A/n: Sorry about the lack of update last week = I have no real excuse besides life getting in the way. Well, we've reach what I like to think it the precursor to the climax. Yes, things are actually going to start happening now. GASP! I'd really like to thank everyone who has stuck by me this far: all my readers THANK YOU!

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, nor any real life references used in this story.

Impasse

"Do you know how long I've waited? To look up from below, just to find someone like you?" - The Used, "Lunacy Fringe"

It was a sign that I had already drank too much by the way hangover-like symptoms were already taking over my body. Oh no, they couldn't wait for the morning after to plague me – that simply wasn't good enough for them. I had to start the suffering only hours after I hit my limit. Just my luck.

The semi-dim lighting that surrounded the bar was still enough to make me wince. God, my eyes feel so sore! It was like someone had recently blinded me with high beams, chopped onions beside me, AND squeezed a little lemon juice in there, just to mix things up a bit. My eyes were watering up as I laid my head on the solid oak bar counter, in an alcohol induced stupor, numb to all around me.

I groaned and cursed as I saw fit while the alcohol poisoned me in torture after torture. My aching eyes ending up being the mildest consequence. Soon, I started to tremble uncontrollably. My stomach was threatening me with quaky flops, too, making me lurch with sickness. It never actually made me vomit, but I had a feeling the alcohol was just waiting for the perfect time to make its reappearance. Maybe I would be finally convincing Edward to talk to me again when suddenly the contents of my stomach would decide to show up and ruin the conversation. Once again, it would be just my luck.

My suffering was interrupted abruptly by a tiny poke to my very delicate stomach. I groaned in response and wished a painful death on whoever had been the owner of that finger. The deep, low voice that accompanied the poke identified the person as Emmett. I was feeling too ill to really curse him out to his face, but, trust me, the things I thought towards him would have made the devil himself shiver.

Alice's annoyingly chipper voice replied to whatever Emmett had said shortly. And then she fucking slapped the bar like they do in the movies. Did she not see that my poor, aching head was on the bar? I added her to my list, right below Emmett.

Blah, blah, blah, more talking from Emmett and Alice that went right over my head. I was much too busy deciding which of the two would get Japanese water torture. It was a tough choice.

The answer decided itself however; I was minding my own business, plotting my friends' deaths, when, out of nowhere, Emmett just picks me up like a rag doll. Bam! He tosses me over his massive shoulder (to be fair, though, he did it rather gently) and steadies me before he goes marching off somewhere. I swear, if he had been anyone else, I would have thought of screaming "Rape!" at the top of my lungs. This was so not how you treat a person who was battling a hangover. And, to make maters worse, he had this really annoying, uneven gait when he walked, so I ended up being bounced all around by the idiot. So, of course, the Japanese water torture had his name written all over it.

After a few minutes, Emmett was so kind as to stop walking. I guess we had reached our destination. He lifted me from his shoulder and placed me in a sitting position on what felt like the bar top.

I opened my eyes wearily. I indeed was on the counter of the bar; it made me seem much taller and I was able to look a very worried Emmett in the eye as he steadied me where I sat. I swayed back and forth a little, but he put his hands on my shoulders when I threatened to tip over. I was actually pretty grateful and started to rethink the whole water torture thing.

Until he started talking.

Emmett only had two volumes: loud and louder. Apparently, he had been using his lower of the two setting before. But, oh no, not anymore. It was like he was screaming at me as he bellowed, ignoring the fact that we were a foot apart. Of all people, why did it have to be Emmett who had kidnapped me? Anyone else I would have been okay with, but Emmett? Was someone up there really out to get me?

I brought my hands over my ears and threw him my dirtiest look. "No more talking you." I knew my words, though slurred, would get my point across. "Loud, very loud."

He looked at my incredulously. "Are you… are you sporting a hangover already?"

Since he had the decency to use his lower volume, I decided to answer him. "Basically." I cleared my throat, as if it would make my words more articulate. "My body kinda skips over the whole 'dead drunk' phase. I go from tipsy straight to massive hangover." I groaned as my lower half twisted in knots. "Usually, Alice keeps an eye on me once I get to the tipsy stage – she says being tipsy for me is pretty much the same as being completed wasted is for anyone else since I'm a lightweight. So, where is she?"

