Disclaimer: I am really bored of writing these. I don't own anything affiliated with the book series beginning and ending with a T, and my name in no way starts with an S; my last name does not end in an R.

So, I have to admit, I was a wee bit disappointed with your guesses. Mostly everybody was hoping for it to be Felix (haha), but I was assuming you all knew how I work by now. I hardly ever go by the norm—in other words, I like to think out of the box—and surprise you all. But no matter; I can surprise you now! :) Thank you for the feedback though.

Because I'm sure you've probably all forgotten what had happened (due to my abysmal lack of updates), here is a quick summary: Jasper discovers that Alice and Felix are having problems (and are therefore in fights), and as he and Alice arrive home, Mrs. Brandon informs them of a traffic accident…

Current song: "Kiss from a Rose," by Seal. It's been around for quite a while now, but I feel that it fits the mood of this chapter. That was the song I had on repeat while writing this chapter. ^^


Alice's POV

"Go, go, go!" I urged Jasper as he backed the car out of his driveway. It was a good thing one of us had decided to learn driving early. Thankfully, he had had his license long enough that we weren't doing anything illegal at the moment.

"That ambulance!" Jasper suddenly stated sharply. "The one that just whizzed by us as we were talking about Natalie!"

I realized he was right. I found it ironic how little things like that—things that were an ordinary, daily occurrence—would come back like that and bite us in the ass.

It was not difficult to locate the accident. On the contrary, it was rather conspicuous, what with all the noise and the lights. I saw barricade tape everywhere. The words CAUTION DO NOT ENTER on the tape, repeated a thousand times over. Such a large region that was quarantined…

Then, the sounds of someone's desperate screams grabbed our attention. A very familiar, petite, brown-haired someone…

"I'm sorry, miss, but you cannot cross this barrier," a policeman said as he restrained the viciously struggling figure of Bella Swan.

"You…don't understand!" she wailed vociferously. "He was my—my…" She suddenly stopped all movement, as if all the fight had gone out of her, and her legs buckled and she dropped securely into the officer's grip.

"Bella!" I cried, rushing over and taking over for the policeman, who hurried under the tape. She seemed to deflate in my arms. Her staggering weight caught me off guard. Unable to support her, we both slowly sank down to the ground.

She had found a new way to express her flood of emotions. "No!" she was screaming, grabbing hold of her locks and yanking in despair. One tear replaced another every three seconds.

"Oh, honey," I murmured as I pulled her shaking form into my arms.

"I-I was beginning to have deeper feelings for him…almost to the point of love," she grieved.

I froze. I hadn't realized how much of a lifeline he had become to her, so caught up was I with my own problems…problems that seemed trivial now. It was like comparing a city to the entire world.

I looked at the street again. His bloodied and mangled body, the vast pool of blood…the grotesque sight turned both my stomach and my heart. I felt my own tears coming.

It honestly wasn't fair. She had already gone through so much, and she was the last person on the planet to deserve the unjust chain of tragedies that had matured her much too soon.

My heart broke for her. She had been the most innocent out of all of us, but now…her innocence was tainted by everything that had happened to her.

I saw the bastard then. His arms were outstretched, and he was struggling to balance as he shakily attempted to put one foot in front of the other on the lane line; he erred in every step he took. The policemen did not look pleased at all.

Suddenly, a raging inferno consumed me. I wanted to end the drunkard's life, wanted to end it just as he had ended Mike Newton's.

This was going to kill Bella. I could see it—everyone could. I knew what she said was true. What she and Mike had was not a simple high school crush. Although I had never really made deep observations about their relationship—since I was so wrapped up in my own—it did not take ingeniousness to know that nothing could tear them apart.

It seemed too good to be true at the time—they complemented each other perfectly; they were like two adjacent pieces of a puzzle.

Every time Bella was down (both physically and emotionally), Mike would be the one to help her back up. Every single time. The rest of us had been there too, but we were more like…bodyguards. Mike helped her on a more intimate level.

