A/N: This story was recommended for a weekly reading suggestion at Simply Twilight! *gasp/squeal/fangirl* I can't thank the lovely ladies over there enough for it!

Big hugs and thanks go to druscilla831 for beta'n this chapter. :)

Lots and lots of listening to MAE went into writing this chapter. Check them out.

Disclaimer: While I think it's pretty obvious I don't own the characters, we all know Stephenie Meyer does.

"We need sadness, so we can value happiness."

EPOV

I walked off the plane in silence, watching the floor in front of me as my pace increased to get to the luggage claim. Ever since the incident with Alice in Belgium I'd been surrounded by the absence of her voice. She wouldn't acknowledge my existence, even if she was sitting next to me on the flight. She had made a point to bury her nose into a fashion magazine the instant she sat down and buckled her seatbelt. Even now as we walked off the jet into the sunny interior of the terminal I could only hear the clicking of her prized Manolo's and her soft breathing.

I reached the baggage claim and grabbed Alice's bags from the conveyor belt and brought them to the floor, pulling the handle up for her so she could grab them quickly. I didn't chance looking at her; it would make it seem like I was expecting her to forgive me for my horrible actions. As I stood waiting for my bag to come down the line, I spotted another that looked like Alice's. I turned to look for my sister behind me but she was facing in another direction, all of her luggage in her hand.

By the time my eyes turned back, the bag had made its way down to the opposite end of the long conveyor belt. I looked for the person retrieving it, a small bit of hope flaring in my chest as the memory of whom that luggage may belong to surfaced. I scanned the crowd anxiously, tightening and releasing my fingers from my sweating palms. I was ready to hurdle over the luggage contraption to see her again.

But when my eyes finally found her I could do nothing; I was frozen.

I want to reach out and hug her. The tugging in my chest begged for me to comfort her, but my arms and legs felt like they were made of heavy iron, bolted to the floor where I stood. Her tiny frame was hunched over, curling in on itself like a worn newspaper used for swatting flies. The normally beautiful silken brown hair was disheveled, as if she'd tried to rip the follicles from her scalp and failed. She dragged her feet along as she walked like a zombie towards the exiting hallway. I couldn't see her face, and I wasn't sure I wanted to.

Alice gently pulled on my arm to get my attention, but I was grounded. I wasn't moving until Bella was out of my line of vision. I'd compare it to those disaster shows that come on TV; you know the accident is coming, you know its going to be bad, but you just can't look away. This was me now, only I was the one that had caused the accident.

I had walked away with minor injuries; obviously Bella had not.

Just before the small girl rounded the corner, she lifted her head as if someone had called her name and turned. My beating heart nearly fell onto the marble floor, and I would have gladly torn it out of my chest for her if it was any consolation towards making her feel better. I heard Alice's small gasp at my side; she had obviously spotted my distraction, and the aftermath of my destruction.

Bella's tiny hand was clutching a phone to her ear, but she wasn't speaking to whoever was on the line. The lips that provided the softest smile only days ago were contorted in sheer agony. Her full bottom lip was littered with deep patches of red. I assumed that in her misery she had damn near chewed the thing off of her face. Her skin was so pale against the brown of her unkempt hair and her sweater. It looked unhealthy; too pale and sickly to be the girl that I'd met in London. Under her eyes were deep blotches of purple and black, almost as if someone had beaten her.

Bella barely moved her mouth before she pulled the iPhone from her cheek and ended the call. As if she felt my eyes shamelessly gawking at her, she turned in my direction, red eyes scanning the crowd. I saw her lock on to me and watched in horror as her agony slowly burned her into a pile of ashes before me.

BPOV

The flight had been the worst flight I'd ever been on. Not because the turbulence rocked the cabin like a buoy on the sea. Not because everyone refused to sit next to me in my current condition. It was the worst because I was in pain emotionally and being trapped in the air, I could do nothing to escape it. Even reaching out to things that were familiar to me; things like home and my parents, were no longer a comfort to me.

