Author's Notes: First things first, thank you to everyone for the reviews. Almost 300 and to anyone else who thinks it's stupid for me to be happy, shush. Every review I get is much appreciated and I can't express my gratitude enough. Thank you all! The angst is back for this chapter, and remember you can come chat with me on the thread if you've got any questions :) The link is on my profile.

Kudos and love and hugs to IcelandGirl812 for being the fastest beta out there! She is all sorts of win, and I can't thank her enough for getting this back to me so fast, thus being the reason as to why you're reading this right now. Love you, Erica!

Don't forget to vote at The Cullen Awards! A Little Less Than Before has been nominated for the Jasper Award (Best Angst)!

Hello, Stranger has been nominated for the Alice Award (Best W.I.P.) and the Rosalie Award (Best AU/AH).

And I've been nominated for the Stephenie Meyer Award (Best Author)! I'd be thrilled if you liked my stories enough to vote for me, but I'm against stiff competition, so I'm not going to set my expectations high :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight. I just play with the characters.

A Little Less Than Before

Chapter Six;

Everything I'm Not

Jasper Whitlock

"Everything alright, Jazz?"

I tore my eyes away from whatever I had been staring at for the past five minutes and focused on the woman sitting atop the counter across from me. She was sipping on her mug of hot cocoa while arching a brow at me, quickly hopping down to get closer.

For some reason, I wasn't liking the idea of Edward and Jezebels together too much. He was a good man, no doubt. Hardworking, devoted, and an all-around nice guy. The only thing that was bothering me was everything I had heard about his five-minute women back in Chicago. It had been mentioned once before and honestly, I thought nothing of it. Men have needs and if that's the way he chose to go on about it, I could understand where he was coming from.

But the fact that it seemed as if Bella was his next target irked me a bit. I saw the way her eyes lit up when they first met at the engagement party, and I could tell by the sound of her voice when she talked to him that there had to have been some kind of a spark there. For years and years, I watched Bella turn down offers left and right, closing the door on relationships and dating in general. Her and I were similar in that way, and maybe that's one of the reasons as to why we got along so well.

Guys would always lust after her, and she never even noticed. She's the type of girl who's wanted by every guy without knowing she's being wanted. The girl who could still be categorized as gorgeous without the use of makeup and the girl who you'd love to take home for your family to meet. Too many times I had guys ask and jab at me for her number or to set them up, but I always had to deny. "Bella just isn't into that type of thing," I'd tell them. And it was always, surprisingly, the truth.

Edward being interested in Bella didn't come as a shock to me at all. But Bella showing interest towards him, on the other hand, is a different story altogether. When I found out about their agreement to meet for lunch together, I had to plant my ass firmly into the kitchen stool to avoid getting up and giving him one hard jab in the gut. That was my best friend and if he was just looking for another notch to add onto his belt of one-night stands, Isabella Swan was definitely the wrong girl to turn to.

I knew his intentions must have extended farther than just that though. He asked her to lunch, first of all. That already meant he was trying to get to know her outside of the bedroom, which was good, but still unnerving on my part. Maybe I was just acting out on the big brother role for Bella since she's an only child, but either way, I was still anxious as fuck.

I'd never had to deal with a broken hearted Bella. I'd never had to threaten to beat any guy's ass for fucking with her emotions. I'd never had to deal with Bella being interested in anyone enough to give them a chance, and now I was dealing with her and my fiancée's brother of all people possibly becoming something more than just friends.

How the hell do you prepare yourself for something like that?

"Jasper?"

Alice had set her cup of cocoa down and was looking up at me questioningly, her small hands working to smooth the creases in my brow. Edward's intentions were beginning to busy my mind a little too much, and I'm sure it was beginning to show.

"I'm fine, sweetheart. Sorry about that, I kind of zoned out a bit." I chuckled and turned my face to kiss the inside of her palm.

After embarrassing myself by screaming at the part of Texas Chainsaw Massacre that still scared the shit out of me, we all decided to finally call it a night. We were quieter than usual since all of us had our attention on the screen. At first, I was skeptical on whether or not to bring Alice since it was a tradition shared between Jezebels and I, but eventually, I gave in because I didn't want her to sit around alone. I should have known Bella wouldn't have been mad. Alice was just as much a best friend of Bella's as I was.

"Did you want to go home now? I'll walk you out if you want," Alice offered, wrapping her arms around my waist.

