

"She's just stressed," Rosalie offered. "Come on, let's see what we have to work with. I think Alice told me a few of her friends offered to waitress, even though they were also invited to the wedding, so they'll be here after the ceremony."

Over the next few hours I came to understand why Alice needed our help for this wedding. Frankly, I worried about her sense of business, until Rosalie told me that she had taken on this wedding as a favor to the couple, since she grew up with them.

"She usually works in the Seattle area, where there's a steady supply of staff and a wide variety of venues and caterers. So for this wedding she really had to wing it, only for some of her regular staff to bail on her last minute."

That did make more sense, and I appreciated the high school kids and friends she had been able to rope into helping out.

We made sure the necessary drinks were poured for the first few toasts as the reception started. Refilling them kept us busy for a while until dinner was served, when the wait staff took turns having a quick bite.

While dessert was being carried out into the dining area I finally had a moment to take in my surroundings. The only venue in this small ass town large enough to cater a wedding was a place called The Lodge, which could best be described as an overgrown hunting cabin. This also included tons of wood in both the construction as well as the decoration, but Alice had added tasteful decorations that softened the whole lumberjack atmosphere.

The girls helping out waitressing excused themselves from their tables when dessert was being cleared. There were five of them, all brunettes; Angela and her petite friend, who hadn't yet been introduced to me, picked up their orders from Emmett, whereas Leah and the twins, Rebecca and Rachel, frequented my end of the bar. They didn't wear any elaborate dresses like the bridesmaids, but were dressed for the occasion nonetheless. In between orders we shared some laughs and banter, generally making it a good time. The girls didn't try to hit on me, thankfully, as that would have been awkward. The only one I had to deal with had been the maid of honor, a bleached blonde model wannabe, who was easily deterred when I said I was into brunettes. With a muttered "Typical" she had quickly set her sights on another, more willing, guy across the room.

The only waitress friend I had yet to meet was the one that intrigued me the most. For some reason I never got close enough to hear her voice or catch her name. That alone caused me to want to meet her, but it was the way she carried herself that made me want to get the know her. She was the shortest of the five, and pale where the other girls were more olive or russet. Her long hair was pulled to the side in some kind of loose, braided ponytail, leaving her back free. She was wearing a short, dark blue dress. That particular shade was fast becoming my new favorite color. The dress itself was simple and elegant, the fabric gathering around her neck and running down her back in an artful braid connecting to the skirt. Her legs seemed endless, dropping down into a pair of black strappy heels.

My depraved mind conspired with my deprived body and had already conjured up countless images of those legs wrapped around my waist, my hands buried in her hair, her dress in a pile on the floor along with mine… But it was more than just a physical attraction. She had an air of confidence about her as well as charisma, drawing people to her. I admired her from a distance, but was kept too occupied to strike up a conversation.

It wasn't until the bride and groom had embarked on their honeymoon and the guests had left, that I found an opportunity to find out more about her. Alice was finally taking a breather, which happened to be at my end of the bar, and I saw my chance.

"Hey Alice, how's it going?"

"Oh hey, Edward. Thanks again for your help tonight, you guys truly saved my ass."

"No problem, I had a great time," I assured her. "I was wondering… your friends who were helping out…"

"Yes, Edward?" Alice asked.

She turned to me, a conspiratorial smirk playing around your lips.

"See something you like?"

"Actually, I did," I admitted.

"Okay, which one?" she demanded, sitting up straight and looking around to make sure we weren't overheard.

"The short one in the blue dress," I pointed out.

Her face lit up like a Christmas tree and she literally bounced on her bar stool in excitement. Truth be told, I was starting to get a little scared at her reaction.

"Oooh, you'd be so perfect for her! When Rosalie told me about you I wanted to set you guys up, but she said you hated blind dates. I'm so glad you're bringing it up now…"

She prattled on like that for a few minutes, until the girl in question walked in from the patio, carrying a tray full of dirty glasses. I stopped wiping down the bar, completely focused on her. It took Alice a few moments to realize I wasn't paying attention to her anymore. She followed my gaze, spotting her friend across the room, and waved her over enthusiastically.

"Bella, hey, come over here for a sec. Edward wants to meet you!"

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