Roll the window down, let the air blow 'round you

A sadness in the breeze as the night divides us

In these darker days, I push the limit to the love you offer

There's a riot in my head, demanding we do this forever

Why would we divide when we could come together?

Just bodies that collide, lost and found each other

So don't, don't leave me alone

Don't leave me alone, don't leave me alone

Why would we divide when we could come together?

Looking back around, glamorize the chaos

Don't let summer nights destroy everything before us

Chapter 43: Mary Alice

Bella POV

Peaceful. Peaceful would be the word I would use to describe my feeling at the moment. I didn't know where I was, or even who I was, but I felt so peaceful. Was I alive? I wasn't sure. But it was nice, and oh so easy.

There was music here. And a soft movement. Vibrations? It was cool, but felt so comfortable. It was home.

Little by little, my body came back to me. It was sobering, nevertheless necessary. Everything was still fuzzy, and I had to put the puzzle together piece by piece.

The vibrations were coming from what my head was laying on. It felt like a moving body. And the music was the sound of someone humming. Humming so beautiful it could make an angel cry. There was also a repetitive soothing feeling being continued on my head. Someone was petting it, blindly playing with the hair there. Yet, it was careful and loving.

Slowly but surely, I cracked my eyes open to inspect the situation. I had prepared myself for the overwhelming light, so my flinch wasn't particularly violent. Although it was still noticeable to the hummer.

"Well hello beautiful." She stopped her ministrations and set down what appeared to be an open book in her hand. I tried to pick up my head and get a good look at her, but it was too heavy and I fell back onto her abdomen where I had been placed sometime before. "Awake for not two seconds and you're already trying to move." There was a faint tsking sound at this. "Just rest for once in your life."

My instinct was telling me that if this normally happened, I would fight back any way I could. But not with this person. I trusted her and didn't know why.

"Ok." I mumbled into the fabric she wore. "You smell nice." The woman giggled at my comment and went back to petting my head again. Her fingers kept brushing from my scalp down to my neck.

"I'm glad to hear."

"Mmmmm. Like vanilla…and peppermint." I was drifting on a cloud of her, and she seemed to enjoy it. She was heavenly. But what if I wasn't? What if I didn't smell good? Was I upsetting the woman? "What do I smell like?"

"Like a freshly cut Christmas tree." Her reply was automatic, as if she had told me before. Had she?

"Is that good?"

"It's perfect."

"Am I dead?" It seemed a logical question.

"You are most certainly not. Now hush and get some rest please." I didn't want to comply. I wanted to see her. Her words and actions were so sweet that I needed to lay my eyes on the kind woman. But she began to hum again, and I surrendered to the delectable sound.

"Alice?" Sometime later I had regained some of my memories and awareness.

"Yes Bella?" She kept her amused patience with me.

"Am I alive?"

"Didn't you already ask me this question?"

"Yes."

"Yes Bella." I could hear the laughter in her tone.

"But did I die?"

"No you did not. Carlisle said you almost did. You lost a lot of blood."

"Is that why my head is fuzzy?"

"Precisely. And which is exactly why I keep telling you to rest. But as always your stubbornness prevails." I laughed into her shirt at this. It was familiar.

"But my arm hurts." Alice sighed and reached for the arm, somehow knowing exactly which one it was without my telling.

"I know. I'm sorry."

"Why are you sorry?" I didn't mean to upset her. She sounded so… sad.

"You'll remember. Eventually."

"Ok." I continued to lay there and think. Which was difficult to do when you're laying in a pile of marshmallow fluff, having aroma therapy hit you at the same time. And she's still petting you, so softly. Ever so patient. She was so perfect that I could marry her.

Wait a minute.

"We're married right?"

"Yes Bella." I fidgeted my fingers around a bit and frowned.

"Where's my ring?"

"Aro has it."

"Right." That sounded right. My brain was blocking out painful memories at the moment. I was thankful and aggravated by that. It was nice not to be disturbed, but I wanted to remember. "Mary Alice Brandon." I licked my lips to taste her name on them.

A little while later, a gentle man came into the room to ask how I was doing. Carlisle. That was his name. Carlisle asked Alice on my status, and she stated that I was in somewhere named 'Twinkle-town'. Carlisle chuckled at her comment and said I would be up to speed in a few hours or so.

"Her arm hurts." She whispered, thinking I couldn't hear, or maybe was incapable of listening.

"Morphine may slow down her healing."

"Anything less strong?"

