Squee! Okay, so here is the latest instalment of 'Pucker Up, Buttercup'. And it's in EPOV!! Whoa! I am mixing it up! Sorry that it's taken a while for me to update, but I had exams and my birthday, and I was writing other stuff, too so I was kinda busy. Thanks for everybody who reviewed and such, you guys are fantastic!

Also, sorry that it's like a month late for the season, but this is what I felt like writing. So let the nostalgia set in while reading…

Mistletoe Magic (sorry for the lame title)

EPOV

Rudolph the red nose reindeer (reindeer)

Had a very shiny nose …

Oh my God, what kind of evil holiday elf put this song on repeat? They must want a massacre. Funnily enough, I'm fairly sure it was my twin sister, Alice. She does fit the elf description, after all. Especially since she was dressed like an elf for the Christmas party that night. Right down to the curly-toed jingle shoes. At least I can hear her coming now…

Jingle, jangle, jingle, jing-

"Edward!" Alice called, throwing my door open. She stopped for a moment before continuing in a bored tone. "Edward. I can see you under those blankets; you know you always lose at hide-and-seek."

I sighed, slightly embarrassed now that I had chosen to hide under my bed covers in an attempt conceal myself from Alice. "Um, Edward's not here right now, he jumped out the window and then got hit by an eighteen-wheeler. He's a bit sad but overall content in-"

Alice then decided to rip the sheets off me, leaving me at the mercy of her creepily energetic holiday spirit. "Shut up Edward, and get your butt downstairs to the party."

I easily grabbed the sheets back from her, putting the blanket around my shoulders. "But Alice," I said earnestly, "I'm sick. Cough, cough. See? I wouldn't want to infect the other party-goers."

"Oh, you're so good-hearted. Too bad I can see right through your completely transparent lies," she finished dryly.

"Alice, you know I don't like parties, why did you have to plan this for our house?" I asked, only whining a little bit.

"We have been over this, Edward," she sighed, throwing her hands into the air in a sign of exasperation. "The first party of our entire high school experience was held at Jessica Stanley's house. That sucked. Then we had the Halloween bash here, which completely rocked- although you wouldn't know because you slinked out to the bloody bookstore for three hours! What you could possibly doing at a bookstore for all that time is beyond me but-"

"I was seriously contemplating doing that again," I told her, interrupting her rant. "The music is driving me up the wall. Why did you put that horrendous song on repeat?"

"That wasn't me," she replied, shaking her head. "That was Emmett."

"Emmett's here?" I repeated. I did not know this. When I left it was only Alice's little friends that I didn't know, but managed to annoy me anyway.

"Yeah, he keeps whining that you aren't there to hang out with and insisted that this song would make you come downstairs," she explained, looking in my mirror to fix her pointed red hat.

"Maybe to throw it out the window," I muttered.

"Yeah, I think that's what he meant," she agreed, turning back to me with her hands on her hips. "Now come one. I have spent far too much time up here, arguing with you. The party needs me."

"Well then go to it. I'll stay up here," I assured her, pulling the blanket over my head again.

"But Edward, Christmas is a time of sharing and caring. You need to be with people during this time of year. Indulge in cookies and chocolate, and have fun enjoying yourself…" she continued with her Christmas tirade that I get to hear every year and I blocked her out, waiting for her to leave. There was a silence as she realized that I wasn't listening and then she said, "Bella's here."

"Bella?" I repeated, peeking my head out from under the covers.

She smiled mischievously. She knew she had me now. I had an embarrassingly huge crush on Isabella Swan, which Alice knew all about. Not that I'd told her about it willingly; she had to drag the information out from me, piece by piece.

"Mm hmm," she nodded innocently. "And she's just hanging out down there with Michael and Eric and Tyler and Ben…"

"Ben likes Angela," I interrupted absently, obsessed with the rest of the names she'd given me.

"Oooh! He does!" she squealed. "That is so great! Oh my gosh, I have to tell Angie!"

"Aw crap, Ali, you can't do that, I wasn't supposed to tell anyone! Especially you!" I exclaimed desperately, jumping off the bed.

She smiled sweetly at me. "Well if you come downstairs to the party, maybe I'll just happen to forget to mention it."

