Welcome to Wonderland

by xPaige Turnerx

A girl who crashes through time falls in love with a girl who sees through time.

2. If I Fall

And does she notice

My feelings for her

And will she see

How much she means to me

I think it's not to be…

It's been so long since she's felt the sun and she thought she would be grateful, thankful for that familiar heat against her skin. Like a hug of pure warmth, and the nostalgic memories of afternoons with Renee, maybe even the faint smell of paint if she concentrated hard enough. Instead, her skin is sticky with sweat, her clothes hanging heavy from her body as she trudges after her friend… or maybe a ghost. Breathing in air is like breathing underwater, and dear god, wherever they are isn't even close to Arizona and its dry heat.

This is heavy and moist and clogging her lungs.

Or maybe it's the hangover.

Alice skips ahead of her, leading her down a back gravel road. It's secluded, despite being so open, nothing but fields on either side of them, and houses off in the distance. Trees farther to the left, she thinks, it's kinda blurry. She's still not entirely sure she didn't die, falling off that roof. That this is some kind of… of hell, maybe. Or heaven. Alice is here. She can't decide which.

Her pocket vibrates and she fishes around, looking at Charlie's name flashing across the screen, before grunting and stuffing it back in her pocket. Blue eyes watch her with interest and she scowls at them until they look away.

But not for very long. They're back a few heartbeats later. "Why are you so upset?"

"I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

"No."

"Yes!" she chirps happily and twirls again, to walk backwards while she watches Bella. "Do you need to vomit again?"

Bella's lips twitch and she fights her smile. "No. I'm-"

"Hungover?"

And she sighs. "Maybe. I don't… I've never. I don't really drink, except for the odd party here and there. I just-" she holds her forehead, grimacing at the slick sweaty skin, "my head is killing me."

"You do look dizzy," Alice says with concern and slows her pace to close the distance. She watches Bella shuffle to a stop before her, caution in those dark eyes, and tries her best to smile wide. "May I?"

Bella looks at the offered hand reaching to press the back of Alice's palm against her forehead and awkwardly, hesitantly leans down for her to reach. They both jump at the crackle of energy that passes between them. "It's just a migraine, I'll pop some Advil or Tylenol when we get back to your place."

"Oh!" Alice lights up excitedly. "You're adept with medicines?"

Which is… kind of a weird thing to say… and supports the claim she made earlier that Bella totally and completely wrote off as being insane. It's not nineteen-twenty. It's not. Alice is just messing with her, or she's hallucinating, or… "No… Alice, who is president?"

"Woodrow Wilson, of course," Alice replies like Bella is the silly one, and looks even more concerned than before. "You fell pretty hard."

"Damn, I wish I knew if that was right." Bella frowns and shoves her hands back in her pockets, shrugging again. "I gotta start paying attention in History class more."

Alice spins again and falls in step with her. "Are you a fan of history?"

"Nope. Boring. Old dead white dudes that fucked everybody else over. I'd rather look to the future."

A shy smile curls at Alice's lips and Bella's heart beats painfully in her chest. "I also like looking to the future."

"Yeah," Bella agrees and coughs, a blush creeping up her neck. "But you're better at it than me. Or anybody, really."

"H… do… you know me, don't you?" Alice asks after a long moment. "That's how you know I prefer Alice, why you keep glaring at me. You know me, and you don't like me."

Kill Bill sirens go off as, for the first time, the smile falls from Alice's face. And, okay, her Alice has only ever been patient in every aspect. She was always encouraging smiles and bright eyes, even when Bella was, admittedly, being a jackass. There was nothing Bella could do to upset her friend.

So when this Alice glares at her, she is taken aback. "W-"

"You're mad at me, here and now, when I haven't even done anything yet!" she grumbles and shoves Bella.

Shoves her.

Bella stumbles sideways but the world is already still spinning, and she can't catch her footing, so she goes toppling down into the, thankfully, dry ditch.

