Author's note; Happy Friday!

Thanks for reading, reviewing, and recommending. And thanks, as always, to Fran and Sassy for helping turn what was a little snapshot into this story. You guys are the best:)

This is one of the longest chapters so far- enjoy!

Chapter 5

Ring.

Ring.

Ring.

Looking down at the caller ID, I have to do a double-take because I've spent the last month trying to get in touch with this asshole, only for my messages to go unanswered. My calls never to be returned. My emails to bounce back. So, excuse me, if, on top of all the other things this guy did to me, I'm a little pissed.

I don't get why he's deliberately being so difficult. The way I see it, there's no need to drag this out unnecessarily. I just want him out of my life so I can move on and never have to think about that lying rat ever again.

Let's see what he has to say for himself.

"What do you want, Jake?"

"We are going away for the weekend." He says bluntly.

By 'we,' he means himself and Leah. Rosalie told me all about their blossoming romance now that I'm out of the picture. They're official and very much in that sickeningly sweet phase of a new relationship - or does it count as new if they were fucking around behind my back three months before I caught them at it?

At first, the news devastated me. Hence the drunken incident I have very little recollection of.

It stung that I had been replaced so quickly and left me questioning everything I thought I knew about our relationship, about myself and my instincts. However, now that the heartache is not so raw, all I feel is anger and resentment. Well, good riddance, she's welcome to him; they deserve each other as far as I'm concerned.

"Congratulations, but what's that got to do with me?" I'm aiming for indifference, but all I hear is bitterness in my voice.

"You've been bothering me for weeks, now is your chance to collect the last of your stuff." Wow. Rude much. Jake sounds incredibly put out that he's had to go to the effort of calling me. Well, excuse me for wanting to sort this out quickly … for wanting a clean break. But oh no, Jake has to be all dickish about it.

He's gone from a sweet, caring, thoughtful boyfriend to a cheating, rude bastard overnight. The way he's behaving, you'd be forgiven for thinking I was the unfaithful one. I don't recognize the man on the other end of the line. He's a stranger to me. I suppose me telling all our mutual friends and his family what he was getting up to may not have helped, but I couldn't have him going around telling everyone he was the wronged party; that I ran off with another man after cheating on him! Yeah, the guy had some nerve!

"Are you there, Bella?" he snaps down the line.

Pausing, I take a deep calming breath, so I don't lose my temper. I've spent weeks trying to arrange a time when I can collect the last of my things on a day when he isn't going to be around. Not because I'm worried that seeing Jake will make me suddenly fall at his feet, begging him to love me and give us another try.

Over my dead body! I have far too much self-respect for myself to even consider taking him back … even if he wanted me to.

No, the reason I don't want to see him is that I genuinely worry about what I might do if face to face with that lying, cheating scumbag.

Sure, it hurts to be betrayed in such a way; that doesn't go away overnight, but I'm not as heartbroken as I expected I'd feel. Of course, it helps that I have distractions in the form of the two wonderful men in my life who are keen to cheer me up and make everything better.

Both men were also on hand to calm me down … look after me when I've had a little too much to drink. They also helped me see sense when I was planning my revenge. Apparently, murder is a crime, and Jake being a liar and a cheat won't stretch as a viable reason for said crime - according to Edward at least. Charlie, on the other hand, was quick to tell me he knew ways of getting get rid of a body. Yeah, that was a particularly weird conversation to be having with my father, but he's been so supportive I don't doubt he would follow through if I asked him to.

"Okay, when is this again? What weekend?" I get back to the point of his call.

Jake huffs dramatically, stating, "we've been through this already. This weekend, Bella," he says slowly, like he's talking to a small child. "We have a week to get the place cleared out for the new tenants moving in."

"What!"

He's moving out ... and we have a week to clear out our stuff. Please tell me I misheard him.

"And you're only telling me this now. It's 6 p.m. on a Friday."

"I'm well aware of that."

Dick.

"What do you expect me to do? Fly there?"

"Whatever. That's your choice. Come collect your stuff, or leave it. The lease runs out next Saturday. I'll be out by then, and anything left will be yours, so you will have to pay the charges."

Motherfucker!

"You bastard," I snarl.

