Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of its characters. They belong to Stephenie Meyers.

A/N: This chapter was so much fun to write! I've always wanted to see an Alice vs. Human Fashionista confrontation and thought, why not do it in this chapter? Oh, and a big 'thanks' to AnEmotionalVampire for some very funny suggestions for the shoe-shopping incident in this chapter. Enjoy!

Chapter Eight: Alice in London-Land

Bella was sleeping rather peacefully when she felt someone shaking her shoulder. A perky and cheerful voice was calling her name. "Bella…wakey-wakey! Time to get up! We've got a full day of shopping ahead and we need to get going."

After a spending yesterday morning touring the Tower of London and the afternoon shopping at Harrods, Bella was exhausted and all she wanted was to have a lie-in. Bella reached out an arm and swatted in the direction of the voice before grabbing a pillow and putting it over her head as she mumbled, "Go away, Alice…"

"Now, now, Bella, is that any way to treat your favorite sister?" Alice asked reproachfully as she scrunched her face. Seeing that Bella wasn't going to move, Alice decided it was time to call out the big guns. "Don't make me have Emmett come in here and sing to you, Bella!"

As if on cue Emmett popped his head into the open doorway. "Did I just hear someone ask for a song?"

Bella jumped up, scrambling out of the bed. "NO! NO SINGING! I'm up, I'm up!"

Alice smiled. "Now that's much better. I knew you'd see reason."

"Alice..." Bella moaned. "Why do we have to go shopping again? We were at Harrods for hours yesterday! I'm never going to be able to see a picture of that Mohammad al-Fayed without wanting to castigate the man for owning such a place of sheer torture!"

"Bella, we're not going to Harrods this time. I have serious shopping in mind this time…" Alice started to explain before being interrupted by Bella.

"Serious shopping?" Bella squeaked. "Are you kidding me? What was it we were doing yesterday at Harrods?" Bella couldn't believe it. "Alice, I probably should have asked you this the first time you made me go shopping with you, but is there like a "Fujita scale" you go by, so that I can at least be forewarned on a scale of 1 to 5 how much damage we're looking at?"

"Very funny, Bella, but that's a great idea! I'll have to give that one some thought. In the meantime, I'll use the Fujita Scale as a reference point for you. On a scale of F-0 meaning mild shopping and an F-5 meaning major "put a dent in your wallet" shopping, Bond Street is an F-5! You first F-5, Bella!" Alice had a fanatical gleam in her eye as she imagined all the shops they were going to visit today.

Bella's heart began to race as she imagined an what an F-5 shopping day with Alice would be like. Alice started laughing. "It's not that bad, Bella! Bond Street has one of the highest concentrations of designer shops in the world: Prada, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Armani, and Versace! And then there's Cartier, Tiffany and Asprey! It's shopping heaven! So hurry up, get dressed, Outfit #10! You're going to want to look very stylish today, I can promise you that! I'll see you downstairs." Alice flew out the door and back to her own room just as Edward was returning to his and Bella's room.

He peeked in the open doorway, watching as Bella stumbled around the room, opening and closing dresser drawers, mumbling about pushy big sisters and presumably swatting at imaginary vampires. He was about to smile when Bella caught sight of him. One look at her face made him stop cold, figuratively speaking, of course.

"Sorry, love. If I'd known she was going to do that I would have never left the room, but Carlisle wanted to talk to me and she timed it perfectly."

"Edward, she wants to do more shopping…she said it's going to be an F-5 day!" Bella groaned as she pouted her lips and peeked up at Edward through her lashes. She knew he couldn't resist when she did that, and if she had to she would play her ace card: Please. Edward could never say no when she said please. "Please don't let her make me go shopping…please…"

"Bella..." Edward knew he couldn't resist when she said "please" and was about to give in when Alice rushed back into the room with a scowl on her face as she pointed her finger in their faces. Bella drew back in surprise while Edward pulled Bella behind him.

"Edward Cullen and Bella Swan, don't you dare! You promised, Edward. Remember???"

"Promised what?" Bella turned to Edward, eyes narrowing dangerously.

Edward sighed and ran his hand through his hair. He pulled Bella to the bed and sat her down while Alice stood in the middle of the room, hands on her hips, glaring at him.

"Do you remember when we were at the meadow and I told you about the trip, and how I said that it would give everyone the chance to spend some one-on-one time with you? Earlier in the morning Alice told me the way she bonds with you is through shopping."

Bella looked over at Alice, touched by the revelation.

