A/N: Eek. It's Wednesday. Sorry. So, fyi, I am planning on doing a Halloween chapter, and originally it was going to be posted on or around October 31st, but I don't want to do it so soon after the very Halloween-like party. So that will happen at some later point.

Your reviews make me so happy: every time the little mail notification pops up I scramble to check. I am going to try and respond to every review this chapter, so if you have any questions for me, let me know!

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Chapter 15: Seperation

Jasper:

Monday came too quickly. After the end of Bella's party which culminated with Emmett and Edward wrestling in a manner that was a little too intense to be considered playful, Esme had remined us that we needed to prepare for school the following morning.

All of us, except Bella.

I was immediately against the idea. I wasn't comfortable leaving Bella so poorly accompanied at such an early stage in her development. Esme balked at the idea that I wouldn't return to school.

"I refuse for my children to become high school dropouts. It's bad enough that we have to explain Alice's disappearance. You have all been working too hard to simply abandon your studies and live like delinquents." I could feel her resolve.

"But, Mom…" Emmet wheedled. He didn't want to go back to school, but for a different reason. He saw the opportunity to shake up the small town of Forks in the biggest way possible, without revealing ourselves. I think he had watched too many episodes of Jerry Springer and was looking to act out some of the scenarios he had seen. My theory was confirmed when he suggested that we explain Alice's disappearance by saying that she had fallen in love with Edward while prostituting herself and, in order to escape, had fled to become a nun in a Satanic cult.

"Mom…" Emmett kept whining, "It's not like we'd really be dropouts. We've all graduated from high school before. Several times. Why do we always have to graduate? Wouldn't it be more fun is every once in a while we didn't?" He tried his best puppy dog eyes as he rested his chin on top of Mr. Rabbit's head. He flipped the bunny's ears back and forth.

"Pwease?" His attempt at baby talk should have embarrassed him.

"No." Esme had not budged an inch. "I will not have the people in this town look upon us as… as…" She sat down, pinched the bridge of her nose and sniffled. I rolled my eyes at Emmett. You didn't have to be Edward in order to read my thoughts.

Nice going, jackass.

Emmett was instantly contrite. He sat on the arm of her chair and placed Mr. Rabbit on the floor. He stroked Esme's hair as she whimpered, on the verge of tears that would never come.

"Mom, c'mon. You know I just say stuff. I would never drop out of school because…" He looked at me for help. I shrugged my shoulders. Edward quickly mimed a finish for Em's sentence.

"…because you raised me better than that!" I had to hand it to Edward. He was pretty smooth. Esme's snuffles stopped and she turned her face toward Emmett.

"Oh, dear-heart." She cupped his face with her hands before pinching his cheek a little. "Thank you." She looked at us all.

"So no more senselessness? Everyone's going to school?" Her children all nodded demurely. I glanced over at Bella who had been radiating amusement throughout the entire exchange up until that point. Now, her arms were crossed over her chest and she was slumped against the wall like she couldn't support her own weight anymore.

I walked over, slid my arm behind her, and pulled her in front of me so she was leaned against my chest, her head propped against the hollow of my throat. I placed my hands on her shoulders and gently rubbed, digging my thumbs with varying pressure into the muscles there. I felt vibrations and realized Bella was purring. I chuckled to myself and felt, more than saw her head incline up toward mine the tiniest bit. It seemed like she stopped herself and deliberately focused on the conversation the rest of the family was having. I turned to look at everyone, but my gaze caught Edward. He was looking at me with a combination of jealousy and curiosity.

I gave him a wide, threatening smile, my wordless snarl enough to make him turn his attention from me to the conversation at hand.

"No." said Rose. "I don't agree. I think she deserves to be punished."

Carlisle sighed. "It wouldn't be a punishment, Rose. She would never know about it. It would just be your pettiness getting the better of you. Is that what you want? Would spreading slander really make you feel better?"

Rose thought about it for a few moments.

"Yes. Yes it would."

Esme pinched the her nose again.

"Are you trying to drive me to an early grave?" she asked.

Rose looked chagrined. "Well, technically…"

Esme shook her head vehemently.

"No. No. No!" She literally put her foot down. "Alice was accepted to an elite fashion program in New York. She couldn't refuse and is now there staying in the city with extended family." Esme glared around the room like she was daring someone to question her.

No one dared upset her again.

And so we had all gone to school without complaint this morning. Bella hadn't come downstairs to see us off, but when I looked back at the house before we drove away, I thought I saw her standing in the window, watching us leave. Of course, as soon as Edward read the thought in my head, he snapped his eyes to the rear-view mirror in an attempt to get a glimpse of her before we left.

"Keep your eyes on the road." I'd snarled at him.

I hated the look he gave me. It was knowing. What the hell did he think he knew? Smug arrogant ass.

School normally felt slow. Today, I had to upgrade it to interminable.

As I sat in French class while Madame Jones dithered on and on about la bibliotheque, I kept checking the clock. At one point, I swear, I checked the clock, looked back down, and when I checked again it was 42 seconds earlier than the last time I'd looked.

The entire process was so draining that I didn't have enough energy to maintain my mortal human façade. When Madame asked me about the weather, she seemed rather stunned when I responded in fluent and flawless French. It might have been because words like 'barometric pressure' were slightly beyond her vocabulary in English, let alone in French. After I finished my ten minute diatribe, Madame Jones had gaped at me, along with the rest of the class. I shrugged and looked at my desk. Eventually, the butchered attempts of my classmates resumed and my brief outburst was forgotten.

At lunch time, the family gathered at our normal table. We were getting more curious looks than normal since Alice's departure was rather big news in the small town. Edward looked confused as he glanced across the tables.

