Recap of Chapter 34:

Bella feared the worst after she let out the secret of Edward and her dating, and ran away from the will reading meeting to try and collect her thoughts. Edward found her shortly after and was there to reassure her that nothing was going to change in how he felt about her, since he wasn't even upset she let it out. Eventually after Jacob finds the two teens, they rejoin the meeting to finish it up. The video concludes of what all would be distributed amongst the teens, including a large monetary inheritance for Bella and Emmett - a shocking $50,000 each which Bella was surprised to see. Indeed just how did Charlie acquire that much money when he was a small town Chief? Questions left unanswered on that matter, the will meeting ends and the group prepares to leave. However, Emmett pulls Bella and Edward aside where he demands he gets the truth out of them fully. It's there that finally the couple tells Emmett just how long they've been together, not ashamed of divulging the truth yet also not unaware that they'd be hurting the others with how long the game of deception had been playing out. Emmett wasn't afraid to beat around the bush in expressing his anger over it, before he took a different approach and asked Bella about her past - specifically asking who was Joshua and James. Old wounds are reopened as Bella explains her past to her new brother, but Edward is there for her to keep her comforted. Just before anything else can be said or questioned, the parents ask the three if they'd be coming down soon to the cars to leave, effectively ending the chat. Emmett leaves first, with his thoughtful expression puzzling Bella once he leaves, but the couple press on and follow after him. They are nervous, scared, yet excited at the notion their secret was out, and promise to stick together through the unknown they were about to face once they return back to the school.

A/N: Welcome back to another installment of this little lovely story of mine.

This is certainly about to be a chapter I've been looking forward to, and I'm ready to throw in another twist!

Let's begin shall we?

Chapter 35

~Jasper~

Earlier that day...

"Wait, you're going to this will reading? But why?" I glanced up from my phone when I heard Ben's questioning, and could see the Cullen brothers - my friends - were finishing up in getting dressed up. Both were wearing button downs and slacks, they were adjusting their final details before they'd be leaving on this cool wintery morning.

Edward had shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know why really. We got a text from our dad a couple days ago about it saying we were invited to go to this will reading." he stated simply. Edward and Emmett barely told us this morning that I guess a will reading was being held today and that they had been invited to attend it.

"Fucking weird that we were invited really." Emmett grumbled, looking annoyed that his chance to sleep in this morning was cancelled from this unexpected event going on. "I highly doubt even Swan wants us there, and we didn't know who her dad was anyways." he added, puffing his cheeks out in a sigh while he finished buttoning up his shirt.

I noticed that Edward briefly glanced at Emmett after his statement, but he kept quiet. Interesting. I thought to myself, making note of his reaction. It was just further spewing on -

"Jazz?" I shook my head when Ben called my name; I was getting spacey again and probably looked like as much when I was staring at my friends. I looked over to our fourth roommate who had a confused look on his face.

"What's up?" I asked out loud, and Ben shook his head.

"Nothing man, you were looking like you were thinking about something hard over there."

"Kind of? Mostly it's about the assignments we've got due next week." I lied, waving my hands dismissively before standing up. "You guys got any clue of how long this will reading thing is gonna be?"

"Nope." Emmett stated shortly, standing from his bed.

"Probably can't be more than a few hours." Edward added in then, grabbing his phone and pocketing it.

"Alright."

"Well don't wait up for us, we'll try catching up with you all later." Edward called out as the two of them left our dorm room. Ben and I called out to them that we'd see them later, where Ben went about putting on some house slippers as I plopped down in a bean bag chair in our room.

"Where are you headed?" I asked him just as I saw him grab his own phone.

"Gonna go downstairs and play some ping pong with Mike and some guys from the baseball team. You want to come along?"

"Nah, I'll pass for now." I waved off the offer, and Ben shrugged briefly at me, before he too called out his goodbyes to me and left the dorm room. Once he was gone, I sighed and ran a hand over my face. I was alone again with my thoughts, and they were running wildly in my head once more. For a whole month, I had all of these suspicions, these doubts, and these crazy thoughts screaming at me the more I sat on them. I couldn't keep it to myself anymore, and today frankly posed the perfect opportunity to start my own investigation on the matter. I grabbed my own cell phone and began dialing a number I didn't think I'd ever use. My call was ignored twice and I would sigh angrily at the rejections, but finally once I called a third time, I knew she'd gotten annoyed with me enough she'd have to eventually answer me. When she picked up, I didn't let her speak first but rather cut in first. "You know, I could be dying or in a serious situation and you decide you're going to ignore my first two calls like a bitch? What the hell Rose?"

"Brother or not, you think I'd like to have a casual conversation with you, asshole?" came Rosalie's biting voice on the other end.

I blew a raspberry at her as she spewed angry obscenities before I began to talk again. "Look, I'm not trying to call you up without a reason. Are you busy at the moment?"

"Why are you asking?" Rosalie questioned immediately. "I'm busy with prom planning with my friend."

"Cute." I muttered, and held the phone away from my ear as she proceeded to scream angrily at me over the phone once more. "Rose, calm your shit okay? Geez, sorry. I'm not calling you without a damn reason alright?"

"Are you bleeding? Dying? Is there someone holding a gun to your head? Are mom and dad in danger?"

"Well no but-"

"But what then?"

"Rose, stop." I hissed, dragging my hand across my face again in agitation. "It's for a good reason but it's something that I'd rather discuss with you and Alice in person."

"What?!" I could hear the pixie's shout in the background as it seems Rosalie was holding this phone conversation openly. I fought back a smirk at hearing her high pitched shriek, even though they couldn't see it over the phone.

"Why do you need to talk to us in person? What could be so fucking pressing that you're suddenly reaching out to us like this?"

"It's just important okay? I think this is definitely something that should be talked about in person alright? It's just going to be me and me alone anyways; Edward and Emmett aren't here and they won't be bothering you two."

"Wait, why aren't they there?" Rosalie's questioning sounded a bit calmer rather than her spewing her irritation further.

"They were invited I guess, to go along to this will reading that's being held for the late Chief Swan. I don't know why they were invited because they didn't even know why they were going. But they aren't going to be at this meeting I'd like to have with you two." I explained, sighing once again.

"What the hell? Why are they going to this will thing and I wasn't invited?!" came another shriek from the small sprite.

"Alice calm down." Rosalie tried to calm her small friend down, before she sighed and was quiet for awhile. I was sure she was weighing her options on me trying to reach out to them, debating if she should meet up with me or if there was some weird ulterior motive that I had. I had a motive of wanting to talk to both of them, but it was with a purpose that I didn't see as something bad. Eventually my sister sighed again before she spoke up. "Alright fine we'll come out to meet up with you. Where would you like to meet up at?"

"Let's meet up in the auditorium." I stated, shifting in my bean bag chair. "You fine with meeting up in like an hour or two?"

"Okay fine." Rosalie agreed to the meeting place, before we shortly hung up on each other. I stood up and set my phone down on the dresser while I began to go over mentally what all I was about to bring up to the two ladies I'd be meeting up with. I knew for a fact they'd meet me with trepidation for sure, and even now I doubt myself sometimes. I keep thinking am I crazy? Am I reaching and overthinking everything that I've observed or heard? But I also work to keep those thoughts away because I know for a fact I'm not crazy, I know what I've been observing these past few months are true and not just my imaginations. I ran a hand through my hair, recalling exactly back to that ski trip and everything that went down the moment we arrived at that lodge. I was not overthinking everything I had witnessed when I watched their interactions with one another. I knew what I saw and what I also heard was confirmation of what I had been thinking about since the start of this school year.

