Step One: "Denial is a defense mechanism postulated by Sigmund Freud, in which a person is faced with a fact that is too uncomfortable to accept and rejects it instead, insisting that it is not true despite what may be overwhelming evidence."

Song of the step: "Black Mirror" by: The Arcade Fire.

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Chapter One: I Just Want What's Best for You

Alice was quite glad that there would be someone new moving to the area. She was sick and tired of all the familiar faces in the town of Fernwyck, and a new person would significantly liven up the place. From what she had heard in the gossip mill, it was a girl who was around her age, give or take a year. Maybe she and the newbie would even be friends. Anything's possible, right?

At least that was Alice's hope. As much as she loved her best friend, Bella, there were just some things you couldn't talk about around her. Also, Bella loathed shopping and well… that was tantamount to sin in Alice's book. She didn't understand her friend's hatred of the activity, it was just something fun you could do with others, nothing diabolical. Yet every time Alice even brought shopping up, Bella flipped her wig.

It didn't help that Edward always tried to reason with her, until she was forced to let the matter go, and go shopping alone. Well, that wasn't even true. Alice's friend Jasper went with her sometimes. But that was about it. She could at least understand why Edward acted like that, as Bella's boyfriend/fiancé (whatever they were now, Bella hadn't given an answer to his proposal yet, claiming she needed time to "think it over"), he felt obligated to make sure she was perfectly content and happy. Or some such nonsense.

In all of her twenty-three years of life, Alice had never seen a relationship so co-dependent as the one between her two friends. Sometimes they would all be hanging out together and she almost swore Edward adjusted his motions to hers, like resetting a clock. It was both weird and endearing, weird because it was so unusual, endearing because they had found each other.

Alice knew personally how long Edward had been waiting to fall in love. She and Edward had been childhood friends, they grew up next-door to each other, and therefore knew almost too much about the other. Bella had transferred to their high-school junior year, and the rest is as they say, history. She also sincerely hoped that Bella would accept his proposal. She didn't want to see what would happen if Bella broke Edward's heart. It would not be a sight for sympathetic eyes.

None of their friends would take it well.

Alice, Edward, Bella, Jasper, and Emmett were a close-knit group of five, and they had been ever since the tail end of junior year. They were all different in their ways, but somehow the constrasting personalities "clicked" to form a bond. A fluke of nature, one might say, but a delightful fluke nonetheless.

There had been no fooling anyone, everyone knew Edward and Bella would get together. The three remaining friends had worked diligently on that point, and if all their hard work culminated in two broken hearts and a nonexistent wedding, well then they would have to ask themselves: was any of it worth it?

Alice, Emmett, and Jasper themselves were all single, and had been ever since they could remember. Well... that's not entirely true. Emmett did have his fair share of girlfriends, but none of them lasted long. He said quite honestly that he "was sure there wasn't going to be a right one, and that if there was, she wouldn't conveniently be living in Fernwyck."

Alice quite frankly, did not believe in the usual conceptions about love. She wasn't even sure if it was supposed to happen for everyone. While she couldn't deny that it existed, thanks to her two friends, she just didn't see much of it anywhere else, which made her resigned to the fact that she herself wasn't going to find it.

Who would want a shopaholic, borderline five-foot pixie with no curves anyway? Who would want to go out with her, or even better yet, go in it for the long haul and get married? She didn't look like a woman ought to when in maturity, so who would treat her like a grown-up, an equal, other than her friends?

Whenever she asked herself these important questions, it all bubbled down to one thing: no one. Simple as that, and she didn't think upon the subject again until she couldn't help it any more. Ignorance was bliss, after all.

So now to the new girl. She lived on the other side of town, and without meeting too much resistance, Alice had assembled her group of friends to go meet their new "neighbor," and generally be friendly and welcoming. She knew how hard it was to be in a new place with practically no one you knew, thanks to her four-year stint at university.

They had all piled into Edward's Yukon, which had the three rows of seats needed to fit them all, and resolved to head over. Emmett was lounging in the very back row, saying something about getting some "shut-eye" at which Bella remarked, "Emmett, that's so untrue. You get more than enough sleep as it is."