I don't know how I made it off of the plane. My sole thought process when we landed was calling home. Remembering the shock and underlying disappointment made my tender mind cringe, I could only hope that by retracting my statement from only hours earlier would make things right. It was going to be hard, but giving up on your biggest dreams always would be.

My phone chimed with missed calls and voicemail alerts when I crossed the entrance into the terminal and turned the ringer back on. I skipped listening to the many messages and went straight to the missed calls list. The last one was from Charlie's number, roughly fifteen minutes ago. I had come to the conclusion that I would call him first. I was living with him after all and he was the one that had the package. I pressed the screen and put the phone to my cheek as I followed Angela and Ben to the luggage pickup.

"Hello?" Jacob's voice answered the phone, much calmer than only hours earlier.

"Jacob?" I asked, my voice hoarse from all of the ragged, choking sobs I'd let out on the plane.

"Are you okay Bella?" his voice lowered, my dad was obviously listening in, "You sound like shit."

"Yeah, I'm fine," I lied, "Is my dad there? I need to speak with him."

"I don't think that's such a good idea right now," he replied uneasily.

"Now is not the time for games Jacob," I managed to lash out at him.

"I'm not playing games Bella," he threw emphasis on my name as he spoke, "Charlie isn't here anyway; he's out fishing with my dad."

I looked to the floor in defeat. I'd missed my window of opportunity to take it all back. As I sighed with resignation, I continued towards the luggage claim. Apparently this emotional breakdown was worse than before; I'd been reduced to dragging my body through the airport instead of shuffling.

"I saved your papers, they're hidden under the towels in the linen closet," he confessed as I spotted my bag coming down the belt.

"You should throw them away," I whispered as I grabbed the handle and brought my bag to the floor.

I followed aimlessly behind Angela and Ben again as they headed towards the main exit. Jacob began yelling in my ear at an unreasonable decibel level, trying to get his point across. I didn't get a point to interject in his ranting, so I cringed as he continued. He was adamant that I was going to NYU, whether it pissed off my parents or not. I could tell that he honestly wanted to see me happy but I had already convinced myself that giving up was just easier. I would find far less resistance in submitting to the will of my dad and mom than trying to put up a fight. I would be heart broken, giving up my ideas for apartments in New York and covering my walls with my masterpieces. I would trade them for long papers and countless amounts of research, long nights in the library and little amounts of sleep. I didn't realize he'd stopped talking until he called my name through the line.

"Belllla…Earth to Bella," he held out the L's in my name.

As the mental images of me working hard at UCLA faded, I felt it. Something was tickling the back of my neck and my mind, vying for my immediate attention. I lifted my head and paused as the group continued around the corner, trying to find what was bothering me. While Jacob calling my name in my ear was part of it, there was something in this airport, something that wanted me.

"Jacob," I whispered, "I need to go."

"But wait Bella, we need to talk!" They were the last words I heard before I touched the 'End Call' button on my phone and tucked it in my pocket.

I turned to the left, searching the main hall of the terminal as the crowd walked past me; heading to whatever destination their feet would ultimately take them to. No one seemed to notice me, leaning slightly against the wall with my hand gripping my luggage handle safely. The feeling still remained; like something was about to happen but I couldn't put my finger on it. A feeling of anticipation rode the air even though there was no breeze to be found in this stuffy corridor.

I turned to my right and looked back at the way I had come, certain I would find someone from my school's group behind me. Surely a chaperone or a student, looking for any last minute stragglers from our flight would be behind me. There was no one I knew from school, no recognizable adults.

I nearly gave up my search to find where the feeling was coming from when I saw him. He was standing by the same luggage claim that I'd come from, only on the opposite side. His sister was beside him, a ghastly look of shock on her face as she reached up to cover her gaping mouth. The clothes on his body looked as if he'd worn them for weeks. The dark jeans were rumpled and wrinkled as if they'd slept as a pile of garbage on the floor. His black shirt hung on his frame awkwardly, as if the material had been tugged on or torn from his body and then replaced. His stance was one of confusion but promptitude, feet spread and hands clenching and uncurling at his sides.

