Disclaimer: I own nothing but Man I want Edward to own me...

AN: Props to my super awesome beta changedbyedward for helping me sound more eloquent and shit...

My story pimp is A Lesson In Release and it's in progress sequel, A Lesson In Fate by Lillie Cullen

If you haven't read it GO right now ALIR was actually the first FF I ever read and since then I've been hooked!

Enough rambling, On to the story...

APOV

"Relax, Esme, she's asleep. Yes, this is EVERY night. I don't know how Charlie has been able to sleep through it. No, she just mumbles and then it's this heart wrenching screaming right after that. Um, I could really give a shit if Edward is having a time, Esme. He's the one who made the choice to leave!"

I sat in the corner of the room watching Bella tangle herself in her sheets from her recent nightmare while I listened to Esme tell me about Edward's recent conniption. Although I felt bad for him, he had created the situation himself, so he just needed to deal with it. At that point, all I was worried about was helping Bella calm down.

"He just sits there, Alice. He doesn't play the piano or go hunting with us. He just sits in his room and …well nothing. I'm so worried," Esme complained into the phone. I rolled my eyes.

"Really? Would you like to know what is going on over here? Bella doesn't eat or sleep. She needs to do those things, you know? She doesn't read or listen to music. She can't even say Edward's stupid, sissy name out loud without hyperventilating. You know what happened last week? She almost jumped out of a car. A moving car. On the highway. And it happened so fast I didn't even have a vision of it until it was almost too late! So, um, excuse me for not feeling bad for Assward over there. Tell him what I said, too. I know he can hear me. I just want you to repeat it to him. Maybe he'll grow a pair."

I glanced over at Bella as the sobs began. That was usually an indication that the part of the dream where Edward left her was imminent. I hated seeing her like that. I wished I could just transfer all of her pain to me, even for a little while, so she could just sleep. Nothing I was doing was helping her and I just didn't know what else to do. I focused my attention back on Esme, who was scolding Emmett for laughing when I dubbed our brother 'Assward.'

"Really, Emmett, it's not funny. Alice, darling, are you still there? I can't believe she would even consider doing that. Maybe you should take her to see a doctor and try to get her some help."

"And tell them what? Hi! This is my best friend. She was dating my brother, who left her a couple of months ago. She's gone damn near catatonic. Oh, and did I mention that my brother is a vampire and the reason he left so abruptly is because my boyfriend, who is also a vampire, tried to attack her at her birthday party and drain her dry? Yeah, so being the 'responsible' person, vampire, whatever, that he is, he decided to leave her to 'save' her, as he puts it. Now she is in an ever-deepening depression that is slowly, but surely, killing her. Oh yeah, and I'm a vampire, too, by the way. Yeah, that's going to work. They'll commit us both. Sorry, been there, don't remember too much, but I'm sure that it's not good. What's your next suggestion?" I heard crickets on the other end so I gathered that I had made my point.

After a long silence, Esme said, "Alice, you don't need to be sarcastic. This is hard for both of them. I'm sure that for Bella it must be more intense, but they're both breaking over this. Alice, you don't see this getting better, do you? Like, maybe, Edward making a decision to come back?" Hope was ringing in Esme's voice as she finished.

"Do you really think I would be calling if I saw any improvement in the near future? All I see is Bella getting worse. She is going to fake her way through life, all the while thinking that Edward left her because he never loved her. I told her that Edward lied but she doesn't believe me. She still thinks that he really never did love her and that's just shitty. I hope he does feel bad. Ask me if I care. Why don't you all just come home? Forget this nonsense. If you care about Bella so much, just come home. Don't continue to give in to Edward's stupid choice. If you all come home, I might be able to see new possibilities. If he's so determined to go through with this, let him do it on his own."

I waited for Esme's answer, although I already knew what it was because my visions didn't change. Damn it! I had hoped she would listen to reason and make a decision on her own for once, but no dice.

"Alice, for all intents and purposes, Edward is my son. I can't just abandon him when he is so clearly suffering. He needs to make his own choice to go back. I can't force him. I know this sounds silly to you, but I will support him in his decision because that's what family does. They support each other. Just as I supported your decision to stay, I support his to leave. I will not choose sides. I love all of you equally, despite what you may think of me."

That was just great. Instead of feeling better, I felt like an asshole. I never meant for Esme to think I thought less of her for going along with Edward. I just wanted her to see that he had made an enormous mistake.

Bella's sobbing was picking up and she thrashed around on her bed.

