Chapter 8

Drifting By On Cloud Nine

Bella

I'm just saying, it's a little strange to think about Bells, I mean she's not even alive technically.

I roll my eyes at Jacob the best I can in my wolf form but I'm not too sure he sees it in the dark. We're on the border of the reservation and Forks, the treaty line as the pack calls it. Leah is sitting to the right of me while Jake sits to the left, his head craned in my direction. I let out a huff and lay down with my head on my paws.

It's not weird Jacob, it feels...right.

He lets out a snort that is so human-like I can't help but let out my own. What a strange life I lead, discussing my crush on a vampire with my cousin while we're both giant dogs, you can't make this shit up. I push myself back to my feet and give myself a rough shake to settle my disheveled fur.

Yah know, we're going on a date tomorrow.

A date date?

I growl lightly at his response and take off at a quick trot down the border line. He follows, with Leah close behind and I try my best to pay attention to the scents around me even though Jacob's words are rebounding in my head. I just don't understand why there had to be so much surprise in his tone.

It's not a date date. We're going shopping, my shoes didn't survive a shift and she likes to shop so we're going together. She called it a shopping date though, that's kinda like a date.

If you say so Bells.

We continue our run around the treaty line, eyes peeled for anything out of place. The rez has been pretty nervous since the rogue leech scent was first found, I volunteered to run a few patrols with Jake, just to help out. We've been out here for a few hours now but not much has happened, we haven't picked up anything out of the ordinary, so hopefully whoever it was just moved on. The patrols will run until the pack is positive the threat has passed though, Sam says you can never be too careful with bloodsuckers.

Bells we're passing close to your house, if you want to head back, I suppose it would be okay, to get rest for your weird date or whatever.

Who knew it was possible to send awkward in a thought? I let out a huff of amusement and butt my head lightly against Jacob's side.

Thank you cousin, I'll be in touch.

Good luck Bella.

I give a brief nod and take off back to my side of the line. It's a short run, maybe 10 minutes, and then I'm slipping into my backyard as stealthily as possible. I left myself a pair of shorts and a t-shirt in the trees on my property line that I slip into quickly before making my way to the back door. I'm pretty exhausted but I know my mind isn't going to rest enough for sleep without a little help so I dig a fresh bottle of whiskey out of the freezer. It takes three-quarters of the bottle for me to feel anything and I know I'm definitely on my way to alcohol poisoning. This habit needs to stop, but that feels like an issue for another day so I drop the bottle on the table and make my way up the stairs. I'm feeling a little messy after all that time running in the woods so I take a quick shower before slipping into bed. I'm asleep seconds after hitting the pillow.

I squint my eyes open the next morning as the sun streams in through the window. It's still early, only 7:30, but I can't stay in bed any longer. I'm excited but also nervous at the prospect of spending my day with Alice. It's not like I know her all that well yet, what if we don't have enough to talk about? What if she decides that I'm not really as interesting as she seems to think? What if I say something stupid? I groan to myself and pull my pillow over my eyes. Who knew a shopping day could be so nerve racking? Why does this girl make me feel so weird?

Some time later I drag myself out of bed and into the shower, even though it's unnecessary a good shower always makes me feel good. I get dressed quickly in a casual outfit of skinny jeans and a band tee. I make my way down to the kitchen and make myself a bowl of cereal, though I'm too nervous to really eat it and end up dumping half of it down the drain. A few minutes before nine I make my way outside, locking the door behind me and taking a seat on my front steps. Only a few minutes later a car whips into the driveway, a majestic yellow sports car that looks like a Porsche but I can't be certain. I can't help the grin that flies across my face as Alice waves at me out the drivers side window.

"Good morning Bella! Hop in." She's all smiles and my stomach starts doing jumping jacks as I make my way over to her.

"Damn Alice this thing is a beauty." I say with awe in my voice as I slide into the passenger side.

"Oh this old thing? She's my baby, Rosalie keeps her running like a dream." Alice laughs and my heart starts doing a dance in my chest that I pray isn't as audible for her as it is for me.

"The blonde goddess works on cars?" I question. "Huh, who woulda thought."

"Goddess huh? I see you think pretty highly of my sister." Alice's laugh isn't as large this time and I glance over to see a small frown on her face as she focuses on the road in front of her.

