-I haven't posted in ages, sorry. This chapter wouldn't write so I figured if I let it be for a while it would work itself out. Surprisingly I think it did, and much better than I thought it would.

-I don't own Meyers characters.

-If you've stuck with my story even after I've neglected it, I thank you. But seeing as how you proabaly don't have a vampire like memory, and probably don't want to reread the chapters to remember what's going on, here's a nice little recap of what's happened:

RECAP: Human Alec, who is discovering his powers to control others senses, is in the Cullen home after being dropped off there by what he thinks is his sister Jane's ghost. He and Bella have started to fall for each other, but she still cares deeply for her boyfriend Edward, whom Alec doesn't get along with at all. When Alec finds out from the Cullens that Jane is not only a vampire, but an evil one at that, he gets upset and tries to run away. However he gets lost in the forest and Alice brings him back to the Cullens. This chapter begins with Alec's return from running away.

When I walked in the door Bella was sitting on the couch, her head in her hands. She looked up with the sound of the door closing and her eyes lit up.

-"Alec!" She stood from the couch and ran over to me, embracing me in a tight hug.

-"Whoa, Bella." I wasn't expecting her to be so excited to see me. In fact, I thought she might be angry that I had acted so stupidly. I was glad that she didn't feel that way.

-"I didn't think you were coming back!"

-"I told you I wasn't going anywhere. I'm not going back on my word."

She looked up at me and her eyes were glowing.

-"Thank you."

I liked that she cared so much about whether or not I was around. I cared about her too.

-"Of course Bella. I'll be here for you as long as you'll let me."

She hugged me even tighter.

-"Bella, your father is on the phone." It was Edward.

He was always trying to pull us apart. Bella walked over a few yards to where he was with the phone in hand. He gave her a bright smile and the second she looked into his eyes I could see that he had her again. I wasn't going to let him win, no way. I had something he didn't and I was prepared to use it. He leaned in closer to her face and anger began to glow inside of me. I sucked it up though, and began to aim it toward Edward. I could feel a sort of invisible line forming between his body and mine. I could tell when the line was completed, because Edward showed signs of succumbing to my powers. Right before his lips met hers, he began to sway. Bella was snapped out of her trance.

-"Edward!" she took a step back from him, realizing just how close he had gotten.

I let my fury disintegrate, and with that, so did the line connecting Edward and me. He stood back up straight and his eyes focused on me in a terrifying glare. I had to sit down, because I felt dizzy. While I was using my power it seemed easy. It wasn't until after I stopped that I realized just how much it took out of me. It wasn't as bad as the time before, but it still had a strong effect. My sense of equilibrium seemed to be entirely out of wack. I put my head between my knees and took a deep breath.

-"What is going on?" Carlisle's tone was low but urgent as he helped me to stand back up.

-"I can't take it anymore. I WANT HIM OUT OF HERE!" Edward was shrieking at his father.

-"Edward! Calm down. We can't turn him out into the streets!" Bella shouted at him.

-"And think of the deeper consequences. If the Volturi possess his power…" Carlisle added in a low voice.

The Volturi? What was he talking about? Did he think I would join them? That I would ever be a part of something so wrong?

-"I DON'T CARE ANYMORE! LET THEM HAVE HIM. HE NEEDS TO GO!"

-"EDWARD!" Bella gasped.

-"No Bella! NO! He needs to leave. Right away. He is screwing with all of our heads and I'm done with it. I don't care if he joins the Volturi! He would be better off with them anyway. That way he can get back his happy little family with his evil sister."

His last sentence made something inside me crack. Before I could even process what I was doing my hand flew toward Edwards face.

-"DAMN IT!"

I heard the bones in my hand snap against his cheek. He didn't even flinch at first but slowly his lip curled back and he began to snarl at me.

-"Alec!" Bella's voice called out.

I could feel tears spring up in my eyes. I may as well have punched a brick wall for all the damage I did. I couldn't bend my fingers, they were snapped at the knuckles.

-"Edward. Get out of here. Now. Before you do something really stupid." Carlisle voice was calm, reassuring.

Edwards eye twitched as he back out of the room slowly, still snarling. He was truly frightening, and I was glad that it had not turned into a fight. I would not have won.

-"Alec, sit down." Carlisle instructed me. I did as he said and took a seat on the couch in the room. Bella was right next to me, a look of horror on her face.

-"Are you okay?" she asked anxiously.

-"Yeah, but I think I broke my knuckles."

-"Oh, Alec…" she sighed.

-"Let me take a look." Carlisle held out his hand and I placed my own hand on it. He felt different parts of my fingers, testing the bone and I couldn't help but yelp when he tried to bend my fingers.

-"Yep. Definitely broken. Wait right here." Like I was going to go anywhere. He left the room and reappeared in a flash. He had a pill bottle and what looked like a brace in his hand.

-"You can wear this for tonight but it looks like were going to have to get you x-rayed tomorrow to asses the damage and probably get you a cast as well. And you can take these for the pain, two every 12 hours." He handed me the brace and pills. I winced as I carefully put it on. I couldn't believe I had done so much damage with just a punch. Edward hadn't even looked like he was hurt at all. Stupid vampire skin.

-"Thank you, Carlisle."

-"Of course. Now If you'll excuse me, I need to have a talk with my son." He gave me a crooked smiled before leaving the room.

-"I am so sorry for how Edward is acting. He has never been this way before. I can't believe he would even dare to-"

-"Bella!" I interrupted her. "Why are you apologizing for him? You didn't make him do any of that."

She looked taken back a bit by my words.

-"I don't know. I guess I just can't help but think this is all my fault."

