Personally, I felt that Rosalie and I were by no means finished talking. If I could have found the words, I would have tried to get her to stay, to pull the fissure that was forming between us, one I really did not want. There was a coldness I felt, as she left, causing my body to shiver. Alice moved so that she stood beside me, her arm wrapping comfortingly around my shoulders.

"Let's go do some shopping then!" Her words were cheery and bell-like and I could not help but smile, but the warmth she brought only touched the surface of my being. I was still without the ability to warm my soul. I nodded, submitting to her wishes, just wanting to get my mind on something menial and that did not require real thought. She grabbed my hand, her cold fingers weaving in, between mine. She gave a small tug and then led me out of the trees, a skip in her walk.

I have to admit, she was really amusing, her bubbly nature quite inspiring. I wondered how she could keep it up, but did not vocalize my thoughts. The way she moved, I knew it was beautiful, graceful, alluring, but I did not find myself caught up in it as I found myself when watching Rosalie. It was like there was a glass wall between us and I was just observing but not being affected. It gave me the clarity to actually analyze her movements rather than my brain shutting off and the rest of my body reacting strangely.

She led me straight to my truck, where she released my hand, which did not drop immediately but more slowly, and moved to get into the driver's seat. "What are you doing?" I questioned, my brows furrowing in a pouty manor. "Oh, dear, I have seen your driving and if we want to make it to Seattle and back, you are not driving." Seattle? "But-" I began to protest, but was quickly cut off. "You have two choices, Bella. Either, I drive, or we drop your truck off at your house and I carry you."

Okay, not exactly the best choices, but an easy decision to make. I had no desire to feel the humiliation of being carried by tiny Alice, or anyone for that matter. "Fine," I grumbled and walked around the nose of my truck, climbing into the passenger's seat. "You know what, never mind, you have no choice. This thing won't make it there and back during daylight." That was a surprisingly pain hit to my pride and I crossed my arms against my chest and sank defiantly into the seat, choosing to remain silent.

"Oh, don't become huffy, I am sure we can get you a good upgrade at some point." Upgrade? Why would they, whoever they were, get me an upgrade? That would too great a gift to accept. I still remained silent, but more out of disbelief.

She drove at my trucks limit all the way to Charlie's, where she parked it and waved me out of my seat. "Do we really have to do this?" I complained. "Well, what do you suggest we do?" she queried. "Well, you know, you could just come in and explain things to me," I waved my hand over my shoulder, signaling that I meant to talk in the house, and away from a mall.

Alice's face dropped a little and she sighed, but agreed and I led her in, up the stairs and into my bedroom. I dropped my backpack on the floor by the door and flopped down on my bed, sinking into the covers. Alice was like a little cat and pranced up so that she was standing on the corner of my bed and then sank into a cross-legged position. She stared down at me for a moment and I did not know what to say, but then her eyebrow rose and she giggled. "I guess I will start and then you can ask questions where you get confused."

I nodded and she began. "I am sure you are confused about what happened between you and Rose, about how you could not keep yourself away from her." My head bobbed as I recalled it. "All vampires possess predatorily perfect bodies. We all have high levels of potent pheromones that leave our prey completely submissive to our desires. Our prey will not be able to help but desire to be close to us, where we have complete access to their blood. You found yourself completely enticed by those pheromones and your body moved of its own accord, desiring to be super close to what it correctly deemed to be the source of the arousing feelings."

I squeaked at her words, covering my face with my hands and rolling over so that my back was facing her. "Bella, it is quite alright. I know you were aroused, I could smell it once I exited the school. That is just what happens and your body craved what made it feel such stimulation."

I could feel color creeping into my cheeks and buried my face in my covers. "But, I did not feel that when we were in the locker room. We were just as close there," I mumbled through my covers."