She was black-mailing me but I didn't mind. As soon as she told me that Bella was there, I was pretty much decided. When she mentioned Newton, that just cinched it. I just really hate that guy, and he likes Bella, too. But he hasn't got a chance. Bella and I have known each other since kindergarten, she's Alice's best friend. Newton is just some random guy with annoyingly spiky blonde hair. I don't know why, but he just irks me to no end.

"I knew it," Alice concluded excitedly, then grabbed my hand, pulling me out of the door. "It'll be lots of fun, Edward. I promise."

"Alice, let go of me before I end up falling down the stairs," I sighed. For such a little pixie, she is frighteningly strong. She complied and then came to a stop at the bottom of the stair well. She peeked around the corner to see into the living room and immediately squealed in my ear.

"Jasper's here!" she scream-whispered excitedly. "Oh my God, oh my God. How do I look?" she asked, smoothing down her red and green striped shirt.

"Like an elf," I replied, stating the obvious.

"Is my hair alright?" she asked, touching her short black hair peeking out from under her hat.

"Alice, it is hidden beneath a hat. It is also a pixie cut. I don't see how it couldn't look alright," I answered logically, trying to peer around her to have a glance at Bella.

"Oh, you are so right. Thanks!" was her excited reply before she bounded off in the opposite direction of Jasper.

"What are you doing? Jasper's over there," I called out, pointing in his general direction.

"I can't just go up and talk to him," she said as if I were an idiot. "I have to play hard to get first."

I shook my head as she pranced off. I will never understand women, I just have to deal with that now. I briefly tried to flatten my unruly hair, made all the more messy from hiding under my sheets, but quickly decided it was pointless. I walked out into the lavishly decorated sitting room, hoping to be somewhat inconspicuous. It didn't really matter though, because there weren't very many people in the room, anyway. I guess most of the partiers were in the living room, which was the temporary dance floor.

I glanced quickly around the room, and immediately noticed Bella talking with Angela in the corner of the room. She looked up when I came in and I smiled at her. She smiled back, blushing, and then went back to talking with Angela. Okay, excellent start.

On the other side of the room Emmett and Jasper were talking.

"You," I said, pointing an accusatory finger at Emmett as I walked over.

"Eddie! There you are!" he exclaimed gleefully. Then he leaned out into the doorway and called out loudly, "Kay, he's here! You can change it!"

There were groans of relief that seemed to radiate throughout the entire house as Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer stopped abruptly and some pop music came on.

"I knew it would work," he concluded happily as I sat down.

"Yeah, Alice dragging me out of my room had nothing to do with it," I retorted sarcastically.

"Yeah, where is your sister?" Jasper asked, trying to be subtle. And failing. In case you hadn't noticed, they both like each other a lot. Jasper's just waiting for the right time to ask her out. But I think Alice is going to end up being Alice and just ask him out herself if he doesn't act soon. Jasper told me a long time ago that he wanted to go out with my sister, worrying I'd be mad. I wasn't since it was completely obvious that she liked him, too. Because, you know, she told me before Jasper did.

"Probably at the top of the Christmas tree by now," I replied, keeping track of Bella out of the corner of my eye.

"What?"

"I think she's had one too many gingerbread cookies. She's even more hyper than usual tonight," I continued. "Plus, she saw you, squealed in my ear, asked me how she looked and then bounced off because she was 'playing hard to get' or something ridiculous like that."

"Do you think I should go look for her?" he asked. I almost laughed, because it was nearly pathetic, but didn't because I was even more pathetic than that with Bella, since I didn't even know if she liked me.

"I think she'd appreciate that immensely," I encouraged him.

He nodded and stood up from his chair.

"You gonna grow the balls tonight?" Emmett asked crudely.

He shrugged shyly. "Maybe. It's a definite possibility." He looked at me nervously and I laughed.

"I'll give you the over-protective brother talk after you guys are official," I assured him. He smiled and walked off to find Alice.

"So, speaking of growing balls…" Emmett began.

"I didn't realize we were speaking of that," I said, trying to deter him.

"Are you gonna tell Bella?" he asked bluntly.

"No…" I trailed off, watching as her chestnut brown hair fell across her beautiful face.

"Maybe I'll just tell her for you," he said suddenly.

"No! Emmett you wouldn't!" I exclaimed nervously.

"Pfft. Naw, just calm down, man," he laughed. I frowned at him and he ruffled my hair, obviously amused. I shoved him away.

"Hey guys. Where'd Jasper go?" Alice questioned, suddenly appearing in front of us.

