A/N: I know that I have been grossly neglecting this story but, and here's the silver lining, I fully intend to finish it now that summer is here again.

Oh and there is minor swearing in this chapter.

The songs for this chapter are: "Nothing like you and I" by The Perishers and "You Wouldn't Like" Me by Tegan and Sara. They are great songs and I highly recommend that you listen to them.

So as always Read. Review. Enjoy. (And try to guess who the mystery man is)

It has been precisely a week since the "incident" as I like to call it.

I remember precisely how long it has been because it has been one week since I left my apartment, one week I spent crying, one week since I ate anything except ice cream, one week since I picked up the phone and one week since I had any sort of contact what so ever with Edward.

He didn't call or come to visit or even text me though of course I didn't expect him to come because he obviously must have been busy with his *shudder* fiancé all week but it still hurt.

My only comfort has been Ben and Jerry's and "House" re-runs.

I haven't even been sleeping well because every time I closed my eyes I saw the scene in the restaurant played itself in my mind over and over again.

I knew I should have left when I could.

I realized how ridiculous I am being and that it was time for me to stop the tears and lock them away for a rainy day and face the world with a smile.

I will not let this keep me down.

It's not the end of the world and I always knew this would happen one day.

Just as I was thinking of wiping away my tears and getting off my pathetic ass to check my messages the door of my apartment literally flew off its hinges and there stood none other then Emmet himself in all his massive glory.

He stopped just outside the doorway for a second to stare appreciatively at my door, which was now hanging off on one of its hinges, with the air of an artist examining a masterpiece, before finally coming inside.

All this time I hadn't moved an inch from the couch, which I had been my constant place of occupation, except for bathroom breaks of course.

I didn't wasn't to attract his attention to me sooner then necessary because I knew that my face was still covered in tears.

His eyes inevitably found me; I mean I wasn't really that difficult to miss since I was sitting right in the middle of the room, and they widened considerably as they took in my haggard appearance.

He shouted something which sounded very much like "Found her" to someone standing outside and then he marched right in and gave me a bone crushing hug.

I realized that Jasper and Alice had also entered the room behind him.

Emmet, Jasper, Alice, Edward and I were all very close friends.

We had graduated together from college in Seattle and now we all had jobs here in NYC.

Emmet had his own gym and was a personal trainer, Alice was a designer and the proud owner of several boutiques and her own line of clothing, her fiancé Jasper was a journalist for which I envied him greatly as it would have been my second career choice.

"Bella why didn't you answer your phone? I called you so many times! And look at you, you are a mess and trust me that's saying something since you don't really try to look good on a daily bases…"

And just like that off went Alice's train of not-so-inner monologues and I had a feeling that it wasn't going to be stopping anytime soon.

Emmet proceeded to clean the room of empty ice cream buckets and used tissues.

Jasper, being his understanding self, realized that I needed space and just looked at me in the comforting way that only he could manage and all of a sudden I wasn't so upset about the fact that Alice was planning on a night out and playing Bella Barbie for the millionth time.

No one inquired after my rather cluttered state because everyone knew.

There were no secrets in our friendship which, though was annoying sometimes, I was grateful for today because I don't think I would have liked to explain the proceedings of last week to them.

True to her word Alice dragged me to my room and promptly shut the door on the boy's faces.

Thank god I didn't have a roommate; I do not want to know what people would make of Alice.

Upon opening the door of my closet she uttered a moan like a tormented soul.

I thought at first that something was actually wrong with her but it was my clothes or lack off that was the problem.

Alice being Alice of course was equipped for such moments of crises and she took out several almost Bella sized clothes which no one but her could have managed to fit into her Louis VItton hand bag.

A flurry of clothes, makeup brushes, shoes and god knows how many hours later I was standing outside a night club, squished between Alice and Jasper with Emmet leading the way.

On going inside I took one look at the sweaty, tightly jammed bodies on the dance floor and turned to the bar.

Emmet followed me to a pair of bar stools while Alice towed an unwilling Jasper to the dance floor.

