AN: Thanks to Irritable_Grizzzly for her awesome beta skills...the chick even beta's my A/N's! Kick ass!

As usual: Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight.

Edward Masen

"Edward, what the hell is going on?" Bella asked. This was not a slight panic – she was starting to freak the fuck out.

"I have no idea," I replied, "but I'm gonna go check."

I got out of the car, my eyes searching for someone in the dark. The camera flashes had messed with my eyes, so I was having a hard time adjusting to the dark driveway.

I saw a familiar shadow leaning against my front door. "Jasper?" I called out. The shadow started laughing. "You asshole! Do you have any idea how fucked up this is?" I yelled at him.

"I'm sorry man. It was all Alice's idea." He pointed to the giggling shrubs a few feet away.

"I'm starting to think you need to find your own place to live," I snapped. By now Bella had gotten out of the car and was standing at my side.

"Alice, get your munchkin ass out here now!" she called. Irritated Bella was back, irritated Bella was hot. Yes!

Alice came out from behind the bushes shuffling her feet and looking down. She knew she was busted.

"I'm sorry, Bella. I didn't think-"

"Exactly," Bella cut her off. "You didn't think. Did you consider how bad things were the last time Edward and I were seen together? No, you probably didn't. Instead you thought it'd be funny to scare the ever living shit out of us. Fuck you, Alice. Not everything is a goddamned joke! How the hell did you know that we were together anyway?"

"There were three ways, really. The first is that you were both missing within ten minutes of the movie starting. The second was Jake…"she trailed off.

"And the third?"

"Emmett."

"I'm going to fucking kill him," she muttered. I wasn't sure if she was planning on tearing into Jake or Emmett; either way, I was sure as hell glad it wasn't me.

"You'd think after our arrangement that he'd have a bit of sympathy…you know what, forget I said anything." She waved her hand in the air, leaving me more confused than before.

Now I was curious as to what kind of arrangement was she was referring. Were they really apart, or was this some kind of game to them? I thought back to the wink Emmett had given Bella at the premiere – was that part of it?

"Bella," Alice pleaded, "I swear Jake and Emmett had nothing to do with this. It was all Jasper and me."

This was the exact reason why I didn't have an assistant. There were too many damn people either knowing my business or wanting to be in my business. I'd been burned before by people who had sworn they were looking out for my best interest, only to have found the exact opposite.

Bella Swan

"I know Jake and Emmett aren't behind this. Jake was the one who encouraged me to take off and Emmett is probably so far up Rosalie's ass right now he doesn't know if it's day or night," I fumed.

I knew Emmett would be at Rosalie's giving her the Quarterback Sneak or whatever else he thinks is hilarious. Sex with Emmett was always fun. He's very giving, and Lord knows the man knows how to show a girl a good time. At least someone was getting to have a good time tonight.

To say I was pissed would be a fucking understatement. After we blew off the movie, the fiasco at In-N-Out and then our talk on the beach, this was the last thing I needed or wanted. I guess it could be considered a blessing in disguise. If it weren't for Alice and Jasper thinking they were hilarious assholes, I would probably have been upstairs ripping Edward's clothes to shreds. I wasn't about to let them know that, though.

"Look, I'm tired, I'm hungry, and I just want to go home. Alice, get your wee ass in the car." I let out an exasperated sigh and turned to Edward and gave him an apologetic look. "I'm really sorry things have turned out this way. I don't know when we'll get together again, but if nothing else, I'll see you in Vancouver, right?"

"Right." Edward looked a little surprised that I was taking off so suddenly. The last thing I wanted to do was leave him, but I wanted to deal with Alice and figure out what exactly was going on with her and Jasper.

"Okay then. I'll leave you to deal with your minion and I'll deal with mine."

He nodded. I suddenly felt like we were parents whose kids caught them wrestling naked on a Sunday morning.

Silence took over.

Awkward much?

Oh fuck it. I took three quick strides over to Edward and to give him a tight hug. He wrapped his arms around me and apologized for his asinine manager. I, in turn, apologized for my half-wit assistant and best friend. I gave him a quick peck on the cheek, quietly thanked him for a fun night out, and walked back to the car.

