the right kind of fear

by Arktosphonos

Bella couldn't find a better way to spend the holiday than curled up on the Cullen's couch and watching a few terrible movies with Alice.

"Bella, are you listening?" Alice's voice cut through the comforting haze Bella had begun to sink into from her spot in the passenger seat of the car. Amusement colored Alice's tone and Bella knew Alice wasn't truly upset with her for no longer paying attention to the conversation.

The vampire smiled at her, merely a flash of perfect white teeth that caused Bella to grin in turn.

"I want your opinion on what we're watching tonight," Alice repeated herself. A cold hand reached across the small space between them and she entwined their fingers together. "If we need to, we can go pick up more movies. There's probably something we don't own and I want you to get in one or two movies you want to watch before Emmett starts trying to take over."

Alice scowled at the thought. Releasing the wheel for a moment, she waved her hand in the air as if trying to physically brush the idea away. "He's probably going to try to make us watch the Final Destination movies. I don't mind a little over-the-top gore in a horror flick, but those are just so… juvenile. I want some semblance of a plot in what I watch or read, Bella. Not just pure, senseless death."

Truthfully, they could watch paint dry and Bella would be content because Alice was there with her.

But it was kind of cute watching this decades-old vampire fuss over the thought of her brother taking control of the DVD player and putting on a movie that she didn't want to watch. In a way, it was almost human.

"There is a plot- people dying in increasingly gruesome ways," Bella deadpanned. It wasn't the best plot, but it did still count as one. Up ahead she could start to see the small dots of light that flanked the entirety of the well-worn gravel path that led up to the Cullen's house. "Also I think there's a small thing about Death being a real entity with sentience? Something, something, they try not to die and still do. The end."

"That's not a plot!" Alice whined as she pulled into the driveway and drove straight for the garage. The faux devastation in her voice only made Bella's smile widen. She squeezed Alice's hand before the other girl pulled away to kill the engine after she had parked next to Rosalie's convertible. "As my best friend, you're supposed to be on my side."

"Many people would beg to differ. Some would claim it's a great premise for a movie," Bella said as she climbed out of Alice's Porsche. She didn't worry about grabbing her overnight bag out of the back seat because Alice had already snatched it up before she had even fully exited the vehicle. "I never agreed to watch the movies. I am on your side."

"Yeah, well, they're wrong." Alice slung the bag over her shoulder and with her other hand held the door open for Bella to enter the house. She waited patiently for Bella to go through before following after her. "You can't even watch the movies to make fun of them. They're not even funny bad, Bella. That's how absolutely terrible they are."

"If I asked you to, would you watch them with me?" Bella asked as she took off and then hung her jacket up on the empty coat rack by the door. She kicked off her shoes next, not wanting to track dirt and mud across the clean hardwood floors. "Or at least one of them?"

"Why?" Alice gave her a sidelong look, apprehensive as to why Bella would want to see what was essentially a series of cinematic trainwrecks.

Bella tried her damndest not to show any reaction to Alice's cautious expression.

"Why not?" She shrugged, a quick jerk of one shoulder.

"Give me an actual reason and I might consider it. But only because it's you." Alice breathed out a little laugh at Bella's answer that wasn't really an answer.

"I'll try and think of one for you," Bella said, a bright smile on her face. "Give me a few days and I'll have something."

Alice smiled back at her with a shake of her head as if she couldn't believe what she had agreed to.

"I'm going to go put your stuff up and then we can decide on what we're going to watch first, 'kay?" Alice didn't wait for a reply and bounded up the stairs to the bedroom that Bella had claimed as her own months ago when the whole family moved back.

Warmth blossomed in Bella's chest at the knowledge that she now had her own permanent room here. She had slowly been personalizing it, really making it a space she wanted to be in, but it was hard when she had virtually no skill with decorating and no real interest in amassing useless items. She was a practical sort of girl, unwilling to hold onto anything that didn't have a purpose or use. Still, it was her room, and it was physical proof that she was part of this family of vampires now.

Speaking of warmth, Bella was suddenly aware she was also physically warm, noticing a distinct change of temperature after coming inside and removing her jacket. Esme must have started the heating system before she was due to arrive since none of the Cullen's were affected by the cold autumn temperatures.

Oh, Esme, you're a blessing, Bella thought with a happy little sigh as the heat seeped into her and chased away the little bit of chill she carried. She would never admit to being cold, but she appreciated that they were still conscious of her human needs and acted accordingly to keep her comfortable.

The den was upstairs, and it would be where she and Alice planned to spend most of their time tonight. Mounted on the wall above the never-before-used fireplace was a large flatscreen television that would almost put a movie theater to shame. Seriously, the thing was massive, but it would be the perfect thing to watch movies on.

Sitting in front of the television was a large couch that practically dominated the middle of the room. It was soft and immensely comfortable, she knew that from how often she wound up accidentally sleeping there until someone would either wake her or carry her off to bed. Grabbing the cotton throw that was draped across the back, she wrapped herself in it before nestling in amongst the plush cushions.

Now that she was seated and comfortable, she could smell a savory aroma floating about. Her head turned in the direction that the kitchen was in as she tried to pick out what might be cooking just from the scent alone.

Esme must be making something for me, she thought, mouth starting to water a bit. I wonder if it'll be something appropriate for the holiday?

It was Halloween tonight.

Earlier in the day, Alice had texted her, all but begging for Bella to spend the night (as if she'd ever say no to her) so the pair could watch horror movies together and simply enjoy each other's company. She had been more than happy to oblige.

Since graduation had come and gone Bella now spent a good portion of her free time at the Cullen's since they moved back. She had gone through many long, painful months slowly learning to trust them again after the harsh abandonment last September after the fiasco that was her birthday party, but now she actually started to believe them when they said they would never leave her behind.

Charlie, too, learned to live with them being back in his daughter's life after a few months, soon welcoming Alice into the house with actual words instead of grunts whenever she came over. He was never rude to the pixie of a girl, but he wasn't exactly friendly either.

The knowledge that Bella and Edward were no longer a couple also helped with easing the strained view her dad had developed for the whole family.

Back in March, right after the absolute shitshow that was rushing to Italy to stop Edward from killing himself, Bella found the righteous anger she needed to tell him off for everything he did to 'protect' her.

She and Edward had fought once or twice before in Forks while dating, nothing but small disagreements really, but this was a volcano that was finally able to erupt after sitting dormant for so many months of absolute misery. It was too much for Bella; the attempted suicide, the martyrdom, the treating her like a child and making every decision for her.

Taking her newfound family away and abandoning her in a forest where she almost died.

Her own behavior over the vampire-absent months had also worried her after she thought about them during the long flight back to the States. Twelve hours gave a girl a lot of time to think and boy did she. Unhealthy and depressed didn't even begin to cover what she felt and went through in those soul-crushing six months without the Cullen's.

She loved Edward, but that love was an all-consuming thing that had left her almost catatonic when it was severed by him, and she didn't want to fall back into that almost empty existence where she was borderline reckless with her life almost daily just for a flash of a memory, a whispered echo of a voice. She never told them anything about her danger-induced hallucinations during the worst moments of her depression and planned to keep it that way.

So she ended things with Edward on her terms as soon as they got back to Forks.

Edward, of course, hadn't taken it too well and spent quite a few months away from everyone while he licked his emotional wounds. However, in that time of his absence where he couldn't try and pretend he was doing the right thing, Bella laid out her fragile human heart to the rest of the Cullen coven and told them how it was absolute garbage the way that they had treated her.

Bella almost cried when sweet and motherly Esme had hugged her exhausted and emotionally fraught body close and apologized for leaving her as they did. Carlisle had taken her aside after the explanation of what happened at Volterra to tell her that because it was now demanded she become a vampire to protect their secret, he would turn her when she finished saying goodbye to her human life, friends, and family.

Bella wanted to become a vampire ever since the James incident, to finally be the same as the people who were vitally important to her, to be able to protect herself and those that she loved from the danger she was prone to drawing in, and now she was getting her wish. But it didn't sink in until there was no longer a choice in the matter that she would have to cut all ties with her mother, father, and even Jacob immediately after she was turned.

She asked for a year more with them. Carlisle had agreed which was an immense relief for Bella. She just wasn't ready to say goodbye yet.

Nineteen wouldn't be too old after all. She could live with being that age forever.

Now Bella had only a few scant months left to be human, and one of those very limited nights would be spent wrapped up in blankets on the Cullen's couch, watching scary movies and eating candy for the trick-or-treaters that would never come.

It sounded almost perfect in her opinion.

"Did you have a chance to miss me?" Alice asked as she draped herself over the couch and practically laid atop Bella. Her cold arms snaked around Bella's shoulders from behind, and the heady scent of one of those expensive perfumes that Alice loved to wear filled her nose.

