Author Note:

Thanks again for all your great reviews! I have to slightly apologize for this chapter, there is some info dump in here, though I have tried my best to work it into the story. There was no way around it, but I did try to make it as interesting as possible.

Obviously, we are still getting all the background information, but after a few more chapters, all that should be mostly out of the way, and we can get cracking on the main plot line, which I must confess, has yet to be revealed. I'm a wordy writer, what can I say?

I've fixed the links in my profile, please check them again, and be sure to look at the picture of Rosalie's R32. This is an amazing car, people. My words can only describe it so well. For the full impact, you need to see a visual.

Thanks again to my wonderful beta Tamelaine, who bravely tells me again and again that I shouldn't start a sentence with "and" or "but" no matter how much I'd like to.

As always, these characters belong to Stephenie Meyer, and please read and review. Your reviews keep me writing!

APOV

I remembered that day as if it were yesterday.

Rosalie hadn't come home after school and I'd been really surprised.

Neither of us liked Forks or high school, but it seemed to be harder for Rosalie than for me. Being so beautiful seemed to force a wedge between Rose and the community. Everyone admired her, some of the men in the town nearly worshipped her, but despite her outgoing nature, nobody ever seemed to get close to Rosalie. Nobody except for me. I was her cousin and her confidante, but most of all I was her best friend. I was a year younger, but that never mattered. Ever since the tragedy of Rose's parents, we'd been inseparable.

I'd known that her initial encounter with Emmett Cullen had thrown her for a loop, and I didn't blame her one bit. The man was gorgeous and his brothers weren't half bad either. Especially the middle one--Jasper. He had the kind of golden blond, slightly bookish looks that I liked. Not that I had ever spoken to him. The Cullen family, it appeared, thought a lot of themselves, and with the exception of the slightly more outgoing Emmett, didn't intend to interact with much of Forks.

Not that I blamed them. I remembered all to clearly when we'd first moved to Forks, and Rosalie and I had been completely dismayed by our lack of options. We'd grown used to it over the last five years, but I could see why the Cullens pushed everyone away. They were probably still trying to preserve their sanity.

I'd known that Rose must have been with Emmett, but her face when she came home still shocked me.

In all the years I'd known Rosalie, I'd never seen her look like that. Her skin, which was gorgeous anyway, glowed with an inner light. Her eyes sparkled and she couldn't stop smiling.

I was stunned and more than a little jealous. I wanted to look like that. I wanted a guy to look at me as more than just Rosalie Hale's little kid sister, who was too short and too skinny and too flat to be of any interest.

But as soon as the thought crossed my mind, I knew it was wrong for me to be envious. Rosalie deserved to glow that way. More than anyone else I knew, Rose needed to be happy. Losing her parents at such a young age had been understandably tough on her, though she tried to hide it. Growing up so fantastically beautiful certainly hadn't helped either.

She still deserved that kind of happiness, I thought as I watched her out of the corner of my eye. Except I hadn't seen her glow since high school. Since Emmett Cullen.

I took a quick look at Bella, who was picking at threads on the chair upholstery, trying to be invisible again. It was a habit I'd long tried to break her of. She was a beautiful, amazing woman, and I wished that she'd just realize it and stop trying to hide. She'd gained a lot of confidence in college and after college, but it was always during unsure moments like these that Bel tended to retreat into her quiet, shy shell.

Looking back over at Rosalie, I felt a wave of sympathy. She looked emotionally drained and I couldn't blame her. She'd never gotten over Emmett, and seeing him today must have been a horrible shock.

"So," I tried to ask as casually as possible, as if I weren't incredibly interested in her answer, "how did you run into them?"

"They came to me," Rosalie replied shortly, apparently annoyed that we were still discussing this. "Apparently they found my name in the realtors' directory and decided to use me for 'old time's sake.'"

"Emmett did?" I was more than a little surprised at that. He didn't seem to be the type that would come crawling back nearly seven years later.

"No. It was Edward. Emmett was just as surprised to see me as I was to see him." Rosalie scowled and I knew I would have paid money to be a fly on the wall during that encounter. Emmett and Rosalie had always had such an emotionally charged relationship, and seven years apparently hadn't cooled it down any.

"Edward?" I questioned. I was being deliberately obtuse, hoping to finally drag it out of her.

