Author's Note: Tomorrow is my birthday, thus I am going to post this chapter tonight…my birthday present to all of you. I'm not sure if/when I'll be on tomorrow, so I wanted to get it out early. Plus side, things are going to change quickly after this chapter for you impatient ones. Instead of making us all suffer through what happens in this chapter over the course of several, I rolled it all up into one with a big timespan. It's a short chapter, but with all that happens, it seems longer than it really is.

Wednesday I will post chapter 6, along with the long awaited EPOV you guys have been theorizing over. Some of you have been guessing right all along, and others will be surprised I think. I'm excited for you guys to read it. A big thanks to AgoodWITCH for her beta work on all these chapters and got the EPOV's back to me in just a few hours. For now…on to this chapter. Also a short lived angst warning for this chapter...see...I'm trying to be nice here...LOL

Before I knew it, Emmett was knocking on my door singing Jingle BELLS, his favorite holiday song to razz me with since I was born, more or less, bringing me my share of the Final's Week Care Package Mom had sent us. My first semester of college had flown by in a nasty little ball of stressed nerves, annoyed frustration, and strained brotherly relationships, and now I was anxiously cramming for finals, trying hard to focus while my attentions were split.

Things were cool with Edward and me for a week or so after we made up, but then they all went south again when he met Tanya in one of his music appreciation courses soon after. Edward had been all about the causal thing until Tanya and then all of a sudden he had a steady girlfriend. That was bad enough, but what made it worse, was that she was a bitchy, jealous steady girlfriend that really hated my close relationship with my step brother. Suddenly my time with Edward dropped to next to nothing, thanks to the raging bitch bot.

Thankfully, Emmett was on my side. He and Rosalie couldn't stand the skank either, but our opinions did nothing to sway Edward. It only took about three weeks before she had him so wound around her pinky that he only really talked to me in our shared classes and hardly even then. He did still email and text to check up on me, though. I knew he still cared, but I didn't get any of my Edward/Bella bonding time, and I really missed it. It definitely made me miss the days of the Forks harem.

The only time Edward paid much attention to me outside of our daily electronic check ins was about three weeks before Thanksgiving, when I started dating Riley. I had gone to a few parties at SAE with Jake between study sessions and behind my brothers' backs, and made out with a few guys while I was at it, but I never really started dating anyone before that point. Riley was a super nice, super cute guy who was all nerdy and academically focused like me. I know, right? A super cute nerdy guy? It's like winning the lottery while being struck by lightning, but I really did get that lucky.

Riley, on top of being super nice and super cute, was also a super gentleman, which sort of kept us from getting as close as I would have wanted to get. We didn't even spend much time in each other's dorm rooms due to his ultra conservative beliefs. We'd make out and stuff, but we never really got past second base besides a bit of grinding and over the clothes massaging below the belt. Yeah, leave it to me to find a True Love Waits, super cute, super nice geek. I figured it was okay though, I mean, his beliefs were probably a big part of why he was super nice…right? Yeah, I'm still trying to convince myself of that silver lining too.

The most ironic part of it all though, was suddenly my invisible brother became highly visible again for about a week. For a whole seven days, Edward was his typical conspiracy theory touting brother figure who gave my new boyfriend the stink eye. It all came to an end the night Tanya convinced Edward to double with us, not happy with the change in his focus of attention. She flaunted everything she could in Riley's direction on purpose, to show Edward what she had already figured out, Riley was not a threat. By the end of the night, Edward was satisfied that I was safe with the non-sexual one, and disappeared again.

Riley was from somewhere out east, so when Thanksgiving rolled around, I knew he had nowhere to be, not wanting to fly home for the few days for the holiday. This all being so, I asked Mom if I could bring him home to spend the time with us. She was ecstatic, all hyper to meet my first decent boyfriend. Edward, not wanting to be outdone, asked if he could bring Tanya home as well.

Mom was doubly excited, at least until we arrived. Within an hour, my 'love and respect everyone' mother was ready to throw Tanya out on her ear. Even blind as a bat Edward started to see her reaction and began to wake up to what the rest of us had been seeing from the beginning. Tanya was in rare form, even going as far as to try to boss Pop around when he went to go carve the turkey. I couldn't help but feel a little sorry for Edward as the rose colored glasses slid off and he slumped at the table, staring at his plate and wanting to disappear.

