Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or its characters.

Note: In honor of my acceptance into grad school, I decided to post a chapter a little earlier than planned! I hope you all like it! Also, thanks for the reviews! :D

Charlie was sitting at the table, his head held in his hands, staring at the note. Bella was silent while standing at the stove, cooking breakfast for the two of them. The kitchen looked dark, dingy, a former shell of its colorful self, thanks to the lack of color coming in from the curtained windows.

"Soon…" he said so softly I had to strain to hear the weak voice.

"Hmm?" asked Bella.

"She said soon."

"She said a lot of things, Dad," said Bella, bitingly. "What makes you think that was the truth?"

"But…" Charlie's face slowly rose from the note, the pain turning into resolve. "You're right, Bells. Alice is… Alice is…"

I scrunched up my face in pain, but was unable to cry. My dead heart shattered inside as I took deep, unneeded breaths. My nails dug into my hard skin, leaving long scratches on my arm that didn't bleed.

"Alice… Alice…"

My eyes shot open and I was only vaguely aware of being in a car lighted by a small dome light. With the dream my subconscious showed me still on my mind, I looked at my left forearm. My right hand was held tightly to it by another cold, pale hand. Its mate was coming to my line of vision to brush away tears I thought I couldn't shed. As the calm moved closer to wash out my panicked dream, I ventured a look to the driver's side of the car. The golden eyes that looked back at me shot frantically around, most likely checking for any signs of harm.

"I'm alright. I'm alright," I chanted with each breath. "It's just…a bad dream."

Jasper took his hands away and I looked back down at my arm to see red colored stripes. A jolt of panic ran through me and I lifted my arm to inspect my flesh for any signs of tearing and blood.

"I wouldn't be in here if you did," he said, seriousness backing it.

"I'm sorry. Could you keep me calm for a while?"

"Are you…"

"…having second thoughts?" I shook my head. "Where are we?"

"In Canada. We are a few minutes away from our destination."

My eyes glanced at the clock on the dashboard. 8:00. The last thing I remembered before the dream was watching the green trees streak past the car. The sun was out, but low in the sky. Now everything was darkened and I could barely make out the trees that lined the side of the road we stopped on. "We should get going."

The dome light clicked off and the car rumbled to life again. My dream wanted to creep into my consciousness, but, instead of focusing on my family, I tried to work through Jasper's. Each of them already knew what was up the moment Jasper left, I was sure. Edward probably tried one last time to knock some sense into Jasper. Carlisle would have done the fatherly thing and told him to rethink his plan. Esme. I stopped on the mother of the little coven. She would have been heartbroken; her family was splitting apart for an unknown amount of time. I was hurting her just as much as my family.

And then there was Rosalie. We were forming some kind of friendship, and now I was blowing that all away. It was going to be hard to get that trust back. It was also going to be hard for her to be somewhat civil to Bella. I suddenly felt awful for not having written a note for her. But Emmett would be there for her. And, hopefully, when I returned, he would also help me get back under her good graces.

Thankfully, before my mind was allowed to wander back to my family, we arrived at our destination.

The cabin in the surrounding woods was small, and I could tell it would be a simple one room studio apartment kind of thing before I even stepped onto the porch that ran the entire front of the building. Before getting out of the car, Jasper handed me the key and motioned for me to go while he got the bags. There was a small light on by the front door which made the process easier, but the lack of lighting on the inside was a problem. Instinctively, I moved my hand to the wall on my right to feel for the switch. When there wasn't one, I squinted into the darkness that was cut by the light on the other side of the open door.

"The lighting is unusual," Jasper said behind me. "It's all by the kitchenette."

He walked around me toward what I assumed was the bedroom area and dropped the bags. I started moving the opposite way to where I thought I saw cabinets. Then the lights turned on and I found myself a foot away from the open door to the bathroom I was going to run into. I stepped back and turned to my right where the double bed was located. With heat rising to my cheeks, I quickly spun around to find Jasper trying to stifle a laugh in the kitchen and dining room area.

