"Belllla"

No. She was asleep. She didn't want to wake up this early.

"Bella! Wake up. We have to go so we can go shopping!"

Bella groaned, why had she agreed to this again? Right. Cologne shopping for Jasper so he didn't smell so much blood. If it would work.

"Okay, okay I'm up. I'm up." She mumbled, knowing Alice could hear her. She turned, and was surprised to see Alice still next to her.

"You're still here. Under the covers."

Alice giggled. "You told me not to leave unless the penguins came. I figured you meant not to leave unless you were shivering."

Bella groaned, knowing that Alice would tease her about this literally forever.

"That was probably what I meant Alice. Can you not tease me about this?"

She watched as Alice tapped her chin, pretending to think. "If you'll try on 5 more things of my choice without complaint."

Bella rolled her eyes. "What is your obsession with making me try on clothing Alice?"

Alice looked at Bella to see if she was genuinely upset or just complaining.

"I just like clothing and, face it Bella, you're not the most fashionable person in the world. Does it really bother you that much that I'm asking you to try on clothing?"

Bella couldn't help shaking her head at Alice's question. "I just feel so awkward in some of the things that you pick out. Like I'm not a fashion model so why bother?"

"Bella! You're beautiful! Really! You are."

Bella snort laughed. "You're my best friend. It's your job to tell me things I like to hear like that."

Alice frowned at her. "But what would the purpose of that be? If I'm your friend shouldn't I be truthful about things?"

Bella realized the vampire was serious and explained. "Alice, friends sometimes lie to you when you need that kind of reassurance or do things they'd rather not because they're your friend. Why do you think I'm letting you take me shopping even though it's one of my least favorite things to do?"

"Oh." Alice nodded, heading to her suitcase and pulling out a new outfit before heading to the Bella's bathroom. "Pick out your favorite outfit Bella, and we can get started heading for Seattle."

"Alice. I'll need food before we start the day."

She watched the vampire nod as she walked into the bathroom. Bella turned into her own closet and found her favorite jeans and t-shirt.

"So, why is this shirt your favorite?"

Bella looked over to Alice, blinking as she heard the question.

"Uh, well, this was the first rock band I really got into on my own. You know how we listen to our parents choice of music as a kid right? Well when I started high school I heard some My Chemical Romance and I really just loved it. So I bought this at Hot Topic when the album came out."

"It's a bit goth isn't it?"

"Alice. I'm the suffer in silence type. This is my kinda music."

The pixie-like vampire laughed. "Go on Bella, ask me anything you'd want to know."

Bella stared out the window, watching the road blur by before realizing staring out the window like this would only make her feel carsick. She stared at Alice instead, studying the vampire and her petite frame. She might be the most beautiful Cullen, even with Rosalie's model good looks. Alice was beautiful but she was also kind.

"Would you change me, I mean even after I break up with Edward."

Alice blinked at Bella. "Of course. If you want me to. I mean I'd probably ask Carlisle to be there just to make sure I can trust myself to stop. But if you want me to, I'd be happy to change you."

Bella couldn't help the grin that split her face.

"What if I just wanted it to be the two of us?"

Apparently the question surprised Alice because the car slowed down before speeding back up.

"Why would you want that?"

Bella realized she didn't know. Her face flamed.

"Uh, I really didn't think about why. Just was a thought."

Alice's laughter filled the car. "You're always surprising me Bella."

"So, aside from your perpetual clumsiness, what other things is Bella Swan known for?"

"Maybe my cooking ability. It's really a shame you don't remember any human food. Or that you're not human. I could have either described it or cooked it for you."

"Hmm. What's your favorite food then?"

Bella tapped her chin, running through the list of foods that she knew.

"That's a hard question Alice. I don't know. Do you have a favorite type of blood?"

Alice's laugh chimed into the car once again. "Hmm. Hard to say. Each type of animal we hunt tastes different. Some are more bitter, some more sweet."

"So neither of us knows what our favorite food is then." Bella laughed along with Alice, eyes widening as she noticed they were near Seattle.

"Isn't this supposed to be a 3 hour drive Alice?"

Alice grinned over at Bella. "I can't stand driving slow. It's terribly boring."

"But how fast were you driving Alice?" Bella's slightly panicked voice alerted Alice to the state of Bella's mind.

"Well probably about 100-120 miles an hour. But it's fine Bella, I can see everything coming." She tapped her head.

"Alice it might be fine for you but what about if something happened and we were in a crash? I wouldn't be able to survive a crash at those speeds. It makes me uncomfortable that you drive that fast."

