"Alice, for the final damn time, it's just a baseball game. This," I pointed to the curlers in my hair for emphasis, "is not necessary. Besides, shouldn't you be getting all gussied up for Jasper today? Happy anniversary, by the way."

Alice had been dedicating her time all morning to making sure I was perfect, even though it was her anniversary and I was only going to a baseball game.

"Your nails are dry," she said, completely ignoring me. I looked down at my black nails that Alice had decorated with white stars.

"Alice, chill. Seriously, you've been acting weird, even for you," I said. "What's going on?"

Alice's eyebrows furrowed. "There's something coming," she said. "But I can't be sure what it is. And it's frustrating me half to death because I know it's huge."

Maybe Seth is coming home, I thought. Maybe the war's over. A girl could only hope.

"Your clothes are hanging on your closet door," Alice told me. "Get dressed and then come back here so I can take out the rollers."

I sighed, but obliged nonetheless. I stood from the chair Alice had sat me in and started to exit the bathroom. I took a peek behind my shoulder and saw Alice—looking distressed and frustrated—sitting on the counter with her head in her hands. I bit my lip and resisted the urge to go back and comfort her, knowing it would only make it worse. The only person who could ever truly comfort Alice was Jasper, and he was out somewhere preparing a romantic day for the two of them.

I opened my closet door and retrieved the garment bag that had been hanging there. I zipped down the zipper and pulled out a dark pair of straight legged jeans, a short-sleeved black sweater, and a white shirt with black stars. Automatically, I slipped out of the fluffy pink robe that Alice had made me wear and into the clothes. I rummaged under my bed for my favorite pair of ballet flats and put those on, too.

"Alice making a big deal out of her visions again?"

I wheeled around to find Emmett standing in the doorway. He was smiling.

"Yeah, she is," I answered truthfully. "I don't know what's going on with her. I've never seen her this upset."

"I have," he muttered. "She hates having holes in her visions. Makes her feel useless."

"That is so like Alice."

"And she's taking it out on you?"

"Is it that obvious?"

"From the rollers in your hair and the fact that you've just spent about two hours in that bathroom with her, yeah, pretty obvious."

I rolled my eyes. "Tell Edward I'll be down in a sec. I just need Alice to take this stuff out of my hair."

Emmett nodded and chuckled. "Will do." Then, he was gone just as quickly as he'd come. I went back to the bathroom and sat down in the chair. Alice stood from her seat on the counter and started taking the rollers out of my hair without a word.

"Alice, don't beat yourself up about this," I begged once she was done. "I don't want you to be so upset today. Cheer up, it's your anniversary."

She forced a smile for me. "I'll try," she promised. "Now, you better get going. You don't want to be late for the game."

I gave her a tight squeeze. "Thanks, Alice. Happy anniversary. I left you a present on your bed, by the way."

Alice smiled. "I know. Thanks, by the way. It's so pretty!"

"You haven't even seen it yet," I laughed.

"I know," she said with a wink. Oh, duh; she hadn't seen it, but she'd seen it. There was a difference like that when it came to Alice. I'd left a small box on her bed with a crystal bear holding a red crystal heart inside it. I'd seen her and Jasper admiring it on a website the week before, so I'd ordered it the same day.

"Alright, I'm out of here," I said, taking my bag from the counter and leaving the bathroom.

"Thanks again!" I called.

"No problem!" Alice trilled. I hurried down the stairs and saw Leah, Rose, Nessie, Bella, and—to my intense surprise—Jade sitting in a circle on the floor.

"Hey, guys," I said, walking up to them. "What're you doing?"

"Playing truth or dare," Nessie giggled. "Wanna play?"

"Can't," I said. "Going out, remember? Oh, hey, Jade."

Jade smiled. "Hi," she said. "Nessie invited me."

"Well, I should get going," I said. "Anyone have any idea where Emmett and Edward are?"

"They're in the garage," Rosalie said. "Waiting for you."

"Thanks," I said. "And, Rose, I thought you were taking care of Nayeli for me."

"Oh, she's with my mom," Leah said. "She stopped by earlier and asked if she could babysit. I figured you wouldn't mind, and Alice wouldn't let me into the bathroom so I couldn't ask you anyway."

"Alright, then," I said. "Bye."

A chorus of goodbyes faded in and out behind me as I walked into the garage. Emmett and Edward were in the Jeep already, waiting for me. I climbed into the backseat.

"Sorry," I said. "Alice. Yeah."

"No worries," Emmett said, putting the car into reverse. "We're not running late."

I looked at the clock on the dashboard. "But doesn't the game start in like twenty minutes? Is that even enough time to make it out of the city?"

