Chapter 2- July

*4 Weeks Later*

"Just leave me alone, Jasper!" Alice's shrill voice rang out, disturbing my otherwise peaceful afternoon. Athena raised her head at the commotion, let out a deep bark and ran after Alice.

Jasper called out after her in his southern drawl, "Alice, darlin' if you would just talk to me…"

"Shut up!" she shrieked, and I heard her bedroom door slam. I jumped to my feet and jogged over to the source of commotion. I found Jasper sitting outside Alice's door, head in his hands. It was certainly a position I had been in a time or two in my life.

"What happened?" I asked him, motioning to the closed door.

"I don't know. She's been acting all crazy all week about the wedding. Mama took her out dress shopping in Port Angeles with some of her girlfriends and she came back in tears. I tried to find out what was wrong, but she just started yelling at me and ran home. She wouldn't even let me drive her. I followed her in my car screaming at her to get in, and she just ignored me."

I admired his dedication, knowing a lot of guys would not have the patience for one of Alice's temper tantrums. She had quite a number of them lately, especially with the wedding drawing nearer and nearer, but I hadn't actually seen one quite this bad.

The sound from behind Alice's door sounded like a cat being tortured as she sobbed and

screamed. Jasper and I looked at each other helplessly.

"Did your mom say anything about why she's acting like this?" I asked finally, utterly lost as to how to fix this.

"I didn't ask. I was too busy chasing after her."

Just then, like the angel of perfect timing, Bella strolled out of her office, looking content, and completely oblivious to what had just transpired. "Hey, Jasper!" she said cheerily. Suddenly she stopped dead in her tracks. "Oh, God, what happened now?" she asked with a heavy sigh.

Yes, even Bella, as patient as she was, was getting tired of the Bridezilla act. We both knew it needed to end, and soon, before we all went insane.

"I don't fucking know," Jasper muttered, shaking his head.

Bella sighed and knocked hard on Alice's door without commenting on Jasper's language. "Alice, it's Bella. Open the door, please."

The sobbing quieted for a minute. "Is Jasper still out there?"

"No," Bella called back, motioning Jasper and me to go to the living room. We left obediently. "It's just me."

I heard the Alice's door open and close quickly. I retreated to the living room with Jasper following me like a scared puppy. Knowing he was driving, I handed him a coke from the fridge and got myself a beer.

"I really don't know what I did," Jasper muttered. "I wasn't even with her today."

"You probably didn't do anything," I answered. "Alice is just… Alice. Probably nothing's going to change that. If you're planning on marrying her, you better get used to it now," I said seriously, looking at him dead in the eye. She was annoying, and often irrational, but she was still my little sister. I wanted to make sure Jasper was in this relationship one hundred percent- I wouldn't tolerate any less than that.

Immediately sensing where the conversation was headed, he answered, "I love her. Good and bad, sickness and health, you know? I just wish I could understand why she acts like this sometimes."

"You probably never will," I said honestly. I knew that fact well. Bella had a lot of little quirks. Most of them could be explained by medical science and were corrected with medication, but sometimes she acted just plain… irrationally.

"I mean, I'm in this man, for good. But dammit this shit is getting old. Do you think she'll calm down after the wedding?"

"One can only hope," I muttered, taking a pull of my beer, and relaxing back on the couch. I was especially grateful that Bella was around today, because I'm honestly clueless when it comes to dealing with Alice's shit sometimes.

Jasper and I watched SportsCenter quietly, waiting for word from Alice or Bella from the bedroom. Finally Bella emerged, looking a little solemn, and said, "She's okay."

Jasper breathed a sigh of relief and got to his feet. "Can I go talk to her? What the hell did I do wrong?"

"You didn't do anything, and no you shouldn't talk to her now. Go on home, I'll make sure she calls you later."

Jasper looked confused and frustrated. "Why can't I talk to her?"

"Just trust me when I say it's better. She just needs some time. She just had a really bad day, but we're going to go fix it now."

Jasper continued to argue with her, but Bella stood her ground. Jasper reluctantly left after a few minutes, and I gave Bella a questioning gaze.

