SM owns.

Thank you Mommakat!

TPOV

When Bella and Jasper got back, they were both rumpled and dirty. Alice had been pacing the living room waiting for her husband and as soon as he came in she grabbed his hand and pulled him right back out. Bella went up to her room to clean up and then went to the library. I went to join her.

"So I did what you said and he left the club. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" I asked her as I sat cross legged on the foot rest in front of her favorite chair.

"I don't know," Bella replied hugging her knees to her chest. "It could be a good thing. Maybe he couldn't stand the sight of you with another guy," she shrugged.

"But I didn't dance with anyone besides Kate. I helped her do the girl on girl thing to reel this guy in," I told her.

"Oh. Well Tanya maybe you should make him talk to you. I mean don't you think you deserve some answers after all this time. You're letting him call all the shots and that's not fair," she said.

I nodded my head. She was right. Why should he be the one directing where this relationship went all the time. I should be able to have some say too. I had been using the excuse of not pushing him for too long now. It was time for me to fight for us because he surely wasn't going to. For all I knew, Edward would let this back and forth go on for eternity. That's not what I wanted and I refused to believe that that's what he wanted.

I thanked Bella and gave her a hug.

"How come you are so much better at this than me? I've been around for damned near a thousand years!" I exclaimed exasperated with myself.

"Because love makes us all stupid and when you're in love with a really hot guy you might as well be brain dead."

I looked at my youngest sister in wonder. She was such a magnificent creature. The newest and prettiest Denali. So small and yet so strong. She adapted to this new life I forced on her with amazing finesse. She was so young but exhibiting control that took me decades to learn. I couldn't help but hug her again.

"I think I'm going to start calling you Yoda," I murmured and we both laughed. "Seriously though I love you, Bella."

"I love you too, Tanya...so much."

I frowned a little at the wistfulness that was now present in her tone but didn't mention it. I left her alone to her book and went to go find Edward. He was outside on the patio by himself. His brows were knit in concentration and he kept running his hand through his hair, something he always did but it occurred more frequently when he was stressed. Part of me wondered if this was the right time have the discussion I had planned but being that he was a mind reader he knew what I was thinking and made the decision himself.

"Sit down," he whispered not looking up to meet my eyes. I was suddenly scared that maybe he was ready to have a conversation as well and part of me feared what he would say.

"I'm sorry, Tanya" he said lowering his voice further and I knew that my fears were confirmed.

I sat beside him on the couch and grabbed his hand. I ran my thumb over his knuckles a few times but he still refused to look at me.

"Can I ask why?" I whispered keeping my tone as low as his had been.

"I just can't anymore Tanya. I've never felt the way you have," he replied.

"What do you mean?"

I thought over all the times he kissed, held and touched me. I recalled the times he'd told me how beautiful I was and the nights we'd passed the time just talking in bed. I remembered the times we'd hunted together and held hands while we just ran for the fun of it. We'd had so many good times together. How could he say that he never felt the way I had.

"Tanya please," Edward groaned beside me pulling his hand away and fisting it in his hair. "I'm sorry I let all that happen. I truly am but I just hoped that I could be happy with you as my girlfriend but that's not what I want from you. You're an amazing person and an even better friend but that's where it ends for me. I can't see you as anything but a friend."

"I don't believe you."

I rapidly pulled from my head all our more intimate moments. I flipped through them quickly but still slowly enough so that he could see them clearly.

"Tanya please stop!" Edward hissed as he shot off the couch and moved to sit across from me in an arm chair. "I was just lonely and..."

"I was just there," I finished for him trying my damnedest to not let him see how hurt I was.

"When you say it like that, it's sounds bad but Tanya I never meant to hurt you. I really thought we could someday be happy together, but things are different now and I can't pretend to want you anymore," he said.

I scoffed and rolled my eyes. "When I say it like that?" I repeated to him in disbelief. "There's no other way to say it! Or maybe you would prefer 'strung me along' or better yet 'you used me' is the best way to put it!"

Edward was suddenly sitting beside me again and grabbing my hands. It was me for the first time ever that pulled away from him. I moved to the other side of the patio and tried to swallow down all that I was feeling.

