A/N: I am STUNNED, literally blown away by some of the reactions to last chapter. You all are becoming really emotionally attached to these characters and I couldn't be more thrilled about it. I had some really good dialogue and conversations with some of you about last chapter! I am always excited to discuss any questions or concerns you might have, so feel free to PM me!

OK, so begins our "bumpy ride". Don't worry...I won't drag anything out or over due it. We'll all have reason to celebrate shortly! :)

mustlovertp...she's my rock! I love her and her stories! If you haven't checked her out...you need too! She's an amazing writer in her own write and I am lucky to have her working with me on this story! She's the macaroni to my cheese...this story would have been shit without her!

*DISCLAIMER* I OWN NOTHING TWILIGHT!

BPOV

"Everything is fine!" I shout back to Edward, as I reach down and retrieve my phone from the floor. "Just dropped my phone is all."

I cringe when I hear how choked my voice sounds. I take a minute to compose myself by sitting on the floor behind the island, with my back against the cabinets, before bringing the phone back to my ear.

"Esme, I really, really think that this might be a bad idea," I finally mumble into the phone. "Edward is dealing with Jasper's move, me being sick and some side effects to his medication. I think this may over load him."

I heard Esme sigh and a door slam.

"You can't put him in a bubble, Bella. He's the most stable he's been in almost 5 years. It's time Carlisle and Edward both dealt with the past and moved on. I can't live the rest of my life splitting myself down the middle and neither can you."

For the first time since meeting Esme Cullen, I can honestly say I'm little bit frustrated and disappointed in her. She understands better than anyone what kind of a ticking time bomb her son is. How can she honestly think this is a good idea?

"Yes I know Esme, but this feels like an ambush! It's one thing to broach the subject with him and get his input and quite another to drop it in his lap and expect him to deal with it." I shake my head and sigh. "I don't know, maybe would should consult with the therapist first."

"Bella." The way she says my name, I can tell she's just as frustrated with me. "We've discussed this with the therapist, remember? She wanted them to confront each other in one of Edward's sessions and he rejected the idea. If we don't take advantage of this window of opportunity and press him on it, nothing will ever get resolved!"

"And you think that my birthday party is the best place to initiate this?"

Sure I sound like a selfish, petulant child, but the whole last year has been about Edward. Can't I have one day where the focus is on me?

"Sacrifice's, Bella. We all make them," Esme scolds. "Ask me how many birthday's and holiday's I've been separated from my husband or son, because of this stupid feud! We won't have another opportunity to do this for awhile and you know it. Besides, if it works, then nobody has to miss out on another family gathering."

Well, now I know where her fucking son learned the art of the guilt trip. Turns out, it's hereditary.

I nervously chew on my thumb nail and decide to compromise.

"Alright, here's the thing," I tell her. "I'll agree to this under one condition. You come out and tell him yourself that Carlisle is there, as soon as we get in the driveway. If he chooses at that point to leave…he leaves! No one stops him or forces him to stay!"

Esme stays silent for several minutes while she thinks it over.

"I suppose I can live with those terms," she finally says.

"Good. Because they are non-negotiable and you never really had a choice!"

Esme gives a frustrated chuckle. "So we'll see you both next Saturday around noon?"

"Yes." I sigh unenthusiastically, while banging my head against the cabinets. "I'll talk to you later."

I end the call before she can respond. Sure it was spiteful and rude, but I can't talk about this anymore.

I stood up and looked down at the sandwich I had been preparing and felt my stomach roll, which sent me running for the bathroom. I made it just in time to spill what little was in my stomach into the toilet. All this stress and illness is killing me.

"Bella? Baby, what's wrong?" Edward asked, coming in and rubbing my back and holding my hair away from my face.

"Stress," I groaned. "Your mom, Rose and Alice want to throw me a birthday party next weekend at your parent's house. I hate being celebrated and I'm still not feeling well. I was just hoping we'd be able to stay home and cuddle on my birthday."

"Oh. Well I can call her back and tell them to fuck off if you want me to," he offers. "Don't feel like you have to do something you don't want to do."

