I think this is the longest chapter I have, actually. It used to be two, but they were both kind of short and there was no great place to split it, so welcome to the super-chapter! It's probably the most pivotal thus far, and was also very, very, very, very satisfying to write.

Oh, and yes, I did update within less than a week. I know, it's very impressive. I'm proud of me, too.

My hand was cold.

"We've got conscious brain activity. Give her a minute, she's coming back."

"What happened?"

"Wait until she regains full consciousness. I need her to remember first."

Remember…Remember what?

"You were in the car. You blacked out."

My eye flew open as the vision came rushing back to me. There was an intake of breath behind me, but all of my attention was diverted by Jasper, crouching next to the sofa I was laying on. The source of the chill on my hand was him holding it. His skin was remarkably smooth.

"Did I scare you?" I teased.

"Yes," he said. "You most certainly did." He placed his other hand on top, so that my tiny hand was sandwiched between his two large ones.

"Then we're even."

"Amazing," said a voice that I slowly recognized as Emmett's. "She just woke up from some sort of episode, has no idea where she is, and all she can think about is him."

I tore my eyes away from Jasper to look to my right, where Emmett, Rosalie, and Bella leaned on the top of the couch.

"I had hoped that you would have met everyone in a less stressful manner," said Jasper.

"Well, I kind of sort of know who they are," I said. "Ish."

"This isn't really the time." I craned my neck backward. Edward was behind me, and for the second time in the past few minutes, I remembered why I was there.

"Oh shit." I closed my eyes, but the images played on the backs of my lids. "Shit, shit, shit…"

"What happened?" asked Jasper. "What did you see?"

"Maria," said Edward. "She's looking for you." He described my vision to them. At Irina's death, Rosalie turned and left faster than I could process. Emmett followed her an instant later. Bella put her head down on the top of the couch. "I'm going to call Tanya and Kate," she said. She pulled out a small silver cell phone and walked over to the window to talk.

I'd been afraid to look at Jasper the whole time Edward was explaining. He moved to put his head in his hands, but he'd forgotten than one of mine was still clasped in them. For a moment, I was afraid that he would let go, but he abandoned the action and squeezed my hand lightly. "Thank you," he muttered.

"What? I just foresaw the coming of your doom, or something."

"Not quite so dramatic," he said. "You kept her from surprising me. This way, I'm ready."

Bella came back over and stood next to Edward. "They must be in Alaska. Irina left to go hunting this morning. They saw the smoke right before I hung up. It must have just happened."

"Oh my God. What time is it?" Crap. How long had I been out?

"Relax," said Edward. "It's just past five-thirty. You were unconscious for nearly a half hour."

"A half hour!" I'd never been out that long before.

"I think your visions happen in real time, present or future. You're out as long as they last."

"Are you feeling all right?" asked Jasper.

I raised an eyebrow. "Shouldn't you know?"

"You know what I mean."

"I think so," I said. I experimented by trying to sit up. The room began to spin. "Ooh," I moaned and went back down. "Okay. Maybe not."

Jasper looked to Edward. "Are Carlisle and Esme almost back?"

"They're approaching the river. It should only be another minute or so."

I finally realized that I had no idea where I was.

"You're in our house," said Edward.

"Could you please stop answering my thoughts?" I said. "I like talking."

"Sorry. Old habits."

"Which doesn't make them any less annoying," said Jasper. "And as I said, I'd hoped this whole experience would be different for you."

"Experience?"

"Meeting the family. That was what the baseball game was for. This is not what I expected to happen." He paused for a moment. "Actually, nothing's really been predictable since I met you."

I rolled my eyes. "You're not the one who was about to go on a second date with a vampire. And who's sitting in a house full of them."

"True," he said.

"They're back," said Edward.

"What seems to be the problem?" said Carlisle. He crouched down beside Jasper. Behind Carlisle came a gorgeous woman with carmel-colored hair.

"I'm Esme Cullen," she said. "What happened? Is there anything I can do?"

Edward explained about my vision. Jasper said nothing until his brother was finished, when he asked, "Is she going to be okay? She said she's never been out for that long before."

"If this is something she does naturally, she should be fine," said Carlisle. "It shouldn't have caused any damage."

"She couldn't even move afterwards."

"It was just dizziness," I said.

"Disorientation," said Carlisle. "You just need to get your balance back. Everything should be okay, but just in case, I'm going to ask you a few questions."

He quizzed me about the date, where I lived, that sort of thing. I was fine, but Jasper was tense until I eased myself forward and the room stayed where it was.

"See?" I said. "I could run a marathon."

"You can stand?"

I tested it. My legs were a little shaky, but I was okay. "Good as new."

