Author's Note: I know that I'm updating rather quickly right now, but I have a serious lack of self-control when it comes to posting these things.

Again, I don't own the rights to Twilight.

Chapter 4 – Truth

Since the plan was basically to ignore Edward, I decided not to tell him directly. I didn't really want to speak with him anyway. I would just let him hear it from Alice's thoughts.

After I parked my truck in the absolute worst parking spot at the school, I made my way to the lunch room. Edward and Alice were already there, pretending to eat lunch. Edward's eyes were roving the room, and I knew that he was reading everyone's thoughts, probably trying to figure out where I'd been. He'd find out soon enough from Esme's scent all over my clothes. Alice wasn't looking anywhere. She merely sat, staring at the table. I felt awful that I had believed that… what was it Rosalie said? Oh, yeah, it was, lying sack of shit. Alice was my best friend, and I didn't even bother to find out from her if Edward was telling me the truth. I walked up and plopped right down next to Alice. Edward stiffened. Good, I must have gotten his attention. I was petty enough at the moment to be glad that he was upset.

"Why were you with Esme and Carlisle? I also faintly smell Jasper on you." Edward's furious whisper wasn't unexpected. I knew that he would be disappointed that we worked out his plan, at least the part about him lying to all of us. We still had no clue why he had done it.

"I have something I need to tell you Alice." I told her, not even acknowledging Edward's presence.

Instantly, she looked up and locked eyes with me. She was very distressed. It looked like she was going to cry, but I knew that she couldn't. I tried to assure her that I meant no harm by smiling at her. She hesitantly smiled back.

"I spoke with Jasper this morning." I informed her, purposely turning to face her, ignoring Edward. "He seemed to think that I might be angry with him for some reason."

"Why are you doing this, Bella?" Edward seethed. "Don't you remember what we talked about?"

We never talked about anything. He informed me in a letter that I would be embarrassing myself if I contacted his family. There was no discussion, just like always. His opinion was the only one that mattered. I briefly flashed a furious expression, but relaxed it so that I could speak with Alice.

"You're not upset with Jasper?" She sounded truly shocked and a little hopeful.

I shook my head, never once looking at Edward as I spoke, "And he seemed to think that I broke up with Edward because of him."

"And of course you lied to him and told him that I broke up with you?" Edward laughed darkly.

"Carlisle, Esme, Emmett, and Rosalie were very confused about that as well." I said, still avoiding eye contact with the big stupid jerk.

"You didn't break up with Edward, and you're not mad at Jasper?" Alice started getting angry enough to snarl at Edward before she turned back to ask me, "Then why would you ignore us for the last few weeks?"

"Yes Bella, why?" Edward mocked, and that familiar haughtiness pissed me off. I was barely controlling the urge to flip him off when he spoke again, "Please stop this nonsense. Your explanation doesn't make any sense. You're just embarrassing yourself. Please leave."

I had seriously had enough of his shit. I wasn't generally one for swearing, but what the fuck was his problem? If I had the strength, I would have slapped him. Maybe I would tell Rosalie to do it for me. I knew she was dying to.

"The reason." I said louder than I had intended because of my growing frustration with Edward, "that they didn't think I was lying was partially because I am, in fact, a horrible liar, and Edward is quite good at it. When Jasper didn't detect any dishonesty in me, he immediately mistrusted Edward. Also, I let them read this, the reason I've stayed away from you all."

Edward managed to snatch the letter before Alice could read it and tore it to shreds. I chuckled to myself knowing that I had a back-up plan. Not trusting that Edward wouldn't just come in and destroy the letter while I slept, I scanned it into my computer with the very nice printer/scanner that he had bought me.

"Can you plan on reading the image off of my computer later?" I asked her, and she nodded.

"What's wrong with you?" Edward spat at me. "Why would you save such a thing?"

Alice's eyes went blank for a second before they opened in wide-eyed horror at the things that Edward had written me. She gradually became more and more livid. Edward backed away from her. He apparently didn't like whatever she was thinking.

"This is the worst thing I've ever read, Edward." Alice screeched as she slammed her fist on the table. It cracked a little bit, and I grabbed her very nice shirt, silently begging her to move away from the table and talk with me. She wasn't finished with Edward, though. "I don't know what you were thinking, but I hope it was worth losing me as a sister. From now on, I consider you lower than a dog, no, make that lower than a flea on a dog."

Finally she allowed me to take her away from him. We went outside and sat alone on the benches.

"He told me that you said not to search your future. He told Jasper…" She choked back a sob.

"I know. Jasper and I had a talk." I assured her. "He knows that I'm not upset with him, and he was doing so much better when I left."

Alice searched his future and breathed a heavy sigh of relief once she evidently saw that Jasper was going to get better.

"I thought I was going to lose him, Bella." She sniffled even though she didn't have any mucus that she needed to sniffle. "I couldn't see anything in his future anymore. Every time I looked, all I could see was Jasper curled into a fetal position, whimpering. Thank you for bringing him out of that, by the way. What Edward did was…" She started to get very angry again, and took several breaths to calm herself. "The worst part is that when a vampire undergoes a major emotional shift like that, it's very hard to change back. We're rather unchangeable."

