Much love to my consistent readers and reviewers. You guys are the best :D

I've had most of this chapter written FOREVER, well the Emmett/Edward and the Bella/Alice parts at least. it's one of the very first chapters I wrote back when I first started this story and it's taken me this long to finally post it. I couldn't figure out the right place to put it. Just goes to show how much I've been rambling on. haha.

Stephanie Meyer plus Twilight equals love.

BPOV

Saturday was a bit of a bore. I couldn't concentrate on anything knowing that Edward was out and about and I was cooped up in this dank bar instead of by his side.

"What's your deal, Swan? You're working in slow motion today," Emmett mumbled.

"Sorry. I'm not into it tonight. I didn't realize Saturday's sucked here. I'm bored."

"You want to be with him, I suppose."

The door swung open and Alice popped in.

"Hey losers," she sang.

"Hey bitch," I waved.

"I just had the BEST vegan club at Jazzy's restaurant. I think I might need some serious shopping to work it off."

"Why? I'm sure Jazz would be more than desperately willing to help you burn your calories."

"I wish. He's working the late shift tonight. Hey! Wanna come with me to pick out a birthday present for my mom? It's next week and I can't go to Greenwich empty handed."

"Can't. I'm covering for D, remember? Til close."

She pouted and stomped her foot and motioned for me to ask Emmett to let me go. I shook my head like there is NO WAY I am asking him that, but she's a persistent pain in the ass so after much begging and promising that I'd help him with inventory on Sunday…he shrugged, which meant I could go.

"You're lucky my dad's guilt-payment came today, Mary Alice. I just gave up a three-hundred dollar night for you."

"Oh pul-leeease. I heard Emmett say he'd give you his shift next week if you needed it, Bella. He loves you. He'll do anything for you. He should challenge Edward to a duel for your affections."

"He just worries about me, that's all. Ever since he insisted on taking me to the hospital that last time..."

"He thought Jake broke your arm, Bell. He was grabbing you so hard."

"Yeah well he didn't. I was fine."

The subject was dropped at that and we hopped into a cab. Alice is originally from Connecticut and comes from an extremely well off family so it was no surprise to me that she told the cab driver to drop us off on 57th and 5th.

"Bergdorf, Alice? I don't think I've ever set foot in this store. I don't think I've ever even walked by it."

"Sure you did, when we went to see the tree last Christmas in Rockefeller Center. What can I say, my mother has expensive taste."

"Shit," I bark suddenly, slapping Alice on the arm with the back of my hand.

"OW!! What the fuck?!"

"That's her!" I duck behind the building and point at the line of cabs in front of the store. "Right there. Getting out of the cab. That's Edward's girlfriend."

"Holy fucking shit! That's her? …She's pretty."

"Shut up, asshole!"

"Well, she is. She looks mean though. Like a pissy Pomeranian."

My heart is pounding in my throat. My stomach is churning. I'm going to throw up and cry but I'm not sure in what order.

"I...I didn't know she was back."

"Maybe she just got back today. Edward's been attached to your side like a barnacle this whole weekend. Surely he would have said something to you. …Right?"

"I don't know." My head is spinning. Had she been back this whole time? Alice sees my shaking hands and steadies me against the wall.

"…Honey, can I level with you?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"No." She smiles and links her arm through mine.

"I'm your closest friend and sometimes that means I have to say things that might sound mean but are for your own good."

"Uh huh. Can't wait."

"You're wasting your time with Edward. If you think he's going to break up with a sure thing like that fiery redhead - who just walked into BERGDORF fucking GOODMAN and NOT because her shift was starting - you're living in a fantasy world. He comes from money, darling. Something you have very little of."

"Ouch."

"I told you this was going to hurt but it's only because I love you. Edward has family ties with her that are woven deeper than either of us realize. He's a man of status. No matter how much he tries to push it aside it's who he is. It's not easy to give up your upbringing and entitlement for someone you just met. There's a plan for his life. ...Take it from someone who knows.

"And, this part is going to sound terrible but, why would he jeopardize all of that for you? For anyone? He loves you. I truly believe that he does. You're interesting and colorful and unique. You're the absolute opposite of her."

"I sense a point somewhere."

"My point is, he's getting his cake and eating it too. In more ways than one I might add, you giant slut."

"You're one to talk, Miss 'It doesn't count if you don't swallow'."

Alice rolls her eyes. "Anyway. He lives uptown. He mingles with money and influence. He meets you and it's a different world, exciting, grimy even, he plays with his toys and then he takes the train back to the right side of the tracks."

"He's going to NYU, Alice. I wouldn't exactly call that the wrong side of the tracks."

"I like him, Bella. I wish I didn't because it would be so much easier to talk shit about him, but this has nothing to do with like or dislike. I know my knee-jerk reaction is to jump in front of imaginary bullets for you, and I can see what draws you to him, but it was a summer fling, sweetie. She's back now."

