So here it is, faithful readers, Part II of Goodbye, and updated in just ONE week, as promised! A special shout-out to vickiurb (NoWayWithWords) and A Little Distracted, my wonderful Katy ladies, who I had the pleasure of meeting for lunch this week. As always, robbsweetangel makes me LOL with her reviews and special thanks to Kikiblue for her super-speedy pre-reading!

I won't ramble any further so you can get right to it – I know you're all anxious to find out who else Edward has to say 'goodbye' to!

Stephenie Meyer owns all things Twilight. All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. No copyright infringement is intended.

Hide In Plain Sight

Chapter 12: Goodbye (Part II)

EPOV

I stared out of the window at the gray Seattle skyline as the jet began its final descent, and my spirits sank even further. After the perpetually-blue skies and bright sunshine of Houston, the bleak Pacific-Northwest weather was especially depressing.

I turned on my phone. No new messages. When I had been inspired to leave Bella my cell phone number in the note I had written her that morning, I had made a deal with myself.

If she contacts me, then I'll know for sure that she has feelings for me too. If she doesn't, then I guess the attraction was completely one-sided and I'll have to find a way to move on.

I sighed in frustration. I was already regretting my decision to leave the ball in her court. The sad fact was I didn't know if I could move on. I honestly didn't know what kind of relationship I could have with Bella, even if she did make the first move. Pathetically, I realized that I would be more than happy to take whatever she was willing to give me. After the goodbye we had shared that morning, I was fairly certain that she felt something for me.

Why didn't I just ask her for her bloody phone number then?

I had the Black's home phone number that Jake had given me, but was reluctant to call it. If Bella wasn't at home and I left a message, there was always the chance that Jake would intercept it. Worse yet, there was the possibility that Claire might answer the phone if I called the house. I certainly didn't want to give her the wrong idea.

I felt like beating my head against the cabin window.

I'm too old to be playing mind-games like I'm in high school.

My reticence baffled me. I was usually a fairly direct person. When there was something - or someone - my inner voice helpfully supplied, that I wanted, I usually didn't waste any time in pursuing it.

If I had her phone number, I wouldn't be sitting here now waiting for the phone to ring like a teenaged girl, I thought glumly.

My spirits brightened considerably once I deplaned and found Alice, flanked by Jasper and Emmett, waiting for me.

"Edward!" Alice squealed, waving her arms above her head when she caught sight of me. "Over here!"

I sauntered over to the little welcome committee, and Alice pulled me into a quick hug.

"You have no idea how good it is to have you back," Alice said dramatically as she released me.

"Well, how-dy, Tex," Jasper drawled, cocking an eyebrow at my hat. "What the hell did they do to you down there, son? You've even got the red-neck thing going, and everything!"

"Sunburn," I mumbled, as I touched the back of my neck self-consciously.

"That is quite a hat," Alice said teasingly. "Where's my souvenir? It had better be something fabulous!"

"It was a gift," I said, shuffling my feet in embarrassment. "I never did get a chance to do any shopping. I'm sorry. I'll get you something next time."

Alice raised her eyebrows. "Next time? That must have been some trip if you're already talking about going back. I can't wait to hear all about it!"

I was saved from responding as Emmett pulled me into a bear hug.

"Aww, c'mere man!" Emmett grinned, practically crushing my spine with his embrace, and adding a couple of hearty thumps on my back, to boot. "You're a sight for sore eyes!"

"Damn, Emmett! I wasn't gone that long," I said breathlessly as I untangled myself from his vise-like grip. "It couldn't have been that bad, was it?"

"Worse," Jasper said, rolling his eyes and giving me an ostentatiously masculine fist-bump in greeting. "I'd almost hug you myself, except real men don't do that." He looked pointedly at Emmett.

Emmett shrugged and mouthed - What's his problem? – behind Jasper's turned back.

I shook my head, chuckling slightly. After the emotional turmoil that I had been suffering for the past few days, it was nice to see that some things, at least, hadn't changed.

"Don't mind them," Alice said, linking her arm in mine and leading me to the waiting town car. "I'll fill you in on the way to the hotel."

"I call shotgun!" Emmett yelled.

Ten minutes later, the car was navigating the damp Seattle freeway back to the hotel. Emmett was up front with the driver and was plugged into his iPod, his whole body moving to the beat of the music. How the driver managed to maintain his focus on the road with that sitting beside him, was beyond me.

