YAY! The chapter's finished! I bet you no one is happier about that then I am. =D Once again, I own nothing Twilight, but falling in love with Dirty Edward was fate I tell you! Enjoy and please review!

Chapter 13

Gambling with Fate

"Our wills and fates do so contrary run
That our devices still are overthrown;
Our thoughts are ours, their ends none of our own."

~William Shakespeare (Hamlet)

BPOV

I wake up to the smell of eggs and toast, the bed beside me is empty, the clock says it's a quarter pass ten. When I force myself to stand and walk to the bedroom door, I can see Alice standing in the kitchen, slathering toasted bread with butter and jam while humming. I watch from there as she plates the food until she turns around, greeting me with a warm smile.

"Morning, sleepy head," she says cheerily. "I made you some breakfast."

Most people would find it odd that she's so happy after what happened last night, but Alice has always been this way. She has what Ms. Penny used to call 'a Phoenix disposition', which means she's sunny 95% of the time. I shake my head. Ms. Penny was full of weird phrases like that.

"Thanks,"

I walk over and sit down at the table, taking a bite out of my toast. I let out a moan of approval at the taste of the warm bread, melted butter, and sweet strawberry jelly. Toast is something I can usually afford and that's a good thing because I adore it.

"I called Rosalie this morning and let her know we wouldn't be in today," Alice says, sprinkling some pepper and salt onto her scrambled eggs. "With the way she started spewing out apologies you would think that she was the one who knocked over that cappuccino machine."

Alice lets out a tiny tinkling laugh and then takes a bite of the fluffy yellow eggs. I smile at her before diving into a story that I think might explain Rosalie's behavior.

"As crazy as it seems, I think Rosalie feels a sense of motherly affection towards her workers and when Irina gets mad at us like that it turns her into this completely different person. She steps in when she can, like she tried to do yesterday or sometimes she's just there to support us after wards. One time I forgot to turn off the coffee machine. The next morning, there was coffee all over the floor. Irina was there to pick up some paperwork and she yelled at me for a good ten minutes about the mess. The moment she left, Rosalie was on her hands and knees beside me, scrubbing the floor. She keeps on a strong front, but deep down I think the only reason she sticks around is that she cares about all of us and she wants to protect us from Irina."

I lock eyes with Alice, trying to convey my own protectiveness. Alice is the most important person in my life now, she's the closest thing I have to family, and I want her to know that I'm dedicated to keeping her safe.

"You know I'll do whatever it takes to keep him away from you, right?" I ask her; careful to keep my voice low, but comforting, and her lips turn up in a loving smile.

A realization hits me, I have no way of guaranteeing her safety... a billion things pass through my mind at once, different ways that my best friend could die, hit by a car, tortured by Aro, a fall down the stairs, a fire.

"I gave Rosalie a fake social," she tells me, oblivious to the freak out that's going on in my brain. "The guy I got it from told me that it should keep the cops from finding out where I work and now that I cut my hair, it will make me less noticeable as well."

There's a new, intense urge to chain her down in the apartment or at least, wrap her up in bubble wrap and never let her leave my sight. I know it's insane, but I can't help it. It's as if the love I feel for her is causing my fear of loss to rise to new, epic proportions. I try to choke back my anxiety, letting it dwindle in my stomach where it knots uncomfortably. I hold it there, determined to hide my panic.

"Alright," I pause, letting out a deep breath of relief at the fact that my voice didn't come out shaky or two octaves too high. "So for now we'll keep this between us because I know you're not ready to tell anyone, but sometime really soon, we'll have to notify the feds so that they can take care of this."

Alice nods and we finish the rest of our breakfast talking about lighter topics. I force myself to not show or voice my uneasy feelings as Alice talks about how cute Jasper's hair is...even considering trusting her with him scares me out of my wits.

To pass some time, we play cards at the coffee table in the living room. The repetition of playing war is calming and eases my panic to a much more controllable level. Still, unwelcome thoughts lurk in the back of my mind. We're on our third round of war when Alice asks a question that manages to take me completely by surprise and actually erases the last lingering images of death.

"So, was the green eyed hottie any good in bed?"

My hand stops mid-flip of my card and heat floods my face.

"How did you-"

"Know that you slept with him?" She finishes my question and takes the card that I'm still holding, it was a four, and hers was a nine. She shrugs her shoulders, while revealing her next card, a king. I show her my jack and she takes it. "It was pretty easy to figure out. You came home early with messy sex hair and a grin on your face…well, that and your shirt was inside out."

My mouth drops open and Alice laughs. We draw again, she wins, ace over king.

"So, are you going to tell me about him?"

"I-, um, there's nothing really to tell," I stammer over my answer as she continues to whoop me in war.

