Posted: 31 March, 2015

A/N 1: I'd been doing pretty well with weekly-ish updates until now. Unfortunately RL has been kicking my arse. That's also my excuse for not replying to reviews for the last chapter, sorry. On the plus side though, this is the longest chapter yet! That sort of makes up for things … right?

The vampires left for their 'camping trip' shortly thereafter, leaving Alice and Bella standing awkwardly together outside the Cullen house.

"I'm sorry about what Edward did," Bella blurted out, breaking the silence.

Alice raised an eyebrow. "Why are you sorry? He's the one who was out of line."

"I know, just… He means well," she said earnestly. Then, after a pause, Bella hiked a thumb at the tank masquerading as a truck behind her. "Um, do you need a lift?"

"No, it's fine," Alice assured her. "I can get back home the same way I came."

"Oh. But…"

Alice cocked her head as the girl wrung her hands before shoving them in her jeans' pockets. "What?"

"If you don't need a lift, maybe you'd like one? We could hang out at my place. I could put a frozen pizza in the oven, and dad won't be off work for hours yet and—" Bella's babble cut off. "It's just, I don't really get to talk to others much about…" She waved a hand in a sort of all-encompassing gesture. "…the whole vampire thing, you know. Well, I say not much, I really mean never."

Alice considered it. "Sure," she decided. "I guess that would be okay."

"Great!"

The noises the red-orange truck made didn't do one whit to change Alice's tank theory. It roared as it was started, then rumbled loudly as they headed off down the Cullens' drive.

"So you're a witch? I mean, Edward told me so yesterday." She gave Alice a quick look. "Is it alright that he did?"

Alice grimaced but nodded. She wasn't happy Edward hadn't held his tongue until Alice gave him the official okay. But on the other hand, after apparating herself and Jasper away in front of Bella, Alice had pretty much given the secret away herself. Since Bella was already aware of the supernatural through Edward and his family, and had showed she could keep it secret, Alice supposed she didn't mind too much.

"Have you always been one?" Bella asked, fascinated, as they reached the end of the drive and turned onto the road. "Or is it something you learned? Or a change you underwent, like becoming a vampire?"

Alice relaxed at the questions. Apparently Edward hadn't spilled all the beans, only enough to explain what Bella had seen. "I was born a witch, but I had training to refine my skills," Alice explained. "What about you? How did you get involved in the supernatural?"

"Through Edward."

"He wasn't okay keeping it from you when you got together?" Alice guessed.

But Bella shook her head. "No, it wasn't like that. I figured it out myself, actually, and we got together after that. I put the clues together."

"Same as me then." When Bella looked surprised, Alice shrugged. "Well, I was about ninety-five percent sure I had it figured out, but I let Jasper tell me at his own pace. What about Edward tipped you off?"

"A lot of things I noticed over time: the pale skin, his beauty, the speed and strength —he even saved me from getting crushed by a van once, stopped it with his bare hand— and then the fact the Cullens never ate, and were never around on sunny days. I knew there was something different about him right from the very beginning though. When I met Edward, he was just … really weird. Acted like I was the worst thing he'd ever smelled, tried to change classes to get away from me even. Then he disappeared for months from school." Bella grimaced. "I know now that it was because of my blood calling to him, but at the time…"

Alice remembered what it was to be a young, self-conscious teen. "Ouch?"

"Yeah, I took it personally. Especially since my first thought on first seeing him had been—" She flushed. "Well, that he was the most beautiful boy I'd ever seen."

"I'd argue that Jasper holds that title," Alice countered playfully, "but I think he's more 'man' than 'boy'."

Bella glanced over and away, biting back a smile. "Apparently," she continued, "Edward had run all the way to Alaska to get his head sorted, and when he came back he laid low at home and had his siblings steal my clothes to acclimatize himself to my scent."

Alice blinked. "That's… I get the logic, but it's still kinda creepy."

"You don't know the half of it," Bella said with a fond yet exasperated eye roll. "Apparently his first idea was to sneak into my bedroom at night."

"What, while you were there?" Alice asked, incredulous.

"Mhmm. Sleeping."

"I see Edward's stalking tendencies aren't limited to me, then. Thankfully I had Jasper to put a stop to it."