I smiled and as I was about to lean down and give her a kiss, the sound of the front door opening caught us both off guard as we peeked over to see who it could have been.

"Edward, where have you been?" Alice questioned, arching a brow at him as he tossed his keys onto the counter.

"While you guys were out, I took my stuff over to the new apartment," he replied, pulling the door to the fridge open.

"Your stuff came in already?" she asked. "Did you unpack?"

He grabbed a can of soda from the leftovers Bella let us have. "Yeah. They came in while we were out looking at your wedding locations. Dad and Em moved them into the Jeep so I could get them over to my apartment. I'll unpack tomorrow or something."

"So, does that mean you're not staying here anymore?"

Edward chuckled softly and shut the fridge after failing to find anything he wanted to snack on. "I'm sure Mom and Dad will do fine without us, Ali. I'm only a ten-minute drive away, after all. Oh! And guess who I ran into?"

"Who?"

"Bella," he replied with a crooked grin. "I was at the store to get a snack or something, until I remembered I could just come here and eat. I guess I forgot she lived nearby. We hung around the store for a while just trying to find some good food to eat. And we agreed that we would meet for lunch on Tuesday before she needed to go with you to find your save-the-dates."

"Why was she at the store?" I asked. I knew I wasn't necessarily a part of the conversation, but my curiosity got the better of me. "We ate at her house."

"All she bought was chocolate ice cream. Maybe she just wanted some dessert?" Edward shrugged unknowingly, walking past us and towards the stairs. "Anyways, I'm going to get some shuteye. I'm tired from moving all those boxes, so I'll see you both in the morning."

I watched him disappear up the stairs until Alice's tinkling giggle snapped me out of my train of thought. I looked down at her, brow arched, wondering what in the hell was so funny. "What?"

"Down, boy. Edward's not the same guy he was back in Chicago, Jazz. He really seems to like Bella a lot. So relax," she laughed, rubbing soothing circles into my back. "Do you think I'd let some psychopath chase after our best friend? No, of course not. I know my brother. I know he's a good guy. And you would too, if you'd give him a chance."

"It's different for me though, Alice. Not only have I known her longer, but I also feel very... protective of her. I don't ever want to have to see Jezebels-"

"Jazz, you're her best friend, not her father. It's not your job to protect her from the world. It's your job as a friend to be there for her when she needs you."

She reached up on her tiptoes to kiss my lips softly, patting my shoulder as she walked past me. "I'll be upstairs if you need me. Love you."

I heaved a sigh and smoothed my hair back, knowing she was completely right. I couldn't keep expecting Edward to fuck up just because he had a bad past. But, that didn't mean it wasn't hard not to. I hated the idea of Bella ever getting hurt because of a one-night stand. I couldn't stomach the thought of her running to me because her heart was shattering.

But, Alice was right. Bella has Charlie to protect her from all the bad shit this world has to offer, and she has me to hold her and comfort her when it all gets to be too much.

Alice was always right.

Bella Swan

I'm pretty sure I needed to situate myself on a treadmill for three hours after how many pints of ice cream I had within the past two days. My way of feeling sorry for myself was sickening, but it worked. After Alice and Jasper left, I immediately went to the grocery store nearby to drown my sorrows with Ben and Jerry's like Renee always told me to do. I loved my mom for that valuable bit of information.

Surprisingly enough, I ran into Edward, whose new apartment apparently wasn't that far from mine. He laughed when he saw the ice cream, but didn't question my reasoning behind buying it so late. We walked in the frozen section for a while, pointing out our favorite flavors, and making arrangements of where and when our lunch together would take place.

"Oh, hell," I groaned and looked over at the clock. I had wasted so much time staring into space that I hadn't even realized Edward and I were supposed to meet up in less than two hours. As fast as I could, I showered and tried to wash away all the thoughts of Jasper and Alice together. In order for this whole moving on thing to work properly, I actually needed to make an effort to leave it all behind.

The memories, the smiles, the laughs, the love... One-sided love, rather.

Stop it, Bella.

I sighed and shut off the water, leaning against the cold tile to try and clear my head. It was so hard having so much to say without having anyone to say it to. There were so many things left unsaid, so many things I was aching to scream out. I wanted someone to just listen to me and hold me and tell me it would all be okay. Even if it wouldn't be okay in the end, I'd be fine with that.