"Good," he said. "I'll take you home."

"What? No!"

He tried to hide it, but he smiled a little bit. I could tell he wanted to be serious, but the fact that I was so opposed to abandoning our plans seemed to make him happy.

"First of all," he said, "there is a murderous vampire on the loose, who is not only highly dangerous, but headed here to find me. I don't really think you want to be here when that happens."

"But she's in Alaska," I said.

"Distance means less for us. Alaska may seem far away to you, but it's too close for comfort. And," he added, "You did just pass out for thirty minutes. I'm not doctor, but I don't really think it's a good idea for you to be running with vampires immediately afterwards." He looked to Carlisle, who nodded.

"He's right, Alice. You seem to be fine, but it's probably better for you to take it easy."

I sighed, but I didn't argue. I could see that he was right, and I didn't really want to make a bad impression on Jasper's family. "Okay," I said. "You win. Let's go, Jeeves."

"It's Jasper," he said in an affronted tone. "I'd think you'd know that by now."

He was so convincing, it took me a second of embarrassment to figure out he was joking. Then I burst out laughing. "That's horrible."

"One horrible statement merits another. Let's go."

"Thank you," I said to the rest of them. "Sorry about, er, this. I hope you still play baseball!"

"Thank you. We hope you feel better," said Carlisle.

I allowed Jasper to lead me back to his car. As I got in, I asked, "So, about Maria getting here soon…is there any reason she'd…" I suddenly found it difficult to speak the fears that had been bouncing around my brain for the past minute or so, but he knew what I meant.

"I'd like to tell you that you have nothing to worry about," he said, "but I won't insult your intelligence. Yes, there is a reason she'd come after you. If she discovers that we've been spending so much time together, she may decide to kill two birds with one stone. Or rather, quench two desires with one human, if you know what I mean."

I knew what he meant. "Okay," I said. "So I should be sleeping with one eye open?"

"As if that would help," he said. "If she decided to destroy you, the only thing that could stop her would be one of us."

"So I'm screwed unless there happens to be a vampire around who doesn't want to kill me?"

I'd been hoping to get a smile from him, but he was too far gone. Times like these made me wish there was something I could do to keep him smiling all the time.

"I'll be here. I'll make sure that she stays away from you."

In the fading autumn light, the set of his scowl made him hard to doubt.

*

Maria. I hadn't heard that name for years. Before telling Alice my story, I hadn't said it since I arrived at the Cullen household. Had speaking about my past brought it back to haunt me?

I knew better than such superstitions. I hadn't thought about Maria in years. I'd assumed she was dead. It made sense that she would want revenge on me. Besides the fact that we'd shared…something, I practically created her army. When I left, it had probably dissolved. I thought she would have been killed.

Meeting her again wouldn't have been too troubling in other circumstances. I knew her nature. She would not have an advantage with numbers, so she would challenge me, one-on-one, and I would defeat her. My family felt more loyalty to me than I knew I felt to them, and they would help dispose of her allies if they were any trouble.

But Alice complicated things.

Maria was shrewd and cruel. She would find the chink in my armor. Maria could use Alice in a number of ways: kill her to hurt me, torture her and then kill her to achieve the same, use her to draw me into a situation of Maria's choosing. I cursed myself for putting Alice in danger and putting myself at a tactical disadvantage. It was the oldest trick in the book: your opponent's greatest weakness is the most vulnerable person he cares for. And I had begun care for Alice more than I'd ever cared for anyone.

I pulled up to her house. I could sense her dismay, mingled with disappointment and nearly overshadowed by fear. I guessed that dismay and disappointment were the direct effects of our ruined evening. The cause of the fear was obvious. I tried to ease it by pouring confidence into her to help her believe me when I said I would protect her.

I walked her to the door, my hand hovering behind her back. Though she had insisted she was fine, I could sense the exhaustion that was creeping up on her. Her aunt had heard us drive up, and she came to the door. Her emotions were dominated by worry that we were back so soon. I sent ease her way as well. I already had a story concocted that would keep her happy.

"Kids?" she said. "That was quick. Is everything okay?"

"We had a little accident," I said. "Nothing serious. Alice just tripped on our porch steps. She hit her head, but my dad examined her, and he said there's no damage."

"Oh, good," said Karen. Her anxiety level dropped dramatically at the mention of Carlisle. Not only was there parental supervision, but parental supervision with an MD.

"Anyway," I continued, "he thought it best if she took it easy."

"Please thank your father for me," Karen said. "Come on, Alice, I'll make you some tea."

"Could we, uh, have a moment?" I asked, trying to feign teenage awkwardness.

