Bella glanced over at the window, waiting for Edward to appear. She frowned, it was an hour past the time he usually came through the window. She pressed her knees closer to her chest. What was taking him so long?

Had what she said been so offensive? It couldn't have been. She wanted to spend her entire life with Edward Cullen, to hell with growing older. She loved him, he was her entire world. He was her soul.

No matter what her mind was telling her. She wasn't stupid. She had seen how Edward reacted to Mike getting his throat cut. The sheer rage from having him taken from Edward's embrace. She wondered if she would ever get a reaction that big. He had been willing to die for her, kissed her until she was almost breathless in that foyer in Italy.

They loved each other.

Mike's crush wasn't something she was going to let blindside them. Edward probably didn't know how to let the boy down gently. Or maybe he had? She hadn't asked why Alice told her to take the boy's shift that night. Even after graduation, they still sent some time together. Edward had taken up a habit of coming to the store to have a conversation with Mike while Bella finished up.

"He'll come," Bella whispered into the dark of her room. He always came.

:::

The Woods

:::

Jasper pulled away from the elk. It was the fourth one he had sunk his teeth into and the blood had soothed some of his angry. His brothers were watching him carefully, though he could feel the curiosity rolling off them more than worry. He too was wondering just why he reacted that way. He had always assumed Alice was his mate. Finding her in that diner had felt like fate.

But when he saw her, it was like the world stopped moving, a cord tightening in his heart and when he tugged on it, it was tugging in her direction. Alice became an afterthought and the years of their marriage felt like it shouldn't have been there. Alice was always someone he was going love, he knew that. But the young woman he saw standing there, confused and transparent, had brought out something he hadn't felt before. The darker parts of him wanted to take over and keep her safe.

"Feeling better?" Emmett called out. The two brothers shared a smile when Jasper nodded in response. Scratching the back of his head, Emmett decided to take a shot. "What happened back there, Jazz? You were spouting some crazy stuff."

"I...I don't know," Jasper sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Who is she?"

"Oh yea, you and Alice left before they brought her in. That's Bonnie, but just her spirit. Her body's up in one the guestrooms." Emmett explained. "Cute little thing. Rosie's pretty smitten with her already."

That got both Edward and Jasper's attention. Rosalie hadn't even warmed up to Bella yet and already she was taken with a ghost. "Wow," Jasper muttered.

"Bonnie's nice," Emmett continued. "She's so young too, but she's strong. According to her friend, she didn't deserve to die. He hasn't left her side since they showed up."

Jasper felt a growl in his throat. He? There was another male around his mate? He shook his head and tried to reign in on his emotions. He couldn't be sure if she was his mate.

"This is a mess," he muttered.

Emmett gave a grin, "Tell me about it. You're finding out Alice isn't your mate and Edward's going through a sexuality crisis."

Edward spurted before he turned to his brother. "Excuse me?"

"Your little meltdown over Mike getting killed." Jasper chimed in, "You were all over the place. Anger, fear, sorrow and rage. Are you sure you're marrying the right human?"

Edward pinched the bridge of his nose. "There is nothing going on with me and Mikhail."

The other brothers shared a smirk. "Mikhail, huh?" Emmett teased. "Is that what you're gonna say when you finally kiss him?"

Jasper snickered and joined in on the teasing. "Or are you going to moan it?"

Edward's throat suddenly felt dry. He was pretty damn sure that if he was human, he'd be blushing. He tossed a glare in Emmett's direction as he started thinking of how much he could bet with Alice how long it would take for either of them to throw themselves at the other. "There isn't anything going on between us."

"Sure there isn't," laughed Jasper.

"Look Edward, it's okay if you're into guys. We have no judgements." Emmett commented. "He's a cute kid."

Edward's face scrunched up. It looked like he was concentrating on something, judging by how his brows knitted together. Mike was a nice boy, and yes they had very much been a breathe away from from kissing a month ago. He couldn't help but wonder just what it would have been like. It wouldn't have been the first time he thought about it.

Only difference was that this time, he was around his brothers. His teasing, grinning, betting brothers. Jasper must have sensed his emotions because he looked rather close to edging away from him. Lust rolled off the mind-reader in waves, followed by curiosity and panic.

"Edward, please stop projecting."

"Sorry," said Edward. "I just..."

"You should go talk to him." Emmett piped in. "Get your feelings out, you know?"

Jasper and Edward shared a look. Emmett rarely got serious, but when he did, he was still very casual about it. The bulkier vampire turned to Jasper. "Same goes with you, Jazz. Alice is waiting for you, so you'd better go talk to her."

:::

The Cullen Household

:::

"Hello Bonnie."

Bonnie had never met the woman who sat in front of her. She had never seen a woman with eyes like the sunrise. Flecks of orange, gold and red stared back at her. Her smile was sad, and it took Bonnie a second to realize that she was close to crying. The woman patted the space next to her.

Bonnie moved and took a seat, looking at the woman beside her. Ink black hair, short and spiked but somehow still beautiful, she reminded Bonnie of a faerie queen. The way her eyes pulled her in was almost dangerous.

"I'm Alice," the woman introduced herself. "And I suppose we should talk about what happened earlier."

Bonnie nodded, not quite sure just where to start with that one. The man who had stood beside her was handsome, like he had been brought to life off the pages of a magazine. She hadn't felt her magic in three months but in that moment, she felt the soft singe of it beneath her fingertips.

Alice giggled, bringing her out of her thoughts. "My, my, you look so smitten."

"I...I don't even know him." Bonnie muttered.

Alice was off bed and back in a flash, a photograph in hand. "I'm sorry if this is one of the few that doesn't include our family."

