The weather matched my mood perfectly; the raindrops that slammed against the window, the wind that howled around the house, the lightning that broke angrily through the clouds.

I was angry, but I couldn't do anything about it. Admitting that I was angry would prove that I felt something for Edward, and I wasn't about to let that happen.

As far as I was concerned, Edward Masen was a jerk. A douche bag would be a more fitting term, but Alice seemed to have a problem with the word douche, so I wasn't allowed to use it in her presence.

"B, are you going to come out anytime soon?" Alice's voiced called through my door.

I had locked myself in my room all afternoon, refusing to deal with her curiosity, or her smugness. She was convinced that something was there between Edward and I.

And up until last night, I almost believed her.

The signs had all been there; he would run into me randomly on campus, he would stop to talk to me; he would be flirty and nice to me when Alice and I stopped by the house to visit with Emmett. And then last weekend happened.

I was sure he had been about to kiss me. And then the next moment he was muttering some excuse about how he had to go, and before I knew it, I was sitting on the couch alone, wondering what the hell had just happened.

I glared at my computer screen as Alice knocked on my door again.

"Come on B, what are you doing in there? You're awfully quiet."

"It's something that I like to call homework Al. You should try it sometime." I momentarily felt guilty about how snappy I sounded, but then I remembered that Alice was the whole reason I was in this situation.

"No need to bite my head off B, I didn't do anything." Alice said as she opened my door. She had an annoyed tone to her voice, which annoyed me more. She had no reason to be annoyed with me.

"No, you only tried to set me up with the world's biggest jerk. Of course, you did nothing at all." I still didn't look at her, choosing to continue to glare at my computer.

"Well, at least it got you complaining about something other then Jacob. I swear, that's all I've heard about the last few weeks. And for the record, I wasn't trying to set you up with him. I figured you could use a new friend." Although she was angry, I could hear the hurt in her voice.

"Alice, I dated Jake for two years. He was kind of a big deal. And I hardly talked about him around you. In case you forgot, you really didn't like the guy." I turned to face her, leaning back in my computer chair. I knew this fight was coming, and it was usually better to get it out sooner rather then later.

"You're right, I didn't like him. And I'm glad you broke up with him. But don't take out your anger towards that situation on me. I don't deserve it."

"It's not him that I'm angry about Alice. Remember last weekend? How you schemed and planned to get Edward and I to hang out? Yeah, that was a really great plan." I folded my arms across my chest. "How you used me as a way to hang out with Jasper?" I was still a little angry about that too; she had used me, and my relationship with Emmett to gain an in with Jasper.

"What happened B? Emmett freaked out because Edward still hadn't come home at three in the morning. He was on a war path. Did my text interrupt something?" I smile was slowly spreading across her face.

As much as I didn't want to tell her anything, and as much as I was annoyed with her, I couldn't help myself as the words came pouring out of my mouth.

"Ugh. That's the problem. Nothing happened! I swear, I thought he was about to kiss me, and then he gets some mysterious text message. Then he practically ran out the door. No explanation, just a mumbled 'I've got to go', and he was gone." I ran a hand through my hair in frustration.

"Oh B, that's fantastic! He almost kissed you?" She was practically jumping in excitement now.

"No, it's not fantastic. Nothing about it is fantastic! Mary Alice Brandon, you are not going to do anything about this, you hear me? There will be no scheming, no planning, no plotting. Nothing." I gave her my most serious look, hoping that by some grace of god she would actually listen to me this time.

"But…" The look on her face almost broke my resolve; she looked like a little girl who had just been told that Santa Claus wasn't real.

"No, Alice. If Edward wanted to do something, he would have done so by now. It's been a week, and he hasn't even said a word to me. Actually, anytime he sees me on campus, he practically runs in the other direction!"

The first time it had happened, on the Monday after that disastrous night, I had thought he had just been in a hurry to get to class. The second time, he looked at me, hesitated, and then turned and quickly walked the other direction. The third time was in the Student Union, and that was when I knew he was ignoring me.

I was waiting in line when I saw him sit down at the table with Alice and Emmett. They were soon joined by Jasper and an absolutely gorgeous blond who I had only seen once. He was laughing and joking with them until I walked up. Before I had even sat my tray down, he was already out of his seat, his food untouched on his tray. Without another word, he walked away, everyone staring at him in shock.

"I doubt he's avoiding you B…" Alice started, but I didn't let her finish.

"Alice, you were there on Wednesday. He had only been sitting down for a minute when I walked up. As soon as he saw me, he was gone. He's avoiding me." I stared her down, daring her to contradict me.

"Okay, so maybe that was a little strange. Maybe he has a reason for it?" She sounded almost hopeful.

"Or maybe he's just a douche bag."

I mentally laughed as she cringed.

"God, you know I hate that word." She shuddered a little. "Jasper says Edward has always been a little strange when it comes to girls. Maybe he just likes you and doesn't know how to go about it?"

"No. Alice, you're not going to be talking to Jasper about Me. Or Edward; actually, you're not going to talk about Edward and I in the same sentence. Ever. Do you understand?" In most areas of my life, I let Alice meddle. This time I was putting my foot down.

"But B…" She was whining now.

"No Alice. This time I'm putting my foot down. I came to college to get an education. I don't need stupid boys causing distractions. And I don't want you trying to set me up with anyone else, you got that?"

