It had been five years since Alex had been taken in by the Cullen family. Her life in New York had been forgotten and her new life in Alaska had officially begun. Although the pain of her mother's death was always a lingering reminder itching at the back of her mind Alex was happy, the vampires in the Cullen clan were very likeable in their own way. And they all made Alex feels as if she had been with them her entire life. Things were going well, or, as well as it could be in a household full of vampires. Like any family there were fights, but just like any family they were resolved. Everyone loved and protected each other, what more could you possibly ask for.

Alex had become friends with everyone, even Rosalie who at first glance seemed uptight and moody, rather quickly. Even though she was Alex to begin with, no one would have her sit around and be quiet all day. They all made an effort to make her feel like part of the family and no matter how annoying it may have been to start with when all wanted was to be left alone she soon learned to welcome their gestures with open arms. Accepting the families love for her. Even though it took a while for her to open up to them, after five years she felt as if she had always been a part of this ever so loving family.

She was closer the Alice than anyone else, but that wasn't a bad thing. Alice was the first one to even speak to Alex aside form Emse. The moment she stepped a foot through the front door the pixie like girl had her trapped in a tight hug, rambling on about how they were going to be great friends and how she had seen Alex coming. She told her that she would look after her and that in time she would get better. She had also mentioned how she was going help Alex with her style; because apparently the baggy shirts and skin tight jeans were not a look Alice adored.

Emmet was like a big brother too her along with Edward, they would protect her, keeping her safe at all costs like they did with Alice and Rosalie. Even though Alex knew full well neither of the two needed looking after, they could look after themselves just fine. And so could Alex, she was far from weak but it was nice to have the constant reassurance that she had two older brothers looking out for her. Edward was quiet and reserved keeping to himself most of the time, not that Alex minded. Emmet was a different story, he never passed up the opportunity to wrestle with her. Alex would always find herself competing with the dark haired Cullen. Either it be through wrestling or playing video games or any other activity they could make a competition out of. They even had a score bored to keep track on how many times one of them had beat the other in whatever it is they were doing at the time. Edward was the keeper of the score bored and so far Emmet had the most points. ButAlex was determined to conquer him.

Rosalie despite seeming reserved and moody at first had turned out to be very kind, welcoming Alex with open arms and loving gestures. Sure, she had attitude but who didn't? She was the big sister Alex never had. While Alice was more of the best friend she never had. Rose always had time to talk to Alex about girl problems and anything else that came up in conversation. She was always there and Alex was ever so grateful to her. They would complain about boys among other things. Or they would just talk about anything that came to mind they always turned out to be interesting. Alice occasionally joined in on these conversations making them even more interesting. The three were as close as could be and after a while Alex wondered how she had ever lived without friends in her life.

Carlisle and Esme were like a Mother and Father to her. They took care of her like a mother and father would. They looked after everyone, Carlisle had a well-paying job as a doctor and basically kept everyone in line. Esme, well she was the best mother anyone could ever ask for. But to Alex, no one could replace her real mother. She and Esme has been friends when Alex was younger, she supposed this was why Esme was happy to take her in after her mother's death.

Then there was Jasper...well. Jasper was a whole different story. Jasper was taken in by the Cullen's years before Alex was even born. In 1948 was when Alice had found hime, and in 1950 was when they both joined the coven. That was what Alex had been told anyway. At first Alex thought that Jasper would be easy to warm up to and that they could be friends. However, when it came to Alex he hadn't changed in the slightest. He was still so cold towards her, they hardly ever talked to each other and when they did Jasper would always come up with some sort of excuse to leave before a real conversation started. The longest sentence he had ever said to her was "Good morning, did you sleep okay?" To which Alex replied yes, but Jasper only nodded after that and left.

It was as if Alex was a sort of poison that would kill Jasper if he got to close. He had hardly spoken to her since her arrival and she could swear he had never looked her in the eye for longer than 0.5 seconds. If that. He tried to avoid and ignore her. Alex tried not to care she had always been taught that caring what people think of you was just another form of self-harm. And so she held herself high, she had never cared what anyone but herself thought. But then she met Jasper and with his obvious dislike toward her it was difficult not to care she tried of course, but she just couldn't get the thought of Jasper hating her out of her mind. Was it something she said? Had she pissed him off somehow? Or maybe she had said a hurtful comment without meaning to...or maybe Jasper did just hate her. There was only one way to be certain.

