DISCLAIMER: The characters do not belong to me…they are all the creation of the wonderful Stephenie Meyer.

If you haven't heard: Go to Stephenie's website and check out the official pictures of the Cullen Family!!!! If you look closely, you can see the gold colored contacts!!! Weeeee!!! And yes, Jasper's hair is weird b/c it's a wig - he's in another movie at the moment so hopefully, it'll look better when they can die his hair. Also, Breaking Dawn will be released on August 2nd!

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Edward and Alice discuss a potential problem.

Curious

"Alice," I called, as I knocked on her bedroom door. I knew from her thoughts that she was flipping through a fashion magazine.

She opened the door and smiled. "You want to take a ride in the car!"

"Yes," I chuckled, shaking my head at her. Not many things got past my pixie sister. "Are you free to join me?"

"You're debating on whether or not to let me drive. I'll make it easy for you, Edward! If I can drive, I'll come along. If not, then you'll just have to come back another day."

"Don't you ever get tired of blackmailing the family you're supposed to love so much?"

"Silly Edward! I blackmail you because I love you."

I laughed and yanked her out of her room, holding her under my arm. She giggled and kicked her feet out behind her, not really trying to get away.

"Yeah!" she squealed, as I put her down outside of the garage building. "You're going to let me drive!"

"It probably is your turn," I sighed, not completely happy with letting someone else drive my car. It was such a fine piece of engineering and precision driving … the Volvo was probably feeling neglected! I chuckled to myself as I got in on the passenger side.

Alice got into the driver's seat and used the controls to move the seat up and forward until she was comfortable. She turned to me with a face-splitting smile. "Keys, please!"

I chuckled as I dropped them into her little hands. She went to put them in the ignition and I stopped her hand.

"The ignition is sensitive. Just barely turn the key forward to start the car. It's got a lot of power, so be careful pulling out of the garage. Rose would kill us both if you damaged the X5 … We won't talk about what I would do if you hit the Aston Martin."

"Edward, have a little bit of faith in your favorite sister! I have been driving nearly as long as you! And I own a Porsche, duh! I think I know how to handle a fast car!"

"And what makes you think you're my favorite sister?" I asked, pretending to be annoyed.

"So many things … Where to start? Oh! I know! Because I said so!" she giggled, as she started the car. She carefully pulled out of the garage, but as soon as she was clear of it, she was tearing down the driveway.

"What are you doing?" I cried, glaring at her.

"Nothing you haven't done," she said in a sing-song voice. "Sit back and relax, Edward. I'm in complete control!"

"Relax … I'd like to see you relax if I took off like that in the Porsche," I grumbled.

"I'd only be upset if you didn't," she chided. "It would mean something was wrong with you."

"Ha, ha," I muttered.

"Don't sulk, brother! It's so not the look for you! Besides! I want to get back to all the wonderful reasons why I'm your favorite sister."

"Which are?" I chuckled, lifting an eyebrow at her.

"Well, besides the obvious reason, there's everything I did to help you to get and to keep Bella. There's the super romantic and elegant wedding I put together for you and your beautiful bride. And the recent honeymoon you took, as well as this lovely car we're sitting in now. Not to mention all the little ways I make your life wonderful, like picking out your clothing and helping to bring out the sexy side of your Bella!"

"Those are okay reasons," I said, trying to hold back my laughter. "But what's the obvious reason?"

She turned and looked at me, a rarely seen serious expression gracing her small face. "Because we understand each other in ways our siblings never will. Bella can understand to an extent because of her ability, but she's such a new member to our family … She has no idea of how things used to be for you, or the rest of us, before she came along."

"Carlisle, Esme, and you were really the only ones who understood me back then."

"That's because you wouldn't put down that damn wall of yours and open yourself up to the rest of the family."

"You make it sound like I did it on purpose, Alice."

"Not on purpose, Edward. But you have to admit you had no desire to change. You were so convinced you were complete in yourself. You refused to listen to anyone else's opinions on the matter. Even Eleazar tried to point it out to you."

"I just …" I started to say before she interrupted me.

"Thought we were all wrong," she finished with a smirk. "You figured you knew better since you could hear everyone's thoughts, had lived a long time, had read a lot of books, and had watched a lot of television. And then sweet, frail, human Bella came tripping along and showed the almighty Edward Cullen that he doesn't know everything!" My sister's tinkling laughter filled the car.

