When I woke up, Edward wasn't there. My bed was empty, and even though Edward normally supplied extra cold, somehow it felt colder than usual. I took a deep, steadying breath, and rubbed my eyes. I would be fine. I turned my head around, to find my watch, and the time, and jumped. Edward was not present in my room. Alice however was. I had missed her at first, because she was poised perfectly, and still, on my desk chair, looking quite stubborn and rather angry. It took me a few moments before I was awake enough to process that she was there to visit me and that I should say something. I opened my mouth to say "good morning" and she cut me off straight away, speaking and signing slowly and with purpose, to ensure I caught all of it.

"Good morning Bella. I'm here because Edward is making a stupid decision and there doesn't seem to be much I can do about it. But no matter what he does he can't control the rest of us and unfortunately you've managed to weasel your way into our lives inextractably."

I sat dumbfounded for a moment and waited for her to explain herself a little further. Instead she just looked at me, still cross, and agitated, waiting for me to speak. A mild flutter of panic bubbled under my breath as I came to the realization of Edward's distance the last few days. There was really only one explanation for everything. We weren't going to be able to talk about this. There was no coming back from a failure that literally broke his self control and almost killed me. At least, not in his eyes.

"Edward is leaving isn't he?" the words fell heavily into the room. Even the rain drops I could see splattering against the window beside her took a break for a moment. Everything was still. Especially Alice. She had briefly mentioned that Edward was trying to make her do something, and suddenly some of the hints that he had been dropping the last few days also clicked. "And he is trying to get all of you to leave too?"

"A quick, and adequate summation as always Bella." Alice said, tapping her fingers frustratedly on the desk for a moment. "We all still have a minimum of three years left in this town. There are a myriad of reasons we hadn't moved on yet, including arbitrary things like city infrastructure." she waved her hand around in a dismissive movement. "But none of that matters now. What does matter is that I won't let him take you away. I know we aren't that close quite yet but I've seen how close we do get. It's closer than Rose and I are even today and it isn't fair that Edward wants to take it away from me. All because some stupid hanky panky went a little haywire and he doesn't want to kill you."

She crossed her arms and slouched back into the chair she was perched on. "Even Jasper is mad about Edward's decision. The only one remotely on his side is Rose, and that's for a whack of jealousy reasons and human prejudices rather than anything real."

I realized my vision was blurring slightly and began to blink away the rush of tears welling up. Either Alice didn't realize this, or she was still so simmering mad that she needed to get things off of her chest.

"I don't know if it's a vampire thing. My family, my Jasper, my friend. I feel like the whole possessive thing is probably instinctual. If he wants to leave, fine he can leave. But I'm not going anywhere. Jasper thinks I'm nuts. He just doesn't want our lives to be upended yet..."

I didn't catch any more of what she said, because my tears finally blurred out even the shape of a body sitting in my chair. I shut my eyes and breathed deeply, trying to control the waves of pain and ending that were bubbling through me. I was encased in tiny, but strong, cold arms, and a little pointy chin rested into my shoulder. She patted my back calmly as I shuddered for a minute. I'm not sure how long we sat like that, but I sensed no impatience on Alice's part. It took me a while, but when I had sobered up from my panic and pain attack, I pulled back from her. She looked sad, but supportive.

"Edward will kill me if he finds out I let you know before he did. But I can be as much of a stubborn ass as he is."

"Probably more." I whispered weakly. That caused her to crack the tiniest of smiles.

"But my decision is as firm as his. None of us are going anywhere. The only future available to me now is one with him gone." She stated firmly. My heart fluttered in fear for a moment.

"And in three years?" I asked. I was expecting her face to darken with the thought of leaving, and other such things, but instead, she smiled broader than before.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

I stared at her face, confused. There was something she wasn't telling me. That I could sense. All I had right now was the assurance that Alice, Jasper, Esme, and Carlisle, and possibly even Emmett and Rosalie, weren't going anywhere. All the people I had fallen in love with, loved me too.

Alice's face glazed over for a second, and she snapped to attention.

"Do me a favour? Change your clothes and go outside? Edward won't smell me then. I have to go, so he doesn't sense me on approach." She bounced off of the bed, and towards the window, as I started pulling off my shirt.

"And Bella?" she called, loudly. I looked over at her.

"This talk with Edward is going to suck. Don't do anything stupid please. And try to remember that we are here for you, it might just take a little bit of time."

And she was gone into the rain. I pulled my window closed quickly, as the rain was coming into the room, and continued to change. I swept my hair up into a ponytail and headed downstairs. I grabbed my coat and boots, and realized I had no reason to be outside. So I grabbed my truck keys, and started to head out. I took a little longer than usual locking the door behind me, as my hands were shaking. My stomach was retching and rolling. What would he say? Could I talk him out of it?

As I turned around I jumped again, dropping my keys. Edward was there, standing in the rain. His eyes were still emboldened with red, and his drenched clothing was unchanged from the last time I had seen him.

His face told me everything I needed to know.