A/N: *sigh* I know. I suck. I could give you a list as long as my arm of reasons why I haven't updated, but I won't. Just know that I am beyond sorry and hopefully it won't happen again.

I want to thank each and every one of you who has taken the time to read and/or review this story, and a very special thanks has to go to Villemo79 and Morphy. Without you both, I don't think this story would have been continued. So thank you. And speaking of the wonderfully talented (not to mention very lovely) Morphy, I ask that you all go and read "Flume" - a refreshingly different take on a highschool Bellice fic involving Alice, Bella and swimsuits.. what more could you ask for?

I hope you guys enjoy this chapter :)

Chapter 14

"Wakey, wakey," a gentle voice spoke, trying to coax me from my slumber the following morning. "Come on, wake up, sleepy head. I brought you the mail," Alice said again, in a slightly louder tone, but I did little more than mumble incoherently in response. "I have coffee," she ventured, cheerily. Mmm… coffee…

I managed to slowly prize open one eye and the first thing I saw was the smiling face of my Alice, peering down at me. "Hey," I croaked out, my voice gravelly with sleep. As I reached up to rub my eye, I heard a tinkling giggle come from the tiny girl, who was now kneeling beside me on the bed. "What?" I questioned, finally sitting up and stretching my stiff limbs, eyeing the cup of coffee in her hand.

"You're really not a morning person, are you?" She asked, a smile tugging at her lips, as she tried to tame my rebellious bed hair with her free hand.

"It's not my fault you're ridiculously happy in the morning," I mumbled as a retort.

"Would you prefer me to be grumpy, like you?" Alice responded, raising an eyebrow and looking like she was holding back a laugh.

"I am not grumpy!" I huffed out, sounding more petulant by the second. Alice couldn't contain herself any longer and let out a hearty chuckle, her eyes never leaving my face. Despite myself, I couldn't help but laugh as well, after a moment. I sighed and made my own attempt to flatten the mop of hair on top of my head. "Can I have my coffee now?" I almost whined and a devilish smirk appeared on Alice's face.

"Oh, no, this one's mine. Go make your own," she announced, in a faux-innocent voice, taking a sip from the cup. "You can have the mail, though. Here." The tiny devil in disguise handed me the small bundle of letters.

I gaped at her like a fish and tossed the bundle onto the nightstand, as a genuine feeling of sorrow swept over me at the loss of my precious coffee.

"Then why did you wake me up?" I asked, my eyebrows knitting together. The adorable woman beside me reached across and left her cup down on the nightstand, next to the mail, before biting her bottom lip and scooting even closer. Her eyes seemed to sweep up and down my entire body, before she leaned in towards me.

"Because I wanted to do this," she whispered, her lips no more than an inch from my own. My heart rate increased tenfold in anticipation and I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck standing up. I closed my eyes and swallowed hard when I felt her sweet lips brush across my jaw. The sensation of feeling her mouth along my now flushed skin, was nothing short of exquisite. My hands instinctively made their way to her hips and fisted into the material of her oversized t-shirt, unconsciously tugging her closer to me when her lips finally ghosted over my own.

Alice slowly traced her nose up and down my throat, inhaling my scent, before trailing her tongue along my pulse point, painfully slowly. Both of her hands had found themselves softly stroking the length of my thighs and I was all too aware of them doing it. All of these things combined made an uncontrollable moan escape my throat and I felt tiny hands grip at my thighs even tighter. My mind was clouded and before I knew what was happening, I felt Alice shift and she pushed me back down onto the bed, straddling my waist in the process. "You have no idea what you do to me, Bella," she growled into my ear, taking my lobe between her teeth. I whimpered at her words; for two very conflicting reasons.

Half of me was crying out for Alice; the same half that was currently responsible for the almost painful throbbing between my legs. The other half of me was suddenly overcome with an immense and completely irrational fear that she was about to break my heart into a million tiny pieces…

"…Nobody will ever love you, Bella. Do you hear me? NOBODY!"

