Alice

Of all things, she did not expect to find Rosalie feeding Emmett cake. Of course, they had their clothes on and weren't doing anything else incriminating, but Alice could only imagine how she would feel if she'd walked in to find the blonde siren feeding her husband and then wiping crumbs off his bottom lip. It made her angry for Bella…not that her bestie was too focused on her own husband at the moment.

Alice hadn't had any more visions since and felt confident she'd given Bella enough warning to stay away from Edward. If Bella wanted that happy ending Alice saw in the first vision, then she was best avoiding having any alone time with him.

Bella had made quite the spectacle of herself with her hiccups, and amusing as it was, Alice had been impressed that her friend ignored her former instincts and simply went to bed. Bella didn't like being in a crowd of people, but she also knew that because of the show, she couldn't just hide. Alice gave her the talk as soon as she could get her in the bathroom alone.

And how she'd been surprised to find Edward…waiting for Bella? Oh, this was no good. Alice wanted nothing more than for that wedding she saw in her vision to take place. She hoped to spare Bella the embarrassment she would suffer from being caught on camera with Edward. How would she be labeled then? Bella, the homewrecker? Although, it seemed that Emmett might not even care so much.

She'd settled in with Jasper, and he was nibbling at her neck. He stopped and looked at her.

"Am I bothering you?"

"No, I'm just distracted. You know with all the stuff going on."

"We've got a few days left, and this will all be over. Let's just enjoy some "us" time. We'll deal with everybody else in the morning."

She wanted to enjoy some "us" time, but Jasper still reeked of cigarettes.

"Maybe you should shower first."

He hung his head but then brightened. "Or maybe…we can shower together…"

She wrinkled her nose. "Yeah, why don't you start without me?" Like really get in there with that shampoo…slather on that body wash…scrub away that stench…

"Ooh, I'm wounded," he said, fist at his heart. But then he leaned in and kissed her on the cheek and gave her butt a squeeze.

She heard the water run, and that was when she heard the voices.

"What were you thinking, Emmett? In front of everybody?"

Emmett's voice boomed from the other side of the wall. "What was I thinking? At least I'm not trying to hide my infatuation from you."

"No, but maybe you should. I mean, come on…national television! And lower your voice!"

"Are you worried about what I did? Or are you more concerned that Edward isn't paying attention to you?"

"Emmett, that is low!"

"Come on, Bella! You're not so innocent. You're just sneaky. What took you so long to get in the jacuzzi anyway? Then you show up all glassy-eyed and hiccuping because you'd been drinking! You were probably with him!"

Jasper appeared in the doorway of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist. "Oof, that sounds pretty bad. What is he talking about with Ed…?"

"Lower your voice!" Bella's voice called out.

Alice waved Jasper away and shushed him.

"Oh, like you really care anyway!" Bella's voice rang out.

"Look, I'm sorry, okay? That's why I told you the truth."

"You're not sorry, Emmett. That's the truth. What would've happened if nobody showed up in the kitchen? Would you have taken the party to the jacuzzi?"

Jasper pulled on a robe and went towards the door.

"What are you doing?" Alice whispered as he turned the doorknob.

"Hopefully putting this all to a stop." She crept up to the door, peeking out to see if anybody was in the hallway. Jasper looked up at the cameras, which were now flashing green. He tapped his finger to his lip to warn her.

The shouting had stopped, and then Emmett's voice boomed again. "You know what? Screw this! I'm out!"

Alice's eyes widened, and Jasper was trying to hash it out with Emmett, so she closed the door.

"You're a little wound up. How about you take a couple of deep breaths?"

"I need you to just get out of my way," Emmett called out.

The next thing she knew was that Jasper had entered their room once again. "Where did he go?" Alice asked.

Jasper shook his head. "I don't know. Hopefully outside to cool off."

"Well, I need to go talk to Bella."

When Alice left the room, she caught the green light still flashing and went to the next door over where she spied the light below the door. "Bella? Open up. It's me."

When Bella opened the door, Alice noticed her friend had been wiping away tears.

"Oh, Bella. I'm so sorry."

Bella looked at her friend. "I'm not. This whole thing is so stupid. I think I should just go talk to Edward…"

"Oh no, you don't."

"To warn him, Alice. The reason Emmett went off about that, which I'm sure you heard, is that he knows about Edward and me. The night before the weddings."

