Dickery, dickery, dare,

Edward flew up in the air.

Emmett in brown

Soon brought him down!

Dickery, dickery, dare.

The rhymes for the prior chapters were: Bobby Shaftoe and The Ants Go Marching.

Thanks as always to my betas: JFK06 and ReaderGoof!

A few things to address:

Reviews. We authors do love them. And, yes, sometimes they hurt. Most of the time they thrill me. I hear such great things about my story and writing. Truthfully, as much as I wouldn't love for every reader to review my story, I'd rather not have the reviews and just see that the read counter keeps climbing.

That said…someone apologized for a review they left me. There is nothing to forgive. Part of writing and being an author is to take the good with the bad. Not everyone is going to like everything I write or how I write it. Some may like an event, and others may hate it.

I accept the negative reviews, whether they hurt or not, as part of a learning process. If no one tells me what they didn't like or what I did wrong, how can I grow and improve as a writer? Please, never feel bad for leaving a harsh review. Or, for saying you don't like something. I value each and every opinion.

I will not be saying one way or the other what was under Emmett's Kilt. No amount of bribery will work.

Rosalie, Rosalie, Rosalie…Yes, I realize that rape in no way near comes close to being cheating on. But, you have to understand, James hurt Bella and Rosalie is protective of Bella. Rosalie didn't get any hits in on James. She is ROYALLY pissed off right now and since she can't take it out on the person responsible for Bella's pain, she's taking it out on Emmett. She doesn't think what happen to her is worse then what happened to Bella.

Tanya's demise is coming. There is one, two, maybe three more chapters and then she is GONE!!!! GONE!!! GONE!!

This chapter's title does refer to the beginning of the end for Tanya and Edward, not the end of the story.

Shout out:

This chapter's shout out goes to no one on my list. My little brother, who's an absolute sweetie, said he might actually read my fanfiction. So, I shout out to him! You know who you are…I hope…and, if you did read, I hope you enjoyed it!! Hugs to you B.G.!!

THIS IS A BRAND NEW CHAPTER! NOTHING IN THIS CHAPTER WAS IN THE ORIGINAL VERSION!

RPOV

"I should've broken his legs!" Emmett growled, pacing the media room where we'd gathered after lunch.

"Right," I quipped from my seat on the couch. "Crack jokes when Rosalie's boyfriend cheats on her, but threaten bodily harm on Bella's would be rapist. Shouldn't I have warranted that as well?"

"What are you going on about, Rose?" Emmett paused in his pacing, turning to face me, clearly baffled. I wasn't surprised the dumb lummox wasn't listening to me. I closed my eyes in frustration, clenching my hands into fists. The man was denser than a rock at times.

It wasn't that I was trying to belittle what had happened to Bella, far from it. I was furious. I just didn't understand Emmett's thinking. How could he not have been this pissed off over Royce cheating on me?

"Forget it, Emmett," I snipped, not wanting to deal with him at the moment. Edward, on the other hand…Standing up, I stalked towards him, pointing a finger and stopping right in front of the recliner where he sat. "You. You!"

"What the hell did I do?" he asked, not understanding my fury. How could he though, considering his head was where the sun don't shine.

"Tanya is what you did! Did you listen to anything that spewed from her mouth last night?" I snarled, desperately wanting to kill Edward at the moment. The man didn't have a fucking clue! Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Alice nodding in agreement with me.

"Of course I did. She was upset and nearly screaming. How could I not?" he answered, still annoyingly thickheaded. "Honestly, I can't say that I blame her. Had our positions been reversed, I'm not sure I'd have been all that happy either."

I was seriously starting to consider screaming at his stupidity.

"Oh, and that warrants, and allows, Tanya to mutter, and I quote, 'Thank God you're loaded'?" Alice shot out from her seat on Jasper's lap.

Edward remained silent for several moments, clearly thinking, before answering, "I heard her mutter something, but I wasn't sure what it was."

"Fuckin' hell, Edward!" I screamed, smacking the back of his head.

He stood up, facing off with me, shouting, "What the fuck?!"

"Enough!" Emmett roared, pushing between Edward and I, his hands hovering over our chests.

"He has this coming, so stay out of it, Emmett!" I didn't stop to think about what I was doing, simply pulled back my right fist and let it fly, decking Emmett in the jaw, before returning my attention to Edward.

"Jeezs, Rosalie! What the fuck was that for?" Emmett moaned, holding his jaw and flexing it.

