A/N: Hi there! Here's another chapter, hope the wait wasn't too long! I'm afraid to say that the next chapter will be the last one – *sobs quietly* - which is why it will take a little longer than usual. See, I have TONS of exams coming up this month and I don't want to rush the last chapter and be disappointed in it, or disappoint you guys. Thanks for your patience!

As to your reviews, I imagined some of you wouldn't be too happy with Edward (or with me for that matter, lol), but overall I think it's pretty understandable why he would react this way, and you might understand a bit better after reading this chapter. I know last one was drama-full, but like antariangirl93 said, that's what happens when things get bottled up. And I cried too, while writing it lol.

Thank you for all your kind words and for feeling sad (aka caring) about my Edward and Bella. Special thanks to: emeraldmoon14, BonesnBooth4ever, Camilla, JannalovesJess, Melee03, Puasluoma, antariangirl93, superantona, bloftus, chewycui, iwannabe, AlyssaBlack, Sherry80, and my girl Jerz-Alice-Babe!

Always remember – things get a little bit worse before they get better ;)

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight.

Chapter 25: The Following Week.

Edward's POV:

I knocked on the wooden door three times and waited. I didn't want to ring the bell at such a late hour.

I didn't have to wait long before my dear brother opened the door, and stood before me with a frown on his face.

"Hey man," he said, and made room for me to come in.

"Thanks," I said and walked in hesitantly. I didn't know where Rosalie was, but I assumed she was asleep.

"No problem," he said, closing the door behind me.

I took a moment to look around, check out the place. The two floor apartment was pretty big and spacey, but it still somehow managed to give you a cozy kind of feeling. From what little I'd known her, this place was exactly Rosalie. Besides the dirty t-shirt and socks on the couch – those were a definite Emmett.

"Make yourself at home," he said, looking at the backpack on my shoulder.

I put it down by the stairs and followed Emmett to the kitchen, where he took out two bottles of beer out of the fridge without even asking if I wanted one. Maybe because he knew I needed one.

"So is Rosalie upstairs?" I asked, sitting down at one of the bar stools there.

"Actually," he said, while opening the beers with a bottle opener, "Rose is at Bella's."

I mentally cringed. I wasn't really expecting to hear her name anywhere in Emmett's answer, and a sharp stab of pain hit me in the chest.

"At… Bella's? What is she doing there?" I asked as he put our beers on the table and sat down on a stool in front of me. "Thanks," I said and took a long sip.

"I don't know. Whatever girls do in this kind of situation," he said, rubbing the back of his neck like he always did when he wanted to keep his opinion to himself – which wasn't so often, by the way. And he wasn't drinking, either. Just playing with the bottle.

I took another big sip before I said, "say what you want to say, Em."

"You're a huge fucking idiot, you know that?" he immediately spilled out.

His words definitely stung, but I expected nothing different from Emmett. Nothing but the cold, hard truth, that is.

I shrugged and drank some more.

The situation was seriously messed up, and truthfully, I wasn't entirely sure I did the right thing by leaving her like that. But I did feel that I needed some time away from her. There was just so much to digest at once. All this time I thought she loved Jacob, and she actually loved me. Or at least she thought she loved me, because I really didn't get how you can love someone and be with someone else at the same time.

It made me so angry that she had been so reluctant to face the reality. All of that endless flirting between us, or the way I looked at her, or the way I kissed her back then – none of it made her even consider that I might've had feelings for her. She thought so little of herself that she didn't think it was possible, and I was the one who ended up feeling fucking tortured.

I handled it, when I thought it was because she didn't have feelings for me, but now that I knew that she did, I felt like she robbed us both from a life together.

"Edward, I'm really trying to understand you here," he tapped his fingers on the table to regain my attention. "Can you please just explain to me why the hell you would leave Bel… her?"

"I need some time to think," I said, averting his angry looks. I think it was probably the first time Emmett felt like the older brother he was to me, instead of a younger brother.

"Think about what?" he banged his open hands on the table.

I looked up at him in question. "Why are you so worked up about this?"

"Because I care about her too. She's been like a sister to me. And I know, I know she hurt you, I remember what it was like for you. But these last few months… you're the happiest I've ever seen you. So why would you fuck that up?"

I sighed. It was hard for me to explain to him why I needed time, because I wasn't so sure myself.

"She says she's been in love with me since we were sixteen," I said quietly. I felt so guilty for my reaction. She probably expected me to laugh and call what we have fate, and instead I yelled at her and left. And still I couldn't just apologize and forget about it. I felt fucking hurt.

"What?" he said in shock, leaning back on his chair and gripping his head. "That's heavy, dude," he said as he leaned forward again and started drinking.