Bonnie took hold of the photograph. It was a wedding photo of Alice and the man in the photo. While her heart wasn't beating inside her chest, she felt like it was sinking like a stone in her stomach. She turned back to Alice, who wore a sad smile on her face. Her eyes were still soft, but the tears had dried and she reached out as if to touch Bonnie's hand. Pale fingers phased through her own but curled as if they were actually interlocking fingers.

"He's a good man," said Alice and she knelt down and kept her gaze on Bonnie. "He already seems to care for you."

Whatever Bonnie was going say, was lost in her throat as the door opened. There he stood, golden eyes lost and almost sad. They widened when he saw Alice and Bonnie, but his eyes only stayed on his wife for a moment before drifting back to her.

There was that word again: wife. A cold reminder that he wasn't fully hers. It stung and Bonnie almost felt like she was drowning. She wasn't sure of this kind of pain. It was different from the pain she felt when Jeremy had cheated on her. Or the pain she felt when he died. That felt like the sting of a knife running along her skin.

This pain was different. It felt like her heart was being pulled out of her chest. It was close to bursting out and the skin was being stretched and torn, but slowly and more agonizing instead of the fast and harsh methods she's seen from Klaus.

She removed her hand from Alice's and the other woman turned her head to her. "Bonnie, would you like to stay?"

"I...I think this is something you two need to talk about." Bonnie said, her voice small.

Jasper smiled, "Thank you, Bonnie."

Bonnie gave him a small smile and she disappeared with a wave, the image ingrained into Jasper's mind.

:::

The Newton Shop

:::

Bella headed into the shop, ready to begin her morning shift. She was a bit cranky, because Edward hadn't shown up last night. He hadn't even been there when she woke up this morning. She huffed, opening the back door and headed inside. Bella wondered through the back room and was about to open the door when she saw the lights had been turned on.

Who else was there?

She waited and slowly pushed the door open. She reached for a bit of pipe and branded it as a weapon and crept out. Movement caught her eye and she whirled around, swinging the pipe at her attacker. A sickening crack, like thunder clapping, echoed through the store.

There was a pair of footsteps falling and she cracked an eye open to see Edward starting at her with a look of pure confusion. Mike came around an aisle and upon seeing Edward's confused face and Bella's look of pure shock, released a breathe he didn't know he was holding in.

"Oh my god, Edward!" cried Bella, dropping the now broken pipe. Mike groaned and turned to leave the two alone, muttering something about needing to place an order. Edward rubbed the side of his cheek. It didn't sting but the impact caused a bit of shock. "I-I'm sorry."

"It's okay, love. I did scare you." Edward assured her, reaching out to grasp her hand. Bella smiled but noticed that his eyes did move in the direction of where Mike sauntered off to.

"Why didn't you come last night? Or this morning?"

He turned back to her. "We had a bit of a family emergency last night and Carlisle sent me this morning to deliver a message to Mike."

"A message?" Bella asked.

"He wants to help with Tessa's plan," Edward answered. Oh right, she was trying to bring back her family. Bella nodded and then cupped his face. "Love, I need to go."

"I just missed you," Bella whispered, standing on her toes to lean up and kiss him. He seemed a bit resistant, like he didn't want to but, he eased into it, kissing her back. His hands found her waist and she sighed into his mouth.

He pulled away, "I'd better let you work."

"I can call off. Mike's here,"

"Bella," he warned. "Stay and work. Enjoy being human, please."

She nodded and with a kiss to her temple, he was gone. She headed towards the front, hoping to find Mike. She did find him, with his back turned and muttering to himself. "Hey," she greeted.

He turned, blue eyes shimmering with a fleck of leaf green. "Hey there Bella."

"Are we sharing the shift?" she asked.

"Naw, my dad's coming in to help you. Tessa needs me to go ingredient shopping for the full moon." Mike answered and then closed the laptop he was using. He rubbed his throat as he spoke. "Can't say I'm thrilled, but Bonnie's a sweet girl. She doesn't deserve the friends she has. Well, maybe Matt."

"You seem to really care for her," Bella noted.

Mike gave a small smile. "She feels like family. Tessa said it would feel like that after I died the first time. I can't feel the magic as much as she does, but it's there. And I've talked to Bonnie."

That peeked Bella's interest. "You talked to a corpse?"

"Her spirit," Mike said, an edge in his tone.

The front door opened and both watched as Mr. Newton walked inside. He greeted the two and Mike took that as he cue to leave. He waved goodbye and headed outside.

Once he was away from the store, he headed down the road and towards the parked silver Volvo. Edward was out the car in a flash and opened the door. "Thank you," the vampire said with a smile.

"Don't get too comfy, Cullen." Mike said and crossed his arms over his chest. "I have ingredients to get and you're just along to make me look good and see if they're lying."

Edward flashed him a smirk. "Of course," he gestured for Mike to get the passenger seat. "After you, Mikhail."

Mike sighed, that was something he was going to have to get used to. Only his mom called him by his full name and that was when she was pissed off. He slipped inside the car and waited until Edward got inside. He glanced at the vampire and groaned.

Tessa and her stupid plans.

"Hey Edward," he called as the vampire started the engine. Gold eyes turned back to him, a question in his eyes. Mike suddenly sounded nervous. "There's more to this little shopping adventure."

"Oh?" he asked. Mike nodded, a blush blooming along his cheeks. "What?"

A knock on his window caused Edward to turn and see a smiling Tessa. He rolled down the window and smiled at her. "Good morning, Tessa."

"Good morning to you too, Edward."

"What brings you to my car?"

Tessa reached out and grabbed his shoulder, her smile suddenly vicious. "You'll see."