"It's true, Bella. I don't do it to torture you, you know." Alice said with a smile, showing Bella she'd been forgiven. "You and Edward spend practically all your "awake" time together and then you go to sleep, Edward stays with you all night, and then it happens all over again the next day. I miss you. If I didn't take you shopping with me I would never get to spend any time with you."

Bella got up and walked over to Alice, pulling her into a hug. "I'm sorry, Alice. I've been so selfish. We've been selfish," she said looking at Edward who nodded. "You know I love you, don't you? And that you're the best friend I've ever had?" Alice nodded. "And I do love spending time with you. So today, I would very much love to spend time shopping with you. You'll hear no more complaints coming from these lips…cross my heart and hope to become a vampire…"

Alice laughed and hugged Bella. "Thank you, Bella. It really means a lot to me that you would say that."

"What, cross my heart and hope to become a vampire?" Bella turned towards Edward and gave him a little wink.

"No, silly, the other things!"

"I just have one condition, and no peeking ahead to see what that condition is!" Bella said as she stepped back to look at Alice.

Alice rolled her eyes. "Okay, I won't peek. What's the condition?" Edward started laughing as he listened to the thoughts flying through Alice's head about what Bella's conditions might be.

"Cheer up, Alice, it's not that bad." Bella smiled, obviously getting a kick out of Alice's impatience to know what she had to agree to. "If I promise not to complain and willingly try on outfit after outfit today, you have to promise to let me take frequent 'human moment' and Edward-breaks, and I wouldn't say no to a strawberry smoothie to help keep my energy up."

Alice jumped up and down and lightly squeezed Bella's hands. "Deal!" She let go of Bella's hands and started pushing her towards the closet. "Okay, hup-hup, get to it! We're going to be busy today!"

Edward also got up and walked over to Bella, pulling her into his arms and pressing his forehead against hers. "You made her very happy, you know that, don't you?"

"And me, Bella…" Jasper's voice drifted up the stairs.

"Can't you see what you do for this family? Do you see how happy you make me, how happy you make the rest of the family? You are irreplaceable." He felt her forehead move against his as she nodded before brushing her lips against his.

Half an hour later Edward and Bella walked down the stairs to the foyer. Carlisle and Esme had decided to spend a quiet day at home, so it was just the three couples going out today.

Alice slipped her arm through Bella's. "There's been a small change in plans. You, Edward, Jasper and I will be riding together to Bond Street. Emmett and Rosalie are going to meet up with us in a couple of hours, and before you ask I did not look ahead to see what they're up to because I do not want to know."

Bella shook her head. "That bad, huh?"

"You have no idea, Bella," Jasper said as he looked to the left and down the street.

Edward sighed and started pinching the bridge of his nose. "You'll see soon enough, love. It's coming around the corner as we speak."

Bella's eyes widened and her jaw dropped open as she saw what was speeding towards the house. "No way… Am I seeing what I think I'm seeing?"

"YEAH BABY YEAH!" Emmett called out as he pulled up to the curb in what appeared to be an exact replica of the "Shaguar" from the Austin Powers movie. He was dressed in a 60's-style dark purple velvet suit, complete with Austin Power eyeglasses.

Rosalie brushed past the others wearing a skin tight mini-dress with thigh-high boots emphasizing her long legs. Emmett jumped out of the car and ran to open the car door for her. "Shall we shag now, or shag later?" Emmett said as he waggled his eyebrows at her.

"Oh, behave!" giggled Rosalie.

Alice was pretending to put her finger down her throat, while Bella struggled not to laugh as they watched Emmett and Rosalie speed away.

"I thought my gag reflex was going to kick in!" Alice screamed as she and Bella burst into laughter.

"Just be glad we're not in the same car as those two," Jasper said as they headed towards the Aston Martin Rapide parked in the driveway. Edward had been one of the very first to purchase the luxury vehicle and was planning to have it shipped to the Cullen's New York state home when they returned to the U.S.

As soon as they came into view of Bond Street Alice started jumping up and down in her seat. Bella had never seen Alice so excited; she kept turning her head left-right, left-right as she took note of the shops until Jasper used his talent to calm her down, reminding her of the humans all around. Alice laughed, "Oops! Thank you, Jazz."

They parked the car and Alice proceeded to march into the first shop she came upon, Louis Vuitton. Alice made a bee-line straight to the purses and accessories. Bella and Edward followed at a slower pace, taking their time as they made their way through the store. "Found it!" they heard Alice say as Jasper stood near his wife, smiling as she marched to the counter to pay for her purchase.