"Wait…" He cocked his head like he was listening to something particular. "No one's talking about the fashion school story. They're all saying—" he cut off and snapped his head around to look at Rose and Emmet who were staring very intently at the grain of the wood laminate that covered the cafeteria tables. Their faces were the very picture of nonchalance, but their emotions were rampant with giddiness and amusement.

Edward's emotions vacillated between annoyed and resigned. I realized I was the only one left out.

"What did you guys say?" I looked at Em, but it was Rose who spoke first.

"She really did ask for it." Rose said. "And it's not like we actually did anything wrong…"

"S'true." Emmett chimed in. "Can't be our fault that Jessica Stanley is a nosy twit."

"Ouch." I said, "Jessica Stanley? You really are pissed at Alice. What did you say?"

"That Carlisle had grounded Alice because she had been going online in sketchy internet chat rooms and Alice decided to run away like a whiny, whiny bitch probably to meet her 54 year-old cyber lover." Rose said with no mercy.

My cell phone rang. I looked at the ID.

Alice.

Shit.

In all of the after-party commotion I had forgotten our plans to talk. I flipped open the phone without acknowledging the curious glances of my siblings. Edward read that it was Alice from my thoughts and whispered it to Rose and Em.

"Tell the whiny, whiny bitch I said 'Hi!'" Rose shouted loudly enough to draw several gazes from nearby tables. She turned back to Emmett and only her smirk gave away her awareness of the attention.

I walked out of the cafeteria and outside. The day was murky and overcast, and few students were populating the benches in front of the school.

"Hey, I'm sorry I forgot to call, but—" Alice cut me off.

"I knew you would." Her voice still sounded like tinkling bells. For some reason I had expected a change.

"So…" I wasn't sure what to say, and the conversation drifted into an awkward silence.

"Bella's doing well." I finally said.

"I know." Alice replied.

It was kind of difficult to carry on a conversation with someone who knew everything I was going to say.

"Her control is remarkable." Even to my own ears, I sounded distant. Kind of like Carlisle. It was weird.

"I—"

"You know, yeah." I couldn't help it when my annoyance peeked through.

"That's not what I was going to say. Try and leave the predictions to the psychic." Alice sounded like she was pissed. "What I was going to say is that you guys will eventually decide that her control is an extension of her latent humanity. While human blood still appeals to her, it feels like cannibalism. She feels like its wrong, and that taints the draw of the blood." Alice paused, like she was debating to say the next part: "She'll be able to leave the house in a few weeks."

"Weeks, really? That's fantastic." It was wonderful news. I knew Bella wasn't going to be happy cooped up in the house for much longer.

"She does so well." I could hear the smile in Alice's voice.

"Fantastic." I echoed myself.

The conversation died again.

I realized that we had never been apart for a significant amount of time since we had first met. We had always shared every aspect of each other's lives. We didn't know how to relate if we weren't with each other. And if we weren't together?

We had nothing in common.

"So, do you know when you're coming back?" I asked, unsure of what I wanted her response to be.

"Not for a while." She sounded suddenly sad.

"What have you been doing with yourself?"

"Right now I'm in the north of France?" She said it like a question. "It's beautiful."

"I'll bet."

Silence once more.

"You know I'm always here for you, right?" Alice blurted suddenly.

"Of course." I said.

"And you know we'll always be friends, no matter what, right?" I locked on the word friends.

"Alice, we're just on a break, right? You're not… are you…" I couldn't seem to finish my thought. What had brought this on? What could have…?

Oh. Was it Bella? Had she seen my attraction to Bella? But it was just an attraction. It didn't mean anything. Alice had to know—

"Alice, if you saw something—You know it doesn't mean anything, right?"

I thought I heard a sob on the other line, but I must have been mistaken because when Alice spoke, her voice was as clear as ever.

"I understand." She said, "Know that I will understand."

The bell rang before I could respond and signaled the end of lunch. Kids started milling out of the building as they made their way to their next classes.

"Alice, I have to go. The bell just rang."

"Oh, that reminds me," she said, "Don't go to Zoology today. Alex Brantley is gonna slice his finger open with a scalpel."

"Oh, well, thanks for the heads up." Guess I was free for next period.

"Why don't you skip your last period class and head home to check on Bells?"

I really liked that plan. I wasn't comfortable with Bella being so alone so early. Yes, she had Esme, but Esme had a tendency to enjoy complacent silences. Bella was not really a comfortable silence kind of girl.

Except when she's with you.

The majority of my brain rejected this idea as ridiculous, but the smaller part wasn't going down without a fight.

Just think about it.

Later, I rationalized.

I realized I had yet to respond to Alice. I took a breath and tried to sound more collected than I felt.

"Yeah, I think I will."

There was another odd noise on Alice's end that I couldn't place.

"Well, I'll talk to you later!" Alice said, and her voice seemed too bright and too cheerful.

"Yeah, of course." I said. It was only after I'd hung up that I realized that neither of us had said 'I love you.'

I slid the phone in my pocket and made my way to the forest at a normal speed. I was too anxious to bother reporting to front desk about missing my last two periods. As soon as I hit the border of the woods, I was off. Despite the fact that my wife and I seemed incapable of maintaining a long distance relationship and despite the fact that my siblings would probably have my head for not telling them I was leaving and despite the fact that I was tied to raising a newborn for the next few months of my life, I suddenly felt lighter than I had in a long while.

Alice may be the psychic, but at that moment I knew, I just knew, that everything would turn out right.

I dashed through the forest with a huge smile splitting my face.

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A/N:
:P