As soon as we pulled out of Edward's driveway, Alice turned to me and told me to tell her everything, and not to leave out any details.

"No," I snapped at her. I was going to tell her everything, but I had to show her that this little shit move that she pulled couldn't come without repercussions.

"Come on," Alice begged, "I wanna know – no, I need to know."

"Well, I guess you should have thought about that beforehand, hmm?"

"Bella, how many times do I have to say I'm sorry?" she pleaded.

"Five more, and then you will have to wait twenty-four hours before I tell you anything."

"Fine," she huffed and crossed her arms over her chest.

The rest of the drive was spent in silence. Thankfully the house was empty when we arrived home; Emmett kept his word and stayed at Rosalie's place. The thought of the two of them going at it with me down the hall would be unbelievably annoying, not to mention weird. I wasn't stupid, I saw the chemistry those two had. If there were any doubts about our engagement ending, they were quickly laid to rest when I saw how their eyes lit up with each other.

This entire night had been a test of mental willpower; it had to be. There was no explanation for the level of mind-fuckery that was taking place. I must have done something awful in a previous life to put up with the crap that I went through tonight. What else could explain what the fuck Tanya and Irina were doing at the premiere tonight. And how were they both associated with Edward? The odds that everything was a coincidence were just too small, but I knew Edward and Emmett had never spoken or had contact with each other before. They had way too much in common, and if it was all just a crazy and fucked up happenstance, then this was one for the history books.

I needed to get Alice's opinion on all of this. She knew of Emmett's and my understanding, but as of right now, everything was hitting a little too close to home. I would explain everything to Alice the next day, but I needed to let her stew for a little. She was apparently under the impression that butting into my business was part of her job, and for a while I let her do whatever she wanted because it made my life easier. After tonight, I would have to put the kibosh on that.

We got home and I immediately went upstairs to take a shower and wash the sand off of me. I made a mental note to get my car detailed, afraid of how much sand and whatever else we had dragged in from the beach was still stuck to it. In the shower, as I let the hot water wash the day off, I thought about everything I shared with Edward. I had never been more honest with anyone, except Charlie. I surprised myself when I admitted I didn't know who I was without being in a relationship. I was even more surprised when Edward told me he would wait for me to figure out what it was that I wanted.

I still thought he was being an idiot for waiting, but it's his time to do whatever he wants with it. The movie that was being filmed in Vancouver was supposed to last for four months, and I would be spending a total of two months there. Most of my time would be spent between New York and the set.

I got out of the shower and fell asleep in my bathrobe. Right before I shut my eyes, I glanced at the clock and it read 3:30AM. This had been one of the weirdest and longest nights of my entire life, and I couldn't wait to sleep it away.

The next morning Emmett came strolling through the front door, leaving only the screen door shut. He plopped himself at the kitchen island as Alice and I were putting the finishing touches on our pancakes. He was wearing a grin that I knew could only mean one thing. I used to be the one who put that grin on his face. I was happy for him, though; he and Rose seemed to have a natural repertoire that never seemed forced. I was uneasy with the idea that he was so happy to have moved on so quickly, but his happiness was no longer any of my concern.

"So Emmett, I was thinking that while I'm in Vancouver and New York, you could just stay here," I suggested.

"Really?" He looked a little surprised.

"Sure, you can take the time to look for a place since you'll be a west-coaster now." The meetings that Emmett had earlier in the week were interviews to solidify his new position as the offensive coordinator for the Oakland Raiders. Lord knows they sucked something awful, and having him on their payroll would be a vast improvement. Since he had been injured with a severe ACL tear, he rethought his career. He loved playing, but he was getting older and thought he could benefit a team by coaching.

"That's great, thank you so much. I was already dreading having to live out of a hotel or finding a place to rent."

"I do have a few conditions if you are going to be staying here, okay?" He nodded as I continued. "First, you can't bring Rosalie here. I really don't care what you do with your free time, but all I ask is that you remember how this is going to look, okay? I'm going to be in Canada with Masen and you'll be here in my house with Rose…it'll just look bad."

"Bells, I get it. Trust me. I'm a little hurt that you would think I would disrespect your home like that. I thought you would give me more credit."

