She came to slowly, but didn't open her eyes straight away. Something pricked her awareness; a movement, a presence, and then, a brush of cold air as a door was opened somewhere nearby.

"Bella?" a voice called out, followed by a "Shhh! Let her sleep, she needs it."

Bella knew at least one of those voices … Edward was home. Edward was home and Bella was curled up on top of the covers, fully dressed, with her contacts still in and everything. This almost made it seem like she had fallen asleep waiting for him to come back. But no, she did not remember making a conscious decision to do so. Either she had slept a longer than she had initially planned for or Edward was home early. The last thing she remembered was laying down for a quick post dinner nap.

Just then a low grunt was heard, followed by more whispering.

"It's important."

"Can't it wait? "

"No... It can't wait."

"She should be resting, you know that lying down thing you're supposed to do after a significant hospital stay."

"I know that, but…"

It was then that Bella recognized the second voice as that of Jasper. If Jasper had something important to tell her, it could only mean one thing.

Without thinking Bella shot right up and blurted, "It's Peter, isn't it? Did he finally call?"

The move was so sudden and uncoordinated that, when her vision blacked out for a few seconds, she nearly fell off the bed. Edward, being the one standing closest, lurched forward to catch her, only to cause their heads to smack together with a resounding thud.

"Fu-… Ouch! Cullen, you're giving me a headache, more sothan usual," Bella winced, rubbing her temple.

"Oh no, this one is all on you," he protested, carefully touching his own forehead, where a bump was already starting to form. "You were about to faint. I saved you from falling and breaking your foolish neck."

"You don't break your neck from a two feet fall. Besides I was perfectly fine up until two minutes ago when you guys barged in here. What time is it anyway? I wasn't expecting you home so soon."

"Quarter past eight," Jasper responded, stepping inside the room with Alice closely in tow. "Sorry about waking you. I didn't think you'd be asleep since it's still early and all. Also, I thought your colleague would have called ahead to let you know we were on our way back. I guess he didn't… You should give him a call, he'll explain the change of plans."

"Oh, don't be so diplomatic," Alice interrupted, slapping his arm lightly. "Clearwater got fed up with them and sent them home early, because someone -cough- Eddie -cough- had a rough day and was being a big cry-baby about it."

"I was not," Edward barked indignantly, glaring at his sister "Besides, how would you know, you weren't there."

"I know because Jasper told me about it."

"Then you heard it wrong or he told it wrong, because that's not what happened. Look, neither of you were there, so you should both stop acting like you know anything about the day I've had."

"You're saying we're lying?"

"I'm saying you weren't there, you shouldn't be talking shit."

"Still being a cry-baby, I see…"

"Don't call me that!"

"Why? You're not exactly making your case, Whiney McWhinerson!"

"You're such a brat!"

"Wuss!"

"Imbecile!"

"Idiot!"

The two kept bickering until Jasper decided he had heard enough and swiftly silenced Alice with a hand over her mouth.

"Hey, I was talking!" she protested, once he loosened his grip to let her breathe.

"So was I, or did you forget?" Jasper answered, giving her a look that must have told her to knock it off, because she quieted down quickly.

Edward, however, was not as easily placated. "No offence Jasper, but I think I've heard enough from you today," he stated, interrupting his friend rather brusquely. "Those of us suffering from a split skull and/or blood pressure issues need to rest."

Bella felt her eyes narrow of their own volition. "I'm fine Edward," she made no attempt to hide her aggravation. It seemed it didn't matter how many times she repeated that phrase, he would never take her word for it. "If you feel you've reached your limit for what you can handle today, then just say so. Don't use me as an excuse!"

He shook his head, "You're pale as a damn sheet and the way you wobbled when you tried to sit up….You would have fallen off the bed if I hadn't been there to catch you. That's not fine, not by a long shot."

"That was just me moving too abruptly. A little dizziness is to be expected. It's not a big deal."

"Well, excuse me for caring about my unborn child…" he grumbled. "Clearly I'm the only one around here that understands the concept of resting. Whatever Peter had to say, it can wait 'til morning."

