I give you... Alice Masen & The New York mystery.

"Don't you ever leave me this long, ever again — okay?!" Thin, tan arms snake around my waist as she scolds me. I kiss her forehead, breathing her in. I've missed her — so, so much. Before I got to New York, I was in Italy, chasing down Aro Volturi's loose-lipped mistress overseas. The jet lag from Miami to Italy and back in just 36 hours crippled me. I wanted to sleep for a million hours straight, but that wasn't happening.

"Can't promise you that, Ally," I smirk at my baby sister. "Might run away from you forever." I joke, struggling to get out of her death-grip.

"Whoah, he's making jokes." She rolls her eyes at me, sea green flickering with humor.

"Did you bring Persy?" I ask.

"Dude, are you for real? As if I'd stuff her in a stifling hot car. Besides, aren't you burning up?" She questions. I shrug.

"It's good to feel the heat. New York is a cold bitch." I chuckle.

"You're, like, crazy happy today. You're never this fun after a trip." Nothing escapes my sister.

"Went well, I'm back home and I'm not leaving anytime soon. What's not to like?" I ask her.

"No more jobs abroad?" Her eyes widen as she smiles.

"Nah, I don't think so." I watch the laces of my boots like they're suddenly interesting. Alice swats my arm when I fail to meet her gaze.

"Don't you have to get your luggage?"

"I've got everything right here." I pat my duffel bag. It's filled to the brim with dirty clothes. I transferred myself the excess cash through Western Union to pick up later and not raise any red flags at customs. It's foolproof, I do it every time.

"Okay, let's go then." She walks backwards through the arrival gate until she twirls, the skirt of her red sundress flitting around her tanned legs.

"Did you get a new tattoo?" I ask, gazing at her calf. She nods enthusiastically, stops, and lifts her leg a little. It's a crystal ball filled with purple liquid and stars. "You should stay out of the fucking sun with that, Ally," I remark.

"I know, and I am. Been sitting in the shade when I go out, anyway."

We walk out of the airport, and Alice's keys jingle with every step until we're standing by her car, a 2010 Prius she insists on keeping. It's a little beat-up, but sunflower yellow — her favorite. It suits her perfectly, even though I don't ever want to be caught driving her sissy mobile. I feel in my pockets, forgetting I just smoked my last cigarette in New York. "Fuck." I utter.

"What's wrong?" She asks me.

"Hand me a smoke, will you?" I hold out my hand and wait while she rummages in her black shoulder bag. Alice hands me a pack of Camel, and I almost cringe at her brand of choice.

"Light it in the car, dummy. I'm hungry." She unlocks the Prius and gets in the driver's seat.

I need to spill the beans to my sister, tell her she's going to have a second roommate, very soon. Knowing Alice, she will over the moon, especially when it's a fucking girl — my girl.

Alice puts the car in drive after I throw my bag on the back seat. It's cluttered with spare pairs of shoes for when she's tired of heels and a few boxes. The engine doesn't purr, it just starts, sounding like a fucking scooter, and we're off for our half-hour drive.

"Dinner's on me, Ally. What are you in the mood for?" I ask, cracking the window open to let in the breeze as I blow out some smoke.

She bites her bottom lip, humming until she gives me a response. "Let's have ourselves a piece of La Bella Italia, brother. I could go for a nice, creamy pasta Alfredo." I almost choke on my spit when she says that.

I narrow my eyes at my sister, who's bobbing her head to a song on the radio. Her black hair dancing around her shoulders.

"Why do you say it like that?" I wonder.

"Say what?"

"Nevermind." I sink in my fabric seat, a light sheen of sweat on my forehead. Miami heat, I've missed you.

"Call your buddy, Aro's place when we get home. They have the best parmesan cheese and order a bottle of red wine, please. I'll take it with me when I go see Jasper later." She says.

"You tell me not to leave you, and yet you immediately run off to Jas after dinner with your favorite brother?" I arch a brow at her before I flick my cigarette out the window, enjoy the wind on my face.

"You're my only brother, Ed. Plus, I haven't spent one night at his place when you were gone. I miss his waterbed."

"Ugh. Please. Spare me the visual of you doing the butterfly stroke with Jasper, I beg you."

"Don't be so dramatic, dude. I can hear all about your Olympic swimming routines — all the fucking time."

"What am I supposed to do all night, by myself?" I ask, as if I really cared.

"Whatever you want, E. Walk Persy, sniff up the fresh ocean air around midnight, call up one of your whores you put in your phone by location… Watch a movie, crash on the couch… I don't care." She shrugs, making me chuckle.

"No fucking whores, no way." I shake my head and find myself smiling.

Alice gasps, turning her upper body my way as we wait for the traffic light to turn green.

"What the fuck, E?!"

"What?"

She gazes at me, all-knowing and scary as fuck.

"You're like… being weird. Talkative, all smiling, glimmer in your eyes even though you look like absolute crap. What's up with that?"

"I look like absolute what, now?" I laugh, nudging her in the arm.

"Your hair looks awful, your eyes tired and there's this…" She gasps again as I turn my head and snags my collar. "No fucking way, E! A fucking hickey? What are you, fifteen?"

Somehow I feel myself blush, something that rarely happens, yet Alice's inquisition puts me through the wringer.

A car honks behind us, and I tip her head forward with my middle finger. "Pay attention when you drive, Ally."

"Is that why you came back suddenly, even though you said you weren't sure when you'd be home?" She rattles. I stay quiet, but there's no escaping this questioning when I'm stuck in a car with my baby sister. At the next red light, she focuses on me again. I'm fucking screwed.

"So? I'm waiting." Her thin, dark brow arches. Alice has the look on her face that tells me not to mess with her.

"You're getting a new roommate, Ally. That's all." I grin, biting the inside of my cheek as I reach for another one of her shitty cigarettes. When I look back at her, her mouth hangs open, and she looks like a cartoon character as she struggles for words. I know keeping more details from her will eat her alive. She'll bug Jasper all night about it.

"What?!"

"Eyes on the road, Ally." I steal a piece of her watermelon-cherry gum that's in the center console and chew obnoxiously loud until she leaves me alone.

Have fun deciphering that one, little sister.