AN: I'm off to catch a plane and will be back in a couple weeks. Here is next weeks chapter early to make up for it.

Chapter 6

I hung up the phone. There was no point in continuing the conversation. I turned to Peter; he was looking at me with his eyebrows furrowed, clearly confused.

"Jasper doesn't get off work until 11:30 tonight so how about we go to my house. I can make us some dinner or something if you're hungry."

"Oh um, sure but only if it's not too much trouble, I don't want to intrude." I could tell he felt a little bad and as furious as I was this was not his fault.

"Honestly it's fine. I didn't have any plans tonight outside of giving my neighbor's cat her nightly shot."

"Okay, only if you're sure because I don't mind waiting here."

"Don't be ridiculous Peter; do you really want to wait on your brother's porch for the next 6 hours?"

"Not really." I helped him carry his bags back out to the truck.

"Do you live around here?" he asked.

"Not too far, about 10 minutes or so." I took the long way around and drove by Alice's to see if her car was there. It wasn't and I realized that she probably isn't even at Angela's either. I wonder if Jasper even had to work late, not that it mattered. They would have made up some excuse regardless.

"Make yourself at home; the bathroom is down the hall second door on the right." I told him as we walked in the door.

"Thanks Bella, I really appreciate this."

"No problem, what do you want for dinner?" My mind quickly flashed back to rancid chicken and while I wouldn't poison us I did contemplate sending some as leftovers for Alice and Jasper.

"Whatever you want is fine." he said before disappearing down the hall. I looked through my cupboards and I didn't have a whole lot since tomorrow was grocery shopping day. I decided on spaghetti since that was the easiest and the only thing that I had enough of for two people.

He was in the bathroom for quite a while. I could hear the water running in the sink and I wondered if I should offer him use of my shower but I didn't because it kind of weirded me out a little.

We talked all throughout dinner. He told me about the classes he was taking and he asked me about my job. It turned out that we were in the same field. He told me about growing up with Jasper and I now had some stories I could tease him with. Then I was brought back to the reality of the situation. I had been set up, and my bad mood was back instantly.

"That was really good."

"Thanks but its just spaghetti, it's pretty hard to mess it up."

"Well I have been known to burn water."

"If you're anything like Jasper I can believe it."

"Once I get settled I might have to sign up for a cooking class or something."

"Yeah, maybe they will have one available on campus."

"Do you want some help with the dishes?"

"Oh no, um I'll do them later. I have to head next door to give the cat a shot so I'll be right back."

"I thought you were kidding about that."

"No, Piffels is a diabetic and I'm watching her while my neighbor is out of town."

"Seriously? A diabetic cat?"

"Yep."

"I'll come with you, maybe I can help."

"Sure."

We walked next door and as soon as Piffels saw us she ran away. We spent the next 30 minutes trying to get her out from behind the dresser. I think she must know what time of day it is because she never does this at any other time. I got the syringe ready and finally coaxed Piffels out with some tuna. I had my system down. I'd become very practiced at this. I don't know why Peter was determined to get involved. Oh wait yes I do…..bad karma.

I had the cat between my legs and was holding her with one hand. And while I was just about to give her the shot, Peter stepped forward offering to hold her for me and in the same moment he fucking stepped on her tail. The cat screeched in the most heinous manner while scratching the shit out of me before escaping back into the bedroom.

"I'm so so sorry Bella." Peter started.

"It's fine, not your fault." Yeah, it's totally your fault.

"I can try and get the cat to come back out." he offered.

"No I think maybe we should let her calm down, I'll just come back later and try again."

"I'm really sorry."

"Don't be, really, no big deal." We walked back across the yard and inside. I went to the bathroom to check out my wounds. Most of the scratches weren't too bad; I had several on my thighs. I can't believe she could cause so much damage through denim. My arms and hands had them too. Those were worse since I had short sleeves on but I had two that I was pretty sure were going to scar.

They weren't bad enough to warrant stitches or anything but they were deep enough that it took several minutes before they stopped bleeding. One of which was on the inside of my wrist and the other ran right down the middle of my boob.

Perfect.

It was a little after nine and I still had another few hours to go before Jasper was supposedly going to show up. I suggested a movie. It seemed like a good way to waste some time. I didn't have a very big collection. I had a few of my favorites obviously but none of which could be considered anything but girly movies. We decided on The Holiday but we both fell asleep. When I heard the doorbell ring I woke Peter up and told him Jasper was here. He got up off the couch and opened the front door.

"Hey bro." I watched as the two Jasper's hugged.

"Good to see you."

"You too man."

"Hey Bella, thanks for picking up Peter and I'm sorry I…" I cut him off before he could finish.

"Like I told Peter, it was no problem." I said looking in Jasper's direction but not making eye contact.

