[Disclaimer] All things Twilight belong to Mrs. Stephenie Meyer

[A/N] Hello my lovely readers out there. I hope you're happy that I finally updated. Real life is such a bitch right now, but your feedback motivated me to continue writing. I freaking loved all your "welcome" reactions to Cheat-wards appearance in the last chapter.

This one is dedicated to Nik2010 for her useful suggestions about what tools might help to deal with Edward and to Just twisty for her feedback about the way I portray Cheat-wards character.

*Please, please, please…read the entire chapter, will you? See you at the bottom. **

**Chapter 15**

Ali's POV

I kept on stirring the ice cream in the bowl in front of me, watching it melt into a light brownish liquid.

My eyes fell on the huge clock on the other side of the wall. How much time had passed since I had left Bella alone in the office to speak to my brother; an hour or maybe longer? No matter how long it might be, it definitely felt too long to me, but patience had never been one of my strengths.

I pulled my cell out of my handbag again to make sure that she hadn't texted me in the last three minutes. How this waiting managed to turn me into a nervous wreck, it was embarrassing.

What if he would convince her to stay with him? Edward was used to wheedle people into doing exactly what he wanted them to do. It was something that was part of his job as a lawyer.

Maybe I should have stayed with Bella, I thought while I licked of a drop of the melted ice cream from the little plastic spoon in my hands.

Damn it, Ali…how could you have been so stupid to let her be alone with him?

"Auntie Ali?"

"Yeah, honey?"

"Don't you like your ice-cream?"

"I'm just not really hungry right now, Lilly." And far too nervous to eat, I added in my head.

"Auntie Ali…is my Daddy still angry at us because we came to surprise him?" she asked me worriedly.

I inhaled deeply through my nose in order to calm myself down enough to make my voice sound cheerful and light.

"You don't have to worry about that, sweetie. He's happy that you're here to visit him. Like I said before...he just doesn't like surprises that much."

I wondered how much he would like the surprise that his wife was planning on divorcing off his cheating ass; if she was still planning on doing it. God, this waiting was making me almost insane. I tried to remember myself that even if she would leave her husband it wouldn't necessary mean that she would want to be with me instead.

I sighed deeply, thinking about how much I wanted her to be with me…to really be with me.

She was still scared of leaving him, no matter how unhappy and loveless her marriage might be. What was the point in staying married if you didn't love the other person?

I had seen the expression on Bella's face when we caught him with his whore. There had been pain in her eyes, disgust, even humiliation and fear…but not the slightest hint of love…in which form ever. But what if love wasn't the reason why she had chosen to stay with him for so long?

What if what she felt for me…whatever she did feel for me, wouldn't be enough? My heartbeat quickened and I felt my palms starting to sweat. Quickly I wiped them on my jeans, using the opportunity to check my cell again.

"Auntie Ali, can we go back to mommy and daddy now?"

I nodded my head and stood up from the plastic chair that made a squeaking noise underneath me.

Lilly's tiny mouth turned into a crooked smile that made her look like a reduced version of my brother. Only her eyes were exactly the same shade of milk-chocolate like Bella's. Their daughter was a visibly proof of their relationship; the love between two people that had been turned and melted into another human being. For a moment there was an unpleasant feeling deep down in my stomach, and I wondered what was causing it. Then I realized that I envied my brother. Envied him, because there would never, could never be a little bit of me and her combined in someone else's face…

XXXX

I took a deep breath through my nose before I knocked on the wooden door of Edward's office. He mumbled something that was too low to understand it completely.

Slowly I opened the door, not really knowing what was expecting me behind it.

Bella looked white as a ghost while my brother kept talking to her in this annoyingly smart-ass-way that they had told him in law school. Her eyes met mine for a split second, and I could see the tears that were already glittering in the corners of them.

"Mommy, are you okay?" Lilly whispered and climbed on her lap.

A low sob escaped Bella's throat as she wrapped her arms around her daughter's neck.

"He can't take you away from me…he can't take you away from me…he can't…," she stumbled out, while her voice reached a hysterical high frequency.

My brother rolled his eyes at that, and I fought the urge to throw the heavy paperweight from his desk against his head.

"What did you do to her?" I asked him, trying to make my voice sound calm. It didn't really work, and I cursed myself for the slight trembling in it.

"Mary Alice, whatever is going on between me and my wife is none of your damn business!"

My wife, my wife, my wife…how much I hated it to let him call her that, like she still belonged to him no matter what had happened.

Fucking hypocrite

"I'm sorry, Edward…but Bella is my business. She's my frie…nd," I nearly choked at the word. "And I don't like the way you're treating her."

"What part of 'it's none of your business' was too complicated for you to understand it?"

I grabbed the paperweight and threw it against the Monet replica that was hanging on the other side of the wall. The silver framed drawing landed on the ground with a big hole in the middle of the water lilies.

