Sorry it took me so long to update! This is like the 5th time I wrote this chapter. I don't have my laptop with me this break so I'm using an unfamiliar one and I successfully made this chapter disappear a thousand times because I'm a moron when it comes to all this technological crap. I'm 19 and my mother is 60 and I think she knows more than I do. It was completely devastating to lose all that work! As a result, I changed my mind a dozen times and came out with something completely different than what I originally planned. I kinda like it, though, and I hope you do, too. Thanks for all the reviews, by the way. They really inspire me and make me feel good. I love you all.

PS- went to see the movie for the 4th time today because I'm a freak. Good stuff. Not great but more than tolerable (haha). What were your thoughts?

Hope all Americans had a good Thanksgiving. I can't believe people got trampled today over sales, though... I wonder if Alice had anything to do with that.

"Alice," I said menacingly, thrusting my phone back at her, "fix this."

She laughed and shook her head. "Not a chance. This is just what you need."

All I saw was red. I clenched my fists, begging myself to see reason and not hit her.

She's your best friend, I reminded myself. The smug smile on her face was making me desperately want to forget that.

"Can I speak to you for a minute? Alone?"

Alice started to look worried. Good.

We walked out into the hallway and I almost smiled when I saw her ringing her hands.

"Bella-"

"No, Alice. I'll be doing the talking. You of all people know how hard my break-up was for me, whether or not I realize now how much of jerk Mike was to me. And you know what happened with your brother was ten times as bad. I don't understand why you're doing this to me." I had started out sounding confident but ended up sounding like a pathetic mess by the end.

"You need to get back out there!" Alice cried, her beautiful face scrunched up with anxiety. "I was just trying to help."

My tense posture relaxed somewhat at that. I knew she was trying to help. I knew that with my whole heart and I loved her for it. But she had to know when to butt out.

"I know and I appreciate that but I really need my space right now. Remember when Tony Pappa broke up with you and you had a pity-filled week? I sat on the sofa with you and ate ice cream before I kicked your ass to get back out there. I did not set you up on dates!"

"It's been more than a week, Bella," she murmured quietly. "I'm worried about you."

"I know," I sighed, "but after Edward…" It hurt to even say his name. "He really hurt me, Alice," I said in a small voice. "It's silly, I know, but..."

Alice looked really upset and I felt incredibly guilty. "I'm sorry, Bella. I really wasn't thinking. Can I tell you something without pissing you off?"

I nodded, not so sure I could promise that.

"I kind of did it… to… well… piss Edward off."

Shaking my head at her, I asked, "What makes you think that would piss him off?"

She smirked and rolled her eyes. "What am I going to do with you? You're even more clueless than he is, and that's saying something." Her smile faded and she looked down at the floor. "I'm sorry. I really am. If you want I'll call Jacob and explain the whole thing."

"It's too late," I sighed. "Maybe it will actually do me some good. He is a fun person to be around. I just hope he doesn't have the wrong idea."

She smiled and playfully pinched my cheek. "I love you. And I promise not to be a pain in the ass anymore."

"Thank you," I said with relief. "Let's go back in there."

Twenty minutes later, my phone vibrated.

"Hello?" Of course my voice shook.

"Hey," Jacob said in his relaxed voice. "I'm here."

I looked over at my friends who were all staring at me intently. "Um… okay. I'll be right there."

"Why don't you invite him inside?" Emmett asked, trying his best to make it sound like an innocent suggestion.

"Who was that?" Jacob sounded hurt. Fabulous.

"My friend, Emmett. Everyone is over."

"Oh, well maybe me coming in isn't such a bad idea. I can't come up with anything else to do. Do you think that's okay?"

Alice was sitting next to me so she heard everything he said. She nodded her head enthusiastically.

"Sure. I'll come open the door for you."

I shut my phone with a tired sigh and got up. I noticed Edward glaring at me and I stopped in my tracks. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he muttered, looking over at Jasper who I noticed was staring at the both of us intently. What was their deal?

A soft knock at the door made me forget all about their ridiculousness as a flurry of angry butterflies erupted in my belly. I slowly made my way over to the door and opened it to reveal a beaming Jacob.

"Hi," he breathed, gazing into my eyes with such an intensity I blushed.

"Hello," I whispered, suddenly feeling a bit dizzy. "Come in."