A startled gasp spills from Alice's lips. "Oh, no! Sorry!" She's down in the ditch a few seconds later, trying to help Bella turn over, off her face, and straighten her glasses. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry, that was so rude of me, I'm sorry! My mother keeps telling me I'm too impulsive, I tend to act before I think. Please, forgive me."

Bella wheezes in hot air, grimacing at her sore ribs, and shakes her head. "Nah, it's fine. I," she grunts and lays back in the grass, "I probably deserved that. I don't mean to glare. I'm just… tired."

"You look sad," Alice says quietly and cradles her new friend's head on her lap. She tucks wild, dark hair behind the girl's ear, looking down into those brown eyes. "Why are you sad?"

"Life hurts," Bella tells her just as softly.

And Alice nods, because this is not new information. She knows exactly how much life hurts, for her and the people she sees at night. Life is devastating. "What year did you think it was?"

"It's-" Bella licks her lips and shrugs. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"I bet you that I would."

A chuckle shakes them, and for the first time in a long time, Bella's heartache dulls, if only slightly. "And we all know, never bet against Alice. Alice. Hmm. What's your actual name, if you only prefer Alice?"

A question her Alice could never answer, as hard as she tried to remember. And at once, Bella remembers that this? This was all stolen from Alice, taken from her and buried so deep that it was lost to history.

But - apparently - not to her.

"I asked first," Alice argues playfully and boops Bella's nose before getting to her feet and helps the taller girl to her own. "Answer mine, and I will answer yours."

Bella huffs and climbs up out of the ditch, offering her hand to a much slower Alice than she's used to. And warm. So warm. The temptation of knowing Alice's name, her real name, is too much. "Fine. I, uh, I thought it was twenty-eighteen."

The reaction is comical, Alice's eyes growing huge with wonder and awe, her mouth agape. She blinks a few times and leans closer to Bella, looking her up and down, scrutinizing every inch. To the point that Bella does up her coat, even in the heat, and crosses her arms. "You're from the future!"

"I - what? No? I - no? No. No, no. Definitely… no. No, I'm not. Don't be silly. That's - no."

Alice waits patiently, a skeptical eyebrow raised. "I dare you to say no one more time."

"... no."

"You're from the future!" she shouts and Bella ducks, looking around the empty road.

She wrangles Alice close to her chest, hand over her mouth. "Shhh! Would you just - holy shit, you're so loud. I'm not from… I'm not, okay? I'm just - yuck! Did you lick me?!"

Alice stumbles forward when Bella lets go to wipe her palm on her jeans, turning around to look at her. "I knew you were from far away, and I knew you were special - of course you are, you fell from the sky, from nowhere, but I had no idea just how far in the future! This is marvellous!"

"This is not marvellous, this isn't. This…" Bella heaves a sigh and rubs at her throbbing forehead. She really needs to get out of the sun, she's absolutely roasting. "I don't know what's happening, but I will try my best to explain it when I understand it, okay?"

The concern is warming, it's… it's familiar and painful and has Bella looking away, but Alice grabs Bella's hand. "I can be patient, despite what mother and Cynthia say. I won't push too hard, I promise. We're almost to my house, it's the second one down at the end of this path."

.

.

.

True to her word, Alice doesn't press anymore on their way back to her house. She watches Bella a lot still, but Bella can hardly notice past the cold pain in her eyes and the ringing in her head. She blearily follows her friend. Her ghost. Her… whatever, and is oh so thankful when they climb the steps to a front porch and stop before a nice door.

She sways on her feet, hand braced against the frame of the door, and tries to focus when it opens. Another Alice greets her, or close enough to her blurry vision - about a foot taller, older, with warm brown eyes, and long, long hair. Bella's brows furrow and she turns to the pixie. "Wait a minute," she hums and pinches the braid between her fingers, flicking it back over Alice's shoulder. "You have long hair."

