Disclaimer: All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. I own the plot.

A special thanks Verucasin for your support and guidance.

Thank you to all of you who have left a review, added me to your alerts and/or favorite story. I am truly very honored.

AN:

Now you get to meet Alice - the pixie-like girl we all love and adore, but be ready for a few changes. I do not mean to offend anybody, but I wanted to have a little fun with it.

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Chapter Six

We walked back to the huts, but I didn't feel like ending the evening. I felt lighter, like I had dumped a ton of cement from my heart. I felt weightless and knew the reason why he was walking less than three feet from me. I had let him in; I had told him my story. I had let go of all my defenses and there was nothing to hold back anymore – there was no going back with Edward. I was free, at least until I got to sleep and had to battle my nightmares.

I sat down in one of the hammocks, not sure how to stop him from leaving me tonight. I lay back for a while, swinging lightly from side to side. My lips twitched into a smile when Edward mirrored my example. He placed his feet at the opposite end, lazily gazing at me.

"Who's Alice? You've mentioned her several times, and I get the feeling she is important to you."

"She is... she's very important. She's more or less the only one who understands and she's always available for all my crap." I felt a pricking in my heart as I realized how much I missed her.

"It's good to have someone like that, someone who understands." He agreed.

"Did you have someone like that, I mean with Elizabeth and your parents?"

"No." He answered quietly and his face saddened. "I have my sketches and a few random people who will listen from time to time." He smiled softly again.

"Alice was the first person I called... when Jacob died. I called her from the hospital. Actually I hadn't had much contact with her over the past couple of years. Not that we drifted apart, but our lives just pulled us in different directions. We were still just as good friends as ever. But I called her about 1am and she got to the hospital in less than half an hour. And she was there for me from then on, for every little insignificant thing I needed."

My mind wondered slightly back to when I had met her.

"That's what makes a friend." Edward interrupted my reverie.

"She truly is a friend. I would give both my arms to help her...if she ever needed."

"Nahh... I'm sure it won't come to that." He grabbed the edge of my hammock and gave me a gentle push. The breeze was soft as it feathered past my bare legs. The temperature had dropped to comfortable and not frying your skin.

"Thanks. No, she never seems to need me the same way I need her. She's very self sufficient." Alice would never end up like a co-dependent wreck like me. She was too strong for that.

"You're self sufficient. You're here all by your self." He pointed out.

"I'm not... I'm a coward. I ran away because I couldn't hack it at home anymore." I admitted sheepishly.

"I think what you're doing is brave. You're trying to take care of yourself, that's so much better than just sitting at home going to pieces." Edward smiled knowingly. He would know I was sure; he had lost so much more than me. He had lost his entire family.

"Oh." I muttered and frowned. This was a surprise. He thought I was brave, that was the very least thing I was. I was spineless.

"You are. It takes guts to rip free off your home and leave it all behind."

"Is that what you did? Did you leave it all behind?" I narrowed my eyes as I sat up in my hammock. I wanted a better view when I asked the question. He hadn't given much information to why he was here, also alone.

"No... it's recreational." His smile didn't touch his eyes. "Besides we were talking about you, not me."

"We're always talking about me. Fact is the world doesn't revolve around me."

"Sure it does... here anyway." He shrugged and I figured now wasn't the time to start an inquisition. I had more than enough of an emotional rollercoaster to rock my boat today. So I let it be, though deep down in my belly I didn't believe him. There was something beneath that beautiful exterior – something dark and haunting.

I lay back in my hammock again. For now he was right. In our tranquil world here everything did revolve around what I did. I was trying to find a new way to be, a Bella that would survive this and hopefully come out on the other side holding her own.

It was almost completely quiet; the only sound was a slight breeze gently ruffling the leaves of the palm trees. Calm rolled over me and all of a sudden I felt exhausted from my emotional breakdown. I had been through the entire spectra of what I had and hadn't felt in the past year. My swollen puffy eyes proved that. Even though I felt liberated and light, my eyelids were getting too heavy and I let the unconsciousness sneak in and I surrendered.

An oddly realistic dream snug into my unconsciousness, strange because it was real! I hadn't dreamed of old times since before Jacob died. Every dream I had since then, had been of Jacob, us, and I forcefully made myself wake up when it happened. This one was different though, it was about Alice.

