A/N: Thanks for all the reviews! I'm really glad that people seem to like the beginning and are adding this story to their alerts. I present to you: Chapter 2.

Disclaimer: No, a miracle did not occur in the last 24 hours that granted me the rights to Twilight, nor did I magically obtain Stephanie Meyer and implant my brain into her body, so Twilight is still not mine. :( This story, however, is. :)

Chapter 2: Couldn't Stay Away

The Swan residence was not a particularly spectacular dwelling by any stretch of the imagination. Set back from the road a bit, it looked like any other house one might encounter on any road in the country. Chief Swan, never one for decorations, had done nothing to the house that might distinguish it from the others in town, at least not to a normal passerby. But the house drew me like a magnet; pulling, calling. Even as I stood miles away, hunting with a vigor that I rarely showed, wanting desperately to quiet my internal storm with blood…even then, I felt it. I couldn't understand why I felt that it was literally impossible to stay away, why my instincts drew me back to the house like a moth to a flame. Bella is not my mate. These feelings are not normal…though I told myself these things, I found myself succumbing to the gravity of the place, moving ever closer to it as I hunted. When at last the vampire within me was satisfied, I returned. Charlie may not be one for decorations, but this was the one house that I never wanted to change. The recent addition of his daughter was quite enough for me.

I stood outside the front door, listening to the sounds within.

Charlie was still gone, so all I heard downstairs was the faint hum of the refrigerator. Upstairs, paper ruffled momentarily as the page of a book was turned, followed by a small sigh. I took a deep breath, faintly detecting Bella's scent as I did so. My body trembled, though more from the desire to have her in my arms than the desire to suck her blood. I had just gorged myself; I doubted I would be hungry for quite awhile.

As I stood on the porch alone with my thoughts, desire started to turn into a burning need. Still, I hesitated. The disgust I had felt with myself earlier lingered, and I knew I could not put Bella at risk like I had done before. Though my mind thought these things, my body moved of its own accord, and I found myself perched on the branch outside of her window a moment later.

She was lying on her bed, wearing only a tank top and shorts, staring at the paperback in her hand with a blank look on her face. I got the distinct impression that she wasn't reading a single word of it. A moment later, her head flew to the window and met my gaze.

Smiling a smile so beautiful it could have made my heart race, she dropped the book and threw herself off of the bed, standing before the window and carefully pushing it open, sticking her head out.
"I was afraid you wouldn't come back…"

I smiled back lightly, "Oh, so I could give you the opportunity to jump off of more cliffs for fun?"

A dull red crept across her cheeks and she frowned, turning her head away from me. The beautiful sight of her blushing stirred something deep within me as I moved to sit on the windowsill. Her gaze slowly turned back to mine and I reached a hand out, taking her face in my hand and giggling.

She giggled right back. I nearly gasped in shock at seeing the life in her eyes, the pain in them still evident but momentarily forgotten in light of the joy. Joy at seeing me. I could have stayed like that forever, sitting on the windowsill with my hand on her cheek, staring into her eyes…but her gaze dropped and she moved to wrap her arms around me, clinging to me desperately. "Don't you ever disappear like that again…"

I returned her tight hug, being very careful not to crush her. It was then that I noticed the smell.

What on EARTH…

She smelled like dog. No, dogs smelled better than that. I took a deep sniff, which she picked up on. I felt her body freeze against mine.

"No, it's alright…" I whispered reassuringly, taking another sniff. I knew it was, too, because that horrible scent was clouding hers with such force that even if I hadn't hunted in a month I'm sure I would not have been tempted. She relaxed a bit at my words, trusting me, waiting patiently for me to finish up my vampire moment and stop acting like a German Shepherd.

"You smell…really bad," I wrinkled up my nose and looked down at her hurt expression.

"What? First Jake and now you…" she sounded hurt.

Jake.

She had mentioned him before, the one who had pulled her out of the water. The one who I hadn't seen in my vision.

She caught the change in my expression and looked at me curiously, "Alice?"

"Tell me about Jake."

She smiled again, like she had when I mentioned his name before, and I felt something strange as I watched her. Jealousy? Oh whatever; now is really not the time.

