A/N - Hi all - this one's a little short - sorry - but I hope you like it all the same! I'm off to the Blue October concert! :) Enjoy

Chapter Fourteen: Worrier

APOV

"What a mess," I moaned.

"Well, whose fault is that?" Edward snapped. I snapped off a large spruce branch and threw it at his head. Sadly, being the fastest, he neatly dodged it and it sailed for another four hundred meters before smashing into the riverbed. I heard Esme's cry of dismay from the house as the water from the river splashed against the back wall; she had just cleaned the glass windows yesterday. "Now you've done it," he mumbled.

"I. Am. Trying. To. HELP. You."

"I think you've meddled enough, Alice," he told me. I twisted my foot into the needle strewn ground to keep from punching him in the face. Me? Meddling? "I mean, if you hadn't spoken to Bella, she wouldn't have figured out what we are."

"If I hadn't spoken to Bella, you never would have found her! And you don't know that she wouldn't have figured it out otherwise…Bella's extraordinarily observant," I sniffed.

"Regardless, we'll most likely have to move now," he pointed out.

"We will not. I've already spoken to Carlisle, and he knows that I know that there is no danger of that. Bella would never betray us."

"Betray us? Alice, she's a human. Whether she has good intentions or not, it's dangerous for all of us if she knows. You know who will come." His voice lowered ominously as he alluded to the lawmakers of our kind. Yes, they certainly were a little bit of an issue.

But screw the Volturi, there was a potential wedding in the making, dammit!

"Are you making a new rabbit's den?" he asked innocently, looking at the deep hole my foot had made in my efforts to restrain myself "I don't think the rabbits will appreciate you meddling in their business either."

I lunged for him, but he hopped lithely onto the branch above my head.

"What exactly did she say to you, anyway?" he wondered.

"When?" My tone was sullen as I leapt onto his branch, sitting beside him in docile resignation. I would have to be the bigger – figuratively – person and end our little sibling squabble; Esme always got upset when we fought.

"After I dropped her off…did she say anything about…our day?" Edward sounded almost nervous, and I would have enjoyed it if he weren't being such a pumpkin-head.

"As best friend in residence, I am not at liberty to reveal anything said to me in strictest confidence," I informed him loftily.

"I'll just listen to you anyway," he warned.

"Like I can't block you out," I scoffed. "But, as it happens, I will tell you – but only because I feel like it. Bella didn't tell me that you went to the meadow – but I looked ahead and saw that you did – but she did tell me that she knew what we were."

"And you confirmed?"

"Sure," I shrugged "Why not? She would have found out eventually, and denying it wouldn't have kept her from being suspicious."

"Alice," he said sharply.

"Watch." I replayed the memory in my mind.

Bella fidgeted with the soup spoon as she stirred. It didn't seem to bother her that I didn't offer to try her cooking. She wasn't easily insulted, the way some humans were, but I hadn't anticipated the level of fury she'd shown Mike. Served him right.

I watched her mutter away with fascination. Who knew she had so much rage? It was endearing, really. Edward had been right when he'd described her as a kitten that thinks it's a tiger. No wonder she felt so comfortable around us – she was nearly oblivious to how completely vulnerable she was.

"You tell him," I grinned. "Though I'm not sure he can hear you from here."

She shot me a look. "Yes, I'm sure he has perfectly human hearing. Not all of us can hear a doorbell ring before it's pressed."

I sat up straight, caught short by her amount of knowledge. I guessed that she hadn't meant to let as much slip in her huffiness, because she blushed. Before I could come up with a witty response or an appropriate excuse, she threw her dishtowel into the sink.

"I know," she admitted shortly. "Edward got mad at me, but I don't think you will."

***

"She thinks I'm mad at her?" Edward interrupted worriedly, distracting me from my vision. I had to quickly pause the image in my mind before I replied.

"SHUT UP, Edward. This is why no one ever asks you to watch movies with them. It's so annoying when you talk."

He glowered, but I took his silence for apology and went on

***

"I don't care if you're…not normal," Bella euphemized. "Any of you. I like being around you. Especially you and Edward."

"That's great, Bella. I always knew you would."

"That's it?" Edward demanded.

"Yup. That's it. All you're going to see, anyway."

"You are such a very irritating little sister," he groaned.

"I'm the best," I corrected. "You think playing matchmaker for you is fun? If it was anyone else, I'd have loads of fun, but with you it's just frustrating."

"I don't need a matchmaker. I need you to stop putting Bella and everyone else in danger: I need you to tell me exactly what is going to happen on Monday when we all get back to school and people ask where we were."

Edward twisted his hand anxiously through his hair; I could tell he was beginning to regret his decision. This was bad. Very bad.

"Nuh-uh," I told him, sticking out my tongue. "That is for me to know and you to find out. Seriously, Edward – do you care what those people think? They're all too afraid of us to even think anything. What matters is that Bella likes us, Bella knows about us, she still trusts us, and she broke up with Mike."

"Bella broke up with Mike?" He breathed. Poor boy.

"Oh, did I forget to mention that?" I let my head loll to one side, turning a strand of hair between my fingers in a perfect imitation of the vapid Jessica Stanley. "Oops. So sorry."

His face was more entertaining than Emmett's pastime of light-speed channel surfing; his expressions shifted about as rapidly from elation to composure to annoyance to anger at Mike for whatever he had done to provoke Bella enough to drop her un-assertive damsel in distress protocol in order to dump him.

"She's probably lonely right now," I hinted.

He frowned, looking regretful for her sake.

I sighed. "You could go keep her company."

"What?" Edward was startled enough to take a step back that nearly lost him his footing on the branch. Such a shame he regained his balance; I could have used a good laugh. "I can't just go to her house. I don't even know what I'd say."

Once again, I was going to have to take charge.

"Actually, since it's the weekend and all, I think I'll ask her to sleep over."

"Alice – you can't…she's not ready…we're not – no. Have you lost your mind?"

"HAHAHA," Emmett boomed from the house "Little Eddie's finally GETTIN' SOME!"

"If you're really so bent on Bella becoming part of this family," Edward murmured, looking oddly serene "you'll be pleased to know that there will be a vacancy in approximately five minutes. Excuse me."

I clapped my hands with glee as he streaked off toward the house.