A/N: Get the 411 from Alice's perspective, amongst the randy little goings on with her and Jazzy pants.

Chapter 12

All Night Long

Alice's POV

The moment I left the gym I was in Jazzy's arms.

"Come here, my Alley-cat," he drawled affectionately, kissing me tenderly but briefly on the lips before pressing his face into my neck.

I grinned to myself and rolled my eyes. "Jazz, please!" I exclaimed, but it was only in half earnest.

He pulled away and threw me a teasing pout.

My grin broadened. "We have all night, remember? Everyone's out—well except Edward, but we can always chain him to the basement."

Jazz groaned loudly and exaggeratedly. "Tell me we don't have to spend the night with douche-bag, multiple-personality-disorder Edward!"

"Don't worry, my plan is to get him to Bella's," I said smiling secretively to myself before grabbing Jazz's hand, bringing it to my lips and kissing his knuckles.

"Huh? Him and Jacob in the same house—oh god, please, yes!" He laughed openly.

I threw him a funny look then grinned at him teasingly. "Did you and my brother have a fight, babe?"

He put his arm around my shoulders, dragging my face to his, kissing me quickly, before he addressed my question with a shrug, "Nope, but I seriously think he needs shock therapy. Should have seen how psycho he was in Spanish today."

I abruptly stopped walking and turned to him, suddenly suspicious. "Why . . . what was he doing?" I asked slowly, feeling a slight ripple of panic travel through my body. Why I continued to allow Edward to, in a sense, dictate my happiness with his actions, I would never know, but I did.

"Acting like a freak—nothing out of the ordinary," he replied with that gorgeous, playful grin.

I only groaned to myself softly. I had suspected something was wrong with him—enough for me to sense it in the middle of volleyball, anyway. But since Edward was all over the place these days, I tried to rationalize it away and concentrate on my gorgeous hunk of a guy in front of me.

"It's cool, Alley, don't worry about him," Jazz whispered in my ear before nuzzling it.

I sighed deeply and allowed him to pull me forward again. Still, that nagging feeling didn't go away, and as soon as we reached the parking lot, I quickly understood why.

Bella was standing beside her car with her face buried in Jacob's chest. She was clearly upset, and unsurprisingly, Edward was nowhere to be seen. I scanned the parking lot quickly for his car, but it was gone.

"What has he done now?" I sighed to myself, pulling from Jazz's arms and heading over to Bella; ignoring his exaggerated groan.

As soon as I approached, Jacob turned to me and flashed me a warning glare. I glared back, daring him to stop me, before I completely ignored him and turned my attention to Bella. She was crying, though she was making an obvious effort to hide the fact that she was. I sighed to myself feeling like a rat; a rat by association—again!

Of course it had something to do with Edward, and if I wasn't already aware of that fact, Jake rather angrily brought it to my attention.

"You tell that piece of shit, coward of a brother of yours, Cullen, that when I see him I'm going to break his legs!" he fumed, turning back to Bella.

She placed her hand gently on his chest, pushing herself off him. "It's okay, Jake," she insisted, wiping her eyes quickly with the back of her hand.

She didn't look okay, but it was typical of Bella, always trying to downplay what she was feeling. I smiled at her; she turned her gaze downward, still trying to hide her obvious emotions.

I was beginning to hope Jake really would beat the crap out of Edward; he deserved a good ass kicking!

"How is it okay, Bells? The last thing you need is his bullshit—I'm gonna kill him!" Jake huffed, his anger making his voice rise and carry across the lot, making him appear more intimidating than his size already suggested.

"This time you'll have to get in line, Jake," I added lowly, before turning to Bella, who was attempting to smile at me through her obvious distress; making the overall effect look rather pitiful.

"What happened, Bella?" I asked her gently.

She shook her head, seeming genuinely confused. "I don't know. I think he thinks I have something going on with Mike Newton!" she exclaimed her voice rising higher, rivaling Jakes, and making it obvious that, along with confusion, she was pissed off.

