This is definitely my longest chapter yet. Concludes the drama from the last chapter, and gives a little taste of things to come via Alice. Life isn't always pretty in a world where vampires exist.

Don't own Twilight.

Brian PoV

It was an awesome evening. Mel and her mother worked on dinner while her dad and I watched a basketball game on tv. Sure we got a bit into the game but the smells coming from the kitchen pulled us from the chairs easy enough. I almost asked if I could move in after the chicken alfredo was gone but instead Mel and I just chatted on her front porch stairs. This time we talked for real. She didn't pull any punchs either. Her music choices suddenly turned from what she thought I liked to her own unique style along with everything else about her. Unique and yet familiar. This was the girl I had fallen for.

"Want to go camping with me and the team on Friday?" I asked trying not to just assume she'd want to go.

"Hah your sister is picking me up no matter what anyways, but yes I'd love to come," Mel said with a smile.

A wild screeching came from down the road and Deacons 1982 chevrolet camaro barely stayed on the road going around the corner. It twisted in a crazy fashion and I sighed as my sister rolled down the window in the driver seat and Deacon, who was in the passenger seat, was bracing himself against the dash and door with wide eyes.

"Sorry. I kept her occupied as long as I could," Deacon said still a little shell shocked.

"Wear your seat belt tomorrow Mel," I said giving her a compassionate look. Her look of horror only stopped long enough for her to manage a faint smile as I got in between Deacon and my sister who was whispering something in Melissa's ear that caused her to go pale.

"Ignore her Mel! I do," I said with a laugh. My sister jumped into the car.

"You know I'm driving you to," Becca said with a sinister grin and I swallowed a little nervously.

Deacon and I braced ourselves for the ride of our lives we could only hope it ended with us sleeping at our homes in one piece.

APOV

I was walking down a dark hallway. The smell of human blood tore at my throat mercilessly making me whimper. I felt Jaspers arms wrap around me protectively but my mind was somewhere else. My vampire eyes clearly saw the blood streaked across the walls and the mangled corpses that lay everywhere in sight. The gurneys and rooms were the only clue that I was in a hospital. I could smell so much blood but couldn't hear a single heartbeat. I felt my families presence in the vision other than Jacob and Nessie. The brutality and horror that covered these walls made me thank god she had not come, and I realized it was me and Edward who would make her stay away. Suddenly I heard rough quick breathes. No heart beat just breathing.

My vision finally disappeared as Jasper held me close to his chest. He had probably felt the horror and remorse I felt for the people who had died in the hospital. Edward simply stood at the foot of the stairs in our new home staring at me in shock. He had seen everything I had and I gave him a meaningful glance. The timing was unknown. The location of the hospital unknown. The cause of the massacre unknown, but I had my theories for that. The one thing Edward and I both knew was that Nessie would not be subject to such a scene. The entire house was beginning to notice Edward and my insecurity. Something was going to happen very soon and with what we knew there was little we could do.

Brian POV

I opened my eyes and stretched after seeing a dim morning light coming through my window. Another perfectly overcast day. I should have been thanking god I had made it home with my life after riding with my sister but I was used to it. I got up and showered throwing on the first clothes I could find knowing that Rebecca would leave me at home if I didn't hurry. I made it just in time as she was pulling the suv out of the garage.

I slept through the trip to school but when we arrived I noticed my favorite car was missing from the parking lot. As vain as it mite sound I enjoyed starting my day with seeing Alice Cullen's Yellow Porsche. Weird vibes maybe but that car was a major redeeming factor in my book. The Cullen's were always together and when only the silver Volvo pulled in it was a weird sight. Especially when only Renesmee and Jacob, the HUGE native American from a reservation a few hours away whom the basketball coach had spent countless hours trying to recruit, stepped out I was surprised. I looked up almost expecting a sunny day but scolded myself because the Cullens never go halfway. If one gets called in by their parents for camping then they all go camping.