"Mary Alice?" the woman questions, equal parts concerned and amused. "Who have you brought home this time?"

Alice laughs nervously, jerking forward to wrap an arm around Bella as she shuffles back to balance herself. "This is Bella. Bella, this is my mother."

"Mrs Alice's Mom," Bella repeats and shoots a finger gun at her. "You don't look like Esme."

"That is a very familiar name…"

Alice's mom watches the two of them fondly, arms crossed as she leans in the doorway. "A pleasure to meet you, Bella, though I wonder if you'll remember this when you sober up. Mary Alice, might I get an explanation?"

"She fell from the sky," Alice begins and holds up her hand when her mother's eyebrow jumps. "Which, yes, sounds crazy, so don't tell father. But, I promise it's the truth. Ask her! Bella, where did you come from?"

But helpful is not something Bella is capable of currently. She doubles over, dry heaves once, and groans. "The future. Oh shit, I don't feel good."

Again, Alice laughs nervously. "She's just being silly. She fell from the sky… out of a tree, technically. And I thought to help her. She's very nice."

"I'm an asshole, but only because you broke my heart," Bella tells her weakly. Maybe too weakly for either woman to hear her. Her breath curls through the air and she tilts her head curiously. "That doesn't make sense."

In fact, the frost on the toes of her socks makes even less sense. A shiver tears through Bella's body and she straightens up to wrap her arms around herself. Alice's eyes widen in surprise and she slides in front of Bella, smiling brightly at her mother. "You're the one who told me to try harder at making friends."

"Oh, honey," the woman softens. "I didn't… I said it much nicer than that. I just don't want you to be lonely anymore. And when I suggested it, I didn't have this in mind, she's very - Bella, dear, where are your shoes?"

Bella nods and lifts a finger. "I threw them off the roof."

"As one does," the woman laughs softly. "Why did you do that?"

"I was dancing with the moon and my heart hurt."

A deep sigh heaves her shoulders and she looks between the ragged stranger and her daughter. An excited light shines in those brilliant blues, one she hasn't seen in a very long time. And while utterly strange this girl seems, she has a kind face. "Oh, but she's oddly charming. Fine, Alice, you may bring your guest inside. I think she should rest, however."

"Yes, of course! Thank you!" Alice calls behind her as she drags a clumsy Bella along. "You're freezing up!" she whispers fiercely through the halls, twisting and turning in the weirdly intricate halls of a surprisingly large house.

Teeth chattering, Bella nods and lifts a trembling hand to pull off her frosty glasses. "S-Something's wrong…"

She's shoved into a room and by the time the door slams shut, she falls face first into a bouncy bed. Blankets are piled on her moments later, and she can feel Alice running around the room to toss more and more on her. "Does this not usually happen when you time travel?" she asks curiously.

But Bella can only curl up in a ball, trying to hug herself, trying to keep what little warmth she has left. "I d-don't know…"

"You've never done it before!" Alice asks, but it sounds more like a victorious declaration. A puzzle she's slowly but surely figuring out. She stops for a moment, hand over her heart. "Oh, I'm flattered you came to see me your first time."

A grumble comes from under the heap of blankets. "I had no choice in the matter."

"What must I have done to deserve such animosity from you…" Alice sighs to herself.

There's a quiet moment where Bella maybe starts to drift, before the bed jiggles and the blankets move. She cracks open an eye, scowling at Alice's big grin. "Get out."

"It's my room, my bed, and my blankets. You get out."

Her pout is mighty but Alice doesn't budge. She merely waits a moment before prying one of Bella's chilly hands from her chest and rubs it between her own, trying to work warmth back into her skin. Bella watches her with guarded eyes that threaten to crack, watches as Alice moves between her hands, blowing warm air on them. As this… stranger does her best to care for her.

Alice has always been kind.

