A/N: Hello readers! I have a new chapter for you. Chapter twenty, milestone! Whoo!

I'm sorry, it was meant to be up on Saturday but my uncle just died from cancer, so I had to postpone writing for a while. We weren't really close, but there was family down and it would have been rude to just lock myself in my room to write. No matter how much I wanted to.

APOV

Fashion.

Such a simple little word to describe something so important to me. And it was important to me, in the extreme. Now, I wasn't like a lot of fashion lovers, I didn't look at what other people wore and criticize it if it wasn't with the current trends. That was because in my opinion, fashion was about what made an individual person look good.

For example, if the current trend was skinny jeans, that was all well and good for people who looked good in such attire. However, if someone looked absolutely horrible in skinny jeans, then they shouldn't wear them just because everyone else was.

That was one of the few things that I didn't like about the world of fashion. It should be individual to a person, but it wasn't. If that same person that looked terrible in skinny jeans looked great in a woolly jumper and bootleg jeans, then that was fine by me. It may not be the current trend, but that person still looked much better than the person that resembled a tennis ball with two toothpicks stuck to the bottom.

A perfect example of this was Bella.

In no way did the current trends include a black tank top and dark green combat pants, and yet she looked much better than she would have in something that wasn't her. The dark brown leather jacket also added to the image. I had found out that any leather clothing Bella had were faux leather, which made sense. If she couldn't bring herself to eat animals, then she would hardly wear one.

The tank top was tight, but not overly so, showing off her curves and hinting at a piece of creamy cleavage. She looked too damn good in that slightly rugged, tough-girl outfit.

Then again, I was sticking by my theory that said she would look good in a potato sack…

"Didn't anyone ever tell you that it's rude to stare?"

I jerked my head up at the sound of her highly amused voice and resisted the urge to shuffle my feet. "Sorry. I was just admiring your…tank top."

Her smile widened. "Alice, if you want to stare at my chest, you don't have to feel embarrassed about it."

My mouth dropped open. "I wasn't…you…it was just…I-"

She placed one finger on my lips, effectively shutting me up. "You know Alice, I find you absolutely adorable. When we started our relationship, I was convinced that I would be the stuttering mess, but you have proven me wrong."

She removed her finger from my lips and walked over to her bed, ignoring the wooden ladder completely and simply vaulting up into it.

After a night full of baby photos, baby pictures, baby clothes and baby stories, much to Bella's horror, my family had bid the Van Allen's goodnight with promises to get together again soon. Our two families had gotten along better than I could have ever hoped and I looked forward to more family nights like last night.

When the time had arrived for me to leave, Bella and I had apparently looked so pathetically miserable at the idea that it was decided that I would just stay the night, or what was left of it because they had a lot of stories. I don't think I've seen my family enjoy themselves as much as that in years.

Bella and I had soon retired to her room, mainly so that we could make out without prying eyes, but also because I had wanted to see it. It had turned out to be so very Bella, full of mahogany wood, forest green walls and clear glass. Many bookcases lined the walls and there was a dark stone fireplace taking up one whole corner. The bed was also something that I found adorable. It was one of those that was at head height, with a wooden ladder for access with a large storage space underneath. There was also a series of platforms on the side, obviously for the cat to get up, and it had turned out to be the most comfortable thing in the world.

The reason I loved it so much though, was because it was octagonal in shape, mattress and all and when you combined that with the height and pile of fluffy blankets and pillows, it looked like a large nest.

The huge balcony with the hammock was also a nice addition. We had spent about an hour curled up in that thing, staring up at the few stars that were visible through the cloud cover. Then we had decided to take a much closer look.

"And why is that? You used to be all shy and uncertain. Had I done that a few weeks, or even days ago, you would have blushed to the high heavens."

She rolled onto her stomach, propping her head up on her fist. "I'm not even sure. Growing up with my family meant that I'm a little awkward around humans at first, but that doesn't necessarily make me shy. But when I'm around you, I just feel so comfortable that I don't really feel the need to be embarrassed."

