I guess that it never really bothered me when I was in danger. That was what unnerved Edward the most about me, probably—I felt no fear in his presence. I felt no fear around his family, who had the ability at any moment to suck me dry. Maybe it was because I trusted them enough, or maybe it was just because I was too naive to realize it was real danger, for my real life.

What I really feared the most was losing Edward. So maybe when I heard that the vision had nothing to do with Edward, and everything to do with me, I was slightly alarmed, but way more relieved than I should have been.

I think Alice sensed this, and it frightened her. Or, maybe not frightened; but worried.

And frankly, that made me feel bad. Because once again, the Cullens were going to go out of their way to accommodate a little breakable girl that really had no business in their lives.

We didn't discuss it again, through the whole Port Angeles trip. We shopped at this cute little store called Lacey's, which was like a boutique. Alice dragged me there, and at first I refused to try anything on; I didn't want her to go crazy spending money on me again (another reason I was dreading my birthday). But once again, I was bullied into it, and we exited the store with, in fact, a shopping bag full of clothes for both her and me.

By the time we were done with all the department stores and other little clothing shops like Lacey's, our hands were laden down with shopping bags. I tried to consolidate by stuffing littler bags into the bigger ones, but the big ones were already packed so full that it was hard. I blamed it all on fruitless shopping, but Alice insisted that she wanted to keep spending money…on me.

Which only raised my guilt measure about, oh, seventy-five percent higher.

We had fun, though. We were walking around the corner to see the next row of shops, and I practically ran into a metal post, the kind that holds up crosswalk symbols. Alice had to literally pull my shirt back to keep me from banging my head.

We were both laughing so hard after that, we could barely walk straight. Not that, you know, that was any different from my normal skills. Or perhaps I was a threat to pedestrians because of it. But either way, somehow or another, we were laughing practically the whole day.

The final, melting touch came when Alice suggested we get manicures, pedicures, and facials. She, of course, didn't need any of it, but she admonished that a person could never be too pampered.

I have no idea how she got me to agree to it. I was dead set against the idea, especially the part where she spent even more money on my sorry self. But then she launched into the whole, "I thought we were friends, we were having such a good time! Don't ruin it, Bella!" And she sent me on this horrible guilt trip. Guess where we finally ended up?

Right. The most expensive beauty parlor in the entire town.

When we had been ushered inside and then finally put onto our seats for our manicures and pedicures and facials, I decided I would just submit. Admit defeat. Close the complaints. Put up my white flag. Surrender.

I leaned back in my seat, making myself comfortable. I think Alice was supremely pleased when I shut my trap about her always doing things for me and me never repaying her, but when I felt that massage on my feet, and my hands, and my face; well, I slightly changed my mind, then. It felt really nice. I felt everything just wash away with that warm soapy water.

They spent nearly two hours on everything; they were a very thorough place. The ladies were all nicely made up. To me they looked like Barbie dolls, with those fake, plastic smiles and fake, plastic hair. They all wore so much makeup, I wondered how long a trail it would leave if it all ran down their face and dripped as they walked. I spoke in whispers with Alice, and she giggled; by the time we were done, our estimate was about three miles.

There were no noticeable differences when I looked in the mirror the lady gave me, after the facial. I had already checked my feet, and they just looked cleaner; same with my hands, which I was horrified to find had nail polish on them. Alice had so considerately picked blue instead of pink, but seriously! I knew they were trying to hide something when they put those slices of cucumber over my eyes. Either way, I looked entirely the same. I didn't suddenly grow beautiful like Alice, and in that way, I decided that manicures, pedicures, and facials were in fact and truly a waste of time.

At least I had gotten something out of it when we emerged from the parlor. My cuticles were healthier.

After that, Alice and I drove around in her convertible, looking for a good restaurant to eat at. I considered going back to the one Edward and I had gone to; the food had been good; but then I decided that I wanted to try something new. Besides, it was nice to have one more place that was just Edward's and mine.

We finally came to a small Mexican restaurant near the outskirts of town. It looked pretty formal, but it was understated. Inside, there were dim-like lights and darkish wallpaper.

I couldn't stay there. Not with that terribly romantic atmosphere, and Edward still nowhere to be found. Edward… he seeped back into my brain like some treacherous nightmare, threatening to swallow me whole if I didn't turn my mind to other things, and quickly.

Frankly, I was extremely surprised that I had gone almost the whole day without thinking about him. Maybe vampires were like that—they needed one human mind all to themselves. Or maybe I was just saving myself the pain.

Either way, I made a beeline out of the place, and Alice followed, looking confused. I shook my head and, suddenly ravenous, told her to pick a nice, family-style restaurant and on the double.

She obliged, and I found myself at a TGI Friday's. Ah. How nice. Feeling safer, having found some sort of small comfort zone, I jumped out of the car and went to get a table while Alice found parking.

There was a tall girl, dressed in all black, with a platinum-blonde ponytail, standing at the counter. "A table for two, please," I told her.

"Smoking or non?" The girl asked, sounding extremely bored. Her eyes wandered. I couldn't help but wonder if she would be so distant if Edward were with me.

"Non, please."

"That'll be about twenty minutes. Name?"

"Swan. S-W-A-N."

"Okay."

I went to take a seat by the bench, waiting for Alice. The clock ticked by; I hadn't realized how late it had gotten. It was almost eight; no wonder I was so hungry. I hadn't eaten since before we had gotten to Port Angeles.