"What?" I asked, but all he did was shake his head and walk to the front door, closing and locking it. "Hey, just because my eyes aren't as perfect as yours, doesn't mean you can laugh at me." I stomped over to the bags and pulled mine close to me and stomped back to the bathroom. "I'm going to take a shower."

When I came out of the bathroom feeling better than I had all day, I found Jasper sitting on the green wooden futon style couch in front of a barren fireplace reading a book. "I packed you some food. I put it in the freezer."

"You didn't make it, did you?" I asked a little scared but still bounced across the room to the kitchen. I breathed a sigh of relief when I noticed frozen meals stacked neatly on one side of the freezer.

"The silverware is clean."

Nodding my head, I placed the container into the microwave and searched the drawers for a fork and knife. I briefly wondered if it was Jasper who cleaned the cabin or someone he or the Cullens hired. Nothing had a speck of dust or dirt on it, which surprised me for what we were in and where we were. I almost started to feel bad that someone had to clean the whole place just for us when I was more than capable of doing the job when I arrived, but I knew how much I would have complained if I had to clean the bathroom before taking that much needed shower.

The ding of the microwave alerted me that it was now time to dig in. I pulled the fork and knife from the last drawer I looked in, and carefully brought the food with me to the small, two chair table. I ate in silence while watching Jasper read. He looked comfortable and calm; it reminded me of an ordinary day when I was over at his house. If I let my eyes become unfocused, I could almost believe we were there.

After I finished stuffing my face, I leaned my elbow onto the table and rested my head in my hand while my eyes stayed staring at my vampire fiancé. I wondered if he was as nervous about what he was going to do. I wondered if he prepared himself for the moment when he would taste my blood. I also wondered if he was prepared to watch me suffer. He told me weeks ago how much it hurt, how long the pain would render me useless, how much I would wish for my body to just give up and die. He wouldn't do it, but I wished he would leave so he didn't have to watch me.

"Stop staring."

I blushed and busied myself with the dishes. When they were finished, I walked cautiously over to the couch, playing with the drawstring of my dark blue pajama pants. I sat down on the opposite side of the couch and moved from my pants to pulling the long sleeves of my grey cotton t-shirt over my hands.

"Are you going to stare at me all night?" he asked, peeking at me.

"Until I fall asleep," I smiled.

"It makes it hard to read."

"Then don't read?" I scooted across the couch and grabbed his arm, placing it around me. My feet went to rest under me as I pulled my little body into the space next to his torso. He stiffened as he usually did when I was the one to touch him first. "We should talk about what's going to happen now."

"They are already coming after us," he said, placing the open book down on his lap.

"They had to know you were leaving."

"Most of them are hunting, and for the past couple of days I kept my mind occupied whenever Edward was around."

"But he came to me yesterday. He talked to me like he knew it was coming."

"It is. Your graduation is only months away."

"Was. It was only months away." I sighed and changed the subject. There would be plenty of times to graduate later. "How long will it take for them to find us?"

"I don't know. A few days? A week? We can't stay for long."

"Tomorrow, then; tomorrow you will do it." I looked up at Jasper as he looked down at me. His breathing stopped. I didn't need his ability to know how scared he was at that particular moment. I took the book from his lap and moved my legs to straddle his thighs. The book was placed next to us as his arms wrapped around me, pulling me closer. I placed my hands on either side of his face. "I trust you," I lifted one of my hands and kissed his cheek before brushing my lips over his, "Jazz."

88888

The next morning found me in Jasper's arms under the covers of the double bed. I smiled as the rain sprinkled on the roof above me. "When did I pass out," I asked, not bothering to open my eyes.

"Somewhere between the Battle of the Frontiers and the First Battle of the Marne."

