"I should have been there." he says quietly.

"Where?"

"On patrol earlier. I was supposed to stay behind and ride out with Jacob, but he convinced me to leave early with my mom. He said that you might be upset if I was late so I agreed. I should have stayed."

"Don't blame yourself for what happened today."

"If they had one more wolf things would have worked out differently. You even warned me."

"Seth stop! This is not your fault. Do you even know what happened today?"

"I mean I pretty much got the idea, why?"

"Leah told me exactly how it happened. If you want someone to blame, blame Bella. She told her dad about the wolves. She made them go out and hunt you guys, she's the reason why dad was even out there! The leeches are only here for her. It's her fault Seth, not yours."

He turns his head and looks at me, "You know, you and Leah are more alike than I thought."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Well for one you both call vampires leeches…" he pauses.

"And two?"

"Well…" he swallows, "you both hate Bella. And when I say hate, I mean completely loathe and would blame her for everything wrong in the world."

"Are you kidding me? Do you really think I would blame Bella just because I hate her? I'm not that kind of person."

"Maybe Leah's just rubbing off on you."

"These weren't even my thoughts; I wasn't there, but Leah was. I'm just telling you what she told me."

"Exactly my point."

"Okay then." I stand, "Well thanks for the offer, but I'm gonna go." I grab my purse and keys.

"C'mon. Where are you gonna go?"

"Anywhere. Hell, I'll even sleep in my car."

"I didn't mean to upset you." he stands. We stare at each other for a few seconds then I walk out and close the door behind me. I get in my car and pull out of the driveway. I end up driving off the reservation, I find a closed store and park in their lot. I wrap my arms around the top of my steering wheel and lay forward against it, I start crying a little. I reach in my glove box and grab a tissue to wipe my face; I return to my resting position. I'm alone for like two minutes before there are three light taps on my window. I lean back and look over, a young woman smiles at me, I roll down the window a little. Her black hair is cut short-shorter than her shoulders-she has brown eyes, and is tall and thin.

"Are you okay?" she asks.

"Yeah, thanks." I smile.

"Do you remember me?"

"I'm sorry, no."

"I'm Alice. Alice Cullen."

"Oh Carlisle's…daughter."

"Right." she nods. "What are you doing in Forks this late at night?"

"Long story." I sigh.

"You're not…sleeping in your car, right?"

"Yeah, I was gonna."

"Nonsense, I have the house to myself, you should sleep over."

"I don't know about that."

"You'd be completely safe, you have my word."

"Where's the rest of your family?"

"Out hunting. I came back early though; they'll be back tomorrow."

"Are you sure it's okay?"

"It's part my house I do have a say, and…a brand new comfy bed that's never been slept in."

"You've never slept in your-never mind." I chuckle and look down.

"So what do you say?"

I let out a deep breath, "Okay."

"You can follow me back."

"Okay." I nod and wait for her to pull out of her spot.

I follow her back to a huge wood and glass house. "Wow." I get out smiling. When we get in she closes the door behind me, "Your house is amazing."

"Would you like something to drink or eat?"

"There's…food here?"

"Yeah, Bella's here a lot."

"Oh." I look away.

"What'd I say?"

"Nothing, it's not you."

"Bella?" I look at her. "Oh, well we can talk if you want, but you don't have to tell me anything." she flashes a smile and I follow her in the kitchen. "Something tells me you want pizza." She smiles.

"I could go for some pizza."

"Margherita pizza."

"That sounds delicious!" I sit at the island in the middle of the kitchen. "How did you know that's my favorite?"

"Well you know how Edward can read minds?"

"I wasn't thinking that though."

"I see the future."

"So you saw me sitting here, in this outfit, today, eating margherita pizza?"

"Well no," she pauses, "you were on the couch." She puts two pieces on a baking sheet and into the oven.

"This vision of yours..." I walk over to their wine rack on the wall, "was I drinking wine in it?" I grab a white wine and read the name. "Pouilly-Fuissé(poo-yay fwee-SAY), this does go with the pizza." I smile.