Emmett turned his head down the bar. "Back with Jasper, I guess." He frowned. "Looks like she yelling about something."

I nodded once; it hurt my head to do so. "Yeah, she's a happy drunk, but she also loses her filter when she gets like that. Says all kinds of mean things, and is even prone to starting fights. I warned Jasper to stay away when she gets like that, though. What is he thinking?"

"Enough about Alice," Emmett interrupted. "What about you? How are you holding up?"

"Fine, fine. But I'm done for the night." The thought of even one more drink passing my lips nearly made me finally blow chunks. And all over Emmett. Hmm, maybe that would be a fitting substitute for the water torture.

"I'll say you are," he muttered before calling to someone the bar for a tall glass of water.

I rolled my eyes when he shoved the liquid into my hands as soon as it arrived. "Never would have pegged you as the kind of guy to babysit the girl who had too much to drink, Emmy. Doesn't fit your party boy stereotype. What gives?"

"Cop first, party boy later." He sighed deeply, leaning onto the bar. "Couldn't abandon a drunk girl – goes against my morals."

"Emmett has morals?" I joked, gasping dramatically. "I may go into shock."

It was his turn to roll his eyes. "Just drink your water." I didn't argue.

I was just finishing off my third cup of water and had managed to eat through the packet of saltines Emmett had found me when Rose emerged from the crowd. She was smiling wildly and her skin was unusually flushed – Rosalie thrived in club settings – while she dragged a hard faced Edward behind her.

"Hey," she gushed as she jumped onto the bar counter beside me. "You okay? You're paler then usual."

I shrugged. "Alice was too preoccupied to count my drinks."

"Ah."

"You having fun?" I knew she was, but I was just trying to distract her as I carried out my secret agenda of observing Edward. I was careful as I snuck glances at Edward, hoping to catch him looking my way. But no, he was looking back towards the dance floor, aloof as ever. I willed him with my thoughts to look at me once, but with no results.

Rose bounced her hair violently at me. "Tons! The DJ here is really amazing tonight. You should come dance with me." She reached her hand out and wrangled Edward towards us. "This loser can't keep up anymore, so I am in need of a new dance partner."

Edward turned his face to Rosalie and offered her a grimace. "Sorry, Rose, I'm not the club type. Never have been."

"Killjoy," she replied under her breath.

I got an idea then. "I'm not really up for dancing either, Rose, sorry. Do you mind if I sit out?"

A frown appeared on her lovely face. "Seriously?"

I slapped Emmett on the back. "Why not take Emmett out for a test drive. He's bound to be a better dancer then me."

"Don't count on that," Rose snorted. "We tried going out on the floor earlier; I'm still walking with a limp."

"Hey," Emmett protested. "You can't expect a guy this big to move gracefully. I could either have gone to dance lessons with my sisters as a kid or football tryouts – it was a no brainer."

Rosalie smiled a bit but held her ground. "Fair enough. But I'd rather not spend the rest of the night in the hospital from a foot related injury, Em."

"He'll be careful this time," I assured her, pushing against Emmett a bit.

His eyebrows came together. "Wait, but who's going to watch after you? You're sobering up, Bella, but I still don't think it's cool to leave you alone."

And, like I hoped, Rose stepped in with my desired solution. "Edward can watch her. He's tired anyway and is sitting out, so it makes sense." She tugged on Emmett's arm. "Come on, I'll teach you some moves. But God help me if you scuff these shoes…"

Edward said nothing as the two disappeared into the mass of huddled bodies. Instead, according to plan, he took the seat Emmett had abandoned. I gave myself a mental high five. It was a simple plan: kick away Emmet and Rose to leave Edward with me alone. We always seemed to work better around each other with no witnesses. And, since Rose had assigned him to look after me in my semi-drunken state, he couldn't just leave me to my own devices. Now, we could talk things out. I wanted to know why the hell he was giving me the silent treatment.