"I've read a few books on time travel," Alice whispers quietly. She glances up to catch Bella's eyes, light spilling in through a small crack between the blankets and the bed. She's met with an ice wall - figuratively, Bella is starting to warm up again. "I have a unique interest in time. I've read almost seven books on the subject, and none of them have ever mentioned this cold effect."

Bella's not really sure what to do with that. She's never read any books on it, and even the shows she's seen - well, she can't quite remember if they've ever mentioned anything like this before… also, they were fictional. Time travelling isn't real. Time travel isn't real.

So how is she here?

Where is here?

Fucking… fucking when is here? Nineteen-twenty.

Impossible.

As impossible as vampires?

"F-Fuck," she grumbles and burrows closer to the mattress.

Alice smiles softly - she's so damn soft as a human! It churns like acid in Bella's stomach and has her looking away instinctively. "You're so grumpy, Bella." There's nothing else for a long while, just the sound of Bella's teeth chattering against each other, and Alice's hands rubbing hers. The pixie doesn't dare inch any closer, nor move her ministrations any higher up the girl's arms, lest she face the chilling wrath that pours from her magnificent stranger like the night air from an open window.

The grandfather clock in the hallway ticks and eventually, curiosity gets the better of Alice.

It always gets the better of her, in the end. She hums quietly and looks up to find cautiously curious eyes, to see that Bella is bracing herself for a question she can feel. "What's the future like?"

"Ugh," Bella groans and sighs. "Same old, same old. I don't want to play this game."

"Please?"

"No."

A frown tugs Alice's lips downwards. "Okay, fine." She reaches out from the blankets to grab the corner of her pillow and yank it under the covers with them to rest her head on. Bella shivers violently at the rush of cold air and reaches for Alice - for her warmth, but cold fingers barely brush against Alice's ribs before they curl away and she hugs herself tighter instead. "Sorry."

"It's fine," Bella repeats from earlier.

And Alice can't resist. "Do you probably deserve it?"

"Shut up," Bella chuckles softly. "God, I really do sound like Edward, don't I?"

"Who's that?"

Her smirk grows. "Ah, but ignorance is bliss this time. Trust me. He's kind of an asshole."

"Like you…?"

An eye cracks open again to look at her. "Easy. And worse than me."

"Is he your friend?"

The sigh that comes from Bella is… tired. More tired than anything Alice has ever heard before. "We had a black president," she says instead and Alice perks up. "Yup. Pretty good dude, did a lot for us. Now we have an Oompa Loompa."

"I - wait. You're joking," Alice huffs playfully. "That would have been wonderful though. Not the Oompa."

Bella turns until she's on her back, knees holding the blankets off their faces. "I wasn't joking, for real. We had a black president before this guy, and Oompa Loompa would be an upgrade. Can women vote yet?"

"We will, very soon," Alice says excitedly. "It's good to know it sticks." She chews on her lip thoughtfully for a few painful heartbeats, trying to get a read on this broody girl. "Fashion seems to have changed quite a bit. Is it common for women to wear pants?"

"Yeah. I mean… mostly, yeah. Pants are unisex."

"What's you knee sex?"

An eyebrow hooks up and Bella turns her head to look at Alice's fuzzy face. She's not entirely sure where her glasses ended up, but that's a worry for when her head doesn't feel like it's splitting open. "Unisex," she corrects slowly. "Means it's styled for anyone, any gender."

"Aren't there only two? Wouldn't it be either? Or both?"

"And why on earth would we limit ourselves to only two genders? What if I want to be neither?" she counters and watches the wonder dawn on Alice's face. "I didn't think things had changed that much."

Alice shakes her head slowly. "It's like you're from another world."

"That's… good?" she replies, a little confused. "I seem to recall most of history pissed me off. So. Nice."

"Bella?"

She shifts again, onto her side, and looks at Alice quizzically. "How do you know my name is Bella?"

"Sometimes I just know things." Alice shrugs and looks away. "If you're from the two-thousands, how do you know me?"

