Blindingly Beautiful

Rating: M

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.

Summary: Bella's been blind since she was little. Edward is the next heir to Cullen INC but to take over he has to get married and have a heir in 5 years. He meets Bella at Jaspers party and makes her a deal she can't refuse. EB, AU/AH, Lemons.

Chapter 1 - Party.

"Alice, where on earth are you taking me?" I stumbled around, trying to feel my way around but my hands were met with thin air. I heard millions of people chatting so I knew we were in a mall. I felt people bumping into me every once in awhile and it was starting to annoy me. So I planted my feet on one spot so my cousin could no longer drag me.

"Aw come on Bella! Just a little further." She tried again but I stood my ground.

"Bella.."I heard the anger in her voice and I smiled.

"Tell me where we are going first." She sighed.

"Fine, joy kill. We're going to a a dress shop to buy you a dress for Jasper's party tonight." I wrinkled my nose. Jasper is Alice's boyfriend. A rich one too. She told me they met in a arcade. She was challenging people on a DDR machine until he stepped up to match her. It was a tie. After that they spent endless hours together and in the end they hooked up. I hung out with him a couple of times and he seems like a pretty nice guy for someone rich. Most rich people were snobby.

"Oh Alice," I moaned. "Not another party! All I do it sit down, eat, drink and chat with people I don't know!"

"Please Bella, I won't feel completely happy unless your there. Who knows, maybe there will be another guy who'll want you even though your.."

"Mike Newton." I shivered. Mike Newton was sickly sweet. He was a nice guy but he was pretty over protective and we weren't even going out. No other guy would talk to me the rest of the night except him. Stupid Mike. And he called almost every two hours, asking how I'm doing, what I'm doing, what I'm doing later and so on. I was going in sane!

"Poor Mike," Alice laughed. "He's madly in love with you. Oh well. Jessica has been trying to land a date with him for a month now." Jessica Stanely as a friend of ours. I met her through Alice of course. I really had no friends of my own but I was okay with being alone.

"I'm sure I can talk him into taking her to the party instead." I sighed and began walking when my cousin pulled on my hand. We walked for another five minute before I heard a door open and close. The chattering from the mall died down and I knew we were in a store.

"Hello ladies, how may I help you today?" Said a lady who had a heavy french accent.

"We would like to try on my dresses, please." Alice spoke and we were guided to a section of dresses, I guess.

"Call me if you need anything." She said before I heard her shoes clacking off.

"Let's get started! Whoo!" Alice cheered and I heard a ton of hangers clash together, meaning, my cousin just grabbed a bunch of random bunch of dresses and pulled me toward the dressing room.

We were in the store for two hours. I had to sit down since my feet were starting to get sore. Alice had already picked out a dress. She said it was a pale pink dress that tied around her neck and it reached down to her knees, silver gems glued to the bottom. I swear she made me try on at least a hundred and seventy-two dresses on. The last one she like the best. She said it was a dark blue satin dress, sleeveless and it hugged my figure nicely. It reached below my knees and she even got three-inch royal blue high-heels to go with it. I knew I would be tripping a lot tonight.

We brought our dresses and shoes to the front to pay for them. Alice prattled on about the party, saying she'll hook me up with a better guy then Mike. Great.

"Thank you for your purchase and have a great day."

"Thank you." I heard Alice say but I could also feel her stiffen. "Could you please not stare? It's not polite."

"Please, forgive me for being rude but I just find it strange that your friend there would wear sunglasses in the mall. And it's not even sunny today." I sighed. This usually happens when we're out at public places. turning to where I heard her voice and took off my sunglasses. She gasped, seeing my eyes white and dull.

"Sorry, I'm blind."

---

"Dad, you can't be serious!"

"Edward, no shouting please." Carlisle pinched the bridge of his nose. He knew his son would be upset. Who wouldn't?

"But dad, how can I NOT shout? This is so stupid and outrageous!"

"I know but there's nothing I can do. Do you want to take over the company?"

"Yea." Edward sighed, leaning back in his office chair.

"Then you must do what the Quieute company tells you to. They are our best brother company in a long time. If we break the contract with them in any way, we'll be crashing down."

"But it's so unfair! What about Billy's song, Jacob?!"

"Jacob has to do it too. But he's not taking it as hard as you." Edward went quiet, trying to think of a way out but nothing came to mind.

"How much time do I have?"

"Five years. After that if there's no heir, our ties will be broken." Edward nodded and ran a hand through his bronze curly hair while letting out a shaky breath.

