*Inhales deeply* Can you smell the end a brewin'? I can…maybe because I wrote it already. Don't worry I'm not going to drop the ball on anyone. Well the newest chapter is now officially posted, so I'll leave you guys and gals (I'm not sexist) to reading. Oh and if you feel all warm and fuzzy inside drop me a review I will appreciate it.

Chapter 25

If anyone claims to be a master of killing moments they've obviously never met me; I can kill any moment faster than I can kill an iPhone (whatever that is.) Most of the time it's a bad thing; killing romantic moments, my specialty. This time I was attempting to kill a rather sad and depressing moment, these are much harder moments to kill; like trying to kill an elephant with a bb gun.

"So where is everyone else?" I said trying to change the tone of the room, and like wise murder the current moment.

"Don't play that game with me! I want to know what you mean by: 'do what you think is right.'" She said refusing to let me go, she may be tiny, but she's a lot stronger than I am.

"There's no other meaning behind it," are all women this crazy or only the immortal ones? "All I meant was; if something happens to me I want you to do what you think is right."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Her voice was intense and filled with anger and confusion, but still soft and alluring.

"That if I'm dying; remember dying, not dead; than I want you to do what you think is the best choice, for both of us. Meaning get me to a doctor, let me die, or change me. The decision is yours, because I love and trust you enough to make it." I kept my voice soft and even; my life is dangerous, Alice can take care of herself, but sooner or later we will be faced with this dilemma. "Now seriously where is everyone else?"

Alice gave me a cold look before disappearing from the room at a speed only she could manage. I'd said a lot of things wrong, but if the decision was left up to me I think I would always choose death; it would be the easy thing to do, like running away from all of my problems. I ran away from my family, I ran away from Harry, I ran away from Katherine, and when I couldn't handle where I ran to, I ran away from it too.

Five hours eighteen minutes.

Five hours and eighteen minutes to think, to worry, and to kick myself square in the ass for all the shit I just put myself into. I could go talk to her, tell her where I'm coming from, or I could do what I did best; run away.

I ripped my grey cloak from around my shoulders, leaving me feeling – naked; I tossed it on the back of one of the dining room chairs heading straight for the front door. No one tried to stop me, Luccio was still meditating in the corner of the dining war room and Harry was asleep and snoring on the couch; I swung the door open and started running without bothering to shut it behind me. I didn't care if anyone knew where I'd gone, I'm not that hard to find; especially for someone who can see the future.

The air was colder than I remembered it being and rain was starting to come down harder, the asphalt was slick underneath my feat and the road was blurry, a black line against the painfully grey day. I couldn't really tell if my eyes were blurry from the rain, or from tears I didn't know I had, I had this vision of Alice, not a real vision, doing the same thing, running through the forest away from the pain and the stupidity that was me. I can't imagine what kind of fallout was going to come from this, six angry vampires wasn't a good thing.

I ran faster, my legs began to burn beneath me in protest. I knew I should have saved my strength for tonight, but that didn't stop me from running harder and faster; the frigid raid stung where it hit me in the face. I ran without care where I was going, I left the road and began to travel into the dense forest around me. I didn't care where I was going; it didn't matter just as long as I was alone when I got there. I had to slow my frantic pace to maneuver around the fallen trees and rotten logs, in this area there weren't even animal trails to follow, I just followed the easiest terrain.

I slowed down to a light jog, before stopping completely in the center of a big clearing carpeted with soft green grass that seemed to defy the heavy dark green of the trees around me. On the opposite end of the clearing was a small brook swelled with the recent rainfall, in the center was throne made from a large boulder smoothed by the constant wind and rain inviting me to sit and think.

I strode over to my new throne, ignoring the freezing drops of the winter rain around me, and gently sat; the water pooling on the rock soaked through my pants instantly, causing an involuntary shiver. My legs were already beginning to stiffen from the running, my heart was pounding rhythmically in my ears and out of my chest as a beacon to all those who could hear. It would only be a matter of time before someone would find me out here. I braced myself for the inevitable confrontation, which one would it be? Doesn't matter really, I'm screwed any way.

I extended my magical sense around me, covering as much area as I could; behind me a familiar cold spot approached, the tell tale sign that a vampire was coming closer. My face flushed with anger, mostly at myself; now of all times I had to bring up my mortality.