"She had a bad day dress shopping," Bella explained. "Apparently she has had her eye on a certain type of dress for her wedding since she was a little girl. So she put it on today and looked in the mirror, and the back was low cut and she could see all her scars in the mirror. Darcy told her that she still looked beautiful, but Alice got really emotional and ran out of the store."

I sighed. "So what did Jasper do wrong?"

"Absolutely nothing. She was too busy feeling sorry for herself to consider his feelings and didn't want to talk about it with him. She wanted some time alone," Bella explained, though I could see in her eyes she was almost as perplexed as I was with Alice's behavior.

"So what do we do now?" I asked.

Bella smiled slightly. "We do nothing, but I'm getting her ass back in the car and we're going back to try on the dress again. Can I borrow the Volvo? I don't know if my truck will actually make it to Port Angeles this time."

I gave her a pointed stare. I had been trying unsuccessfully for the last four years to convince her to buy a new car. The thought of her driving around in her ancient rusted heap of a Chevy made me queasy. I knew the truck had sentimental value to her because her father had gotten it for her when she returned to Forks, but even Charlie was trying to get her to get rid of it. He knew as well as I did that her truck was just plain unsafe.

I tossed her the keys to my car and she caught them. She leaned over and kissed me in thanks, and patted Athena on the head. "Come on, Alice!" she called. Alice emerged from the bedroom, looking straight down at the floor with her arms wrapped around herself protectively. She didn't even look my way as she ran out of the house.

I knew better than to worry that Alice was sinking back into the depressive state she was in when our parents died. Every now and then Alice got excessively moody, but it never lasted more than a day. I knew that tomorrow, or even later tonight, she would be back to her old self. If she didn't, then I would start worry. For now, I was just frustrated, and feeling a little sorry for Bella. "Good luck with that," I muttered, nodding towards the door.

Bella bit her bottom lip anxiously. "I think I'll need it."

I would have taken Bella's place if I could, and taken Alice to Port Angeles herself, but this definitely didn't seem like something she'd want her brother around for.

I took Athena for a walk around the neighborhood. She had become quite the hit with all the local kids in the neighborhood, and they all stopped to say hello while she sucked up the attention. I think we definitely hit the dog lottery with this one. She was a gentle, protective soul, well-behaved, and good with people. We couldn't really ask for anything more in a pet.

When I got back, Athena put her head in my lap again, and we watched the last couple innings of a Mariner's game. I actually watched Athena more than the game, amazed at how she stared fixedly on the screen, her eyes following the movements as if she could actually understand what was going on.

I pretended not to look too anxious when I finally heard the front door opening, signaling that Bella and Alice were home.

Bella looked incredibly tired and pale, as she often did when she returned from any kind of shopping adventure. Alice was beaming though, holding a large white garment bag proudly. "I got my dress," she squealed.

"Awesome. Can I see it?"

She unzipped the bag with a flourish and Bella helped her hold it up. It was definitely one hundred percent Alice, covered in beads and lace. The top was tight and sleeveless, but the skirt puffed out at the waist. I had to fight from scowling when Bella helped her roll out the train, which practically took up all the free space in the living room.

Frankly I thought the dress was ugly as sin, but I was glad she was happy with it.

When Alice left to put the dress in her room, Bella flopped down next to me on the couch, Athena taking up the space between us.

"Okay," she said. "I know that dress looks like a disaster on the hanger, but when Alice tried it on, it was perfect. It just doesn't look like much by itself." She flipped through her cell phone and found a picture of Alice in the dress at the shop. "See?"

I glanced at the picture. Bella was right, the dress definitely looked better while it was on, but really I didn't care much about how it looked, as long as Alice was happy. "So she's okay?" I asked.

"Much better. We had a long talk on the way to Port Angeles. I assured her that once she put on the dress people would be looking at her, not her scars, and that she looked beautiful either way. Then I reminded her that Jasper has seen all her scars and he doesn't care, so why should she. He's what matters."

"He better not have seen all of her scars," I muttered, crossing my arms over my chest uncomfortably. I knew damn well from sitting with Alice in a hospital room for more than a month that there were a few burns in places Jasper had no business seeing.

