Edward awoke to rays of sun pouring through the curtains. It took him a minute to realise why this was so surprising but when he did, he threw off the covers and went quickly to the window. The view was spectacular; the snow had almost completely melted on the streets but it was still present on the mountains visible in the distance. The sun split over the icy hills and sent out a blinding glow which illuminated the valley below. Sunlight filtered through the bright green leaves and thawed out the village. Spring had come at last. Too bad it was summer.

"Edward!" Alice cried hurdling into his room, "It's sunny! I told you it would be." Edward chuckled and picked her up into a hug.

"Yes you did. I should have known better than to doubt you." he said, setting her down again.

"Of course you should have," Alice smiled, "Am I ever wrong?" Edward shook his head and couldn't help but smile at the little pixie he called his best friend. Today she was wearing white skin tight jeans with a light blue, fitted shirt which she had belted at the middle. And to accessorize, a beaded necklace and her only pair of black Converse. Her big blue eyes were lightly done in Kohl and her choppy hair had been neatly spiked out at the ends. Never one to be caught in questionable clothes or without her make up done, she was already up and dressed by 9.30. Not that she needed the make up to look good.

Alice was the prettiest girl in the home; in fact, she was the prettiest girl Edward had ever seen. He had more than a little crush on Alice and had considered asking her out on more than one occasion. But he knew how Alice felt about him and 'best friends' was all they would ever be. Edward was fine with that though. He had accepted it long ago and had put it to rest. But no matter how much he tried to deny it there was still part of him that would do anything for her, even if that meant just maintaining their friendship.

It was still sunny when they got to breakfast and Alice had promised him that it would keep it up for about three days. Whether she had special powers or just looked at the weather forecast a lot, Edward didn't question her statement for a second. She had never once gotten it wrong.

The table was stuffed full of people chatting happily and wolfing down their food like they were about to run out so Edward and Alice ended up sharing a seat. Not that he minded and Alice didn't seem to have a problem with it either. Edward couldn't help but notice that the new guy was sitting by himself. He briefly considered approaching him but dismissed the thought immediately. After all, Emmett was scary.

"Do you think we should go talk to him?" Alice asked as if she had just read his mind. Following her gaze, Edward saw she was looking sadly at Emmett and he shook his head in response.

"I don't think that would be a good idea." he told her quietly, "He doesn't look like he wants to talk to anyone." Edward really did get the feeling that he wanted to be alone and any interruption into his silence would not be taken well. It seemed as though, if he had have been a lot smaller and less conspicuous, Emmett would have been invisible. Edward knew what it was like to seek isolation so he recognised the signs well.

"Alright," she sighed in defeat, "But I feel bad. Maybe we could show him around later?" She pleaded with puppy eyes and Edward found himself agreeing against his better judgement.

"Okay then." he sighed, "But Alice, please don't go over the top..." Alice's face lit up and she smiled at him, a smile that melted his heart.

"Don't worry, I won't." she promised as she reached out to put some marmalade on her toast.

"Hello guys, good morning!" Sally called out, entering the room. A murmur of "Good morning" rippled around the table. "Well, it's the first of August so you know what that means!" She continued before pausing to wait for an excited response, but when only a few people whispered to their neighbours she continued entirely unfazed. "Yep, it's the start of our annual charity month. And this year we're going to be helping out the children's ward at the hospital. Come on guys, cheer up, this is your chance to give back to the community!"

Alice nudged Edward and smiled, she had been looking forward to this for weeks. She adored the children and was extremely talented at tugging on people's heart strings to get them to donate money to whatever charity they were helping that year. He also enjoyed the sense of purpose in helping those who were less well off. However he didn't miss the irony that while they were working for charity, somewhere there were people collecting for children just like them.

"We're getting on the minibus at 12.00, so be there or be square. Just kidding!" Edward shook his head sadly at her terrible sense of humour, "But seriously, if you're not there, we will leave without you. Okay guys see you at 12.00 sharp!"