One raised middle finger later, Edward was behind the wheel and Bella sat shotgun, leaving the middle row for Alice and Jasper. She was busy sketching out some designs on her notepad while he stared out the window. This was how car rides generally went for the group, so it was like settling back into a well-worn routine.

"Edward, I know you already met her, so what's she like?" Alice wanted to know. Edward lived on the same street as the new resident, and had generously helped the new girl move some boxes into her house. He had to know something good, she surmised.

"Her name is Rosalie Hale, she's blonde, tallish, and is going to teach kindergarten at the school. She really didn't say much other than that, it's not like we sat down for a fireside chat or anything," Edward answered summarily, keeping his eyes focused on the road.

Alice looked up from her notepad, taking in this new info. Hmm, tall, blonde...teacher? This could really work out. She eyed Jasper carefully in her peripheral vision. He was such a lonely soul, and it was tragic because Alice knew he actually believed in love. Maybe she could set things up between them, they sounded similar enough for it to be feasible....

"You'll have to give her a tour of the school, Jazz. I'm sure she would appreciate it."

"Yeah, they cover that in new teacher orientation Alice, so there's no need," he replied, turning his gaze away from the window for a moment. He looked almost affronted, but she chose to ignore that. She knew he could be stubborn, but that's only because he didn't see this as the golden opportunity it could be.

"Well, at least have lunch with her. You wouldn't want her to be lonely on her first day of teaching, would you?" Alice pressed, refusing to back down in her new little plan.

Jasper sighed, and his posture suggested defeat. "Fine, I will have lunch with her."

"Thank you, Jazz," Alice sang, leaning over to give him a quick peck on the cheek as a token of gratitude. He worked hard to compose his face into something other than a goofy smile. This went mostly unnoticed by the rest of the car, except for an uncharacteristically observant Bella, who saw it in the rearview mirror, and bit her lip so that she kept her thoughts to herself. She wasn't about to create unneeded strife in the group.

A few minutes later they parked in Edward's driveway, willing to walk a few houses down to the new girl's place. Everyone filed out of the Yukon, Alice toting the welcome basket they had chipped in to get. It was rather like a scene from a movie how they all stood dutifully on Miss Hale's porch, bearing gifts. Emmett was elected to ring the doorbell, and until then all they could do is wait patiently.

There was the sound of locks being turned, and soon the door opened to reveal a woman fitting Edward's earlier description. Tall, blonde, and definitely a perfect female specimen, Alice thought grudgingly as she took in the woman's immaculate looks. She looked about to see everyone else's reactions. Emmett was typical, practically gawking at the poor girl---thankfully she hadn't seemed to notice him yet---Bella was casting nervous looks at Edward, who seeing her dilemma, leaned down to whisper in her ear.

"You know I prefer brunettes Bella, after all, what color is your hair, love?"

Carefully Alice now turned to study the most important reaction of all, Jasper's. He didn't seem perturbed at all, merely stood there quietly, smiling politely at no one in particular. Well, he's just shy probably, Alice added to herself. Time will change that though....

"Hello, I'm Alice, and these are my friends," she waved around to the rest of group, "and we just wanted to welcome you to Fernwyck!" she concluded, shoving the welcoming basket forward. The blonde woman took it from her, smiling delicately.

"Nice to meet you all. I'm Rosalie Hale, but you can call me Rose if you'd like," she introduced herself, looking pointedly at the corner where Emmett and Jasper were standing. Alice smiled as she thought to herself that this might even be easier than she had originally anticipated.

"Um, would you all like to come in while I open this? There's plenty of seats in the living room," Rose offerred, gesturing inside of her house.

"Sure, we'd love to," Bella accepted, slipping her hand into Edward's as the five of them followed inside after Rosalie. They could see that there were still boxes here and there, which made sense as she had only just moved in, but the living room was mostly complete, with a stereo, mid-sized T.V, and several couches and chairs. Everyone took their places sitting, Alice and Emmett sat on either side of Rosalie on the couch, Bella was on Edward's lap in an armchair, and Jasper was in the other chair.

Rosalie perched the basket on her lap, and gently sifted through it, reading out each gift slowly and taking the chance to thank whoever had bestowed it upon her.

