DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THE CHARACTERS FROM TWILIGHT. THEY ALL BELONG TO STEPHENIE MEYER.

Firstly I want to apologise to those who are used to my daily updates on this story but I've not had just time over the last week or so to get anything written. After the weekend I promise that updates will be back to how they once were, but at the moment I'm just going from training to class to back to training and then just flaking out on my bed.

Also, I am aware that there are a couple of continuity and factual errors in the story - the biggest one being the amount of time it took the Cullens to get from Chicago to Forks. My excuse is that I'm from the UK and I'm sticking to it :P - but when I have the time these errors will be rectified, but for the moment - probably up until after the weekend - they will be there, so if you could just bear with them for the time being.

With this chapter, I had to write it in snippets, which is hard for me because I'm used to writing a chapter all at one time, so if it's a bit jumpy and doesn't make nuch sense then I apologise and along with the other errors in the story, they will be rectified.

(the much asked for) APOV

Leaving Edward in that place was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. I could tell that it was not something that my mother and father had relished doing. I had seen the pain and grief in my father's eyes when he had made the decision to have Edward admitted. All we could do now was hope that this is what Edward needed to get better and become the Edward that I remember from when I was little.

Walking out of the hospital, I looked up at it. Even though it looked like a warm and friendly place, I hated the fact that none of us had any real idea of what happened in there on a regular basis. I looked at Emmett, Jasper and Rosalie and I could tell that they were thinking the same things that I was. Namely, Will Edward be okay? None of us knew the answer to that question. Even from when our Mom and Dad first adopted him, Edward had been a bit distant, but we all put that down to the fact that he had just lost his only family and then thrust into a new one. He was alone and scared.

We waited for our Mom and Dad to come out. We knew that they were trying to sort out visiting rights for Bella. Seeing as she wasn't family then normally she wouldn't have been able to visit, but I think that Dad was trying to explain that without her, Edward wouldn't make any progress. It was hard to admit that a girl that Edward had only known for a matter of months was able to help him in ways that we, as his family, couldn't. It was hard for all of us to admit, but it was true. Without Bella, Edward wouldn't get better.

As we looked at the building, Bella and Mom walked out with solemn expressions on their faces. Dad was obviously still inside discussing something or other with the doctor that had admitted Edward.

"We can't see Edward until next week." Mom told us, when she and Bella were within our hearing range. Bella had tears welling up in her eyes. I knew that my parents and her had been planning to spend the night in a hotel and then coming to see Edward tomorrow. I could see that it was hurting Bella, to have to admit that she wouldn't be able to see him for a week. It then hit me how much Edward meant to Bella. It seemed that he had affected her life as much as she'd affected his.

"How come?" Emmett asked, looking worried.

"It's the clinic's rules." Bella said in a soft voice. "They said that to give the patients time to settle in they don't allow visits for up to a week after they're admitted. You know, apparently it helps them get into a routine or something."

"That's stupid." Rosalie hissed.

"I know it's not fair, sweetheart." Mom said, moving over to embrace her daughter. "But its the rules of the clinic. And if it has the potential to help Edward then, well, it's for the best. We can still talk to him over the phone, so it's not like we're completely cut off from him."

"It's not the same though." Rosalie was crying now. She hadn't shown it, but it was affecting her as much as it was affecting us. "Why can't we just take him home?" She began to sob into Mom's shoulder.

"Ssh, sweetheart." Mom whispered, stroking a hand softly down Rosalie's hair. "I know, I know. I want nothing more than to take him home too, but we can't. He needs more help than we can give him. Sssh." She pulled Rosalie into a tighter hug. "It'll be okay. He'll be okay. He'll be home before we know it."

Somehow I doubted my mother's words. Deep inside my heart I knew that Edward wasn't going to accept the help that they had to offer. It was just who he was. He never liked accepting help, even if it was on the most trivial things. I found myself remembering when Edward was eight. He had set himself the task of completing a thousand piece puzzle. He had almost been finished, but there was one section that he was having problems with. Everyone had offered to help him, even Emmett, who was useless at puzzles, but he had refused. It took him three days to complete that one section but he did. He completed it all on his own. He had been so proud that he had managed to do it without any help. Mom and Dad had been proud of him too. So proud that they'd actually had it framed. It now hung on the wall by the stairs. I had never seen Edward smile like he had when he'd seen it hung there. I longed to see that smile again.