I looked up at him. "I catch Royce screwing some bimbo and you crack jokes, laughing your ass off. Yet, when James nearly rapes Bella, you beat the ever-living daylights out of him. Why didn't I warrant that as well? Don't answer that. Just keep your damn opinions to yourself right now."

Emmett, at least, had the decency to look ashamed before he stomped out of the room.

"Edward, you have to open your eyes! Tanya's attitude last night was unacceptable! It shouldn't matter that Bella isn't your blood sister. Tanya should've understood that Bella is important to the family," Alice stood, walking over to stand next to me. "She didn't even bother to ask how Bella was. Honestly, I can't support your decision to marry her and if you're going to bring her into the family, personally, I think you should move out of here."

"Jasper, man, help me out," Edward begged, turning to look over at him.

"Sorry, man, no can do. I think Alice has a point, and I've gotta agree with the girls. Tanya's behavior last night was beyond deplorable. Even I heard her mutter that it was a good thing you were loaded. How you missed that, I don't know. I can't support your marrying Tanya, either and if you are, I'll back Alice in shoving your ass curbside," Jasper shrugged from his seat on the couch.

"Didn't hear it, Jasper? I'm sure he heard it and chose to ignore it. If he asks Tanya about it, she'll deny it and he'll believe her. The girl has her claws in too deep," I huffed, my temper flaring sky high. Emmett chose that moment to walk back into the room, an ice pack on his jaw.

"Mom wants to know: One, what we're yelling about; two, why my jaw is bruised; three, where Bella is," he rattled off, sitting down on the couch next to Jasper.

I closed my mouth on what I was going to say next, looking around the room. Me, Alice standing next to me, Edward in front of me, Jasper and Emmett sitting on the couch, and Bella…no where to be seen. "Where is Bella?"

Everyone looked around, realizing, just as I had, that Bella wasn't in the room with us.

"She said she was going to go to the bathroom," Alice supplied, pursing her lips, "but, that was a while ago."

"Fuck," Emmett muttered as he and Jasper jumped up from the couch. All of us ran out of the room, screaming, "Bella!" at the top of our lungs.

BPOV

I could hear my family shouting my name, looking for me. I knew I should answer, let them know that I was okay and nothing had happened to me. However, my desire to be alone overrode my common sense and I kept quiet, wanting some time to myself.

Wanting to hide, I'd shoved aside Alice's belongings to make a spot for myself, and had curled up in her closet. At some point during the search Dad found me, hugging my knees to my chest, surrounded by Alice's belongings.

"Everyone's looking for you," he stated, sitting down outside the closet and leaning against the frame. "Why didn't you call out and let us know you were okay? We've been worried."

"I just…I just wanted some time to myself," I responded, turning my head so I was looking away from him.

"Bella," he started and I felt his hand on my head. "Do you want me to examine you? Or, have one of my colleagues do so?"

His voice was soft and cautious, like he was treading on ice. Shaking my head, I replied, "No, Emmett pulled him off before he could get that far."

"You know, what you went through is still traumatic. Maybe you should consider talking to a therapist," Dad suggested, pulling me out of the closet and onto his lap, holding me close. I felt like I was just a child again, running to my biological father to kiss my booboo.

"I'd rather not," I whispered, not looking up at him.

"Why?" he pursued, rubbing my back.

"James had been bothering me since the start of the semester and I didn't say anything. This is entirely my fault. If I'd just spoken up," I paused, feeling the tears rolling down my cheeks. "If I'd said something, it wouldn't have happened. I can only blame myself."

"Bella, Bella, Bella. This is not your fault. James is to blame. Why didn't you say anything? You know Emmett, Edward, and Jasper would have done something about it," Dad inquired, hugging me close.

"I thought I could handle it on my own. I told him I didn't want to go out with him and he backed off. I thought everything was fine. I didn't think…" I couldn't continue. I started sobbing just as my siblings walked into the room, their faces expressing their relief in finding me.

Edward walked forward, reaching out to take me into his arms and I shied away from him. For the first time, I reject him and clung to Dad, not wanting the comfort of Edward's arms. He had Tanya. He'd picked Tanya. What comfort could there be in someone who wanted to marry a woman who saw his sister as trash?

I saw the pain flash across his face and hurt collect in his eyes. He stepped away from me, watching me cuddle into Emmett's embrace as he picked me up. I didn't remember all of what had happened the night before, but I was conscious of the fact that Tanya had been there. She'd witnessed the aftermath, saying some hurtful things and Edward had, seemingly, done nothing. How could I find comfort with him, when she was far more important?