"That's complicated," she admits softly. Her eyes trace Alice's face; the tan on her skin, the freckles that vampirism stole from her, her humanity. Which, granted, is quite difficult without her glasses, but she squints while Alice stares up at the blanket above them. Her chest rises and falls with each breath she needs, the tips of her ears red with blood, with a blush?

Alice is human.

Alice is human.

Those blue eyes blink and she tilts her head to look at Bella, biting her bottom lip in a smile. "I'm a fan of complicated."

"I'm quite aware of that."

That smile grows until it shines in her eyes. "Who are you, Bella Cullen?"

"What?!" she sucks in a quick breath in a wince.

Alice's eyes widen. "What's wrong?"

"Why did you call me that?"

"That's your name?"

"No," she flings the covers off of them, pushing backwards out of the bed. The edge is closer than she guessed, and she falls to a knee before shooting up again, backing up into a dresser. "No. That's not my name. Why - you don't - that name is not…"

"I'm sorry!" Alice slips out of the bed, her hands raised. She follows Bella slowly, like she's trying to herd a skittish animal. "I'm sorry. I - I didn't mean to upset you. I won't call you that anymore, I promise. Please, calm down. You need to get back under the covers."

"I'm fucking fine!" Bella snaps and snatches up her glasses from the top of the dresser. She blinks at the room covered in sketch paper and fabric, antiques that look brand new, and seriously outdated furniture. "I need to leave."

And Alice gasps, surging forward just a second too slow to catch Bella from darting out the door. "No! Bella, come back!"

Jittery adrenaline fuels her as she sprints back down the twisting hallways, and through doors. She passes a kitchen and a startled Mrs Alice's Mom, before finding an open window, and wiggling out through it, landing in the backyard below.

Footsteps pass by inside the house, an anxious Alice searching for her and reassuring her mother that everything is fine.

It's the first time in her life that Bella has ever managed to hide from Alice, and part of her enjoys it.

The other part really, really wants to run.

So she does.

And just barely makes it to the back lane before she collapses as the world goes black.

.

.

.

"Are you ever going to look at me?"

"Bella, you and I are going to be the best of friends. Trust me."

"I won't let James hurt you. I promise."

"Bella? I… never mind. It's silly."

.

.

.

By the time she wakes up again, her headache is a mere whisper in the back of her mind. The least of her immediate concerns, and easily ignored. Which means focussing on everything else is much easier now, and god does she miss the mind-numbing pain. At least then she didn't have to deal with anything.

Now she's gotta open her eyes and see if she's in her room or if the nightmare hasn't ended yet, and then she has to try and make sense of which she would prefer.

Alice is here. This is… seriously fucked up and makes literally no sense, and she's pretty much totally lost and alone, but… but Alice is here. Here, with her, not pushing her away. She's here. She didn't leave yet.

"Are you feeling better, Bella?"

A warm hand is pressed against her forehead, sliding down to cup her cheek, before lifting away again. Bella clenches her jaw and sits up, leaning back against the headboard. "Yeah, uh… yeah," she says in a rough voice and takes the glasses pushed into her hands. "Thanks."

"You're welcome," Alice whispers with a bashful smile when Bella blinks a few times. She waits a few moments, slowly rocking back and forth on her knees as a clock ticks in the distance. Eventually, her head tilts to the side and she smiles. "Nope, not going to say it, I guess. Well, I'm sorry for chasing you from my home. I didn't know you were sensitive about your name."

And the look on Bella's face goes from open and curious to closed off and bitter. The shift is jarring enough to give Alice whiplash, and just about one hundred more questions. "Yeah, well, yeah," Bella blurts out in a huff that dies out. "Sorry, too, maybe. I probably could have behaved… differently. You're not her."

The realization hits her like a slap in the face.

This is the same Alice.

It's Alice, but a completely different Alice, with different memories, different experiences. Life had shaped her a completely different way, so far.