The cruel and callous voice of Edward Masen cut through my chest like a knife. I squeezed my eyes shut and turned my face away from Alice, unable to look at her. Even after all these years, I still believed his words to be true. In fact, now that I was with Alice, I was petrified that his words were true. If there was one person in this world who could make me happy, it was Alice. She had already reached in and pulled me free from the protective cocoon I had built around myself; something that no-one else had even come close to doing. If I ever lost her…

"Bella?" I heard Alice question, her voice sounding concerned.

"…You're nothing, Bella. Nothing! You brought this on yourself!"

I pushed the heel of both my palms into my eyes, as I tried to dispel Edward's phantom, haunting voice from my mind.

"Bella?" Alice repeated, starting to sound frantic, as she grabbed my wrists and pulled them away from my face. I couldn't help but look at her then, and the panic and confusion on her face was clearly evident. She won't hurt you like that, the logical part of my mind tried to reason with me. She's not like him.

Alice's eyes bore into mine, searching for answers. "Did I… I mean, should I not have…" She choked out, shaking her head, words apparently failing her. I quickly freed my wrists from her surprisingly strong grip and moved my hands to either side of her face.

"It's not you, Alice," I breathed out. How do I even begin to explain this to her? "I've just… It's just been a while, that's all."

The tiny woman, who was still straddling my waist, seemed far from convinced by my explanation, but it was the only one I could give her right now. I watched as her eyebrows knit together and she looked almost pained. Before she could say a word, I guided her face down and placed a long, lingering kiss on her full lips.

"I just need some time," I told her, honestly, our foreheads resting against each other. I felt her nod her agreement and after a moment, she shifted, moving her head to my chest, over my heart.

"I love listening to your heart beating," Alice whispered, after a brief silence.

"Why?" I asked, speaking just as quietly and stroking her hair. The fingers of Alice's small hand entwined themselves with my own and her contented sigh filled the bedroom.

"It reassures me."

"I'm really not sure about this, Bella."

I had spent the last ten minutes on the phone with Jacob, trying to convince him that, in fact, it wasn't a 'terrible plan' and that it wouldn't all 'end badly.'

"It's one dinner, Jake," I began, reasonably. "You're the one who said you wanted to meet my friends, remember?"

"This wasn't exactly what I had in mind," my friend responded, impatiently. I knew I could wear him down, I just needed to be persistent.

"Come on, Jake, please?" My voice had taken on a child-like whine and I heard him sigh through the receiver.

"Bella, I have a bad feeling about-"

"What could go wrong?" I demanded, feeling immediately idiotic. There were a hundred things that could go wrong. An ironic laugh met my ears and I knew Jake was thinking the same thing.

"Well, my main concern is that Rosalie is going to figure everything out and kill all three of us in our sleep."

I had to admit, that was a very real concern of my own...

"Don't you think that's a bit mellow dramatic," I said, almost trying to convince myself, knowing fine well that it wasn't that far off the mark. A brief silence followed.

"You promise it's just one dinner?"

My face split into a wide grin and I knew I had won him over. "Just one, I promise."

"Fine, I'll do it. But you owe me, Bella. You owe me big."

It was two days later before I heard a peep from Rose. A breakfast time phone call from the blonde told me that tonight was the night. Now that it was set in stone, I was starting to feel quite nervous and I didn't really know why. Nothing bad was going to happen; Rose wasn't going to find out. Not tonight. It was just going to be a nice, friendly dinner with my lying, cheating best friend and her seemingly clueless husband; along with Jacob, my pretend boyfriend and Alice, my secret girlfriend.

Absolutely nothing could possibly go wrong.