"Tell him if he wants to take his shit out on someone, to come and find me next time!" Jake added shaking his head to himself while staring fixedly at me as though it was acceptable for me to take the brunt of his anger—considering I was a blood relative of Edward.

I rubbed my forehead frustrated and slightly unnerved by the hulking form of Jake towering over me.

"I'm sorry, Bella..." I allowed my voice to trail off. I was too ashamed to say what I really wanted, because I was the one who had encouraged both Bella and Edward towards building a relationship together. And now, the end result of that endeavor was standing before me, stubbornly shrugging off the obvious fact that my brother had hurt her.

Again!

I was suddenly so pissed, and I was sick and tired of continuously apologizing for Edward's behavior!

Bella nodded, any remnant of tears had vanished and her deep expressive eyes were suddenly blazing. "I'm so over this, Alice! I don't ever want to speak to him again!" she exclaimed. She was angrier than she was hurt, but hurt she still was.

I nodded in understanding, half sighing, half huffing with both anger and guilt.

"Anyway, I'll speak to you later, Al. I just want to go home at the moment," she added almost apologetically when I didn't reply, her tone warming as she addressed me.

I nodded again, before I rather impulsively hugged her. "Take care, Bella—and again, I'm so happy about Kel. I'll call you tonight, okay?"

She broke into a sheepish smile and nodded. "Bye, Alice," she replied, her voice suddenly falling in sync with her eyes; in fact, the pain was rather blatantly ingrained into her expression whether she was aware of it or not.

I felt a surge of hot anger boil through me, but quickly pushed it aside. It could wait—Edward could wait.

He's not going anywhere and heaven help him when I get home, I vowed silently to myself before turning to Jazz, who was leaning against his car, his hands stuffed in his pockets to protect himself from the cold. He smiled at me brightly then winked. I felt the edges of my mouth twitch before I completely broke into a warm, affectionate smile. However, it soon faded from my lips, my mood growing frosty as my thoughts returned to my idiot brother.

I pulled my cell out of my bag and called Edward; it went immediately to his voice mail.

"Coward," I muttered to myself, before yelling down into the phone as soon as his message beeped, "It's too bad stupidity isn't painful, Edward!"

Jazz was chuckling to himself as he opened the passenger door for me—kissing the nape of my neck quickly as I climbed in. I smiled, allowing a fuzzy feeling to filter through me, but again my mood immediately dipped back to irritation as soon as his soft lips left my skin.

"So…?" Jazz asked me after he climbed into the driver's seat, arching his eyebrow dubiously while trying to hold back the all-out grin. He found Edward's behavior more amusing than I could fully understand, these days.

"I have no idea, except my brother is a moron!" I retorted, darkly.

"Fair enough," he replied turning away from me, his smile not faltering.

"What do you know? You might as well tell me now?" I sighed, suddenly feeling weary.

He turned back to me. "Honestly? Nothing. He came into Spanish looking seriously pissed. I asked him what was wrong and he told me to fuck myself," he answered. His expression began serious, but soon he was exhaling passed his obvious amusement.

I shook my head and covered my face with my hands.

"I don't want to know. I don't want to know. I don't want to know!" I chanted to myself in an attempt to convince myself otherwise. Unfortunately where Edward was concerned, I was kidding myself. I sighed; it ended as a full-fledged aggravated groan.

Jazz's grin broadened, before, breaking into a light chuckle, he started the engine and pulled out of the school.

"I don't know why you're getting so much amusement out of all this. You really should empathize with me; you have a twin sister too, after all," I said to him wryly, before throwing him a dubious look by his reaction. He was on the verge of all out laughter.

He shook his head to himself. "If I know one thing, it's that Rose would chop my balls off and wear them as earrings if I dared to interfere in her life."

"I'm not interfering!" I exclaimed immediately indignant. "I was trying to help the idiot out. Edward's decisions have been made all on his own!"

Jazz tried to grab my hand, but I shoved it away.

"Alley, I didn't mean it that way," he stressed remorsefully. "Sorry," he added pathetically, turning his blue puppy dog eyes on me as he stopped at a red light.

