A/N: Yay, FF finally stopped being a jerk and let me upload this!!!! :-D Thank you so much for reviewing and reading, everyone!!! I LOVE knowing what you guys think, it really makes me happy. Thanks to Lea for being my awesome beta.

Camping was a lot of fun. OH, and because I'm an idiot, I forgot to brag that I met Peter Facinelli last Saturday. :-D SO sexy!!!! Anyways... you can ponder that for awhile while you read this chapter. ;-)

Disclaimer: I don't own Emmett, but oh God, do I want him to own me... all of me... *sigh*

BPOV

Alice bounded through Emmett's front door bright and early the next day. Emmett's door was shut tight, and I had made Alice swear she would keep her voice down to a dull roar for his sake, though the meds he was still taking would probably knock him out until well after she had to leave.

I had never seen my best friend so chipper, and that was saying a lot. The woman had the energy to make a sloth run marathons, so seeing her in love on top of energetic was a sight to behold. I thought her face was going to crack from smiling to widely.

"Bella, I'm in love, I'm in love!" she sang as she set down a grocery bag full of breakfast foods onto the table. "I've never been so happy in all my life."

"I can see that," I said smiling, and while I could have been a little less sarcastic in tone, I was still happy to see her in such bliss.

"Jasper took me to dinner last night. He was such a gentleman, Bella. Just the way he treats me, I can see myself with him forever. And…" She paused dramatically, making sure I was listening. "He kissed me last night. I mean, really kissed me. I thought I was going to pass out. It was perfect. Absolutely perfect."

She practically melted onto the chair next to me, and sighed contentedly. She had a dopey grin on her face, and I couldn't bring myself to mention that it was far too soon to tell. They had just met, after all. How could she be so sure of her feelings?

After all, I'd been "with" Edward for several months now, and I felt nothing beyond the physical pull towards him. And even then, that was dwarfed by the attraction I felt for Emmett. Still trying to ignore that one.

"I'm happy for you, Alice," I said, and took a large bite of the blueberry muffin she'd brought.

"So how was bathing Emmett?" she asked abruptly, and I nearly choked on my mouthful. I coughed, tears coming to my eyes, as Alice pounded me on the back unhelpfully. When I could finally breathe, she was staring at me with a huge grin on her face.

"That good, huh?" Her eyes were twinkling, knowing far too much. I hated that she was always right. I glared at her.

"Shut up," I said, and knew that was the wrong thing to say as soon as the words had left my mouth.

"Tell me everything!" she demanded. "Please, Bella?!"

"He's…" I searched for the right words. "Well defined."

She rolled her eyes. "You can do better than that, Bella."

"Fine, he's fucking gorgeous, what more do you want from me?!"

"Ooh, I bet, he's so handsome!"

"How the hell do you know?"

"You told me," she said, as if that were the most obvious thing in the world. I racked my brain, trying to remember a time I'd ever told her Emmett was anything more than an ass.

"I can't wait to meet him. Jasper says he's a great guy. They've been friends for a long time."

"Yeah, that sounds peachy," I said, and took another bite of the muffin.

"Bella, you have to give me more! I'm dying here," she said, and I could feel her leg bouncing up and down on the floor.

"It was… tense. I kept having to fight with myself not to just jump him. It was very tempting. I think I'm just sexually frustrated or something."

She laughed. "I told you, you want him! It's so obvious. I can practically feel you tensing up when you talk about him. It's never like this when you're with Edward."

"Don't even mention him to me right now."

She grinned again. "You're not going to stay with him much longer, you know. He's not the one."

"I never said he was."

"I know. I'm just saying…" Her voice trailed off suggestively as she took a bite of her own muffin. As much as I didn't like her spouting off little fortune telling advice every five seconds, I didn't like her silence even more. It was like she was waiting for me to cave in and finally admit everything. Not that there was much to admit at this point. I sighed. All right, there was one thing…

"Edward and I have been fighting a lot," I finally gave. "He's convinced Emmett and I are going to have some sort of kinky nurse/patient affair or some bullshit like that. And he's being a jealous bastard. For not being my boyfriend, he's being awfully possessive, and I really hate it."

She was still quiet, nibbling on the edges of her muffin now, waiting for me to spill a little more of my soul to her. She knew I would, and I knew I would, in the end.

"I'm going to end it with him soon," I confessed after a long moment.

"And this has nothing to do with Emmett?"