Bella felt her heart rate pick up and a flush started to creep up the expanse of her neck now that Alice was pressed so close.

For a while now she had harbored this silly little crush on Alice, and while she never intended to act on those feelings, she couldn't quite shake them either. Bella decided she would simply suffer in silence until those desires eventually withered and faded.

But this wasn't helping those clandestine feelings.

"It was an excruciating thirty seconds without you," Bella drawled sarcastically as she unwound the arms around her neck. She then gave a little tug of encouragement to make Alice join her on the couch. "I forgot what you looked like and everything. Have your eyes always been so golden?"

Alice's windchime laughter made her stomach do flips.

"Well it's a good thing you'll soon have forever to look at me," Alice said as she hopped over the back of the couch and landed on the cushion beside Bella. Her amber eyes were alight with mirth as she grasped Bella's hands in her own and scooted closer, the vampire's knees now brushing up against her thigh. "But just so you don't forget again… staring contest. Let's go."

"Pass." Bella knew there would be no way she would be able to win that. The venom that coated her eyes would keep them moist enough that Alice wouldn't have to worry about blinking for several minutes if she didn't want to. "You have an unfair advantage and I'm not falling for it."

"You're just a sore loser."

Bella frowned at the words, her brows knitting together before she sucked in a breath and shouted, "Esme! Alice is being rude to me!"

It was barely audible, what with her weak, human hearing, but she could just make out the matriarch of the coven call out from the kitchen, "Alice, behave. Bella is our guest tonight."

"Yeah, you have to be nice to me," Bella taunted.

She trembled from the amount of effort it took not to laugh outright at Alice as she opened and shut her mouth several times, obviously trying to come back with some sort of retort without the other vampire hearing it and chastising her again.

Alice eventually decided to just release Bella's hands, fold her arms across her chest, and muttered a cool, "Fine." She then stuck her tongue out and made a face at Bella since Esme couldn't stop that reaction.

It helped that her mother for all intents and purposes couldn't see her or else Bella was sure Alice would have gotten an earful.

"Let me know if you need anything, Bella," Esme said as she came in to check in on her and Alice. Bella felt a surge of fondness for the woman at the parental gesture. "Have you had dinner yet? Would you like something to eat before you and Alice watch your movies?"

"I will." Bella wrapped the blanket tighter around her and moved to lean all her weight against Alice in an attempt at being annoying.

The vampire was anything but bothered if it was any indication by how she looped her arm around Bella's waist and tugged her closer. Bella giggled and leaned into Alice's cold body.

"And I haven't. Right now I'm good, but I'll let you know when I get hungry," Bella said, her voice rising in pitch momentarily as Alice gently poked her in the ribs.

"Well, when you do become hungry I've prepared something for you. I'll place it in the oven to keep warm." Esme smiled at the pair and turned to head back into the kitchen.

"Thanks. Esme," Bella called out before she slipped past the corner and went out of sight. Bella truly was grateful to Esme for doing such a kind thing.

Although she didn't need to eat at the moment, her mouth still started salivating at the thought of what culinary treat had possibly been prepared for her. For someone who couldn't consume human food, the vampire still managed to make fare that would be fantastic enough to please Gordon Ramsay.

Even if Esme reiterated time and time again that it wasn't any trouble for her to cook for her, Bella knew the older woman was going out of her way to do so. She wouldn't take the actions she did for granted.

"Are you sure you're good?" Alice asked, concern laced throughout her words. She turned her head and gently bumped it against Bella's shoulder in an affectionate manner. "I can't have you starving to death on my watch, what would my family say about it?"

"Yeah, I'm sure." Bella nodded, utterly charmed by the clear sincerity in the vampire's tone. She let out a soft laugh as she realized one of them was now going to have to get up. Bella was dimly aware that she didn't want Alice to let her go, even though it was doing the worst things to her heart and thoughts. "But now that we're comfortable, who's going to go to pick out the movie and turn it on?"

"I guess I will..." Alice sighed, putting on a show of being bothered by it before flashing Bella a wide smile and hopping up in one swift motion so she could pick out the first of many films they viewed tonight.

Bella didn't have to wait long before Alice found what she wanted to watch. It took three, maybe four, seconds tops before she had chosen a movie and placed it into the disc tray.

The large flatscreen on the wall flickered to life at the push of a button after Alice found the remote for it, and for a moment all Bella could see was the white DVD logo pinging back and forth across a black screen before blinking into a bright blue background as the movie started.

After making sure everything was set up and prepared to go, Alice turned off the lights, casting the room they were in into almost absolute darkness save for the glow of the television. It was obvious she was trying to set a spooky mood.

"So what did you decide on?" Bella asked as Alice climbed back onto the couch and pressed up against her again. She shivered as Alice wrapped her hands around her upper arm and cuddled close, but if Bella was asked she could just lie and say it was the vampire's cool body temperature that caused it.

Alice, thankfully, didn't point out her shuddering.

"The Blair Witch Project," Alice replied in a happy voice as she pressed a button on the remote that skipped all the 'coming soon' titles and other annoying ads. "It's a movie that just has to be watched on Halloween. It's almost a prerequisite for the holiday at this point."

"Alice, this movie doesn't have a plot," Bella teased, bringing up Alice's earlier tirade about disliking movies without a clear storyline. Three film students just wander around in the woods almost the entirety of the movie, tripping over rocks and sticks, and crying about being lost. It may be a classic Halloween staple, but it was boring in her opinion. "Don't tell me I got over my aversion to blood just to see a movie about bad camera skills with some fake sobbing thrown in."

"It does too have a plot, a good one even," Alice grumbled, obviously determined to ignore the condemnation over her selection. "Besides, the movie choice was up to me this time since you didn't want to get up. You snooze, you lose, slowpoke."

Bella huffed indignantly at her, making Alice laugh softly in clear amusement at the action. The vampire's hand started petting up and down the arm she clung to, an attempt at soothing Bella and calming her so they could watch the movie together. It worked, and she practically melted against Alice, height disparity be damned.

Alice had always been a touchy person with her ever since they had first become friends. Be it a hand on her arm as they spoke, a guiding touch to her back to keep Bella out of harm's way, or just cuddling on the couch while they watched shows because the smaller girl simply wanted Bella close; Alice always seemed to want to have some form of contact of any kind with her.

It was confusing, and to Bella, it seemed as if the physical affection had only increased in recent months. Her heart ached in her chest as she told herself, You're just friends, don't make this weird.

Throughout the movie, Alice would tell Bella her thoughts about what was happening on screen and Bella would do the same in an attempt at focusing on something other than how nice it felt snuggling up with the vampire that was almost laying against her. But they spent more time talking about the film than actually watching it, it seemed, and by the time the three students had well and truly gotten lost in the woods, Bella no longer cared about what was happening on screen and was solely focused on Alice and her words.

In fact, she was so engrossed in just looking at Alice after a while that she wasn't aware Emmett and Rosalie had come out to join them until Emmett jumped on the couch beside her, making the poor girl squeak in surprise. He just chortled at the all too human reaction, reaching one meaty hand out to ruffle Bella's hair affectionately.

"I see you two started the party without us," Emmett said with a jerk of his head towards the movie that was now paused. All that was on the screen was a very blurry section of trees. It could have easily been mistaken for a terrible nature documentary. "So, whatcha watchin'? Can I pick the next one?"

For a split second, Alice had looked slightly irritated that her siblings had shown up, but the sour expression quickly faded into a happy smile as she grabbed the DVD case and tossed it to Emmett so he could know the movie they were watching.

"No. Bella gets to choose the next one." Alice raised her voice a little. "Bella is the guest after all."

Bella snickered, knowing full well that Alice was directing the comment towards Esme instead of the other vampires on the couch with them.

"Oh, you're watching baby horror. Lame." Disappointment immediately clouded his expression as he read the title. He passed the case to Rosalie who merely raised a delicate golden brow as she looked at the cover before placing it on a side table that flanked the couch. "Don't you want to see something fun?"

A grimace quickly found its way to Bella's face at the mere thought of what Emmett was suggesting. "No offense, but I don't think I can stomach what you tend to view as fun."

"One day you'll be scarier than these movies," Emmett said as he folded his hands behind his head and settled in to finish up the movie with Bella and his family, "and then you'll see that my movie choices are top-notch, or you'll get thirsty from them. I'll teach you how to hunt a bear if that happens. We can fight over it. Winner gets all the blood."

Rosalie seemed amicable to join in on the movie night even though earlier she said she wouldn't be caught alive watching anything with them. She sidled up against her husband, head on his shoulder and her eyes forward to watch the screen. The blonde ignored his laughter, his jostling, and his jokes.

Emmett didn't seem to mind her silence and just wrapped an arm around her shoulders to pull her close.