Flash

I got to class. Half the seats were already filled, but there were still places to choose from. A girl with dark spiky hair looked up from her doodling. Her face was friendly, but strong, eyes wide in her elfin-like face. She looked like the kind of person you didn't want to mess with, but not in an I'm-so-tough kinda way. She smiled marginally, though her eyes shimmered large and honest. I sat down next to her. I missed having friends so much; I was so desperate that I would go for anyone. It was awful to be so lonely in a place with this many people. But most of the students here were people I didn't relate to… at all. I was just too different. I didn't fit in, at least not with them.

"Hi." The girl said and continued to doodle perfectly formed circles, one after the other.

"Hi." I muttered and swallowed hard. Maybe I should try to be the instigator in the meeting new people scenario. I couldn't hurt to introduce myself, it was even considered polite in most of the western civilization. So, for me, I did that uncharacteristic gesture. "I'm Bella… I'm fairly new here." I looked at her with big terrified eyes and held out my hand. To my relief she took my hand and locked her thin fingers around mine.

"I'm Alice and welcome." She smiled generously and sincerely.

"Thanks." I felt a pang of relief and managed to return her smile, even though I felt horribly awkward.

The bell rang. I picked up my book and placed it on the table in front of me. I wondered if I should say any else, comment on her clothes, something, but thinking about it I came up empty. I felt the silence growing long and strained. I wanted to speak to her.

Our teacher entered the room, he was holding a bundle of what I assumed was marked papers. He gave them to a girl in the front row, and the other students started roaming through them to find theirs. The paper gave a very mixed response from the crowd of students. Some cheered, some moaned and others were clapping. The papers were definitely graded assignments. There was none for me - this was my first week here.

"Let me know if you need any help." The girl next to me interrupted my train of thoughts.

"Thanks, I will." I was surprised by her obvious invitation to help. That hadn't happened since I arrived. Everyone else seemed busy and occupied by their different little clique. I was the new girl and no room for newcomers.

"Don't let them get you down. They feed off that." The dark haired girl rolled her eyes and smiled again.

"I'll try not to." My eyes wandered to the other students that seem to have formed groups of 4 or 5 fuming over the marked papers. A girl with perfectly straightened long blond hair gave me a long mean glare, just before she turned her head facing her group again. "So where do you belong?" I asked tentatively.

The girl next to me snickered. "Around. I'm not a fixed factor in any of these vicious vixens little societies." The sarcasm was thick in her voice. "I hold my own here."

"Impressive." I murmured and pursed my lips. I wondered how long I would last without a harbor for safety.

"Not really, you just need to learn how to keep your head above the water."

Our teacher's voice thundered over the class, calling it to order. The students loudly moved into place, and slowly silence took over.

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I didn't hurry for lunch. I didn't particularly look forward to sharing it with… well no one. I was the only one left in the locker room after gym. A subject that should be illegal, but unfortunately it was my personal hell and mandatory for all four years. I heard a muffled sound of someone going through a bag and cussing under her breath. Guess I wasn't alone after all. The sound came from the row behind me. I stayed still waiting for her to finish and leave.

"You can borrow mine." A feminine voice sounded, it was familiar and sympathetic.

"Whatever." Another person hissed frostily.

"How long are you going to be like this?" The distinctive female voice asked. I listened attentively trying to place where I knew her from, when it hit me. It was the girl I sat next to in math.

"Not long… just about… well forever." The other person countered cold and acidic. A small chill crept down my spine and I got the pronounced feeling this was personal. I didn't want to intrude and definitely not make my presence known. Arriving from a small town like Forks was bad enough, being labeled an eavesdropper would only add to the revulsion towards me.

"Lauren… it doesn't have to be like this." The familiar voice sighed. She wasn't begging, more stating a fact.

"Well… I say it does. So there!" It was quiet for a fraction of a second, then the sound of the bag being searched increased - more irritated.

"Well it doesn't have to and I'll be here if you change your mind... oh for God sake just use mine."

"Well not the way I want you to… are you?" The unfamiliar voice accused. "And it's not like I was in it alone." The searching sound stopped and changed to what sounded like someone violently yanking a brush through wet hair. Oh hell…this was private, very private. I, sure as hell, wasn't getting in the middle of this. I swallowed confusingly while I searched for an escape route.

"I'm sorry about that…I didn't mean for it to go that far." The girl from math sighed again – Alice.

"Well it did… but I guess you're sorry about that now too?" The unfamiliar voice sounded a little less icy this time, almost caring, but not quite.

"Well no… actually. I just don't know…" The person hesitated, then stopped and let out a big gush of air.