"For me too, actually. Jasper was the one to suggest clothes instead. Less risky, was his thought, I think. I'm glad, even if I did spend a few very frustrating weeks wondering why my things kept disappearing then showing back up unexpectedly." She bit her lip. "Glad … and maybe a bit disappointed too."

Alice raised an eyebrow. "What, you wanted a near-stranger to sneak into your room and watch you sleep?"

"No! No, of course not. Not then. But now I know him … sometimes I think it might be kinda nice. A chance to be alone with him in my bedroom." Her tone, which had started off girlish and confiding, fell flat towards the end.

"Bella?"

"It's nothing, just…"

"This is about the conversation earlier," Alice realised. "About the, er, limited intimacy between you two?"

"Yeah." Bella's cheeks grew flushed. As they came to a stoplight, her fingers tapped an anxious beat on the steering wheel. She took a deep breath, gave Alice a sidelong glance, then asked, hushed, "What is it like, being with Jasper?" Then her eyes went wide. "Oh god, I can't believe I asked that! I'm sorry, I—"

"It's fine, Bella. I don't mind if you're curious. I mean, I'm not about to give you an explicit play-by-play, but…"

Alice gave the red-faced girl a considering look as the light turned green and the truck began moving again. Alice was feeling suddenly … older sister-ish? Bella was really very young. Or maybe, Alice reflected, she herself had just been forced to mature too fast, what with the Dursleys and fame and Voldemort and war. It made others seen childish in comparison.

How much of an age difference was there, really, between the two of them? It couldn't be too much. Alice herself was just twenty-one.

"How old are you Bella?"

"What? I, it's, I'm over the age of consent," she stammered. "If that's what you're getting at."

Alice smiled at her gently. "No, I was just curious."

"Oh. I'm eighteen." Bella's voice was dejected and her shoulders slumped. "But I'll be nineteen pretty soon. September thirteenth."

"And this is not a happy thing?"

"…Edward was seventeen when he was changed," she murmured.

Alice considered that as Bella pulled up in front of a two-storey house on a quiet street. She followed the girl inside and accepted the offered bottle of coke. For a moment Bella froze, and Alice grew concerned as she saw the look of fear in her eyes, but then she followed Bella's gaze to a bowl on the counter.

Oh, Alice thought sympathetically, I see.

Bella quickly snapped out of it and pretended nothing had happened. She pulled a pizza from the freezer, stuck it in the oven and set a timer. That done, the pair wandered over and settled down in the living room.

"You're worried about getting too old for him," Alice said, returning to the topic of Bella's unhappiness at her upcoming birthday.

The girl flinched and ducked her head. "I love Edward. So much. I want to spend the rest of my life with him, but…" She gave a helpless laugh. "He loves me, wants to spend the rest of my life with me too, but not the rest ofhis. He doesn't want forever with me."

"What makes you say that?"

"He doesn't want to change me." Bella tore at the label of her coke bottle. "I've asked. Repeatedly. He refuses every time."

"Ah."

"He says he won't 'damn me'. He thinks he doesn't have a soul you see, that no vampires does, that they're just monsters." She gave Alice a teary-eyed look. "So I'm stuck. I can't bear the thought of leaving him. But on the other hand, what will that mean for us?

"Sometimes I have these nightmares," Bella continued with a shudder, "Me and Edward, we're lying together in our little meadow like we always do. Then I'll see my grandma, but when I try to talk to her I realise it isn't her at all, it's a mirror. That nightmare's going to come true one day. Eventually I'll be old and grey and decrepit, and he'll still be young and beautiful. And we won't be able to tell people that we're in love, that we're together, because they'll think it's sick and wrong."

Alice reached out and grasped Bella's free hand in hers, squeezing comfortingly. "Have you told him about this?" she asked quietly as Bella wiped her eyes.

"No, I couldn't."

"Bella, a good relationship has to be built on communication and trust. You need to be honest with him."

"…But what if he still says no?" Bella asked quietly. "What if he still won't change me?"

Alice frowned. "I think … that's not really up to him, is it?"

Bella looked startled. "What?"

"Well, not to come over all preachy, but it's the whole 'your body, your choice' thing. I'm pretty sure that's about sex and touching and the like, but it extends to this too. Edward doesn't get to choose what you want to do with your body, not even if your choice is to become a vampire. His only say in the decision is in regards to his ownbody rights. You can't make him be the one to change you, any more than he can deny you the choice to be changed."

