Go on my profile and vote on the poll there. It is crucial to this plot situation.

You guys have to tell me really soon what you want to happen, because I am leaning in a direction that I think would make some people stop reading. So vote! Or else I could do the whole alternate ending thing.

Bella's POV

That night, when I got home, I went straight to the basement. I looked around. In the corner was Edward's music book, the one he practiced out of and wrote in. His baseball hat was on the floor, and I sighed. I would have to return those at some point.

I walked over to our music collection, and smiled. Here was the first mix CD I had recorded of us. For some of the songs, we were laughing so hard we had to keep recording them again and again.

I sat down on the couch with a plop, putting my head in my hands. I needed to do some truly deep thinking. And that is where he found me.

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Jasper's POV

When I arrived at the Swan house, I jogged up to the front steps. Before I could ring the bell, however, the door was thrown open and I was quickly pulled in. Alice dragged me down the hall, all the way to the basement staircase without saying a word. She stopped there, pointing at the door with raised eyebrows. I understood.

Bella was curled up on the couch when I got downstairs, and it pained me to see her like this. She and I had become like siblings; she was also my new best friend besides Emmett. I walked over to her, thinking about how I would strangle Edward with my bare hands if I got the chance.

When I wrapped my arms around her, she looked up at me startled. After looking at me for a few seconds, her strong mask wavered. A tear slipped down her cheek, and she was biting her lip to keep from sobbing. She leaned forward and curled up on my lap, with me stroking her hair. Nobody, especially not her, deserved this. I had by no means ever seen a time where Bella was more vulnerable than now. She was always the rock for Rosalie and Alice, and the one who could always be found joking with Emmett.

We sat there for a long time, and almost too soon she pulled away and smiled at me. Wiping her eyes, she hopped up with a hardened expression. She had put up her walls again. I wished she hadn't, I couldn't help her more if she wouldn't let me.

We both trooped upstairs, and I was invited to stay for dinner. With Emmett being Emmett and Bella trying to act like her old self, we got through the evening with laughter and a better mood.

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Bella's POV

That night, I sat in my room listening to my CD of Edward playing the piano. After going through every song once, I took out the CD. Twirling it experimentally in my fingers, I gripped it hard before snapping it in half. I tossed the pieces into the trash, and then grabbed my iPod. I switched the music to mine and Jasper's compositions. I fell asleep to our voices singing together, the guitar strumming gently in the background.

Welcome to the Life and Times of Bella Swan. I guess I should have been used to it by now.