Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.

The song for this chapter is called "Breathe Your Name" by "Sixpence None the Richer". They're a Christian group, but their music is very good.

BPOV

I took a deep, calming breath and closed my eyes. I wanted so badly to know exactly what happened in the last few minutes of my parents' lives, but it would hurt. But part of the reason I came to Forks was to move on. I still missed my parents like crazy. I always would. But I'd eventually have to push past their death and make my own life happy. They'd want that for me, and I'd give it to them.

However, one of the steps in moving on was coming to terms with all that happened. I needed to feel all the pain in order to cope with it. I couldn't cope with the things I didn't know about.

So, for that reason, I asked Alice another question.

"What happened?"

She spoke slowly and softly.

"In the vision, I was in the back seat of the truck. A bullet hit the frame of the open window, and Charlie literally stepped on the gas pedal. Another car came speeding around the corner and hit the truck. Then it went black. I think in the vision, I died at the same moment your parents did."

We didn't speak for several minutes. I let my mind process the information thoroughly before asking any questions.

"Were my parents afraid?"

Alice shook her head slowly. "I don't think they were. I couldn't see it on their faces."

"What happened after you saw the vision?"

"We drove back to Forks as fast as we could. We were on a hiking trip, if you remember. Edward was a grump and refused to come. When we got to the house, it was too late, and you know what happened from there."

I shook my head. "I don't know what happened after."

Alice cringed. "Ask Edward."

I scowled. "Like hell I will."

Alice looked at my through the corner of her eye. "He deserves whatever you plan on doing to him."

I looked down at my lap. It disturbed me a little that Alice was alright with any pain I planned on inflicting to her twin brother. It only peaked my curiosity.

"Please tell me. I will talk to Edward eventually, but not now. Not yet. There's only so much I can deal with at once."

She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger. With a little jolt, I remembered that Edward had always done that too. It was a twin thing they shared.

"Okay, Bella, okay," she muttered, clearly feeling exhausted. "But this is the last thing. I can only deal with so much, too, you know."

I clasped my hands together and waited anxiously.

"I could feel that Edward had upset you. I'm kind of all-knowing when it comes to Edward, if you know what I mean. I think he's the same with me. After you fled, he ran down the stairs and toward the back door, slamming it behind him. I ran after him and grabbed his arm, and just started screaming; demanding he tell me what he did to you. I wasn't strong enough to stop him but Emmett caught up and grabbed him. Edward yelled at Emmett and told him to let him go. Esme came and tried to stop us from fighting, but none of us listened. Emmett and I just continued screaming at Edward. I had to know what he said and did. It was all I could think of. Finally, he told us about the load of shit he fed you."

Alice's voice became more and more bitter. I felt my eyes sting with unshed tears, but I contained them. I was done with crying.

"After that, Emmett punched him. Edward punched him back and they got into a huge fight. Esme and I tried to stop them, but Edward pushed me to the ground and I hit my head on a tree. Hard. I wasn't really able to think coherently at that point. All that I remember after that was Esme kneeling beside me, on her phone with Carlisle, sobbing, and Emmett and Edward's shouts in the background."

The car was dead silent. I tried to swallow the invisible obtrusion in my throat so I could speak.

"I'm so sorry, Alice."

She glanced at me in surprise. "For what? Edward loosing control and acting like a complete lunatic and dick? Trust me, I'm sorry too."

We didn't speak again until she pulled into a parking spot.

"Alice?"

"Mhm?" she asked distractedly.

"I'm sorry I left you to deal with that on your own. I won't ever leave you again."

She smiled at me and leaned over to give me an awkward hug over the console. "Thank you, Bella. I really missed you."

We pulled apart and stepped from the car. I looked at the large shop in front of me. The name of the store was written in curly, flowing letters. It read a simple, "Alice's boutique". The windows were decorated with elaborately dressed mannequins. I gasped a little in surprise.

"It's beautiful, Alice!"

She smiled and looked down at the ground, slightly embarrassed. That was a first.

"Thanks."