I realized now what I should have realized then: that I was a bad friend. I was always the one with problems, the one who pushed people away, the one who got distant. I failed to notice anyone else's problems other than my own. The way I'd been treating Jasper lately could not possibly qualify as the actions of a "best friend."

And yet, he'd been patiently standing by me and putting up with all of my crap. He deserved much better.

Then, there was Rosalie, Emmett, and Edward. What had they been doing for the past few months? I could not recall. They were always there, in the background…but no clear memories made their way to the front of my mind.

Last of all, there was Felix. I could now see that our relationship had changed me. For the better? Not really. For the worse? I couldn't answer that either. However, there were things I was aware of.

For one thing, I had developed into a much more serious person. It was such a great change from my joking, carefree days—the days where I'd used to goof around, pretend that Emmett was my boyfriend to appall the life out of some people—those days were all gone. Sure, Felix and I had our fun, jesting days, but those never evoked from me the same untamed quality I had exuded from back then. To be truthful, I missed those days now. School required so much seriousness; shouldn't the rest of my time be more lighthearted? I couldn't take all this earnestness—it was weighing me down like steel restraints.

I had always gone by the philosophy that a successful, enjoyable relationship was one that came naturally. That was not the case with Felix and me. It seemed as if he was trying too hard to maintain us. I did not like that. He was doing way too much, while I was all too…light with it. I was simply letting the chips fall where they may, fixing something that went astray, and the like. I had been treating the relationship the way I felt it should operate, not the way it was operating.

That was probably why it seemed all wrong now, and probably why Felix was devoting so much of his energy into repairing everything that he believed he was doing wrong. He himself was constantly changing. I was not sure if he was even aware of that fact.

None of that was supposed to be happening. I wasn't even sure if it was worth it anymore. I knew I sounded like a hypocrite for saying that—since I hadn't been the one doing the work—but it was like…intuition. Or insight, if you will.

This was how I saw it: someone, thinking that it would be habitable after all repairs, had just purchased a decrepit house for a very catchy price. The repairs began. The house seemed to only marginally improve before starting to fall apart again. At that point, the repairs increased. However, the house just kept getting worse and worse—so much that, in the end, it would have been better to just let it collapse.

The question now was: was I ready to let go? Felix and I had been through so much together, and being with him always made me feel precious, like a rare treasure. The pros that came with him definitely outweighed the cons.

Which left the only remaining option: was it me, then? Was I the one who kept drilling issues into our relationship the way nails are drilled into wood?

But that was just it, I realized glumly. I was the one who kept picking fights with him simply because he misstated things that sounded insulting from my point of view. It was unreasonable of me to expect him to have to analyze every statement in both our points of view before saying them.

In the end, he deserved better too, just like Jasper did.

But then, where did that leave me? I couldn't handle being alone, not without knowing that there was someone who would be there for me to fall back on.

I could feel the beginnings of a headache coming on. I didn't want to think anymore. So I looked at Bella, who had now stopped crying. She was staring at me, her tears coating her eyelashes and seemingly amplifying their volume them the way mascara does.

"Alice, are you okay?" she asked in a feeble voice. The girl was going through heartbreak, had managed to skip the shock that should have come, and here she was, comforting me. That did not sound right at all. I mustered a smile for her sake.

"Bella, don't be silly. You're the one who's just lost a loved one." This situation was not right. Mike had just died, and she was taking it much too lightly. It wasn't normal for a human to take all this calmly.

"I've had…experience with this kind of stuff," Bella answered in a detached tone. She was referring to her parents' divorce.

I could see what her problem was now—she was trying to put on a display for the public. Then, at home, she would fall apart. I could picture the scene in my head.

But this time, that was not going to happen. I was going to be there for Bella, along with Jasper and Emmett—just like we had almost two summers ago—and now with Edward and Rosalie. I was determined to be a better friend to her than I had been of late.


Jasper's POV

I watched the two girls. Bella's wracking sobs, which caused her to jerk slightly against Alice, and Alice's movements as she consoled Bella. Their hair—waist-length, raven and mahogany—twirled about in response to the girls' movements.

