I don't own Twilight.

Chapter 5

We were all gathered in the entranceway, clumped awkwardly around the gigantic pile of suitcases Alice had amassed for Bella. There was fear and caution hanging in the air, but there was also a certain amount of excitement, of anticipation. The next time we saw Bella she would be one of us. A vampire.

I couldn't stop it.

There was nothing I could do.

It was hard to accept. Hard to accept the fact that here was a girl with a perfect life and she was giving it all away.

But she's her… I'm me. I guess what's right for her is different than what was right for me. I guess.

And now the hugging starts. "Bella," Esme and Alice cried in unison, "you looked so beautiful, have fun, we're so excited…" blah blah blah.

Emmett tried to say goodbye, be super manly, and work in several hundred references to sex in one sentence.

Jasper hung back a little. I could understand why- the blood in Bella's cheeks was hot, hot, red, gushing… I swallowed. Maybe Jasper was unknowingly spreading his bloodlust to everyone in the room… At least when Bella became a vampire we wouldn't have to worry about accidentally killing her if she got another paper cut.

Carlisle stepped forward to hug Bella. "I'm so glad to have you as my daughter now. And don't worry- either of you-" he added, motioning towards Edward and Bella, "about the change. Edward, you are strong enough. If you need me I can be there for you. It will be hard but you can do it. Bella, the pain is… a lot…. but I hope the morphine will help and… well I love you both. Very much."

His words seemed to bring a definitive ending to our meeting. Alice immediately began to bustle around the suitcases, stuffing them in Edward's arms and handing another to Bella.

It had been assumed I would not make a long goodbye.

"You forgot a suitcase Bella!" Alice shrieked amid the hustle of departure. Rolling their eyes, Edward and Bella turned to leave.

But I… I wanted to say goodbye.

Edward half turned at my thought. Wait, Edward. Like a satellite, Bella turned only a moment after him. Their arc was perfect. They were like magnets. They were meant to be.

"Goodbye," I murmured, looking down slightly.

There was so much I wanted to say to Bella. I wanted to tell her about the pain and boredom that had been constant in Edward's eyes until he met her. I wanted to tell her that I supported her, that I'd realized her right path was different from mine. To tell her how much I was trying to love her. To tell her how much I wanted this to work out for her.

All these words and more were on the tip of my tongue, but none of them could fully encompass the moment I was living right now and all the thoughts that I wanted to get out.

"Bella?" I said. "Good luck."

Bella turned her mouth upwards into a cautious half smile, but Edward gave me a large grin. He had been trying way to hard to be nice to me since I'd talked to him. Like, way, way to hard. But it was better than the way he had looked through me, before. How he had hardly ever seen me, except for when he was yelling at me, listing all the ways I was screwing up his life. Edward suddenly looked apologetic.

Stupid mind reader.

It was a serious moment but I was filled with the overwhelming urge to laugh. I was pretty sure everyone would look at me strangely if I did though, so I kept my mouth in a straight line and nodded instead.

Edward and Bella left the house. Bella looked eager, Edward looked a little sick.

The rest of the family stayed gathered around the door but I turned away and walked to the living room. I could hear the Volvo pull away and I listened to it until I couldn't hear it anymore.

The rest of my family followed me into the living room. We sat silently on the white leather sofas, wondering who was going to break the silence. I almost opened my mouth to speak but there was really nothing to say.

In the end, Alice was the first to speak. She started babbling about her shopping plans for the weekend, and the entire new wardrobe Bella was going to need, and would I please come with her because I was the only one who wouldn't restrain her?

I joined in thankfully, talking a bit more and a bit louder than I would have usually.

Suddenly Alice froze and her face glazed over. We all fell silent again, waiting for her to come out of her vision.

I was expecting for her face to clear in several moments, and for her to laughingly tell us some story of newborn Bella or Emmett goofing off. But she stayed stiff for almost ten minutes, an eternity for a vampire minds. Our minds could pick up things so much faster than humans that during the span of Alice's normal five or ten second vision, she could see half an hour of the future. She must be seeing hours, or even days now.

Out of habit, I glanced to the chair where Edward usually sat, hoping he could give us some insight, but then I remembered he had already left with Bella.

I sat completely still, irritated, but filled with a little bit of fear and anxiety that I couldn't explain. What was Alice seeing? Was something going… wrong?

Glancing around at my family, I saw that they were all leaning forward in their seats like I was, eyes trained on Alice's blank features.

Alice jumped and her face clouded. I exhaled a breath that I had not known I had been holding.

"What is it, Alice?" asked Carlisle in an unnaturally calm voice. "What did you see?"

She looked confused and afraid. Her eyebrows creased. "Go. We have to go. We have to warn—"

But before Alice could finish, she fell into another vision. She snapped out of this one quickly and swallowed. "Oh," she said blankly. "Oh."

"What?" I said loudly.

Jasper grabbed her arm. "Alice. Are you alright?"

She replied so quickly that I couldn't even be sure I heard her right. "Yes. But you aren't."

Carlisle stood up, still speaking in the calm voice. "Warn who, Alice?"

She turned to him, and her stilted voice mimicked his calm tone. "Warn Edward. Edward and Bella. Now. Before it's too late."

Suddenly she was standing. "Jasper and I will take his motorcycle. Rose, Emmett, Esme, Carlisle: you take my car. It's the fastest."

"But what about you dear?" Esme asked.

Alice's face became confused again. "We—uh, it's how I saw it."

No one questioned her.

"Now go!" she added frantically.

"But what are we warning them of?" Emmett asked.

"That when they get to the house where they'll be spending their honeymoon, they won't be alone." Alice had already turned and was running out of the house, clutching Jasper after her. "Someone will already be there, waiting. Waiting for Bella."

We ran after Alice.

"Alice," I called. "Stop, I don't understand."

She was already sitting on the motorcycle with Jasper behind her. He looked just as confused as I felt.

"Rosalie. Please. You have to understand. Go with the others. Jasper and I will meet you there." Her eyes were begging with me.

My eyes bored into hers. Where was she going? What had she really seen? I let Emmett pull me towards the car but I kept my face glued on Alice. For some reason, this felt like a betrayal.

Then they were gone.

Inside the car, the others were discussing strategy. But it was hard to plan anything when we didn't know what we were fighting.

My fingers drummed anxiously on my thigh. I had no idea what we were heading for.

None of us did.