"I can't believe you pronounced that correctly."

"What can I say," I shrug, "my family's all about alcohol." I chuckle.

"What are you?"

"Native American, Russian and Irish."

"No French? Your pronunciation was perfect."

"I have a language fascination." I chuckle, "I know some Slovak, French, Spanish, Irish, Russian and some others.

"That's nice." She smiles. I open the bottle and pour a glass.

"I realized my love for wine when I was 16." I swirl my glass and take a sip, "I don't know what it is." I shrug, "I just love wine." She pulls out the rack and slides the pizza on a plate. She carries my plate to the living room and I grab the bottle of wine and follow her. We sit on one of the couches and she turns on the T.V.

"So why are you so dressed up?" she asks me.

"Today was my graduation party."

"How was it?" she asks with enthusiasm.

"Well, let's just say this whole day has been from hell. I explain my day to her and she reacts appropriately at the right moments.

"That's horrible. I'm sorry about your dad." I grab a slice of pizza and start eating. "I understand why you don't like Bella, but she's not all that bad. And you definitely don't have to worry about her and Jacob; she's gonna be with Edward for a very long time. I've seen them get married."

Marriage, great now I'm thinking of my dad.

"What?"

"When I was visiting my dad earlier he started talking about me marrying Jacob. I'm wearing a white dress now and will be on my wedding day-obviously-and he mentioned that he won't be here to walk me down the aisle."

"I wish I wouldn't have brought that up." she looks down.

"You didn't know, it's alright."

"What if I told you there's a way for your dad to see you on your wedding day?"

"How?"

"All you have to do is plan it, and I'll see it."

"Really?"

"Mhm. Oh, but I can't see wolves."

"I don't know who I'm going to marry though; my dad's 100% sure I'll marry Jacob though."

"Maybe picture someone that looks like him, but isn't him. Like make him an inch taller or a little more muscle or something. He can't be identical."

"Okay."

"Picture everything, all the tiny details." I picture my dress; a princess style with corset back and sweetheart neckline. My hair is down in long loose curls, I'm carrying a beautiful bouquet of yellow, peach and orange flowers. "Keep going, I see it." she says looking straight forward; in a daze. My dad's on my left arm walking me down the aisle. When we get to the end we kiss on the cheek, my husband turns around and shakes my dad's hand. My husband is an inch shorter than Jacob, his hair's just slightly longer. "When he turned around I lost him, change something else." she speaks.

"Um what about something people at the wedding can't see. Like…a birth mark on his arm and a little more hair on his legs?"

"Good, it worked."

"I should only go through the times when he'll be there right?"

"Well don't skip anything important." I skip the vows because who knows what will really be said. When I say 'I do' I tear up a little, I smile at Jacob. He returns a smile I've never seen before; it's so full with love and happiness. We're holding hands when Jacob's told to kiss the bride. We keep it clean-obviously-and pull apart after a few seconds. When we walk back down the aisle everyone stands for us and cheers.

I've changed for the reception, a lace mermaid style dress with a train and no back; Jacob stays in his tuxedo. After the reception has started we have the speeches; Maid of honor, Best Man, my mom and step dad, Billy, my dad and sue.

Next I think about my first dance with my husband-he'll probably want to see that. The father daughter dance is next,

"You look beautiful." he tells me.

"Thanks dad." I blush.

"You need to listen to me. This day needs to happen, you need to marry Jacob. Join our families."

"What?"

"You've grown into an amazing woman and I know you'll have a wonderful life, but do you hear me? You need to marry Jacob. You'll have everything you've ever wanted and needed with him."

"What are you talking about?"

"Have a family, grow old together. I'm sorry I wont be here to see that, or be here today."

"You are here dad." I choke up a little.

"We both know this isn't real right now and it's not going to be like this, I wont be here. I'll be dead for a while before this happens."

I start crying. I stop thinking about my wedding day, Alice snaps out of it.

"Can we cut that part out?"

"Of course." she says quietly. We sit in silence.

"Can we stop?"

"Sure." she rubs my shoulder. "I'll go wash your plate."