This is… this is a second chance with Alice. To be - well, she doesn't know, and doesn't want to think about it. Her heart hurts still. But friends, at least, and better friends this time. The kind of friends who don't abandon each other.

Oh, holy shit.

It's Alice and she's been a total nightmare.

Bella sighs roughly and runs a hand through her hair, the other grabbing Alice's warm hand. It's still a little unsettling. "No, fuck that, I am sorry, Alice. You've been very kind and generous and I've been a dick."

"Bella!" Alice laughs as her cheeks tinge pink. "Such language!"

A grin curls her lips up. "What an innocent little thing you were, back in the day."

She doesn't want to be a dick anymore but it still hurts. It'll take some time to adjust.

"I like when you smile," Alice tells her after a moment, her voice and eyes equally soft. Vibrant blues that keep tracing Bella's face, a smile caught between her lips, and that blush ever present. She shakes her head, flicking the long black braid over her shoulder, and leans forward to hold her hand against Bella's forehead. "Good news! You're not freezing anymore."

Grunting, Bella swings her legs over the side of the bed and cracks her back. "That was weird. I mean, all of this is beyond weird, but that was particularly out of the ordinary."

"I'm calling them Echo Effects. You know, because they take some time to catch up to you. Maybe a symptom of time travel; the effects are having a hard time pinning you down."

She watches Alice explain her thinking with an adorably serious face, and can feel the dusty butterflies stir in her chest. She clears her throat and looks up at the ceiling. "That… damn it, that makes a certain amount of sense. Jas… this guy I know, he said something similar once. About me and… that means it wasn't a fluke. It's me. I did this, got here."

Alice's head tilts to the side. "How so?"

"It was always just… fucking there. Before the roof, before Victoria. Before you guys left." Bella hangs her head and sighs. Answers are… good. This is good, discovering the details. Good but shitty, dude. God, she just wants to be normal, she just wants a normal life of mediocrity. Without weird, without heartbreak. "I was doomed from the start."

There's some rustling and the bed jiggles before Alice sits shoulder to shoulder with Bella. "That's a pretty bleak outlook on life, Bella. Have you considered the possibility that you've been given a gift?"

"I don't want it."

"But without it, you never would have come back to meet me."

The declaration is whispered hesitantly, hopefully. Alice looks… meek, when Bella glances at her out the corner of her eye. Uncertain, hesitant, cautious. All these things she never imagined in a million years that Alice could be.

Alice was always certain! She had visions of the future to guide her, that gave her confidence beyond measure. She was bold and unapologetic and so very Alice, that it makes this girl feel… different. Such different Alices.

But their eyes…

Their eyes, even with such a vast difference in colour, remain the same. Watching the world turn with wonder, full of light and life and love, a mischievous twinkle. With that same shadow of sorrow, hidden deep, deep down.

Bella's heart slams against her ribcage painfully and she tears her gaze away, jerking up to her feet. "Yeah, uh, yeah. No, that would be bad. I-I mean, not bad, but sad? Because this is nice. You know, meeting you. Being friends. Um, or friendly acquaintances."

"Okay," Alice says, rather amused, and watches Bella ramble and pace before her. "You're kind of weird, you know that?"

"That is rich, coming from you."

A feigned gasp falls from her lips, hand over her heart. "Rude!" she says and breaks, giggles. But then she does gasp, for real, and her eyebrows jump. "Oh! Bella."

Bella blinks. "Yes?"

"I went through your pockets," Alice admits and has the tact to look sheepish, even if she smiles while she does it. "One of them was making noise! I had to investigate and I found a rectangle that produces light and images!"

Again, Bella blinks. "My phone?"

"In your pocket?!"

"Well, yeah, I - oh!" This time Bella gasps and slaps at her pants, fishing around in the pockets. "Oh my god, I didn't even realize before. Dude, my phone rang, Charlie was calling me. Here! That's impossible. I fucking knew it, this is just a hoax!"