The day went smoothly until lunch. I'm not sure if it was the nervousness from the complication in Mel and I's relationship or not but I was definitely not my normal quiet self. I sat with Mel and her cheerleader friends already used to the jokes about me being tamed so easily and even Tim followed though his reasons were a bit shadier. I have never been fond of gossip but apparently I was not the only one to notice the Cullen's absence.

"Have you seen that freakishly huge Indian? He has to be on steroids. That's probably why he never goes out for any sports, and why is he so protective of that Renesmee girl? There has to be something wrong with her as well," Adriana said and as usual my sister and Mel ignored her as some of the other cheerleaders got ready to burst into their Cullen bashing that would eventually lead to boyfriend bashing and on and on. Today it didn't get that far. I had stayed up late last night reading and wasn't in too great a mood.

"You know, Adriana, just because people don't fit into your black and white world doesn't mean they aren't good people," I said a little more sharply then I meant to and Rebecca sighed deeply so I made my tone more friendly, "Honestly I'd rather be able sit alone with my significant other or even read then have to be around "popular" people."

I bit back a gasp when who I assumed was my sister kicked me in the shin. Hard. The entire table was silent and even a few around us were as well. I only sighed when I realized I had wounded Adriana's pride and that was not going to sit well.

"You don't know if he uses steroids or not, and just because your talented enough to be weird and popular doesn't change the fact that your weird. Now that I think about it maybe you have been dipping into the Indians stash," She said in a loud voice making sure everyone can hear. The look on my face could not have been pretty as mostly everyone in the lunch room was leaning in to hear our little spat.

"You can keep assuming all you want but at least everyone here doesn't KNOW I use "supplements" to keep my figure," I said standing and pushing my seat backwards before I leaned forward getting closer to her, "and just because a girl is prettier then you doesn't mean something is wrong with her," I hissed in her face. I ignored Mel's soft in comparison to Beccas kick to my shin as I took my tray and went to dump it. Once that task was complete I turned to face a silent lunch room.

"If you have a habit of spreading gossip about every girl that is prettier then you had better start a journal to keep all your BS straight," I finished and turned on my heel.

I was almost out of the lunchroom when Mel caught up to me and took my arm to follow me out. To my own surprise a small smile played on her lips and when I glanced towards the Cullens table Jacob was holding back laughter and Renesmee was smiling broadly.

After that school went by very quickly. I never had trouble with class work and was usually a week ahead of the class seeing as my mom was the math teacher and everyone knows the worst homework comes from math. Before I knew it the day was over and I tried to sneak away to Mels class again but Rebecca cut me off before I made it out of my last class with a wicked grin.

"Where do you think you're going little brother?" she said.

"Away from you crazy girl," I said rolling my eyes already certain my fate was sealed.

"Not many people have the balls to stand up to Adriana. Then again most people are smart enough to realize she isn't going to stop gossiping. You're lucky I have her wrapped around my finger. She could ruin your reputation."

"You forget I don't care about my reputation," I said in annoyance and she only pinched my arm.

"Mom wants you to come home to chop some fire wood for tomorrow. She's going to call Tim over to get it done faster," Rebecca said sincerely.

"I bet you volunteered my services to Deacon didn't you?" I asked already knowing the answer.

"Someone has to do it and I have to make use of the few reliable people around here," she said.

"I don't know whether to be happy or sad," I sighed.

"Be happy of course! Look at all the good fortune being my henchman has brought you. First stringer in two sports, a cute girlfriend, and overall popularity by association," she said looking very proud of herself.

"I didn't want to play any of those sports, the only thing I get from association from you is notoriety, and if you hadn't been in between me and every girl on the planet maybe I wouldn't still be waiting at sixteen for my first kiss!" I fumed in her direction following her to the car.

"Someone had to bring you out of your shell, and better to be known in some way then none at all, and girls want what they can't have so I purposely made it so no one could have you making you one of the most desirable catches out there. Therefore you have been able to pick from the cream of the crop," she said with a laugh turning on the car as I got in.