Because I just wanted someone to help me think that maybe, possibly, things could be okay. That I would get over Jasper and still find my happily ever after elsewhere as he and Alice lived out theirs. That the three of us could remain best friends and that I'd one day be strong enough to stand beside them without the stabbing pain clawing its way through my already aching heart.

I wanted someone to tell me all those things.

With another sigh and a shake of my head, I stepped out of the bathroom and tried to put together a decent outfit for the day. I had to keep in mind that not only was I going out with Edward, but I was also seeing Alice later as well. I blow dried and left my hair down in its natural waviness since I didn't feel like straightening it. After adding a bit of eyeliner and a touch of mascara, I was done with my makeup and headed over to my Alice-influenced closet to pick out something to wear.

I went with an outfit that was comfortable yet stylish. Grey skinny jeans, a black turtleneck, two jackets, and my only pair of non-heeled, black boots. Alice hated it when I wore anything heel-less because I apparently had really nice, long legs. As nice of a compliment as that was, I was in no mood to trip or stumble in front of the hottest Cullen in existence.

The clock on my nightstand let me know I still had twenty minutes to make it to the restaurant. On my way to the door, I grabbed my purse and tucked Edward's green iPod inside. I swung my keys on my finger as I walked down the stairs and stopped when I saw him waiting at the entrance of the building.

"Edward?"

He turned around at the sound of his name and flashed a crooked grin at me. It should have been a sin to look so attractive, really. He was in a regular, dark blue tee with a white one underneath and a brown jacket over it all. His pants were black, as were his shoes, and it made me mad because he still looked good without even matching.

"I thought I'd wait so I could offer to drive? Apparently, Jasper and I are coming along to help you and Alice find the save-the-dates later."

I laughed and nodded as we walked out of the building together. Like a gentleman, he held the door open to his beloved Volvo as I slid in and tried to remain mature. A part of me wanted to squeal that this was actually happening, but the part of me that didn't want to come off as a psychopath remained calm. This is good, Bella! I chanted in my head as he drove to a nice looking bistro called Palomino in downtown Seattle. It was pretty fancy for an iPod exchange, but I didn't mind too much.

It still wasn't a date, even though I was kind of wishing it was now.

We were seated at a table for two and ordered water as the waitress gave us menus. I was thinking to order a cocktail, but decided against it.

"So, Bella, did you remember to bring my iPod?" Edward asked as he scanned the menu, arching a questioning brow at me with a smirk on his face.

I rolled my eyes jokingly and reached into my purse, placing his green iPod on my side of the table. "Of course I remembered. That was the whole reason why we agreed to having lunch together, right?"

He nodded in agreement with that smirk still plastered on and continued to scan his menu.

The waitress came back and took our orders shortly after. I tried to order the grilled, wild mushroom salad, but Edward had a problem with that and ordered something called a rigatoni bolognese for me and the braised beef short rib for himself.

"I don't even know what you ordered," I admitted with a laugh once the waitress walked away.

"I can't stand it when I take a girl out to eat, and she orders a crouton and a glass of low-fat water. Water is calorie free, how can it get below zero?" Edward snorted, taking a sip from his glass as I giggled softly. "Besides, you're not going to fill up on a salad with just mushrooms and Gorgonzola. I ordered you pasta. It has this spicy Italian sausage in it and is made with this red pepper cream sauce. It's really good."

"I thought you just moved back here? How would you know that?"

"I spent a weekend in Pittsburgh once on business. My coworkers and I went to the Palomino there and it was delicious. Trust me."

Edward had sincerely impressed me. If I had only met him before I had met Jasper, I'd be more than interested in him. That didn't mean I wasn't interested, but my mind was too preoccupied with another man. As much as I wanted to pursue Edward, my heart just wasn't in it.

Our food came, and he was absolutely right - it was delicious.

I couldn't help but blush when he let me try his dish, feeding me a forkful of the amazingly soft beef with a little bit of pancetta. He asked to try mine so he could see if it was as good as the one in Pittsburgh, and because I was clumsy and horrible at flirting, I ended up spilling the pasta on his shirt.

He laughed at the situation and asked if I was purposely being an idiot so he'd get scared and stop asking me out "just for lunch". Being around Edward, as well as all of the other Cullens, was effortless. I couldn't believe I was actually nervous before he moved back to Seattle, thinking he'd be a high-class pompous businessman from Chicago. He was actually quite the opposite, and I was glad that Alice had such a nice brother. I could see why she was so excited to have him back in the same city.