Just ten minutes ago his father walked into his office, looking like a scared mouse. Then in moments his life came crashing down on him. He was told he had to get married and have a heir. And only five years to do it. It was too short. Who could he possibly pick to be his wife and produce him a heir? He surely didn't want some random slut off the street corner. And he didn't know that many girls. He knew he had fan girls for his looks and money but they never wanted him for just him. There was always a catch. All he wanted to do was get rich, settle down with a nice woman, have a family and they could live off his savings, never having to work again in their lives. Too bad life wasn't that simple.

"Do you want me to set up some arranged dates?" Carlisle said, hoping to help his son. But Edward only shook his head.

"No, I'm sure I'll find someone on my own. Thanks anyways, Dad. Maybe I'll find someone tonight. Jasper is throwing one of his parties again." Edward grinned and his dad sighed.

"Your cousin, I worry about him sometimes." Carlisle admitted sadly. Jasper is known for throwing the wildest parties in New York. People have to make reservations and are usually put on a three month waiting list before they can get into a party. But family and friends get in anytime.

"Jasper is going to be more careful now. Ever since he got a girlfriend, he's been following her like a lost puppy. It's kind of cute in a sick way." Edward chuckled, remember the look on Jasper's face while he was talking about his new girlfriend. He swears, he never seen his cousin look for love struck before.

"Ah, no wonder that boy came in the building looking like he was stuck on cloud nine." Carlisle let out a soft laugh. "What's the poor girls name?"

"Alice Swan. She's a bundle of cute annoyingness." Edward remembers when Jasper introduce her. She was fairly cute but annoying too. She kept telling him he was uptight and needed a social life.

"Is she nice?"

"Yes, she's nice and a good girl." Carlisle smiled. This pleased him of course.

"Now I can pray that you find a girl just like her,"

"Oh please, no!" They both broke into laughter before Carlisle had to get back to work. Sighing, Edward pressed a button on his phone and spoke in a loud clear voice.

"Please cancel my afternoon plans. I got to go out and buy a new shirt and pants."

"Yes sir," Came his secretaries voice over the phone.

"Have a nice weekend." He took his finger off the bottom and got up. 'Well, time to buy new clothes.'

---

It was eight o'clock at night and Jasper's party has already started. The music was blaring loudly, making Jasper's mansion vibrate. People were grinding their bodies against each other, feeling the music soak into their souls. Water, soda and alcohol were being served as well as snacks. People who got too drunk, meaning they started making an ass of themselves, were thrown out.

Alice was off with Jasper somewhere. 'Probably sucking each others faces' I thought bitterly. I was sitting on a seat with a couple who were kissing each other like no tomorrow. I know this because they bumped into my first and made their way on to the other side of the sofa. So I got ditched after getting invited to a party I didn't even want to come to. I had my sunglasses on and still have guys come up to ask me to dance with them. I told them off politely but they kept bugging until I told them Jasper was a close friends of mine then that's when they finally got the clue to back off.

"What a party." I said sarcastically.

"Yea, I know what you mean." I was startled by the velvet soft voice. The person who said it sat down right beside me. 'Please oh please don't use any cheesy lines on me.' It was silent between us but I could feel the strangers eyes on my face. Probably wondering about the sunglasses.

"Jasper throws some wild parties, huh?"

"Look, to save you some embarrassing cheesy lines, Jasper is one of my close friends." Hopefully he would leave me alone now.

"Really? I'm Edward Cullen, his cousin. He hasn't mentioned you before." I gasped, shocked.

"Seriously? I'm so sorry, all night I've been trying to dodge leeches so I didn't know..He didn't mention you before either!" I shot back, trying to cover up my embarrassment. He chuckled and I was glad he let it drop.

"So how do you know my cousin?"

"He's dating my cousin."

"You're Alice Swan's cousin?!"

"Bella Swan, at your service."

"It's nice to meet you, Bella." He grabbed my hand and I felt his lips press onto my fingers lightly before letting go. My heart sped up only a little bit. This guy was a gentlemen. Different from all the other guys who had tried talking to me before. It went silent as we listened to the song changed. It was another upbeat tempo.

"Would you like to dance?" He asked and I sighed, looking away.

"I would like to but I'm a horrible dancer. I can barely watch where I'm going."

"Don't worry, I'm actually not a bad dancer. I'll help you." Before I could try telling no thank you, I heard an all too familiar voice which made my toes curl with annoyance.

"Bella!"

"Hey Mike." I greeted without enthusiasm.

"Hey Bella." I heard a female voice say dryly. But I perked right up.

