Chapter 23: I Won't Say I'm In Love

Alice POV:

Bella was sleeping peacefully by my side and I was most content. Her relaxed heartbeat was putting me into a tranquil state, so I laid down next to her and closed my eyes. I could listen to that heart forever and it would still bring a smile to my face. Call it a mate thing I guess. I studied her features trying to memorize them. I wanted to snuggle into her chest but was afraid it would wake or startle her, so I just continued to watch her torso rise and fall with each steady breath.

Suddenly her heartbeat picked up however, and her breathing became rapid and uneven. She started to mutter and shake from what looked like a nightmare.

"Bella." I called quietly not wanting to scare her awake. But it was no good. I reached out and shook her shoulder lightly while calling her name again. She immediately woke with wide eyes and heavy breathing.

"What? What happened? Is something wrong?" She looked around for any signs of immediate danger.

"No everything's fine. You were having a nightmare." I explained. Did she not know that? She used to know when I woke her from one as a human.

"Oh." She relaxed back into the pillows. "Thank you. But in the future there's really no need to wake me unless it's a bad one."

"That wasn't bad?" I was astonished by her lackadaisical attitude. "What would you classify as bad?"

"Well Jake always told me he would only wake me if I was screaming or thrashing around or something. Anything less than that and it will usually go away." She shrugged. I felt sick. Not only from the jealousy of Jacob sleeping with my mate, but that nightmares like that were a normal occurrence. Bella realized her mistake of mentioning Jacob and her face paled. "Sorry."

"No it's alright. Jacob did take care of you when I did not. That doesn't mean I like him though." She nodded at my words. I lay back down to signal for her to go back to sleep. She got the message and rolled back into a slumber. A few small nightmares came and went as she slept until the alarm went off. I had a new goal: to be there for every nightmare Bella would have and to comfort her.

Bella POV:

My alarm went off blaring in my ear to start the morning. Right. School today. Oh joy. We had skipped yesterday with all the drama going on, but there were no excuses today. However, my morning was brightened considerably when I remembered who was in my bed.

"Good morning!" Alice said loudly with a huge smile on her face. She was practically bouncing with excitement for the day. I'm really not a morning person but she did make me cheerful, so in spite of myself I gave her a good morning kiss. It was a short and chaste kiss, something a married couple would do after a long day, but it still gave me butterflies. Her too obviously because she whispered into my ear "I could get used to that." That gave me chills. I moved out of bed quickly to get ready before I did anything stupid.

Alice was my little shadow following me around the house as I prepared and ate breakfast. She must enjoy my presence just as I hers. She did have to go home eventually and change before school. Plus I thought it would be weird to drive in with her. I barely wanted a relationship at this point, let alone people assuming that I'm in one. She kissed me goodbye, this time a little longer than the morning one we shared, and left me alone with my thoughts.

She was very bipolar around me. One moment she was depressed about me, and the next she was bouncing with joy. And then every once in a while aroused, which was starting to give me issues. I sure as hell couldn't go to Jake anymore, but I was not nearly under control to do anything with her yet. I was caught between a rock and a hard place.

School was pretty boring for the most part. I kept my table at lunch so it would not seem strange that I was friendly with the Cullens again so suddenly. Edward was a no show, so he did know what was good for him. But Gym class got interesting. I was minding my own business doing push-ups and sit-ups when the smell of Alice's arousal hit my like a freight train. I felt my eyes immediately darken.

"Alice!" I hissed at her. "Stop that now!" She was staring at me, biting her lip in a very sexy way. But she jumped out of her current state when she heard me.

"What?" She asked in horror. I had a feeling she knew what I was talking about but was hoping against hope that it wasn't true.

"You know what I'm talking about! Now unless you want an unpleasant situation to happen here I suggest you lock it up woman! You're driving me insane." If vampires could blush, Alice would be the deepest shade of scarlet right now. Emmett had to excuse himself to go to the bathroom because he could not stop laughing hysterically. Alice didn't say a word for the rest of class in utter embarrassment. She approached me after Gym when I had finished changing with the look of mortification still plastered on her face.

"How- how long have you been able to sense that?" Now I didn't want to be completely honest here and tell her the truth, which was ever since I came back. My senses were already heightened, but with her as my imprint I was very in tune with hers particularly. But I also felt it would be wrong to lie to her now.

"Um, a while." She only nodded at me, getting the point. She knew I had sensed all her other incidents like that while she was staring at me in class. Just now I could say something about it.

"Sorry." She whispered quietly. I felt slightly guilty for calling her out on it, but now that we had done some things, I was craving her much more. Emmett finally appeared again after we exited the locker room, still shaking with laughter.

"You wanna come over later Bella? I've been dying for a rematch on Call of Duty." I really had missed Emmett as a big brother, he was so loveable.

"Sure thing bear man. And then after I kick your ass again I can destroy you in that arm wrestling match you wanted."

"Hell yes! Alright later Bells, I gotta take horn dog over here home."

"Emmett!" Alice and I both yelled at him. I just made Alice's life a lot harder for her.

I drove home quietly listening to music, looking forward to spending another evening and possible night with Alice. Who have I become? I know I can't handle a relationship now but I also can't not be with her. And when I'm with her, all my logical thinking goes out the window. She makes me happier than I ever thought I could be. Can you believe that? Well love makes you say crazy things. Wait, love? We made ourselves a promise Bella. And now you think you might be in love with someone? A Cullen no less? Karma is a bitch ain't she.

A/N: Chapter was named after the song in Hercules "I Won't Say (I'm In Love)". I always liked that song and Meg's sarcasm in the movie. Great movie. Awesome now I want to watch it. Well you know what I'll be doing later. What a shame that I have to study, four exams this week. Yikes! As always, thank you all for the love it makes me smile every damn day. I bid you goodnight (Another fucking amazing song) and wish you all well.