Jacob followed me into the living room and muttered a "hello". I noticed Edward's ferocious glare and rolled my eyes. That was really getting old; we were definitely going to have a chat. I disagreed with Alice's statement, however. He was threatened by Jake on some level, no doubt, but it didn't have anything to do with me.

An awkward silence persisted until Jasper, bless him, began chatting with Jacob about some gig they had the next day at a birthday party. Edward studiously ignored them and stared at the coffee table.

I watched him from the corner of my eye, wishing desperately I could just have a peek into his mind. He was beyond an enigma. As though he could sense my stare, his penetrating eyes lifted to mine. The rest of the room was nonexistent to me; all that mattered was Edward. I don't know how long we stared at each other like that until Jake's polite throat-clearing pervaded my daze.

"I should get going," he said softly. "It's late."

Guilt overwhelmed me. Sure, Alice had invited him but he had come all this way just to spend a little time with me. I looked over at the clock and saw that he had been there for a whole hour, and instead of chatting with him, I pretended to not be staring at Edward as I grunted distracted answers and comments during whatever conversation everyone had been having. I had acted terribly.

"Could I talk to you for a minute?" he asked, taking me out of my berating thoughts.

I nodded and went outside to the front porch with him. We were silent for a moment as we stared out at the falling snow. Then he cleared his throat again and looked over at me.

"Have you told him how you feel yet?"

I stared back at him. "Who?"

He rolled his eyes and shook his head. "He loves you, too, you know."

I sighed, figuring I might as well give it up. "No, he doesn't." I tried to not sound pathetically sad, truly I did, but I failed pitifully.

Jake reached over and pulled me into a tight hug. "Honestly, I don't know how you don't see it. It's written all over him."

"I don't even think he likes me," I protested.

"Well, then you're even more clueless than I thought," he responded simply. He stroked my back in a comforting gesture and I realized how lucky I was to have met him.

"You're a great guy, you know," I whispered into his ear. He took a deep breath and looked down into my eyes, his arms still wrapped around my waist.

"It's all an act. Inside I want to run inside and rip his throat out."

I blinked. "What do you mean?"

He smiled sadly at me and looked down. "I know I barely know you but I feel a connection with you. Another time, maybe, we could have had a chance. I don't have much luck in love… Anyway, he gets to have you fall in love with him and, instead of jumping at the chance, he's acting like a prick."

I laughed at that and shook my head. "You're nuts." Then I looked down, too, and blushed. "Thank you for everything you said. I feel a connection with you, too. But… more as… friends."

I reluctantly looked up and saw him nodding. "I figured," he said lowly. "I really like you, you know."

I nodded. "I like you, too."

He shook his head and glared at the house behind me. "I wish I met you before. I wish you didn't love him so much."

"Me, too," I said half-heartedly. Life would certainly have been easier on me, for sure, but I couldn't regret loving Edward. It broke my heart every day but it was worth it.

"So, friends?" he asked.

I nodded and smiled broadly. "Friends."

He leaned down to kiss my cheek and then wrapped me up in a big hug again.

A slamming door behind me made me jump and step back. I whirled around to see a frenzied-looking Edward standing there, staring at me in a way that made me shrink back involuntarily.

"Don't let me interrupt," he said icily, stalking past us and over to his car.

He sped away, leaving behind sputtering snow.

"What a moron," Jake snickered. He looked over at me and his face softened. "One day he's going to realize what he's going to be missing and he's going to feel like such an ass."

"Right," I said sarcastically.

"Well, I should go," he sighed. "Can I call you sometime?"

"Please," I said firmly. Already I could feel that Jacob was going to become a very good friend. It was amazing how much I felt like I knew him, though I met him less than 12 hours before.

He kissed my cheek again and then with a grin and a wave, he was on his way home.

I couldn't sleep. Alice had gone over to Jasper's and I was left alone in her room. It was stuffy in there from the heating. I kicked off the sheets and laid there in only my underwear.

I was thoroughly exhausted, both physically and mentally, and it was majorly pissing me off that I couldn't fall asleep. Slowly, I drifted into a semi-conscious state.

Then I heard a creak from somewhere inside the pitch-black room and I sprung up in bed. "Who's there?" I whispered breathlessly.

I turned on the lamp and gasped when I saw a dripping wet Edward standing in the corner of the room.

"I didn't mean to wake you," he murmured huskily. The timbre of his voice immediately set my body aflame. How did he do that?