"Are you serious? That won't do my blood pressure any favors. Come on, I've rested plenty today. I've been good today. I've enjoyed your mother's cooking to the point where I'm concerned I might burst at the seams."

"No, he's right!" Jasper suddenly spoke up, with a tight voice. "Now that I have had time to think about it, the matter I wanted to discuss seems to have lost some of its urgency."

Alice snorted in a very unladylike way. "Jasper Whitlock, don't you dare tell me you're losing your nerve!"

"No, its just… I don't want this to turn into a huge argument," He grimaced, rubbing a hand on the back of his neck.

"If you don't tell them, I will! "she warned him. "And you know me, I'm not very tactful with what I say, now am I?!"

"You'll do no such thing!" Jasper sulked, crossing his arms, looking pleadingly at his girlfriend.

"Then you better start talking!"

There was some sort of staring communication going on between them, one that Jasper apparently lost.

"I think I need to sit down for this," he stated, and nudged Edward over so that he could sink down on the desk next to him.

Edward looked like he was about to protest again, but Jasper had already started talking, or rambling, as his words came out in a frenzied rush. "I guess the first thing you should know is that this is not about Peter… like at all. My cousin has nothing to do with what I'm about to tell you. I still haven't heard from him," he paused briefly to catch his breath.

"There is no easy way of saying this, so I'm just going to go ahead and blurt it… I know her." He squeezed his eyes shut. "There I've said it. I know her."

"Know who?" Bella and Edward asked in unison.

"HER!" he repeated with emphasis and pushed his hands through his disheveled hair.

"Maria Nahuel!" Alice supplied, when they still looked like a question marks.

"What?!"

"How?"

"It's true." Jasper bowed his head as if it was a difficult admission to make. "It's a crazy, bizarre coincidence thing. It probably means nothing, but …" he laughed nervously. "I used to know someone by that name. It was years ago. I didn't realize.. All this talk about the car… I should have put the pieces together sooner."

"So that's what this morning was about?" Bella asked, looking between Jasper and Alice. "That's what you were arguing about?"

"We weren't arguing, but yes," Alice confirmed with a short nod at the same time as Jasper said "I had to tell Alice first."

"He came clean to me about it this morning and some of the stuff he told me… let's just say it's been eating at me all day."

"Because when he says he used to know her, he means in a biblical sense," Bella guessed.

"It was the year Alice did her internship in Milan." Jasper hurried to explain. "We had broken up. I'm not proud of what I did, but…"

"It's okay Jaz. I was dating other people too."

"Wait, are you saying you slept with her?" Edward asked, sounding confused and distressed all at once.

"NO! I mean, not really. Or… well I guess it's a matter of definition," Jasper shook his head, looking increasingly uncomfortable. "She was…. it was… We were going after that record deal, you, me and Taylor, that crack head drummer that screwed us over. You remember that whole ordeal right? "

Edward gave him a look that said 'how could I forget?'

"It was 2005 or 2006, I think?" Jasper looked at Alice for help.

"2005. I left for Milan as soon as school was out for the summer."

"Alice were in Italy and you and me did like thirty something gigs in a six months period of time, before Taylor ripped us off and stole our equipment."

Bella threw her hand up. "Wait! Who stole your equipment? And why is this the first I've heard about it?"

"It's not important," Alice shushed her. "I'll fill you in on the details later."

"I didn't date her and I didn't have actual sex with her, as in penetrating ANYTHING, but I'd be lying if I said no pleasure was had and no body fluids where swapped." He stopped to mouth 'I'm sorry Ali,' before he continued. "She was really into me and she was kind of bold about it. It was flattering."

"You're being too nice about it," Alice huffed. "She was a groupie, plain and simple."

"Fine she was my first ever groupie experience… my only groupie experience for that matter. I'm not popular like Eddie here, who has to fend of stalkers and admirers at every turn."

"One stalker , ONE and it's nothing to joke about."

"Sorry… So this girl, Maria, she was on a road trip with one of her friends. I don't know how they had heard of us, but they planned their trip around our gigs; Albany, Boston, NY… "

"Riiight, that doesn't sound stalkish at all."

