Hellow everyone! I know it's been a terribly long time, and I'm sorry for keeping you waiting. It's been a hell of a few months. My promotion, and all the BS and stress that comes with that. Then on New Years, I met the love of my life, and we've since started a life together. So between moving and settling in and then working like 70 hours a week (no lie) I've barely had time for anything but to sleep. Hope you're still with me!

FOF's

lexy lujan- Thanks for reading and I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far! :)

Gnarled Bone- First off, thanks for the good wishes about my job! Very kind of you. :) As for the dog comment, yea I don't think he'll be around much. But I might throw him in for shits and giggles later on down the road. And I LOVE the word smolder too. Haha, so don't worry, no slanty face necessary. lol Enjoy the new chap!

Apathicus- Thanks for reading! :)

Guerrilla Warfare- I love poetry. :) And, no that was the first mention of Bella's past relationship(s). Thanks for reading, enjoy the new chap! :)

Harley Quinn Davidson- Glad you're enjoying it darlin! Enjoy the new chap! :)

tanis19- Thanks for reading! Enjoy! :)

xxDark Angel Babyxx- Sorry for the long wait! Thanks for reading and enjoy! :)

2koe- It's ok that you didn't review, I know people get busy. :) And it was someone from her past. ;) Enjoy!

marlijn- Thanks for reading! And enjoy! :)

-X-

Thank you to all of the silent readers who subscribe to me or the story as well!

peace&love
Mel

Alice

After Mrs. Valentine's lecture, she left us to silently work on our assignment for the week. I already had a poem that I could turn in for it, so I opted to sit and pretend to work instead. Not too long after, though, I immediately pick up on the quickening sound of someone's heartbeat.

It started out of nowhere, and after already attuning myself to it these last few days, I knew almost instantly that it was Isabella's heart that had increased it's speed. It set off my senses automatically, and without changing my physical position, I focused all of my attention on her. It was then that I also noticed the smell of brine coming off of her, and I realized why her heartbeat had suddenly escalated. She was quickly becoming emotionally distraught over something, and she was on the verge of crying.

To any human surrounding us, she'd appear to just be resting with her eyes closed, but all of my senses are on over-drive as I listen to her suddenly racing heartbeat and I smell the fresh tears that must be pooling behind her closed eyelids. From the corner of my eye, I see her shake her head in an attempt to calm herself down, and it's then that I can't take it anymore and have to look at her. Just to abate my own worries that she is indeed ok.

It's already taken all of my strength, all of my being, to not move towards her to comfort her in some way. So as I see her try and relax again, and I hear her heartbeat begin to slow down little by little, I just look at her. It's not a long glance, however, because the bell rings; signaling the end of my only time with her.

Sighing unnecessarily, I pack up my things and walk uncharacteristically slow from the room which Isabella has already scurried out of.

The rest of the school day passes like it always does, and when the final bell rings, I meet up with my other siblings in the parking lot.

"Took you long enough to get here." Rosalie tells me sarcastically as I join everyone. "Did you happen to run?" She continues.

I see Edward look at me curiously, trying to pick my brain, but I've already masked my thoughts of Isabella so that he won't know what I'm truly thinking.

"Sorry. I somehow misplaced a book." I lie. Vampires have perfect memories, but it's the best I could come up with on the spot. Another odd thing for even me.

Jasper shoots me a questioning look and I just shake my head slightly 'no' in response. I know he'll come to me later to talk; because of all my 'siblings', he's my best friend, and I know he's been worried about my swing of moods recently. Which is why Edward has been trying to get into my head so much lately, as well.

"Let's get out of here." Emmett voices and everyone silently complies.

As I turn towards Edward's Volvo though, I feel someone's stare warming my ice cold skin. With the way my senses are suddenly in a frenzy, I know it must be Isabella. Before I can dwell on it too much though, I'm pulled into a vision abruptly and my body freezes as it takes over my thoughts.

Bella is staring at me quizzically, and after a moment, makes a step to turn away. Not noticing the oncoming skateboarder, or his vindictive grin; she steps right into his path and he makes no attempt to stop, running her down. He maintains his balance perfectly fine as he jumps over her now fallen frame, landing on his feet; the school book and papers that had been in her grasp, now strewn feet from her.

The other students that are standing close enough to have seen what happened are laughing loudly at her. Her expression remains hard as stone, though, as she picks up her discarded belongings, glares at the skateboarder, proceeds to kick his board away from her in annoyance and then stalks off.

When I come out of the haze created by my vision, I turn to where I know Isabella is standing. Our eyes meet and I attempt to take a step towards her until I feel a firm hand on my forearm.

"Don't do it Alice." Edward's voice states coolly.

I give him a hard glare before shaking him off of me. I know he saw what happened, through my mind, at the same time I did. So he knows that she's about to be humiliated; only he doesn't feel this insatiable need to protect her like I do. Jasper takes Edward's hand and pulls him away from me, feeling the protectiveness rolling off of me, I'm sure.

As I turn back to Isabella, she's turning away from me as she had been in my vision. It's then that I look past her and see the skateboarder that she's yet to notice. Knowing I won't be able to reach her in time at a human pace, I make the quick choice of just calling out to her.

"Hey!" I shout out, gaining the attention of her and a few other surrounding students as well. The other students obviously shocked that I'm attempting to speak to someone outside of my family.

It's then that she notices the skateboarder and jumps out of the way just before he can purposely hit her like he was planning to do. A low growl rumbles in my chest, but not loud enough for any human ear to hear.