"I know you're there, so don't bother trying to sneak up on me." I said, mostly to the near freezing raid that continued to fall, further soaking my already we clothes.

"How dare you say that to Alice," an ice cold voice all but yelled behind me. "She loves you, why I don't know."

"Right now I'm not sure either, so if you're here to kick my ass for it you're too late." I spat not bothering to face her. She was slowly moving around the rock, it had to be Rosalie, the one person in that coven that I truly disliked from the very beginning.

"She wasn't this upset when you killed Jasper!" She spat, eyes burning into me. She was more soaked than I was, of course being inhumanly beautiful, she pulled off the look better than I could.

"I'm. An. Idiot!" I said like I was a tourist trying to communicate with the locals. "It doesn't matter what you say, I already feel like total shit." My anger seethed into my voice. Who cares if I piss off another person?

"You are an idiot! You have no idea how hard it is for her to realize every second of every day that you're mortal!" She said standing in front of the rock; her hands balled at her sides; never moving an inch.

"I know that better than you think," I said running a hand through my hair. "That's why I don't want the choice, because I would choose death, because I'm selfish. That's why when my number comes up I want her to make the call, not because I don't want to, because I trust her with my life. I don't trust anymore, I can't. I'm more broken than you will ever know."

"You don't realize what that means to her, she loves you enough that she doesn't want to take the selfish route either." Her words cut straight through me. My jaw dropped with realization, my anger evaporated immediately; it wasn't until that moment that I realized how much I loved her, and how much she loved me.

"I really am an idiot aren't I?"

"I won't argue with you." She said overlapping.

I continued as if she didn't say anything; "I only thought about how hard the decision would be for me. I never once considered how hard it would be for her to make the same decision."

God bless her, she didn't say a word. I sat in silence, beginning to get chilled with the rain. I had plenty of time to reflect on all the idiotic things I'd said later, right now I needed to get back before I was too sick to fight tonight. I reached my hand into my pocket fishing for my new toy, it was still in there. I stood up from the throne of rock that I'd been sitting on, legs burning beneath me. Running was a bad idea; I'll add it to my list once I get back.

"Where is she?" I asked quietly as I fumbled with my little cheetah statue, my legs still protesting my legs beneath me.

"She's right here." Alice said lowly coming from behind the rock, she'd heard everything I'd said.

"I'll leave you two alone." She said before running off to the forest.

"I'm sorry." I said with my head hung low; slumping down to the cold grass. "I was wrong to think that…"

"It's okay," she sat down next to me, ever bit as soaked but her hair still managed to defy gravity, "we were both wrong. It's a hard choice to make, and one of us can't make it alone." She said gently resting her head into the crook of my shoulder.

"Whatever happens, don't let me become a Red Court." Fear now replaced anger in my voice as I absently stroked her hair.

"I won't," Alice said reassuringly, "I won't." She placed a short affectionate kiss on my cheek.

We sat in the cold rain for another hour, the cold seeping into every fiber of my being; I couldn't care less for the first time Alice felt warm against me. That was enough for me. The rain seemed to lighten up; the clouds began to lose the dark omnipotence that they once had; transforming into scattered white clouds. The sun remained hidden, taunting me with its elusive golden light.

"What did you mean when you said you were broken?" Alice asked eventually, breaking the silence.

"I've always had a problem letting people in, so when something terrible happens it stays inside, and it shatters me inside." I responded staring into the clouds.

"You let Harry in." She retorted, not missing a beat. A bead of water trickled down her cheek. If I hadn't known better I would have thought it was a tear.

"No, Harry let himself in to my head." I forced a rueful laugh. I leaned my head on hers before I spoke again. "I've let you in farther than anyone else. And I'll let you in all the way; I just have to do it at my own pace."

Alice didn't say anything; instead she leaned up and kissed me gently on the cheek. A gentle and wordless acceptance.

"We should get back." I whispered a few minutes.

"I know." Alice said not moving an inch.

"Seriously, I need to get ready, and you need to do whatever it is you do." I said trying to get my feet under me. Sitting in the exact same position stiffened up all the joints in my body and the freezing rain locked them in place. It hurt to move any muscle in my body.

