Moonlight

Disclaimer: all characters and copyright belong to SM.

A/N-thank you very much to everyone who kindly read and reviewed the last chapter.

Chapter Twenty-Nine-Alice Cullen

Jacob remained in front of Bella the whole way into the house. He was still visibly shaking, even as he did his best to control the urge to phase. The vampiric smell was overpowering-it was sickly sweet, and burned his nostrils. "You can do this, Black." He mumbled under his breath as he fumbled for the light switch in the hall.

Bella wasn't prepared for the sudden flood of light, so it took her longer to see that someone was there, waiting. She felt Jacob stiffen, his fingers tightening around hers. Bella blinked rapidly in an attempt to get used to the brightness. When her vision was finally clear enough to see, she couldn't help but let out a small gasp as she recognised the small figure staring between her and Jacob.

It was indeed Alice Cullen.

Unnaturally still and white, with large black eyes intent on their faces, Alice stood perfectly motionless in the centre of the hallway, beautiful beyond imagining.

Bella's mind was a whirl of activity as she tried to sort through her tangled thoughts. She had managed to convince herself that she was mentally prepared for this unexpected reunion, but the truth was, she just didn't know what to think. Her knees trembled slightly, and she nearly fell. She noted Jacob's worried glance in her direction, like always, he was attuned to her change in mood.

Bella gave his fingers a gentle squeeze and she took courage from his reassuring presence. She took a deep breath to fortify her nerves and finally found the courage to address her former friend. "Its usually polite to wait to be invited in, Alice. I hope you're not going to make a habit of breaking into people's houses."

Jacob let out an amused snort of laughter, while Alice just blinked in confusion. "Bella?" There was a strange mingling of relief and irritation in her voice. "This is not funny."

"You're right, Alice." Bella apologised, her tone turning more serious. "I presume you came here to check up on me."

Alice sighed, her gaze flitting to Jacob briefly. Her nose wrinkled slightly in disgust, as if she was smelling something distasteful. "I did." She said, returning her attention back to Bella again. "And this is?" She said, pointing to Jacob.

"Jacob Black." Jacob answered before Bella had a chance to on his behalf. "I'm Bella's boyfriend."

"Boyfriend?" Alice seemed taken aback by this. Her lips pressed together firmly; her eyes remained black as pitch. "I had not foreseen this."

Bella eyed Alice speculatively. She could tell by the intense blackness in Alice's eyes, that the petite vampire was thirsty. "You need to hunt." She stated bluntly.

"Correct." Alice confirmed stiffly. "Its my own fault. It's been too long since I hunted. I shouldn't have let myself get so thirsty. But I was in a hurry today." The look she directed at Bella was one of confusion. "Speaking of which, would you like to explain to me how you're alive?"

"What kind of asinine question is that?" Jacob cut in angrily.

"Let me handle this, Jake." Bella said in a low voice.

Jacob made eye-contact with her. That's all they ever needed to connect-just eyes, no words. He let out a long sigh as he nodded, backing down. Bella gave him a small smile of thanks and took over the conversation with Alice again. "You saw me fall." She guessed.

"No." Alice disagreed, her eyes narrowing slightly. "I saw you jump. That was a reckless thing to do."

"Well then you misinterpreted what you saw, Alice." Bella's tone was like steel as the little psychic's insinuation got under her skin. "I fell because I was pushed."

Alice's eyes went round with horror. "You mean….?"

"Victoria caught up with me. Jake was the one who saved me, otherwise I would have drowned." Bella replied curtly.

Alice was visibly shaken. She shook her head. "I told him this would happen, but he didn't believe me. 'Bella promised,'" her voice imitated Edward's so perfectly that Bella froze momentarily in shock. "'Don't be looking for her future, either,'" she continued to quote him. "'We've done enough damage.'"

"Arrogant asshole!" Jacob snapped, not able to keep quiet any longer.