"Edward," Jasper whispered, pulling him away from Emmett and I. Edward shook him off.

"She…" he started, unable to finish. Shaking his head, he turned on his heel and left the room.

"Would someone care to explain to me what just happened?" Dad demanded, bafflement evident on his face. In all the time I'd lived with the Cullens, never once had any of them seen me refuse Edward's touch.

I looked at my siblings, allowing them to see my pleas for help and shifted slightly in Emmett's arms, shielding my face from further inspection.

"Tanya was here last night. She said some stuff about what was going on and Edward didn't address it. He shoved it aside," Rosalie answered. "I think Bella heard some of it, even as comatose as she seemed."

"I don't think that is the full of it," Dad commented, "and not enough of a reason why Bella would shun him as she did."

"Dad, Tanya treats Bella the same as the rest of us. The first time they met, Tanya dismissed her. Edward hasn't gotten it through his thick skull that marrying Tanya means losing privileges he has with Bella. He can't have them both and it isn't registering with him," Rosalie's voice was soft and quiet as she stood in front of Emmett, smoothing my hair.

"Edward's head is so far up his ass so far surgery won't find it at this point," Alice snarked, not bothering to apologize for her rudeness.

"Did you find…oh! There she is! What's wrong with Edward? He just stormed out of the house," Mom asked, walking into the room.

"Apparently Edward is trying to have his cake and eat it too," Dad supplied as I sniffled, Jasper appearing at my side with some tissues. I turned and gave him a watery smile.

"Really? In what way?" Mom looked between us all.

"He wants Bella to continue running to him even though he's going to marry Tanya," Alice answered.

"Bella opted for comfort from Emmett instead of Edward, and Edward seems to have taken offense," Dad answered and I caught the surprised look on Mom's face.

"Well," she paused, taking a deep breath. "Bella did t he right thing. If Edward's engaged, then…oh, Bella!"

Before I could speak, Mom was holding Emmett and I, crying into my shoulder. I looked up at Emmett, who was just as puzzled as I was.

"Esme, dear," Dad pulled Mom away from us, steering her to sit down on Alice's bed, him at her side.

"It's heartbreaking! After everything she's been through, that Edward would be so callous! We raised him better than that, Carlisle! He should know that if he's going to marry Tanya he has to give up doing certain things with Bella," Mom cried.

"Can we go?" I whispered, wanting to leave Mom to Dad's care. I didn't want to be mean, but at the moment my own feelings were overwhelming enough and I couldn't deal with Mom's as well. Emmett happily carried me out of the room, our siblings following.

EPOV

Emmett! Again! Never once, in all the time I had known Bella, had she chosen him over me. Well, except for the night she started climbing into his bed, and now…Why the hell was she choosing him over me?

Grabbing my keys off the hall table, I stormed out of the house, ignoring Mom asking me what was wrong and where was I going. Muttering under my breath, I got into my car, jamming the key into the ignition, listening to the engine roar to life. I didn't have a fucking clue where I was going to go. I just knew that I needed to go somewhere that wasn't here. Backing out of the drive, I headed off down the street.

A full twenty-four hours hadn't even passed, but the hours that had, had been shitty. Hell, Bella was nearly raped, Rosalie punched Emmett, and, if Emmett hadn't come back into the room, I'm sure that Rosalie would've socked me as well.

They were wrong. I hadn't ignored anything Tanya said last night. I'd just weighed who was more important: Bella or Tanya? I had decided Bella, and was going to address the Tanya issue later.

She'd turned away from me! Me! After what had happened to her last night, I thought she'd be running to me for comfort. I was the one she always ran to. Why was she turning to Emmett? Just because I was engaged to Tanya, didn't mean I couldn't hold her and soothe her tears anymore.

Taking a deep breath, I parked my car some time later, realizing I'd driven to Tanya's. Maybe bringing her into the family wasn't such a good idea. I knew that I should trust my family in what they said about Tanya, but it was hard to reconcile the sweet woman Tanya was with the evil shrew my family made her out to be.

Getting out of my car, I walked up to Tanya's apartment and used the key she'd given me to enter. Why the hell would Bella pick Emmett over me? Heading further into Tanya's place, I heard her talking. I figured she had company, explaining why she didn't hear me close the door.

I followed her voice, finding her in her room, alone, but holding her hand to her ear. Right before I announced my presence, her conversation caught my attention and I shrunk back into the hallway to listen.