I smiled at her, walking over to the bed before placing my hand against the smooth wood and pulling myself up. The myriad of soft blankets and pillows sank under my weight and I had to hold onto the edge so I wouldn't roll into the middle.

"I guess it makes sense. A lot of humans cling to modesty because they're ashamed of various physical imperfections, whether they are real or merely perceived, something you don't have. You were nervous at first because you didn't really know how I'd react to the real you, but now that I've shown my acceptance, you no longer let a little thing like modesty bother you."

She smacked my arm. "You make it sound like I'm walking around in my undergarments."

I grinned and rolled her onto her back, placing both hands on either side of her head. At this distance, her heavenly scent was making my mouth water in a way that had nothing to do with her blood. My throat was cool, no trace of the constant burn remaining. "Now that, I wouldn't mind."

"Well I would," Micheal yelled from the bottom floor even though his voice carried easily.

Bella's cheeks flushed and I couldn't resist kissing the tip of her nose. "Ah, so I see you have some common decency after all."

"Well considering the fact that I'm being pinned to my bed by my girlfriend, I would say that what little I have is quickly deteriorating."

I didn't bother replying, instead pressing my lips to hers slowly. Seeing my family engaging in such activities over the years had made me look forward to finding my mate, and she did not disappoint.

She pulled her lips away from mine after several moments and placed a tender kiss on my jaw, then beside my ear, then down my throat. When she nibbled gently on my pulse point, my arms relaxed of their own accord, lowering my body onto hers. My hands once again found their way into her long, wavy white hair, tugging slightly. No matter how long I did that, I was always amazed at the texture of her hair. It was thick and full, but still put the finest silk to shame. She was so beautiful it almost hurt to look at her.

And she wanted to be with me.

I noticed when the temperature in the room rose and I felt slightly smug about the fact that I could make Bella feel that way. She was doing a fine job too, her hand resting on my shoulder, but going no further.

Sitting up slowly, without removing her lips from my neck, Bella slowly flipped us over, the pile of extremely fluffy blankets almost covering us.

"How much longer until we have to leave for school?" I asked, my voice much more hoarse than I remembered.

Bella moved her lips up my neck, placing a gentle nip on my earlobe and causing me to gasp. "Not for another half an hour."

I pulled her in for another kiss. Our legs were tangled together, her toned arms holding her up. She was so light that I barely felt her weight on me but before I could ponder that, my thoughts quickly went out the window.

My hands trailed up her arms and began making lazy circles in between her shoulder blades. I had very recently discovered, out on the hammock no less, that this was a very sensitive place for her and I couldn't help but grin into our kiss when I heard her groan and she shivered pleasantly.

There was a rapid series of knocks on the door, hard enough to almost cause it to crack. "Okay, time to get ready for school." Micheal's tone was tense and I could practically see the narrowed father-eyes.

Bella's next groan was definitely less fun than the first and she reluctantly broke away, moving off of me and flopping against the pillow pile. There was no head or foot of the bed, so I just assumed that that was the top.

"I guess our fun's over for the time being," she sighed, rolling off of the bed.

I followed her down and gave her a peck on the lips, making a valiant effort to not turn it into more.

"We'll pick up where we left off soon enough," I replied, finding it both amusing and frustrating that Bella's father was acting all protective. He may have been downright encouraging of our relationship, but Bella was still his little girl.

"Looks like it's your turn to use my shower and go to school dressed in my clothes." Bella's tone was equal parts smug and anticipatory.

I chuckled, moving towards the door. "Looking forward to seeing me dressed in your clothes, are you?"

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't."

The door opened silently on well-oiled hinges and I made my way down the hall, calling back over my shoulder, "So you do have a possessive side after all."

Her laughter followed me as I entered her expansive bathroom and closed the door behind me.

