I'm super nervous about this chapter, so stick with me! I hope you guys enjoy it!

I only have a few minutes before Alice arrives.

She pulls up in her father's black Mercedes and smiles a weary smile as she shuts the door.

"Hey," I say as I push Velma back with my foot. She meows loudly so I lean down and pick her up. "I'm sure you remember Velma," I say to Alice as the cat in my arms struggles to get down.

I drop Velma to the ground and she immediately begins to smell Alice's shoes-black converse heels-before she becomes bored and walks away into the living room.

Alice smiles after the cat. "She certainly has personality," she says as she slips off her shoes.

I nod. "She gets it from her mother," I say with pride. Alice laughs but it only lasts a moment. I can see something is weighing heavily on her as she stands awkwardly in the doorway.

"Uhm, come on in," I say. "Can I get you something to drink?"

She shakes her head. "No, thanks," she replies as she sits in my father's old recliner. She curls her legs under her body before she leans back in the chair. I sit down on the couch and allow Velma to curl up on my lap. She purrs loudly a few times before she falls asleep with her head resting gently on my arm.

"So," I begin. "What's this all about?"

Alice avoids looking at me and instead chooses to focus on wringing her hands together over and over again. Her skin is much paler than usual and the way she is folding in on herself worries me. I haven't known Alice long, but I know that this isn't normal for her.

"I just…I feel horrible about dinner," she says. "My brother and I ruined that for you and I feel as though I owe you an explanation…well, as much of an explanation as I can give," she rambles on.

"Alice," I say, cutting her off. She looks at me with sad eyes and I smile as reassuringly as possible. "You don't owe me any explanations. I mean, I'm not stupid. I know something is going on. But I only want you to tell me because you want to, not because you feel obligated."

She smiles at me. "I want to," she reassures me. "I trust you, Bella. I don't know why, but I just do. I haven't had many close friends over the years, but you're different. Everyone can see that, even Rosalie and Emmett." She looks at me seriously. "You won't betray me."

I shake my head. "Whatever you tell me stays with me, Alice. I won't repeat anything."

She smiles, but it's not a happy smile. "I know," she says. "So I don't see the point in keeping it a secret any longer. It's nothing I should be ashamed of really. I just…it's hard."

I nod in encouragement and, after a long moment, she speaks.

"Well, for starters, I'm adopted," she says.

My eyes widen. "Really?" I ask stupidly.

She nods. "When I was 6, my parents died in a horrible accident. Carlisle was helping out at the hospital in Los Padres, California. It's about two hours outside of LA. He was helping out on a special case when I came in. We were in the car and it was storming really badly. My dad…he just lost control of the car," she whispered. "They died on impact."

I shake my head, unable to speak for a long moment. "I'm so sorry," I finally squeak out.

Alice shrugs. "It was a long time ago," she whispers. "The worst part happened when I was 16 at my old high school," she says. "I had a lot of friends. I mean, I was Alice Cullen. Sister of the famous Edward. Being my friend was how you became popular, but I was stupid enough to believe that they liked me for me.

"So one night, they invited me to a party and they hinted strongly that I should invite Edward," she continues. Her face grows hard and I begin to get nervous. "He promised to make an appearance but the night of the party he was…occupied. I left my house really late and by the time I arrived at the party, everyone was drunk. The minute I got there, I went to find Irina. She was my best friend at my old high school. I told her Edward wasn't coming…"

I just stared at her, waiting for her to continue. I could feel the tension radiating off of her as she stared straight forward. Her body was present, but her mind was somewhere else, somewhere in LA.

"She was so mad. She told everyone there that I was a lying slut and, because she was so popular and everyone was so drunk, the believed her. I had an entire keg of beer dumped over me and took a few slaps to the face from Irina and her cronies. And then Max, the guy I liked at the time…well, he really thought I was easy," she whispers.

I gasp in horror. "Alice…he didn't…?" I don't want to say it. I hope that if I don't, it will somehow make the situation less true, less horrible than it is.

She shakes her head. "He almost did. Thankfully, the cops busted it just as shit started to get bad," she says softly. "But the worst part is that I really thought of all of these people as my friends, but they just wanted me for what I could give them. What my brother could give them. "

I look out the window into the night for a long moment, trying to process everything she just told me. But things made a lot more sense now. Why Alice didn't want to be known as Edward's sister. Why Rosalie was so defensive when she first met me.

Why she always carried an extra shirt.

"Alice…I don't know what to say…I mean, that's just…" I flounder for the right thing to say, something that will make this situation better than it seems.

She shakes her head. "Don't say that you're sorry. It's not your fault," she says fiercely. "But now you know my story. Hopefully, Eddie boy will realize that he needs to fill you in on all of his issues. You've been good for him, Bella, and I think you're going to be the right person to get through to him," she says with a smile.

I shake my head. "I don't know about that. He…well he wasn't all that happy with me when he dropped me off," I say as his last words to me float back into my mind.

"You should realize by now that it's the other way around. I'm only going to hurt you. I hurt everybody.

I nod as realization hits me. "He blames himself for what happened to you," I say. "It makes more sense now."

She nods. "And I admit for some time, I did blame him. But he knows I'm done with it. I don't blame him. I blame myself. I blame Irina. I blame Max," she spits his name out angrily. "But there's more than that. He has his own problems that he refuses to admit. But you'll be good for him. He's almost there now, he just needs that extra push."

I raise an eyebrow at her. "That's where I come in?"

Alice smiles widely. "That's where you come in."

Review! More about Edward in the next chapter!