"Oh. I didn't know Bella. I just thought you'd be okay because you'd be with me."

"Alice. I'm sure most of the time I would be, but if it's okay, on the way back, just stick to a more normal human speed."

Alice nodded her face set in a determined grin. "If you insist Bella. We should be here with about an hour to spare before the mall opens. Did you have anywhere you'd like to get food? Anywhere in the city?"

Bella ran a hand through her hair, thinking. "How about Panera Bread? I'm dying for a good sandwich and their mac n cheese."

Alice's nose wrinkled. "I don't get human food Bella. How you guys can eat that stinky stuff."

"Well I don't get how you can drink that metallic, irony blood." Bella looked over to Alice, eyebrow raised.

"Wait, you can smell blood, Bella?" Alice watched as Bella nodded, the duh apparent in her look. "That's not normal for a human. But… you hang out with vampires and a potential werewolf, so, you're not normal."

Bella rolled her eyes at Alice, looking around the streets. "Do you know how to get to the Panera Bread, Alice?"

"Nope. But we can always drive around the city. I think there's one near the mall." Alice concentrated, trying to see a vision of the mall, or remember where a Panera Bread was. Bella wasn't sure.

"Right! I'll get you there Bella, don't worry."

"Alice, no! I told you I'd try on 10 outfits and 5 more pieces of clothes and I meant it!"

Alice rolled her eyes, the dress in her hands waving in front of Bella. "But Bella, how am I going to play Bella Barbie if you don't want to try on clothes?"

Bella snorted. "I meant it when I said no, and if you can't accept it, I'll just call Jake to come get me."

Alice pouted, knowing that for once, Bella wouldn't give in. "Fine. I think we're done here then. We already bought so many gross smelling colognes. But don't complain if I buy the dress for you anyways, I know it'll look great on you anyways." She tapped her head, grinning.

"Get me some food Alice. We've been here for almost 4 hours already. And I didn't complain about what you made me try on."

Alice looked at her watch. "Is it feeding time for you already?"

Bella just started laughing. "Alice I'm surprised you're still having trouble with this. Typically we eat breakfast then around noon we have lunch and dinner probably 5-6 hours later."

"It just seems like a lot of trouble, eating that much."

"Is it troubling to go hunting every few weeks?"

Alice absent mindedly looked through the other dresses hanging on the rack. "No, we have to."

"There you go. Same thing. Humans just need to eat more often." Bella looked at her friend, surprised Alice was actually trying to make her way back to the mall's food court. She watched as Alice picked up some more jeans before heading to the cash register.

"Go get yourself some food Bella, I just need to finish up in here. I'll meet you at that awful smelling food place in about 10 minutes."

Bella saluted, moving to find something she could easily eat while they were driving back to Forks. Hmm pretzels, or pizza? Her grumbling stomach begged for something with meat, something filling.

She was standing at the pizza counter, ordering a personal pizza when she felt eyes on her. Bella looked around, seeing a flash of red hair. Victoria. Couldn't be. Alice would have seen if she was in danger. The feeling of being watched intensified and she jumped as she felt someone slip right next to her.

"Damn it Alice! Don't do that!" Alice grinned at her, until she could see the genuine fear in Bella's eyes.

"What happened?"

"I could have sworn I saw Victoria here. I felt like I was being watched, Al. It was creepy. Then you showed up silently beside me."

Alice's face lost the grin and she pushed Bella forward, before getting that far away look in her eyes for a moment that showed she was looking into the future. "Get your food. We should get back to Forks just in case. I didn't see her here, and I can see that you'll be fine, but just as a precaution."

Bella nodded, picking up her pizza. "Ready then, Alice?"

She handed Bella the bags, and Bella raised an eyebrow. "Just in case I need my hands free to keep you safe."

"Alice, how many things did you buy in that store?" Bella watched as the smaller girl shrugged.

"Enough for the next few weeks." Alice was leading Bella back to the car, her arm hooked around the brunette's.

"Right. So you bought what a normal person would buy for months." Alice stuck her tongue out at Bella, unlocking the car and taking the pizza box so Bella could deposit the bags into the car.

When she was finished, Bella was amazed she'd managed to carry that many bags and keep her balance.

"Alice you're amazing."

"Hmm, why?" The shit eating grin she had said it all.

"I managed to get all the way to the car without tripping over my feet with all these bags."

Alice laughed. "Ahh, Bella, it's rather easy when I can see the best route for you." She handed Bella box, making Bella's stomach growl.

"Well, we should get the beast fed and get you back home so I can carry all the bags up before Charlie gets home."