I reach up and flush the toilet, then stand up to brush my teeth.

"No, it's fine. I'll live."

Edward shrugs, gives my ass a pat and then goes back to the living room. I felt horrible for lying to him. Sure I'm stressed, but I think it's more the guilt that's making me sick to my stomach. I really, really think that throwing Edward and Carlisle together, in a non-controlled environment, is a bad idea.

I stumble out of the bathroom and tell Edward I will be back in a few minutes and that I was going down to Alice and Jasper's to see if they had any Pepto Bismol. It isn't entirely a lie. I just left out that I was also going to discuss Esme's plan with them.

Alice answers the door wearing a huge smile until she takes me in.

"Jesus Bella. You look like hell."

"Thanks so much, Alice," I sigh, stepping past her into their apartment, which is basically nothing but moving boxes stacked up everywhere. "I like what you've done with the place."

"Yeah. I like to call this 'Displacement Chic'!" Alice giggles.

"Is Jasper around?"

"I'm right here!" Jasper calls, walking into the room with yet another full box. "Alice, you need to label this one and then it's ready to go. So Bella, what can I do you for and why do you look like death warmed over?"

I roll my eyes. I don't think I look that bad.

"Just stressed out about the birthday party being thrust upon me by Esme and my traitorous friends," I say, narrowing my eyes at Alice.

"Oh come on, Bella," Alice laughs. "Stop being dramatic! It'll be fun and one of the last times we can all be together before Jazz and I move."

"Whatever," I groan, fighting off the urge to vomit again. "I need to talk to you both, but I think I'm going to need some Pepto or something first."

"You do look a little green around the gills. Need a bucket or something?" Jasper asks, backing away from me like I might spontaneously start spewing bodily fluids at any moment.

"I don't have any Pepto, but I have ginger ale. Would you like to try some of that?" Alice asks, giving Jasper the stink eye and rubbing my back.

"I'll try anything at this point," I mumble, sticking my head between my knees.

Alice brings me back a glass of ginger ale and shares a concerned look with Jasper, as I sip it down slowly. So far so good, my stomach settles almost immediately.

"So what's up Buttercup?" Jasper asks, sitting down on the couch with me, but still maintaining some distance. And he thinks Edward has issues…jerk!

"Did Esme tell you about her grand plan to get Carlisle and Edward together at this party?"

"She what!"

"Yeah. She said Carlisle is going to be there and that she doesn't want Edward to know about it before hand. But I just think this is a recipe for disaster. Plus my conscience can't handle this kind of fucking deceit. I just got off the phone with her and I am already overloaded with guilt and puking!"

Jasper seems to contemplate everything for a few minutes.

"Maybe you should ask his therapist if this is a good idea."

I shake my head as I swallow another sip of ginger ale.

"We've already talked about it with her. She wanted them to meet for the first time in one of Edward's session, so she could control the direction of the conversation. That way it would be productive, instead of turning into a yelling match. But of course Edward didn't want to do it, so it was dropped after that."

Jasper cringes and stands up next to Alice, pulling her into his side and absently rubbing her back. It's nice to see them display some affection every now and then. Jasper is usually so serious and conservative in public. This isn't a side of him I see very often.

"Well, I mean this does have the potential for disaster written all over it," he finally concludes. "But I think they need to get their issues worked out at some point and Edward is in a place to be able to do that now. Maybe all he really needs is this push."

"Yeah, a push right over the cliff."

"Bella, it's never attractive to be so negative all the time!" Alice scolds. "Esme knows her son and husband. I seriously doubt she'd suggest something like this, if she didn't think it was for the best."

I just shake my head. I really wish I could see the bright side they were seeing. But deep in my nauseated gut, I just knew this wouldn't end well.

EPOV

In the week leading up to Bella's party, she'd gotten really moody and seemed to be on edge all the time. Not to mention her new addiction to ginger ale, which she drank by the gallon.