"See, even Rose likes the movie," Alice said in a stage whisper to Bella. "That means it's good and your criticism was wrong."

Rosalie's head shot up and she glared at her sister. "Oh, no, I agree with Emmett that this movie's trash." A smirk crept across the blonde's face at Alice's scowl.

"None of you have taste," Alice stated decisively after a beat of silence. She let out an undignified snort and lifted her chin in challenge, daring one of them to continue their ribbing at her expense.

It was so cute that Bella couldn't help but smile.

"Aw, Alice," she cooed at her before reaching over to cup her cheek. "You're allowed to have bad taste. Sometimes people just like trash movies. Just accept it."

Alice leaned into the touch even though she was frowning. "Take it back," she growled softly, the sound reverberating deep in her chest and vibrating against Bella where their bodies were connected.

Bella sucked in a breath and quickly gulped it down, heart thudding loudly in her chest at the threatening noise. She should be afraid, but Bella was very, very far from feeling fear as her main emotion.

Alice grinned a wicked smile and Bella knew at that moment she had messed up.

The hands that had been languidly resting on her forearm moved and Alice's fingers dug into Bella's side as she began to tickle her. Bella screeched, her body quickly starting to spasm uncontrollably as she tried to find a way away from the other girl's roving fingers.

Emmett and Rosalie were laughing, both alternating between egging their sibling on and throwing helpful hints to Bella on how to escape from her tickling tormentor.

After several excruciating seconds, Bella decided her only option was to wriggle onto the floor to get away from Alice, which led to her abandoning the blanket in the process. Alice didn't give chase and looked down at Bella with a pleased expression as she almost mockingly wrapped part of the throw around herself like it was a trophy.

The other two were still snickering above her which only gave cause for Bella to toss her acidic glare their way. Emmett raised his hands in surrender at the peeved expression, a boyish grin of delight on his face even as Bella continued to scowl at him. Rosalie brought a hand up to try and cover her smile, but Bella could still tell she was making fun of her human weaknesses.

"Alright, now that your movie is over," Emmett started after all the laughter and giggles died down, "it's my turn to pick." He leaped to his feet, rushed over to the DVD player, and snatched out the movie before Alice could rewind it to replay the scenes they missed.

"I already told you that it's Bella's turn." Alice offered out a hand to help Bella back up onto the couch. She looked at it warily for a hard minute from her position on the floor before finally accepting. The vampire's display of strength had Bella on her feet in a heartbeat after the quick pull upwards, the sudden movement making her a little dizzy.

Stumbling slightly, she carefully shook her head to ward off the small waves of vertigo before being urged back onto the couch and tentatively allowing Alice to recreate their previous and almost-too-intimate position from earlier. Both the blanket and Alice's arms once more wound their way around her body and Bella couldn't remember a time when she ever felt warmer than in that minute.

"Really, I'm fine with whatever you guys want to choose." She shrugged the shoulder Alice wasn't against, truly okay with letting the rest of them choose what they all watched. She didn't have strong preferences for movies, and even less for the horror they all seemed to be set on viewing.

Besides, Bella was too focused on the jet-black hair that suddenly brushed up against her neck when Alice placed her head on her arm. She might have been imagining it, but she could have sworn she heard the vampire let out a tiny content sigh after settling against her.

"Then I get to choose," Rosalie said as she rose from the couch and walked over to the movies. She must have already known what to pick and where to find it in the vast collection of cases because the blonde had a movie plucked out and in the DVD player before Bella had time to process that she had even gotten up.

Emmett groaned in disappointment as he looked over Rosalie's shoulder to check out what she was making them watch. "Aw, c'mon babe, really? A musical?"

"It's either this or Rocky Horror," Rosalie replied, obviously unfazed by her husband's dislike of her film choice.

"I would've definitely preferred Rocky Horror," he sighed as he trudged back to the couch after putting back the DVD he had picked out. "But I guess Little Shop of Horrors is okay."

"That's the one with the man-eating plant, right?" Bella directed her question at Rosalie, but it was Alice who answered.

"Yes, it's a cute film if you ignore that fact," Alice replied in place of her sibling. "But one of the humans who dies does actually deserve it in my opinion."

Rosalie hit play on the remote she snagged from her sister on the way back to her seat, a boppy musical number beginning almost immediately once they got past the intro screen. Bella already knew after the first few notes that she would at least enjoy the music if nothing else appealed to her in the film.

"I've heard about the movie, theater kids really loved to talk about the Broadway production of it, but I've never seen it," Bella admitted as she listened to a trio of women on screen sing about what was to come. So far it didn't sound bad, and she was kind of excited to see what all the fuss was about with it. "I've heard it's got a really neat puppet."

"One of the best," Rosalie agreed with a nod. "Practical effects, puppets, and animatronics are going out of style now. Everything's CGI lately and it's killing the quality of the horror genre as a whole because everyone is jumping on board with it. Movies are being churned out so quickly that originality is now a rare thing."

"I didn't know you were so into the construction of what makes a horror movie good." She didn't know a whole ton about Rosalie, the blonde mostly kept away from her when she could and tended to stay very quiet when Bella was around. This was new knowledge and she was delighted in knowing more about the blonde.

"It's the puppet, Audrey II," Alice explained, doing her best not to laugh and incur her sister's anger. "That's what she's into mostly. She wants to take it apart and see how it works."

"It's a shame it's locked up so tight." Rosalie's sigh was forlorn and full of longing. It was obvious from her tone that she had definitely tried to get at the puppet once before. "You humans are sometimes so stingy with your stuff. It's not being used anymore, so let me have it."

"We'll get it for you one day, Rose." Emmett's promise seemed to placate her for now and she settled in to watch the movie.

Alice and Bella tried to watch the movie in silence, at least for a little while, but every few minutes she would have a question or comment that drew Alice into a mini-conversation, which would lead to Rosalie hissing or snarling at the pair to shut up.

Halfway through the movie, and after probably the billionth time Rosalie told them to pipe down, Bella decided she was tired of being snapped at and wanted some time away from the blonde. She remembered that Esme had told her earlier she made her dinner, and Bella decided now would be a perfect time to go eat. If she missed the rest of the movie, oh well. She could ask to watch it later if she really wanted to see it that badly.

"Time for the human to eat," she explained as Alice shot her a curious look after she climbed out of the vampire's arms. She kept the blanket wrapped around her like a very warm cloak and shuffled her way into the kitchen to scavenge up her food. "I'll be back in a bit."

Since Bella had been sitting in the dark for so long, her sight took a moment to adjust to the bright light that filled the too-white kitchen after she flicked the wall switch on. When she could keep her eyes open without squinting and the lumination no longer stung, she immediately sought out the oven where Esme had placed her food earlier in the evening.

The plate was still warm when she pulled it out, just as Esme had said it would be, which meant Bella could skip the process of heating it up and just dig right in.

It was some sort of Italian dish; they always fed her something Italian whenever she ate at the Cullen house. At this point, it was a running joke that no one wanted to drop.

She smiled to herself. She would miss Esme doing these kinds of things for her after she was turned.

"Can I join you for dinner?" Alice asked, breaking Bella out of her reverie as she strolled into the room and hopped up onto the kitchen counter. She crossed one slim leg over the other, fingers loosely gripping the edge of the countertop as she leaned forward slightly and focused all her attention on Bella. "Or is this one of those 'midnight snacks'?"

This was the vampire's polite attempt at asking if she could watch Bella eat her food. It was… flattering wasn't the right word, but it sure was something interesting. It definitely felt like an 'Alice' sort of thing to do.

At one point in the early stages of their friendship, Alice had admitted that she liked watching humans - specifically Bella - eat. It was an odd declaration, and it had made Bella self-conscious about both her eating habits and table manners for a while until she got used to being stared at during her meals. But she supposed it was probably a normal thing to be curious about something you couldn't enjoy.

"Yeah, just grab a bag of elk blood and take a seat," Bella joked.

She doubted they just had blood on hand like some sick imitation of a Capri Sun, but the thought both amused her and made her stomach turn.

Alice grinned at her joking offer. "Thanks, but that's not my preferred prey. Instead, I think I'll just settle with providing wonderful conversation until you're done."

"That works too." Bella chewed her first bite thoughtfully before swallowing. "So what do you usually go for?"

"Bobcat," Alice answered after a moment, obviously letting Bella's curiosity swell before giving her a response. "Predators taste better, but I also have to be aware of my impact on the environment with how many I'm killing. I usually need two or three to sate my thirst, so I supplement my diet with moose since they're just so plentiful. I'm trying to be eco-friendly."

She couldn't even try picturing tiny, petite Alice wrangling a full-grown moose to the ground before ripping out the poor creature's throat with naught but her teeth. Sometimes Bella did forget how frighteningly powerful the Cullen's were. Alice was no exception despite her diminutive size, and it was during talks like these that made her remember the strength that belied their deceptively soft-looking exteriors.

