Disclaimer: Of course I don't own Twilight or any of its characters.

AN: Wow, I can't believe how many reviews I got for the last chapter—I think it's the most I've ever gotten for one chapter. Thanks so much for all of your comments and support! Just wow. Y'all made me so happy and excited! And I know things completely suck for Bella right now, but they'll get better...eventually. So hang on to that knowledge while things are crappy. It wouldn't be high school if there wasn't some teenage angst and heartbreak involved at some point, right? And now, without further ado, on to....

Ch. 10

I only vaguely recall picking myself off the ground once my tears were spent and hauling my aching body to my bed, where I remained for the rest of the day.

Thankfully, Charlie had headed off to work by the time I came home, so I was left to drown in my misery alone.

I didn't think about anything; I just existed. My mind was a blank.

I must have drifted off to sleep eventually because the next thing I knew it was 4:30 in the morning. Where I resumed my mourning.

I heard Charlie shuffling around the house at about 6:30 and heard him leave for work an hour later.

Alone again.

I rolled over onto my back, staring up at the ceiling.

How had everything gone so terrible wrong in a matter of seconds?

I had no idea how much time had passed, before I heard a light tap at my door.

I ignored the sound, figuring it was all in my head anyways.

The door creaked open, however.

"Bella?" A voice whispered softly.

A head of short, dark hair poked through the opening.

Alice.

She spotted me, gasped, and threw open the door the rest of the way, before dashing to my side.

She knelt next to my prone figure on the bed although I still hadn't acknowledged her presence.

I felt a tiny hand stroke my hair.

"Oh Bella, I'm so sorry. I should have warned you," she said, sadly. "I wasn't sure which would have been better. I didn't want you to be completely alone here when…" she trailed off.

I rolled my head on the pillow to face her, and the anguish on her face made fresh tears spring to my eyes. I hadn't realized I had any more tears left in me.

She leaned over and hugged me, and I surprised myself—and her—when I returned the hug.

"Oh Alice," I said softly as she continued to hold me in comfort, "I had just realized that I am completely in love with him. I've been so stupid, and you were always right. I love him." I pulled away and looked her in the eyes. "But it's too late," I whispered.

"Never give up, Bella. You two will be together in the end. This is just another…bump in the road…along the way. You'll see."

I sighed, not convinced. But I did sit up.

"When did you last eat?" She asked, changing the subject.

I shrugged, not really caring.

Alice frowned at my response. She jumped up, pulling me with her with surprising strength.

"Come on, I'm cooking us some mac-n-cheese!"

I managed a small smile at her energy, and stumbled behind her as we made our way to the kitchen.

Two bowls of pasta later and I had heard about all I wanted to about Tanya.

She was apparently Kate's best friend from their school, and the Cullens had met her a few times over the years, although Edward had never really shown an interest in her before, even though she certainly had with him.

She had been included specifically in the festivities this year, however, because—and when Alice told me this, it felt like someone had stabbed me in the gut with a knife—she was moving to Forks and transferring to our school. Her father was a doctor like Carlisle, and had been offered a job at the local hospital. Tanya's family had been overjoyed to learn that she would already have some friends when she started next semester.

Yippee.

For some reason, Edward had at first simply been polite as usual, but the more Tanya flirted, the harder he seemed to fall for her. And now he considered himself in love with her!

Thankfully, though, Alice didn't really care for her. That was one ally.

"There's just something about her that puts me off. And it's not just because she's coming between my best friend and my brother," she said, throwing me a sad look. "I don't trust her. She seems so fake. No one else really seems put off by her though. Even Rosalie likes her. But then again, they are both ridiculously girlie and easily bonded over makeup and hair products and anything pink," Alice finished, making a "yucky" face. Even with her fashioned-crazed mind, Alice still had some tomboyish ways like me, which is why we were a bit closer than Rose and I.

I laughed at her expression, trying to ignore the constant dread I was feeling. It hurt to know that she was worming her way into my friends' hearts as well.

But not Alice. I loved her even more for that.

Alice shrugged her dainty shoulders and sighed. "I'll just have to keep an eye on her from now on. Until I can come up with a plan to get rid of her," Alice finished her sentence ominously, a wicked grin spreading across her features. She looked downright creepy. And very capable of…disposing of someone.

