I was a little unsteady on my way back out to the car. What had happened in there? I settled in the driver's seat and took a deep breath to steady myself, but that only made me acutely aware of how much her scent had permeated the car in the short time she'd been here. Venom pooled in my mouth, but also something tugged at my cold, dead heart...

I quickly rolled down the windows and turned the air on full blast, hoping that that would be enough to air out the car in the - I checked the dashboard clock and cursed under my breath - ten minutes before school ended and my siblings were in here.

I found, however, that I didn't mind breathing the scent myself as I drove. Proximity to her seemed to be emphasizing the pleasant but not tempting spiciness; the sweetness that had nearly driven me to the unthinkable faded much faster into a faint undertone. Perhaps, if the others got to know her as well...

I shook my head sharply. Bella was barely comfortable allowing me to be close to her. It was too much to even hope that there might be a time when she'd be comfortable getting to know the rest of my family.

I sighed as I pulled into the parking spot I'd vacated a couple of hours earlier. The future was too tangled, and in a way that I was sure even Alice couldn't help. I'd concentrate on the present. Well, the very recent past. The moment I'd touched Bella's lip... her brilliant blush...

Emmett pulled open the passenger door, startling me from my reminiscing. He chuckled briefly. Imagine, catching you by surprise for once. Are you losing your touch?

"Hardly," I muttered, bracing myself for the moment of truth. Bella's scent was still lingering in my nose, on my tongue. Would Emmett notice?

Why'd you skip Spanish? Did someone come staggering into the library with a bleeding finger, and you needed time to bury the body in the woods?

I winced, but played along with his twisted idea of a joke. "Sure."

Who was it? He glanced back as the door behind him opened. "Hey babe."

Rosalie froze, half-bent to get into the car. "That girl has been in here."

"What?" Emmett looked puzzled, then glanced at me. His face smoothed out and he grinned. "Oh, so it was her you had to bury in the woods?"

"Emmett!" I snapped.

Rosalie still hadn't moved, and was glaring daggers at me. "What was she doing in here?"

"I saw her outside during lunch," I replied curtly. "She wasn't feeling well, and I offered to give her a ride home."

Rosalie rolled her eyes, but accepted this answer. It was true enough, after all. She resumed climbing into the car, unwilling to completely drop the subject. "You're getting entirely too close to her."

"Not close enough, if you know what I mean," Emmett said with exaggerated emphasis. As I could read his mind, and did know exactly what he meant, I rewarded this comment with a smack to his arm.

Rosalie merely sniffed and turned to look out the window. Maybe I'll see what Carlisle has to say about it. Or Jasper.

I didn't respond, choosing to not rise to her bait as Alice and Jasper climbed into the car. Someday she'd get over her unreasonable hatred of Bella. Probably.

But not tonight. Once we got home she marched inside the house, threw herself on the couch in front of the TV, and began flipping though channels at high speed. The fast pace was a deliberate method she used occasionally to keep me from reading beyond her surface thoughts, which meant she was having a hard time not thinking about something she didn't want me to know about. It might have made more sense for her to simply spend the night out of my range, but in her stubborn mind that would probably be some kind of admittance of defeat.

Alice sat at her computer and began working on her latest fashion project. Emmett, sensing Rosalie's mood though not sure of the cause, sat beside her on the couch and put an arm around her. Jasper contemplated going upstairs to pack what little he'd need for our 'hiking' trip, himself wary of Rosalie's mood, but decided he'd rather spend some time with Alice instead and pulled up a chair to watch her work. And I, after a few moments' deliberation, sat at my piano.

It had been too long since I'd sat here. Music was a huge part of my life, but since Bella appeared I'd let my own music-making fall by the wayside, opting for the mindlessness of playing one of my endless collection of CDs while I moped or rejoiced over the latest Bella development. But now the desire to create was once again burning through my veins, making my fingers itch.

I ran through some scales, testing the piano's tuning. Of course it was perfectly in pitch. I had Esme to thank for that; she kept everything in the house in impeccable order.

Esme herself was upstairs, and as she heard me start tinkering with some minor chords her mind turned from her blueprints for a new woodworking project to focus on me. Edward's playing again.

As I decided on a key and a chord progression, Esme followed her impulse and came down the stairs to hear me more clearly. As I began teasing a melody from the chord progression, I heard her decide to pause in the doorway, not wanting to bother me. So I let the music take over.

I usually had images in my head when I composed. Today my mind dwelled on the dark forest outside, on the gray skies, and on wind with a touch of rain. The melody wound its way through the chords I'd chosen like the wind through the trees, always minor, keeping within the same octave. I wasn't sure where I was going with it and my fingers hesitated on the keys.

Esme came further into the room. "It's lovely," she said aloud, laying her hand on my shoulder. "What inspired it?"

I shrugged, trying to stay casual. "The weather outside today."

Rosalie, listening despite herself, snorted at this comment. She knew I was dodging the question.

She was right. The weather itself wasn't the inspiration. It was the girl I'd been sharing it with. Bella and her beautiful blush...

