It took me a minute to even understand. He babbled on, looking more and more awkward, until I got what he was saying. Then I hurried to reassure him.

"No, no, Jake! I'm fine. Too fine, really. Of course he wasn't mean. I wish!"

His eyes widened in what looked like horror."What?"

"He wasn't even mad at me - he wasn't even mad at you! He's so unselfish it makes me feel even worse. I wish he would have yelled at me or something. It's not like I don't deserve . . . well, much worse that getting yelled at.

"Perhaps that was the best way for him to deal with this situation," Emmett muttered. "Let you punish yourself."

Edward hissed at that and snapped a glare at his brother, a glare that was filled with emotions that were difficult to read. "I'm not playing games with her!"

"I didn't say that..." Emmett started.

"She will be happy," Edward started firmly, before looking away again.

But he doesn't care. He just wants me to be happy."

"Yeah, I see that," Emmett muttered.

"He wasn't mad?" Jacob asked, incredulous.

"No. He was . . . much too kind."

Jacob stared for another minute, and then he suddenly frowned. "Well, damn!" he growled.

Rosalie was glaring at this - it seemed that she was liking the mutt less and less the longer he was in these books.

"What's wrong, Jake? Does it hurt?" My hands fluttered uselessly as I looked around for his medication.

"No," he grumbled in a disgusted tone. "I can't believe this! He didn't give you an ultimatum or anything?"

This time Rosalie growled and Emmett chuckled.

"This isn't funny," Rosalie hissed at her husband. "This jerk says he loves her, but see how much he's plotting... staging his next move... it despicable."

"It really is," Alice agreed in disdain.

"Not even close - what's wrong with you?"

He scowled and shook his head. "I was sort of counting on his reaction. Damn it all. He's better than I thought."

Edward's eyes flashed with anger at those words, anger that didn't disappear into despair as it had in the past.

"Edward already said he's not playing games," Emmett said.

The way he said it, though angrier, reminded me of Edward's tribute to Jacob's lack of ethics in the tent this morning. Which meant that Jake was still hoping, still fighting. I winced as that stabbed deep.

"He's not playing any game, Jake," I said quietly.

"You bet he is. He's playing every bit as hard as I am, only he knows what he's doing and I don't. Don't blame me because he's a better manipulator than I am - I haven't been around long enough to learn all his tricks."

Everyone was hissing at this, everyone that is but Emmett, who was chuckling again.

"Emmett!" Rosalie growled at him.

"Eddy doesn't have any more experience in this than the pup has," Emmett chocked out before he started to really laugh. Though no one joined him, it did at least stop Rosalie from hitting him.

"It would be best if I never meet that mutt in our reality," Rosalie hissed a second later, her fists balled. "That he would have the audacity to say that about Edward after what he just pulled..."

"After how understanding Edward is being about this whole situation," Alice added looking almost as upset as Rosalie was.

"He isn't manipulating me!"

"Yes, he is! When are you going to wake up and realize that he's not a perfect as you think he is?"

"Well, that's true," Emmett laughed.

"At least he didn't threaten to kill himself to make me kiss him," I snapped. As soon as the words were out, I flushed with chagrin. "Wait. Pretend that didn't slip out. I swore to myself that I wasn't going to say anything about that."

"Why not?" Rosalie hissed. "He deserves to hear what a stupid hypocrite he's being."

"She's already going to break his heart," Esme said. "Isn't that enough?"

Rosalie looked like it would be nowhere near enough, but she said didn't say any more.

He took a deep breath. When he spoke, he was calmer. "Why not?"

"You're copying the..." Emmett started, but when Rosalie looked murderously at him he had enough sense to shut up.

"Because I didn't come here to blame you for anything."

"It's true, though," he said evenly. "I did do that."

"I don't care, Jake. I'm not mad."

He smiled. "I don't care, either. I knew you'd forgive me, and I'm glad I did it. I'd do it again. At least I have that much. At least I made you see that you do love me. That's worth something."

"I don't know how he could say he loves her," Edward hissed and everyone looked hopefully at him. His anger a welcoming change from his glum. However, it didn't seem to extend very far, he was still looking off. "He knows all this would do is hurt her. It doesn't even look like he cares."

"Is it? Is it really better than if I was still in the dark?"

"Don't you think you ought to know how you feel - just so that it doesn't take you by surprise someday when it's too late and you're a married vampire?"