A/N: So let me first apologise for the lack of updates. Sometimes life just gets in the way. The good news is that this chapter is super long to make up for it.

I also want to give a huge shout out to Queen of Loopholes and PennyNickel for their Beta work on this chapter. It is definitely what it is thanks to these lovely ladies.

Disclaimer: As always, I do not own these characters.

Chapter Five

BPOV

I paused at my locker and stared down at the lock. The numbers started to run together and I almost opted to just pass out rather than try and decipher the combination; I closed my eyes. A few seconds later, I heard the familiar click and felt a rush of air as the locker door swung open. I warily peeked through my eyelids and was met by the sight of my boyfriend standing directly beside me, his chiselled jaw curled up into the beginning hints of a smile. "Babe," he laughed at my bemused expression. "How did it go?"

I groaned into my now open locker and had to resist the urge to just crawl inside. My speech to the juniors had been terrible. I'd tripped just as I reached the microphone and let out an involuntarily, "for fucks sake". If I was unsure whether or not it made it into the mic, the expression on the audience's faces certainly clarified it for me. There was really no way to redeem myself from there so I just continued on, dignity in tow. And by that I mean floating about two hundred yards behind me.

"It was great," I choked, throwing one last yearning look at my locker before turning back to him with a weak smile. Emmett grinned down even wider at me and I instantly knew what was coming. Before I could stop him, he had scooped me up and was spinning us around really fast, making me emit a very involuntary girly squeal and tighten my grip on his shoulders.

"Emmett!"

He laughed and stopped spinning. As soon as my feet touched the ground I punched him as playfully hard in the chest as I could- causing, undoubtedly, more damage to my own hand than to him. My theory was confirmed when Emmett merely smiled his impish grin in response and bent down to kiss me.

I groaned and squeezed my eyes shut tight, like I always did whenever it got to this. I knew not wanting to kiss your boyfriend was terrible and probably ranked me somewhere among the world's worst girlfriends, and quite possibly a few of the world's worst serial killers too, but what else could I do? I couldn't help being hopelessly in love with my best friend…

When we broke apart, Emmett brought a hand up to cup my cheek as he gazed down at me thoughtfully. I felt my cheeks immediately start to redden under his watch. My mother had always called me an open book… were my thoughts really that transparent?

"Is something wrong, babe?"

Apparently, they were.

Like a kneejerk response, I shook my head. Edward wouldn't have even had to ask and he still would have known exactly what was wrong. I was forced to wonder, yet again, why I was staying with a guy that didn't know me at all. Emmett sighed and leaned sideways against the locker beside mine.

"Okay. I just worry about you sometimes."

And there was my reason. Emmett was safe, secure. He was my protector. Sure my description of him sounded more like one you'd give to your father or older brother, but every relationship had its problems, right? I rolled my eyes.

"You sound like Charlie."

His lip twitched. "Should I be worried?"

"Extremely." I said, seriously.

Emmett considered that for a moment. "I would, but this means I can ground you… hot."

"Ugh." I pinched his arm. "Way too far."

"But the punishment doesn't have to be incestuous, of course." He reassured me and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. I snorted.

"What kind of freaky ass games did your parents play with you growing up?"

"The usual… hide and seek, duck duck goose." He ticked each one off his fingers and grinned. "Only we played them naked."

I shook my head. "Why am I not surprised?"

Emmett tilted his head to the side. "You know, Bells… if you weren't so adorable when you look at me like I'm a sex fiend, I might be offended." He reached out to pinch my side. I squealed and swatted his hand away, causing him to smile and entwine our fingers. "And to think I was going to invite you to our next family movie night."

"I'm almost positive I'll be washing my hair that night."

"I didn't tell you what night it would be."

"That's the greatest part. I wash my hair every night."

Emmett rolled his eyes and wrapped his arms around my waist; pulling me into his huge chest. "As much as I love listening to your rejections, and you know I do," he planted a chaste kiss to my forehead, "I have to go." He grabbed my other hand to twirl me around and grinned down at me once more before jogging off. I watched his retreating form with a mixture of sadness and relief and shook my head at the empty space.

I loved Emmett; I really did. There was just no spark between us. I wouldn't have even expected there to be one if it weren't for Edward, who could just about light fireworks in me with a single touch... less than that even; sometimes just being in the same room as him was enough... I was so lost in this train of thought that I didn't notice the walking stick of a freshman hurtling my way, until it was too late.