I smiled suddenly, my fingers back on the keys as, with a drawn-out sequence, I led the piece from minor key to brilliant major. I threw in some chromatic notes, surprises that kept it interesting, and briefly visited the original minor key before coming to a sweet ending cadence in the major.

"It's short," Alice commented. Because you aren't sure that's the ending, right? She flashed a grin at me.

"I think it's wonderful," Esme said, forever the supportive mother. "Would you play it again?"

I nodded, but before I could touch the keys Alice gasped. She turned to Jasper and patted him on the arm, smiling. "You aren't 'going hiking' any more. Peter and Charlotte are coming to visit!"

Jasper smiled as Emmett grumbled at our little hiking trip being cut down from three people to two. And I was frozen in place.

Peter and Charlotte were two vampires, a mated pair Jasper had known during the first half of his vampire life. They'd also chosen to leave the warring life Jasper had been turned for, but unlike him they hadn't given up their... original hunting habits.

And there was a new extra-good smelling person in town.

"They'll be here Saturday morning," Alice was saying, over Emmett's complaints. "They're not staying long, though; I think they're on their way to Canada."

Esme's hand on my shoulder squeezed gently. Is everything all right? You've gone tense.

I nodded, trying to relax my shoulders as I thought furiously.

Emmett would never let me hear the end of it if I canceled the trip, or even tried to postpone it until Jasper's friends were gone. And Esme would object to us missing extra school, beyond the sunny days we had to miss, in order to go hunting next week instead of tomorrow. And to cause that much of a fuss would generally draw more attention to me, and through me to Bella, than I wanted. I needed something more subtle.

I stood up from the piano. "Emmett, how soon can you be ready to go hunting?"

Emmett paused mid-grumble. "I'm ready now. Why?"

I turned to Jasper. "If we leave tonight and shorten the trip a little, we could be back in time for you to see Peter and Charlotte."

Emmett brightened at this idea. "Hell yeah! You aren't getting out of the beginning of bear season that easily!"

Jasper sighed but smiled. "All right, let me pack." He kissed Alice on the cheek and headed upstairs.

"You boys have fun." Esme hugged me, then headed over to Emmett on the couch.

Rosalie shot a glare my way, but I didn't pay attention to her; I wasn't finished with my plan. I headed out of the room by way of Alice, touching her hand. She nodded once without looking up, already aware of my intentions. I'll meet you in your bedroom.

After living in a couple of houses where vampire hearing inconvenienced all of us, we made sure to do what we could to soundproof whatever new home we moved into. Therefore, with me and Alice behind the closed door of my bedroom, we could be reasonably sure we wouldn't be heard as long as we kept our voices down. But Alice didn't need to wait until the door was closed to address me. I didn't know you liked Peter and Charlotte that much.

I ushered her into my room and closed the door behind us. "I don't. Any other time I'd simply leave Jasper behind." I took a step toward her, my hands out, my eyes pleading, Bella's face in my mind. "I need you to do something for me, and to not tell anyone else about it."

Alice was surprised by the emotion and seriousness in my voice. To be honest, I was a little surprised myself. What's wrong?

"Can you promise me that Peter and Charlotte won't arrive until Saturday morning?"

You know I can't.

"But could you look?"

Alice slowly nodded. But tell me why, first. I sighed in frustration, and she held up a hand. If you can tell me why this is so important to you, I'll have a better chance of having a related vision.

Alice knew the most anyway, I told myself. She'd probably guess sooner than the others. And having her on our side could help prevent other, worse possibilities. "It's Bella," I said in a low voice. "I – I don't want to leave if there's a possibility that... that others could..."

Alice nodded, her eyes full of understanding. I should have guessed.

She headed to my couch over by the window, plopping down and getting herself comfortable. I followed, perching on the edge of the seat, my mind fully focused on Alice's.

Alice's mind slowly quieted, focusing hard on Peter and Charlotte and her most recent vision on one hand and Bella on the other, trying to see if there was a tie between them. She had a slightly different vision of the two vampires arriving somewhat later in the day, but it didn't seem concerning. She had a fuzzy, brief vision of Bella coming home after school. Several other visions, too nebulous to glean any information from, surfaced and sank back down. And then a clear one materialized.

It was a familiar dock in Port Angeles. Alice, and I through her, were watching a nervous-looking Bella approach the railing. Several people were standing at various points along the dock watching the sunset. Bella seemed to be approaching one of them, a man with hair as dark and nearly as long as hers.

He glanced at her as she joined him. She nodded to him, and they stood together, side-by-side, to all appearances watching the sunset as two strangers who happened to be in the same spot on the pier.

But they weren't strangers. After a moment he reached out and touched her shoulder, turning fully to face her. She glanced at him, giving me and Alice a quick view of her miserable expression. The man pulled her into his arms.

The vision ended.

Alice and I sat quietly, both of us thinking about the vision. "Well," Alice said finally, "she doesn't seem to be in danger."

I stood, taking several steps away from the couch. "No," I agreed, my voice flat. "She doesn't."