Bella's eyes were wide, like Alice was saying something paradigm shifting. "But, if he won't change me," the girl said, "then I don't have a choice. Right?"

"Edward isn't the only vampire in the world you know," Alice pointed out.

"The other Cullens. They wouldn't go against Edward's decision," Bella said quietly, but her tone was thoughtful.

"You never know unless you ask. You could try giving them the same 'your body, your choice' speech I gave you. You're Edward's girlfriend, not his pet. He doesn't speak for you, not even to his family. If he thinks otherwise, well, that's controlling and abusive and not okay. Point that out to stalker boy. I'm pretty sure it'd set him back on his heels, maybe make him rethink things at least a little."

Bella's eyes were bright, and Alice could almost see the thoughts whirring through her mind. Just then the oven buzzed and the girl excused herself to fetch the pizza.

As they ate, Bella looked thoughtful. Finally she asked, "So what was it like with Jasper?"

Alice laughed. "Amazing," she confided, and settled in for some girl talk, and, she suspected, answering some questions Bella had about sex and intimacy. She knew Bella lived with her dad, and doubted the girl felt comfortable asking him such things. Alice didn't mind filling the big sisterly role for her.

At hearing a knock at the door, Alice paused in her work, face taking on a peculiar look.

"Just a minute!" she called up from the basement, where she kept all her magical paraphernalia hidden away from prying Muggle eyes. She set her work aside and headed upstairs, locking the basement door firmly behind her.

Who could possibly be calling on her? She'd had a couple of neighbours stop by to welcome her to Forks and collect gossip when she first moved in, but that quickly petered out. Only Jasper stopped by nowadays, and Alice had made it clear he was perfectly welcome to come and go as he liked. Mi casa es su casa, and all that. Honestly, she'd like it if he never left. Alice had even been thinking of working up the courage to ask if he'd like to move in.

Alice opened the door and was surprised by the identity of her caller. "Edward?" This was unexpected.

"Hi," he said, looking uncomfortable, running a hand through his hair.

"Hi," she returned, then shook her head. "What brings you by? Last time you came around you were hiding in the bushes."

Edward winced and ducked his head at the reminder of his former stalking. "I'm sorry about that. I was just worried about your intentions to my family. I could have handled it more gracefully though."

"I understand that, I suppose. And you stopped when asked." Not to say it was okay, but he was Jasper's brother, so Alice was willing to forgive and forget so long as he didn't take up old habits again. The apology just now was a nice addition too.

"I stopped by because I wanted to talk to you about some things."

"Hmm. Maybe you'd better come inside," Alice decided, holding the door open.

"Thank you."

She led him to the living room. "Have a seat. I'd offer you something to drink," she said wryly, "but under the circumstances…"

To her surprise, Edward's lips quirked. "Worried I might take it as an offer?" he joked.

Huh. Well, who knew the kid had a sense of humour under all his brooding and brattiness? Alice allowed a small laugh. "So, you wanted to talk?"

"Yes. Or, well, to apologise." He took an unneeded deep breath and met her eyes squarely. "I am sincerely sorry for the violation of yours and Jasper's privacy I committed the other day. After taking the time to cool down, I realised I had no right to do what I did. I've apologised to Jasper for purposefully invading his mind. Now I'm apologising to you for the…" He cleared his throat. "…for the presumably intimate nature of the memories I witnessed."

Alice's breath whooshed out. She leaned back in her armchair to regard him with wide eyes, wondering if there was a catch. But no, she could see nothing but honestly in Edward's gaze. Honesty and apology and little if any reluctance.

Well, this wasn't what she expected. Her interactions with Edward had been far from positive, and she hadn't really developed a good opinion of him. She certainly hadn't anticipated him admitting he was in the wrong the other day and apologising for it. And unlike the earlier apology for the stalking, this time he offered no excuses, no justification for his behaviour, just straight-out took responsibility and owned up to it. Alice couldn't help but respect that.

Still, she did wonder… "Why did you do it?" Alice asked. "What made you so determined to invade our privacy regarding that? It can't just have been that you were worried for me, like you claimed. We hardly know each other. If anything you should have been worried for Jasper, since he's your brother and I'm still something of an unknown." Unlike Jasper, the other Cullens didn't know the full extent of her magic and how dangerous she could be, and she knew they realised it.

