A/N: So not that many reviews for the last chapter. Kinda sad, guys. Haha, just kidding. I still love you all.

This chapter is once again setting some things up, but it's also getting into more details about both Alice and Bella and their relationship. So have fun reading it. =D

Jezikial: That's actually really good to hear. I was worrying that I'd bore a lot of people with that last chapter. Let's just hope you aren't disappointed by this one.

Black Lithning: This chapter was written over the time span of two nights. So hopefully it's as good as the last night writing. lol. And thanks a lot. I really was trying to capture everyone well in the last chapter.

Ethans Mom: I hope this is up to your expectations meeting the family-wise. And every other way.

Kyraaah1992: Me too!

And now on to the main attraction… Read on!

The drive to Alice's was incredibly quiet. Alice barely spoke other than to tell me where to turn. I had obvious thoughts on my mind such as whether or not to go through with meeting a family of vampires. I had no doubt in my mind that they wouldn't try to drink my blood, but some of Alice's siblings did look like they would hurt me very badly had they the chance. Rosalie, for example. I knew from our short encounter in the lunchroom, even though I didn't speak to her personally, that she didn't like me or want to be around me in any way.

Alice seemed to sense that I was more than a little worried about meeting her family. "Penny for your thoughts?" I glanced at her out of the corner of my eye to see a small smile gracing her features, a smile that could make an iceberg melt.

"I don't know if I should actually tell you or not." She pouted a little, crossing her arms over her chest and looking like a child in her seat next to me.

"Now Bella, you've told me all of your deep dark secrets, and you know mine. Why in the world would you think that you shouldn't tell me anything? I highly doubt anything you say could surprise me." She looked over at me expectantly as I glanced at her again. It was very hard not to look at her, even if I was driving.

Sighing, I pulled over on the side of the road before turning so I could face Alice better. "I'm just worried about how they'll react to me being there." She opened her mouth to interrupt me, but I held up my hand to stop her. "No, Alice. Hear me out." She nodded a little hesitantly, raising an eyebrow slightly in confusion. "Your entire family has been living in secret for years now. Probably hundreds for some of them for all I know." I had started to use my hands to exaggerate my sentences. "And then here I come, changing everything that they all know. Not to mention you're all, like, perfect. I mean, I'm almost blinded every time I see you because you're so freaking beautiful. It's ridiculous, really."

Alice seemed to be watching my hands move through the air until the last sentences, in which time she grabbed them and pulled them down to lay between us, hers gently gripping mine. "Bella, calm down. Deep breath." I did as she instructed, already feeling a bit better after getting that all off my chest. Not to mention Alice was holding my hand- always a bonus. "I need you to listen now, though." I nodded waiting for her to continue. "Yes, you are coming into our lives and changing everything we know. But who's to say that isn't for the better? The moment I saw you coming into my life, I knew it was going to be changed forever. All those years ago when I first saw you, I knew I had to have you in my life in some way. It was just a feeling…" She trailed off as she noticed me looking at her oddly. I watched her face as she went back through what she had just said. She apparently realized what had confused me, for she quickly backtracked. "I mean, I just saw you then. A vision, you know?"

"No, Alice. I really don't know. What are you talking about?" I was completely and utterly confused. Alice seemed to notice that she hadn't mentioned something important before.

"Oh! I guess I kind of skipped over that part when I was explaining things to you." She smiled at me innocently before continuing. I had noticed that she hadn't let go of my hands yet, though hers were rubbing mine a bit more in what I could only assume to be unease. "Well, some of my family members have powers."

"You mean other than the whole super speed and strength?" She laughed a little.

"Yes, other than those. We believe that each of our powers come from our human lives. Almost like becoming a vampire amplified things that we could originally do. Edward, for example, was extraordinary at reading people as a human. Now, he can read minds. Jasper can feel and control emotions. Emmett is incredibly strong, even for a vampire." She paused then, avoiding the one that I really wanted to know about. I decided to let it slide for the time being because I was curious about the others.

"So Edward can read minds? Like, all the time?" She seemed to understand what I was getting at.

"Pretty much, yeah. Though, he can't read yours. No one knows why, but he can't. It's like you have some kind of barrier up that he can't get past." She shrugged as if it wasn't a big deal. "That's why he always seems a bit testy around you. He's frustrated that he can't read you like he can with others. He relies on his mind reading a lot more than he should sometimes." She shook her head as if that disappointed her.

"And you?" She looked at me quickly and glanced away again.

"I can see the future. Though my visions are always subject to change. The future isn't set in stone." She seemed frustrated about something as she said this, but quickly changed her expression as she looked back up at me from the corner of her eye. "Bella?" She looked at me questioningly as I took this all in.

"So you can see what's going to happen before it happens?" She nodded. "And that's how you saw me years ago?" Another nod. "How many years ago?"