Her shoulder collided with mine and I, somehow, suffered the full brunt of her impact, falling embarrassingly backwards and landing painfully on my ass. I stared after the girl in complete shock. She hadn't even paused to apologize, and I was in no position to yell from my awkward spot on the floor. I let out a hopeless whine of a sigh that echoed loudly through the empty hallway, and, after resting my cheek on the cold linoleum floor, silently contemplated not moving again. Ever.

Just when I was starting to feel better that at the very least there hadn't been an audience to my idiocy, two wedged platform shoes stepped forward into my line of sight and paused. I groaned and slowly looked up into the amused eyes of the girl from the parking lot. I couldn't bring myself to speak and neither, it seemed, could she. The girl simply grinned down at me and held out her hand. I just blinked stupidly up at her as I took her all in, feeling suddenly envious of more than just our current positions.

Maybe it was the bright fluorescent lights causing me to hallucinate, but I hadn't noticed before just how shiny her cropped black hair was or how the colour of it seemed to perfectly compliment her blue eyes and creamy white skin. Or how she was thin in the extreme, yet still managed curves in all the right places. Or how her shoes just screamed style, but it was style on a budget, which was somehow even more admirable.

"Alice... Hi. And thanks," I said gratefully, taking her hand and hoisting myself up off the floor, a little wary of the weight ratio between us. She didn't seem to notice.

"No problem, Bella." She sang as she leant back against the row of lockers and looked me up and down. "Jasper mentioned you were a bit of a klutz."

"That was sweet of him." I mumbled, trying to brush the dust off my backside. Alice laughed and stepped forward to help me.

"He really is a sweetheart. I'd feel bad for bragging about it if I didn't know you had muscle man to go home with each night. My god, I bet he's wild in the sack." She raised an eyebrow. "Am I right?"

I almost tripped over my own feet. I wondered how she had gotten all that out without needing to pause for oxygen.

"Uh, I guess it would depend on your definition of wild..." I stammered like the awkward virgin I was. Not particularly wanting to reveal this titbit to her or hear what Jasper was like 'in the sack', I changed the topic. "So… Alice, Edward never told me. Where are you from?"

She stepped back from me and narrowed her eyes. "Everywhere. I moved around a lot when I was younger… Why?"

I blinked. "Um, no reason. Wow. That must have been… exciting?" I said awkwardly, wishing that I had paid more attention during Small Talk 101.

"You could say that," Alice shrugged and diverted her gaze to something behind me. I must have imagined the hint of remorse behind her eyes, because it was gone in the next second as she refocused on me. "But I'm enjoying Forks a lot more I think."

"I'll ask you that again in a week." I smiled, trying to thwart the sudden stiffness in the air. Alice chuckled, amusedly.

"Fair call. Well maybe it's not so much Forks as it is its inhabitants then."

I grinned, knowing exactly which inhabitant she was referring to.

"So I take it you really like him?"

Alice glanced up and down the corridor, nervously, before turning back to me and sucking in her bottom lip. "I think I might."

"That's great." I gushed, trying to alleviate some of her fear. "Jasper could really use a girl like you."

Alice looked at me curiously, her brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"

I sighed and leaned against my locker. "You'll understand when you meet his family, but let's just leave it at... Jasper could use a bit of stability in his life." At her bewildered expression, I quickly elaborated; "Don't worry, it's nothing bad. He just doesn't have the greatest parents in the world for role models."

"Oh..." Her expression immediately softened. "I didn't know that. I haven't actually had the chance to meet either of them yet. They never seem to be home when I'm around." Alice smiled at me weakly.

"They've been in the Hamptons all week." I said quickly, and shrugged purposely, to assure her it was nothing out of the ordinary.

Alice just laughed and diverted her gaze to the floor, as if I had just told some incredibly funny joke. I titled my head to the side and smiled.

"Did I miss the punch line?"

Alice looked up at me still grinning and waved her arm, "Oh no, it's nothing."

When I continued to smile pathetically with my eyes, she sighed. "Okay, just the way you said 'been in the Hamptons all week' like it was the most normal thing in the world..." Alice shook her head in disbelief. "And not like something that would cost any ordinary person like me their life savings."

My stupid smile vanished at once. "Shit. Sorry. I didn't mean to sound… I mean, I'm not one of those-"

"It's okay, Bella." Alice cut me off grinning, her expression clearly amused. "I never thought you were."

I smiled awkwardly back at her. I didn't want to risk putting my foot in my mouth again so I kept it shut. Alice must have sensed my inability to speak because she laughed.

"So what class am I holding you up from anyway?"