"Thanks for reading. I didn't think I'd be able to sleep without it," I teased, opening my eyes to look at Jasper. I pushed the covers down as he let me go, allowing me to step out of bed and stretch until my stomach growled.

"Eat something and then we're going into town."

I walked to the kitchen, looking back at Jasper sitting on the bed. "Do you expect me to wear this?" – I pointed to my pajamas – "Or do I get to look as presentable as you?"

"I suppose I will allow you to change."

"Oh, thanks." I opened up a cabinet to see what was stocked for breakfast and pulled out my favorite cereal, Rice Krispies. "How –" I cut myself off when I turned and saw the bathroom door closed and the shower turn on. Turning back around, I worked on fixing my easy breakfast, and then stood in the kitchen, leaning on the counter and staring at the bathroom door. With each bite, I thought about what we did last night. It was just kiddy stuff, a make-out session on the couch, but I tried to make it more. We were getting married, after all, but Jasper put a stop to it, saying he'd hurt me if we went farther. Deep down, I knew it was the truth, but at that moment, it felt as though he was rejecting me.

By the time I was finished and cleaned the kitchen, Jasper had come out of the bathroom in a white buttoned down, long sleeved shirt and black pants. I flashed back to the vision I saw in the store with Rosalie. As much as I wanted the vision to come true, I wanted it to be false. Our families weren't there, and I always dreamed of Charlie walking me down the aisle. Defeated, I spoke, not a question but a statement, "We're getting married today, aren't we."

"I won't… Unless you're my…"

I nodded and didn't press him to fill in the blanks. I was smart enough to know he was telling me he wasn't going to change me unless I was his wife just in case the worst happened. If I died, he would have at least been able to call me his wife for a short time. Taking his place in the bathroom, I changed into jeans and a pale green baby doll top with a waist length light brown jacket. I paused in the mirror after getting my hair just right. If I died, what would Jasper do? Would be blame himself? Would he…? No, this had to work out.

"Is everything alright, Alice?" Jasper asked, knocking and breaking my depressing thoughts.

"Yeah, just making sure my hair stays put," I said, opening the door and walking out with my bag to where I set my purse the night before. "I don't know how long I'll have to do my hair before our wedding. I didn't see anything wrong with it in my vision, but I can't be too sure. As soon as we find someone to marry us, I'm going to go find the dress. You won't be able to see me until the ceremony. I'm going to do one thing right." I walked to the door of the cabin, not missing the fact Jasper was still standing by the bathroom. "Well, come on. We have a busy day."

There were three churches in the small town, but it was the last one we visited that was the church we were supposed to be married in. As soon as I saw the cross in the back of the church, I whispered to Jasper that this was it.

"May I help you?" asked an older man in black who walked to us from the hallway to the left of the pews we stood behind.

"We would like to get married today if possible," I said, placing my hand in Jasper's.

"Do you have a marriage license?"

"No."

"I'm afraid it won't be legal if you do not have a license."

"We don't need it to be legal. We just want it to be blessed by God," said Jasper.

So we can make sure everything goes smoothly, my mind added.

The priest, who had a round face and white hair, looked at us with blue eyes behind thin wire glasses and smiled. "Very well, then. When would you like this little ceremony to take place?"

"Three o'clock," said Jasper.

"That will give me plenty of time. I will see you both here at three."

"Thank you," I said, taking my hand from Jasper and using it to dig through my purse for my phone. When I found it, I pushed a random button to make the screen light up and looked at the time. It was eleven. I hoped that would be enough time for me to scour the few stores the town had.

When we made it back outside and onto the sidewalk, I turned to the left where most of the shops were situated. Looking over my shoulder with a big smile, I said, "Don't mess up your clothes. I'll be here by two-thirty, so don't show up then or sneak a peek at my dress." I took one step before turning fully around. "I love you." Before letting my emotions get the best of me, I turned my back to my fiancé in search of the dress I knew I was going to get.

