A/N: Hey guys! Ok, here is the next chapter! I also wanted to say a thank you to those who reviewed last time! And a HUGE thank you to those who review regularly! It means a lot to me! My story now has 108 reviews and it is over 100,000 words! Yay me! I have a running chart in my notebook of each chapter and how many reviews there are and the amt of words and hits and visits. I might be a TAD bit obsessed :) But I am fine with that!
And, yes, I keep a notebook full of things about this story. I jot down any song I hear that I want to work in, I have the list of what order they were in while playing I've Never, Rose and Alice's parents names - which I researched popular names for the time periods the characters in Twilight were from - my note of what Alice's surprise was... everything down to how fast hair grows, so I would know how long to say it had been for the chapter after the prank war. Yea, if I haven't told you all yet, I kind of have OCD, so little details are needed lol.
Quick note to Cullenlover7257 and everyone else who may be wondering about this. You asked about the rating for this story. I know it is M and I know I haven't really done anything to deserve that rating yet, but it is coming soon. The M is more for language and things that are going to happen in the next couple chapters. That is why this chapter jumps to a couple months after the last one. I have things I need to put in the story, and it was moving a little too slowly to do it. So bear with me! The rating will be earned!
Now, a note in regards to this chapter. It is kind of long - not as long as the Mother's Day one, but close. It is a big one, too. It is jumping between BPOV and RPOV the whole time. Like, there are 6 BPOV's and 5 RPOV's. So, sorry if it gets confusing, but I think it is pretty easy to keep up. At least, I tried to keep it easy. There is always a BPOV or RPOV to let you know who it is centering on.
It took me a while to write this, because I was crying a lot during it. And I mean A lot.
Ok, enough of my talking. Go read!
BPOV
When you are young, time seems to go through speed cycles. During the school year, it seems like time doesn't even pass. Each day drags into the next, no real distinction, no end. Then, finally, you reach summer. Where the days all seem longer, and they flow seemlessly into the nights. Yet it feels like you wake up and 20 minutes later, the day is over. Every day is the same, and they fly by. Before you know it, you are right back in school again, waiting for the days to pass sluggishly by.
Once you become an 'adult' and you go out into the 'real world', everything blurs. It is like a mix of the two. I am not sure if it is a good mix or a bad mix. But the days fly by, like during summer vacations. Unlike summer, though, instead of lasting two and a half months, it is every day of your life.
Some days are really good - you get off work early and come home to find out your boyfriend made you dinner. Sigh. And some days are pure hell – your car won't start, your late to work, you have to work through lunch because some emergency pops up, you work late finishing everything you missed because of that emergency, you get home to find your dog did a number 2 in your favorite slippers… You get the point.
The last four months of my life have sped by - five months since the prank war. A lot more good days than bad, but even more days that just faded into each other, nothing standing out in them. I am not complaining, really, because I have been surrounded by the best people ever. Edward and I are happier than ever. Alice and Rose are the best friends I could ask for. Emmett and Jasper are like the two big brothers that I never knew I wanted. Life is good for Bella. Thank you Lord!
Alice and Jasper are doing fine, as well. Which makes me happy. I like when my friends are happy. Edward and I frequently 'double date' with them. Really, we just have movie nights. It is nice to spend quality time with the people you love.
Sadly, though, Alice and I have been noticing that life has not been so good for Rose. We have watched over the last several months as she and Emmett have kind of been growing apart. They seem to always either be fighting or not talking now. And she refuses to talk to us about it. Edward has tried to talk to Emmett, but he won't say anything either. It's like watching a ticking time-bomb.
~*~
Today is the first day that Alice and I have had off together in almost a month, so we are spending the day relaxing. We already painted each other's nails and gave ourselves facials, now we are watching P.S. I Love You. It is our favorite movie!
Edward and Jasper should be getting home from work before too long, and Rose and Emmett are having dinner with her mother tonight. Yea, her mother is in town. Shudder. We were both crying our eyes out – the movie was at the part where they just get to Ireland, and her husband left notes for her best friends but not her – when we heard the front door open. Edward and Jasper were talking as they walked down the hall.
"What movie ya'll watching?" Jasper called, we could hear him in the kitchen.
I turned and looked at Edward, he was standing just inside the living room, frowning
"Why are you two watching this movie again?" He asked, as Jasper walked up behind him with a cup in his hand. Jasper sighed when he saw the movie.
"It is a good movie!" Alice yelled, tears were flowing freely down both of our faces.
