Don't get me wrong, I love my mother, but after only 18 hours I was ready to get away from her. Actually, it was more the fighting that I needed to get away from. All she and Charlie did was argue about whose fault it was that Alice ran away. For the most part I kept out of the room to make sure I didn't get caught up in their childishness.

On my way out the door I yelled that I was going out but didn't say anything more. I assume they heard me because I saw Charlie standing outside the side door looking flustered as I pulled away. Truly I do feel sorry for Charlie because Renee has no idea what Alice's real intentions were, and she's placing most of the blame on him as a result of her ignorance. Yet I knew better than to tell either one of them because they'd either think I needed to be institutionalized or this could all turn out badly for the Cullen's, who already have to deal with a few missing members of their family and a growing number of werewolves.

I eventually found myself sitting outside of Jacob's house. Billy looked outside and noticed me as I pulled up, but he didn't come out to greet me. Could it possibly be that he was upset about me knowing now? But when Jacob came out a few minutes later I assume he was just letter Jacob know I was here. Jacob strolled across the yard and sat in the passenger side of my truck. "So," he stated staring out the window.

"So," I said back casually.

Jacob glanced back at his house before turning to me and saying, "Charlie called my dad and stated that he thought you might end up here. Things getting a bit tense at home?"

"You have no idea," I said exasperatedly. "Those two have done nothing but argue during their waking hours. Charlie even stayed home from work and monitored everything from there."

"They're just worried," Jacob tried to explain, but he knew as well as I did that this was in vain. In all reality, neither one of them wanted to take any responsibility despite the fact that Alice was honestly old enough to make her own decisions. Sure, she didn't exactly make a mature decision, but she was now legally old enough to do so.

I answered him slowly, "I haven't believed that since I was ten."

He gave a lame laugh that ended quickly when I didn't join him. Out of the corner I could see him slouch further into the seat and then rub the skin on his neck roughly. "Hey, Bella, are you still angry at me?" he asked concerned, his face that was now turned to me showed his apprehension.

"A little," I told him honestly. I didn't know why I was even here except for the fact that there were very few people I could talk to about this. "But I'm also really confused right now and don't know where to turn to."

Jacob nodded his head slightly a few times before assuring me, "If you need someone to talk to, you can always stop by or call me."

"I'm surprised your not grounded," I laughed.

"Actually, I am, but my dad likes you and knows you're grieving right now. He's actually okay with you knowing now because you can help us keep an eye on the Cullen's."

"You can watch the Cullen's yourself. Dr. and Mrs. Cullen are okay, but I'm not going near Edward since he thought he could convince Alice on his own." I rested my head back against the window and closed my eyes.

Jake thought for a moment before he suggested, "If you are that upset with Edward, why don't you tell him?"

"I have," I said as I straightened up in my seat again and glared at him. "He still thinks he's in the right, and I'd be over there giving him a piece of my mind if I knew where he lives."

"I can tell you," Jake said as he hopped out of the cab of the truck before I could stop him. He bound across the yard and into the house and then came back a minute later running back to me. In his hands was a pen and a scrap of paper. Instead of sitting in the truck again, he walked over to my door and waited for me to open the window. Thankfully he drew out the directions for me as he verbally gave them or otherwise I wouldn't have figured out where exactly the hidden entrance to their driveway was. Before I left he commented, "Too bad I'm grounded or I'd come with you and enjoy the show."

"Maybe next time," I suggested with a hearty laugh. I could only imagine how much joy Jacob would get from watching Edward suffer from my stubborn temper.

I almost missed the drive but still found it hidden in the brush. The drive to the house was very long, and I started to wonder if this led to anywhere, but then I saw the giant house looming in the horizon. It was a white house that was three stories high and appeared to be much larger than any of the other houses in the entire county.

I didn't see any cars parked out front, but they had a large garage attached, so I assumed that if anyone was home I couldn't tell. Then again, Esme said that someone would always be available to talk to if needed. And she was standing in the doorway as I walked up to the porch. "Bella," she called out to me joyfully. "I didn't know you would be coming by today." She didn't sound angry, so I took that as a good sign.

"I was kind of hoping I could ask a few more questions," I said having suddenly chickened out. It wasn't that I suddenly lost my nerve to fight him; it was more that I didn't want to put Esme in the middle of something when she had been at least attempting to be helpful.

She opened the door further for me and stepped out of the way so that I could enter. Not far from the door was a grand staircase. To my right was a bright and open living room that had an entire wall made out of glass. "Why don't you have a seat on the couch. Do you want something to drink?"