Golden eyes stared into her own. A predator's stare.

Bella found it a little difficult to eat her next bite under such scrutiny.

Averting her gaze, Bella once more turned back to the partially consumed plate of food in front of her. She pushed around some of the vegetables with her fork before spearing a piece of broccoli and popping it into her mouth.

"So, where's everyone else at?" she asked after she swallowed down the small morsel of food and tried very hard not to think of Alice's pretty eyes examining every move she made. "You, Rose, and Emmet are good company, don't get me wrong, but there are other members of your family that I haven't seen tonight." Bella let out a soft laugh. "They're not avoiding me, are they?"

"Edward's up visiting the Denali coven for a few days. He'll be back next week, probably." Alice cocked her head to the side, dark brows furrowed slightly as she answered Bella's question."Carlisle is staying late at the hospital tonight. Halloween can be a rough night for you humans since you all do so much dangerous stuff during a holiday. He likely won't be back until really late. You'll probably be asleep by then."

Alice paused for a heavy moment, an expression Bella couldn't quite read on the other girl's face. "Jasper is out. Hunting."

Bella nodded, a sharp pang of jealousy quickly shooting through her at the mention of Alice's husband. She attempted to shove the feeling down by eating more food. It didn't work.

But truthfully, she wasn't trying to wrestle down her emotions as viciously as usual because Jasper wasn't here to read her. Since figuring out her infatuation with Alice, she was extremely careful to keep a tight lid on her feelings so as not to let him in on her dirty little secret. Whenever he was around Bella would do everything she could to keep a lock on it all.

Jasper wasn't a bad guy. She didn't want to ruin his relationship with Alice, no matter how much it hurt right now to see them together.

She took her final bite of broccoli and tried to ignore the slick, uncomfortable feelings swirling around inside her chest.

"What did it taste like?" Alice asked as Bella finished off the last of her food. "You're really the only human I've ever been able to ask."

"It's hard to describe." Bella frowned, absolutely flummoxed at how she was supposed to respond with anything other than 'good', 'tasty', 'vegetable-y'.

"I'm not some food critic, you know. I would do a pretty poor job at trying to tell you how it tastes, especially since you don't remember anything about it from your time as a human to try and equate the flavors." She shrugged as she stood up to put her plate away.

Alice remained sitting on the counter, watching Bella with a curious glint in her eyes. "Can you attempt it though? Humor me."

Bella chuckled, lips turning up at the corners into a little smile. "You have some weird requests sometimes, Alice. Isn't it enough that I let you watch me eat whenever I have food?"

"The visions didn't tip you off that I was weird?" The vampire grinned down at her, obviously delighted at the easy conversation between them.

"Nah, I just think the visions make you quirky." And it was true. When Edward had originally told Bella about Alice's ability to see the future, she took it all in stride and accepted it almost immediately. Maybe Bella was more the weird one. "It helps that you're cute, too."

"Why, Bella Swan, I do believe you could make an undead heart beat again with such sweet words," Alice drawled, a silly smile on her face as she spoke. Alice rarely dropped her northern inflection, having spent so long away from the south her original accent was all but dead, but now that gentle twang of Mississippi was prevalent for a moment and Bella was struck dumb by it.

"Edward was a fool to let you go," Alice added in a much softer tone of voice, so quiet that Bella had barely even managed to hear it. If she hadn't been standing so close to the vampire, she definitely would have missed it.

Bella's heart stuttered in her chest and she could feel a fierce blush rupture in a brilliant burning scarlet across her cheeks and neck. She couldn't speak, her tongue suddenly too large for her mouth, and a soft wheezing exhale was the only thing she could manage.

Before she could well and truly respond after she somehow managed to gather herself again, Alice had hopped down from the counter and gently tugged on the sleeve of her shirt in an indication that she wanted Bella to follow her.

Alice's accent had returned to the north when she next spoke, "Let's go see if those two are finished with the movie yet. I want to watch at least one more thing with you tonight before you need to sleep."

"It's not like I have school in the morning," Bella mumbled, dazedly following Alice back into the den area. She was hoping her breathing wasn't too noticeable, that the blood staining her face would quickly drain away, and that the pitter-patter of her heart would cease its uneven beats, but she couldn't be damned to try and fix any of it when the vampire's hand slid down her arm and their fingers laced together.

She tried not to think of how perfectly they fit together.

"I'm an adult. I can stay up all night if I wanted."

Alice laughed at that. "Bella, you still need your rest," she gently chastised. "I've heard it's pretty important for you humans."

"I'll sleep when I'm dead."

"Trust me," Alice sighed as she guided Bella over towards the couch. "You'll miss sleeping after about a year or so. Enjoy it while you still can."

Before getting back into her seat, Bella quickly went downstairs and snatched up the large bowl of candy Esme had overfilled in case trick-or-treaters showed up. As per usual, not one child-sized monster, ghoul, or creature had appeared on the Cullen's doorstep to beg for sweets, which meant all the spoils went to Bella.

Sure, she had just eaten a rather decently proportioned meal, but there was always room for chocolate in her opinion.

Also, she felt a little sad knowing that the pile of treats had just been sitting there untouched. Esme had sounded excited at the prospect of trick-or-treaters earlier. Bella wanted the older woman's efforts not to go to waste, and if that meant she ate herself into a sugar coma then so be it.

"Oh, man, not sleeping is awesome, but it would be nice to sorta turn off once in a while sometimes, y'know?" Emmett said after Bella returned and sat back down on the couch, the bowl clutched in her hands and blanket slipping halfway down her arms as she wiggled around to get comfortable again. "I have so much protein powder and exercise stuff that I'm never going to use because, well, I'm a vampire, but infomercials are occasionally just so enticing when it's four in the morning and you have nothing else to do with unlimited money."

Pointing to Rosalie, Emmett continued, "Rose buys model car kits and several-hundred-piece Lego sets to put together to keep from losing her mind."

"They're very intricate and I can focus on them for hours when I'm not masquerading as one of you humans," Rosalie explained. Bella was curious to see the finished products that the blonde put together. "But you essentially have to pick up hobbies pretty frequently to keep from going stir crazy after a while."

"So you need your sleep," Alice reiterated once more. Her fingers carded through Bella's long hair after the human settled down, and it was doing the worst things to Bella's frayed and turbulent emotions. "At least until you're injected with a deadly mix of toxins that'll stop your heart, kill all your cells, and turn you into a monster like the rest of us."

"Wow, way to make that sound so desirable." Bella could feel shivers traveling up and down her spine from the pleasurable sensations Alice was causing.

She carefully shook her head to get Alice to knock it off. She already wasn't able to concentrate from being in such close proximity to the other girl, Bella didn't need her clouding her head even more with only friendly intimacy.

Don't make it weird, she chanted over and over in her mind until her head was clear and she didn't want to make a fool of herself by blurting out her feelings to Alice.

Bella dug around in the bowl before ripping the wrapper off a small piece of chocolate that was in the shape of a pumpkin and quickly shoving it in her mouth so she wouldn't say something stupid. Better cavities than a broken heart.

Alice hummed low in her throat and easily allowed her hand to rest placidly against Bella's forearm after being shook off. "The movie is almost over. Since you spent so long eating and missed most of the ending, do you want to go back and rewatch it?"

"Say yes," Rosalie said while leaning around Emmett so she could speak to Bella.

"No, I think I want to watch a vampire movie instead," Bella decided, purposely ignoring the blonde.

Rosalie huffed out a breath of annoyance and she could hear a little growl emanating from her.

"Do you want to watch a good one or something so terrible it's funny?" Alice asked while carefully unwrapping herself from around Bella to find some of the vampire films the Cullen's owned.

It was kind of amusing, the idea of actual vampires watching a Hollywood mockery of themselves. She wondered how often they did this if they had a whole selection to choose from.

"We've got both!" Emmett seemed absolutely delighted over Bella's options. His massive frame jostled the entire couch momentarily as he carefully bounced in place from his excitement. His energy was almost palpable and Bella joined in with him.

The wooden frame of the couch quietly protested under all the strain.

"Please, no," Rosalie begged. Bella wasn't sure if she was talking about the movie or the fact that she and Emmett were pretty much shaking the whole couch at this point.

Alice brought over a small collection of DVDs for Bella to pick out. Even with the soft blue glow from the television as her only source of light, she was able to make out some classic black and white movies and a few newer titles thrown in to spice up the options.

"Oh, we have to go with Dracula," Bella decided after she stopped her excited movements, and pointed to a rather chunky-looking box set with several Dracula titles listed on the cover. "It's in black and white, right? When did it come out again?"

"Well, it was made in 1931," Alice said while she put away the rest of the movies. "A few good decades before your time, but I was able to see it in theaters when it came out. I was there the first day it was released to the public, you know."