He was hurt and I couldn't blame him. It was sort of a low blow, and I could feel my jealousy shifting into gear. I wasn't jealous of Rose; I couldn't care less about her. I was jealous that he was already interested in someone else.

I knew I was being hypocritical with my thoughts, but nobody's perfect. I could almost guarantee that he was thinking the same about me, especially since I had met Edward first.

"The other thing I ask is that while you are staying here…" I trailed off. "How should I put this?" I looked at him pointedly. "You touch my car and you die, McCarty. Are we clear?"

"I understand you perfectly. Not a chance I would drive that chick car anyway. Rose and I are going to hit up a few dealerships later this week. Anything else?"

I thought for a minute and shook my head as I took a bite of pancake.

"So, are you going to tell me what happened after you left the premiere last night?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Nope. But I will let Alice tell you about the little stunt that she and Jasper pulled that they thought was absolutely hilarious." I shot Alice a glare causing her to shrink into her chair a little. "So, tell me Emmett, did you know Tanya and Edward were going to be there last night?"

I looked over at Alice who was pretending to be too interested in her breakfast. "Alice, would you please give Emmett and me a moment alone?" She immediately stood up and excused herself, saying that she needed to call Jasper anyway.

"Yeah, I knew Tanya would be there, but I didn't realize he was her date until we got there. I only knew she was going with her brother. I didn't put it all together until we got there. What were the chances that Tanya is Edward's sister and Irina is his publicist?"

I waited until Alice left the room to start speaking again. "So, does Irina or Tanya know about our previous agreements?"

"Oh, god no! Bella! Give me a little more credit than that. What has gotten into you lately? Why do you suddenly doubt my loyalties? Did either one of them say anything to you?"

"No Emmett, they didn't. If Tanya was going to, I don't think she would have said it in front of Edward. Besides, you knew Irina was there too. How is it that I get royally screwed on our deal? What were the odds that all this was going to come back and bite me in the ass and you get off scot-free. Fucking double standards, I tell you!" I cried with mock indignation and banged my fists on the tiled island.

"Awww, Belly come here," he said, holding out his arms. I walked into his embrace. "If anything, you look like the innocent lamb and I'm the big bad wolf."

"I'm going to tell Edward."

I felt Emmett's arms stiffen.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" His voice was laced with tension.

"Yes. I want to be completely honest with him. He deserves it."

"Are you going to tell him everything?"

"Yup. I'm going to tell him about the lists and our deal. I really like him and the last thing I want is for this to get out in some way. I have a good feeling about Canada. Plus, Crowley is going to be there, so the sooner I tell him everything, the faster I can figure out what is going on between us. The last thing I want to do is make things even more awkward."

"Is there anything I can do?" I could hear his heart beating twice its normal pace. He was nervous– hell, I would be too if I were him.

"Nah, but I bet you'll be glad I'm in another country when he finds out about Tanya and Irina. He'll probably be more pissed about Tanya. Are you going to tell Rose?"

"Not unless I have to. I only met her, and as much as I'm into her, I'm not ready to subject her to the intricacies of our past relationship."

"I don't want to talk about this anymore." I looked up at Emmett and saw that he had the same tired look on his face. I moved out of his arms and resumed my previous spot on the other side of the island.

"Neither do I. So tell me, what happened last night between you and Masen? Do you like him? Did he kiss you? Did you fuck him?"

I suddenly felt shy and bashful. These were not feelings I was used to anymore. Flirtatious? I can do that. Coy? Yup, I can do that one too. Hell, I even pull off 'elusive' quite well. But shy and bashful? Not so much. Thinking about Edward made my body react involuntarily. I had the sudden urge to duck my head down and dig my toe in the ground.

"Nice language. Did you fuck Rosalie?" I shot back. For some reason it didn't seem right to be talking about Edward. Whatever was between us seemed more special than that and didn't deserve the level of crassness that Emmett was implying.

"For the record, I kissed him, and I didn't sleep with him – not that it's any of your business. Just like I don't want to know what happened between you and Rosalie." I grinned internally at the thought of Edward and me together. It would only be a matter of time.