I sighed audibly as I sat Indian style on my bed, trailing both hands through my long, chestnut locks. Alice had already left for work so I was in the house by myself. For the first time in a long time, I felt alone. Completely alone. For years, Rosalie had been my constant; the one thing in my life that I felt I could always depend on. Now, I didn't even feel like I knew her anymore. Seemingly, she had done nothing but lie to me since before she got married and now, if it ever came down to a choice between her and Alice, I would choose Alice. I couldn't not choose her.

I fell backwards onto the bed, with my arms outstretched. I turned my head to the side and looked at the empty space beside me, thinking about the beautiful young woman who had been lying there, not two hours ago. A serene smile spread across my face at the mere thought of my Alice and I delicately caressed the cotton sheets, just as I had done to her soft skin earlier. "Damn, Alice. What have you done to me?" I whispered into the empty room, a smile still firmly attached to my lips. Turning my head again to stare at the ceiling, my eyes slid closed and my memory seemed to conjure the tinkling sound of Alice's laughter. If possible, my smile grew bigger, as her perfect face entered my thoughts next. A familiar fluttering in my stomach heralded the arrival of those alien, wanting feelings which had alluded me for so many years, but had recently been reignited.

One of my hands found its way to my thigh and began stroking up and down, mirroring Alice's actions from two days prior. I saw the raven-haired beauty's head tilt to the side in my mind and she took her full bottom lip between her teeth. A pleasurable tingle resonated throughout my body and I squirmed unconsciously on the bed, the sheets feeling suddenly rough against my skin. Before I knew it, I could almost feel her tiny body lying on top of me, just like it had been days before, and her arousing words came flooding back to me:

"You have no idea what you do to me, Bella…"

"…You made me this way! It's your fault!"

My delicate angel's visage was ripped from my fantasy and was replaced by the harsh, angular features of Edward, as his barking voice tore through my being once again, uninvited. My hand shot off my thigh and, along with the other one, covered my face, in a childish attempt to hide from the outside world. Why can't I stop thinking about him?

The chapter of my life which included Edward was one that I never wished to familiarise myself with again. Until recently, I had managed to keep all those thoughts and feelings safely tucked away. Alice's unexpected arrival and the impact she had had on my life seemed to have stirred something deep within me; something that needed to be dealt with. There was a just one problem with that: I didn't know how to deal with it.

Rosalie, while knowing everything that transpired between Edward and I, had never actually met him. Nor had Emmett or Jacob, although they both also knew the general gist of what happened. What was left of our relationship had fractured completely by the time I moved in across the street from Rose… Edward was the reason why I moved. No matter how much you try to explain to people the ins and outs of your past, they can never understand fully, unless they lived it with you. And nobody lived Edward with me.

For the second time that morning, I felt completely alone.

"Stop fidgeting!" I hissed at Jacob, as we both stood on Rose and Emmett's doorstep, waiting for someone to answer the door. "And why the hell did you wear a tie?"

"Well excuse me for wanting to look nice for my fake girlfriend," he responded curtly, tugging at the collar of his shirt. I raised a warning eyebrow at him and he lifted his hands in silent and apologetic surrender. "Anyway," he continued. "If I'd known you were going to wear that, I wouldn't have bothered."

I frowned at him, before looking down at my attire. I was wearing a pair of black slacks and a plain, white blouse. Not exactly cutting edge, but it got the job done. "What's wrong with what I'm wearing?" I asked, feeling suddenly very self conscious. My apparent fashionista of a friend snorted in disbelief.

"Seriously, Bella. The homeless guy who lives at the bus shelter has better dress sense than you."

"Hey! These pants cost me-"

My defence was cut off as the front door finally swung open, revealing Emmett, who seemed to be wearing… is he wearing a tie as well? When exactly did this dinner turn into a formal event? "Bells, great to see you!" Emmett boomed. "And you must be Jacob," he continued, turning his attention to Jake and extending his hand in a manly greeting. Never having seen the two men together before, I had never noticed the similarities between them. Both were above average height and both had that somewhat intimidating physical appearance, which would be slightly unnerving if you didn't know them. "It's so great to have another guy around. I'm starting to feel outnumbered," Emmett finished, flashing me a toothy grin and a wink.

