We have a big chapter ahead of us because I wanted to make it to the dinner... I thought it would be pretty mean, indeed, if I put up a chapter and made you wait for the rest! Pfft! Please read the author note at the bottom because I need your input.

Thanks for all the reviews and everything. They make writing this so much fun.

I woke up to a different Cullen in the morning; a gleefully grinning Alice was perched over me, fully dressed.

"Ah!" I cried, jumping up and nearly knocking my head with hers in the process.

"'Morning Bella!" she sang. "I'm so happy you're up!"

"Ugh," I groaned, massaging my sore head, "I'm not 'up'. Why the hell were you staring at me like that? You're so creepy."

She feigned hurt. "But… you're cute when you sleep."

"Alice," I said threateningly.

"Fine," she sighed, "I woke you up. I wasn't watching you sleep… technically."

I just nodded absently and silently accepted the steaming cup of coffee she handed me. I forgave her, mainly due to her gift of caffeine.

She cleared her throat and I could tell something was on her mind. She was practically bursting with the need to talk about something.

"What is it, Alice?" I asked testily.

She looked over at me innocently but wisely gave up the ruse when she saw my expression.

"Have you… spoken to Edward yet?"

She studied the carpet as I let out a tired breath. "He came to me last night."

"What?" she gasped as her head popped up. "What does that mean?"

I didn't want to tell her exactly what happened because I knew she would get carried away but I couldn't lie, either. She'd notice and decide to inflict some horrible kind of torture on me, like dragging me with her to go shopping on Black Friday or something.

Now it was my turn to gasp. Wait a minute.

"Alice Cullen, what time is it?"

Alice averted her eyes again and this time studied my lamp. I looked over to the window and saw it was still pitch black out.

"Alice."

She looked up at me with such a desperate expression that I almost felt bad. Almost.

"But you know it's the most important day to me!"

"Why can't you take Rosalie?" I huffed, knowing I was going to lose anyway.

Alice snorted. "She won't be able to pry herself from Emmett that long. And they went home earlier, anyway."

"What about Jasper?"

"You know how he feels about shopping…. It's his one flaw. Plus, he has that gig later on."

I sighed. "You know, sometimes I really hate being your friend."

Then Alice's face lit up and I knew it was worth a day of inexplicable misery to see that expression. "But it's the times you love that count! Thank you so much, Bella!"

I muttered a "whatever" and somehow found the strength to stand. I looked over at the digital alarm clock and saw 5:30 in red. I glared over at her and she shrugged sheepishly. Bitch.

I put one leg in my jeans as she said nonchalantly, "So. You never explained how you came to speak with Edward."

My eyes clenched with frustration. I should have known she wouldn't be distracted that easily.

"I woke up and he was here. He asked me to have dinner with him tonight."

Suddenly Alice was in front of me, practically doing jumping-jacks. "Are you serious?! That's amazing! Oh my, God we must get you something gorgeous for you to wear tonight."

"Please, Alice, don't start," I groaned.

"Sorry, sorry," she said hurriedly. "I just… I'm happy. I'm sorry, I just am. I hope he got himself together."

"He's probably going to reiterate what a mistake it was and ask me not to come over anymore because the sight of me makes him want to spew intestine."

Alice's beautiful face scrunched up in disgust. "Okay, first of all- ew. Second of all, you're as dumb as Edward sometimes. He wouldn't invite you out to dinner to tell you that stuff."

"Whatever, let me go get changed and we'll go." I was tired of having this back and forth crap.

Ten minutes later I was dressed and ready to go. Jeans and a sweatshirt seemed ideal to me but apparently not to my best friend, who was wearing a pretty dress. I ignored Alice's sigh and put-out look as I threw on my coat.

"Do you do it on purpose, Bella?"

I laughed. "Sometimes."

She smirked but tried to hide it as she walked out to her car. "Let's go, Bella. We need to get you some new clothes before somebody sends you on 'What Not To Wear'."

That stopped me in my tracks. "You wouldn't dare."

"Stacy and Clinton might be able to offer you better insight than I can," she said innocently, as though she didn't know the rage and fear she were invoking.

I silently got into the passenger seat and ignored her grin of triumph.