"One of these days your little schemes are gonna catch up with you," I murmured.

"By then I'll be the first woman president of the United States and have a whole group of organizations to cover it up for me," she said and my head fell into my hands as I shook my head, " What? You don't think I can?" she said with a hint of amusement.

"No no…. I know you can. That's whats worrying me," I said in defeat. That was possibly one of my worst nightmares. I loved my sister to death but she was incredibly manipulative and managed to get her way often. My life was already set out in the pattern she saw fit but luckily the pattern she saw was pretty good. I shivered to think what life would be like if Rebecca had a mean bone in her body.

"Don't worry little brother," she said, " When I'm president I'll have a whole country to lead so I won't have time to control you so much," she finished ruffling my hair as we pulled up to the house. Tim already sat on the porch with his axe in his lap.

"You know for a second I was hoping you were lying just to keep me from Mel," I said wistfully. It sucked not being able to be mad at Rebecca. As I said she was manipulative but I did have a lot of my happiness because she was around.

"I may be controlling but I do just want you to be happy," she said as she got out of the car and went inside. Knowing her she had even more to do than we did to get ready for tomorrow. That's what made it so easy to follow her. She may have given us work to do but she was always doing more than most would think was humanly possible.

"So what did I do to get roped into this," Tim said with an annoyed glance.

"Same thing I did apparently," I grumbled.

The firewood didn't take nearly as long as we thought and we found ourselves climbing the stairs to my room to listen to music. Tim could never understand how I loved music but couldn't care less for songs. It wasn't long before he switched out one of my sound tracks and suddenly the room was booming with some random rap song. I rolled my eyes and picked up a book and started reading.

"So how are things with Mel?" Tim said raising his voice over the music. "Is it finally cool for us three to start hanging out again?" I shot him a questioning look and he sighed.

"Just because you guys feel awkward doesn't mean I'm gonna stop being friends with one of my best friends," he said casually. I closed the book and put it down on my bed next to me.

"Soooo how much have you been hanging out with Mel," I asked suspiciously. He laughed but I found no amusement in the strange tangle of emotions that were swirling within me.

"Enough to know you were both completely crushing on each other. Don't look at me like that! You know I see her more like a sister," he said with a bit of frustration in his voice.

"So you just enjoyed seeing me squirm?" I asked a little more than annoyed.

"Maybe if your sister didn't tutor MY girlfriend your sister wouldn't have had leverage over me but then again this is Becca we are talking about. She would have found some way to keep me from telling either of you. Anyways I'm not a good match maker," Tim said flopping down on my computer chair with his arms above his head.

I should have known it had something to do with Rebecca. It seemed anything to do with sports, girls, or my sanity had at some time during my life fallen under her jurisdiction.

My mom came into my room out of nowhere and Tim immediately turned down the music and smiled happily at her at which she only rolled her eyes and dropped a hamper of my clean clothes on my bed in front of me.

"Thanks mom," I said trying to distract her from Tims need for loud music but she only smiled at me knowingly.

"Keep the music down Tim, and dinner will be ready in half an hour. It would be nice if you could have those folded by then," she said in her most uncaring tone that flawlessy condemned me to folding the clothes now rather than later. The females of our family were obviously the talented ones.

"You're welcome to stay for dinner Tim. Thank you for helping with the wood," she said with a beaming smile before leaving the room.

"Why does she always wash clothes I don't wear?" I said in defeat.

"Just be happy she does your laundry at all. I've been doing mine since 5th grade, but man your mom is so hot," he finished with a wicked grin that was quickly interrupted by my pillow hitting him square in the face causing his chair to fall over backward. I couldn't deny that she was pretty but that didn't mean I needed to hear it from my friends. People said I got my sandy blond hair from my mother and my sister had only recently stopped the jokes about how my soft features made me look like a tall pretty girl with short hair and a flat chest, but most of that stopped being serious when I was fourteen. Whether people said I looked more like my mother than anything or not I had seen a picture of her brother and I was a splitting image of him and they were twins. I didn't miss how she sighed on his birthday to. It couldn't have been easy having a son that looked exactly like your deceased brother but she never let it show other than that one day every year.

