BPOV

Edward lets our friends inside, and Alice rushes over to me and wraps me in a bear hug. "Are you guys okay? We're so sorry. Get your stuff, and we'll get out of here. Is something cooking?"

"Alice, slow down. I was making something to eat when we found out you were headed up here. We're going to sit down, eat, and you two are going to listen. Edward and I have some things we want to say." I gently push her away, and she stares at me.

"What do you mean? What do you want to talk to us about?" I walk Alice back into the living room, smiling at Jasper as he stands to give me a hug.

"Edward tells me you aren't leaving?" Jasper gives me a long look, and I nod.

"I'm making something to eat. It should be ready in about an hour." I sit down and pat the cushion next to me. "Edward have a seat."

He sits down next to me, leaning over his knees and staring at our two friends. He looks over his shoulder at me, and I sigh. "We appreciate that you guys provided us this lovely cabin for a week so we can try to work out our differences."

"And it's not working. We never should have given you an ultimatum—"

Edward cuts Jasper off. "No, you shouldn't have. We have a lot of mutual friends who understand that we just don't mesh, and they have never told us that we had to make it work or they would dump us." Edward lays it out.

We haven't discussed anything that we were going to say—we didn't have the time—but everything Edward is saying, I've been thinking.

"Edward, man, you have to understand what kind of position you guys constantly put us in though."

Jasper tries to excuse them, but I interject. "What kind of position does it put us in? You put two people who have proven they hate each other alone in a cabin with no transportation and expect them to survive?" I look between them, waiting for some kind of answer, but they remain silent.

"We're going to stay because we've talked, and we do think we can try to salvage something," I tell them, leaning back onto the cushions. Edward stands, moving to lean on the back of the couch, and I look back at him. "Right?"

"Yeah." He gives me a small smile. "But we won't do it with your conditions, and we're not doing it for you or your wedding … we're doing it for us. It's time to put the past behind us."

Alice looks confused for a moment, turning to look at Jasper. "You're kidding, right? Like, you're just messing with us."

I hear Edward sigh behind me. "Bella and I are 100 percent serious right now."

"What happened between last night and an hour ago?" Jasper's eyes are narrowed, and I'm trying to remember why I ever liked him in the first place. Or Alice, for that matter.

"We actually got into a huge fight."

I turn around. "Edward, don't …" I'm pleading with him, but he shakes his head.

"We said some things we definitely didn't mean, and it got … physical. We rolled around in the mud, and honestly, I think we both came out of it a little different." Edward pats my shoulder, but it feels mechanical and awkward. Not like the tender touches he showed me just moments ago.

I hate how he can turn it off and on so easily.

"You two are so paying us back for this week. This is ridiculous!" Alice gets up, stomping to the door, and the three of us watch her walk to Jasper's Jeep.

"You guys got into a fight? What are you, twelve?" Jasper shakes his head and heads to the door. "We'll see you Saturday. Enjoy the rest of your week."

Edward and I have a full view of the driveway from the living room, and we watch as they load up, pull out, and drive off. "She didn't even ask how you were feeling after your fall." I look up at Edward and sigh.

"I know. I was sitting here trying to remember the reasons why I liked either of them, and I gotta tell you … I'm coming up empty." Edward comes back around the couch and sinks down next to me.

"Jasper and I, we've known each other since kindergarten. Maybe we outgrew each other a long time ago, but …" He leans his head back against the cushions, exhaling loudly.

"What is it?"

"I think I stayed friends with him for so long because it was familiar. Like when you stay in a relationship that's going nowhere because at least you're comfortable." He turns to look at me, and I shoot him a sympathetic smile.

"Alice was always there for me. When my mom died, we got even closer, and her mom stepped up when I needed her. But, I sometimes wonder if I would have had different friends or experiences if we hadn't been so attached, you know?" I check my watch and decide to finish off the meal for the two of us. "You know I was offered a full ride to my first choice school?"

"Really? Where?"

"Dartmouth. I didn't go because Alice was scared to go to UDub by herself. What was I thinking?" I wash and peel a couple potatoes, and Edward starts walking around the living room.

"Why are we friends with them? Who would threaten to kick their best friends out of their lives like this?" He's pacing, and I laugh lightly.

"You know what? I'm not going to be her maid of honor." I smile smugly, and he stops in his tracks.

"Oh, that's good. Then you don't have to help her plan anything. I can bail on Jasper too. They can't treat us like this. It isn't fair," he looks over at me and smiles. "What are you making? It smells amazing."

Edward helps me put the rest of the meal together, and when we sit down to eat, we've decided that while we'll step down from the prominent roles in the wedding, if they still want us to participate, we will.

As we eat, Edward brings up the only remaining elephant left in the room. "That just leaves us to figure out what we're doing."

"About what?"

He swallows, setting down his fork. "About us."