Shopping was as interesting an experience as always. Alice insisted that she buy me a couple of things, despite my complaining. I liked what she bought me, however, though I'd never tell her that. She also bought me some nice lingerie at the end of our adventure that made me roll my eyes.

"I don't have anyone to show that to, Alice."

She rolled her eyes back at me and handed the lady her credit card. "Sometimes you just have to wear it for yourself."

Hours later, I had a throbbing headache and numb legs.

"Thanks so much for coming with me, Bella!" Alice chirped, hopping up and down so violently that she shook the car. She sped into her driveway and grinned at me.

I followed her into the house warily, clutching about ten bags in my hands. Thankfully, Jasper was standing right inside and took a great deal of them from me.

Alice had disappeared somewhere upstairs to put some of her new purchases on for Jasper.

"I don't think Jasper cares about what you bought," a beautiful voice called out from upstairs.

I heard Alice's answering snort and then I saw Edward at the top of the stairs. His eyes immediately found mine and our gaze held as he descended.

"Hey," he said softly.

I bit my lip to stop myself from inexplicably screeching out "I love you" or something and muttered a "hey" back.

The hallway was tense and I was beginning to wish I'd taken up Alice's offer of joining her. Just as I was about to make an awkward escape, Jasper cleared his throat.

"I better go help her. There's always at least twenty things she buys that have zipper issues."

Edward and I laughed politely.

And then we were alone.

I stared at the picture of a younger Emmett, Edward, and Alice hanging on the wall. Next to it was a picture of Alice and me under their tree in the front lawn.

"You haven't changed much," Edward laughed, nodding at the picture.

I smiled. "Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

His smile faded. "Good. Very good."

I eyed him questioningly but was interrupted by a big crashing sound coming from upstairs in Alice's room.

"BELLA?!" Alice screeched from upstairs. "I NEED YOUR HELP. JASPER DOESN'T UNDERSTAND THE SUBTLETIES OF COLOR!"

Edward burst out laughing and I just shook my head at the ceiling. "Where did your sister come from?"

"We're still trying to figure that out," Edward joked back. "You better get up there before she has another clothing-induced panic attack."

I nodded and smiled shyly. "Okay."

As grateful as I was to Alice for helping me avert an incredibly embarrassing situation, I felt empty and disappointed as I walked away from him. I also felt terribly insecure; he hadn't mentioned the dinner again. Did he forget? Change his mind? Come to his senses?

As uncomfortable as I was with it all, I really did want to talk to him. I felt like we couldn't just leave this as it was. This kind of weirdness would stick with us our whole lives if we didn't get it straight. I loved Edward, and even if he didn't love me back, I still wanted him to be a part of my life.

"Bella?" he called softly, pulling me out of my thoughts.

I looked at him over my shoulder.

"Don't forget about dinner tonight. I'll be knocking on Alice's door at 7:30." His expression was unfathomable but there was no denying his smoldering eyes or the way his lips parted.

I nodded and then ran the rest of the way up the stairs. My heart was pounding as I walked into Alice's closet. Jasper was sitting in the corner, his face in his hands.

"Bella, explain to Jasper why I can't mix patterns. Honestly, Jazz, even BELLA understands these kinds of things!"

She looked over at me and I must have still been in my daze because her words sounded like muddled vibrations with no meaning.

"Bella?"

I blinked.

"Bella?!"

Alice's panicking voice broke through to me.

"Sorry, what?"

Alice shook her head and muttered "unbelievable" under her breath. "Forget it, Bella. Jazz, get out. Bella and I have things to discuss."

Jasper looked like he had just met Jesus with the way he was smiling and practically dancing out of the room.

Sighing, Alice looked over at me. "Sometimes I wonder about him."

I laughed. "What do you want to talk about?"

Alice got that mischievous sparkle in her eye. "You ensemble choices for tonight."

"Well, I guess I could use all the help I could get," I sighed honestly.

Alice looked like she was having a conniption. Her eye twitched and she stared at me in disbelief.

"What is it?" I asked, truly alarmed. Had I unknowingly stepped on her Prada bag again? I looked around in fear.

"Did… Bella… Swan just give me free reign over her fashion choices?"

I moaned and rubbed my face. "Just for tonight."

What the hell was I getting myself into? All rationality had officially left me somewhere along the lines.