"I've known him since we were kids and I would come visit Charlie. I hadn't seen him in forever, but after…" she skipped a beat, her smile fading. "After you guys left, I started hanging out with him again. He's been a really great friend to me and he understands me but…he's been acting so…unlike himself lately, it's been worrying me. He stopped by briefly while you were out hunting, he seemed mad about something, and he held his nose when he came in. He tried to be discreet about it, and when I asked him about it, he didn't say anything. It was the weirdest thing."

She seemed to be holding something back. "Bella, is there anything else I should know about him?"

She started and looked up at me, perhaps surprised by the fact that I could read her so well. "I…well…"

I blinked and waited patiently.

"…He's…kind of a werewolf."

A moment passed. I stared ahead and tried to process what she had just said. A werewolf.

"Ok…so let's review. The vampires in the area leave town to try and protect you, so you decide to start jumping off of cliffs for fun and hang out with werewolves?"

She lowered her head to stare at the floor, and I could tell that my words had hurt her. I sighed heavily. I wasn't mad at her, I was mad at myself for agreeing to Edward's stupid plan. Trouble followed Bella everywhere; if not in the form of a family of vampires, then in the form of werewolves or cliffs. It had been stupid of us to leave.

I pulled her into my arms and lifted her up, holding her close to me. She buried her head into my chest and I felt a warm wetness against my cool skin. I sat back onto the bed and gently ran my fingers through her hair, then echoed the thoughts in my head. "I'm not mad at you, Bella. I'm mad that I left you here alone, I'm mad that I thought it was the best thing for you when it clearly wasn't…I'm mad at myself for ever going through with a stupid idea like this."

Her body shook gently and the warmth spread against the fabric of my shirt. Acting on impulse, I carefully lifted her head up and watched the tears fall down her face for a moment. There was a kind of beauty in the way she cried, but it hurt at the same time; knowing that I was the cause of those tears. No...he was. I sighed internally and pressed my lips against her cheek, lingering for a beat longer than was necessary. I tasted the salt in her tears and pulled away, resting my forehead on hers as she gulped, trying to control her sobs. Finally she spoke.

"No, Alice. You meant well, I know you did…It killed me when you guys left, but…I know that you thought it was best for me and I'm sorry that I'm such a screw-up…but I promise you it isn't all bad, Jake's a good guy, he really is…if it wasn't for him…I mean I don't even know what I'd do, when you showed up I just…" she trailed off, now gaining control of her body. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply for a moment. My forehead was still against hers and I watched her closely.

So many emotions struck me when she spoke that I wasn't sure which one to feel. There was fear; fear that Bella had just admitted to trusting a werewolf, to have actually befriended one. Jealousy that she seemed so close to him. Overwhelming gratitude that he had saved Bella's life. Anger, yet again, for leaving her. Pain at seeing her cry like this. "It isn't your fault, Bella...none of it is. You aren't a screw-up. You did nothing wrong."

"I can't believe he did this to me," whispered Bella bitterly, new found strength echoing in her words. I could tell she wasn't talking about Jacob anymore.

I rubbed her back soothingly as angry tears flowed down her face, slowly filling with an overwhelming desire to rip my brother apart for the way he had hurt Bella. I would not let my anger show, though. As far as Bella knew, I had no real reason to be upset with him. "Do you want to talk about it?" I asked softly.

Her forehead pulled away from mine and she gazed out of the window. The anger displayed on her features looked so out of place, but she radiated a strength that was absolutely mesmerizing. I hadn't thought it was possible to look strong with tears streaming down your face, but then, I hadn't thought it possible to look beautiful with tears streaming down your face, either. Bella managed both at once.

"I never loved him," she said flatly, and I swear to god, a cage of butterflies just exploded in my stomach.

"Well…maybe a little bit, at first," she continued. "He was kind; he didn't act like most guys did. I felt weirdly drawn to him. I remember thinking constantly about how strange he was, how his skin was hard and cold, and do not get me started on those eyes," she looked at me then, her expression softening, "You have the same eyes. Liquid gold…" her voice trailed off.