Seven shops and numerous outfits later, Bella was ready for a break so they walked to Postcard Teas, a little teashop about a 2 minute walk from Bond Street, and Bella was able to put her feet up and have a relaxing cup of tea. Emmett and Rosalie joined them, having spotted the two couples walking towards the tea shop. On anyone else the clothes Rosalie and Emmett were wearing would have garnered a lot of snickers and snide remarks, but with their inhuman beauty they were actually very striking in the clothing. There were more than a few males and females making mental notes to find out where they could find the same outfits, causing no small amount of laughter amongst the Cullens.

Coming out of the tea shop they passed by a group of young men who were chatting up two young women twirling and tossing their hair over their shoulders. As they passed the group the young men turned completely away from the two young women and started ogling the Cullen women. Emmett put his arm around Rosalie and flexed his biceps as he looked back at the group of men, while Jasper held Alice's hand and stared them down as he walked past. Edward was growling under his breath as he listened to the thoughts going through the minds of two of the young men as they eyed Bella. He pulled her closer to his chest and let out a very low growl. When they saw Edward's dark eyes their sense of self-preservation kicked in and they scrambled to get away. Bella put her hand on Edward's arm, drawing his attention back to her. "Everything okay?" she gently asked as she raised her hand to caress his cheek. Edward closed his eyes and then drew her into a tight embrace as he leaned down, putting his face in her hair and inhaled deeply several times. After a few seconds he loosened his hold on her, his eyes once again golden. "I'm good now," he whispered as they went to catch up to the others.

Unfortunately, they were now being followed by the two angry young women who had been dropped like hot potatoes by the group of young men. They were intent on exacting some sort of revenge on the Cullen ladies for their perceived humiliation. Edward could hear their thoughts and growled under his breath.

"What?" Bella whispered, knowing that something was disturbing him. She looked around, thinking the group of young men might be following them, looking to cause trouble, but she didn't see a sign of them anywhere on the street.

"It's those girls, the ones the group of men were chatting up," he said. "They're following us and their thoughts are not very charitable towards you, Alice or Rosalie."

"But we didn't do anything!" Bella said as she turned quickly to see the girls following them.

"You didn't have to do anything, love. You're beautiful and desirable and they're not, and they can't stand it." Edward said with a smug smile on his face. Bella blushed as they caught up to the others.

"Uh-oh, I sense trouble," said Jasper, nodding towards the two young women who were still following at a distance. "Wow, the amount of jealousy and envy coming off those two…"

Alice turned to see who Jasper was talking about. "Good God, it's the UK version of Lauren and Jessica," said Alice as the two empty-headed twits sauntered past the Cullen group, looking down their noses at the Cullen ladies while winking at the Cullen men, causing Rosalie and Alice to laugh out loud. Surprisingly, it was Alice that seemed to draw their most resentful thoughts. Edward was still listening to their thoughts and he started chuckling.

"Care to share something with us, my brother?" Emmett asked as he waited for Edward to stop chuckling.

"What are the odds we would find Lauren and Jessica's twins while on vacation in another country. Even their names are similar. UK Lauren's name is Lorrain and UK Jessica is Jeska. How weird is that? This is what they're thinking: We're ever so much more beautiful than they; I can't believe the tramps, trying to steal our blokes; Those big muscled men always go for the empty-headed blondes; I could steal him away from her with a snap of my fingers; I don't like the one with the short black spiky hair. Who does she think she is? I'm skinnier and more delicate than she, and more stylish! Those shoes couldn't possibly be real Christian Louboutin's! And some comments about me which I won't repeat."

"Who are they calling an empty-headed blonde?" Rosalie growled.

"Ooh, Alice, you'd better watch your back!" Emmett teased as she smiled smugly.

"Hah! I've had their kind for lunch, figuratively speaking of course." Alice laughed, not at all worried about the two fashionista wannabes. Suddenly she let out a very Alice-like squeal. "There it is! Christian Louboutin! Come on!" she said as pointed towards the shop.

"Bella, we're going to check out that shop across the street while you girls look at shoes. We'll meet you back here in about half an hour, okay love?" Edward said, not wanting to go into the busy shop filled with women, a decision that Jasper and Emmett agreed with wholeheartedly. Bella nodded and reached up to kiss him before Alice pulled her away.

"Alright, break it up you two! You'll see each other again in half an hour!" Alice said as pulled Bella towards the shop while Bella turned and blew a kiss towards Edward which he playfully caught and returned with his own. Rosalie followed after her own little goodbye kiss with Emmett.