"If you drive like Emmett, it's plenty of time," Edward chuckled.

"Glad I've been working on the carsickness thing, then," I muttered as Emmett hit the gas pedal hard enough to break it. I was surprised the thing held up.

"Hey, can I ask you guys something?" I asked.

"Go ahead," Edward said. "Can't guarantee we'll answer, though."

I shrugged. "Just wondering why you asked me to come," I said.

"Didn't we go over this already?" Emmett asked. "Jasper can't go because he's whipped, so we had another ticket we couldn't let go to waste."

"Obviously," I said. "But, I mean, you could've asked Rose or something."

"Nah," Emmett said. "Rose likes playing baseball, but she can't sit through a game."

"Well, then, what about Bella?" I said.

"She hasn't watched a baseball game since she was human," Edward chuckled. "And even then, the only time she ever liked watching baseball was when it was played by vamps."

"Besides," Emmett said. "You need to get out more, Jasmine. Have some fun."

I rolled my eyes. "Of course, Emmett, of course."

"Hey, c'mon. You know it's true."

"Whatever," I said. "Where are we sitting?"

"Front row," Edward said. "Alice predicted sunny weather for the whole day, but, just in case, the lower section is the only part that gets covered if it rains."

"Convenient," I commented. "Anyone know what Jazz was planning for Alice today?"

Emmett shrugged. "He wouldn't tell us. Don't see why he's taking all the time to try and surprise her. She probably already knows what he's doing. I think he said something bout taking her to Biloxi, though."

"Oh, she'll love that," I said. "Hey, Em, can you turn on the radio?"

"Sure thing," he said, pushing a button on the car radio causing it to turn on. Just a Dream by Carrie Underwood was playing.

"...Then they handed her a folded up flag and she held on to all she had left of him. Oh, and what could have been. And then the guns rang one last shot and it felt like a bullet in her heart.

"Baby, why'd you leave me? Why'd you have to go? I was counting on forever, now I'll never know. I can't even breathe. It's like I'm looking from a distance, standing in the background, everybody's saying he's not coming home now. This can't be happening to me. This is just a dream…"

I didn't realize I was crying until I tried to speak.

"Change the station," I croaked. "Now, please."

Edward took a peek back at me and had the station changed before I could blink. I curled my knees up to my chest as the car filled with my favorite song, One Man Drinking Games by Mayday Parade.

"…And we'd lay there in the darkness like this dream of you I had where we captured all the fireflies and knew what time we had could be counted on our fingertips, and that almost made you cry. But you let me hold you tightly as we said all out goodbyes…

"May I say I loved you more?"

I started humming along with the song absentmindedly. When the song ended and Fighting by Yellowcard started playing, Emmett was already pulling into the parking lot of the baseball stadium. He turned off the car and we stepped outside into the still warm air. Edward put an arm around me in comfort.

"It's okay," he said. "Get that song out of your head."

I nodded, but kept my head down.

"Jasmine, look at me." He jerked my chin up and toward him, so I had to look him in the eye. "Seth is coming home. No one will tell you he's not. Even Alice can't say that."

I nodded and forced a smile for him. He sighed, resigned.

"Look, just try to have fun today, alright?" he said. "Your favorite team's playing."

I nodded again and the three of us walked through the entrance and found our seats just in time for the game to start.

Truly and honestly, I tried to enjoy myself, and I think I might've done so a bit better if those few words weren't still buzzing around in the back of my head.

"It's like I'm looking from a distance, standing in the background, everybody's saying he's not coming home now…"

Those few words were killing me. I was able to cheer with and high-five the two guys I was sitting between. Emmett and Edward were having a blast and had just managed to dump half of a box of popcorn on my head when Alice called during the seventh inning stretch.

"Hello?" I said, laughing and trying to get all the popcorn out, deliberately shaking my head in Emmett and Edward's direction.

"Hey, Jasmine, how's it going?" Alice asked.

"It's going good, Alice," I said. "The seventh inning stretch thingy started a few minutes ago. And Edward should be going to get more sodas now." I said the last part louder so Edward could hear.

"Fine, fine, I'm going," he said, shaking with laughter. I threw popcorn at his back as he retreated.

"How's your day going?" I asked. "You're not calling me from your cell. Where the hell are you?"

"Oh, Jasper brought me to Biloxi!" Alice squealed. "We just visited my parents' graves and we're getting ready to go home. I wanted to call you before we started the trip."

"Taking a plane?" I asked.

Alice giggled. "Don't be silly, Jazzy! We can run faster than a plane can fly!" She laughed again.

I laughed, too. "Yeah, I bet that's true," I said. "Hey, can I talk to Jazz real quick?"