I tried to remain indignant but my mouth slowly curved upwards in betrayal. I exhaled deeply. "Okay," I mumbled.

Jazz reached out, placing his large palm behind the back of my neck and pulled me gently toward him, kissing me deeply. His lips traveled the course of my face warming it up instantly and sending my body into mild tremors as he went. I released the air from my lungs slowly and almost lost myself in the moment—but for the angry sounding car horn that was blasting behind us.

"Jazzy ... green ... light," I managed to utter after his lips once again found mine.

He chuckled and continued to kiss me, murmuring, "It's Mr. Fox. Let's make him wait a bit longer."

I shoved him off me. "Jazz! I'm sorry but making out in front of a teacher is not a turn on!"

He laughed softly before hitting the gas and driving out of Forks.

...

"How do you know you're from Forks...?" Jazz murmured huskily against my ear.

We were in the midst of our goodbyes, but I was too irritated to enjoy it. All I could think of was getting to Edward in order to break his neck.

"How?" I asked sighing, as my eyes inadvertently drifted from Jazz's to the front door of the house, narrowing.

"When you're kissing your boyfriend, but thinking about your brother," he replied, pulling back from me with a quick grin.

I exhaled into a chuckle then wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him close. "I'm sorry, Jazzy," I said sincerely, kissing his neck before pulling back to kiss his lips tenderly. "I'll make it up to you tonight—after I kill Edward," I whispered in his ear, making my voice sound deliberately seductive, and smiling to myself as he immediately grew tense.

He hummed softly, knowingly. "I'll hold you to that."

He kissed me again.

"I know ... you will," I replied, responding to him, but the need to maim my brother was more prominent on my mind.

Jazz sighed deeply and slumped back to his seat. He looked over at me and grinned, rolling his eyes. "Okay, go kill him. I'll see you at seven."

I planted a quick parting kiss on his cheek before jumping out of the car. "Tonight, Jazzy," I said coyly, winking at him.

He blew me a kiss, before pulling back down the driveway.

That afternoon was the first time where I didn't stay on the porch watching as Jazz drove out of sight. Instead, I leaped up the stairs two at a time, my anger returning with each step as I raced towards Edward's room.

There was no light illuminated under his bedroom door, but that didn't stop me from bursting through it anyway.

Empty.

I huffed loudly, whipping my phone out and pressing Edward's number. It reached his voice mail again. I took a barely measured breath, feeling my frustration growing

"Where are you, Edward? The village is missing its idiot!" I bellowed into my cell.

. . .

Emmett came home around five; he got dressed and left not long after. He hadn't seen Edward.

"What has Bludge done now?" he asked, as he stood in front of his dresser mirror styling his shortly cropped hair.

Why he was bothering was any one's guess, but I'm sure he thought he was improving upon it.

"The usual acts of astounding stupidity," I muttered dryly, leaning on the door frame of his bedroom.

He quirked an eyebrow at me. "And? You're surprised because...?"

"I'm not surprised, but … he hurt Bella," I confessed quietly, feeling a pang of guilt in my chest for leaving Edward open to Emmett again, but I pushed it away angrily. He no longer deserved my loyalties.

"Again?" Emmett asked, raising his brow high on his forehead before breaking into a mocking grin.

I only nodded in reply.

He began laughing so hysterically that he had to stop combing his hair to lean his forehead in his palm. "Where is he?" he asked with a devious grin after his laughter had died down.

"Hiding—I don't know. That's why I asked you if you'd seen him," I answered, rolling my eyes at him.

"Jeez, that dude is funny." Emmett laughed again to himself with a shake of his head.

"I think we'll agree to disagree on that, Em," I said, turning to walk to my room.

"Hey?" He called after me; I turned back to him raising my eyebrows in question. "What time is Mom and Doctor McDreamy due home tonight?" he asked, his eyes narrowing suddenly with suspicion.

I shrugged. "Probably about the same as usual. Why?" I asked, sensing the beginnings of his male ego, over bearing big brother syndrome and groaning internally.