"It was great meeting you Peter."

"You too Bella, and thanks for letting me hang out here."

"Bella, can I talk to you for a minute?" Jasper asked.

"Actually I'm really exhausted and I'm just going to head to bed."

"Oh um yeah of course." He smiled politely and asked his brother if he was ready to go.

"Yep." Peter said as he picked up his stuff.

"Don't forget beer and pizza night is this Tuesday at Emmett and Rosalie's."

"I won't forget." I also had no intention on going.

Jasper had a slightly worried look on his face as he turned around to leave. As soon as they were gone I went next door and spent the next hour and a half trying to give Piffels her shot.

I was so glad it was the weekend. I slept in until noon, and when I woke up I saw that I had seven new messages. The three from Alice I deleted without bothering to listen to them. One from Jasper, one from Rosalie, and two from Emmett. I texted Rose and Emmett and told them I wasn't feeling well but I would call them later on. I didn't bother to reply to Jasper but I knew he knew I wouldn't.

I went grocery shopping and that was the highlight of my day so far. No word from Edward yet but I wasn't too worried I knew he would be calling when he could. Finally just as I finished my dinner my phone buzzed with a text.

"Are you busy?"

"Never too busy for you, I'm at home." And he called me a second later.

"I think I can finally rival one of your bad days."

"Oh come on Edward you should know better than that. I've had years of experience."

"No really, I think I've got you beat this time."

"Does this cover all my bad days or just my latest one?"

"Let's start with the latest one and go from there."

"Okay, whatcha got?"

"My father is trying to replace me as executor of my grandfather's estate."

"That's not nearly enough Cullen."

"Cullen? You're sassy tonight."

"It was inevitable, my bad day started with Alice launching a sneak attack and she completely set me up."

"Fucking Alice."

"I know! See? You're not off to a very good start there."

"Ah but you didn't let me finish."

"Go ahead, not that it will do you any good."

"Oh you'll see. He's insinuating that I'm an incompetent lawyer and is trying to get me investigated in hopes that I will give up and give into his demand that he should be the one to handle the estate."

"What an asshole."

"Told ya."

"Will that work?"

"No, I haven't done anything wrong and I'm not going to let him intimidate me."

"Okay… then I'm still in this."

"Yeah but not for long."

"Alice managed to pull Jasper over to the dark side and their ganging up on me."

"Jasper, as in he's too laid back and easy going to ever get mad at Jasper?"

"Now being referred to as Fucking Jasper, yes."

"My dad started arguing with me at the church in the middle of the funeral service about the money from my grandfather's estate."

"Did anyone hear?"

"Oh, everyone heard."

"Holy shit."

"Ready to give up?"

"I'm not going down without a fight."

"This is your last chance."

"Peter stepped on Piffels' tail which caused her to scratch the hell out of me, while leaving me with two giant scars."

"Piffels? And who the hell is Peter?"

"My next door neighbor's diabetic cat Piffels that I am currently taking care of while she's out of town. Peter is Jasper's brother who I got tricked into spending the night with."

"Spend the night with!"

"Sorry, I meant evening before Jasper picked him up."

"My father punched me in the face at the grave site."

"Are you serious?"

"Yep."

"Why?"

"I told him that the estate was divided into three equal parts. Carlisle and I each got a third but the share that was supposed to be for my father was given to charity instead. He told me that I should be willing to split my inheritance with him or just hand it over. He blames me because my grandfather made the change to his will about the same time he received the letter that I sent him."

"Shit Edward are you okay?"

"I'll be fine; I just can't wait to get the hell out of here. And I believe that I just won."

"Yeah, I'd say that you did. You're handling this a lot better than I would have. I'd be down at the bar already."

"Carlisle did offer to take me out once we get back home. You'll have to tell me where the best places to go are. I haven't really been out since I moved to Seattle."

"Hmmm. Let's see. The Thirsty Lion is the bar I went to the night I ran into Mike. They have live bands playing there or if you're looking for dinner too, Poncho's is really good and they make the best margaritas."

"Well if we go to Poncho's I'll make sure to steer clear of any elevators with unsuspecting women in them."

"I don't think you have to worry, it doesn't seem to have the same effect on anyone else but Emmett. We eat there a lot and I have never had a similar experience with anybody besides him."

"That's good to know."

"How did we get back on this topic, its bad enough that we actually discussed it the first time."

"You brought it up."

"Don't remind me."

"Okay then change of subject. What are you planning to do about Alice? I really think something needs to be done."

"I'm starting with a boycott. I just don't have the energy to deal with her."

"That's a good start but you are going to need to deal with this."

"I know, it's just hard. We've been friends for 19 years and 18 of those were good. Not to mention that if I gave up Alice I would have to give up everyone else."