BPOV

I sank my teeth into the apple in my hand, chewing slowly. The grin on my face didn't seem to want to leave and I had no problem with that.

Jesse and Lee were both in the living room, Clare was at work and Micheal was down in the basement, the sounds of stone cracking reaching our ears easily. Alice, on the other hand was sitting on the other side of the kitchen table from me, freshly showered and wearing one of my shirts and an older pair of jeans. We were basically the same size width-wise, with me being about four inches taller. As a result, she had to roll the sleeves up slightly, the hem coming down to the tops of her thighs. She looked beyond adorable and I couldn't deny the fact that I liked seeing her in my clothes.

I took another bite.

"Okay, what is with the staring? And that smirk on your face?" Alice shifted under my gaze and for added effect; I made a show of licking the sweet apple juice off of my lips. Her shifting intensified.

"Oh, you are so damn evil." She pouted and I moved my gaze to her shoulder, knowing full well that looking into her eyes when she pulled 'The Pout' was like staring into the sun.

Picking up my glass of milk, I brought it to my lips and downed it in one, humming happily as the cool liquid flowed over my tongue. "Sorry, it's just that you look so damn cute wearing my shirt."

"You know, I'm a terrifying supernatural creature, one of the things that go bump in the night. People aren't supposed to call us cute."

I tossed the apple core into the green bin destined for the compost heap and stood up. "See, now I make it a habit to tell the truth as much as possible. But if the term cute bothers you, how about adorable?"

She hopped up off of the chair and into my arms, prompting me to catch her before she fell on her ass. "I take offense to that. Kittens are adorable. I'm scary."

I couldn't help but laugh as I made my way towards the garage, having heard my siblings leave for the car so we could go to school. Alice was no doubt a formidable opponent, especially considering her gift, but she was still Alice to me. "Okay then my little Kitten, it's time to go to Forks High and soak up knowledge like a fuzzy little sponge."

I was at the door leading into the garage, Lee and Jesse already in the car, when Micheal came into the front room with a phone in his hand. His white shirt looked more grey now that it was covered in stone dust. His wavy black hair also looked like he had been in a wrestling match with a deranged squirrel.

"Phone call for you Bells," he stated as he handed me the device. I had to hold Alice up one-handed, but that was okay because neither of us wanted me to put her down.

"Hello, this is Bella."

The voice on the other end was deep, but had a nice smoky tenor to it. "Hello Ms Van Allen, this is Chief Swan down at the police station."

Ah, this must have something to do with that little 'incident' a while ago. "What can I do for you?"

"I won't take up much of your time, but I understand that you were involved in an altercation last week?"

"That I was. Is there a problem?"

"Well, a friend of mine is a member of the Port Angeles Police and he's going to be visiting today. I figured you could give him your statement today while he's here instead of having to drive all the way to Port Angeles. If you're available, that is."

I smiled into the phone. "That's very thoughtful of you Chief Swan. Is there a specific time you'd like me to be over at?"

"School should let out at about four, so if you could swing by the station after, that'd be great."

I nodded even though he couldn't see me. "Sure thing Chief. I'll see you then."

"Goodbye, Ms Van Allen."

We both hung up and I handed the phone back to my father, using my now free hand to bring Alice closer.

"This isn't going to cause problems for you, is it?" she asked, concern obvious in her voice.

"Nah. It's all good." I glanced at Micheal as I walked towards the door again. "I'll see you later, Dad."

"Have a good day. Try not to get too distracted in class, okay?"

"I make no promises."

The door shut behind us and we made our way to the idling Toyota. Lee and Jesse seemed to be passing the time by having a thumb war, with Jesse inevitably coming out the victor.

I set Alice down on her feet and opened the door for her, bowing as I gestured for her to enter. "My Lady."

She made a perfect curtsy, holding her hands as though she were holding up a dress. "Thank you, kind sir."