"No- I mean, yes, I mean… no!"

She eyed me knowingly. "If Edward's out of the way, you and Emmett can-"

"Save it, Alice! I barely know him! Yes, my body is very attracted to his. And when he's nice, he's honestly the sweetest guy I've ever known, believe it or not. But he's hurt me… a lot. I can't just forget that. And I barely know him…"

"You've mentioned that before. And I think you're trying to defend yourself a little too much…"

"Alice, please! Stop! It's not like that!"

"Yet."

I let loose a growl that had been building up during the duration of this conversation. This only pleased her more, and I wanted to swipe that smug grin off her face immediately.

Unfortunately, her phone rang before I got the chance to say a word.

"It's Jasper!" she squealed, and opened the phone before the second ring. "Hi Jasper," she said sweetly.

I poured myself a glass of milk, distracting myself as she chattered away. Emmett would be waking up soon. I started thinking of something to make him for breakfast. Slowly but surely, each day he was regaining his appetite. Maybe I'd make him some scrambled eggs…

Alice broke me from my thoughts then. "Jasper's coming here to pick me up. He's going to take me to work." She was brimming with happiness.

We chatted for a few minutes while Alice waited for Jasper to show up. She filled me in with more details of their date last night, including what kind of soup he ordered, and just exactly he pronounced the word darlin'. I had to admit, she was kind of adorable.

"Bella," Emmett called hoarsely.

I jumped up from the table, and grabbed the glass of water and pills that I had already prepared. Alice burst into laughter, and I threw her a confused glance as I moved quickly towards his door.

"G'morning, Emmett," I said. My heart was busy slamming into my chest, against my greatest wishes, as I took in his form. He looked sleepy still, but even that way, he was still the embodiment of the morning after, cast and stitched up leg aside.

"Morning," he said, and stretched slightly. "You talking to yourself again?"

"Huh?"

"I heard voices."

"Oh, that's Alice. She came by to give me a moment by moment account of her date with Jasper last night. Apparently it went well." I said this as I handed him his pills and watched as he swallowed them in one gulp. I watched the muscles in his neck flex, and I wanted badly to place a row of kisses there.

"That's nice." He set his glass down and looked up at me lazily.

"He'll be here soon, to pick her up."

"Good. I want to talk to him."

"Okay," I said, and then I heard a knock on the door. Alice raced to the door, barely a blur past Emmett's door, and the both of us burst into laughter at her enthusiasm.

"I like her already!" he said, grinning from ear to ear, dimples clearly visible. I bit my lip.

"Hello Jasper," we heard her coo, and then a soft smacking sound.

"Jazz, stop kissing the pixie and come talk to me!" Emmett shouted, clearly in a good mood. It made me happy to see. He really was making a better effort to be a more sociable person, and I loved to see it. It was difficult seeing him suffer in the beginning, and not just physically.

A few more sloppy kissing sounds filled the air, and then Jasper emerged around the corner with Alice attached to him. Her arms were so tight around his body, I wondered how he could breathe, but he didn't look like he was about to complain, and I noted that his hands were firmly placed around her tiny body, too.

"Hiya, Emmett!" Jasper said cheerily. I had to admit, he was pretty hot, especially in the tight fitting jeans he was currently sporting. "How's it going?"

"Oh, just swell," Emmett said sarcastically. "Ladies, do you mind if I talk with this moron for a minute?"

"Of course," I said, and pried Alice from Jasper's side. She gave me a sad puppy dog look, sticking her bottom lip out and quivering it pathetically, which I returned with an over-exaggerated eye roll. "C'mon Brandon. Let's leave these ladies to their gossip."

Emmett and Jasper laughed, and Alice finally had to give in and smile. "I'll be in the living room," she told Jasper, which was pretty funny considering the whole apartment had only three rooms. I dragged her out by the elbow, and shut the door behind us.

EmPOV

The door slid quietly behind the girls, and I looked up at Jasper. He had a shit-eating grin on his face, and I wasn't sure why, beyond his new lady friend.

"She's cute," I commented, gesturing towards the door.

"Alice? Yeah," he said with this dreamy sounding voice I'd never heard from him before. I fought back the urge to tease him. "She may be the one," he added after a moment.

If I had had a drink in my mouth, I would have done a spit take. As is, I gaped at him with my mouth hanging open. "You've known her for HOW long? One day? Two days?!"