"Yeah," I agreed with his understatement.

"So what's the problem?" he asked.

"Are you serious?" I asked disbelievingly. "She was in love with me and she stayed with fucking Jacob Black, and I was left moping in my dorm room like a girl."

"Thought you said you weren't moping."

"I was moping, okay?" I glared at him.

It just felt like my entire grown life had been about my unrequited love for Bella, about wanting Bella and not being able to have her. This had been the essence of my entire being until now, and I needed to take a step back and find myself in all of it.

"Fine, I get it. Still, you guys got together again, right?"

"Well, yeah, but –"

"Then why screw it up? Doesn't it seem to you, like all of what happened would be for nothing if you leave her? And you know you're never going to find someone like Bella again."

"I know that. Don't you think I know that?" I snapped at him.

"So just let it go," he said and got up. "I'm gonna go to bed. You think about our little talk here," he said, tapping my shoulder.

I just kept quiet, until he was gone and I was left alone, drinking both my beer along with Emmett's.

Bella's POV:

As soon as I opened the door, four girly arms wrapped around me, making me almost actually smile.

"I'm fine," I told the girls, whom I guessed already knew what happened somehow.

They both pulled back and looked at me, in a way that made me feel kind of pathetic, like I was being felt sorry for. I didn't need that.

"I really am fine," I said. "How did you know?"

"Stupid brother number 1 called stupid brother number 2 and asked him if he can stay at our place. So of course stupid brother number 2 called me to ask permission since it's basically my apartment, so I figured I should get my ass – and, well, Alice's – over here," Rose said.

So that's where he went, I sighed in relief.

Frankly, I was just glad he had somewhere to go and he didn't have to spend the night on some bench (although he would probably deserve it), or worse, at a certain old friend's place.

You know he wouldn't do that.

I shoved the voices in my head back where they were effectively muffled. The only thing positive about this was the fact that I didn't have to be worried about him anymore. Now I could enjoy my pure, unadulterated rage towards him.

"We brought stuff," Alice said, looking towards a few bags they left at the door so they could smother me with their hands.

"You didn't have to. I'm fine," I repeated.

By the time the girls got here, I already managed to stop crying and being sad, and started doing something much more reasonable. Being furious.

"We brought margarita mix," Alice corrected herself.

Thank the lord.

"Come on in," I said in the most welcoming tone I could muster.

They got the bags and set the things in the kitchen. There was everything, and I mean everything. They got chocolates. They got chips and snacks. They got ice cream – though I couldn't even look at it, because I just had an ice cream dinner which led to disaster. They got everything it takes to make a pitcher of margaritas. And they brought Kleenex.

"You brought the whole store," I said, looking at them unpacking the stuff.

They exchanged quick glances. "Um… we didn't know what condition we were going to find you in," Alice said carefully, and put the Kleenex quickly back in the brown bag.

"Well, as you can see, I'm fine," I said, and looked down at myself.

Okay, so I might look like a couch potato in my pajamas and my probably messed up hair, but at least I don't look like a train wreck. I think.

"Actually, your eyes are kind of puffy," she said as if reading my mind. "We should make homemade masks! You have cucumbers, right Bells?"

"I'm not putting vegetables on my face, Brandon," Rose stated, making Alice turn back to me and pout.

"I'm not, either," I said, taking advantage of my escape window. "And my eyes are fine."

I was fine. Fine.

One pitcher of margaritas later and the three of us were sitting on the carpet of my living room again, and Rose was given a complete update on the situation between Edward and me. We decided not to make more than one pitcher for all of us, since we had to work tomorrow – and also because I preferred Alice not to get sick again. We were a bit tipsy, though.

"I cannot believe he just left," I said angrily, holding the last margarita drink in one hand, and throwing the other hand about. "Who does he think he is, anyway?"

"They think, that just because they're ridiculously good-looking, they can get away with anything," Alice nodded with a beer that Rosalie got both of them from my fridge.

"Guys are such complete morons sometimes," Rose complained. "And the thing is, they can be so charming when they want to."

"Ha! See, that's the trick. They glamour us with their charms and adorableness until we're sucked in, and bam! They leave," I said, probably pretty loudly.

"Or they're just being morons," Rose repeated.

"You know I literally had to drag Jasper out of his parents' basement? I mean, you're 26, for god's sakes, do you really feel comfortable with the fact that your mommy washes your underwear?"

"That's 'cause they're all man-child inside," I mumbled.

"And Emmett," Rose clipped. "He does literally everything I ask and agrees with everything I say, just because I'm hot, and you know, awesome in bed. I mean, I never said I wouldn't put out if he had his own opinion every now and then, you know?"