Somersaulting backwards, Alice picks up the device from the table beside her bed. It vibrates in her hands again and she almost drops it, holding it out gingerly. "I don't know what any of that means!" she says excitedly. "Are you saying that people can call that thing?"

The screen lights up when she touches it and she can see seventeen missed calls from her father, half a dozen from Angela, and even a couple from Jacob. Jeez, she's only been gone, what, a day? Okay, actually, that's a while to not check in.

The phone rings when she holds it to her ear and she stares at Alice with an unreadable expression. Fake. It was all fake. She should have known, should have trusted her first instinct. This was all a trick… but it didn't feel like a trick. Alice is warm, her eyes are blue, and she's so soft. You can't - you can't fake being human.

But you also cannot call nineteen-twenty.

The line crackles like a mechanical growl in her ear. "Bella? Bella! Can you hear me? Bella, where are you? What do you see?"

"Dad?" she asks. She can barely make out the words he's saying, it's like listening to someone underwater. "Dad, can you hear me?"

"Bella, I will find you! I promise!"

A frown tugs her lips down, to the point that she pulls the phone away from her ear to look at. The battery is literally at 0%, and her reception bars are blue. Which is… well, she's not really sure, and life is starting to feel like a dream again. "This isn't possible."

"Bella, can you hear me? Where are you? Are you hurt?"

Slowly, she staggers back into the wall and slides down, all while staring up at Alice. Blue eyes watch her with concern and sympathy, a nervous look on the pixie's face. "I'm lost," she whispers to the phone.

She hangs up before Charlie can say anything else and the room is silent once again. Bella lifts the phone to click a picture of a very human Alice, and lets it drop to her lap again.

"This is real."

Alice nods. "I've been trying to tell you that."

"I'm in the past."

Instead of more sympathy, instead of hesitant words and awkward smiles, and a long, uncomfortable silence for Bellanto drown in… Alice hopes the bed and lands in front of Bella, a grin on her face. "Wanna see it?"

"See what?" she questions cautiously.

Warm hands slip into her own and she's pulled up to her feet. Close enough to feel the warmth radiating off of Alice, to count the freckles on her face, to- "The past! We should go into town. How different is it from the future?"

"I… alright."

.

.

.

"What was wrong with my clothes?"

Blue eyes roll up to an equally blue sky and Alice grins, twirling down the sidewalk next to Bella. She swings their joined hands together, ignoring the way other people on the street watch them and whisper. "Besides the fact that they are from the future? Or besides how obvious it is they're not from now?"

She huffs and follows along, scowling at the people who blatantly stare at them. "Was it really that obvious?"

"Your shirt has a monster on it!"

"He's a super-oh forget it."

Alice continues as if she hasn't spoken. "And unless you want to wear your heavy coat in the sun all day, you're going to have to cooperate. I just wish you would have let me pick out a nice dress for you. You look like a dockworker."

"I draw the line at dresses, Alice," Bella grumbles and pushes her sleeves up to her elbows again. "If I had to choose, I'd rather be naked."

Blue eyes cut to her quickly, lips curling up and - Bella looks away, off to the other side of the street and the little shops that line the sidewalk. "Not everyone would appreciate that. Trust me."

Which is a weird thing to say…

"Alice, please tell me you haven't streaked through the streets."

She laughs and hugs Bella's arm tighter to her chest. "Not the streets. Just, maybe, the woods outside of town, once or twice."

"Alice!"

"Well, I'm sorry, but you can't do a rain dance with your clothes on! I don't make the rules," Alice grins.

A blush fights its way up Bella's neck. "You do naked rain dances?"

"Only when we really need the rain," Alice replies helpfully. She looks up at Bella, head tilting slightly. "Do I no longer practice in the future?"

"Practice… what…?" Bella wonders aloud. Her eyes widen slightly. "Witchcraft?"

She's tugged closer to the pixie, who looks around the street quickly. "If that's what you want to call it, but please, lower your voice when you do."