I needed a drink STAT. I couldn't go back to the club and I couldn't be around Alice. She didn't know what she was talking about - she didn't know Edward - but it's what any good friend does. They give you a swift kick in the ass when they think you need it. But I needed to be alone, somewhere dark where Edward couldn't find me. I needed to go home and get my notebook first.

EPOV

I held the phone to my ear and ran the blocks of alphabet city. For the thousandth time that night I dialed Bella's number, but just like the hundredth time it rang and rang and rang. "Hey it's Bella..." that's as far as I got into her message before hanging up and hitting redial. My phone beeped and flashed low battery.

I turned the corner and shoved through the wooden door. My eyes adjusted to the red light and I searched for my Bella's small frame. I'd know it anywhere and I found it within seconds, sitting at a corner table alone.

"Where have you been? I've been calling you all night."

"How'd you find me?" She wasn't looking at me as she spoke. There were three empties in front of her and she was halfway done with her fourth vodka tonic, my girl's favorite drink.

"I went by the club, you weren't there. I asked Emmett where you were and he told me to go fuck myself. After nearly strangling him to death he said he let you leave early to go shopping with Alice but that Alice came back without you. So I went to your apartment and knocked and knocked until your neighbor told me to fuck off and die. After agreeing to walk her dog, she told me that you sometimes come to this bar called Manitoba. After walking up and down the block aimlessly...here I am."

"Here you aren't."

"Huh?"

"I think you should leave."

"What?? Bella, what's going on? Why are you acting this way? Did I do something wrong? I thought we had a great time last night. ...I know I did."

"I did, too."

I sat down across from her and she finally looked up at me. That's when I saw her pretty eyes were puffy and bloodshot. How long had she been here crying alone?

"Then what is it?"

"I saw her, Edward. I saw her this afternoon. On 5th Avenue. Getting out of a cab. ...I fucking saw her."

"Saw her? Saw who?" Ohhhhh. "No, that's impossible. There's no way."

"Oh yeah? Then cheers to impossibility."

"No, Bella, listen to me. I went back to the apartment today. I took out the trash, I showered, I slept, I wrote a song, I chain-smoked on the balcony, I ordered Chinese, I watched TV. I even studied for five whole minutes, and I did all of those fucking things alone. She wasn't there. Are you sure it was her that you saw?"

She nodded, her eyes watering over, her chin trembling. I moved to her side of the table and slid next to her. "Bella, I swear to you, I had no idea she was back. She hasn't called me and she hasn't been to the apartment. I don't know what's going on and to be quite honest, I don't care. All I care about is that we're okay. You and me. I've never lied to you and I sure as shit am not going to start now. I need you to know me better than that. Please. You've got me freaking out here."

"Join the club," she huffed and sniffled into my shirt.

I smushed her into me and felt her arms wind around my waist. "Can we please get out of here?"

BPOV

I believed him. Of course I believed him.

I loved him.

I loved him on our way to my apartment. I loved him while I put the coffee on. I loved him while we sat at my kitchen table and talked easily and sipped from our mugs. I loved him when he went to the window to have a cigarette. I loved him because he kept trying to explain and I knew it wasn't because he was covering up, it was because he was honest and true. I loved him when he held out his hand and led me to the bedroom. I loved him when he shut the lights on the way because all he needed was the moonlight and the natural shadows it created on our bodies.

I loved him.

His tender caresses. His soft lips. His manly scent. His long, forceful thrusts. His low grunts. His breathless whispers whenever his lips met my skin.

I loved the way he came and what it did to his face and how he didn't look away from me when it hit him.

I loved how even when he was dead tired he never fell asleep before I did.

I loved how he touched me absentmindedly while he daydreamed.

I loved when he told me that he wished night lasted forever.

EPOV

There will never be anything better than waking up with Bella's tits in my face, but there was no chance of lazing around the apartment today. Bella told me she needed to get to work early to do inventory for Emmett. I put the same clothes on that I wore last night and made coffee while she got ready. I poured two travel mugs and I walked her to the club.

"Hey, can you get off early tomorrow?" I murmur into her ear when we arrive.

"Only if you're in between my legs."

Fuck she's nasty. I love it.

"I want to take you to the movies."

"Let me run back and ask Donovan if he can cover me."

She bolts around the corner, leaving me and Emmett alone. I smile and do a standing push up on the bar.

"There's an amazing documentary playing…"

"Yeah that sounds great. Let me ask you a question, Cullen."

Uh oh. He called me Cullen. Emmett's barely spoken three words in a row to me since I've started coming around here and now he's calling me Cullen? This can't be the start of a good conversation.

"What's up?" I answer cheerily, pulling out a barstool. He finishes wiping behind the taps and slings the towel over his shoulder before turning to me with coal eyes.