I tried in vain to ignore the gyrating giant in the front seat, and turned my attention to Alice, who was sitting beside me.

"So," I said, "how bad was it, really? Did Jane give you hell?"

"It was probably worse on the guys than it was on me," Alice sighed, glancing at Jasper, who flanked her other side. "They were the ones who had to put up with Rose's ridiculous demands all weekend. The only time that things got a little hairy for me was on Saturday, when Jane moved all of her shit out of your suite. You can be damned certain I was there to make sure that she didn't walk off with anything of yours in the process," she said indignantly.

"Yeah, Rose was a real ball-breaker," Jasper chimed in helpfully. "Of course, Emmett just eats that dominatrix act of her up, but if I had to go on one more coffee run, I swear to God I was gonna break something."

Jasper's voice switched to mimic Rose's with hilarious accuracy.

"'It's one sugar, double-shot, skim milk with extra foam. That's the only way Jane drinks it. This just won't do. Go back and get the order right this time,'" Jasper intoned. "What the fuck, man? We're bodyguards, not baristas! Not to mention all of the other random crap she had us do. Like picking up Jane's dry cleaning, buying her cigarettes, moving her stuff into her new hotel suite; it was bullshit!"

"I'm sorry," I murmured, feeling guilty. It wasn't the first time it had occurred to me that while I was off indulging in 'me-time,' everyone else had been working as hard as ever. I really was a selfish bastard sometimes.

I was momentarily distracted as Emmett began singing along with his iPod and pumping his arms above his head in a 'raise the roof' motion.

Seriously? Who the fuck raises the roof any more? And what the hell is he singing?

"Edible strange how do I get in your pants when you're tick tockin' them

Serious Levis? So tight can't be classified that's why I'm here to fill that opening

Make a seasoned pass to mount that ass and Bob Hope that I might one night stand a chance

Let's go feng shui the fuck around my digs like a superball bring that sunny side up and

I got somethin' and it goes thumpin' like this

All you need is my uhn tiss uhn tiss uhn tiss

I got soemthin' and it goes thumpin' like this

All you need is my uhn tiss uhn tiss uhn tiss

Uhn tiss uhn tiss uhn tiss baby" Emmett sang, horribly off-key.

"Emmett, what the fuck?" I said loudly over the music. "Is that … Bloodhound Gang?"

Emmett turned and grinned sheepishly, giving me two thumbs-up before resuming his horrible singing.

I pinched the bridge of my nose and briefly shut my eyes.

It's got to be some kind of cruel cosmic joke that even a stupid Bloodhound Gang song reminds me of Bella.

"Dude, you have no idea," Jasper said woefully from beside Alice. "He's been singing that all weekend trying to impress Rose. The only thing he's succeeded in doing is annoying the shit out of us."

"He's convinced that serenading Rose with dirty lyrics is going to make her fall for him," Alice moaned. "Hey, moron," Alice said, raising her voice and swatting the back of Emmett's head. "Rose isn't here right now. Please to be turning your crap music off!"

Emmett pulled the ear buds from his ears, looking hurt. "What?" he said. "You can't blame a guy for trying! I know that deep down, Rose digs the effort I'm making. It's just taking her a while to fully appreciate the extent of my charms and skills."

He sniffed as he looked from Alice to Jasper.

"Anyway," he said, "at least I'm not being all covert about pursuing Rose, unlike certain other people I know!"

There was an uncomfortable silence in the back seat as Alice and Jasper exchanged glances.

Well, this is certainly an interesting turn of events.

I had suspected for months that Jasper and Alice had more than a strictly platonic business relationship, and their guilty faces confirmed it. I had no idea if they had acted on their mutual attraction yet, or if there was just a lot of unresolved sexual tension there. It was really none of my business, but I figured that Alice could probably do a lot worse than Jasper Whitlock.

I suppressed a smile.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Alice said icily to Emmett.

"All right, all right. Jeez!" Emmett said, holding up his hands in mock-surrender. He shot me a – What did I say? – look.

I choked back a laugh.

"Anyway," Alice said, turning to face me and pointedly changing the subject, "I've been meaning to ask you, how's the leg? The studio execs are starting to worry that you might hold up production."

"It's still bothering me a little," I lied smoothly, thinking of the nearly-empty pill bottle in my duffle bag. "I should be able to work through it, though. See if you can get that doctor to write me a refill on those pain meds."

"I'm on it," Alice said, whipping out her PDA and typing herself a quick note.