"It doesn't matter," he said, shrugging. "I just have a feeling."

"Yeah, you and your feelings…" I muttered. "You can take your feelings and shove them up your-"

"Emmett, shut the fuck up. I came here to see how you are, not get berated about my very real feelings for Alice. Now, how the hell are you, really?" He raised his eyebrows expectantly. Smug bastard could always see right through me.

"I'm fine," I said. "I mean, not fine, but I'm not suicidal, either, so that's a start."

"Glad to hear it," he said, taking a seat on the edge of the bed. "Everyone on the team misses you. They're worried about you."

I felt an instant streak of anger. I didn't want their sympathy. Didn't need it. Refused to accept it.

"I'll. Be. Fine." I said, putting emphasis on each word, gritting my teeth.

"I'm sure you will be," he said quietly. "You look good. As happy as you could possibly be I suppose."

I snorted. "I guess so. It's boring as hell, though. Not much to do."

"Yeah."

"Newton replaced you on the team," he said.

"Fucking Newton. He sucks."

"Trust me, I know. I've never seen a worse goalie in my life, except maybe my cousin Peter. Everyone misses you, and it's not just for your sparkling personality, cupcake."

I covered my eyes with my hand, trying not to think about all the implications of me missing out on practice, on games, on visits from agents… I had never missed the smell of the ice so badly in my life.

We both sat there, for awhile, not saying anything. Jasper was letting me come to grips with my thoughts, something I appreciated. Too many things were going through my head at once.

"How's it going with Bella?" he finally asked.

"Fine. She's great. I mean, I hated her at first, but she's not so bad."

"And you like her, which always helps."

"Yeah, that's definitely a plus- Fuck. Shit, I- Did I just say that? I mean… oh shit." I could feel the blood draining from my face as I tried to backpedal. "I… I…" I was suddenly speechless, and cursing myself over and over.

I liked her? What the hell did that mean?

"I just meant that you don't hate her," he said, but he looked far too entertained for his own good.

"Oh, right." My head was swimming with the idea that I might like her… and not just as a friend. I have had my suspicions, but it was nothing like practically admitting that I had feelings for Bella right in front of my best friend. I liked her, but did I like like her? Shit. Now I was sounding like a 13 year old girl. I may as well write a note asking her "Do you like me? Check yes or no."

"I'm not blind," Jasper added cautiously. "I saw the way you were looking at her when I came in the room, like she was the only thing that mattered. You barely even noticed Alice and me. I've never seen that look before, not on you. Not even with Ro-"

"Don't say it. Don't even think it," I growled. I wasn't ready to deal with that right now.

"Fine. I won't. But maybe you should think about it for awhile." He stood then. "I have to go. I'm taking Alice to work." His face got that funny, loopy look on it for a minute, and it made me think.

"Uh… Jazz?"

"Yeah?"

"I don't look as stupid as you do right now when I look at her, do I?"

He laughed heartily, throwing back his head. "Probably not, although that's always subject to change."

I would have kicked him in the ass had I mobility. As is, I flipped him the bird with my good hand.

He swung open the door, and seconds later, Alice was back, re-fusing herself right to him. He kissed the top of her head, and even I had to admit that they looked happier than sin. Already. Un-fucking-believable.

"Bye Bella! Bye Emmett!" Alice said, pulling Jasper towards the door now. Poor sap was already pussy-whipped, and I doubted he'd even gotten that far with her yet. He was just as cautious with relationships as I was, and he was much more of a gentleman than I was, once we even had a girlfriend.

Bella and I wished them goodbye, and she came back into my room moments later with food. My stomach rumbled in appreciation. I was finally getting my appetite back, and I was discovering very quickly that Bella was actually a terrific chef. Then again, I could barely operate a microwave, so to me, anyone that had skills with a frying pan was a fucking genius.

"Thank you," I said, suddenly ravenous. Scrambled eggs and toast had never looked so good in my life.

"You're welcome," she said, and smiled, though it didn't quite reach her eyes.

"What's wrong?" I asked, between mouthfuls.

"Nothing," she said quickly.

I narrowed my eyes at her. "Bella."

She sighed, and I tried to ignore the soft sounds, and how they went straight to my dick. I wanted to make her sigh, but in a good way.

"I'm breaking up with Edward today. Or, rather, I'm ending whatever the hell it is we had."

I couldn't stop my smile, which spread across my entire face.

Thank God.