"Good movies don't reduce you to tears." Edward scoffed.
"No, they don't." I said, with Alice looking at me like I was a traitor. "But, great movies do." I finished.
Alice nodded, handing me a fresh tissue. The guys just sighed and sat next to us.
"Don't ever die, Jazzy." Alice sobbed into his chest.
He chuckled nervously. "Not planning on it anytime soon." He responded, rubbing her back.
I looked up at Edward with wide eyes, pouting a little.
"I promise to try my best to not ever die, too." He laughed at me.
I snuggled closer to him. "That's all I ask."
~*~
The movie ended and Alice ran into her room to find a new one for us to watch. The guys and I followed her, in hopes of no more movies that made anyone cry. With our luck, the next one she picked would be Old Yeller.
We were all laughing, looking through the movie choices when the front door slammed open.
"Why aren't you talking to me, now?!" We heard Emmett yell.
Alice leapt over and shut her bedroom door, we try to avoid being around any of their fights. When they see us there, either Rose stops talking all together, or she brings us into it. We were silent. Not really trying to listen to them, but also not sure of what to say to each other now.
"Oh, you know why I am not talking to you." Rose spat back at him.
"If I knew, do you really think I would ask?" He growled.
Edward flopped onto Alice's bed with a sigh. "It's going to be a long night." We all nodded and made ourselves comfortable, too. Luckily, Pixie had followed us into the bedroom, so she won't be subjected to the screaming.
*****
RPOV
I cannot believe he doesn't know why I am mad at him! I mean, SERIOUSLY?!
"Rose, just talk to me." He huffed, standing across the living room from me.
"What would you like to talk about? How you lost our dog? Or, maybe, how you embarrassed me in front of my mother?" I yelled at him.
"I didn't lose the damn dog! I answered the door and she ran out. Am I not supposed to answer the door now? Is that added to the list of things Emmett is too stupid to do?" He screamed at me.
I turned and walked into my room, not in the mood for a fight. Apparently, he was, though, since he followed me.
*****
BPOV
We had been sitting around Alice's room for almost an hour now. The screaming never stopped, and this was the worst it had ever been. We were all bored now, having gotten over being worried about them after the first half hour. They seemed to be pulling out everything they could think of to scream at each other tonight.
"Don't you have some cards or anything in here?" Jasper asked, breaking the silence.
"Uh, no. Why would I have cards in my bedroom?" She rolled her eyes.
I snorted, then all of our eyes flew to the door, as if they would throw it open and yell 'Gotcha!'. When nothing happened, we all relaxed again.
Alice and Jasper were laying on her bed, talking quietly. Edward and I were sitting on the floor, our backs against her bed. Right now, we were playing thumb war. He was totally letting me win, but I am not going to complain. A win is a win, right?
It's not that we don't care about their fighting, we are just used to it by now. Yea, this is the worst we have heard so far, but nothing new is being said, really. It is just louder.
I sighed, how much longer can they fight tonight?
*****
RPOV
"Why did you tell my mother that I am not ready to settle down?" I yelled at my idiot boyfriend.
"I didn't! She asked me if I was planning on asking you to marry me, and I said I would when we are both ready!" He yelled right back.
"It was how you said it, Emmett, not what you said! The way it sounded was like I was not too into the idea, but you are. Which is the total opposite of the truth!" I threw my hairbrush at him.
He dodged it and started yelling again. "I do want to get married! Just not yet. We haven't even been together for a full year yet! I don't want to rush things."
I was walking towards the bathroom, but what he said made me stop and turn around.
"Rush things'?! We had sex after two dates!" My voice was getting louder as I spoke. "Could your lack of wanting to 'rush things' be because you expect us to break up? You have so little faith in our relationship that you don't want to buy a Goddamn ring? We could have a long engagement, Emmett! I don't care if we were engaged for 20 fucking years, as long as you put a damn ring on my finger!" I finished in a screech, pointing to my ring finger for emphasis.
"So, all you want is a ring? No need for real feelings if the guy can put a huge fucking diamond on your hand?!" He bellowed.
I slammed the bathroom door shut. I hope he was close enough for it to hit him!
*****
BPOV
When a door slammed shut, we all jumped. Did they leave? Is the fight continuing in Pennsylvania? Is one of them dead, and the other dragging the body away?
We all stayed where we were, listening. We heard some movement in the living room, it sounded like someone was throwing things - no loud crashes, though, so nothing imprtant. Then we heard someone pick up the house phone and dial, then Emmett's voice came, ordering a pizza.