"He went to look for you," I replied, thankful for a distraction.

"Really?" she asked, face brightening. I nodded and she gushed, "That is so sweet."

Emmett rolled his eyes and she turned to face me with a shrewd look upon her face. "Why are you here, hanging with this oaf? Bella is right over there." She gestured first to Emmett and then over her shoulder to Bella.

"She's talking to Angela," I muttered lamely. Her and Emmett both rolled their eyes and shook their heads at me, and I grumbled. "It's none of your business anyway."

"Oh yeah, my best friend and my brother- that has nothing to do with me," she retorted sardonically.

"Hey Alice!" Bella called out, beckoning her over. Alice walked over to them, winking to me over her shoulder. I watched Bella smile warmly at Alice, and then her eyes flickered over to me and I looked away.

Emmett tutted at me and then said, "You are a wimp."

"Shut up Emmett."

I managed to move the conversation away from Bella and me, even though I was glancing over at her the entire time. Jasper appeared in the doorway behind us and breathed a sigh of relief. "There you are Alice."

"Jazzy!" she exclaimed brightly. She lifted herself out of her seat and flounced across the room to Jasper. "Were you looking for me?"

"Yeah," he grinned. "You look like an elf."

"Thanks," she said cheerfully.

"Uh, do you want to dance?" Jasper asked, slightly awkward.

"I'd love to!" she beamed. She grabbed his hand and dragged him away. She was back a second later though, and called out to Bella. "Remember what I said, lovie!" and then she disappeared again.

I glanced at Bella, who was looking at me. She held eye contact for a moment, then blushed and looked away.

"Whaddya think Alice was talking about?" Emmett asked.

"Probably another insane plan of hers," I guessed, shrugging. I saw Bella and Angela whispering fiercely, Bella shaking her head, Angela pulling on her hands. Finally Bella sighed, and stood up with Angela to go into the kitchen. She leaned in the doorway and looked at the ground as she chatted with Angela, presumably getting food or drinks.

I tore my gaze away from Bella, to see Emmett staring at me.

"What?" I asked, annoyed.

"Dude," he said, as if I should know.

"What?"

"Dude," he repeated.

"What?!"

He jutted his chin in Bella's direction and raised his eyebrows momentarily. "She's under the mistletoe."

"She is not," I responded, surprised and nervous, whipping my head around to look above Bella. He was right. I turned back around, eyes wide. "What do I do?"

"Well," he began, stroking his chin. "First, you walk over there." he paused again. "Then, you kiss her."

"Are you serious?" I asked, voice going embarrassingly high.

"It's simple logic, Ed," he assured me.

"Oh, I don't know…"

"Edward, this is the perfect opportunity," he told me, grasping my shoulder. "Mistletoe plus Bella plus Edward equals kiss, therefore a relationship and your dream coming true."

I gulped and shook my head, "But what if she doesn't want to- what if she gets mad at me and never talks to me again?"

He shook his head, "That won't happen, my man. She'll blush and be embarrassed and will stutter her way through next week, but she will not be mad at you."

I glanced over my shoulder to look at her again, holding a cup of eggnog casually in her left hand, eyes sparkling with holiday spirit, full red lips opening to laugh…

"How do you know?" I asked, looking back at Emmett.

"It doesn't matter how I know. Just go and do it before she moves," he ordered me. I sat there, undecided and nervous. He shrugged. "Or I'll just go do it…" he said casually, getting up from the couch.

I punched him in the shoulder and told him not to be a dick weed.

He raised his eyebrows condescendingly. "Language, Eddie, language."

"I've asked you several times not to call me that," I reminded him.

"Yeah, but I've decided I can call you that if you're being an enormous wuss," he informed me.

I shook my head, and looked back at Bella. Then Rosalie, her cousin, came in and sat beside Emmett, smiling. "Hey guys. What are we doing?"

"Trying to convince Eddie here to go and kiss little miss Bella," Emmett replied gleefully.

"Ooh, fun!" she squealed with a mischievous glint in her eye. "But I thought we were just getting Eddie to admit his true feelings to her, not kiss her yet?"

"Well, she's under the mistletoe," he explained, pointing to above Bella's head.

"Ohhh," she nodded, understanding. She turned to face me. "Edward. What are you waiting for? Go."

This was just too embarrassing. Emmett alone was enough. Alice and Emmett together were only barely manageable. But the new couple that was Rosalie and Emmett could and would literally drag me over to her and all but push my face to hers.