Ever since the girls had arrived to this campus, I knew it was going to be a wild year. Teenage boys who have never really been around girls or learned social skills of how to interact with girls, it was bound to be a recipe for disaster. Our Junior year was definitely going to be memorable as soon as the teenaged girls arrived to our campus, all thanks to a Bella Swan. I will not beat around the bush and say I wasn't affected by the sight that was little Alice Cullen - I knew I'd be immediately attracted her when I could not keep my eyes off of her. She was indeed so spritely and short, but she was animated and energetic. She had such a fiery attitude towards us guys - me, especially, considering I couldn't help but ogle over her pert little ass that infamous fall day - but I loved that my heart sped up anytime I'd catch sight of her whenever her and the other girls would leave their dorms and inevitably run into us guys. Those grey eyes of hers would rage upon seeing us, and her short inky hair would flounce about as she would physically rage at us every time we'd meet. But I've seen her beautiful smile, and heard her tinkling bell-like laughter before. It made my heart stutter every time. I hated that I'd let my stupid brain overtake me and proceed to be an ass; I was a cocky jerk because I was confident with myself and my looks. I came from good genes as much as my sister also gained her own beauty from our parents. Her vanity was not unknown amongst the male population, and I'd like to think that I was also graced with handsome looks as well that many girls would swoon over. I just... couldn't exactly tell if Alice Cullen was one of those girls that wanted my attention.

As much as I was completely unsure of how Alice felt about me - past the obvious spite and hatred she had for me -, I was not unaware of the fact that my sister had her own admirer. I grimaced as I was reminded of the fact that Emmett was obviously physically attracted to my twin. He never beat around the bush that he was pining over her - albeit I couldn't tell if it really ran deeper than the surface level which he obviously cared about her physical looks more than anything. He wasn't shy to admit she was hot and he loved her physique. I loathed to hear about him panting after her like a dog, but I didn't think he thought much more of her beyond that. He was a tool on the surface, and acted like the biggest douche in the world to the girls. I didn't think there'd be much hope he'd really change his personality towards them either. I knew that Rosalie absolutely detested him, but I knew my sister better than anyone else did. I knew that there'd be moments that I would catch her looking at him with a glazed over look as if she was mesmerized by his physique. The two of them fed off each other's vanity more than they actually realized, but of course with the gender split feud they'd rather drink battery acid than ever admit they had deeper feelings past the occasional eye-fuck.

I was observant to a painful degree and I could read everyone's emotions off of their face. And with this knowledge I knew there was something deeper going on with Edward and Bella.

Yet again I ran my hand over my face whilst pulling out my phone and dug up the text message I had received a month ago. A friend of mine, from history class and also works part-time at a restaurant in Forks, had taken a grainy picture of a couple who were immersed in their own little bubble. Just that one night in December, my friend had sent me a picture that albeit with the lighting being a bit dark and the quality was hard to make out even though he has a great camera on his phone, there was no mistaking the striking copper hair on the guy's head or the fact I could see the brown hair that curled and shined under the lights. The two teens were caught up in their own world as they sat in the booth in the photo, heads together where I could see small hints of smiles on their faces. My friend had pointed out in an accompanying text saying he thought they looked familiar. And indeed they did.

I knew for a fact that there had to be something going on between Edward and Bella. From the moment we had first encountered the girls on campus at the start of the school year I could see the two of them were into one another. Physical attraction for sure, but beyond that I could see that Bella was not into Edward like he had hoped for. My friend was in the same boat as the rest of us - we all had little knowledge on how to talk with the ladies, much less how to treat them. But we were also all cocky-headed twits and thought we were every girls' wet dreams so our confidence was chalked up to a hive-mind of douche-hood. So of course the natural reaction the girls had with us was irritation. And I could see that for Bella and Edward, their animosity seemed more personal after the second or so day of school. Once the gender war started and it seemed like we had appointed those two as the respective leaders for our genders, it's been an constant back and forth of arguments and clap-backs with insults. Bella and Edward had also tried to get our music group to come to some sort of truce to work together since everyone in the group wanted to beat the stupid Harmonicals in our singing competition, but beyond that our gender war still persisted.

However, I wasn't blind. My observation skills kept a keen eye still on my friends' interactions with the ladies, and Edward was no exception. I always noticed him eyeing her throughout the school year, trying his hardest to charm her and throwing winks everyday. Each time it'd fall flat for Bella as she'd clap back at him or roll her eyes at his attempts. Every time us guys would be away from the girls, we'd pant over the ladies, but Edward knew deep down that Bella Swan despised him.

But after seeing this picture, was that even true anymore?

I wanted to discredit my friend when he sent me this photo when he caught these two out a month ago in the restaurant. I wanted to claim it was a case of mistaken identity. I couldn't however ignore it though the more I stared at the picture. There was no mistaking that bronzed haired head that belonged to my best friend, nor could I deny the brown curls of Swan. It was obviously them, there was no way it could be anyone else that looked like them. I wanted to deny it so bad but the harder I stared, the more I realized that it was indeed Edward and Bella. But why? Why were they out, obviously on a date, at this restaurant a month ago? The date it was sent, mind you, was also the day of Bella's birthday (I could briefly remember that much since earlier on that same day, Alice and Rosalie had protected her from Emmett's cruel jokes and they let it slip it was her birthday.) I also cannot forget that same day, Edward was acting funny and left our dorm room dressed up but would keep mum on where he was going; the fact he failed to return before the campus curfew came up, as well as he didn't return until late the next morning, also had my suspicions peaked. I could tell he was lying in that he said he was hanging out late with some friends and couldn't make back to the school in time so he slept out in a hotel.

But what was the most damning was how he acted on the ski trip. I kept an eye on his behavior the whole time and was not oblivious to the fact he acted with obvious jealousy every time Bella interacted with that Lodge employee - Ian I think was his name? I could see the green-eyed monster in him as he would watch them interact with one another. I mean, god forbid too that with the sleeping arrangements, it was so weird that Edward's adoptive parents were more than fine with him staying in the same room as Bella versus trying to make an arrangement to have her stay with the girls and Edward with us guys. But the two of them didn't make a fuss over it? If they're supposed to be hating one another because of our gender feud, they should've fought against the whole ordeal yet they rolled over and were fine with it? The whole time my head was reeling the more I observed them. What universe did we step into especially after Edward's blowup when Emmett reeled into Bella as the girls had prodded her thinking she was into the Lodge employee, I honestly didn't know nor could I keep up. It didn't make a lick of sense when watching Edward suddenly snap at his adoptive brother because he was picking on Swan - it was a usual occurrence when watching Emmett pick on the girls, even if I thought that he would overdo it considering he liked to specifically target Bella. I knew how Emmett was though; he never half-assed anything, and that included him wanting to really drive the point home that he might not like Swan just a bit more than the other girls. It never really made sense of what she could've done to receive a target on her back for the whole school year, and I could agree that he was going a bit too far more often than not with his cruel jokes. But the fact that it was Edward who stood up to Emmett over the whole situation, is what threw me through a loop.