"Maybe." I heard him move around her to get a good look at me. "She's so…peaceful. I can't remember the last time I've seen her like that."

"I can." Alice murmured to herself. She leaned over and kissed the top of my head.

"I'll come back to check on her in a bit. Keep watch on yourself as well."

"Will do. Thank you Carlisle." The second the door closed, Alice went back to humming absentmindedly.

Keep watch on yourself. Why would she need to watch herself? Was there something wrong with her? Was she hurt?

My worrying opened up a Pandora's box of unpleasant memories, and everything came rushing back. I gasped for breath, fearing I would be suffocated with all the emotions.

"Bella what's wrong?!" An alarmed Alice had jumped up and cradled me.

"Your neck!" I finally shouted in a panic. After hours of laying down, I turned to face her, only to find her in perfect health. She was frowning at me.

"It's fine, see? Are you ok?" I must have looked like a wild animal. I could have sworn her neck was almost completely detached the last time I saw her. Untrusting, I reached out and touched the area to make sure it wasn't an illusion. It seemed to be fine. I recoiled back to my original position but had to do a double take.

"Alice your eyes!" My mate's once honey gold eyes were now a shining crimson red. Alice returned a sheepish look and shrugged away from my flabbergasted gaze. "What's wrong?"

"They frighten you." She worried like a small child.

"What? No they don't! Where do you get that idea?"

"You jumped when you saw them."

"Because I was shocked!" I pleaded, trying to have her face me again. "Nothing you could do could frighten me Al. I'm just – how did - ? Why are they red?" I was a little bit concerned about the cause of this effect. Alice seemed upset. Did she kill someone by accident?

"Do you really not remember how you almost died?"

"Ummm." I wracked my brain to try and remember that part. I vividly remember Alice being almost dead, and not knowing what to do. How did she live? Pains kept shooting up my arm as I thought, and it broke my concentration. But how did I get injured?

Things sort of snapped back into place. I looked back up to Alice, who was biting her lip, and down to my arm again.

"Ohhhh."

"Yeah." Alice took my arm and gingerly removed some bandages to reveal several wounds. One cut on my wrist, and two additional bite marks near it.

"Wow that really worked better than I thought it would." I sat up to get a better look at her neck. "How do you feel?"

"Is that really the first thing you say after you remember almost dying for me?!"

"Well…yeah." She punched my other arm, with minimal force. "Honestly I fully expected to die."

"Why do you have to do this Bella?! Do you know how that makes me feel?!" Her eyes watered in anger crying, but per usual those tears never fell.

"It should make you feel loved." I said seriously and placed my hand over hers. "And I would do it all over again. I almost lost you."

Alice looked very conflicted. There was definite annoyance with me there, but she also couldn't be mad at my willingness to save her. The words I stated had touched her, and she let a breath of defeat go, before kissing my cheek.

"Thank you for saving me Bella."

"You're very welcome." With my energy returning, I sat up on the bed across from her after our intimate moment. "So how do you feel?"

"Honestly good." She replied, rubbing her neck. "Carlisle is a little worried about the affects your blood may have on me, but right now I just feel very healthy."

"That's great! And the red did not scare me. Now we're just a red eyed couple." I smirked at her. But she bit her lip again, obviously hiding something.

"About that…"

"What?"

"Um. Here." She pulled a small mirror out from a spare bedside drawer and handed it to me. Confused, I frowned and angled it on my face to get a look. To my great surprise, my previously red eyes had turned back to the light gray.

"How?"

"In layman's terms, I sucked it all out of you." Alice mumbled in a disgruntled sort of way. But while she sulked, I thought for a moment.

"Wait a second. I'm not thirsty anymore."

"What?"

"I'm not thirsty anymore." We both kind of stared at each other at this realization.

"Really?"

"I think you sucked all the nicotine out of me." I commented, suddenly giddy about not having to deal with the constant thirst anymore. Or the worry. Or the uncontrollable emotions.

"That's good right? You're happy?" Alice was unsure about how I felt during this revelation. She still felt guilty.

"Very." To reassure her, I summersaulted across the bed to lay next to her. She smiled at my gestures, but I could still sense the sadness in her eyes. "What's wrong?"

"You'll laugh."

"We'll never know if you don't tell me." She hesitated and I cupped her face in my hand to coax her.

"It's just – well nothing goes with red eyes." She said earnestly, which caused me to burst out laughing.

"Oh my god Alice! Only you could be worrying about fashion at this moment."