But, right away, we hit a snag in the plan. Because how could I get him to talk things out with me when he wasn't talking to me at all?

I wanted to scream in frustration as the silence grew between us. I was angry and hurt as he acted like I wasn't even there, and so distraught that I couldn't even make my mouth form words to initiate the conversation. Why? Why is he acting like this? What did I do?

You know how things can just randomly fall into place for you when you're least expecting it? Well, that was exactly what happened to me as I fumed over stony Edward.

I was just thinking back to all the reasons I had fallen for Edward, and then the memory of when I realized what I felt. And cold water drenched my insides. Because I realized then that almost at the exact time that I had come to terms with my feelings for him, he had started to act like I didn't exist. There was only one obvious explanation for that: he knew I was in love with him, and was ignoring me because of it.

He had to know. I mean, looking back, I had pretty much serenaded him at the karaoke bar, my heart bursting out of my chest as I finally put a name to my feelings toward Edward. Anyone could have read it on my face if they had been paying attention. And Edward had had his eyes right on me. He would have seen it, and been appropriately horrified. I was horrified, too.

His hard looks, his careful avoidance of me, his complete silence towards me…

Oh crap, he totally knew.

I groaned quietly, dropping my face into my hands.

Was he angry with me for feeling this way? Was that why he couldn't stand to look at me? Or was he just disgusted that I would have a crush on a practically married man? That made sense – I made myself sick, too. I had actually been waiting since my revelation to be struck by lightening like the villain I was.

Yes, that was right. In this story, my story, I played the part of the home wrecking villain. That sure stung.

So I'm the villain, I thought grimly to myself as I buried my face as it burned with shame. What now?

Yes, my intentions were not the purist, even if I never acted upon my feelings I had still been fantasying about stealing a man from his fiancée, but I had to move forward from where I was now. My only option now was to figure out just what I was going to do about my role in this sad tale. I mean, I was not a puppet – I had free will. I could choose what to do now that I was here. Whether that meant truly playing my part and attempting to seduce the lovely Edward Cullen or forcing myself into a supporting role where I blended into the background and watched the happily ever after commence without me.

In truth, I really didn't want to be that bad person who put herself above everyone else. And I really wasn't equipped with the confidence to follow through with that anyway. I worried too much what others would think, so that would eventually flop over if I tried to pursue him. But… I did want Edward. At lot. Much more then I should. And, all things considered, I knew I would do anything to have him, others be damned. I guess this was what was meant by passionate love.

But my passion would all be for not if Edward didn't recuperate what I felt. And from what I'd seen already, I would bet every penny to my name that he didn't see me that way. I would never have him, then, because I would never try to pursue the unwilling – he had to want to be caught.

So where did this leave me? Wanting a man who wanted another, and with not a damn thing in my power I could do about it. I believe it was called an impasse.

-

As our party made our way out of the final bar of the night, just about everyone was staggering and falling over. It was funny to see the shoe on the other foot.

I was the only one was a clear head, so I was in charge of keeping an eye on everyone – most especially Emmett and Alice. Those two were not only insanely intoxicated, they were also a terrible pair together. The Weasley twins had nothing on this twosome. They had actually worked together to get us kicked out of the last bar. I didn't know the specifics, but Rose assured me it involved techno music and the dry humping of random bar patrons. I didn't want to know anymore after that.

I kept one arm on Alice as all times as we made our way down the strip. She was prone to running off towards the head of the pack and trying to corral everyone else into "one last bar". Emmett was more then willing to beg along with her and insist that this time it "really would be the last bar" while dragging Rose along with him.

Thankfully, Jasper made a great ally, even while doing a stunning imitation of Captain Jack Sparrow. He would pick Alice up under his arm and follow me in our journey to the car, calming Alice slightly with his very aura. Without him, I knew it would have been impossible to rein her in, so I was very grateful.

The van was in sight when a quick head count alerted me that we had somehow lost Emmett. I turned to Rosalie quickly who was being supported by a weary Edward. "Rose, where is Emmett? Did you see where we lost him?"

