I don't have much to say, so I'll just let you read the first real chapter! You're welcome.

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Twilight. All copyrights are in possession of Stephenie Meyer.

Chapter 1 - Unexpected

Just make a mental note to yourself never ever to try cliff jumping. I had almost survived my own experience of it, and afterwards I didn't feel exhilarated or brave or anything. I felt wet and cold, and my whole body was sore. Luckily Jacob had been there to save me. And I was glad beyond measure that he had offered to drive me home. My truck was nice and warm, but right now it didn't feel warm enough, as my body was fighting hypothermia. I shivered and Jacob pulled me closer to his side. A shaky sigh slipped out of my mouth as I gladly let his toasty body warm mine.

"Already glad that I'm a wolf, huh?" Jake smiled, never taking his eyes off the road. I nodded, even though he couldn't see it.

"Definitely. It must be nice not to worry about getting cold," I said, pressing my cold nose against Jacob's shoulder.

"Yeah, it has its pros. I bet some couldn't possibly make you warm like this," he said and laughed.

I felt a jolt in my stomach when I realized what he was talking about. I had asked him not to talk about them but he slipped occasionally. But even one slip did enough damage. After the Cullens had left Forks, I'd gone absolutely miserable. I missed them so much; Esme, Carlisle, Jasper, Emmett, even Rosalie and her icy looks. Alice, my best friend in the whole wide world. But what hurt the most was that I missed Edward more than anything. He had been my whole life, my love, and he left me. Alone.

Luckily Jacob had been there to comfort me and to be my friend when my friends at school hadn't done much to make me feel better. I couldn't blame them though, I had been like the dead for the past months.

Without noticing it myself, my face had twisted into a grimace, and I had wrapped my arms around myself like I always did when someone or something reminded me about the Cullens. I glanced at Jake, who looked ashamed of himself.

"Sorry, Bella. I didn't mean to bring that up," he said with an apologetic look. Or at least his profile looked apologetic.

"It's alright, Jake," I muttered.

We were soon at my house. Jacob stopped the engine when he had pulled over onto our driveway. Suddenly he tensed and sniffed the air. The hair on my neck stood up, this time not from the cold. Was there something wrong?

"Jake? What is it?" I asked. I was very close to panicking. When his eyes narrowed into slits of hatred.

"There's a vampire in here," Jake growled and started the engine again. He was just about to pull off our driveway when I saw a familiar-looking car parked along the street, in front of our house. A very familiar black Mercedes...

"Jacob, stop the car!" I cried as I jumped upright on my seat. They were here. That was Carlisle's car.

"No, Bella, I have to get you away from here!" Jacob protested and backed away from the driveway.

"Jacob, no! It's them! It's safe. They won't hurt me," I tried, but Jacob didn't listen.

I opened my seatbelt, pushed my door open and hopped out of the truck. I fell straight onto my back on the pavement, but I didn't care. For the first time in months, I felt a tinge of hope. Jacob stopped the engine again and I heard him open the door. I stood up as quickly as possible and started to make my way towards the front door. Suddenly someone grabbed my arm from behind me.

"Bella, it's a trap! You can't go inside. It could be the redhead!" Jake shouted but I pushed him back with all my strength, which was very little in my condition now.

"It's their car! It's safe. Let me go!" I yelled back at him and increased my speed.

"You're about to cross a line, Bella," Jacob growled. I turned to face him.

He stood there, with a stern face, his shoulders wide, and legs apart, just like before he phased. I could see tremors running down his body as his anger started to build up. But I wasn't going to let that prevent me from seeing them, or whoever from their family would be there.

"Then don't draw a line," I said, turned my back at him, and walked to the door. My fingers shaky from the creeping hypothermia, I grabbed the spare key from its hideout, and opened the door.

I was scared out of my mind by the most gorgeous being in the entire world. Inside my house, standing beside a small side table that often held Charlie's keys and wallet, was a beautiful, pale-faced creature, her eyes black as onyx, and her stunning face framed with a halo of pitch-black hair.

My heart took off like never before. I didn't care if she had left me, and I did not care about the fact that she was a vampire and that her skin would make me even colder. I ran across the hall and threw my arms around my best friend.

"Alice!" I squealed. "I missed you so much!"

She didn't answer me, so I pulled away from her. Her body was tense, and as I recognized that her eyes were, indeed, black, I took a few steps away.

