Here's your update. I'm not getting as many reviews as I would like to have, especially since there are like a billion of you who add me to your alerts/fave story list. Please review. I promise it won't kill you. I promise.

Okay. A lot of things happen in this story, but everything will come out to play. I promise. But if I don't get at least fifteen reviews, I'm not posting the next chapter. And fifteen isn't a lot. But please, take the time out to press the green button at the bottom of the screen. Or you'll be left to wait forever for the next chapter. And judging by what happens, forever is a long time.

But in any case, here you are. :)

BPOV

I woke up the next morning, wrapped in Edward's arms, his head lying on my chest. He was completely asleep, and adorable I might add. It just made me want to snuggle closer to him, breathe in his warm masculine scent, and just be happy in my happy place. But I couldn't completely neglect the fact that I had a waiting best friend for me to join her for breakfast.

So, very reluctantly, I got my ass out of bed and walked to the bathroom, washing my face and brushing my teeth. Boy, did I have morning breath.

Ugh.

I put a hoodie on over the rather revealing camisole I had on over my shorts. It was the hoodie I loved that smelled like Edward. I smiled as I inhaled his scent off of his jacket. I finished up in the bathroom, going downstairs to meet Alice in the enormous kitchen, where she had one of the house maids preparing out meal.

Alice and I had breakfast outside, enjoying the nice weather. She was more tired than normal, so we decided not to dress up and have the breakfast be less than formal. We stayed in our pajamas, bringing out blankets to keep us from getting too cold. We just wanted it to be girl time, while the guys hung out. I noticed that Alice was really conscious of losing her hair; her hand went up to touch it every chance she could get it.

"So Bella," she said, "how's Phoenix?" She gave me a weak smile, and I returned it. Somewhat.

"Boring. You see, there was this girl that lived next to me . . . . she brightened up my life," I said to her. She laughed.

"I can still brighten up your life Bella. It'll just have to be over the phone now," she said with a wind-chime laugh. I smiled at her.

"Well, I think Jacob found love, though," I said, thinking about the new girl. And how if he wasn't treating her right, I would have to kick his ass. Or get Jasper to since he looked like he could take Jacob just fine.

"Oh," Alice said. "That's nice. Apart of me really wishes he would have tried liking us. We aren't that bad," she said with a flashing smile.

"Nope, you guys are just my cup of tea." I smiled back at her.

"Okay, now to the part I really want to talk about," she said. She looked around and then, in a lowered voice, she said, "Me and Jasper, we, like, totally went all the way."

"No way!" I said in a hushed voice, not to draw any attention. She nodded fiercely.

"Yeah. And it was so magical. I couldn't believe it. I loved it, it was so wonderful. It was before we left, before Edward and I started getting really sick. He took me to his house and had his room all decorated with candles. It was his ordinary room, but he went the extra mile to make me happy. And then it happened," she said.

I looked at her. Wow. I couldn't believe it. I always perceived Alice to be a virgin until she was, like, thirty, only because she was so girlie and perfect all the time. It was shocking to say the least.

"So," she continued. "How far have you and Edward gotten? If you don't mind my asking," she corrected.

"You know I don't," I said with a big smile. "And we've gone just as far as you have. It wasn't as romantic, we were just messing around in my room on Christmas Eve, and then clothes started coming off, and there you go, it happened. And I couldn't have been happier," I said to her. "I love Edward. I really do. And not because he's gorgeous, or because he's sick, but for entirely selfish reasons. I love him because he makes me feel like I'm alive.

"Alice, if you would have seen my life before you came, you would have puked. You would have." Alice was laughing hysterically. "Stop laughing! It's not funny!" I said to her. She did, and I continued. "I love Edward because he makes butterflies appear in my stomach for no reason, and I can't ever get over the way he talks to me, like I'm the only girl in the room, or the way he looks at me like I'm a hundred times more beautiful to him than I would be anyone else. I love Edward because we fit together; the way we think so alike is astonishing. It just makes sense for us to be together," I said to her.