I glanced down at my watch and inwardly groaned. Alice was right; I was running extremely late for whatever class I had. I quickly fished around in my locker and retrieved my timetable.

"English..." I said after I checked it. "I'd better go." I turned to throw my timetable back into my locker but felt Alice's small hand shoot out to stop me. I grinned down at her quizzically. She quickly laughed, embarrassed. "Sorry, do you mind if I take a look at that? I lost mine first period and have no idea where any of my rooms are."

"Have it," I smiled, closing my locker door. "I know this place like the back of my hand."

Alice grinned and pocketed it. "Thanks, Bella. You're a lifesaver."

"That's a scary thought." I laughed and shook my head. "Seriously though, I should be thanking you… for picking me up off the floor." Alice dismissed it with a wave of her hand but I just grinned. "No really, Alice. Thanks..." I paused as I thought back to our earlier encounter in the parking lot. "And you were right, you know, about what you said earlier. I have a funny feeling that we are going to be great friends," I said sincerely. I really did like this girl.

"I know we will," Alice replied simply, her blue eyes sparkling.

I smiled and turned around, planning to completely floor it to class, but froze in my tracks when I heard Alice calling out to me. "One last thing though, Bella..."

I quickly turned back to her, faking calm and serenity while my mental clock ticked blaringly loud. Alice smiled and raised an eyebrow. "Edward Cullen?"

The ticking in my head stopped… along with time itself.

Where did that come from?

I looked at Alice in what I'm sure came off as pure shock and some well placed dread. Then I ran a hand through my hair and did my best impersonation of someone being casual. "What about him?"

Alice didn't miss a beat. "Are you two really just friends?"

I tried not to let my jaw fall open in surprise. Was the girl some sort of psychic?

I watched her grin grow amusedly wider with each second it took me to find my answer. For a brief second, I considered answering her truthfully and suffering whatever consequences the truth brought. Or maybe settling on the elusive 'it's complicated.' That line usually seemed to work in these situations, or, at the very least, it worked in every movie I'd ever watched. In the end though, I knew there was only one answer I could give her. The same answer that I myself had accepted a long time ago.

"Yes," I nodded. "Edward Cullen and I are just friends."

It still amazes me to this day, how I managed to fool myself.

EMPOV

I was jogging through the empty corridor, trying to balance my sports bag in one hand and my books in the other, when something in the corner of my eye caught my attention. I froze in my tracks. It was a girl wandering around aimlessly, looking nervously at the signs over the classroom doors. I felt my feet automatically move themselves in her direction and blinked stupidly when I reached her.

Keep walking, Emmett. Pretend you didn't just see the hottest girl you've ever seen in your life.

But my body didn't catch up to my brain.

"Hi." I heard my strangled voice leave my mouth.

What the fuck are you doing?

"Hi," the beautiful girl replied slowly, looking at me curiously.

Oh god.

"A-are you lost?"

The least I could do was help the poor girl out. It's gotta be nerve racking starting at a new school. But the beautiful girl just smiled and shook her head.

"No, not at all. On the contrary, I'm exactly where I want to be."

Her voice was so confident and sexy that I felt my legs turn to mush. I couldn't have turned away if I tried. Luckily, my voice still worked, and I managed to find it.

"Um, I'm Emmett, by the way. Just so you know my, uh, my name…"

Good one, Emmett. Real smooth.

Her blue eyes twinkled as she looked me up and down. "It's nice to meet you, Emmett," she said finally. With an amused grin, she turned around and began walking off. I stared blankly after her.

Okay. What the fuck just happened?

I somehow forced my feet to move and caught up to her in three quick strides. She turned around curiously, and I wasn't sure how, but I managed to plaster on my most confident smile.

"Seeing as I told you my name, I think it's only fair that I get yours, too?"

The beautiful girl paused and stared up at me for a few nerve racking seconds, then she hesitantly closed the space between us. I immediately felt tingles go up my spine and my breath catch in my lungs... she was even more beautiful up-close. Then her voice broke through the air between us, and I forgot everything, even my own name.

"It's Rosalie."

EPOV

I stared at the pencil on the desk in front of me, willing it to move. I felt like my waves of frustration should have been powerful enough to shift the earth's planetary energy and grant me this little request, and I would instantly feel better once it did. But the pencil didn't move an inch.

I groaned and brought my hands from my desk up to my temples. You wanted this… my subconscious reminded me. I nodded in agreement and let my hands drop. However illogical and stupid it was… my brain added. I frowned and shook my head. I had to prevent this line of thinking completely before my dick jumped in and gave his two cents worth. Although I'm fairly certain I knew where he stood.