I thought for sure that would be the end of the witch. I could tell from the way he was carrying himself that Edward was resigned to end things with Tanya once they got back to school. I'm not sure what happened. I assumed she must be some kind of Jedi Master Mind Trick major or something, but two weeks later, as we inched ever closer to finals, they were still together. Every time I saw Edward, he looked more and more miserable. The bitch had her talons in so deep that she wasn't letting go, even when he was so terribly unhappy. It bothered me to see MY Edward looking so weighed down.

As we finished Dr. Black's last review of the year before finals, I wrote a note to Edward, sliding it across the top of his desk. It had one word: Coffee. He looked over with a sad nod, his eyes looking dull and lifeless. It absolutely made me want to cry. When class ended, I led him to the coffee cart where I bought us both warm black liquid gold before dragging him back into the building to a study room tucked down a back hallway that was rarely used. I shoved him through the door, closing it behind me and tugging him to the corner, hoping we would get to keep our privacy. There had been more people around with finals than had been the whole rest of the year.

"I'm worried about you, Edward. Something is very wrong. Would you please tell me?"

Edward sighed, his shoulders crumpling in on themselves as he leaned his elbows on his spread knees. He stared down at the coffee dangling from his hands between his knees.

"I'm such a fool. I let myself get so wrapped up in Tanya that I didn't let myself see her for who she really was, and now I'm stuck."

My heart pounded in my chest and my eyes stung. He still hadn't said it out loud, but I had a good guess where this was going.

"Thanksgiving was hell. I made up my mind right then that I was going to dump her, but when we got back to school, she pulled me into her room and told me…"

I heard him sniffle and I dropped to the floor in front of him and resting my hand on his arm, begged him without words to look at me. He looked up, his eyes rimmed in red, tears streaking down his face.

"She told me she's pregnant, Bella. I…I don't know what to do…"

I let out a gasp, covering my mouth and letting my tears well in my eyes a second before reaching out to pull Edward into my arms. He sobbed against me, resting his head against my collarbone. I could feel the helplessness pouring from him through his tears.

After he calmed a bit, I shifted myself to sit in the chair next to him, pulling him into my side so he could rest his head on my shoulder and rubbing a soothing hand through his hair. "Edward, are you sure? I mean, has she been to the doctor?"

He sighed, shaking his head. "Why would she lie about this, Bella? She showed me one of those pee stick things and it had the two lines. She's supposed to go to the doctor over break when she goes home so it's in network for her parents' insurance."

I frowned, running my hand down his hair and over his shoulders, as he sighed over and over. "I'm fucked, Bella. Completely and totally fucked!"

I shook my head and thought about everything he had said. Something bugged me. Finally, I moved to make him sit up.

"You know, those tests can be inaccurate. You should have her take another one and then there's always the clinic here on campus. I really think you should make sure you're there when she finds out. Not only will she need you, but I think you need to see it for yourself so it makes it all more real for you."

He sighed, squeezing the bridge of his nose in his fingers and looking like he was in total agony. My heart ached and wept for his pain, but also for the permanent change this would make in my life with him. If Tanya was a permanent fixture, then I would never get My Edward back completely, and I really missed him.

We made small talk as we sat and finished our coffee. Suddenly with all the unwanted pregnancy stuff floating in the air, I was eternally grateful for Riley's puritanical ways. I might be sexually frustrated, but at least I wasn't worrying about maternity clothes and breast feeding.

Two hours later, Edward called me, all stressed out and talking a mile a minute.

"Hold on, Edward! Slow down. I can't understand you. You want me to come up?"

"Is Alice there?" He asked, sounding exasperated.

"No, I'm here alone."

"Can I come down?"

I sighed. "I'll meet you at the elevators."

Less than four minutes later, we were already back in my room, me seated in my chair while Edward paced the room, his hands flailing.

"Could you stop pacing and just tell me what's going on? You're worrying me, E."

Edward sighed, shaking his head. "She's refusing to do anything before seeing her doctor back home. She says a test is a waste of money and she won't go to the impersonal free clinic. I don't know what to think, Bells."

I growled, crossing my arms over my chest and tapping my feet angrily. "She's lying Edward, through her fake capped teeth."

He stopped and looked at me with wide, hopeful eyes. "You really think so?"

I nodded, my lips pursed as I nibbled my lower lip behind them. "NO doubt in my mind, E. It's all a stall maneuver to keep you. Maybe even get herself knocked up to keep you."