"What?" Emmett asked me. I had been so lost in the memory that I hadn't realised that they were all watching me.

"Oh," I said, feeling the colour rise to my cheeks. "I was just remembering when Edward was eight. You know, with the puzzle?" I smiled again, as did everyone but Bella, who looked confused.

"Oh, yeah." Emmett said chuckling. "He wouldn't let anyone help him, would he? He was so stubborn." He chuckled again, obviously remembering the concentration in Edward's face as he battled with the puzzle.

"He was so proud when he finished it." Mom sighed. "Your father and I were proud too. He told himself that he was going to do it by himself and he did. Emmett's right," She said smiling. "He was stubborn."

Just then, our father walked out of the hospital. He looked grave, but accomplished at the same time. He looked at us all smiling and looked puzzled.

"We were just remembering Edward with the puzzle." Jasper said quietly from behind me. I looked over to him. He was leaning on the hood of the Volvo, a smile small playing on his lips as he remembered Edward's frustration and determination. A smile spread across my Dad's lips as he remembered.

"What did they say, darling?" Esme said, moving around to stand side by side with Rosalie, keeping one arm around her daughter's shoulders.

"I explained to them how big a part of Edward's life Bella has been in recent months." He said, looking at Bella in a fatherly way. "I also told them how Edward had changed when Bella came on the scene, how he seemed happier, even if it wasn't a huge improvement it was still something. I also explained that if they were to stop Bella seeing Edward, there was a very good chance that he wouldn't respond to the treatment and care that they can offer him." He sighed. "It took a lot, I had to explain everything to her, but they've agreed to let Bella have the same visiting rights as family."

I saw Bella physically relax. Something told me that her feelings for him ran a little, if not a lot deeper than friendship. She wouldn't be surprised if they did. In fact, she would be over the moon. Edward deserved someone to care about him, someone like Bella, who she knew would care about him no matter what. Especially after all that he's been through. Bella looked up at me and her cheeks flushed. She lowered her head so quickly that I don't think anyone else noticed. She does like Edward more than a friend, I thought triumphantly. And she knew that I'd figured it out. She looked back up at me, flushing a deeper colour than before. I gave her a look as if to say "Tell me everything." She glanced at the others, who were now talking quietly amongst themselves. "Later" she mouthed at me and I nodded, knowing that I would get all the information I wanted.

"All right," Carlisle said, causing all attention to fall on him. "I think it's best that we get going. I know it's hard," He said, seeing all of us looking longingly at the building in front of us, wishing that we could take our brother home. "But we can't sit here all day. We need to get going."

With that we all climbed into our cars. Bella went with Mom and Dad in the Mercedes while the rest of us rode in the Volvo. Jasper and Rosalie sat up front, while Emmett and I were in the back. I couldn't help but look out the back window as we passed through the gates we had come through, at the large building that Edward would call home for the foreseeable future.

"Bye, Edward." I whispered as the gates closed. I turned around and saw Emmett watching me. I gave him a slight smile and he held up him arm inviting a hug. I unbuckled my seatbelt and scooted over into the middle seat, strapped myself back in and snuggled down next to my bear-like big brother.

"You okay?" He whispered in my ear. I nodded slightly and sighed. I wasn't okay and he knew that, but Emmett also knew better than to push something, especially something like this. He just pulled me into a tighter hug.

In saying goodbye to Edward, even if was just temporary, it made me think of when he came to us.

I remembered how Dad had called us all into the living room, which had upset Rosalie because she had been watching her new favourite tv show. I couldn't remember which one it was because, in all honesty, Rosalie's favourite tv show changed on a weekly basis, so no one really knew. I remember the fuss she'd made when Dad had turned off the tv half way threw.

"Now, children." He said, after we'd all sat down. We had been wary of his tone because it was the one he generally used when he was about to tell us off. We had all looked at Emmett in a "what have you done now?" kind of way and he'd chuckled. "You're not in trouble." He'd said as he realised that this was what we'd all thought. "Now, your mother and I have something to tell you." He'd placed an arm around Mom's waist and she'd smiled. "You four are going to have a new brother-"

"You're having a baby?" Rosalie had squealed. Even though she was only seven, she had some weird fixation with babies. If there was going to be one in the house, she would be all over it. She sat there and clapped her hands together. We all looked at our parents in expectation of them confirming Rosalie's squeals.