"Wanna talk about it?" Emmet said giving me reassuring dimpled smile.

I couldn't ask for better friends.

They never poked or prodded, they let me come to terms what I was feeling and then took me to a ludicrous night out.

"No Emmet I do not want to talk about the fact that my best friend proposed to some girl that I never even knew about and she was the worst possible choice for him. And need I mention the fact that I am in love with said best friend or the fact that she is a bitch?"

But he was looking at someone over my shoulder. "Good because here he comes"

And before I put in so much as a "Huh?" and turned around there stood Edward wearing, well it doesn't matter what he wears since he looks good in every thing.

I think I almost smiled until I saw her on his arm.

I turned back to Emmet and fiercely whispered: "You knew he would be here?"

He looked apologetically at me before adding: "He wanted us to meet her."

Well of all the beastly things in this god forsaken universe.

But now that I had gotten over the initial shock I was good with this news.

I wasn't going to let some guy ruin this evening for me, even if that guy was my former best friend.

Yes I said former; I had usurped him of his title.

Childish I know but I had a feeling that he wasn't going to live up to that title anymore.

He introduced her to Emmet while I completely ignored him and while waiting for Alice and Jasper to come back from the dance floor he sidled over to me.

"What the hell is wrong with you Bells? Why can't you be happy for me for once?"

The nerve of the guy!

He did not just say that!

"What's wrong with me? What's wrong with you? Why are you talking to me like that? I have always been happy for you!"

"Well it sure doesn't seem like it now does it."

I looked into his eyes, trying to find a trace of the old Edward, of my Edward but I couldn't find it.

He was a completely different person.

If I had met him on the street I wouldn't have said that he was the same person.

"You know what Edward? Just forget about it!"

"No! You obviously have something crucial on your mind, well spit it out already."

Alice, who I didn't notice until then, stepped in between us which was just as well because otherwise I might have said something that I would regret later.

I had never seen Edward like this before and it took me wholly off guard but loosing my temper at him wasn't going to help much.

"Guys, guys, I thought we were here to have fun, remember?"

I took a deep breath and forced myself to look away from him.

I smiled at her and said "I'm sorry, where were we before Jerk face here began chewing my head off? So Alice, Jasper, this is Edward's fiancée Rosalie as I'm sure you know."

The change in my demeanor was so swift that everyone just stared at me for a second.

Alice then turned to Edward and said menacingly: "If you ever talk to Bella like that again I will cut off your man things and feed them to you understood?"

She looked so threatening then that one did not notice her diminutive size.

Not waiting for an answer she turned to Rosalie and smiled like an angel straight from heaven.

"You must think that we go on like that on a daily bases but I assure you, you wont be entertained by the Bella and Edward special again anytime soon."

And then turning to the rest of us she said: "Alright everyone on the floor, its party time, and yes I mean you too Bella" She added when I tried to hide behind Emmet.

"Fine"

The DJ was playing "Miss Murder" by AFI so I grabbed Emmet's hand and went to the dance floor without looking at Edward.

I was grateful that Alice had refrained from dressing me in something absurdly revealing.

I had a simple black dress on which was off the shoulders and came till my knees.

I was also mercifully also wearing flats.

I normally don't dance but I felt that I needed to be different from my usual self tonight.

I didn't like the person that I had become.

A random guy asked me to dance after that and I would have turned him down if it wasn't for one of Alice's death glares.

I noticed that everyone was on the dance floor.

Emmet was now dancing with another girl, Jasper with Alice and Edward with Rosalie Of course.

The next song was "Girl All The Bad Guys Want" by Bowling for soup, followed by "In My Head" by Jason Dorula and then "Imma Be" by the black eyed peas.

By the time "Beautiful" by Akon came on I could feel Edwards glare burning a hole into my head but I refused to even spare him a glance.

I looked at my partner again and he seemed familiar. "Hey do I know you from some place?"

"Not unless you know where Forks is." He said laughing.

Now I recognized him, he was in High School with me and Edward.