**DISCLAIMER: ANYTHING RECOGNIZABLE DOES NOT BELONG TO ME!!!**

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BPOV

Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to see Rose until Sunday. And by then I had already calmed myself down. Jacob Black had taught me an important lesson.

"I just can't believe a guy would do that," Rosalie said, not for the first time, more like the fifth. Her expression was one of awe as I explained all the sordid details.

We were sitting cross-legged on my sofa, facing each other. I tilted my bowl back and scooped my last bite of double-fudge macadamia-nut ice cream on my spoon, licking it clean before I responded to Rose's comment. "Believe it," I told her. "I have never been so angry in my entire life."

"Did you lose your cool? I wouldn't blame you. In fact I'd say it's about time. You are always so calm in a crisis, not wanting to cause a scene or upset anyone. I've always admired that about you."

"I barely raised my voice, except for once or twice. It wasn't until later that I really lost it and went completely over the edge."

"What do you mean?" Rose said, eyeing me suspiciously.

"Go look in the freezer."

"Your freezer?'

"Go look inside...you'll see what I mean," I said, motioning with my hand toward the kitchen.

Rosalie got of the couch and followed my directions. As soon as I heard her "oh my god" and high-pitched laugh I knew she was looking at the front of the inside of my freezer - completely filled with ice cream cartons: 4 across, three high. 12 cartons of double-fudge macadamia-nut ice cream.

"What did you do?" Rose asked, sitting back down on the couch with her own bowl of ice cream. "Buy out the entire store?"

I laughed. "That's exactly what I did. The 5-gallon container was too big to fit so I bought all of Baskin-Robbins 1-quart containers. And that isn't all. Did you notice my trophy?" I pointed to the mantel above the fireplace.

"I did, actually. When did you take up bowling?"

"I didn't. I just filled in for Edward's ex-sister-in-law at a tournament yesterday. We took third place," I finished proudly.

"Wow, third place!" Rosalie said with what sounded like amazement in her voice. Well, I had to admit, I was pretty amazed myself. With my athletic ability...or lack of it...I was amazed I didn't hurt anybody. Well badly, I did drop the bowling ball on Edward's foot once though.

"I didn't know you bowled that well," Rosalie continued.

"Neither did I," I admitted. Edward and I had both been pleasantly surprised. Friday night I had been lucky to score 100 points per game but Saturday at the tournament I had averaged more than 160 points a game. I gave credit to my sudden turnaround to Jacob Black.

I had been so ticked off from Friday night's events that my anger carried over into Saturday and the tournament. It seemed I couldn't do a thing wrong at the bowling alley. I was much more concentrated than I had ever been in any kind of sport. I figured it was because I kept picturing Jacob Black's face on every one of the bowling pins.

I don't think Edward was very happy with all the attention I kept receiving from his friends, he kept getting a sour look on his face. But I shrugged it off since he didn't say anything. And he was really happy when we got third place in the tournament. He even let me keep the trophy.

"What is with you and your neighbor?" Rose asked, curious. The question caught me off guard.

"With us? Nothing. We're friends," I answered. What else could we be? I shrugged off the question. Edward was so head-over-heels for his ex-wife, I never really even thought of him as available, despite his divorced status. "He's a great guy and all, he's just really hung up on his ex-wife."

"You've had a steadier relationship with him for the past few months than with anyone else. And he is single you know."

It was true, I realized with a start. Anytime I had a problem, or needed to talk to someone, Edward was the one I went to. Edward was the one that was always there. I'd been out more with him and his family than anyone else. But that didn't mean I was romantically interested in him, did it? Especially knowing how hung-up he was on his ex-wife. No...he was just what I told Rosie he was: a friend.

"Have you ever thought of getting together with him?" she asked, interrupting my thoughts. "Friends are supposed to make the best lovers."

"Nope. Don't get me wrong, I like Edward. He's just not my type."

"Do you even have a type?"

"Of course I do," I said, less confident than before.

"Tell me, what's your type?" Rose demanded, lowering her eyes.

"Uh," I faltered, trying to think. What was my type actually? "Well, he doesn't have to be Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome, though I wouldn't rule him out if he was. Looks are nice, but I've discovered they are not all that important."

"I agree," Rosalie murmured. She then smirked at me, "You're avoiding my question."

"Am not," I retorted. "It's the same as many girls'. I want a man who is generous and honest, has a lot of integrity. He needs to value family and commitment, and he should be a little bit of a risk-taker. Just not enough to jeopardize what's important."

Rose nodded, "does he even exist?"