"Well, you tell Jazz to behave himself or I'll sick Rosie on to him," was Emmett's reply, his eyes gleaming with both the seriousness of his threat and his usual wise ass amusement.

I rolled my eyes. "I'll keep that in mind. Goodnight, Em," I replied lightly before returning to my room.

"Yeah 'night, elfling."

Edward was still AWOL by the time Jazz was due to arrive. I had to conclude that the snake was hiding out and probably wouldn't be home all night. I more than likely wouldn't know where he was unless I stayed awake until Mom arrived home to ask her. Edward knew better than to stay out all night without letting Mom know; if he knew what was good for him, anyway. That knowledge only made me fume more. He wasn't even man enough to come home and face up to his actions—to me, at least!

I left him another message, expecting to reach his voice mail and not blinking when I got it. "You have to come home some time, you coward!" I growled down the phone before tossing it angrily on my bed.

I sighed to myself and picked it up a moment later, this time dialing Bella's house. Her Uncle answered before I heard the sound of Bella's small voice a few moments later, even though I suspected she was attempting to sound cheerful. My heart swelled for her.

She was the sweetest thing in the world.

She went on to explain Edward's rather hostile behavior towards her that afternoon.

"Did he even ask you if it was true?" I asked in angry disbelief.

"No," Bella replied. "He seemed to have made up his mind himself."

I was fuming.

Stupid, stupid, stupid asshole! I thought to myself wanting to scream it out.

I changed the subject immediately, asking Bella if she was going to Rob's very famous eighteenth birthday party Saturday night. I knew she didn't want to go. It was obvious she didn't like the thought of running into Edward there.

"Hey, look, if you're worried about Edward, I don't think he'll go, somehow. He's avoiding me like the plague at the moment," I explained to her, my tone tactful.

She sighed heavily into the receiver. "I'll think about it, Alice. Thanks for calling. I've got to go and bear witness to more of Jake and Nessie." I could almost see the forced smile she was attempting on the other end of the line.

Edward wasn't good enough for her; that was all there was to it.

I chuckled gently. "Goodnight, Bella. You take it easy, okay?"

"Sure thing, Als. You too," was her reply, her soft voice wavering slightly at the end, but she hung up before I could say anything more.

I was so angry that I sent another message to Edward, this time via text: Calling you an idiot is an insult to stupid people!

I paced around my room angrily, before the thought of Jazz coming over was the only thing that began to calm my mood. I got dressed into Jazz's favorite outfit and sprayed on the perfume he'd bought me for Christmas, before going downstairs to wait for him.

He arrived right on time just as he always did, revealing a single red rose from behind his back and extending it out to me.

"For you, my Alley cat," he said sweetly, grinning at me huge and handsomely.

I exhaled wistfully—he was so gorgeous. I took the rose from his hand and with my other, I grabbed a fistful of his sweater, pulling him inside. "Oh, Jazzy..." I said softly, stretching up to kiss him affectionately.

He wrapped his arms around my waist, hauling me off the ground, kissing me back with a little more fervor.

I pulled back teasingly. "Patience, patience," I whispered in his ear, before tucking his blond floppy locks behind it, so I could kiss it softly, grinning as I did, knowing his reaction in advance.

He immediately cringed, pulling me away automatically. "Alley—no!" He laughed, plonking me back down on my feet.

I laughed lightly and grabbed his hand pulling him over to the sofa. "Did you get the DVDs?" I asked.

He flashed me a wry grin and held them up.

I popped them open inspecting them before groaning loudly. "What are … I can't watch these!" I exclaimed in distaste.

One was foreign, and the other was dated 1947, without the mention of Clark Gable on the blurb, at all.

Jazz grinned broadly, arching his eyebrow suggestively. "I thought that was the whole idea."

I smiled back at him, shaking my head lightly to myself. "Can't we pretend to watch them, at least?" I teased him with mock coyness.

He came over to me, took the DVDs from my hands and kissed me again briefly, shaking his head. "No," he answered, chuckling softly, before kissing me again more intensely.