"No I can do-"

"It's okay." she smiles and walks off with my plate. I pour another glass of wine and put my keys in my purse, the light on my phone is blinking. I pull it out and I have a few missed messages from Jacob and Seth. I get an incoming call from Jacob.

"Yes?" I answer the phone.

"The Cullen's? Are you crazy going over there?"

"How did you know I was here?"

"I got a bad feeling about you so I went to Seth's and he said you guys were in a fight and you left. I knew you wouldn't go home so I drove by the Cullen's-just in case-and saw your car."

"Where else was I supposed to go?"

"You could have came to my house."

"Are you serious right now?"

"It hurts that you'd rather go to the Cullen's house than mine."

"We're in a fight, Jacob. Why would I want to go to your house?"

"Because it's a hell of a lot safer here than it is where you are."

"It's just Alice. Everyone else is hunting, I trust her."

"You shouldn't."

"You're not really the best person to be talking about trust right now."

I hear him sigh. There's a moment of silence, "Can I please come get you?"

"No Jacob, if you drove by earlier and were so worried about me, why didn't you come inside to see, or something?" there's silence on his end,

"I can be there in ten minutes."

"I'm staying here tonight and besides, you have some things to think about, so.."

"Please."

"Goodbye, Jacob." I hang up and turn off my phone. I walk back to the wine bottle, close it and take it back to the kitchen. "Better take this away from me." I laugh and put the bottle up.

"Have as much as you'd like."

"Thank you for welcoming me into your home and being so cordial."

"You're welcome." she smiles. We go back in the living room and she puts on a movie that I don't know.

I wake up in a big bed with purple and black blankets and black pillows. I push back the covers and swing my feet over the edge. I don't remember getting into bed last night, or taking off my shoes. I walk out of the room and down the hallway quietly, no matter how softly I walk she can probably hear me. I walk down the nice steps and find her in the kitchen with the rest of her family.

"Good morning." I greet them. They smile back.

"I thought you might be hungry, so I made some eggs." Alice says from the stove.

"You really didn't have to do that."

"Have a seat." she transfers the eggs from the pan to a plate.

After I eat I go back to her room and turn on my phone; it's noon. "I should get to the hospital." I tell her.

"Did you bring any clothes with you?"

"No, after my party I just jumped in my car and left."

"You're about my size." she hops off her bed and goes in her closet.

"You've done enough." I chuckle and follow her in her walk in closet.

"It's just a fresh pair of clothes, no big deal." she hands me a mint color crocheted lacy dress.

"The tag is still on it." I comment.

"It was an impulse buy, haven't decided if I like it yet or not." she laughs. I take my dress off and put the new one on.

"It's really comfortable." I smooth it out, it almost goes to my knees.

"Try these on." she hands me a pair of shoes.

"The shoes I wore would go great with this, I don't need those." I smile and go back to her room to slip them on. I walk back to her closet.

"That outfit was made for you."

"Isn't a bit much for a hospital though?"

"Think of the circumstances…"

I sigh, "It'll be my dad's last time to see me." I look down.

"You're gonna need waterproof makeup today." she says sweetly and gives me a gentle hug. She insists on doing my makeup and hair for me-she says she never gets to do it anymore-and uses all of her good expensive makeup and her flat iron.

"You can follow behind me to the hospital." I say grabbing my purse.

"Okay." she nods and grabs her purse, we leave.

I feel overdressed. I understand I should look nice and not bummy because I'll never be able to see him again, but I know someone is going to judge me. The dress is casual, but it's the shoes…oh well.

When we get to the hospital we park in the garage and walk up together.

"Hi honey." Sue hugs me when she sees me. Everyone is there already, even Bella…again. "You brought a friend?" she asks eyeing Alice.

"We worked on a gift for my dad. I need her so I can show it to him."

"What is it?" Leah asks.

"Well…yesterday he mentioned how he wouldn't be here for my wedding day, so we-" I motion between myself and Alice, "found a way to show it to him."