Alice pursed her lips slightly. "In this instance I will let your insult pass as I happen to agree with you." Her eyes slid back to Bella, softening slightly. "But just because I wasn't looking doesn't mean I don't see. I wasn't keeping tabs on you, I swear, Bella. Its just I'm already attuned to you-when I got that vision of Victoria swimming with intent toward you on the beach-I was so far away all I could do in the moment was send you a quick text."

"It worked." Bella admitted. "Without that prior warning I may have not made it as far as I did." She leaned into Jacob and he put his arm around her comfortingly. "So, for that alone, I thank you."

"Me, too." Jacob agreed grudgingly.

Alice was surprised by his admission of thanks. She studied his face for a long moment, her brow furrowing slightly as if trying to work out a difficult math problem. Whatever conclusion she came to, she didn't voice it out loud, her brow smoothed again and she continued talking. "I knew I would be too late, but I couldn't do nothing. And then I got here, thinking maybe I could help Charlie somehow…"

"What to plan my funeral?" Bella interrupted scathingly.

"Bella, please." Alice's voice was strained. "I saw you go into the water and I waited and waited for you to come up, but you didn't. I didn't see you being rescued…." She paused, glancing briefly at Jacob again. "I was so convinced that something bad had happened. All I could think of was the fallout, how this was going to affect your poor father, I always had a soft spot for Charlie, and my brother. Do you have any idea what Edward-?"

"Edward made it clear when he left how he no longer felt anything for me. So, forgive me if I don't give a shit how any of this affects him." Bella cut in again. She was beyond livid with Alice's assumption that she would care what this would do to her precious brother. "If Jacob hadn't jumped in after me, I would have died. But he did, risking his own life, to pull me out and tow me back to shore, though I was kind of out for that part." She glanced up at Jacob and saw the stricken look in his eyes as the memory of finding her floating unconscious in the water overwhelmed him. She could only imagine his desperation in that moment.

"I couldn't have been under for more than a minute before Jacob grabbed me. How come you didn't see that?"

Alice looked uneasy. An enigmatic range of emotions crossed her face. Bella could see something was clearly bothering her-imperfect vision? Or was she finally feeling guilty about abandoning her.

"What's going on, Alice?" Bella finally demanded impatiently.

Alice ignored her question. "Edward was a fool to think you could survive alone. I've never seen anyone so prone to such life-threatening idiocy."

"I've had enough of this bullshit!" Jacob's temper was on a knife edge. "The only reason she was in danger is because you and your kind put her in harms way in the first place. So, don't you dare fucking turn it around on Bella, when you are part of the reason this happened. And she's not alone-she's got me and a whole host of other people who love and care about her, all working together to keep her safe. I can see that you know very well what I am, also what I am capable of."

Alice gawked at Jacob for a moment after his impassioned speech. She shifted her gaze to Bella, who was looking up at the tall shifter with pride. After a while she finally managed to recover herself, blinking rapidly. "That explains the suffocating, overpowering wet dog smell." She conceded as he proved her growing suspicions correct. "But does it explain what I didn't see?" She speculated.

"You don't exactly smell so great yourself." Jacob retorted. "I would rather smell like wet dog then an old funeral home."

Alice glared at him. "I wasn't around the last time when there were werewolves here in Forks. But I never remembered Carlisle mentioning them throwing personal insults around, he always described them as being very diplomatic when he made the treaty with them." Her eyes narrowed again. "How long have you two been…. friends?"

Bella threw her an irritated glance. "Jake is my boyfriend." She corrected her. "And our relationship is none of your business."

Alice's lips drew into a thin line when Bella referenced Jacob as her boyfriend. "I just need to know for confirmations sake. I'm beginning to suspect he's the reason I'm having trouble seeing you properly."

"Not long." Bella admitted, her voice sounding defensive. Any minor criticism of Jacob was getting under her skin. She was fast losing patience with Alice. "We've been hanging out for a while…. but he's only been a werewolf for a few weeks."