As I looked at the scene before me I was in shock, probably just as much as they were to see me. The sun chose that precise moment to beam through the glass ceiling into the building where he stood. His hair soaked up every bit of sunlight, causing his bronze hair to look like fire on top of his head. I chanced looking at his face, no doubt expecting to find the resentment and disgust he saw in me.

What I found was none of those things. The green eyes that clearly bore back into my own were filled with something else, but not the ugly emotions I had expected. His face was just as beautiful as I had remembered, but worn somehow. His mouth fell slack as his lips looked as if he wanted to say something. But his eyes held me there, pinned to the corner of the wall while I stared at him in all of his sun lit glory.

I soaked up the image of him, a fiery angel descending upon the common folk of this terminal. Then the pain seared through my chest, forcing me to turn the other way, ripping me nearly in two as I realized he could never be mine.

I put my back to the wall, taking in big gulps of air to calm myself and prayed that he wouldn't come to check on me. I'd managed to get around the corner of the wall, dragging my bag with me, in an attempt to save myself further embarrassment. I eyed the signs in search for the clearest route to the exit, measuring the amount of steps it would take to escape, the amount of times I could possibly fall if I ran and the length of time it would take to get there.

It wasn't until the familiar perfume wrapped around my senses that I knew I was too late.

Alice POV

This was something I hadn't expected…

Seeing Bella again of course was inevitable; if Edward had the benefit of reading Bella's trip packet, he would have known he'd meet up with her again eventually. However, my brother chose to totally botch his chances with her, all in protection of her innocence. I'd scoffed at him when we argued. Nothing about Edward Cullen screamed 'Protector of Virtues.' ..

I had sat back in Belgium, and I'll admit that I pulled a total bitch move by withholding information from Edward about the groups reuniting in Italy. He needed to know how bad he'd screwed this one up, and neglecting to tell him that he had a second shot was the only way I knew to make him really think about it. My plan was working, well, up until he pulled that little dominant male stunt on his bed. I still wasn't talking to him, deciding that it was better he sulk about it some more until he came up with a really good apologize. I had no problems apologizing for my actions, but there was no way in hell I was caving first.

He damn near broke me from my silent vow in the terminal before we boarded the plane in Belgium. Grabbing my hand and giving it a small pat was something our father always did to reassure me, and Edward mimicked this sentiment with his gesture. I didn't miss the suffering in his eyes when I yanked my hand out of his grasp, so I ended up diving into the latest Elle magazine to stiffen my resolve. Nothing made a girl feel better than the prospect of retail therapy.

But now, standing in the bright, sunny terminal, I couldn't hold my tongue any longer. The crushing pain was coming off of him in waves, saturating the air around me. I could see Bella's pain as well, the way she was dressed, her grotesque hair and the look on her face before she ducked behind the corner.

"Edward," I whispered as I grabbed his elbow and shook him lightly, "Edward…"

I could only elicit a moan from him to which I growled as a response. Someone needed to go to her and it clearly wasn't going to be him. I took two steps towards the main corridor before I felt his snake like hands wrap around my wrist to yank me back. I planted my heels into the marble and turned to glare at him.

"Don't," his said, eyes throwing a warning off like a beacon.

"She needs help Edward. If you're not man enough to walk over there and do it then I will," I spat back at him and jerked my wrist from his grip. This whole big man on campus stuff was not flying with me, not one bit.

I left my bags in his care and walked over to the corner where I knew Bella was still hiding. I heard her sucking in the stuffy air as I approached the marble wall, a panic attack no doubt. As I rounded the corner I found her, back slumping into the wall, eyes flying all over the place and more heavy breathing. To anyone passing by, she'd appear to be running from someone or something.