Wow. Jasper must be a bigger distraction than I thought. I was sure she'd call me out about still needing the pain pills.

I pulled out my cell phone and checked it again, sighing when I saw that message box was still empty.

"You expecting an important call?" Alice asked, glancing over at me. "You've checked that thing three times since we picked you up."

"No, not really," I said, putting the phone back in my pocket. "I was just hoping that a friend might call me today, that's all."

Thankfully, Alice didn't press the issue. We were coming within sight of the hotel, and I could feel her tense beside me, switching over to "personal assistant" mode.

"You'd better stow that hat in your bag," Alice advised me, giving me a quick look. "There may be paps or fans around, and that hat's a dead giveaway as to where you've been."

The car turned into the hotel's underground parking garage and came to a stop. As we piled out of the vehicle, Alice looked around.

"Coast's clear," she reported. "Let's go."

As we made our way across the parking spaces towards the elevators, a man stepped out of the shadows. My heart irrationally jumped into my throat, until I saw who it was.

"Great," Emmett muttered beside me. "Mike-fucking-Newton, paparazzo extraordinaire."

"Where've you been, Edward?" Mike called out as we continued to move towards the elevators. He raised his camera as we drew closer to him, and began snapping pictures.

"How did you get in here?" Alice asked witheringly.

Mike ignored her as he continued taking pictures.

"Answer the question, Edward," he said. "Where have you been hiding? Somewhere warm and tropical, by the looks of that tan!"

"Fuck off!" I growled, ducking my head as Jasper and Emmett moved in next to me, shielding me as best they could.

"Fine, don't tell me," Mike called after us cheerfully as we reached the elevators. "I'll find out anyway, you know. I always do. I've got connections."

Alice spun on her heel as the elevator doors parted. "I don't think so," she spat. "You know the rules, Newton. Unless you're a paying guest at this hotel, which I know you're not, you'd better not follow us, either. Now get out of here before I tell hotel security that there's a flasher posing as a photographer loitering around their garage!"

"Prick," Jasper muttered as the elevator doors shut and we began our ascent. "One of these days, that ol' boy's gonna go too far, and then I'm gonna take great pleasure in giving him the ass-kickin' he deserves."

I was silent on the ride up to our floor.

What if Newton wasn't bluffing? What if he really does have the connections to find out where I've been?

I didn't want Bella getting dragged into the maelstrom of my celebrity life. I had signed on for this insanity; she hadn't. I felt strangely protective of her.

Jasper and Emmett left me at my door and continued down the hallway to their rooms. Alice followed me inside.

I sighed as I looked around the spotless suite. It was as cold and impersonal as I remembered.

"You'd better check and make sure that nothing walked out of here with Jane that shouldn't have," Alice said, glancing around the room suspiciously. "I was watching her like a hawk, but you never know."

"Alice, it's fine," I said tiredly. "Jane's not a bad person. She'd never intentionally steal anything from me. We just weren't a very good fit as a couple, that's all."

"I knew there was a reason why I never liked her," Alice said teasingly. "She's crazy to let someone like you get away."

"Believe me, it's a mutual thing at this point," I replied, dropping my bag and collapsing on the couch. "If she wasn't breaking up with me, I'd be breaking up with her after this weekend."

I realized too late what I had said.

Uh … filter, Edward. This is Alice. She rarely misses anything.

Sure enough, Alice's eyes narrowed.

"So that's why you're so gung-ho on getting back to Houston," she crowed triumphantly. "I knew it. I just freakin' knew it! So? Who is the lucky lady that managed to steal Edward Cullen's heart?"

I groaned and dropped my head into my hands.

"I'm not ready to discuss this, Alice," I said. "It's too soon and too complicated right now."

"I promise, I'll tell you eventually," I said quickly, as I looked up and saw Alice's crestfallen face. "Anyway, turn-about's fair play. When were you planning on telling me about you and Jasper?"

Alice flushed. "That's different!" she squeaked. "We both work for you. I didn't want things to be … awkward."

I cocked an eyebrow at her.

"So, would it be completely crass and ungentlemanly of me to ask if you're shagging him yet?"

"Oh, gee. Look at the time. It's getting late," Alice said, glancing conspicuously at her bare wrist. "Here," she said, fishing around in the seemingly bottomless bag that she toted everywhere with her. She tossed me a fat manuscript. "These are all of the changes that were made to the script while you were gone. You have two hours to brush up before we have to leave for the set, so you'd better get busy."