"It's good to meet you, man," Jake replied, sounding genuinely happy. This is good, I thought to myself. Maybe Emmett will be able to keep Jake busy in conversation for a lot of the evening, meaning that he can escape the Spanish Inquisition from Rosalie…

"Come in, come in." Emmett stepped aside, cheerily ushering us into the house. "Rose hasn't quite finished getting ready yet, but she'll be down in a minute," we were informed by our curly haired host, before his face faltered slightly. "Alice isn't with you?"

"Oh, she hasn't finished work yet. She'll be here as soon as she can," I jumped in, easily explaining her absence.

Emmett's hosting abilities stretched far enough for him to offer both Jacob and myself a drink, but before he could complete his order, Rosalie appeared at the door of the living room. She cleared her throat and three sets of eyes immediately focused on the blonde bombshell standing in the doorway. Rose had her long, blonde tresses fashionably curled to perfection and was dressed in a knee length, figure hugging black dress with a plunging neckline. That, coupled with the matching four inch heels on her feet, made it clear that my friend was dressed to impress. I now officially felt underdressed.

"Jacob!" She cooed, sauntering over to my 'date' and placing a superficial kiss on his cheek. "Glad you could make it. I see you've already met my husband," the blonde noted, turning towards Emmett.

"I was just getting drinks," Emmett informed his wife, looking like a puppy waiting for a treat. "Jake, buddy, come and help me." With that, the two men disappeared in the direction of the kitchen and Rose and I were left alone. I was quickly enveloped in a tight embrace, which lasted a lot longer than Rose's usual hugs.

"It's good to see you, Bella," my friend said, pulling back and looking me in the eye. I nodded, before vocalising similar sentiments. Taking a step back, I took the opportunity to take in her appearance fully, my eyes trailing up and down her tall form.

"Wow, Rose, you look really… expensive," I uttered, not trying to be funny. However, Rosalie laughed.

"I'll take that as a compliment, thank you," she smirked. I saw her gaze fall to what I was wearing and it looked like she was about to comment, but decided against it at the last minute. God damn it, I actually thought I made an effort tonight. "Alice isn't here." Rose then stated, plainly, but she somehow made it sound accusatory.

"She's finishing her shift. She'll be here."

A strange look ghosted over my friend's perfectly made-up face, before she pulled me down with her onto the couch, an almost maniacal glint in her eye.

"So, tell me, how are things going with Jacob?"

For the next forty-five minutes, the four of us sat in the living room having pleasant enough conversations. Every so often, Rose would try to wangle little bits of information from Jacob, but he seemed to be fairly good at side stepping her questions, giving her only short and concise answers. As I had hoped, Emmett began to steer the conversation towards cars and video games, which made it more difficult for Rose to stick her oar in. A sudden tapping at the door alerted us all that Alice had arrived and Rosalie immediately jumped to her feet, straightening out her dress and sashaying out of the living room. I quickly glanced towards Jake and our eyes met. We both had the same look plastered all over our faces that said, 'show time.'

I could make out muffled voices coming from down the hall, before I heard one set of heels clacking their way towards the living room. A few seconds later, Alice glided into the room and my mouth instantly fell open. My little ray of sunshine was wearing a black and red, cap-sleeved, knee length dress with black heels. She looked breathtaking. As Alice threw her arms around her brother, I was forced to tear my eyes away from her when I heard the short, sharp footsteps of Rosalie quickly making their way down the hall, in Alice's wake. When the blonde re-entered the room, her arms were folded across her chest and her jaw was clenched. I knew that look. That was her, someone-just-got-one-over-on-me-and-I'm-not-happy-about-it, look. What did Alice say to her?