"No, I'm fine. Thank you though." I sat down on one of the white sofas in the middle of the room, and she sat in the one across from it.

We sat in silence for a few seconds before she asked me, "What is that you would like to ask?" She gave me a kind smile that made me feel back for taking her time.

I didn't even know what more I could ask. After swallowing hard I blurted out, "Will I ever get to see Alice again?"

Her smile faltered for a second before remaining solidly plastered to her face. "I'm sure some day you might, but it might be some years before she is strong enough to see you."

"The control thing?"

"Yes." I thought she might say more since she hesitated, but I guess she decided not to.

From somewhere upstairs I could hear the sound of classical music growing louder. I ignored it and asked, "Could I at least get the chance to talk to her when she is found?"

"I don't see why not. I'm sure she'll be very excited to speak to you again. I'm sure she'll feel the need to explain."

Oh, she had a lot to explain to me, especially why she chose that day. Of course, I did have my suspicions that she thought she had to do it then or Edward would try to stop them. When I gathered my thoughts I realized that Esme was now sitting there staring at me as if in wait for the next question. I pulled from somewhere in the recesses of my brain, "Are you going to accept her and Jasper back? I know they made a big mistake, but I know she's not going to have any family to go back to for awhile."

"Of course we will," Esme said so genuinely that I couldn't help but believe her. "Everyone makes mistakes, so it's important to forget and forgive." I can't tell you how relieved I was to hear that. Alice was such an extrovert I knew she'd need others to connect with, and, for the most part, it seemed that the Cullen's were the best of her kind for her to remain with. I could already tell that Esme was going to be a great mother figure for her.

The music from upstairs crescendoed reminding me of Edward's presence in this house also. "Um, do you mind if I talked to Edward?" I asked her shyly. I'm sure he didn't want to talk to me, but that was besides the point.

"I'm sure he won't mind," she informed me with a smile still on her face. Either she was completely oblivious or she was great at lying. She stood up and walked towards the stairs before turning to face me and telling me, "I'll show you where his room is." We walked in silence up two flights of stairs to the third floor. The music was so loud the bass was making the walls rattle. Of course he would be playing the "Mars" movement of Holst's The Planets. Esme knocked on the door and spoke at a regular volume, "Edward, Bella is here."

Within seconds the music was turned down and Edward opened the door and glared at me. "Swan," he said coldly. His attitude quickly changed, and I suppose Esme must have non-verbally said something through a motion I was either too slow to catch or was angled wrong to see. Edward huffed and reluctantly opened the door wide enough for me as an invitation to come into his room. I walked in slowly to the middle of the room before turning around only to see Edward shut the door on Esme.

I suddenly felt trapped, but it wasn't from fear that he could easily make a meal out of me. Instead I felt trapped by his overwhelming presence and the strange way in which my heart beat as he steadily moved closer to me. I'm sure I should have felt frightened considering the fact that he appeared to be stalking me like a big cat stalks its prey, but I guess I'm just not that normal.

"What are you doing here? Don't you know I could kill you?" he asked me as if it was some kind of common question. I mentally laughed at how strangely common everything about him felt having only known their secret for a little more than a day.

I lifted my chin up and stared into his golden eyes as I announced, "I'm not afraid of you."

"You should be," he said before he walked over to his stereo.

"I'm not," I repeated stubbornly. "And there's nothing you could do to make me scared of you."

Apparently that was the wrong thing to say because in seconds he was at my side and dangerously close to my ear as he whispered, "I could kill you at any second. You don't know how much your blood calls out to me."

"But you won't because you would have done it a long time ago," I answered him keeping my eyes glued to his face despite how much it pained me to stare at him out of the corner of my eyes. "You don't want to kill a human or otherwise you wouldn't have chosen this lifestyle."

Edward quickly released me and was across the room just as quickly as he moved to my side. I watched him as he leaned up against the glass wall and spoke tenderly, "You're right, I don't want to kill you. You don't know how hard it is to control yourself against something that appeals to you so strongly. That's why I can't take a chance with you. It's best if you just stayed away."

"Well, like it or not, it looks like you're kind of stuck with me right now. Because of Jasper and Alice we're going to be related, and I especially don't plan on abandoning Alice since I'm the only family she has that understands what's going on right now. For her sake, and I suppose the rest of your family's sake, we should at least try and get along." After my rant I found myself out of breath. Had I really been talking that fast? I guess sometimes when I get passionate about something I have a tendency to go overboard.