So beautiful. Alice looked so maternal and just right, standing there and comforting Bella.

Alice, can't you see? Can't you see that this softer side of you hasn't made an appearance ever since you started dating Felix? Can you see how natural you look now? How unnatural you look whenever you're with him?

Can you see that you belong with us? Your friends, who would unequivocally support you as you navigate through the twists and turns of life. Your loved ones…

How am I supposed to get over you when everything about you is so perfect?


Alice's POV

I was going to ask Jasper to watch Bella for a while, but before I could look for him, a flying blond mass obscured my view. When the thing stopped, I saw that it was Natalie the drum major. Another way to put it: Jasper's stalker.

She approached a policeman and implored to be let in, but to no avail. I heard her mention something like she was Mike's cousin. I wasn't sure if that was true, but it certainly was believable. They both had blond hair, and the same ice-blue eyes.

I looked towards the direction I believed Jasper was in. He was staring at Natalie's hair, which looked like a sheet in which light was reflecting off of, giving it an iridescent sheen.

Well, well. What was this? My best friend looked almost…dazzled. Would I be exaggerating if I said that his eyes were sparkling from all the light reflected from Natalie's hair?

"Jasper," I called. He didn't answer. In fact, he looked deep in thought now.

"Jasper!" I repeated, louder. He started and gave me—or well, my general direction—his attention.

"Could you take care of Bella for me? I have to go somewhere."

His eyes questioned me. I simply shrugged, not knowing what I wanted either.

"You know," Bella said sarcastically, "I can take care of myself. I don't need you guys passing me around." I found it impressive that she could still manage to be smart-alecky even through her pain. But then again, they always did say that offense was the best defense.

"Bella, be cooperative this one time. Please." Instead, she looked ready to put up a fight.

She did. "Jasper, go with Alice to wherever she's going. I'll be fine."

I glared at her. Poor Jasper looked torn between helping his lost sister and his broken sister.

He finally sighed. "Alice—" I bristled, since it could go either way "—Bella. Both of you, get in the car. Now."

"No," I objected, starting in the opposite direction. Likewise, Bella remained rooted to her spot, her arms crossed.

"Where are you going?" Jasper asked, his tolerance rapidly waning.

"To Felix," I answered shortly.

"Oh, yes, I forgot. He's the one who solves all your problems for you. I should've known."

My jaw dropped open in shock. Then, anger took over.

"Excuse me? You don't even know him, and you have no clue what role he has in my life, so cut the crap and stop pretending you know how my life runs!"

"Oh, I think I have a pretty good idea," he said acidly.

"You have no idea. Things have changed, and it's not my fault you haven't seen them—although it's none of your business either." My voice indicated finality, and I walked away. I hoped he was going to explode from anger. Whom I dated was none of his business unless I decided to change that status.

"Jasper," I heard Natalie say with her bell-like voice. Yes, go ahead and give him your opinions about how much of a bitch I am. I really couldn't care less.

And yet, there I walk away again like a bad friend, and I had just told myself to change. I knew though, that even though I was clueless as to where I was going, it was not to Felix's. I was not going to deal with him like this, given my currently fouled up mood. At the same time, it was too early to make amends with Jasper. Technically, it wasn't, but the last time I checked, I had my pride to consider.

"Alice, wait!" It was Bella.

"How come you're not with Jasper?" I attempted to ask nicely.

"Well, I was, but then that girl—Natalie—was getting all teary on him."

"Uh…" I responded. That's what he gets for resembling a sex symbol. Wait. What the fu-freak? How was that even relevant to what Bella was saying? Where did that thought come from anyway?

But then I dismissed my worries. I had a right to have opinions, didn't I? As long as I didn't end up being sexually attracted to him…after all, there was no denying that he was very appealing.

