The entire camp was jolted from sleep with the sound of the explosion as were locals in the town and further down the mountain. Animals rushed from their hiding places and darted away from the epicentre as though seeking not higher ground, but safer ground. For the ground truly shook.

Leaping from their beds the guests at Crossroads ran from their cabins, private guests and corporate ones alike.

Emmett knew instantly that he'd caused the explosion and the resultant fire. He knew that he could've hurt someone and he knew that once again he'd lived up to the expectations of his father. According to dad he was a clusterfuck and here again was the proof of it. Yep, Emmett lived up to those kinds of expectations admirably.

Seeing the flames and plumes of smoke as well as smelling the awful, toxic cloud created by the mixture of chemicals and fuels, then hearing the fire alarms that were screeching incessantly, a hundred people scrambled into their clothing and dived on their information folders as they tried to make sense of which emergency gathering point they were supposed to report to.

Running like a madman to each of the private cabins it was Emmett who got the girls out of cabin one in good order and onto the path that would lead them away from the danger. He dragged Edward along with him to the next cabin along and made sure that Ben and Tyler were already on the move and then he checked on the next cabin even though its occupants had sneered at him in the dining hall that one time.

Blondie's cabin was empty by the time he got there and he was relieved for it.

When he was sure everyone on his side of the camp was accounted for and on the path to the front garden gathering point he made his way there too. He spotted Blondie on her mobile, pacing a short line back and forth just outside the doors to the reception centre. He felt bad that he'd caused her all the trouble but not bad enough to confess just yet.

If it looked like someone would lose their job, or if someone had been hurt then he'd sing like a canary. Until then he was just a guest.

The staff were well trained, of course, and by the time the fire brigade, police and investigators arrived there were two distinct groups sheltering from the smoke on opposite sides of the camp. Each group had a dozen or more staff members with them and each of those staff members had a walkie talkie so the groups were anything but silent as news made its way to guests and staff alike via those static filled connections.

As it did everywhere news travelled fast. There'd been an explosion of some sort in a storeroom at the back end of the dining hall building. There were no injuries reported and the damage and the fire had been contained to the storeroom, toilets and part of the kitchen storeroom. A few windows in the gym had been blown out by the blast and there was a bit of smoke damage to the exterior of the health spa and pool building but the first responders – the staff – had been quick enough on the fire extinguishers and the fire hoses to contain the damage to just that area.

But for two of the guests the news was old hat by the time it reached their group.

Emmett looked around himself and made sure that they wouldn't be overheard before he got down onto the balls of his toes next to his friend. "Deniability," Emmett mumbled to a stunned and in shock Edward who sat on his ass on the ground with his head in his hands. "You keep your mouth shut," Emmett told him firmly. "I bought the pieces, I brought them here. I cut that lock. I built the still. You know nothing and you say nothing," he hissed when it looked as though Edward was going to respond.

Wanting to protest and desperate to own up to his share of the blame Edward was a raging mess of guilt, remorse and fear inside and Emmett knew it.

But Emmett had been here before. He'd taken the blame for his own fuck ups his whole life and he was still standing. He wasn't quite so sure that his new friend would still be vertical though if he confessed.

"I won't lie," Edward managed to whisper from behind his hands.

"You won't have to," Emmett assured him. Putting his hand to Edward's shoulder he got down onto his haunches and squeezed that shoulder with his fingers. "If it comes out that there was anything other than gardening equipment in that storeroom then I'll confess. If nothings said you say nothing, to anyone, we clear?" he said a little more harshly than he really wanted to.

Edward was a good guy. Anyone could see that. He was as innocent today as the day he'd been born and Emmett wanted him to be able to stay that way. He had enough foolish, pretentious friends and he liked Edward's honest and easygoing personality. He liked that the guy was genuine, that he didn't want anything from anyone and that what you saw was what you got.

Sure, he obviously had some issues and shit, but everyone did. That wasn't what Emmett saw though. He saw a guy trying his hardest to break out of mummy and daddies strangle hold and have a little bit of a life for himself, even if it was only for the length of his stay.