"Nah, they were just two college kids on summer break. I hung out with them, we had drank some beer, smoked some weed and talked. Before long the talk turned to a make-out session with some heavy petting and such."

"What? With the both of them… at the same time?"

"No, the other girl would always disappear after a few beers. They probably had some agreement, some secret girl code or something. Anyway…. Maria was a nice girl, good looking, great sense of humor, EXCELLENT taste in music. It was all fun and laughs for a while… Until it wasn't . She just got clingy real fast."

"Clingy, like possessive?" Bella asked.

"She wanted more and I couldn't… I just didn't want to take it further than a little messing around. … but she kept trying. I don't blame her. I should have never encouraged her in the first place."

"Encouraged her, how?"

"I… I might have lethersuckmeoff."

"You might have… what?"

"She offered BJ's and I didn't stop her. Not one of my proudest moments, but it happened alright!"

"Thought you said you didn't penetrate anything," Edward snorted, earning a death glare from his sister.

"Don't be crude," Bella said, siding with Alice. "I want to hear the rest. What happened next?"

"Like I said, she got clingy and I had to set her straight. I told her it wasn't going to work out, that I had no interest in starting anything with her, that I was still hung up on my ex," he said with a little smile in Alice's direction. "No one likes being rejected, but she handled it pretty well. There was some drama, one of my guitars was wrecked, but her reaction was justified and she calmed down soon enough. She said she didn't want to lose contact with me and asked if we could remain friends. We exchanged email addresses and kept in touch for a while, but the whole thing felt forced and fizzled out rather quickly."

"You emailed back and forth? Do you have anything from those conversations saved? "

He shook his head.

"Did she ever talk about anything personal? Any details, big or small could help."

"Eh.. " he scratched his head. "She went to UW of Washington. She drove a car that used to belong to her grandfather. She mentioned a sister. I don't remember what else we talked about… Sorry."

"That's okay. Can you tell us what she looked like?"

"Curvy brunette, with dark eyes and long, dark, wavy hair. Medium height, slim waist and generous hip-… "

"We don't need her measurements," Alice interrupted, annoyed.

"Sorry, love," he grimaced. "She was a pretty girl, pretty face, but she had nothing on you."

"Oh, please." Edward rolled his eyes. "Way to not sound like a complete douche."

"Like you've room to talk! Do I have to remind you that the girl we are talking about is Anthony's mother?" Alice retaliated.

This seemed to give Edward something to think about. He scrunched up his face like he didn't understand. "Did I meet her, Jasper? I mean obviously I did, eventually, but this was years before Anthony was born."

"I think you met her twice that summer, if I remember correctly. The first time was just a brief encounter. We asked if you wanted to hang out with us, but you were tired and wanted to sleep. The second time we went to a bar and had a few drinks with them."

"Them? Maria and the friend you mentioned before?" Alice asked.

"Yes," Jasper nodded, "Not sure what her name was. She was a tag-along, never said much. Honestly, I didn't pay her that much attention. She wore glasses and had a head full of bushy brown hair. That's the best description I can give you."

"Bushy hair?" Edward looked up at him with slightly horrified expression on his face. "I remember her… You dragged me with you on some stupid double date. I was pretty miffed because while you were busy sucking face with your new lovely voluptuous acquaintance, I was stuck with the mousy looking, bushy haired, flat-as-a-board friend."

"You weren't miffed, you were jealous, there's a difference."

"Don't look so smug! What if this Maria person was only using you to get to me? Ever thought of that?"

"Yeah, right," Jasper snorted. "I never saw her show any interest in you what so ever. No, wait… That's not entirely true. She did ask about your whereabouts once or twice, but only because her bff wanted to know what you were up to."

"So the friend had a thing for Edward and was being quite obvious about it?"

"Yeah, but you heard him, the poor girl never stood a chance. She wasn't pretty enough."

"Hey, I'm not that shallow!" Edward protested, " It wasn't the way she looked, it was the way she acted. She lied about her age for starters. She could barely pass for 17, no way she was 21… and also the way she spoke was kind of weird."

