A/N: Well, I hope you all are enjoying the story so far. I know it's rather slow-going right now, but I can promise you that it will get better. I've just not gotten to the really good parts yet. We'll get there soon, though!

The last chapter was pretty boring, but I think you'll enjoy this one more.

Thank you for your reviews and for reading. I hope you all stick with me, and any questions or advice is welcome. Reviews definitely inspire.

And just to clarify, Bella and her family are not shifters like the Quileutes. They are actual werewolves. My use of the word "shift" may be the cause of the confusion or misunderstanding, and I apologize for that.

Thank you all, again, for reading. Enjoy!

CH. 3

Bella's POV

I didn't want to admit it to myself, but I had actually enjoyed talking with Alice on the rooftop. The remainder of the afternoon after our conversation, I'd been a bit angry with myself for having played friendly and talked with her so much. I laid in bed that night and played the whole thing back in my head, and when I found myself grinning, I mentally scolded myself for it.

"Knock it off, Bella. She's a vampire! A nice vampire, but still. A monster, nonetheless," I shouted at myself.

For the rest of the night, I tossed and turned in bed. I grew frustrated with my mind for going straight to Alice every time I let it go free for a single second. It was only 45 minutes! How had that changed so much of what I felt towards her before?

A week had passed since that first day we talked, and we'd spoken numerous times since. The second time we went to the roof was the following Wednesday after our first meeting. We hadn't even said a word to each other in class, and somehow it seemed she knew I would follow her after class was dismissed. We walked straight to the abandoned building together, and didn't speak a word until we took our seats on the roof.

Admittedly, I was in a grumpy mood that day, because I had hardly slept since our first talk. Every night, there was a battle against my mind that chose to wonder to Alice constantly.

I'd been snappy towards everyone. Jake just kept making PMS jokes, and dad had just decided to speak as little as possible to me. He was rather passive, so I wasn't surprised that he'd chosen that route when I'd snapped at him time and time again for practically everything.

As soon as I looked out at the view from the rooftop, though, I felt a bit better. And again, Alice and I talked for 45 minutes with ease. Each day that we talked, things got a little more personal. But Alice was very understanding if I chose to avoid a topic or a question. I appreciated that, especially if the conversation had lead to anything that pertained to mothers. I wanted to avoid speaking of my mother at all costs. Not only because I didn't want Alice to know what had happened to her, but also because I just couldn't handle talking about her. I missed her enough as it was. Talking about her would only make me miss her more, and in turn, make me emotional.

Alice and I had talked about our hobbies, all of our favorite things, we'd shared little tid bits about our kinds, and then moved on to the more personal things. We'd talked about what inspired us, what we wanted to do in the future as far as careers, and where we wanted to live and all of that.

But today…today had gotten far more personal than I had expected.

"So, tell me about your love life. Are you dating anyone, are you single, or what," Alice asked, with an amused grin on her face, and her golden eyes staring straight into mine.

I blushed, which I hated. I hadn't wanted things to get this personal yet, but at the same time, a part of me wanted to talk about it. It was kind of nice to be able to do so. I hadn't had anyone other than Jacob to talk to, really, in all of these years.

"Um, well. My love life is…pretty non-existent, really. So yeah, I'm single," I said. I nervously cleared my throat and looked out over the city again. Why was I nervous? What the hell?

I felt the blush creep up my neck and over my cheeks again and I really, really, wanted to hurl myself off the side of the building. This was ridiculous.

I heard Alice giggle, and shot her a look. Was she enjoying my discomfort?

"Sorry, I'm not laughing at you, I promise. I just don't understand how your love life is 'non-existent,'" she said. Now it was her turn to be embarrassed. As soon as the words had left her mouth, she looked like she wanted to suck them back in. Her tiny left hand rubbed the back of her neck as she looked at practically everything except for me.

"Why do you say that?" I was beyond curious as to what she could mean by that. Why saying so had made her uncomfortable all of a sudden. In the week I'd known her, I'd not seen her act shy or embarrassed at all.

"I mean, you're obviously attractive. I'm pretty sure every human within a hundred feet takes their time to check you out and stare for a bit. You must have noticed."

