Yay! New update!!! I said you'd get a good few! A warning, most of this was written at about one in the morning on one of my nocturnal kicks.

Reviews!

Oh, and I don't own Twilight yet. But I will... Mwahahahaha!!!!! (Just kidding...)

Previously in The Single One...

"So, I heard ya'll almost kissed, you and Em."

I turned red (umpteenth and one) and snarled, "Rosalie!!!"

Now, back to the story...

Thursday nights are always the hardest. It's the day before Friday, so you have all the homework you procrastinated on, not to mention being anxious over the last day of the week. Just my luck, that this awkward day is a Thursday.

By about seven pm, I'd done all of my homework, texted Bella for a while, and gotten into an old rerun of The Andy Griffith Show. The unmistakable aroma of Esme Cullen's semi-homemade spaghetti and chicken-tomato sauce wafted through Cullen manor.

"I'm home!" Daddy called, walking through the front door.

I hopped up and gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Hi, Daddy!"

"Hey, Dad," Edward called from the piano, where he'd been playing softly in the background. Mom and Daddy never made us take lessons for anything we didn't want to, like some more wealthy families, so the piano was mostly his, me being only be to play, at best, old hymns that Edward showed me how to pick out with one hand.

"Edward, Alice, dinner," Mom said, walking in. She playfully threw the dish towel she was holding at me, with I caught and threw back. "Go wash your hands."

I let Daddy go and raced Edward to the downstairs bathroom to wash our hands.

"Ha!" I shouted in victory, putting the tap on full force and pumping about ten gallons of soap into my hand. "I win."

"Yeah, right," Edward scoffed, reaching his arms around my middle to take some of the soap off my hands and rinsed his over mine.

"Cheater!" I accused, then turned to dry my hands on his shirt.

He glared at me and huffed, "I hate you."

My brain went into hyper speed, thinking of ways I could torment him for his lack of origonality. Then it popped into my head.

"Love you, too!" I chirped, jumping to plant a kiss between his eyebrows. Then I ran for it.

So it wasn't all that original. It still pissed him off, and it was funny to me.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Except for a bit of light-hearted scolding from the parents, dinner was blessedly uneventful. The others had obviously 'forgotten' to tell Edward about the, er, incident, and instead conversation was irected one Daddy's favorite patient. Mr. Danny Wilder was a particularly foul mouthed old man with a perpetual craving for fig newtons, and an undying faith that inspired everyone. He's the most loved person in the hospital, despite his profound language.

Soon, I found myself in bed, hair damp, pajamas cool, and eyes weighing down. Edward passed my room in his sleeping ensemble of boxers and a large T-shirt, similar to my own of flannel pants and my large T-shirt.

"Edward," I called softly.

"Yes?" he asked, peeking his head into my room.

"Talk to me, so I can go to sleep," I said, patting to empty space on my bed. Edward's place, we called it, having spent many nights talking ourselves to sleep, for any given reason. He stayed in my room more often, as his room was too exposed to the night for my taste, what with his enormous windows.

He walked in and didn't hesitate to get under the covers, facing me expectantly. I sighed and put my head up to his, our natural position since birth (and nopervy comment. Yeah, I know how you think...). My mind felt peaceful immediately.

"Were you disappointed today, when Emmett didn't kiss you?" he asked quietly, his hardening protectively.

"Who told you?" I squeaked, not ready for that bullet. That one definitely woke me up.

"Bella," he sighed. He must have been tired, because hid words were crowded and jumbled. "Emmett was spazzing in study hall and told her, then she had literature with me and Jasper, and told us, but Rosalie had told him about catching you, then she was guilty for hurting you."

"She didn't hurt me."

"I know. Emmett didthough."

"Yes." No point in arguing.

"But he was sorry. He looked like he was gonna cry in study hall." Then he looked thoughtful for a few moments. "Do you like him?"

My brother, my confident, my secret language. Could I lie? No chance in hell. "Yes. A lot. Why didn't you say anything at dinner?"

"Oh, okay." I didn't have to ask and he didn't have to say it. He wouldnt' tell. To prove this, he skipped to my next question. "Mom and Dad don't have to know everything."

I sighed, my body relaxing and ready for sleep.

"G'night, Edward." I yawned and stretched out, turning my head to a more comfortable position on my pillow.

"Good night, Alice." Edward, using as little movement as was possible, slid from under the covers, readjusting them so no part of me was exposed. A little countdown started in my head, knowing I would be asleep within seconds.

"Love you brother."

Three...

"Love you sister."

Two...

I could have sworn I felt something touch my forehead, just before he walked to the door.

One...

Then I was out.

A/N: Woo!!! Review please, and first review gets a preview of the next chapter!!!

~Sidney