"Get off of her!" Rosalie screamed, eyes fiery, voice piercing. Alice was frozen with shock.

"Rosalie-! I'm so-oh my god..."

"I said get off!" Rosalie was across the room in an instant, ripping Alice off of the slumbering Bella. Alice stiffened but didn't dare struggle. She didn't even bother catching herself when Rose hurled her into an armchair, which tipped backwards onto the hardwood floor. Alice lay in an awkward position as Rosalie checked on Bella. What had she done? Rosalie had trusted her with her girlfriend for but a few minutes. Had she lost all self control? But Alice had, in that moment, really thought the human's lips were Jasper's. She'd known somewhere in the back of her mind they weren't, but she couldn't bring herself to admit it. She let Rosalie pull her up, a little less harsh this time now that she knew Bella was safe, but it was clear she was still furious.

"What the hell were you thinking?" she demanded.

Alice couldn't speak, her eyes wide with fear and incredulousness. She opened her mouth but only air escaped.

"Dammit Alice!"

Rose let her go, trying to calm herself down. She took a protective seat next to Bella on the couch, pulling her into her arms.

"Rosalie..." Alice whispered after a few minutes of silence. "I... I thought she was... I got thinking about Jasper and how much I missed him and..."

"Are you honestly telling me you thought she was Jasper?" Rosalie huffed.

Alice brought herself into a seated position on the floor, head bowed.

"I swear it wasn't planned or anything... I would never betray you like that. Please, Rose."

As much as she wanted to stay angry, Rosalie saw the sincerity in her eyes. The little vampire had never looked worse, crumpled up on the floor like a discarded newspaper. Her short hair was disheveled and her arms were lank by her sides. Rosalie tugged Bella a little closer and took a deep breath.

"You swear you're not interested in her?"

"On my life," Alice promised, not allowing herself to think on it too deeply. The alcohol in her was making everything hazy, and she felt she would implode if she stayed in that room for a moment longer. She needed air, needed to stretch her legs. Without another word, she staggered up and found her way to the door. She heard Rosalie shift on the couch, but knew she wouldn't follow after her. Good. She needed to be alone to think.

She was among the trees at last, sucking down pine scented air as deeply as her lungs would allow. That helped clear her head a little. She went down to the creek and splashed water on her face, shivering a little. She sat down among the dark twigs and fallen leaves. An owl hooted and she could her some small animal in a bush a few feet away. The trees loomed black against the charcoaled sky, blurring together with the grey leaves. Did she pine for Jasper so much that she needed to project it onto others? True, she hadn't meant to, but Alice felt nothing but guilt. She could see that Rosalie would forgive her and that all would be back to normal in a day or so... But would she? The thing that Alice was discovering she couldn't expunge from her thoughts was the fact that she, indeed, had ben kissing Bella Swan. That fact made itself comfortable next to her in the gloom, though she longed to swat it away like an annoying insect. She rolled over onto her stomach, picking uselessly at the grass. The more she thought about the kiss, of her lips moving with the human's, the way they'd both wrapped each other in their arms... She'd felt that way with Jasper. Surely she had. She remembered. Yes, they'd been glued to each other all the time just like Rose and Bella.... hadn't they? But the more Alice tried to remember, the more desperate she grew, frantically searching for any memory that was as sweet as the ones Rosalie and Bella often shared. Her lips parted as if to gasp, breathing speed increased. A large pit was forming in her stomach, and she feared she might fall into it.

Please, she prayed despairingly, rolling onto her back and staring up into the scraggily branches. Please let this not be real... I love Jasper, I know I do...

She fell head first into the pit. She knew now. They'd fallen out of love.

When Bella awoke she was lying comfortably in Rosalie's bed. Thoughts of the previous night were slow to come back to her, and there was an insistent drumming in her head. Tawny light lay on the fresh air. She shifted under the covers which had been neatly placed over her, turning to find Rosalie by her side, sitting up, just staring at the wall. Her eyes were tight and her mouth displaced nothing close to a smile.

"Rose?" she whispered. Rosalie stiffened and whipped her head around, relaxing when she saw Bella awake. "Morning."

"Did you sleep okay?"

"Yeah, great."

There was a pause which neither of them intended to fill at first.

"Bella..." Rosalie finally asked. "What do you remember of last night?"

Bella smiled. "Well drinking, obviously. Then something along the lines of dancing... Did we make crowns out of spoons?"

Rosalie nodded. "You don't remember...?"

"Remember what?"

"The...kissing?"

"Oh, of course." Bella sat up, cuddling up to her girlfriend. "How could I forget? You're only the best kisser-"

"No, Bell, not me."

Bella wondered why Rosalie wouldn't look at her. "Rose...?" she asked hesitantly. Rosalie sighed deeply, running a hand through her golden curls.

"Alice was the one kissing you."

Bella blinked.

"I went out to hunt and came back to find her on top of you. You two were sort of holding each other."

"Huh?" was all Bella could manage.

"Alice and you. Kissing. Last night. No, I guess you wouldn't have known. You were asleep once I pulled her off."

"That was Alice? I thought she was you!" Bella gasped. All she'd felt last night were the cold, stoney arms, the firm lips.

"And apparently she thought you were Jasper."

"Wow."

"I know."

"So... what happened? After you found her... us."

"I pulled her off you and screamed at her."

"You didn't hurt her did you?"

"Honestly Bella it's a miracle I didn't rip her head off. The only time I've been more angry was when..." she cut herself off, glancing at Bella apologetically. Knowing what Rosalie was about to mention, Bella flinched slightly but moved the conversation on.

"Where is she now?"

"I don't know. We talked briefly last night and then she left. I don't think she was lying about thinking you were Jasper..."

"Why would she? It's not like she likes girls or anything," Bella laughed.

Rosalie gave her a long, stern look.

"She doesn't like girls," Bella stated, though they both felt the next question before Bella spoke it. "Right?"

"I don't know, Bella. I mean, she definitely likes guys... but, well, I've been picking up on some other things lately."

"Like what?"

"Remember the mall the other day? How you sat on her lap and stuff?"

"We were just kidding around."

"I know but... she kind of... stares sometimes."

"Stares? At me?"

"I've noticed her looking at other girls too."

"This is insane," Bella insisted, forehead creasing. "It's Alice we're talking about here!"

"Yes it is. And I think she may be going through some changes right now. Changes, or just finding out more about herself."

The two sat in the morning stillness for a while, neither of them feeling particularly peaceful. Rose wondered how she'd feel if Alice really had betrayed her, if she'd purposefully kissed Bella. Her muscles initially clenched at the thought, but she reminded herself that that was not the reality of things. Bella had thought Alice was her, and Alice had thought Bella was Jasper. Period. The kiss had only been a mistake. But Rosalie still felt unsettled. Her imagination kept hopping all over the place. What if Alice really is bisexual? Would she tell me? What if she actually likes Bella? Like she'd done last night, Rosalie pulled Bella into her lap, trying to convince herself that these thoughts were nothing to worry about.

They both stared blankly at Bella's makeshift crown on the dresser beside them, heads full of questions they weren't sure if they wanted answers to.

A/N: Please review! What do you think?