"Bella?" I called her name when she closed her eyes.

"Hi Alice," she murmured softly. It was hard to hear her in this crowded hallway.

"Are you okay?" I asked then rolled my eyes inwardly at myself. It was pretty obvious that she was not okay.

"Yeah," she huffed, "I'll be fine in a minute or two."

I felt like I was getting an instant replay of my brother wallowing in misery in Belgium. I crossed my arms and watched as she slowly turned to look at me.

"Thank you for returning my clothes," I thanked her brightly, trying to lighten the mood.

"Not a problem."

"I'm really sorry about my brother's behavior," I apologized for him, "I didn't expect it to turn out like that."

She cringed away from the mentioning of him.

"I said I'd be fine Alice," she snapped at me.

I put every ounce of a serious business look on my face as I could muster.

"If you're 'fine,' then why are you still here? Shouldn't you be heading to the hotel by now?" I retorted and watched her eyes turn into a glare. "You're not fooling me Bella, you're not fine and you're not going to be for awhile."

I couldn't help but put on a stern face for her, someone had to be the one to stand up to her childish pouting about this awkward situation and tell her to deal with it. She closed her eyes and let her head fall back to hit the wall in frustration. I let her vent, or whatever she was doing and took a look at my watch.

"Excuse me," I pardoned myself politely and grabbed my Blackberry from my pocket. A few quick key strokes and I shot the text message off to my brother. I was positive he wouldn't agree with my message or the methods I was planning on using, but I was pretty positive by tacking on 'or you'll lose her' at the end was going to be my saving grace from having him storm down here and stop me.

"Come on, let's get out of here," I fanned myself as I grabbed her bag handle and started for the exit. I wasn't giving Bella a choice in the matter. There was no way I could leave her there in this hallway, a broken mess left by the aftermath of the maelstrom that was her and my brother.

BPOV

Alice was taking my bag and walking towards the exit.

As I leaned against the wall staring after her, I felt my jaw go slack with shock. What gave her the right to barge into my business like this? I was just fine huffing out my misery of seeing Edward again alone thank you very much. Hanging out with Alice was only going to compound the problems swirling around in my mind. Wherever she went, her brother would undoubtedly follow, thus creating an awkward and embarrassing situation for myself.

I risked glancing back around the corner to see if Edward was still watching the scene play out. But there was no trace of him; he and the entire cumulous pile of luggage had disappeared. I turned around to find Alice in front of me again, my bag in tow.

"I'm not playing around Bella, I will drag you from this airport kicking and screaming if I have to," she threatened with a devious smile.

I wanted to tell her to piss off, I wanted to tell her to go back to her brother and stay the hell out of my business. My irrational side was coming up with all sorts of foul expletives to throw at her so I could crawl back into the shell of myself and cry. My rational side however wasn't having any of that. It urged me to take a look around me, to really see what was going on. Where were my friends from Forks? Hadn't I pushed everyone far enough away that they didn't even notice my absence? More importantly, how was I going to get to the hotel?

I could compare coming out of my lassitude to that of a whip snapping me back into shape. Or the game boys used to play on girls as kids, running up behind them and snapping their bras into their backs. It stung like hell, but the realization that Alice was the only one willing to help me was profound. I raked my hand through my hair raggedly and saw Alice's face wince as I did so; I must look like hell.

"Fine," I huffed in compliance to her demands, "Can I at least use the bathroom before we go?"

"Sure," she smiled, her tone returning to its cheery tinkling.

I looked around quickly before spotting the women's bathroom and made my way across the busy walkway. As I cut across the line of human traffic, people started to notice me now more than before. I could hear their disgusted 'humph's' and sneers as I passed by them to my destination. I almost collided with a woman exiting the bathroom before Alice pulled me out of the way by my sweater.

"I don't know how you're wearing that thing in here. It's sooo hot," she complained.