"What did you think the first time you saw it?" Bella asked, truly interested to know. "Were there a lot of people at the release?"

"I thought it was hilarious and I almost got kicked out for laughing so much and disturbing the other viewers." Alice quickly returned to her spot next to Bella after getting the film all set up. "But overall it was good in its own way," Alice continued. "The place was packed on the first night and the fear was almost palpable at certain times during the film. Back then it was harder for me to control myself, but it was interesting enough that it kept me focused on the screen instead of the frightened humans surrounding me"

Bella would bet that they would have been even more afraid if those unsuspecting humans knew an actual vampire had been in the room with them.

"Well if you three are going to watch this, I'm going to go work on my car or something," Rosalie quickly cut in after Alice finished. Standing up, she took a moment to bend at the waist to kiss Emmett before sauntering off towards the garage. "Goodnight, Bella," she tossed over her shoulder almost as an afterthought.

"'Night Rosalie," Bella called out after the blonde. It seemed Rosalie was warming up to her. Hopefully, when Bella was finally turned they could be considered friends one day.

"Don't mind Rose," Emmett said softly to her, obviously apologizing on his brusque mate's behalf. "She kinda doesn't like any vampire movies. She can't find the humor in them like the rest of us do."

Bella shrugged and shoved a handful of candy corn into her mouth. It was so artificial that she could taste the individual additives and food coloring. Delicious. "No problem. It just means she won't get hissy if Alice and I talk during it."

Emmett grinned. "True. Pixie Stix over there likes talking through all the movies though. We usually can't get through one without hearing her thoughts on it. And I do mean all of her thoughts."

Alice leaned forward slightly so she could see around Bella and stuck her tongue out at her brother. "Shut up, dork."

"You first, pipsqueak," Emmett threw back in reply, a wide grin on his face.

There was a sort of charm to the old film once they finally got into the meat of the story and the playful bickering between Emmett and Alice stopped. Instead, the two almost immediately delved into a heavy discussion about vampiric lore and all that humans managed to get wrong about their kind. The siblings sitting on either side of her would outright make fun of most of the scenes involving Dracula or his wives, but overall Bella enjoyed it through their harsh criticism.

"Could you imagine how cool it would be to turn into a bat?" Emmett asked towards the end of the movie. "Screw being a wolf. Bats are way cooler to change into."

Bella couldn't fathom it. She couldn't even try. Her head was buzzing with questions over the lore involving the action and what all it could entail.

Would it be like the shifters on the reservation, a sudden burst of fur and clothes? Or would it be more akin to gross bone-crunching with rivulets of blood pouring down the body as skin split away, and a slow, painful transformation takes place that leaves you dizzy and disoriented afterward. Could you adjust your size? Would regular bats know you're different no matter what you did to try and convince them otherwise? Could you speak their bestial language with them?

"Just think about it for a moment," he continued, nonplussed on the fact neither Alice nor Bella had replied to his original thoughts. "One day you're talking to someone, get bored during the conversation, then bam- you turn into a large bat and scare someone half to death as you make your dramatic exit."

Alice grabbed one of Bella's candies and threw it at Emmett's head. He dodged it with relative ease which only made Alice throw another piece. "Way to keep being a vampire a secret if you do that."

"Dracula's not keeping it a secret though!" he shouted, hands pointing towards the screen in a very animated manner. "Everyone knows he's a vampire. The whole village discusses the fact that he's a vampire within the first ten minutes."

"And look what happened to Dracula because of it!" Alice yelled, just as loud as her brother now. "He died, Em."

Emmett scoffed at Alice's words. He waved a hand in front of his face in a dismissive manner over her petty facts about the movie. "Only because the humans got him while he was sleeping. Like cowards." He turned to Bella. "No offense."

She shrugged. "Hey, you're not wrong. But you have to admit they wouldn't have stood a chance against him if he wasn't in his coffin when they finally went up to confront him. It was a strategic attack."

"Don't need strategies when you've got these bad boys." He flexed, his rather large biceps bulging beneath his shirt sleeves until they strained against the fabric. Bella wondered if it was possible for him to flex the sleeves off. "I may have been nerfed from not being able to turn into a giant bat, but I can still kick ass any day. No wimpy human can stake me."

"You know stakes don't even work on us. They would just shatter if someone tried to stab us." Alice threw a small handful of candy at her brother this time. "Shut up and pick the next movie," she said through her laughter, "and it can't be Final Destination."

She and Bella shared a knowing look at that.

"Alright!" Emmett crowed as he went to pick his film. "My turn, finally. We're watching Halloween then if you're banning me from Final Destination."

"I never understood Halloween," Bella said as she finally put the bowl of candy aside. She had had more than enough at this point. Her dentist was going to love her come her last appointment before she was turned. "Why does a six-year-old child decide one day to kill his sister? And why doesn't she just… push him over? He's like three feet tall. You can shove him. Take the knife from him. She could have done something."

"Bells, don't look too deep into it," Emmett said as he sat back on the couch beside her. "Horror movie logic has so many holes in it that it makes Swiss cheese jealous. Hey, Ali, can you-" Alice started the movie before he could even finish asking. "Thanks."

Bella heaved out a sigh. Emmett was right, sure, but she still wanted answers to her question even if they didn't really matter or contribute anything to the plot.

Alice rubbed Bella's arm in a comforting manner before resting her head on the human's shoulder again. "Sometimes you just have to suspend your belief. He's right: don't think too hard about it. Just enjoy the movie."

"I know you're both right," Bella sighed out, cheek now resting atop Alice's head. Her heart thrummed inside her chest, delighted at the intimacy and crippling itself from the contact in equal measure.

Bella knew she would hate herself for it come tomorrow.

"I'm just being a baby," she grumbled as she rubbed her cheek against Alice's head. "Are we going to watch the whole series or just this one movie? How many movies are in it now anyway?"

"There are eight movies in the series," Emmett said. He snorted out a laugh after looking at Bella and his sister cuddling beside him like a pair of kittens. "But can you even stay awake long enough to finish the first one? You look like you're gonna fall asleep on Alice in a minute."

"If you stay up too much longer I'll have to carry you to bed." Alice didn't sound too upset at the prospect. "Do you want to stop for the night?"

"No way. It's only…" Bella fished her cell phone out of her pocket and checked the time. "Past two in the morning. Huh, it doesn't actually feel that late."

"Want an energy drink? I've got plenty," Emmett asked. His excitement only made Bella nervous about his offer. "I've heard it can keep humans awake for a short while. We can at least get in another movie or two then."

"How long have they been sitting in your room, Em?" Alice asked her brother. "Are they even safe to consume anymore?"

"How should I know?" He shrugged at Alice's worried questioning. "I just don't want Bells to go to bed yet. I'm having fun hanging out with her."

A blush shot across Bella's cheeks at the admission. It was nice knowing that Emmett enjoyed and even wanted to actively spend time with her.

"I really shouldn't drink an energy drink this late," Bella admitted with a sigh. She didn't want to go to sleep yet either, but she knew it would be a terrible idea if she accepted Emmett's offer. She would just start shaking and getting anxious if she downed an energy drink. "I'll stay up as long as I can though. It's been… nice tonight. I kinda don't want it to end."

A wide smile split Emmett's face and he threw an arm around Bella's shoulders to bring her in for a side hug. Bella laughed at the action and allowed herself to be pulled against his massive frame. He was careful with his strength, and while the embrace was solid, it didn't hurt her.

"Nice!" he all but shouted in delight before releasing her, ruffling her hair before she was allowed to fully leave. "We'll get through as much as we can before you pass out."

Which didn't end up being long at all. After another thirty or forty minutes of watching the movie, Bella had started dozing off. She had somehow crawled halfway onto Alice's lap, head tucked up under Alice's chin and legs draped across her slim thighs. Alice had one arm around her, keeping Bella from falling over as she drifted between awake and unconscious.

"Bella?" Alice whispered Bella's name against her ear.

"Mm?" Bella grunted, eyes almost completely closed at this point. She was comfortable and didn't want to move at all from her spot.

"Aw, she's out like a light, Ali," Emmett snickered. "Adorable. Want me to carry her upstairs for you?"

"I've got her," Alice said as she scooped Bella up into her arms and stood up from the couch.

"Better not drop me," Bella grumbled, knowing full well Alice would rather cut off her own arms before allowing her to fall.

"Have you no faith in me?" Alice asked, mock offended that Bella would even insinuate such a thing. "I could just leave you on the couch since you're being so rude."

"The couch is soft, but I'd rather be in my bed." Bella was too tired to try and keep up the light banter.

"Yeah, Alice, it's time for bed." Something about Emmett's tone was weird but Bella didn't want to dissect it right now.