"But you want to," he said. It wasn't a question.

"Damn straight I want to. I told him a lot last night, Em. I told him about my independence and how I want to be on my own for a little while."

"And what was his reaction to that?"

"He told me that he would wait for me," I said, smiling into my coffee cup.

Silence fell over the kitchen. After what seemed like hours, Emmett finally spoke.

"Wow. It sounds like you've got a keeper, not that you didn't have one before. Hopefully he won't have to do all the work." His voice had a bitter tone to it and I was shocked. My eyes narrowed at him, daring him to say something further.

"You have something you need to say to me, Emmett?" The coolness in my voice was clear.

"Not really. It's just nice to see that you can be so casual about putting people aside to figure things out. If I recall correctly, you always did what you wanted when you wanted, at least when we were together." He shrugged with mock indifference. I knew what he was trying to do, and fuck it all, it was working.

"That's not fair Emmett and you know it. Don't play the guilt trip card on me." I was angry – how dare he pull his passive aggressive bullshit? "I could very easily say the same thing to you, couldn't I?" He looked down. "And yet I allowed all your indiscretions and never said a word, not a fucking word. I even agreed to participate in it to a point, so don't you dare tell me that I wasn't generous during the time we were together. If that is what you mean by doing what I wanted when I wanted, then you should look in the mirror. You're looking like a black pot right now."

"You never said a word about my indiscretions? Don't go pulling that shit on me that you're better than all that. You had an equal hand in our agreement. What about your affairs?"

"There wouldn't have been an agreement to begin with if you could learn how to keep your dick in your fucking pants!"

I stared at him, waiting for his counter. I knew I wouldn't be disappointed. This was not the first time we'd had this argument, but it was the first time since we were both single. This time it was different; this time the gloves were off. We could say what we needed, and more importantly, what we had always wanted to say.

"Like you didn't have a wandering eye too, Bella."

"Fuck you, Emmett. I would have never done half the shit I did if it weren't for you, and I don't mean that in a good way. I never said I didn't have a wandering eye, but at least I was able to know the difference between window shopping and fucking someone in the dressing room." I knew my analogy was off a bit, but it drove the point home.

"Hey guys?" Alice piped up from the entryway incredibly uneasy. Emmett and I had fought a lot, and Alice was used to it. It was part of our relationship – the hotter the argument the better the sex was at the end.

"WHAT?" Emmett and I yelled together.

"We have company," she squeaked, her eyes darting between us. Behind her, I heard a deep voice clear their throat and I instinctively knew who it was. Alice met my eyes and mouthed 'Edward and Jasper'. I nodded in acknowledgement.

"Great," I muttered.

Emmett stood and pushed himself away from the counter. He was halfway up the stairs when he yelled, "this isn't over, Bella!"

"The hell it isn't," I snapped at him, "There isn't anything more to say. You started it, and I finished it – sound familiar?"

I immediately realized what I just said and clapped my hand over my mouth and saw Alice's wide eyes meet mine again. I wasn't too sure how much Edward heard, but from what I did know, I couldn't blame him if he ran away from the house and never looked back.

Edward Masen

After Bella and Alice had left, I let Jasper know that I was less than thrilled with his idea. It bothered me how much more worked up Bella had gotten than I had. The idea was stupid and childish, but I couldn't really care less. Jasper and I had pulled much more idiotic shit on each other; hell, this was amateur hour compared to some of the stunts Tanya and I had gotten away with before. Jasper kept trying to apologize to me, but I didn't want to hear it. I told him Bella deserved more of an apology than I did.

When Alice called and invited us over for pancakes I knew it was a peace offering of sorts. The thought of seeing Bella after last night was more than enough incentive to get my ass out of bed. I really thought that I wouldn't see her until we left for Canada, since she said she was going to be bogged down in meetings until it was time to leave. The thought of trying to see her over the weekend never even crossed my mind.

We were told to be there around ten-thirty which seemed a bit late for breakfast, but what the hell, I didn't care. I knew I had it bad for the 'brunette New Yorker' as Tanya called her. I'd never let another woman influence me or make me feel the way she had. I was addicted to the feeling of calmness and I wanted more. If it meant that I had to wait for her to sort her emotional shit out first, so be it. I'd wait. I just had to hope that I wouldn't have to wait too long.