Emmett understood strangle holds. His life had been in a vice since his birth. In fact Emmett didn't even think of his life as his.

He watched Edward nod sadly and decided he needed to leave it at that.

Rose was livid. Livid and worried and anxious. Livid because she'd had to stand and watch a piece of her dream go up in flames. Worried because it was the middle of the night and she couldn't logically get her insurance broker out of his bed and anxious because she really fucking wanted to. The firemen assured her the fire was out and that they'd made the building as safe as possible and warned her to get a crew to cordon it off at first light so no guest went near it. She thanked them for all that they did and then went back to pacing.

Relieved that every guest was accounted for and grateful that nobody had been up and wandering around nearby when the explosion had gone off she had to be patient and let everyone do their job, she knew that, but she didn't want to. Rose was a go getter and she'd built the camp from the ground up herself. She'd been on the end of a shovel when ground had been broken, she'd planted more than half the gardens herself and she'd painted almost every inch of every wall inside the grounds with her own two hands. If there was something that needed doing she was always the first to ask why it wasn't being done, or she was the one actually doing it.

Pacing up and down in exactly the place Emmett had seen her hours earlier Rosalie began to plot her recovery plan as the firemen wound up their hoses and repacked their gear into their truck. She thanked them for all they'd done and was grateful when she was given the go ahead to let her guests go back to their cabins.

Radioing those instructions to her staff felt good. Knowing that all the guests were safe and were heading back to their beds made her feel slightly less overwhelmed and as she watched the groups trickle back along the paths she blew out a long held breath over her teeth.

As the lights around her blinked out one after another as her guests went back to sleep Rose went into her office and took stock of her situation. Her insurance guy was local and he'd begin her claim the instant she contacted him in the morning. She could count on him for that. She'd take a few staff off their regular details and divert them to cleaning up the foam and the exterior walls of the spa and gym as soon as they clocked on in the morning. She'd been assured that the kitchen and dining hall hadn't been damaged even though a small portion of the stockroom attached had. She'd get her kitchen staff to reorder what had been lost and then claim the losses on insurance.

At three in the morning the investigator knocked on her office door and handed over his card. He'd need to take a closer look in the cold hard light of day, but from what he could tell the fuel drum in the storeroom had caused the explosion. She asked how that could happen when that drum had been stored there, and checked for safety regularly and she could prove that, for the past six years without incident. 'Sometimes these things happen' he'd told her and with that she had to be satisfied. He'd come again the next day and take another look, but for now it was structurally safe and from a criminal point of view there was no reason to deny anyone entry if they wished to begin cleaning up the mess. She thanked him too and assured him that she'd do whatever he needed her to when he returned.

It was four in the morning and it was never too early to set wheels in motion Rose thought as she turned on her computer and pulled up her insurance contract. She stared bleakly at the policy excess amount. She shook her head at the chunk of cash she was going to have to outlay. She had the money; the camp had turned a profit almost since its first year of opening, but handing over the lump sum, and knowing what it was likely to do to her premiums in the coming years, made her hand shake as she transferred the money from her savings account into the operating account for the camp.

Telling herself that a few thousand dollars was a small price to pay for the enormous repair bill the insurance company was about to fork out gave her some small comfort. It's what insurance was for she told herself firmly and went outside to greet the early morning sun while it lasted.

Emmett watched her walk down the path and knew she was going to inspect the damage he'd caused. He skulled the last of his beer – it was beer o'clock somewhere in the world he reasoned – and made his way down the path towards her and the chaos of 'ground zero'.

He found her scuffing her toe through the ash and foam by the door to what used to be the public toilets. "The foam buggers off in the wind if you let it dry in the sun," he told her quietly, not wanting to startle her.

She turned very tired, very red rimmed eyes to him and nodded, "Thanks, I was going to get the staff to hose it down."

Moving further along the path to where the storeroom door used to be Emmett peered inside the ruined room. "Let it settle," he suggested. Emmett knew all about fire fighting foam. "Count me in on the clean up detail," he said flatly.