"Bella has drastically changed the way I view the world," I mused. I pictured my wife's smiling face in my head and grinned.

"One of my absolute favorite days of watching the two of you together is still that day at school when you asked her to ride with you to Seattle. Your face was priceless and Jazzy said your nerves were shot! Right up until Bella said 'Honestly, Edward'." My sister's voice was an exact replica of Bella's as she uttered those words.

"Why that day and those words?" I asked, curiosity burning through me.

"The moment your name tumbled for her lips, all of your nervousness melted away into happy anticipation," Alice explained. "I didn't need to have visions to see how vital Bella was to your happiness, to your very existence … It was written on your face."

"You've stood by me through a lot, Alice."

"That's what a favorite sister does, Edward," she chuckled.

"I'm sorry I fought you so hard."

"I know. You were never one to take the easy route, Edward. But I still love you! Now that we have our mushy moment out of the way, why don't we get down to business? Tell me about this human that has you so worried."

"You know, it would be nice, once in awhile, to get to bring up a topicbefore you do it for me," I said, giving her an annoyed look.

"Hold your breath for that!" Alice giggled. She saw me glaring and she sighed. "Fine! Edward, is there anything you would like to talk about?"

"Why, yes, Alice!" I said, giving her a smile.

She poked her tongue at me and then giggled.

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. I took a moment to collect my thoughts, then started explaining the situation to my sister. "There's a human I would like you to watch out for. I hate to ask for any more favors seeing as you're already watching the Volturi. But this human's lurid daydreams about Bella are getting rather dark and much more frequent. His name is Stephen and he's in the business writing class that Bella and I are taking. In the beginning, the dreams were just annoying. I stopped Bella from blocking me, not wanting her to have to hear them everyday. But now …"

"What sort of daydreams, Edward?"

"It's difficult to pinpoint exactly what makes me so uneasy about them … They start out like the typical human fantasies with Bella agreeing to date him. When he pictures their dates, they're plain – nothing especially exciting or romantic – mostly meeting at a pizza place and eating together. But even that bothers me. Who wants a date with a woman like Bella and meets her for pizza? He doesn't take her anywhere at all and he doesn't attempt to be romantic towards her either. It's almost as if he's studying her. And I can't shake the feeling that he's purposefully keeping himself from becoming attached to her in any way. It's just very odd, Alice."

"Does he picture any human contact with her? A handshake? A kiss on the cheek? Anything?"

"No. He always sits opposite from her, with his hands in his lap."

"Sounds as if he's frightened of her."

"Yes, but why? And if he is frightened, why daydream about dating her?"

"Maybe he just has self-esteem issues," she offered.

"Maybe."

"You don't sound like you have any believe in that at all, Edward."

I shrugged. I couldn't find words to properly express my anxiety.

"You said the dreams were getting dark. What did you mean by that?" she asked.

"He had a different sort of daydream yesterday. He pictured himself in a small, dirty room. Bella was sitting in a chair directly in front of him. She was motionless, with her hands in her lap. She looked scared of him and he was smiling, as if he was happy she feared him." I turned in the seat, facing my sister. "He stopped the dream, Alice. I've never seen a human manage that before. They've always had to finish it or it would just keep popping back into their thoughts. He cut it off and focused on the lesson, only thinking of how to complete the assignment. It was … eerie."

"Does Bella have any idea of what this boy's been thinking about her?"

"No. As I said, I no longer let her block me in that class. I've told her I don't need it."

"You know how much she hates it when you hide things from her."

"I'm not hiding it, necessarily. I just don't want to worry her with it … Especially when it will probably amount to nothing more than me being overprotective."

"If these dreams continue or get worse, you'll need to at least caution her to stay away from him. Although, I think you should just be completely honest with her now and tell her everything that's been going on."

"I'll take that into consideration," I said, smiling at her. "For now, I think we should turn around and head home. By the time we get back, Bella will be done gardening with Esme."

"It's amazing how Bella makes time to do something with each of us," Alice chirped.

"She loves our family very much."

"And you above all others, brother. Don't you ever doubt that or forget it for one second. Or I'll have to kick your big, old, mind-reading butt!"

"Didn't you get onto Bella recently about using Emmett's type of language?" I smirked.

