A/N: I was going to go for a jog to work off the half a jar of Nutella I just ate, but then I remembered I hadn't updated in like a week and felt guilty, so here we are! (Btw it's totally all of your faults if I can't wear a bikini when I go to Italy next month...) Sorry for any mistakes, I was trying to get this out as quickly as possible!

Disclaimer: You know it, I know it, but incase Stephenie Meyer's lawyers forget; I don't own, or claim to own Twilight.

An Invitation Impossible to Resist

The next morning I was greeted with the sight of Emmett stumbling through the front door, clutching his head. Before the door slammed shut I could've sworn I saw Rosalie drive away in a red convertible, laughing.

He looked up at me and I raised my eyebrows at him in disbelief.

"Don't even start. Do we have any painkillers?" he moaned, now rubbing his temples as he headed into the kitchen.

"Hung over, are we?" I said, fighting a grin. He looked awful.

"No."

"Really?" I said, not bothering to hide my smile now. Hung over Emmett was more amusing than drunk Emmett. It was so easy to annoy him. And I needed to get my mind off –

"Maybe. Just slightly." He opened a cupboard and proceeded to take two aspirin before chugging down what must have been a gallon of water.

"So, what did you and Rosalie get up to?" I asked, although I had a pretty good idea. Emmett was very physical in his relationships, and it looked like Rosalie was the same way.

He looked confused for a moment before a look of horror came across his face. The "I just remembered what I did last night" look.

This should be good.

"Oh no." His whispered, still looking horrified. "Oh no. Oh no. She… I… Did she… Did I…?"

"Care to speak English, Emmett?"

He looked up at me suddenly, as remembering I was there. "Never mind."

I'm sure my eyebrows had reached my hairline at this point. Clearly something embarrassing had happened last night that he didn't want me to know about.

"So you two…?" I trailed off, knowing he'd understand.

To my surprise and amusement, his face turned a bright pink. A color that reminded me strongly of –

He coughed and mumbled something before turning away from me.

"What was that?"

"No. We didn't."

I stared at him, incredulous. "Emmett, do you really expect me to believe you didn't sleep with her?"

"I. Did. Not. Sleep. With. Her." He was getting annoyed now, probably from all the embarrassment remembering last night was causing him.

Before I could reply the kitchen door was swung open and in sauntered Rosalie herself. She was carrying half a dozen grocery bags and my brother's jacket. She had a smirk on her face that was very different from the one she was sporting the night before.

"Emmett you forgot your jacket in my car – Oh, hello, Edward." She nodded in my direction. She had obviously forgiven me. Or so I thought. She put down the bags and sat up on the counter, pulling Emmett towards her.

"I was going to visit Bella while I'm in the neighborhood, she was supposed to be coming shopping with me and Alice but she has a head cold." Her gaze became a glare and I took an involuntary step away.

Obviously not.

"Oh, are Alice and Jasper back? Can I meet them?" Emmett interrupted.

"Yeah, they got back late last night. They called right after you passed out on the sofa when we were about to - "

Emmett coughed again as my eyes widened. I tried to contain my laughter but a snicker escaped. So this was why he was so embarrassed.

Emmett looked annoyed for a second before promptly changing the subject. "How about we meet them for lunch or something?"

"Wait," I interrupted, momentarily forgetting about my brother, "Who are Alice and Jasper?"

"Alice is one of my best friends. Jasper is my twin brother." Rosalie replied, sighing, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Jasper got his vacation a week later than I did, so Alice went to meet him up at ASU."

She reached into the pocket of her jeans and pulled out a black shiny phone. Flipping it open she turned to us, "I'll call and see if they're doing anything."

She began talking to the person on the other end at full speed.

"Hello? Alice? No, I just got here. No, not even after... I told you, he was – Well I could hardly – What? No! Ew! Who does that! No, Alice – Alice!" She seemed to have a hard time getting a word in edge-wise with this Alice girl.

Emmett chuckled beside me before Rosalie picked up an apple off the table and fired it at his head.

"ALICE! Will you tell my brother he needs to restrain you or something? Okay, well do you want to meet us for lunch or something? Did you guys eat yet?"

There was silence as she listened to the reply.

"Okay, usual place? Two? That's fine, see you then."

She snapped the phone shut.

"We're meeting at Marty's at two, so Emmett, I'd advise you take a shower." She wrinkled her nose before relaxing and kissing him on the cheek. He smiled at her gesture before leaving to go take a shower.

I sat down at the table, pouring milk into my cereal when I realized Rosalie still hadn't left.

"Edward can you help me with these?"

I looked up to see her gesturing towards her shopping bags.

"I just bought Bella some cold medicine, some soup, you know, usual things."

"How much soup could she need?" I stared, open mouthed at the amount of food she must have bought.

She shrugged and picked up two of the bags, leaving me no choice but to carry the remaining four.

"Don't worry, you can just drop them in the kitchen, I'll bring them up to Bella."

I nodded and followed her out through the back door and into the garden.

The weather seemed to have returned to normal after last night's shower and the sun was now shining.

We made our way through the Masen's garden and over to the white picket fence which separated it from Bella's.

She headed straight for the back door as I shot her a quizzical look.

"The back door's always unlocked during the day." She shrugged.

She opened the door and I followed her in, not knowing what to expect.

And what I saw was definitely a surprise.