"Is that why you mate for life?" I wondered out loud. I didn't actually mean to ask it. I was kind of embarrassed that it had slipped out.

"What do you mean mate? Like soul mates or as in animal mating?" She asked, curious.

"I didn't mean to offend you." I whispered. "Edward told me that once vampires find their mates, they are instantly drawn to each other, kind of a love at first sight thing, but more powerful. He also told me that it was impossible to separate them for long even if one dies, the other will follow shortly after."

"I don't think that's exactly right." Alice told me hesitantly. "I can't prove it, so I guess he could be right about that, but I don't believe it myself.

"But you and Jasper…" I argued.

"I understand how it might look that way with us, and yes, I knew that we would be together, but don't you think that my abilities kind of made for a unique situation with the two of us?" Alice asked rhetorically.

"But Rosalie found Emmett and fell in love with him…" I once again countered.

"Yes, Rosalie was instantly attracted to Emmett, but that is different than love. That's sexual attraction. You can be attracted to someone you're not in love with. Emmett and Rosalie, Jasper and I, we all work on our relationships. Though, it's nearly impossible for a vampire to fall out of love because of our unchangeable nature."

"What about Carlisle and Esme?" I asked, not quite willing to give up my beliefs.

"Um… Bella, they're not a couple." Alice told me looking like I should have known this all along or possibly that Edward should have told me.

"Edward told me that they fell in love as soon as Esme's change took place." I explained.

"Have you considered that Edward isn't the most reliable source of information?" She arched a perfect eyebrow at me.

"They're not in love?" I asked incredulously. "But they're so perfect together."

"Except for the fact that Esme is a lesbian." She laughed.

"What?" I couldn't believe what she had just said. Why didn't Edward tell me? Why would he care if I knew that Esme was a lesbian? It was still rather had to believe because Esme was in fact married before she became a vampire.

"We don't advertize it to the general public, but I thought that he would have told you this. After she was changed, she was terrified of men because her human husband had beaten her, and forced himself on her. It carried over into this life, and even though she loved Carlisle very much, and they got married, she could never warm up to the idea of sex with a man. She equated penis with pain. They eventually decided to stay married for appearance sake, but they aren't a couple." She explained.

"Wow that's just… very unexpected." I stammered.

"Yes, most people who know think so." She laughed. "I wonder why Edward didn't tell you."

"I wonder that as well." I nodded.

"He's a liar. That's for sure, but I can't figure out why he wouldn't tell you." She shook her head.

"Speaking of Edward, I'm supposed to tell you that no one is supposed to talk with him or have a conversation in their mind with him." I told her.

"Yes, I saw that after we started talking." She nodded with narrowed eyes, silently telling me that she already had no intention of telling him anything. "Although, I think Rosalie might not keep up her end of the bargain."

"You won't see me crying if she beats him up a bit." I admitted.

"Yes, well maybe he won't have seen it in my head, and she'll get a few good hits in." Alice agreed.

"To bad we won't be there to see it." I told her, hoping to surprise her for once in my life. "He's really starting to piss me off."

"We're going shopping?" She squealed, seeing that I had decided to ask her to go.

"I hate to admit it, but I kind of missed it, maybe a little bit." I giggled nervously. "And I believe that Emmett said that he was taking Jasper hunting for at least this evening, possibly longer."

"I'll call Charlie for you and arrange it." She rejoiced. "I'll pick you up at your house at four-thirty. I need to speak with Carlisle before we leave."

"Wait, maybe Rosalie and Esme would like to come as well." I suggested.

Alice searched the future for a few seconds then smiled, "They would both love to. Let's make it a weekend. Carlisle won't mind picking up extra shifts at the hospital."

Alice danced away happier than she had been in a very long time.

After school, I went straight to the basement to sketch an idea I had for a new sculpture and check on some statues I had recently casted. There were two statues, one that was ready but still needed the last coat of patina, and one that still needed the mold marks to be sawed off and then polished. The one that needed more work was of Emmett and Rosalie. I based it off of a picture I had seen of their first wedding. The statue was a dual bust of them sharing their first kiss as man and wife. The picture was just of them at the altar, but I had seen them kiss more than a few times, and I incorporated those memories. The one that was ready to be finished was of Alice and Jasper. Jasper was on his knees, and Alice was standing. They were nearly the same height when they did this. Their foreheads were touching, and you could see the love in their eyes.

"Bella!" Alice said in awe. I still had the statue of her and Jasper in my hand and was getting ready to finish it. I had no idea that Alice was even in my house. She was early, but that was alright with me. Esme and Rosalie were with her. "Did you do this?"

"She's very talented, isn't she?" Esme piped in before I had a chance to respond. "You should see the one she let Carlisle have. It's amazing."

"I didn't even know you were artistic. Why didn't you ever say anything?" Alice wondered aloud.

"Well… I really haven't had much time to…" I stammered.

"Edward never let you sculpt?" Rosalie asked incredulously.

"He didn't exactly forbid me. I just didn't ever get to." I told them. I nearly started crying remembering the way he always belittled my work. It started subtly, but as time went on, the insults got more cutting. "He usually just kept me so busy when he was here."