Alice's face lit up and she jumped- literally jumped in the air- with joy. "Oh, honey, that's all I need! This is so exciting! Let me go get my camera! Ah!"

She practically pushed me to the ground as she flew past me. I let myself sink into her dresses.

What have I done?

I glanced nervously at the clock.

"Stop it, Bella."

"What?" I asked innocently, staring back at Alice in the mirror's reflection.

"You keep looking at the time. You're making it go slower than it has to."

I sighed and closed my eyes as Alice continued to tease out the knots in my hair. I smiled as I listened to her mumble "what does she do to it?" and "I think I just found a penny" as she furiously worked to make me into a model for the night.

"I wonder if we should change you back into the blue dress," Alice said, more to herself than me.

"I like the black."

"Well, of course you like the black! It's not that daring!"

I snorted. "Look at how low the top is."

"Oh, get over it, Bella," Alice groaned, rolling her eyes. "This is fashion. If you want to go out tonight looking like a dumpy farmer than by all means but you gave me permission to work my magic and until you run away screaming that's what I shall do."

"Fine," I sighed, feeling bad. "I don't mean to sound ungrateful."

"I'm used to it," Alice said, smirking. "Do you want to try on the blue dress again or are you more comfortable in the black?"

"I'll stay in this," I said.

"You're not just being lazy, are you?" she asked suspiciously.

"No."

She didn't look like she believed me but she let it go. "I'm leaving your hair down. Don't let it drop into your food like you always do."

I tried to keep my eyes from rolling since she could see my reflection. Slowly… slyly… I glanced over at the clock.

I felt my shoulders sag. It was only 6:57.

"I'm going to rip your eyeballs out with bobby pins."

I giggled and she joined in. We quickly shut up when we heard a firm but soft knock at the door.

"Yeah?" Alice called out, elbowing me painfully with her sharp bone as her eyebrows danced up and down suggestively.

"Stop it," I hissed. "You're hurting me!"

"It's Edward. Is Bella ready yet? I thought maybe we could go early…."

"No, Edward, she's not ready yet. You'll just have to wait."

I heard him sigh and then shuffle off. Alice turned to my reflection and quirked an eyebrow.

"I am going to murder you!" I whispered. "I am ready. You're just being psycho and doing the same thing over and over again."

"Lesson number one… never give them what they want. He said 7:30 and now he has to stick to it."

I stared back at her silence for a few moments until I stood and ripped the brush from her hand. "You're delusional."

"And you're nervous. Sit down and calm down. It's just my asshole brother."

I scowled at her but plopped down on her bed.

She skipped over and sat next to me, ignoring the dirty look I shot her. "What will you do if he tries to kiss you?"

My heart practically burst in my chest at the prospect and the involuntary mental image that popped up in my head. Then I was forced to face reality. "Alice…. Get a grip."

"It's possible."

"It's as possible as Emmett becoming a vegetarian."

Alice's nose crinkled. "That's not fair, Bella. Emmett is a carnivore."

We laughed at that and then we heard another knock, this time slightly more insistent.

"What?" Alice called out.

"It's Edward, again. I can hear you two talking."

I nearly fainted. Alice's face matched my own panicked one; had he heard us talking about the possible kiss?

"So what?" Alice asked, her voice trying to sound confident but breaking anyway.

"So I know you're not helping her get ready anymore. I'm hungry!"

"For your information, Eddie, we're talking as we work. Girls can multi-task." She shot me a grin but I was still having a heart attack.

He groaned in frustration and stomped off.

"Now you're just being ridiculous."

She chuckled and stood up. "Let's apply some more lip-gloss."

"I hate lip-gloss," I muttered moodily. "My hair gets stuck to it."

"Deal. It's one of those things women put up with… like how they never have the size of the shoe you want or how you get your period on the weekend your boyfriend takes you away."

I pouted as she smeared on the clear gloss.

"There!" she shouted. "Perfect."

Another knock at the door caused us to jump. "I just heard you go 'there!'. You must be done."

"Ugh, what am I going to do with you?!" Alice hissed as she hopped up and ripped the door open. I nearly gasped at the sight; Edward was wearing a blue button-up with the sleeves casually rolled up to below his elbows. Dark jeans hugged his hips and flowed out on his strong legs. His hair was messy and yet somehow perfect. The slow little burst of confidence I'd been feeling fizzled out. "You're so impatient," Alice sighed, rolling her eyes and walking back over to me.

