Hellooo! I hope you guys all liked the last chapter, and I'm sorry that Alice was killed :/, it's not that I have a grudge against her, it just kind of fits with the story.

Also for those of you that were wondering, Bella never had Nessie, so she's not in the story...

Enjoy!

I didn't fall asleep this time. Instead, the image of a beautiful girl being killed by a vampire played over in my mind.

Alice. The name flew around in my head. Jasper was mixed in there too. I couldn't control my wild thoughts and there was no way they were going to allow me to sleep.

I didn't blame Jasper for going crazy. I would too. Bella had mentioned that vampires lived for a very long time. I wondered how long they had been together before Alice was killed. I imagined it was centuries. They would have been so close; so happy. I imagined the guilt.

I heard the door slam downstairs. There was quiet conversation; I could only hear two voices; Spencer's and Esme's. The door shut again and I assumed Esme had left. The stairs creaked as Spencer headed to my room, but I wasn't in the mood to talk. I laid my head down and shut my eyes.

'Beth? You awake?' Silence. The door shut again as he left and I opened my eyes. What was my story? What did my family know? I couldn't think of anything now, but someone must have told my mum something.

I lay in bed longer, letting my mind drift over what Esme had told me.

Shape-shifters? I wondered what they were like. What shape did they shift to? Were they still alive? Alice. What had she been like? She must have been a strong character, one who held their whole family together. When she was happy, so were they. When she was down, so were they.

It finally seemed to get dark outside and I thought I heard my mum come in. My thoughts were fuzzy now and I couldn't think properly. This time it was exhaustion, not pain or my brain wanting darkness. I thought I felt my bed give, as my mum came to check on me, but I stayed where I was, letting my mind drift into unconsciousness.

I opened my eyes feeling refreshed. My mind was clear, my ribs hardly hurt and I could see clearly. I rolled to look at my clock, but gasped in pain as I did so. Okay, so my ribs weren't completely healed.

It was eight o'clock. I thought to myself. I had time to get up and go to school, but I wasn't sure if I could face it. My mum broke into my thoughts.

'Beth! You're awake! I haven't spoken to you since Friday! How are you feeling?' She gushed. She always got worried when I hurt myself or got ill.

'I feel fine.' My voice was still groggy and I didn't feel like saying much more.

'How do you feel about school? Ruby offered to come by and give you a lift, but you really don't have to go if you're not up for it.' She sounded sympathetic. 'You can always come home again sweetie.'

'I think I'll go.' I hated missing a lot of school; it meant a lot of catching up which I despised. She was right anyway; I could come home if I wanted.

My mum helped me get dressed; which was difficult as my rib seared in pain anytime I moved my body. I felt like a penguin, barely moving as I tried to continue with my normal routine.

Ruby arrived at nine and we left for school. Once we were in the car she started talking. I had a feeling she wouldn't stop until we were at school. Ruby was sometimes like that.

'Okay, we've got your cover story, your mum believed it easily, hope you don't mind telling a white lie to her. Everyone at school should believe it; they were inside when it happened. Oh, I'm still really sorry about the whole thing. I think Esme explained, but still, it doesn't make up for it, I was so stupid!' I had to stop Ruby. Her voice was getting faster and I was starting to struggle to understand what she was saying.

'Ruby, we've been through this; it's no one's fault, so don't try and take the blame. Look at me, I'm fine. Almost. Just tell me this cover story and then you can forget about it. Okay?' She looked over at me, still looking guilty. 'Seriously Ruby.' I glared at her.

'Okay,' she smiled now, 'Well, you came out of the mall, you know for some fresh air, but the steps out front were slippery, and well, like the klutz you are, you slipped and broke a rib.' She chuckled.

'You couldn't have made it something... I don't know, cool? I slipped down the steps outside the mall? That's rubbish.' I went to cross my arms over my chest to emphasize my point but winced at the sudden pressure. It made Ruby laugh even more.

'Well, being crushed by a vampire is a lot cooler, but you know, might blow our cover slightly.' Ruby commented, still laughing at me. I was red with embarrassment, but glad she was happy and not still feeling quite so guilty.

It wasn't long before we were at school and I remembered I had to tell this story to everyone. I knew everyone would want to know about it, but I wasn't too excited about everyone staring at me all day.

It started in the lot with Izzy.

'Beth! You're back! What. Happened. Everyone has been talking about you!' Great, I thought to myself.

