Disclaimer: This story is based off of the characters written by Stephanie Meyer in the Twilight Saga. I do not own any of these characters.

Bella

I stared across the table at Carlisle, he sat watching me for a long moment before he cleared his throat. "Would you be more comfortable if we spoke in my office?" He asked, and I offered a smile.

"I appreciate the concern, Carlisle, but I'm not sure how many more times I can tell you I'm fine." I looked down at my hands on the table and then back at him. "I know you have a lot of questions, and I want to answer them. I have several of my own that I'd like answered, but I want to make it clear that my first priority lies in making sure my parents are okay." My eyes met his again and there was a soft smile resting on his face.

"I suppose I expect nothing less of you, Bella." We looked at each other for a moment before his brow furrowed and he leaned back in his chair, he crossed one arm under the other resting a finger on his chin. I do have one question for you, and I ask you to humor me in offering me an answer beyond the word 'fine'." I huffed out a small laugh and nodded.

"How are you feeling?" I blinked several times and when I didn't respond he continued. "As remarkable as your progress as a new born is, I want you to know that you have no obligation to hold back grievances from us. I understand there is a lack of trust that the family had instilled, but you don't need to put up a brave face. You're going through a lot, and taking our feelings into consideration is not something you should concern yourself with." I let his words linger in the air before I shook my head.

"I am going through a lot Carlisle, but I genuinely am doing fine under the circumstances. Like you said, people handle traumatic situations differently, and - don't get me wrong - I have my moments, but everyone being here so far has not felt overwhelming. Neither is talking about my time when your family was gone. I'm not sure there's a way I can really describe how I feel about it, but it's not a bad feeling having you all here." I chewed on my lower lip for a moment, and Carlisle seemed to sense that I had more to say so he remained quiet. "I guess I feel like this was always something I was meant to be a part of, and regardless off all the pain it's brought, I'm grateful to be here," I met his eyes then, "And that gives me clarity."

There was no way I could describe the look in Carlisle's eyes, perhaps one of sadness and pride, maybe loss and love. He seemed grateful that I was happy, but concerned at what cost. I thought through a human memory of Carlisle telling me what Edward thought about becoming a vampire. That we lost our souls, became monsters, I found myself frowning. It made me sad to know that Carlisle was aware of how tortured Edward and Rosalie were about the choice he'd made for them, and here I sat changed by accident thankful for this life and this second chance.

With Rosalie I understood a bit more, there were things she wanted in her existence that she would never be able to have. But Edward was upset about a thought, something he had chosen to believe, and the first hint of irritation at his arrival flicked through me.

"I'm glad to know that you are truly doing well. And though there is a lot I want to explore with how easily you're handling things, I feel that much of it is just simply about who you are. For whatever reason, you are highly adaptable, Bella." It was his turn to offer a smile and I grinned with a shrug in response. "I think that our deep dive into your ability to block other gifts out may deliver some insight to your adaptability, so perhaps we should put a pin in this conversation and get things with Charlie handled first?" Carlisle's eyebrows rose with the question and I found myself smiling again.

I nodded once and Carlisle stood up, we moved to the living room and for some reason I found myself surprised that we were truly alone.

I stared blankly for a moment and I could sense Carlisle's eyes on me as I walked to the couch and sat down. I still wasn't sure when Jake would be showing up, and I needed to find time to be able to speak with Alice.

Carlisle watched me for a second longer before he turned and disappeared out the front door. I stared at the coffee table for a few seconds before I got up and headed to the phone. I dialed the number for Jacob's, I knew this was a bit of a dangerous game, but I needed to figure out the plans for the day. After a few rings Billy picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hi Billy, it's Bella." I whispered. He paused for a moment.

"Are you looking for Jake?" He asked, I wondered briefly why he was being so short.

"I am, the Cu-"

"He's here, give me one moment."

Billy called out for Jake and after a second of the phone passing hands and Billy's chair moving away, Jake answered.

"Hello?"

"Hey Jake, I know I shouldn't be calling I just wanted to know when you'd be heading this way?" Just like his dad, he paused for a moment before speaking.

"I don't think I'll be able to come until after sunset." His voice was low, Charlie must be there.

"That works fine, I wanted to let you know the the Cullens have arrived."

"Okay, thank you for the update. I'll check in later."

"Bye, Jake," he mumbled a goodbye and hung up.

I set the phone down and furrowed my brow, hoping there was nothing more going wrong on the Charlie and Renee front.