"No, Rosalie, we're not." Dad had said and she had stopped automatically, her face falling. I was confused. How were we having a new brother if Mom and Dad weren't having a baby? It had been a bit too much for my six-year-old brain to handle. "We've just adopted a young boy in need of a home. You see," He had paused, pondering whether or not he should go on. He had looked up at Mom, silently asking her whether or not he should continue. She'd nodded, a grim smile on her face. I may have only been six but I'd known that whatever circumstances this boy had, they were not good ones. "The young boy that we have adopted, he's just lost his parents. He's in need of a home and your mother and I want to provide that for him. His name is Edward and we're picking him up tomorrow. I want you four to be nice, okay?" He shot a look at Emmett who had, no doubt, been imagining some of the pranks he could play on our new brother. His face fell when Dad had said this, causing Rosalie and myself to giggle. Jasper had looked at us as though we were insane. At seven, he was the most grown up out of the four of us, even Emmett who was eight. Jasper had been the mediator of the fights that tended to escalate between Emmett and Rosalie. Even though they were twins, Jasper and Rosalie had been like polar opposites. Jasper was cool at calm, ready to face anything with an open mind and Rosalie was very set in her ways, and very very hot-tempered and fiery. It was sometimes difficult to imagine that they were even brother and sister, let alone twins.

The rest of the day had been full of preparations for the boy, who tomorrow, would be joining our family. We'd cleared out the spare bedroom, where we kept all the junk that was never used and put it into the attic. Esme had bought a new duvet and pillows as well as new bedcovers and sheets. I'd helped her get the room sorted as the others sorted through the stuff in the attic. When we were finished, the room had looked good. You wouldn't have been able to tell that it hadn't been used since we moved in.

I remembered vividly when I first saw Edward. My Dad had gone to pick him up. I remembered looking at the clock wondering how long Dad would be. I wanted to meet him. I was excited at the thought of having another brother.

"How old is he Mom?" I'd asked. I was sat in the kitchen watching my Mom making cookies. I loved the smell of baking cookies, especially when I knew how they'd taste when they were done.

"He's seven. Same age as Rosalie and Jasper." I thought about that. So I was going to have another older brother. I wouldn't have minded a younger brother, as I was tired of being the youngest, but I'd been too excited about the new arrival to really care about how old he was.

"When's he gonna get here?!" Emmett had come bounding into the kitchen, obviously smelling the cookies, and grabbed onto the back of a chair, jumping up and down. "When's he gonna get here?!"

"Calm down, Emmett." Emmett had pouted. He didn't like being scolded, especially by our mother. "He'll be here soon. Now calm down, or you're going to scare him." Even though Emmett was only eight he was still a big child. He was over twice my size and dwarfed everyone else in his class. People had often thought he was older than he actually was, which I'd found amusing, considering his behaviour.

Just then, we'd heard the key in the door, and our Dad had stepped through with a bag. Looking around the corner from the kitchen, I'd then seen a young boy, about the same size as Jasper follow him in looking extrememly nervous. I could hear my Dad telling him about us. That he shouldn't be too nervous because we were all excited about him coming. From where I'd been I could see him looking around the house in awe of the size. I'd never thought about how big our house was, but it must have been bigger than he was used to. The first thing I'd noticed about the boy was his hair. It was a strange colour. Even at age six, I knew that his hair colour wasn't usually seen. It was an unusual shade of bronze and it stuck up in all different directions. I'd been able to see that it wouldn't matter what you tried to do with it, his hair would always look like that. I'd thought it was cute and smiled to myself.

"Alice," My Dad had called. "I can see you Alice. Come on out." I'd nervously stepped out from where I'd been spying on him. Even though I was excited to have a new brother, I was also nervous, in case he thought that I was, as some people had told me previously "over-exciteable" and "hyper". "Come here." My Dad extended a hand to me and I'd walked over taking it, smiling at the boy. He'd given me a small smile back, as if in some way grateful that I hadn't launched myself on him, as he'd obviously heard that I would. "Alice, this is Edward. Edward, this is Alice, the youngest one here." I waved at him and smiled again.

