All the disclaimers I have posted since the start of the story still stands.

Chapter 21: Inevitable Veracities

Patrick was tensed the whole ride home— prepared to spring at the smallest sign of attack— shooting concerned glances in my direction every few seconds. I on the other hand, was completely lost in thought.

Alice and Jasper were back and another new vampire was bent on destroying me as compensation for her mate's death. But being the bizarre person that I was, not a single one of these boggled my mind as much as the fact that if it hadn't been for Irina's timely entrance, I would have declared myself to Patrick. I would have removed the well hidden pain in his eyes with the words I knew he was dying to hear right then and there— even if he said he would wait as long as it takes.

When we arrived at my house, Patrick wordlessly helped me out of his car. I glanced at him and another realization dawned on me. I was still in the dress Lassarina had put me in and Charlie had no idea where I've been and that Patrick and I were… What were we?

I looked back at house frantically.

"What am I going to tell Charlie?" I murmured mostly to myself but he of course, would hear.

"You don't need to worry about that." He whispered in my ear as he opened the front door for me and ushered me in.

I nodded as I remembered his convenient little talent.

I turned to say good night to him and was surprised that he closed the door behind him. My eyes widened in panic.

"What are you doing? Charlie—"

"Relax Bella. He's asleep on the couch." I followed his gaze and sure enough, my dad was lying on the couch in a deep sleep.

I gasped as I was swept up from my feet and suddenly brought inside my room. I heard the door close behind me with a silent thud.

"My motor skills are completely fine you know. I could've walked upstairs by myself." I sighed as I looked at him and my breath suddenly hitched. He was leaning by the window with his arms crossed. His eyes seemed troubled as he gazed into the night. The streaks of lighter brown in his hair were more apparent and his hair remained windswept from the run— he was painstakingly above beautiful in the moonlight.

I walked up to him and touched his arm lightly. "Are you alright?"

He turned to face me with a strained smile on his face and cautiously held me closer to him. "Shouldn't I be the one asking you that?"

I glanced up at him confused. "I'm fine."

"You've had a very eventful day. What happened to you is a lot to take in. Are you sure you're alright?" His eyes were filled with anxiety.

"Just peachy." I smiled up at him to lessen his apprehension.

He sighed and tightened his arms around me. "I wanted this evening to be memorable… but not in this way."

I stared into his smoldering gold eyes. It was filled with sadness and pain… I couldn't take it. I wanted to remove all the hurt he was feeling, I wanted to make everything better. He was suffering because of me— because of my stubbornness to recognize the feeling that had been brewing inside of me since he came. It hurt me to see him in such a condition.

I buried my head in his chest and blurted out the words I had once swore would never come out of my mouth unless directed to Edward.

"I love you."

Now, that wasn't so bad was it? Wrong. I felt horrible. I felt like I was betraying Edward in some way… but he wasn't here. He didn't love me anymore and I couldn't lie to myself anymore either. I truly do love Patrick, maybe not as strong as I had loved Edward, but strong enough to start moving on. Saying those words somehow lightened the weight of my heart.

I felt my cheeks start to burn as we stood there in each other's arms for who knows how long.

I heard him draw a ragged breath and his voice was uneven when he spoke. "What?"

I sighed. "I love you."

He drew back slightly and tilted my chin upwards so that he could see my face clearly. I was shocked to see that the pain in his eyes was intensified as I stared back at him. Was it wrong to say those words?

He shook his head back and forth slightly. "Bella I…" he stopped abruptly and disentangled himself from me, though one arm was still at the small of my back as he turned to face the window. I turned to him, confused by his actions and followed his gaze.

I was about to open my mouth to speak but the tree outside rocked ever so slightly and suddenly I found myself in the enthusiastic arms of the black pixie-like vampire that was my best friend… my sister.

"Alice!" I gasped.

Tears suddenly and illogically spilled from my eyes as I returned her hug just as eagerly. I cried on her shoulder for what seemed like hours— though in reality I knew it was just a few minutes— but she didn't mind. She just continued to hold on to me as she waited for my tears to end. I saw from the corner of my eye that Patrick had settled himself in the rocking chair at the corner of my room, his face vacant from any expression.

I pulled back and gazed happily at the vampire standing in front of me. I didn't realize how much I missed her. Heck, I even missed her lunatic shopping trips and makeovers… On second thought, maybe not that much.

