And I'm back for the second update this week. I hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own 'Twilight', not do I own 'The Host', both of those belong to Stephanie Meyer, and 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' belongs to Oscar Wilde.

I envied Renesme, tears running down her perfect cream cheeks, the lightest hint of pink colouring them, as I tumbled onto our new bed, not caring how I might break the finely polished, carefully carved wood, it still smelt strongly of polish, a familiar comforting smell while human, now on the verge of overpowering, she could still cry, vampires seemed limited in their production of fluids, venom seemed to be the only one female vampires could produce. The salt scent of her tears still lingered in the air. I pulled the silk duvet over me, past my nose so only my eyes were exposed. The smell of Edward lingered on the bed, in the sheets, trapped between the fibres, was comforting but at the same time only made me feel more miserable.

They had been so perfect up until today, like yin and yang, light and dark, complementing each other perfectly, bringing out the best features of their respective personalities. Now it was ruined, maybe they were just too different, or similar... It should never have worked, could never have worked, not in the long term. Maybe it had all just been a short term solution. I rolled over pulling the duvet completely over my head, stubbornly closing my eyes, drawing my long, lean legs to my chest, feeling like a doormouse hibernating. It would work, I would make it work I resolved.

I don't know how long I stayed comfortable, curled up like that before I finally stirred. It was still light when I pulled the duvet from over my head, mussing my hair. I slowly rose, stretching slightly as I got up. I ran a brush through my hair, gently working out all the knots and tangles, admiring the sudden burst of red when the sun hit it from a certain angle before it faded to its usual brown-black. I enjoyed the feeling of the brush moving through my hair and started to relax for the first time since Edward and Jacob's fight. The were like a cat and dog sometimes.

I listened carefully and could hear Renesme still in her room, sniffing slightly, so unlike her usual bird-like, dulcet tones. I also heard footsteps, fairy-light coming up the path to the cottage, I didn't have to listen hard to know it was Alice. I dropped the brush and ran to open the door, falling into her arms. She held me for a moment before stepping back and looking at me, concern in her amber eyes.

'I guess you heard about the fight.' It wasn't a question.

She nodded mutely. 'That was what I saw, I'm sorry, I didn't know it would happen so soon.'

She followed me into the sitting room and we both sat down on the sofa, her legs tucked under her like she looked very much like a cat, sphinx-like eyes giving little away.

'What should I do?' I asked, I knew there was desperation in my voice. 'I need them to at least pretend to get along, if only for Renesme's sake.'

Alice seemed about to say something but stopped, her eyes glazed over for a second before she turned back to me, sympathy tinged with pity. 'I'm not sure that'll ever happen.' she told me gently. 'But I have been wrong before.'

She stood up selecting a book off the shelves and handing it to me.

'You should just relax, try not to think about it and wait until Edward comes back, see if the situation has changed.' She smiled at me before slipping silently out of the room and out of the cottage.

I glanced at the title of the book she had handed me, 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' I murmurred to myself. I had a thumb through the book but decided it wasn't for me, I placed it back on the shelf, slipping it between two of Edward's books.

I returned to 'The Host' marvelling at the fanastic prose as my thoughts drifted back to Edward, the tension that had been in his muscles, sliding under his alablaster skin, as he had left. There was a tension I could often feel when I touched his arms, back, shoulders, just before he lavished kisses upon my lips. His golden eyes, full of love, yet so hard to read, warming me like a fire under my skin.

Jacob was too hot, had too much passion, he was the fire to Edward's ice, without one, the other loses meaning yet when they met there was a lot of steam, spitting and crackles. His black hair, that he had grown just for me, hung around his shoulders. Renesme was forever braiding it and rebraiding it, filling these braids with flowers they had collected together the remaining flowers became garlands, given to whoever happened to be passing at the right time, the sweet smell of wild flowers surrounded Jacob and Renesme.

Renesme came out of her room, her peach-smooth cheeks were tear stained, still gleaming tracks caught the light. Her beautiful brown eyes were bloodshot and her lower lip trembled slightly. Without saying anything she stumbled over to me, not paying any attention to the furniture and almost tripping over it. She buried her head in my chest, ignoring the fine saphire silk of my shirt which now tear stained was ruined forever. I wrapped my arms around her.

We remained like this until Edward returned, untold hours later.

There it is, I hope you enjoyed it.

Please review, all, positive, negative or somewhere inbetween, are gratefully received.

And on the basis of a review this chapter was removed and edited to sort out a couple of mistakes that my beta reader and I missed, so thank you very much.