She just called me attractive.

And I actually hadn't noticed anyone looking at me. I hadn't realized until now that the only person I'd really paid any attention to was Alice. Of course I'd paid attention to my professors, but that was mostly just to what they were lecturing or noticing their habits and other little things. I hadn't been paying attention to the way anyone behaved toward me, or who was looking at me or any of that. Alice was the only person I'd noticed doing any of those things. The only person I'd paid close attention to and really watched.

I sat there in stunned and confused silence for about a minute before I finally spoke again.

"I don't really pay attention to people. Not more than necessary, at least. I don't care who's looking at me or what anyone thinks."

"I can guarantee that no one is thinking anything remotely negative of you, Bella. Most everyone on campus that has seen you is more or less in love with you," she said with a chuckle.

Again, I was surprised by her words. I don't know why, but I couldn't help thinking maybe there was more meaning behind her words than she let on. And I wanted to know what that was.

"Well, what do you think of me, Alice?" I looked her dead in the eye, curious to hear her answer. It'd only been a week, but I'd talked to her more than I'd ever talked to anyone outside of my family. Surely she'd formed some sort of opinion of me.

"I think…..I think there's more to you than you let on. Well, aside from the whole wolf thing," she giggled again and then continued on, taking in my confused look and explaining what she meant.

"What I mean is, I think you keep a lot of yourself hidden away. You've got that badass persona going for you, but I think there's more to you than that. I mean, obviously you're a badass, you could easily kick anyone's ass around here. But I think there's more depth to you than that. From the way you avoid some of my questions, or tiptoe around certain conversation, I'd say my thoughts are correct."

All I could do was nod my head at that. There was no answer for what she had just said. I couldn't just deny it, and I certainly didn't want to admit she was right. I did keep a lot hidden away. But that was because anything else would make me look weak, and I despised weakness more than anything. My "badass" persona had always worked well for me. People left me alone, and no one ever tried to befriend me; which meant I never had to let anyone in, and I was perfectly fine with that.

But now there was Alice. Alice, the girl I shouldn't even be speaking to in the first place. And now it seemed she knew more about me than I even wanted to admit to myself.

I hadn't even thought about what I was doing until I was headed towards the ladder with my things. Leaving seemed like the only thing I could do, though.

Alice stood and looked at me with apologetic eyes.

"I'm sorry if I said something wrong. Don't go yet, please. We don't have to talk about this stuff anymore."

I paused for a moment, and didn't understand why a part of me wanted to stay. My body felt almost weighed down, as I stood there trying to figure out what to do.

But after noticing all of this, noticing how my feelings were going in a direction they were never supposed to, I grew angry at myself and started to get on the ladder. I stopped once I'd gotten myself positioned properly on it. I looked up to Alice, who still stood in the same spot, watching me with the same look on her face.

"I have to go. I'm sorry," was all I said before I slid down the ladder and made my way down the street.

Alice's POV

It didn't take long for me to learn that being around Bella gave me word vomit. Practically every thought I had spilled out of my mouth before I could stop it. Normally, I wouldn't care, but for some reason, I actually did care what Bella thought of me.

Over the past week, we'd gotten to know a bit more about each other. I didn't think Bella could captivate me any more than she already had, but I had been proven wrong. With each conversation, Bella continued to intrigue me moreover. Though we had a lot we hadn't covered yet, I still felt like we had a connection of some sort. Vampires and werewolves were not supposed to be able to stand being anywhere near one another. Yet, here we were, sitting together on the roof of an abandoned building, carrying conversation as if we'd been friends for far more than a week. We had to have some sort of connection for that to be possible.

At that thought, I felt a bit of unease wash over me. I didn't understand it, and let it go. There was no reason for me to be feeling uneasy right now.

We'd only been on the rooftop a few minutes, and had just given each other a "hello" and "how are you," as we took our seats.