I pulled away again just as it began to build. "I made popcorn—well I haven't yet, but we can do it now," I teased him, before grabbing his hand and pulling him into the kitchen.

He groaned with feigned frustration, but allowed me to pull him along.

Like the complete gentleman that Jazz was … most of the time, he microwaved the popcorn as I sat on the counter chatting to him.

"Um … by the way, Edward called me about thirty minutes ago," he began delicately, once he'd set the timer for the popcorn.

My mood instantly went stormy. "What did he say?" I asked lowly.

"He said he's not coming home tonight. He knew what would happen with you, if he did..." Jazz explained, before creasing his forehead as though he was preparing himself for an impact.

I scoffed and blurted, "Damn straight, the coward!"

"I asked him what he'd done, since you were ready to kill him, and he told me that you should ask Bella," he added, practically cringing away from me this time, as if I was going to attack him.

I almost did!

"He said WHAT?!" I screeched. I jumped off the counter, snatched up the phone that hung on the kitchen wall and dialed Edward's number as I fumed. My hands were shaking with the sheer velocity of my anger.

Again, voice mail.

"You are a complete and utter idiot, Edward. You are living proof that man can live without a brain!" I yelled into the receiver before slamming it back again and whipping around with my arms crossed.

Jazz was gazing at me with a small skeptical smile on his lips. "So I see that overreacting runs in the family," he muttered to himself, his expression turning to amusement.

I quirked my eyebrow at him as my anger dissipated. "Oh really? Would you like me to over react on you, Jazzy?" I teased him, dropping my eyelids for emphasis.

His expression turned playful. "Oh, God, yes."

"Tell me where and when and I'm yours," I replied, continuing with the seduction, and smiling fractionally to myself.

The microwave beeped, and Jazz grabbed the bag of popcorn then grabbed my hand, pulling me back into the living room with him.

"Come, Alley cat, and give me a good dose of it," he spoke into my ear, his voice growing gravelly before he kissed the top of my head affectionately.

Jazz's randomly picked DVDs threatened to be so dull that we barely made it past the opening credits; as I suspected was his motive for picking them. I was half way through tugging his shirt over his head when I was suddenly overwhelmed by concentrated amounts of aggravation.

I shoved him off me rather angrily, leaving him in incredibly adorable bewilderment, before I raced up the stairs to retrieve my phone. I couldn't relax until I told Edward exactly what was on my mind; otherwise, it would bug the hell out of me and threaten to ruin the whole night.

"When you come home you're dead, Edward. You giant, big, fucking pussy!"

I stood in angry consternation for a few moments before I looked up and noticed Jazz standing in the doorway grinning at me with amusement mingled with slight impatience.

"Got it out of your system now?" he asked me, raising his eyebrows and looking too gorgeous for me to be so distracted by my idiot brother.

"I think so," I said giving him a sheepish shrug. I walked over to him and leaned up on my toes to kiss him tenderly but briefly on the lips. "Sorry."

He rolled his eyes and sighed, scratching the top of his head. I smiled apologetically at him before pulling him back down the stairs by his un-tucked shirt.

I took my cell with me; just in case.

This time I pushed him on the sofa and climbed on him, straddling his lap as I tried my best to stay focused on him, but it was no good. Not even his warm, enticing fingers inching there way under my shirt could hold my focus. I pulled out of his kiss and ran my hands through my hair.

"I'm sorry, Jazzy—damn it!" I suddenly yelled in frustration.

He closed his eyes and groaned to himself

I picked up my phone again. "God Damn it, Edward. Answer your phone, you coward!" I hollered angrily into it.

In one lightning fast movement, that completely surprised me, Jazz grabbed me around the waist and pulled me back over to the sofa with him.

"Alley, we're missing the movie, and I'm getting really pissed!" he teased me, showing too much good-nature than I deserved. He leaned in slowly, with his eyes twinkling wickedly, and kissed me again. This time it was heated with a little more force. I melted into him with a long humming sigh, allowing Edward to drift from my consciousness.

"No more ... douche bag ... Edward," he murmured between long, heated kisses.

