Disclaimer- I saw a dream. Alice and Bella were doing -exactly-not-HOW-u-think-they were-doing- couple stuff and SM popped in out of nowhere. She threw a copy of copyright papers at me; laughed evilly as she put an arm each around A & B's shoulders & then poof...vanished!
What a Nightmare!

A/N- Hey everyone!
Big thanks to everyone who read & reviewed COM. U all r the reason of this big smile on my face.

SI- thanks for your enthusiastic review. Please pm me, I need to thank u profusely.
*Percy sends friend request to Riley on Dogbook!* ;D

*This chapter is dedicated to SI & my sweet friend JamiDW*

Alice/Bella

I don't know how long I slept during the flight to Seattle but when I woke up, one thing I knew for sure was that it wasn't a very smart decision on my part. A thin sheen of sweat coated my entire body and my heart raced frenetically as I tried to ignore the freaky feeling from the terrifying dream I just had a few seconds ago. What the hell was it? I couldn't remember what it was about. But it left me absolutely terrified and there was no way in hell I was going to dwell over it for even a single second.
The dull spasms coursing through my muscles provided me the distraction I needed. My body was stiff and sore from having been slept in same position for God knows how long. Actually, I'm one of those people who move a lot while sleeping. So despite the comfiness of the seat, my back was killing me. On top of that, this nauseating feeling in my gut was doing wonders in my brain. This wasn't a very pleasant distraction and I could feel myself getting cranky.

Letting out a rather shaky breath, I stretched out my stiff limbs and proceeded to sit straight, only to feel a mild pressure around my waist pushing me backward. Seatbelt? What the heck?

"Slept well?" Alec's perky voice questioned from beside me. My shifting in the seat must have alerted him of me being awake. He seemed to be in a rather uncharacteristic bright mood for a flight. As clear as I can remember, he never enjoyed flights ever since he saw Final Destination and that was when we were what, 9? Yes. It was our 9th birthday. We went to the theatre with Mom and Dad as a birthday outing and he was hell bent on watching ONLY Final Destination 'cause his friends at school told him it was 'Mind-blowing!' The eejit didn't have the nerves to stay till the climax of the movie. He complained about the movie being scary and whined non-stop until Dad gave in and made us leave. Ever since then, he was genuinely afraid of flights. And I took full advantage of it every time we went on vacations! During flights, I would tell him stories of planes and aircrafts that always ended with one and the only sentence- 'and the plane crashed!' and he would be shaking in his seat in fear for his dear life! But eventually, much to my dismay, he got over it, though not completely. What a cra-

My head suddenly jerked to left and a sting of pain pulsed at my right temple, making my eyes widen in surprise at the unexpected blow.

"BLOODY HELL, ALEC!" I yelled out, not caring about all the heads that whipped in my direction with inquisitive gaze and disapproving frowns present on their faces. I don't give a hoot about ethics and manners right now.

"WHY did you HIT ME on head?" I fumed at him. He better come up with something or he'll definitely be missing his fucking hand!

"You zoned out on me for like 10 minutes. 10 friggin' LONG minutes! What else was I supposed to do?"He shrugged as if it was no big deal and gave me a look that screamed 'DUH!' at me.

"That sure as hell doesn't mean you go on hitting me!" I seethed. "You could've called my name or shook me by shoulders or some crap like that!" Is he getting dumber with age?

"Well, where is fun in that?" He smiled that big cheeky smile at me again, completely ignoring my eyes that were trying to burn holes in his already empty head.

"Fuck you. And fuck your fun." I grumbled, punching him on his broad chest. He paused whatever shit was blaring in his iPod and scrunched his nose up in disgust as he turned to face me.

"No thanks. I'm not into incest." He deadpanned, pointing a beefy finger at himself.
dumb dumb DUMBASS! GOD! WHY-WHY ME? I just wanted to pound my head, or better HIS head on a rock until he shut the hell up. He was just a minute away from becoming Alec-Stew.

"Go to hell." I chuntered and crossed my arms over my chest as I turned my glare towards the seat in front of me.

"We're going to Seattle. Gee, didn't know Seattle is Hell." He sniggered stupidly. Ugh! Numbskull. I groaned inwardly and gripped my cardie tightly to prevent the Whack! that would definitely be resounding off the walls of the plane if I let my palm 'caress' his head. Not even bothering to give him some sort of reply for his stupid comment, I started counting gray hair on the head of an overly-tall guy seated in front of me.