Honestly, I hadn't noticed the heat that much until she had mentioned it. It was stuffy in the airport, but now that she pointed out the temperature, I could feel the sweat pooling on my skin. I tugged at the thick fabric, lifting it up over my head to reveal the white camisole that was slowly becoming see-through from the added moisture. I grimaced at it and then looked to the mirror above the sink. I looked as if I'd been raped in some back alley and left for dead. My hair was every where, pulled up from the roots and tossed in every direction. My skin was pasty and pale as a sheet of paper with dark circles under my eyes like someone had punched me in both of them. My lip was cracked and looked as if it had been bleeding.

"What the hell happened to me?" I rhetorically asked my reflection.

"Yeah… it's bad, real bad," Alice chimed in her opinion.

I heard her digging through her massive purse as I touched the dark rings under my eyes. I looked horrible, and quite frankly I was ashamed to say that I'd gone out in public like this. My bag was parked next to Alice, so I unzipped the top a bit to grab a fresh shirt and my deodorant. She eyeballed me quickly and continued to dig.

"I'm just going to change shirts and I'll be right out," I said as I pointed to the bathroom stall.

"Mmmkay," she replied without looking up.

I closed the stall door behind me and let out a deep sigh. This whole ordeal with Edward was sure to be a nightmare now that he'd seen me in this condition. That, coupled with the fact that my parents were still probably furious with me was one hell of a mental hurdle to get over. As if on cue, my iPhone chimed in my pocket.

"You okay in there?" Alice questioned.

"Yeah, it's just my parents."

"Oh," why did she sound kind of hurt I wondered, "You should probably get that."

"No, its okay," I called over the metal barrier between us as I slipped off my camisole and rolled on some deodorant.

"You sure? I could let them know you're busy if you want."

I threw the thin shirt over my head and gathered up my things before opening the stall to greet her.

"Right now, I'd rather have a hair brush than another chat with them. Care to oblige?"

She produced a large brush with a hair tie on the handle with a forced smile. I thanked her as I grabbed it and drug it through my knotted hair with excruciating pain. I didn't want to talk about my parents or the argument right now, and I made it pretty clear by forcing the distraction between us. I could see that she wanted to help; maybe I wasn't brushing my hair right and damaging it or something, but I hurried to throw it in a sloppy bun before putting the brush down.

Turning on the water and splashing my face helped clear my mind a little. I tried to use the technique I'd relied on in the shower in France, but the concept wasn't the same. For one, the circumstances were different. I was trying to tackle two emotional monsters at once and even though one far outweighed the other, it was too much to attempt to reconcile here. The other part was that I wasn't alone, and I couldn't decide if that was a good or a bad thing. I obviously couldn't handle being alone with my feelings and my thoughts, the evidence was clearly written all over my appalling appearance. But I couldn't decide if Alice was the right person for me to confide in. Would it be weird talking to her about my feelings about her brother? Would she be angry with me in the end? Could I really tell her about my issues with my parents and college?

"Ready to go?" she questioned lightly as I turned off the water and rubbed the paper towel across my skin.

"I think so," I all but whispered, still not sure what she had planned.

When we exited the terminal and made it to the sidewalk, I'd expected her to find the rest of our groups so we could ride to the hotel together. Instead she raised her arm, delicately waving and blew a high pitched whistle with the other, flagging down the yellow taxis passing by.

"I hope you don't mind if we ride alone," she inquired as she opened the door for me to get in, "I figured you'd like a break from your friends," she finished with a smile and closed the door behind her.

Little did she know, the two things I really needed a break from weren't going away anytime soon. One of them was her own brother, on a bus heading to the hotel. The other was thousands of miles away, and yet I still couldn't escape the fear of making that call to give up my dreams.

A/N: This was a really crappy place for me to cut it off, but believe me when I say it's neccessary. Lots of girl bonding in the next chapter, so bring your spoons and your tub of Edy's.

Hope no one minded the Alice POV. I contemplated not putting it in at all and just writing it in BPOV. :P