"Well it's just an observation, she's pretty...well she's pretty hot Alice, not to be weird or anything, just a fact." I tell her carefully. "You on the other hand are also hot, but not in that model perfect-bitchy way, you're hot in a way that's not too common these days, both in looks and soul. I personally think good looks and a good personality make someone way more attractive than just the looks, yah know?" I know that I'm rambling but it's hard to stop myself when her smile has grown with every word and goddamn how can a smile be as bright as the sun?

"Well I'm glad to know you think so highly of me Bella. I think you're pretty hot myself." She says with yet another laugh and all of the sudden my tongue feels too big for my mouth and I can only let a strangled giggle in return which makes her laugh even harder.

"So what are your other siblings like." I ask after I get myself together. "I've spoken with Edward in class a bit and of course Emmett in gym but I've never had a conversation with Jasper before. What's it like having so many siblings?"

"Well it's interesting for sure." She says in a thoughtful tone. "Emmett's a beast, as I'm sure you've noticed, he spends most of his time messing with Edward and Jasper. Jasper is pretty reserved, he's the newest to our diet so sometimes it's hard for him, especially at school. Edward's...a little harder to pin down, he's been with Carlisle, our adopted dad, for the longest so he's got a bit more of a sort of bittersweet view of our life. Rosalie is, well, she's a lot sometimes but she's sweet deep down, it just takes some time to get on her good side really." She finishes with another giggle that makes the butterflies in my stomach erupt into a panicked frenzy.

"Huh interesting. Do you guys have like a mom too?" I wince at myself, feeling I could have worded the question better but she answers anyway with a smile.

"Yes, Esme, she's wonderful, I love her like I would my real mother, if I could remember her that is."

"What do you mean?"

"Well I don't really remember any of my life before I was changed. Charlise isn't really sure why, and I just try not to let it bother me. I would imagine I'd be much sadder if I could remember all that I've lost."

I watch her for a long moment, a certain somber look has made its way into her eyes and I wish it would go away. Such pretty eyes don't deserve to have so much pain hidden behind them.

"What about you? Any siblings? What are your parents like?" She questions into the silence and I feel myself stiffen.

"Uh well, no siblings. I have a cousin, Jacob, down on the reservation. We pretty much grew up together, he's like my brother." I tell her with a small smile. "My parents...well that's a...a rather different story. My mother died at childbirth and...and my father passed a little over a year ago, October of last year." My voice grows soft towards the end, I've been trying not to dwell too much on my loses, it only makes them fresh again.

"Oh Bella I'm so sorry." Alice's eyes look over at me with such concern and my heart swoons in my chest. "I didn't know, I wouldn't have asked."

"It's okay Alice, the past is the past, I try to leave it there, but sometimes you have to bring it up." I give her a reassuring smile that she returns.

I glance out the window and notice that the trees are blurring by at a rather unreasonable pace and I vaguely wonder just how Alice manages to drive this fast. I feel that I should be worried, but I've never really been one for self perversion, and even though I haven't known her long, I trust Alice. There's a familiar pang in my chest that always comes around when I think about my parents and I'm trying my best to squash it. This is supposed to be a fun day, the first time me and Alice have officially hung out, I don't want to ruin it.

"Here we are!" Alice's excited voice pulls me out of my thoughts and I focus my eyes on the windshield.

We pull into a large, crowded parking lot and search for a spot. We end up pretty far down the line and as my eyes take in all the people I feel a twist in my stomach.

What have I gotten myself into?

XXXX

Alice

Once I parked the car Bella and I climb out and start to make our way towards the shops. I'm nearly bouncing with excitement, I haven't been shopping in some time, most of the family avoid it all costs. Bella's looking around wide eyed and it takes a lot of willpower not to giggle, she looks overwhelmed.

"What's up Bella? You look worried." I smile at her as we make our way up the walkway to the first store.

"I...I've never really been much for shopping." She says after a moment. "There's a lot of people here, guess I wasn't expecting there to be so much going on."

"Well this is the closet to a mall we've got around here so people tend to take it seriously. It's always pretty busy."