Alice stiffened, her marble arms tightened around Bella's body momentarily and for just a second the hold became uncomfortable. She could hear Alice let out a growl after her sibling spoke and one eye pried itself open long enough to look up into the vampire's face so she could read her expression.

Alice looked pissed and a little hurt by her brother's words.

Bella's fingers brushed against the smooth expanse of Alice's alabaster cheek in an attempt at soothing her, and the frown on Alice's face immediately fled.

"Let's get you to bed," Alice said softly, leaning slightly into the touch before Bella dropped her hand.

Emmett, surprisingly, didn't taunt his sister anymore and allowed the pair to leave without any further commentary.

"G'night," Bella quietly said to him, knowing full well his heightened hearing would allow him to hear her even though she was practically whispering at this point.

"Night, Bells," Emmet called back. "See ya in the morning."

Bella heard the movie start up again, a scream breaking the silence in the house. As Alice toted her upstairs, the sounds of the film grew dimmer and dimmer until fading altogether.

Alice dutifully carried Bella up to her room and placed the human on her bed. "Your bag's on the chair in the corner," she pointed out as Bella blearily looked around.

Bella was blinking non-stop at this point in an attempt at staying awake just a little longer. "Thanks, Alice."

"No problem, sleepyhead." A beatific smile spread across Alice's face. She then leaned forward and bumped her forehead against Bella's. She held the touch for only a second before pulling away. "I'll see you in the morning, okay?"

"Can you stay?" Bella asked before she could stop herself.

Something shameful and awful bubbled in her belly as soon as the question slipped past her lips.

It wasn't uncommon for her and Alice to share a bed some nights during their sleepovers, but the two of them sleeping together had lessened over the months after she had figured out she was infatuated with the vampire. It just felt too weird now that those feelings had emerged.

Alice's expression was unreadable, utterly blank, and Bella immediately tried taking back her request at the silence. "Nevermind, I shouldn't have-"

"I can stay," Alice interrupted, ceasing Bella's babbling with those three words. "Let me go change clothes and I'll come in after you've finished getting ready, alright?"

Before Bella could say anything or try and take her plea back Alice had fled out of the room.

Her heart was pounding, jumping around inside her chest and bruising itself against her ribs as panic flared up. Bella just stared out into the empty hallway for a long moment before heaving out a sigh and standing up to shut the door so she could get dressed for bed.

In her exhausted state Bella almost fell over twice while changing clothes, but eventually she managed to pull on a pair of fleece pajama bottoms and an oversized t-shirt. After shoving her dirty clothes in her bag to take back to her house when she decided to go home, she grabbed her toiletries and headed to the bathroom down the hall to brush her teeth.

Alice was sitting on the bed waiting for her when Bella returned. She looked beautiful as always.

The vampire was dressed in a dark blue pajama set, the material shining slightly in the low light, and Bella hazarded a guess that it was silk. Even though she didn't know clothing brands, no matter how many times Alice tried to teach them to her, Bella still knew this was something designer made.

Alice wouldn't touch anything less.

"You look nice," Bella said softly, heat blooming across her face as she spoke. Her eyes landed on a small pile of books that sat next to Alice. "Did you bring something to read?" It was a redundant question, but her sleepy brain was in full control at this point and not allowing her to come up with anything clever.

"Thank you. You look nice, too." Alice smiled at the compliment and even wider at Bella's silly inquiry. "Yeah, I picked up some new books the other day," she answered. "I figured now would be the perfect time to read them."

Bella nodded, not trusting herself to say anything remotely intelligent at this point.

"You're tired," Alice said, her golden eyes filled with concern. She held up a hand for Bella to take; an invitation to join her. "You should have told me you were sleepy sooner. Emmett and I would have understood."

"I wanted to watch the movies with you," Bella mumbled as she climbed on the bed. She practically melted into the mattress as soon as she laid down. "Tonight was fun." She laughed softly as she rolled over to look at Alice. "Can't wait to do the same thing for Christmas. Will Emmett pick something awful for us to watch?"

"Most likely." Alice giggled and tucked the blankets around Bella to make sure she wouldn't get cold while sleeping next to her. "Gremlins might be high on the list."

Bella burrowed into the thick covers and debated on what she should do next.

Before these messy webs of feelings appeared, the two would cuddle and cling to each other almost all night during their previous sleepovers. Bella would often wake up with her head in the crook of Alice's neck, her arms wrapped tightly around her thin waist, and several degrees cooler than she probably should have been, but it would be worth it to see Alice's smile as the first thing she saw in the morning.

Now she couldn't bring herself to cross the invisible boundary she had set for herself. Curling up on the couch together was one thing, almost all of the contact then had been initiated by Alice herself, but in bed it felt entirely different.

Alice held her hand, but she didn't pull Bella closer, didn't sidle up against her side and let out one of those happy sighs as she felt Bella's warmth envelop her as the human wrapped her body around her. Instead, she just laced their fingers together and dimmed the light from the bedside table.

Bella watched her as Alice started reading her book after the pair settled down. Every now and then Alice's cold thumb brushed against Bella's wrist in a comforting manner and Bella's heart would soar at the action.

"Your heart's racing," Alice pointed out after several long minutes of near-complete silence. This only made Bella's heart beat faster in her chest. "Are you alright?" she asked. She put her book aside and turned over to actually look Bella in the face.

"I'm scared," Bella said softly, eyes dropping at the sight of Alice's gold ones. "The movies... I think they affected me more than I thought they would."

Heat rushed to her face at the lie she tacked on at the end. She knew it was a terrible thing to do, to lie to one of her best friends, but the only other alternative was to spill her guts and that would cause such a mess.

"Don't worry," Alice tried to assure her. "I'll protect you." She flashed Bella a smile. Her free hand came up and her fingertips ghosted along Bella's face. "Nothing's going to get you while I'm here."

Bella's heart was in her throat. Her eyes were flicking across Alice's face rapidly, drinking in the smirk on her lips, the shine of her honey-yellow eyes in the dark, and the short black hair that haloed her head.

"I trust you," Bella said as the brittle walls she had built caved in.

Her chest was burning from the anxiety that swirled around inside her torso, but she shoved the worry aside as she scooted closer and wrapped her arms around Alice's tiny frame. The cold silk and the vampire's own cool body temperature immediately sent a shiver down her spine as Bella made contact. She tightened her arms around Alice after the shudder, butting her head against Alice's shoulder as if daring her to try and dislodge her.

"Oh honey, you're going to get cold." Alice picked up on Bella's trembling immediately and pulled the covers up higher over her. "We might need to hold off on cuddling tonight."

"Nah, I'll be fine," Bella sighed out. She shook her head in clear dismissal at Alice's suggestion. "I'm warm enough for the both of us."

Alice puffed out a tiny breath of laughter as she looped her arm around Bella. "Is that so? Well, thanks for being my personal space heater."

Bella nodded, her eyes falling shut as she felt Alice begin to stroke her back in small rhythmic patterns. She nuzzled her face against Alice's shoulder, moving until she was nestled up in the crook of her neck, Alice's sweet scent the only thing she could focus on.

She was tired. She was exhausted. She was absolutely not in control of her mouth at the moment.

"Why were you mad at Emmett earlier?" Bella asked in a quiet mumble. "When you were about to carry me to bed."

She felt the vampire she was partially laying on stiffen beneath her at the question. The hand that had been gently stroking her back froze momentarily before resuming its soothing motions up and down her spine. Bella's head was going fuzzy.

"Oh, Bella…" Alice sighed out her name, sounding almost tired. "Don't worry about it, okay? He was just making a stupid joke."

"But I want to know."

"Have you noticed how much time you and I have been spending together since we came back into your life?" Alice's question was carefully asked, but Bella felt a tenseness underneath that she didn't quite understand. "How we're seldom apart?"

"Well, yeah, of course we spend a lot of time together." Bella let her eyes fall shut, no longer able to fight against it. She sighed in contentment and determinedly ignored the warning bells in her head at Alice's cryptic words. "You're my best friend." The arm she had slung around Alice's waist as the two cuddled on the bed tightened minutely. "I like being with you."

"I like being with you too," Alice said softly. A heavy silence permeated the space around them, and Bella had almost fallen asleep when Alice next spoke up. "Jazz and I broke up." The words sounded pained as if they had to be torn out from her. Alice stopped petting her back completely by that point and simply left her hand resting against Bella's spine. "A while ago, actually."

"What does this have to do with my question with Emmett?" Bella wrenched her tired eyes open and moved to prop herself up on one elbow to look Alice in the face. Her heart gave a mighty kick in her chest as she managed to find and look into those honey eyes in the darkness between them. "And since when? Do you want to talk about it?"

Even in her sleep-addled state, Bella wanted to give the vampire all her attention. She would fight the exhaustion for however long Alice needed her.