Gah.

Cue the dirty thoughts of Bella and me rolling around naked on my desk. I really was a sorry excuse for a human being.

"Ahem." Rosalie cleared her throat in the open doorway.

But, I suppose it could be worse.

The class turned to stare at her and I watched Rosalie's eyes light up as she sauntered into the room, taking the attention in stride. I averted my eyes back to my pencil.

I heard her mumble something to the teacher about 'lost her student registration' and a few seconds later, felt her books smack down on the desk beside me. I suppressed a growl and turned my head an inch in her direction. "Seat's taken."

I heard her scoff and pull out a chair. "Surely misery prefers company?"

I ignored her and put my head back down on the desk. As expected, her presence did nothing to soothe my conscious. I'd tossed and turned the night before, unable to sleep comfortably. My mind, as usual, had been completely consumed with dreams of Bella, only this time they had starred Rosalie too, an unpleasant combination. I didn't exactly relish the thought of them being in the same room together but I had pretty much guaranteed that now. I couldn't help but feel depressed by it. Then again, I'd made my own bed…

I turned my head sideways, a huge fake smile plastered on my face.

"It's lovely to see you again, Rosalie. And I see you even dressed up for the occasion. Is that a new shirt... a new nose?"

Rosalie blinked. "Do I have to remind you that I'm doing this as a favour to you?"

I scoffed, struggling to keep my tone polite. "I hardly think 'accepting a twenty thousand dollar bribe' constitutes 'doing me a favour'."

Rosalie rolled her eyes. "You can't have your cake and eat it too, Cullen."

"That doesn't really make sense."

"You don't really make sense," she mocked me, flustered, and pulled something from her purse.

Happy thoughts… happy thoughts…

"Just tell me how long you're going to be here for?"

Rosalie scowled and looked at me carefully over her makeup contraption while she contemplated her answer; as if I had asked her a tough fucking mathematical equation or something.

"I've yet to see what they're like together so I couldn't tell you for sure," she said finally. I rolled my eyes.

"Ball park then?"

"Three days. Give or take."

"They've been together a year," I offered dryly. Rosalie smirked and snapped her makeup device shut.

"I'll be here a week then."

I laughed despite myself. "You really think you're that good?"

"I know I am."

I shook my head in disbelief.

"I guess we'll see," I said finally, turning my head away.

When Bella had asked me the other day whether or not I was in, well those words had really revived something in me. I'd been depressed for so long over not having Bella that I hadn't actually considered fighting for her. I'd condemned myself to a losing battle without even trying. And that just wasn't acceptable. I was more than willing to fight for her.

I just wouldn't be fighting fair.

"I'm sorry I'm late!" A flustered, yet easily recognisable voice broke me from my reverie. My head immediately snapped up and my eyes moved excitedly to the doorway to drink her all in.

She looked every bit the epitome of perfection; with strands of auburn hair falling loosely from her ponytail and her cheeks a beautiful tinge of pink, either from the cold or from her sprint. Her lips looked exceptionally swollen and frozen from the weather, and it took all of my strength not to just jump over the desk, grab her face between my hands and warm them with my own. I noticed she was slightly out of the breath, and the movement of her panting quickly drew my attention to her perfect breasts; I inwardly cursed the thick school sweater that blocked them from my view. Most of my favourite fantasies revolved around seeing Bella in a wife beater and a skirt, but with winter just around the corner, I could kiss those thoughts goodbye. Bella was nothing if not practical.

It was probably for the best…

Bella could wear a fucking paper sack to school, and it would still more than likely get me hard. I didn't even want to think about what seeing her in a skirt would do to me.

"Miss Swan. How nice of you to join us." Mr Banner looked down at his watch. "And only forty-five minutes late. Can I see you up front for a minute?"

Bella didn't reply but I watched her brown eyes sweep the room for a full second before settling on me. I locked my gaze with hers and grinned. She smiled her breathtaking smile, rolled her eyes behind the teacher's back and mouthed; "See you in a minute."

Perfect. Just one little not so perfect thing to get rid of first…

It wasn't that I was worried Rosalie would loosen her tongue and let something slip; I was pretty sure that for twenty thousand dollars she'd have sex with the Pope and somehow keep it under wraps. It was just that someone as pure and beautiful as Bella didn't belong anywhere near someone like Rosalie Hale. It just went against nature. Of course, there was a small part of me that felt like Bella didn't belong anywhere near me either. But it was a very miniscule part in comparison.