Even though I insisted on paying for my own meal, he refused and told me that wasn't how it worked. Instead of accepting my money, he told me I could repay him with another "just for lunch" non-date, and I agreed. He was good company, and really attractive, so how could I ever say no?

We met up with Alice and Jasper at a small stationery store called Papyrus. Alice looked more than happy to see Edward and I beside one another as she leaped at both of us all squeals and giggles. Jasper, on the other hand, looked kind of out of it. I figured he wasn't too into the whole pre-wedding errands thing since, well, not a lot of guys are. That's what the maid of honor and bridesmaids are for.

But, Alice is not the typical bride-to-be, so Jasper should have been expecting it.

The saleslady who had made an effort to help us out showed Alice the many different selections they had to offer. I couldn't believe how expensive some of the cards were. Was it honestly too much of a hassle to send out an e-mail to everyone instead of a fancy card that didn't count as the invitation anyway? I shrugged it off and threw myself into the girly aspect of it all with Alice, ooh-ing and awe-ing whenever I saw a particular design I liked. She was looking for something pink, and when the saleslady pulled out a pink-bordered, white save-the-date with cursive print and a letterpress floral design, she was sold. The lady named Megan pulled out order forms and customization papers to finalize the deal.

It actually made me smile to see Alice so happy. I had never seen her so excited over filling out forms. I leaned over her and wrapped my arms around her small shoulders. "Save the date; Alice and Jasper request you save the seventh of June," I recited from the top of my head, thinking a save-the-date would sound something along the lines of that.

She squealed in excitement as she bounced up and down in her seat. "I know! I'm so excited to send them out, Bella! So many people weren't able to make it to the engagement party, so I can't wait to hear the reactions from some of my friends who haven't heard yet!"

Megan watched the energetic pixie with an honest smile, tucking her long blonde hair behind her ear. "So, a summer wedding, huh? That sounds lovely."

"I can't wait," Alice sighed, filling out another line on the paperwork. "And I'm not entirely sure yet, but I think I want pink to be the color."

"Pale pink is a good choice," Megan agreed. "The lighter shades of pink speak to happiness, playfulness, and a sense of fun." She smiled wistfully and turned to Alice. "So, how long?"

"About a year now," she replied, filling out another line.

I arched a brow at Alice, laughing with a shake of my head. "Alice, you guys got engaged not even a month ago. Or did you already forget?"

She looked up at me, her brown eyes filling up with something I couldn't quite pinpoint. Her mouth shut immediately after that, and the look on Jasper's face was almost identical to her own.

Wait a minute.

Wait.

One year?

And then it hit me.

I turned to Alice, and her eyes finally made sense. "Oh. You and Jasper... were dating for a year, before he... proposed?"

Megan was giving me that "You're the maid of honor, shouldn't you already know this?" type of look as I laughed and waved it off.

"I mean, of course! I knew that. Totally knew that!" I could hear the lies seeping through my voice as I gulped hard and exhaled a shaky breath. "It just slipped my mind because of all this wedding excitement! And, ooh, is it hot in here? I'm sorry, could you guys excuse me?"

And because I didn't know what else to do, I ran.

Far and fast, I ran. I didn't care that they were all screaming for me to come back. I ignored them and kept my focus forward because I just wanted to get away.

I don't even know how the hell I managed to get out of there without falling on my face like the klutz I was. Instead of questioning it, I just thanked all things holy that I was spared an accident for at least one day.

They had been dating.

For one entire, fucking year without even telling me.

Twelve deceitful months of going out behind my back. Fifty two weeks filled with hugs and kisses I was never aware of. And three hundred and sixty-five days worth of I love you's that meant so much more than I always used to think they meant.

Just when I was beginning to think maybe, possibly, somehow I could be okay, this happens.

I find out that the man I love has been in love with someone else all along. It wouldn't even matter if I scraped up every bit of courage I had inside of me because, fuck, I never stood a chance in the first place.

Alice won the fight before I even knew she was a part of it, and Alice was victorious in the war I didn't even make a standing in.

He was never mine to begin with. Never.

Jasper was hers all along.

For one year, without my acknowledgement of it, their hearts belonged to one another.

I never once thought that I'd be blind enough to miss the fact that they were already in love. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. They looked at each other the same way they had ever since they met. No kisses on the lips were ever exchanged; no heartfelt declarations of their love for one another were made. I never even had the slightest clue they had been dating.