Why then, why did Edward feel like finally putting an end to Emmett's jokes? I confronted him over the situation back then, and he at least gave me a considerable explanation which I could agree to his sentiment. I didn't like the fact that most of Emmett's entertainment revolved around torturing the girls every damn day, going out of his way to seek them out and cause trouble every time he'd interact with them. So I did agree with his argument that he was getting tired of his childish antics, but granted I did point out back then that why did he choose now to get into it with his adoptive brother about the situation - and especially at a time when he was getting into an argument with Swan? It didn't look good on his end as it seemed he was standing up for her at the time. But he pushed me away on the notion and claimed he wasn't doing it because of her. I could see it in his eyes though; he was unnerved by the chatter the girls were having at that time. Miffed, agitated - jealous almost. But why would he act like that in regards to Bella?

That's when we all received the scare of a lifetime, when the two of them had fallen through thin ice on that pond that day. I set aside my suspicions briefly when my best friend was in that accident with her, and cared more about them making it out alive as well as had hopes they wouldn't suffer any ill affects. Like her or not, I wouldn't wish for a girl that hated the male race to suffer hypothermia. Thankfully, Edward kept his cool and was able to get the two of themselves out of the water. I was relieved to see him alive, but it scared the shit out of me to see them a shivering mess before his adoptive parents whisked the two of them upstairs to their room. I tried to keep my worries at bay but every instinct in me wanted to rush upstairs to check on him and make sure he was doing okay. Ben and Mike at the time tried to keep me in the room and tried to reassure me enough that they'd be fine as Carlisle was looking after them. I could even see Emmett - who at the time had been keeping a cool front for the most part - cracking with worry over his brother's accident. Before long, I was telling the guys I was going upstairs to check on my best friend and slipping out of our lodge room to head upstairs.

I recalled back to that day, as I still couldn't believe what I had stumbled upon...

"I'll be right back, I just want to be sure Edward's okay." I had muttered to Ben and Mike before hastily slipping out of the Lodge room we shared for our trip. I ignored Mike and Ben's calls to try and pull me back, as they had tried to reassure me at least five times by that point, that Carlisle was taking care of them just fine. I ran over to the elevator and paged the button to their floor, tapping my foot impatiently. Something in me just needed that personal reassurance that he was doing alright.

Once I had reached their floor, I began my stride to their room, telling myself mentally that he made it out of the water fine and that yes he was doing okay - but I needed to be sure that he wasn't going to be suffering from any ill effects with hypothermia. He wasn't in the water for super long but that still didn't rule out the risk. It didn't take me long to make it to the room and just as I was about to knock on the door, that's when I heard it.

"Edward!" a distinct female cry came from the room - a voice that could not be mistaken for anyone else but Bella. I skidded to a stop and stared at the door with widened eyes. What the actual fuck? No... that couldn't be right, right? I inched closer to the door just as I heard her groan out something that 'feels so good', and put my ear to the door just as I heard my best friend make a noise while I could hear the groaning of springs of a bed. What the hell was going on in there? 'Well duh, what do you think is going on Jasper? You're not some six-year-old questioning what mommy and daddy were doing in bed, you know what sex sounds like when you hear it.' I thought to myself. I wasn't an idiot and I knew definitely what those types of sounds meant, but the surprise was truly if that was going on in their Lodge room, then -

"God!" I jumped when I heard Edward's grunt in the next second, feeling myself cringe when I then heard him say she felt so fucking good, before I could hear the rhythmic sounds of the springs straining from movement on top of the bed, along with more moans and cries of pleasure. 'Ah god, I don't need to hear them fucking!' I thought to myself in disgust, realizing that it was actually happening and that I wasn't imagining it. I even winced when I could hear the sound of slapping skin, and at that point that was the sign to run away. 'God I'm going to need to find something to purge this memory out of my head.' I thought to myself as I turned away from the door and hurriedly but quietly ran away from that Lodge bedroom, making a face when I could hear a final cry of pleasure from Bella.

That day was sadly a living piece of proof that now I knew their dirty secret. It was undeniable at that point - Edward and Bella weren't enemies at all. They were the opposite of that, and likely have been seeing each other in secret this whole time. For how long, I wasn't sure of that. But at least from the picture I was sent of their little night out on Bella's birthday, there was indication they had been together for a month or so. If they've been together longer than that, then I was horrible at seeing the signs prior to it.

After I had ran away from the room that day, I couldn't help but notice his attitude towards Bella, or how he acted around her, had changed. Granted, her father's death might've also played a role in the change in the two's dynamic. I had heard from Emmett that Edward was hanging loosely around Bella as she grieved while she stayed over at the Cullen residence until school started back up, and that Emmett had told me that Edward wouldn't act mean towards her or seemingly be a bit more... protective, over her whenever she'd act out. Especially after the incident at her dad's funeral, Edward was the first to run over to her and hold her in his arms comforting her as she broke down in front of his casket. I felt extreme pity for her, I wasn't going to beat around that because no one deserved losing a parent or going through the grieving process of losing a loved one. But I noticed that she never pushed him away or was disgusted with him comforting her. She welcomed it. That was another damning piece of evidence that there was more to their relationship than they had let on throughout the school year.

I knew now that there was definitely something going on between Edward and Bella. The knowledge of knowing it ate at me, and frankly I had to tell her two best friends. I was going to tell Emmett as well, but since he was pulled away today for this will reading, I would just have to tell him when he comes back from it.

I looked down at my phone and realized I had completely lost track of time and been thinking to myself for almost an hour. Jesus. I needed to get dressed for the day and at least try and mentally prepare how I was going to deliver the news to Rosalie and Alice. I could already guess I'd be met with doubt by them but I'd have to try and prove it to them the best that I could. As I got dressed, I did wonder what I was trying to achieve here though. I mean, was it the fact I wanted closure that I was right? That I wanted confirmation that my best friend was actually secretly dating a chick he had googly eyes over from the beginning of the school year? Or did I want to achieve in breaking friendships? I ran a hand through my blond hair as my emotions came up again.

When I had recovered from hearing the noises in that Lodge room that day, I think past the initial disgust was also anger. My best friend, someone that I thought he could trust me in telling him anything, was lying to me this whole time. I thought I would've been able to tell for sure if he was hiding anything but Edward played his emotions well in keeping this hidden from us, from me, and I was hurt. No, not hurt that he found a relationship with Bella - weirdly enough, that didn't irk me. I was just hurt he lied about hating her and didn't feel like telling me the truth. Instead he kept up with the game of our gender split war and continued the façade that we should keep up with our insults and constant bickering with the girls; albeit he wasn't like Emmett in wanting to seek out the girls every day to torture them. But he never let up on the fact we should ease up off on them until after Emmett pushed it too far in his insults towards Bella and implying she liked Ian. He let his jealousy come out and decide now he was done with his douche act. At least more or less. Despite the fact I knew they had been fucking on that day, after we returned to school he wasn't running to her and acting like a boyfriend would. He still kept up with the whole gender war to a point, but wasn't that mean or even really said much to her. Granted even after the whole episode, Emmett was no longer instigating run-ins with the ladies. Our whole norm was thrown out the window after that day.

My anger though, sat in the back of my mind whilst I sat back and observed the two of them and their interactions once we returned to school. They kept everything platonic on the surface, there was no irritation or arguments between the two of them. It might've helped that us guys that were on the baseball team, had practices to keep up with so if the two of them were even seeing each other after practice and especially after our singing competition practices, they made sure to still keep it a secret.