"Alice, why does Jasper hate me?" She asked her best friend. Alice looked at her and smiled. They were currently in Alex's bedroom going through all her clothes. Alice had made a Yes and No pile for clothes she deemed fashionable and the same for clothes she deemed un-fashionable. This happened around every six months. That's when the fashion changes according to Alice, Alex just sat on her bed and watched, she knew how Alice could get if anyone interrupted her six-month ritual. "He doesn't hate you" She said picking up a brown jacket and throwing it in the No pile, along with many other items of clothing. "He just finds it hard to be around you." She continued. "No offence but you are different, you still have blood flowing through your veins."

Alex sighed and ran her slim fingers through her wavy chocolate brown hair. "Please don't remind me, I mean don't get me wrong I like being different" Alex sighed again flopping back onto her bed and stared at the ceiling. "But if that's the reason he's avoiding me then I guess it is better just to be the same as anyone else."

Alice frowned grabbing a white shirt from the cupboard and turning to her friend. "You should wear this more often, it's going into the yes pile!" She giggled. Alex didn't reply, just hid her face under a pillow she had grabbed from the top of the bed. "It's good to be different Alex." Alice said walking over to sit beside Alex on the bed. "We all need to be a little different. If we weren't then the world would be a boring place." Alex removed the pillow from her face and moved to sit up next to her friend. Wanting to change the subject Alex looked around the room, her eyes landing on the two piles of clothes Alice had created in the past half hour.

"Do you really have to go through all my clothes Alice?"

"Yes! We have to keep up with the ever changing fashions." Alice beamed. "I just want my sister and best friend to always be looking fabulous." Alex smiled. "I can't just stick with my baggy shirts?"

Alice shook her head. "No!"

"Alice seriously, just hand me a pair of skinny jeans and an oversized hoodie and i'm good."

"Alex, it's not fashionable right now."

"It's fashionable for me" Alex huffed.

Alice laughed. "Fine I'll keep the baggy shirts..."

"Thanks Alice." Suddenly Alice pulled Alex into a bone crushing hug. "Uh...Alice?" Alex questioned. Alice shushed her. "He'll get used to you." She said referring to Jasper. "Just like the rest of us did." Alice said pulling Alex down to lay beside her on the bed so the two were now cuddling.

"Yeah but, none of you guys ever ignored me." Alex groaned. "He puts effort into staying away from me. It's like I'm some sort of deadly Vampire virus that only affects him." Alex slowly got off of Alice's hold and sat up looking out the window her blue eyes watching the snow fall. She needed to get out of this room, it had become stuffy as the Jasper conversation had progressed and Alex found herself in need of fresh air. "I'm going for a walk Alice." She said getting up abruptly, grabbing her coat and hiking boots.

"But what about your wardrobe, we're not finished yet." Alice complained. Knowing she'd regret this later Alex said "You don't need me; I just need some fresh air."

Alice nodded "Okay, but be back before sundown or Esme will get upset. I've seen it." Nodding, Alex headed out the door into the cold. She didn't mind the cold, in fact she quite enjoyed it. It had been snowing for days now and Alex had been itching to go for a walk through it. To hear the crunch of the snow under her feet, feel it on her eyelashes. Create snow angles. Things she didn't get the chance to do in New York.

Of course, it had snowed in New York during the winter, but on the coldest days when the snow fell like rain Alex would find herself curled up on the couch with her mother under a warm blanket drinking hot chocolate as they watched TV. There was a twinge at Alex's heart at the thought of her mother. She missed her and wanted nothing more than to go back and say a proper goodbye. That was the thing she regretted most. Not being able to say goodbye to the person she loved most in the world.

As she walked Alex couldn't help but laugh as the snow fell, tickling her nose, getting caught in her hair and eyelashes, she didn't mind. She liked the way the snow melted as it kissed her skin ever so gently. The sound of it crunching beneath her boots bought her a sense of peace as she continued to walk through the seemingly endless forest. Sucking ina deep breath Alex reminisced in the silence that surrounded her. Silence only broken by the chirping of birds and the distant Russell of animals hidden somewhere amongst the greenery. If she concentrated Alex could hear every movement, every sound in the forest. She may not have been a normal vampire, but that didn't mean she was deprived of the abilities that came with being one. But apparently, Alex hadn't been concentrating hard enough.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Alex jumped at the sound of the soft-spoken voice behind her. She turned sharply to see Rosalie standing behind her, her blond hair falling perfectly from under her red beanie a hint of a smile playing on her pale features. She was indeed very beautiful. "The forest, when it's quiet like this. It's beautiful." she complimented. Alex smiled and nodded, agreeing with Rosalie's statement. It had taken a while for Rosalie to warm up to Alex. She wasn't the type of person to give up trust so easily, Alex understood, she too was a little difficult to give up trust also. But after a few months the two had grown rather fond of each other, it was as if they had known each other their whole lives. She was Alex's sister, always there when she needed her, always ready to give her a makeover...if Alice was invited and always ready to criticise her when she did something wrong.