I stared into her own warm brown eyes and wished with all of my heart that she could have met me before him. I was determined to memorize the way Bella looked right now, the way she was looking at me. That spark in her eye had returned now, blazing brightly as she held my gaze. I couldn't believe how much I had missed it.

"It was all so strange, so new, but I was so curious. I spent hours online doing research, trying to figure out what the hell he was. I was obsessed..." she chuckled nervously, "and once I found out, I wanted to find out more. I wanted to know everything. I was so caught up in what he was - in his beauty - that I forgot to sit back and ask myself if I really loved him…" she bit down on her lip, hard.

"I really hated the way he acted around me…I sometimes caught him looking at me like I was dessert or something," I bit back a growl at these words, "But…I was so drawn to him. I don't really know why, I just felt like I needed to be around him, around all of you. I told myself that all vampires would probably have the same reaction that Edward did to people they were close to. I'll never forget when I figured out the difference."

The smile she gave me was so warm that I thought it would heat up my granite skin and kick-start my heart again.

"When he brought me home, I was scared out of my mind, but not because I thought you guys would…eat me or something. I was afraid you all wouldn't like me because I'm a human."

"Bella…" I whispered.

"You have no idea how much better I felt when you ran down the stairs and hugged me immediately. Edward didn't hug me like that, ever. He was too afraid to. It caught me off guard, but in a good way. I felt like I'd known you for years instead of seconds. There wasn't anything new or strange about the friendship I had with you like there was with Edward…" She frowned a little.

"When he left…I felt like I had lost part of myself. It caught me off guard, really, because I didn't understand why I felt so drawn to him. He told me once that I was his singer…"

Her voice faded briefly and the world seemed to flicker, and for a few fleeting seconds I heard her heart thumping loudly in my ear. I blinked and shook my head vigorously, and the sound disappeared.

What the?

"…Actually, he used some Italian phrase that I forget…Alice? Are you ok?" I looked back at Bella for a moment and nodded slowly. I saw understanding flicker across her face and realized that she must have thought I had had a vision.

"Sorry…something odd just happened to my head…" I reached up and held my hand to my forehead, where a vague ache lingered. I never get headaches.

Bella frowned and shifted so that she was kneeling on the bed in front of me. She raised her hand to my forehead and held it there, concern written on her face. "Like a headache?" she asked softly.

"I don't get headaches, Bella," I replied, but my voice held no conviction.

She looked at me with confusion and absently ran a hand through my hair, distracting me momentarily. "Like what, then?"

"I…don't know. I've never had anything like that happen." I shook my head again, and the feeling faded into almost nothing. "There, it's gone now."

"That's weird…"

"Nothing to worry about. You're right; it's probably just a headache."

She didn't seem convinced, "You've been a vampire for nearly a century and you've never had a headache, why would you get one now?"

"I don't know…" I briefly thought back to the vision I had had of Bella jumping from the cliff. It had been so strange, much like the random pain in my head. In a century, I had never seen anything like I had in that vision, either. Maybe I was just slowly going insane. "It's alright though, it's gone now."

Bella nodded and shifted so that she was again sitting beside me, and I felt her head come to rest on my shoulder. "I wrote to you, you know…" she whispered so softly that I barely even caught it.

"You did?" I asked, gazing down at my lap.

She blushed again, looking a bit flustered. It was really cute…"Yeah. I e-mailed you a lot, but they never sent. I just felt a little bit better talking to you, even if you never actually got the messages."

I felt her idly fidget with the hem of her tank top, and I felt a wave of guilt wash over me, "I'm sorry I never got them…"

She laughed quietly, "It's fine. You're here now, and that's all that matters. Oh!" she said, sitting up a bit, "I was sort of curious, how did your trip go?" she asked with genuine curiosity.

Horrible. Every moment I spent away from you was the worst form of torture. I wanted to scream and throw things and run back to you as fast as I could. I felt like I was an empty shell of utter nothingness-

"Fine, thanks," I said, smiling. "It wasn't terribly eventful, but I did get to spend a fair amount of time researching." I had to find something to do to take my mind off of you…

"Researching?"

I nodded, "That information you gave me last spring proved useful. I managed to find out a bit about my human life."