"Quite a few, actually. I saw that you were going to come to Forks, though I didn't know why. I don't see the reasons and choices behind what happen, just the outcome." I nodded in understanding before looking down at our linked hands.

"Alice?" She gently squeezed both of my hands, letting me know she was listening. "Why did you seem so anxious before? When you said you saw me years ago?" She sighed and I looked up at her. "I mean, if it was only a vision you could have just told me. Why the backtracking?" Alice bit her lip nervously, thinking over what she should say. I waited quietly, knowing that whatever she would tell me would be important.

She looked me in the eye as she began. "I don't think I'm ready to explain that yet, Bella. But I will soon. I promise." I was hesitant to let this conversation go, but decided it was probably for the best as of now.

"Alright. But we are going to talk about it." She nodded before a sly grin came across her features.

"So… you think I'm beautiful?" I blushed as I realized what I had said just minutes ago. I tried to pull my hands out of her grasp, but she just held on tighter. "Come on, Bella. You can tell me." Her grin kept getting bigger as she inched closer to me. I stuttered trying to find words as my face flushed more.

"I… uhm… I…"

"Just spit it out, Bella. Get it out in the open." She was now just inches from my face. How I was supposed to think with her this close, I wasn't sure. I swallowed once and glanced away from Alice.

"Yeah, I do… You're absolutely stunning." Her smile quickly turned from sly to extremely happy as she let go of my hands and threw her arms around my neck. I hadn't thought that telling her that would make her this happy. She must have heard it everyday from people around her.

She pulled back her head a little so that her mouth was next to my ear. "Thank you, Bella. You have no idea how happy hearing that from you makes me." I laughed a little, turning my head to see her better. Apparently she had wanted to kiss my cheek at that exact moment. Our lips connected and I froze, as did Alice. Neither of us pulled away, though. I didn't know that a vampire could be surprised, but I think Alice was just that for a moment. As soon as I could think clearly, I pulled away a little, looking at Alice questioningly.

She pulled away completely from me, unwrapping her arms from around my neck and moving back to her seat. She fiddled with her hands in her lap, as she tried to find words to say. I, stupidly, just continued to stare at her surprised. "Bella, I… I'm sorry. I didn't mean to—" I cut her off by putting my hand on the back of her neck and pulling her back to me, pushing my lips against hers once again. She was still for a moment, but reacted quickly and began to kiss me back. Her lips were cold, but soft and felt amazing against my own. I didn't want to, but a minute later I pulled away, resting my forehead against hers.

"Don't ever apologize for that ever again." She giggled at me.

"Good to know." She kissed me again softly before pulling away and buckling back into her seat. I did the same before starting the truck back up. Alice once again grabbed my hand once we were settled, lacing our fingers together.

I looked over at her. "Ready to go, then?" She nodded with a smile that I returned. I really didn't know what was ahead of me just a few miles ahead, but I knew that the smile on my face wouldn't be wiped off easily.

I was wrong. I was dead wrong. As I pulled up in front of the Cullen's house, my smile had been long since gone. Not forgotten, but gone nonetheless.

The Cullen house was huge. It was more like a mansion than anything else. It sat in the middle of a small meadow-like clearing. Half of it was covered in windows, so it was easy enough to see into if looking in the right areas. But, being in the front, I couldn't very well see into it. Alice looked over at me from her seat beside me, gently squeezing my hand that she had yet to let go of.

"Are you ready, Bella?" She seemed more than willing to let me turn back around and save this for another day. I was half tempted to take her up on that, but I knew I'd keep running away if I didn't do this now. So I nodded. I didn't try to speak because I was sure my voice would shake out of nervousness. I felt Alice's hand leave mine, and the next thing I knew, she was holding my door open for me. She again offered me her hand, which I eagerly took before climbing out of my truck. I think I may have muttered a thank you, but I wasn't sure.

Alice led me up the front steps to the door. We stopped right outside it, Alice turning to me once more and asking if I really wanted to do this now. I gathered all the bravery in me that I could muster before answering with a determined "Yes". Amazingly, my voice was clear and seemed sure even to my ears. Alice nodded once, opening the door and letting me in. We walked into the entryway, Alice never once letting go of my hand.

"We're here," she spoke out. I had thought she was speaking to me, but was proven wrong moments later when what I assumed were all of the Cullen's were standing mere feet away from us. I tried to remain calm, but my heart was thundering in my chest. Being in a room full of vampires, I wouldn't have been surprised if every one of them had heard it. "Bella, this is my family. Everyone, this is Bella." Everyone wore a smile except for Edward and Rosalie. Jasper looked as if he was trying, but couldn't. In fact, he looked as if he was holding is breath. They all seemed to want me to make the first move, so I stepped forward a little, keeping my vice grip on Alice's hand.

