What will happen now...?

BPOV

"I'm done," I decided.

He gave me a look of confusion. "What?"

"I just want to forgive her already. I'm getting bored not having anyone to talk to."

"Talk to Rosalie," Edward advised darkly, shaking his head as he looked away. He was still pretty hostile toward what Alice had done, and I didn't blame him, but I was done fighting with her. Sure she really pissed me off and made me want to kill her, but at this point I was tired of fighting. Edward was better at holding grudges than I was and I knew it would take a lot of time for him to loosen it. "Alice is a bitch, Bella, I can actually say it. What she did was a totally inexcusable thing. Fuck, I don't even want my child around that!"

He was fired up.

"But she's your sister! You can't just ignore her, pretend she doesn't exist."

"The hell I can't."

"Edward, I'm going to forgive her. It'll be easier than you think."

He rolled his eyes. I want my son to have those eyes... "That's 'cause you forgive easily. I don't. I won't. And besides – when we move out we won't have to deal with her. End of story. Now, are you hungry?"

This time I rolled my eyes. "I'm disappointed – usually your so much better at subject changes. That one just sucked." He scowled. "C'mon, Edward, why's it matter? It'll make things that much easier if Alice and I can get long."

"You don't need my permission," he grumbled, seeming to find distaste in the idea.

"But I don't want to make you angry," I told him truthfully. "And right now your almost pissed, so."

"Bella, I'm not mad."

"No, your pissed."

"Would you stop?" he snapped, rubbing a hand over his face. Frustration was clearly written. "Just shut up for five minutes..."

I sat up and frowned. Edward never acted like this, only when he was dealing with someone he despised or with a pointless situation. But never me. "Sorry," I muttered, dejected, as I sat back. Something about the way he talked to me was upsetting. Edward hardly lashed out at me. Ever. "I just...wanted to make this better for us all."

He groaned, falling back on the bed. The sound was one of giving in. Of giving up.

"Look, Bella, I didn't mean to say that," he apologized quickly. "Its just...I like not having my sister so involved. Its nice when she's not right in my face or getting into things that don't have anything to do with her. That, Bella, pisses me off. Other than that, I don't have a problem."

I sighed loudly. "Never said you did. But I have a problem with the fact you don't have a problem."

He smiled, confused. "That makes this much sense," he said, pinching his thumb and index finger together.

"I mean, I have a problem that your only problem is because your selfish," I told him, then added, "Because you don't want to share our life with her."

"Are you saying I have more problems?" Edward was getting into this now.

I stopped, suddenly confused myself. It had made a lot of sense in my head. That he just didn't want to share me and the baby with his sister, which is a problem, but now I couldn't remember the other points I was ready to make. I felt like someone just wiped my head clear.

"Um, I forget," I admitted. I rubbed my head slowly, trying to remember where I was going with that. "But I was just trying to make the point that you should be just slightly happier that I want Alice back."

He groaned. "Why?"

"Because I miss her," I whined uselessly. "I really do. I have no one to talk to and...I love her, Edward. She's like my sister." I gave him my best pleasing look.

Something about making up with Alice and having Edward against it seemed pointless.

"Talk to me," he said simply, picking up the remote and flipping on the TV, reclining against the pillows of his bed.

"Its not the same," I said dismissively, shifting so I could look right at him. Edward didn't really look at me though, eyes fixed on the television screen. "I need a girlfriend to talk to. A boyfriend isn't enough, Edward, I need Alice. I need her."

Edward finally looked up from the TV and looked at me blankly. Maybe a little serious too, but fairly blank. He set the remote down slowly, never breaking the eye contact and folded his arms behind him head, leaning back into them and watching me like I was doing something of interest. Edward's eyes seemed to darken while we stared at each other.

I wondered if he thought we were telepathic.

"Edward?" I finally asked, when the silence and his stare was getting to me. "No comment?"