"Am I dreaming?" I said in a quiet tone, a little skeptical.

She laughed— the sound of wind chimes— and I found that I missed that distinct sound too. "I'm really here Bella."

"You came back."

"Jasper and I did."

"Where is he?" I looked around the room but Alice, Patrick and I were the only ones here.

"He's still in the forest but he'll be here soon."

"What did you do with the other one?" Patrick's smooth velvet voice issued from the corner he sat from.

"We tried to talk some sense into her but her mind was set. We didn't really want to kill her though she wouldn't listen to reason."

I shuddered at her words, incapable of visualizing sweet and petite Alice murdering a sought on revenge vampire. "You… killed her?" I asked in disbelief.

Her expression turned to chagrin. "We… tried."

"You let her get away?" Patrick's tone was low and filled with anger as he materialized beside us.

"I was… distracted." Her eyes briefly flashed to my face as she said this. "And Jasper got distracted by me so Irina took the opportunity and bolted into the forest. By the time I snapped out of it, Jasper was running after her but she was too fast for him."

I knew that 'distracted' was just Alice's discreet way of telling me that she had a vision. She didn't really need to mask her words carefully because Patrick already knew her talent. But I was too preoccupied to place care in Alice's vision.

"She got away?" I asked in disbelief simultaneous to Patrick's low growl.

"Don't worry about her. She doesn't pose any threat to us and she is clearly outnumbered." Alice told me in a soothing voice though it did only little to pacify me.

Patrick held my hands and looked in my eyes with a new intensity. "Breathe, Bella. I swear I won't let her touch you."

I knew how true his words were and I allowed myself to be calmed by his touch. I nodded and did my best to smile at the two of them.

Alice had a frustrated expression on her face when she spoke again. "Bella, may I speak to you in private?"

I glanced at Patrick. His face was carefully calm. I sighed, not really wanting the source of my composure leave my side. "Patrick, do you mind?"

He smiled at me. His eyes were soft as he spoke. "Go ahead. I'll just bring the car back home. I'll come back later." He then turned to Alice as he added, "Please take care of her and make sure she's safe."

Alice nodded and surprised me by giving Patrick a small smile. "Of course."

I smiled up at him and he swooped down to kiss my cheek before he jumped out the window. I turned back to Alice to see her face anxious, sad and… in pain? I didn't say anything and waited for her to start.

"Bella," she started carefully. "Jasper and I came back for a reason."

I felt my face drop. Of course. I was stupid to believe that they came back simply because they wanted to see how I was doing… because they still cared for me.

"We did want to come back and see you, of course." Alice quickly amended, interpreting my sudden depression correctly. "We miss you, terribly. We didn't even want to leave in the first place. But there was never enough reason for us to come back to Forks. Edward made us promise not to interfere."

I wasn't reason enough for them to come back... That sunk in like cold sharp daggers piercing me. "And now you have reason enough?" I was trying to control the sudden anger that was boiling up inside me.

"Yes…" Alice said quietly. "I want my brother back."

The statement completely threw me off. "What?"

"Edward." Alice started pacing about and started talking in a frantic voice. I've never seen her act like this before and it slightly scared me. "Edward didn't come with us when we left Forks. He went off by himself and tore himself apart from us. He never called to check in and he never answered any of our calls. Carlisle and Esme were keeping a calm façade and kept saying he'll come round when he's ready. But I knew deep inside they were worrying about his well-being. Like all of us— me, Jasper, Emmett and Rose— were."

She plopped down on my bed with a thud and continued. "My visions were going hay wire whenever I tried to look into his future. I kept getting flashes of… things. There was never a solid vision and it made me panic even more."

I sat down beside her and put my arm around her small frame to comfort her. "Then suddenly he re-appears and tells us that he's going after… that he's found something to distract him. Something to make him useful, he said. The same day he left and he went back to his routine of no contact. We started to worry again."

"And then a week ago, he came back to Denali. His eyes were pitch black and I knew he hadn't hunted for more than a month. He never looked so weak, so vulnerable, so broken." Her voice was pained when she reached the end. I felt my chest contract as she relayed her story. Edward was in pain… but why?

"The moment I looked in his eyes Bella, I knew that Edward was lost— he was not my brother." She took in an unnecessary breath and continued. "It was so horrible Bella! To see nothing, no trace of emotion in his eyes, no trace of life… It would have been better if he broke all the things in the house, if he shouted, sobbed, I don't care! Anything's better than what he is now… Empty. Lifeless. Dead."