"Oh grow up," Bella said with a roll of her eyes.

Trying desperately to change the subject and not picture Jasper and Alice in any kind of compromising position- and I would remain in denial until the day I died- I asked, "So is she going to call Jasper now? He was pretty upset."

"We talked about that on the drive back. In fact, she better be getting ready to get her butt over there and apologize to him in person. She told me she feels awful, and I told her that she probably should. That was just plain unacceptable the way she treated him."

I nodded in agreement.

"I think I'm going to go lie down and read for a while, if you don't mind," she said, rising to her feet. Athena jumped up when she did and nuzzled her head into Bella's stomach and whimpered. She always seemed to have a sense for when someone wasn't feeling well. I noticed Bella still looked very pale.

"Sure, baby. You look kind of tired. Are you okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, I've just been feeling kind of… off lately. I don't know what it is. I'm just really tired."

I frowned at her. "Maybe you've been working too hard?" I knew her boss had recently given Bella more responsibility, but she never had a problem keeping up with her workload before.

"Hmm, maybe," she said, unsure. "I'll be okay, though. I just need to get some sleep."

I kissed her goodnight, promising to join her soon. Alice came out then and said goodnight to Bella.

"Hey, Edward, can I ask you something?" she asked once we were alone, sitting in the armchair across from me.

"Sure, what's up?"

"Do you think mom and dad would be happy for me?"

I widened my eyes in surprise and concern when I noticed her big blue eyes starting to brim with tears. "Of course they would," I assured her. "Jasper is a great guy."

"You don't think I'm making a mistake?"

I knew the conversation was quickly turning heavy, and I would have to tread carefully. "Why would I think that?"

"Well, you were so against it in the beginning. I just want to make sure I'm doing the right thing. I'd like to think that Mom and Dad would be proud, you know?"

"They would have loved Jasper. All they ever wanted was for you to be happy, and when you're with Jasper you're happy. He's a good guy, Alice. He's smart, he's good-mannered, and he treats you like a princess."

"I was such a bitch to him today," she lamented.

"No doubt about that," I said. "But he'll forgive you. He was just worried about you. You should go over and talk to him."

"I will. Thanks Edward… for you know… everything," she said, sniffling as the tears started to fall. "I don't think I ever said that, you know? I know I haven't been the easiest person to deal with, and I know you gave up everything when…"

I shushed her and pulled her into my arms as she cried. "I've never regretted anything," I said firmly, trying to make sure she understood. "Not one day have I ever regretted coming back here for you. Please don't cry," I begged.

"I just miss them so much," she cried. "I wish they could be here."

"I know sweetheart," I said softly, continuing to hold her as she cried. There was nothing I could say to bring them back, to make this better. I just let her get it out. As her crying started to subside, I released her and said firmly, "You need to go see Jasper."

"I know," she said, sniffling. "I hope he's not too pissed."

"He won't be," I assured her. Suddenly, there was an insistent pounding on the front door, causing Athena to bark wildly from the bedroom. I cringed knowing that it would wake Bella if she was already asleep and ran to answer the front door. Unsurprisingly, it was Jasper, looking absolutely haggard.

"I couldn't wait anymore," he said in explanation, before I even opened my mouth to greet him.

"She's here," I said, motioning him inside. "Just go out back if you want to talk, Bella's asleep."

"Thanks, man," he said gratefully, and went to the living room to find Alice.

I turned and went to the bedroom, to find Bella still fast asleep and snoring softly. She was usually a very light sleeper, so I reasoned she must have been exhausted to sleep through all that commotion. Athena was lying dutifully on her side of the bed. I undressed down to my boxers and slipped in behind Bella, pulling her into my arms, but she didn't stir. I hoped that she wasn't getting sick again. I kissed her behind her ear and whispered "I love you," before falling into a deep sleep.

Author's Note

Okay, I know this chapter was a little fluffy. Next chapter will be Alice's wedding and we catch up with the epilogue of Impending Doom. Then the drama starts! Thanks for reading!