"I'm so sorry, Alice. I'm just so happy you're here," I rushed to apologize. Stupid, stupid me, always making the best things that ever came across me feel uncomfortable.

"It's okay, Bella. I just haven't been in close contact with humans in quite a time. And I've always thought you smell good anyway," Alice said, her posture a bit more relaxed now.

Hearing her speak brought tears into my eyes. I haven't heard her voice in such a long time. I had almost forgotten how wonderful it sounded. The words coming from her mouth chimed like silvery bells. I blinked and a few tears fell on my cheek. Suddenly I was held by two slender, but unnaturally strong arms.

"Don't cry, Bella. It's okay now," Alice crooned into my ear.

"Sorry, it wasn't my intention to go all cry-baby on you," I muttered back, leaning my forehead on her shoulder. I smelled her sweet scent, which had grown really strong to me, since I hadn't seen her in ages, so being unable to smell her.

"Shh, don't worry. But I think you have some explaining to do, no?" Alice said and pulled away slightly, just enough for me to see her face.

"Huh?" I let out an unintelligible sound. I had no clue of what she was talking about.

"Well first of all, would you kindly explain to me how you're alive?" she asked, shaking my shoulders slightly.

Then it hit me. Of course, she had seen me jump.

"Yeah, you jumped off a cliff, remember?" she said sarcastically. "What the hell were you thinking, Bella? Think about Charlie. Think about -"

"Jacob had introduced me to this new game. Cliff jumping. It's... fun," I interrupted Alice's flow of words.

Alice raised her eyebrow. "Fun? Seems suicidal to me."

"I wasn't trying to kill myself, I swear. I just thought it'd be fun, but I didn't realize the currents were so strong. Luckily Jake saved me," I said, trying to convince her. Nonetheless, she looked suspicious.

"I didn't see you being rescued," she said, eyeing me. "Why is that?" she asked, not necessarily addressing the question to me, but more to herself.

I shivered again. The closeness of Alice's icy body was getting the best of me.

"You're cold," said Alice. That wasn't a question.

She led me to the living room, made me sit on the sofa, and said: "Now sit here for a second," and then she was out of sight. She was back in a matter of seconds though, holding a pile of warm, dry clothes and blankets.

"Clothes. Off. Now," she ordered, pointing at my wet clothes. I looked at her, a bit embarrassed. I didn't want to take off my clothes with her watching, mostly because my body could never hold a candle to hers.

"Now, Bella, you're just being silly. I've seen you without clothes numerous times, remember?" Alice said, a smile twitching on her lips.

She was right, of course. She had helped me shower after I'd come home from being on the run from James about a year back, wrapped up in bandages. There was no point in arguing with her, so I obediently shrugged out of my wet clothes, and with some help from Alice, changed into a pair of slacks, a jumper, and woolly socks. Alice brought me a steaming cup of hot chocolate (no, I have no clue when she'd managed to make it) and told me to drink it. It was amazing, I have to admit. The warmness of it made me raspy throat sing hallelujah. Alice smiled as I sighed after finishing the drink. She took the cup away from me and ordered me to lie down. Then she covered me with blankets and sat down on the sofa so that my head was on her lap. Even though her skin was hard, her lap was extremely comfortable.

After those essential things to make me feel better, Alice and I started to chat, just like we'd done many times before they'd left. She asked me about how my school was going, to which I truthfully answered that it went well, since I hadn't had much of a life outside of school. She winced when I told her that, as if she'd been pinched.

"You okay, Alice?" I asked, concerned.

She smiled at me and stroked my hair. "I'm alright," she said, with a hint of sadness in her melodious voice.

I wanted to ask her about Edward, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to know the answer or not. Would it just make me feel worse? I looked at Alice, who had turned into a statue, gazing into the space in front of her. Was she having a vision?

My question was answered when Alice spoke up. Actually, both of my questions.

"I saw you deciding to ask me about my brother," she said slowly. "No, I haven't seen him since New Years. He only checks in once in a few months. He says that he wants to be alone."

There was some emotion in her voice that I couldn't recognize. I felt bad for being the reason why the Cullens never saw Edward, and that they had left in the first place.

"You know, Bella, I'm no emotion reader like Jasper," Alice said softly, "But it would seem like you are feeling sad. Care to share?"

This is why I loved Alice with my whole heart. There wasn't any friend who was as caring, loyal, and fun as her. I was lucky beyond any measure for having such a person as my best friend. I had missed her so much.