They all-except Jacob-look at Alice, I don't think they fully trust her. I've felt Jacob's eyes on me since I walked in; he hasn't looked away.

'You look so beautiful.' I hear his voice in my head, I look over at him. His eyes pop a little and he looks down. 'Did she hear me?'

'I heard you.' I respond, still looking at him.

'I'm sorry.'

"I'm going in with you guys." Seth says.

"That's fine. Can we see him now?"

"Yeah."

"I'm coming too." Jacob says.

"Come on." I say to Alice and we start walking down to my dad's room.

"Sveta, hi!" Dr. O'Brien stops me.

"Hey Tyler." I smile.

"I was hoping I'd see you here again today."

"You were hoping her father would still be in the hospital so she'd come back to see him?" Jacob asks.

"Wait no! That's not what I said." He looks at me, "You know I didn't mean-"

"I know." I cut him off. "You'll have to excuse my brother's friend." I look at Jacob at the end of the sentence then back at Tyler, "He's been short tempered since the incident yesterday." Jacob storms off to my dad's room and Seth follows him. "Sorry."

"I completely understand." We stand there for a second.

"Well, I'll talk to you later, I'm gonna go see my dad."

"Yeah, of course." He smiles and Alice and I walk in my dad's room.

"Wow he was hot." She says.

"I know." I smile, Jacob looks up at me, he looks at me while I move to my dad's side.

"Hi dad." I smile when I see him.

"I was wondering when I'd see you." he smiles.

"I hope it's okay, I brought Alice." I give him a hug.

"Any reason why?" he gives me a kiss on the cheek.

"Yeah." I smile, "I think you'll appreciate her being here." I sit in the chair next to his bed.

"This was all Sveta's idea." she says.

"What was?" he asks me.

"Yesterday you mentioned my wedding day. I want to show it to you." I smile.

"Is that okay, Harry?" Alice asks.

"Of course." he smiles. I hold his hands and he closes his eyes. I act as the projector and show it to the three of them.

"Wow." my dad says opening his eyes. "It's like I was there. Thank you." he hugs me tightly. "Thank you Alice." he holds out his hand, she holds it for a few seconds.

"You're welcome." she smiles and lets go.

"That was amazing." Jacob says quietly, I look at him while he goes over everything he just saw.

"Will you excuse us, please." my dad says to the three of them. Alice walks out first and they follow quickly behind her.

"I still can't get over what you showed me."

"I hoped you'd like it."

"I loved it, and I love you. I'm feeling a lot better about today"

"Yeah?"

"I'm not gonna lie, I was a little scared yesterday, but today…I'm okay. I know Seth and Leah will be okay, every time I went out for a hunt they had to know I might not come back. It was you who I was worried about."

"Really?"

He nods, "After see that though, I'm positive you'll be okay. You and Jacob will have a wonderful life."

Yeah maybe.

'Alice is leaving now.' I hear Seth in my head.

"I'm gonna go say goodbye to Alice, okay?"

"I'll be here." he smiles. I smile back and walk back to the waiting room.

"I think it's time for me to go." Alice says.

"So soon?"

"Everyone will relax more with me gone." she says politely and looks back at everyone.

"Thank you so much, for everything!" I hug her.

"My pleasure." she hugs back, "If you ever need a place to stay while your out here," she looks at Jacob, "for any reason," she looks back at me, "my door's always open."

"I really can't thank you enough." she smiles and leaves. I sit next to Leah, directly across from Jacob and Bella.

"So will he be okay?" Bella asks Jake. He slightly shakes his head no.

"Did you eat anything? Wanna go down to the cafeteria? I can't sit here right now." I ask Leah.

"Definitely." We stand.

"You said you're going to the cafeteria? Mind if I come, a coffee sounds great right now." Bella stands, we stare at her.

"I'll get it for you." Seth stands and pushes Leah and I out of the room.

We wait for the elevator a few seconds, some people file out and we get in.

"Hold the elevator!" I hear, I throw my hand out between the doors, it opens and Jacob slowly steps past me, "Thanks."

"Sure." I hit the button and the doors close.