"I saw you eyeing the new girl today… the one from Forks or where ever the hell she's from." The voice was colder again. I stopped breathing. Crap, oh crap. I squeezed my eyes shut hard. How did I end up in the middle of this? Man this day sucked. I exhaled slowly and as quietly as possible.

"Are you serious…? I was being nice and she's new!" Alice thrilled angrily.

"Well aren't you just a nice person, all free-spirited and friendly." She mocked.

I jumped slightly at what sounded like a body being pushed against the lockers. The collision rang out loud. This was getting worse. I had gone from being the new girl to being the friendly lesbo in what? Two seconds. This was not fair; I had nothing to do with this. I seriously considered making my presence known. This Lauren was attacking me for no good reason, other than what seemed to be a fit of jealousy. Cowardly, I decided to stay put.

It was so quiet that I could hear them breathing heavily behind the lockers. "Kiss me." The words tolled gritty, desperate and pleading from one of the girls. I was sure it wasn't Alice.

"No… Lauren… we need to stop this. I need to stop this." Someone exhaled roughly. "It's not who I am…I don't know what I am." Alice muttered almost inaudible, barely directed at anyone but her self it seemed. It was quiet for a few seconds, then heals clicked against the tiles of the locker room.

"Don't go! I'm sorry, please." Lauren begged, a little whiny for my taste.

I stood completely frozen in place by the incident. I waited for the last girl to leave, so I could make my exit, preferably unnoticed. Minutes ticked by.

"If you breathe a word of this to anybody…" Lauren's voice was colder than ice and muffled by her clenched jaw as she threaded me. I jumped and squealed shortly. I was shocked and busted. One, she scared the shit out of me. Two, I was startled. Three, I was dumbfounded by who this Lauren was! I knew her. Well, I didn't know her per say, but I had seen her around school. She was the cheerleader, social chair, and all the other things that mattered when applying for college. I had seen her socializing with the boys, only the popular ones. She was everywhere. I guess she really was everywhere.

I just stood there, with my mouth hanging open as I watched her pass the row of lockers toward the bathroom.

I never told anyone what I heard. It was none of my business. But if she ever messed with me – I had her and she knew it.

I hurried, threw my gym clothes in the hamper and stuffed my personal belongings in my bag. I left as quickly as possible, not completely unnoticed - unfortunately.

A faint ray of sunshine tickling my eyes woke me and I stretched feeling oddly rested. It suddenly dawned on me where I was. I was still in my hammock on my front porch. I glanced around, and everything was painted in gray subtle hues, the way they were just before the sun rose from behind the horizon. It had to be very early.

My eye caught a slight movement not far from me when it crashed down on me, I wasn't alone. Edward had fallen asleep too and he was still under. I waited for the awkward moment to arrive and let it have the better of me, but it didn't. Could Edward be the reason I had slept so peaceful and dreamed something I could handle, something nice even? Maybe not nice. The incident with Lauren and Alice in the locker room wasn't exactly what I would call nice, but it wasn't horrible after all. It wasn't a nightmare sucking the marrow from my bones. Time had made the memory more subtle and insignificant. I had dreamed something that didn't actually cause me physical pain, just brought some long forgotten details about my friend to the surface.

I secretly wished for more time with Edward, so I kept quiet and lay motionless in my hammock. I enjoyed this private time with him, even though he was asleep. I kept my eyes on him; he looked so peaceful and so content. His lips were slightly parted, but they looked so soft and tender and I had a strange longing to trace the pads of my fingers across them. His hair was an even bigger chaos around his head than normally, but somehow it made me smile, it was so him. It definitely had its charm, thus the unnatural black color. I studied his fingers, long and elegant, his right hand had dark traces around the thumb and index finger - surely from his pens when he drew. I couldn't help feeling happy he was still here with me; he hadn't run off during the night.

I thought of Alice again, about how she had been my rock through all of this. She knew what to say and when to say it. I had spent as much time with her as possible, often staying over at her apartment when things had gotten to be too much. If I stayed at home I ended up calling her anyway, begging her to come over and every time she happily showed up at my door step holding an overnight bag. She knew I had problems staying in what had been my home with Jacob. Sometimes it felt haunted, it was like I could feel Jacob in everything. Everywhere I turned, there he was. It was creeping me out and I knew it wasn't normal. I suspected Alice knew this all too well and faithfully came over and protected me from going insane. I had a lifetime of gratitude for her friendship.

I glanced at peaceful sleeping Edward again. I had a lifetime of gratitude for him as well. In such a short time, he had become someone I couldn't live without.

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