I had to put this in... like a filler. But I think it's okay.

Enjoy! :)

-MW-

Chapter 12

"When I Grow Up – Mayday Parade"

"Apologize – Silverstein"

"Ice Box – There For Tomorrow"

"The Man Who Can't Be Moved – The Script"

"Avalanche – Marie Digby"

Alice POV

I knocked on the door and waited for an answer.

The night of the Ball was… awful, to say the least. I really could not believe that Edward had the nerve to do that to Bella! After all he's been through, has he learned nothing? Bella had real feelings for him, and he had to go and do something stupid!

I sighed and knocked on the door again.

"It's already past noon. Why isn't he answering?"

I kept knocking on the door until finally it opened, only to reveal a haggard-looking Edward. His hair was messier than it usually was, he had dark bruise-like circles under his eyes and he looked like he never left his bed. Really.

"Can I come in?"

He said nothing and continued to stare at me with his half-closed eyes.

I sighed in frustration and raised my eyebrow.

"Edward, I want to talk to you."

He continued to stare at me and then stepped to the side to let me in. I walked into his room, arms folded, only to see that his curtains were closed, his bed hadn't been made, his tuxedo from the Ball was hung over his couch and his only source of light was his bedside lamp.

I wrinkled my face in disgust and made a mental note to have a maid clean his room up once I got him out of the house.

"Is there something you want?" he said with an annoyed tone.

My head snapped in his direction.

"Look," I started to walk towards him, "what you did wasn't right, Edward."

"You already gave me this sermon, Alice, I don't need another one."

"Do you really feel no remorse?!"

"What does this – " he motioned with his hands to himself and his room, " – look like to you?!"

"It looks like you haven't cleaned up for two days."

"Thank you, Captain Obvious." He said, rolling his eyes.

"If anyone gets to be mad here, it's Bella. You really hurt her, Edward! And I already warned you before, didn't I?"

"I know that, Alice! I know I hurt her! And I know what Jacob did to her! But I'm-not-him! I…"

"You know that this is going to give her more of a reason to leave, right?" I reminded him.

"She would have left no matter what." He said.

"No, that's where you're wrong."

He looked at me, with a slightly confused expression on his face.

"You changed her," I admitted, "The day of the Ball," he winced, "when we were in my studio… We were fitting our gowns. And then Rose brought out her camera and started taking pictures with Bella."

I walked to his curtains and pulled them open, letting in the sunlight.

"She was laughing, and posing – having fun. She was never like that," I turned to face him, "until you came along."

His eyes softened at hearing this and he sat down on the edge of his bed with his head in his hands. I walked over and sat down next to him, putting my arms around him.

I pulled his face up so that he was looking at me.

"Did you really care for her, Edward?" I asked with no trace of humor in my voice.

He sat up straight and looked me in the eyes.

"I love her."

There was something different about him. And after a moment of trying to figure out what it was, I knew:

It was the look in his eyes. That same look he had when he was with her last night. I recognized it because that was the very same way that I sometimes saw in Jasper's eyes when he looked at me. It was full of nothing but pure, honest love. Nothing in the world could be stronger than that.

"I believe you."

"Thank you, Alice…"

I sighed and sat back further onto his bed, letting my legs dangle.

"Have you talked to her?"

"I've been calling her ever since she ran out of the ballroom with Rosalie. She's either not answering or she's got her phone turned off."

I snorted at this. Boys really can be so obtuse.

"There are other ways to talk to her, brother. Like actually seeing her, you know?"

"You know that can't happen." He stated simply.

"Oh, right… There's Rose and Jasper." I mumbled, "But don't worry about Jazzy, I can think of a few distractions…"

"Alice! Please! Don't even go there!" he said, making a face and shielding his eyes.

I started to laugh at this and then soon enough, he joined me in my laughter.

It was good to see him smiling and happy again. Edward was always a serious person, and he never really laughed like this a lot. It was very rare, so I was going to take what I can get.

The laughter died down and we were basking in the silence when he decided to be the first to speak.

"Is she alright?"

"She's been busy… You know, with the big move and all."

"Right, to Italy…"

"Yup." I said, popping the 'P'.

It was silent again and all that could be heard was the sounds coming from the kitchen downstairs and Edward scratching the back of his head.

"Are you really not going to do anything?" I asked him.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, something he did when he was frustrated, I noticed.

"Alice, even if I do go over there and talk to her, that won't stop her from leaving."