"Sure," Alice said. "Here he is."

"Hello?" Jasper's southern accent greeted me.

"Hey, Jazz," I said.

"Hi, Jasmine," he said. "How's the game going?"

"So far, it looks like Edward and Emmett are gonna owe me seventy dollars each."

Jasper laughed. "Why anyone would want to bet against a descendant of Alice, I'll never know."

"Well, I better let you go, then," I said. "Run safe."

Jasper chuckled. "Safety. Jasmine, we're vampire. Safety is the last thing we need to worry about."

I laughed with him. "Yeah, I guess you're right." I sighed. "Still, be careful, okay? Promise?"

Jasper sighed. "Promise," he said. "Now here's Alice. She wants to talk to you again."

"Alright. Bye, Jazz."

"Bye, Jasmine," he said. "See you soon."

"Hi, Jazzy!" Alice said seconds later. "Alright, so we're gonna start the run home now."

"Kay," I said. "Be careful."

Alice scoffed. "Careful. Yeah, sure. I bet we can still beat you guys home."

I giggled. "I bet you can."

"Okay, we're gonna go. Bye, Jasmine."

"Bye, Alice."

I snapped my phone shut and turned to Emmett, who was talking to some woman in the row above us.

"Em," I said, making him turn to me.

"Gotta go," he told the lady.

"Call me," she said, winking at him before walking away.

"Rose is going to kill your ass," I said, laughing.

Emmett ripped the paper he had in his hands in two. I assumed it was the woman's phone number. "No she's not."

"How do I know you didn't memorize the number?"

"Jasmine," he said, leaning against the railing, "would I do that to Rose?"

"Hm, let me think," I said, pretending to ponder over the thought. "I give that question a maybe."

"Think what you want," he said, dropping the two pieces of paper in some spilled soda on the floor. "But that chick was such a bore. I'm not going anywhere near her again."

"Makes sense," I decided, shrugging. "Now, can you help me get the rest of this popcorn out of my hair?" I asked, turning around. "It's seriously starting to bug me."

"Sure thing," he said and started picking out the pieces.

"Damn, it's really in there," he said, tugging on my hair.

"Ouch!" I screamed. "Here, I got it."

I strung my fingers through my hair and within seconds I had the piece out that Emmett had been fighting to get.

"See?" I said. "Piece of cake."

"Sure, whatever," he said taking his seat again. I sat down next to him.

"So, are you gonna tell me?" he asked after a while.

"Tell you what?" I asked, thinking about what he could be asking me. There was only one thing it could be. "Oh, no, Emmett. Drop it."

"Come on!" he whined. "I have to know!"

"No you do not!" I said.

"Please! Bella wouldn't tell me anything about her first time!"

"And that immediately means I should tell you about mine?"
"Yes!"

"No, Emmett. Let it go."

"Jasmine, come on! You did it and you won't admit it!"

"Em, do I have to admit it? I have a baby back at the house; that isn't admitting it to you?"

He smiled. "No, because you haven't said it out loud."

"Shut up, Emmett! We're in public, for heaven's sake!"

"But—"

"I got the soda," Edward said, taking his seat next to me. He passed me mine.

Thanks, Edward. You couldn't have come back at a better time.

Edward chuckled. "I know," he said.

The loudspeaker made a noise that made me cover my ears before someone started speaking.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the seventh inning is about to start," the voice said. "But, before we resume the game, please stand and bow your heads for a list of local Switzerland dead."

I bit my lip and closed my eyes tightly as I stood along with everyone around me. The voice over the speaker started reading off names, all unfamiliar to me. I didn't know a single one of the men and women that died, but I still cried. I cried for the families of those people; cried for the hurt they must feel when they find out. And I cried because of the mental image rushing through my head along with the song lyrics from earlier. I kept imagining me at home with Nayeli and the doorbell ringing. I'd stand to answer it, and it would be a man in a military uniform. He'd hand me a letter, informing me of the death of my husband. I'd cry more than I'd ever cried before.

I continued to silently pray for the families and for the people who died as I listened to the man on the speaker reading off names and the cities they were from.

"And, from Forks, Washington," the voice crackled. "Ben Cheney, and Seth Clearwater."

Author's Note: Ahem… um… maybe not the best time for an author's note, but I added a picture of Jasmine's outfit and of the gift she gave Alice and Jasper for their anniversary to my website… Oh, and I have another new story up, so if someone could go and R&R that, too, then I'd love you forever. It's called You Know My Heart. And, for those who didn't know, I have another one up called The End is the Beginning is the End, in case ya wanna read that… Reviews are still love…