I focused back on getting ready, shaking my head as I tried to sort through my whiplash of emotions. I wanted to be agitated he kept this a secret from me, which I was but it wasn't an overwhelming feeling of irritation like I thought it would be. I guess I was a little bit... happy? Maybe that was a word I felt, but it was overshadowed by the upset that he lied about his real relationship towards Swan. And irritation that he didn't want to talk with me, he shunned his best friend on keeping the truth from me. As I shouldered on my jacket, I realized that hopefully once I had discussed this with the others, maybe my emotions would reach a point of clarity and I could feel one way or another over this. I tied my boots onto my feet and sent a quick text to Rosalie as I was leaving my dorm room. I made my way over to the auditorium, carefully walking through the light layer of snow on the ground. I didn't want to meet an unfortunate patch of iced over concrete so I still took to a careful stride. Thankfully the auditorium was empty for the day once I reached it. We had our singing practice the day before and today was a break-day for us, just before the new week would start. I made it over to the stage and sat down on the ledge while waiting for the girls to arrive.

It didn't take them long as soon the two bustled into the auditorium. Both were dressed in their usual fashionable attire, that mostly overlook the necessity of warmth. Rosalie in a pair of fashionable jeans and sweater while she work low-heeled boots, a coat over her that she was pulling off as she walked towards the stage. I tried to not ogle her small pixie friend that I couldn't help but be attracted to, but she looked a mixture of adorable and breathtaking as always. Alice was always the extremely girly one of the bunch and chose to wear a sweater dress under a pea coat, her spiky hair under a cute beret while she wore dark tights and high heeled boots that she strode in confidently while marching behind Rosalie up to the stage. The boots added at least an extra inch or two to her small frame. Both ladies held looks of confusion for this meeting.

"Well, we're here." Rosalie stated the obvious as soon as the two of them stopped beside me.

"That you are - thank you for coming." I spoke up then, heaving myself up to stand before them. Alice crossed her arms then, raising a dark eyebrow up at me.

"Alright, let's get to the point. What was so important that you had to talk to us in person?" Alice questioned then.

"Let me just start off now with this. I know for a fact you two will not believe a word that I'm about to say but please, you've got to trust me." I began, sighing.

"Why should we believe you?" Rosalie interrupted me, placing a hand on her hip in defiance.

"Because would I really be asking you two to meet me in person like this? If I was going to be pulling a trick on you or lie to you, I would've gotten Edward and Emmett involved." I retorted back, raising an eyebrow up at the two of them challenging them to defy that notion. The girls looked at each other when I stated the obvious. It was true that honestly if there was to be any sort of trickery going on, I wouldn't have waited until I was by myself before I'd be asking them personally to come out to meet me like this. I shifted on my feet while they exchanged looks with one another, before finally they sighed and nodded their heads. "Exactly, So please, trust me." I continued, squaring my shoulders. I took a deep breath, realizing there was no point in beating around the bush and it was better to just come out with the focal point of this discussion. "I think Bella and Edward have been lying to us this whole time, and have been seeing each other behind our backs."

Alice's immediate reaction was her grey eyes widening in shock; Rosalie snorted and looked at me with trepidation. "Fat chance." she added in then, her eyes narrowing.

"Rose -"

"What, I'm supposed to believe that? My brother who easily could be lying for his best friends and trying to stir up drama intentionally, is saying that my best friend is seeing a shitty dude who tried to assault on her on the first day of school?! Fuck no." Rosalie growled out and I balked at hearing her accusation.

"Assault? What the - what the fuck are you talking about?" I bit back, even more confused than I was before. Assault? Edward nearly assaulted Bella?! Edward never once said anything about that. I could only vaguely recall that Edward had pulled a 'joke' on her when he admitted as much a couple days before the gender war started, but he never elaborated on anything about it with me.

"Oh that's rich! He never even told you about it." Rosalie spat, rolling her eyes. "Your friend cornered Bella in the halls during their detention on their first day of school, and forced himself on her! Thankfully she fought him off before she could do anything, but still!" Rosalie hissed out, flipping her hair angrily over her shoulder as her blue eyes turned icy cold as she remembered this retelling of whatever happened between the two of them.

"No he never mentioned it." I grumbled, shaking my head. "But I swear to you, I'm not lying! Edward and Bella are seeing each other."

"As if." Rosalie hissed, standing her ground.

"What's your proof of this?" Alice questioned then, speaking up finally after her initial shock.

I dug through my pockets and pulled out my phone where I opened the text message from my friend and showed them my evidence. The girls took a cautious step forward as I explained. "I didn't think it was possible for them to really be seeing each other but this was sent to me on Bella's birthday. A friend of mine works at this restaurant part-time, and happened to spot the two of them that night." I murmured while they scrutinized over the picture.

They were silent at first when looking at it, but I could see it in their eyes the realization. They couldn't try to play it off that it was someone else that also had bright copper hair or the same distinct brown curls that Bella had. They knew it had to be them in the picture. Alice's expression was ever changing from what looked like bafflement to betrayal. Rosalie was showing more than anything a sign of minimal denial - at least trying to grapple with these facts she was being slammed with. I could also see hints of anger in her expression. I pulled the phone back and Rosalie sighed angrily.

"That's definitely them." Alice murmured in defeat, frowning.

"And that's not even the worst of it." I muttered and Rosalie looked at me with a confused expression.

"What?"

"I have another instance in that I think they've been seeing each other behind our backs."

"Okay spill then." Rosalie grumbled, crossing her arms now.

"At the Lodge..." I trailed off, cringing as I recalled back to what I heard on the other side of that door that day. "You know when they had fell through the ice that day? After Edward and Emmett had gotten into that big fight and we went out onto the ice to skate?" I began again, and the two of them nodded to me in acknowledgement. "Well, I was really concerned for Edward's wellbeing after they had fallen in and I needed my own personal reassurance that he was okay. So I went upstairs to check on him. But before I could make it to the door, I... I heard some... Interesting noises." I struggled to get out my admission of what I had heard.

"Noises?" Alice questioned, her face scrunching up in confusion.

"What kind of 'interesting noises' are you implying?" Rosalie demanded, doing air quotes around my accusation.

I took a deep breath and looked up at the two girls with a wince. "When I got to the door and was about to knock, I heard Bella... shout Edward's name, accompanied with some groaning and something about feeling 'so good.'" I began, noting that now both of the girls' faces were twisting up into shock. "I put my ear up to the door and could hear the two of them groaning before I could hear the bed... moving with the springs groaning as well as the two of them moaning more. I'm not some sheltered dude and I know what sex sounds like. I bolted when I could hear it picking up. I'm not gonna be fucking staying for long being some creep listening to my best friend boning some chick but I know they were not in that bedroom arguing or fighting, much less even playing chess. They were in that room fucking each other." I continued, grimacing as I could recall back to all the sounds I had heard that day. "God do I wish I could have something to purge that memory." I muttered, shoving a hand to my forehead.

Alice made a face of disgust but Rosalie's face was contorting now into anger.

"No way."

"Rosalie it's the fucking truth!" I hissed.

"No way in hell is Bella fucking Edward." Rosalie argued back, her fists clenching.