"Well, he actually seemed to respond, so…"

Of course he did. He was freaking Jasper, who was so emotionally swayed. Other people's pain was his pain. I hoped something would come out of their sudden throw-together. He had been alone for too long. And despite what he said about being just friends with Natalie, I believed otherwise. The way he looked at her…and it wasn't even at her face.

"Bella, stay with me tonight."

"Why?"

"It's going to be a really rough night, and I want to be there for you."

"Thanks, Alice, but like I said before, I know how to take care of myself."

"And what if you break down? Would your dad know how to handle that?"

"I'm going to be fine."

"No, Bella, you're not going to be fine. Stop trying to play this off like it's not a big deal. I'm sick of you trying to be braver than you really are on the outside when you're really crumbling on the inside. It's a death, it's not normal, and there is no reason why you should have to hold it in. Everybody cries at one point or another after the death of a loved one." It felt good to have finally let out what I had been tactfully keeping to myself for the past year or so. A wake-up call, if you will. Bella had always been too reserved.

"You don't understand," she stubbornly persisted. "It'd annoy other people."

Okay. Here she was, suffering from her boyfriend's death, and she's worried about whether other people would be annoyed or not?

"Screw the other people," I said, frustrated at her refusal to understand. "It's all about you, and if they can't understand that, then they're crap and they deserve to die." So maybe that was a little harsh, but if it got the point across, then I certainly wasn't objecting.

Bella changed the subject instead. "So, where are we going?"

"You're spending the night over. Charlie will understand. Does he know about Mike?"

"Yes, but not the whole thing…just the general picture."

"Exactly. Which means he'd only understand the general thing. He's not going to understand why your grief goes as deeply as it does. And knowing Charlie, he's going to freak out the minute you start crying. He's going to feel so helpless and awkward."

"But—"

"Please," I said, annoyed. "I'm starting to get a headache. Humor me for once, okay?"


I was contemplating drowning myself in freezing water in the bathtub, so hot was the weather. I didn't even want to pick up the phone when Jasper called, so opposed was I to electronics and anything that emitted heat. I was also still mad at him for his jibe about Felix.

"Hello," I nearly snarled. I had a pretty foul temper at the moment.

He paused to analyze my tone before proceeding cautiously."I took Natalie home. I think everyone's had enough grief for a day."

"Yes I know that," I said impatiently. "Tell me something I don't know." Then, as an aside— "See, Bella? Natalie's letting it all out, so I don't see why you're compelled to hold it all in just for the sake of others. And, if anything, you have more cause to be sorrowful." She merely blinked.

"Okay," Jasper fired back smartly. I loved how he could combat my sarcasm. "Something you don't know. Well, she started crying, and since we were the only ones there other than the policemen, I went to her and tried making her feel better."

Good Jasper. "What'd she do?"

"She held on and didn't let go for the longest time. It was really awkward. But finally I convinced her to get away from there…and so I took her to that field where all the plants are." How sweet of him. Was he falling for Natalie?

"What about you…?" he asked hesitantly. "Did you go talk to Felix?"

"As a matter of fact, I didn't. Bella joined me and I took her here. I think the shock is finally settling in, because she looks like she's going through déjà vu fifty times over. She looks…really bad, Jasper. I'm scared for her. She looks so blank…so empty. What do I do?"

"For now? Do the best that you can do. This is out of your hands," Jasper provided. That seemed strange. Did he know something I didn't? Or was it that he didn't believe I was capable of helping a friend in need?

"Do you trust me?" he asked.

"Of course," I answered suspiciously. It showed how much our relationship with each other had changed. Once upon a time, he would have never asked me that; he would've been sure of my answer without having to ask.

"I'm going to let Edward try something." He sounded thoughtful.

"Why Edward? And how does that involve trust in you? Isn't it more like whether I trust Edward or not?"

"Well…he kind of wants to be a, uh, psychiatrist—"

"—like you," I cut in sharply. His fumbling was definitely eliciting feelings of mistrust from within.

"Well, uh, yeah…I suppose."

"You're not telling me something." I was determined to grill him until he told me.