'Oh, I just, uh, slipped, outside the mall. You know, it was uh, wet.' I was terrible at telling lies. Izzy looked disappointed and started to walk towards the school building. I sighed and followed suit. I heard Ruby giggling behind me.

As we walked through the corridors, I heard whispers of my name.

'Apparently she was mugged!'

'I thought it was that big Emmett guy.'

'I heard it was a car accident.'

I had been off school for two days and this was what happened. I was amazed that people fell for these rumours. Emmett? Seriously? A voice sounded behind me.

'Beth!' It shouted. I turned instantly, recognising the voice. Lucy squealed loudly, struggling not to hug me due to my rib. Brandon however was less considerate. He crushed me into a bear hug, causing me to yell out cursing.

'Oops!' He said as he moved back from me. He smiled at me sheepishly.

'You idiot!' Lucy glared at him, slapping him round the arm. They both turned back to me.

'Corr, you had me worried!' Lucy said, still smiling out me, her eyes wide.

'You wouldn't answer your phone, it was driving me crazy.' Brandon said quietly. There was a familiar glint in his eyes. He really was worried. Ruby clearly hadn't been much of a distraction.

'Yeah, and he was driving me crazy, seriously, just answer your phone next time; I've never heard someone whine so much!' Lucy complained and continued to mock Brandon worrying about me. I smiled back at them both. They truly cared and I loved them for it.

We continued in down the corridor while Lucy filled me in on the last two days I had missed and Brandon slipped his fingers through mine. Normally I would have taken mine back, but the look of relief on his face when he saw me stopped me.

School continued for a few weeks without interruption. I spent an increasing amount of time with Ruby and her family, but never saw a sign of Jasper even though he was supposedly back. There was little talk of what happened the day at the mall, but I learnt more about vampires and their life.

I had learnt about the transition from human to vampire, all of their stories and felt almost like one of the family. I would spend my free weekends at the Cullen's house and grew to know the rest of the family.

Emmett was the fun one. He was always laughing at something, or making a joke about someone. I thought it was strange that Rosalie and he made such a good couple, yet somehow they did. She was the stark opposite of him. She was vain and ill-tempered towards me. I didn't warm to Rosalie.

Bella was sweet but quiet. She was often the subject of Emmett's jokes and Rosalie's arguments, but also stole Edward's attention. He was already quiet and reserved, but spent the majority of his time staring at her; watching her movements; always following her with his eyes.

Carlisle and Esme were also quiet, but the backbone of the family. They were loving for all the people in their family and treated me as one of their own. I came to feel almost like I was.

About three weeks after the 'accident' as it had become known, I was walking Toby, our Golden Retriever in the woods when I saw a figure ahead. Ruby's voice was suddenly in my head.

'Jasper's still around. He's just laying low, he feels terrible. He doesn't want to hurt people, but he can't risk it just yet. Just... stay away from the woods, just in case.'

Today I had ignored Ruby's advice. Toby was fed up of long walks around parks. They weren't interesting enough for him; he preferred the woods.

I looked back up at the figure ahead of me. Curly blond hair, tall lean body. I could smell the enticing scent from here. I thought to myself quickly.

I could run, but if he chose to follow me I'd never escape. I could talk to him; maybe he was getting better and would not hurt me. I could turn and walk back where I came from, pretending I had never seen him. Even these options all included walking my feet were rooted to the ground. I was not going anywhere.

Of course he had seen me; now he was walking towards me. Toby went crazy, barking happily at the stranger coming to greet him. I shrunk further into myself as Toby ran towards Jasper.

I felt a sudden wave of calm spread through me, followed by confidence. I decided to speak out.

'Hi,' I said; my voice not as confident as I felt.

'You don't have to panic, I won't bite.' He chuckled to himself; I didn't find it hugely funny, he did last time. 'Sorry, not funny.' He said; his voice a contrast to my small, rough voice.

'Beth isn't it? Hey, err, listen I'm really sorry about the last time. I swear it wasn't personal. You were just there.' He said guiltily looking down. I laughed.

'And here I am again.' I said out loud, inwardly cursing to myself. I'd managed to get myself into the same situation, except this time, I didn't have my own vampire protector. I had a crazy barking dog, who didn't know when to stop. Damn.

REVIEWS ARE WELCOME!! Let me know what you think!

(thanks hanaharoo and roserose12345 for reviewing like every chapter!)

ALSO thinking of doing another fanfic on when Alice is killed etc, in more detail than last chapter. Let me know if you think it's a good idea :)