Edward ducked his head and looked away. "I may have been untruthful about my reasons," he admitted.

"Oh?" She raised an eyebrow in a 'no, really' sort of expression.

"Perhaps not untruthful, so much as … projecting."

Alice tilted her head. That was interesting. "Projecting what?"

Edward grimaced and ran a hand through his hair. "Jasper is the only other in the family who has had a relationship with a human." He paused, correcting, "Or a human-like being."

"I'm still human, just with a bit more," Alice said, but then her eyes went wide with realisation. "Oh. This is about you and Bella. You have concerns about where your intimate relationship is going. Where it can and can't go, rather."

"I, well, yes," he admitted, looking supremely awkward as he shifted in his seat. Apparently talking about such things was uncomfortable for him.

"So were you hoping to find an answer to yours and Bella's problem?" Alice wondered aloud. "Or was it resentment that Jasper and I have what seems out of reach for you two?"

"…Both," he admitted, after a moment of thought. He cleared his throat and straightened in his seat. "But this isn't an appropriate topic of discussion," he said firmly. "I just came to apologise for my poor behaviour, and promise it won't happen again.

Yep, definitely not comfortable discussing sex. Still, Alice felt a bit bad for Bella. She considered the girl a friend now, so she decided to push the issue just a bit more. "You know the saying 'there's more than one way to skin a cat'?"

"Yes, of course." He gave her a perplexed look. "Why?"

"Bella and I had a girl's evening while you and the family were off hunting," Alice said, hiding a smile as Edward perked up in interest. For all his faults, it was clear he was as infatuated with Bella as Bella was with him. "I won't explain any details, because I'm pretty sure that goes against the girl code, but … well, you're not the only one with the concerns we just now mentioned."

Edward looked pained and dropped his gaze to stare at his hands. "I wish…" He sighed. "I wish I could give her everything she wants."

"You are everything she wants," Alice said. She gave him a narrow-eyed, suspicious look. "You strike me as the sort to do something stupid 'for her own good'. Don't be that disrespectful arsehole, Edward."

"What?" He looked offended.

"You heard me. I like Bella. She's a sweet girl." She really was. Though Alice was of the opinion she could use a bit more in the way of backbone. "If you even think of … I don't know, breaking up with her; or trying to set her up with a 'nice, normal, human'; or leaving her—" Alice's jaw clenched at the slight, almost-unnoticeable flinch Edward gave at the latter. "If you try pull any of that bullshit, 'for her own good'?" Alice paused, thoughtful. She nodded. "I'll curse you bald and flatulent. Oh, and Jasper tells me you adore music, so let's add tone-deafness to that list."

She wondered if Edward realised how horrified his expression had turned, or the fact that he was leaning so far back on the sofa —as if to put distance between them— that the furniture groaned in protest.

"You wouldn't," he tried to say, but utterly lacked confidence. "Oh god, you would wouldn't you? Does Jasper knowhe's in love with such a devious witch?"

Alice put on a show of preening. "Why thank you for the compliment. And yes, yes he does. And he adores me for it."

Meanwhile, Alice was hiding her smile of triumph. She may not be an empath, but she had seen the way Edward had relaxed, like her threat was exactly the excuse he needed to abort any bullshit plans he had been considering. Good. If he left Bella, she would have gone through with her threat.

"There was one other thing that came up with Bella," Alice said. "Or, rather pointedly, didn't come up. But the way she kept flinching from the fruit bowl was rather telling."

Perplexed, Edward asked, "Fruit bowl?"

"There were apples and oranges in it," Alice said. When Edward still didn't get it, she sighed. "I think she's so worried that —unlike with the sex thing— she can't even fathom broaching the topic, that's how terrified she is about what the truth might be. But Bella's not an idiot."

"Of course not!"

"Yeah, so she didn't miss the conversation about true mates and their scents … and the implications of her scent to you."

Edward's expression was stricken. "That's not—" He shook his head. "I love Bella. I can't imagine anyone more perfect for me. She is my mate."

"She is?" Alice asked, curious. She didn't know a lot about the topic. "Does Singer trump mate scents or something?"

"No, but … a mate and a true mate are different things," Edward explained. "And true mates are exceedingly rare. One in a million. The fact that our coven has two such matches is literally unheard-of."

