Jade sighed. "Just...give me a second." She muttered, rubbing her temples and not looking at Alice. Her best friend was a vampire. Her best friend was a vampire. That...well, frankly Jade wasn't sure what to make of that. Finally she just sighed and shook her head. "Alright then." Alice blinked.

"That's it?"

Jade just shrugged and poured herself another cup of coffee, then started rummaging through her cupboards.

"You find out that I'm a vampire and you have no questions?" Jade sighed.

"We've been friends for a while now. Unless you were turned into a vampire yesterday you've been a vampire the entire time. And you haven't attacked me once. Plus nobody in the area's been turning up dead, so I assume you're not killing people for blood. Face it Alice, you're not scary." Alice raised an eyebrow, then noticed Jade's body language. The goth girl was clearly struggling, her body tense and tight.

"What are you looking for?" Alice asked, trying to keep things casual. Confronting Jade wouldn't help, she was too stubborn for that.

"Flavoring." Jade said shortly, rummaging through another set of cupboards, looking increasingly frustrated.

"Oh, I threw your flask away." Alice said, guessing at what Jade was saying. Her friend froze.

"What?" Jade said, her voice deceptively calm.

"Jade, you're seventeen. You should not have a flask of whiskey." Jade glared at her, then opened a third cupboard, grabbed the jar of garlic powder, opened it quickly, and whirled around, throwing the powder in Alice's face. Alice crinkled her nose in disgust. Garlic didn't exactly repel her, but it smelled awful. Then she looked up at Jade. "Feel better?" Jade paused.

"A bit." She said after a moment, turning around and putting the garlic back. "Tori all over again." Jade muttered under her breath before turning back and grabbing her cup of coffee. "So. Explain." Alice sighed.

"I'm a vampire. I'm capable of drinking human blood, but I make do with animal blood instead. That's why my eyes are amber." Jade opened her mouth, but Alice preempted her. "Yes, my whole family are vampires. No, Bella doesn't know about Edward, though she'll probably figure it out in a week or two. No, I can't turn into a bat or a wolf or mist, Holy Water and crosses don't bother me, and garlic just smells bad." Jade arched an eyebrow.

"And sunlight?" Alice paused.

"It'd be easier to just show you. Tomorrow?"

"Fine." Jade paused, then smirked. "What about wooden stakes and decapitation?"

"Why do you want to know how to kill me?" Alice asked, smiling slightly in spite of herself. Jade shrugged.

"No reason." Alice shook her head. Jade was certainly an odd human.

"Well I'm afraid it's not that easy. My skin is as hard as marble."

"Buy a jackhammer, got it." Jade said, nodding. Alice couldn't help it, she laughed. Jade preened slightly, smirking as she took a drink.

Twenty hours later

Alice folded her arms, pouting. "Oh come on, it's not that funny." Jade nodded, shaking with laughter.

"Yes it is." She argued, leaning back in a tree. They were in a clearing deep in the forest, away from everyone else. "You sparkle! Like a living disco ball!"

"I am not!" Alice snapped, stomping her foot. "If my skin looks like anything it's diamonds!"

"Did you seriously just stomp your foot?" Jade asked, raising an eyebrow. Alice hmphed and turned her back on her friend. Jade rolled her eyes and stepped into the clearing. Alice blinked in surprise as a second later the taller girl wrapped her arms around her. "Aw, don't be mad Disco Munchkin." Alice gasped and moved, quickly throwing Jade over her shoulder. Jade blinked as she landed on her back, then again as Alice straddled her.

"You are horrible." Alice scolded, jamming her fingers into Jade's ribs and attempting to tickle her. Jade just smirked.

"And yet you're still..." Whatever she was about to say was cut off by a squeak as one of Alice's fingers brushed over her stomach. Both girls froze, Jade's eyes widening as Alice gave a very Jade like smirk. "Oh, don't even think about it Cullen." Jade said, squirming in a vain attempt to get out from under Alice. "I swear, if you..." Any further conversation was cut off as Alice attacked Jade's stomach, filling the air with unwilling laughter.

Two days later

Alice frowned in concern. Jade wasn't at school. And she never missed school. From what Alice could tell the goth girl was never sick. And after living in Hollywood for so long it wasn't like there was a lot in Forks to tempt Jade. Something was wrong.

So Alice slipped out during lunch, heading for the parking lot. Edward frowned at her and started to get up, no doubt to attempt to talk Alice out of visiting Jade, but Rosalie grabbed him by the arm and yanked him back down with a roll of her eyes. She winked at Alice, who smiled gratefully. To her surprise, Rosalie cocked her head to the side, then shook it in mock despair. Edward stopped attempting to free himself and stared at her, than at Alice. Alice raised an eyebrow at her siblings' behavior and moved on. She'd figure it out later.

Fifteen minutes later

Alice slowly pried Jade's bedroom window open (it was the only window in Jade's loft that faced the woods the house backed onto that was also big enough for Alice) and slipped inside. She took a deep breath, appreciating Jade's distinctive coffee and spearmint scent, then frowned as the scent of cognac mixed in. Very concerned now, Alice slipped out into the hallway and went down to the living room. The lights were all off and Jade was sitting in a brown leather arm chair in the corner, wearing tight blue jeans, black combat boots, and a black silk bra, a full glass tumbler pressed against her forehead as she leaned back with her eyes shut. Alice paused at the doorway, not sure how to move forward, when Jade spoke up.

"Are you going to sit down, or just keep staring at me?" She asked, not opening her eyes.

"Can I do both?" Alice asked teasingly, walking over to the couch and sitting at the end closest to Jade. To her surprise the goth girl visibly flinched and opened one eye, looking at Alice intently. After a moment she slumped back down, closing her eyes.