"Yes," Rosalie ground out. "Their younger brother. You know exactly who Edward Cullen is, so stop pretending that you don't, you'll just make me angry again." From her voice I could tell exactly what she thought of Edward, both then and now.

So obviously Emmett had been there, and Edward, but what about Jasper? I wasn't sure I could trust myself to ask, even as I berated myself for still caring so much all these years later. He certainly wasn't caring a torch, I thought. There was no reason to be so worked about it.

"Jasper was there too. It's written all over your face, Alice." Rosalie's voice was merely resigned at this point.

"I got a call late yesterday asking if I had some time first thing this morning to speak to a group of entrepreneurs about finding a location for their new business. I naturally agreed, had my secretary take down the information, and didn't think anything more about it. It wasn't until the Cullen brothers showed up in my office this morning that I realized what had happened."

"Are you taking their account?" Bella spoke up for the first time, keeping her question both neutral in tone and in subject, and smartly, I observed, switching over from personal matters to those that were purely professional in nature.

Rosalie sighed. "I don't know. It would be a big coup for me. I've been trying to move away from residential, and this would help, but I honestly don't know if I can work with him."

Both Bella and I noticed she'd said him, not them. So Emmett was clearly the problem, not the rest of the Cullen family.

"So don't," Bella suggested. "Work with Edward and Jasper. Easy solution."

"But it looks so. . .unprofessional and cowardly. I don't want him to think I can't face him. It was seven years ago. I'm sure he could care less if we work together."

Somehow I doubted it. I also desperately wished that I could get a non-biased, analysis of Emmett's behavior today out of Rosalie. Of course, that was reaching for the stars, but it still would have been nice to know if he had been as affected as Rose clearly was. Coming from a completely objective third party, I'd have to say yes.

Bella spoke up again and I sent her a quick look of gratitude. "I think you should try, Rose. You're so strong, and no matter how he hurt you, it's not worth giving up an excellent business contact."

I wasn't sure if Bella's advice was purely business, especially from the gleam in her eye, but I could hardly argue with her. Maybe a miracle could happen and Rosalie could at least recover enough to finally move onto someone else, and she could stop dating jerks. Even though all my friends thought I was the most optimistic person they knew, I'd long since given up hope of a reconciliation between Emmett and Rose. They were far too pig-headed and proud to ever consider admitting they'd made a mistake.

Of course, Bella didn't know the circumstances of their breakup. Rose had been careful to keep any knowledge of Emmett from her, and I was forbidden from mentioning the Cullen brothers, which was fine by me. I didn't want anyone to know that I'd been carrying a torch for stupid Jasper, who couldn't even be bothered to kiss me once, seven years ago.

Rosalie nodded slowly. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt. And they'll probably do very well. They showed me their business model and I wouldn't be surprised if they ended up extraordinarily successful. Dr. Cullen lent them the start-up money, of course, but it's more than that. It's like they have the three parts that they'd need in that type of business."

"What kind of business?" Bella's voice was deceptively calm. I could see the wheels turning in her head, and if Rosalie hadn't been so blessedly distracted, Bel couldn't have hidden it

"Car modification. Designing mods, installing them, that kind of thing. They'll need a large warehouse, and shop area, as well as administrative offices. Emmett is, of course, the head mechanic and designer. Jasper's degree is in drafting and engineering, so he'll work on the manufacturing side. Edward has the head for business. They'll be a good team. It would be stupid of me not to sign on at the ground floor."

Bella nodded. "Of course. And you're a very smart businesswoman and realtor, Rosalie. They'd be crazy not to nab you."

"That's exactly what Edward said," Rose sighed, "as if it changes anything."

"It does. This is just business. Your past with Emmett is personal. The two don't have to mix."

I watched with fascination as Bella totally took on Rosalie. If I hadn't known that she had some other agenda, I'd have believed her completely, and it looked as if Rose was close to doing just that.

Rosalie's eyes swiveled over to me and I carefully kept my expression blank. I didn't want my reaction to influence what Bella was trying to do. Whatever it was Bella was trying to do. As soon as Rose left the room, I was going to hold Bel hostage until she told me.

"What do you think, Alice?"

"I think you should go for it. You've let him hold you back so many times, just for once, you should be able to do something in spite of him." I let confidence and my natural bubbly enthusiasm seep into my tone, all the while hoping that my answer wasn't too bluntly honest for Rose. Emmett had held her back. She'd been a different person after their affair had ended. Cold and hard and so bitter.