"Of course," said Karen, amusement now her predominant emotion. "I'll go start the kettle." She went back inside.

I cupped Alice's hands in my own. I was already better at resisting. Her scent was not overpowering anymore. It was still potent, but over the past few weeks, I'd become stronger than the urge. It gave me hope, something I'd never truly had and never realized I needed until now.

I was ready to reach farther.

She didn't make any move to speak. We were in a moment of perfect harmony. It was unlike anything I'd ever felt before. Speech was unnecessary.

Slowly, carefully, I pulled her closer to me. I freed her hands and wrapped my arms around her, encircling her tiny frame in my larger one. Her head reached the bottom of my chest. It was impossible to measure how long we stood there for. I was closer to her than I'd been to a human being in half a century. My bloodthirsty cravings were gone; all I wanted to do was hold her like this forever.

But our moment couldn't last that long. She seemed to realize it too, and we pulled away at the same time, though very slowly. She smiled, and I brushed my hand lightly along her cheekbone. Without another word, she opened the door and slipped into the house.

*

I was surprised not to find Aunt Karen standing at the door when I went in. True to her word, she was in the kitchen, making tea. I was in an almost dreamlike state. I floated to the kitchen and picked up the mug on the counter. "Can I just take this to my room?" I asked.

"I haven't put milk in it yet," she said, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh." I looked down and saw that she was right. "I'll do it." I went to the fridge and grabbed the carton.

"That's the orange juice," said Karen. "You sure you're okay?"

I looked down at the container in my hand. "Yeah, yeah…" I said, and swapped the orange juice for the milk. I poured it into my tea and stirred until the liquid was a solid light brown. "It's been a weird afternoon."

"Uncle Pete and I are going out tonight," she said. "Mike's staying in. Since you're both going to be home, I think you need to have a talk with him when he gets back from the store."

"Yeah," I said. "I guess I should."

I took my tea upstairs and read for an hour, but when Karen called me down for the pizza Pete and Mike brought home, I couldn't remember a word of it. All I could think about was Jasper. The connection we'd had was unlike anything I'd ever experienced. I was aware of Karen and Pete saying goodbye and saying they'd be home by eleven. Then it was just me and Mike alone in the house.

We ate in silence. After we were done, we stayed at the table. Neither of us wanted to start the conversation we knew we needed to have. I wasn't going to do it. I was the one who had been wronged. It was his job to apoligize to me.

After what felt like ages but was probably only five minutes, Mike spoke. "I'm sorry I yelled at you at school. It was stupid and immature."

I snorted. "I'll say."

He glared at me but continued. The words came out fast and frenzied. "I felt sort of frustrated because you knew I didn't like them and you always agreed with me that the whole family was snobby and awful and then as soon as he started paying attention to you everything changed and I felt betrayed and ignored because we haven't been together as much lately and you're ignoring everything I say about them and it's just really…argh!" He threw his hands in the air. "There," he said. "Now you know."

I contemplated his words. "So you felt a mixtrue of betrayal and jealousy?"

He nodded. "That's a good way to put it."

"We're alone tonight," I said. "You'll be so tired of me by the end of it, you'll be glad I'm spending time with Jasper."

I hadn't realized how much I'd missed hanging out with Mike until we sat down with a variety of snacks and starting watching X-Men on TV. About a half hour into the movie, the doorbell rang. Since I still felt sort of sorry for Mike, I got the door.

"Jacob!" I said. "What are you doing here?"

"My dad is out with your parents, so I figured I'd ditch Quil and Embry and crash your party." He held up a sixpack of Mountain Dew. "X-Men?" he said, seeing Wolverine on the screen. "Excellent!"

The rest of the night was spent on our crowded couch, drinking Dew and becoming increasingly hyper from the sugar and caffeine. When the movie was over, we starting flipping channels until we landed on the show Manswers. It turns out that you can die of constipation, there's a spot on your head that when poked, will cause a brain anyeurism, and breast implants can withstand being hit with a baseball traveling 100mph. Aunt Karen and Uncle Pete came in during the segment about death by vending machine.

"Goodbye, Jacob," said Aunt Karen. "You two, bed, now." But she was smiling.

By the time I was upstairs, showered, and into my pajamas, the horrors of the beginning of the night were coming back to me. The vision of Maria was repeating in my head over and over again. I grabbed my book and tried to lose myself in its pages. I jumped when the window opened and feet hit the carpet with a soft thud. The book fell from my hands. A wave of calm immediately washed over me.

"You're a little on edge," said Jasper. "Sad. You were having so much fun with your friends."

"Do you climb through people's windows often?" I asked.