He sighed, setting himself in motion. "A boyfriend's a neutral as ever, Bella. They can listen, give advice, and give pleasure. It's a win—win—win situation." He leaned in and I leaned back. I knew immediately that he was trying to persuade. That, or change the subject. "I think I do most of those pretty well too, so..."

"Could you be serious?" I demanded, appalled.

"Whatever, Bella," Edward said, frustrated. "I don't care what you do, and obviously you don't care what I say. Go – go make friends with the devil."

I frowned, though I was content with the invitation. "Are you going to be mad at me? 'Cause I don't want you to be."

"No," he sighed, and forced the smallest of smiles. The fakest of them too. "Just do it. I don't care. But I promise you if she makes one more mistake, I will kick her little ass."

"Edward, I bet she's sorry," I told him truthfully. "Look," I said, reaching for the remote and turning the TV to mute, "you know just as much as I do that she doesn't mean to harm. Alice can't hurt a fly, that's how caring she is. I can see now, that it was in pure excitement..." I trailed off uncomfortably, cringing at the look that came to his face.

His eyebrows rose. "You're telling me that you forgive her actions? Bella, there's a fine line between forgiving her and forgiving what she did. Are you seriously going to let her think what she did was okay?"

"God, your making this so hard," I mumbled, looking down at my lap. To me, there was no difference in forgiving Alice and forgiving her actions, but Edward had his strong opinions. Alice and I had been fighting for too long now. All I wanted was my best friend back, and Edward was making it seem like Mission Impossible. "I just want her back, Edward, it doesn't matter what she did anymore. Alice and I are inseparable!"

He sighed, turning away from me. "I don't care, Bella. Just...go," he shrugged, shaking his head, lips pressed in a tight line.

Edward was being childish.

I wondered if I was betraying his trust in a way, as I walked down the hallway toward Alice's room where music thumped from. He was definitely wrong in this situation and as soon as Alice and I are buddy-buddy again, he will see it.

What if she doesn't want to make up? I thought, pausing outside her door. The techno beat music was loud and I thought I could see the door shaking a little, and there was a noticeable clicking on the other side. Like high heels tapping against the wood floor. I smiled, remembering all the times Alice and I danced in her bedroom with her sound system as loud as it could go. Those were fond memories.

With a deep breath I raised my hand and knocked on the door. Even I couldn't hear it over the music, so I tried again louder and louder until I heard her shout, "Coming!"and the sound of heels clicking faster.

"Bella?" Her black eyebrows rose in shock, rather anger. I exhaled in relief because she didn't yell at me yet. "What are you doing here? I mean, here." She quickly gestured to the threshold of her room.

I sighed, not bothering to even ask if I could come in so this could be more civilized. "Alice, I'm so sorry. I don't know what else to say! I just...I just want you back," I admitted in a rush.

She was still for a moment, looking through me. When she came to, she said, "You shouldn't be sorry. I'm sorry. I just got really excited..."

"I understand."

"You do?" she said in shock.

"Slightly," I admitted. "But I really don't care anymore. I just want my best friend back, seriously, Alice."

Alice's eyes softened as she leaned against the doorframe, a smile taking over her face entirely. She hasn't smiled at me like that for a while, I realized. "This is my fault, Bella," she whispered, just loud enough for me to hear over the music, "and I'm really sorry. I disowned Edward's and your trust with that, and I really didn't mean to." She paused. "I really hope I used 'disowned' in the right context," she mused, suddenly deep in thought.

I laughed, happy to have my Alice back. "You did," I said, but paused. "Well, close to it, but that doesn't matter."

She looked up and smiled. "I know, but this does." An evil glint flickered in her eyes as she bit her lip through a huge smile. It was far from innocent but still close to it. My eyes widened in feigned worry. "HUG!" she shouted, dulling out the music and jumping at me, wrapping her arms around my neck and nearly strangling me in her happiness.

Yay, they made up!