She gives me a brief nod and I get the urge to loop my arm through hers. I'm not sure if it's for her comfort or my own but I do it anyway before I can give myself a chance to second guess it. She seems surprised, she glances down at me briefly with confusion in her eyes and a blush rushes up her cheeks. My heart swells, she's so damn cute when she blushes like that, I give her a brief smile and start walking. She lets me lead, which I'm sure is due mainly to her being unfamiliar with the area. I'm trying to contain myself but I'm all but bouncing for joy and Bella has a slight look of fascination as she watches me out of the corner of her eyes. I wonder what she thinks of me, what she thinks about all of this, but I'm unwilling to break this perfect silence. Usually at times like these I'd be talking a mile a minute but something about Bella keeps me calmer than usual, like if I say too much it'll break the spell and she'll decide that maybe she doesn't want to be friends with me. As it is, our friendship is a dangerous one, I don't want to do anything that might tip the balance.

The first few stores we head into are crowded and Bella stays close to my side which, I won't lie, has me on cloud nine. She smells good, but with that earthy wolf scent mixed in that keeps me from wanting to, well, suck her blood. It's much easier to make my way around all these other people if I keep my nose full of Bella, she drowns out everything else.

I quickly come to realize that Bella wasn't exaggerating about her lack of shopping experience, though I suppose I could have surmised that much from her decidedly not too great fashion sense. A lot of dull colors, a lot of t-shirts and jeans, it's not much to work with but I'm up for the challenge. I drag her from one store to the other, our arms always linked together as we move from place to place. I like how warm her skin is against my own chill, like wrapping yourself in a warm blanket after a chilly day outside in the snow.

"What do you think of this one?" I ask her as I spin out of the dressing room to the bench Bella's patiently waiting on.

Bella eyeballs me carefully, the color hasn't left her cheeks since I started this fashion show three stores back. She's got a silly smile on her face, one that sends me gushing in how open and sweet it makes her look.

"Looks good to me, I like the uh, the pants." She says as the blush darkens.

I glance down at myself, the tight black jeans I have on do look pretty good, they fit my form wonderfully. I wonder briefly if that's why Bella likes them or if she's just trying to find something constructive to say. I flash her my typical thousand watt smile and give a little twirl.

"You're right, I love them, I'm getting them."

This scene plays on into two more stores, each of my outfits causing Bella's face to turn redder and redder. My wolfy friend seems pretty frazzled, that goofy grin never leaving her face. She hasn't taken her eyes off me since we left the car and I have to admit it has me glowing. If my heart could beat it would be trying to shoot out of my chest by this point, much like Bella's is.

Eventually we end up in a shoe store and Bella once again confirms for me that she's not one for shopping. It takes all of two minutes for her to zero in on a pair of black Converse hightops and two pairs of Vans low tops, red and black. She moves quickly, it's easy to tell she knows what she wants. It also tells me that she doesn't switch it up much, which is something I'll have to work on. We finish up and start making our way towards my car when Bella's stomach let's loose a growl.

"Hungry then?" I giggle as she blushes once more.

"Heh, yeah I guess so. I'll eat when I get home." She says dismissively.

Now's your chance Alice.

"Well about that." I begin, after taking a deep breath I don't really need. "I was wondering if maybe you'd want to come back to my place? I mentioned to Esme, my adopted mother, that you and I would be hanging out today." I pause for a moment to gauge her reaction but she just watches me quietly. "And, well, she'll take any excuse to cook since there's...there's so little chance really and so, if you want, she's probably overdone it and made a pound of food and we could go...eat?" I trail off, hoping against hope she'll say yes.

Bella looks at me for a long moment, she looks nervous and a little confused. Hope you haven't scared her away stupid. Too eager, too much at once. I mean, come on Alice, invite a wolf into a house full of vampires? The very first time you hang out together? Stupid. My internal thought train flies ahead of me as I wait for her to say something. She's probably just trying to think up a nice way to say no.

"Uh yeah, I mean, sure why not."

When Bella finally speaks her voice seems to have risen in pitch quite a bit and her blush has darkened to the deepest red I've seen today. It takes all of my willpower to not start bouncing and squealing right there. Instead, I give her a huge smile and link our arms once more, leading her to my car.

"Is the rest of your family as nice as you?" Bella's voice breaks the comfortable silence we'd been in since we'd gotten on the road.

"Yes, mostly, other than Rose as I'm sure you know."

Bella laughs then, it's a confident one with such mirth that it makes my smile widen to impossible lengths.

"Yeah me and blondie aren't really besties I guess." She says still laughing. "She's kind of...terrifying to be completely honest."

"Yeah, Rosalie takes a little getting used." I grin back at her, loving the way she glows when she's laughing.