"Hale, get lost." I hissed, dropping any previous tone of civility.

Rosalie's eyes followed my gaze to Bella's perfect ass bent over the teacher's desk, then back to me with disbelieving eyes. "Cullen, Cullen…" she shook her head with an annoying 'tsk' to her tone. "Do you know nothing about women?" She ignored the look I gave her at that statement and continued. "Sure I can get her boyfriend to sleep with me, but then what? You thought she'd just come running into your arms?" Rosalie tossed her long blonde hair behind her shoulder and laughed. "Trust me, you're not that hot."

I snorted and rolled my eyes. If I wanted to, I could find at least a hundred girls at the school that would disagree with her. I mean four girls alone had been eyeing me ever since I walked through the door, but I bit my tongue. She had a point. Even if I managed to break them up, I had no idea what Bella would want to do. I guess I'd always hoped that Bella somehow felt the same way I did and the only thing holding her back was Emmett, but I had no way to be sure.

One glance up at Bella's perfect silhouette making her way towards us was enough to make me groan and lower my voice. "What are you suggesting then, Hale?"

She smirked and whispered; "Just follow my lead."

Before I could respond, Rosalie had wrapped her arms tightly around my neck and was leaning in close to my face, causing me to instinctively grip the edge of the desk to prevent us both from falling over. Bella reached the desk at that exact same moment and looked down at our awkward embrace with a mixture of shock and amusement.

"Well this looks very um... cosy. I hope I'm not interrupting anything?"

"Oh. Bella." Rosalie glanced up as if noticing her for the first time and smiled with mock enthusiasm. "No, not at all. I was just telling our little Edward here that he should wear more pink." If that line alone wasn't reason enough to throttle her, the next one should have been. "I think it would really emphasize his muscular body," she purred, trailing her fingers slowly up and down my chest as she spoke. "Don't you agree?"

"Sure," Bella replied, struggling to keep a straight face as she took the seat on my other side. She raised an amused eyebrow in my direction. "Even though you've never worn pink before in your life, Edward, I'm sure it would look lovely on you. And definitely emphasize your…" I wasn't sure she would be able to, but Bella managed to keep a straight face "…muscular body."

"Good to know. Unfortunately, I don't intend on starting," I grumbled, trying to shake Rosalie off me.

"On the other hand," Rosalie interjected, as she clung on tighter and lowered her blue eyes to mine. "It's never too late to start asking for what you want, Edward," she breathed headily. "Or looking for a girl that can give you exactly what you need…" she trailed off suggestively, running the tip of her long manicured finger down to the waistband of my jeans. I looked up in time to see her shoot another pointed look in Bella's direction.

For fuck's sake.

I groaned and shut my eyes. This was almost painful to watch. I knew exactly what Hale was doing but what she didn't realise was that it wouldn't have the slightest effect on Bella. She'd seen me with hundreds of girls in the past and had never been fazed by any of them. I doubted even someone as shamelessly flamboyant as Rosalie could make her care now. Which was precisely why the next words out of Bella's mouth took me by complete surprise.

"No offense, Rosalie." She said her name with distaste. "But I think I would know how to satisfy Edward's needs a little better than you would."

To say that hearing those words made my dick cartwheel would have been a massive understatement. I'd never seen Bella lose her cool before. Given the circumstances, I really should not have enjoyed this new possessive side to Bella. But I did… a lot. I cautiously opened my eyes.

"Is that a fact?" Rosalie replied smugly, pressing her tits even further under my nose, to the point of suffocation.

By some divine miracle, Bella was saved from answering by our teacher. Obviously fed up with all our chatter, Mr Banner chose that moment to walk by and drop a pile of books on the desk in front of us, the sound resonating loudly through the classroom. Hale immediately jumped out of my lap and I felt Bella instantaneously relax in her chair on my other side.

No one said another word all lesson but I could feel both girls' piercing gaze on me the whole time. I carefully averted my eyes to the pile of books Mr Banner had dropped on the desk instead. When I read the title on the first one, I almost had to laugh out loud in disbelief.

Love is a Battlefield

And life was becoming ironically ironic.

God I fucking hate irony.

A/N: I can't believe over 100 people have this story on alert :) That makes me do little cartwheels inside.

Sorry if this chapter didn't give away as much as you would have liked. We've still got a long way to go.

I enjoy your reviews as much as I enjoy fantasizing hot steamy shower sex with Rob Pattinson. Perhaps a little more even...