He is ordering food?! In the middle of a fight?! I gaped at Alice, whose mouth was open, too.
"Are you kidding me? He is ordering food?!" Jasper whisper-yelled.
"Shit. That means that we will be in here for a long time." Edward threw his phone across the room.
Sigh.
My head rolled back and hit the bed.
"Alice, as soon as I can, I am buying you a television and dvd player for your bedroom." I turned to face her.
She giggled and we went back to entertaining ourselves.
*****
RPOV
I heard him in there, ordering a pizza. He better not expect me to chip in.
I threw open the door when he hung up. I walked into the kitchen for a bottle of water, not speaking to him.
"Can we talk now, without yelling?" He asked, following me.
I just glared at him.
"Whatever." He turned to leave and I saw the vase of flowers he had gotten me earlier. I grabbed in and threw it at him. It missed and hit the wall, but he jumped to the side to avoid the shattering glass.
"What the hell is your problem?!" He yelled.
"You are my fucking problem! I don't know why I ever thought we were perfect for each other!" I stormed past him.
"So, you can get mad, saying that I have no faith in us when I don't say anything like that? Yet, you can it, actually say that you don't think we should be together?! Your such a fucking hypocritical bitch!" He yelled, punching the wall.
"Get out." I said, holding back my anger.
"What?" He asked, taking a step towards me.
"I said, get out." I spoke through gritted teeth.
"No, we aren't done talking." He walked past me, sitting on the couch.
I walked over and sat in the chair, not speaking.
*****
BPOV
We are now making our own deck of cards. Alice may not have a deck in her room, but she has paper and pens! Edward and I were making the diamonds and hearts, while Jasper and Alice made the spades and clubs. It was keeping us busy. We heard when Emmett's pizza was delivered. We also smelled it.
It smelled good.
I felt my stomache rumble. I hadn't eaten since lunch and it was now... SHIT! It is almost ten o'clock! We have been in here for, like, 4 hours! How much longer can they fight?!
It was about a half hour later that I realized how quiet it was in the living room.
"Did they strangle each other?" Edward asked, apparently I am not the only one who just realized how quiet it was.
We heard them start talking again, this time it was actual talking, not screaming. I exhaled, having not realized I was holding my breath. Talking was a good sign. Maybe they will be able to resolve some issues now.
"Done!" Alice said, dancing a little where she was.
We gathered the cards together and 'shuffled' them. You cannot really shuffle paper cards, though, they just flop down. After the quick shuffle, we decided on a good old-fashioned game of Go Fish. About halfway through the game, though, Alice froze.
"Alice?" I spoke softly.
Her wide eyes flitted to me.
"What's wrong?" My head tilted to the side a little.
She shook her head.
"Alice? What is it?" Jasper urged her.
"Ihavetopee." She spoke quickly and quietly. I almost didn't hear her, almost.
I giggled.
"It is not funny!" She huffed at me.
"Uh, yah, it is." I laughed a little more. The guys laughed with me now, too.
Alice glared at us, and continued the game. The guys and I kept laughing, because randomly, we each kept making comments about either the rivers and rain and anything that had to do with liquids. It always makes her have to go that much worse when you that. When we finished, she was glaring at me.
"Hey Bella, don't you have to pee, too?" She said sweetly and I glared at her.
Saying that always makes me have to pee. And it worked this time, too. I groaned.
"Bitch."
This time, she giggled. The guys laughed at me, now, too.
*****
RPOV
We sat in silence. Neither of us saying a word, even when the pizza was delivered, Emmett was silent as he handed over the money and took the box. There was something new in the air. I remember the love that surrounded us before, and I knew the tension that had followed us recently. This was new. I couldn't quite put a finger on what it was, though.
Emmett sat the pizza on the coffee table as he walked back to the kitchen to grab plates and a couple drinks for us.
We ate in silence.
We got through about half of the pizza before we stopped. I played with my cup, not sure of what to say.
"What happened to us, Rose? We were happy, weren't we?" Emmett spoke, barely above a whisper.
I heaved a shakey sigh.
"Yea. We were. Or, at least, I thought we were." I couldn't look at him, even though I felt his eyes on me.
"Where do we go from here?" His voice was a little shakey, now, too.
I didn't say anything for a minute.
"I don't know." I felt a tear roll down my cheek and quickly reached up to wipe it away.