"Emmett and Edward you already know, Carlisle and Esme are the sweetest people you'll ever meet and Jasper is a good guy too. He has some trouble sometimes, around humans." I say slowly, trying my best not to scare her away with talk like this. "He's our newest addition so he isn't completely...used to our diet yet. But with you he should be fine, there's wolf in you and we can smell that, I think he'll be excited to be able to talk to someone new, they all will most likely. We don't socialize much outside of the family."

Bella nods, her eyes gazing out the windshield. I try to gauge the reaction on her face but she remains pretty passive. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not but I feel like this is all going pretty well, better than I could've ever hoped.

"I guess that's why Jasper always looks so uncomfortable in class." Bella says after a brief silence. "I wondered if maybe it had something to do with me. The pack told me you guys don't react like normal vampires but that it's still pretty, uh, strained."

"We try to keep the peace. Most of your kind smell rather bad to us, it burns our noses really, so it's usually just ideal to stay away from each other." I explain.

"Do I burn your nose?" Bella frowns, turning to me with panic surfacing in her eyes.

"No, you're different. You smell...well, you don't smell like the rest of them." I trail off, unsure of how to continue my sentence.

Don't scare her away Alice

Bella doesn't question my half answer, she just gives me a nod with a thoughtful look on her face.

"You don't smell bad to me either." She finally says. "Jake and them tell me you should, but I've never really noticed. Sometimes with your siblings it hits me a little but never you." She trails off, eyes glued to the windshield once more.

I store this bit of information away for later thought, maybe Carlisle will know why Bella seems to act so differently from the other shifters. We fall into another comfortable silence, each lost in our own thoughts. When we reach the house Bella stares up at it with wide eyes as I lead her towards the front door.

"Wow." She breathes out. "It's not what I was expecting."

"What exactly were you expecting?" I ask amused.

"It's just...so open, so bright. I mean, look at all those windows."

"Esme designs homes for a living, she designed this whole place herself. It's the only place where we can be ourselves, it's a pain to pretend to be human all the time." I explain. "We like things open and bright, at least when we're in the privacy of our home."

Bella gives me a nod of understanding and, with a cheeky grin, I link our arms once more and pull her into the house. I can smell food coming from the kitchen and the low murmur of voice so I pull Bella towards it. We enter the kitchen where Esme is bustling around the stove. Carlisle and Jasper sit at the counter, seemingly deep in discussion. They all look up as we enter and, in seconds, Esme is standing in front of us smiling.

"You must be Bella, I've heard so much about you from my children. It's wonderful to finally meet you, I hope you're hungry." Esme's voice is warm and casual, like it's everyday we have a wolf over for dinner.

She really is a wonderful person, it's impossible to feel uncomfortable around Esme. Bella smiles at her and I feel her relax slightly next to me. As if to respond her stomach let's loose another grumble, and Esme's smile widens.

"That's my husband Carlisle." Esme gestures behind her. "And Jasper I believe you already know."

Carlisle gives Bella a warm grin and a nod, him and Jasper seem to be keeping their distance. They don't want to make her uncomfortable, new wolves can be unpredictable when they feel cornered and a kitchen full of vampires feels like an accident waiting to happen. Bella seems calm next to me though, the slight shaking she exhibited when we first walked in seems to have subsided.

"Good to finally be introduced Bella, I rather enjoy watching the intense high fives you and Emmett give each other daily." Jasper says with his slight southern drawl and a tiny smile.

"Yeah he's got quite the high five game." Bella let's out a laugh that sends me swooning. "Where is the big lug anyway?"

"Rosalie, Emmett, and Edward are out hunting, we didn't want to be overwhelming for you." Carlisle explains.

Bella gives a nod and let's her eyes travel over the kitchen. They land on the counter where it looks as through Esme has prepared enough food for an army.

"You didn't have to go through so much trouble just for me." She says softly, a blush once more crawling up her cheeks.

"It's no trouble at all." Esme reassures her quickly. "I love to cook and the opportunity doesn't present itself often. Whatever you don't eat I can send home with you for leftovers. I wasn't sure what you'd like so I stuck to the basics, pasta and meatballs, garlic bread, chicken soup, pork chops, salad, spaghetti, the works."

"It all looks amazing, thank you for thinking of me." Bella says shyly.