She turns back towards me once the skateboarder has disappeared through the parking lot. "Hi." She replies with her low, monotone voice.

We're quiet for a moment, as I find myself tongue-tied for the first time in eighty some odd years. My eyes are locked on hers and as I stare, I feel like a fish out of water. I snap out of it a few seconds later when I feel a wave of calm come over me and I instantly thank Jasper mentally.

"Sorry, I'm Alice." I give her a happy smile and she nods once before giving me a short smirk.

"Isabella." She replies softly, her demeanor seeming to relax just a little, also.

"I just wanted to say that I liked what you said in class today. You seem to really know your poetry." I say conversationally, grasping for anything to talk to her about, anything to get her to talk to me with that velvety voice of hers.

"I'm not too bad. Just a hobby." She quickly explains.

"Well still.." The tongue being tied returns and I seem stumped out of something to say. It's not very often that you'll find a vampire being unable to formulate a sentence. So the fact that it's happening right now, because of a human -my natural prey- is outstanding! "How long has it been a hobby?" I ask her.

"Since I was about ten years old." She answers softly. She seems like she's about to say more, but stops herself.

"Edward, ask Jasper what she's feeling, please." I think, for my brother to hear.

A moment later, I feel the emotion hit me. She's feeling cautious, scared almost. Her blood's not racing though, so I know it's not that she's scared of my presence the way her natural instincts should tell her to be. It's hard to understand where this emotion is coming from when I know nothing about her.

"That's a long time to have a love for poetry." I comment with a smile.

"It is."

"Well, sorry for keeping you. My family is waiting for me." I tell her, a sad smile pulling at my lips. I'd love to keep talking to her, but I don't want her to feel scared talking to me. I feel another wave of calm hit me, and I know it's cause Jasper can feel my sudden sadness.

"It's alright. See you tomorrow." She gives a small wave before turning at the same time I do to walk away.

Jasper meets me half-way, and wraps a comforting arm around me. I've blocked my thoughts from Edward again, because it's not his business to know how I feel about this girl.

Jasper doesn't say a word, knowing it won't be private from our siblings. We all just get into our cars and head for home.

We pull up to our house no more than ten minutes later -vampire trait: we love driving fast- and everyone heads inside. Jasper hangs back when he sees me make no move towards the door.

"Alice?" He questions in his gentle southern drawl.

I meet his worried gaze and tilt my head towards the trees before taking off into them. I sense his presence behind me moments later as we run deep into the forest. I know he's letting me work some of my thoughts out, so he's just following me for now; letting me lead him until I know what I want to say and can figure out how I feel. I lead us up into the mountains and run until we're a bit ways up. I stop once I find a simple clearing that has a cliff to sit on, over-looking a small valley between some of the mountains.

Taking a seat, Jasper follows suit and we sit in silence. I take a deep breath in, inhaling the magnificent scent of fresh fallen snow and pine.

I look to Jasper, who looks back expectantly. "Isabella's my singer." I tell him and he raises an eyebrow inquisitively, waiting for me to elaborate further. "I know you know what I'm referring too. And it's the truth. Her blood calls to me like no one else's ever has." I tell him softly.

"But you've shown no discomfort or vulnerability towards her in the slightest." He states curiously.

"I could never hurt her Jasper. And it has nothing to do with the control I have over my thirst."

He goes back to just questioning me with his gaze, waiting for me to continue.

"She's the one." I whisper to him simply.

His mouth forms a silent 'oh' and he nods his head affirmatively. He looks out onto the landscape and I know he's trying to take that in. But not even a vision is needed to tell me what I know is coming.

"She's a human, Alice." He states sympathetically as his eyes come back to mine.

"I know. And for the last week, it's been the only thing coming to my mind. That, among other things, anyways. But she's the one. She's the girl I've been waiting on all these years to come fulfill the other half of my soul."

"And you're certain of this?" He asks me, voice cautious.

"I had a vision of her and I; before we officially met. It was when I'd gone out to sit and think at the lake the other night. She happened to be there when I got there. I smelled her scent first and realized right away how intoxicating her blood is. But moments after arriving, I was hit with a vision. She was still a human, we were in love and she... she knew what I am." I can feel the ebb of sadness trying to fight through the cloak of calm Jasper has me under, but instead it just creases my brow.

He knows I would never lie to him, much less about a vision. I can tell he's just as perplexed by the situation as I am. "And this is the reason for all of your odd behavior recently? I mean I know you've always felt kind of distant because of everyone being paired up. But this is what's been going on the last few days with your emotions?" He asks gently.

"Yes. She's been on my mind twenty-four-seven since that night. And that's where this over-whelming feeling of protecting her keeps coming from. Jazz, I'm meant to be with this girl. Whether she's a human or not."

"I think this is something you need to discuss with Carlisle and you know that eventually the rest of the family is going to need to know. Because in the end, this affects all of us. She's still a human at the end of the day and you know the laws about this." He reminds me. Not that I needed reminding, but just to put it out there.

"Yes, I know. I planned on speaking to Carlisle about it soon. Because now that you know, it won't be long before Edward knows. And I know you don't mean too, because I understand that you both share everything with one another. But he's been trying to get into my head for the last week, because he's noticed my mood too."

"Ok. Well you know I'm here for you Alice. Even though it would be hard to have her around, I care more-so about your happiness. If this girl is who you're meant to be with, then I will support your decision when the time comes."

"Thank you Jasper." I say as we embrace one another.

He kisses my forehead like the protective big brother he is, before wordlessly leaving me to my own thoughts.