Dinner went flawlessly but dad was out on a late night call so we ate in relative silence. This was primarily because Becca was busy writing on a clipboard. Tims mom had died when she had him so he relished any home cooked meal. Now that I think about it the only thing all his girl friend's had in common was there culinary skills. I shook my head with a grin at my shallow friend barely poking at my spaghetti. Tims dad pulled up to pick him up before mom could serve dessert much to his dismay so after saying goodbye I trudged upstairs to my room ignoring Tims thank yous for my mom wrapping a piece of cake for him to take home..

I was a week ahead on my math and planned on taking a break for the next few days. At least until the camping trip was done with. School always came easy for me but I found myself in my own books and at practice and such more than anything so I maintained a B average to most of my teachers frustration. Rebecca had straight As and they were sure I could to. I probably could have but I wanted to hold on to my old world which included books and me time and still function in the new world my sister had introduced me to so all in all that left little time for school work. I wanted to be a writer and now I sometimes thought about playing in the NBA so my parents didn't hound me so much. Of course all this was before I started going out with Mel. All thoughts of me time went out the window for "we" time and I didn't mind at all.

I called Mel only to be greeted when I heard the phone being snatched away and I was scolded by Becca for bothering them while they shopped for the trip. Why did Rebecca have to be at the center of every single activity and why was she shopping after dinner with Mel? With nothing else to do I grabbed some shorts and headed for the shower. After getting out and brushing my teeth I did the only thing left to do. I walked over to my bookshelf and grabbed a random book. I scowled when I noticed it was Martian Chronicles. I had been putting off reading this book forever but it was on the ap English reading list. Dad had promised me a car if I put some effort into a class and get a 4 or 5 on an AP test and I had decided on English, and if I was going to give up a chunk of my free time I would do as much as I could to preserve my ability to be lazy at school. This was the last book I had to read for the Junior ap reading list so I flopped down on my bed and began reading when I remembered something urgent.

I practically ran down the stairs right as dad was getting home and I ambushed him. After a little bit of work I got the phone number I needed from him and found myself in front of the computer. This was where the tricky part was. As a sixteen year old my funds were rather limited but if I did something for one I had to do something better for the other. The color would be important too. After I got the information I needed I called being ready to get yelled at. Luckily the old woman was still awake and when I asked if she had what I needed she laughed and told me to come by in the morning. I dashed upstairs again and got my stash of money out of my old sneakers and put it in my wallet. The only obstacle now was how I was going to get to the shop and to school on time without Becca being the wiser. She was great at keeping her secrets but horrid with anyone elses. I went back to my room and laid out everything I would need on my computer chair. Convinced I had done everything in my power I tried to read the first chapter of the most boring book I've ever read.

Suddenly I was waking up to hear sis pull out of the drive way and leave me at home causing me to curse loudly. God that book was even worse than I thought. I looked to the page and grimaced when I realized I had only got to page 4. This was going to be murder. I looked at the clock and saw why she had left without me. School started in 10 minutes and I would need at least half an hour to get ready and ride my bike there. I looked out the window once more and sighed. Make that 40 to get there without breaking my neck in this downpour. For a second I worried about the trip but remember Deacon had said the forecast was clear after 2pm.

I forced myself into action skipping a shower entirely and threw on some jeans and a T-shirt and sneakers. On my way out I grabbed my Jacket and narrowly evade mom's wrath. Her first class was second hour so she often took her planning period at home. I quietly opened the garage pulling down my bike and helmet when inspiration hit me. It didn't take long for me to work my way into moms romantic side and an hour later I was at school quickly hiding three packages right when my older sister came and berated me for being later.

