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Things I Own: 2 flash drives, a portable hard drive and a car loan

Things I do not Own: Twilight in any way shape or form.



EPOV

I felt like I'd just taken a blow to the gut. I knew that Jasper, Bella and Alice had formed a close knit group but I never thought I'd see Bella in his arms again. Fuck. I couldn't get a deep breath as I watched him rub her back and tell her it was going to be fine.

I should be the one telling her it would be fucking fine.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" I growled in Jasper's direction.

His head shot up and his eyes narrowed at me as he brought Bella down the stairs into the foyer. She took a deep breath and pulled away from him slightly, leaving one arm around his waist, his arm tightening around her shoulders. She glanced at him and then she was staring at me, biting her lower hip nervously. I felt sick and couldn't stand to look at her anymore so I turned to my father and motioned behind me.

"What is he doing here?" I asked again.

My father pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed heavily.

"He is here because of your sister. She would want him here and I see no reason why he should be made to leave." He eyed me for a moment and then Jasper. "Alice would not want this. I don't know what the issue between you three is but I suggest you work it out amongst yourselves. There are more important things going on!"

He left the foyer then and returned to his study.

I growled in frustration and rushed towards the stairs bumping into Jasper with my shoulder as I passed without a saying a word.

I made my way down the darkened hallway, into my bedroom and slammed the door behind me.

BPOV

I winced as I heard Edward slam the door and I pulled away from Jasper and pinched his side.

"What is the matter with you?!" I hissed. He looked at me incredulously and I crossed my arms. "You could've let me go when we got to the bottom of the stairs."

"Bella, you were upset and I was comforting you. That's what friends do." he said quietly.

I sighed. He was right. Friends do that. I had no reason to feel guilty but I knew that seeing me in Jasper's arms would hurt Edward and hurting Edward was something I'd sworn to never do again.

"You're right. Friends do comfort each other but Jasper that seems to get you and I into trouble and I don't want to put more stress on any member of that family than there already is."

Jasper shook his head and smiled sadly.

"It was a long time ago Bell and there is nothing you can do to change what happened."

He turned then and started walking up the staircase, tossing a soft 'Goodnight' over his shoulder.

"Goodnight Jasper."

I was alone.

EPOV

I laid on my bed with my hands behind my head and stared at the ceiling. I was in hell. My sister was missing, my mother was a basket case, and now to add to the pile there was Jasper and Bella.

I thought of how I'd left things with Bella and for a minute my heart ached for the life I should be living right now. A life with Bella, not this routine I called living. I still took air into my lungs and my heart still beat but it had been ripped to shreds and now was on the verge of splitting the stitches I'd used to keep it together. It had been destroyed the night I walked out of the front door of Charlie Swan's house and hadn't stopped to listen to Bella screaming my name from the porch. I'd gotten into my Volvo without a look back, slammed the door and flew out of the driveway. I'd been so confused at what I'd seen and felt so incredibly stupid that I'd let her in when I'd always pushed others away. This is what happens when you open up to people, you become vulnerable and end up like I was now. Alone.

BPOV

Carlisle called me into his study as I watched Jasper return to wherever it was that he'd come from when he'd stumbled upon the awkwardness that had been going on in the foyer. I didn't want to lean on the Cullen's but I'd had no other options at the time and if I was being honest to myself Edward was still the first person I thought of during any sort of emotion reaction, be it good or bad. He would always be the one my instincts told me to run to whenever my emotions were running high, be them good or bad. The fact that his comfort and understanding were long lost to me left me heartbroken.

I walked into Carlisle's study quietly and he immediately came around the desk and put his hands on my shoulders.

"Bella I think you should stay here for awhile."

I stared at him in surprise - that's definitely not what I was expecting him to say. He chuckled at my wide eyed shock and motioned for me to sit. I took the chair in front of his desk and gripped the arms, my nails digging into the leather.

"I can't." I choked.