The back door led onto a living room filled with lavish furnishings and over the top art on the walls. The room was cramped, a large bookshelf dominating the room, making it look much smaller than it actually was. Large plants were placed around the space at regular intervals, along with unusual shaped ornaments and sculptures. However it was the baby grand piano that caught my eye. I was immediately drawn to it, making my way across the room to caress the keys gently with my fingers. The grocery bags were now on the floor, forgotten. It had been a few days since I had played, the Masens not owning a piano. My fingers brushed lightly across the smooth black surface; I was itching to play.

"When you're done fondling the piano I'd really appreciate if you could drop the bags in the kitchen."

I turned to see Rosalie staring at me with a mixture of amusement and impatience on her face.

I scowled before turning away from the piano. Reluctantly I followed her through a set of double doors to the kitchen. I vaguely registered the modern appliances and chrome finishes - my mind was still on the piano next door. Setting down the grocery bags on the counter I watched Rosalie take one and make her way up the large staircase in the corner of the kitchen.

"You can wait here or something, I'll be down in a few minutes." She said, before jogging up the stairs.

As soon as she was out of sight I quickly walked back to the living room, or more specifically, the piano. I was just about to sit down on the bench when I heard a door slam shut in the distance. I froze, but relaxed when I heard footsteps heading upstairs.

I slid onto the bench, running my fingers over the keys once again. I reveled in how smooth, how new they were. There was a manuscript on top of the piano, which I now noticed was covered in a fine layer of dust. Obviously it was not played very often, if ever. I picked up the manuscript, flicking through the pages, stopping every so often when I came across a piece I recognised.

I was so immersed in the music notes I did not hear the door creak quietly behind me, and so was startled when I heard the voice.

"Do you play?"

I spun around and came face to face with a man in a police uniform. I panicked for a second, fearing someone had called the cops on me for being in stranger's house, but he didn't look hostile, so I relaxed slightly.

"Yes." I replied, though it sounded more like a question.

The man seemed to sense my uncertainty. "Oh, I'm sorry, I'm Charlie, Bella's father."

My posture stiffened slightly.

"I just came home to check on Bella - she's got a bit of a temperature," he explained, like I didn't already feel guilty. "and I met Rose upstairs. She said I'd find a teenage boy in my living room fiddling with the piano!" he chuckled, eyeing the instrument behind me.

"Sorry," I looked at him sheepishly, "I'm staying with the Masens for the summer, and they don't own one. I'm afraid I couldn't help myself."

"Ha, Peter never was musical. I remember when Liz brought him to cello lessons…" he smiled, lost in memories, before he remembered I was still in the room. "You can come over and play whenever you like - I wouldn't mind and Renee probably wouldn't even notice…" he laughed again, "God knows someone should play it."

I couldn't help the smile that spread across my face as I replied eagerly. "Really? You wouldn't mind?" I sounded like a child being offered a trip to Disney Land.

"No of course not, any friend of Bella's is welcome here." He smiled.

I managed to keep the grimace of my face, but only just. The guilt that had tortured me all night came back in full force as I remembered my words to Bella. I hadn't meant for them to come out quite so… rude. But they had, and I had probably offended her a great deal. And now her father thought we were friends…

"Thank you, that's very generous."

A silence fell over the two of us before I heard Rosalie coming down the stairs. Thank God.

Alice was… something else, I'd give her that. She was like one of those jack-in-the-boxes – constantly bouncing up and down in her seat next to Jasper. He was quiet, and even quieter when compared to his girlfriend, and I liked him immediately.

We were sitting in Marty's, a diner somewhere in Phoenix, eating lunch. I felt oddly comfortable; Jasper seemed to calm my nerves as we exchanged words, meaningless conversation about the weather, Phoenix, sports, music. However he was doing it, it worked.

Our food came as the others talked and I observed. Rosalie and Emmett were all over each other, feeding each other food off their forks and laughing at private jokes. Alice and Jasper seemed to have a very interesting relationship dynamic. They weren't as showy as my brother and Rosalie, but from the way Jasper kept looking at the girl next to him I had no doubt about how strong their bond was. I felt like I was intruding on some private moment between them when I saw all the meaningful looks they shared.

In between these looks however, the short black haired pixie-like girl that was Alice was watching my carefully, as if scrutinizing my every action. I felt like I was being judged – like she was looking for something in me and couldn't yet find it. What was she looking for?

After we had eaten the others were planning on going to a movie, but I excused myself, saying I was tired from the night before. They didn't believe a word of course, and I was certain Rosalie knew where I was really going.

It was risky – going to Bella's house while she was there. I knew that. The rational part of my brain was telling me not to go, that she could wake up from her sickness induced slumber at any given moment and catch me in her living room, but I pushed back those thoughts, thinking only of a new composition that had been floating around in my mind for the past week.

The back door was open when I reached it. The living room was empty. This was too good to be true.

I placed my hands on the keys lightly, letting all my worries fade as I concentrated on the piece in my mind. I sighed and closed my eyes, preparing to let the music take over. It did; it seemed to flow through my fingertips and on to the keys as I began playing. I was a completely different person, all pretences gone, only the music left. It filled the air, each note slow, deliberate, filled with emotion. The notes came of their own accord and my fingers had no choice but to follow, they gave into the rhythm with no hesitancy. I played, and played, and played. It wasn't until the last note ended that I realized I was not alone.

Perfect.

Review? Uhm, how about the rest of my Nutella this time? Spoon provided? Anyway, please please let me know what you thought of this chapter!