I took a deep breath, praying that my voice wouldn't shake. "It's nice to meet you all. Alice has told me almost nothing about you." I let out a small smile, hoping that they would catch the intended joke. Alice giggled behind me, and Emmett boomed out a laugh. All the other Cullen's, sans Rosalie, smiled. Edward even seemed to be trying to keep in a smile.

"Well then, I guess it would only be proper to introduce ourselves," the woman who I could only guess was Alice's mother, for all intents and purposes, spoke up. "I'm Esme, Alice's mother." She reached out and grabbed my free hand, shaking it in a way that I could only describe as warm. Her smile was the same: warm. Everything about her screamed mother.

"It's really nice to meet you, Mrs. Cullen."

"Just Esme, dear. No need to be formal." She smiled again at me as she took a step back and let the head of the house step forward.

"My name is Carlisle, and you've already met my wife. The rest of the family seems pretty closed mouth, and you'll have to excuse them. Their manners seem to have been lost." He glanced over at his children with a small glare before turning back to me with a fatherly smile. "I'm sure you know all their names already, though." I nodded, letting him know that I indeed did, and took a step back to be beside Alice once again.

"It really is nice to meet you all. Formally, that is. Hearing rumors probably isn't technically meeting, is it?" Again, Emmett laughed as Carlisle and Esme smiled. Alice squeezed my hand once again, reassuring me that she was still right there with me.

"No, I guess it isn't," Carlisle said with amusement in his voice. "Alice, why don't you show Bella around the house?"

Alice nodded eagerly before pulling slightly on my hand. "That's a great idea. Let's go, Bella." She headed toward the stairs, and I followed quickly, still clinging to her hand.

"Bella?" I stopped a few steps up the stairs and turned to look back down at who was speaking to me. Surprisingly, it was Jasper. Edward was standing close behind him, almost protectively. The rest of the Cullen's had already disappeared.

"Yes, Jasper?" He nodded as if he appreciated that I had actually stopped and addressed him.

"It was really nice finally meeting you. I hope we all get to know you better." He smiled at the end. I hadn't noticed before, probably because he had never spoken to me, but he had a slight southern accent.

I smiled at him, hoping he'd see the sincerity in it. "I do too, Jasper." He nodded and turned to walk away. Edward stayed a moment longer, still looking up at me before turning to follow. When I turned around, Alice seemed surprised. A giant grin broke out on her face before she turned back around and led me the rest of the way up the stairs. When we had reached the top of the stairs, she whipped around to face me again, grabbing my face between her hands.

"That was amazing, Bella!" I looked at her questioningly. "That whole thing downstairs. Not only did you step up and take care of yourself, but you actually got Jasper to talk to you. Jasper! He's the quietest one of us when it comes to strangers." I smiled a little after hearing this. Alice's grin grew again as she watched me take in what she just said. We stood like that for a moment longer before Alice calmed down and looked me directly in the eye, a smile still on her lips. "You're amazing, Bella." With that, she leaned in a kissed me softly before pulling back. My eyes had hence closed, and I hummed when I felt her pull away.

"What was that for?" I asked quietly after opening my eyes.

"You." She smiled again as if she had just won something before she reached down and grabbed my hand, leading me once again down the hall.

"Smart ass," I whispered, secretly hoping she'd hear me.

She laughed, letting me know she had.

The tour of the Cullen household was long and yet short. Everything seemed to go by faster with Alice around. We started with the rooms on the second floor, which included almost all of the bedrooms. Esme and Carlisle had a room on the first floor.

Alice seemed eager and yet nervous for me to see her room. I hadn't had a chance to look into anyone else's rooms; we both agreed that doing so was invading personal space. This being decided, the walk down the hall took almost no time at all as we passed by closed doors. Alice did let me look around in the study, which was also huge. Books covered three of the walls, the only one without any being the furthest, which was a floor to ceiling window. I stood in the middle of the room, awestruck.

"I'm guessing you like it?" Alice asked from behind me, sounding a little smug. I turned to her, my mouth still slightly open in amazement.

"Like it? I love it!" Alice's smile got bigger as she heard this. "Where did you get all of these books? There must be thousands, most older than anyone living."

"Well, I wouldn't say that. There are plenty of beings out there that are hundreds of years old." She smirked at me as I glared playfully at her. "We've just acquired a lot over the years."

"Who has the most?" I asked out of simple curiosity.

She thought about it a moment, as if she was counting them quickly in her head. "Probably Carlisle. He has a lot of medical books in here." I nodded in understanding as I looked over her shoulder at the shelves of books. "But both Jasper and I are probably close seconds. Jas with all his history books, and me with everything else." She laughed a little at this as she examined the books as well, walking over to stand next to me.

