BPOV

By the end of July, I'm completely moved into Edward's house … Jasper is subletting my condo for the duration of my lease. The fact that nobody seems to know exactly what's going on between him and Alice makes me nervous. The wedding hasn't officially been called off, and according to Rose, Alice is still charging ahead.

I'm sitting in my office, going over some reports, when I hear a knock on the door. Looking up, I see Alice, of all people, standing in my doorway.

"Can I come in?" Alice is looking right at me, but she isn't smiling. Instead, she looks like she's just sucked a lemon, and I don't know if I should be amused or not.

"Come in; have a seat." I wave her in and set my paperwork to the side. I've been in this office for a few months now, and she's never come to see me. We don't have to work directly with each other, so this is surprising at best.

She takes the seat across from my desk and sighs. I take a good, long look at her. She's paler than usual. Alice has always had alabaster skin like a porcelain doll; today she just looks ghostly, as if she hasn't eaten or slept well in months. For the last five years, she's kept her light brown hair in a shag haircut, but it's grown out, and she hasn't put forth any of her usual effort to styling it.

"I—" We both speak at the same time, and I smile when she shakes her head.

"Alice, what's going on? I haven't heard anything from you since May. It's like two weeks before your wedding." I lean back in my chair, studying her.

She's fiddling with her fingers, and her eyes are darting all around the room before landing on me. "I wanted to come by and, first, start by apologizing for … well, a lot of things. I haven't been a very good friend to you for a long time."

I shift uncomfortably in my chair, mostly because she's right, but I don't know how to respond.

"For a long time, I've didn't focus on what you needed in our friendship. Instead, I made everything about me. I haven't been happy, and I made it my goal, apparently, to make everyone else as unhappy as I was … as I am." She gives me a small smile, but a sniffle accompanies it.

"What do you feel now?" I have to be direct; Alice has always been good at avoiding, so I know I need to keep her focused. "I want to know what happens now?"

I watch her take a deep breath, and when she lets it out, I know that this Alice is a different person. "I came clean with Jasper … about everything."

Giving her a pointed look, I beg her to elaborate.

"I'm … I love Jasper, but I'm not in love with him. I—"

"I'm not looking for you to out yourself if you aren't ready for that or if you don't know who you are or what you want," I reassure her, and she smiles.

"Thank you. It's more than I deserve." Alice relaxes a little and shakes her head. "Know anybody who wants to get married? I've got a venue, caterer, band, and photographer all paid for."

"Hmmm … what else is going on?"

She tells me that she and Senna sort of worked things out, but they're taking things slow. Alice feels content with Senna, something she hasn't felt in a very long time. Jasper is upset, but Alice tells me that deep down he said he felt something had been off for a long time. While they aren't the best of friends, she tells me the breakup was as amicable as it could possibly be.

"I didn't really come here to talk about me and Jasper though. I came here to apologize for how I've treated you and to apologize for how I reacted to seeing you and Edward together." She chuckles softly. "In the last ten years, I've wanted so badly for the two of you to get along, and suddenly seeing you like that—"

"When you really didn't have that anymore?"

She nods. "It was just a lot. But that doesn't change how I handled it, and I should have done better."

I rise up out of my chair and move around my desk, leaning against it. "Realistically, we have you to thank. Everything actually happened at that cabin …"

She smiles a little wryly. "I always suspected that you two, as passionate as you were about hating each other, might be passionate about feeling some kind of other way too."

"I'm not happy about anything that's happened between you and me in the last year, specifically. You're meddlesome and bossy. You always think about yourself over anyone else, and you're pushy." I sigh, walking away from her and over to the office door. "I accept your apology, and I thank you for it. But … It's a little too late now. I think you should leave."

I'm prepared for a fight, for Alice to cry or yell, but she sits for a minute, collecting herself, and then stands. "I understand. Thank you for talking to me. I hope, maybe one day, we can get to a better place, but I understand."

She walks past me out of my office, and I shut the door behind her, closing out the world for a few moments while I breathe. I decide to leave the door shut for the rest of the day; people can knock if they need me.

When I sit down and get back to work, it isn't long before my phone buzzes with a text from Edward.

I just spoke to Jasper.

I just saw Alice.

He doesn't immediately get back to me, but we're both at work and busy.

Can you take off early?

Maybe. What did you have in mind?