She pushed open the door and I gasped again as I looked inside. Every surface was completely covered with unique clothing. A large glass desk cut the room in half, and behind it, fabrics and ribbons and buttons and every other sewing material imaginable covered the walls. It was another world.

"This is so cool!" I squealed excitedly. I never did like shopping, but this store made me want to shop for days.

Alice laughed and was about to say something when her phone began to ring. She looked at the screen and smiled before flipping it open and pressing it to her ear.

"Hi, Baby."

I hid my smile. It must be her fiancé. Brandon was his name, I had been told.

"I'm at the boutique right now with Bella," she said. "Yeah, yesterday, remember? Mhm…Okay, Baby, I'll see you soon then…Oh, are you coming for Thanksgiving dinner?" I watched her face fall dramatically.

"Why not?" she asked sullenly. She listened for a little while, then sighed. "Okay. Thanks for trying. Yeah. Bye."

She snapped the phone shut.

"Well, the good news is that Brandon's coming by to meet you. The bad news is he won't be able to come by for thanksgiving dinner."

"Why is that?" I asked sympathetically.

"He's working." I nodded thoughtfully. When I was younger, I had pictured Alice getting married to someone who would always be around and treat her like his queen. A man who would participate in all her crazy ideas and share her dreams. I suppose I wasn't being fair. I hadn't even met this Brandon.

At that precise moment, the door flew open.

"Brandon!" Alice squealed, running toward him. I was sure she was about to jump up and knock him over, like she usually did when she was excited to see someone, but as she began to bend her legs, she suddenly straightened them out and didn't even touch him at all.

"How did you get here so fast?" she asked the tall man standing in the door. His dark hair was neatly trimmed. His eyes were a dark brown and his skin was olive toned. He wore a suit.

"I was at the coffee shop right down the street," he answered seriously and with little emotion. Alice ran over to me and grabbed my arm as she pulled me back toward her fiancé.

"Bella, this is Brandon. Brandon, Bella."

He looked me up and down. "Nice to meet you," he said monotonously, sans smile.

I raised my eyebrow slightly. "The pleasure is all mine," I said back.

He nodded and looked at his watch.

"My break is almost over. I probably won't be home tonight either, Mary, alright? I need to work late."

Alice nodded. "I think I'll sleep over at Mom's house anyway."

He bent down to hug her briefly before turning to leave. Without another word, he walked from the store. I watched him out the window until he was out of sight before turning to Alice with arms crossed and an eyebrow raised.

"Mary?" I asked with a smile in my voice.

She rolled her eyes. "He prefers to call me by my first name."

I frowned and studied her carefully. She became uncomfortable under my stare and ran to the wall of fabrics.

"Which one?" she asked, pointing to a yellow and black fabric and then pointing to a shimmery green material.

"The green," I said.

We stayed at the store for a few hours before driving home. The trip was fairly silent, but I didn't mind. I was still worrying about my meeting with Brandon.

It was obvious to me that he was so obviously wrong for Alice. It was like she was expected to worship him, when it was supposed to be the other way around. He barely even touched her for God's sake. What bothered me most was that Alice didn't even seem to care that he wouldn't be home all day and night.

It caused me to question whether she was really even in love with the man.

"Look, Bella, I know what you're thinking," she said as we drove into Forks. "Trust me, I'm not making a mistake."

"I just think you deserve someone who will love and cherish you like you're his whole world."

She sighed. "I used to think that, too, but how am I going to find that person? I don't even think they exist, Bella. If they did, I'm almost positive I would have had a vision of them."

I didn't answer her. Alice, settling for second best? What had happened to her since I had been gone?

"Bella, please trust me. I wouldn't marry him if I didn't feel like he wasn't right for me. I know exactly what I'm doing."

I looked at her and nodded carefully. "I do trust you Alice. I just want you to be happy."

"Thank you, Bella. I want to same for you, you know."

We pulled into the driveway and walked to the door of the house. All of the Cullens were seated in the family room, including Edward. Alice plopped down in the only open arm chair, leaving only one vacated spot next to Edward on the sofa. I sat down as far away as I could from him and started up conversation.