1,2,3...I busied myself in counting the gray hair. It sounded rather childish but whatever saves my ears from him.

..22, 23, 24- "So, enjoyed Matrix?" Alec asked nonchalantly as he continued to look expectantly at me.

Now what's with this Matrix? "Matrix? What the heck you're talking about?" It's been only 5 minutes! Can't he just zip up that mouth of his?

"Oh you were convulsing and tossing around in your seat; throwing kicks and punches in air. You were making awesome hee-haa-huu noises also; too bad I didn't have a camera to tape it."

Bullshit. He. Is. Exaggerating.

"Alec, you're like just a comment away from getting your ass kicked outta the emergency door. One more word and you'd be freefalling to Seattle." I stated coldly.

"What's upsetting you, Alice? You think I haven't noticed your anxiety and uneasiness." The childishness instantly switched into seriousness as he craned his neck down to look into my eyes, forcing them to meet his concerned gaze. "I'm just trying to get you to smile." He offered a little smile but I turned my face sideways and looked away. How could I tell you when I have not a blooming idea what's getting me so miffed?

"I don't know. Just..leave me be for a while." It came out a little harsher than I had intended and he flinched a little.

"Okay." He grumbled out with a scowl and plunged the earphones back in place, leaving my sulky-head to my own thoughts.

XXXXXXXXXXX

About half an hour later our plane landed at Sea-Tac Airport. We waited for our luggage to show up on the conveyor. A little while later it did, and Alec went to fetch it as I walked outside and hauled a cab. We loaded our luggage in its trunk and the cabbie speeded to SU. Alec had been very quiet since my 'little' outburst in the plane. His usual perkiness was absent and the knowledge that his sullen mood was caused by my rudeness was nagging me even more.

Maybe I should apologize.
'No. He is at fault. Had he not nagged you foolishly, you wouldn't have snapped at him'
He was helping.
'Oh come on. Forget it. It's not like he would never get over it or something.'

Sighing softly, I rested my head on the window and stared outside at the busy city nonchalantly. So many vehicles were honking and zooming by, rushing to their destination; the bright lights coming from the buildings on the both sides of the road. The city seemed to be bustling with life, the scenario a little different from what I am used to from growing up in Biloxi. But adapting to the new city wouldn't be that much of a problem.

The cool night air seeping inside through the little crack in the window glass was making me shiver. So I shifted away from the window towards Alec and chanced a sideways glance at him. He too was staring out the window, his fingers playing with the zipper of his jacket and the ear phones still in place but by the look on his face I instantly knew he wasn't really paying attention to whatever was playing in his iPod.

I shouldn't have taken my frustration out on him. Being a twin is sometimes like we were born with an inbuilt empathy link; we just can somehow sense it when the other one is down. With him so quiet, time seems to drag on even more slowly. The hard cushion of the cab felt surprisingly comfortable beneath my aching back...

15 silent minutes in way to SU, Alec still had not uttered a single word. 'Alice! Geez, girl! Just apologize to your brother. Since when have you grown so pigheaded?' Nodding to myself, I reached over and put my hand on his shoulder. The brunette's eyes immediately met my gaze and I saw a flash of silent apology, confusion and annoyance hidden behind a strained attempt of smile. The weight of guilt took over my stubbornness and my mouth opened on its own accord; but instead of those three words of sincere apology, came out- "Wanna grab a bite?" Damn it! Shame on me!

A stunned confusion was evident on his chiselled features as he tried to process my sudden question. Great. "Alice-"
I knew what he was going to do- apologize- that he should not. So I had to disrupt him, so decided to go all silly for the sake of it.

"Look Alec.." Holding my palm up at him so that he would not butt in, I popped out my eyes goofily as I pointed at my stomach. "I'm like starving and though I know the dorm cafe is about twenty minutes or so away, I doubt I'd get a chance to get something yummy inside my poor little hungry-growling belly until I'm done unpacking my stuff because you know how sincere I'm when it comes to organizing and-"

"'Kay!" He covered my blabbering mouth with his hand. "I get the picture." He shook his head as he removed his hand though his face betrayed no signs of humour. But still, I got him to speak, so yay!

The cabbie stopped in front of a small but cozy looking cafe's building that had 'Bandit's' written on the signboard in very artistic cursive fonts. 'Interesting name.' I bought a pizza and Alec settled for a coke. 'Not hungry...hmm.'
Finishing the pizza in mere minutes, I noticed the lamest of tense silence surrounding us. Every time I tried to make a conversation, the damn pizza seemed to stick like gloop in my throat and my vocal chords act like slackers.