"What're you doin here?" Leah asks him.

"Bella likes a certain coffee from Starbucks."

"Of course." She scoffs quietly. There's a quick silence.

"Hey...sis?" Seth turns to me.

I look up.

"I'm sorry."

"What happened?" Leah asks.

"He thinks I'm jealous enough and childish enough to make up that it's Bella's fault dad's here."

"That's why I need to apologize. I talked to Jacob last night and he confirmed it. He said it all leads to her."

"What?" I ask Jacob. My mouth stays slightly open. "You said that?"

"Yeah." He looks at me then at the floor. The elevator dings and the doors open. Leah and Seth get out first.

"Can we talk for a sec?" I stop Jacob from leaving.

"Yeah." The doors close, but the elevator doesn't move.

"Do you really think that?"

"Do you really think I'm just your brother's friend?"

My legs cross at the ankles and I look down. "Recently it's felt that way, yeah. Your actions haven't really felt like any relationship higher than that."

"Hm, okay." He grips the railing on the wall tightly and looks straight up at the ceiling.

"I'm just being honest, Jacob." I say quietly.

"Honest." He nods. "Honesty is key I guess." He pushes the 'open' button and walks out, I follow.

"I didn't mean to upset you."

"Don't worry about it." We get in line at Starbucks, he looks up at the menus. "What do you want?"

"Oh, nothing I'm fine." I say staring at a piece of iced lemon pound cake, he follows my gaze.

"Sveta."

"What?" We move up in line to the counter, I stand next to him. He orders her drink.

"And for you?" The cashier asks me.

"Nothing thanks." I smile, Jacob turns his head and glares at me.

"Lemon pound cake and a grande vanilla bean frappuccino." I rush out in one breath. Jacob looks back and the cashier. I follow him over to the pick up area. We grab our drinks and we start walking. "Thank you." He doesn't say anything. We sit at a big empty table, I make eye contact with Leah so she'll know to come sit over here. "Mmm," I moan into the first bite of my cake. I smile a little at how good it tastes, Jacob's staring and my pound cake. "Want a bite?" I ask.

"No." I hold it out close to his mouth.

"It's good." He bends down and bites some off, some crumbs fall to the table and stick around his mouth a little too.

"This is good." A little bit falls out of his mouth.

I lightly laugh, "You have some icing on your cheek."

"Where?" He licks his lips, his tongue can't reach it.

"Here." I lean forward and wipe it off with my index finger, he licks it off my finger. I blush and slowly lean back and sip from my cup. He looks down and smiles.

"Well um...I should get this to Bella, before it..gets..cold..." Does he want me to stop him? Would he stop if I tried? ...Probably not.

I look down, "Right." I say quietly.

"Thanks for the bite."

"Sure." I smile, he gets up slowly and walks away.

Seth and Leah get to the table, they both sit across from me.

"So can we put last night behind us? I was a wreck last night."

"It's fine Seth."

"I wouldn't forgive him that quickly." Leah mumbles and shoves a spoon full of yogurt in her mouth.

"Where did he go?" Seth asks.

"Who? Jacob?"

"Yeah."

"To give Bella her coffee."

"You two aren't gonna like..."

"Spit it out."

"Like take a break or break up or something?"

"No I don't think we'll break up..unless he has a reason to break up with me."

"Which, obviously he doesn't and probably never will." Seth says.

"I just..." I throw my left hand out on the table. "I want honesty. Just tell me the truth, okay. I can't help feeling like Jake doesn't know what he wants. Like he wants to like me, but he wants Bella at the same time. You guys have known him longer and I just want to know. Are my insecurities getting the best of me?"

"He's liked her for years. It's kinda pathetic if you ask me." Leah starts, "she's never given him an ounce of affection or any kind of sign that she likes him, but he just won't give up."

"Don't say it like that!" Seth says with a mouthful. "I've heard how he thinks, okay. Trust me, he loves you. I really think he only likes Bella because they grew up together. They've had a friendship their whole lives."