"That's why, sweetie, when it's time for God to take one of us, he's going to choose me-Bella don't interrupt me," she said jabbing a finger in my direction when I opened my mouth to protest.

"I've known since I was a little girl that I was different. I could tell when things were going to happen, or what things were going to happen. I didn't know what it was, but it was definitely a strong sense of intuition. And I know this makes you sad, but I could never see myself as a successful woman, or a mother. I just don't think it will ever happen Bella, and that's because I'm probably better off giving angels fashion advice."

We laughed, but it was hard to smile through my tears. I couldn't have Alice be gone away from me. Because if I had Edward, then I had to have Alice too. They were a packaged deal. It was as simple as that.

"Alice, I know you think you're going to leave, but how about we just chill for a few seconds before it happens. Despite what you say, you could be a great mother, or a successful woman, or even an amazing wife," I said to her with a nudge, thinking about Jasper.

"You know, I told Jasper I wanted to get married in a big reception hall, like the Plaza Hotel, only not in the US. And do you know what he told me?" she said. Her face looked skeptical, and I was ready to kick Jasper's ass.

"What? What did he say?" I asked, impatient with her suspense.

"He told me anything I wanted I could have." Her face brightened and she smiled. "That if I wanted it, he would give it to me."

"So . . ." I said confused.

"So if I'm not in a casket by the time I graduate, Jasper said he'd marry me."

I smiled, but inside my heart was broken.

Alice got her dream.

Why couldn't I have mine? Was I incapable of wanting something so amazing with someone so glorious that my request would get shot down?

"Last night I asked Edward to spend the rest of his life with me, and he said no," I said flatly.

Alice laughed. I glared at her. "Bella, I didn't mean it like that. You have to understand that that is a very 'Edward' answer. And the only reason he shot you down was because he wants to protect you. Why would he try to give you whatever he could and then it all gets pulled from right under your feet? Sweetie, Edward wants to. Believe me, I know he wants to. But you're just going to have to be patient with him. Because if you really love him, then you would be."

"Okay," I said to her.

We chatted about some other things, and then finished breakfast. We didn't go inside just yet, prolonging the girl time just for another hour or two.

When we did go inside, the boys were in the dining hall, playing X-Box. They kept playing, even as I sat down with Edward, resting my head on his shoulder. It was a loud shooting game, but boys were boys, regardless of the game.

When it ended, Edward put an arms around me. I giggled a little bit.

"I like your beanie," I told him with a giggle.

He laughed. "Alice has a lot of them. You should get one too. It was nice that you did this, Bella, shaving off all of your hair, but you're going to miss it." He looked at my head nostalgically. "Not to mention I'm going to miss it."

"It's just hair."

He just grunted, and we stood up. I really did like Edward in a beanie. It brought on a new wave of sexiness. I smiled to myself.

When we reached the bedroom, Edward leaned down to kiss me.

"I'm not feeling very well today," he said. "But don't worry. I'm just tired, so I'm going to sleep. You can come with me if you want, or you can do whatever else you want," he said to me. I looked up into his green eyes. He was tired. So tired it made me scared. I just nodded and he laughed.

"Bella, it's okay to leave me," he said. "I'm not going anywhere," he said.

"That may be," I sad back, "but I'll be gone in six days, sweetie. And I'm not leaving here without spending as much time as I can with you."

"Come on."

He really did want to go to sleep. And I could have used a few extra hours. So I lay next to him, cuddling in his strong arms, and resting my head on his chest.

"Just hold me tight," he sang softly in my ear, "lay by my side, and let me be the one that calls you baby all the time."

I smiled.

He continued. "I found my place, in the world, stare at your face for the rest of my days . . ."

"Where is that from, Edward?" I asked softly.

"The Used. It's called 'Smother Me'. I've had it in my head all day."

I smiled again. "It's nice."

"Yeah."

And then we were silent again. I thought idly about a lot of things, death, life, afterlife, angels, while Edward drifted off into sleep.

