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Against my better instincts, I let her take me down. The rest of the family was there, so I knew that they wouldn't let her get too far, and she deserved some retribution. I fell backwards at the force of her attack, and she landed on top of me-her fists never ceasing their angry fight. I didn't lift a finger.

"I hate you! HATE YOU! I thought…I thought you were gone! You should have left, just like he did. And everyone else." I could tell that she wanted to cry, but she couldn't anymore. Her punches hurt, but she was beyond the point of wanting to actually cause me physical harm. Or her instincts haven't kicked in yet, and she didn't know how. Finally Emmett came up and pulled her off me. She hissed at him, but allowed the movement. She stood fuming in the center of the room as I scrambled to my feet. Her eyes wheedled around until they landed on Alice again.

"And you-" she pointed at Alice, "you made me this way. Why didn't you let him kill me?" She asked, resigned. I had been around Bella for a while, and this wasn't Bella. This girl was dejected, and unwanted and unloved-at least that's what she was feeling. Alice looked beyond words.

"I didn't want you to die," she whispered. "I love you, Bella," she whispered again, this time quieter than the first. The misery that was pouring off of her very nearly brought me to my knees. She still wouldn't look at me.

"Then why did you leave me?" This question was directed to all of us, and the overwhelming emotion was shame. It was Carlisle, of course, who took center stage.

"Bella, Edward asked us to leave, and he is my son. That doesn't mean that we didn't love you, but Edward stated his case…very convincingly. We only wanted what was best for you." Bella was sitting now, and instead of feeling anger like I thought she would, she was curious. The shock was finally wearing off, and she wanted answers. Alice sat down beside her.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Edward came to us after your party. He said he was afraid that if we stayed here, with you, that we would be endangering your life further. He wanted to leave to keep you safe." Silence hung in the air as she digested what Carlisle had told her. "What did he say to you?"

"Apparently not what he said to you. I believe it was something along the lines of 'you're not good enough for me, Bella.' And 'I don't want you anymore.' That about sums it up." Bitterness flowed around her like a cloud. What a way to be brought into this new life. I heard a collective gasp from my family as they took in her words.

"That stupid fool!" Alice was on her feet now, pacing circles around Bella, who was watching her every motion. "How dare he! Oh, where is my phone…" she was patting her pockets when Bella's hand shot like a rocket and grabbed it.

"No. I don't want him…to know…" she was pleading. Alice nodded, and then immediately encircled Bella in her arms.

"Then he won't. I don't know where he is, but he won't be back for a while. I'm so sorry Bella, that he said those things to you. They're absolutely not true. I know he loves you, and we all do as well. Please…" Bella returned Alice's hug, but broke free a minute later. She turned to Carlisle.

"I'm thirsty, I think, and it's very bad. Will you take me…hunting, please? Just you." Carlisle nodded and motioned towards the door. Bella turned back to us. "And when I feel better, I want to talk to all of you, because I'm very mad about this. I'm not okay with being left behind like some old toy nobody wants to play with anymore. But I do love you all, and I want to work it out. But I don't want Edward to know I'm here." We all nodded as she went hunting with Carlisle. She turned once more to glare in my direction, and then left. Emmett, Rosalie and Esme filtered out behind them, but Alice stayed.

"We have to talk." She said staring me straight in the eye. I sat down on the couch and she joined me. "I'm not okay with this, Jasper. With what you did to Bella, and how you lied to me-which isn't easy to do. We've been together, for me, since I first opened my eyes. You were my future. But I don't think you are anymore."

"What are you saying, Alice? I don't understand." I did understand, actually, but I had to hear it from her lips. She didn't want me anymore, because I was a dismal monster.

"I'm saying I don't think I can be with you anymore, Jasper. I still love you, and I always will-but I can't stand it anymore. Sometimes I feel like your babysitter instead of your lover."

"Alice, I can change, I—" She held up a hand to stop me.

"No, you can't, Jasper, and it's not your fault. It's who you are. I've spent too long trying to change you, and it's not fair to either of us. But Bella's going to stay here, and I'm not going to leave her again. So if you can't handle just being my friend, then maybe you should go." Could I handle it? Alice was my world. My life. And she was done with me.

"What am I going to do?" I whispered as she took my hand.

"That's up to you. Of course I want you to stay, but you don't have to. But I think Bella needs us all, and that includes you. She needs to come to terms with what happened, and if you just leave it will make it harder for her. She's very upset."

"Obviously. She'll never forgive me though. How do you forgive someone for trying to kill you?" I smiled sadly.

"Oh, you should give Bella more credit than that. It's not going to happen overnight. But Bella is essentially loving and forgiving, remember that." It seemed a little bit cryptic, but Alice spoke in riddles most of the time anyway.

"I can't leave-this is the only real family that I've known. Maybe I can move into Edward's old room-he won't be coming back for a while. And…how do you think he's going to take it, anyway?" She scrunched up her face.

"Not well would be my guess. But I can't see it because he hasn't decided to come home yet. And I wouldn't move into his room-see if Carlisle would let you have his study. He can move his things into Edward's room." I furrowed my brow.

"Why?"

"Because I said so." Alright, then. And I was honest, at least, when I said I couldn't leave. If I left, I don't know what I'd do. I'd have nobody. At least here, if Alice didn't want me, I could have the rest of my family. I can't heal alone. I was very close to losing control of my emotions-I need to move.

"I'm sorry, Alice. I'm sorry I can't be who you want me to be." I stood up and walked out of the room. She didn't follow.

I perched myself on the roof and waited for Carlisle and Bella to come home. I knew I was going to have to face the verbal music from Bella sooner or later, and I knew it wasn't going to be pretty. All I could do is explain the feeling, now that she knew what it was like to feel the thirst. Despite what Alice said, I knew Bella would never forgive me. What I did was horrible-the worst thing possible. How do you come back from that? But I would try and redeem myself.

Aww, sad Jasper!