Hey Second Chance readers. I know this update is a day late and I apologize for that but I wanted get a thread unwound for one of the ideas I have for this story. So sorry, again, for the lateness but I hope you can forgive me and leave a review because that would be a thousand times more awesome than I deserve.

Ready to read?

lots. of. love.

PLT!

~AliceSwift

"I've never heard silence quite this loud."

-The Story OF Us.

-Taylor Swift.

(p.s. Did anyone else get Speak Now, her new album? I just got the deluxe edition from Target on Monday and I have to say it's quite AWESOME!)

"Oh." I said, I was curious but I didn't want him to feel obligated to tell the new girl about it.

A few moments later he had removed his sneakers and had his feet in the water too.

"Despite how much I love talking and hearing about myself, I'll only tell you about that night if you want to hear it, so you'll have to let me know." he said and I looked at him finally and he winked at me.

"Will you tell me about it?" I asked with a grin.

"I probably had a similar thought process to the one you had. The whole 'why do I deserve this' and 'I feel bad for the rest of the kids at the orphange' sort of thing." I nodded. "Yeah, that's what I thought." he took a breath and gazed out over the water, his mind far away.

"That night I thought I would literally go insane. You know I actually prayed a few times that I would just so that I would have an excuse for the fidgeting I was doing. My hand were shaky, palms were sweaty, head aching, mind running a hundred miles per minute." he paused. "So I got out of bed and just stood there in the darkness. Waiting for my mind to make a decision. But it never did. Finally I had to tell myself where to go. I put on my sneakers and ran out of their house." he looked at me again. "Now, I took awhile to really decide that I was going to leave but you seem a little impulsive to I'm sure you ran straight out of the door."

"I did not." I said instinctively, just to prove him wrong. Maybe he was right. I did tend to be rash about things.

"Really? Because to me the way you bolted out of there it sounded like you were running for your life, but I'm sure it seemed that way to you huh?"

I didn't say anything in response. I couldn't understand why, but I was too embarrassed to.

"Listen, I'm not going to make you talk about anything you don't want to because I know how terrible that can be sometimes. Under pressure from the one speaking to answer, pressure from yourself not to, I get it, I've been there myself. But I will give you advice. Don't be too hard on the family. I know they seem really insane but they'll care for anyone who will let them, well everyone except Rosalie and sometimes Edward but that's for reasons beyond me. If you do something wrong, don't worry too much about it. I know I spent too many hours dwelling on things said that the others forgot only second after they were spoken. Don't be like that, it only makes life worse for you." he bit his lip and smiled. "If you want to know a really easy way to become friends with everyone quickly-try being nice to Alice. She'll, sometimes literally, jump at the chance to have a new friend." I smiled and he grabbed his shoes after pulling his feet out of the water.

"Come on." he said standing up and holding his hand out. I looked at his hand and then his face. I wanted to tell him no, explain to him that I didn't want to go back into the house. Parade around with Alice, faking smiles and conversing in mindless chatter with everyone that we passed. Force laughter and small talk ,which I've never been good at. Maybe I never had that much practice with the material.

"You don't say much do you?" he asked and cocked his head to the side.

My hand reached for my shoes. I didn't tell it to, so I wasn't sure why it had. Maybe it was instinctive, someone tells you to go you do and that's why I felt the need to go with him. Then again maybe my subconscious was telling me something, telling me that I did want to go, that I wanted to go back to the family and be a part of something good and happy for once.

Or maybe it was the obvious, logical reason.

I was possessed.

Just kidding.

I figured that, whatever the reason, I would wader back to the house eventually, walking in with Emmett seemed more exceptional than walking in alone.

I sighed and blinked a few times in confusion to what had given me the sudden urge to go back with him. I looked at his face again and he raised his eyebrows at me. I smiled and took my shoes in my hand as he helped me up.

We walked back to the house in silence.

I woke up in the morning around 10:30, which was far later than anyone in the house normally woke up. My mom and dad were always the first and they woke up at eight. The others would follow them within the hour, but I would usually get out of bed last. Today Rose was still in bed when I lulled down stairs.