"Nah," she moaned, run a hand through her golden mane thoughtfully. "Maybe he stopped off to pee somewhere? You know beers run right through guys."

Desperate, I turned to Jasper. "What should we do?"

He scratched the back of his head. "I dunno. Ditch him?"

"We can't just leave him," I mumbled, pulling out my phone. I quickly turned it on and searched through my contacts until I found Emmett's number. But the phone just rang until it went to voicemail. "I can't get in contact with him," I said aloud in horror. "Crap!"

"I'll say!" Alice giggled from where she was tucked under Jasper's arm. She kicked her legs in the air, smiling at me like the Cheshire cat himself. "A big drunk guy loose on Las Vegas? Someone call the fire department!" She then relapsed into a giggle fit.

Jasper placed her on her feet, steadying her with an arm around her shoulders. "Which way'd he go, Alice?"

"Why do you think I know?" she asked innocently, burying herself to his side.

"Just a feeling. Well, do you know?"

"May-be," she said, stretching out the word childishly.

I sighed in relief. "Lead the way."

Alice did a pirouette on the spot and started back the way we came, humming quietly in her drunken daze. We hadn't gone very far when she took us across the street and towards the Bellagio hotel. Large crowds usually gathered here on clear nights like this to watch the large fountain in front of the place as it shot in the air in a rainbow of colors.

I spotted Emmett immediately. He was sitting on the edge of the fountain, grinning like an idiot. When he spotted us, he waved us over, calling across the large, tiled courtyard.

"What is that idiot doing?" I asked myself, suddenly cautious. I didn't like the way he smiled – it was far too devious.

It happened when we were all halfway to the fountain. Swarms of children suddenly started running over the courtyard, laughing loudly with expression similar to Emmett's. That was when water jets started springing from the ground, soaking us all instantly.

Rose and I shrieked, jumping back from a jet right in front of us. "What the hell!"

Alice was laughing, blending in with the kids as she too ran and skipped in the spouts. "These are called the Jets of the Bellagio! It's a mini attraction here for kids to run about in." She opened her arms to the air. "Isn't this fun? I told Emmett about this place earlier."

"A little warning would have been nice!" Rose screeched. "I look like a drowned cat!"

"A very hot one, though," Emmett insisted as he joined our party through the water jets. He was soaked now too, but clearly enjoying it as much as Alice.

Jasper flicked his wet bangs from his face as the jets slowly receded into the tile. "What was the point of this? Now we're just going to drip all over the van."

Alice turned to me with big hazel eyes. "He's right, Bella. We don't want to ruin Angela's car like this. What should we do?"

I wasn't fooled for an instance. "You planned this, Alice, so tell me what your was motivation."

"Motivation?" she repeated innocently, folding her arms delicately. "I'm sure I don't know what you mean."

"Spit it out already," I demanded.

"Well," Alice sighed. "Now that we're all wet, I think we should just walk home. The guys should come over, too. You know, so they can dry off. They would catch colds otherwise," she added in her best maternal voice.

I still was not following. "So the whole point of this was… what? So you could show off how you designed the apartment? Or so we could hang out with the guys for an extra 20 minutes?"

Alice gasped. "Surely you don't mean you'd kick the guys out of our apartment after they dry off! How rude! Nope, the only solution is that they stay over tonight. It'll be almost one in the morning by the time we get to the apartment, and none of us are in any condition to have to drive back to the hotel anyway. We'll all be wiped out. So, they should crash at our place." Alice looked so proud of herself as she spouted her little tangent.

I still shook my head at her. "I'm not sure that is such a good idea, Alice."

"Aw, come on," she pouted. "Nothing bad'll happen! We're all adults. It'll be fine!"

I frowned, gnawing on my lower lip. "I still don't know… Eek!" The jets had started up again now, effectively spraying me in the face. I stumbled backwards, shaking the water from me. For the second time in two days, I found myself uncomfortably wet while fully clothed. My jeans felt like they weighed a ton. "These will take forever to dry," I whined.