"I love you, Rose, I love you so much. And it is killing me to see what is happenning to us."
"I love you, too, Emmett. But, maybe it isn't the right kind of love? What if love isn't enough?" I finally looked at him.
"Damnit, Rose. I know how I feel. I know with every ounce of me, every fiber of my being, that you are the one for me. You are my world, Rosalie Hale."
I watched the emotions in his eyes, and it killed me to realize what the shift in the atmosphere around us was.
"Emmett." I started, but he cut me off.
"No, Rose. Don't say it." He pleaded.
I tried again. "Emmett, I love you, and I don't want to hurt you anymore."
He jumped up, walking to the other side of the room. My tears flowed freely now. I can't believe what I am about to do.
*****
BPOV
The deck of cards kept us occupied, for a while.
Eventually, though, that got boring, too. Finally, Alice picked up all the 'cards' and threw them around saying '52 card pickup!'.
She and I giggled while the guys groaned, knowing we would make them find them all.
They set to work, crawling around the room. Suddenly, Alice jumped up and onto Jasper's back. I was rolling with laughter. Edward joined in the laughter, and it was difficult to keep it quiet.
"How do I make this horsey move faster?" Alice whispered over to me.
We had taken to whispering when Rose and Emmett stopped yelling, afraid to call any attention to ourselves.
Jasper moved around in circles for a minute before Alice fell off of him because she was laughing too hard. We all collapsed.
"You know, she hasn't even realized we are missing." Alice said to me after a quiet minute.
"Your right!" I was a little shocked, usually Rose freaks out when she doesn't know where we are.
"The nerve of some people! How self-involved is she?!" Edward scoffed.
Alice and I glared at my boyfriend for his sarcasm while Jasper chuckled.
We were silent for a few more minutes.
"Do you think a pizza place would deliver to a window?" Jasper asked.
We all chortled a little more before resigning ourselves to finding our 'cards' again.
*****
RPOV
I tried to get a grip on myself before speaking again. I needed to get control again.
"I can't do this anymore. I can't and I won't. We cannot keep hurting ourselves like this. Everyday we pick at each other like vultures. We find flaws that we ignored before, and we pick at them. I feel myself doing it, I feel it, and I know I shouldn't, but I do it anyways. I do not want to hurt you anymore, Emmett. I love you enough to know that we need to say goodbye. We need a break. I want you to be the one for me, but right now, that is not going to happen. We are both miserable. Neither of us deserve what we have become." I had to stop. I needed a couple deep breaths before I could continue, but he beat me to it.
"I don't want to lose you." He sounded so vulnerable, so broken. I cried harder, knowing it was my fault.
He moved quickly, and was now kneeling in front of me, wiping away my tears.
"Please, Rose, don't do this. Please." He whispered.
I shook my head, grabbing his hands and pulling them away from my face.
"I have to Emmett. I have to, because I love you."
With that said, he stood up. He ran a hand through his hair, looking more lost than I had ever seen him.
Then he left.
And I curled into a ball on the couch, letting the tears take over.
*****
BPOV
After a few more hands of Go Fish, we realized how quiet it was again. There was no sound in the living room.
"Is Emmett ordering another pizza?" Edward grumbled.
We were all hungry and Alice and I were bouncing in place, having to pee so bad. Jasper stood up and inched over to the door. He listened carefully, then slowly opened it. The lights were on, but we could hear Rose's soft snoring.
He opened the door slowly, and we all tip-toed out of the room. Alice and I made a mad dash to the bathroom. I got there first and quickly relieved myself. Alice practically shoved me out of the way once I was done.
I walked out to the living room to see Edward and Jasper quickly devouring the remaining pizza. Chuckling at them, I glanced at my best friend, asleep on the couch. She was curled in a ball and you could easily see the tear tracks down her cheeks. Alice came out soon, and I looked at her.
"What do we do?" I whispered.
She shrugged, then pulled the afghan off the back of the couch and laid it over Rose. Sighing, we all said goodnight and silently made our ways to bed.
A/N: Ok, I know that was a serious chapter, but I tried to mix in humor with the two happy couples. I was trying to counter-act the sadness of Em and Rose, but it still made me cry as I wrote it. There is a reason behind why I made them break-up, and it will come out next chapter.
Please review and let me know what you think. No matter if it is an 'I loved it!' or an 'I hate you for doing that!' I want your feedback. This chapter took a lot out of me, so I am going to go do something happy for a while.
Please, please, please review!
~AP