Eight o'clock struck, and passed. And still, I waited for Alice.

I wondered what could possibly be taking so long, but then decided that she was just having trouble parking. The place was pretty packed. The din was so great that I could barely hear myself think. Or maybe she couldn't find me in the huge crowd of people waiting for their tables; I was sitting down. I immediately stood up, wishing I had hair like that hostess so it would glow in the darkened atmosphere.

At eight-ten, I checked our wait once again ten minutes this time and then stepped outside into the now brisk air.

I scanned the lot for Alice's car. It shouldn't be hard to find; her car was probably the glossiest within a hundred-mile radius. Or at least the most expensive.

After walking up and down the rows of cars, I finally found hers; it was near the back, in the third to left row. And there she was, in the driver's seat, her head pressed back against her headrest, her eyes closed.

"Alice?" I whispered, knocking on the driver's side window. Her position was scaring me. It looked like she was passed out, or sleeping; but I knew she couldn't be either. What was wrong? A million possibilities rushed through my head, but most of them were ruled out because they were human, not vampire. Although at that point, my brain wasn't really functioning to the point of being able to rule things out.

I yelled Alice's name a little louder when she didn't stir, and knocked harder and more frantically. I was aware that I was acting psychopathic, probably looking like a mental escapee to anyone passing by, but at the moment that wasn't really my top priority.

Alice's eyes finally popped open, and I had to bite my tongue to keep from screaming and plant my feet firmer to keep from jumping backwards into the car next to hers. However, the action didn't really work out; I took a sort of half-jump and then stamped firmly down, but teetered and wobbled for a while until I finally straightened back up.

Alice's eyes were still glowing red. They glowed for five more seconds, and then they turned back into the topaz that they had been all day.

I backed up towards the back of the car so she could open the door, and I had half a mind to turn and run. But honestly, I was too curious. Curiosity killed the cat—or the Bella.

"Go eat," Alice told me in a rough voice. She seemed unfocused, still dazed. "Emmett will come pick you up in a while." She thrust her credit card at me. "You can sign for me."

I stared blankly at her for a second. That was it? No explanation? "Hey, wait!" I started as she began to get back into her comfortable driving position. "Where are you going?" I laid an accusing hand on the door, so she couldn't close it without smashing my hand (not that that would be such a difficult feat for her to do…but she might break the car in the process).

Please don't ask me where all this courage came from. I really do wonder myself. There was a full-grown, fully real vampire who could easily suck my blood at any second, and her eyes at just glowed red, and I had absolutely no idea what that meant, except that red somehow was never the color of the good guys. And I had just basically given her a good reason to kill me.

"I really need to go." Alice's voice was practically monotone, but I could hear the undercurrent of danger. It reminded me slightly of James's voice, and I shivered. She took that moment to quickly slip my hand off the door and shut it, before I even knew what was happening.

I would have definitely fallen from the sudden lack of support (I had, so dumbly, been leaning some of my weight on the door), but someone stopped me from hitting the ground and pulled me back up.

I turned, expecting to see Edward; my heart swelled and skipped a beat.

And then abruptly fell out onto the pavement where Alice's wheels quickly ran it over.

"Carlisle?" I wondered aloud. This was getting so strange. Hadn't Alice said Emmett was going to pick me up?

Carlisle was there, and suddenly so was Esme.

When Esme spoke, there was a soft danger in her voice, slightly like Alice's. It told me that I should absolutely not disobey her. Not that her commands were that hard. "We will go eat."

Our table was ready at Friday's. Luckily they had given us a four-person table, so there was enough room for three. They brought us an extra place setting, but only I ordered food.

"What's going on?" I finally asked when I had my Coke. I sipped on it slightly, and glanced from Carlisle to Esme and back. My stomach growled, and I considered punching it to make it shut up.

Esme seemed slightly amused by my misbehaving tummy and I, but her face was still grim and drawn. "When was the last time you saw Edward?"

I thought for a minute. "Um, this morning, why?"

"Have you two had a disagreement?" Carlisle wanted to know.

Uh-oh. I busied myself with eating my chicken fingers, which had just arrived. When I glanced back up, they were still both staring at me, hard. I looked away. They sure weren't helping. "I don't know." I finally told them. "I mean…." My wants suddenly seemed so childish and stupid. I felt my cheeks go red as I tried to stare at a point above both of their heads.

Esme took my hand. "Bella." She told me, sternly but gently. "You have to tell us this. It is important."

I felt the words come rushing out again. "I wanted to be a vampire and he wouldn't let me!" I cried, and then stared down at my food. It didn't look so appealing anymore. My stomach was suddenly churning. "What's happened to him?" I looked up at them.

They exchanged a look. "You'll be spending the night with us, Bella," Esme told me. That was the second time they had completely ignored me.

"Emmett and Jasper are going to be there, so you'll be safe," Carlisle added. "You can take Edward's room. The couch in there will work nicely."

The sound of being close to anything Edward instantly perked me up. I almost forgot that he wouldn't actually be there. And I almost forgot to ask why I would be sleeping at the Cullen's. I remembered as I was handing the waitress the check with the credit card. "Why do I have to stay with you guys tonight?" I asked them, and watched their faces grow tight again.

"It's complicated," Carlisle finally told me. "But believe me, you'll be much better off.