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Rated: T

Notes: continues scenario & characters established in "Curtains". not beta'd.

Prompt: Silver

The warm gold of autumn gave way to winter's silver; the trees stripped of their leaves and the ground sometimes slick with patches of ice or dirty snow.

We were indoors a lot because of this but I didn't necessarily mind. I'd always liked the cold, liked being snuggled in scarves and burrowed below blankets.

Alice sat beside me on my bed, a bowl of popcorn in her lap. She chewed slowly, squinting at something over on my desk.

"What?"

"What's that a picture of?" she asked, rooting around the bowl. She'd put chocolate chips into it, and the ones that hadn't melted against the buttery warmth had slid to the bottom.

My eyes shifted to where hers were, but I already knew what she was talking about. I'd meant to put them away, but as was often the case with me, kept forgetting as piles of paperwork and class assignments began to cover them. Today I'd finally begun cleaning and tidying, disgusted with how badly I'd neglected my room.

So there they lay. Uncovered and obvious. The pictures.

"It's, ah, your brother," I said, licking my lips guiltily.

"What?" she half smiled, unfolding her legs and scooting off the bed. She walked over to my desk and peered down, the popcorn bowl tucked into one hip. "I love it… when was this taken? How come he didn't show me?"

"He doesn't know," I said, the sheepishness growing worse.

She turned to me, one eyebrow up in amusement. "Oh, really?"

"Shut up, it's not like that," I laughed, shaking my head as I picked up the photo on top. They really had turned out beautifully… he might like to see them. I should've known Alice would freak… next thing I knew she'd be asking for copies.

"My parents would love one of these," she said, her eyes flickering back down. "There are more?! Jeez Bella, how many did you take?"

"Just three, gosh!" I huffed, picking the other two up delicately and examining them. "It was a gorgeous day and he sorta just… blended in."

"His gorgeousness blended in?" she made a face, licking chocolate off her finger.

"Alice," I scowled. "His hair. It blends. Anyway, whatever." I tossed them back down and covered them with a syllabus from the semester before.

"I'm just teasing you," she cooed. I rolled my eyes, knowing she was just getting started. I'd made sure never to bring up my previous crush on Edward, mainly because it was too awkward and too painful.

My high school years, the latter ones especially, had not been pleasant. Rose, my parents, Edward… all of them had hurt me deeply, although in different ways, and not always on purpose. In my heart I knew Alice would have understood back then to a degree because she'd lost someone too. I wasn't sure why I never turned to her. And if I told her now just what I'd been through then I feared she'd feel some sort of misplaced betrayal, knowing I'd been staying with her brother when it was her I was supposed to be close to.

What a mess.

Anyway, none of that mattered now, though. I'd forgiven Edward, and myself, for past sins. There was literally nothing I could do about it. The fact that he actually apologized nowadays made it even easier. I mean, I'd already gone through a period of forgiveness on my own – through therapy, journaling, even Jake. He'd always encouraged me to work through my feelings but also to let go. He was chill like that. But there was definitely something about the transgressor wanting to make amends.

He hadn't just done work on himself; he wanted to make sure I was okay too. I appreciated that.

And yes, I was attracted to him. That was familiar in some ways – and it made me both exhilarated and uneasy. But it was different, too, because he was different.

"Be real, Bella," Alice said.

I blinked, realizing with a start that she'd been watching me journey to la-la land and back.

My face warmed. "About what?"

"Edward."

"What about him? We're cool…" I shrugged, flopping face first onto my bed.

When she didn't answer I flipped over and looked at her. She narrowed her eyes.

"You two flirt all the time," she said.

"Yeah," I nodded, not bothering to play coy.

"So… do you like him? Or is it just flirting?"

I laughed a little. "I couldn't flirt with someone I didn't like," I said quietly.

Alice sat beside me, offering the bowl. I accepted it, immediately finding a clump of especially chocolaty popcorn to chew on.

"I think he likes you, too," she said.

"I know he does."

"Then…why…" she trailed off, genuinely confused.

Sighing, I closed my eyes, trying to figure my crap out. Of course Alice would see it in black and white – she and Jasper had been going on strong since she was a junior in high school.

"You know he used to be a manwhore, right?" I said, knowing it was a copout even as I said it.

"In high school… I don't think he's that bad anymore," she said. "Seriously, when would he have time? When he's not in class he's studying and when he's not studying he's working."

"Where does he work, anyway?" I asked.

"He teaches little kids piano and guitar, and he works as TA in some of the university's music classes."

"Oh."

That was news to me. I'd always known that he loved music; I didn't realize it was such a part of his daily life like that.

As if she was reading my mind, Alice sighed. "He played all the time before Emmett left. That's who taught him, you know. He couldn't even deal with it afterwards. He only started up again after coming back from Alaska."

"I didn't know," I said. "Is that where he is now?"

She glanced at her phone. "Until six, yeah."

We sat for awhile, munching quietly until the bowl was empty.

"You coming for dinner?" she asked, standing.

"Why don't you have Jazz come here," I offered. "And, invite Edward."