"What the fuck is going on with you?" I finally asked, the day before we were scheduled to leave for my mom's house. "You've been acting out of sorts all week."

I mean, I couldn't even guilt her into sex without her biting my head off. What. The. Fuck?

"I just don't feel right, OK! Christ, I've only been fucking sick for the past month, these goddamn pills are tearing up my stomach and you're trying to molest me every 10 seconds! I love you and I enjoy making love with you, but fuck, Edward. You have to let me come up for air!"

I watched as Bella lay down on our bed, curled into the fetal position and let a tear streak down her cheek.

Suddenly I felt the world's biggest shit.

I carefully crawled into bed behind her and pulled her to me, so her back was nuzzled up against my chest.

"I'm sorry, Princess," I whispered in her ear, placing a kiss just below it. "I know I have been pretty selfish lately and taking more than I give. But I just love you so much."

"I know you do," she sniffled. "I just have so much going on and I am really not looking forward to this party at all."

"We don't have to go," I offer.

She gives me a humorless laugh and reminds me who we are dealing with. If we don't show, we will have three irate women breaking our door down to drag us back to Port Angeles by the short and curlies. Well, my short and curlies, anyway. They would have to settle for dragging Bella by the hair on her head.

"Okay baby," I finally concede. "But I'm here to tell you, when you've had enough, we're leaving. And I don't care if the party is still in full swing or not."

That earns me a chaste kiss and a watery smile, before she finally falls asleep in my arms. As I lay there holding her, I can start to feel my anxiety rising again. I can suppress the urge to pull my hair, pace and chain smoke most days. But since Jasper and Alice dropped the bomb that they are moving, I can feel the dark clouds starting to move in over me a little bit more everyday.

I know I've been suffocating Bella lately. Always wanting to be near her and when that isn't close enough, I go caveman on her and climb inside her. I guess I just need that reassurance that's she still there and being intimate with her helps with the anxiety. I know it's sick and wrong to have sex just so you think with a clear head, but that's what it does for me. It clears the fucking fog so I can function like a normal human being. And Bella deserves a partner who is normal.

With that thought, I pull her closer into my chest; kiss the top of her head and drift off to sleep. Maybe tomorrow will be a better day for both of us.

00000

"Did you put some ginger ale in the cooler for me?" Bella asked for the tenth time.

We'd spent the morning packing our bags and getting stuff together for the drive down to Port Angeles. Bella had woken up feeling and looking even shittier then she did yesterday. She's also been frantic and bitchy, which isn't helping my already dubious mood any.

"Yes, for the fucking tenth time!" I snap. "All the shit is in the car. Can we just fucking go already?"

I pull the smoke from behind my ear and light it. It's not even 9 a.m. and thanks to this bitch, I've already smoked damn near half a pack today.

Bella's nostrils flair when she smells the smoke and she takes off running for the bathroom with her hand clamped firmly over her mouth.

"Fuck!" I mumble to myself, tossing the cigarette out the window.

I knock on the bathroom door, where I can hear her cursing me out under her breath for making her puke after she'd already packed her tooth brush, on the other side.

"I put the fucking thing out. Can we go now?"

The door flies open and there's a very pissed off and pale looking Bella standing before me. She gives me a dirty look, puts her sun glasses on and storms past me out the door of the apartment.

"Let the games begin," I grumble to no one grabbing my fedora off the coat hanger and then locking up the door behind me.

BPOV

As I stand in the hall waiting on the elevator, I see Edward come out of the apartment with his fedora on his head. My heart stops.

Edward had been wearing it less and less, until eventually, he wasn't wearing it at all. It's presence today is sending all kinds of red flags up and my intuition is screaming at me to stop this train wreck before it happens.

Edward walks over to stand next to me and instantly reaches out to press the down button that I've already pushed. Before I can stop her, my inner bitch gets annoyed and lashes out at him.

"Do you honestly think I've been standing here all this time and didn't think to press the fucking down button?"

"What the fuck are you talking about, Bella?"

"You just pressed the down button. It was already lit up, indicating that I had already pressed it."

"So?"