Since the day I first saw Bella, I'd wanted to know her story. Where she came from, her childhood, what she loved, what she hated, all of that. But the last few days, I'd wondered more about who she loved. Or if she had ever loved anyone. I knew for a fact that most everyone loved her. I'd seen the way other students gazed at her as she walked by or entered a room. She was undeniably sexy. I really wasn't any better than the humans, what with the way my eyes always wondered over her body when she came into view, and the way my mind tended to go straight to places I would rather not admit. I was a mess over this girl, when I should despise her simply because of what she was. But I didn't hate Bella, not at all. And the more time I spent with her, the further I grew from hating her.

"So, tell me about your love life. Are you dating anyone, are you single, or what?"

The words escaped my mouth without my permission yet again.

I had gone straight for the kill without even meaning to. I knew she probably wasn't ready for such a personal question, but my curiosity was killing me.

I hadn't been expecting her to answer me. Judging by the blush that crept over her skin, and the way she looked out over the view, I figured this would be another question she avoided.

But after a minute's pause, she finally replied.

To hear that she had no love life was an utter shock to me. This girl had people drooling over her left and right. How could she not have someone?

Then my word vomit made yet another appearance, and I found myself embarrassed. I hadn't been embarrassed in decades. But I'd practically just told Bella how I felt towards her, and I did not need that coming out right now. I was just starting to get to know her, the last thing I wanted was to scare her off with my ridiculous feelings.

"What do you think of me, Alice," she asked.

I had to take a moment to make sure nothing blurted from my face. I knew for sure that she'd be scared away if I told her how beautiful I thought she was, or how she'd been on my mind every second since the first time I saw her. Or how, despite the fact that we were mortal enemies, I wanted nothing more than to make her love life exist.

Yeah, that's a bit much.

Sheesh, Alice.

My answer was still an honest one. I knew Bella could kick ass, and I knew she had a hard exterior, but I'd seen softness in her eyes many times. When she told me her mother had passed away, I'd seen such sadness in those beautiful blue eyes that it was heartbreaking. And I'd seen the way she lit up when we spoke of our hobbies, and all the things that she loved to do. When we spoke of theatre, or music, or art, she nearly became a different Bella than I'd seen before. It was clear that she held a passion for many things, and that wasn't something that was common in people who were truly as cold as Bella tried to pretend she was.

I knew I was right about her, and it became even more clear just how right I was when she stood and began to walk away.

Immediately, my stomach dropped. The last thing I'd wanted to do was scare her off, and here she was, ready to leave me.

"I'm sorry if I said something wrong. Don't go yet, please. We don't have to talk about this stuff anymore."

I hoped so much that she would change her mind about leaving and come sit back down. We could talk about anything she wanted and pretend I'd never said anything. I just didn't want her to leave.

"I have to go. I'm sorry," was all she said before she disappeared down the ladder.

I don't know how long I stood in that spot, just staring at the ladder.

"Dammit, Alice," I muttered to myself.

Why couldn't I just keep my stupid mouth shut? How could I ever expect Bella to want to be around me if I kept saying things that ran her off?

Eventually, I left the abandoned building and went on about my day. My remaining classes dragged on, and when they were finally done, I decided to go to my mother's café. She always had a way of cheering me up.

As soon as I entered the café doors, Esme came out from the kitchen and greeted me with a loving hug.

"Oh, my Alice, so good to see you," she said in her soft, motherly, tone.

"You, too, mom. I just came by to see how the business was going."

She looked at me for a second with questioning eyes.

"Is everything alright, dear?" I should've known better than to think I could get anything past her. She always knew when something was wrong or when any of my siblings or I were trying to hide something.

I gave a sigh, then shrugged my shoulders.

"I'm fine. I've just had a lot on my mind lately, I suppose." I couldn't really come right out and tell her the truth. I'm just, ya know, kind of falling for a werewolf. No big deal, probably wouldn't go over too well.

"Well, you know you can always talk to me about anything, honey. I'm always here for you," she said.

I wanted to tell her so badly. I wanted to tell her so that she could tell me what to do, because I certainly had no idea.

But instead, I busied myself around the café, helping Esme with customers and cleaning. Before I knew it, it was 10 pm and time to close.

I gave Esme a hug and a kiss on the cheek before I left for my apartment.

Just as I began making my way up the steps of my building, I heard someone clear their throat behind me. I wasn't sure I was seeing correctly when I turned to find that it was Bella standing there.