"It has everything to do with what Emmett said earlier." Alice dragged her hands over her face, holding them there for a moment with her fingers pressed tight against her eyelids, and she exhaled a shaky breath. "I don't know if I want to," she answered. Alice sounded so lost at that moment.

"I'm not going to make you talk about it if you don't want to," Bella said. However, she was insanely curious to know what Alice was talking about, and the multitude of questions she wanted to ask burned on her tongue. "But I do want to know if you're willing to tell me."

A sense of apprehension started to build and Bella shifted uncomfortably against Alice's cold body as she tried to ignore the alarms that were blaring loudly in her head.

"The reason is because of you, Bella." The words were whispered, barely audible in the thick blanket of quiet and stillness that night provided. Bella knew that Alice was purposely speaking loud enough for her weak human ears to be able to hear her, but it was obvious that she didn't want to verbalize the words she spoke.

"Me?" Bella spluttered out, unable to comprehend what Alice was admitting. Her heart started pounding in her chest and a flush rose to her neck and face. "But- What did I do?"

All the blood in her veins froze as dread and realization took firm hold of her. She no longer felt a single flicker of exhaustion in her body anymore, instead panic started to arise as to what Alice was going on about finally slammed into her.

Alice knew.

White-hot guilt and shame dripped into Bella's chest like molten lead, choking her and making her eyes water at the burning that engulfed her before her entire body felt as if she were plunged into the icy river nearby. She felt sick. She wanted to flee into the night and hide in a hole somewhere until everything was forgotten.

Alice seemed to understand what was happening with Bella and sighed as she sat up and wrapped her arms around her own legs, head resting on her knees. She was shaking like a leaf. The last time Bella saw Alice this rattled was when the vampire had shown up on her doorstep in the middle of the night, half-convinced that Bella had drowned after jumping from a cliff.

"Your heart rate picks up whenever you look at me," Alice said, voice slightly muffled with her odd positioning. "Your eyes dilate and you blush so much more quickly around me. You're easy to read, almost like a book. Truly it's a wonder Edward fussed over not being able to look through your mind when you're so open." She let out a humorless laugh. "I knew for a while about your feelings."

Fuck.

Bella recoiled from her best friend, getting as close to the edge of the bed as she could without falling off, desperate to put space between them now in an attempt at somehow physically severing those feelings. If she moved away from her, surely that would make things better again, right? If she put this pillow and blanket barrier between herself and Alice, then everything would go back to how it was before, wouldn't it?

She had royally screwed up with her unrequited feelings just by simply having them in the first place, and Bella could feel that the relationship between herself and Alice, a relationship that had taken months to build back up after those dark depression days, was starting to crumble all around her.

The rug was out from under her now and she was falling into an abyss.

"Alice, I-" Bella began, grasping at loose thoughts and half-formed words before she really knew what she was trying to say. She wanted to apologize. She wanted Alice to know she didn't mean for any of this to happen. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"

"I hope it doesn't sound weird for me to say this," the vampire started, making Bella pause in her fretful fumbling of words momentarily. "But after figuring out that you no longer just saw me as a friend anymore, I started to realize that I viewed you in a less platonic way, too. In fact, I had for a while without even realizing it until it fully formed into something that couldn't be avoided any longer. I had, over the course of some months, developed quite the crush on you."

Wait, what? Bella blinked while trying to absorb what Alice had just admitted.

"And as you know, it's a little hard to hide any sort of emotion from Jasper," Alice smiled ruefully as she continued. She turned her head to look at Bella. "Once they were there, he knew about them and brought them up. I tried at first to ignore the feelings, to let them run their course like any infatuation would before eventually fading away, but these emotions never left, and in fact, only grew over time."

Bella felt like the wind had been knocked out of her with Alice's confession. Surely she was dreaming only the cruelest of dreams at this point.

Alice Cullen had just admitted to liking her. All the touching, the quiet irritation plain on her face whenever Bella would give her attention to another person, the slowly building intimacy that had been steadily happening over the past few months... it all suddenly clicked into place.

"Back in August, you kept blowing me off for about three weeks." The memory of those few lonely days without her best friend resurfaced as Bella went over the previous months in her mind and dissected every little interaction between them. "You would always have some sort of excuse for us not being able to hang out every time I asked. Were you avoiding me back then because of this?"

"Yes, I was," Alice admitted with a shrug.

No point in trying to deny it, Bella guessed.

"I thought that if I just had some time away from you for a while that everything would go back to normal. That my feelings would come to a peaceful end and we could simply go back to being friends as if nothing had changed. But all it did was make me sad and irritable, and that's when Jasper and I first started thinking about what would become of our relationship."

Bella worried her lip, being extra careful not to accidentally nick herself with her teeth as she chewed the skin. Alice was already so upset, it wouldn't help to accidentally bleed in front of her as well. "Jasper must hate me because of this."

She kind of hated herself a little bit for this even if some terrible part of her was elated in knowing Alice liked her back.

"He doesn't hate you," Alice said, her tone slightly scolding as if she couldn't believe that Bella would even say that. "You didn't do anything wrong. You can't help your feelings. Truthfully he's probably glad you tried so hard not to act on them."

Bella nodded silently. It may have been cruel to think, but she was glad Jasper didn't hold any ill will towards her for this. Alice was right, Bella didn't mean for this avalanche of consequences to happen.

"Jasper and I have been together a very long time," Alice said after a short break of silence. "Longer than some people's lifetime. He and I spent weeks talking, trying to figure out what was best for us, and what we could do to try and make it work. Eventually, after going around and around in circles for days at a time, we decided it would be for the best that he and I should try and salvage whatever we could from this so we can at least one day attempt to be friends after we both heal from the split.

"I do love Jasper," Alice carefully admitted. "And I'll always have a special place reserved for him in my heart. But as for being in love with him still? I don't think I have been for a while and it just isn't fair to him to continue to try and water a dead plant. Content doesn't mean happiness, and neither of us wanted to settle for that.

"I can see the future." Alice squeezed her arms tighter around herself. Her trembling had finally subsided, Bella observed. "It's not always concrete, of course, but I can usually see something and make a decision based on it. However, since I started realizing I want to be more than just friends with you, everything has been so muddled between us and for once I can't see. So far I don't know what's going to happen after tonight. Maybe I don't truly want to know the answer and I'm simply avoiding my visions. All I know is that I don't like feeling blind."

"What do we do then?" Bella was absolutely lost in these waters and Alice was the only shore she could find during this hurricane. It would suck and it would really, really hurt, but she'd give Alice space if she asked for it in order for both of them to get over those tangled webs of feelings.

Her chest and stomach felt as if they were being carved out with a dull knife as she waited on Alice's decision. Her heart was in her throat and her guts were in knots. Bella was pretty sure she even stopped breathing at one point.

"I don't know," Alice answered in a rough voice, arms dropping to her sides. "But if I'm being sincere, after figuring out that I've fallen for you, I don't know if I can handle things between us being platonic."

The tiny vampire shifted on the bed, now kneeling on the mattress and shuffling closer to Bella slowly as if the human was a frightened animal ready to bolt if she made a wrong move. Her hand sought out Bella's, who grasped onto it like a lifeline.

"Why not?" Bella asked as she watched Alice lace their fingers together. Her heart started beating in double-time and the blush on her face was burning at this point.

"Because, honestly, I don't want to just be friends with you anymore. I want to kiss you when we watch movies. When we hold hands I want it to mean more than just being a thing that girls do with their best friends. I want to take you on dates and be the person you're head-over-heels for." Bringing up their joined hands, Alice pressed a soft kiss to the outside of Bella's wrist, her amber eyes flicking up to look at her for permission. Bella nodded and the vampire's mouth moved against her skin as she spoke in a low voice, "I want you to be mine, Bella Swan. I want the rest of my future to be by your side. I want you to choose me because you want to, not because you feel like you have to. I want you to decide what happens tonight."

Bella could hear her heart thundering like a herd of wild horses in her ears. If it got any louder, it would completely drown out anything Alice said from here on. She gulped down a shaky breath to try and calm her galloping pulse.

Alice's mouth moved lower and towards the middle of Bella's forearm. "Please, stop me," she begged as her lips pressed down in another kiss.

Bella was shaking. Her brain was shorting out. She didn't want Alice to stop.

Alice's mouth moved even lower and into the crook of Bella's elbow, right above the collection of veins that pulsed beneath the skin. "Bella." Her name was like a prayer on Alice's lips and she was begging for benediction at her hands.

"You have to understand," Alice's words were a broken whisper against Bella's heated flesh, "I can't just let you go afterward if you let me do this. Tell me you want this just as much as I do. I need to hear you say it or I won't believe it."