Jesse snorted from the front seat and I casually smacked her on the back of the head.

"Ow! What the hell was that for?"

"Alice and I are engaging in some tomfoolery, an important part of a healthy relationship. You should not make any kind of inappropriate noises while this is happening and respect our blatant displays of affection."

Lee wisely chose to stay silent as he pulled the car out of the garage and made his way down the long driveway.

"And you should stop speaking like you're reading out of a dictionary. I swear, you always do that when you get angry."

I frowned. "I'm not angry." I glanced down at the tiny pixie nestled into my side and smiled. "I'm really not angry."

"Yeah, instead you get to be all dopey and cuddly."

"Says Ms 'Valentine's Day is one of the most important holidays'. I know just how dopey and cuddly you two can get, so don't judge me."

Alice giggled beside me, the sound like tinkling bells. "You two are ridiculous."

"I resent that," Jesse stated, meeting Alice's raised eyebrow with a mock-glare.

"Well, what are you going to do about it?"

Jesse smirked, eyes flashing to me. "Bella is my only and most loved sister. If I ask her, she won't kiss you for a whole day."

The smile fell off of Alice's face as she looked between the two of us. "You wouldn't!"

"This is no fair. You shouldn't be putting me between my girlfriend and my sister," I whined, feeling completely wronged.

Two sets of eyes narrowed. Both of them sat up straight and looked me right in the eye.

"I'm your sister," Jesse said.

"I'm your girlfriend."

"I've known you for longer than she has, seventeen years longer!"

"I can provide you with hot make-out sessions."

I was looking between the two of them like a bizarre tennis match.

"Lee, help."

He chuckled, passing out a small Ford which contained an irate Granny, if the intense fist-shaking was anything to go by. She also might have mouthed a dirty word, but it was hard to tell with her dentures and frequently pursed lips. "Leave me out of it."

"Um, well, you both mean a lot to me and I don't think that we should try to sully our relationships by putting such an obviously unwinnable situation before me," I hedged, leaning forward in my seat to see if we would get to the school any faster.

"Oh no Bella, you are going to pick right now," Jesse stated firmly, Alice nodding right along with her.

Ok, now I'm screwed. Let's just think about this. I could make an informed decision if I thought long and hard about it.

Jesse is my sister and has been there for me all my life.

Alice is a really good kisser.

Jesse saved my life on more than one occasion.

Alice is a really good kisser.

I sheepishly wrapped my arm around my small pixie, pulling her face to mine for a deep kiss, managing to pull away before the window melted.

Jesse gasped, putting her hand on her chest. "You wound me, dearest sister of mine! I look upon you now and see nothing but the foul visage of betrayal!"

Alice grinned and resumed her previous position, cuddled into my side. "It's not your fault Jesse, I can just give Bella something that you never could."

"And dare I ask what that might be? Your tongue down her throat, perhaps?" The question was biting, but I could see the both of them trying, and failing miserably, to hold in smiles. I, on the other hand, was trying, and also failing, to stop a blush at that last comment.

"Among other things."

I sat up and wedged myself in between them. "Ok, time out. Let's not talk about me as if I'm not here."

Alice pressed her face into the crook of my neck, placing a gentle kiss on the now overheated skin. "I always know when you're here."

"And as of right now, we're at school, so let's turn it down to at least PG-13," Lee remarked, opening the door so he could exit the car. I looked around and, sure enough, the walls of Forks High looked back. Sort of.

I opened the door and slipped out, turning back to wait for Alice. When she did, she automatically took my hand, bringing a smile to my face.

The one kid who made a less than pleasant face at our display of affection was on the receiving end of my death glare. I may be an angel, but I still had a mean death glare.

As I absently watched the kid run away, I wondered what the day would have in store for us.