Rose scoffed. "You're a guest," she reminded him. "I pay the others to work, you go back to your day and they'll work for their wages."

Suitably chastised by the stunning blonde once again Emmett nodded, aggravated by her attitude. "The owners are insured, right?" he asked as he made his way back to the end of the path and made to turn the corner and go back to 'his day, as a guest'.

"Of course," she all but spat. "The excess is a bitch though," she added almost under her breath but Emmett caught it.

"Owners problem," he muttered darkly. "The owners will find some hotshot tax agent and write this shit off as a tax dodge and go on their merry money grubbing way," he said nastily. "You did your job and kept everyone safe. Let the owner worry about this shit, Blondie," he told her but didn't hang around to get ragged on for the sentiment, or the nickname.

It was a very slow day at Crossroads the next day. By the time those occupying the private cabins got moving it was midday and lunch became breakfast. Everyone looked at the roped off section at the end of the dining hall sadly as they walked the path towards their meal. Everyone felt bad about the damage and everyone felt bad for Rose. Except Emmett.

He couldn't figure out what her deal was. Why was she so bothered by the damage? Why did she look so fucking sad as she'd sifted through the wreckage? What did she care if whoever owned the joint had to fork out a few grand in policy excesses to get it all fixed? They probably made millions off the place and never sank a cent back into it once the profits were skimmed off, so why did the Director give a toss about the excess?

The mood at camp was solemn for the afternoon. The guests went back to their cabins and stayed there until dinner. Nobody felt like doing too much of anything. With a broken night's sleep under their belts, and having slept late in the day to compensate, each of the private guests felt out of sorts and lethargic.

Over dinner, in which the table had the same six occupants that it had supported since the guests in cabins one two and three had met, the friends discussed their plans for the following day.

Angela and Ben had an arrangement to meet at the gym of a morning and the pool of an afternoon, so their plans were settled. Tyler was likely to be spending some time in the reception building to use a printer for the article he was working on. Emmett was going in to town the following day to collect his 'bait' and that left Edward and Bella at a lose end.

Feeling flat Edward was looking for something to take his mind off his guilt, "The weathers awful, so that rules out anything outdoors," he began. "We could check out some of the activities on offer?" he suggested vaguely.

"Mate, you really want to spend your day learning how to press flowers or write the perfect poem?" Emmett asked with a laugh.

"Not particularly," Edward agreed, looking over at Bella hoping she would rescue the situation with a better idea. "What do you feel like doing?" he asked.

Bella, for her part, was feeling a little flat herself. She felt bad for Rose and she was riddled with guilt herself because she still hadn't called home so she was looking for a distraction too. The idea of organised activities felt a little too much like her life at home, so she wasn't keen on those. "I guess we could watch a movie or something," she suggested carefully.

Thinking of popcorn Edward announced he was 'in' and that was that.

So when Angela and Ben went to the gym Emmett said his goodbyes for the day and slid into a taxi. Tyler went to the reception centre and Edward went to Bella's cabin to watch a movie.

Bella popped the corn, Edward chose the movie. Bella opened the soda, Edward stared at her dead cell phone on the counter.

"Have you called home yet?" Bella asked and Edward shook his head. "Me either," she sighed. "If you tell me why you haven't I'll you why I haven't," she suggested with a cheeky grin. Well, she hoped it was a cheeky grin. It could just as easily look like she was in the throes of a seizure.

Edward hadn't noticed, he was still staring at the phone. "I don't want them to know I'm having fun," he mumbled.

Her grin became real then. They weren't all that different she thought as she put the bowl of popcorn on the table in front of the sofa. "I've decided to call my sister rather than my parents," she announced as he left the counter and sat on the sofa beside her.

"You have a sister?" he asked as he fast forwarded past the opening credits and lined up the beginning of the movie.

"Yep," she replied after taking a sip of her drink. "Allie. And she's ten years older than me. What about you? Brothers and sisters?"