"Yea, I couldn't believe it. Damn good thing the family's loaded," she told whomever she was talking to. Loaded? Hadn't Rose and Alice said Tanya had made that comment about our family?

"No. They were bitches about it. I swear! She said and I quote, 'Oh! Look! It's another boring old diamond. There must be a million just like it!' I wanted to slug her."

I was shamelessly eavesdropping and didn't care. Who was she talking to and what the hell were they talking about?

"One word? Disaster! I never should have gone, and now my car is acting up. No! Totally ignored. It was like I didn't exist! I mean, how could he?"

He? He who?

"It's not like she means anything, right? Why should I care? Really. I don't know. I do. I've earned this! I deserve this! I won't have that little bitch getting in my way!"

Earned this? Deserved this? Maybe a promotion at work?

"Yea, well. I'll win. I always get what I want. No. They hate me, too. Yep, they'll see. I'm perfect for him."

What did she do for a living again? I remember she recently changed to a new job.

"Couldn't be happier. Not that I care. I don't talk to them much. You know my parents. Yeah…well…alright, I'll talk to you later then. Of course! Ciao!"

I watched Tanya hang up before walking into her room and saying, "Tanya-"

She screeched, jumping off the bed. Putting a hand to her chest, she panted, "Hell, Eddie! You scared me half to death!" She took a deep breath before continuing, sounding rather suspicious. "How long have you been here?"

Her body posture and tone had me wondering if the conversation I'd just overheard was one she wanted to have kept private. Had something been said earlier that she didn't want me to know? Instead of the truthful answer I was going to give, I lied, "I just got here."

Looking relieved, she nodded, tossing her cell onto the bed and walking over to wrap her arms around my waist. "About last night, Eddie…"

I interrupted her before she could go any further, Rose and Alice's accusations burning in my brain.

Thank God you're loaded.

Wasn't that what I thought she'd muttered, but hadn't been sure at the time? She'd said something and I'd shoved it to the side, deeming it unimportant at the time. Now, I wondered if she'd truly said it. Was my money the only reason Tanya was with me?

"Why are you marrying me, Tanya?" I blurted out, pushing her back to sit on her bed, me standing in front of her.

The expression on her face went from happiness to confusion to uncertainty and then to…fear? "I love you, that's why. What's bringing this up? I'm sorry about last night. I was…I shouldn't have acted liked I did. Can you blame me? I mean, you have to admit Bella isn't related to you by blood and she was completely naked up against you. Why wouldn't I have been upset? Though, how I handled it could have been better," Tanya rambled, her voice sounding scared and hesitant.

What had Rose said? She'll deny it and I'll believe her because she has her claws in too deep. Were they right? Was Tanya the shrew they made her seem?

"Eddie, what's wrong? What's bringing this about? We should be planning our wedding, not arguing over…We shouldn't be arguing," Tanya tried cajoling me, her hand sliding up my arm. I looked down at her nails, which did resemble talons.

Shaking my head, I sat down next to her. What was I thinking? Tanya had never been anything but polite to my family. Why was I doubting myself? So, Bella had turned away from me. My family was right, if I was to marry Tanya, there were things that I'd have to give up doing with Bella.

Though, I guess, it wouldn't hurt to be cautious. Tanya said she was marrying me because she loved me, but what if…

"Tanya, would you agree to sign a pre-nuptial agreement?" I tossed out, looking at her.

She had a stunned impression on her face, almost as if she really couldn't believe I'd ask her to do this. "Edward, really, do you think that's necessary?"

Did I? Was I being paranoid? "Yes, I do. My family has some items that have been with us for generations. If we were to ever get divorced, I want to make sure they stay in my family."

"Oh. Um…maybe I should discuss this with a lawyer first? Ah…it seems like such a…um…big decision," she hemmed, and I had a distinct feeling she wanted to say no.

"Go right ahead. I'll have our family lawyer draw one up in the meantime."

TPOV

Great. Now what was I going to do? The bitches must have said something to him, but what? How could I counter what I didn't know? Shit, I really screwed up yesterday with my muttered comment. That gave them more fuel for their fire and sure as hell if they weren't trying to convince Edward to see things their way.

I'd have to make sure to tread carefully in the following months until we were married. If I didn't…I didn't even want to consider that. I had more than earned this.

How long had he really been here when he came into my room? Did he overhear any of my conversation? More importantly, if he had, did he understand what I was talking about?

A pre-nup?

Fuck.