Edward looked back at her unapologetically as his eyes twinkled. "You know how I get violent when I'm hungry."

His eyes slowly made their way over to me and widened when they met mine. They kissed each curve, each line of my body. There was something so… erotic in his gaze. Alice elbowed me (again) and shot me a look that said "What did I tell ya?" She was turning into a grandmother over night.

Again, his eyes made their journey back up until they met mine again. Then something happened I had never witnessed before. Edward blushed.

"We better get going…," he mumbled, turning on his heel and practically running downstairs without a second look.

"What the hell was that about?" I asked Alice as I slipped my foot into a shoe.

Alice smiled wistfully at the empty doorway. "Edward never could handle his appetite."

The car ride was… interesting, to say the least.

Edward made small talk- about the weather, of all things. Renee once told me that as soon as a date started talking about the weather, it was time to get the bill. But this was Edward. I knew he didn't think the weather was a suitable topic; he was just nervous. He probably wasn't looking forward to this talk anymore than I was.

We walked into a dimly lit Italian restaurant with an overly enthusiastic staff. As the flirtatious hostess led us to our corner booth, Alice's words came back to me. If Edward was truly repulsed by me, he wouldn't be taking me to an expensive, fancy restaurant. He wouldn't be taking me out at all.

The waiter came over immediately and Edward ordered us wine. I was a little hesitant to drink anything alcoholic, what with how things ended up the last time, but I couldn't resist when Edward poured me a generous glass and winked at me.

"Try it," Edward said charmingly. "Taste as it literally trickles down like silk."

Something dangerous but altogether delicious was dancing in Edward's eyes as he whispered this. I followed his directions and took a big sip.

"Close your eyes," he whispered, his delicious breath mixing with the aroma of the wine.

My eyes shut as I tasted the wine. I opened my mouth to say something to him but stopped with I felt a finger massaging my lower lip. My eyes popped open and I felt myself staring into Edward's, now dark and pooled with something foreign and hungry.

I was beginning to get what Alice was talking about when she mentioned something about Edward's "appetite".

Edward continued to rub my lip, coating it with some spilled wine.

"How did it taste?" he asked huskily.

I exhaled onto his finger and I could have sworn he shivered. "Delicious."

As though I'd breathed fire onto his flesh, Edward snapped his arm back. He cleared his throat and murmured a "good" as he picked up his laminated menu.

After a few moments of silence, he cleared his throat again. "How was shopping with Alice?"

I blinked at the strange topic but said "fine" anyway.

The waiter came back and we placed our orders. Then the awkwardness really set in.

Against my better judgment, I tossed the rest of the wine in my mouth and held out a hand for Edward so he could fill it up again.

He arched an eyebrow at me but said nothing.

I took another big sip and then decided that the warmth flowing through my body was enough; I could handle this now. "So you wanted to talk."

Edward sighed and stared at the tablecloth. "I owe you an explanation."

"Damn right you do." Maybe I had a little too much "courage".

Edward looked at me and cracked a grin. "You're cute when you're tipsy."

My eyes narrowed. "Don't change the subject, Cullen."

He nodded and ran a hand through his hair, messing it up even more. It looked delectable.

"I can't really explain it except to say that… well, the sex complicated matters. I was feeling slightly caveman without a right to."

My heart was pounding at a ridiculous rate. Briefly I wondered how embarrassing it would be if I were to pass out at the table. "You were?" I asked softly, despite my inner turmoil.

Edward's eyes, greener than ever, met mine. "Yes. I'm sorry. Even so, Jacob's not right for you."

"How can you say that?" I scoffed. "He's just a friend, anyway."

"Regardless," Edward muttered, waving his hand at me in a dismissive way.

"Wait a minute," I said, my voice getting louder, "you have no claim to me. You're not allowed to be saying this to me."

Edward looked me over for a moment. "You're right. I'm sorry."

Our dinner arrived then and thankfully Edward shut up.

"So why were you acting caveman?" I asked.

Edward shrugged. "The lines got blurred."

I opened my mouth to respond but then my cell went off. "Sorry, just let me see who it is."