"Good to see you, Em," Alice's gentle voice spoke, and it seemed to swirl through the air. At least, I thought it did. Pulling back from her brother, she swung round and turned her attention to Jake. A beaming smile spread across her face and she practically threw herself at him. "Great to see you again, Jake. How are you?" It was obvious from the look on Jacob's face that he was more than slightly surprised by her affection, but he covered himself well and returned her hug.

"Not bad, Alice. Not bad at all."

I couldn't help but turn my head in Rosalie's direction to see her reaction and she was definitely not pleased. Her eyebrows were raised and her mouth had formed a tight line. Whatever game plan she had for this evening, I don't think it was working at all.

"Excuse me while I check on dinner," Rose muttered, already halfway out the door.

Within 20 minutes, we were all seated around the dining table, which was adorned with a table cloth and candles that I had never seen before. Rose sat at the head of the table, with Emmett and I to each side of her. Jacob sat beside me while Alice was seated beside her brother, which just so happened to be the seat furthest away from both Rose and myself. Meaningless small talk followed as we all tucked into Rose's delicious cooking. Everything was going fine… until Emmett opened his big mouth.

"Hey, Ali," he said abruptly, nudging his sister. "I told Rose about the whole gay thing, she's totally fine with it. Right babe?"

Alice's eyes widened and I proceeded to choke on my forkful of braised pork. After a few seconds, Jacob very helpfully slammed his hand repeatedly against my back. "You alright… sweetie?" He inquired, his feeble attempt at a term of endearment not lost on me.

"Yeah," I managed to splutter out, in a raspy voice. My face felt hot as a reached for a glass of water and it wasn't solely due to my coughing fit.

"Um…" Alice began, obviously trying to find something appropriate to say. "Well, that's good to know," she said with a slight nod of her head, glancing at Rosalie only briefly.

"You love who you love, right?" Jake offered with a smile, looking around at everyone around the table, after a brief silence.

Rosalie's eyes focused on Jacob for a moment before she mirrored his smile. "Absolutely." Her gaze then dropped to her dinner before she mumbled, "you love who you love," to herself, more than anyone else. Instinctively, my eyes sought out Alice and I found her already staring at me.

"Hey Bells, you ever had any lesbian experiences?" Emmett boldly questioned, as easily as if he had just asked me to pass the salt, effectively taking my attention away from the tiny woman.

"Emmett!" Alice shrieked, whipping her head towards her brother. Jacob moved his hand to his mouth, in an attempt to mask his ever increasing smirk and I somehow managed to catapult my knife off the table. I felt myself starting to sweat and I was convinced that it was lies and shame seeping from my pores.

"What?" He chortled, innocently. "I'm just curious!"

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Rosalie shift almost nervously in her seat and within seconds, my blonde friend's stern voice cut through the atmosphere. "Emmett, I don't think this is appropriate dinner table conversation. You're making our guests uncomfortable." Her icy stare stayed focused on her husband but instead of cowering back like I had expected, Emmett frowned, as if he didn't understand why she was scolding him.

"Sorry, Bella. I was just messing around," the burly man muttered with a slight smile, but it didn't reach his eyes, as he lowered his head and continued eating.

The silence that descended upon us was beyond uncomfortable. I needed a minute to breathe. "Excuse me, I'm just going to use the bathroom." With that, I rose from the table and disappeared upstairs.

The cool water from the faucet felt refreshing as I splashed it on my face. I braced myself against the wash-hand basin for a moment, before pulling back and staring at my reflection in the bathroom mirror. You're a coward, Bella Swan; a fucking coward. All I wanted to do was go home and curl up in my bed, with Alice safely wrapped up in my arms, and stay like that with her for the rest of my life. How could I feel that way about her, and yet, not have the balls to tell anyone about it? None of this was right. This whole charade was a complete mess. Why didn't I at least try to worm my way out of this dinner?