"Look, this isn't my business, so I can't really talk about it. Hey, don't mention this either, okay? It's just an experiment right now." Now Jasper was the one who sounded accusing. He seemed to be turning the tables around a lot lately.

"There'd better not be any funny business…" I warned him slowly.

"Now, Alice, would I do that?"

The truth was, I didn't know the answer to that anymore.


Jasper's POV

I didn't understand what had happened today…or at least, the part with Natalie. If she had been obsessing over me before, it certainly didn't feel like it. It felt completely natural when I comforted her. Seeing her look marginally less pained was a reward. But at what cost, though?

The price I had to pay was clarity. I was now befuddled. I knew my feelings toward her had changed. Perhaps it was due to the fact that I had never really gotten to know her as our friendship developed; I had never really paid attention to her in general. Middle school was when I first got to know her.

Now was high school. Junior year was about to end. Natalie had changed, of course. Had changed a lot—both physically and mentally. She had transformed from a simple royal subject to queen of the band. From clarinetist to drum major. The sight of her leading the entire marching band during school assemblies was quite something.

I knew many guys who were lusting after her. Many voiced their fantasies, with the occasional lewd comment thrown out for the listeners' benefit. Her band uniform left much to the imagination, but her swim uniform didn't. That's right—she was a swimmer too. In a painful way, she reminded me of Alice—they both tried cramming in as many extracurricular activities as they could into their schedules.

When I had told Alice that Natalie was stalking me, it was a white lie. I had to admit that I was a bit flattered. Other than Alice, she would probably be someone I'd date. Therefore, with Alice's rejection…

I felt lousy. It felt really wrong to like more than one girl at once. Today's events had opened up my eyes to the newfound feelings towards Natalie.


Alice stormed away. I hadn't realized I had offended her that much. It seemed that Felix was a touchy subject between the both of us now.

That left me with Natalie, who, I was guessing, was unable to look away from Mike's mangled body.

"Oh, Jasper," she sighed in pain. Tears began to form in her periwinkle colored eyes.

"I know, I know," I soothed as I opened my arms for her. She reached for me all too willingly, and her arms encircled me with a tenacious grip. I could feel her turn her head—she probably didn't want to ruin my shirt. We stood like that until a police officer ushered us away.

"Come on," I said as I guided her towards my car. After I had settled into my own seat, I asked her if she wanted to go home.

"No," she responded. "Not at the moment. Just…anywhere but there." She hastily wiped her eyes so that she could see.

What would be an acceptable qualification for 'anywhere?' An ice-cream shop? No, she wouldn't appreciate publicity at a time like this.

A place where she could cry it all out and not have to feel self-conscious about the attention she'd draw…

The first thing I thought of was nature. It was peaceful, it was a nice environment, and it was real. It had not been constructed by man. It allowed one to think.

There was a place that fit that description exactly—a place I hadn't been to for two years.

I drove for fifteen minutes. When we got there, it was empty, just as I had expected. After all, one couldn't just search it up on the Internet. However, quite a few people knew about it.

It was a wildflower field. It was—

"Beautiful," Natalie said in awe. It really was. The motley of plants and flowers did not fail to impress.

Due to the sudden change of events, I was completely unprepared.

"I'm sorry…I don't have a blanket or anything…"

"It's okay," she said a little bit more calmly. "We do this all the time during marching season, so I'm used to it. I'm pretty much one with the grass now." She smiled sadly at her joke. She located a small hollow in the greenery and lowered herself into it. I sat in the vicinity, not wanting to crowd her. She stared off into the distance, seeing the scenery but not taking it in.

"I wonder how it must be for poor Bella…" she mused forlornly. Wait. She knew Bella? If she didn't, she would've addressed the latter as 'Isabella.'

"You have no idea…" I muttered. Did she know that Bella would thoroughly beat herself up? Examine the situation from every aspect and use that to torture herself?

Natalie looked at me. Stared deep into my eyes. It was really discomfiting, very intense. I looked away first.