"That bad, huh?" She chuckles. I run out of cards and gather up my few measly wins, shuffling them.

"It wasn't bad," I reply defensively, slapping my top card on the table, it's a 10. "It was my first so it hurt a little at the beginning, but well…it felt pretty amazing after that."

My face feels like it's going to melt off, and nervously, I begin to chew on my bottom lip.

"Where did you meet up? 'Still Life'?" Alice reveals a five and I grab it.

I shake my head and tell her quickly about the alley. By the time I'm done, she seems awe struck.

"Wow…What's his name?"

"Edward," I sigh, and just saying his name aloud soothes my previously anxiety ridden insides.

"Have you seen him since?" I shake my head and my chest tightens a little. "Do you want to see him again?"

She places an ace on the table and we stare at each other for a moment as I contemplate my answer. If I had a different past, I wouldn't be hesitating with my answer. It would be a deep, resounding 'yes'. The way he makes me feel is remarkable, the need to touch him, to be as close to him as possible, is exhilarating. However, because of my anxiety over losing people I care about, the thought of facing him again terrifies me.

Considering how strongly I feel about Alice now and the fact that I was thinking about chaining her down in the apartment only a little bit ago, I can't imagine how much worse it would be if it was Edward instead of her. If he wanted me, could I ever be normal enough to let him leave my side without having a panic attack? Moreover, if he didn't want me, would I have the strength to walk away?

"Yeah, but it's not that easy," I reply, flipping my card, it's an ace. "I don't want to get close to him, Ali. I-, I'm scared that if I see him again, I won't be able to resist him just as I wasn't able to resist you. I've only seen him twice and already my attraction and need for him is unbelievably strong. It's terrifying."

Neither of us begins the war, instead Alice sighs and takes my hand from across the table.

"Bells, don't deny yourself love on the account of fear. Love is what makes life worth living. This could be your chance at the true love that people search their whole lives for and you're just going to let the opportunity to capture that pass you by because of fear?"

"Ali…I've spent the past hour imagining every possible way you could die and I'm barely able to fight the urge to lock you in a cage and throw away the key." I confess, trying to make her understand the extent of my problem. Her hand doesn't move from mine and it's comforting to know I didn't scare her. "If I have such a hard time controlling my anxiety over you, how would I ever control it with him? And what makes you think he would want me anyway?"

Alice snorts and I glare at her.

"You're the shit, Bells, issues or not. With the right help you'll get over this and any guy who doesn't want you is an idiot,"

"You're my friend, you're supposed to lie to me," I roll my eyes and she releases my hand.

"I'm not your friend…I'm your best friend and best friends tell it like it is."

She laughs as she places three cards face down on her side, and with a shake of my head, I do the same.

"How about this, we'll leave it up to fate," she suggests. There's a glimmer of mischief in Alice's gray eyes and I don't know if I like it or not. She likes betting far too much. "If I win this hand you go back to taking your old route and let the chips fall where they may, and if you win this hand, I'll do everything in my power to help you stay away from him."

I'm not normally the gambling type, but having Alice on my side to hold me back would help me out a lot if I ever run into Edward again. Not to mention, I know I have a queen in my deck somewhere and I only have two cards left in my hand so there's a good possibility I could win.

"Deal," I agree, and we both flip over our cards…she wins, king over queen. Note to self, never bet against Alice.

Right around noon there's a knock at the door and while Alice rushes to fix her hair, for the billionth time, I answer it. It's Jasper of course…and Emmett.

"Oh, hi," I wasn't expecting both of them and my voice trembles a bit at the sight, the brothers are wearing big, warm, matching smiles. I suddenly realize how terrible this idea is. What if they're murderers? What if they hurt Alice? I push my anxious thoughts away the best I can and open the door fully, moving out of the way "Um, come on in."

They step into the apartment and Emmett asks to use the bathroom just as Alice emerges, her hair and make-up still perfect as ever. He winces a little and I wonder if I should ask him if he's feeling all right, but I decide against it.

"Yeah, sure," He says a quick 'thanks' and disappears into the bathroom.

Alice and Jasper sit on the couch and I watch as they lock eyes on each other like two kids having a starring contest. I wonder which one will break first. Finally, after what seems like hours, but is probably only minutes, Jasper starts spitting out the most finely worded apology I've ever heard.

"I feel dreadful about what happened yesterday and I couldn't even sleep last night because I was so worried about you. I will never forgive myself if you suffer permanent emotional trauma based on my actions. I understand if you're livid with me and I would completely understand if you refused to speak to me ever again, but I'd like it very much if you gave me the opportunity to gain your forgiveness."

Alice takes in his words, no doubt trying to stop herself from gazing at his 'gorgeous hair' that she's so obsessed with, and after a few tense moments, the flood gates on her mouth break and she floods the poor bastard with all her verbal force.