I gave her a snappy salute and grinned at her. "Nice deflection, Alice," I said.

"You're going to need to spend extra time in make-up, too," Alice mumbled as she turned away, pretending not to hear me. "The make-up artists are going to crucify you when they see that sunburn."

I laughed as she headed for the door.

"Next time, wear sunscreen," Alice called over her shoulder at me.

"I did," I called after her retreating form.

Alice wiggled her fingers at me without turning around, and shut the door behind her.

I dropped my head back against the couch's headrest and shut my eyes.

That was entirely too fucking close, Cullen.

Although Alice was like a sister to me, I doubted that even she would understand the predicament I was facing. Bella was my precious secret, and I wanted to keep her that way for as long as possible.

My phone suddenly chimed with an incoming text. I fumbled it out of my pocket, and saw that it was from an unfamiliar number.

Oh thank God.

Bella's text read:

E, hope you've arrived safely in Seattle. TY for your note. Come back to H-town any time. – Bella

I quickly keyed Bella's name and number into my Contacts and immediately hit Send. I didn't feel like beating around the bush anymore by sending her a return text. I wanted to hear her voice.

"Edward?" Bella answered breathlessly after the second ring.

I smiled to myself. The fact that she knew it was me told me that she'd already programmed by name and number into her phone.

"Hello, Bella," I said quietly.

"I wasn't expecting to hear from you so soon," she said. "I just sent you that text, like, a minute ago."

"You would have heard from me sooner if you'd given me your number before I left this morning," I replied.

"It never occurred to me that you might want my number," Bella said. "And anyway, I had no idea at that point that you'd left me yours."

I could almost see Bella blushing at the other end of the phone, and I smiled again.

There was a short pause.

"So, how was your flight?" Bella asked. "How are you doing?"

"I'm flagging a bit," I admitted. "Traveling always exhausts me, and it's going to be a long day. I have to be on-set in less than two hours and we're shooting all night."

I hesitated for a moment.

"Plus, I'm breaking up with my girlfriend this afternoon and I'm not sure how it's going to go."

There. I said it.

I chewed on my cuticle nervously as I waited for Bella to digest the information.

"I'm sorry," she finally answered in a small voice.

"Don't be," I replied firmly. "It's been a long time coming. To be honest, Jane and I never should have started dating in the first place. It just seemed like the thing to do at the time; you know, good publicity for the movie, and all that b.s. The studio execs really seemed to dig all of the speculation that our relationship raised. 'Never confirm or deny,' was their position, which of course just added more fuel to the fire. Well, I guess we'll see now if they stand by their motto that 'no publicity is bad publicity'."

"It must be terrible," Bella said shyly, "feeling like your life is under a microscope all the time."

"It's draining," I responded truthfully. "But enough about my drama. What have you been doing today?"

Great, my inner voice said sarcastically. Are you going to ask her what she's wearing next, so you can fantasize about it? Hoping for the green bikini again, are you?

Sometimes I wished I could throttle the shit out of my inner voice, and silence it for good.

"Oh, not much," Bella answered. "I worked down at the clinic with Angela for most of the day, and now I'm just fixing dinner and waiting for Claire and Jake to get home."

She hesitated. "Edward, I have a confession to make," she said quietly.

I felt my heart begin to try to beat its way out of my chest.

What could she possibly have to confess to me?

"I … kind of told Angela about you," Bella continued in a low voice. "I … I hope you're not angry, Edward. I know how much you value your privacy, but Angela would never tell anyone, honestly."

"Of course I'm not angry," I replied gently. "I could never be upset with you. If you trust Angela, that's good enough for me. I think it's actually kind of great that you have such a good friend to confide in."

Truthfully, I was rather pleased that Bella had been talking to her girlfriend about me. It meant that she was thinking of me in some way, anyway.

I wish I could have been a fly on the wall for that conversation.

"Whew!" Bella sighed with relief. "Thank goodness you're not upset! I'd hate to doom our relationship from the start. I mean …," she paused, sounding flustered. "Our friend relationship. Our friendship. Oh, hell," she muttered.

"I understood what you meant," I said, laughing.

I had to admit, I fucking loved it when Bella got flustered. Especially when I was the source of her nervousness.

"So …," I said, letting the word hang. I knew that I should probably end the call soon and start looking over the script, but I didn't want to let Bella go.

"So …," she sighed back at me.

I hoped that she felt the same way.