"Thank you Bella, I love flowers...well especially orchids. They're so rare, where did you get them?"

"I grew them. I own the nursery here in Fernwyck, so I have all kinds of lovely plants. I figured these would be different for a change, so I'm glad you liked them," Bella answered, smiling sweetly.

"Well, thanks, I'll have to stop by there to get some stuff for my landscaping, my yard could use some more flowers, I'm just not sure what kind..." Rosalie trailed off uncertainly.

"Come in any time for a consultation, I help a lot people pick stuff out, so maybe I could give you a hand."

"Or a green thumb?" Emmett suggested innocently, though the mischievious glint in his eyes gave him away. Rosalie laughed, and Bella shot Emmett a dirty look, giving him the finger this time. Alice shook her head. They acted like brother and sister, those two....

"Why don't you see what Emmett got you?" Bella said, her eyes mimicking Emmett's earlier fervor.

"Okay..." Rosalie said, trying to find the gift amongst the rest of them.

"Hmm, a shirt?" She said, holding it up for examination. It was a dark blue tee-shirt that read: "Don't hassle me, I'm a local." "Actually, this could come in handy, thank you Emmett," Rose concluded, folding the shirt neatly and draping it over her knee so that her hands were free again.

"You're most certainly welcome. See Bella, she likes my gift," he teased, unable to help himself.

"Not the gift you're thinking of," Bella shot back pointedly, giving him a truly terrifying glare.

"Can't you restrain her or something?" he asked Edward, who merely shook his head no. Bella smiled triumphantly and leaned back, getting comfortable against Edward.

A bottle of fine champagne and a gift certificate to the day spa later, it was time for Jasper's gift. Rosalie reached into the basket and drew out a small, oaken box that positively gleamed as if it had just been made and cleaned. There was a delicate little lock on the front of the box, and a small, floral design carved around the edges.

"Oh, another box," she exclaimed, and everyone chuckled, seeing as how she still had plenty of boxes left in her house to unpack. Bella, in another fit of observant-ness, noticed that Jasper's laugh was only half-hearted. He must have put a lot of work into it, poor guy.

Bella and Jasper had always gotten along extremely well, as they were similar in many respects. They were quiet souls, and neither of them sought any constant attention or recognition, but as the old saying goes, a craftsman likes to hear his work is appreciated. Not many people knew, but Jasper liked to build things in his spare time, using several art mediums, of which his favorite was wood. This must have been another one of his side projects, Bella guessed.

"It's an um...jewelry box. I figured that a girl would have a use for it," Jasper explained mildly, earning him another pity glance from Bella.

"Yeah, I do have some jewelry, so this would work...thanks," Rose said offhandedly, setting the box down with her other gifts.

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Later, as they were heading out to the car to go home, Bella made it a point to have a talk with her friend. She pulled him aside while the rest of the group got situated back in the Yukon, and said quietly, "It was a beautiful gesture, Jasper, I'm sorry you didn't get a little more feedback."

"It's okay Bella, a lot of things in this world go unnoticed. No use mourning each and every one."

For some reason his words struck a chord in Bella, who contemplated everything carefully as they two got in the car. He had said a lot of things went unnoticed, and usually she would just dismiss it as the truth, but for now, she was curious. What did he feel like mourning? Surely it couldn't just be the box.

But what then? It's not like he had ever mentioned anything like this before. She sighed, thinking to herself that she needed to get to the bottom of this.

"What's bugging you, Bella? You've got that look in your eye," Edward observed as he parked along the street where she lived. He was dropping her off last in deferrance to the rest of the group. Plus, Bella figured he probably wanted a chance to kiss her goodnight without a chorus of "Eww! Gross!" courtesy of Emmett.

"Just something someone said, but it's really nothing. Trivial, so don't worry yourself about it."

"I could say the same to you," he remarked pointedly, flashing her a crooked smile that was his trademark.

"Probably tomorrow I won't even remember it," she lied, placing a smile on her face for good measure. No need to upset him, it wasn't his mystery to solve.

"All right then. Shall I walk you to your door?"

"If you must."

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Author's Note: This story has been bugging me for a while now...it just demands to be written. I would really like to get some reviews, not just alerts and favourites. Please, pretty please?