"So, do you think that by pressing it again it's going to make the fucking elevator come faster?"

Edward rolls his eyes, takes his fedora off and rakes a hand through his hair.

"Alright," he sighs angrily. "Because I love you and it's your birthday, I am going to concede this one and take the fucking stairs. But I strongly suggest you leave the bitch at home or it's going to be a very long ride to Port Angeles."

I watch as he disappears down the stairwell, just as the elevator opens. I get on and push the button for Jasper and Alice's floor. I had convinced them to ride with us, thinking it would be a good idea to have Jasper around when the shit eventually hit's the fan and Edward finds out he's been duped.

The doors open and like clockwork, there stand Jasper and Alice.

"Good morning, Sunshine," Jasper laughs, as he takes it my disheveled appearance and the scowl on my face.

"He's having anxiety issues," I mumble. "He walked out of the apartment with the fedora on."

Jasper nods his head and sighs. "It just couldn't be easy could it?"

I just shrug and pull my sweater tighter around myself.

"Where is he?" Alice finally asks.

"He took the stairs. Fucker double punched the down button and I couldn't let it go."

Alice and Jasper eye ball each other, probably wondering why they agreed to ride the short bus all the way to Port Angeles.

"I promise not to lick the windows!" I snap, when I see Alice mouth "because we love them" to Jasper.

They both blush and look anywhere but at me or each other when they realize they've been caught.

"How long is this fucking elevator ride?" I yell, desperately punching the parking garage button.

Alice snickers from behind her hand, while Jasper snorts. "Did you just triple punch the down button, Bella?"

Just then the doors open. I push past both of them with a "fuck you" and a warning not say shit to Edward about this!

I walk up to the car and see Edward already leaning against the passenger door. He's got a cigarette, but when I approach he graciously flicks it away.

"All better now?" he asks, with a crooked smile on his face.

"I'm fine," I mumble, sliding in the car when he opens the door.

I watch through the window, as Edward and Jasper trade arm punches and then load their bags into the trunk. Alice gets into the back seat and reaches around to rub my shoulders.

"You need to relax, Bella. All this tension isn't helping Edward's anxiety. Just breathe and have faith."

As if anything is that fucking easy.

EPOV

The ride to Port Angeles was actually peaceful. Bella fell asleep before we even made it out of Seattle and for once, I was happy to have her unconscious.

Alice, Jasper and I shot the shit for a little bit. But before long I turn on the stereo, Jasper gets on his laptop and Alice pulls out a book and occasionally we all laugh when Bella snores or talks in her sleep.

I almost drive off the road when she pulls a Dr. Seuss and starts talking about 'the cat that went splat'. But it was the 'birdle in a girdle' that prompted Alice to beg me to pull over at the next gas station. She had laughed so hard she damn near pissed her pants.

When we passed the Port Angeles sign, I shook Bella's shoulder to wake her up.

"Come on, Princess. We're almost there."

Bella woke up with a jolt and slapped her hand over her mouth.

"OH SHIT!" I yelled, whipping the car onto the shoulder of the road. Bella was out of the car and knee deep in ferns, before I could even bring the car to a stop.

I quickly apologized to Jasper and Alice, who'd been thrown violently around the backseat and then jumped out to help Bella.

Twenty minutes, three Altoids and a half of can of ginger ale later and we were pulling into my parent's driveway.

I pull the car in front of the garage and smile when I see my mom come flying out the front door.

Bella is sitting in the seat, not even attempting to move with her eyes closed and tears streaming down her face.

"I'm sorry Edward," she whispers.

"Sorry? About wha…" I trail off, when someone catches my eye.

I look back at Bella, who now has her face buried in her hands and is refusing to look at me while she sobs.

"Bella? What the fuck?"

Whoops! Someone is about to make a huge mistake! What do you think? Personally, the double punching of the elevator button is my favorite part. I had the same argument with my husband in the Sears Tower! I am lucky he didn't toss me out a window! FYI...never go sight seeing in Chicago when you're PMSing...just sayin!