I growled in frustration, running my hands through my hair and making myself mildly presentable in the process, before opening the door and closing it behind me once I had emerged into the hallway. Just as I was about to make my way back downstairs, I saw something out of the corner of my eye. Propped up against the adjacent wall, just outside Rose and Emmett's bedroom, was a briefcase. Rosalie's briefcase. The same briefcase she had with her the other day at the bar when Mike Newton gave her… What did Jake say it was? A brochure? A pamphlet? My mind began to race. For all I knew, it could have been a knitting catalogue… or it could have been something that would shed some light on what was going on with my best friend. Stop it, Bella! It's bad enough that you spied on her. You're not going through her stuff too. Whatever it was, it probably wasn't even in there anymore. But you'll never know unless you look…

I took my bottom lip between my teeth and my brow furrowed in anguish. I turned my head in the direction of the stairs, before turning it back to the briefcase. And I did that again. And again. "Forgive me, Rose," I whispered to no-one.

I quietly crept over and knelt down to the leather bag and slid the metal clasps open. It was filled with nothing more than dog-eared papers and documents and I found myself feeling disappointed. I slumped back onto the floor and that's when I noticed a zip pocket at the front. I reached forward and opened it up, peering inside. Bingo. I extracted, what turned out to be a brochure, on the subject of… marriage counselling?

"Is there something in particular I can help you with?"

My heart stopped in my chest and I froze, hoping beyond hope that I was imagining the voice coming from behind me. How did I not hear her coming up the stairs? I slowly stood and turned to face my companion. "R-Rose," I stuttered out. I looked into the face of my best friend, trying to gauge her reaction, but her features were unreadable. "I wasn't... I mean, I was-"

"Going through my briefcase," she stated, cutting me off. I then watched as her eyes lowered to the brochure that was still clutched in my hand. "What are you doing with that?" She questioned, the faintest hint of anger starting to creep into her voice. Instead of being frozen, my heart was now racing like a freight train and my mouth felt unbelievably dry. "How did you even…?" I could almost see the cogs moving in her head, as she slowly started to put everything together in her mind. "You saw Mike give that to me the other day, didn't you?"

"Um..."

"Oh, my God," she barked out, incredulously. Her eyes narrowed and it looked like she was scanning my face for answers. "In the bar…" She began, slowly. "Bella, were you… were you spying on me?" Utter disbelief was the only tone I could discern in her voice; as if the very thought of me doing such a thing was unthinkable to her. But I couldn't deny it.

"Rose, please, I was worried about you," I responded, speaking quickly and taking a step towards her. "I'm still worried about you."

The blonde's face contorted into a look of pure venom. "What else have you done? Tapped my phone? Set up hidden cameras in the bedroom?" She snarled at me.

"Rosalie, come on, it wasn't like that," I reasoned, becoming slightly annoyed by her wild and obviously untrue accusations.

"Then how was it!" She hissed, still having enough control of herself to not shout and draw attention from downstairs. As much as I knew I was in the wrong here, that didn't change the fact that I wanted answers from her. Her behaviour of late had been erratic at best and I needed to know why.

"You expect me to just sit back and watch my best friend fall apart right in front of me?" I retorted, my voice becoming stronger than I thought it would have been. My sudden burst of confidence made Rosalie take a step back and her head tilted to the side, in cautious curiosity; so I continued. "One minute you're crying and telling me about how confused you are about having Alice back in your life, the next, you're having sex with Emmett in the kitchen, knowing that Alice and I will catch you. You want to fix things with Emmett but you refuse to be at least civil with Alice and use every opportunity you have to get one over on her. You won't talk to me about anything beyond the superficial, but you are apparently getting advice about marriage counselling from Mike Newton, of all people?" I paused here and looked down and the paper clasped in my hand again. "You turned this evening into a black tie event for reasons which, I can only imagine, involved making Alice feel inferior." For the first time since I had turned to face her, Rose's gaze left my face and she stared at the floor. "Rose," I said gently, imploring her to look at me again. "What are you doing?" I asked desperately, just above a whisper.