I untangled myself from him, and went downstairs to see Esme.

She was reading a novel on the sofa, the sunlight streaming in beautifully, causing her her to turn on like a light.

"How are you, Esme?" I said softly as not to startle her.

"Oh, Bella. Sweetie, I'm very fine. I'm just tired. These kids have kept me up all hours of the day with the pain, I'm so happy they're doing so well. So happy. Although, I don't ever see Carlisle anymore. And that kills me sometimes." She gave me a motherly smile.

"But Esme, aren't you lonely? Don't you want to do something?" I asked her.

"Well, yes, but what would I do? Bella, I can't leave them and go gallivanting on whatever I decide to do. They're my children, and I can't just leave them. I couldn't stand being away from them for any period of time." She sighed.

"Yes Esme, I get what you're saying, but, I meant did you want to do something together? We could have a little girl's day. I feel like I haven't gotten to know you all that well, and I would really like to."

Esme smiled her motherly smile, but I could tell she was excited to do this. "Okay, Bella, what shall we do?" she asked.

"Well we could watch a movie, or bake," I suggested to her.

"That sounds wonderful. The baking I mean. I haven't baked in a really long time."

So that's what we left to do. And let me tell you. Hanging out with my boyfriend's mother had never been so satisfying.

EPOV

I waited until Bella thought I was asleep to do the thing I wanted most: sneak out of the house. I went to the foot of the stairs and heard Bella and my mother laughing. This couldn't have been easier.

I climbed out of the window of the second story, using the ledge to level myself before completely jumping off. It wasn't that bad . . .

Okay, so maybe it was, but whatever. I needed to make my girlfriend as happy as I could make her, and I was sure that this was the only time I would get.

I took the keys to the Porsche from my pocket, and climbed inside the yellow one that was parked inside the garage.

And like that, I was off to town.

There were a billion things I would have liked to do with Bella here. Italy was so beautiful, especially in the early daytime. Sick or not, I admired it.

But after on a little while of driving, I found the one store I'd been looking for. I went inside, getting funny looks since I was a young looking kid with a beanie and jeans. But I just flashed them a few of the higher numbered bills, and they just smiled and left me to whatever I needed to do.

I looked around for a little while, not quite finding what I wanted.

A lady came up to me, sporting an elegant smile, and spoke to me in Italian.

"Can I help you sir?" she asked. I smiled and answered her, telling her what I was looking for. She raised her eyebrow, as if to judge my comment, and then proceeded to help me find what I needed.

She smiled a lot, telling me how nice it was to do this and all that jazz. But when I got it, I was out of there so fast, not even risking being out any later and having something find out that I'd been out.

I parked the car in the garage and then left back up to the house, climbing up the wall to my window, lying in my bed, hiding the secret thing I'd gotten today in the first drawer of the chest on the far end of the room.

I smiled to myself as Bella came into the room, being as quiet as she could be. She was wearing a pink beanie.

"Black is for boys," she said in a mocking tone. Though I had to admit, Bella did look stunning in pink. It set of her blushing cheeks.

She looked over at me, and then slammed her hands over her mouth.

"It's okay Bella, I was already awake. Come here," I said to her.

She kicked off her shoes, and climbed on the bed. Bella laid her head on my shoulder, breathing in softly. It had only been a little while since I was gone, so whatever Bella and my mother had been doing, they couldn't have been finished already. Not completely anyways.

"So what were you up to?" I asked her.

"Just baking brownies with Mom-I mean Esme." I could almost see the blush that formed on her cheeks when she called my mother "Mom".

"Oh, that's nice," I said to her.

"What's wrong, Edward?" she said. "You're heart is beating a million beats a second." She smiled. "Do you want me to get the nurse or something?"

"No, Bells. That's just what you do to me."

She blushed harder. I had to do it now, or else I wouldn't have ever.

I was nervous, but I leaned forward and kissed her. She kissed back, but she ended up giggling.