"We haven't even known each other for a year. I can't compete with that!" I sit back all the way in my chair. " We rushed into things." I say quietly.

"You need to talk to him."

"I know. I don't want to put it off, but there's a lot swirling around in my head right now. I can't think straight."

"Talk to him tomorrow then. Take the night to regroup." Leah says standing. She takes her garbage to a trash can and comes back. "Should we get back up there?"

"Probably." I stand, fix my dress and grab my drink and cake. We go back to the elevator and ride it up to the waiting area. I take a seat against the wall with an empty chair on each side of me.

"Where's Jake and Bella?" Seth asks.

"He walked her out. She had to go."

"Thank god." I say and cross my right leg over the left. I take a bite of my cake and lean my head back against the wall. Jacob comes back up and sits in the chair on my left.

"Can I have another bite?"

"Yeah." I pick it up from my lap and hold it out for him. He opens his mouth taking a bite, I hold my other hand under his chin; a big piece falls, I pop it in my mouth.

"Hey um," he clears his throat, "would you wanna maybe go to dinner tonight?" He asks shyly.

"...I don't know."

"Please? I feel like we need to reconnect."

"Maybe if it's not too late. I'd like to stop home tonight."

"Of course. To make it easier on you we can go somewhere around your house. I'll pick you up."

"Alright." I nod. "What time?"

"What works for you?"

"It's hard to say now, I'll let you know."

"Okay."

"If anyone asks I'm gonna go to his room for a while."

He nods, "okay."

I walk down to my dads room and sit in the chair next to him.

"Hey kiddo."

"Hi dad." I laugh. "Do you need anything?"

"Nope." His voice is still a little weak. "So what are your plans for tonight?"

"Jacob's taking me out for dinner."

"That's nice." He smiles, he keeps smiling.

"What?" I smile.

"Nothing. I'm just happy. You're happy, I'm happy."

"Why do you want Jake and I to work out so badly?"

"Our families have always been close, but never combined. You two are the perfect pair to join our families."

"Why?"

"You're both the third born, he's a shifter, you're not and he actually imprinted on you!"

"What does third born have to deal with anything?"

"I mean if that's not saying something!" He shakes his head, "You were born his imprint. It was meant to be!" My eyebrows furrow and I look down. Born his imprint? So what I'm under a spell? Do I really like him? Does he really like me? If he never imprinted on me would we even be together? "Sweetie?"

"Hmm?" I snap out of it and look over at him.

"Can you push my cart over so he can put my tray down?"

"Sorry, yeah." I get up and walk the bed cart over to him, the delivery man sets his dinner down on the cart. "Mmm looks good dad." I smile.

"Speaking of dinner, you should go get ready for your dinner date." He smiles. I give him a hug.

"I love you dad."

"I love you too." He hugs back weakly. I give him a kiss on the cheek.

"I'll come back tomorrow."

"I hope to see you." My eyes start to water. I look down and scratch my head.

"Bye dad."

"Have fun." He smiles, I smile and walk out.

I slowly walk around the hospital floor just wandering. I feel like everything is a lie. How do I know if I really love Jacob? Maybe that's why he doesn't know what he wants, because I'm just his imprint and he developed feelings for Bella the natural way. He's torn between who his heart is telling him to want and who he really wants. How do I even bring this up? Even if I find a way it's not like he's going to be able to understand my point.

"Hey didn't you hear me?" There's a hand on my shoulder; it's Jacob's hand.

"What?" I blink a few times.

"I was calling your name, but you just kept walking."

"I was thinking." I look him up and down as he talks.

"I thought you were in your dad's room."

"His dinner came so he told me to go get ready for our dinner date." He smiles a little.

"So you're gonna head home now?"

"Yeah. Um hour to get home, shower, uh, gimmie about 3 hours."

"I'll leave around six then."

He better not be late again, "Sounds good."

"I promise, I won't be late."

"Don't make another promise you can't keep." He nods slowly, "I just... I can't deal with that again today, Jake."

"I know." He gives me a hug and sneaks in a kiss on the lips.

I say my goodbyes to everyone else and head home.