I looked around the room for a moment before turning and heading to the front door, I stopped with my hand on the door knob and frowned. I listened intently to the area surrounding the house and found that I couldn't hear any of the others in the area. I realized once more that there was so much I didn't know about this family. Not what they did while they were here in their endless spare time, let alone where the disappeared to when the house needed to be empty.

I didn't know where to begin when it came to looking for Alice, I'd made the decision to talk with her once Carlisle and I had finished our conversation. The fact that she hadn't headed back to to house confirmed that she was no longer able to see me. I sighed, but instead of running out and searching for her I wanted to try something.

I walked back to the sofa and thought about what I'd visualized when it came to letting Jasper's powers influence me. Of course that had been a little different, I had been able to see his power, to watch and absorb the feeling he'd created. This was a whole different type of thing. I sat on the couch and leaned over my lap, resting my elbows on my knees.

I closed my eyes and pictured Alice seeing me sitting here and her coming in to talk. I tried to picture the look on her face those few times I'd seen her have a vision, and at the same time I thought of letting her through the thin shield that engulfed my body. I pictured telling her that I wanted to talk to her, and after a few minutes like this, I sighed and sat back against the couch. Frustrated and mentally exhausted, I groaned and stared up at the ceiling, it was looking more and more like I'd be going on an Alice hunt.

As I was about to stand to head back to the door, I heard the dancing footsteps of Alice racing through the trees to the house. I froze and blinked at the door several times until Alice was walking through it, she looked at me wide eyed and I figured I likely had an expression to match hers.

"H-how?" She whispered, and I frowned. "I still haven't gotten any glimpses at your future since you've been turned, but I was able to see this, to see you wanting to talk to me - how did you? I-"

It was my turn to shake my head, "I don't know how it works exactly, I just tried what I did with Jasper's powers and - well here you are."

"Carlisle will have so many questions." Alice's voice was low and I held up a hand to stop her.

"Carlisle's questions can wait, I want to talk to you first." Her mouth closed and with a sad look, she nodded and crossed the room to sit in one of the chairs across from the couch.

"Something that wasn't carried through the vision was what you wanted to talk about," Alice had folded her legs under her in the chair.

"That's kind of a hard thing to put out there when I'm not sure I know what I want to say." I picked at my thumbs. "You abandoned me you know."

"I know," she whispered, "It was a mistake, and I can't take it back. But I would if I could."

"I know," Another pang of anger at Edward shot through my mind, "You should never have been asked to make a choice between me and Edward." I told her, she seemed mildly surprised that I knew this bit of information, but pleased to know I did. "I want you to know that I understand why you made the decision you did. He is family, and I know this family has been yours for a very long time, the idea of losing that was probably very scary." I paused, trying not to get into the reasons the rest of the Cullens would have sided with Edward over Alice.

Every way I looked at it I couldn't make it make sense, but I felt that was a conversation for another time. Maybe as part of a 'what will we do next' sort of conversation. "I'm still upset that you didn't push to say goodbye or at least contact me after you'd gone so I had an explanation. We both know I deserved one, but I'm not mad at you for leaving anymore. That I'll be yelling at Edward for." The last comment earned a small smile from Alice.

I wanted to ask about the emails I'd sent her. I was sure she'd seen them even if they hadn't ever gotten to her, but with her here now I didn't want to get into it. We were both quiet for a little while longer, and I was wrestling with myself on what to say next.

"He threw away the best thing that could have happened to this family. You're one of my favorite people I've ever known. I'm so sorry I hurt you." Alice said softly, interrupting my thoughts, and it was my turn to smile.

"I've missed you Alice,"

"I've missed you too, Bella." I could hear the quiver of tears in her voice. We watched each other for a couple seconds and I could tell she was fighting the urge to come hug me. I rolled my eyes and stood up offering my arms for her. She let out a sigh of relief and ran to me.

"It's really weird not knowing what I can do next." She muttered into my shoulder. I laughed.

"I have to say it's a little relieving knowing you don't know every possible thing I'm about to say or do."

"You have no idea how relieving it is," her voice dropped to a whisper. "I can't remember a time where I've been able to shut the future out and think for myself." Her voice cracked and I squeezed her tighter.

There was a lot more that could have been said, but I think we'd both spent a lot of time thinking about the other's perspective. For now I was just happy to have my friend back, and frankly, tired of being angry even if I hadn't fully forgiven her.