"No, Bella. Talk to Edward after the show is over, please? Besides, with all the shouting you two were doing, it's possible he and Rosalie heard the whole thing already. The best thing to do now is just let Emmett calm down and everything will work itself out. And drink some more water."

"Oh believe me, I've been chugging the water since the jacuzzi."

"Well, that's something. I've never heard you stand up for yourself like that before. Thought it was due to some liquid courage. But wow, look at you now."

"Yeah, I guess that's Emmett's influence. He told me to stop apologizing. He's helped me to express myself." She plopped onto the bed. "This isn't his fault. If I'd never met Edward…maybe Emmett and I would be a couple…and he wouldn't be flirting with Rosalie…"

"Oh, please…you sound like one of those jilted wives. You came into this with the best of intentions."

"What I'm saying is that our marriage would have stood a chance if I had never met him."

"Maybe. Maybe not." She sat beside her and put her arm around Bella's neck. "What are you going to do now?"

"Right now, I'm going to do the right thing and be with my husband. It's almost over."

Alice smiled at her friend, impressed by how much she'd grown in such a short period of time. "Just two more days."

She kissed her goodnight and hugged her as they parted ways before Bella went down the stairs and Alice retreated back inside to find Jasper sitting on the bed, patting at his curly wet hair with a white fluffy towel.

"Is she okay? What's going on?"

"Bella just left to talk to Emmett."

"So, when you said about happy endings, you didn't mean Bella and Emmett?"

"No." She smiled, and her fingers couldn't help themselves as they sought out a single curl.

"What did you see in that vision?"

Now, he smelled of soap and spice and love. She bit gently down on his earlobe. "Bella and Edward. Getting married by a justice of the peace."

He crooked his neck and twined his fingers into hers. "Bella… and Edward? That doesn't make any sense." He claimed her lips with his, and lowered her onto the bed.

"Do you want me to tell you the story now…or later?" Alice untied her robe and wiggled against him.

He smiled as he lowered his head back to her neck. "Later. Later is good."

Jasper

Alice was too into her friend's relationship, in his opinion. After she'd explained Edward's role before they'd gotten married, Jasper understood better about their dynamic. Now, how was this all going to work out? Especially with her vision of seeing Bella actually marrying Edward? Tensions ran high though that night - he felt it, and being a natural peace-maker, he intended to have a word—or even a drink—with Emmett and help calm him down but had been too late for that.

The next morning, he'd snuck out of the room, armed with his patch and his first cigarette. He'd hoped this would be the last of the day, but that seemed to be the goal over the last few days, but stress had gotten the better of him, and with all the anxiety going on in the mansion, he was grateful this trip would be over soon and he could go back to it just being him and Alice.

He'd waved hi to Edward and Rosalie, who couldn't look any more perfect as they jogged back, in sync, up the driveway. From an outsider perspective, they certainly looked the part…if not for the fact that Rosalie and Emmett seemed to have the hots for one another…and Bella and Edward…things were complicated.

Alice was just waking up, and he hurried to the shower, not wanting to draw attention to the smell, he knew she was hyper aware of it. He hated letting her down, and worse, he didn't like that this cigarette thing was still an issue. Nevertheless, he loved her, and he meant it when he said he would see this through.

"Wait, where are you going, sexy?" she said, sleep thick in her voice as she lay in bed rubbing her eyes.

"Shower," he said, and her expression fell. She laid back on the bed.

"It's so early. Is anybody up yet?"

"The jogging twins."

"Oh."

"You're welcome to join me in the shower," he said, wagging his brows.

"Nah," she said. "We're going on a 3 mile hike. I'll wait until after, if it's all the same to you."

So, in other words, no morning loving. He pushed away the disappointment. Alice, so far, seemed to enjoy making love with him, so he told himself this was not a rejection, but at the same time he equated smoking with being denied. This bothered him.

She'd just returned from talking to Bella. He'd been gone and she briefly explained something about her having a vision about Bella getting hurt on the hike. Bella was determined she would go anyway, and peeved by this, Alice returned back to their room. Alice had kissed him and shown plenty of affection after he showered, but they had to hurry out to grab a quick breakfast before heading out. The sun was already blaring because October heat in Palm Springs made him feel like he was a loaf baking in an oven.

At first, Bella and Alice were behind everyone else as they headed up the trail, and he and Emmett were left side by side. Even Ken and Barbie took their stride at an admirable pace.