XXXXX

"Ms Van Allen? I trust you have a satisfactory reason for not paying attention in my classroom?" Mr Hansson

I jerked my head away from the window where I had been watching two squirrels playing a game of tag in a large oak tree. Out of all of the teachers I had, Mr Hansson was the one who seemed to be the most against my choice of partners. How it was any of his business, I will never know.

"I was paying attention, sir," I replied evenly.

"Oh, well in that case, I suppose you know the answer to question fourteen?" He leaned back in his seat, looking slightly smug. I knew for a fact that he hadn't even gotten to question fourteen yet and was only trying to make me look bad. His attitude had gone from chilly to downright hostile since yesterday, but I wouldn't let it bother me. After all, at the end of the day, I had Alice and he had a six pack of beer and papers to grade.

"Well sir, you haven't gotten to question fourteen yet, but the answer is 3x+5y+4," I said calmly, feeling a sense of satisfaction over the fact that his skin went a shade darker.

Not bothering to admit he was wrong or commend me on getting the right answer, he turned back to the board. However, with my enhanced hearing I was easily able to make out the comment he made under his breath. "Unnatural bitch."

My eyes narrowed, but I managed to refrain from lighting his toupee on fire. Barely.

When the bell finally rang I was the first one out the door, eagerly making my way to home economics. For some reason, I found the class fascinating. I also loved the fact that not only was our teacher, Ms Graver, a complete hippy, she had no problem with the fact that I was dating a girl. Definitely one of the better teachers.

I slid open the door and made my way inside, taking my customary seat near the front of the class.

Ms Graver walked in just behind me, wearing a flowery purple shirt, dark green skirt and brown boots. At twenty eight, she was the youngest teacher in the school, and the only one who could pull off such an outfit.

"Oh, Bella, early as usual I see," she said cheerily, pushing her glasses up higher onto her nose.

"I wouldn't want to miss any of my favourite class, now would I?"

She laughed, placing her bag down onto the counter and taking out several white board markers. "Well, that would make you the only one."

The class didn't take long to fill up, considering the fact that there were only nineteen students all together. Ms Graver wasn't a stickler about seating arrangements, so we could sit wherever we wanted. She regularly rearranged her desk, so it really didn't surprise me.

What did surprise me, however, was when the twentieth student walked into the class. The fact that it was Alice was a pleasant revelation.

Ms Graver pushed up her glasses once again, looking at Alice in surprise. "Oh, hello dear. Can I help you with something?"

"I'm transferring to this class, Ms Graver. I was told that you had to sign this." Alice's smile was almost anticipatory as the teacher took the slip of paper and signed her name with her quill-shaped pen.

Handing back the sheet, Ms Graver smiled warmly at Alice. "I hope you enjoy the class dear, pick a seat wherever you want."

"Thank you," Alice replied, already making a bee-line for the seat next to mine. As she sat down, I saw her send a dirty look to a boy in my class, Terry Langan, scooting her chair closer to mine. Terry had never actually asked me out, but he had done a lot of staring over the past few weeks and he never seemed to be looking at my face.

"Didn't like drama class anymore, eh?" I asked her, not bothering to keep the smile off of my face. The sleeves of her shirt kept rolling down, making her seem even smaller as she tugged them back up.

"I just thought a change of pace would be nice. I haven't taken home economics in about six years." Her shrug was nonchalant, but the way her eyes kept flickering towards Terry made me think that she had had a vision. One that she didn't like.

I spent more time watching her than I did the board at the front of the class. Not that I was the only one, the other students were staring at her with a mixture of awe, envy and disgust. Ah the joys of same-sex dating during high school in a narrow-minded town.

"Now class, we only have about five more minutes, so I'm going to give you all a project that will be your homework for the next week," Ms Graver stated, walking towards the fridge. As she opened it, I caught sight of several egg containers.

Walking back to her desk, she placed the containers on her desk and opened the lids. There were two types of eggs inside, blue and pink and each had a black stamp on them, resembling a tiny little face.