"Tanya, I'm so sorry! If I could do it all again, I would but I can't. I do love you just not in the way that you want me to! You're my friend and...,"

"Your friend?" I retorted as anger started to take over. "This is how you treat your friends? My sisters are your friends! Have you been letting them jack you off as well!" I screamed.

I would have bet my existence that he went paler than he already was but I was too worked up to take a real interest in that. He opened his mouth as if to say something but I was done listening.

I ran into the house and found it silent but I knew that everyone was still there. Of course everyone had heard. Before I could really feel embarrassed, I found myself wrapped in tiny arms. I hugged Bella back, welcoming the comfort the she was offering.

"Let's go," Kate said opening the front door. Bella grabbed my hand and led me out as Irina followed behind us. We ran into the night and didn't stop until we were as far as Glacier Bay. We all sat in a circle on top of an icy shelf but no one said anything.

We sat in a heavy silence for what seemed like forever. I couldn't stop thinking over the last fifty years with Edward and how it had all meant nothing to him. I was so mad, so hurt, and so confused. I didn't know if my sisters were expecting me to say anything but they didn't probe so I stayed silent.

Irina who was sitting across from me cleared her throat after so long and we all looked over at her.

"Just for the record, I have never touched Edward's penis."

We all just stared at her in silence before bursting into side splitting laughter.

BPOV

When Carlisle told Tanya that he and his family would leave in the morning, I mentally started doing my happy dance. When Tanya promptly told them that they would do no such thing, I physically had to choke down a sob. I had asked her why she didn't want them to leave and she rambled on about Carlisle being one of her best friends and not wanting to ruin their friendship or something silly like that.

Luckily everyone in the house made their best effort to keep things from being awkward and actually pulled it off. Everyone seemed to be continuing their usual activities like nothing had happened. My usual activity of distracting myself from Edward was more important than ever and at the same time harder than ever.

I was so pissed at him. How could he do that to Tanya for all this time? She didn't deserve that. No one did. After our little Sisterhood meeting at Glacier Bay, Tanya had come back to the house and tried to behave as if nothing had happened between her and Edward. She spoke to him all the time and laughed if he said something funny. The only thing was when she spoke, she was always overly polite and when she laughed it never reached her eyes. She was hurt and we all could see it.

My resolve to stay away from him was stronger than ever, but for some reason so was my draw to him. It was at the point where I could sense his every movement. I could pick out the cadence of his foot steps and no matter where he was in the house when he moved I listened with undivided attention. When he spoke, his voice was like my favorite song. Whenever he licked his lips...I won't even say what that did to me.

I was using every bit of every thing I had to avoid him and at the end of every day I was exhausted. I hid in the library as much as I could but if he was still in the house I would catch myself still listening out for him. I was so disappointed in myself.

I sighed and closed the book I was currently reading after 20 minutes of going over the same sentence. I headed to the front door and as I passed the living room I stopped to see if anyone wanted to join me on a hunt.

That was a mistake. That was a big mistake.

"I'll come," Edward said standing up from the couch.

I willed myself to keep my breathing steady. I looked to everyone else to see if anyone else wanted to come. Thankfully Old Faithful (Emmett) stood up as well. It didn't matter if he was thirsty or not, he was always game for a hunt.

"Emmett you just hunted yesterday!" Esme said causing me to glare at her. Who was she to tell him when to hunt?

"I know but...," Emmett began but Esme caught him off.

"But nothing. If you're just looking for something to do you can go and fix that dent you put in Carlisle's car wrestling with Jasper yesterday," she told him. Emmett sighed and shuffled off to fix the car.

Damn you, Esme!

I looked around at the others but there were no more takers. I looked at Edward and he was smiling that gorgeous smile and seeming just too proud of himself.

"I guess it's just you and me then," he said.

I snorted and turned to go the door, but he sped ahead and opened it for me. I paused to glare at him and he put his hand on the small of my back and guided me forward. Warm tingling heat spread through my entire body and I couldn't stop the small whimper that left me in response. I squeezed my eyes closed in shame and took off running with him following close behind me.

This was going to be bad.