I was grateful that Jasper had the sense to ask Alice for directions to Bella's house – god knows I didn't know how to get back there. I just remember being impressed with her car and the exterior of the house seemed to fit her personality. When we pulled up, we were able to see the house completely. It was a huge two story Mediterranean style front with cobble stone driveway and pathways that led around back to what I was assuming was the pool. The front door was actually an outer layer of a solid wood door with an inner layer of the screen door. When we walked to the porch we could see the screen door was shut and we could hear two people arguing, it was clearly Bella and Emmett.

At first the sounds were low but it didn't take long for the voices to escalate.

.

"Should we knock?" Jasper asked.

"I don't know," I said with a shrug. "Maybe we should leave?"

"I know Alice is here. I'll just send her a text and let her know we're out front."

"You never said a word about my indiscretions?" I heard Emmett yell. "Don't go pulling that shit on me that you're better than all that. You had an equal hand in our agreement. What about your affairs?"

Jasper and I looked at each other with wide eyes, not sure what to do.

"There wouldn't have been an agreement to begin with if you could learn how to keep your dick in your fucking pants!" Bella yelled back.

This was obviously not the best place to be right now. I saw Jasper pull out his phone. We started to walk back to the car to wait, but something Emmett said caught my attention.

"Like you didn't have a wandering eye too, Bella."

I froze. This was not what I wanted to hear. Granted, I never knew the dynamics of their relationship, but regardless of how curious I was, I didn't like the idea of Bella straying outside of a relationship; I'd be lying if I said that I didn't feel a little deflated. There was definitely more going on than what Bella had told me, and I had a feeling there was more to this argument as well.

Alice came out to the front wearing a sad apologetic smile. She quickly gave each of us a quick hug which threw me off.

"I'm sorry guys, I had no idea they would be like this. It's been a while," she sighed.

"We can come back another time. It's okay," Jasper offered.

"It's probably better that you're here. It's getting to the point where they start saying things they don't mean." She turned on her heel and headed towards the house. Her statement threw me. They had already started saying some pretty harsh things. The only conclusion I could draw was that whatever they were saying must have been true.

We followed Alice into the house and I felt pity for the small girl. Clearly, this was not her first time breaking up their arguments, but it was clear to see that it wasn't easy on her. I remembered from our lunch at The Ivy that Alice was Bella's best friend and personal assistant, but she had known Emmett for a while.

She popped into the kitchen to let them know we had arrived and both of them yelled at her. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jasper's hands ball into fists. I heard a chair scrape against the floor and saw Emmett leave the kitchen.

He went up the stairs and didn't acknowledge our presence; I wasn't sure if he saw us or not. He turned back around and yelled down the stairs to Bella that their argument wasn't over, to which she told him that it was. But what was even more shocking was what she said after that.

"You start it and I finish it, sound familiar?"

The entire house was silent with the exception of a truck rumbling down the street.

"Maybe we should go," Jasper suggested again. This time it was for Alice's sake. I knew he was thinking the same thing I was: this was the most awkward situation we'd been in and neither of us felt like being caught in a war zone.

The way that Bella described their split, although she didn't say much about it, was that it was a mutual agreement and they were better friends than a couple. In the entire time I've been familiar with women, I have learned that there is no such thing as a mutual ending. There are always residual feelings that surface eventually. My guess was that the fight we walked in on had something to do with their separation.

I walked up behind Alice and peered into the kitchen. I saw Bella slightly bent over, her arms spread apart, bracing her upper body, and her head was down. Her shoulders were shaking as if she was crying.

"Bella?" I asked softly. She looked up, I was surprised to see that her eyes were glassy but she didn't look sad, she looked furious. An irritated Bella was amusing as was a pissed-off Bella. But this was something different. This was anger mixed with what looked like defeat, and it was heartbreaking.

"Hey," she said softly. She shook her head and rolled her shoulders to straighten out her posture. "I'm really sorry you guys had to hear that."