"Mmm-hmm," was my reply as I allowed our kissing to grow in intensity without breaking it off.

Jazz laid me back into the sofa, his searing lips traveling from my face down to my shoulders, slipping my bra strap down as he went. I sighed deeply, my body tingling with an undercurrent of energy. Pulling him back to my lips again, I tugged his shirt up, trailing my fingers up his stomach playfully. He pulled away, his muscles flinching, and half chuckled, his eyes burning midnight blue with longing.

Pulling his shirt fully over his head, he tossed it on the ground, before doing the same with mine. I kissed his face all over teasingly, before I broke away to kiss the burning smooth skin of his shoulders and chest; running my lips and nose along the contours of his rock hard, tensing muscles. Jazz fumbled, rather unsuccessfully, to unclasp my bra, continuing to kiss my shoulder and neck as he did.

My cell suddenly beeped with a message alert. I sat upright and stared at it as it lit up, vibrating on the coffee table. I made a move to get it, but Jazz held me back.

"Nope," he breathed in my ear. "Not letting you."

I chuckled. "Jazz, let me get it."

"Nu-uh," was his reply, he turned me back and kissed me again, my lips curved into a knowing smile, while his mouth was pressed stubbornly to mine.

I gently pushed against his bare chest. "Jazzy, you know it'll drive me crazy. Just let me get it, and then I promise I'll turn it off."

He thought about it for a moment before conceding. "Okay." He sighed with exaggerated frustration before he covered his face with his hands, pretending to sob with sexual frustration.

I grinned at him and rolled my eyes with affection, before picking up my cell and clicking open the message. It was from Edward:

Alice, quit giving me a hard time. I HAVE DONE NOTHING WRONG!

"You have got to be kidding me!" I exclaimed in furious disbelief. "Nothing wrong—NOTHING WRONG?"

I immediately went to reply, but Jazz quickly grabbed my cell from my hand and held it up over his head, out of my reach.

"Jazz, not funny! Give me my phone!" I demanded, feeling my emotions slide into the irrational.

He grinned using a smile I normally couldn't resist. "Nope," he replied lightly. Wrapping his free arm around my shoulders and pulling me against his bare chest, he kissed me teasingly before attempting to turn it heated.

I broke away, it was not an easy thing to do, but my present irritation at Edward was currently overshadowing everything else.

"Jazzy, I've got to reply," I insisted.

"No, you don't," he insisted. I could see by the deepened shade of his eyes that he was getting more frustrated; not that I could blame him—hell, I was frustrated as well.

"Please, Jazzy?" I pleaded using one of my looks that he usually couldn't resist.

He remained unmoved and continued shaking his head.

I folded my arms. "He majorly fucked up—Jesus! Bella is my best friend! All you guys are the same!" I burst angrily.

Jazz only gazed at me for a moment, eyeing me cynically, before eventually breaking into a grin. I rolled my eyes, used to the fact that he usually regarded any angry outbursts from me with amusement.

He suddenly sighed, shaking his head as he did, then lowered my phone from above his head, but instead of handing it to me he began dialing.

"Dude, seriously, call Alice so she can have it out with you, 'cause at this rate I'm never gonna get laid!"

I threw him a discernible smirk, raising my brow at him, while I fought back the grin. "And who said you were getting anything of the kind?"

He pouted at me again, took a step closer, and encircled me in his arms—my cell beeped loudly, making us both jump in surprise.

"I probably just seriously pissed him off," Jazz said with a grin before opening my phone to read the message. His grin broadened and he broke into a soft chuckle. "Yep."

I sighed taking the phone from his hands and read the message:

Are you fucking kidding me? Do you want me to rip your throat out?

"Oh typical! This he replies to," I snapped, quickly texting a reply, telling Edward if he wanted to kill my boyfriend he'd have to get through me first, but since he was too much of a pussy to face me, his whole threat was laughable at best.

"Okay, Alley, no more! You're killing me," Jazz burst, taking my phone from me and switching it off, before putting it down his pants—his grin turning cheeky. "If you want it back, you have to come and get it."