"Alice!" I protested. I hadn't even met the girl yet; she might be really nice, I tried to reason with myself.

Screw that, Alice can plot and scheme all she wants!

Alice pulled me from my thoughts when she placed a hand over mine in comfort.

"I'm so sorry this is happening though, Bella. And just when you finally started to listen to me. And I hope you don't think I was neglecting you by not coming over here until now. I wanted to come right after you left, but Jasper told me to give you some time to yourself before I 'hounded you,''' she said, using air quotes and rolling her eyes at Jasper's use of words.

I nodded my head, reminding myself to thank Jasper at some point. I was grateful no one had seen me like I was last night…

A grimace crossed Alice's face, twisting her beautiful features.

"Um, there's something else you're not going to like." She squirmed in her seat, like it was literally causing her discomfort to divulge the news.

My stomach tightened at the thought of more bad news.

"Just tell me Alice. How much worse could it get?" She looked hesitant, and I didn't want her to change her mind.

"She's coming to the New Years party."

Oh.

After Alice had left, and a few more crying sessions later, I was resolved. I had ignored my feelings for him for so many years, surely I could do so again. And there was no use crying over it anymore—it wouldn't help anything. Besides, all my tears were already spent.

I would just shove everything into a neat little box and push it to the back of my mind. Forgotten. I was not going to think about it anymore. And Edward was not going to find out about my feelings either—I didn't want to lose him again.

Although Alice was dubious that I could just ignore my feelings, she thought it might be for the best that Edward not find out about them. Yet. Until, as she put it, they were rid of Tanya and she could push him in my direction again. I was even more in doubt of his supposed feelings for me however, with this latest little development.

I could do this. I could be the best friend, even if that's all I would ever be.

Which is how I found myself, two days later, wrapping tinsel around the banister in the Cullen's house with Edward.

"Edward, drape it more. It's not even," Rosalie ordered from the living room.

Edward sighed dramatically while I giggled. We'd been at this for almost an hour, redoing it time and time again because it wasn't up to Rose's standards.

"Why don't you come do it since we don't seem capable," he suggested for the tenth time.

Rosalie shot us an impish grin. "Because I'm busy with important things."

Edward sighed again.

"You know, you really think you'd learn by now," I teased. Every year Edward tried to get out of helping for the party by not volunteering to do anything. And every year Rosalie not only took great joy in giving him the worst jobs to do, but always gave him a hard time while doing it. And I always ended up helping him, mostly just to enjoy the show and see his exasperation.

"Yeah, you'd think," Edward shook his head before giving up and trying to fix his mistake.

We fell silent while working on opposite ends, each caught up on our work. I was trying to figure out how to tactfully approach a subject with him, knowing he wasn't going to like it one bit.

"So I heard you're bringing Tanya to the party?" I asked lightly, while grimacing on the inside. It hurt even more when Edward lit up like a Christmas tree at the mention of her name.

"Yeah, I'm really excited. I can't wait for all of our friends to meet her. Especially you," he gushed animatedly.

I nodded my head, afraid of what I might say if I opened my mouth.

I let half a minute go by while I composed myself. "And Alice will be with Jasper. And Rose with Emmett," I paused, willing him to see where I was going with this. Since everyone always coupled off at the New Years party, Edward and I always spent the evening glued to each other's side. But not this year. This year he'd be with Tanya. And I was not about to be the third wheel with that couple.

"So…I was wondering if I could invite someone."

There. I said it. It was out there.

Edward stilled. His eyes remained fixed on the tinsel in his hand. I noticed his grip tighten ever so slightly on the material.

"Like, like a date?" He asked quietly.

"Um…kind of. I guess. I mean, someone I'd hang out with all night, if that's what you mean by a date."

His eyes slowly rose until our gazes locked. I swore I saw something that looked suspiciously like jealously flash through his emerald eyes before he covered it up with a smile.

"Sure, of course that'd be fine," he said, painfully cheerful. His gaze dropped back to the banister. "Can I ask who the lucky man is?"