All traces of anger seemed to have dissipated and Rosalie Cullen stood in front of me looking uncharacteristically vulnerable. It took a moment, but she finally spoke. "I'm doing what everyone else in the world is doing. I'm trying to be happy."

My eyebrows knit together in confusion. I didn't understand what she meant, at all. "Happy?" I repeated incredulously. "You're torturing yourself Rose! Not to mention your husband and Alice."

The blonde tendrils of her hair fell in front her face, as she lowered her head. "You just don't get it, Bella." The sadness in Rose's voice was painful to hear.

"Then tell me!" I begged, taking a few steps forward, in an attempt to close he ever increasing gulf between us.

"This conversation is over," she responded, defensively.

"Rosalie," I said softly, closing even more distance between us and reaching out to touch her arm. She didn't shrug it off, but it didn't seem like she was particularly happy to have it there either. After staring at my extended appendage on her arm for a moment, her sad greenish-blue eyes met mine and I could see all her pain and heartache and feelings of betrayal staring back at me.

"I'm sorry, Bella." Tears were shining in her sparkling orbs, as she whispered an apology to me. I didn't know why she was apologising. I didn't want an apology.

All I could do was slowly let go of Rose's arm and I watched as she retreated down the stairs again, her footsteps sounding oddly heavy. The further away she got, the more blurred her tall form seemed to me. Something had just changed between us and it didn't feel like it was for the better. I felt like I had crossed a line. Seeing the total heartache in her eyes, and knowing that I was the person who had brought it to the surface, didn't sit well with me at all. I was so caught up in my own thoughts that it took me several minutes to realise I needed to get back downstairs again, before someone else came looking for me and I ruined their night too.

Gingerly making my way back to the dining table, my legs felt like lead. "Jeez, Bella. Did you fall in?" Emmett chuckled, as I lowered myself into the chair beside Rosalie again. I gave him a half-hearted smile, before glancing quickly at Alice. There was worry and apprehension clearly visible on her face and it looked like she was physically restraining herself from reaching across the table to take my hand in her own. She knew there was something wrong.

"Emmett, honey, will you help me clear the table?" Rose said, turning to her husband. Her voice sounded a lot more pleasant than I thought it would, although there was still something almost frighteningly sad about the way she was speaking. Before answering, the giant man opposite me seemed to assess the tone of Rosalie's voice and my suddenly solemn demeanour, his eyes darting between us both.

"Of course, babe." Emmett heaved himself out of his chair and silently collected our plates and cutlery, before trailing after his wife.

Alice couldn't contain herself any longer and practically lunged diagonally across the table and took my hand, which was resting on the table, between both of hers. "Bella, what happened?" She asked, desperately. Turning to look beside me, I saw Jacob with a similar look of worry on his face. I shook my head and pinched the bridge of my nose.

"After dessert, we're leaving," I replied to Alice's question, simplistically. "We need to leave."

I need to leave…

"She knows we were spying on her?" Jacob said, loosening his tie as he sat with Alice and I in my living room, coming back to the house with us purely for appearances sake. "Shit. No wonder she was so cold with us when we left," he finished, running his hand across his cropped hair. Alice bounced over closer to me on the couch and touched my knee.

"There's more. There's something you're not telling us," she stated, reading me like a book, her blue eyes sparkling. I entwined our fingers together, before letting myself fall against the back cushion.

"It's just…" I began, not really knowing how to put into words what I was feeling. "You should have seen her face. She looked so… betrayed," I confessed, whispering the last word.

"Bella, I don't want to be the guy who says, 'I told you so,' but I did warn you that nothing good could come from tonight."

"Jacob, you're not helping," Alice said, eyeing Jake with a steely gaze, her voice sounding unusually stern.

"I'm just saying-"

"Well don't!"