"Now, we haven't really spent all that much time talking about parenting, but that is what this assignment is all about. You will pair up with your partner of choice and come up here to collect an egg and one of the diaries from the box beside my desk."

She held up one of the eggs. "These eggs are in place of babies. You will take care of your egg as if it were a newborn. And before you all think about putting your egg in the fridge and forgetting about it, you will have to fill the diary with your actions in regards to the egg. What time you fed it, or changed it, or how long you spent time with it. Everything you do with your egg, you write down in the diary. This also includes clothing and sleeping arrangements. I expect to see little baby clothes on them when you turn them in."

She fixed all of us with a hard stare. "Also, do not foist your egg off onto your partner. It is a team effort, you will both be the parents of this egg and you will act like it. That means swapping the egg every second night and equal responsibilities. Now, choose your partners and come and pick your egg."

As soon as her tirade was over, the students stared at each other in bewilderment. She clapped her hands. "Come on now, we haven't got all day."

They all hopped up, eager to get a good partner before everyone was paired up. I turned to Alice, eyebrow raised. "Alice, did you switch classes so that you could be the mother of my egg?"

She shuffled her feet, looking at me a tad sheepishly. "Maybe. But if I hadn't, then Terry would have and that just wasn't going to work for me."

Almost as if her words had summoned him, Terry Langan walked up to me, smile on his face. "Hey Bella, I'm Terry." He held out his hand for me to shake, but since he had ignored Alice as if she didn't exist, I merely looked at it. Pulling it back, he smiled at me again. "So, you wanna have a kid together?"

Did he really just say that? Thank God for Alice and her visions.

"No thanks Terry, I already have a partner." To emphasize my point, I wrapped my arm around Alice and smiled at him.

"But she's a girl," he said, as if I hadn't noticed or forgot or something.

I frowned and turned to look at Alice, glancing down at her chest. I clapped my hand to my mouth and gasped. "Oh my God, you're right!" I shot her a wounded look. "Alice, why didn't you tell me?"

She snickered and butted me with her shoulder. "Come on, let's go get our egg."

"Now hold on, two girls can't have a kid together," he persisted, following us as we walked up to the head of the class.

"Not biologically, but they can always adopt. We'll have an adopted egg, but we'll love him or her as if they were our own."

"Look, you can't-"

I cut him off by calling out to Ms Graver. "Ms, is it okay if Alice and myself are partners for this project."

Her head whipped towards me, almost making her glasses fly over to the other side of the room. "Of course dear. You can just change the 'Father's Duties' section to another 'Mother's Duties' section. Now, would you like a boy or a girl?" This shut Terry up and I watched as he stormed off, looking for a partner that hadn't paired up yet.

Alice and I exchanged glances. "Girl," we said in unison.

I grabbed the diary as Alice picked up the tiny pink egg, cradling it gently. By the time we had sat back down in our seats, everyone had picked an egg and was holding them as though they were about to explode.

"I've never done this project before." She plucked a scarf from her bag and I watched as she fashioned a make-shift cradle for the little thing.

"I took care of a crow's egg before when the nest was destroyed, but that was actually alive. This is just an egg."

"Yes, but it's our egg."

I laughed. "Fine, but Jesse and Emmett are going to have a field day."

XXXXX

I patiently drank from my juice box as I waited for Emmett to stop laughing. The others at the table all had smiles on their faces, Jesse was even chuckling, but Emmett found the whole thing the most amusing.

He managed to get himself under control, only to look up at Alice holding the egg and completely lose it again.

"Emmett, it's really not that funny," I said, trying to calm him down. His loud laughter was turning more than one head.

"Sorry, it's just…" That was all he managed to get out before dissolving into a fit of giggles again. It took two more minutes and a lot of help from Jasper before he stopped convulsing in his seat.

"Are you quite finished?" Alice asked, eyebrow raised. I loved it when she raised her eyebrow, it made her look sexy as hell.

