Bella

After Jasper had relieved Edward and me of our guard duty at midnight, we made our way back downstairs slowly. He was quiet and seemed thoughtful.

I kept quiet too, until we reached our bedroom doors. Then I turned to face him, preparing to say goodnight. He obviously wasn't going to invite me in.

However, he interrupted me, "I need to apologise."

I raised an eyebrow in surprise, I hadn't been expecting this. "You do?"

He nodded, then looked at his feet, "When I told Jasper it was just about sex... I didn't mean it. I was angry, I still thought you were sleeping with Emmett..."

"What? Why would you think that? I already told you, we're just friends." I answered.

He frowned, "Well... I asked him, and he denied it, but he looked really guilty. I mean, the guy blushed. He actually went red."

I stood confused for a moment before realisation dawned, "Last night, I fell over in the bathroom, when I was getting out of the shower..."

Edward looked concerned and confused at the same time.

"I'm fine... But, Emmett heard me fall, and he burst in... I forgot to lock the door. I was naked and soaking wet, and lying on the floor... He must have come straight back downstairs afterwards, and then you asked him that... No wonder he was embarrassed!" I paused, and looked straight into his eyes, "I promise Edward, I would never do that to you."

He dropped my eyes, looking thoroughly ashamed of himself for once, "I'm sorry."

I gave him a small smile, "It's fine. Forget about it. I have a question though."

"Yes?"

"If it's not just sex, then what is this?" I waved a hand through the space between us.

He hesitated for a moment, before answering, "I don't know... But I do know what I would like it to be."

"What?" I studied his face carefully, but his expression was unreadable.

"Permanent. I don't want this to end Bella... Even after we escape this mad house." He said with a small laugh.

My heart sped up to a ridiculous pace, and for a moment, I felt like I was in one of my own movies.

Edward wrapped his hands around my waist and pulled me against him, "Stay with me tonight?"

I smiled, "If you want me to."

He kissed me gently, "I think I'll always want you too."

Alice

The clock struck four am and my alarm sounded next to me. I sighed and crawled out of bed, pulling a jumper and some thick socks on over my pyjamas, picking up my sketch pad and a pencil on my way out.

Just as I opened my bedroom door, Jasper rounded the corner, and I was severely tempted to dive back into my room and hide. But when I thought back to Rosalie yesterday, I felt pathetic, and, somehow, I strengthened my resolve in the knowledge that there were other people worse off than I was.

I acknowledged Jasper with a small nod, then ran straight up the stairs to the top floor of the house.

Emmett was already here, splayed out on the floor outside of the room, with a pillow tucked under his head. I sat down as far away from him as I could manage without being impolite, and flipped to the next clean page.

Emmett opened his eyes and asked, sleepily, "How many of those things do you get through in a week?"

I shrugged, "One, sometimes two. I have lots of ideas."

"So I see..." He sat up slowly and yawned, "Can I look?"

I didn't want to upset him, so I slowly pushed the book along the carpeted floor towards him, not wanting to actually touch him.

He flipped through it with interest for a good 10 minutes before pushing it back towards me, "You're good. Do you think you'll be able to go into the office eventually? I mean... Do you think it will get easier?"

"I didn't used to think so... But, things are getting better all the time. The thing is, the Jimmy Choo offices are in New York and London, and I don't think any amount of therapy will ever prepare me for that."

He frowned, "Hmm. That's a difficult one. But don't underestimate Jazzy... He's pretty good."

"He's got to be, dealing with us lot. But, I'm better already than when I got here." This was evidenced by the fact that I'd had more conversations here in a few days than I'd had since the age of 8.

He grinned, "I'm glad. Right, think you can hold down the fort here while I go to the bathroom?"

I nodded, "I'll be fine."

I shuffled further away as he stood up, towering above me, and disappeared into the bathroom at the end of the hall. I may have been improving, but a large part of me was still on edge constantly.

The hallway was dimly lit, and the house had gone quiet. I looked up and out of the window towards the moon, and shivered involuntarily, pulling my knees tight up against my chest.

