Author's Note: So…a little sisterly time together between Alice and Bella here in this chapter… Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.

Chapter 25

As soon as I'd walked into the gym after changing, Alice was there right in front of me, jumping excitedly.

"Alice," I hissed. "Act human!"

"Oh, relax," she said, rolling her eyes. "They didn't notice anything. So, so, so? Did it happen? Did he tell you?"

I narrowed my eyes. "You saw it happening, didn't you?"

"Well, yeah," Alice said. "You should have let him say the words, Bella."

I shook my head as we sat on the top bench of the bleachers. "I wouldn't have been able to bear it. You probably know what might happen."

"I had a slight vision," she admitted. "It wasn't too bad. It only involved you throwing Edward's Volvo into the woods after school at home."

I laughed suddenly. "That would have been fun."

"He would have been horrified," Alice confirmed. "But he wouldn't have been angry with you. Only 'cause it's you and he lov-"

"Don't say it," I hissed.

"Sheesh, Bella," Alice complained. "You take all the fun out of life. How are you two ever going to be together then? You guys are mates."

"We're not," I said, swallowing hard. "Not if I could help it. I could think of a few ways to prevent that. And I know I'll succeed."

"No!" Alice gasped as she saw the possibilities in her visions. "You wouldn't!"

"I would," I snapped. "If it would help, I'd do anything. Did I mention? I'm a very selfish person."

"You're not selfish," she said firmly. "It's only because your natural survival instincts are hundred times sharper than most vampires. And that is because of your wretched human life."

"Whatever, Alice. Just don't make me leave. I don't want to either, but I will if you pressure me. Edward knows this."

"Of course," Alice said, rolling her eyes exasperatedly. "The mind-reader knows everything."

"Please, Alice."

Just then, Coach Clapp entered and assigned the same partners from yesterday and sent them to the courts. Alice and I didn't move, and he didn't seem to notice. And we sat there, talking the whole time. Well, more like arguing. Alice insisted that there was no way to block this no matter how much time passed. I knew it was silly to bet against her, but I simply didn't want to think about it.

Edward could not be my mate.

I had totally refused that thought ever since my transformation. I wished nothing of that kind. Hell, I didn't even want companionship, but being with the Cullens was addicting. They grew on me and I was probably going to have a hard time when I moved on.

"Don't you dare even contemplating that, Isabella Cullen!" Alice hissed suddenly. "I saw the possibilities right now, and it won't end well!"

I shrugged. "I'm going to have to move on eventually. I won't be able to cope mentally, being around men a lot. And I'm thinking that it'll be soon. Now that I know about Edward's feelings."

"Maybe, but you're coming back," Alice said desperately. It was like she was persuading me, not trying to prove me wrong.

"We'll see," I said curtly. "Let's go." I stood up and descended the bleachers, reaching the ground exactly as the bell rang. Alice followed me to the changing rooms, all the while glancing at me nervously.

"I'm riding with you," Alice chirped, struggling to return to her normally cheerful tone as we walked out of the gym.

"Why?" I wondered as we walked quickly out into the parking lot. "You don't want Edward to listen to your thoughts?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

"I'll block them if you want," I offered, my heart not interested in the conversation. I was still feeling confused by Edward's sudden, almost confession. It was a good thing I had stopped him, really. Or I probably would have gone insane definitely, acting like I was having a seizure or something.

"Oh, would you?" Alice perked up. "Please, Bella!"

I nodded once and immediately excluded everyone else from my mental shield. This meant that I wasn't going to be able to read people's minds for a while until Alice said it was okay to free her, but I didn't mind. I didn't want to anyway.

It would be easy to tune out her thoughts too. I've had lots of practice, and I knew I would be tuning her out all the time now. She would undoubtedly be looking for Edward's future because I refused to let down my shield, and I didn't want to see it.

Edward and Emmett caught up to us and were walking right behind us now as we were walking towards our cars. As always, the human boys all stared at me as we walked.

"What did you see, Alice?" Edward asked warily as we reached our cars.

"Alice is riding with me," I told him indifferently to spare her. Alice shot me a grateful look.

He nodded, looking worried by my changed attitude towards him. I would have to struggle to act normally with him. Damn, this was going to be hard.

"See you at home," Alice chirped happily as she slid into the passenger's seat. She sighed. "This car really is lovely, Bella."

"Hey, she's riding Bella's car?" Jasper complained as he and Rose arrived.

"Sorry, Jazz," I muttered as I backed out quickly. We saw him pout. Alice giggled and waved at him as I sped hurriedly out of the parking lot way before the others got into the car. I was in a hurry to get out of Edward's eyes.