"Um, well, see that's the thing. I want you to promise you'll be nice to him. I'm already having a hard enough time trying to convince him to come here so it'd be great if I can get a promise of civility from you."

I could tell that I had peaked his curiosity now.

"Of course I'll be nice," he scoffed. "Just tell me who it is."

I paused for a beat, preparing myself for his reaction.

"It's Jacob," I finally uttered softly.

He was silent. I waited for him to say something, anything. I couldn't tell what he was thinking either, since his gaze was still fixed on the railing.

After an unbearably long period of time, he finally muttered something incoherent.

"What?" I asked, wondering what he had mumbled.

"I said that's great," he bit out forcefully. He lifted his face to mine but wouldn't quite meet my gaze. I could see the controlled anger though. His lips were pressed together so hard that the corners were turning white. His eyes, although gazing at some spot over my shoulder, were hard. And the telltale tick in his jaw was flickering away.

"Really Edward. Is it great?" I replied sarcastically. "If I bring him, you're going to be civil, right? He's my friend too and I won't stand for anyone being rude to him, especially you."

Edward didn't reply right away. He released a long, ragged breath, however, and I could see that most of his anger had left him. His gaze slid over to meet mine.

"I don't have to like him, but I promise I'll be civil. And that my brothers will too."

I nodded my head, happy to have that promise from him. I knew it was the best I'd get.

"Good. I'm glad we can be mature about this. Now let's get this tinsel on here and be done with it."

And that was the end of that conversation.

Jacob tugged at his tie, loosening it from around his neck.

"Do I seriously have to wear the tie Bells?" He whined.

I kind of felt bad. When I'd convinced him to go with me, I'd purposely left out the formal attire bit. I knew Jacob would have never agreed to go. It took enough convincing for him to "step into the lion's den" as he had put it. But once he'd promised to go with me, he said he'd see it through, even after he learned that I'd tricked him. He really was a great friend to me. I decided to have a little pity for him.

"Alright, you can lose the tie."

"Yes!" He cheered, ripping it off with a flourish and tossing it across his room in the direction of his bed. I had to admit though, he did clean up nice. And still looked formal enough in the sharp navy suit he was wearing. He'd even styled his hair for the occasion. I was quite impressed.

I gave him a playful once over. "You look good Jake."

Jacob gave me a lopsided grin before becoming serious. "And you look beautiful Bells."

I smiled, grateful for the compliment. It was going to take all the courage and confidence I could muster to get through this evening. Alice had helped me pick out the beautiful midnight blue dress I was wearing. It was strapless—which had taken a lot of cajoling from her—and the shimmering material bunched up on one side at my hip, before cascading down to just above my knees. A black, netted material peaked out playfully from the bottom hem, which we'd matched to simple but elegant strappy black heels.

I had left my hair down and it cascaded past my shoulders in wavy curls, and had applied only a light amount of makeup, which is more than the nothing I usually wore. I still felt like me, which was vital to get me through the evening, only a much dressier version.

I gave Jacob a confident smile, even though it felt like my insides were knotted and churning. I really hoped I could make it through tonight.

Jacob and I parked in my driveway after noticing there were cars already lined up and down the street. I usually got to the Cullens a few hours before the party to help set up and get ready with the girls, but I decided to bow out of that this year. I didn't really want this evening to last any longer than it had to.

I stepped out of the car and walked around to stand by Jacob. We both gazed at the house, hesitant to go in for different reasons. Jacob was still anxious that he wouldn't be welcomed into their home, even though I'd tried to convince him otherwise. And me, well, the plan to ignore my feelings wasn't working out too well, especially knowing that I was going to meet Tanya tonight. And see Edward with Tanya. I had been dreading this moment all day.

Jacob half turned and gave me a lopsided smile. "Ready to get this show on the road?"

He offered me his elbow and I looped my arm through it. "Ready as I'll ever be."

He nodded and we took off across the grass, toward the front door.

So how'd you like the chapter? The next chapter will be the party. Who knows what will go down; anythings possible, right? And I'm still trying to fit in an EPOV or two somewhere for you guys requesting it. And I'm working on starting a few other story ideas I've had—I've just got to find the time. Thanks so much for reading. Enjoy the rest of the evening!

Until next time,

Western