I felt pain coarse through my body as I took in her every word. My breathing grew erratic. What Alice was telling me was the way I acted when they left.

Alice took my hand in hers. "You're the only one who can bring him back to his senses."

"I don't understand what you mean."

Alice let out an exasperated breath.

"Bella, Edward's made it plain for everyone to see that he can't exist without you." She sighed. "You might be able to live without him, but he certainly can't manage without you."

I felt angry tears well up in my eyes. "Live without him? You didn't see how I was Alice! Charlie thought I was getting deranged and Renee was practically going to drag me out of my room and into a plane with her if I didn't get any better soon! My friends said I was like a zombie and all the while, I felt like my heart was slowly being ripped out." The tears were now flowing freely from my cheeks.

"You may have been like that at first, Bella. But you coped with it and moved and did something. Edward though… He's not just making us worry. He's making us frightened. Even Jasper can't read his emotions anymore. You're doing much, much better at managing." She looked at me sadly. "I saw it. You told Patrick that you loved him. It was that vision that distracted me and Jasper and allowed Irina to escape."

"I love Edward more." I murmured guiltily and what was that? I almost sounded like I was unsure.

She smiled sadly. She was about to say something but decided against it.

"Besides, he said he didn't love me anymore." I said to myself quietly.

Alice gave me an incredulous look. "Earth to Bella! Do you think he would be acting this way if he didn't love you anymore? I swear, saying that he's head over heels is the understatement of the year." She pouted at me. "He can't live without you. Bella… Edward needs you. More than anything in the world. Ever since you came into his life, his entire existence revolved around you… depended on you. You weren't there to see how great a change you made into his life."

I shook my head slowly, not daring to hope, to believe that Edward didn't just want me… he needed me.

"Bella," Alice's eyes were now filled with an intensity I've never seen before. "Edward lied to you. He had to. He knew you wouldn't let him go so easily so he said that he didn't love you anymore even though that is one of the most improbable things in the universe! And you can't imagine how much it hurt him to see how easily you believed that one, single, lie compared to the thousand numerous times that he said how much you meant to him."

She stared into my eyes, willing me to understand. I could fee a tiny seed of hope in my chest. Alice said Edward still loved me.

"Bella, the only reason Edward left was to protect you. After your birthday… he sort of snapped. He said that he couldn't take all the dangers he inflicted on your life. I tried to talk some sense into him, we all did. But he didn't listen. He made us promise not to come back— to allow you a chance at a normal human life and he deluded himself into thinking that you would be able to move on sooner or later. We had no choice."

I looked at Alice and saw nothing but truth in her eyes. It dawned on me now that somehow I knew, deep inside me, I knew all along that Edward still loved me. That's why I was so unwilling to leave Forks, to move on and let go of him.

Alice pulled me into a hug as I started to sob uncontrollably on her shoulder.

"That's the most stupid thing I've ever heard!" My speech was a muffled sound but I was sure she could make it out. "He's crazy to think that I would ever get over him."

"I know, Bella. I know." She sighed as she pulled away from me. Her eyes flashed to something behind me. "You can come up Jasper, it's alright."

I turned to look behind me and saw Jasper with his gaze downcast.

"Jasper, it's great to see you again." I smiled at him as my sobs subsided but did not take a step nearer. I didn't want to test his control, just yet.

I suddenly felt irrationally guilty as Jasper looked at me. Then I realized that it was Jasper's guilt that was flooding into mine and Alice's body.

"What's up?" I asked him, my own concern mixing with the wave of guilt he was sending off.

He looked uncertainly at Alice and when she nodded encouragingly, he slowly walked towards me. When he was less than a feet away from me, he caught me in complete surprise as he leaned in, and pulled me into an unexpected hug.

A/N: How did you like this chapter? I wrote Alice not as the bubbly one that we are used to but a disappointed and very anxious Alice. It takes a lot to get Alice really worried and disappointed so I hope that the fact that Alice was in pain because of Edward's dead eyes that haunted her would help you grasp just how terrible Edward's condition is.

Please review people! And I have to say, I'm very surprised at how the poll is turning out. Keep on voting. And read my other story "Destroying Typecasts". Chapter 3 will be up shortly.:)