"Any friend of Alice is a friend of ours." Esme smiles warmly at her as I lead her towards the counter.

Our arms are still locked together, a fact I know my family has noticed. Jasper has a smirk on his face and when I glance over he looks down at Bella's arm and back up to me, waggling his eyebrows. I shoot him a look and focus my attention back on my friend. Esme is piling a plate high with a little bit of everything while Bella watches, eyes wide and smiling like crazy. I'm so glad this is all going well, I'm practically bouncing with excitement as I watch my new best friend get along so well with my mom.

"Say Jasper, want to go finish that chess match up?" Carlisle says.

He wants to give Bella space to eat, I suppose being the only one in the room eating could be nerve wracking to her. Jasper gives a nod and the two of them make their way to the living room, leaving me, Bella, and Esme. We sit down at the counter, me to the right of Bella and Esme across from her. She hesitates at first to start eating, glancing at me a couple times before she takes the first bite. After that, all bets are off. The second the food hits Bella's tongue her eyes light up like the fourth of July.

"This is amazing." She shoots out before plowing down on her plate.

Esme and I smile at each other across the table as Bella devours her food like she hasn't eaten in a week. I wonder briefly if maybe there's some truth to that, she is ridiculously skinny, especially for a wolf. I file it away as a question for later. Bella makes her way through the plate in minutes, before taking down seconds and thirds. The whole time Esme beams at her, thrilled to have someone to enjoy her cooking. When Bella's finally done she attempts to wash her plate but Esme is quick to step in.

"No no dear, you're a guest!"

"Are you sure? You just made me all that food, the least I could do is wash my own plate." Bella says back.

"Don't worry about it hun, why don't you show her your room Alice?" Esme has this knowing look in her eye that I can't quite pinpoint and I give her a long glance before smiling back at Bella.

"Come on." I say lightly, grabbing her hand and pulling her along with me.

I lead Bella up the stairs as she gazes around with wide eyes.

"You guys sure have a lot of paintings and stuff." She says after a moment.

"Yeah." I laugh lightly. "All originals."

Bella glances over at me, confusion written across her face and it makes me laugh again.

"Carlisle has been gathering his collection for years, Esme helps. He's met most of these people, he's been around the block a few times."

"I'd say." Bella breathes out.

We reach the landing and I lead her down the hallway to the very last door. I push it open and pull her into my room as anxiety starts to knit together in my stomach. I hope it's not too much of a mess in here for her. I probably should've cleaned up a little I suppose. I hope she doesn't think anything is weird. I push the door closed lightly behind me as Bella moves to the middle of the room. I make my way to my bed, sitting down on the light blue comforter and watch Bella as she looks around. She's got a small smile on her face that I can't quite place but it makes my frozen heart soar. God this girl is gorgeous. Bella's dark eyes travel over the piles of clothing, store bought and homemade, some still on the mannequins partial sewn. She glances over my desk, covered in all manners of pens and pencils, charcoal and paint, and piles upon piles of drawings. When her eyes fall to the stencils and cork boards covering one entire wall my stomach seems to dip as the anxiety settles back in.

The drawing.

As the thought flashes through my brain I see Bella's eyes widen. Curiosity and confusion swirl together in her chocolate eyes and I grimace.

Stupid Alice, stupid.

"You're a pretty good artist." Bella says after a pause, there's a funny lift to her voice that I don't like.

"Thanks. I uh, it helps me to draw it out. Helps to get everything in order I suppose." I say softly.

"What do you mean? Like life?" She quirks an eyebrow and even through my worry I can't help but think about how cute she is.

"Well yes. Also...also it helps work out my visions." I say it quickly, hoping maybe if I say it fast enough, rip the weirdo band aid right off, maybe it won't be so bad.

"Visions?" She questions slowly.

I sigh lightly and stand up, making my way over to her carefully. I let my eyes fall on the wall behind her, knowing exactly what has led to this line of questioning. The picture I drew of Bella sits there prominently, one of the newer drawings I'd tacked up there.

"Sometimes." I begin slowly. "Sometimes my kind end up with...gifts I guess you could say. Usually it's something from when they were human, like Jasper. He can sense emotions, when he was a human he could read people very well and it...morphed, you could say, when he was changed." I pause for a moment to gauge her reaction but she's still looking at the picture on the wall, same as me.

"So you have a gift?" She asks.

"I can...see things."