"Of course he does," I insisted. He had to. Or I was giving up my hope of ever being married. "It was easy for you to find one."

"What do you mean?"

"To find the man of your dreams. Larry is amazing, you met him and that was that." I frowned a bit. "I can't help but be a little envious."

I was too, even though she was my best friend and I was still really happy for her regardless. It's just, at one point I thought it would be that easy for me too. I know it sounds a bit conceited, especially in hindsight of my recent failures, but as plain as I am I still viewed myself as somewhat of a prize. I mean, no I wasn't beautiful - especially when compared to people like Rosalie and my sister Alice, but I was creative, smart, outgoing, friendly. I didn't have any emotional baggage and I wasn't flat out ugly either. I looked over and noticed Rose was really quiet.

"How are things with the two of you Rose?" I asked.

"Great. We've decided to go engagement ring shopping together next weekend," she said with a smile that, in my opinion, seemed a little forced.

"That's wonderful! Congratulations!" I said, giving her a hug. I pulled back and noticed that her smile still seemed tight, and her eyes didn't have the shine they normally did when she was truly happy and excited about something.

"You are happy, aren't you Rosie?"

"Of course, who wouldn't be."

I could tell something was off, but I let it go for the moment. I knew if she needed to talk, she knew I was there to listen and help her.

"Oh Rose," I sighed. "You're getting married." Then, deciding to change the subject, I flopped down on my stomach and said solemnly, "I'm taking a reprieve from this whole dating thing."

"Oh, Bella! Don't say that! It's too early to be done completely!"

"I'm not completely, don't worry. I just need to step back and regroup. Figure out what I've been doing wrong and change my attitude. Maybe then I'll find a man worthwhile to have sticking around."

Rosalie nodded. "Don't give up on Dateline. And have you thought about having Edward set you up with one of his friends? It makes sense. I know you keep saying he's not your type and all, but what about one of his friends?"

I shook my head, that would just be awkward. Asking Edward to set me up would make me feel desperate. If he offered, then maybe, but even then I don't know.

And besides, after Alice's set-up, I was still a bit reserved about letting people set me up on blind dates. The Angela fiasco didn't help either, although to be fair it wasn't her fault her uncle didn't show and sent a replacement. And Alice was completely shocked about Eric and took me on a shopping trip to make up for it...although in my opinion that was more added torture than any actual apology.

"Personally, I think you should give you and Edward a try. I think you would make a great couple, I mean you talk about him nearly all the time anyways," Rosalie went on.

"Forget it," I said, swatting the idea out of my head. He was in love with his ex-wife. There's no way I could compete with that. Even if I wanted to. Which I didn't. At least, I'm pretty sure I didn't. Ugh, I didn't and that's that. "Besides, I already explained his feelings on his ex-wife."

"Well, if you're that sure about it, you could at least make him your ally. He could be a big help, give you a few hints about what men are looking for and stuff."

Hmm...she had a point. That was what made Rose such a good business woman, she owned her own line of beauty products and clothes, of which my sister Alice was the designer. I smiled at Rosalie and her eyes brightened - for the first time that day I noticed with a bit of a frown, though I didn't let it show. "Great thinking Rosie...I'll talk to him tomorrow."

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I decided to talk to Edward Monday night. I gave him plenty of time to shower and relax after I saw him pull in the driveway that afternoon from work before I headed over there to demand some answers to my questions.

I rang the doorbell and Edward opened the door, looking only mildly surprised to see me. I figured there probably wasn't a huge list of people to choose from that visit him at home. "Come on in," he said, opening the door wider.

This was my first time inside his house and I looked around curious. He obviously hadn't put a lot of effort into decorating it. The walls were empty and the fireplace was crowded with trophies. Definitely not a good look. I did not notice the picture atop his big screen TV of him, his wife, and kids. Did I say noticed? It was more or less flat-out impossible to miss, being the only personal decoration in a totally bare, utilitarian room. He obviously viewed living here as a temporary thing. He was more in love with his ex-wife than I thought, if he wasn't even trying to move on.

"I need your help," I told him, deciding to just get right to the point. I figured he'd appreciate that more.

"Another loan?" he smirked. I'd never seen him do that before, it was a surprisingly good look for him, not mean at all - just teasing. Ugh! Stupid Rosalie. I shook that thought out of my head and continued on with my reason for coming over to his house.

"No," I glared, not finding his joke funny although he obviously did with that sexy smirk of his. I shook my head again. Just friends. "As you already know, my goal is to find a husband, settle in suburbia, and have a couple kids, live happily ever after with the white picket fence."

"Yeah...you haven't exactly made that a secret."