Alice glowered at her. "A young werewolf!" She sounded practically scandalised. "Even worse! That explains the quick temper. Anyone else would be better off when the vampires left town. But you have to start hanging out with the first monsters you can find."

"Shut up, Alice." Bella snapped. "I'm proud of how calm Jacob is being under the circumstances. And you should take a look at your own manners before you dare criticize anyone else's."

She was trembling with anger, a reflection of the fine tremors that were running up and down Jacob's arms in his effort to keep a tight rein on the wolf that was baying to come out.

"And may I remind you that the vampires didn't really leave-not all of them, anyway." Bella continued angrily. "That's the whole trouble. If it weren't for the werewolves, Victoria would have gotten me by now. And probably Charlie, too. Well, if weren't for them, Laurent would have gotten me before she could, I guess, so- "

Alice's eyes widened. "Laurent, too?"

"Yes."

"Tell me everything-start at the beginning and leave nothing out."

Bella exchanged a long look with Jacob, seeking his permission to reveal more. He gave her subtle nod of his head, letting her know to go right on ahead. There was little point in hiding the rest of it. Bella relaxed and faced Alice again. In a clear, calm voice she explained what had been going on in the intervening months since Alice left with the other Cullens.

Alice listened to her story without interrupting. Occasionally, she would shake her head, and the crease in her forehead deepened until it looked like it was carved permanently into the marble of her skin. She didn't speak, and finally, Bella fell quiet as she reached the point about Harry's passing. Grief overwhelmed her as she remembered that Charlie would be home soon. What condition would he be in?

"Our leaving didn't do you any good at all, did it?" Alice asked rhetorically.

Bella laughed darkly- it had a slight tinge of hysteria to it. "Frankly, now that time has passed, I'm glad you all left. My life improved in so many ways when you did. It's the unfinished business you left behind that's the problem." She pointed out harshly.

Alice actually flinched. "Bella…" She breathed, her eyes flashing with hurt. "You don't mean that."

"Actually, I do." Bella stated firmly. She felt Jacob's arm tighten around her shoulders and it renewed her courage to stick to her guns. She wouldn't let herself feel sympathy for Alice. "You all left me without a word. What Edward said to me was cruel and unnecessary. He had no reason to take me into the woods that day and reject me so mercilessly. There were better ways to do it. He not only broke my heart, but he destroyed my self-esteem in the process. Luckily, with Jake's intervention, I was able to pull myself back up and put the broken pieces of myself back together. And you know what, Alice?"

Alice looked back at her with pain-filled eyes. "What?" She whispered.

"I've emerged all the stronger for it." Bella finished earnestly. "So, again, thank you for leaving. I'm a much better person because of it. It's probably the least selfish decision Edward ever made in his selfish life to convince you all to go along with him."

Alice's face completely crumbled under the onslaught of Bella's revelations. "I wanted to say goodbye." She confessed tremulously. "But Edward convinced me it was for the best. And when Jasper agreed with him, I couldn't find it within myself to go against both of them." She hung her head, the black sheen of her pixie cut shining under the overhead light. "Jas wasn't happy about me coming back here. He didn't approve of me interfering. We had a terrible argument about it. And Jas and I never argue."

This was a complete turnaround to what Bella was expecting. She glanced up at Jacob, he shrugged, seeming as perplexed as she felt. Alice had never sounded so human as she did when she made that emotional confession about Jasper. Usually, he was so supportive of Alice and her schemes, even when he didn't agree with them. His power of Pathokinesis meant he sensed others heightened emotions and tried to alleviate them by using his special ability to manipulate the emotions of others around him. Holders of this power were only able to manipulate those who were within earshot, and / or within the field of distance.

"Is everything alright between you and Jasper, Alice?" Bella asked cautiously.

"I think we both need time to cool off a little." Alice said contritely as she raised her head again. "I was….um…hoping I could stay here for a while…. with your express permission of course." She tagged on at the end, looking hopefully at Bella.

A/N-thanks for reading! Please review.