"What do you think Pops gifted us?"

"Huh?" Did he say something?
He rolled his honey brown eyes at me with an air of annoyance, apparent by his body language. Expecting some kind of answer, I see.
Wait!
Leci spoke. To me!
Without me trying.
Ha! Progress progress!

"I know Neo is hot and all but keep him in your dreams only. I said if you have any guess on what gift Dad gave us?"
Neo? I don't know this Neo dude. I swear Alec is sometimes so beyond my understanding; one moment he is on talk-strike and the next moment throwing weird advises at me. Ignore.

"Dunno." Letting my shoulders rise and fall in a shrug, I gestured at his backpack placed by our table; "That's in there. Let's see."
As Alec grabbed the bag and fumbled for the rectangular gift-boxes inside that mess of a bag, I took the opportunity and made up my mind on apologizing to him while he was still distracted searching. Taking in a deep breath, I exhaled out a loud-clear but hurried "I'm sorry". His hands stopped their search as he looked up at me with raised eyebrows, his lips pursed in an attempt to hide the coy smile behind a serious exterior.

"What did you say?" His voice was laced with innocence as he scrunched his face in a way that showed genuine confusion. If I was someone else, he could have fooled me easily with that look on his face, but I know that slight curve at the corner of his upper lip.
He heard me clearly. Stinker!

"Sorry." Looking down at the empty plate, I murmured out another hushed apology. He just kept on twirling and playing with his coke can, seeming not interested in forming any kind or reply. 1..2..3..4..5- Counting up to 5, I drew in a sharp breath and "Look, Alec. I'm really very sorry about my rudeness. I shouldn't have misbehaved. Can you just forgive me and get back to your normal self?" To say I was surprised when he threw his head back and busted into laughter, would be putting it mildly. His reaction was shocking! "Wha..t?" I just sat there, staring dumbly at him with my jaw open as his frame shook with waves of chortles. "Oh man!" He held his now-red face as his laughter eventually ceased down and exhaled very loudly through his mouth.

"You..you were pretending; weren't mad at me?"

"How was that, baby sis?"

"You..!" The chair screeched loudly against the tiled floor as I stood up abruptly and grabbed my purse. I bet my face was red with a mix of anger and embarrassment as I marched towards the exit door.

"Sis! Wait!.."

A few minutes later, we were back on the way to SU in that same cab that had a crack in the left window. This time, Alec got to sit that side as a punishment for his little stunt back in the cafe. It turned out that Dad came up with the idea of digicams for us; must have wanted us to capture sweet moments at the college. How thoughtful.

If the greenery was any measure to say, the campus was located on the outskirts of the main city. The night cool air held some strange kind of scent that could only be associated with plants and described as earthy. I gladly welcomed the earthy scent by taking in deep breaths in my lungs. I rolled down the window and stuck my head out; my eyes closed to feel its caress. A sudden gust of chilled wind on my face made my eyes flip open and my vision zeroed on the distant treeline as I noticed something.

I think I saw a..

"Jeez, Alice! Close the window, you crazy-head."

I tightly grasped Alec's hand that reached over to close the window. "Did you see that?" I motioned at the trees outside. He craned his neck up to give a fleeting glance over my shoulder at the trees and then rolled his eyes at me.

"Hallucinate all you want to, but Neo ain't there, Lee." My eyebrows knitted together in confusion as he patted my head in mock sympathy. "Neo, who? Alec I swear I don't know this Neo guy!" He just gave a throaty chuckle and started humming some tune, completely ignoring my question.

"Whatever."

...

"Hey, let me carry this for you." My gentleman of a brother offered to carry some of my luggage to my dorm room. He decided to first help me finding my room and set my luggage in there, then worry about his own dorm. His college was about half a mile away from my dorm, that is what the lady at the office said. But still, he is here helping me with the bags and all. We both were panting by the time we reached my room's door. Sliding the key inside the key-hole, I unlocked the door and pushed it open. What I saw in there was not surprising at all. The right side of the room was already taken, the bed neatly made, and a bag placed on top of it.

"Looks like my room-mate has arrived." A female voice jostled me out of my thoughts. We both turned to look at the source of that voice and I came face to face with the owner of a pair of electric blue eyes.

"Holllly Craaap!"

A/N- remember, English ain't my first language, so excuse all grammatical mistakes.
If any of you haven't read 'The Ghosts' Adversary', a bellice fic, go read it. It's an interesting story.

Take Care. :)
-AJo