"What do you mean? She glances over at me and my eyes lock onto hers.

"I can see the future Bella. I can see the path the someone is on once they decide it. Things change, the future isn't set in stone, but I'm usually pretty spot on. It's easier with people I know, like my family. But sometimes I get them from other people, people I don't know yet." I take a deep breath that I don't really need before going on. "It helps to draw them, as I have them or afterwards, so I can keep track. Sometimes it helps them make sense."

"So...so did you have a vision of me?" Bella's voice is soft, an expression I can't read on her face.

"Yes. That first day in the cafeteria, we met eyes, I don't know if you remember." At my words she blushes and I wonder briefly why.

"I do." She says quietly, and it occurs to me then how close we're standing, how we seem to have gravitated towards each other without even noticing.

Maybe she feels it too.

"What did you see?" She asks after a silence that seems to last forever.

"That we were going to be friends."

"Which one of us decided that? To make it show up?"

"I'm not sure, it was just instant."

Our eyes are still locked, I'm trying to read her but it's not working too well and I wish for a moment that Jasper's gift was my own. What is she feeling? What is she thinking? What am I thinking? The air is charged with something, electricity seems to surround us and if my heart could talk, it would be singing. I can't help it when my eyes flick down to her lips and I see the way her eyes darken in response. I wonder for a moment if things are about to take a turn when a long drawn out howl echoes through the room. Bella's eyes shoot up to my window and she lets out a groan before looking back to me with panic clear in her eyes.

"Listen Alice, I need to go. That was Jake, something's wrong, I need to get to the pack now. I don't have much time, if I shift at the edge of you woods could you grab my clothes? I can get them tomorrow or something, I don't know how long this will take." The tension is clear in her voice and I feel a pang of worry for her.

"Of course Bella I'll just bring them by your house, drop them off with the leftovers I'm sure Esme has for you."

"Oh thank god for you Alice." She closes her eyes for a brief second before looking back at me. "I had a really good time today, we should hang out again sometime." She pauses. "If you want."

"I had fun too Bella, and of course we'll hang out again. We're best friends now didn't you know?" I giggle.

"Oh right, of course." Bella grins at me. "See you soon short stuff."

She laughs as I let out a huff of annoyance and makes her way to the door. Her hand is on the handle when she pauses. I watch her curiously for a moment before she turns around, runs back over to me, kisses me on the cheek and then races away. I hear her call a quick goodbye to Esme, Carlisle and Jasper before the echo of the door closing rings out. My hand has drifted to my cheek as I stand staring at my open door, a goofy grin on my face. I'm not sure how this wolf that I barely know has managed to turn me into this puddle of mush but I'm pretty accepting of it. I may not know her well yet but I know in my heart that I'm ready to spend the rest of my existence finding out.

After a few minutes I head downstairs to my waiting family. Carlisle and Esme are sitting together on the couch while Jasper is in a chair not too far away looking at his chess board. Sometimes he runs games on his own, controlling both sides of the board. I flop down on the couch next to Esme, letting my eyes drift to the home decorating show they're watching.

"Somethings going on with the wolves Carlisle." I start. "I'm not sure what yet but that's where Bella ran off to. I'll see if I can get her to tell me, it might be good to know."

"It's always good to be in the know, though if things are bad it's likely that the pack will have to inform us. They typically do if they see any threat to the humans on our side of the line." Carlisle says in a thoughtful voice.

"Do you think things went well tonight dear?" Esme asks me with a smile that I quickly return.

"Yeah I think it went really well. She said she had fun, and that she wanted to hang out again. I think it all went great, so now Rose can relax. Bella isn't a threat to us." I finish confidently.

Carlisle nods as Esme continues to smile at me and I know in that moment that Esme has fully accepted Bella as another one of her children.

"And also she's all alone out there, I think she needs us." I say.

"What do you mean hun?" Esme looks confused.

"She lives alone, she told her her mother died when she was born and her father passed away recently."

"Oh no the poor dear." Esme frowns. "How can it be okay for her to live all alone? She's so young to be on her own."

"I'm not sure, she mentioned an uncle and cousin down on the reservation. Maybe he's her guardian."

"A child shouldn't be alone like that. We'll have to keep an eye on the poor girl." Esme says and confirms to me that Bella is indeed now one of her children.