"It's fine. Are you okay?" I asked, ducking my head to try and catch her gaze.

"I'm good. So what are you guys doing here? I wasn't expecting to see you for a while," she said, finally looking up in my direction.

"Alice called and asked for Jasper and me to come by for breakfast. I swear we only caught the tail end of everything." It was a bit of a lie, but she looked as if she needed some self-preservation.

"Oh, well I think we have some pancakes left from earlier." She motioned her head towards the stove.

"Don't worry about it. Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'll be fine, it was just a fight." She paused and looked thoughtful for a moment. "So, maybe instead of pancakes, we can just have an early lunch somewhere? I can go change and we can head out?"

"Sounds good," I nodded.

I heard a thundering sound coming from the staircase. I turned to see Emmett grab his keys off the kitchen counter. His eyes widened a little and muttered something that sounded like 'hypocrite' under his breath. I glanced back at Bella, her jaw was clenched and her cheeks turned a bright red.

The four of us were seated in a booth in the far back of a local bakery. I had a baseball cap covering my eyes. Short of staying inside and making myself a hermit, there wasn't anything I could do to keep from getting recognized. I was not about to become a hermit again. God knows what Jasper would do to me if I retreated back like that.

We grabbed a table after placing our orders and the silence was very awkward. Nobody wanted to say anything about the fight, but it was clearly on all of our minds. Thankfully Bella was the one to break the silence.

"I'm really sorry about what you guys walked in on today. I'm not ready to talk about it. What I am curious about, though, is how the two of you know each other," she said, indicating Alice and Jasper

Alice and Jasper exchanged looks; an unspoken debate was going on between them as to who would speak first. After a few moments, Alice opened her mouth to speak; it was clear Jasper won.

"It was a couple of days after Ivy-gate and Jasper got in contact with me through the office. We've been speaking ever since," Alice explained.

"That's it?" I asked.

"Pretty much," Jasper confirmed. "Yesterday at the premiere was the first time we'd actually met. Before that it was just emails and phone calls."

Their answer was anti-climactic to say the least. It was a crap answer and we all knew they were both editing their answers.

"I call bullshit," I said.

"Ditto," Bella chimed in and crossed her arms.

"What's bullshit?" Alice asked, her voice squeaky.

"So, what about that day I heard you moaning in your office? Was it really because of the enchiladas we'd ordered?" Bella asked with a smug smile on her face.

"Yes!" Alice's eyes darted to Jasper.

"I knew it! You were phone sexing it up! You know how I know?" She didn't wait for anyone to answer, "Because we never order Mexican. Charlie can't stand the smell and it's banned from the office."

Alice's face went pale then suddenly burst bright red with embarrassment. Meanwhile, I couldn't hold back my laughter at Jasper's expression. His eyes were staring at the table; it was one of the few times I'd ever seen him embarrassed. After a few seconds, Bella let out a loud snort, causing me to laugh even harder. The entire situation was ridiculous enough that it broke the tension from earlier. Afterward, we all fell into an easy conversation about the girls' move to California, plans for Bella's new office, and new scripts I was reading.

On the outside it would have appeared to a normal observer that I was fine, but on the inside I was a wreck. I constantly wondered what Emmett had meant when he mentioned Bella's affairs. What had she meant when she said that she always finished what he started? And what was this mysterious arrangement that was brought up briefly last night and several times this morning? I had several theories running through my head and it must have been obvious to Bella.

"Hey," Bella said softly and nudged my shoulder with hers.

"Hmmm?" I asked.

"Are you all right? You look a constipated."

I swallowed my food and asked, "Constipated?"

"Yeah, you look like you're thinking too hard about something that you know will take time to pass," she said with a chuckle. "If this is about this morning, I promise you I will explain everything later, okay?"

"You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to," I assured her.

"Oh trust me when I tell you that I don't do anything I don't want to do. I want to – no, I need to - talk to you about what you heard this morning. I just hoped the timing would be better."

"Bella, I promise you–"

"Edward, stop talking please. I want to discuss it with you. After lunch, how about we drop the kids off at the house and go back to your place? That way there won't be any interruptions."

Bella alone at my place for the entire day?

Fuck yes.

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