Now that I was up close I'd been able to see the colour of his eyes. They'd been the most beautiful shade of green I'd ever seen. Even, ten years later, I hadn't met anyone with eyes as beautiful as Edward's. It was yet another thing that made him unique.

"Kids," Carlisle called to them. I'd heard the tv shut off and Rosalie and Jasper had appeared. Emmett came bounding in from the kitchen with a huge smile on his face. I'd noticed Edward shy away at the sheer size of Emmett. Emmett generally had that effect on people, especially kids. His size meant that he kept us safe when people were mean to us, but I'd never really thought about how he actually looked to people on the outside of the family. "This is Rosalie, Jasper and Emmett." My Dad said pointing to each of my siblings. "Kids, this is Edward. Don't jump on him Emmett." He knew what Emmett was like and forewarned him. Emmett had pouted again, but it hadn't lasted. He was too excited about having a new little brother. Edward had looked up at my Dad in shock. "Don't worry. He just gets a little over-excited sometimes." Edward relaxed slightly, but not that much. "Alice, will you show Edward to his room please?"

I'd nodded and Edward picked up the bag that my Dad had carried in. "Come on then." I said smiling and I led him up the stairs. He had been quiet as he followed me, probably overwhelmed with what was happening. Even though I'd wanted to launch a million questions on him, my father's warning of not to rang in my ears. He'd told me that Edward had beem through a lot recently and that he was probably best left alone for the moment. Opening the door to his room I'd motioned for him to go inside. I'd seen him jaw drop at the room. "What? Don't you like it?" I was worried that he didn't.

"Um, yeah, I do." He said, sheepishly, his cheeks flushing slightly. His voice was soft, melodic and velvety. "It's just, I've never had a room this size before." He looked around again. I smiled to myself. He did like it.

"Um, dinner is generally about seven o'clock." I said, smiling. He looked back at me, a look of awe on his face. "I'll come up and get you when its ready, okay? Dad thought that you'd want a little while to get your stuff sorted out."

"O-Okay." He'd smiled at me again, grateful for my help.

I'd left him after that, and closed the door. My Mom told me to go and fetch him for dinner but when I'd gone to get him, I'd found him fast asleep. I'd left him there explaining to my parents that he was asleep and I thought that it would have been better to leave him be. They'd looked at me proudly, each of them silently thanking me for not waking him, as today had obviously been a stressful day for him.

Emmett nudged me, snapping me back to reality. We were still moving.

"You okay, Ali?" He asked me and I nodded. I hadn't realised it, but I'd started crying. He hugged me tighter to him, taking on the full big brother role. Emmett may seem intimidating and scary to everyone else, but to those of us in his family, he was just a big teddy bear. I leant into him more, and closed my eyes. I could feel myself rising and falling as Emmett breathed. It was relaxing, comforting to know that I had my big brother there.

I drifted off into sleep as Emmett's steady movements became hypnotic. I don't know how long I was asleep, as I hadn't been paying attention to the time whilst I was locked in the past, but the sun had moved a great deal across the sky, and was starting to dip below the trees that surrounded our home, when I was being gently shaken by Emmett.

"Ali?" He said softly. "Ali, we're home." I sat up and unclipped myself. He did the same, but didn't get out of the car. "Are you sure you're okay, Alice?" I nodded.

"It's just been..." I didn't know what to say. "It's just been one hell of a day, I guess." I sighed. He pulled me into another hug and we got out of the car.

I noticed that Carlisle and Esme had yet to take Bella home. I knew that Charlie, her Dad, wouldn't be worrying as Carlisle had told him about her spending the night in Seattle with my parents. I walked over to Bella and gave her a hug.

"You going to go home?" I asked and she looked at Carlisle.

"Um," She paused, obviously not knowing how to phrase what she wanted to say. "Would I be able to stay here tonight?" She flushed, embarrassed by her question. "It's just, I don't want to really, be alone tonight. I mean, I know that I won't be alone alone, cos my Dad'll be there, but I will be because nobody but you guys knows whats going on and I just, I really-" Carlisle cut her off, holding up his hand.

"Of course you can, Bella." Carlisle walked over to her and held both of her hands in his. "Now, lets all go inside."