Bella looked up at me with wide eyes, "Oh wow, Alice, that's…wow! What did you find?"

I sighed heavily, and Bella quickly looked down. "I mean…sorry, I know it's sort of personal –"

"Oh no, Bella! I'm just…it's hard," I closed my eyes and recalled what I had learned, "My name was Mary Alice Brandon. I was born in 1901, and I had a sister…she has a daughter who's still alive. I really didn't manage to find much, just some old records from when I was admitted to the asylum," I hesitated, "and my gravestone."

"Oh my god…"

"The date on it matched the one on the admission sheet," I whispered softly.

Bella's arms were around me then, holding onto me tightly. I closed my eyes and inhaled her scent, firmly ignoring the raging temptation. Unable to resist completely, I hid my face in her neck, breathing shallowly now. "It's alright…" I muttered into her heated skin, "It wasn't a life I recognize as my own, anyway." I'm glad I was turned, I thought, just so that I could survive to be in her arms like this.

"Still…I'm really sorry, Alice," she murmured, "no one should ever be treated like that. Your visions are part of who you are."

I smiled into her neck before she continued softly, "And I'm glad you have them, too, because without them, you wouldn't have come back."

Oh, Bella…

I pulled away from her neck slowly and looked into her eyes, which lit up as she smiled at me, "Thank you, Alice. For coming back."

I leaned up and kissed her cheek lightly, giggling as my actions made her blush. "Couldn't stay away."

No, really. I couldn't stay away. You have no idea.

Bella let out a laugh that morphed into a yawn halfway through. The sight was so adorable I wanted to pounce on her. So I did.

I sprang up from the bed and knocked her backwards, being very careful so that I wouldn't break my human. Her yawn quickly turned back into a giggle, "Stop! That tickles!"

I regarded my pinned victim curiously, tilting my head to the side. "It does?" I held her down gently, but firmly. I didn't want her to escape.

"Y-yeah," she stammered, her face coloring again, "I'm really ticklish."

"Huh…" I said, thinking about her words. I had heard of people being tickled, but I couldn't imagine how the mere act of touching someone's skin the right way could cause them to burst into fits of uncontrollable laughter. Humans were so weird!

"You can't be tickled, can you?" she asked, her smile fading. I just shook my head. The room was silent for a few seconds before I beamed down at my captive again.

"But YOU can!" I declared, running my fingers all over her body.

She laughed twice as loud at before and started thrashing around on the bed, "STOP IT!" she begged, "PLEASE!"

Another thirty seconds of cruel torment and I ceased hostilities, grinning down at Bella as she panted heavily. The beast in me purred with delight at having its mate pinned helplessly. I became acutely aware of her heartbeat, now beating rapidly, pounding louder, calling to me…

Whoa. Mate? Careful!

Slowly, I rolled off of her and lay beside her, smiling in an attempt to cover up the thoughts I'd just had. Bella was still a little too busy catching her breath to notice me just then, and after a minute, she rolled onto her side and hugged me tightly before breaking into another loud yawn.

I chuckled, "Bed time for the human."

"Shut up…" she muttered playfully, closing her eyes. I listened as the sound of her breathing slowed further, and I stroked her hair softly as she drifted off. Right before she fell into semi-consciousness, though, I heard her whisper my name softly.

"Yes Bella?"

"Promise…Promise me you'll be…here in the morning…"

I felt another brief flare of guilt and I gently kissed her forehead. There is no way I'm leaving you again.

"Of course, Bella. I promise. Sleep well."

She sighed softly in content and closed her eyes. It was only when I was certain she was asleep that I leaned in to whisper "I love you," delighting in the gentle shiver elicited by my breath against her ear.

A/N: Aww.

So I had something completely different for this chapter, but I basically looked at it and went, "This sucks." So I re-wrote it, and I think this one's much better. I think. x_x

Things are a bit slow, I know, but I promise good, good things soon :)

Sorry for any typos, I'm re-reading each chapter about 6 times before posting them, but some things do manage to slip through. NINJA TYPOS. D:!

Anyway, hope you enjoyed, and review! Review! It's kind of pathetic how happy they make me, and I welcome any comments you may have. Thanks!