It was one o'clock before they were pulling out of the driveway on their way to the hospital. Edward couldn't help but remember the disastrous events of the last year's 'Charity Month'. Firstly, it rained the entire time they were out collecting and they got soaked every day. Alice even got the flu and was in bed for weeks. And then Riley, the resident joker of The Husky Dog, had pretended to be dying of Leprechaun Disease and spent days speaking in a thick Irish accent to anyone who would listen. Eventually he convinced a kind old man to donate a thousand dollars to the hospital to try and find a cure for his disease. He thought it was hilarious, the doctors didn't. Although they did accept the donation after explaining to the man that it wasn't a real illness, of course. Finally, Edward had had to tell off an old lady in the cancer ward for smoking and she chased after complaining about the length of his hair and trying to it with scissors.

He hoped it would be different this year. It was sunny which was a good sign, he supposed, and he did secretly find Riley quite amusing. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all - as long as he stayed away from crazy old women who thought he looked like a hippie. He might even meet the pretty girl Alice had told him about.

Edward reached up to adjust his scarf before realising he didn't have it on. He had become used to having it there and hardly ever took it off. Despite Alice's many jokes, he was extremely fond of it and his neck felt bare without it. She was sitting beside him now and staring off into the distance through the window. On the other side of the isle sat Emmett who was also staring moodily at the scenery. They were there at Alice's request but Edward had forgotten that she always demanded the window seat. That left him next to Emmett which wasn't really desirable because from this close up the bulging muscle of his arms was even more evident and a little terrifying. As it was too warm for a leather coat he was only wearing a Slip Knot t-shirt and dark jeans which unveiled some pretty impressive tattoos that snaked their way down the arm closest to Edward.

While he was studying the intricate Celtic design, Emmett's head snapped around to look at him. Edward blinked and quickly looked away but Emmett's eyes locked onto something behind him and widened in surprise. Edward turned quickly around just in time to see the headlights of a car come speeding towards the minibus. He froze in panic, his hands clammed up and a cold sweat broke out over his face. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end as he remembered.

Brakes squealed.

A car screeched.

The car swerved out of control.

A girl screamed.

The car crashed into a tree.

The seatbelt pulled tight.

Blood was everywhere.

"Edward!"

He blacked out.

"Edward...Edward." A cloudy female voice swirled around in his head. He frowned and opened his eyes slowly. He realised he was still sitting in the bus but was slumped back in his seat, Alice was leaning over him eyes wide in a look of worry.

"Edward, are you okay?" Her voice was calm but there was an edge of panic to her words. Edward sat up a little straighter and nodded. Actually his head was spinning and he felt sick but he didn't want to worry Alice. Physically he was unhurt, in fact the car stopped before it even hit the minibus they were in, but his heart was pounding frantically against his chest.

"Are you sure?" A deep and slightly husky voice came from his other side. In his confused state he looked around and flinched slightly when he realised it was Emmett who had spoken. Emmett stared at him with a neutral expression for a couple of seconds before Edward realised he was expecting an answer. He took a deep breath and answered in what he hoped would be a convincing voice.

"I'm fine thanks," he said, his voice quavered slightly but thankfully Emmett seemed to accept it and nodded gruffly before turning away from him again. Alice, on the other hand, was not so easy to comfort.

"Are you sure?" Alice asked again and Edward laughed lightly.

"For the twentieth time Ali, yes I am absolutely fine." He smiled at her and she raised an eyebrow at him before sighing. He knew it was a sign that she didn't believe him but was willing to drop it. When Alice turned back to look out the window, Edward closed his eyes and took several deep breaths. He hated driving at the best of times and sudden stops or near-crashes sent him over the edge.

His parents had been killed in a car accident when he was four years old; his father died on impact, but his mother had survived until they got her to hospital. He didn't really remember much of them, or of what happened next, but a couple of things stuck in his mind. One was the car crash itself; the way the headlights of the other car came out of nowhere, the way the car spun out of control, the sound as it smashed into the tree, and the blood- the blood that went everywhere and smelled so awfully of salty copper. The thing he remembered best was his mother begging for them to save him, to take care of him, no matter what it took. Then she was taken away and he never saw her again.

A nice blonde doctor took care of him until he fell asleep, he had been scared but not upset as he was too young to understand what was going on. After that he didn't really remember anything that happened up until he met Alice. No sooner had Sally introduced them than she waved at him happily and dragged him off by the hand to play dress up. Alice had always been that way with people -so warm and kind- and it was one of the things he loved about her. They had been best friends ever since.