"What are you doing here?" I managed to get out, clutching my chest in a feeble attempt to calm my pounding heart.

He hesitated and then came over to sit on the edge of the bed. "It's really snowing out now… That's why I'm so wet."

I quirked an eyebrow at the subject change but played along. "What were you doing? Pacing in the snow?"

He smiled faintly and nodded. "Pretty much. I had a lot to think about."

I bit my lip and felt my stomach jump when I saw Edward's eyes linger on my mouth. "Care to share?"

His evergreen-colored eyes, darker now at night, popped back up to mine. "Yes. We really need to talk."

I looked down at my hands, frightened to start but eager to put a rest to all of this uncomfortable bullshit. "Yeah," I agreed, "we really do."

"Will you have dinner with me tomorrow?" The fierce determination in his eyes would have convinced me to say yes even if I didn't want to.

I nodded my head vehemently and didn't bother to check the excitement in my voice when I whispered a rushed, "Yes."

The corner of his mouth lifted and he looked down at my lips. "I'm sorry for waking you up. I'm sorry for coming in here, at all. It was very inappropriate of me."

I opened my mouth to speak but suddenly he stroked my cheek and the burning touch effectively shut me up. "More importantly, I have to apologize for my behavior lately. I don't quite understand it myself." He nudged over closer to me and let his hand travel down to my neck. "I've apparently lost all sense of self-control lately." His hand dropped lower to my collarbone. "I wonder why that is."

I sucked in an uneven breath and my eyes closed involuntarily. "You're really confusing me," I whispered.

Edward's hand was immediately gone and I ached for his touch once again. "I'm sorry." He had the decency to sound ashamed.

Suddenly anger- unadulterated, full-blown anger- washed over me. "You should be. You've been a little shit lately."

He smiled and it seemed like he was remembering something. "So I've heard."

"I don't understand," I muttered pathetically.

His hand was now on my bare arm, trickling down and leaving pleasant tingles in its wake. "I'm sorry," he said again. "I know I've been very unfair. I promise to explain tomorrow."

"Are you mad at me or something?" I asked anyway. I wasn't so sure I wanted an answer but the question just flew out of my mouth.

He smiled again and shook his head slowly, his glowing eyes dipping down to take in my form before lifting back up to my gaze. "Not at all, Bella. That's just silly."

My eyes narrowed. "What what else am I supposed to think?" I snapped. "You've been acting shitty to me all day."

Edward sighed and stood. "You should be pissed at me now."

"Well I am," I said back hotly. "I haven't even started bitching you out yet."

He looked amused but didn't say anything. Smart choice.

"So you'll explain everything tomorrow?" I sighed, rubbing my face in frustration. We obviously weren't going to get anywhere tonight.

"Yes," he said fiercely. "I swear."

"I'm sorry, too," I said suddenly, looking down at the floor.

He sat down on the bed again and lifted my face up. "What for?"

"I made things weird by… sleeping with you." I was blushing outrageously as I muttered this.

Edward dropped his hand and shook his head. "Don't be ridiculous. It's not your fault. And don't forget you weren't alone." For a moment his face looked pained and then his expression smoothed as he stood again. "I should go. Don't worry, Bella. We'll talk tomorrow and work everything out. We'll always be friends."

Before I could respond, he was across Alice's room and out the door.

As I lay awake that night, staring at Alice's plastic star adorned ceiling, Edward's voice saying the word "friend" replayed over and over again.

I never thought I deserved more than friendship. Hell, I never expected to get anything more. But hearing Edward say that, confirm that, broke my heart. It was irrational, for sure, but I couldn't help the unbelievable, ineffable sadness that consumed me.

I longed for our talk so that I could be close to him, so that I could hear his voice, so that I could have an excuse to look into his eyes. But I dreaded it something fierce at the same time. Edward was going to tell me he was repulsed and that's why he was acting that way. Edward was going to call me his friend again. Edward was going to make it clear that I was never going to be anything more. And I just couldn't bear it.

More and more I was coming to the conclusion that coming home with Alice for Thanksgiving was my biggest mistake to date. And yet my favorite one, as well.

What a stupid girl I was.

What did you think? I had a fight between Edward & Jacob in one of the drafts but honestly that's so cliched. There's plenty of drama ahead so we don't need that. Besides, how hot is a wet Edward lingering in Bella's bedroom in the middle of the night?

Until next time.