I gingerly stretched out, feeling the hundreds of forming knots in my muscle. Alice sat back on the rock with a mischievous grin dancing across her face. "Would you like me to carry you back?"

"No, no, no, absolutely not; you promised." Harry would never, ever let me live that down if he saw her carrying me bridal style.

Her grin broke into a smile from ear to ear. She hoped off the rock and walked toward me; I instinctively backed up in a futile attempt to get away. Even with all the magic in that cheetah idol, I doubt I would be able to out run her for long.

In a flash she jumped into my arms wrapping her legs around my back, kissing me with complete abandon. I wrapped my hands around her neck, pulling her into me, kissing her back with just as much passion and abandon letting our tongues explore the other.

Two creatures dangerous to each other hanging on to what little control they had by a thin string.

I ran my hands down her hair, over her shoulders, reaching the area where her shirt met her pants; forcibly slipping my hands under her wet shirt raking my fingernails against her cold stone skin.

She broke the kiss far too suddenly for my taste leaving me searching for breath. I could feel her gaze bore into me, in a mixture of love and lust; I returned the look snaking my hands up her front.

"We can't, not now; someone's coming." Her voice was shaky, her control was almost gone.

I grudgingly pulled my hands out of her shirt, and with even more reluctance let her out of my arms. Down on the ground she gave me a quick kiss before she too disappeared into the forest, leaving me alone, again.

It wasn't long before I heard a pair of boots crunching through the forest a head of me. My muscles, still twisted in dense knots, were slowly loosening up. The heavy thudding of boots on the wet earth, told me it was Harry long before I ever saw the lanky bastard in his tacky leather duster.

"What did you say?" He said patronizing me.

"Who said I said anything bad," I said defensively, "I brought up my mortality." I admitted immediately.

"Smooth move ex-lax." He said giving me a hard slap on the back, "It's a rookie mistake when dating an immortal."

"Now you tell me, you couldn't have given me that piece of advice when I was with Katherine?" I said returning the hard slap.

"Well good golly gosh, you never asked." He said sarcastically walking away.

"I didn't ask this time either," I said turning to follow him toward the road.

"I know, this time it's free." He said waving hand behind him in acceptance.

I didn't realize it at the time, but I'd run better than a mile and a half in from the edge of the forest, over really bad terrain; it was a wonder I didn't break a leg on some of the moss covers rocks that had my foot prints on them. Once we got to the road Emmet's giant jeep greeted me.

"It seems I got a loner of my own." He said climbing in, "Get in we don't have a ton of time before sunset."

I moved into the passenger seat, my drenched clothes squishing against the seat. The tarp like plastic cover that most sane people put over jeeps when it rains was noticeably absent letting the cold air freeze my clothes more than they were already.

We had less than two and a half hours of daylight left when we pulled into the driveway of La Maison du Cullen.

That's right I know Shakespeare and French, suck it.

I had less than an hour to start my pre-battle ritual. Something I've done long before tonight and something I will continue long after tonight's over with.

Harry and I entered through the front door; the house was still pretty empty; Luccio hadn't moved an inch since I left, her breathing was in perfect rhythm, her face that normally showed lines of worry were gone leaving the twenty something body looking peaceful. The only other person in the house was Alice, managing to relax in front of the TV watching on old black and white movie I didn't recognize I caught her eye, she stirred slightly and gave a coy smile. She'd already changed into another skin tight black shirt and matching pants.

I couldn't help but smile back; keeping one weary eye on the captain's still form that fortunately remained still.

She got up from the couch and lithely danced over to me. Keeping my body between Luccio and Alice, I grabbed her hand kissing it gently. "What are you watching?" I whispered.

"Gaslight," she answered not missing a beat, "Nineteen forty-four, Charles Boyer, and Ingrid Bergman. C'mon and watch it with me?" She said giving my arm a fake tug.

"Nah, I need to go shower and get ready for tonight." I said slipping arm away from her hands, walking towards the stairs and the hot water that awaited me.

Alice started to follow after me, Harry's hand clasped down on to her shoulder, "Don't bother." I heard him say as I reached the stairs, "He never let's anyone in on the ritual, not me, not even Katherine. Between you and me, I think he just spanks the monkey."

Alice burst out into a fit of her sweet musical laughter. I let out a short laugh myself. Harry couldn't be more wrong.