The shop was extremely busy as shoppers scooped up the latest shoes by the great designer. Alice flitted from one display to the next, studying each shoe that caught her interest. Then she saw it.

"OH. MY. GOD!" squealed Alice, pointing to a shoe that was on a special platform out of the reach of the shoppers. A spotlight was shining down on the shoes and they looked very expensive. "There it is! The multi-colored Greissimo Pump I've been looking for! I have to have that shoe!" A saleslady saw Alice looking at the shoe and came over to offer her assistance.

While Alice was busy looking at the shoes, Rosalie had noticed Lorrain and Jeska walk into the store. They looked around the shop and pointed towards Alice. Tossing their hair over their shoulders again they rudely pushed their way through the crowd as they shadowed Alice as she moved from one display to the next.

Alice called out to Bella, "Bella, look at those heels, to your left! You need to try them on!" Bella turned to see what shoes Alice was referring to and came face to face with a 4 inch heel on the display. "Absolutely not! Are you trying to kill me, Alice? I'm already an accident-magnet and you want me to put those shoes on? Why not just snap my neck right now and be done with it?"

Alice rolled her eyes. "Don't be so dramatic, Bella. Geez, you really have been spending too much time with Edward!"

"Look, Alice." Bella said as she pointed towards the displays with less intimidating sandals. "I don't mind sandals. I'll try those on all day long if you want, but I am not going to try on those death-traps. Compromise?" she smiled at Alice. Alice nodded happily. "Okay, compromise."

Just as Bella was going to ask a saleslady for assistance she felt Rosalie tap her on the shoulder. "Come on Bella, trouble just walked in and I'll be damned if I'm going to sit here and do nothing!" She pointed in the direction of Lorrain and Jeska. Bella's eyes narrowed and in sisterly solidarity she nodded, ready to follow Rosalie over to where Alice was waiting for the saleslady to return.

"Excuse me," said Lorrain in a loud, nasally voice as she and Jeska walked around the display table to stand almost face to face with Alice. "I'll have you know that those shoes you were looking at, they're going to be mine, not yours. What I want I always get."

All conversation stopped as the other shoppers watched the scene playing out.

Alice's eyes narrowed as she looked her opponent up and down dismissively. "Is that so? I hate to disappoint you, but you're wrong on two counts."

"Oh, really?" Lorrain replied as she rolled her eyes. "And that would be?"

Alice laughed her tinkling laugh, genuinely amused by the audacity of this delusional twit. "It should be perfectly clear, even for someone as clueless as you. The two things you don't have? Impeccable taste and style…" Rosalie and Bella gave each other hi-fives while the other shoppers snickered. "And you won't have these shoes either."

Lorrain turned red. "And what would you know about taste and style?"

"Well, I know that you're wearing last year's skinny jeans and they aren't even designer! Tsk, tsk, tsk. Knock-offs? How sad for you." Alice shook her head in mock-sadness.

Lorrain turned red as she listened to the tittering laughter scattered amongst the crowd. She glanced at Jeska who nodded and took up a position to the right of Alice. Rosalie and Bella moved to stand opposite Jeska, Rosalie's eyes smoldering and Bella's face grim as they silently dared her to make a move. Jeska swallowed nervously, but stood her ground.

Just then the saleslady returned with the Greissimo Pump in hand. "Ma'am, this is the last shoe in your size…" Her voice trailed away as she noticed how quiet the shop had become. She looked at Alice who was staring at Lorrain and sensed what was about to happen. It was a common occurrence in their shop. Christian Louboutin shoes tended to bring out some very animalistic qualities in the women who shopped in their store. Very slowly she set the shoes down on the display table and stepped back.

Lorrain's eyes locked on the shoes before darting back to Alice. Alice recognized the look in her eyes. She'd seen it many times in the past from fashionistas who'd thought they could get the upper hand on her. Bring it on, Alice thought. She was going to have to be careful and not move too quickly in front of the humans in the shop, but there was no way she was going to allow this thing to steal her shoes!

The other shoppers pressed back against the display cases near the walls, giving the two combatants room to move. Alice and Lorrain started to slowly circle around the Greissimo pumps on the display table, each flexing their fingers as they waited for their opponent to make the first move. Suddenly Lorrain made a grab for the shoes, but was quickly stopped by Alice who grabbed her by the wrist and "pretended" to struggle to keep her away from the shoes.