"Oh, yeah, they're scared of witches back then," Bella frowns, "er, now, I mean. Oh shit, don't they burn you for that kinda stuff still?"

Alice stares in wonder at her stranger flung out of time. "Even your questions are fountains of knowledge. People are no longer scared of magic in the future?"

"Well, we kinda turn towards science over make-believe, you know? Magic isn't real, so it's left for the fairy tales."

"Magic is real!" Alice insists and winces, lowering her voice again. An elderly woman sits on a bench they pass, spitting on the ground behind them. Alice's grip tightens when Bella pauses, and she's tugged along. "It is."

"Prove it," Bella challenges.

The look she receives is - there are no words, none that she can explain, and she desperately wants to pull out her phone and take a picture because it's so damn cute. "You can travel back in time and I can see forward in time, Bella. What more do you want?"

Uh… huh.

Oh.

Damn.

Bella's hands go to her hair, her eyes wide and full of disbelief. "Oh my god, magic is real!" she gasps.

"Lunatic."

The word is snarled at them by the man handing out newspapers on the corner of the street. He sneers when she looks up at him, and her gut sinks. "Fuck you, dude."

"Bella, no!"

He drops the paper into the box by his feet, turning to her with a raised eyebrow. "What'd you say to me, butch?"

"I - okay, that is fair. I have suspenders, but I don't like your tone," Bella warns with a raised finger. "And I am fully prepared to kick your ass, man."

Alice pulls on those suspenders furiously. "No, please! Sorry, she's just - she's in a mood! Please, just ignore her. Bella, stop it!"

He works his jaw a few times, a chuckle shaking his chest. He's a fairly decent sized man, not anything impressive like Jake, but no Erik Yorkie either. He lifts his cap and runs a hand over his buzzed head before pulling it back down. "Scram, freaks. Before I teach you some manners, yeah?"

"Not before you apologize to my friend," Bella snarls and shoves him.

Alice gasps, but he staggers back over his box, crumpling the side of it. The surprise on his face is gone in a flash, replaced by annoyance. "Fine, you wanna dress like a man, learn to fight like one!" he growls and pops her one in the jaw, right quick.

Which just so happens to be the very first time in Bella's life that she was ever punched in the face. The realization hits her, no pun intended, as his knuckles collide with her jaw and off her nose.

She drops embarrassingly quick, dazed and on the ground. The world spins and her mind reels, but she's got enough sense left in her head to make a bad decision. His knee threatens to pop under the force of her foot, and he topples back again.

Bella's suspenders are ripped from Alice's hands when the man grabs Bella by the shirt and heaves her up to her feet. Her shoulders and back are slammed against the brick wall of maybe a bakery, it smells nice, and she grunts while Alice shouts. Another meaty fist catches her in the eye and - yup. She's done.

She's done.

Bella raises her hands and slumps to the ground when he lets go, surrendering. He mutters angrily to himself, gathering his ruined box, and storms off down the street while Alice drops to her knees next to Bella. "What is wrong with you, Bella? He could have seriously hurt you!"

"What are you talking about? I totally kicked his ass," she murmurs. Small fingers gingerly touch her cheekbone and she sucks in a sharp breath. "Ow!"

Alice's disapproving frown is too much but Bella only smiles. It's enough to make Alice struggle to keep a straight face, and sighs instead. "What am I going to do with you?"

"Any-uh oh."

The dread in her voice kills whatever moment the two were about to have. Alice perks up in alarm, looking for the man, seeing if he came back. "What? What's wrong?"

"Pins and needles," Bella says quietly. She stares down at her trembling hands and back up at Alice. "That's how it started last time. There were pins and needles, and-and-and, no!" Her heart hammers against her chest, adrenaline coursing through her veins. "No, I don't want to leave, I just. Alice. I just-"

The explosion of white against her eyes blots out the rest of the street.

.

.

.