"You think I'd lie about that?!" I growled, scowling at my twin. "Sure, no, I totally came up with this big lie and made up the fact I heard the two of them fucking each other in their Lodge bedroom!" I nearly shouted back at her.

"But you expect me to believe you?!"

"Rose..." Alice trailed off, frowning at her. "The picture is proof for one that they've been together in secret. You remember that night when I dressed her up? She said she was going to see her parents for her birthday but she didn't make it back to school on time."

"It's believable to me that she'd be out late with her parents." Rosalie argued weakly back to her friend.

"I don't think so." Alice countered, shaking her head. "I highly doubt her parents seem like the type to not try and get their daughter back to school on time. She never did come back and when I called her the next morning, I could tell she was lying over the phone. And then she goes out again with her parents for a second night in a row? I have my doubts really about it all."

"Not to mention the fact that if they weren't really dating, you think they would've rolled over and honestly accepted the sleeping arrangements that were in place for the ski trip?" I interjected then, and could see Rosalie's face twisting again. "Think about it! If you said Edward nearly assaulted her on that first day of school, and the fact that the two of them should hate each other, you think they would've accepted them sharing a room together? Sure there might've been a pull out in that room for Edward to take, but still to be within the same room with each other? No they would've fought tooth and nail."

"Bella didn't want to cause problems..." Rosalie trailed off, trying to find straws of arguments to defend her friend.

"But you saw how she was too when my mom said to not make a fuss over it." Alice countered back, shaking her head.

"And I've been observing Edward this whole time too." I muttered, sighing. The girls looked back to me then. "Any time that weird James kid or even Joshua or whatever the fuck his name is... Anytime either of them come near Bella and try to stir shit up? Edward's right there to protect her or defend her." I continued and could see Rosalie and Alice look to one another for a second once I mentioned the names. Strange. "You saw how he was when James first entered the singing group, then I noticed how James was constantly eyeing Bella during our Santa Exchange - Edward was thinking his scowl would kill the dude on sight. And during the Christmas Dance, when the two of them confronted you ladies and were specifically staring down Swan, Edward had led the charge to get them to back off."

Alice nodded her head, frowning at the floor. "You're right about all of that, I noticed it too."

"Same." Rosalie stated shortly after.

"I remember Bella saying something that Joshua was her ex-boyfriend..." I began again, pursing my lips. "You two know anything about those two guys?"

Alice bit her lip then, as Rosalie turned to scowl off into the empty chairs of the auditorium.

"What?"

"We do -"

"But that's none of our business to tell you about them." Rosalie cut Alice off, whipping her glare back over to me. "It's Bella's past, and everything involving them is best for Bella to explain - if she ever would want to tell anyone else about them. We're her friends..." Rosalie trailed off, and made a noise that sounded like a scoff. "Well, I thought we were her friends, but obviously not if she's been hiding the fact she's been dating Cullen this whole time." she muttered, as if almost to herself, before she shook her blond head and continued on with her original thought. "Regardless, she told us what they were to her from her past, and I don't plan on telling her secrets to other people."

I took a moment to take in her words, and realized that as much as Rosalie seemed to be grappling with the reality that her best friend had lied to her and the rest of the female population of the school, she wasn't about to go back on her word. She was going to at least remain loyal for her and not reveal her friend's past traumas. I nodded to acknowledge her statement.

"All I will say -" Alice began quietly, biting her lip again and jumping a tad when Rosalie whipped to gaze at her small friend. After she had stopped short when Rosalie glared at her, Alice took a deep breath and continued. "Those two guys are not good at all. I may be upset at finding out about Bella lying to us... but I'm happy Edward's trying to protect her from them."

Rosalie made a noise then, but otherwise kept quiet. She went towards the ledge of the stage and plopped herself down angrily. Alice looked over to her in dismay while I sighed.

"I'm in the same boat." I muttered. "I'm completely unhappy with this... betrayal." I began, shoving my hands into my pockets. "But I'm proud of the fact that Edward would put himself out there like that in protecting Bella."

Rosalie kept quiet but Alice made a noise of agreement with me. We then stood there in silence for a bit, the girls likely trying to process everything that I presented them with today. I knew that I was still reeling from everything that I knew now, yet I still didn't know what to feel honestly. I didn't know if I should feel upset, angry, frustrated, betrayed and hurt, or if I should be happy for my friend. Happy though, I wasn't even sure if I could feel happy for Edward. I mean, yes in a normal situation I should be happy. He's my best friend and I wanted him to find that love, that happiness and completion in life and if he finds that in a girl had connects with, then I would feel satisfied for him and stand behind him to ensure his security of happiness. But our situation wasn't normal. We were students that opted for a silly gender split feud thinking that's what we needed to do at the start of the school year. We came together as a group of teens pitting ourselves against one another. We played the girls' games when they wanted to stave off our attempts of advances and flirting when they didn't appreciate our flirting.

We were stupid with our lack of social skills towards the female population when our school has been an all-boys school for so long. We were starved and depraved idiots when the female students arrived, but it didn't excuse our behavior either. I wanted to be more of a gentlemen with the ladies, but I also let my stupidity get the best of me and played the games that Emmett did in teasing and messing with the girls - for fear of being ridiculed, maybe? I knew I would not hear the end of it if Emmett saw me go against his games and decided to actually be a human being when talking with the girls - so I gave into his games and decided to play into being a douche. Most of us guys fell into that category, and well look where we've ended up with this feud. Yet this whole time, my best friend had been lying and hiding this secret behind my back. And the girls were in the same boat with Bella.

We sat there in silence mulling over everything that had been discussed. Rosalie kept to herself staring out into the auditorium. Alice stood there beside me, looking over at her friend with a heavy frown. I ran a hand through my blond locks, sighing then which caused the small pixie to look over to me. "What should we do?" I asked out loud then.

"What do you mean?"

"We can't just keep this to ourselves." I muttered to Alice, whose frown deepened. "We'd be no better than Bella and Edward if we kept this to ourselves." I tried to explain.

"What, you want to just out them to the rest of the school?" Alice asked then, sounding shocked.

"Well...?"

"That's..." Alice trailed off, her grey eyes starting to look watery. "That's completely cruel if we do that."

"Alice, Jasper has a point." Rosalie cut in then, her tone sounding detached. I turned to glance at her yet saw she didn't move or bother turning around to look at us. "They kept this a secret from us, they lost that ability to call us friends if they chose to be deceptive. So why should it matter if we out their secret to the rest of the school? Jasper is right that if we keep this knowledge, then we're no better than what they did to us."

"No!" Alice hissed, shaking her head. "I don't care if - I'm hurt like you are Rose!" Alice stammered out then, sniffling. "I'm deeply hurt that my own brother and my best friend chose to keep this a secret from us, I really am! But it's not right to also out them like that to the school."

"And you think it's fair that you and I found out about Bella lying to us, and it was my brother that told us rather than her telling us herself?!" Rosalie countered, turning her head to throw an icy blue glare at her spritely friend - who balked from the cold tone that was her voice. I turned to cast a sad glance to the floor, realizing that Rosalie was definitely hurt by finding out about this bombshell the way she did. "It shows just exactly what her real character is..." Rosalie continued, turning her head away again. "She wanted to lie to us this whole time about Edward... About how she felt about him and led us to believe she would never like him. She led me to believe she'd push men off considering the trauma's she faced... but was any of that real?"