"Guys, stop!" I bellowed, sounding exasperated, even to my own ears. "Please," I finished, much more quietly. Alice squeezed my hand in a silent apology and I must admit, it did make me feel better.

The three of us sat in contemplative silence for several minutes, before Jake cleared his throat and stood from the arm chair. "I should get going. It's late."

I untangled myself from Alice and got up. After he gave Alice a nod, I ushered Jacob to the front door. "I'm sorry for talking you into this, Jake. I really am." He turned and looked me straight in the eye, before pulling me to his chest in a tight hug.

"Please don't ever make me do that again," he muttered into my hair. I nodded against him and pulled back, reaching past him and opening the door.

"Take care, Bella." And with that, he was gone.

Not long after, Alice and I were lying, curled up together in my bed, exchanging occasional sweet kisses and caresses. "I'm sleepy," Alice suddenly announced, adorably. I kissed the top of her head.

"Then go to sleep." The tiny beauty buried her head in my shoulder before mumbling,

"I need to pee, but I don't want to move." I chuckled at her words and shifted on the bed, so we were now facing each other.

"Chances are, I'll still be here when you get back," I reassured. She stuck her tongue out at me, but did proceed to throw the covers off herself and disappear to the bathroom. With another chuckle, I rolled over to turn the bedside lamp off, but instead, noticed the small bundle of letters that Alice had brought me a couple of mornings ago. I sat up and reached for the mail, thinking that there was probably a bill somewhere in there that needed paying. Junk, junk, bill… Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Until I came to the last letter. I glanced to the top corner of the unusual looking envelope and my eyebrows disappeared into my hairline. Volturi Publications, Los Angeles, CA, was stamped there and my heart began to race. Was this what Demetri was talking about on the phone? Wasting no time, I tore open the envelope and began to read the short letter:

Dear Ms. Swan,

As I am sure you are aware, Volturi Publications has recently requested a portfolio of your work from Eclipse Publishing House, NY. It is my understanding that you currently do not have a permanent position within said company and I am writing to inform you that Volturi Publications is offering you a permanent position as an Illustrator in our Advertising Division.

If you are at all interested in our offer, please contact us, either by telephone or email, no later than April 21st

We look forward to working with you.

Yours sincerely,

Marcus Volturi.

I couldn't believe what I had just read. One of the biggest publishing companies in California had requested a portfolio of my work, completely out of the blue, and wanted me to work for them? That was completely unheard of. A huge smile spread across my face and I was about to shout to Alice, but then a realisation hit me that made my smile disappear. Alice.

The job was in Los Angeles. Alice was in New York. This job was everything I had been wishing for my entire adult life, but now, so was Alice. Everything she had was here; her parents, Emmett… I couldn't ask her to move to California for me. If I did ask her, would she even say yes? The slight squeak of the bathroom door opening alerted me to Alice's imminent return and I quickly shoved the letter into the drawer of my bedside cabinet and lay back down.

"We're running low on soap, I'll pick some up tomorrow," Alice said matter-of-factly, as she glided through the door and repositioned herself beside me in bed.

"O-Okay, cool," I replied, trying my best to sound nonchalant. Of course, it didn't work.

"You okay?" Alice asked, raising herself up on one elbow to look down at me.

"Yeah, of course. I was just looking through the mail you brought up here the other day and the electric bill arrived," I explained, rolling my eyes good-naturedly.

"Hmm," my tiny angel hummed, settling her head on my chest, entwining her legs with my own and stroking her hand across my stomach. "Your heart is beating really fast," she commented, after a moment.

"It always does when you're around," I said, in what I hoped was a coy voice. Her response was to snuggle closer into me, so it must have been convincing enough.

"I really do love listening to it."

I inclined my head towards Alice and inhaled her sweet, vanilla scent. "It reassures you, right?"

"It does. It really does," she murmured, yawning tiredly.

Reassurance, I thought. I could do with some of that right about now. I really could.