"No problem," Edward smiled.

I whipped my phone out and saw Jacob was calling. "Oh, it's Jake," I said to myself.

I heard what could only be described as a growl come from Edward. "Please, by all means… answer."

I looked up at him and was startled at the barely-contained rage evident on his face. "What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing," he scoffed, "I just think it's rude."

"Are you kidding me right now?" I asked in disbelief.

Edward just played with his food. I was tempted to throw my fork at him or my glass of wine or start shouting and humiliate him but I decided to take the high road. I was so tired of his shit. I thought the dinner was going to resolve it, but things weren't working out as I'd hoped.

I threw my napkin on the table and slid out as gracefully as possible- which was quite difficult for me, I assure you- and stood.

Edward blinked up at me and then looked back across from him, as though he couldn't understand why I wasn't sitting down.

"I've pretty much had enough of you, Edward. You have sex with me and then ditch me, which is fine because we never really had anything. But it still hurt when you ignored me, and when you insulted me, and when you were downright mean to me. All this time I've been beating myself up, blaming myself for getting us into this situation. I've been blaming myself for how you've been acting, like I did something wrong. But I haven't. We wouldn't be in this situation if it weren't for you. And now you take me out tonight and tell me who I can and cannot associate with? Where do you get off?"

Edward threw his fork down and the harsh clattering sound made me wince. I looked around self-consciously and now saw we had an audience. That didn't stop Edward.

"For you information, Bella, none of this is my fault. At all. If you want to know the truth, you threw yourself at me. I wasn't that hard up to make love to you."

Immediately after he said that, Edward looked apologetic as he stood. "Bella… that came out wrong. I'm sorry. What I meant to say was-"

"Stop it," I whispered, feeling miserable. My stomach was screaming and I felt like any minute I was going to throw up linguini on the red carpet. "I don't want to hear anything else." Everything was quiet around us. It felt like we were frozen in that moment and nothing would be remotely the same again. Edward looked like he realized this, too.

"Let me say what I need to before it gets out of-"

"If you say one more word I'm going to throw up." I didn't want to admit my weakness but I wanted to give him fair warning; it was the truth.

Edward looked panicky. "Bella, seriously, I-"

But I walked away before he could finish. I ran outside into the pouring rain and nearly laughed at my life; it really was a movie.

I ran down a block and then slipped into a dark café. I'd left my cell phone in the restaurant so I ran over to a barely-functioning phone booth and dialed Alice's number collect.

"Bella? What's wrong?" she asked when the operator put us through.

"I'm at Rose's Café. Please come get me," I said in a small voice.

"I'll kill him," she growled. "I'm on my way. Don't move."

I ordered a coffee to keep up appearances and sat in a dark corner until Alice raced in ten minutes later, looking the worst I'd ever seen her. She wasn't even wearing make-up, a major no-no for Alice.

She spotted me immediately and ran over to me. "Oh, Bella…," she whispered, sitting across from me. "Edward called me and told me everything."

I watched the steam rise from my coffee. "So now you know."

"Bella… it doesn't make what he said any better but I think he meant it in 'I didn't rape you' rather than 'I didn't want to have sex with you'."

But I wasn't listening. Edward had just come into the café, glancing around frantically as he dripped all over the hardwood floor.

"Ugh, I told him to wait," Alice groaned, putting her head in her hands.

"What is he doing here, Alice?" I hissed.

"He just wanted to explain… I thought-"

"I don't want to see him."

Alice nodded quickly and then scurried over to Edward, who apparently had just spotted us. They argued quietly for a moment before Alice practically pushed him out. She turned around to me and eyed me with pity. Great.

"He won't bother us anymore; he's headed home."

"Maybe I should spend the night with Jake," I suggested half-heartedly.

"Uh… no, you shouldn't. You're coming back with me."

I just nodded and then let Alice lead me out into the ran for the second time that night.

Sorry to disappoint everyone who thought they were getting back together during the dinner! PFFT that would be way too soon.

My question is this: do you want this all to be resolved now or would you mind if we went on a few more chapters? More asshole Edward would be on the way, then, just as a warning. Because I love drama & angst, I planned on another big asshole Edward moment but everyone is impatient to see our duo together. I don't know how believable it would be for them right now... but it's up to you.