"Forget your jeans," Rose snapped. "Look at my hair! After all the time I spent getting it straightened, too!"

"Maybe we should get out of the jets, then?" Edward suggested quietly. I didn't even bother to turn around – he wasn't talking to me, after all. Our group ran together to the fountain as the jets slowly lowered again.

Emmett laughed loudly, the sound like thunder. "We're already wet anyway, so…" He spun around to face the jets again, holding out his hand to Rosalie. "Run through the jets with me, Rose?"

She raised an eyebrow at him. "And you're sure this is not just an excuse to see my sopping wet chest bounce all over the place?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about!" He tried to look offended, but his eyes were flashing under his wet curls.

Alice took one of my hands, and then grabbed one of Jasper's. "No, let's all do it together. It'll be fun!"

"It's all fun and games until Bella slips on the wet tile and cracks open her skull," I groaned. Slippery surfaces and I did not play well together.

Jasper winked at me. "Don't worry, I won't let you fall."

"I'll be holding you to that, dear," I replied in my southern Belle voice, drawing a wide grin out of him.

Alice frowned at me as she slowly released my hand. "Fine then, go take his other hand." She turned over her shoulder and called to Edward sharply. "Don't think you're getting out of this, Cullen. Get your butt over here right now and take my hand."

Rose and Emmett linked together, with Rose taking my other hand to complete our chain. I squeezed her hand tightly. "If I go down, you and that moron are coming down with me." She only laughed in reply.

"Ready everyone?" Alice called out in a clear voice. Maybe the cool water bath had sobered her a bit. "On the count of three! One… Two… Three! Charge!"

As a unit, we dashed across the tile, screaming collectively as the jets pelted us.

Emmett's booming laughter. Rosalie's shrieks. Edward's quiet chuckles. Jasper's whooping. Alice's high-pitched giggles. My hysterical screams. All the sounds built this amazing crescendo. And somehow, despite all our differences, we were in harmony. We belonged together, like one big twisted, family.

Family… That was it, wasn't it?

Rose had always been my overprotective but super cool big sister. And Alice was like a fun, hyperactive sister who might weigh on your nerves some times but was always sweet. Emmett? Now he could be my crazy big brother who threatened to beat up bullies for me. And Jasper was my warm, caring brother who I could talk to about anything. I still wasn't sure where Edward fit in the unorthodox tree, but I knew he belonged there just as much as everyone else. We needed each other, the six of us did. That was undeniable. We belonged together.

When we were out of the jets, all us of were breathless. Alice even collapsed to the ground as she rung water from her shock of dark hair. "That… was… awesome!"

I had to agree. My blood was still thumping in my veins. "Totally."

"Was it worth messing up your pretty hair?" Emmett teased as he twirled a lock of Rosalie's precious hair.

She smirked. "Oh yeah."

Jasper helped Alice up from the ground. "Whatever we're doing about tonight, we should arrange it now. It really is getting late, and tomorrow is our last day down here."

Alice made puppy eyes ate me.

I sighed, crossing my arms. "Okay, fine. The guys can crash at our place tonight." I looked over at Edward quickly, catching him in time to see him avert his eyes. "That is, if no one has any problems with that."

"Sounds good to me," Rosalie stated for everyone. "The couch is big enough for at least one of them, and two of us can bunk together to donate one of the rooms."

Jasper started wringing water out of his shirt. "What about clothes?"

Alice rolled her eyes. "Between the three of us, I think we can scrounge together enough closes for you guys. I know Bella has about a hundred of the ratty old t-shirts in her dresser."

"Hey," I protested. "They're comfortable."

"And also for guys, Bella." I harrumphed but said nothing else on this subject. We had this fight over my sleep t-shirts way too often. "So, she can donate a few of those. I'm sure I have some sweats somewhere left over from when Jacob and Ben used to crash at our place."

"So it's decided," Rosalie said with a yawn. "Then let's get home already. It's only a few blocks that way, so come on, guys." She didn't wait for a response as she marched down the street, leaving us to chase after her.

A/n: Drama starts next chapter. Review and I'll send you a teaser!