And they told some fucking stranger lady selling them their save-the-dates that bit of information instead of me.

Some woman they knew for a good five minutes instead of me.

I had every right in the world to be pissed. I had every single reason to hate the shit out of them because what kind of friends, hell, what kind of best friends do that to each other?

Right?

More than anything, I wanted to call it quits on the wedding. To tell them it hurt too much because I was rooting from the sidelines when I wanted to be center stage. I wanted to tell them both to leave me alone for a few weeks or even months to pull my shit together, to get over the heartache taking over my body every single day I saw him with another woman who just so happened to be one of the most important people in my life.

And yet, as angry and as hurt and as upset as I wanted to be towards them, I couldn't. I wasn't. Because, honestly, I would only be a hypocrite if I harbored ill feelings towards them for keeping a secret when I, myself, had been keeping the biggest one of my life from them both.

What kind of a person... what kind of a friend would I be if I hated them for being in love?

I could never do that. As much as I wanted to, I couldn't. Never.

Because, you always want your best friends and the people you love to be happy.

Even if it means you getting taken out of the picture.

I wanted the best for the both of them. And what was best for both of them was, heartbreakingly enough, each other.

I never could have made Jasper happy the way Alice does.

Because if I could, if it were even in the slightest bit possible, he would've picked me. I had an extra four years on Alice when it came to Jasper. He had those four years to let me know I could be the one, that I could be his happily ever after, if he truly thought I was.

But, he didn't.

I wanted to believe we could have almost made our fairy tale come true. But, it would be a lie. While I spent my time being hopelessly in love with him, he was looking the other way, completely unaware of how my heart yearned for him.

Oh, god.

I kept running. I don't know where, or even how far I had gotten before I collapsed onto a park bench, panting and gasping for breath. My tears mixed with sweat, and the physical pain clashed with the emotional pain, and it was all too much. My heart was breaking, and I was reliving Christmas Eve all over again as I brought my shaky hands up to bury my face away from the reality that seemed to constantly be lashing at me.

It hurt. It hurt.. so much.

I had been lied to every day for a year. I had been bullshitted every day for months. Be mad, Bella. Try.

No. No. I can't, I argued with myself as I shook my head. I wanted to, god I wanted to, but I just couldn't.

Ice cream wouldn't fix this. Being locked up in my room to cry for hours wouldn't help. I don't even think talking about it would do me any good.

All I really wanted was to fall out love. It was so painful and entirely different than what it's played out to be in storybooks and songs. I just wanted out. Any way possible. As quick as possible. Someone, anyone, somehow, some way, please...

"I was right, wasn't I?"

I knew that voice, and damn it all, because for the second time in less than a week, I was a sobbing, broken, dirty mess in front of the one guy I actually wanted to impress.

Edward was panting just as heavily as I was, bent over with his hands on his knees as he worked to regain his breath.

I wiped at my face and realized it was no use. My mascara was probably running, I was sweating like I had just sprinted a marathon, and there was no point in me trying to play the part of the strong best friend because I just couldn't hide it anymore. So, I did the only thing I could. I continued to show him the pain I was feeling. I cried because it fucking hurt, and I shied myself away from his concerned green eyes because I didn't want him to worry about me.

He placed his hand on my shoulder and took a seat next to me, rubbing soothing circles into my back before speaking. "You're... in love with Jasper."

It wasn't a question. He knew he was right. All along, he had seen right through me. He had known me for not even a week, and he could see what Alice and Jasper had missed for years.

And because I was so sick of keeping it to myself, I nodded.

It was the deepest and darkest secret I was keeping from everyone. From the world. From Alice and Jasper.

And I was ready to let Edward in on it because he chased after me, because he saw, and because he knew.

And they didn't.

End of Chapter Six

Author's Notes: This is the first time I've ever written out a chapter with more than one POV, so cut me some slack. We'll get into Alice's mind as well, and this is definitely not the last time you'll hear from Jasper. Did anyone see that coming? I sure hope not, it was meant to throw you guys off a bit :)

And holy hell everyone, stop hating on Bella so much! She's hurting. The love of her life is marrying her best friend, of course it's going to take her a while to get over that, right? Give her some time. I promise if you're patient, Bella and Edward will have lots of sexy time in the future ;)

Pictures of Bella and Edward's lunching outfits are on my profile for those of you who enjoy visuals!

Like I said before, reviews would be lovely, as are all of you for taking the time to read my story :)

-BB