"What are your intentions with Bella?"

Wow. Right to the million dollar question, huh?

"Who are you, her father?" I joke, trying to lighten the mood.

Bad idea.

"You're goddamn fucking right I am, you smartass little prick. I'm the closest thing she's got to one in this town or anywhere else for that matter. So you better fucking pray that you don't hurt her. Because if you do, so help me, I'll make it my fucking mission to permanently impair your life. Is this is any way unclear?"

"Emmett, I swear to you. I care about Bella a lot. She's..."

What is she exactly? The love of my life? That's more accurate than what I'm about to say.

"…my friend."

"Friend. Right. Look, man, I'm her friend. I see how she looks at you and it sure as shit ain't the way she looks at me or Jasper or any other of these fucking guys that come in here and hit on her. Are you blind or just plain stupid?"

I hadn't thought about it that way and it makes me sick to my stomach to know my Bella gets propositioned on a regular basis. I've been too busy giving her swoony looks of my own to pay attention.

"Ok let me break it down to you this way," Emmett continues, his huge hands and big knuckles planted in front of me.

I gulp and nod giving him the go-ahead.

"You've been coming around here a lot lately, which is fine. You're good for business and I don't get involved in the private lives of my customers. My job is to pour, make change, and listen. And lately all I've been listening to is people talking about you. This new guy, who is he, where's he from. Granted it's mostly that STD-ridden ho Tanya and her pack of hyenas but you're on everyone's mind and one mind in particular. That mind belongs to my employee and my employees are my livelihood. I depend on them and they're my friends. So unfortunately for you, your business becomes my business if it in any way affects my interests, in this case Bella."

I can see in his eyes that the big lug has a soft spot in his Grinch-sized heart for Bella.

"The way it looks from my point of view is that you're having your fun down here until reality sets in and it's time to go back home..."

"It's not my home."

"Right, you don't have a home. You're very bohemian."

"Why are you starting with me?"

"She loves you."

"I know."

"And I want to know what you want from her. Because I don't think it's the same thing she wants from you."

"You don't know that."

"I don't know that? Well I'll tell you what I do know. You're a man. You live with a woman who, from what I've heard, is pretty goddamn beautiful. I'm no fool. I know damn well that any man who lives in the same space as a beautiful woman, that sleeps in the same fucking bed as her, that watches her change and shower, even if he fucking hates her guts, is still a MAN. We have needs and you're no different. From one dude to another, you can't tell me that you're not fucking your girlfriend. You'd be a fool not to hit that, even if you wanted to kill her afterwards."

I can't believe this conversation is happening. I'm embarrassed and irate at the same time. Who does this guy think he is??

"My question to you is," he leans in and lowers his voice, his black eyes digging into mine, "...do you tell her you love someone else while you're doing it?"

"You have no fucking idea what you're talking about, Emmett. And I don't need to explain myself to you or anyone else but Bella, which I've done countless times. What makes you think I'd give you the satisfaction of answering a question like that?!"

"You don't have to, bro. I already know the answer. If your girlfriend is hot, that's great. You get yours. But leave Bella the fuck alone. Don't give her false hope."

BPOV

I skip out from the supply closet after having secured yet another save from my main man D (I'm going to owe him sexual favors as soon as I'm not so busy giving them to Edward) to find Jasper sitting in Edward's spot and Alice behind the bar drying pint glasses.

"Hey guys. Where's Edward? ...Why are you guys looking at me like that? Where is he?"

"Outside having a cigarette."

I walk out with a curious look on my face and find Edward on the corner smoking.

"Hey so I was telling Donovan about the movie you want to take me to and he said it's playing tomorrow night at Sunshine. Wanna meet around seven and we'll get food first?"

"Are you sure you want to go?"

"Of course. Why wouldn't I? You said it's a great documentary."

"It is."

"Sooo why wouldn't I want to go with you?"

"That's what I mean. You don't have to go with me. You could with Alice or someone else. It doesn't have to be me."

"But…I don't want to go with anyone else. I want to go with you."

He doesn't answer me. He's squinting up at the clear blue sky like his thoughts are a million miles away. A light breeze blows through his perfectly disheveled hair.

"Edward?" I say timidly, trying to get his attention back.

I put my hand on his elbow. "Is something wrong?" I ask with fear in my voice. He's avoiding my stare and concentrating on the cracks in the sidewalk with a furrowed brow.

"No," he answers. There are more words on the tip of his tongue but I can tell he's keeping them from me. He toes the ground and takes a deep breathe and exhales.

"…it's nothing. I'll see you there tomorrow." He smiles weakly and walks quickly down the street. I watch him retreat until he's gone. I spin on my heel and charge back to the club.

"Ok what the hell happened in here?" I demand, barging through the door.