"How's it going?" Jasper asked. They had their mikes on, and a drone followed behind and one followed from above.

"Good."

"Okay."

"I bet hiking is not a problem for you."

"Not really. Try hiking up a mountain with 70 pounds of fire gear. That will test your endurance for sure."

"That's no fun." He'd had his own experiences from the army…when he'd been younger and more fit.

"You do what you gotta do."

Rosalie glanced behind her at Emmett and then turned to face forward.

"Owww…"

Jasper and Emmett turned. That was Bella's voice. They found her on her bottom, seated on the dirt next to a cactus, with one knee bent over the other.

"Bella, are you okay?"

Alice was shaking her head. This was as she'd predicted and asked Bella to make an excuse to get out of it, but after everything that happened, she wouldn't back out.

"I just…aaah! I think I sprained my ankle."

Edward came forward and bent down over her. "Mind if I take a look?"

Bella's skinned knees were covered with blood and sand, and she clenched her teeth. "Okay."

Emmett put out his arm. "I got this."

Jasper and Alice wore identical expressions of sympathy, crunching their faces as she winced from the pain as he asked if she could point her toes or straighten her leg…

"I really think you should—," Edward began, but Emmett cut him off.

"I said I got this."

"Owww, owww…that hurts! Ugghhh!" Bella looked up at everyone, fighting back tears. "I'll be fine, guys. Go on without me. I'm just going to turn back."

"We're not leaving you," Alice insisted.

"I don't think she should put weight on it until she gets it looked at," Edward said. "Her ankle is already starting to swell."

"Okay," Emmett said, nodding. "You all keep going. I'm going to get Bella back to the mansion."

Alice wagged her finger at her as if to tell her she told her so, and Emmett picked her up in a cradle position and carried her back the other way. Jasper kind of envied her now because the heat was creeping into his clothing, and sweat beaded on his forehead and chest. Alice kept trudging along but didn't say anything.

"I'm sure she'll be fine."

"I'm sure she will. But geez, she doesn't listen to me."

"You know you're not the boss of her."

"No, I'm not. But I'm looking out for her best interest."

Like the cigarettes. And them being bad for his health. Or maybe now, he was thinking it was her best interest because they bothered her.

"Yeah…maybe you should just lay off."

"Lay off? She's my best friend!"

"I know, but sometimes you come on a little too strong."

She tilted her head. "This isn't about Bella, is it?"

The drone hovered above them, and he wanted to show it the finger.

"Alice…all I'm saying is that sometimes you gotta let people live their lives."

"What about when what they do affects someone else?"

Were they still talking about Bella? "I think you have a right to express your feelings, but I don't think you have the right to demand that they change for you."

"Oh God! Not this again!"

Edward and Rosalie turned, looked at them, then at each other and picked up their pace.

They headed up an incline and Jasper was panting more than everyone else. "Alice, I'm just saying…"

"And I'm saying that you are trying to defend your smoking! Look at you! You can hardly breathe!"

"I'm out of shape," he said, huffing and puffing. He wanted to stop and rest. He reached behind him for some water, which he was not a big fan of. But the scorching heat of the sun beat down on him.

"Let's just stop for a second and let you catch your breath."

He knelt down, and the sun was too bright. In their haste to leave, he'd forgotten his hat and sunglasses and left with no more than a banana in his stomach. "I just need a little drink, then I'll be okay." He took a small sip and then placed the bottle back on his backpack.

"Jesus, Jasper, at this rate, you're going to pass out. Drink more water."

"See! There you go again! Trying to tell me what to do!"

"I am trying to keep you from passing out!"

"Alice, I'm fine."

He got up, and she tried to put her hand in his, but he kept his hands to himself. He was fired up, and overtired, and sweaty, and white was starting to color the background. Then the last thing he knew was that Edward was hovering over him as Alice gestured for help to the drone and called out for assistance.

"Jasper? Can you hear me?" Edward asked. He was holding up his hand. "How many fingers am I holding up?"

He couldn't quite focus his gaze on Edward or register Alice's grip on his hand. He heard something about needing more water. And oxygen.

And that help was on the way.

A/N: More testosterone (and the effects of it to come)! Thanks so much for reading, following, and to the reviewers for your reviews! Next chapter wraps up their time together as they get closer to the end of the experiment, so stay on alert for that. :)