[Disclaimer] Everything Twilight belongs to Mrs. Stephenie Meyer

**Of Pills & Promises**

You know that very unpleasant feeling deep down in your stomach when meet someone for the very first time and you instantly know you'll never like that person?

That was exactly how it was like for me when Alice's father showed up the next day. After greeting me briefly and assuring me that he would be fine with me working in the shop, he snarled at his wife and Cynthia before he turned to Alice who was already white like a ghost. I squeezed her hand underneath the table and realized that it was trembling.

"I thought I made my point clear about your craziness, Mary Alice. What part of that was too complicated for your little brain to grasp it? Your mother is too soft-hearted and not capable of dealing with you issues."

She cleared her throat and when her eyes met his he looked away, starring down at the polished leather of his shoes.

"You need to learn the difference between fantasy and reality."

"Yes, father."

"You are saying that now because you are hoping that I will stop talking about it. Don't you, Mary Alice."

"Yes, father."

He sighed deeply and sat down next to her, pulling his chair closer to her before he pulled something out of his pocket.

"This is supposed to help you. Take two, right now. Miss Swan, can you bring her a glass of water so that she can swallow them?"

I nodded my head and when I returned I took one of the small pills in my hand.

"What's that?" I asked him, turning it around on my palm.

"It's medicine that is supposed to help her."

"Will it end my visions?" Alice whispered nervously, biting her lower lip before she took the pill from me again. Her fingers brushed against mine and warmth spread through me for a moment.

"It will help you to relax. At least that's what the doctors promised me. I hope it has some effect. That stuff costs way more than we can afford."

She nodded her head and swallowed first one, then another of the tiny pills with the water.

A few minutes later her face turned slightly green and small pearls of sweat appeared on her forehead. I wrapped my arms around her and guided her outside where she emptied her stomach into a bush of roses that was growing behind her parents' house.

I held her hair and rubbed her back in small circles until the cramps eventually stopped.

"Please, don't look at me now. I bet I look all ugly."

I shook my head and handed her a tissue after rinsing it in barrel filled with rain water. Carefully I wiped her face with a clean cloth and cupped it in my right hand.

"Are you feeling a bit better now?"

"Not really, but the fresh air helps. Can we go for a little walk? I don't want to go back inside and face my parents. Father is not going to be pleased when he finds out the expensive medicine he bought for me made me puke my guts out."

We walked silently next to each other and when we reached the row of old oak trees she took my hand in hers.

"I'm so glad that you came here. My life is so much better since you are a part of it."

We sat down on the grass and she rested her head in my lap, planting a soft kiss on the fabric of my shirt.

"Sometimes they sent people who are like me away."

"What do you mean by people like you? And where do they send them?"

She closed her eyes and I circled a blade of grass over her eyebrows, down to her cheeks and eventually over the tip of her nose. Her face seemed so terribly fragile to me and I couldn't endure the thought of someone hurting her. I just couldn't. It was too painful.

"People that aren't normal…lunatics, I wished so much I could find a way to stop those visions. I hate the things I see. I hate that I can't do anything to prevent the things I see. Oh my god…,"

She started crying and I pulled her closer to me, caressing the curls of her hair with my fingertips while I hummed a lullaby into her ear.

"You shouldn't be ashamed of your visions. They are part of who you are."

"But I want to be normal like anyone else."

I took her hand in mine and planted a kiss on each of her knuckles.

"I don't want you to be normal. I want you to be you."

"Really?"

I nodded my head and leaned down to press my lips against hers in a feather light kiss. Cupping her face between both of my hands I worshipped every single inch of her dear face with my mouth.

"I will not let anything happen to you. I promise that I will always be there for you."

"I promise to never like anyone the way I like you." she whispered, placing her hand gently over mine.

My cheeks reddened and my heart started hammering hectically in my chest. It was making me dizzy and I tried to push the feeling of affection that spread through me aside as much I could. It wasn't working. I liked her too much, more than anyone I had ever liked before. I had never felt this close to another person and it was something that scared me terribly somehow and I started crying because I was so confused.

"Bella? I'm so sorry. I probably shouldn't have said that. It was inappropriate. Please forgive me."

"No, I don't want you to apologize for telling me how you feel about me."

"But you don't feel that same way, do you? I see the guilt in your eyes after we kiss and I don't understand why you are denying yourself something that you obviously enjoy a lot."

"Alice…,"

"I love the way you say my name…just Alice…no Mary added. I never had much of a Mary in me."

"Alice, please. I like you so much…in fact I like you too much but I can't. I have a boyfriend back home and I can't do this to him. He doesn't…,"

"He is not here with you."

"Yes, but…,"

"He is not here with you but I am. Don't you think that is supposed to mean something?"