"Well if you hadn't left me I wouldn't have missed 1st period," I said back widely ignoring her.

"Better for one of us to be late than both," she said with a snicker. Sometimes she was just crazy.

The day went by in the relative blur that always followed the end of the sport seasons for me, but knowing our basketball coach we would only have this weekend to relax. Rebecca and I waited for Deacon and Mel when the day was over I kept the three bulky packages under my coat trying not to damage them to much. For some reason the Cullens hadn't been around lately but Jacob and Renesmee had so I ran to the parking lot to catch them before they left. I saw Jacob holding the door of a old but awesome looking sports car open for Renesmee.

"WAIT!" I yelled out from across the parking lot making me want to disappear as every student in the lot looked to me. I jogged over to Renesmee and she look at my status curiously. It was obvious I had something under my coat and she waited patiently.

"Well I know it's a bit late but I was preoccupied, and I know that's not an excuse but just ask my sister. I'm a knuckle head," I said trying to not melt under the eyes searing into my back.

"Here," I said holding out a little bouquet of light pink roses and she took them blushing madly and probably in shock. Jacob was eyeing me suspiciously and I knew what it looked like.

"Now I looked it up online so I'm hoping I got it right but pink roses are supposed to represent elegance, refinement, and admiration. Your music was amazing and I just wanted to say good job," I said quickly having memorized the meaning of the roses.

"Thank you," she finally said and her voice was almost as pretty as her mothers and Mels. Now even though Jacob was smiling fondly at me I didn't expect the little freshmen to launch herself at me crying and give me the strongest bear hug of my life. For a second I knew I couldn't breathe. After she let go murmuring an apology for squeezing so hard she stepped back and held her hands in front of her blushing madly still. After I caught my breathe I took the second gift and held it out to her. She took the bundle of pages with curiosity but before she looked to read anything I stopped her.

"Hey now be careful," I said nervously before moving forward and whispering into her ear, "You shared your talent so ummm….. I thought I'd let you see how I express myself. It's a rough draft of a story I'm working on. It's about a half human half alien trying to find his place in the world and the war that follows. I know it's a bit weird but it's my thing. It's kind of a secret. I'm not as brave as you so please don't tell anyone. Well except Mel you guys should try to become friends." No matter what I did Renesmee only cryed harder and I didn't understand. I was starting to feel like a complete jack ass when Jacob spoke up.

"Don't worry man. She is just real happy. We will see you Monday?" He said pleasantly.

"Sure thing. Ok round two," I said mustering up all my courage and Jacob looked at me with a hint of confusion, "Just wait and see," I told him with a slight grin.

I turned around to see Becca standing there shaking her head, Deacon flabber gasted, and Mel with a small smile but confused eyes. I jogged back over to her and moved the bigger bundle out from under my coat at last. The bouquet of red roses was three times as many as the pink rose bouquet I had given Renesmee and Becca nodded approvingly.

"You see I've been trying to figure out how to express the difference between how I feel for you and her so it would be clear," I said to Mel softly reaching out and taking her hand, "This site only told me Pink for admiration and red for love," I finished quietly trying to convey my feelings with my eyes. Mel reached over and took the flowers and smelled them all confusion gone from her eyes and I sighed in relief when her face turned serious.

"Brian Evans… Don't you ever spend this kind of money on me again," she said sternly and Becca barely held in her laughter but from the smile on Mel's face I knew I had done something right for once. I looked over my shoulder and Jacob gave me a friendly nod.

"Looks like you made a new friend short stuff. Maybe you can convince him to try out next year," Deacon said playfully.

"Just because I'm not 6'6 doesn't mean I'm short. It just means you're a freak," I said in an equally playful tone wrapping my arm around Mel's shoulder and walking towards the car as we went.

I enjoyed the ride home in the back with Mel. If I thought I had done right earlier now I knew with the way she was leaning into me and letting her head rest on my chest. I was in heaven.