"And he insisted you shop with me or hang out with Emmett when he went hunting." Alice added.

"Yes." I admitted. "In fact he told me that it would be more productive than me playing at my little hobby."

"Why would he treat you like that?" Esme wondered.

"And why didn't he tell me that you're gay?" I asked remembering another piece of the Edward puzzle.

"I believe I do have some insight on that subject." Rosalie sighed, looking slightly disturbed by what she was about to tell me.

"This isn't the first time Edward tried to make for sure that Carlisle didn't fall in love." Rosalie told me. "When he changed me, Carlisle was hoping that I might be someone he could love. Edward tried to pursue me as well until I took revenge on the men who had raped me and tried to kill me. As soon as Carlisle realized that we weren't compatible, Edward stopped flirting with me as well."

"That liar!" I shouted. "He told me that Carlisle changed you, not for himself, but for Edward, hoping that he would fall in love with you."

"No, but Carlisle would have stepped aside if Edward was really interested in me and I in him." Rosalie frowned. "I'm very glad Edward stopped before I…" She looked ashamed of what she was about to say. "I'm so sorry that I didn't see what Edward was doing with you before you fell for him. I should have said something to you about it."

"You're not the only one, Rose." Esme looked at both of us with an ashamed look on her face. "I should have stopped it with both of you. He pursued me first."

"What?" Rosalie and I both gasped at the same time.

"After I was changed, he tried his hardest to win me over. He really didn't stand a chance with me, though. Even if I were interested in men, he was just an inexperienced little boy who really didn't know the first thing about women. Carlisle and I just wrote his flirtatiousness off to a lack of companionship. That's why we didn't stop him with you, Rose. There were a few reasons we didn't stop him with Bella. First, we thought he broke off his pursuits of Rosalie for the same reason Carlisle had. Second, because of the way he manipulated Jasper's gift, we thought that Edward had actually fallen in love with you. We really hoped that he had. We thought that you might help him mellow out a bit. I'm truly sorry that we put what we hoped for him above your needs." Esme moved closer and closer to me as she spoke and pulled me into a hug near the end.

I wrapped my arms around her and hugged her back.

"See I told you." Alice piped in cheerfully, holding her hand out to Esme who handed her fifty dollars.

"What's that about?" I asked, looking around the room.

"Alice told her that you wouldn't have a problem with her sexual orientation." Rosalie laughed. "Esme thought you'd be uncomfortable receiving affection from her now that you know she's gay."

"Are you serious?" I asked her. "You're like my second mom. Your hugs are nothing but motherly."

"I'm glad you're okay with it." Esme hugged me tighter.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Enough of this mushy stuff, let's shop!" Alice commanded and pointed toward the door.

"I need to apply the coating to this first." I pointed to the Alice and Jasper statue. "So that it can be ready for you when we get back."

"You're giving it to me?" Alice sounded shocked. "I love it! Jasper will love it!"

Alice wrenched me away from Esme's hug and pulled me into a bone-crunching embrace before she finally let me go.

"I hate to ask since I wasn't very nice to you when you were with Edward, but do you think you can make one of me and Emmett?" Rosalie asked in an uncharacteristically unsure voice.

"I already have." I told her pointing to the corner where Rosalie's statue was. "I need to smooth the edges and polish it, but it should be done soon."

Rosalie rushed over and stared at the statue of her and Emmett.

"It's…" Rosalie breathed deeply. "It's completely… right. How did you know that my wedding to Emmett, and that kiss was the most important thing in my existence? I ignored you, but you know me so well."

I blushed at her response. Rosalie wasn't finished, though.

"I'm so sorry that I was a bitch. I should have never taken my feelings for Edward out on you." Rosalie sobbed. "I was heartbroken when Edward unceremoniously dumped me. At least when Carlisle figured out that he wasn't romantically interested in me, he let me down gently. He let me know that he loved me and hopefully one day I could see him as a father. Edward ignored me. We might as well have been living in separate countries. That's how it felt with him, anyway, except for the fact that he paraded an endless string of human girls into the house and had very loud sex with them…"

"What?" I screamed. "He told me he was a virgin. We bonded over that. I knew he lied about lots of things, but…"

"Did you…?" Esme asked, horrified.

"No," I shook my head, but crying, "he wanted to about a month before my birthday, but I told him that I wasn't quite ready."

"And he just let it go?" Rosalie didn't quite believe that.

I thought for a long time and the only thing I could really put my finger on was that he asked me over and over again, and I thought that I had said no, but I probably relented after he…

"I don't really remember much about that night. You don't think he…?" I trailed off, horrified that he might have actually raped me.

"Let's get you to Carlisle." Esme suggested, hugging me.

"Fuck that! I'm going to beat it out of Edward." Rosalie yelled as she ran out of the basement.

"Let's go with her." Alice ordered. "After she's done with him, it's my turn."

Even though I couldn't read minds, I knew that Alice was at least slightly miffed that shopping would have to be postponed. She was still pissed at Edward for what he may or may not have done. So was I, quite frankly, and I wanted to get to the bottom of it. I just wished that I could help Rosalie beat on Edward a little bit.