"Mary Alice, watch your temper! I don't have the nerves to deal with your post-pubertal issues."

"Fuck you!"

Lilly raised her little head from her mother's chest. I hoped that she wouldn't ask someone about the meaning of that word again. Esme was still concerned about the 'dyke-question'.

My copper-haired brother cleared his throat before he spoke up again.

"We're discussing the consequences of Bella's stupid decision to get a divorce."

"How can you call it a stupid decision? Edward, we just caught you fucking your secretary. What did you expect from Bella, that she would just ignore it or something like that?"

"No…of course not, but…" he started hesitantly.

"But what?"

"She's overreacting."

"I don't think so."

"Damn it, Mary Alice, stop sticking your little snub nose into things that have nothing to do with you at all!"

I bit my tongue to keep myself from telling him something that I would probably regret later. It has nothing to do with me? If only he knew how much I had to do with it…

"Stop yelling at her, Edward. It's not Ali's fault." Bella stumbled out while she wiped her running nose on the sleeves of her shirt.

"Daddy, are you still angry?"

He inhaled sharply through his teeth and kneeled down in front of Bella and Lilly. Slowly he reached out his hand to put a wisp of her copper hair that equaled his own so much, behind her ear. She shrugged back and he sighed deeply.

"Yes, honey, I am…bu-t not at you."

"I don't like it when you're angry. You yell like Uncle Emmett but Mommy doesn't yell back like Auntie Rosie does it."

"Yeah, I know, sweetie. Can you wait outside for a few minutes while I talk to your mommy?"

"No, I don't want to. What if the evil witch comes back?"

"Evil witch? Lilly there are no witches."

"She's talking about your whore. In case you haven't noticed it yet…Lilly is scared of her."

"Damn it, Mary Alice. Stop using words like that in her presence. She's going to parrot them without even knowing their meaning."

Then he turned to his daughter again.

"Tanya won't come back, sweetie. Why don't you draw a picture for daddy? I need a new one to put it on my wall because your aunt destroyed the other."

He should better be happy that I didn't destroy his face…

Slowly Lilly stood up from her mother's lap and walked out of the room. Bella's eyes followed her worriedly. She looked so vulnerable right now that I couldn't help but wrap my arm around her shoulder. Carefully I stroked down her beautiful hair with my fingertips.

"Please, don't do this to me, Edward." She whispered so low that I could barely understand her.

"What is she talking about?"

He started biting his fingernails nervously, desperately avoiding eye contact with me.

"I told her that if she's stupid enough to get a divorce, I'm trying to get full custody for Lilly."

He was joking, wasn't he? There was no way he could be serious about that.

"You're kidding, aren't you? Edward, you're working what…sixty to seventy hours a week. You have trouble making it home for Lilly's birthday. How are you planning on taking care for her when you're never around?"

"It'll work out somehow. Mom or Rose could watch her while I'm working and when the summer is over she'll be at school most of the day anyway."

"Why don't you want Lilly to live with her mother?"

"Because…well…because…she's instable."

"Bella is not instable." I stated, emphasizing each word.

"For heaven's sake, Mary Alice, you have known her for how long? Just a few days, I assume."

Just a few days, that might have irrevocably changed my life.

"I'm pretty sure that I already know her better than you do."

"That's just ridiculous. Bella and I have been married for over five years now."

"You may have known her longer maybe, but better? I highly doubt that, but who really knows someone else?"

"Stop throwing that psycho-crap at me that your ex-girlfriend told you about!"

"I will, if you stop yelling all the time. It's really annoying and it scares Lilly and Bella."

He took a deep breath again and sat down on his chair.

"If you really were a friend of Bella, you'd help her see sense." He stated after a few awkward moments of silence.

I felt her stiffen next to me. She hadn't told him anything about the…well, intensity of our friendship, had she?

"Edward, I don't tell her what to do or not to do. She's a grown-up woman who can make her own choices."

Bella sniffed again, and I pulled a tissue out of my handbag.

"Blow,"

A noise that was probably meant to be a chuckle left her throat.

"I still don't think she's serious about the divorce. She's just angry because of the little incident with Tanya."

"She is here right now and can he hear you perfectly, Edward." Bella snarled at him angrily.

His lips twitched into a crooked smile that didn't reach his emerald eyes.

"Yeah, I know, love." Slowly he reached out his hand in order to cup her face in it. She stopped breathing but didn't move one single inch. His thumb brushed over her cheek, wiping away the trail of black mascara her tears had left.

"We'll figure this out, love. Everything will be okay."

Red-hot anger rushed through my entire body, and I shoved my hands into the pockets of my jeans so that he wouldn't notice the tremble in them. That he still dared to touch her after all this crap, after threatening to take her child away from her. Damn it, I wanted to rip his hand of and stuff it down his mendacious throat.