I looked down the hall away from the bathroom door, towards the stairs which disappeared into a pool of darkness. I saw something move, and I froze on the spot, my heart pounding heavily. The silence continued, and as a dark cloud moved across the moon outside, the whole room became more and more sinister. I had never wanted to see Emmett as much as I did now, but he was showing no signs of reappearing.

I kept my eyes trained on the stairs, searching for shapes in the darkness.

My breathing was heavy, but there was no other sound. I finally snapped when I detected the creek of a footstep somewhere in the house and, suspecting it was coming from the stairs, I jumped up and ran straight into Rosalie's room, knowing at least I wouldn't be alone there.

I slammed the door shut behind me, and backed away from it, further into the room, my eyes shifting quickly from the window to the door and back again.

Suddenly, a quiet voice interrupted me, "What are you doing?"

While I wouldn't have described it as welcoming, it wasn't exactly what I would have expected from Rosalie. I turned around slowly, realising at this point that the lights were on in the room, and that rather than being asleep, as I had assumed she would be, she was sat up in bed with a magazine and a her iPod headphones in.

"I'm sorry." My voice trembled as I spoke to her, "I just... Emmett left me outside... Alone. And it was dark and I thought I saw something move... I'm sorry."

She frowned, for a brief moment, then her face smoothed out, "You can stay in here, if you want." She offered.

I hesitated, but finally nodded, then sat down on the furthest corner of the bed. I looked at her nervously, she was pale, and had black circles under her eyes. "How do you feel?" I asked.

She shrugged, "Pretty shit actually."

I nodded. I could imagine. "Would you like me to get you anything?"

She looked thoughtful for a moment, "Erm... I know this sounds strange at 4:30am, but, could I maybe have a little more of the soup Bella made?"

I was shocked at her request, and it must have shown on my face because she frowned, "I'm sorry, don't worry. I mean, you don't have to go down there if you don't want to."

I shook my head, Rosalie needed to eat. Desperately. I wouldn't let a silly phobia get in the way of her, if she was hungry.

"It's fine." I mustered up a smile. She could tell it was fake, but I turned on my heel and walked out of the door before she could protest.

Emmett was still in the bathroom, and I briefly wondered what the hell he was doing in there, before turning towards the stairs, running my hand along the wall as I inched closer, trying to find a light switch.

I forced myself closer and closer to the top step, until eventually, just two steps away, I found a switch and flipped it on, illuminating the hallway and most of the stairs. I focused on putting one step in front of the other and descended the stairs carefully, eventually reaching the first floor.

A light had been left on, so I walked briskly along to Bella's door, and knocked loudly. I hated to wake her up, but I was pretty sure we'd finished all the soup, and this constituted an emergency.

I waited for a while, and when no one answered and there was no sound of movement from inside, I forced myself to turn and try Edward's door, assuming that Bella was 'sleeping over' with him.

My hunch was right, and I soon heard the sound of sheets rummaging. The door swung open. However, instead of being greeted by Bella as I had expected, Edward stood there, his hair messy, wearing nothing but a pair of shorts. "What the fuck do you want?" he asked, angrily.

I panicked.

I wasn't used to dealing with Edward. I hardly ever spoke to him, and as he eyed me wearily, I felt the ability to speak coherently leave me. "Erm... Bella... Ugh." Was all I managed to get out before I turned on my heel and ran downstairs, tears in my eyes.

I sat down at the kitchen table, feeling really stupid.

I should have anticipated that Edward might answer the door; it was his room too.

But still, I couldn't have anticipated the way he'd spoken to me. His tone was aggressive and hostile, and it frightened me immensely.

Suddenly, there was a cough behind me.

It was the straw that broke the camel's back.

I jumped out of my chair with a scream, turning to find Jasper standing behind me, before bursting into hysterical sobs and running out of the room and into my own bedroom.

Reviwes please? I know I've neglected you by leaving it for sooo long. But I promise, I'm back permanently now!