It was going to be hard to find the dress, I knew that, but the only two clothing shops in town that held younger styles of clothing didn't hold that dress. Feeling defeated and worried I wasn't going to find it in time – my phone telling me it was one o'clock – I strolled up and down the side streets I didn't hit earlier. I saw a bakery, an ice cream shop, and craft store, and an antique store –

I stopped at the antique store's window. The display featuring dishes, dolls, and even a bike, wasn't what caught my attention. It was the clothing behind them, in the middle of the floor. Specifically, it was what was on a mannequin that had me grinning like the Cheshire Cat in a different Alice tale. I practically ran inside to the dress and was sure I scared the middle aged woman at sitting at the register.

"I've been looking for you," I said, grabbing the price tag. The tag only told me it was six hundred dollars. "And not a bad price."

I quickly did the calculations in my head to figure out if I had enough money in my checking account for the dress and the few accessories I would need and still have enough left over for later. I only figured out at that moment I didn't know where the money was going to come from to help fund our new life. I mentally kicked myself for letting myself forget this major piece of information in favor for other activities.

"Would you like to look at that a little more closely?" the woman asked from her spot at the counter. My mouth answered yes before my brain could stop it, and I stood back to wait for the woman to take it off the mannequin.

For as long as Jasper had been alive, he would have money. Not that I wanted him to have to support the both of us, but we would be fine for a while. I would have to get a job. I snorted as the woman placed the dress in a small three walled compartment, and I shrugged away her odd look. How was a vampire going to get a job? And why didn't I think of this before?

I thanked the woman and shut the curtain. It was too late to think about money and how the two of us were going to live. In a couple of hours, the two of us were going be husband and wife. In a couple of days, I was finally going to be my husband's equal. I carefully changed into the vintage, white, knee length 1950's style dress. It surprised me how well it fit. Nothing needed taken in, not even the bust, which I always had problems with. Stepping outside of the dressing room to look at myself in the full length mirror, I saw myself looking back at a tearful girl. I looked away, smoothing out the wide straps lying over my shoulders.

Screw money. This was it.

Ten minutes later, the woman was smiling back at me as I handed her a check. Five minutes after that, I found myself shopping for white ballet style shoes, earrings and other small jewelry pieces, and a few extra somethings for Jasper's eyes only. By the time I was finished, the locals found me half running, half walking toward the church, my hands cluttered with my purchases.

Inside the church, I met an older woman who told me she helped out with the church. She helped me with the some of the bags and led me to a small room.

"Your fiancé wanted me to give you these," she said, pointing to the lilies sitting in a vase to make sure half of them didn't become crushed.

"Where did he find them?"

"We might be in the middle of nowhere, but we have a great florist." She looked at the dress and I saw her brown eyes soften with a memory. "Now, do you need help?"

I nodded my head once but stopped on the second one, mid nod "Wait. He's here already?"

The woman smiled knowingly, "He left right after. He didn't want to get yelled at for disobeying you."

"Good."

By the time three o'clock rolled around, the older woman, Dorothy, and I had placed the finishing touches on the dress. I had my something old: the dress, my something new: the shoes and the fairly new heart necklace Jasper had given me before prom, my something borrowed: a small handkerchief Dorothy let me borrow, and my something blue, the fake sapphires in my earrings. Dorothy had left me minutes earlier to let the priest, John, know I was ready.

I never realized how hard my heart was going to beat. I never realized how scared I would be even though the rough part was coming later this evening. Grabbing onto the bouquet, I imagined my mother standing next to me saying this was the easy part, marriage was the hard part.

Laughing at my mother, I walked out of the room and into the hallway to wait for Dorothy to press start on a tape of classical music. She insisted it be the wedding march, but I refused. Never once in my dreams of getting married did the wedding march play, and I wanted one part of my dream wedding to come true. When I heard the beautiful Tchaikovsky symphony, my heart burst out of my chest and I turned the corner, gripping hard on the handkerchief and flowers.