"Rose, don't even go there." Alice hissed, and I turned to look to see now small tears were pooling at her eyes.

"Alice -"

"No, you may be angry at Bella but don't even think she lied about that!" Alice growled, and I was shocked to hear her tone then.

"You're defending her?"

"Rosalie I'm hurt too that she lied!" Alice cried, and wiped furiously at her eyes. The eye makeup she had put on started to smudge then, but Alice didn't care. "But regardless of that, Bella still suffered! She wouldn't lie about something as serious as what she faced - just because you're pissed she lied about what happened here at school, does not give you the excuse to accuse her of lying about anything of what she actually faced!"

"Uh..." I cut in then, feeling a bit awkward that the two of them were suddenly arguing yet acting as if I wasn't in the room with them still.

Rosalie heaved herself off the edge of the stage and whirled around to glare down at her pixie best friend, who stood her ground against her. "Well how else do you think I should feel? She lied to us about Edward and kept up playing her games that she never liked him!" Rosalie growled then. "You think I should just believe her still about what all she went through with Joshua?" This was coming from the same girl who not too long ago said she wouldn't say or tell me anything of what really went on between Bella and her ex; even if she was hurt by the fact Bella lied about everything, she still would remain loyal to her in keeping whatever was divulged to them a secret. Yet now here she was turning around and getting ready to break the secret open. It was jarring to say the least to see just how hurt Rosalie truly was if she was ready to turn at the drop of a hat and spill everything about Bella's past.

"Of course!" Alice snarled, tears spilling over again. She looked honestly more hurt over the fact Rosalie was accusing Bella of lying further about her past - whatever past she encountered with Joshua I guess - than over the fact that Bella lied about her relationship with Edward. "She wouldn't lie about that Rosalie! You saw how she was when she told us about him - you think she faked all of that to string us along? Faked her whole past like that?"

"Uh guys?" I cut in once again, and Alice balked as if she was snapped back to reality. She suddenly remembered that I was there.

"Fuck..." Rosalie grumbled, scratching at her neck awkwardly then.

"What the hell are you talking about?" I muttered to Alice then, and Alice shook her head.

"It's nothing I can tell you."

"Why should it matter if we tell him or not?" Rosalie muttered, and I glanced over at her. "The lines of Bella being our best friend are blurred and the fact she entrusted her past with us, yet lied about what was going on between her and Edward, makes me feel like why should it matter if we tell Jasper about her real past?"

"Because that's fucking cruel and you know it Rose! Bella trusted us with that -"

"Was she liked... raped or something?" The girls jumped as soon as I interrupted Alice's rant, and they looked to the floor in silence. But the expressions on their faces told me everything. Oh god. "Christ what?" I gasped, throwing a hand to my forehead. "She was?"

The girls were silent for a period of time as I tried to grip the severity now of realizing the truth. It started to make sense just a bit more now as I replayed back everything in what I've observed. Bella's outbursts when Emmett had encountered and introduced himself to Joshua when he first came to the school - and the subsequent confrontation when Bella and Emmett went at it when he flipped on her. I remembered seeing the horror and fear in her eyes when he threw her that day in the cafeteria... It was like she was suffering from PTSD; she broke down into tears when he tried to approach her, fearing for her life as if she was going through old traumatic episodes of something from her past. I recalled back to the times that even though we had started our gender split war, I would observe Edward since he was itching to jump to Bella's side anytime Joshua would be around. And then when that James kid arrived to the school, when he joined our practice that day in the late fall... Edward was the first to step away with Bella who looked like she had seen a ghost. Every time I'd watch Edward when he would glare down at James or Joshua, it was because he was watching them interact with Bella be it watching her every move or if they got near her. It would only make sense that if Bella and Edward have been dating this whole time, she must've told Edward about her past with the two of them - and Edward was reacting protectively over her.

"I meant what I said that when she told us Edward had cornered her in the hallways - it was enough to further push us to stand behind her on the choice that something should be done about handling you guys... She told us that day of what happened to her in her past regarding her ex-boyfriend..." Rosalie finally spoke up then and I glanced back up to see her glowering down at the floor still.

"Jesus..." I whispered, shaking my head. Even if I didn't know Bella at all, I held pity for her.

Once again silence befell over us. I don't know how long we stood there now with the quietness of the auditorium almost becoming unsettling. The girls had moved away from one another in an attempt to try and calm themselves down from their earlier outburst. I chose to sit down once more on the floors, still reeling from having put the pieces together. Edward really was there all along for Bella in them dating in secret. I always did get an unsettling feeling whenever I'd observed Joshua and James as they mostly chose to leer at Bella - unwavering in their stares. I could recall time and time again whenever they'd be near and would watch Bella, Edward chose in that time to also glare at them. If looks could kill, he was the embodiment of it. He'd always look so murderous if he caught those two creeps staring at Bella. After Thanksgiving, is when I noticed that Edward seemed just a bit more angry if he ever caught them looking at her. I was always confused by it, even if back then I just accepted the flimsy answer he gave: "Even if Swan didn't like me, I get the creeps when I see them looking at her and can tell they're not good dudes at all" or something along those lines, is what Edward had told me.

It made even more sense now that I put it together of what happened to her.

"Does Emmett know?" I jumped when Alice's high pitched voice broke the silence. I looked up to see her staring at me again, questions burning behind her grey eyes. Even Rosalie twitched when Alice asked her question and I could see her turn her head in the slightest towards us.

I sighed but shook my head. "I've been sitting on this for months and have told no one - at least up until today when I spoke to you two."

"I figured you'd be telling him all about it as soon as you found out." Rosalie grumbled, and I glanced over at her to see her blond eyebrows furrowing over her shoulder.

"Emmett would never have believed me." I muttered, with my hand almost instinctively going into my pockets to reach for my phone. "He has such a stubborn will and would never believe his own adoptive brother was dating the girl he supposedly hated, behind our backs." I continued, pursing my lips. "Besides if I did tell him first and if he even remotely believed me, his way of going about it would've been explosive and confrontational."

"Which would've been a natural reaction." Rosalie muttered angrily and Alice frowned at her.

"We should go about this calmly..."

"Any form of calmness and complacency is out of the picture, Alice." Rosalie cut in before Alice could get her thoughts on the subject out, again.

"Rose, stop." I grumbled, pushing myself up to my feet once more. Rosalie whipped around to stare at me as I shook my head to her. "I don't want to hold this secret between us and keep it from the rest of the school, but we also shouldn't be toxic and out them as well. I'm in agreement with Alice that this should be done calmly." I finally rationalized that much and was in agreement with Alice that really going about this in such a negative manner would not solve anything. I was hurt, betrayed and angry, yes, at the deception that was played on us. But... Edward was my friend and he at least deserved the decency to try and explain himself on this matter. I didn't know Bella at all, but she deserved about the same from her friends - in some form. "I'm finally realizing that yes my hurt, my anger - it clouded my judgement on this from the beginning. I was like you, in complete denial that my friend would go behind my back, lie to my face about his feelings and hide this from me." I tried to explain myself to my twin who shook her head defiantly. "But they're human... situations like this is not normal for anyone - especially for our friends considering us guys are... idiots."

"At least you admitted it." Rosalie grumbled, and I could hear Alice snort; it even got me to crack a small smile.