"I know that, but at least she won't leave here on bad terms with you."

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair again.

"She doesn't want to talk to me."

"How do you know that?" I countered.

"Because! Look what I did to her, Alice! She does not want to talk to me!"

"Let me tell you something, Edward," I was hoping that I wouldn't have to resort to this…

"Bella will want to talk to you."

"You don't know that." He said quietly.

"Yes, I do, because Jasper and I went through almost the same thing a while back."

He looked at me incredulously.

"You and Jasper?"

I took a deep breath and began with my story.

"It was early into college at NYU. We've known each other since we were kids, so it was inevitable that we'd start dating. But I already knew he was The One. So, one night after he took me to dinner…" This is so not something your older brother would want to hear, "We had sex."

"Alice – "

"Edward, let me finish. That didn't change our relationship one bit. He still treated me the same way and he told me he loved me, and I told him I did too.

"A few weeks later, I went out with Bella and Rose. Bella was wearing these white shorts and…" I saw him with a look on his face, "This is part of it, I promise."

"So, she was wearing these white shorts, and then I saw the stain behind her," Edward nodded once.

"So, she started freaking out. Rose and I found it funny at first, but then I realized that I must have it too because I always have it a day or two earlier than she does. When I got home, I checked just to be sure, and then I didn't see anything.

"I shook it off and went out with Jasper that night. The next day, I woke up with a start and ran to the bathroom, and I started puking…" I looked to see if he was still listening, he looked like he was getting angry.

"I didn't know what to do. So I called Bella and Rose, they came over with a pregnancy test but I didn't want to take it. I was too scared to even find out if I was pregnant or not. We started arguing and then the next thing I knew, everything went black… I woke up and they were still there, they told me I was out for a couple of minutes. And then they convinced me to tell Jasper about it.

"Jasper and I started fighting about it. He asked me if anybody else knew, I told him it was only Bella and Rose. He looked… relieved."

-FLASHBACK-

"So what if people knew about it?!" I yelled at him.

"Alice, we just barely started college! I don't think now is a good time to be having a baby!"

"I know that! But so what if people knew?! Would you really be ashamed of it?? Of me??"

"Alice, I… That's not what I meant."

"What, so, just because your girlfriend suddenly got pregnant, you're going to just leave?!"

"Alice, I'm not going to leave you!"

"Yeah, because Bella's your sister, right? You'd never hurt her." I said dryly, "But what if she wasn't, Jazz? What if she never introduced us to each other? What then?!"

"I am not ready to raise a child, Alice!"

"And you think I am?! You're not the one who's going to have to walk around carrying the evidence under your shirt, Jasper!"

"So, then get rid of it!"

"You think I haven't thought of that already?!"

"Then why don't you just do it!"

"Because it's WRONG, Jasper, it's WRONG! God! You are… You're such a bastard!"

"And so will this kid be, Alice, because I'm not going to stick around and watch you ruin both our lives!"

This shocked me a lot. We weren't ready for this, I knew that, but he looked really serious when he said that.

-END FLASHBACK-

"Then I went home to Forks to stay with grandpa Marcus for a while. I was so… mad at him. I cried every night I was in Forks. I was hurting so bad and Jazz was the only one who could make me feel better."

"How…? Why? He was going to leave you, Alice."

I smiled at him and gave him one answer.

"Because I love him."

It was that simple.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Well, I had to go back for school. So I got on the next flight to New York, and when I was looking for a cab, Jazz was there." I smiled, remembering that day, "You can guess what happened next."

"Did you get rid of it?"

"See, that's the funny thing, I was never pregnant. I got my period the next day and the restaurant we went to that night was shut down because apparently, most of the customers had food poisoning. I guess I was one of them." I said, smiling to myself.

"My point is, Edward, Bella will want to see you just as much as she probably hates you. I guarantee it. Whether she knows it or not, she needs you right now."

He suddenly stood up and walked into his closet and came out with some new clothes on.

"Where are you going?" I asked him.

"To dad. There's something I need to ask him."

He stopped halfway through his door and looked back at me with a smile.

"Thank you, Alice." I smiled back at him.

"You're welcome."

Edward POV

"I think it's brilliant, son! But… Are you sure about this?"

Whether she knows it or not, she needs you right now.

"Yes, I am."

"Alright, then…" he said, hesitantly, "I'll let them know."

"Thanks, dad."

Ooooohhhh what was THAT? XD

R&R, please! :)

-MW-