"Alright, alright. No more setting you up. Are you done being annoyed with me now?"

"I suppose." As long as she kept her promise, I wouldn't be annoyed with her again for awhile.

"Good. Now will you please come out of your self induced exile and watch a movie with me? I'm ridiculously bored."

I laughed as she gave me her best puppy dog face. There really wasn't much better then watching a movie with your best friend on a stormy afternoon, especially if you were upset about a stupid boy.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

(EPOV)

The weather matched my mood perfectly. It was windy, wet, and gray.

I was miserable, and I couldn't do anything about it. Admitting that I was miserably would be admitting that I felt something for Bella, and I couldn't let that happen.

As far as I was concerned, Isabella Swan was off limits. Emmett would kill me, and I'm fairly certain it would be a slow and painful death. And as miserable as I was right now, at least I was alive.

Leaving her apartment last weekend had been one of the hardest things I'd ever had to do. At least it was until Wednesday. Ignoring her earlier in the week had been fairly easy. When I saw her on Monday, I was running late for class, so it was easy to just hurry past her on my way to the science building.

On Tuesday, it was a little more difficult. I saw her standing outside the Student Union, and the desire to go talk to her was almost unbearable. I hesitated, weighing the pros and cons, before deciding that not being beaten to death by Emmett far outweighed everything else. Walking away had been fairly simple, especially since I didn't have to see the look on her face.

Wednesday, however, was excruciating. Of course I had noticed her when she walked in, but I didn't realize that she would sit with us for lunch. Looking back, I should have figured that out, since Alice was sitting at our table as well. But as I was sitting there across from Rosalie, Emmett's new girlfriend, I was completely unprepared for her arrival. I was standing by the time he sat her tray down.

In my defense, my father had taught me to always stand when a lady approached the table. I had seen it for years during holidays and dinner events; my father would stand as my mom approached the table, sitting only once she had taken her seat.

Naturally, I was embarrassed by my involuntary reaction, and opted to just walk away. My biggest mistake was glancing at her as I walked past. Her face betrayed her emotions; hurt, anger, sadness. She just stared at me as I walked away, her mouth half open in shock.

The rest of the week I locked myself in my room, emerging only to go to class and to eat. I needed to figure out how to act around Bella, and I needed to do it quickly.

"Hey bro, you still in there?" Jaspers voice coming through my door broke me from my thoughts. Jasper had been coming by once a day to check up on me. Most of the time I ignored him; and while the gesture was nice; I didn't really feel like answering his questions. "You can't lock yourself in there forever you know."

"I'm working on some homework. You know, that thing professors assign to us so we can learn the material?" I sounded rude, but at this point, I didn't really care. Jasper was part of the reason I was in this mess. If he hadn't been pining after Alice, Emmett never would have made me go with him to Bella's that night.

"No need to be a dick." Jasper said, opening my door. "Don't take your lady troubles out on me Eddie. Not my fault you want the one girl you can't have."

I rolled my eyes. That was the annoying thing about Jasper; he had an uncanny ability to read people.

"It's your fault I'm in this situation to being with. If you and Alice hadn't have left me there alone with her, I wouldn't have almost kissed her." I was still mad at him for leaving me there with her alone. It was like leaving a child alone, unsupervised, with a cookie jar within reach.

"Dude, I knew it! Alice was saying she thought something might have happened between you too."

"Will you shut up! I'd prefer to keep all of my limbs attached to my body." I hissed, getting up to close my door. The last thing I wanted was for Emmett to overhear this conversation. He was fiercely protective of his cousin. "And nothing happened. Nothing will happen. The girl hates me, if you hadn't noticed."

After the lunch incident on Wednesday, Bella's attitude had changed towards me. Every time I saw her on campus, she glared at me before walking away from me. Thursday afternoon, I ran into her in the hallway in Taylor Hall, and she didn't even glance at me; walking right by me as if she didn't know me. On Friday, as soon as she saw me in the Student Union, she turned around and walked back out the door.

"Well, if you hadn't been such a dick at lunch on Wednesday, she might not hate you. You know, you could always go over there with me later when I go see Alice. She hates thunder storms, so I figured she could use someone to ease her fears." I could see the idea formulating in his mind.

"No. Not a chance. Nothing can happen between Bella and I. Ever. You got that?" No matter how much I wanted it to, it just couldn't. "If you value your life, you'll leave this alone." I turned to glare at him.

"Whatever bro," he said, throwing his hands up in the air. "If you want to be miserable, be my guest. Just don't take it out on me." He let out a chuckle as he walked out the door, muttering something that sounded oddly like 'pussy' under his breath.

I shook my head. He can call me a pussy all he wanted, but I'm sure he'd be acting the same way if it was Alice who was related to Emmett. No one messed with the guy who could lift the entire front end of a Buick by himself.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Wow. I know. It's been a really really really long time. And I apologize. I could give you a million reasons why, but they'd just be excuses. I'm still trying to work out where I want this story going. But trust me, you'll know as soon as I know.

Hopefully it won't be another 4 months before the next update. But I make no promises.

Thanks to those of you who have added this to your favorites, or to your author alerts. It'd be awesome if you'd review too, tell me what you like, and what I can do better.