But right now Rosalie looked soft and vulnerable, her eyes still a little puffy from her earlier tears, her mouth drooping slightly, and the lines of emotional stress and pain clearly evident on her face.

"You should go to bed, sweetheart," I said, walking over to her and wrapping my arms tightly around her shoulders. "You look worn out."

"I am," Rosalie nodded in agreement, "I'll see you guys in the morning, then." She threw one more quick look of thanks at Bella, then trudged off to her bedroom, her heels making echoing clicks on the hardwood floor.

I waited until I heard the bedroom door click close behind Rosalie, and then the words just exploded out of my mouth.

"What are you doing Bel! You do realize that this could backfire in so many ways."

Bella laughed, and I couldn't tell if it was with me or at me. "Silly. I'm not up to anything. I really think this is a great opportunity for Rose."

I didn't believe her at all. There was a mischievous, almost defiant, look in her dark eyes that told me she wasn't being completely straightforward.

"You know that you're lying. I know you're lying. Just tell me," I begged quietly. Bella couldn't do anything without me knowing first, she might run into Jasper and then everything would hit the fan.

Bella leaned back in the chair and eyed me speculatively, as she dropped a bomb in my lap. "First you tell me about Jasper. I want the whole story."

I gaped. "No, no, no. You don't need to hear that."

Bella just looked at me, one eyebrow quirked.

"There's nothing to tell," I protested.

"Methinks the lady doth protest too much," Bella sang with the most infuriating smug smile on her face.

"Fine," I ground out, "I'll tell you. But I promise that really, nothing happened."

Bella knew me all too well and her mobile features were instantly sympathetic. "Oh, Alice. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have tried to pry it out of you."

Was it so painfully obvious that I'd wanted something to happen between us that badly?

"No, you were right to," I pressed on, "I know I'm not as brave as Rosalie. I like to avoid unpleasant things. Not that Jasper is unpleasant. . ."

"That nothing happened is unpleasant," Bella finished. I sighed. She knew me so well.

Seven years earlier

A week later and Rosalie's glow had simply grown, despite that very little had happened between her and Emmett in the interim.

At least that's what I thought until I was very rudely awoken at 3 in the morning by a panicked scream. I sat up abruptly in bed, and immediately tried to figure out where the offensive noise had come from. It had been quite close. . .almost next door. . .and I knew instantly where. Rosalie's room.

I climbed out of bed and flung myself into the hallway, moving as fast as my short legs would go, panic and adrenaline rushing through me.

Rosalie's door was open, and the light was on. My mother stood in the middle of the room, and she was staring at Rose's empty bed.

I had a very dualistic reaction. On one hand, I was thrilled for Rosalie that she was able to sneak out. She must be with Emmett. How romantic.

On the other hand, I was furious with her for getting caught. If I ever wanted to sneak out in the future, it would be next to impossible now. Rose had put my parents on high alert.

Mom turned around and the expression on her face warred between fear and anger.

"Where is your sister?" she hissed at me.

"I. . .I. . .I have no idea. I didn't know she was going out." Obviously, Rose had decided not to tell me due to this possibility. If I'd known, she knew I would have simply spit it out. I was a terrible liar. But since I didn't know, I couldn't tell. Smart Rosalie. Of course, I didn't need psychic powers to know she was with Emmett.

My mother glowered at the dark figure behind me and I turned to see my father in the doorway.

"Frank, she's gone," she said, her voice small and all of a sudden, not angry, but mostly scared.

"She hasn't taken any of her stuff," I reassured her. "She'll be back."

"Unless you can tell me where she went, I don't want to hear it, Alice," Dad snapped. I could hear the stress and worry and see it written in his body language.

We were good kids, both of us, and neither Rosalie nor I had ever done anything really bad before. This didn't mean that my parents didn't spend a good portion of their time worrying that we would. And I knew that Rose came with more cause to worry, due to her stupendous looks and her craving for speed.

I crossed my arms over my chest and let a pout sneak onto my face. It served them right that they hadn't asked me who Rosalie could be with. I didn't have to volunteer the information. Let them figure it out on their own.

Dad left the room, abruptly and I knew he was checking the garage. I heard the door open and close again. He came back up the stairs.

"The R32's in the garage still. She would never leave it behind." He sighed and ran a hand through his dark hair.