"Why? They're your friends too."

"I could keep Emmett and Rosalie but it would make it really hard for them. Maybe I should just put up with it."

"No! Why should you be miserable just to make everyone else happy?"

"I'm really good at it, and it just seems easier that way."

"I'd rather that you were happy."

"That's nice in theory but I just don't know if it's possible."

"Yes it is, don't do something that you don't want to do just to make them happy. You need to put yourself first sometimes because if you don't nobody else will."

"That sounds very cliché."

"It's the best I could come up with."

"Thank you; it really is good advice Edward."

"I know."

"Does that mean your going to quit your job and go in search of something that you actually want to do?"

"I thought we were talking about you."

"It works both ways."

"I don't even know what I'd want to do."

"Leave it to me. I'll pick something for you."

"You think you know me well enough to do that?"

"I have a good idea already but how about you tell me more about yourself and by the end of the month I will have your new career picked out for you."

"The end of the month isn't that far away."

"Are you doubting me?"

"No, I trust you Bella, but I get the power of a veto."

"So much for trusting me, but fine you can have the veto but I know you won't need it."

"So what do you want to know about me?"

"Everything."

Edward and I talked for hours I didn't get to bed until Sunday morning at 7:30. That meant that I slept most of the day away. I talked to Rosalie for a while but she didn't bring up the subject of Alice, Jasper or Peter. I was wondering if she knew everything already or was just avoiding the subject. Monday was pretty uneventful outside of a call from Angela who reminded me that her bachelorette party was this Saturday.

I kept avoiding calls from Alice and Jasper. Tuesday was beer and pizza night and I waited until the last minute before I called Emmett to cancel. He said he understood but wasn't happy about it. Wednesday I was bombarded with calls from Alice. I knew it was coming when I didn't go last night. She didn't say much in her messages other than to please call her. Later on I got another call from Angela. She was getting a little frantic now that the wedding was so close.

"Hey Bella, I heard you were sick."

"Not that I'm aware of."

"Oh, I guess I misunderstood. Anyway I was calling because we decided to put name cards on the tables. It will be a lot easier if everyone knows where they're supposed to sit."

"That's a good idea."

"So I need the name of your date."

"What?"

"The name of your date…to the wedding."

"Right, my date."

"You do have a date don't you? Alice told me a few weeks ago that you did."

"Yeah, I um do."

"So, what's his name?"

"Um."

"Is it Jasper's brother?"

"Jasper's brother?"

"Peter right?"

"What makes you think he's my date?"

"I don't know, I guess I just assumed. I met him last night when I stopped by to pick up some things from Alice. Jasper said he was in town for a few weeks."

"He's not my date."

"Okay, who is it then?"

"Uh."

"Bella, you're not going to make me guess are you?"

"No, of course not. Um his name is...uh... Edward."

"Edward who?"

"Edward Cullen, he's a friend of mine."

"Oh good, I can't wait to meet him."

"Yeah, me too." She doesn't know the half of it.

"See you Saturday for the bachlorette party."

"I'll be there."

Damn it.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"Hey you."

"Hey Edward, can you talk?"

"Yeah, I could use a break."

"How are things going, are you almost finished?"

"Yes. In fact I should be getting out of here in the next couple of days."

"That's great."

"It is, I don't think I'd last much longer."

"Do you have a flight booked yet?"

"No but we're flying out the minute I get this done."

"Isn't that a little expensive, last minute flights and all?"

"I'll just take it out of my inheritance. It will be worth it just to get the hell out of here."

"So….. um….. uh…"

"Yeah?"

"Huh?"

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Your voice just cracked."

"It did not."

"Did too….something's up."

"Okay, um, Angela's wedding is a week from Saturday."

"D-day."

"Yeah."

"So what's the plan then? Has Alice secretly invited Jasper's brother?"

"She might have but I told Angela I wasn't going with him."

"And what did Angela say to that?"

"She asked me if I had a date."

"And what did you tell her?"

"That I did."

"I see, did Alice have a back up ready in case Peter failed?"

"No, I uh found this one all on my own."

"And where did you find him exactly?"

"You're supposed to be making this a little easier for me Edward."

"Making what a little easier?"

"Asking you to, you know um maybe go with me?"

"Are you asking me to be your date to Angela's wedding?"

"Uh, y-yeah, um only if you want to of course….. and you know it doesn't have to be a date date if you don't want it to be. I mean we could just go as friends. Since we are friends, right? Fuck unless you'd rather just keep this all on the phone. I'm sorry I didn't mean to make this awkward. Shit, can we just forget I asked?"

"No."

"No as in we can't forget it or no as in you don't want to go?"

"No as in we can't forget it. I would love to go with you."