My eyes immediately went to Jasper. He stood to the right of the priest in his black suit, black tie, and white shirt with his hands nervously flexing at his sides. Jasper very carefully raised an eyebrow at the sudden onslaught of my nerves. I shook my head slightly, letting him know I wanted to feel this way even if it might send me fainting to the floor. Then his eyebrows pulled together. I lifted my chin to let him to let him know it was my wedding so the music was my choice.

Besides, it didn't stay on too long. Before I knew it, I was standing beside Jasper and handing my flowers to Dorothy so I could hold onto his hands. The priest started in with the normal ceremony, asking if both of us came of our own will, and if we wish to give ourselves to the other. We smiled at each other and nodded.

The rest of the ceremony flew by only because I barely paid attention to John as my eyes were on Jasper. He let me know when I needed to play my part by lightly squeezing my hand, which I was grateful for. We said the traditional vows – "Do you, Alice, take Jasper as your lawful wedded husband…" – and I answered that I did. Jasper did his just as perfectly, maybe even more so. I envied how easy it was for him to stand there even though I knew it was just as hard on him, maybe even more. But the lack of humans surrounding him had to help.

The one part I thought we were going to stumble through was the rings and their blessing, but Jasper surprised me by pulling out two platinum circles from his pocket, one wider than the other but otherwise identical. It was then the tears started to fall, and my embarrassingly sweaty fingers almost dropped his ring. But we made it through that too.

And then it was time to kiss. We met halfway to place a small, innocent kiss on each other's lips. "For eternity," he spoke in my ear.

Wiping my tears away for the hundredth time, I turned to smile at Dorothy and told her to keep the flowers while giving back her handkerchief. Jasper said something to the priest I didn't catch, and then took my hand and led me back into the room to collect my boxes and bags. We didn't say anything as we brought them to the car and placed them in the trunk. Our voices stayed silent as we drove back to the cabin. It was when I made the move to walk to the trunk and retrieve my items, the silence was finally broken.

"I have to follow through," he simply said, his strong arms lifting me as I long imagined my husband would and walking me into the cabin. His only pause was to stop and unlock the door.

He placed me on the floor on the other side of the threshold, and I walked to the bathroom to change out of the dress. I came back into the larger room in my pajamas to see Jasper holding one of the somethings just for him. The thin red and very lacy contraption hanging off his fingers made my whole body break out in the blush, but his surprised yet excited face made me laugh.

"For later?"

Something akin to a growl hit my ears only a half a second before Jasper did, pinning me to the wooden wall behind me. A small pain shot through my back and into my head which made me wince, but Jasper's lips on my made me forget it all. My legs squeezed around his middle as he kissed my jaw down to the neck I bared. The whole moment was reminiscent of the scene at school when he tried to show me how dangerous he could be; only this time it was more urgent, more needy. The scraping teeth against my skin stopped my breath but didn't stop my heart. For that to happen, he needed to push them in, use the little force needed to break my skin and let the venom leak in.

"Do it, Jazz," I begged, whimpering.

The pain I experienced being slammed into the wall was nothing to the pain of having Jasper dig into my soft flesh. My nails tried to do the same to the diamond hard skin of his back but they couldn't make a single dent before my body started to weaken.

"Jasper, I love…" I breathed through clenched teeth, trying not to let him know I was in any pain. "You're strong enough…"

I squeezed my eyes shut so tight I could feel a small tear drop out of the corner of my right eye. As my body started to jerk against, him I felt his tongue lick the wound on my neck, and then his lips on my tearing eye. I smiled at him, my eyes still locked shut; I didn't want to look at him and see my pain reflected in his eyes.

"I told you, you could do it."

After that, everything faded into something darker than black.

The Tchaikovsky song: www(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=E6qDOKL_6gM (That's the one Alice picked. Interesting, huh. :D)