"I'm allowed. I'm older!" Alice giggled.

"Sure!" I said, rolling my eyes at her.

We rode in comfortable silence together for awhile. Alice and I had always had a unique relationship. I smiled to myself, remembering the first time I'd met her. I'd come back from hunting to find that she'd joined our family and stolen my room. Normally, my temper would've gotten out of control, but I'd found it hard to be angry with the little pixie.

"What are you smiling about?" she asked, a grin on her own face.

"I was remembering the first words I spoke when I met you," I chuckled.

Alice laughed happily, her golden eyes twinkling. "You didn't even say them to me! You were talking to Emmett about me!" She cleared her throat, then did an accurate impression of my voice. "Esme tells you no dog so you bring home a pixie instead?"

We looked at each other for a moment, remembering that day clearly. Alice let out a brief giggle and it set of the thunderous laughter that poured forth from both of us.

"I told you we would be best friends," Alice chuckled.

"Yeah, yeah," I replied, waving a hand at her.

"So when are you going to have another training session for Bella?"

"Tomorrow, after school."

"Rose and I might stop by. Bella said we should give you a heads up about it."

"Smart woman, that wife of mine!" I chuckled.

"How much is it bothering you?"

"It hasn't been too bad so far, but we're still on the basics. Jasper's planned for tomorrow's lesson to concentrate on proper fighting stance and throwing punches. The practice after that is the one I'm freaking out about. It will be the first one where Jasper and Emmett start to hit back."

"I can always look for you and give you the play-by-play so you know what to expect."

"No, thank you. This training is as much for me as it is for her. I have to learn to back off and let her stand on her own in certain situations."

"That's a very wise thing you just said, brother."

"I know," I said, flashing my teeth at her.

"You know what your problem is, Edward? You've been right one too many times."

"And do you know what your problem is, dear Alice?"

"Of course, I do! The best stores are not open twenty-four-seven," she smirked.

I laughed at her, shaking my head. "I was going to say you have the same problem as me."

"I know."

"See!" I chuckled.

"That's what makes us such a great team, Edward! We're like Harry and Bess!"

"Who?" I asked.

"Harry Houdini and his partner Bess! Only I'm the magician and you're my sidekick, and we're only sister and brother. Not to mention that our outfits are a thousand times better!"

"Moving on!" I said, wanting to get away from Alice's strange musing. "I wanted to thank you again for helping Bella with the car and the party. And I really like the keychain. You picked some great pictures to put on it."

"I know how much you like the one from New York. And the one of Bella, you, and me together has always been a personal favorite of mine."

"Her two favorite people in the all world," I said, smiling to myself.

"What?" my sister asked.

"Bella keeps that picture on the mirror of her dresser. She wrote on the back of it and it says 'my two favorite people in all the world'."

"She really is too sweet!" Alice giggled.

"No, she's just perfect."

"And she's just heard us turn into the driveway. She'll be standing by the garage waiting to greet you."

"Sometimes, Alice, that little quirk of yours comes in handy!"

"I can say the same for you, Edward! And by the way, that favor you asked for, I'll take care of it. I'll let you know if I see anything to worry about."

"Thanks, Alice." I dropped my voice low so no one else would hear me. "You're a good sister and I love you. And I'll deny ever saying that if asked. Not even Jasper will persuade me to tell the truth."

Alice laughed happily as she stopped the car and put in park. My door opened and I looked up to see my wife holding it open, smiling at me.

"Hey, stranger!" Bella giggled. "Where did you and Alice go off to?"

"It was her turn to drive," I said, climbing out of the car. I pulled Bella into my arms, hugging her tightly. "I love you."

She wrapped her own arms around my back. "I love you, too."

"I have to park the car in the garage, love."

"One more minute."

"Okay," I laughed.

"On second thought, park the car," Bella said, pulling away. "Because the next time I wrap my arms around you, you aren't going anywhere for the rest of the night."

"That sounds excellent, love. Go on up to our room. I'll be right behind you."

She smiled and nodded, then took off into the house. I pulled the car into the garage and climbed out. I grabbed a rag and quickly wiped it down, thinking over my conversation with Alice. I hoped she wouldn't have any visions. I hoped this human got over his infatuation with my wife. But I still couldn't shake the nagging feeling that it wouldn't be that easy.