[Disclaimer] Everything Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer

[A/N] I want to thank all my readers for the great response on the first chapter. It makes me happy that so many of you are willing to give this a try, even when some of you are skeptical about the huge age difference. Let's see how this works out. I have fun trying out different things in my stories…

**2**

„Alice, do you remember my friend Bella Swan?"

The girl nodded her head. She sat down on the edge of the kitchen table and rubbed her hands on the material of her shorts. Of course, she remembered Bella. She also remembered the woman's creepy husband. Hadn't her father mentioned that they were separated now? Looking at the beautiful brunette made Alice nervous and she knew it was embarrassing that she felt this way.

"Wow, you've grown up since the last time I've seen you." Bella stated, forcing her eyes to stay on Alice's face and not stare down at her slim legs. Something close to guilt began to form deep inside of her and it made her feel extremely uncomfortable. It was definitely not okay to check out your best friend's stepdaughter like she had done it earlier. Maybe she really should arrange another meeting with Angela. It had been weeks since anyone had touched her at all and spending time with Angela always made her feel better, didn't it?

"It has be-en a wh-ile." Alice pressed out nervously.

"I remember how your mom threw this pool party for you when you turned nine."

"Well, I'm eighteen now." Alice whispered, peeling around on her cuticles. She cleared her throat and turned her attention to her stepmother. "Esme, can we eat now? I'm starving."

"Dinner will be ready in half an hour. Bella, honey, do you want to eat with us? Carlisle is stuck in surgery like usually."

Bella nodded her head. "Sure, I'd love to. Can I help you with anything?"

"You can chop these onions for me. I can never handle that without crying."

"Just because it's you, you know?" Bella chuckled. "I can't endure to see you cry."

"Can I wait in my room until Dinner is ready? I need to finish unpacking my stuff." Alice said her voice sounding a bit too high. It was always like that when she was agitated. At least she had the stuttering under control now. Her mother had sent her to therapists for years until she had finally managed to overcome it. Now it only occurred when she was nervous and nothing made her more nervous than Bella's presence.

"Sure, Alice, I'll call you when everything is ready."

Alice walked off and Bella swallowed a sigh back in her throat when she couldn't manage to look away from the girl's round backside. You're officially a pervert now, she scolded herself. Then she grabbed the onions to peel them.

"Girl is shy." She murmured. "Or maybe she's just tired from the flight here."

"Maybe," Esme said. "Who knows what goes on in a teenager's head?"

Upstairs Alice had placed her clothes neatly on the bed. The closet in the corner was too small but somehow she still managed to stuff everything inside and turn the key around to close it up.

You've grown up since the last time I saw you

Bella's words echoed in her ears, making Alice's stomach tingle as if it was suddenly filled with countless butterflies. This was ridiculous. She wasn't thirteen anymore. Crushing on her father's friend was embarrassing and she needed to get over it.

Out of her backpack, she pulled out a picture that she had kept in her wallet for the last years.

Gorgeous, she thought, moving her fingertip over the smile on Bella's face. She's so gorgeous. Alice envied the man standing behind Bella in the picture, his arms wrapped tightly around the petite woman. What would she do to have her look at her, just once, the way she was looking at the bastard?

"Alice! We're ready to eat now!" her stepmother called from downstairs and Alice quickly stuffed the picture back into its usual place.

Her appetite had vanished and so she just shoved the pasta around on her plate a few minutes later.

"Don't you like it?" Bella asked her. "It's probably too much garlic for you."

"No, it tastes good." Alice said quickly, picking up a tortellini on her fork.

"Bella is my best friend. She's going to take care of you, Alice, while your father and I are gone."

"I don't need a babysitter! I'm an adult."

Esme flinched. Great, now the girl was already mad at her again. "It's not like Bella is babysitting you. But you're here all by yourself. It makes your father feel better to know that someone has an eye on you." she explained.

"Sounds pretty much like babysitting to me." Alice whispered, lifting her glass to her mouth.

The phone started ringing and Esme wiped her mouth before she stood up to answer it.

"Hello, Darling. Your passport? Fine, I'll look for it in your office and call you back. Yes, I love you too."

She clicked her tongue and shook her head. "Carlisle is so messy, it's annoying. Alice, can you please load the dishwasher. I need to search for your father's passport. God knows where he's put it again."

"Yes, Esme, no problem," Alice said. When her stepmother was gone, she turned to Bella. "I really don't need a babysitter anymore. It's unnecessary."

"Relax. I'm not going to watch you twenty-four-seven." I'd like to though, she added silently in her head.

"How's your husband? Is he overseas again?"

"We're divorced. I'd rather not talk about James anymore." Bella said.

"Oh, I'm sor-ry to hear tha-t." Alice stuttered. Bella was divorced? How wonderful!

"No one is sorrier about my marriage falling apart than me. But this is how things are like. Don't get married too soon. It's a mistake."

Alice nodded her head. She put the plates and cutlery into the dishwasher and started it.

"Maybe he just wasn't the one for you."

"Maybe I wasn't the one for him? Who knows what it really is that attracts one person to another. I'm done with love now. Esme is trying to talk me into dating again but I just don't feel like it."

"Hmm,"

"How about you? Do you have a boyfriend back home who's waiting for you?"

"There is no one." Alice whispered. "I'm still single."

"That's sad. A pretty girl like you shouldn't be alone. Well, you'll probably find someone nice soon. I'm sure about that."