"Jasper…" she whispered. She seemed to have suddenly switched to a different mood. She started inching towards me. I was frozen. Closer and closer she got. I felt her hand on mine.

I had never been this close to anyone before…


However, I didn't want to give up on Alice yet. But what could I do? She had basically given me an ultimatum: give up or sever our strong bond. With Natalie, I was taking the first step towards letting go. Hopefully.

I was starting to give myself a chance.


Alice's POV

I sat there clueless, not sure if Bella wanted me around or not. I honestly did not know what to do. She didn't even respond to my attempts to ease her grief. I was pretty familiar with what went on in that girl's head, but I had never met anyone quite like her. If I didn't know better, I would've said that she was masochistic.

We were lucky it was the end of the year, because there was no way either of us was in the mood to do homework. Well, we did still have a little…which we'd probably end up cramming at school tomorrow.

Then there was the other question: why was Jasper so sure that Edward wanted to be involved in the case? He hardly left Rosalie's side, so what had happened that would cause him to be all protective of Bella?

Therefore, desperate to get Bella's mind off her unhealthy thoughts, even for just a short while, I asked her. Even though Jasper had told me not to.

"Hey, why is Edward so eager to handle this?"

"Handle what?"

"Well, try to make you feel better."

"He wants to make me feel better? Why? Says who?" she demanded.

"Uh…no one important. I just heard it in passing," I lied, hoping she would not notice. She narrowed her eyes.

"What does the accident have to do with him? Shouldn't he be watching out for Rosalie or something?"

What kind of vendetta did she have against Edward? They were friends…or at least, they acted like friends.

She mistook my silence for offense. "Sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you. I was just shocked."

Of course. Shock.

Before I could respond to her, she started on the last topic I wanted to hear about at the moment.

"I wonder…I wonder what would've become of us. We were going to graduate and see where college was going to take us."

That was not helping me with my own situation with Felix, especially not after the epiphany I had had earlier. It seemed that Bella and Mike had had the next few years of their life planned out already.

I was jealous. I was jealous of what they had. Up until now, I had been content with my own relationship, but it paled so much in comparison to Bella's. Was I too shallow? Was I too hard to please?

So we both moped. We sat in my room and did nothing. No chick flicks, no ice cream, nothing. Bella stayed in the shower for so long I thought she had drowned herself. We went to bed mechanically.

At about three in the morning, Bella woke up screaming. After wrestling her down for about two minutes, we got up for real and watched movies until we had to leave for school.

At school, my actions did not go by unnoticed. Felix could tell something was wrong with me, and I was only annoyed every time he tried making me feel better. I wasn't sure if it was the heat responsible, but I couldn't stand his hugs. He even commented on my distancing myself from others, and I had to suppress a snort at how he had nothing to say except for the obvious. I was tired, and I did not want him around.

I didn't want him to make me feel better. I wanted Jasper. Jasper was the one who truly knew me, knew to be spontaneous. He would always come up with something new, and it would be able to hearten me every single time. The world needed more people like Jasper.

As to why I was so off…Felix got his answer. I cornered him after school.

"We have to talk." I kept my tone noncommittal.

"About what?"

"You and me."

"What about us?"

"I don't think our relationship is working out."

"Why—what's wrong?" I guess he didn't feel the way I did then.

"It's not you—it's just that I feel like you're putting too much effort into making it work out—and I just don't think it's worth you doing that much."

"I don't see it that way though…it's okay…I'm fine with doing anything, anything, that makes our relationship work out. We have to get through this." I wondered if he was going to be as confident after what I was going to tell him next.

"No, you don't understand. I feel like I'm someone I'm not. I used to be a happy person. Someone who would make lame jokes and be silly overall. Maybe you're too good for me, because I always feel like I have to impress you so that you would think I'm worth your time."

"Alice," he sighed. "I liked you for you. This was how you were like the first time you had my attention."