"Well, at least they didn't walk out on you two, for dating another guy like 60 years ago," I said, emptying my glass of blissful liquor with that, and putting it on the table behind me.

"Aww, Bells," Alice leaned her head on my shoulder.

"Do you want me to kick his ass?" Rose asked with a solemn look on her face.

I did not want the pity treatment. I was not that girl who would spend days and days crying over a guy. Even if that guy was Edward-obviously-too-good-to-be-true-Cullen.

"No," I said, accentuating the word. "I am perfectly fine."

"Yeah, you've said," Alice nodded, her eyes staring into the space. She so didn't believe me.

"Honey, it's okay if you're not," Rosalie said. She didn't believe me either.

"But I am," I retorted. "What, just because the only guy I've ever loved just left and probably isn't coming back – because I did the stupidest thing ever – I should be out of sorts?"

I was not going to be one of those girls. I was fine on my own.

"As long as you're fine, then," Alice said, drinking her beer.

How in the world did things manage to get so royally fucked up tonight? We were sitting peacefully, eating away at a bucket of ice cream, before I just had to ask him the girliest fucking question in the history of the world.

I sighed deeply.

"You know," I said, I leaned my head against Alice's shoulder this time. "That's Edward's beer," I half spoke, half whined. She patted it with her hand gently as we all sat in silence.

So maybe I'm not that fine.

Edward's POV:

"No, Esme, I'm fine," I mustered up my best convincing voice as I stirred the cereal in the milk with my spoon, unwilling to eat it.

"A few years away from us and I'm already demoted from 'mom' to 'Esme'?"

I guessed she was right. Carlisle and she did so much for me – the main thing being adopting me like 10 years ago. I thought I owed her as much as to call her mother.

"Sorry, mom. But really, I'm okay."

"Really? Honey, because you don't sound okay. Are you eating anything? You know breakfast is the most important meal of the day, right?"

God knows I'd heard it enough times in my life, and by two different moms. "I'm eating a bowl of cereal as we speak," I said, picking some up with my spoon and dropping them back into the milk.

"I don't hear you chewing," she said.

"That's just because of my impeccable upbringing. One mustn't chew and talk at the same time," I lied. The truth was I was feeling a bit too sick with myself to actually eat.

"Don't you lie to me, Edward Anthony," she said, and for a moment I squirmed in my chair at the sound of my full name, which was seldom used without the intention of scorning me. "I want to know what's going on."

"Mom… nothing," I said, sipping a bit of the orange juice that Rosalie said was absolutely fine if I poured myself, before she left for work.

Actually, when I asked her, she just nodded and gave me the scariest look I'd ever gotten. I'd also attempted to ask her how Bella was doing, but she just huffed and scowled at me again.

"Too late, Emmett already told me something's up with you," she said in triumph.

Fucking Emmett, when did he even get the chance?

I sighed. "Well, I guess we haven't caught up in a long time. You remember the flood I had in my apartment?" I asked.

"Yeah, you wanted to come here, but eventually you told me you worked something out," she said, trying to figure out what it had to do with my current situation.

I explained everything.

I explained to her how I stayed with Bella, how we eventually started dating each other (of course, I left out the part where we had tons and tons of no-strings-attached sex beforehand), and then I proceeded to admitting she was right all along, and I was completely into Bella when we were younger, and since. And then I told her about the previous night.

"Well, I can't say I'm surprised," she said, as opposed to the 'oh my god' I thought she would say. "How she felt about you showed on her, just like how you felt about her showed on you."

"Even while she was dating Jacob?" I asked skeptically. I just couldn't understand how you can tell a person has feelings for someone while he's going out with someone else.

"Yes," she said, to my great surprise. She must've had some motherly intuition as to what nobody else could know. "Although, I didn't see her as much after that. I guessed you two would grow apart once she had a boyfriend, but I never imagined you to altogether stop speaking to each other."

"Actually, that may have been my fault," I sighed again, and pushed the bowl of inedible cereal away from me. "It was just so hard to watch them together, mom."

"I can imagine that it was," she said.

I smiled to myself. She was probably the one person in the world who would never judge me on anything.

"I miss you guys," I said sincerely. There were times in a man's life where he needed a mother and father, even if they were his adoptive ones.

"Good. Because I have a suggestion," she said with a hint of a smile in her voice.

A suggestion?

"What is it?" I asked curiously.

"Carlisle and I were thinking that perhaps you could come and visit us for a few days," she said.

"In L.A?"

"Yes. You could use time off work, and obviously you need some alone time to think things over," she said, proving just how well she knew me. "Although I already know what your conclusion is going to be."