"Two? Me and Jasper. Rosalie and Emmet. So then … Esme and Carlisle aren't true mates?"

"No. But no one can deny they're completely in love and perfect for each other. They're still mates."

"What's the difference?"

"True mates have an instant connection. Their voice, their scent, their face, their touch, everything about them attracts and soothes. For most vampires though, finding a mate is slower. Feelings develop over time, tying them together gradually until one day, something just … clicks into place and they know they're mates." Edward's voice was soft, almost awed, and there was a little smile on his face. "That's how it was for me with Bella."

"I see. What if you one day find your true mate though? What happens to Bella then?" It was a valid concern, and no doubt the source of Bella's worries, Alice felt.

But Edward shook his head. "Ours was a choice, rather than fate, but it's just as binding. There has never been a record of mates formed this way breaking apart because one found a true mate later."

"Never?"

"Not once in all of the world's history."

Alice was relieved to hear that, for Bella's sake. In fact… "I think you need to explain all this to Bella."

Edward actually looked hesitant of all things. "If the topic is as painful for her as you believe," he said, "then maybe it's best not to bring it up, to let it be forgotten instead."

Alice resisted the urge to bury her face in her hands. Merlin, did the boy before her ever have his stupid moments! Also? Those two really needed to work on their communication and openness. "No," she said bluntly. "Look, she'll feel a lot better once she knows the facts. If you don't explain, it's going to fester, and then Bella will suffer for it."

With that, at least, Edward finally conceded. After a few long moments, he asked, "What did you mean by 'disrespectful'?" He sounded a bit offended, but like he was trying not to be.

"Hmm?"

"You said I should not be that 'disrespectful arsehole'." He winced at the language as he said it.

Alice stared. "Really? You don't see it? Edward, controlling and making decisions for a girl you profess to love, like she isn't a thinking feeling being with her own opinions and a right to them, is just…" She grimaced. "Disrespectful is the only word for it really. Bella seems to think you're some sort of gentleman, but the way you treat her makes me personally have my doubts."

Edward looked a surprised, but also a little thoughtful. "I see. I'll … think on that."

"Please do," she said. Bella would certainly benefit from it.

"I'd better get going," Edward decided, standing. "Thank you for your time, and hearing my apology out."

"Of course." As she opened the front door to let him out, Edward paused.

"What were you going to say about skinning cats before?" he asked.

Alice's eyes brightened. "Oh right, I got side-tracked." She smirked at him. "If you're worried about the things Bella is missing out on in her relationship with you, maybe you should consider that … well, just like there's more than one way to skin a cat, there's more than one way to give her the intimacy she wants. Just because you can't lose control, doesn't mean you can't make her lose it. Maybe you and Bella could explore those possibilities. Intercourse isn't the be-all and end-all of sex."

Alice's smirk had widened as she spoke, watching Edward's expressions cycle from blank incomprehension to dawning realisation, and then to acute embarrassment.

After a stiff, if slightly flustered goodbye, Edward disappeared between one blink and the next, obviously eager to be away from the source of his discomfort.

Alice closed the door, turned around, leaned back against it and then burst into giggles.

If Edward ended up taking her advice to heart, Alice reflected, then Bella would so owe her a thank you card. At the very least.

A/N 2: So when I started writing this, I didn't feel like dealing with 'will they won't they' bullshit. I wanted unrepentantly feel-good Alice/Jasper. Hence the 'true mate' idea. They just click, right from the start, a natural attraction and trust. But of course that made me think about Edward and Bella. If this 'true mate' concept existed, then the pair of them, with all their drama and issues, couldn't possibly be 'true mates'. The scent idea underlines that point. So I decided that a true mate is exceedingly rare, and not the be-all end-all of romance. As proof of that I also made Carlisle and Esme mates, but not true mates, a couple who are happy and perfect together even without that touch of destiny.

A/N 3: As I mentioned last chapter, I enjoy reading good old-fashioned bashing, but that's not where I wanted this fic to go, mainly because I think someone really needed to give canon-Bella a 'body autonomy' talk and a 'controlling behaviour is abusive' one as well. Having Alice as Bella's new friend/big sister figure gave me the opportunity to do just that. It was something of a revelation for Bella.

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