"What?" I asked her.

"Nothing. Bella, I 'm just happy. I need to ask you something Bella," I said seriously to her.

"'Kay. What?" she said softly, her face turning neutral.

"It's nothing bad, but remind me of the things we were talking about that night. What you wanted your life to turn out to be," I said to her.

"Why? So you can shoot me down again?" she asked.

"Of course not Bella. I just wanted to know."

"Well, I wanted to have a nice happy life. Get married, have kids, all that jazz," she said to me. Her eyes sparkled with nothing but love. It was quite astonishing really. She was so beautiful, I couldn't help but smile at her.

"Okay, so maybe I have something that can put your dreams in motion," I said to her.

"What? A willing boyfriend?" she said to me. She flashed me a teasing smile.

"That, and something else."

I stood up from the bed and retrieved the bag from the chest. I sat on the bed, in the same place in front of her, placing the bag with the special thing inside in the middle.

She stared at it, and then she stared at me.

"Bella, I love you. I really do. And apparently you love me back if you don't care that I have this stupid disease. And it makes me love you more for that. I can't express how much I love you. Making love to you is close, but still not quite what I'm looking for. You made me less sick, Bella. I forgot that I was sick when I was with you, when I met you. You turned my world completely upside down and I didn't mind. You made me better in ways medicine couldn't, in ways doctors couldn't imagine. They always said laughing was the best medicine, but I think they had it wrong. Love is, and you make me better. If only every man could have a woman like you Bella, or even a teenage guy. Because you make my life complete."

She stared at me, with tears in her eyes, letting them fall over. She was smiling, and I think she knew where I was getting at.

I took out the little box and opened it, showing her what was inside. She gasped, and then covered her mouth with her hands, looking straight into my eyes.

"Isabella Marie Sw-"

"Yes! Yes!" And then she tackled me. And I laughed at her.

And she laughed too, kissing me all over. "Yes, Edward."

"You could have let me finish," I said to her, still laughing.

"I'm impatient, sue me," she said with a giggle.

"I'd rather marry you, Bells."

"Me too. Believe me, me too, Edward."

She pulled back and looked at me. "You didn't have to get me a ring, Edward," she said with a stubborn smile.

The door to the bedroom opened just as I was sliding on the ring on her ring finger.

"What the?" Alice screamed.

Bella covered her ears and what we thought was a scream of excitement, turned out to be a scream of pain when Alice collapse on the floor, hitting her head.

"Esme!" Bella called as I called for the nurse. They both arrived in a heart beat, as well as Jasper. His face was blank. The nurse called for back up, and then they carried Alice's unmoving frame away. Bella was crying, and she was holding on to me so hard I thought I was going to break. But in turn, I held her just as hard, fearing that my twin sister's life was over.

Esme locked Bella, Jasper, and me in our room so we didn't interfere with Alice's recovery. We didn't even know what was going on, and even though it was killing me, I think it was killing Jasper even more. I didn't know how that was possible. But then again I did, because if anything, anything at all were to happen to Bella, I would definitely go insane. And 'insane' was a mild term for it.

I was pacing in front of the bed, as Bella lay down, her eyes closed and her breathing a little labored. Jasper was also pacing, opposite of me, so that he passed me.

We were all silent.

Then, there was a brutal knock at the door. We all looked at each other, and then my mother let her self into the room.

She was crying.

My heart clenched.

I looked at Bella; she was shedding a new set of tears.

Jasper's face was rigid.

"She won't wake up," Mom said, "and if she doesn't wake up in the next two days, she could die," she whispered.

It was silent for a second as I ran this over in my head. My sister was dying. My best friend was dying. Alice was dying.

And I could do nothing but stand there and stare at my mother.

And then there was the most horrible sound anyone in anytime of their entire life could hear: the flatline of a heart monitor.

Please don't shoot me. Please don't hate me either. Just keep reading. Keep reading.

And review.

Please review.

And don't forget to not hate me.

Jess