"Bella I'm serious! I'm going to be struggling for weeks with my outfits. Stop laughing!" When I couldn't, she shoved me out of the bed. Yet I kept chuckling on the ground, tickled by her adorable worrying. "Sorry. Are you ok?" She peered over the bed when my laughing ceased.

"Yeah. I'm hungry." I stated, suddenly aware of my growling stomach.

"Yes you are." Alice responded back while she listened the familiar growls. "Esme is going to have a field day." She hopped down and offered me a hand to help stand up.

"Are you sure you're feeling alright?" Alice was inches from the door when I asked. She turned and beamed at me.

"Absolutely. Now that you're better I can actually feel this energy in my body."

"Should I be concerned?" Alice had fed from me before, but the blood she had consumed was minimal. She was pretty much running on me at the moment, and I wasn't sure of any side effects.

"Nope." She bounced a little and flew out the door with me in tow. Her positive response did little to comfort me. But I kept my concerns in a back pocket and let myself be dragged by her cheerfully.

"Hey it's the hybrid blood bag!" Liam greeted us when we arrived downstairs.

"Ha ha." I said dryly. He smiled and punched me playfully on the arm before following us into the kitchen.

"Mommmm." Alice called dramatically to Esme. "Bella is ready for human food."

"Oh!" A loud crashing sound came from the pantry as Esme rushed into action.

"I can help." I muttered, trying to get around Alice into the kitchen.

"No!" Esme smacked my head with a spatula and directed me to sit at the kitchen island. I did as I was told. Alice, who seemed even more jittery than normal, which was hard to imagine, hopped onto the counter in front of me.

"Aw Carlisle said she was out of it!" Emmett boomed sadly from the doorway. He, Jasper, and Edward appeared to have returned from a hunting trip. "I was going to mess with her!"

"How would you have gotten past me?"

"Oh I would have recruited you Al." Emmett laughed at what could have been and rummaged in a bag for a set of thermoses. He brought them to Rosalie who was laying on the couch. "Here you go babe. I got a bear." He said it so proudly. Alice made a face and a disgusted noise.

"Sorry we all can't drain a hybrid and heal right up!" Rosalie scoffed at her sister. She was definitely in a bitter mood from the body part mending process. I felt bad.

"I could give you some!" Eager to help, I grabbed a glass and a knife.

"No!" About five Cullens all yelled at me at once.

"Ok." I mumbled and slowly recoiled back into my chair. Alice giggled at my pathetic attempt.

"It's nothing against you Bella." Carlisle explained. "We just have no idea about the long-term. It's also probably not a great idea to ask you to slit your wrists anytime one of us gets hurt." Esme nodded in agreement with her husband and set down several plates of food in front of me.

"At least I'd feel useful." I muttered into my food quietly. The only one that heard it was Alice, who kissed the top of my head and whispered back just as quietly.

"Don't even go there."

Liam joined us in the kitchen when Esme insisted he eat something too, and it was turning out to be a rather normal day in the life of a family of vampires and wolves. Emmett kept cooing over Rosalie as she healed, and she certainly enjoyed it. The love fess was almost gag-able, but mostly entertaining depending on how you looked.

"Ugh! Would you two just get a room already?" Alice complained rather loudly.

"Does it hurt not to be the hottest couple in the house?" Emmett chuckled and withdrew from his close embrace with Rose. But she held him there.

"Sorry my man loves me and isn't afraid to show it." Rosalie cheeked back. Liam and I shared an expression. This would turn into a classic Alice-Rosalie bicker show.

"The strength of a relationship does not come down to public affection. Just because I love Bella doesn't mean I feel the need to jump her bones whenever I'm around her."

"Thanks babe." My remark made Liam snort into his cup of coffee.

"Yes but statistically speaking, couples that have more passion, i.e. PDA and public intimacy do tend to have brighter burns." Emmett spoke up. Liam and I continued our side commentary at the scene.

"Oh we're going into statistics now."

"Ten bucks says Rose ends up throwing something at your girl."

"Twenty. Alice will be the first thrower." Esme scoffed at all of us and started work on clean up.

"Yes but that is only relevant if you say that all acts of sex are because of love." Alice rebutted, causing confusion all around.

"Where are we going with this?" I asked Liam, who I swore could have been eating a bucket of popcorn.

"Shhhh. I wanna watch."

"There are acts of opportunity." She explained.

"Like murder? Is she going to kill me?" Liam smacked my head to shut me up at that point. Rosalie actually seemed to catch Alice's drift and nodded.

"Like if you're alone in the woods and opportunities like that rarely happen." She purred to Emmett.

