ALICE

It took us a little while but Jasper and I were able to get Bella to stop crying and go back to sleep. She ended up curling herself back into Jasper's embrace. I felt a small pang of jealousy at the sight of them together like that but I pushed it away. Bella had just lost essentially everything. Or at least what felt like everything to her. She needed someone to make her feel loved and if she found that in Jasper, I didn't want to do anything to stop it.

When I was sure that she was asleep, I crawled out of the bed, grabbed my phone and went out into the hallway to call Charlie.

"Hello, Swan residence, Chief Swan speaking." Charlie answered on the third ring.

"Hey Charlie, it's Alice." I said trying to mask the weariness in my voice. I don't think it worked very well.

"Hey Alice, what's up?" He asked.

"I just wanted to let you know that Bella's staying over here with me tonight." I stated. "Everything's okay. She's just had a really rough day and doesn't feel like coming home right now."

"Okay." Charlie replied sounding a little confused. "But what happened? Did he hurt her again?"

I felt a small stab of anger that he just automatically assumed it was something that Edward had done to her. Granted, we would be telling him something similar to that later. It just still irked me that Charlie was still holding the months we spent away against Edward. Edward only left for Bella's safety. I wished we could tell Charlie that. Maybe then the bitter feelings would go away and Bella could mourn Edward without the lies and assumptions. Unfortunately, we couldn't take any chances with Charlie finding out. The Volturi let Bella go with the promise of us changing her. Somehow, I didn't think they'd be so lenient again.

"I think it's something you should wait and hear when Bella's ready to talk about it." I answered with a sigh.

"Okay." he replied. I could tell by his tone that he wasn't satisfied with that answer. However, he knew Bella well enough to know that she doesn't talk about something until she is ready. And he knew me well enough to know that I respected Bella's privacy and wouldn't say anything unless I knew Bella was going to be okay with it. "Well, thanks for letting me know where she was."

"Yeah. No problem." I answered. "I drop her off sometime tomorrow."

"Thanks, Alice. Could you do me a favor, though, and tell her I love her and I'll be here when she's ready to talk about whatever it is."

"Sure. I'll see you tomorrow, Charlie."

"Okay."

"Bye."

"Buh-bye."

I flipped the phone shut with a sigh. Now that Bella was all taken care of, I decided it was about time to take care of myself. I needed to be alone for a little while and think about everything that happened today. I needed to deal with what happened to Edward and figure out the crazy vision I had.

I knew I couldn't do all that downstairs. The family was down there and they'd probablty be bombarding me with questions about Bella's well being. So, since my best friend was asleep in my mates embrace in my room, there was only one place for me to go. I turned and headed up the hallway to Edward's room.

It was exactly how he had left it. The huge bed with the decorated gold posts was still in the center of the room. It was still neatly made because Bella had slept at Charlie's the night before and Edward stayed with her. Edward's many stacks of C.D.'s littere the floor, making it a little harder to manuever around the room. His large stereo system was sitting on shelf opposite the door.

I turned it on and played the C.D. that was already in it. The room was filled with the beautiful song that we came to regard as Bella's lullabye. I laughed. Of course, this would've been the last thing he listened to. Sadness filled me as I moved around the room, listening to the song that he worked so hard on.

I ended up in front of his dresser. I notived as I had so often before, that he didn't have many decorations or nic nacs on his dresser and shelves. The were mostly covered in C.D.'s, books and pictures of Bella in fancy frames. The pictures ranged from her baby days and younger years, compliments of Renee, right up to a few weeks ago. Most of them were Bella by herself, usually, extremely embarrassed about having her picture taken, however, a few of the more recent ones were her with Edward or another member of our family.

In the center of his dresser was the most intricately decorated pure silver frame which held the picture of the two of them at Junior Prom.

I picked it up to exmaine it as memories of that day flooded back to me. Edward, with a little help from Charlie and I, had tricked Bella into going because he knew she would've said no if he simply asked. It was an exciting night and not just for Edward and Bella. It was the first time we had ever risked a social activity outside of going to school. Which meant that it was everyone's first prom. And I didn't think I ever had more fun in my entire life.

Looking at the picture in front of me, I only just started to realize how much Bella had changed Edward. I remembered how rarely he smiled beforehe met Bella. And on the rare occassion that he did, it wasn't very convincing. And they never quite made it to his eyes. However, he had the biggest smile most believable smile on his face in this picture. And it was taken only months after he'd found Bella.

I sighed and placed the picture back on the dresser as more memories ever Edward came flooding back. I collapsed onto the couch and just let the memories take me away for awhile. I wasn't sure how long I laid there staring blankly at the white ceiling, thinking about the change Bella brought not only to Edward's life but to the rest of the family's, when everything finally started to make sense.

Edward and Bella, though very much in love, weren't meant to be together. Just like Jasper and I weren't meant to be together. It was Bella and Jasper who were supposed to be mates and spead enternity together. Edward and I were just fate's way of bringing them togeher. There were other reasons behind putting the two of us with two of them, of course.

When Jasper and I first met, we needed each other. He needed me to help him to realize that there was a much better way to live his life then what he had been taught. And I needed him to help me feel loved, whole, and at peace with what I had be become. We journeyed to find a home with the Cullens together. And along the way, we helped each other through the self doubt that our past lives had created. Now, we were both better people for our experience with each other and he no longer needed me. Just like I know longer needed him. That didn't mean that didn't love each other anymore because I still loved him with all of my heart and soul, even if I didn't need him anymore.