"No." I shook my head. "It was because I was doing it on purpose. I was doing it so that you would notice me. This isn't really me, can't you tell? It's like…like I have to be mature about everything. I want some humor in there, you know? With you, I feel out of place whenever I try making a joke because you're never as amused as I am, and I would always feel like a fool."

Then the pleading came in. "I can change."

I sighed. "That's just it, though. You shouldn't have to change who you are in a relationship—unless it's for the better. You're a more serious person—and I know that every time you force yourself to be funnier, you're going to feel out of place."

"It is for the better though," he persisted. "It's for the better if it makes you happy."

"Yes and no. Even if it makes me happy, you wouldn't be. Don't fight it, Felix, please. It was going stale, and it seems like it's only going to get worse. Just let me be."

"You're over me?"

To be honest, I didn't know either. "I didn't say that. I'll probably get emotional about it sooner or later, but there's no point. Maybe I'll still like you, but it'll never be in the same way again."

"It's not because you like Jasper back now, is it?" He was angry, jealous.

"No," I said bleakly. "He has nothing to do with this."

I could tell the talk was coming to an end because it started getting to the I-have-no-answer-for-that stage. Then came the most awkward part: leaving.

"With that said, I'll be off now. I need to think about this," I tried saying nonchalantly. I don't know how successful I was.

He only nodded mutely before I turned away. No tears, no tears.


"Do you want to talk about it?" Jasper asked concernedly.

"No," I said as I shoveled another spoonful of vanilla relief into my mouth. I desperately wished it could soothe my throbbing head as easily as it seemed to sooth my throat.

I could tell he was troubled—he looked uncertain and panicky as he watched me endlessly down spoonfuls of ice cream, straight from the carton. That was a trademark sign of my stress, because I had always preferred my clean, beautifully shaped glass bowls over the wet, sticky carton.

I hadn't told him anything; I had simply asked him to be there for me. I knew that in time, I would feel better. His mere presence was enough to calm me. And in time, he would find out about the breakup anyway.

I was lucky; in the end, I would always have Jasper to fall back on—during and after all of my "adventures." Why I hadn't realized that earlier was beyond me.


The next time I saw Felix was at Mike's funeral, which took place on the second week of summer. Felix avoided me like I was the next plague. I was fine with that. His eyes were always downcast now. I tried my best to not let the guilt get to me.

When Bella delivered her eulogy, I saw a new picture of Mike through her eyes. I had always known he was a good person—for one thing, he had accepted us as Bella's friends—but it was during this time when I realized how good he truly was. How pure he was. He was really good for her, but now…

After a round of thunderous applause, I watched Bella return to her seat, which was next to Edward's. I saw him take her hand and squeeze it as he smiled reassuringly at her. If that was the experiment Jasper had referred to, it was far from enough. It would take much more than that to heal Bella. Did Edward know that?

It was also then when I found out about Jasper and Natalie. They were always with each other. They never left each other's side. I wondered if something really had developed from the day of the accident. The sight of it made me feel strange, and even though I was relieved that I was now single, I felt…lonely.


A/N: I am so, so sorry. Life has been insane. I've so much summer work that it's not even funny. For a time, I had honestly feared that I wouldn't be able to finish. That's how bad it was. I've finished half now, so I feel a little bit better.

Come visit my LiveJournal! You don't need an account to read and comment. :)

Finally, this chapter was really for dear forever yours, whose seventeenth birthday was a couple of days ago. She was basically horded by all her friends, but I got a few precious minutes with her on OMGPOP. :P And the fact that I hogged her first at midnight. ^^ I also had "Kiss from a Rose" on too while on the phone. She's probably sick of it now. :D

If all goes well and according to plan (and hope that some evil plot will not spontaneously pop into my head and make me change everything), then there will only be one more chapter before our lovely characters start college. That is when the story starts to escalate and relationships become more serious. ;)

So I'm going to try something new. I will give you a snippet of next chapter, and if you want more, you know what to do. ;D


Next chapter:

What was going to happen now? Was I going to be a…seventh wheel? Never in my life had I expected something as simple as this to backfire on me.