"Ugh!" Liam covered his ears at the revealing comment.

"You still want to watch?"

"Yeah!" Alice got excited about the fact that she was winning. "Or like if Bella can't sleep – " The rest of her sentence turned into mush when I shoved a forkful of pancakes into her mouth. She appeared to have realized her mistake after spitting them out and immediately shut up. But unfortunately the damage was already done, which left half the house in a fit of giggles.

"So Bella on average, how many times a week can you uh 'not sleep'?" Emmett guffawed, emphasizing his air quotes.

"Dammit Alice." Not wanting to take what I'm sure would be hours of ridicule, I retreated upstairs to our room.

"Bella I'm sorry!" Alice cried after me and followed me into the room. "You suck!" She turned and threw one of her shoes at Emmett once she reached the foyer.

"Bella you win!" Liam cheered and the whole downstairs erupted in even more laughter.

"I'm so so sorry Bella." Once the door was closed, I could tell how badly she felt by the emotion on her face.

"Ugh I'm not mad. Well, I am mad, just – just – why do you have to blab all the time Al?" She returned a sheepish look at me. "I mean don't get me wrong I love your bubbly personality and the way you can talk for days about anything. But the one thing I've always said is – "

"Don't talk about us." She finished with an even more somber expression. "I know. It's just Rosalie got me all worked up about how they thought they were more in love than us and I couldn't stop."

"Do you really think she truly believes that? And if so, why do you care what she thinks?" Alice knew where I was going and sat down like a child being chided for misbehavior. I felt bad and knelt next to her. "The only thing that should matter to you is how you and I feel about each other, and how it feels when we're together." She smiled sadly and cupped my face in her hand.

"Why must you always be so logical?"

"Are you forgetting that I just bled myself out and filled you with god knows what in an act of impulse?"

"Maybe." She pulled me by the neck and started out a slow kiss, which turned into much more rather quickly.

"You're not going to bite and feed on me now that you're addicted to my blood right?" I teased but was slightly concerned by the lust in her eyes.

"That depends on how good you are." She purred and I gulped.

Hours later we lay tangled together on the bed, both utterly content.

"Now was that an act of opportunity, or love?" I asked Alice, who giggled at my jab.

"Hmmm." She ran a hand down my arm and looked up at me with not so innocent eyes. "Maybe a little bit of both."

"It wasn't sweet sweet loving?"

"Not with that comment no." Alice chuckled and pushed herself off the bed. She wandered into the closet for some fresh clothes. "But it was definitely an opportunity considering how few times I can get you while everyone is in the house."

"Yeah I still don't like that." I sat up in bed and made no movement for the closet. I was in no rush to get dressed and ready. "Are you going to commit a fashion crime with those red eyes my dear?" I called to her as she scoured the clothes in the massive closet.

"You are just soooo funny." She stated sarcastically. After about a minute or so she decided on an outfit and pulled it on quickly so she could rejoin me on the bed. "But honestly I feel really good. I think you may have some type of drug in those veins. Is this how you feel all the time?"

"Describe it."

"I don't know." She sat on her knees across from me and thought. "Like I could go fight a bunch of people right now if I had the chance. I'm so freaking amped up. Like I could explode!"

"Yes." I smiled and replied.

"Really? How do you sit still?"

"Well first of all I'm not you." That earned me a hard poke. "But secondly, I shift, I run, and I have you."

"Awwww. You do love me."

"No no. You're just an opportunity."

"Ugh! When will I hear the last of that?"

"It'll be a while." Alice bounced off the bed again and began to throw various articles of clothing my way.

"Get dressed. I want to go fight something!"

"Am I the something?" There was a usable shirt thrown my way which I put on.

"You are always my something."

"Please hold while I go puke." A shoe hit my head. "Ow!"

"Come on! Put your dukes up!" Alice play circled me with her fists in a dramatic fighter stance.

"Not in the house. Esme would kill you."

"And you."

"No not me. She likes me." Another shoe came flying my way, this time I was able to dodge it.

"Well hurry up! I'm rearing to go here."

"Hang on! Just let me find my pants." I searched in the pile of clothing Alice had thrown at me and couldn't seem to find any.

"You are helpless!"

"That may be true. But – " A shriek and a booming sound from downstairs cut off my remark. Alice and I exchanged looks of panic.

"BELLA RUN!" Both our fears came to be when the unmistakable voice of Liam screamed to us from downstairs. I looked to Alice, who had a face of horror on.

"Are you still ready to fight something?"