"Yes, this is easily explained as well! The first chemical to enter your brain was an adrenaline inducing fear. You basically made yourself override the urge to mate with her because of your fear." Mate! Was that really what I wanted to do? Was I really yearning to fuck her in that moment? Looking back, I cringed, realizing the truth. At that moment, out in those trees, I would have let her do anything, dirty or otherwise, it did not matter.

"But, why was I like watching myself getting close to her? I had no control, but I was definitely awake." Alice made a hmmm noise but then responded. "I don't know what, but something snapped you out of a complete lull. Basically, the rational half of your brain woke up and fear kept it awake, but the other part of your brain was still consumed by lust."

"Can you quit being so lude?" I protested. "You make it sound like I was really going to have dirty sex with her or something."

"Dear, that is exactly what I am implying. That was where it was headed and while in your state of complete arousal, she was going to drain you. Your arousal is what caught her in the state she was in. It put her over the edge, because it smells so much better than normal."

"Can you please stop saying arousal or aroused?" I was so thoroughly embarrassed by the conversation.

"I want to try something. Sit up," she commanded. I did not move right away, not sure I wanted to. "If you don't, I will force you," she warned. Knowing she could and probably would, I reluctantly twisted back around and lifted into a sitting position on the edge of my bed. Alice bounced up off the bed and stood before me in my room, holding her hand out to me.

I rolled my eyes and heaved myself up, moving closer to her, my arms crossed over my chest, my eyes meeting hers warily. "I want you to do to me what you did to Rose. Get really close to me."

"What! Why?" I yelped, taken totally by surprise. "We are doing an experiment," she replied nonchalantly. I did not move as she stared me down, holding my gaze so that I could not look away. Her eyes filled with mischief and she gave me a look akin to saying "are you sure you want to relist?"

"Oh, no, no, we can't do th-this. Alice-" I held my hands out in objection, but in the blink of my eyes, found her pressing in close to my body, her arms wrapping around my waist. "Alice!" I squawked, trying to step back, but finding that her arms would not budge. Her short cropped hair tickled my cheek.

Our stance was not sexual, but rather uncomfortable and way too close. "Bella, what do you smell?" I wriggled in her grip, without answering. "The quicker you answer, the sooner I let you go."

Trapped, she had me trapped. My shoulders sagged but I was quite aware of how close my left shoulder was to her nose. I sighed and bent my neck slightly and swiveled my head so that my nose pressed softly against her neck. Taking a big whiff, I said, "I don't know, Alice, you smell nice. Like winter, maybe." She giggled and I felt her head nod. "And, Bella, what do you feel?"

I blinked. "N-nothing." I paused and then repeated myself, felling more confident in my statement. "I don't feel anything. I am in control and my head is not blank." She laughed and took a step back.

"That is exactly right." She beamed up at me and my jaw dropped. She had known! I drew breath to complain, but she silenced me with a cool finger. "If I just explained it to you, you would not have entirely understood," she informed me. "You understand what I was showing you, don't you?"

She had had no effect on me, that was clear, but why? "No! No, seriously?" she gave me a look of "elaborate on that thought for me, won't you" and I began to stutter through an explanation. "I- Her- Rose and me, we- no, we can't be! I can't be! No!"

"Bella, you are making very little sense. Please form a coherent sentence, please." I glared at her and envied her calm. "I can't be attracted only to her, can I? She shook her head. "No, that is exactly right." Again, she was so not making this easy.

I stumbled back and when my leg hit the bed, my knees gave out and I sat down sharply. I don't know how long I sat in silence or when Alice sat down next to me, but eventually I blurted out, "but, sh-she does not even like me!" Of all things to be worried about, right? God, I have the most abnormally prioritized mind, I swear.

"You are wrong." A simple enough statement and it still left me stunned. "Rose may be rough around the edges, but she does not hate you. I might even go as far as to say she likes you!" I could hear the grin in Alice's voice, but it did not make me feel much better. I collapsed onto my bed. I really did not need something like this in my life. Or did I?