"Bella!" Alice cried. "Grab the shoes and stand in that corner!" She was concerned Bella might get hurt and was determined to not let that happen. Bella nodded and made to move towards the table when she felt someone grab a handful of her hair and yanked hard.

"Ow!" screamed Bella as she started to fall. Jeska had sprung into action when she heard Alice cry out instructions to Bella and the first thing she did was pull Bella down by her hair.

Rosalie saw what was happening and growled, "Oh, hell no you don't!" She grabbed Jeska's hand and made her release her grip on Bella's hair. Bella turned towards Jeska, her face red and eyes angry. "Bella, don't even think about it. Do as Alice said. Shoes! Corner! Now!"

Bella reached for the shoes, but before she could grab them Jeska chucked a 6 inch pump at Bella's head. Fortunately Bella saw the shoe flying towards her and in an uncharacteristic display of quick reflexes ducked and watched the shoe fly past her head. Unfortunately, her usual clumsiness kicked in and she tripped over her own legs, hitting her head on the display table and knocking herself out cold. Before she hit the floor she also took out another display table, causing shoes to fly all over the place.

Lorrain let out a scream and reached out to grab Alice's hair, pulling as hard as she could.

Rosalie stared in horror as she watched her human sister lying on the floor, unconscious, while her vampire sister, Alice, was getting her hair pulled by Lorrain. Even though a human didn't have the strength to pull out a vampire's hair, it still hurt.

"Let go of my hair, you little witch!" yelled Alice as she twisted her head to the side. Lorrain lost her grip on Alice's hair, but then latched on to her leg, refusing to let go.

"No! You can't have them. They're MY shoes!" screamed Lorrain.

"You'll never have them, you delusional twit!" Alice yelled back, trying to loosen Lorrain's grip on her legs without breaking the stupid girl's arms.

The crowd was enjoying every minute of the fight, while the store manager was yelling into the phone, asking someone to send a policeman over to restore order in her shop.

Rosalie quickly ran over to Bella who was just starting to regain consciousness. She helped Bella sit up and looked over at Alice who had been knocked to the ground when Lorrain unexpectedly twisted her legs with Alice's legs. Before Rosalie could react, Bella was off like a rocket, having caught sight of Jeska reaching out to grab Alice's Christian Louboutin's. Bella tackled Jeska by the knees and brought her down where they started rolling around on the floor, only this time Bella was the first to grab a handful of hair and was pulling Jeska's hard as hard as she could.

Rosalie didn't know whether to laugh or put a stop to it. She knew she was going to tease Bella later about her now broken promise to never be caught dead fighting over a piece of clothing or shoes. Rosalie smiled proudly as she saw Bella was more than holding her own against Jeska. She knew she had to secure the purchase of Alice's shoes and walked over to where the pumps were lying on the floor, picking them and checking them for damage. Satisfied they were still in perfect condition she looked up at the saleslady who had been assisting Alice and handed her a black American Express card. "Please ring these up as fast as you can," she smiled to the saleslady who smiled back at her. "Yes, ma'am. I'll have your bag and receipt for you in one minute," the corners of her mouth twitching upwards as she watched Alice and Bella continuing to fight with Lorrain and Jessica.

Meanwhile, Edward, Jasper and Emmett were on their way back to meet up with the girls when Edward went completely still. Jasper looked at him. "What is it, Edward? Is Bella in danger?" Both Jasper and Emmett tensed as they prepared to come to the rescue of their human sister.

Edward groaned. "No, Jasper, it's your woman this time!"

Jasper shouted, "WHAT?"

"There's a battle going on in that shop and your woman is at the center of it. Let's go!" Edward started running towards the shop, Jasper and Emmett close on his heels. Edward was bombarded by the thoughts of at least 50 women, catching snippets of their thoughts here and there. Their thoughts are like spaghetti, all over the place, he thought to himself. Jasper, however, was being hit with what could only be described as the human equivalent of bloodlust. The women in the crowd were watching a battle take place and his Alice was in the thick of it. He very quickly sent out a burst of calm to bring down wild emotions coming from the women watching the catfight, but in his hurry to get to Alice he misjudged the strength of the "dose" he sent out and the women shoppers began to pass out. Emmett started laughing as he watched women dropping like flies, falling down all over the shop.

With the crowds now out of the way, including the store employees who had also succumbed to Jasper's gift, Edward, Jasper and Emmett quickly moved to the front of the store where they stopped short at a sight they never thought they'd see.