"It's just that I'm sorry for being the reason why you had to completely start your lives over. And because of me, you hardly ever see Edward," I whispered, afraid that my voice would break.

Alice took both my hands in hers.

"Bella, now listen to me, and listen good. All of this was no one's fault. We've all gone our own ways. The rest of us just see each other more frequently than we see Edward. And I'm here now," she said, reached to stroke my cheek once and returned her hand where it had been, holding mine.

I don't know why, but my cheek was left burning from her touch. Had I grown so unfamiliar with affection?

"Alice?" I said after a moment of silence.

"Yes?"

"Thanks for coming back. I missed you tonnes," I said and smiled, another tremor shaking my whole body.

Alice answered my smile with a faint one. "I missed you too," she said, and then added something under her breath, which was too quiet and fast for me to comprehend. I wonder what that was.

She gently lifted my head up from her lap and stood up, putting a pillow under my head instead. Before I could protest she said: "You're cold, and I need to hunt. It's better for us both that I leave for a while."

I couldn't believe she was going to leave me again. My brow puckered and Alice knelt beside the sofa and ruffled my hair.

"I'm going to be away for an hour, silly Bella," she said. "Just try to get some sleep, and I'll be back in no time."

I nodded. "Alright, but hurry back," I muttered. Alice planted a little kiss on my cheek and danced gracefully out of the living room.

If my cheek had been burning then, my whole face was on fire now. Why did my body react like this to completely normal, friendly things? Had I turned into such a shut-in? No, couldn't be. I'd become close friends with Jake. Jacob... He'd been so mad at me when I'd left him outside. I wondered if he ever wanted to talk to me again. I felt bad about myself again. Jacob had done so much for me. He had made it all brighter, like my own little sun. He'd helped me to get over the pain, even though he occasionally slipped and reminded me about the Cullens. Lately, I had noticed that I didn't spend so much time crying over my lost love. It was more like crying over a family I'd lost. And my best friend. Come to think of it, I had missed her the most. I'd realized that when she had shown up. When I saw her, I noticed how hollow and empty I had been. When the hole in my chest was fixed, I had seen how big it had actually been. Now with Alice here, I felt light. Lighter than Jacob had ever made me feel.

On these thoughts, I drifted to sleep.

When I woke up, the first thing I noticed was that my head was higher than it was when I'd fallen asleep. I moved my head and noticed that there was no pillow anymore, and that it had been replaced by a pair of slender thighs.

"Good morning, Sunshine!" came a clear, high pitched greeting from above me.

"Hi," I let a feeble answer get out of my mouth. I realized that my throat wasn't as painful anymore.

"Feel any better?" Alice asked and I opened my eyes to see honey-coloured eyes stare at me.

I nodded slightly and came to notice that Alice had wrapped a soft scarf around my neck. I couldn't help but think about how sweet she really was.

"Yeah, surprisingly so. Thanks for the scarf," I said and touched the piece of clothing wrapped around my neck.

Alice grinned in response. "No biggie. I've seen humans do that when they are cold, so I figured I'd do that. I want you to get well soon after all," she said.

Then something occurred to me.

"Hey, Alice, where's Charlie?" I asked. I looked at the clock on the wall. It was half-past-eight. Charlie had been here, slept the night, and gone to work by now.

"He went to work," Alice said.

"What did you tell him?" I asked, wondering how Charlie had reacted when he'd found Alice in his living room with me sleeping on the sofa.

"I just said that you had been on the beach and slipped on some rocks and fallen in," she smiled. "A very good excuse when you are in question, don't you think?" she tapped my nose lightly on the word you.

"Ha ha, very funny," I said and pouted.

"Oh, don't be like that, silly. You know I'm just playing with you," Alice said, lifted my head up and stood up herself.

"Can I interest you in some soup, miss?" she asked and curtsied. I rolled my eyes at her.

"Soup? Umm, sure?" I answered, not sure what there was waiting for me. I never knew Alice could cook anything.

Alice laughed her melodious laugh. "Don't worry, Bella. I'm a great cook. You just haven't tasted my stuff yet," she said, winked, and walked to the kitchen.

I was left with a weird feeling in my stomach. Something about what she had said, combined with the wink made me feel uneasy, but in a way I had already forgotten. A good way, a happy way. I shrugged off the thought of her winking at me and concentrated my eyes and mind on today's paper, that was left on the sofa table.