I probably should have been more embarassed about the situation—in bed, pajamas on, and Jasper standing in front of me—but I was only grateful for the peace he brought with him. Being alone was more difficult now.

"No, but it's much easier than coming to the door and having to explain why I want to talk to you privately at this time of night."

"Are you going to explain that to me?"

"I wanted to apologize for all this," he said. He came over and sat on the edge of my bed. "The danger I've put you in. When I spoke to you that first time, it was an exercise in control. If I could understand you, like you, I might be less likely to kill you. But I found that I enjoyed your company. I became fond of you. No, more than that. You feel…right." I could tell he was thinking of the last time we'd seen each other.

"I know what you mean," I said. "Weird, isn't it?"

"What in this situation is normal?"

We stayed there, for a moment, staring from either end of my bed. Neither of us was sure what to do yet. He was holding back. He still wasn't completely confident in himself around me.

Maybe he needed another push.

Even though I realized what a risk I was taking, and that it was possible my next movement would end in my death, I crawled forward on my bed. He froze, realizing what I was doing. He started to speak, but I held a finger to his lips. "Shh." He reached up and held my hand to his lips. His other hand snaked around my waist and pulled me closer to him. I wrapped my free arm around his neck and ran my hand through his hair. "You okay?" I whispered.

"Never better."

He moved our hands out of the way and kissed me. It wasn't like the first time, quick and frenzied. There was no burst of fireworks or rushing adrenaline. It was smoothe and perfect, like two melodies played at the same time that suddenly made more sense together than they ever had apart. My heartbeat was racing, but it added a sense of thrill and excitement.

Finally, he broke away. "That was probably one of the stupidest things you've ever done," he said.

"I know," I said. "Was it worth it?"

He smiled. "You should try to sleep. Do you want me to help you?"

"You can make me sleep?"

"It's just a matter of relaxing you to the point of exhaustion. And you haven't got far to go."

I nodded, and I could feel myself fading. He cradled me in his arms. "Am I going to wake up when you leave?" I asked.

"No," he said. "You don't have to worry about that."

He turned off the light and I drifted away.

I woke up under the covers, head on my pillow. For a wild moment, I was afraid he was gone—I was afraid to be alone. But when I opened my eyes and looked up, he was sitting on the end of my bed, reading the book I'd discarded. "I have to say, your taste in literature is disappointing," he said. "Of course, this hardly counts as literature. I'm surpised someone agreed to print this at all."

"You know," I said, "I usually find that people who feel superior because they read 'good books' have self-esteem issues so that they need to find something to feel good about."

He chuckled. "I don't feel superior. I just think you ought to devote your time to something that won't rot your brain."

"If you don't like it, you don't have to read it."

"Would you prefer it if I had just watched you sleep all night?"

I was silent for a moment, comtemplating the idea of someone watching me sleep. "Do I snore?"

"Like a pig," he joked. "No, but you do make some strange noises. Incoherent syllables. Like your own little dream language."

I ran a hand through my short hair. "What time is it?" I looked at the clock on my night stand. "8:45? Seriously?" I fell back onto my pillows. "Why am I awake? It's so early!" I sat up and eyed him suspiciously. "Did you—"

"No!" he said. "I may not have slept in more than a century, but I know better than to wake up a teenager."

"How would you figure that out?"

"By being an empath in a school full of teens forced to get up before they're ready," he said.

"True," I said, and got up. "I need to shower. Be back soon."

The hot water cleared the last vestiges of sleep from my body. My thoughts turned back to the day before—was it only yesterday? It felt like a million years ago. I wondered if Maria was in Forks yet. Would she track Jasper here? Could she be just outside the window?

I was overcome with the need not to be alone.

I rushed feverishly through the rest of my shower and dressed in the clothes I'd brought in with me. I had to keep myself from running back to my bedroom, to see him and feel safe again.

He must not have felt my anxiety until I reached my room. "I'm so sorry," he said, sending me a wave of calm. He was sitting exactly where I left him. "I was trying to sense if she was here yet." My anxiety flared back up, and he squashed it. "I mean in the area. Not here. I won't let her get that close."

"So what now?" I asked.

He sighed heavily. "I don't know. The best way to make sure you aren't implicated is the stay away from you. But staying away from you puts you in more danger because then if she does find you for any reason, there's no one to protect you. So I don't want to leave you alone."

That plan was good with me.

"If Maria can get you, she'll use you against me," he said. "So the easiest course of action is to make sure she can't get to you. Which means we should get going."

"Going?" I asked.

"To my house," he said. "Seven vampires are better than one."

Do I even have to say it? Okay, I will. Reviews. Make. Me. Happy. Even happier than puppies. And puppies make me really happy.