"Can I call you tomorrow, Bella?" I asked softly. "I really have to leave soon, and it looks like I have a lot of new lines to memorize for tonight."

"Of course, Edward. You can call me any time," Bella replied. "I enjoy talking to you," she added shyly.

"I enjoy talking to you, too," I responded.

"Good luck tonight," she said hesitantly.

I didn't know if she meant 'good luck' with Jane or the shoot, or both, but my heart was warmed by her care and concern.

"Thanks," I replied. "I'll talk to you tomorrow, Bella."

"'Bye."

"'Bye."

Childishly, I waited for her to hang up first. For a moment, I didn't think she would, and I almost began speaking again. Then I heard a soft sigh, and the phone went dead in my ear.

I couldn't stop myself from grinning like an idiot as I opened the manuscript and tried to focus on my lines.

All too soon, I heard Alice banging on my door with her patented, 'It's-me-Alice-don't keep-me-fucking-waiting' incessant knock.

By some miracle, I had managed to review the script, take a quick shower and pop two Vicodin, for good measure.

I had noticed that my supply of painkillers was running perilously low, and I hoped that Alice had been able to refill my prescription.

I just need them to get through the rest of this movie, I rationalized. When we wrap, I'm done with them for good.

I was feeling pleasantly relaxed when I opened the door to find Alice tapping her tiny foot.

"Readytogo?Good," Alice said in a nearly unintelligible rush, not bothering to wait for a response.

"Where are the guys?" I asked, noting that Alice was alone in the hallway.

"They went down ahead of us to make sure that Newton wasn't still skulking around the garage," Alice answered. "I wouldn't want to be him if he was stupid enough to hang around. Jasper and Emmett were mumbling things like 'head-cracking' and 'ass-whuppin' last time I saw them." She sniffed. "Plus a few other things that I'm too much of a lady to repeat."

"Riiight," I replied, laughing.

"Hey, don't go hatin' on me," Alice said, pretending to look hurt. "I'm your go-to gal, remember? Oh, that reminds me," she said, turning serious again. "Here." She rummaged in her bag for a moment and then tossed me a brown pill bottle. "Doc says he'll refill them as long as you need them," she said. "Just don't go crazy with them, okay?"

"I won't," I mumbled, slipping the bottle into my pocket. I felt bad about deceiving Alice, but I needed these right now. I really fucking needed them.

We passed the short drive to the set in companionable silence. Emmett and Jasper sulked; disappointed that Newton had apparently had the good sense to make himself scarce for the time being.

Alice flitted off as soon as we arrived on-set, claiming that she had to "see a guy about a thing," whatever the hell that meant. I assumed it was PA-speak.

I nodded casually to several of the crew members who greeted me. Emmett spotted Rose standing outside of Jane's trailer, talking animatedly into her cell phone. He sauntered over to her with a grin on his face, leaving me alone with Jasper.

"Hey, man," Jasper said in a low voice, "are you sure that you're okay with me seeing Alice? She said y'all talked about it some in your room, earlier."

I nodded distractedly, as I looked around the set trying to spot Jane.

"Are you sure?" Jasper continued. "'Cause I hope you're not weirded out. We're taking things nice and slow, and I promise we'll be discreet."

Jasper got a dreamy look on his face that I recognized all too well. It was the same one I imagined that I wore when I was thinking about Bella.

"Alice is just so special," Jasper said. "I really want to do right by her, you know? Treat her like the princess that she is."

"Jasper, I'm happy for you both. Really," I said. "Some people go a lifetime without finding their soul-mate. If you think that Alice is the one, you should never let her go."

I realized that the advice I was giving Jasper was the same advice that I probably needed to heed.

"But just remember," I said, punching him good-naturedly in the arm, "Alice is like a sister to me. If you hurt her, I might have to kill you."

Jasper laughed along with me. I suddenly yawned hugely. The painkillers, though wonderful for numbing me emotionally, also made me incredibly sleepy.

"Ugh. I've got to find some coffee," I mumbled, looking around.

"I'll get you some," Jasper said.

"Seriously, you don't have to do that," I said, laughing. "I'm not Jane, and I wasn't hinting."

"Relax, Edward. I'm offering. You, I'll gladly get coffee for. Besides, you're an easy order; black with one sugar, right?"

"Right," I said. "Okay, well, I guess I'll be in my trailer when you get back."

As Jasper walked away, I took one last look around the set. Jane was still nowhere in sight. I shrugged, and walked towards my trailer.