"Wanna go shopping?" Alice asked tentatively, sensing my discomfort.

I hesitated. I didn't really like the idea of shopping, but it would get me away from Edward for a couple hours. And away from reality.

"Sure, Alice," I said easily.

She brightened. "Great! Rose will have to forgive us for going without her. Will you humor me today?"

I laughed freely, though there was still an edge to it. "I'm yours, Alice. We can get back as late as we want."

Her eyes widened excitedly. "Midnight?"

I shook my head incredulously. "Okay. Olympia or Seattle? Port Angeles?"

"Are you kidding?" Alice squealed. "Olympia, of course! Step on it, Bella!"

And as I grinned and pressed on the accelerator, going at one hundred miles per hour before we turned into the freeway, I rolled down the windows all the way and let the cold breeze fill the car.

Alice squealed happily and laughed freely as she raised her tiny arms in excitement. I even let down my physical shield and relaxed, letting her see my future. Today was officially Alice's day, and I was going to let her have it.

"I love you, Bella!" Alice screamed at the top of her lungs as I drove at one-fifty miles per hour now, realizing that she could see my future now.

I changed the music track into something loud and complicated instead of my usual classic music, a band that Alice liked. I turned the volume up and Alice sang most of the way, her voice weaving through the notes and words an octave higher than the lead singer.

"How's this, Bella?" Alice asked for the hundredth time, throwing a light pink one-piece at me. "That dress will definitely make you look sexy. It will fit you in all the right places, for sure."

I took it without complaint and headed back inside the dressing room. A second later, I came out and twirled around for her.

"I knew it!" she exclaimed happily. "It's just gorgeous on you!"

I rolled my eyes. "I make everything look good, do I? You've said that for the last four hundred and three outfits in the last sixty stores."

"Yes, you do!" she said enthusiastically. "Even Rosalie doesn't look as good in all of them! It's the power of appearance, Bella!"

I sighed. "I can't believe I'm humoring you."

"I can't believe it either!" Alice said. "I thought you would have started to complain three hundred stores ago."

I shrugged lightly as I sat back down on the waiting sofa. "I told you. Today's your day. I won't spoil it."

Her eyes narrowed slightly because she knew why I was humoring her. But she wasn't going to complain. Even Rosalie got tired of her shopping trips after a while.

"Alright then," she said, shrugging. She was worried, but she'd decided to go along with it, seeing nothing bad in our futures. She turned to the employees who had the clothes Alice had picked out in their arms, which was basically everything.

"Bag everything," she instructed. "Here, charge it on this card." She handed the woman her customized pink credit card.

"Yes, Miss Cullen," the woman said, panting slightly as she took the card, struggling to keep the clothes in her arms.

Alice went towards the shoe section to look at some killer heels. I glanced back at the employee who could barely walk without dropping an outfit. I hesitated, then took half of the stack. She stared at me wide-eyed.

"Let me help you," I murmured.

She looked horrified. "Oh, no, Miss Cullen! You shouldn't! This is my job!"

I smiled slightly. "I feel guilty. My sister's always buying me clothes, but I don't even like shopping. I don't like it when people suffer because of me."

She bit her lip, but then smiled tentatively.

"Thank you, Miss Cullen," she said softly.

I nodded once before gliding away faster than she did with half the stack, and placed my stack on the counter.

The employee came and stacked hers on top of mine, then disappeared through a door. A few seconds later, another employee came out and started scanning the items.

Alice came up to me, somehow holding ten pairs of killer shoes.

"I saw that," she said, her eyes narrowed as she placed the shoes on the counter. "You just can't stop helping people, huh?"

I looked away. "It's a habit."

"Habit?" Alice asked incredulously. "You mean…before?" She couldn't talk freely in front of the human employee.

I nodded once. Alice studied me, then shrugged.

"Would you like to know what your total is, Miss Cullen?" the employee asked timidly.

"Which one of us are you talking to?" Alice laughed. "Sure, why not?"

"Two thousand and three hundred fifty-two dollars and seventy-eight cents."

"That's it?" I asked blankly, blinking.

The employee blinked once, shocked. "I'm sorry?"

"I would have thought it would have been closer to five thousand…" I muttered.

"Okay," Alice said cheerfully. "I gave you the card, didn't I? Swipe it!"

The employee did so, and then, two more employees came out and helped her bag the clothes.

"Alice," I sighed as two helpers loaded the bags into my already filled backseat. "It's midnight. And we don't have space anymore to store the bags in the car. We've already filled the back trunk and backseat. Let's leave, huh?"