My mother turned to me again, the fear and anger both still present in her gray eyes. "Alice, go to bed. We'll stay up to wait for Rosalie to come home. You have school tomorrow, you'll need your rest."

I bit back the reply that Rosalie also had school tomorrow and she was obviously not in bed. That wouldn't have helped matters any.

I sulkily marched back to my bedroom and curled back under the covers. It was a cold night in Forks and I wondered what Rosalie and Emmett were up to. Mental images assaulted my still sleep-addled brain and I immediately wished I'd never thought that. Maybe I didn't want to know what they were doing together on such a cold night.

Still, I had to admit that Rosalie had a style and a swagger that I envied. I was the enthusiastic, cheerful, bubbly one. Accompanying that particular group of traits seemed to be the automatic, "good girl" label as well. I had never done anything to change that fact, and I wasn't sure I wanted to. Rosalie, on the other hand, would never let a small stupid thing such as rules to get in her way. She saw what she wanted and took it, in a brash and confident way that I couldn't help but wish I could emulate.

Except, of course, in instances like this one where she was very likely to get in trouble and even more likely to get grounded.

I tried to stay awake for awhile, hoping I'd hear when Rosalie came home, but all I could hear was the faint whispering of my parents, who were obviously sitting in Rosalie's room. Unfortunately it'd been a long day for me, capped off by a rather long twilight jog, and so I was tired. I fell asleep long before Rose showed up.

The next morning, Rose was already sitting at the kitchen table when I came downstairs. The atmosphere was tense and I could tell that my parents were both furious with her. But Rose seemed oblivious. Instead she couldn't seem to wipe the smile off her face.

Trust Rose to gloat over her good fortune even as she was in the crapper with my parents.

Finally, my dad snapped. "I don't see what's worth smiling over Rose. You're grounded from now until the end of the next millennium."

She kept on smiling, and I figured that if Emmett was good enough to be worth all this trouble, then he must be pretty fantastic indeed.

"What about me?" I asked, keeping my tone light and casual.

"What about you?" My dad asked, his voice getting louder. "Did you do something too that you deserve to be grounded for? If so, then I don't want to hear it. Not right now, anyway."

"No, no," I laughed, "I haven't done anything. I just wanted to know if Rose can still hang out with me."

My parents exchanged worried looks. This was a problem they had run into before. Having two girls in the same house who were best friends seemed to eliminate the true nature of grounding. Add to that living in Forks and there not being any worthwhile place to go in the city limits, and grounding pretty much took on a useless dimension.

"Well," my mother started, her brow furrowed, "I suppose it's impossible to stop you from seeing each other. You do live in the same house."

Rosalie snuck a surreptitious glance in my direction, and I could read it as well as if she'd spoken out loud. She was grateful for my timely intervention. I should have known that she was more upset than she let on. Finishing my cereal in a few big bites, I got up from the table and shot Rosalie a look of my own. She shot up from the table and grabbed her purse.

"Okay, we're off to school." Her falsely cheerful voice echoed throughout the yellow and white kitchen, and we were both out the door, climbing into Rose's R32 before either parent could emit a word.

As soon as the car left the driveway, I turned to Rosalie and pounced.

"You HAVE to tell me everything, Rosalie Hale!" I bounced excitedly up and down on the seat, only to have Rose shoot me a glare.

"You're going to ruin my seats," she whined, "the springs will never be the same."

"I don't care about your damn seats. I want to know where you went last night."

Rose smiled mischievously. "Don't you want to know who I was with?"

"As if I didn't know! Come on, Rose, tell me everything," I begged unrepentantly. "I have no life, so I have to live vicariously through yours."

"I don't know. . ." Rosalie said, smiling again, but this was almost as if she had a special secret she wanted to gloat over. Which she obviously did.

"Please?" I tried one last ditch effort, hoping I could someone convince Rose to divulge why her bed had been empty at three in the morning.

Rosalie finally shook her head, almost regretfully. "It's not that I don't trust you, Alice, and I do want to tell you, but . . .I want it to be just. . .my memory for now. Mine and Emmett's." She blushed as she said his name, and my jaw dropped. I'd never ever seen Rosalie blush before.

She pulled into the Forks High School parking lot a little too fast, and gravel flew as she skidded into a parking spot.

"Now," she said, turning to me, flush forgotten. "You have to help me find a way out of being grounded."