"Jessica, hi!"

"Mike kept saying you looked so lonely over here and he wanted to talk to you. But when your friend here came to sit beside you, he BEGGED to come over." She sighed.

"Aw, that's so sweet of you guys. Well actually I'm fine with my..uhh..friend here so you guys should go dance together. The song they are playing now is really good."

"Oh yes, Mike! Let's go dance!" Jessica pulled protesting Mike to the dance floor. I let out a sigh of relief.

"Thanks for helping out, 'friend'"

"No problem, 'pal'" I let out a light laugh and sighed right after.

"So why exactly are yo at this party if your not going to dance or mingle?"

"Alice forced me to come. She said she won't be completely happy if I'm not here but I think she's past the excitement level by now. She probably just wants me to get to know more people. What about you? Why aren't you dancing and getting it on with the ladies instead of sitting here and talking to me?" He was silent for awhile before answering.

"Just here on some business. Not that important, I have five years to do it." This made me laugh and I had no idea why, it just sounded so silly.

"Your laugh is beautiful." That instantly shut up. I felt a blush spread on my cheeks.

"Well you're blunt." I could almost tell he smiled just by the change in the atmosphere around us.

Suddenly he started asking me questions. Random questions. Like what is my blood type, my favorite color, if I had any diseases in my family, disorders, health issues, favorite food, hobbies and more. I hope he doesn't stalk me next.

"Cullen INC, huh?" I said, interrupting his question, which was asking where I lived.

"That's correct. You've heard of it before?"

"Who hasn't? Cullen and Quieute INC are the biggest companies in New York. My dad also happens to know-ouch!" Some drunk had walked by, accidentally hitting the back of my head with his hand. My glasses flew forward. 'Oh great'.

I reached out and started to feel around for them. I noticed I was touching, no, more like groping someones lap. Oh dear. Well, better keep looking. I kept feeling around before I felt large firm hands clamp over mine, making me stop my groping fest.

"Whoa, now who's the bold one?"

"Oh shut up, gimme my glasses back."

"What are you talking about? They are right here."

"Right where?"

"Right here.." All amusement wiped off Edwards face as he saw my eyes for the first time.

"White.."

"I'm blind." I said bitterly, pulling my hands out of his so I could cross my arms over my chest. Uncomfortable silent came over us but I felt him slip my glass into my lap. I picked them up, felt of a bit before putting them on.

"I guess this means you want to ditch me and go really mingle now, huh?" I said the words acidly. Clearly he would, just like every other guy who found out about me being blind.

"How?" Well this shocked and confused me.

"How?" I repeated.

"How did you become blind? Were you born with it?"

"Well, no.." This was the first time a guy had asked me how I become blind. Girls just sobbed and wished me luck. "Well it happened when I was small. My mom is into trying different new things and at the time she was into photographing. Of course she didn't want to be like everyone else using a digital so she bought one of those old cameras. Well she had the chemicals, for developing the picture, on the table and unopened. Of course me being small and curious, I tried reaching up to grab it but it ended up falling down onto my face and into my eyes.

Of course my mom told me this when I was old enough to understand. I told her I didn't mind though, because the world is probably too ugly to look at anyways."

"You sound like an old woman." I laughed at his remark.

"You sound just like my mom. She thinks I'm going to die an young old lady." It felt getting that all off my chest. To some random stranger too.

"But," I started, sighing. "I sometimes wonder what if would be like to see the world. I can't remember anything when I was small. I don't even know what my own cousin looks like. It saddens me sometimes." Edward must have been thinking or something since he kept silent. I just let it all sink in. Maybe now he'll ditch me.

"Marry me." Wait, what?

"Uhm, excuse me?"

"You'll probably have a hard time marrying I mean..so, why not marry me? And produce me a heir in five years of less?"

I burst out laughing and felt tears prick my eyes. Soon my stomach started to hurt so I clenched onto the sofa to try and contain my laughter.

"This is just too good!"

"What's so funny?" He sounded offended but hey, he shouldn't blame me for such absurd questions.

"Everything! Marrying you, then baring your child in five years OR less. Wow. I wonder if this is every girls dream. It surely isn't mine."

"What do you mean by that? I was being serious!"

"Oh, I know," All traces of humour left me, leaving only seriousness in my voice. "I just meant that if this is every girls dream, having two guys ask her to marry them and give them a child, on the same day!"

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A/N: Yay, chapter one done! Please R&R! I would love to hear your thoughts on the fanfic so far. :)

BottledCoke