He sighed and sat down on the corner of the desk. He tilted his head to try and catch my eye but I kept my eyes on the floor.

"Bella." he said softly.

I looked up, trying in vain to keep the stress of the last couple of hours from causing tears.

"I can't. You've got enough going on, not to mention a full house and with Edw-". I stopped myself and took a deep breath. "He doesn't want me here."

Carlisle scoffed and shook his head.

"I'm not going to pretend to know why your relationship ended the way it did. I'm certainly not going to say that I don't feel the hostility my son has directed towards you. Frankly Bella it concerns me, and I would like to know just what happened when he left for school. He's refused to talk about it and after awhile I stopped prodding him. I know Edward and he will tell me if and when he's ready. I won't push you for the information either, I promise." He paused.

"What I will say is this. You are the best friend my daughter has ever had and you have just as much right to be here as any of my children. I've always thought of you as my own, and that hasn't changed. You will stay here for the time being."

I knew that there was no arguing with him, so I nodded. Edward would be livid and I internally shuddered at the thought of staying here with Edward and Jasper.

The large house suddenly felt very, very small.

JPOV

I shut the door to my room quietly and sat on the edge of the bed - elbows on knees, head in hands. I sighed and dragged my hands through my hair and then down my face roughly. That had been brutal. I hadn't been able to sleep so I decided that a walk might help clear my thoughts and when I came down the stairs I find Bella sobbing, Edward looking like he was about to pull a Bruce Banner and bust out of his clothes in anger. I hadn't expected her to come to me but I knew as soon as I put my arms around her and heard Edward gasp it was probably all over for me. If it wasn't for the girl in my arms I knew I'd have been TKO'd on the floor with a fat lip and little blue birds flying around my head.

It was no secret to me that my former best friend wanted nothing to do with me and with Alice at my side and Bella practically as my sister, I'd been able to get past the shock when he disappeared without a word. We'd always been straight with each other and I had no fucking clue how he could think that I would do something like that to him. I didn't really have words to explain the way I felt about the situation except that it was fucked up. Tonight in the Cullen house was the first time in 3 years I'd seen or spoken to Edward. After he left Bella's house that night he'd cut off all ties with the both of us, only communicating with Alice.

As I crawled back into the bed I let my mind remember how things were before our own personal D-Day.

Edward and I were pretty much like Butch and Sundance - inseparable. We did everything together until Bella Swan moved to Forks. After that first day, things were never the same.

My buddy was actually happy. I'd never seen him so damn happy in all the years I'd known him. Bella brought out the best in him and I couldn't have been happier for him. Our little partnership suddenly became a group of three.

Bella and Alice were close and then our group became four. I'd never had what you'd consider family, my parents had been killed in a car accident when I was 4 and I'd spent my whole life getting bounced out of foster home to foster home. Having three people I knew I could count on was a totally unknown dimension to me and despite the family vibe my attention was soon captured by the pixie devil named Alice.

She was beautiful. She was petite with spiky black hair and had eyes that were most intense and shocking shade of blue I'd ever seen. In all the years I'd known Edward, I've never met his sister. I guess when you spend all your time bullshitting and raising the hell we did there wasn't much time to be introduced to the family.

The first time I'd seen Alice was getting out of Edward's Volvo at school and I felt like I'd stepped on a live wire while wearing wet shoes - I'd been electrocuted in the best way. I'd never been a saint, I was a teenage boy with a reputation to uphold but everything about this girl made me want to buy flowers and go to church on Sunday just to be worthy of her company.

She terrified me.

After months of pining away like a bitch I had been determined to get what I wanted. I'd enlisted Bella into helping me. I didn't tell my buddy I wanted to date his sister, that was the first mistake.

Bella and I had been meeting in a diner in Port Angeles to discuss my plans to woo Alice. It had been my decision to meet so far away from home - I needed to make sure that nobody, especially Edward, would be included in our conversation.

I'd been on my way to the diner that night and none of us could've predicted that the world was about to come crashing down around us.