"Hello, Edward," a familiar voice greeted me as I stepped inside.

Jane surveyed me coolly with her pale blue eyes from the couch where she sat.

"Nice tan," she smirked. "How was your trip?"

I kept my face deliberately emotionless.

"Cut the b.s., Jane," I said. "I've been by the suite and saw that you moved all of your things out. It doesn't take Einstein to figure out what it was that you needed to talk to me about."

"As if you didn't already know!" Jane sneered. "I know your little lap-dog, Alice, probably couldn't wait to break the news to you."

"Leave Alice out of this," I replied. "At least she's loyal."

"Loyal? Ha!" Jane crowed. "You're a good one to talk about loyalty. You're the one who up and decided that you needed a vacation in the middle of filming, while the rest of us have been busting our asses here!"

"So that's what this is about?" I asked incredulously. "I got injured and had to take a few days off. That's what made you decide to break up with me?"

"Of course that's not all that this is about," Jane snapped. Then she softened slightly.

"Look, Edward, this may hurt just a little now, but it's really for the best. It's not like we were ever in love, anyway. We both went into this with our eyes wide open. It was good publicity; for you, for me, for the movie. But I'm bored with it now. I don't want to be known as Edward Cullen's 'damsel in distress,' either onscreen or off."

Jane almost seemed to be talking to herself now.

"I can't believe that we have to shoot another one of these in just a few months," she said bitterly. "I hate these stupid Zombie Killer movies! I can't wait to be done with them for good."

I shrugged. "This franchise that you hate so much has made us both rich and famous," I said mildly. "It's going to open up doors and roles for us in the future that we would have never even been considered for before."

"That's all good and well for you, Mr. 'King-of-the-Indie-movies'!" Jane replied. "I know you've already got roles lined up to play after this one. But you're the big star, aren't you? I don't feel like being typecast as the 'Zombie Killer's assistant' forever."

"What I really want," Jane mumbled, looking away, "is a role that I can sink my teeth into. Something dramatic, that I can be taken seriously for."

I sighed. "I understand, Jane. Really, I do. And you're right; this probably is for the best. I just hope we can keep things amicable, since we're going to have to work together in the future."

"We may be breaking up, but it's not really 'goodbye,' is it?" Jane said. Her eyes glinted. "Anyway, I'm a better actress than you give me credit for," she said snarkily. "Don't you know by now how good I am at 'faking it'?"

"Oh, relax, Edward!" she snapped, as she saw the expression on my face. "I'm not calling your sexual prowess into question. I'm just saying I can play nice, that's all."

There was a knock, and Jasper's shaggy blonde head peered around the edge of the door. His eyebrows rose when he saw Jane.

"Am I interrupting?" he asked sarcastically.

"Not at all," Jane said sweetly, rising to her feet. "We're all done here."

She paused by the door and stared pointedly at Jasper until he moved out of her way.

"Mmm, is that coffee I see?" she purred, noting the cup in Jasper's hand. "Where's mine?"

"Down at the Starbuck's on the corner, where you can order it yourself," Jasper said shortly. "Or, if you're feeling thrifty, you can always get yourself a cup from Craft Services. Doesn't matter to me. I don't get your coffee anymore."

Jane's mouth disappeared into a thin line of fury, and she left, slamming the door behind her.

Jasper handed me the cup. "So, you're all done?" he asked grimly.

"Oh yeah," I replied darkly, "we're definitely done."

A/N:

So, goodbye Jane (even though it's not REALLY goodbye)! I know you're all breathing a sigh of relief.

Now to give some credit where credit is due. Emmett is listening to Uhn Tiss Uhn Tiss Uhn Tiss by Bloodhound Gang on his iPod. I have to admit, I *may* have a smallish obsession with Bloodhound Gang myself! Most of their lyrics are filthy, but they never fail to put a smile on my face when I'm feeling down.

You may notice a few familiar lines in this chapter, courtesy of Stephenie Meyer. Edward says he feels "strangely protective" of Bella, and Jane uses her infamous "this may hurt a little" line on Edward.

Now for this week's recommendation: My Imaginary Friend by NoWayWithWords is rocking my world right now! You can find it under my Story Favorites on FFnet and it's on Twilighted, as well. Go. Read. Now.

It will probably be a couple of weeks before the next update, but I hope that you'll leave me a review in the meantime! I love hearing your speculations about where the story will go next! One, two, three, hit that button … NOW!