"Nope," he sighed. "You're lucky having a sister though."

"You'd think so, wouldn't you," she sighed as she leaned back into the cushions.

Considering that he thought that yes, he did think it was lucky she had a sister and he wondered why she didn't agree. Leaning back on the cushions himself he brought one leg up and tucked it under himself so they were facing. "I always wanted a sibling," he said. "I always felt like I was missing out on something without one."

"All you missed was competition," Bella muttered.

"Your sister competes with you?" he asked, not surprised in the least.

Bella scoffed and reached for her drink again. "Not in the least!" she chuckled. "Neither of us is competitive but our parents have pitted me against her my whole life."

"You against her?" Edward asked with his brows raised. He already felt sorry for her sister. If she had to compete with the girl sitting opposite she would've had a miserable life to date.

Nodding Bella explained. "She had a head start being older," she told him. "Plus she wanted the life they had planned out for her so toeing the line held no weight. She is popular, gorgeous and fell head over heels for the guy they picked for her. They're blissfully happy and she loves her life."

"Wait," Edward interrupted. He was shocked and appalled that her parents thought the older sister was perfect and that Bella was somehow lacking, but her statement about her sisters marriage overrode any comment he could make about that. "Your parents picked a guy for her?"

Nodding again Bella sipped her drink before replying. "Of course. But he's great. They've been married for ten years or so now and they're totally in love, so it worked out just fine."

"But she didn't choose him herself?" he asked, reiterating his last question because he still didn't understand. When she shook her head he cringed. Glancing quickly at the ring on her finger he couldn't help but blurt his next question out. "Did your parents pick your guy too?"

"Jake," she whispered and tried to keep the panic out of her voice as she said it.

"Alright, did your parents pick Jake for you?" he asked but he knew the answer before she started nodding.

Forgetting all about the movie Bella reached for the popcorn bowl and set it down between them. She munched happily on a small handful and watched fascinated when Edward threw his head back and moaned as he stuffed his mouth full of the pale nuggets. "You really like popcorn, huh?" she giggled and reached for some more.

"I really do," he chuckled and wiped his hand across his mouth. He licked the salt off his fingers and then looked up to find her wide eyed and staring directly at his mouth. "What? Do I have salt on my face?" he asked and swiped again. "So tell me about Jake," he said as he reached for more salty snacks and shoved the remote control for the TV aside.

Not wanting to admit that she knew nothing about Jake Black other than his name, his age and what he did for a living she consciously ignored the question and continued to stare at Edward's mouth for as long as she could without it being obvious. It wasn't nearly long enough she thought as she tossed another piece into her own mouth.

"Nope," she said eventually. "I've told you something about my life, your turn now."

Edward was stunned into silence. There was nothing he could tell her that was remotely interesting. In fact all he could tell her about was his failure to live up to expectation. Grabbing for the bowl he shovelled another handful of popcorn into his mouth and made a show of chewing and swallowing it so he'd have time to think of something to tell her.

Realising there weren't enough hours left in the day to make something up he leaned back on the arm of the sofa and admitted there was nothing to tell. "I've never been anywhere or done anything," he told her sadly. "I'm an only child. I went to school. I went to college. That's all there is to tell."

Thinking he was joking or he was being modest Bella scoffed. "Oh come on," she chuckled. "There's more to you than that, anyone can see that. Tell me about your schooling," she asked. Thinking it was the most boring topic on the planet Edward began to shake his head. "No, really. I want to hear about your schooling. Tell me about college. Was it as great as I've heard it can be? Tell me about your roommates and about living in student squalor. Did you go to wild parties and stay out for days on end and have to cram for your finals? What did you study? What did you major in?" she asked, speaking so quickly her words became blurred together.

And didn't that just kick him in the gut. The mixture of the salty popcorn, the fizzy soda and the details of his pathetic life rose up in his stomach like a churning ocean squall.

Bella watched his face cloud over and then go pale. She had no idea what she'd said that bothered him but she knew that she had. Without thinking she reached across the distance between them and set her hand on his knee in support. "It's private," she whispered softly, "I get it. I won't ask again."