"Good morning Edward!" my mom said all too happily for someone who just woke up.

"Morning." I mumbled as I walked over to the cabinet and got out a bowl, and cereal. I got a spoon from the drawer and went to the table to sit next to Alice and Bella. Emmett was across the table from the two of them, quietly munching away at his pancakes, which was suspicious considering he normally could fill an entire room with his voice.

"So, what does everyone have planned today?" my mother asked from the sink. She was cleaning the dishes as we brought them over to her.

"Well Jasper and I were going to visit some friends for a few days." Alice said. "They live in Portland so we decided to make somewhat of a trip out of the event." she paused, looking for a reaction on Esme's face. "Is that okay?" Despite how much Alice pretended to be a grown-up with her husband, her job, and trying to find a house and things like that she was still only eighteen. And most eighteen-year-olds still need permission from mommy to go to another state. Not to mention funds too.

"I suppose." my mother said. "How long were you planning on staying?" I could tell my mom was tense. I think she was upset at the fact that Alice was trying to get older and out of her life so fast. Alice was her baby, her little girl who would always be seen as nothing but the youngest daughter. Sure, she had me, but I wasn't ever interested in going out shopping all afternoon.

"Um, probably a week." Alice was avoiding Esme's glare. She was barely peeking up from beneath her eyelashes, her main focus was on her hands in her lap.

"That's fine. I'll need to get some money from the bank this afternoon, you and Jasper can come with me." she paused. "When were you two planning on leaving?" she asked, a hint of a smile of her lips.

"Around six tonight." Alice said, her voice cracked. I could tell now that this wasn't a plan that was supposed to be revealed so early in the day. They might not have planned on telling my mother at all. I could tell Alice felt guilty about that.

"When were you planning on telling me Alice?" Esme said, raising her voice which she rarely did at Alice.

"I-uh, I wasn't-"

"Going to tell me." My mom finished her sentence. Alice looked ashamed and I could've sworn I saw a few tears fall from her eyes. "What?" Esme edged on. "Grown-up girl is too high and mighty to tell mommy about her plans? Is that it?"

"Mom." I said quietly and she glared at me.

"Fine Alice. You can go and visit your big grown-up friends and have a big fun grown-up time because apparently we're too immature for you here." she threw the wet dishrag on the counter and it landed with a slap. She walked out the the room, leaving it cold.

"Alice I-" I started but she didn't let me finish.

"Can you tell her that I um, went for a drive or something? I have to go." she asked me. She could barely look at me long enough for me to nod my head before she burst into tears. She got up from the table and walked out the front door of the living room.

The room was filled with an awkward silence.

"So, what're you guys doing today?" I asked, filling the need to make conversation.

Bella was quiet. "Um, I'm going out with Rose all day today." Emmett said.

"What are you guys doing?" he looked up from his plate, eyes widened with an emotion that looked like either concern or worry.

"She's been feeling crappy the past few days so she asked if we could go out and just have some fun." he said. I thought it sounded like a lame excuse for them going out and getting in trouble with the police. But I was one to talk about that now wasn't I?

"What about you Bella?" Emmett asked and she looked up from the table.

"Oh, uh, nothing." she said quickly. Her voice sounded less hoarse than it did yesterday. I wondered if Alice had gotten to her, she may be slightly annoying and pain in the neck sometimes, but she knew how to get people talking.

"Edward?"

"Nothing much really." I said.

"Well it looks like you two are going to be alone today then." he said and I could feel Bella tense beside me. "Dad has to work overtime today at the hospital, Dr. Stewart got sick with the flu-ironic huh? So he's covering his patients today."

The room again was quiet until Bella got up, put her dishes in the sink, then went upstairs.

"I'm going to go wake Rose up." Emmett said, picking up his own bowl and Alice's and taking them to the sink. "She wanted to leave in a hour and she needs time to get ready." he paused and looked at me. "Hey, be careful with Bella today alright? I don't want her to get freaked out or anything, and she's probably really sensitive right now."

"I probably won't even talk to her today Emmett, but if I do I'll make sure to call you and ask if what I'm going to say is okay before I say it."

"Seriously? You're really going to get mad at me because I warned you to be careful?"