I chose to ignore her last comment and just consider the suggestion for a moment. Time off would be really great, if I could get some from Petee, and I really did miss Carlisle and Esme. Emmett was there for a visit not long ago, but it's been years since I had seen them.

Finally, I grinned and said, "See you soon, mom."

Clearing my head in a different environment was exactly what I needed right now.

The following week went by so incredibly slow. I constantly had to fight the urge to call Bella just to check up on her. Rosalie wouldn't say a word to me, which made me assume all the more that Bella wasn't in a very good place right now.

Besides, I just missed her so fucking much. Even her morning grumpiness. Or especially her morning grumpiness (Emmett was so cheerful in the mornings). And I missed looking at her, touching her, kissing her. It was so hard to even just fall asleep at night thinking about her tiny, warm, sexy body not being there beside mine. I had never wanted to spoon someone so badly in my life.

But every time I thought about her, I thought about all that's happened, and Jacob Black, and the motherfucking pain, and I knew that without time apart, Bella and I wouldn't stand a chance at a normal relationship, if we could still even have one.

Emmett thought it was a good idea to go visit our parents. If I recall his exact words, he said I was doing nothing but work and walk around like a zombie anyway. And all he did was smack me on the head and call me an idiot every now and then. He was probably right about that.

Petee was a little reluctant about letting me take a few days off, but since I was legally entitled of some, he didn't really have a choice.

So when the day came, I packed what little luggage I had, which was basically the small backpack full of shirts and a toothbrush. I planned on buying a suitcase and a few things to put in it, in L.A.

I was already anxiously waiting on the couch in the empty apartment when I heard the cab honk downstairs. I sprung off the couch, grabbed my bag and my plane ticket and passport, and went downstairs.

On my way out of the lobby, I saw Rosalie approaching the door on the other side. She opened it and once again, glared at me. She hadn't spoken two words to me all week, and from how Emmett followed her like an apologizing puppy, I guessed she was pretty mad at him, too, because of me. She was a loyal friend to Bella, which I appreciated, but I still thought it was best not to say too much.

"Evening, Rosalie," I said formally.

She didn't answer, like I anticipated, but she looked at me strangely. Not just angrily, but as if something had surprised her.

I just brushed it off and kept my way to the cab. In a few hours, I would be away from the rainy weather and in the bright light of the sun, eating a home cooked meal Esme already notified me she was making.

I wished Bella was with me.

Bella's POV:

I sat on a stool behind the counter and stared at one of the book shelves, my arms crossed against my chest, as I thought about the past week.

It's been hellish, obviously. I'd swapped between missing Edward and being incredibly angry at Edward so many times through this week, that whoever witnessed it was bound to get a whiplash.

Yesterday, for instance, I was going through my drawers looking for my iPod, when I found the list, in which I laid down the rules of living together, in one of them. What followed was plopping down on my bed and staring at the ceiling for a long, long time.

It felt so empty in the apartment without him. It felt so empty not to be able to come home and find his perfect boy lips smirking at me, and to put my hands in his messy hair and kiss those stupid lips. And then – after a much satisfying sexual encounter, of course – be able to tell him about my day, and hear about what he's going through.

And then I thought about how he was the one who left, and that he probably wasn't missing me at all, any of those things, or he would've come back or at least called, and I was livid again. And then I may have walked into his room, took one of his favorite shirts, and threw it in the dryer to shrink.

"Excuse me," I heard an angry voice.

I turned my gaze and found myself staring at a female client who awfully resembled Kathy Bates. "Yeah?"

"I've been trying to pay for these books for the past two minutes and you haven't so much as looked in my direction until now," she fumed, gesturing towards a stack of Stephen King books, ironically.

"You were standing there for two minutes?" I asked, surprised that I didn't see her. She was hardly unnoticeable.

"Yes! Now can I buy these books or should I go to Barnes and Noble?" she said with one hand on her hip.

"Hi there," Alice popped up of nowhere next to me, putting her tiny hands on my shoulders and scooting me away from my faithful stool and aside. "How may I assist you?"

"I'd like to pay for these," the woman said, slightly more calm. Alice had that effect on people, so I just stood and said nothing, and appreciated that she came to the rescue.

"No problem," she said cheerfully and started scanning the books. "Would you like me to gift wrap them?"

"No, thank you," the woman answered politely as she took some money out of her purse.

"That would be 33.95," she said with a smile, and took the money she handed her. I have to say I was thoroughly impressed with her customer service skills. I would've had the woman screaming in a matter of minutes.

"Thank you so much for shopping at our store. Please come back soon," Alice said as she handed her the change and the bag of books.