Springing up from the sofa he was out the door and under the awning with his ass in a chair and his head in his hands within seconds. He drew long breaths in through his nose and out through his mouth and tried to fight the rising nausea. He felt exactly as he had on his first day at work. Restricted, pathetic and unable to deal with simple situations.

"Pathetic, pathetic, pathetic," he mumbled to himself.

Bella went to the window above the kitchen counter and looked out to make sure he was alright. She'd heard the creak of the outdoor chair so she was pleased to see he was still there, but concerned to see him in distress.

Filling a glass with cold water from the fridge she took it outside and set it in front of him at the table. She didn't say anything but she did take the seat opposite.

She let him just be and busied herself watching the cleanup process down the hill.

After a few minutes Edward raised his head and swiped at his eyes with the backs of his hands. He chugged the entire glass of water down in two large gulps and put the glass back onto the table as quietly as he could.

He felt a fool for his reactions and wasn't ready to explain or talk just yet. He was grateful for her silence and so he sat in the little outdoor chair and watched her watching the cleaning.

Her profile really was extraordinary. He'd never been much of an artist and had been forced to practise drawing as a child so he didn't feel the need to paint or sketch her but he did like the curve of her nose and the way her long, straight hair fell in waves about her shoulders. The little painted flowers on her nails were beautiful, as were her short, dainty fingers.

He'd never had the opportunity to look at a girl as he was now. He'd never been alone with one either he realised as he watched her. They'd been inside her cabin, with the door shut, for well over an hour too. That would've been punishable at home but here it felt normal and maybe even a little bit exciting.

"Thank you," he whispered across the table and hoped she'd understand what for.

When her eyes met his they were concerned but her lips were smiling. "You're very welcome," she replied readily. Bella understood being overwhelmed and she'd asked very private questions of him and it had made him uncomfortable. And she was sorry. She wanted him back at ease, as he had been inside on the sofa. "Did you bring your cigarettes?" she asked hopefully.

Taking the pack from his pocket Edward put them and his lighter on the table between them after taking one out. He lit it and passed it across to her and then took another for himself.

Sliding the small stick between her lips Bella began to blush and had to turn a little further sideways to hide it from him. He'd had the cigarette in his mouth and now it was in hers.

To Bella it constituted her first kiss, as silly a concept as that was.

Watching the blush spread across her cheeks and then across her collarbones Edward wondered what had caused it. He leaned back in his seat and took a long, satisfying drag on his smoke and grinned. He hoped it was something good that he'd done or said.

He'd ruined the simple pleasure of spending time together and they hadn't even begun to watch the movie. But he knew a way to make that right.

On a whim he sat forward and tapped his lighter on the tabletop so he could get her attention. As soon as she turned to face him he spoke. "Will you go with me to the movie after dinner?" he asked before he could back out.

Her answer was given quickly and without hesitation. "I'd love to."

Bella toyed with the idea of calling home for two hours before she pressed the number into the keypad on the house phone.

She had to do it at some point, and she wasn't a coward, but the idea of having her tiny snippet of freedom taken away by admitting to her mother that she wasn't partaking in organised therapy made her stomach roil.

Instead she took the easier option and dialled her sister's house.

"Bella?" Mary Alice sighed sleepily into the handset on her nightstand. "Is that you?" she asked again when the line crackled and hissed at her. Reaching over she clicked on her lamp and peered at the clock's bright red letters. "It's three in the morning, what's wrong?" she asked, coming awake fast at the thought that something could have gone very wrong on the other side of the world.

"Allie it's me," Bella assured her very sleepy sister, using the nickname that had always been a secret between them as a kind of code to let her know that it really was her sister calling. "Nothing's wrong. Sorry to call so late but I can't quite work out the time zones."

"No, no, that's fine. I was wanting to hear from you," Mary Alice insisted as she poked Jasper in the small of his back to wake him up. Holding her hand over the handset once he'd opened his eyes she mouthed the word 'Bella' and that woke him up fast too. "How is it going down there?" she asked, holding the handset a little ways away from her mouth so Jasper could hear too.