"Of course dear, she seemed like a sweet girl. It must be hard on her, to be on her own." Carlisle says with a small sigh. "We can't very well leave her to fend for herself, we just need to be very careful. She is one of the wolves, we'll have to tread lightly." He trails off thoughtfully.

"She felt pretty at ease here." Jasper speaks up and all eyes fall on him. "She was nervous at first."

"Of course she was, the poor thing." Esme says softly next to me and I try not to laugh as Jasper gives her an indulgent smile and goes on.

"She relaxed quickly enough, especially once Esme got her hands on her. I felt mostly calm from her, she seems to already trust you Alice."

"Well, I would imagine she must, to willingly walk into a house full of vampires." I say with a small smile.

"I think, judging from tonight, that we don't have much to fear in regards to Bella. And, as far as I can tell, there's no separating them now, on either end. There's some kind of pull between them, the feeling isn't one I can name exactly but I can recognize it pretty well. Bella's drawn to Alice, in what exact way I'm not sure, but something's there." Jasper finishes with a brief smile in my direction.

If my heart could beat it would be flying right now.

"We'll play this all by ear, just be careful to respect the pack Alice. We don't need any treaty trouble." Carlisle says lightly. "Other than that, I think she's a lovely girl and I'm glad you've found a friend." He says, giving me a warm smile.

"I'll be careful, don't worry about that." I promise. "Now Esme, how about those leftovers? Bella asked me to grab her clothes, she was going to shift at the edge of the forest. I told her I'd drop them and the food off at her house. I don't know how long she'll be out but I'd like to make sure she's okay. I'm going to just head over there now."

"Of course, come into the kitchen." Esme tells me while standing.

Esme packs up all the leftovers while I watch quietly. Now that I'm pausing to think the worry is beginning to settle in. What's going on out there? What could the problem be and can they handle it? What if they can't handle it? What if something bad happens? The thoughts swirl through my brain as I watch Esme bustle through the kitchen, packing food containers into a large bag. As if sensing my thoughts Esme makes her way to my side and gives me a warm smile.

"I'm sure she's fine out there hun, I know it's stressful not to know but you shouldn't worry too much about things you can't help. Just try to keep calm." She gives me a hug and I feel intensely grateful to have this wonderful woman in my life.

We stay like that for a few moments before she moves back to the counter, packing away the rest of the food.

"I'll be back, I'll probably hunt after Bella's." I say as I pick up the bags.

"I'll see you later dear, be careful."

"Always." I give Esme a bright smile and head outside.

It only takes me a minute to find Bella's discarded clothes a few feet into the treeline. I stuff them into the plastic bag I brought with me and head to my car. Her bags from our shopping trip earlier are still in the back seat. I stick the food back there as well and get in. I drive slow to her house, trying to take Esme's advice, trying not to worry. It's hard though, to not know exactly what's going on. I want to know what my new friend is facing out there. I want to know if whatever is happening now will bring the change I saw in my vision, the dark Bella with the sad eyes. I just want to know that she's alright. I get to her house much sooner than anticipated. I pull into the driveway and shut my car off, ready to wait however long it takes.

In the end, time doesn't hold out for too long. I'd been sitting for maybe twenty minutes when my eyes go dark and I feel myself fly away.

It's the forest, it's flashing by so quickly it's almost a blur but it's definitely trees. There's wolves, four maybe five of them. I recognize Bella's chocolate brown coat among them. They're running, racing after something. I see flashes of flaming red hair, long and twisting in the wind as she flies along. There's a man with a ponytail a few feet ahead of her, laughing as they run with the wolves hot on their heels. Bella and a larger white wolf pull ahead until the two vampires split, racing off in different directions. Bella and the white wolf follow the man, they're fast, they're gaining on him when he suddenly stops and turns to face them with a smile on his face. His eyes are blood red. The white wolf flies at him but he doesn't run, he just throws out his hands and hits the wolf hard enough to send it flying backwards into a tree. Bella rushes forward, jaws open and snarling but the man is faster. He lets her smash into him, they fall to the ground as he wraps his arms around her and I know what's coming now, I can feel the horror rising inside of me. He squeezes and squeezes and Bella let's out a strangled howl and I hear the crack of bone and-

When the vision clears I find my steering wheel crumpled in pieces in my hands. I'm out the door and running before the pieces hit the ground.

XXXX

A/N: Sorry this took so long guys, the next chapter is already in the works, the update time will be much shorter this time.