"Hey Rose." Alex smiled taking a few steps towards her sister placing her hands deep into the pockets of her jacket. "What are you doing out here? It's freezing"

Rosalie shrugged. "Don't feel the cold. Besides I'm here to check on you." She said liking her arm with Alex's as they made their way back to the house. "Edward said you had some stuff on your mind, I saw you walk out of the house, I was just making sure everything was okay"

"Yeah, it's fine" Alex shrugged. "It's just, Jasper seems to have warmed up to everyone but me, and I'm starting to think I've done something wrong. Like I've said something I shouldn't have. Or maybe he just hates me...I don't know. I know I shouldn't let it get to me..."

Rosalie snorted. "Oh, well just ignore him I do." The girls laughed.

"Rose you ignore everyone."

"Only when I'm in a mood."

"You're always in a mood" Rose chuckled pulling Alex closer to her and Alex could say that she was in a better mood.

—

By the time dinner came around Alex was in a much better mood she had taken her mind off all things Jasper and just focused on anything but. As soon as she and Rose had gotten home Emmet had forced her into a gaming tournament, this was to see who could get the most headshots on one of his favourite war games. Alex won, much to Emmett's dislike.

"Here you go sweetie" Esme smiled passing her adoptive daughter a bowl of tomato soup. "It's one of your favourites." Alex smiled at her adoptive mother taking the bowl from her. The rest of the family had made plans to go out hunting, this was why Esme wanting Alex home before sundown. "Thank you Esme." Alex gave her a small smile before slipping the first spoonful of soup into her mouth. Signing in content as the warm liquid ran down her throat. Tomato soup was defiantly one of her favourites.

Everyone else soon found their way into the kitchen. "Is everyone ready to go?" Emmet asked hyped for the hunt. Everyone was going hunting tonight, all except Alex that is, so she'd have the house to herself until morning. Not like she could do anything but sleep anyways. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure we're all ready." Edward answered his brother. Emmet cheered and raced out the door without a second thought, the others chucking at him, Edward following not long after.

"Okay Alex, we'll be back before sunrise." Alice smiled at her giving her a hug before running out the door with Rosalie, they were all pretty eager to go out and hunt, they needed to anyway it had been a few weeks since they last fed, and the effects were becoming noticeable.

"Are you sure you don't want to come?" Esme asked slightly concerned. "You haven't gone out to hunt for a while." Alex shrugged taking another spoonful of soup.

"I'm fine, if I needed to hunt I'd go, and since I don't I'll just enjoy my soup. But you guys have fun though." Carlisle chuckled and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Alright we will be back soon, get some sleep." Alex nodded taking another spoonful of the delicious soup. Esme hugged her goodbye and ran out the door to follow all her children before they took all the good kills.

Alex looked up from her bowl of soup noticing one Cullen had not yet left the room yet, the Cullen she had been trying to get out of her mind the whole day As they others left Jasper remained where he had been standing, staring intently at the girl slurping at her soup. To Alex it seemed he was trying to figure something out. "Aren't you going Jasper?" She asked, her voice was bitter and not so friendly sounding. But if he was going to ignore her then there was no reason to be nice to the blonde vampire boy. Jasper stood very still not saying a word but the moment she acknowledged him he's eyes darted away from where she sat, looking pst her instead of at her, his face like stone. Alex looked up at him and sighed. "Sorry, that was rude of me..." she rubbed her temples and gave Jasper a small smile. "Are you going with the others?"

"I'm going." Was his simple reply. Alex smiled looking down at her soup. "Well, you better hurry before everyone else gets all the good kills, but then again you have till sunrise to..." She turned back to look at Jasper, but he had already left. Alex groaned and slammed her fist down onto the table. "Just once can we have a proper conversation..." taking a deep breath to calm her nerves Alex quietly whispered to herself. "All I want is for him to trust me."