He continued talking to her in a smooth voice, obviously trying to dazzle her with halfheartedly suggestions about family therapy and other bullshit. Bella never spoke a single word but now and then her lips twitched for a split second.

She wouldn't believe him, would she? It didn't matter if she would, as long as she wanted to believe that his words were true. He was an excellent dazzler and knew exactly how to use her weaknesses for his own advantage.

"Don't you want Lilly to be happy?"

Bella nodded her head. Maybe she was going into shock right now. Damn it, why couldn't I remember anything about what to do. Should I shake her?

He leaned closer to her and cupped her face between both hands. His lips planted a soft kiss on her full upper lip while his fingertips stroked down her jawline.

It was too much, just too much for me to endure. That she would let him kiss her like that…

Out…you need to get out of here before you do something that you'll probably regret later. My knees felt like yell-o as I stood up again and I swallowed hard to hold back the tears from falling. How should I explain them to him? I had no right to be sad if he figured things out with her. As his sister I should be happy about it but right now the part of me that was his sister was overshadowed by the part of me that wanted to be her lover.

"Excuse me, I need some fresh air." I croaked out, desperately trying to make my voice sound cheerful. It didn't work at all.

I stumbled out of the office, sharp pain cramping all around my heart.

"Auntie Ali, why are you crying?" Lilly asked me and looked up from the piece of paper in her hand.

"Nothing, honey…it's nothing."

"Did Daddy yell at you?"

I shook my head and wiped my nose on the back of my hand.

"I have to go now, sweetie. Promise me to take care of your mommy, will you?"

XXXX

Somehow I managed to make it out of the building and back to the rental car. My hands were trembling so strong that I had trouble turning the key. Finally the door opened, and I sat down and put my face in my hands. Now, that I was finally alone I allowed myself to break down completely, loud sobs left my throat, making me sound more like an animal in pain then a human being. How could I let myself get hurt like that again? Maybe I had a hidden masochistic side in me. Maybe I was just stupid and naïve. What the hell did I expect from her?

Then I felt a warm hand stroking over my hair. I raised my head and blinked into Bella's concerned face.

"Ali?"

"Go away, please. I don't want you to see me like this. Don't you have stuff to discuss with your husband?"

"I can talk with him later, if I want to. Right now, I want to talk with you, Ali."

"What else is there left to talk about, Bella?"

"Why did you run away?"

"Damn it, Bella. You let him dazzle you with all his crap and then you let him kiss you in front of me. Kiss you, like nothing had happened before!"

"Firstly, I didn't let him dazzle me. I was just so confused because he started talking so sweet to me suddenly. I think that he did that because he wasn't so sure that the 'full custody idea' he had earlier was a clever move from his side. And secondly…I didn't ask him to kiss me."

"But you didn't do anything when he did it!"

"Ali, what the hell should I have done? Like I told you…I was irritated…,"

She sighed deeply, before she continued.

"You are not seriously jealous of Edward right now?"

"Of course I am jealous and I'm scared…terribly scared."

She wrapped her arms around me and I sobbed against her shoulder. Desperately I tried to inhale as much of her strawberry freesia scent as possible.

"You don't have to be afraid." Her voice was barely a whisper.

Slowly I raised my head again while her hands stroked up and down my back in small circles.

"I'm really sorry that you're so upset right now."

"He kissed your mouth. He fucking kissed your mouth! I wanted to rip his face of...,"

"Ali, please…,"

"I know... I know…I'm overreacting. I have no right to feel this way. We're not even together…I mean like really together…,"

"Ali, I don't want you to apologize for the way you feel…ever."

She cleared her throat before she spoke up again.

"Do you want to know how I felt when he kissed me?"

"Do I want to?" I croaked out hoarsely, it was difficult for me to bring out words now.

The sharp pain in my heart increased, making me feel dizzy. I took a few deep breaths, hoping it would help me somehow. It wasn't like I wanted to make an embarrassing trip to the ER here in Anchorage. How ironical, I thought, that my silly heart was emotionally as weak and vulnerable as physically. Was it easier to break a weak heart?

"Ali, are you okay? You're so pale and your hands are trembling..."

"Hmm, I'm just a little dizzy…it will soon be over." Or it wouldn't, who cared?

"Like my marriage." She mumbled nervously.

"You're really going to divorce my brother?"

"Yes I am. I told him before I left. And just for the record…when he kissed me, I felt nothing…nothing at all."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXO

[A/N]Jeez, I felt so bad when I wrote the part where Cheat-ward kissed Bella. I made myself cry…what does that say about me?

Originally I planned on ending this here with the worst cliffy ever (right after Ali's runs out of the office) because you all know that I'm a review-whore and cliffys usually motivate people to leave a comment, but then I simply couldn't bring myself to do it…I'm obviously too good-hearted.