So much for staying calm, I don't want to give him the satisfaction of getting to me, but it's far easier said than done- especially when he's being so fucking unreasonable.

"You brought this on yourself, Bella; you left me. Remember that?"

"Because you cheated on me!" I scream down the phone.

"Let's not go over this again. You made your little point when you sent those pathetic little messages to our friends and my family. Real mature of you. Rose still won't speak to either me or Alice."

Good. Serves him right.

"Yeah, that's because Rosalie is a decent human being. She sees you for what you are. Just like I do, so go fuck yourself, Jake," I shout, hanging up before he can respond.

I'm about ready to launch my phone across the room when a gentle hand closing around my forearm stops me.

"Don't," a velvety, soft voice urges. "You'll only regret it when you need to replace it."

I hate that he's right … I hate that I let Jake get to me … but what I don't hate is the way Edward can calm me down in a matter of seconds. How does he do that?

"Maybe, but I'll feel better."

Edward laughs, the sound sends butterflies to my tummy, and I turn around to see him balancing some beers against his hip and a brown paper bag containing Harry Clearwater's famous fish fry in the hand that isn't running light circles up and down my arm in an effort to calm me down.

I can't help smiling just looking at him. This is our thing - every Friday for the last four weeks since I returned home. Charlie is on a late shift tonight, but Edward and I usually dig in and save him some leftovers when he joins us later.

"How much of that did you hear?"

Taking the bag from him, I head to the kitchen to gather some dishes, some cutlery, and a few napkins because this could get messy.

"Not a lot … Do I need to ask who that was?" His voice has taken on that low, gravelly tone it always does when we talk about my ex, or dickhead as we usually refer to him.

"Jake," I say simply.

Edward grimaces.

We make ourselves comfortable on the sofa. I start unwrapping our food while Edward cracks open the beers. I hand him his food at the same time as he hands me a beer. My mouth goes dry watching him take a large swig, then suddenly his eyes snap to mine.

"What does that dickhead want now?" Edward's eyes narrow, his jaw tenses. Somehow I resist the urge to reach out and soothe out that vein in his forehead that is angrily popping out.

"He finally got back to me about clearing out the apartment. Do you want to hear the best of it? Apparently, I have today and tomorrow to pick up my stuff."

"For real?"

If Edward looked angry before, he looks downright livid now.

"Unfortunately, not," I sigh before it suddenly hits me; I'm sitting here leisurely having dinner with Edward when I have less than forty-eight hours to clear out my stuff.

Fuck!

Jumping up from the coach, I tell a confused Edward, "I need to go. What the hell am I doing? I need to call Rose … see if she can help me … and tell Charlie, and —"

"Bella, slow down, okay?" Gentle hands on my shoulders urge me to calm down, but not even Edward's touch works this time.

"There's no time for that. I need to get going. God knows where I'll rent a van at short notice." I'm panicking; my pulse rises as I start frantically looking up van hire in Forks.

Yeah, good luck with that. Never gonna happen at such short notice.

I'm screwed.

"Bella, calm down. I'll come with you. I can borrow Em's truck," he says simply.

"You'd do that?" I ask though I shouldn't be surprised. Ever since Edward let me off with a warning for speeding (oops), he's been such a great friend. I mean, he took care of me when I was drunk, or so Charlie tells me.

We've reconnected and picked up our friendship as though no time had passed since graduation all those years ago. We always got on, but we're closer than when we were both slightly shy, quiet kids. We've both changed a lot, but our friendship is stronger as a result of the amount of time we've spent together over the last couple of weeks.

Of course, it helped that Edward and Charlie work together now, and there's always a reason for him to drop by the house. Not that I'm complaining. Edward has been one of the most supportive friends you could hope for.

"Bella, that's what friends are for. We'll clear the apartment in no time," he says with confidence.

My smile hides my disappointment. I don't think I've hated the term friend as much as I do now. I'm in the one place every girl who's attracted to a guy doesn't want to be - friend-zoned.

Perhaps it's a good thing anyway? It's too soon to be starting something new. Even if Edward is gorgeous, and kind, and thoughtful, and did I say gorgeous?

Who am I kidding? He's everything I want…

I've been so excited to get to this chapter. What do you think now we've heard from dickhead again? I'm looking forward to your responses ;)