"It's wonderful," Bella crowed. "The camp is lovely and everyone is so nice. I've had lots of good rest and am eating a lot of very nice, very healthy food," Bella said, giving her standard report on her surroundings.

Jasper raised his eyebrows rather pointedly and Mary Alice took it as her cue to make the suggestion they'd agreed on. "That's great," she said as normally as she could. "Have you spoken to mother yet, I know she was getting worried?"

"No, not yet. I didn't want a lecture for not understanding the time difference," Bella huffed.

Mary Alice laughed a little, hoping to put her sister at ease on the subject of their mother. "Listen, sis, I think it might be a good idea to just call here and I'll let mother and father know how you're getting on. No need to wake them in the night, or for you to get up at some silly hour to suit the time this end. Why don't we just say you'll call here whenever you can, or when you feel like it, and I'll relay any messages? How does that sound?" she asked and earned a nod and a pat to the back of the hand in praise from her husband.

Bella was so grateful she could hardly breathe on the other end of the line. "Oh that sounds just great," she managed to choke out, "I'd hate to bother them."

"Good, that's settled," Mary Alice agreed just as gratefully. "Now, what are the other guests like? Are you making friends?" she asked and Jasper nodded his head to encourage her and praise her for getting the first part of their plan squared away early.

"Oh yes," Bella exclaimed on the other end of the line. "They're very nice. Very friendly. My roommates name is Angela and she's very nice."

She'd used the word nice four times and it made Mary Alice cringe. "That's great," she said trying to keep the enthusiasm up even though she was losing confidence in the intelligence of her decisions. "And Rosalie, how are you getting along with Rosalie?"

Bella frowned at the question before answering. "Ah, she's very nice too," she said though she couldn't for the life of her work out how Allie would know Rose. "I haven't seen much of her yet but there are a few organised activities coming up so maybe I'll get to know her a little better then."

"That sounds like fun," Mary Alice replied because she couldn't think of anything else to say or to ask. "The line is terrible," she added hoping Bella would want to hang up.

"I know. My cell won't get any reception so I'm calling from a landline," Bella informed her sister. "I'll hang up, I know it's late and you've probably got a busy day tomorrow. Don't forget to tell mom and dad that I'm fine," she reminded Allie and then wished her and her brother in law a good night's sleep before hanging up.

Putting the handset back into its cradle Mary Alice turned her lamp off and settled back onto her pillows. "She sounds happier already," she whispered into the dark.

"She does," Jasper agreed and pulled her into the crook of his arms. "You did well, sweetpea," he told her with a kiss to the top of her head. "I know you feel guilty about all this but you heard for yourself how pleased she was not to have to report to your mother."

"Hmm mm," Mary Alice agreed begrudgingly. "Are you sure Rose is up to the task?" she asked as she slid down his body a little.

"Darlin," he crooned as she slid her hand even further down his body, "If it wasn't for Rose I wouldn't be here right now about to make love to my wife and you know it."

Taking his length into her hand Mary Alice had to agree that she did know that. Jasper Whitlock would've been in the ground long ago if it weren't for Rosalie Hale, and if she could do for her sister what she'd done for her husband then Mary Alice would sleep with a happy heart.

Emmett carried his 'bait' down the path as nonchalantly as possible. It was inside a plastic carry bag that was inside a canvas bag that was inside his backpack. He hoped he looked normal but couldn't help the grin as he thought about just how abnormal it was.

The still had been a mistake. A big mistake. But the need for cash was still pressing so he'd come up with a new way to make it. This time he was going it alone. He didn't want to drag Edward into another 'situation'. He'd share the profits, he had no problem with that, but he didn't want Edward to have to deny anything else.

He checked to make sure there was nobody home in his cabin and then stashed the backpack and its contents into the pantry. Nobody would think to look there.

A/N: Thank you for reading.

Please review.