"So..." Jade said slowly. "Why are you here?" Alice shrugged, drawing her feet up under her.

"You weren't at school today. I was concerned."

"Well I'm not dead yet." Jade said flatly.

"Yet being the key word there." Alice said slowly, eying the tumbler. Jade rolled her eyes.

"I'm in no hurry to die Cullen, don't worry your pretty little head about that." Alice raised an eyebrow as Jade drained the glass but decided that it would be best to say nothing else. She scanned the room and noticed a small electric piano with two picture frames resting on top of it. One picture showed a group of six teenagers standing together, smiling. There was a boy with glasses and curly brown hair holding a ventriloquist dummy, a girl with hair the color of a red velvet cupcake and a big smile, a confident looking boy with long brown hair, and a boy with dreadlocks and a happy, easy grin. In the center was Jade, wearing a look of supreme happiness that Alice had never seen before and her arm thrown around the shoulder of a pretty Latina with long brown hair and a bright smile, who was leaning against Jade. The other picture was of Jade and the Latina again, but alone, both girls looking at the other like they were her world. Jade followed her gaze and scowled.

"Who's..." Alice started, but Jade cut her off.

"Look Alice, I am not in the mood for this today. Tomorrow..." She gulped. "Maybe tomorrow we can talk okay? Just, just leave. Please. I'll be fine." Alice frowned in concern but nodded and stood up. She headed out the way she came, but hovered just outside the window, reluctant to leave when Jade was clearly in so much pain. For a long while there was silence, but then Jade got up and refilled her glass before moving to the piano.

"How can I not talk about you when you're all that I've got?

Everything I went through you were standing there by my side

And now you gon' be with me for the last ride..."

Alice's eyes widened as Jade's voice trailed off. She'd known that Jade was talented, but she hadn't realized just how amazing the girl's voice was. Then Jade continued.

"So let the light guide your way,

Hold every memory as you go

And every road you take, will always lead you home."

Alice winced at the clear and blatant pain in Jade's voice as she continued to sing.

"It's been a long day without you, my friend

And I'll tell you all about it when I see you again

We've come a long way from where we began

Oh, I'll tell you all about it when I see you again

When I see you again..."

There was a long moment of silence, and then Alice heard Jade get up from the piano and return to the leather armchair. For another moment there was silence, and then Jade sang, her voice thick with emotion.

"It's been a long life without you, my love

And I'll tell you all about it when I see you again..." She broke off, and Alice could hear her swallow. "I better see you again." Jade muttered finally, draining her glass. "Dammit Vega."

"Jade?" Alice called out gently, slipping in through the window. It was a Saturday, but after what had happened the day before she needed to make sure Jade was okay.

"What?" The pale girl demanded grumpily, sitting up and looking at Alice blearily. Alice jumped. She'd been so distracted by worry that she hadn't even noticed that Jade was curled up in her bed. There was a moment of silence, then Jade raised an eyebrow. "Well?" If Alice could have she would have blushed.

"I just wanted to make sure that you were okay." She said awkwardly. Jade looked at her, then at the clock.

"And you couldn't have waited until later?" Alice frowned and looked at the clock, then felt the urge to blush again. It was only three in the morning. Jade rolled her eyes. "You were so distracted by worry you lost track of time, didn't you?" She said dryly, exasperated. Alice looked away.

"Time loses a lot of meaning when you don't sleep, okay?" She pouted. "And you had me really worried!" Jade shook her head and stood up.

"Let me get some coffee, then we can talk." The goth girl said. Alice blinked, distracted by the fact that Jade slept in her underwear. She shook her head and followed Jade into the kitchen, where the goth was fiddling with her Keurig K-Cup machine. "Did you sit on my roof all night?" Jade asked, sliding her mug into place. Alice shifted.

"Maybe." She said slowly. Jade looked at her and raised an eyebrow.

"That's pretty creepy Cullen." Alice had another blushing moment.

"Excuse me for being concerned! When I left you were drinking illegally and on the verge of a breakdown. I'm your friend, I wanted to make sure you didn't hurt yourself!" Jade frowned and stepped forward, stopping right in front of Alice.

"Is that the only reason you stayed?" She asked softly. "Friendship?" Alice gulped, forcing herself not to get distracted by Jade's considerable cleavage or lips.

"Y...yeah." She said. Jade raised and eyebrow and turned around, walking back to the coffee maker.

"I'm going to go put pants on." She said, grabbing the mug. "You sit down." Alice didn't argue, though she kept her ears peeled to make sure Jade was okay. After a minute, Jade returned in sweat pants and a baggy undershirt. "So...story time." Jade said dryly, sitting down across from Alice. The petite vampire shifted.

"Jade, we don't have to do this." She said softly. Jade held up a hand.

"Kind of do Alice. I might as well get this off my chest. Besides, I can feel your worry from here." She smirked, but it quickly went away. Jade sighed. "As you know, I grew up in LA. More specifically, I went to a performing arts school called Hollywood Arts. That's where I met that band of idiots." She nodded at the pictures. "Most importantly, that's where I met Tori Vega." Jade paused and took a deep gulp of coffee. "I mean, they were all my friends, but Tori was...special." Alice was listening with rapt attention. She'd heard Jade mention a Tori (or Vega when Jade felt particularly frustrated) from time to time, but never in any detail. "She reminds me of you in some ways. Taller though. Anyway, we were close. And we were for two years. Until..." She gulped and looked away. "There was a drunk asshole in a red Ford F-350." Jade said flatly. "I was in the back, Tori in the front." There was long moment of silence as Alice stared at Jade, the goth girl staring at the wall. "You can guess how a head on collision went for us. One year later my parents sent me here to 'get over it'." She added this last bit bitterly. There was a long moment of silence again, and then Alice climbed onto the couch with Jade, hugging her.