"Right. Well, after my recent failings, especially stupid Jacob Black, I'm obviously not doing to well achieving that goal. So I've been forced to give more serious thought to my...approach."

"And?" he asked me suspiciously, trying to decide what it was I wanted him to do, afraid to find out.

"And I realized, I've been going about this the wrong way. I've spent all this time thinking about what he could bring to the relationship."

"And that's wrong?"

"Well, no, not entirely. But I should also be thinking about what I can bring to the relationship."

"Oh," he nodded, relaxing into his chair. "Like what?"

"Basically the same things I want the guy to bring - intelligence, integrity, etc. What I need to know though, is how to present myself in the best way possible."

"Don't you think you should just be yourself? Wouldn't that be enough?" he frowned.

"I need an edge," I told him flatly.

"An edge?"

"Yeah, you know. Like a gimmick."

He frowned even deeper. "Is this where I come in?"

"Yep," I smiled. I was so glad he was smart enough to figure it out on his own without me having to spell it out completely. "This was actually Rosalie's idea. She's the one that made me see if I'm open enough to admit I'm looking for a long-term, committed relationship, I need an edge. Something that will attract the man I want to meet."

Edward just stared at me.

"I need an advantage, one that will show who I am and what I'm looking for without scaring the guy off into running the opposite direction. Men don't like commitment, it scares the hell out of them. Did you know, there are 53 million men in the world and only 12 million of them are actually serious about a long-term relationship."

Edward nodded, "You're probably, unfortunately, right."

I continued on. "I feel I have to be upfront about what I want because otherwise I'll just end up wasting time in a dead-end relationship, and I don't want that. What I do want is everything...and I wanted it yesterday.

"So what exactly am I supposed to do?"

"Simple," I said, and I noticed his shoulders visibly relaxed at that word. "I just need you to me what exactly a man wants in a woman he is going to marry."

"I, have to tell you, what a man looks for in a woman he wants to marry?" he repeated slowly.

I could almost see his mind working at what to tell me. It made me almost giddy, like I was going to get let in on this big secret. "Think about it first. You don't need to rush. This is a complicated question and I want to be sure you give it your full attention."

Edward nodded, "I don't have to think about it. I already know."

"Oh," I said. Hmm...well, doesn't that beat all? I know if someone asked me that question about a man, it would take me hours to figure out. "You don't mind telling me?"

"No problem." He grinned, and my heart flipped. In excitement I'm sure.

I waited, holding my breath for what he would say.

"Let's start with physical."

I should have known. "Alright," I said, nodding my head. I could see him study me, trying to decide just how honest he should be with his answer. Uh-oh.

"Well, I've never met a man who isn't attracted to...uh...big boobs," he glanced at my face quickly, to see my reaction. I kept my face blank. "And long legs," he finished.

He paused again, waiting for my reaction. I refused to give him one though, yet at least. Although I had to bite my tongue almost to the point of blood to keep from saying something.

"It doesn't hurt if she can cook either," he noted. "That's especially a plus nowadays. Heck, even I would marry a woman if she could make a roast chicken dinner as good as my grandmother's."

Alright, that was it. I couldn't bite my tongue any longer. If I did, I'd bite it off.

"You mean to tell me that for men everything comes down to physical?! And that cooking is an added bonus as well?! That is just disgusting, I'm being serious about this!"

"Hey!" Edward threw up his hands. "So am I. Most men check out the merchandise first, before they invest. You wanted the truth about most men so I gave it to you. Don't shoot me, I'm just the messenger."

"You mean to say this isn't a joke?" I said. No way, it had to be a joke. Nobody could be that shallow...especially about marriage.

"Nope," he said. He looked sincere, but I still didn't totally believe him. I mean, that was just too shallow.

"What about integrity, commitment? Honesty and loyalty?"

"What about 'em?" He looked confused.

"Well don't they matter?!"

"Well, yeah. But that's understood after the fact. You asked for an edge, so I told you what would give you one."

"So you're saying, men really are that superficial?"

"Yep. For the most part."

I rolled my eyes. Lovely, just frickin' lovely. Well didn't that just make me a lost cause? I was more on the short side, had small boobs, and neither of those things was the least big glamorous on me - just plain. Well, at least I could cook...if things ever got that far with a guy after the state of my physical appearance.

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A/N: Poor Bella, she just has no self confidence. And yay! Rosalie planted the seed of Bella and Edward...as much as Bella doesn't want it to be there...

Haha, well please review! Next chapter we'll see Rosalie again! I'll try to update soon...it depends on how busy I get. Just remember...more reviews = faster updates!!!