"So, what's on the agenda for this week?"

I could feel Edward's gaze on my face, but I tried to ignore it.

"Well, not much," Esme said. "But I'd like to do those live performances."

Oh, shit. I had completely forgotten about that. I might have been fine with it before, but now I really didn't want to sing in front of Edward. I couldn't do it yet.

"Um, Mom, I think it would be better if we just did some karaoke or something. Maybe we could perform our own songs next time we're all together," Alice suggested with a pointed glance at me, then Edward.

Esme caught on quickly. "Oh, alright. That sounds wonderful. When would everyone like to play?"

"We could do it tonight," I suggested. Might as well get it over with.

"Fantastic!" Esme agreed warmly. "I just bought some new CD's. Let me go get them; I want to show them to you."

Esme had excitedly shared the dozens (yes dozens) of albums she had purchased. After we had oo'ed an ahh'ed over them, we began to prepare dinner.

Esme, Alice and I did all the cooking, and the boys set the table before sitting outside.

"My, Bella," Esme said as she watched me chop an onion. "You've certainly become quite the chef."

I laughed and shook my head. "I don't know about that. I like cooking, but I wouldn't exactly call myself a chef."

"Well I like cooking, but I can't cut up an onion in five seconds," Alice said. We all laughed. This happiness I felt was refreshing.

"I'm going to get the dessert from the freezer so it can thaw," Esme said. "Would one of you mind helping me?"

"I'll help," I said right away.

"No, no, I'll do it, Bella," Alice said. "I'll be back before you know it."

She followed Esme out of the kitchen, leaving me with the vegetables waiting to be chopped up. I moved onto the carrots and began to slice when a voice startled me.

"Hey."

I shrieked and spun around, holding the knife out in front of me. Edward's eyes widened and he took a step back, his hands raised in surrender.

I took a deep breath of relief and then frowned. "Just to warn you, it's probably not a good idea to talk to me while I'm working with knives," I informed him.

He nodded but took a step closer to me. "I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry for last night, and that I'll leave if you'd like me to."

I snorted. "Edward, I'm not going to tell you to leave just your presence makes things a bit awkward for me."

He smiled crookedly and I smiled hesitantly back.

"I don't know what's appropriate to say to you," he murmured.

I sighed. "Truthfully, I don't know either. Part of me wants to just act as if nothing ever happened, but we can't. It just doesn't work like that. I also want to forgive you, but I can't do that either. I've had seven years to do that and it still hasn't happened. So…I'm kind of at a loss of what to do, as lame as it sounds."

He pursed his lips and looked at the ground.

"None of the things I said to you that day were true, Bella," he said quietly.

"I don't need to you tell me that to know they were lies," I said in a hard voice. "I don't need you to tell me who I am."

He looked up at me from under her lashes. Neither of us spoke for almost a minute. Edward was the first to break the silence.

"You've changed a lot, Bella," he whispered. He seemed neither happy nor upset about his observation. He was curious.

"I had to," I whispered.

I looked up and met his eyes. As soon as I did, I felt something deep within me try and pull me closer to him, like a magnet. In that moment, I wanted nothing more than to have him in my life forever. I wanted to live my life laughing with him and crying with him. I wanted my old friendship with him.

My heart tugged toward him painfully, and I shut my eyes in remorse. "Edward," I whispered so quietly I could barely hear it myself.

I leaned against the counter and took several deep breaths. I had to get a hold on myself, or I would break. I don't know how long I stood there with my eyes shut, but when Alice and Esme's approaching footsteps neared, my eyes shot open. Edward was gone. I turned around and continued where I had left off with the carrot.

"Sorry it took so long, Bella. Mom has a lot of freezers in the garage, and she had forgotten the dessert was shoved at the back of fridge number fourteen."

"No problem," I croaked out.

There was no way that this week would pass easily and painlessly.

If you have time, I'd love to read your reviews! Critiques are very helpful!

-Maiya