"Y-yeah, I'm good," he gasped, wiping a non-existent tear of mirth from his eye.

"So you guys have to take care of an egg for a week?" Lee asked, absently poking a bowl full of…something with his fork.

"Yup. And I get to make little egg clothes and a little egg cradle and little egg diapers."

"Getting a little carried away, aren't we Alice? Do you even have a name for it yet?" Lee abandoned the fork and leaned back in his seat.

I looked over at Alice. "Yeah, we have to pick a name for it."

"How about Ashley?" she suggested.

"Or Zoey?"

"Oh, what about Cory?"

"I like it. Cory it is."

"Yeah, but Cory what? Is she a Van Allen or a Cullen?"

"For God's sake, you two, it's an egg," Rosalie stated, looking torn between amusement and annoyance.

Alice wrapped her arm around my shoulders and leaned into my side. "But it's our egg," she repeated.

Rosalie merely rolled her eyes and dropped the subject.

It was decided that Alice would take care of Cory for the rest of the school day. She had to put it in her locker so we could go to gym, but barring a ravenously hungry person with a fondness for scrambled eggs finding it, it should be fine.

Gym itself was…interesting. Both of us had decided to change on opposite sides of the locker room, lest we accidentally forget what we were doing there in the first place. That left me with a random group of girls that seemed to be afraid that I would jump them the moment they took off their shirts. In an effort to save them from their own torrid imaginations, I had moved closer to the wall and turned my back.

That didn't stop Beth Muldrige, a girl who made Lauren look like an intelligent, compassionate individual, from accusing me of looking at her with my 'dyke eyes'. If I hadn't found the prospect so hilarious, then I would have been offended. After explaining to her just why I wasn't the least bit interested in her, namely that I was dating Alice Cullen and Beth herself looked like the back end of a pit bull, she quickly left me alone. It was a little mean, but she started it…

By the time the school day ended, I was getting tired of the looks I was receiving from several of the student body. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't all of them. In fact, the number of people who seemed to have a problem was less than those who didn't care, or who approved. Unfortunately, the people who disapproved were the more vocal of the two groups.

"So, you're going to the police station now, right?" Alice asked.

I nodded. "Yes. It's about time too, they're usually much faster about these things."

"And you're sure this isn't going to cause any problems for you?"

I turned to face her, seeing over her shoulder her family piling into their car. "Not a one, people don't usually spend much time being suspicious about the good guy."

"Then how will you explain being able to take out four grown men and not get a scratch on you?"

I smiled and wrapped my arms around her, giving her a deep kiss to tide me over for the coming hours of no Alice. "They were four heavily intoxicated men and I've been taking karate lessons for years at my father's request. He worries about me."

She smiled. "Nice."

"Works every time." I sighed. "I should get moving. Want to swing by my place tonight?"

She backed away towards her car, grinning, egg still in hand. "Of course, Ms Graver did say that parenthood was a team effort. It wouldn't be right of you to make me take care of little Cory all by myself, now would it?"

"I wouldn't dream of it."

Once again, we kept eye contact until we were out of sight of each other. The trip to the police station was made in silence, not out of any sense of worry or nervousness, simply because we didn't really have anything to say.

The station itself was a small affair, which was not surprising, it being Forks and all. A simple two story building with a bronze sign attached to it's white-painted walls telling any who cared to look that this was, in fact, the whole police force of their sleepy little town.

"Do you want us to come in with you?" Jesse asked, looking towards the building with interest.

"No need, this shouldn't take long."

The door to our car opened soundlessly, a testament to the frequent oil applications it underwent. The same couldn't be said for the front door of the building, a black monstrosity that would no doubt keep out any unsavoury characters.

The creaking sound alerted the tall, thin man behind the counter, distracting him from the game of football playing on the small television hidden under the counter.

"Hello there, can I help you with anything Ms...?"

"Van Allen, and yes, you can. I'm looking for the police officer who arrived here from Port Angeles. I have to make a statement."