I kept getting flashes of Edward's decision-making process. He didn't know if he should come back or leave the family and go it alone. I knew he missed Bella, but I just couldn't understand why he wouldn't swallow his pride and come back. They were both hurting without the other. If he would only come back and see her, talk to her, be honest with her, and tell her the real reasons why he left, Bella would get better. She would be healthy again. They could both be happy. Together. As it should be.

"Esme, I don't want to hurt your feelings and I don't think any less of you for going. I just don't understand Edward. He is suffering and he knows that she is suffering, so why not just spare us all the drama of this whole situation and come home."

"I don't think it's that simple for him. He's convinced she'll forget about him. He's determined to let her live her life. He doesn't want to take her humanity from her."

"Oh, so he wants her to have normal. Like, Mike Newton normal?" I heard a growl on the other end of the phone and knew full well it wasn't Esme growling. "No! Tell him to back the fuck off! He can't leave her under the pretense that she 'needs normal' and then get pissed when the chance comes up. That's it! She needs to see that she's not some last place consolation prize. I'm going to throw a party, invite all of our student body, and we're going to celebrate! I know she hates parties, but if she sees there are people around her who care, maybe it will bring a little bit of Bella back."

I concentrated to see if it was a good idea. I saw the party being "The Affair" to attend and the theme a brilliant success. I would use 'The Roaring Twenties' as the theme and from food to formal wear, the party was going to be 'the shiz.' I could see Bella smiling as one of the boys in our class attempted to get her to dance. That was all the encouragement I needed to push the party forward. All I needed was a place to have it. "Hey, Esme, would I be able to use the house? I'll clean up and all, I mean, technically it's still ours, right?"

"Mary Alice, you need not even ask! That is your house as much as it's mine. Have fun, throw your party. Make our Bella smile. I can't speak for Edward but I know we all miss her dearly. Can you tell her that? That I never stopped caring. I just need to be here for him, just like you're there for her. I miss you too, Alice. I hope your party is a booming success. What's the theme, if you don't mind me asking?" I smiled into the phone. Despite all the drama, I missed my family, even Assward.

"The theme is The Roaring Twenties. We're going to rouge our knees and pull our stockings down and all that jazz." Esme laughed at my Chicago homage.

"Oh, honey, how appropriate! Call me if you need anything. It's quiet now. Is she ok?" I looked over at Bella, who had finally calmed down enough to catch about an hour of sleep before we needed to get ready for school. I closed my eyes and saw that it was not going to be a good day. Le sigh.

"She's finally asleep but I'm going to have to let you go. Bella is going to have a bad day and I need some time to figure out how to change that. I'll call you when I figure out the schematics of the party. Maybe you guys could come." I heard yet another growl from the other end. "Or not. Whatever. Either way I'll keep you posted. Give my love to my siblings and Carlisle. Bye, Esme."

I hung up the phone a tossed it onto my makeshift bed and laid back. I let the visions of the upcoming weeks pass through my mind. I saw Edward's future flash in here and there, but it was nothing concrete because the boy-who-knew-absolutely-nothing kept changing his mind. I shook my head like an Etch-a- Sketch so I could focus on Bella's future and the party.

So far, the party looked like a winner and if everything went well, I had a chance to have a happy Bella on my hands. I was going to love coming up with props and clothes for the party. It would give me a chance to relive a time that I hardly remembered and have my BFF there to share the experience with me. I could already see the awesome dresses we were going to wear and I had to clasp my hand over my mouth to hold back the squeal of glee that threatened to escape and wake Bella up.

I could hear Charlie grumbling his way to the bathroom and chuckled a bit. Charlie was the most clueless human I had ever come across despite his intelligence. Thank goodness I had decided to stay, because Lord knows how Charlie would've handled Bella. He probably would have just ignored the fragile state she was in.

I got up and started sifting through Bella's clothes to find something that would flatter her diminishing figure. That solves one of the problems, I thought to myself. Lauren's bitch ass was going to comment on Bella's weight loss to start the shit day Bella was going to have so I needed to find something Alice-worthy and fierce to make my girl look like the Goddess she is and shut Lauren the fuck up. If it weren't that I'd knock her three ways into next Tuesday, I'd beat that bitch down. Oops, a little too angry. I smiled at myself as I looked down at the tattered blouse in my hands. Oh well, it was last season anyway. I threw the shirt behind me and dove deeper into the closet.

It was going to be a good day.

Reviews are like seeing Alice beat down Lauren!!

M