"Rosalie, listen to me." I began again and she glared up at me. "Edward and I... most if not all of the guys at this school are fucking idiots but we're socially depraved considering we never had girls at our school for at least two years before you ladies arrived. Outside of school life we didn't exactly showboat ourselves around town to the local girls so we never truly had any social experiences of how we should treat you girls. It's an excuse but also didn't exactly help when we pushed our heads up our asses further by acting like jackasses when you all did arrive. I know Edward and while he can be an idiot, he's not exactly the spawn of Satan and does know how to treat girls with respect. He just chose to give into the peer pressure of following his adoptive brother's example in acting like a douche. And I was no better yet I hated how we treated you all..." I tried to explain our behavior to which Rosalie rolled her eyes at it. "We all got off on the wrong foot with this huge blunder of a feud, and frankly I'm not surprised if Bella and Edward saw past the childishness of arguing back and forth - and chose to form a friendship, or even began to date in secret." I continued, shrugging my shoulders. "They chose to keep it a secret from us because they didn't want to face the ridicule and the inevitable backlash."

It began to make sense little by little that with how Edward was truly on the inside, he wasn't some ass-hat that felt like he was god's gift to women - he was a regular human being and a great guy. I loved him like a brother and I've known him for awhile; even before we went to high school, I remember meeting him and Emmett in middle school. It had been pure luck we managed to get into FSA together back then, and felt like kings as the school was a boy-only institute. We cared about our guy time, bonding like brothers with sports. Edward and I were closer as friends considering he and I enjoyed music together, playing instruments. I got along fine with Emmett don't get me wrong, I loved sports and playing video games with the lug. But Edward and I got each other on just more of a deeper level with our love for music and philosophies. We never truly had any social experiences outside of school, never really going out on the town that was Forks to meet girls outside of school. We hung out more with our guy friends, pulled stunts and pranks around town, played sports and more. We never really focused on finding women or developing our social skills that way because we didn't see it as a priority because we didn't care as much. But as soon as the girls arrived, we were floored and affronted with the change to our status quo.

"To me it makes sense at least." Alice finally spoke up then. "I'm in agreement though that the behavior you all displayed was not justified in the slightest, but... from one aspect I can understand the reasoning to a point." she continued in a quiet murmur, grimacing when Rosalie glared briefly at her.

"Acting like jackasses definitely does not give you guys a free pass for how you acted with us girls."

"And I won't argue that with you sister." I cut in then, sighing. "All I'm saying is that we should give Bella and Edward a chance to explain themselves." I pulled out my phone, making note of the time that it had only been probably about half an hour since we came into the auditorium to discuss this yet it felt like this whole intervention has gone on for ages. "And I think I should include Emmett for this too." I muttered, sending Emmett a quick text. 'Whenever you guys come back from this will reading, I think we need to have a chat. There's something I've been meaning to tell you.' I sent the vague yet blunt text to my friend, noticing that Rosalie was watching me type away on my phone.

"Maybe he can tell us too why he and Edward were pulled into this will reading thing as well when they come back." Alice added in, gnawing on her bottom lip in worry. "I hope Bella is doing okay with it..."

Rosalie huffed and I sighed. She was still miffed over having found out the truth about Bella it seems. Alice seemed to be the only one still concerned about Bella's feelings. Rosalie turned away and began to stomp away to which Alice and I looked on in confusion. "I need a minute to myself..." was all my twin sister said over her shoulder. She strode off from the stage and was walking away towards the doors that led out to the lobby of the building. This left Alice and I amongst ourselves which only left us in a bit of an awkward position. Alice had only known of me to be an ass-hat, especially after I had been caught by Rosalie when I leered at the pixie's behind after we returned from our Thanksgiving break.

"Uh well..." Alice trailed off suddenly, coughing into her hand. She could sense the awkward tension between us. I grimaced and looked away, trying to push the awkwardness away. I'd admit it to myself on and off, and I did not help my case previously when both of her adoptive brothers laid it into me for ogling her backside. But, I will admit that I did find Alice to be... attractive. She was a spitfire of a sprite with her attitude. I've seen her interactions with the girls and she is definitely the pushy one of the bunch in getting things done, but is always positive to a high degree. She was also loud and not afraid to voice her feelings or opinions. I liked that in a woman for sure the more I realized it over the course of the school year. And she was indeed beautiful, there was no denying it. I never thought I'd actually have a crush develop, although my behavior in how I'd act towards the ladies - specifically Alice - definitely was of no help. Especially since I gave into the pressure of following Emmett's example in being an asshole, I knew that I was not on top of Alice's 'favorite person' list.

Even so, I was a guy and while we had this silly feud, there would be times where I had let my imagination run rampant. As of late too with the knowledge that my best friend has had this secret relationship going on, I let my thoughts play these silly scenarios and daydreams - wishing almost, that I could have something like it with Alice. I was smitten, infatuated, with the springy Alice Cullen. I had those thoughts play out in my head whenever I'd let myself wander down that process, wondering just what we would be like if I had decided to try and be more of my real self with Alice. What if I hadn't given into following Emmett's peer pressure of acting like a jackass, and what if I had gone against this silly little feud we put up at the beginning of the school year? Edward obviously went against it from the start behind our backs and was now dating the girls' supposed leader. What if I had done the same and tried to be myself with Alice? I wouldn't have treated her poorly but would've tried to be her friend at first. If she saw me for who I was, I had hopes that we could have a great friendship with laughter, jokes and the usual friendly feelings. It might've developed into something more if we had gotten to known each other over time - possibly into more romantic feelings. On the surface, I was physically attracted to her and adored her personality that I would get to peek at whenever I'd see her interactions with the girls. It was pleasant seeing her smiling, hearing her laughter and overall witnessing her boundless energy as she would be such a hyperactive character with the girls.

I'd have those daydreams of us beginning to date, holding hands, kissing and having fuzzy moments with one another. After having seen the picture of Bella and Edward, I had similar daydreams of Alice and I on dates out at restaurants or dancing with one another. The scenarios were endless within my head and I was yearning for something like that - I couldn't imagine myself with anyone else but the little pixie herself. It was almost sad in a way and I sometimes felt like a creep too considering Alice at the moment would never look twice in my direction without it resulting in a glare and promises to castrate me. I was almost... jealous of what Edward had. He was my best friend (I wasn't sure anymore if I could really say that considering my anger and hurt I still held over the situation at hand), and I wanted to feel something close to being happy for him. But I was jealous that he found happiness with Bella - he looked blissful with her and from what I had heard, the two of them were serious enough in their current step of their relationship. I wanted that for myself, and I wanted it with Alice.

After having found out about the two of them, I had the smallest hope that perhaps things could change and I could finally achieve that with her. It was slim and I had high doubts it'd go anywhere - but there was still that hope.

I tried to clear my throat several times, to push those thoughts aside. But I felt as if nothing I could say would likely help our situation at this time, at least nothing to dispel this awkward silence. Alice looked away then and chose to shuffle over to the ledge of the stage, sitting down carefully. "Are you pissed off like she is?" Alice finally asked me, breaking the silence that fell upon us. She was referring to Rosalie of course.