"Your breakfast is served, ma'am," Alice called from the kitchen door and she carried a tray with a steaming bowl of soup to me. I sat up and she placed the tray on my lap. The soup smelled absolutely wonderful. But while I thought about that, a voice inside my head reminded me about the fact that Alice smelled even better. What the heck was going on inside my head? My thoughts had gotten so... random.

"Well?" Alice asked, cocking her head to the side.

I blinked. "What?" I asked, dumbfounded.

"Aren't you going to taste it?" she asked, the corners of her mouth pulling down a bit. I wasn't sure if she was faking it or if I had actually hurt her feelings by not tasting the soup right away, so I grabbed the spoon she was offering me and took a careful sip. The soup was hot, but it tasted utterly delicious.

"It's amazing, Alice. Wow, where have you learned to cook?" I complimented her truthfully.

A smile appeared on Alice's face and she sat beside me on the sofa, wrapping her arm around my shoulders.

"Only the best for you. It's the least thing I can do after all you have gone through because of us," she said. "And I have had a lot of spare time in my life. I might have as well done something useful."

I stopped eating. How did she know how bad I had been while they'd been away? Nevertheless, I didn't like the way Alice blamed herself and her family. I put the spoon down and turned to face her.

"Don't say that. It wasn't your fault. You just said last night that it was no one's fault. Stick with that, will you?" I said seriously. "And how did you know that I've gone through stuff?" I added, since I wanted to know.

Alice sighed. "I talked with Charlie. He told me everything. I'm surprised he was so nice to me, because he made it seem like you were on the edge," she explained, her ocher eyes full of sadness. Why was she beating herself up over what happened?

"Well, it wasn't that bad. I wasn't considering-"

"Don't try to lie to me, Bella. Charlie told me how sickly and hurt you were all the time. He told me how you woke up almost every night screaming your lungs out. Even now, I can see it. You haven't been eating, nor sleeping well. You haven't been alright, Bella. But I have come to do everything I can to fix it," Alice interrupted me, grabbing my shoulders lightly. "Don't tell me not to be sorry," she ended her speech.

After her little outburst, I sat there quietly, observing her eyes and the slight redness that started to form in them – tears that could never fall. I couldn't take it anymore. I wrapped my arms around her and let her sob into my shoulder.

"I'm so sorry, Bella. So, so sorry," she sobbed.

I didn't know why she was so harsh on herself, but in that moment I shared her grief, the same grief that had been inside me for months. I broke into tears myself, finally letting it all out after months of trying to gain numbness.

"Don't worry, Alice. It's okay, I forgive you," I sobbed back at her.

We spent a great deal of time just holding each other and crying. After that said great deal of time, Alice lifted her head off my shoulder. I met her gaze. Her eyes were glossy and pink. I could tell mine were at least ten times worse as hers, though.

This was new to me. I had never seen Alice this vulnerable before. She had always been the strong one and I had been a fragile, soft human. I had ruined many of her shirts with my tears. Now the situation was reversed. And I wanted to know why that was. But this was hardly the time, since she had just calmed down. I could wait for the answer.

I finished the soup, (which had gotten cold during our Niagara episode, but I didn't complain) and thanked Alice after finally putting my spoon down. While watching me eat, she had calmed down enough to smile and even try a bit of her 'I know I'm awesome' -sarcasm. I was glad she was back on track.

"Wanna watch a film?" I asked after Alice had taken my dishes into the kitchen.

"Yeah!" she squealed in delight. Apparently it was a long time since she'd had a girls' night. Well it was morning, but you know what I mean. From that thought, I had an idea.

"Hey, Alice, I have an idea," I said, already knowing that she would know exactly what I meant.

Just like I'd thought, she zoned out for a second and when she snapped out of it, she was grinning like never before.

"Of course I want to have a real sleepover!" she cried out and rocketed to hug me. "I thought you would never ask! You know how I enjoy sleepovers!"

I was glad that I had made her happy. But a tiny voice inside my head was even happier about the fact that her arms were still around me. Why? Had I been this desperately in need of seeing my best friend? I didn't know, but I let it be. As long as she would stay and keep me feeling this light, I didn't mind what absurdness would come along with it.

You know guys, I really hope you enjoy reading my story. I really like writing it and it would be absolutely amazing if you'd just click that little review button and tell me what you think!

Until next time,

Peace, love, Twilight,

Luv,

AC