I turned around to look at her again, and saw that Newton was suddenly there, talking to Bella.

"What the Hale?" escaped my lips before I got up off the couch and was standing there with them quicker than I thought possible.

"Hi Bella," I greeted, smiling. She opened her mouth, surprised, and smiled at me. I nodded at Newton, "Mike."

"Oh, hey Edward," he said, confused, and irritated and blah blah blah.

We were all silent for a moment before I said, "There's eggnog in the kitchen, Mike."

He knew when he was being dismissed. "Oh, really? I'll just have to go check that out then," he muttered, slipping past us into the kitchen.

Then it was just Bella and I. Under the mistletoe. Oh God. Ohgodohgodohgodohgod.

"Uh, merry Christmas party," I said nervously.

"Yeah, you too," she replied, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear.

"Are you having fun?" I asked, heart thumping erratically. Just do it. Just do it, just do it.

"Oh definitely," she nodded, smiling. "Alice sure knows how to throw a shindig."

I laughed and wondered how I should go about it. Should I mention the mistletoe? Should I just go for it? Turns out I didn't have to think about that at all.

"You're standing under mistletoe," Rosalie commented, pushing past us, forcing me closer to Bella, having to put my arm against the wall to steady myself.

"Oh, sorry-" I began to apologize to Bella before Emmett's massive form shoved in behind me, following Rose, and pressing Bella and mine's bodies against each other.

"And you're blocking the doorway!" he complained.

I gulped and looked down at Bella. I didn't move away from her warm, soft body, and neither did she.

"So, mistletoe," she breathed absently, her chocolate eyes boring into mine.

I nodded, not breaking eye contact. I could hear her breathing hard, feel it against my face. I didn't even think about it, I just leaned down slowly towards her. I watched her eyelids flutter close, right before mine, and then our lips met.

I slipped my hand behind her neck to cradle her head. Her lips were soft and warm, and I could still taste the eggnog on them. Her fingers ran through my hair and I thanked God for mistletoe and Christmas and Bella.

Then Emmett wolf-whistled and I pulled away reluctantly, finally aware that everyone in the kitchen was staring at us. Bella was blushing fiercely and I could feel the warmth rising in my cheeks as well.

"I think we all need to give a round of applause to Eddie," Emmett announced loudly, "for finally growing some balls."

And then, embarrassment of all embarrassments, they all started clapping. Emmett, and Rose, and Angela, and Jasper and Alice. They all clapped and smiled as if we had won some great award.

"I told you it would work, Bells!" Alice called out.

I looked at Bella and she smiled at me shyly. "Stand under mistletoe for half an hour and someone's bound to come by, right?"

I smiled and kissed her cheek. Her eyes sparkled happily in surprise.

"Jasper also deserves some appreciation," Emmett continued, "There is now officially a Jalice in our midst."

I looked over to see that he was in fact correct. Jasper and Alice's hands were entwined and they were both beaming.

"Now if only Benjamin would show up," Emmett muttered, and Angela's eyes widened in surprise.

"What's everybody doing in here?" surprisingly, Ben asked, walking in.

"Speak of the devil!" Emmett cried enthusiastically. "Benny, you like Angie. Angela, you like Ben. It's all good!"

They both looked like deer caught in the proverbial headlights, and Emmett's laughter boomed throughout the kitchen. "Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!"

"It's December twenty-first," Rosalie pointed out.

"MERRY CHRISTMAS!" he repeated, even louder.

"Merry Christmas, Bella," I murmured in her ear. She pulled me closer and kissed me again.

Merry Christmas, indeed.

So, oddly enough, this doesn't have a huge amount of Edward and Bella time in this one, but there is plenty of Emmett and Alice, so I think that makes up for it.

I hope that that was a semi-original take on the whole mistletoe theme. I think I've only read like one Fanfic with mistletoe in it, but I know there must be gazillions out there.

When Edward says "What the Hale?", that's what it was originally- because I'm awesome like that, then I changed it to "Hell", because I'm also logical like that. But then my bestie, J-Master, read it, and I told her it used to be "Hale" and she told me to put that in there. So I did. You can thank boysinbooksrbetter for that piece of pure gold! :D

Um, I'm happy with how this turned out, but I would absolutely love to know your opinion. (That was a veiled request to review, by the way.) Thanks a bunch for reading!