"Uh... honestly, I'm not sure what exactly I'm feeling." I replied, shuffling over to join her on the ledge of the stage. I kept a comfortable distance between us to avoid making her feel awkward but I felt like this was a leap from where we normally were in the past. Of course neither of us would ever get this far in terms of a conversation, let alone it ever being a thought considering we were supposed to hate one another thanks to the feud. But after telling the two of them what all I knew, I guess it was going to be a different type of day. It had to be the first time ever that Alice was actually making nice with me and there was nothing malicious passing between us. Once I was sitting down, I puffed out my cheeks in an exhale while Alice glanced over at me. "I want to say that in reality, I'm mostly hurt just like you two are about it. I'm upset that Edward kept this a secret from me, from us guys. Hurt that he lied to us guys about everything and that he's been dating Bella this whole time." I continued and I could see Alice nodding her head beside me. "Do you agree though with Rose?"

"Hmm?"

"About the fear thinking that Bella was lying more about her past...?" I trailed off, grimacing as Alice scowled suddenly.

"I may be upset, hurt really, that Bella lied to us..." Alice began then, and closed her eyes. "But I would never believe that Bella lied about her past to us." she continued, a tightness behind her voice. "No girl - no one, would really lie about something like that in their right mind. Only someone completely sick would lie about it in order to twist and manipulate people with their emotions. And Bella is not like that." she spoke with conviction. "Despite the fact she lied to us about her and Edward, I know deep down she would never lie about her past with Joshua."

I nodded to acknowledge her sentiments, realizing a bit more of who Alice really was in that moment. She was still that same spitfire I've observed throughout the school year, but on top of that Alice was loyal still to Bella - even if she's betrayed the girls, Alice would still defend Bella regarding her past. Another point in the 'like' column that I had for the little pixie.

"But at the same time..." I looked over at her when she began to speak again, and could see within her grey eyes she was becoming thoughtful. "I want to say I was a bit like you."

"Huh?"

"I've been watching things - watching Bella and Edward." Alice began again and I could feel my eyebrows rise in surprise. "They never really could see me watching them, or really I just kept to myself in watching them interact. More so I was observant of things when we were on our ski trip, and after Bella's dad passed - I could see a change within my brother." she clasped her little hands together while she spoke about Edward suddenly. "I... I'll be honest with you Hale, I never truly liked how my brothers acted over the course of this school year but I do love them to a point. We may not be blood related but we were all adopted by Carlisle and Esme and we came to grow close to one another in some form. Of course Emmett and Edward act like assholes to me and I react in kind to their shitty behavior, but I feel like I'm a bit closer to Edward than Emmett. I love the two lugs that they are, but Edward and I were more on the same wave length than I ever was with the behemoth that is Em." A reverent smile came on her face. "I always had inclinations that Edward wasn't really a dick like he led on thanks to Emmett's influence, but he just didn't go against it because he didn't want to listen to Emmett rag on him like he always usually did. When Bella stayed with us over winter break, Emmett and Edward kept themselves separated but Edward chose to hover near Bella more, as if he was watching over her. Somehow that should've been more of a clue to me that maybe there was something more but I never really thought to make the connection back then."

"Ah." I said lamely, choosing to listen intently to what Alice was saying.

"I guess more than anything, I thought he was just offering some sort of comradery to her considering his own similar situation." Alice continued, shrugging her dainty shoulders.

"Him losing his parents." I stated the obvious. Edward had let it be known to me a long time ago about the fact he had lost his parents at a young age, especially considering he pointed out the fact that Emmett was his adoptive brother. I sympathized him for a long time for his loss, and when I had heard from Emmett about how he observed Ed hovering near Bella when she stayed at the Cullen residence, I made the same conclusion that Alice was stating out loud right now.

Alice nodded her spiky haired head. "Exactly." she paused to bite her bottom lip. "I never thought it was something deeper than that. But I noticed the changes in their behavior mostly from the ski trip. Throughout the rest of the school year, I'd see them interact during our singing competition practices, or see how they were during school hours and they kept up a good ruse at least to a fault. I never would've guessed this was actually going on." she said in a quiet voice, shrugging her shoulders once more.

"Same really." I again said lamely, sighing. "And now that we know, I'm not sure what to feel or what to do next."

Alice hummed and we fell into silence again. We were left to our thoughts once more, not sure if we needed to discuss anything else or if we even should. Rosalie still hadn't rejoined us but I didn't know if she would anytime soon. I think she needed more time to process everything and to try and sort out her feelings on the matter than we did. I knew my sister would react a lot more angrily than we would've, but I could only hope perhaps she would try to rationalize her emotions so we could try and confront this situation with level heads.

Whilst I was musing this to myself, I suddenly received a text message; the loud ringing of my phone broke the silence that fell over Alice and I. We jumped from the alert and she watched as I pulled out my phone. I opened the message, seeing that it came from Emmett, and chose to read it aloud for her sake, thinking it'd be best to include her in on it. "I have a bombshell of my own that I have to discuss with you - and probably it'd be best if all of us are there for it. Including Rosalie and Alice. I'm going to be dragging Ed and Swan as well for this. Let's meet in the auditorium when we come back." I read aloud to Alice, who could feel her eyebrows rise suddenly at hearing this.

"A bombshell of his own?" she questioned out loud, looking confused as to what Emmett meant.

"Yeah..." I trailed off, rereading over the message to myself at least twice. "I'm in the dark in trying to understand exactly what he's referring to." I muttered.

"Emmet's going to be in for a huge shock when he comes back." Alice murmured to herself. I sighed and sent him a reply back agreeing to his request before I looked over to the pixie.

"Whatever he's got to tell us, with it including Edward and Bella, all I know is that it can't be good." I murmured and Alice frowned.

"Somehow... I can tell you're right and I'm a bit nervous for it."

For once, Alice and I could agree on something. I was nervous too as to what Emmett was eluding to. It couldn't possibly be good based on the tone of his text. But all we could do now was wait for their return back to the school. I knew today would be a volatile kind of day with what I knew about Edward and Bella. I knew the girls would react poorly to hearing about it, even outright deny it and fight off the truth before eventually they'd have to accept it. Alice seemed to be taking this a bit better than my twin was - even if she was hurt and feeling betrayed, I could see it in her grey eyes that Alice was not nearly as pissed as Rosalie was. Still, this was a heavy thing to keep to ourselves at this current time and I knew that this will eventually get out to the school. This was bound to be an explosive second half of a school year.

The first part of this intervention had been fulfilled, but now it was time to wait for the second part to kick off. And part of that relied on whatever Emmett was going to be bringing to the table.

A/N: Eh, I'm not proud of how I led into the ending but I wanted to find some sort of way to end the chapter so we could lead into the next chappie. I also feel as if I might've been a bit off with how the teens reacted with their emotions - or might've jumped around a bit too much here and there. I did the best I could but this was supposed to be a slight tie-in chappie of some sort and lead into our next bits of drama.

Next chapter should kick off with the two plots here converging and we'll be getting into some lovely confrontations next time. But more than anything I'm excited to get into some lovey-dovey romance with Bella and Edward, along with the rest of this rewrite as I still have lots of ideas for plots.

All I can say is this rewrite is going to be a long story, since we have a few more months of this school year and some more plots to get through. Stick around!

Apologies as always for any grammar/spelling mistakes. I do my best to proof-read as I go and do what I can to catch any mistakes before publishing but I am human. Any feedback and critique is always appreciated!

Until next time,

~Lady Eleanora~