Bella and Alice were engaged in separate battles with Jeska and Lorrain, while Rosalie was calmly signing the receipt for the shoes, the saleslady now laying unconscious by the cash register. Rosalie made sure she gave the saleslady a big tip as 'thanks' for her help.

Edward watched as Bella struggled with Jeska on the floor. Jeska was kicking at Bella's legs while Bella was pulling with all her might on the two fistfuls of Jeska's hair she had managed to grab. Jeska's foot finally connected with Bella's leg and she hissed as she felt the blow on her shin. Bella's face was as red as Edward had ever seen it and she was so angry that tears were ready to fall from the corners of her eyes.

Edward's protective instincts kicked in as he hissed angrily and with one hand easily stopped Jeska's legs from kicking out at Bella. Jeska froze as she saw the look in Edward's eyes, not daring to move another inch. Edward gently opened Bella's hands to make her release Jeska's hair and carried her towards the door, but not before letting fly another low hiss in Jeska's direction.

Jasper's protective instincts also kicked in as he quickly pulled Lorrain off of Alice's legs, his eyes turning black and a low growl sounding in his chest as he stared at the person who had attacked his mate. Lorrain froze, too scared to move, which was a mistake as it was tempting Jasper to strike. Alice saw what was happening and quickly stood in front of Jasper, forcing him to look at her. "Jasper, it's okay. Let it go." His eyes focused back on Alice's face and his eyes softened. He put his arm around Alice and led her out of the shop, not daring to look back at Lorrain.

Rosalie and Emmett followed the other two couples out the door as they all quickly walked away from the shop, eager to put some distance between themselves and the shop before everyone started to wake up from the Jasper-induced sleep.

Emmett leaned against the wall of one of the shops, not even trying to hold back the laughter that had him holding his stomach. He pointed at Alice. "Hey Alice, I bet you didn't see that one coming, did you?"

Alice glared at him. "NO Emmett! I didn't see that one coming!" He laughed even harder.

"Oh come on Alice, even you have to admit it was funny," said Rosalie as she laughed along with Emmett. "Watching Lorrain as she pulled your hair; it looked painful, let me tell you. And then you pretending to struggle with Lorrain until she actually did trip you up! And our little Bella upending the tables and tripping over her own legs, knocking herself out, regaining consciousness only to tackle Jeska to the ground! Didn't you once swear, Bella, to never be caught dead fighting over clothes or shoes? I think were the words you used."

Emmett started laughing again. "I never thought I'd see the day when Bella Swan resorted to hair pulling in the name of fashion!"

Edward growled at Emmett. "Are you okay, love?" he asked as he set her down on a bench and examined the leg that Jeska had kicked. Bella winced as he ran his hand gently over the pale skin which was now turning purple. A part of him wanted to go back to the store and eliminate the insignificant human who had hurt his Bella, but Bella quickly placed both hands on his face, pulling him closer so she could look him in the eye. "She's not worth it, sweetheart. Let it go." He closed his eyes and nodded his head.

"Besides, I think I gave as good as I got!" she said, hoping to make him smile, which he did.

Alice skipped over to Bella and gave her a huge hug. "Oh, Bella. I am so proud of you!"

"Me? You wanted me to stay out of trouble and I couldn't. You told me to get the shoes and I didn't. You told me to stay in the corner and I didn't do that either. Why should you be proud of me?" Bella looked genuinely confused.

Surprisingly, it was Rosalie who answered first. "Bella, Alice is proud because you showed your Cullen loyalty in that shop today. Your first instinct was to defend and protect our family. You showed sisterly solidarity by not hesitating to back me up when we went to join Alice." She gave Bella a look of approval. "How can you doubt your place in our family? Today you proved, once again, that you belong to us just as we belong to you."

Bella looked at the faces of each of the Cullens. She saw pride, approval, acceptance, gratitude and love clearly written on their faces. The last of her doubts slipped way like dandelions on a windy day.

"Is it sinking in yet?" Edward asked. He knew Bella understood the question. She buried her face in his chest, squeezing her eyes shut tight to keep the tears from flowing.

The other Cullens surrounded Edward and Bella in a big group hug. "A Cullen, Bella, that's what you are. For eternity."

A/N: The "Fujita Scale" I mentioned at the beginning of the story is a scale for rating tornado intensity, based on the damage tornadoes cause to building structures and vegetation (trees, etc.). Alice is like her own little tornado, a whirlwind of sorts, always in motion. I thought it would be funny for Bella to compare shopping to a tornado, based on Alice's shopping mood for the day.