He nodded, switching off the TV and standing up. Making his way around the counter, her gestured towards a brown door on the other side of the room. "If you'll just follow me, I'll lead you right to him."

Being a small building, it only took less than a minute to make it to the back rooms. Several officers were there, working on various things or just lounging. I spotted what must have been Chief Swan, if his badge was anything to go by, talking to a beefy man of medium height and smooth blond hair. His uniform differed from the others, so I assumed that this was the officer from Port Angeles.

"Chief, the girl you told us about is here," my companion said, gesturing towards me.

"Thanks Hank, we'll take it from here," the Chief replied, shaking my hand in greeting. He was a stocky man, with deep brown eyes, his brown hair liberally splashed with grey. "Ms Swan, thank you for coming down. This is my good friend from the Port Angeles police department, Gerry Winson."

I held out my hand for the man to take. He had a strong grip, but it was still gentle. He was obviously mindful of his strength and trying not to hurt me. I did give the impression of being slightly waifish, so I didn't blame him, though I did find it rather funny.

"Nice to finally meet you, Ms Van Allen. Young Ms O' Malley has been talking non-stop about you."

I smiled. "How is she?"

"She's doing great, actually. A little shaken up, but that's to be expected. As a matter of fact, she just enrolled in self-defence classes."

"That's great, I'm glad."

Chief Swan stepped forward and pointed to another door to the left of us. "You'll have some privacy in there, it's an old interrogation room that doesn't get much use, but it should serve well enough."

I thanked him and followed Mr Winson as he entered the room. It was small, almost ridiculously so, with faded white walls and a small window opposite the door. I sat down on the small metal seat closest to the window and made sure it was in my line of sight as he closed the door behind us.

It hadn't really come as much of a surprise to anyone in my family when I had turned out to be claustrophobic. I managed cars fine, but I would do everything in my power to avoid getting into an elevator, or a small room with no windows, or any kind of underground cave.

"Now, the case is pretty much air-tight, so this statement is really just a formality. It shouldn't take long." He placed a pad of paper, a pen and a tape recorder on the small metal table.

The questions were pretty simple, 'How did you come across the scene?' 'Exactly who was doing what?' 'How did a young woman such as you manage to subdue four assailants with no damage to yourself?' The last question was more for his personal curiosity because he didn't have any reason to suspect foul play on my part.

"My father is big on self-defence. I've been taking a variety of martial arts lessons for most of my life," I replied.

He nodded, absently scribbling something on his pad. "That's good. It would save everybody a lot of pain if more young people took an interest in protecting themselves. Not that it'd do much against a wild animal, but still. It doesn't hurt to know how to fight off an assailant."

I perked my head up at this. In my eagerness to get to know Alice, and the Cullen's eagerness to figure me out, neither of us had paid enough attention to the killings in Port Angeles. Might as well do a little digging while I was there.

"That animal still on the loose then?"

"Unfortunately, yes. A young couple just got attacked last night while they were camping on the outskirts of Lake Crescent. A damn shame, if you ask me."

"Yeah, a shame," I said quietly.

I barely paid attention to Mr Winson as he thanked me for my time and made his leave. My mind was elsewhere. Lake Crescent was just east of Port Angeles, right up against the Olympic Highway. Couple that with the fact that the previous victim had been found near Maple Grove, then that suggested that whatever it was, animal or vampire, was following the highway.

It also meant that it was heading straight for Forks.

A/N: Well, another chapter done and dusted. I'm not entirely sure about this one, writer's block screwed up my process but, what can you do?

Also, I've had inquiries about when I'll next update and I know full well the annoyance of waiting for a chapter and not knowing when it's coming, so I've made a few adjustments to my profile. In the 'Stories' section under Fallen, there is a Percent Completed section, that will show you my progress on my next chapter. When it gets to 100%, a new chapter is born!

As always, Read and Review!