I flashed him a gentle teasing smile and gazed up at him through my lashes. "Take me to my room, Jazzy, so I can overreact on you."

He half carried me, half stumbled up the stairs, while we kissed feverishly, my legs wrapped tightly around his waist as I clung to him. His skin began to burn beneath my fingers.

"Alley, I can't see a freaking thing. Where am I going?" he murmured, breaking into a soft laugh as we reached the pitch black of the second floor.

I kissed him heatedly, deepening it further, pressing my naked chest to his.

"End of the hall," I murmured, running my hands through his hair and opening my mouth to him with even greater yearning.

He groaned softly and continued stumbling blindly until he reached my room.

"Close the door, Jazzy," I whispered to him, nuzzling his ear with my nose before I trailed my lips, kissing his skin softly along his jaw then down to his neck. I inhaled the sexy as all hell scent of his aftershave, as the current of heated desire within me burned to the surface of my skin.

He turned around and kicked the door closed clumsily, with me still in his arms clinging to him.

"I love you, Alley-cat," he murmured, before pressing his lips heatedly to mine again. I could feel his heart hammering against my chest, pounding and joining in rhythm with mine.

"I love you too, Jazzy," I said softly against his lips, feeling his breath washing hotly over my face. "Don't be a … gentleman this time," I added breathlessly, losing myself against his mouth once again.

...

I woke up the next morning stretching widely and grinning to myself with as much vigor. The events of the previous night were still prominently in my mind, making me feel all the more fuzzy and warm. I rolled over then flinched from the sting that pierced my shoulder. I half sat up rubbing it quizzically, before realizing that I'd rolled onto Jazz's rose that he'd left on my spare pillow, along with a folded note.

I picked it up, my smile broadening as my thoughts returned to Jazz and the events of last night, before I unfolded and read it.

Alley,

Thank you for tonight. I love you more than anything in this world.

Love Jazz.

I drew in my breath deeply, exhaling with contentment, then let myself flop back against my pillow. Closing my eyes, I wrapped my arms around myself, still smelling Jazz everywhere around me.

I allowed myself a moment to be engulfed by it, before I rather energetically sprang from my bed with a new vitality in my step.

I had a long, hot shower, then threw on my discarded clothes from the night before and ran my hands through my hair. It was all I really needed to do with it; it wasn't long enough yet to get tangled enough to need a hair brush.

I walked out of my room to head downstairs for breakfast, suddenly realizing how famished I was. Jazz and I hadn't eaten a thing the previous night, not even the popcorn we'd made.

However, as soon as I walked into the hall, I was instantly reminded of Edward. Immediately, I turned my step toward his room, my mood dropping to irritation in mere seconds.

"I wouldn't bother; he's still not home," Emmett spoke up as a passing comment but stopped dead in front of me and gave me a scrutinizing look; his eyes narrowing until he looked almost pissed.

I wasn't in the mood to engage him in his mind games just then; I had bigger fish to fry. I marched back into my bedroom and grabbed my cell phone.

"Remind me to beat the living crap out of Jazz," he suddenly grumbled, sounding only half joking.

"What? You don't know what you're talking about," I shot back at him as I dialed Edward's iPhone again. Considering how much I was distracted by my present anger with Edward, I was pretty sure I'd convinced Emmett that he was delusional regarding his suspicions about Jazz and I. Plus, I was too mad to blush.

"Edward, still not home I see! Well, if I said anything yesterday that I should be sorry for—I'm glad!" I bellowed into the phone, which made Emmett scoff and mutter something about freaky evil twins.

"And another thing," I added, my tone growing louder and more irate, "Jazz and I had a great time last night. All. Night. long!"

A loud groan drew my attention to Emmett again as he disappeared down the stairs. "Oh yeah, I'll be kicking his ass tonight." I heard him say more or less to himself.

"Boys should be drowned at birth!" I yelled back to him, hearing a faint chuckle in response, just as my phone beeped.

Edward!

I clicked open his message, scoffing loudly as I read it. You know how fucked up it is that you felt the need to tell me that, you little rat?!