"Weird? Weird how?"

"I don't know... intense…she was just... weird. I don't know how to explain it. Jasper, help me out!"

Jasper shrugged. "I suppose the name thing was a bit odd."

"What name thing?"

"She introduced herself by different names every time I met her. Laurie, Ella…. Angie…"

"Angie?" Alice questioned. "She called herself Angie? And Ella as in Ang-E-L-A?"

"She told me to call her Rissa." Edward's face had turned an alarming shade of pale green. "Laurie, Rissa… Laurissa."

"Let's think this through before we jump to any conclusions," Bella tried to reason, giving Edward a concerned look over his sisters head. "Jasper, are you sure about this? Are you sure it was the same girl, the same friend, you were introduced to and not different friends at different times."

"No it was the same girl. The bushy hair kind of stood out…. and also she had a tattoo." His eyes widen at the realization. "Gosh! I can't believe I didn't think of that sooner. They had matching tattoos, Maria and her friend!"

"A butterfly tattoo?"

"No, not a butterfly. It was a dragonfly."

"A dragonfly?"

"Yes, 'Dragonfly', like in the song."

"What song?"

"It's one of Eddie's masterpieces," Alice answered, then launching into reciting lyrics about some poor mutilated dragonfly, lying broken in the gutter, stretching its rainbow wings, giving one last flutter. Very morbid and dark, very old-school Eddie Masen.

"I wrote that, like a decade ago," Edward groaned. "Not my best work and definitely not something I would have thought was tattoo-inspiring."

"Maria had one that was fist-sized, just under her jaw line, off to the side, near her ear."

"On her left hand side or right hand side?"

"Left, I think. The other girl, whatever her name was, had a similar one. Only hers was much smaller and sort of hidden where the hairline meets the spine at the back of the neck. She said something about having to hide it whenever she went home to see her parents. They were old fashioned. I think she said her father was a priest or something like that"

"Angela had a tattoo on the back of her neck," Alice recalled with a frown. "I never got that close of a look, but definitely had some sort of ink there. Edward, you saw it, didn't you?"

"Don't look at me, I never saw no tattoo," he snapped, clearly frustrated..

"Neither did I," Bella admitted, turning to look on the coffee table for her phone. "This should be easy enough to verify though. I know the coroner that examined her body. He's the thorough kind, he usually take notes of tattoos and other distinguishing marks. Let me send him a text… "

"Wait..." Alice snapped her fingers as if she just realized something "Wasn't Angela's step dad a reverend of some Baptist Congregation somewhere here in the Washington area? "

"Yes, he still is," Bella confirmed. "Not sure about his opinions on body art, but I know there were some strained relations in that family for sure."

Jasper's confused expression, with furrowed brows and deep frown, would have been amusing any other time than this. "Are you trying to tell me that they are one and the same person? Because I'm telling you they looked nothing alike," he protested, shaking his head. "Angela had nice hair, flat and shiny."

"Yeah, what he said," Edward agreed. "They looked nothing alike, except maybe for the coloring. Dark hair, dark eyes…. and the height."

"Forget about the way she looked. Looks can change. Focus on the way she talked, the way she moved, her body language. Is it possible?

"I still don't see it…" Jasper said slowly. "But I guess at this point, anything is possible. She had this thing; she always avoided eye contact with me. Angela, I mean. She never looked me in the eye. I didn't think much of it then… but…"

"Angela might have been worried you'd recognize her."

"Recognize her as the friend of a girl I had a fling with briefly over five years ago? Why? That makes no sense? I don't get any of this."

"None of us do. I think the only one that can give us any answers is the elusive Maria Nahuel."

"On that note," Bella said, grabbing her cell phone to look at the time. "I need to check in with Seth. You guys can stick around if you like or…"

"We'll get out of your hair," Jasper rose to his feet. "Won't we, Alice?" When she made no indication of moving he slung an arm around her waist and pulled her with him out of the room.

"I'll be back," she called over her shoulder.

Jaspers head popped back into the room, "Don't worry. She'll be back… but not tonight…" Then he was gone and the door slammed closed with a clang.