"I will," she smiled. "No thanks to her," she added a moment later, sans the smile, in reference to me.

I smiled and waved goodbye to her.

"What is wrong with you?" Alice asked me the moment the customer left. That's when I noticed Spanish Guy – well, Julian – was standing next to one of the shelves and looking in our direction. Except he averted his look just as I caught him stare.

"Nothing, I'm-"

"You're fine, I know," she rolled her eyes.

"That's completely right," I said.

"Well, don't take 'being fine' out on the customers. Rosalie might be our friend but when it comes to business she's a shark, and I don't want you fired," she whisper-yelled at me.

"Are you calling me a bad employee?" I asked.

She gave me a look and took out a cell phone out of her pocket. Apparently it was vibrating. "And there she is right now," Alice said. "Hello?"

I waited to see what she says. "Mm hmm. Yeah, she's right here. Why is your phone on silent mode?" she asked me.

"Because I'm a good employee," I answered with a scowl. "Hand it over."

She gave me the phone. "Rose?"

"Bella," she breathed. "Look, I have to tell you something, but don't freak out."

Cue the freak-out. Does she not know that when you tell someone not to freak out, they freak out?

"What is it? Did something happen? Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, but," she sighed. "I just ran into Edward on my way into the building. He was leaving, with a plane ticket in his hand. I think he was going to the airport."

I just stood there and blinked as my heart sunk. I couldn't think of anything to say to that. Edward was leaving the country? Maybe he was going to stay with Carlisle and Esme. Maybe he was going to stay there until his school starts again and he can live in the dorms.

He's not coming back. He's leaving me.

"Thanks for letting me know," I told Rose dryly and hung up.

How could he just abandon me like that again? And all because of something that happened so long ago, when we were still kids?

I could not believe this was happening. Whatever I did, it did not justify hurting me like this. I was better off the way I was before I ran into him. I was alone, but at least I weren't miserable. I didn't know what it was like, being with Edward, touching Edward, having him all to myself. And I was fine. Now that I knew what it was like to have Edward, and then lose him… I was not fine.

"Edward's leaving," I told Alice. "He's flying somewhere. L.A, I think."

"Oh my god, Bells," she whispered. "Are you okay?"

"No. You know what? He does not get to do that to me," I said seethed. "I don't deserve it. I'm just- I'm not even-" I sighed out, unable to even finish my own sentence.

And then, just as I raised my gaze, I saw him again. Julian. He was browsing through books now, looking distracted.

Resolute, I walked over to him and said hi.

"Ah, beautiful Bella," he said, turning his full attention to me. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, yeah, perfect," I smiled to him. "I was just wondering if you would like to go out for drinks. My shift is ending just now."

He scanned my face up and down. "What about your man?" he asked.

"He's no longer my man."

He paused, looking thoughtful. "But you must still-"

"Nope," I said before he could finish the sentence.

He just raised a skeptic eyebrow.

"Look, do you want to take me out or not? Cause if you don't, I'll just go drinking alone," I said impatiently.

He shook his head slowly. "Okay. I want to take you out."

"Good," I smiled.

"Bells, can you come over here for a moment, please?" Alice asked me in the same polite manner she used with the customer.

"Sorry," I said to Spanish Guy, and walked over to the counter to speak to Alice, even though I knew exactly what she had to say. "Yes?"

"Bella, please think about what you're doing," she said cautiously. "You're not ready to date some other guy. What about your feelings for Edward?"

"What about them?" I said, my voice just low enough so that he won't be able to hear me. "He knows exactly how I feel about him, and yet he goes off to god-knows-where without saying a word to me about it. So yeah, I know what I'm doing."

"I don't think you should go, Bella," she attempted again.

"Well, I'm going to," I shrugged.

And with that, my decision was made. I would not be hung up on Edward. If he doesn't want me, then fine.

So I went over to Spanish Guy and said, "Come on, let's go", before I literally hauled him out of the store, still feeling Alice's gaze on my back.

Alice's POV:

I tried to stop her. I really did. But she was too stubborn to budge. Why must people be this blind as to their feelings? Bella had been walking around all week claiming she was fine. She was the farthest of "fine" I had ever seen. She was sad. And if you're sad, you should own up to it, instead of pretending you're mad.

But nooo. Bella had to be angry. And now she was gone with the Spanish dude to drink herself to oblivion, and lord knows what else. And of course, she wouldn't listen to me. Who ever listens to me?

I needed to save my friend. And when you're trying to save a friend, you should do it with all means necessary, right?

See, that's the reason I called the only person able to assist, to ask for help. I just hoped that person would be willing to help.