I texted one word in reply: Pussy!

Ferret!

Asswipe!

Interfering pain in the fucking ass!

Fuck you!

You first!

Scoffing again, I rolled my eyes, shrugging off my irritation, before following Emmett downstairs; my stomach protesting loudly in hunger.

"Hi, honey," Mom said cheerfully as I walked into the kitchen. She came over to kiss me affectionately on the cheek, tucking a strand of my hair out of my eyes.

I grinned sheepishly. "Hi, Mom."

I sat down at the breakfast table, poured myself a bowl of cereal and munched it slowly. Carlisle walked in the room a few moments later and sat beside me.

"Good morning, Alice," he spoke in his usual professional consultation tone—even on Saturday mornings at the breakfast table—flashing me a warm smile.

I had a mouth full of cereal, so all I could manage in reply was a smile.

"You look all bright and cheerful today," he commented before opening his newspaper and laying it over his crossed knees to read.

"You do, Alice," Mom commented with a smile as she laid a cup of coffee in front of Carlisle and sat opposite me at the table.

"That's generally the idea after a night of getting laid," Emmett said walking into the room, smirking at me devilishly, just as I inhaled several apple jacks into my windpipe and began violently choking and spluttering—only to have my lungs collapse a moment later as the great ape pounded on my back.

Once I'd gained some kind of composure, I shot him a look of angry mortification, but Mom's obvious reaction told me that—thankfully—she took his comment with a copious amount of skepticism.

"Emmett, for the love of … please no more laid jokes at the table! If that's okay?" she exclaimed in exasperation.

I half huffed, half cleared my throat and pulled myself quickly together, before taking a huge gulp of orange juice to calm my spasmodic throat.

"Are you okay, Alice?" Carlisle asked, peeking at me from behind his paper.

I only nodded and cleared my throat again weakly.

Mom sighed shaking her head to herself, a hint of a smile twitching at her lips as she watched Emmett raid the refrigerator. She sighed again this time smiling warmly before rolling her eyes and turning her attention to me again.

"What did you and Jasper get up to last night?" she asked me, as if Emmett's notion was completely inconceivable.

I was sure everyone thought that just because I was a fair amount vertically challenged, I'd stopped aging to even things out. Mom definitely saw me as eleven—at the most; I was sure of it.

"We watched DVDs and made popcorn," I answered with a casual shrug. It sounded innocent enough, I thought to myself as a small secretive smile spread slowly to my lips. It turned to a scowl a moment later, thanks to Emmett's obnoxious snort from inside the refrigerator. I sighed inwardly, seriously entertaining the idea of slashing the tyres of his car.

As much as I complained about it, it was very convenient that Mom saw me as still an eleven year old. It gave me immunity against several of her anal-retentive rules. For instance, she would never have gone out and left Jazz and I alone in the house otherwise. It definitely wouldn't last too much longer if Emmett refused to take his foot out of his mouth. Mom wasn't in that much denial when it came to me, and although I was given a few more allowances than the boys, I was sure that having sex with my boyfriend in my bedroom was not one of them.

I finished my breakfast quickly and left, not wanting to be around in case Mom decided to reflect on Emmett's ramblings and came to one or more conclusions that ended up with her and I in the family planning clinic together. I shuddered at the thought, but I missed the opportunity to scope out where Edward and his pea-sized brain had spent the night. In a way, I was glad; I was getting tired of getting so riled up over him. But not worrying about my twin brother was a skill I had not yet mastered.

I finished off my homework during the rest of the morning before Jazzy called around lunch. I curled up on the sofa and chatted with him for a while before calling Bella. She wasn't home; her uncle informed me that she'd gone to Port Angeles with Jake. I hung up folding my arms and sighing to myself suddenly with angry frustration, knowing that if Edward hadn't royally screwed it up, Bella would be in Port Angeles with him instead.

I released my breath again, this time in a loud huff; I was so sick of allowing him to impede on my life.

cont...

A/N: Yikes that was cheesy. I almost didn't make it. Horny little devils!