"What?" Alice nearly shrieked. "We haven't seen anything yet, Bella! Please? I thought this was going to be my day?"

I rolled my eyes as the helpers shut the car door gently, as if they were afraid of scratching it.

"It was," I said, glancing at my watch. "It's 12:01. Your day is over, Alice. Let's head back. Please?"

"But Bella…"

I handed each of the two helpers a generous tip for helping us. The two men's eyes widened as they saw the one hundred dollar bill and glanced up at me as though they were afraid I was making a mistake. I merely gave them a nod in thanks, smiling slightly, and they walked back inside the store, dazed. They deserved more than one hundred dollars, seeing how they had just loaded about fifty shopping bags.

"Let's go, Alice, please?" I begged as we got in the car.

She pouted. "Fine. But only because there's no more space in the car. Next time, we're taking Edward's Volvo!"

"He'd freak out if he sees it covered in designer bags," I said dryly as I drove quickly to the freeway.

Alice snorted, laughing. "Yeah. I could just imagine the look on his face. And speaking of which, why did you let your shield back up? I can't see a thing about you now!"

"Your day's over, Alice," I reminded her. "I humored you."

"Hmph."

Suddenly, Alice's phone rang for the umpteenth time. She didn't glance it; she had expected it.

"Alice, who is it?" I asked curiously. "They've been calling all day today."

"Jasper, Rosalie, and Edward," Alice answered promptly. "Right now, it's Jazz. They're all wondering where we are. Emmett suggested that we were kidnapped."

"Why don't you pick up?"

"What's the point?" she asked. "We're going home anyway. So what if we scared them a little? Actually, we're scaring Jazzy and Edward a lot right now. Rose is just angry that we went shopping without her, and Emmett doesn't really care. Mostly, he's just worrying about the unloading that he'll have to do."

I rolled my eyes. The ringing stopped.

"Still," I said worriedly. "Jasper is your mate, Alice. You know he'd do anything for you. Just ignoring his call isn't nice. I bet he's practically dying right now."

"He knows you won't let anything happen to me," Alice said dismissively. "That's how much the family trusts you. And they're trusting me that I won't let anything happen to you."

I was silent, touched.

Alice sighed happily. "We made a good haul today, huh? We got clothes for everybody!"

I rolled my eyes. "I don't think Esme is going to be that happy with the lingerie you chose for her. She and Carlisle are rather old-fashioned…"

"So is Edward," Alice said smugly. "Yet, why did I see him marveling at the sight of your sexy body in lingerie earlier?"

I was horrified. "What?"

"I'm telling you, Bella," Alice said impatiently. "No matter how much you refuse it, no matter how much you stall, you'll end up with Edward. You'll love each other even more than the rest of us love our mates, and you'll break Emmett and Rosalie's record of not coming out of the bedroom for a decade!"

"Alice!" I snapped. "I was just about to forget about him!"

"Don't forget, Bella," Alice advised me. "Think about it. Think about his love for you. And think about your feelings for him as well. I'm sure they're growing inside of you, but you're just too stubborn to admit it. Once you accept it and change your thoughts about men, I promise, I'll have to go shopping every day, what with Edward ripping every single lingerie you wear every night. And I'll oblige…happily."

I sighed. "Fine. I don't bet against you, Alice. But don't do any matchmaking. Let it happen naturally. If I accept Edward as my mate, then fine. We'll love each other. But until then-"

"Love each other?" Alice repeated. "That's putting it extremely mildly. You won't be coming out of the bedroom for nearly two decades!"

"Is that why you asked me to shield your thoughts from him?" I asked dryly.

"Nope," Alice said cheerfully. "He already saw."

"WHAT?"

"He accepted it," Alice said innocently. "You should too. No, I asked you because he was going to be hurt doubly when he saw you rejecting him."

I hesitated. "I'm going to…reject him?"

"I don't know if it will happen one hundred percent," Alice said, frowning. "That'll be your choice. And if I were you, I wouldn't hurt him."

"I'll try to avoid it," I decided. "He's my brother, after all. I don't want him to get hurt."

"He's only a brother now," Alice warned. "But he'll be your husband later. So try to fall in love with him fast, okay, Bella?"

I rolled my eyes. "Thanks, sis."

Alice babbled on about fashion while I tuned her out easily as we zoomed back into Forks. I was thinking about Edward and what Alice had told me. Will I really get to live my life happily with my mate someday?

AN: So did you like the sisterly conversation? I just love writing about Alice. She's so fun. And her bright personality is just contagious. I felt happy when I was writing this chapter. I hope you enjoyed it too!