"Kiss me," Bella implored, pleaded, asked. Her eyes kept flicking between looking at Alice's cupid bow lips and gazing into those hungry eyes. "Alice, I want-"

If she were more lucid than she currently was, Bella would have been completely charmed by the way Alice had to rise up on her kneesto reach her mouth so she could properly kiss her. Instead, all she could focus on was the cold mouth suddenly crushed against her own and the way their two sets of lips seemed to meld almost perfectly together.

Bella's fingers tangled in Alice's short and messy black hair and she gently tugged her closer while she desperately kissed the vampire back. Alice purred deep in her chest as her tongue swiped out to run against the seam of Bella's quickly bruising lips, the sound and sensation both making Bella's body do the most marvelous of things.

She opened for Alice's probing tongue and was met with a burst of sweetness that had her moaning into the vampire's mouth with abandon, uncaring of her volume control at that moment. Alice's rumbling purr morphed into a deep growl at the noises Bella was making. Hands were then on her waist and pulling Bella onto her lap, fingers skating the edge of her shirt and just barely brushing against the soft skin of her hips.

She lost track of how long they kissed. It could have been seconds, minutes, or even hours, but eventually Bella had to pull back so she could pant for air and try and clear her swimming head. Alice was lucky in the regard that she wasn't required to breathe in order to live. Bella's thighs were shaky and barely holding her up anymore so she sat fully on Alice's lap, knowing that her weight would be nothing to the vampire.

"I shouldn't have done that," Alice whispered after the human pulled away. Bella noticed that her eyes were pitch black in the gloom. Her stomach twisted as she took in how inky they had become. "Now I don't ever want to stop."

"So don't." Bella's fingers slipped from Alice's hair and instead cupped her face, tilting her head ever so slightly so their lips could connect again. She wanted, she wanted, oh, God, she wanted Alice so badly that she ached from it.

Alice caught Bella's hands and gently pried them off her cheeks. She pressed her lips softly to each palm, making Bella blush at the tender gesture, before lowering them back into Bella's lap. "We should really discuss things before kissing anymore."

A frustrated noise made its way out of Bella's throat at being denied another kiss. Alice chuckled and brushed her nose against hers in an affectionate way.

"Sorry, sweetheart," Alice apologized. That soft southern twang had once again momentarily shown up, and Bella was ready to forgive her for anything if it meant she got to hear Alice speak with the accent more.

Bella flopped over onto the mattress instead of trying to come up with some sort of retort as to why Alice should continue kissing her. As soon as her head met the pillow all the exhaustion from earlier came rushing back and hit her like a truck.

Alice giggled at the human's suddenly boneless body and gently rubbed Bella's back for a second before curling up against her side. Bella eagerly wrapped herself around Alice and tangled their limbs together, her head resting on the vampire's shoulder and arms wound tight around her waist.

"Do you want to talk tomorrow? It is late for you." Alice was affectionately rubbing her cheek against Bella.

Shaking her head, Bella valiantly tried her best to ward off sleep. "No. What if this is a dream? What if I wake up and it turns out none of this was real?" Blinking rapidly, she was now fighting back actual tears at the idea that this was all just one big dream. That would be her luck.

"Oh, Bella," Alice sighed out her name as she cupped Bella's cheek and tried to soothe the distraught girl. "I promise this is very real. You'll wake up tomorrow and I'll still be here if you want me to be."

"I do," Bella said as she buried her face into Alice's hands. Her eyes were burning but nothing slipped down her cheeks. She tightened her arms around Alice's midsection as if that would really be enough to keep her there. "I want you here… and I want to be with you. Romantically, I mean. If it wasn't obvious."

"It was a little obvious," Alice drawled, "but it's nice to hear you say the words anyway." Alice smiled at her and began stroking her back as she did earlier. Her eyes were still black, Bella noted. "Get some sleep, honey. I'll be here when you wake up."

"Will your family be okay with us dating?" The words came out quiet, and Bella felt a roiling in her gut. "I mean, won't it be weird for them? I've jumped from one sibling to another. That's gotta be weird for them."

"You know when Emmett was teasing me earlier?" Alice asked. "And then I said his teasing had everything to do with you?"

Bella nodded silently against Alice's shoulder.

"They all kind of already knew," Alice admitted sheepishly. She had turned her face away and Bella assumed that if she had the ability to blush anymore, Alice's face would be a brilliant shade of red that could rival Bella's own burning cheeks. "It's hard to keep a secret in this family, what with a mind reader and empath. Em and Rose actually had a bet on when one of us would finally stop tip-toeing around the subject and confess. Emmett's going to be unbearably smug for a while, so that's something to look forward to."

Bella's mouth worked open and closed for a moment, mortification clear as day on her face.

"What do you mean they already knew?" Bella hissed out, trying to keep the panic in her voice down lest the other members of the Cullen household hear their whispered conversation.

"I'm a little surprised you didn't pick up on me flirting far earlier. I thought it was kind of plain to see," Alice said, the same sheepish expression on his face as she poured everything out. "It was at least obvious to Emmett, who was absolutely delighted to tease me about this, I might add. And then it was brought up in a family meeting when Jasper and I announced our splitting up."

Bella let out a groan of despair. "You had to tell them then, didn't you?"

"Yeah…" Alice sighed out. "They wanted to know why, so I told them in as little words as possible that I had fallen for someone else. I didn't tell them it was you, but it was clear from my behavior around you that you were the cause of these sudden changes."

"So what's going to happen tomorrow when I go downstairs for breakfast?" Bella asked apprehensively.

Alice gave her a bittersweet smile. "Esme will be happy, of course. As will Carlisle. Emmett and Rosalie will be happy after they finish ragging on us for taking so long to do something. Jasper…" Alice heaved out a sigh. "He'll leave for a while."

Bella lifted her head. "He's leaving?"

Alice nodded. "He'll come back one day, once he's gotten over it a little bit more. It's only been a few months since we split up, so it's still a fresh wound for him. But we're a coven. A family. We always return home, no matter how much time passes."

A disgruntled noise burbled out of Bella's throat and she pressed her face tight against the column of Alice's neck in an attempt at refusing to think about what was going to happen tomorrow. Alice sounded so sure in her words that it helped soothe Bella's gnawing guilt.

"I feel bad," Bella mumbled after a good minute or so of silence.

"Please, don't feel that way," Alice sighed and brought her hand up to stroke Bella's hair. "If anyone is at fault here then it's me."

Bella pulled back to look at Alice skeptically.

"As I said, I've known for months about your feelings." Alice shrugged at Bella's critical expression. "I could have spoken up at any point and said, 'hey, we should just be friends', but I didn't."

Bella was quiet for a while. A ball of fear and anxiety sat heavy in her gut the longer the silence reigned.

"Why didn't you?" she asked, desperate to break the quiet that had gathered.

"I've always loved you," Alice admitted, which only caused Bella's cheeks to stain red with a blush. "I told Edward even before you two even started talking that I knew I was going to love you. I just didn't know how deeply that love ran until the possibility of it being more than friendship emerged.

"It may sound awful of me, but I wanted your love in return. I started craving you whenever you weren't around, and I was able to quickly figure out that I was pining for you as a lover would. You're wonderful, Bella. I'm willing to risk everything to be with you."

Here, Bella butted in with a disbelieving snort.

"I'm serious," Alice said as she turned over to look Bella in the face as she spoke. Her fingers reverently traced the contours of Bella's cheeks, the very edges of her lips, the sloping curve of her brows. It was so tender and affectionate that Bella's heart was close to bursting with affection. "I think my silent heart was yours the moment I had my first vision of you."

"That's so corny," Bella said even as she fought the fierce flush that tried to sweep across her cheeks at Alice's sweet words. "Did you get that off a greeting card?"

"I watch Hallmark movies in my spare time."

"Those are even worse." Bella laughed softly, leaning forward to press her forehead against Alice's. The vampire's eyes had once again returned to their honey-yellow that Bella loved looking into so dearly.

Turning her head quickly, Bella was just able to stifle a yawn that burst forth instead of doing it right into Alice's face. Her eyes watered from the effort of keeping her mouth closed and she had to blink away tears that had sprung up.

Bella was bone-deep tired.

She blinked rapidly, both to bat away the tears that had gathered and to fight the inevitable embrace of sleep. Just because Alice said this wasn't a dream, didn't mean she truly believed it. Not yet, at least.

The vampire she was wrapped around giggled at her cute human actions. "Really, I've kept you up for far too long. Get some rest and we can continue this conversation more when you wake up later."

Bella could feel a kiss being placed against her forehead and a tiny smile broke out across her face as her eyes fell shut and stayed closed. Alice's deep, rumbling purrs of contentment were quickly helping lull her to sleep.

"Goodnight, sweetheart," Alice whispered to her.

A garbled grunt of noise was all Bella could make as unconsciousness quickly grabbed hold of her and dragged her down into its welcoming darkness.