We all followed him in, sitting down in the sitting room, no one really saying anything.

"Thank you," Bella said quietly, breaking the silence. "For letting me stay here."

"Bells." Emmett looked at her stunned. "You've done more than we have. If it weren't for you then Edward probably would have topped himself-"

"Emmett!" Our mother cut in. "Don't say that!"

"What?! It's true. If Bella hadn't come along, Edward probably wouldn't be in the hospital now. He'd probably be in the morgue or in the ground by now. I mean think about it. We all saw how Edward changed when he met Bella. He was somehow, a bit happier. I mean, I know it wasn't much at this point, but if given longer I think that she would have really helped him!" He was staring at Bella now, an unreadable expression on his face. I had never heard Emmett like this before. "And, if she hadn't been there the morning that he...." He trailed off, like the rest of it, unable to say what had happened to Edward. "If she hadn't been there then where would he be now?! In the morgue! Of course we're going to let you stay here, Bells! How could we not?!" She smiled at him gratefully.

After a while, we all went our separate ways, each of us grudgingly going to our separate bedrooms. I heard Bella quietly asking Carlisle if she could sleep in Edward's room rather than the spare we had. I reminded myself to ask her what was happening between her and Edward.

"Bella?" I asked, looking at her expectantly. She looked up at me and I motioned for her to follow me. I walked upstairs and I could tell that she was confused when I didn't stop at my bedroom. I wanted to sit in Edward's room for a while, just to be surrounded by his things. When he was in the hospital, I would sit in his room and it felt like he was still here. Not like there was anything wrong with him. I sat down on the chair that was in his room, while Bella sat on his bed, looking around sadly. "Imagine that he's just popped out for a while. It helps." She smiled at me. "So, what's going on with you and Edward? I mean, I saw your reaction when Carlisle told us about you being able to see him, and I was just wondering if there was anything more to it." I looked at her and smiled. She flushed and looked away. "There is, isn't there?"

She nodded slightly. "Yeah. Yeah, there is." She said in a barely audible voice.

"Oh, Bella!" I had a hard time not squealing and jumping around in excitement. It was only a look from her that stopped me. "So, tell me. What's happened?"

"Nothing really." She smiled shyly. "I mean, it was only in last two weeks or so that I realised how I felt about him. And then, yesterday, I told him and he told me he felt the same way, and I..." She trailed off, her face reddening to the colour of a tomato.

"You?" I asked impatiently. "Come on, Bella, you what?"

"I kissed him." She admitted. I clapped my hands and she shot me a warning look. "Please don't tell anyone else. I don't want them to get worked up over it. I mean, I don't know if he really wants anyone to know, yet. I think it's best to wait til he gets out of hospital, you know?"

I nodded, thinking of what she was saying. Obviously I wouldn't say anything but this was huge! I was going to have my work cut out for me keeping it to myself. I smiled at Bella, letting her know that her secret was safe with me.

I left Bella in Edward's room. I knew that I had to get some sleep. Our father insisted that we go back to school tomorrow, Bella included. He didn't want us getting any further behind than we had already. I didn't want to think about school the next day. I knew people would be wondering where we had gone. Knowing a place this size, it would have come up with some of its own theories. We had decided to tell people that Edward was out of hospital, but our father didn't think that it was a good idea for him to come back to school just yet. Not even the teachers knew the truth. All anyone would know was that Edward was out of hospital and now had a private tutor teaching him at home, instead of having to come into school. With the amount of money my family had the idea was believable.

With that thought in my head, I settled into bed, and prepared myself for what was to come the next day, hoping that Edward was okay and wondering what he was feeling.

With thoughts of my brother, I settled off into an uneasy sleep, wishing that tomorrow wouldn't come.

I've finally done an APOV. I know she's not the happy-go-lucky pixie that people have come to love, but that is purely because she's so worried about her brother. Everything else - including shopping (OME I know right!) has kind of taken a backseat. I don't know though, I might have a Bella-make-over scene in the next chapter. Everyone for that say "Aye" and it has to be "Aye" if its not then I won't count your vote ;P cos I'm mean like that.

I don't know when the next update will be, hopefully in the next couple of days but I can't promise anything.
Reviews make me smile, and will encourage me in my swimming and story writing ;P
Ciao peeps! xx