Jasper is sitting at the bar alone nursing a soda.

"What did you say to him?" I accuse all up in Jazz's face.

"Huh? …Me? To who?" Jasper asks defensively.

"To Edward. One minute he's fine, I leave him alone for five minutes and now he's acting like I have the plague."

"I didn't do anything to him, Bells. I think Edward's a chill guy. We've been hanging out practically every day, playing basketball, watching games on my flat screen, drinking beers. I dig him. Not as much as you, of course." He winks.

"I'm not playing around, Jazz."

"Neither am I, sweet cheeks. I can see what this is about and you can relax because I haven't said one word to him about the two of you. I wouldn't even know how to bring it up."

"Then who was it? Your lady love? Yes I bet it was Alice. She's had it out for him since the very beginning."

"I'm sure she didn't say anything. She likes him now."

"Oh don't you go defending her. I know what she thinks about him and me. She read me the fucking riot act yesterday."

We're interrupted by the sound of the basement door creaking open and Emmett emerging from its depths. The boiler must be busted again.

"What's going on out here? I can hear the sound of two brats bickering from downstairs."

Alice is trailing behind him with an air of innocence that makes me want to pound her into the ground.

"YOU."

I whip around the bar with my index finger outstretched and point at her button nose.

"Couldn't hold it in any longer, could ya?" What did you say to him?! Tell me what you said, Alice, before I make you tell me!"

She can see in my wild eyes that I'm not kidding.

"Bella. Calm down. I'm going to assume you're talking about Edward, cuz really, who else would cause you to carry on like this, but I haven't said anything to him. I actually thanked him for singing so beautifully that first night and getting my panties jumpstarted for Jasper's benefit. I didn't even say anything to him about seeing Victoria yesterday. I thought you'd be happy. What the fuck is up your ass?"

She's telling the truth. Alice doesn't go out like a punk, especially if she's being wrongly accused.

I back down and cross my arms under my chest. I scan the room. That takes care of Jasper and Alice. Donovan isn't known for his social filter but he isn't here for me to yell at. That leaves…Emmett. Who's currently counting the cash in the till and printing out the register tape with last night's sales.

My aggression goes down a notch when it comes to Em. It has to. He's massive. Not only that, he doesn't take ANY shit from anyone and he's had my back more times than I can count and every time he's been right about his need to intervene. Cases in point:

Problem: Jacob making a scene at the bar after we broke up, grabbing me and openly threatening me in front of customers.

Solution: Emmett leapt over the bar, threw him out on his ass and threatened his life if he ever set foot in the bar again.

Problem: Jacob making threatening calls and following me home from work.

Solution: Emmett started escorting me home at the end of every shift. That went on for eight weeks until I moved into my new place.

Fuck that. Emmett has everyone's back all the time without question.

"Why'd you do it, Em?"

"I didn't do shit. And even if I did, it's my bar, I can do what I want."

"Ugh, Emmett!! You do this all the time!!! You sense danger and you strike before it gets close to me. And I appreciate that, I really do. I know I have this habit of falling for every lame pick-up line in the book and you guys are always the ones that have to pick up the pieces, but not this time. Not with this boy."

"Especially with this boy, Bella." Jasper chimes in. "This boy is worse than all the rest. Because he's nice and we like him."

"You keep quiet over there!" I bark. I don't know who to make eye contact with. They're all standing and staring at me with these pleading eyes.

"Will you please stop protecting me?!!" I whine like a hormonal teenager. "I can take care of myself!"

"You're falling for him, Bella," Emmett shrugs, turning back to the register. "If he likes you so much, why is he still with her?"

I wince. "It's more complicated than that. She's not around right now and he's trying to get on his feet. He's started school and a new job and…arrrrgh!"

I rake my fingers through my hair in uncontrolled frustration, pulling at the roots and turning bright red. I walk around the outside of the bar and stand between Jasper and Alice and across from Emmett.

"I've been the one taking advantage of him since the day we met. Need I remind you that we made a deal? He came here and sang on Friday open mike all those weeks ago for me. Because I told him I'd go up and read my stuff. And I didn't do it!! I never did it."

I hold up my finger. "That's one." I keep it in the air so they know there's more coming.

"Then, after I told him we should only be friends, I took the first opportunity to come onto him like a freight train! I threw myself at him, practically raped him on my couch – which thank god he has no recollection of cuz he'd probably never speak to me again."

I put up another finger and hold them both up for effect. "That's two in the first two weeks, and since then he's done nothing but everything I've asked him to."

"Luckily everything you've been asking him to do involves sex. Guys love that," Alice says cuttingly. I ignore her.

"Don't you see, Emmy? He's not doing anything wrong."

"Right. Nothing wrong. ...Except leading you on."

it's abrupt but I'm gonna cut it off here cuz there's a bigger part coming up :) Please review.