Edward straightened his frame again and then turned towards me before saying with emphasis, "You don't have any idea what it's like to be one of us."

"No, I don't," I admitted to him. "But of all her family and friends, I am the closest one she has to understanding. There's no way Charlie or Renee could handle any of this, and Jacob is one day going to become her mortal enemy."

"Bella, there may be a chance you will not be able to go anywhere near her ever. I'm not the only one very much attracted to your blood. Jasper and Emmett have both mentioned that your blood smells stronger to them than most. It would kill Alice some day if she killed you on accident because she couldn't control herself."

"I'll take my chances," I said defiantly. I may not know what it's like to be a vampire, but I know what's like to be a twin. Alice and I over the years, despite our recent fall out, had discovered this bond between us was stronger than any other bond we knew besides lovers. I trusted her even to my death.

"Why do you insist on being so stubborn?" he asked now raising his voice.

"I know my sister."

"You didn't know she was going to run away!"

"No, and frankly I have no idea how you even did in the first place."

He grew silent and contemplative for several seconds before he spoke again, "I can read minds, except for yours."

"Why can't you read mine? Is something wrong with me?"

He chuckled, "I tell you that I can read minds and you think there is something wrong with you?"

"Well, apparently there must be." He chuckled again. "So you read it on her mind?"

"She has an amazing ability herself," Edward commented as if I knew what he was referring to.

I guessed that he was talking about her premonitions. "She knew something was about to happen right before the accident. Is that how Jasper knew to come running?"

"Yeah. I guess her gift wasn't as developed back then."

"That was pretty amazing for her to sense that."

"Yeah, but she wasn't able to see things yet."

"See things?"

"Yeah." I arched an eyebrow in confusion, so he continued, "You did know she could see the future already." I shook my head hoping he would continue on. "Alice was able to see the future, and in her visions she was sure that she and Jasper were going to be happy together sometime. There was..." but he let that trail off.

"What?" I asked frantically wondering what he was about to say.

Edward shook his head and stated, "It's not important yet."

"It must be if you started to mention it."

"It's not important now," he said snapping at me in his impatience. And just as quickly as he snapped he reined himself in. "Bella, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be so mean to you."

But his apology was already lost on me and my stubborn anger. "Why don't you tell me anything? Why don't you want me knowing about my own sister or her visions?"

"Because this is not a world for you. You have no idea how difficult this life is, and knowing both you and Alice, you'll want to become a vampire yourself because you don't understand. You'd be giving up your chance on having a normal life, and even worse, you'd be giving up on your chance at the afterlife. You don't deserve to have that taken away from you because of someone's selfish desires."

I blinked my eyes a few times as I tried to comprehend everything he just said. For someone who often acted like he hated me, this was certainly a different side to Edward. It was almost as if he believed that he was protecting me by keeping things a secret from me.

What had Alice seen? Had she seen a vision of me also becoming a vampire? Was that what offended him so much, or was it the thought that he thought I would be missing out on what he thought life was supposed to be like? It was easy to see that he probably thought life was greener on the other side because I'm sure that he probably doesn't remember much about his human life since he's been a vampire much longer, or so I assumed based off of his mannerisms.

But the decision to make me a vampire would be one that I would make a long time from now. I wanted to finish high school and find Alice again before I'd seriously consider it. "I'm not changing anytime soon, so there's nothing for you to worry about. Right now I just want to see Alice again and know that she's okay." That was completely true. And I guess it couldn't help if I could get Charlie and Renee to stop fighting right now.

Edward looked at me with skepticism, but I wasn't about to let him start another argument. Without saying anything I walked away from him. "Where are you going?" he called after me.

"I guess I'm going home. I did come here to yell at you, but I guess it doesn't really matter anymore since we have different perspectives on this. However, I can see where you're coming from, especially since I don't know what it's like to be in your shoes."

Edward smiled this breath taking crooked smile of his and then laughed slightly while commenting, "You never cease to surprise me, Bella." I didn't know what to do, so I just laughed along with him for a few seconds.

He accompanied me down the stairs, and for once I felt like things were good between me and Edward. Maybe I could survive the school year with him.

–

A/N: Okay, so I know I've been a delinquent. In my defense, this was not exactly the easiest chapter to write. I could also mention that I've had an exciting May so far. In the past three weeks I got my first iPod (yes, I finally joined the 21st Century), finalized my divorce, spent an extended weekend with family and friends up north, got a new hairstyle, and turned 27.