He shook his head vehemently. "No, no. Tanya would never do that."

I cocked my eyebrow. "Oh wouldn't she? What exactly did she do to keep you from spending time with me."

He stopped and frowned at me. "We talk all the time. I refused to cut you out of my life."

I shook my head with a scoff. "Edward, you email and text me and see me in class, but when was the last time you just hung out with me? When did you last go eat supper with me, or go see a movie with me, or any of the other millions of things we used to do together all the time? You stopped just shy of cutting me out completely, Bud, and all because Tanya wanted it that way."

Edward leaned against the support pole for Alice's loft, sliding down to sit on the floor, his knees pulled to his chest. "I'm so sorry, Bella. I just got so wrapped up. I didn't know how to…"

His voice drifted off into oblivion before he looked up at me slowly. "But the stick. I've heard there's no such thing as a false positive."

I stood up to go slide onto the floor next to him, taking his shaking hand in mine. "Well, that's not entirely true. Sometimes certain medications can cause a false positive on a pee test and sometimes if you wait too long to read it, it can turn into a false positive. Not only that, but how many pregnant girls do you think are running around this campus right now that'd give their right arm for a couple hundred bucks for peeing on a stick? There are so many ways for a truly resourceful person to manipulate this situation."

He cocked an eyebrow at me as I shook my head and rolled my eyes. "Trust me, even if I wanted to, it'd have to be a guy who believes that the Immaculate Conception will be doing a repeat performance sometime soon. I'm not saying I would do that, I'm just saying it's possible."

We sat in silence for a while before I blew out a breath and asked the question I really didn't want to ask. "Um, have you guys, um, participated in…THAT since Thanksgiving? There's the chance she's trying to hold out until it's a reality…ya know?"

Edward practically choked on his own spit before shaking his head. "No…no I haven't really…um…yeah…no."

I felt my body relax. "Well thank God for small favors. Although, she could still…you know… with someone else and then say it's yours. You'll really need to demand a DNA test…just in case."

Edward sighed, his tears falling again. I sat beside him and cried right along with him.

That was three days ago. After some talk, I convinced Edward to grow a backbone, go buy some tests, and take them to her place. If they're already purchased, then she can't deny him. I armed him with print outs of the info on false positives, and hopefully all the ammo to force her hand. I also warned him to make sure they were alone.

He left my room two hours ago and I had yet to hear anything. So there I sat, up to my elbows in notes for my humanities course, but all I saw when I looked at the paper were random lines and shapes, none of which formed even a word, much less an entire test worthy concept. Every few seconds my eyes would fall to my phone, willing it to ring, but the call never came.

I got up and paced, my hands tugging at my hair, and tears coming to my eyes every time I pictured my Edward being forever tied to the evil witch. I had just completed my fifth circuit when a loud knock came at the door. I opened it to see a widely smiling Edward. He stepped into the room, sweeping me into a big hug and turning us in circles in the small room.

"I should be pissed, but I am too relieved right now to feel it! All three tests were negative. She faked the whole damn thing and then tried to convince me it was proof of how much she loved me! I dumped her ass and ran straight here."

I cried in my relief, tipping on my toes to hug his neck tight. "Oh thank God, Edward! I was so scared for you! I'm so glad you found out the truth!"

He sat me down, smiling down at me, the warmth that had been missing from his eyes for the past two weeks back in spades. He reached forward, wiping my tears away before kissing my forehead.

"Thank you for being there for me, Bella. You've always been the one person I can count on. I was a jackass to cut you out. I'm so sorry."

I sighed, smiling up as I reached out to cup his cheek before landing two soft pats. "That's right and don't you dare do it again!" I sighed. "God, I missed you, E."

He nodded slowly. "I missed you too, so damn much."

I wrapped my arms around his waist and hugged him, reveling in the feeling of being close again. It had been far too long. After a short while, he begged me to grab some supper with him and then go the library to study together. He was so far behind, he wasn't sure he'd pass, but I promised I'd help him with our three classes we shared and he'd be more than fine in his music classes, since he could do that in his sleep. He kissed my cheek before thanking me as he helped me pack up my books before leading me to the door so we could grab his things and get a start. My heart fluttered for the first time in months as he held my hand in the elevator, his thumb rubbing soothing circles on the back of mine.