"Wow." It was all I could say. I hadn't known that all of the Cullen's were such big readers, but given that they are vampires, it really shouldn't have surprised me. We stood in silence for a moment more before I spoke. "So you like to read… what else do you do to entertain yourself?" It was just a question, but Alice got a mischievous glint in her eye as she looked over at me. I suddenly got a little nervous.

"Well Bella, that would be a long list of activities. I love music, both playing and listening to it. Drawing is always a lot of fun, like designing clothes. We all have a love for baseball." I looked at her oddly, not being able to see a family of vampires playing baseball. "We'll have to bring you sometime." I nodded and she continued. "And of course shopping." She got a huge smile on her face, and I realized where my unease was coming from before. I hated shopping. It was a well-known fact that I only did it when I absolutely had to. Of course I had to have feelings for someone who seemed to love it. "I'll have to bring you along for that sometime as well," she snuck in at the end before quickly dragging me back out into the hall. I decided that I'd have plenty of time to complain about that later and let it slide.

Alice led me the rest of the way down the hall and stopped outside of yet another closed door at the end. "And this is…?" I prompted. She seemed a little nervous again as she answered.

"My room." She pushed the door open and motioned for me to enter before her. I did and was stunned by what I saw.

The room was incredibly Alice. Two of her four walls were glass windows, the one directly across from the door and the one to the right. The other walls were a smoky-blue color that made it seem like the sky was continuing all around. To the left, there was a set of double doors which I could only assume led to a closet. Also against that wall sat a medium sized vanity desk. The mirror on it was lined with photos of Alice's family and other odds and ends. In the corner to our left was a huge sound system that included a turntable, CD player, cassette player and other stereos. In the opposite corner to our right was a drawing table that had papers strewn all over it of sketches that Alice must have been working on. In the center of the room sat a large four-post bed. I honestly had no idea why Alice had it seeing as she didn't sleep, but I didn't bother asking.

"So… do you like it?" Alice asked hesitantly. I think I may have been quiet for a bit too long. I nodded before turning to face her.

"Alice, this is… wow. It's very, very you." She giggled at that.

"Is that a good thing?"

"Very," I smiled at her. A smile overcame her face as well, and she eagerly grabbed my hand and walked me a bit further in.

She turned to face me abruptly. "I'm really glad you like it, Bella. But this isn't even the most impressive part." A mischievous gleam came across her face again as she led me over to the double doors to the left. She let go of my hand. "Are you ready to see this?" She asked eagerly. She seemed so excited, and I couldn't help the smile that came to my face as I nodded. It was very, very hard to do anything but smile when Alice was happy. Her moods were contagious.

Alice pulled the doors open dramatically and moved out of the way so that I could see. "Ta-da!" she said with a flourish. What I saw wasn't just a closet. It was about three times the size of any normal closet.

"Alice, this isn't a closet. This is a whole shopping mall." She laughed again, which turned my stunned look into a grin. I turned back to her. "Why on earth do you need all of those? Do you ever wear the same thing twice?" She smiled innocently at me before answering.

"Of course I wear things more than once, Bella. That would be a total waist of nice clothing if I didn't." I had walked a bit into her closet and she followed. "But I do like having a variety," she said matter-of-factly. I chuckled before turning to face her fully.

"I do believe that you have plenty of variety in here, Ali." Her face brightened and I wondered what I had said to make her react like that. "What…?" I asked hesitantly.

"You called me Ali." Her smile got bigger, but softer if that's possible. And even if it's not, Alice pulled it off.

I blushed, unsurprisingly. "Oh, uh… would you like me to not call you that? I mean, it just kind of came out." Alice reached out and touched my cheek. Her hand felt amazing against my heating skin.

She waited for me to make eye contact before she answered. "I liked it, Bella. It was a very nice surprise." She leaned in and kissed my cheek, causing me to blush more. I looked away muttering a quiet 'okay' to which Alice giggled at. Her hand was on mine the next minute and she was leading me back out into her room. "There's one more room that I really want you to see, Bella. Now, you have to remember that Edward is the musician of the family, but it's still probably my favorite room." She led me out of the room and back down the hallway. "And I think you're still waiting on an explanation from earlier?" She glanced back at me. I nodded and she faced forward again.

I suddenly got nervous again. I didn't know if I really wanted to know what Alice was about to tell me, but I also knew that I needed to know.

As we walked toward Alice's favorite room, I wondered just what would be revealed.

A/N: Alright, so that's all for this chapter. I hope you all liked it. I was tempted to put the whole next scene in here, but decided that having a whole chapter for that may actually be for the best. So get ready for that.

Review and be loved! Just saying. And thank all of you who have already reviewed. It's greatly appreciated.

'Till next time. ^-^