She couldn't be more wrong. It was that asshole Edwards fault. He was crazy.

-"But don't you see? It's not your fault. It's Edwards fault. In all honesty, I think he's being immature. But he only has himself to blame for that. He isn't your responsibility."

-"But he is my responsibility. He wouldn't act this way if it wasn't for me. He is doing this because of me." She put her face in her hands.

-"He can act however he wants. If he chooses to act like a jealous two year old, well then that's his problem, not yours."

She was hesitant before speaking again.

-"Love makes people do crazy things. And having a vampire for a boyfriend really doesn't help."

-"You know, you don't have to date him."

She shook her head.

-"I do. I can't explain it, but the last time we were apart…it was awful. I don't know how to live without him."

-"Maybe if you stopped trying to hold on to him…there are other options out there besides him. You don't have to be alone. You could be perfectly happy without him. Really."

She looked at me with the saddest eyes and it killed me a little inside. Because I knew she was still stupidly in love with Edward. And because she was clearly in pain over that fact.

-"No. You're wrong. He's a part of me." a tear rolled from the corner of her eye.

-"Only because you make him to be."

-"You don't understand. I don't make him anything. We just are."

My patience was wearing thin. When was she going to see just how wrong he was for her? I stood up. I really didn't want to listen to this anymore. It hurt me more than it should, because I liked her more than I should.

-"No. you're right. I don't understand." I gritted my teeth and began to walk out of the room before I said something I would regret.

-"You should understand though. Is it so much different than what happened with your sister? Can you honestly tell me that your life was better without Jane? Were things better when you tried to live without her?"

I froze. How could she compare the two things like they were the same? They weren't the same in any way.

-"Not the same." I said through my teeth.

-"It is the same though. She was a part of you. Just like Edward is a part of me."

I spun around to face her.

-"They are in no way the same. Jane was my little sister. How dare you compare her to that idiot boyfriend of yours. My LITTLE SISTER."

We were yelling now.

-"But Alec. Don't you see-"

-"NO, BELLA. I DON'T SEE. Edward is an evil, egotistical jerk who treats you like shit, and you put up with him anyway. Jane is my little sister who was turned into a vampire against her will. She didn't ask for this. And she's family. You can't compare the two."

-"Why not?"

-"YOU JUST CAN'T, OKAY?"

-"BUT-"

-"NO! Jane is more important to me than Edward ever will be to you. We grew up together.", I started to choke up. I hadn't had to think this much about Jane and what my life used to be like in a long time. It hurt to bring up everything that I had ever known and then lost. "We did everything together. We…God, you just wouldn't understand. It isn't the same." I stormed out of the room. I couldn't take this anymore.

I needed an escape and sleeping was the best way to do that. I didn't want to think of Jane, or Edward and Bella, or everything else in my life that was screwed up. Bella had never been mine, and now I knew that she never would be. I wanted to escape more than I ever had before. I should have kept running in the woods today. But running away had only proved that I truly had no where to go. Home was lost forever for me. I was all alone in this world, without a family and feeling more bitter than I knew was possible. Slowly, I fell asleep in my guest bedroom, in the lair of my enemy, to escape it all for just a few hours. For the first time since Jane died, there were no dreams. It was a comfortable mental silence. Until someone woke me up and brought it all back again.

-"Alec." The voice whispered in my ear. I woke up instantly to the sound of her voice.

-"You were right. Let's get out of here while we still can."

-"What?" I turned to see Bella's face glowing in the darkness.

-"Come on. We have to hurry if we want to leave." She sounded terribly impatient. But her words confused me. We need to leave? Where? Where we late for something?

-"Leave?"

-"Earlier when you said we should leave, you were right. We're in a house full of vampires, remember? Lets get out. Together."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I must have been dreaming. But it felt real. Like Bella was really there. And my hand was still braced and in pain.

-"Really?"

She nodded.

-"But we have to go now, or they'll stop us. Come on."

She pulled on my arm and I stood up. We walked out of the room, hand in hand. I couldn't believe the one eighty that was occurring right before my eyes. My mind still hadn't really processed the wonderfulness of the whole situation. We snuck down the hall and then the stairs as quickly and quietly as we could manage. Right before we got to the door leading out of the house I stopped her.

-"What are you waiting for? Come on." She pulled on my arm urgently.

-"Wait. Bella, are you sure you want to do this? Everything will change."

-"You said you wouldn't let me be alone, that you would be there for me, right? Did you really mean it?" she asked.

-"Of course." I said without even really thinking. It was just such an obvious answer to me.

-"Then everything will work out." she smiled up at me and my heart swelled. Just when I was giving up on her, she surprised me. I was so glad she was finally listening to me.

-"Now come on, we really have to go!" she put her hand on the door handle but I stopped her.

-"One more thing."

-"What?" she said in an exasperated tone.

I pulled her to me and leaned my face close to hers. Our eyes were locked in each others.

-"Thank you for finally coming to your senses."

-"ye….yeah" she seemed to have suddenly lost her ability to speak coherently.

I closed the gap between our lips and we shared a short, perfectly sweet kiss. In that moment I felt happier than I had in as long as I could remember. For the first time in a long time my heart didn't feel broken in half.

When our lips broke apart, she looked up at me for a moment, with an almost dazed expression.

-"Come on. We're in a house full of vampires, remember? We have to get going." I told her with grin on my face.

-"Alec." She whispered as she gave me a smile back.

I reached over for the door handle and pulled it open.

-"Shit." Bella said as she looked out the door. Her use of language surprised me until I looked out the door too.

In that one moment, everything went from perfect to destroyed.

Alice stood a few feet back from the door, arms crossed.

-"Where do you think you're going?"