As for Edward and Bella, they needed each other at first too. Edward needed her to help him realize that he wasn't a monster and was worthy of the love of a beautiful girl. She reminded him of what it was like to be human and how wonderful it was to be in love. She brought him back to life, in so many ways. Which was something that he really needed. As for Bella, she needed him to make her believe that she was beautiful and worthwhile. Their relationship made her stronger and gave her strength to fight for what she wanted. Even if it meant, fighting Edward.

However, she got everything she needed from him and that's why he had to die. She didn't need him anymore but the grief and sadness of his death had already pushed her into Jasper's arms and things would only escalate from there. Edward needed to die to pave the way for that relationship.

Jasper and Bella didn't know it, yet, of course. Jasper just assumed she was leaning on him, because of his ability to help her with her emotions. He, of course, wanted to do everything he could to help her because they were "family." However, they both made their decisions of their future the minute Jasper stopped Bella from going after Jacob and Bella let him do it. Now, all the pieces were on the table and we just have to wait for them to fall into place.

Now the only question was; How did I feel about the idea of losing my mate to my best friend? Well, to be honest, at first I felt jealous, angry, sad, hurt, and betrayed. However, the more I thought about it the more I realized that I was wrong.

Jasper was my mate and I loved him with my whole heart and soul. And Bella was my best friend and I loved her just as much. I wanted nothing more than to see the two of them happy because I loved them so much. It sucked that I had to lose Jasper to Bella in order for them to be happy, but I had to let go because it was the right thing to do. Their happiness was way more important to me than my own and I would sacrifice everything to make sure the could be happy.

Did this mean that I was going to run right out and ask Jasper for a divorce? Hell, no. I would never hurt Jasper like that. Besides, the seeds of their relationship were just starting to root. Which meant they wouldn't realize their true feelings for awhile then they'd try to fight it because of me. I'd say I still had a good year or so left with him. And I would, of course, cherish every moment of that year.

And when the time finally came to walk I away. I let Jasper go with no feelings of resentment or hate. I would tell him how I felt and that I just wanted him to be happy. Even if it was with Bella. I would tell him that though, I would always love him, I needed to let him go because it was what was right for him. And even though saying the words would hurt, I do it with a heart full of joy because I'd be giving Jasper the last thing he needed from me. And that's all there was to it.

I laid there for a few more minutes just staring unseeingly at the white ceiling, until I heard the door open and someone step in. I sat up and look over to find Jasper standing in the doorway looking as sad and drained as I felt.

"Hey." he said with a small smile.

"Hey." I replied. "How is she?"

"She's actually sleeping peacefully." he replied. "I asked Emmett to sit with her, just in case she has another dream or wakes up. I'm sorry." The end of his sentence shocked me a little. What on earth did he have to be sorry for. "I realize that I've been so worried about taking care of Bella that I complete forgot that you might need your mate."

"Don't apologize for taking care of her, Jasper." I replied. "She just lost her mate and needed someone to make her feel loved and protected. I'd rather you helped her than left her to deal with this on her own." Jasper nodded and came to sit beside me on the couch.

"Well, now that Bella has been taken care of, how do you feel?" he asked sweetly.

"About as well as can be expected." I replied snuggling into his chest.

"Well, is there anything that you want to talk about?" he asked.

"Yes, but it's not something that I can tell you about, right now." I replied.

"Okay." He said simply. That's what I loved about him. He understood the whole future seeing thing and knew there was only certain things I could talk about. I didn't like ruining good things for the family because my visions came premsaturely. "Well, when you're able to talk about it, I'll be here." He wrapped his arms around my small frame and kissed the top of my head.

We laid there in silence for a long time, lost in our own thoughts. For some reason mine traveled back to when he and I first came to stay with the Cullens.

"You remember when we first joined the family?" I asked him quietly.

"How could I forgot?" he replied with a chuckle. "Your fascination with Edward caused our worst fight ever."

"Well, that's just because you were insecure enough to believe that I was going to leave you for him." I replied with a smile.

"Could you really blame me, though?" he argued. "You did nothing but talk to and about him for the entire first week."

"Yes, but that was just because it was nice to finally meet someone I could really share my gift with." I stated with a hint of flirtatiousness.

The was very true. Edward was the first person that I could literally share my visions with. Sure, I could tell other people about them but Edward was the only one who could experience them with me. He could actually be inside my head while I was having one. I didn't realize how desperately I needed someone like that until he was there.

"As you so passionately reminded me in our four hour yelling match." Jasper chuckled back.

"Ah yes, the four hour yelling match that turned into the best six hours of sex imaginable." I responded smiling at the memory.

"Sex, in which Edward, unfortunately walked in on." Jasper replied.

I burst out into laughter. I remembered that too clearly. It was one of the most embarrassing moments for everyone involved.

"I still don't know how we managed that." I said through my laughter. "I mean with my premonitions and Edward's mind reading abilities, it was something that we should've been able to completely avoid."

"I know."

We laughed ourselves into silence after that.

"I'm really gonna miss him." I whispered after a minute.

"We all are but at least we have each other." Jasper replied pulling me closer.

"Yeah, I just feel horrible because Bella doesn't have anyone now."

"She has us and together we'll help her through it."

I felt a small stab of pain at his words. I knew exactly what him helping Bella would lead to and it hurt a little to think about. I pushed the feeling away though. I wasn't going to waste my time with Jasper full of feelings of bitteress and resentment. I was going to enjoy the time and just let the cards fall.

That way, when the time came to give him to Bella, I could do it with my honest heartfelt blessings and prevent any guilt from either party.

A/N: Please Review!!!!!!!!!!!!