"Oh my god, Jazzy, you're so thoughtful. I'll be just fine and of course, I'm not mad at you. Why would you think I was mad at you? Are you mad at me?"

I hear Emmett snort behind me and I attempt to hold back a laugh of my own as Jasper scrambles to reply to the crazy pixie's rambling.

"No, I'm not angry with you at all. I just, I thought that you would despise me for distracting you while you were working. I almost cost you your employment and I hold myself fully responsible."

Emmett starts hacking and gasping, and I feel for him, I do, because I can barely contain my amusement at the odd couple. I glance in his direction, giving him a smirk and he finally reins himself in.

"Ahem, sorry about that, I had a tickle in my throat,"

Sure, you did and I'm the queen of England. Alice shoots us a glare and I roll my eyes. I can't help it that the two of them are polar opposites and it's hilarious.

"Would you like something to drink?" I ask, giving Emmett the opportunity to walk at least a few feet away from the crushing pair.

"Sure, that would be great, thanks,"

I walk over to the fridge and look inside…nothing. When's my next paycheck? I calculate it in my head hastily, Friday, damn.

"Sorry, all I have is water. Is that okay?" I question him, knowing perfectly well he's not thirsty anyway so it doesn't really matter.

"Yeah, that's fine,"

He drinks down the water fast, like really fast. Jeez, the guy must really like water. I wonder if there's a Guinness world record for fastest recorded time to drink a glass of water. I'm pretty sure if there is and Mr. Brawny took a crack at it, he could destroy it.

Alice and Jasper's voices are quieter now; it seems they don't like having an audience laugh at them so they're whispering to each other. I try not to listen to them, but I can definitely hear a lot more Alice than Jasper, so much for shyness. When Emmett and I walk into the living room and sit on the floor, Jasper and Alice look over at us, including us in their little powwow. Well, kind of, they at least pretend to care when Emmett starts talking.

"That's a lot of books," he says, pointing out the stacks on the floor and the full shelves underneath the television

"I love to read,"

He reaches over and grabs the top one off the stack closest to him.

"Romeo and Juliet? Really?" Emmett questions, quirking up an eyebrow at me.

"He doesn't get how anyone can like Shakespeare," Jasper groans.

"It makes no sense. The guy wrote a bunch of depressing stories with words like whilst and tis. I don't understand why anybody likes to read it. I would rather read a copy of Sports Illustrated any day," Emmett counters, and I laugh at his macho man view.

"I've always enjoyed the classics and there's something about Romeo and Juliet that gets my heart pumping. I guess, deep down, I'm a hopeless romantic."

"The story of Romeo and Juliet is completely unrealistic though. No one falls in love that hard or fast. Besides, don't most girls like to take relationships slow?"

A picture of Edward comes to mind and my response is immediate.

"Sometimes hard and fast is just what you need though."

Alice and Jasper gaze at each other and I can see how connected they are. Emmett looks at them and gives a shrug. I think he sees it too.

"So, Bella, I saw you guys at the art show the other day, what did you think of it?" Emmett asks after a few moments of silence, gaining the attention back from the two lovebirds.

"Oh, um, art's never really been a passion of mine, those pieces were wonderful though. I felt oddly connected with them," I say, my voice coming out nervous and unsure. I don't really like discussing things I'm not educated about. "Who's the artist?"

Emmett's face changes to a strange expression and I find myself confused, both Jasper and Alice seem to be perplexed as well.

"It's our brother, actually. I'm his manager."

Oh, they have another brother. I wonder if Emmett's just uncomfortable talking about him for some reason and that's why his demeanor changed.

"Yeah, Edward's an amazing artist," Jasper adds and my lungs stop working as the pieces slide into place.

The painting of the girl in the leather and lace, the eyes that Alice said were just like mine... The mystery art show was Edward Cullen's work and his brothers are sitting in my living room.

"I told you it was you!" Alice squeals and my face feels like liquid hot lava.

Jasper appears to be unsure of what is going on, but Emmett is avoiding my gaze as if he'll die if he looks in my direction. No wonder he started acting weird when it came to talking about Edward, he probably told him all about me, and now Emmett thinks I'm some sort of a slut. This is not happening; this can't be happening. The room spins as my heart races, I forget to breath, and suddenly, everything goes black. It turns out I had no chance against Alice's bet anyway because fate is a conniving bitch.

Alright, folks, next chapter is the one you've all been waiting for, Bella and Edward will finally see each other again. I know, that makes you all ridiculously happy so how about you open up a review and place your bets on how it will all go down? What, not the gambling type? Then just tell me how awesome the story is, I promise I won't mind. =D