"No, I'm going to get mad at you if you think I'm stupid enough to say something offending. I've been through this before remember?"

"Yeah." he said and raised his eyebrows. "I do. I've been through this before too except I was on the other end." he slammed the dishes on the table and walked away.

This was an awesome way to start my Saturday.

Later that day when everyone was gone but Edward and I, I tried to stay in my room and I knew Edward would stay in his. I heard the music from his piano flow through the house. Filling my room, his, the kitchen. Silence would hear each key being stuck by his finger every time he played the same beautiful song-again and again, never bothering to stop and take a breath.

Around one Alice came home, she didn't bother saying hello to anyone. She just came in with Jasper, but they left soon to meet Esme at the bank so they were gone within thirty minutes.

Late afternoon rolled around, rain pouring down outside the window. Despite the beautiful, golden morning that occurred earlier it was a gray storm outside. Alice had told me that sunshine always turned to rain in Forks.

I could have listened to Edward play all day, but instead I found myself looking for something missing. Something that wasn't there but should've been. I searched my mind until I finally realized what it was. A book. Oddly enough I had been a part in this scene a thousand time, just not with this setting. Raining outside, cooped up in a room alone, going outside of my world an into another that I could never dream of.

It itched at me until two-thirty. Finally I decided to ask Edward where the nearest bookstore was. I planned my words carefully, not wanting to offend him in any way.

At three I made it down the hall, I knew he could hear my footsteps, not because the floor creaked, but because he stopped playing completely. Something he hadn't done all day.

I knocked on his door and he told me to come in. His voice sounded strange, but that was probably only because I hadn't heard a voice since around eleven this morning.

I opened the door and he smiled up at me. Perfect white teeth in contrast to his red lips.

"Yes?" he asked politely.

"I was just wondering where the nearest bookstore was." I asked. "Or library." I added quickly, feeling like an idiot when my words came so rushed even I could barely comprehend them.

"Well, we don't have a library for over three counties away, but there is a bookstore in Port Angeles."

"How far is that?" I was looking at the floor and keeping even breaths now.

"Um, almost over an hour away." he said.

"Oh." I said. Feeling stupid.

"Yeah." he said and raised his eyebrows. There was silence for a few seconds as I was planning on how I would thank him and apologize for interrupting but then he cut into my thoughts. "I could drive you if you like."

I looked up, the look on his face was sincere and honest. His eyes were a shade of green that reminded me of a few shades I had seen in the lake this morning. I pulled myself out of that thought before I could get lost in it.

"Yeah, that would be great. If you don't mind of course. I mean, I really don't want to bother you or anything. If you're too busy I could always ask Alice when she gets back. Or maybe Esme wouldn't mind taking me later when-"

"Bella," he said, his voice closer. He was standing in front of me wearing a worn leather jacket over his gray tee shirt. "It's no problem. Let's go." he said.

I was shocked that I might not actually be that much of a bother to him. Maybe he was just as stir crazy as I was and was dying to get out of the house too.

"Come on." he grabbed my hand, gently, and lead me down the steps.

"Do you have a jacket?" he asked when we were in the living room. I shook my head. "Well, I could lend you one of Alice's or Rosalie's," he paused. "But I think it'll be more fun for me to watch you run." he smiled.

"Really?" I asked and he nodded. "Which car is yours?" I asked, turning the knob on the door and opening it to reveal a screen door.

"The Volvo." he said and laughed. It was the farthest one in the driveway. I sighed and he counted down the seconds until I was supposed to go.

"Three...Two...One." I pushed open the screen door and ran into the rain, he followed me soon. Rain fell on my head and my heart raced, pulse thrumming in my ears.

I don't think I've ever heard a noise quite that loud.

So next chapter will be fun to write and to read, I hope, because I'll give some insight on Alice and Jasper, then Emmett and Rose, and of course Bella and Edward. I might even do a little short section on Esme, but I might save that for a later chapter. I probably won't write all that much about Carlisle because it'd be boring to hear about sick people and how he is fixing them.

Let me know what you thought and what you think.

lots. of. love.

PLT!

~AliceSwift