[Disclaimer] Stephenie Meyer owns everything Twilight. I own the plot for this story.

[A/N] I am sorry it took me so long to get this chapter out. My writing motivation isn't very good lately and I don't know what to do to get it back. Anyway, thanks to those of you who keep reading my stories. It means so much to me.

The decision to kiss for the first time is the most crucial in any love story

(Emil Ludwig)

Chapter 12

Today, is her birthday. However, Nana Di doesn't know it's her birthday. We are celebrating anyway. At least that's what we attempt to do. None of us feels like putting on a happy face.

Our grandmother sits in her bed, eating the chocolate cake Kate and Irina made especially for her. I don't feel hungry, but the cake is so delicious I end up with two and a half slices. Irina smiles at me while I lick the crumbles from my fingertips. What the hell is wrong with her? She's acting weird around me.

"I never had so many nurses to take care of me before." Nana states, wiping some cake crumbs from the sheets. "Am I very sick?" For a moment her brown eyes seem clear. That flicker of hope vanishes when she stares down at her hands. It's like she's wondering if they really belong to her body.

Tanya clears her throat. "No, you are fine." She places her arm around Nana and kisses her cheek. "Now, tell us, who is the prettiest of us? We can't figure it out without help."

Who is the prettiest of us – it's a silly game we used to play when we were still kids. Whoever asked Nana that question got a very convincing, "You, my Darling, are the very prettiest." from her, followed by a kiss on the forehead.

Nana Di knows nothing of playing games anymore. With big eyes, she looks at her oldest granddaughter and shrugs her shoulders. "Is it past seven now? My husband should be home by that time. I don't like when he's late." She sighs and dips into the cake with her fork. "He doesn't like cake."

I shift a bit closer to her on the bed. With all four us sitting around Nana it's a bit too crowded in the small room. They gave her a new room downstairs. It has a bigger window. I wonder why they've done that.

"It's not seven yet." I whisper, caressing Nana's hand. "It's still early."

Kate, who is sitting next to me, makes a sobbing noise. A moment later, Irina smacks her younger sister against the back of her head. "Compose yourself. We said no tears."

"I'm sorry. I can't." Kate jumps from the bed and storms out. I follow her. Crap, this situation sucks. Eating cake and pretending that everything is fine, is bullshit. Nana Di doesn't care whether it's her birthday or not. The only time she cares about is that when her husband comes home to her. Only that this time has been over longer than a life time.

"Kate, I am sorry." I tell her. I kneel down next to her on the stairs and wrap my arm around her. "I miss her too."

She takes a couple of deep breaths, trying to calm herself. It doesn't work and for the next few minutes, I just hold her and let her cry. I feel like crying myself but while I comfort Kate, I can't break down myself. My cousin sniffs and apologizes. "I'm sorry," she whispers. "I shouldn't agitate you."

"Alice?"

I turn my head and see Bella. She has that ugly baseball cap on again. Her injured eye is covered under make-up now. The corners of her mouth curl upward into a smile. Her smile crawls right into my soul and lights a fire there. My heartbeat speeds up.

"Is everything okay?" she asks, leaning closer to us. She drops a pile of papers with a book on top of it. Dad shouldn't have given it to her. I don't understand why he has. Nobody gets to read the unpublished manuscript apart from the editor and publishing company. It's a rule that's never been broken before.

I try to pick up the book and turn the cover down. It's too late though. Kate has already seen it. She wipes her eyes and grabs the book. "Oh my God, is that what I think it is?"

Kate stands up and holds the book against her chest as if it was a precious gift. I shake my head. Kate and Bella will get along great. They both have a preference for Cynara Parker's corny novels. I introduce them to each other. Bella's smile twitches when I refer to her as "my friend Bella." Right now, that is what we are though. Only that being friends could never be enough for me when it comes to Isabella Swan. She is pretty. She even looks pretty in ugly baseball caps and shirts that are too big.

"How did you get the new book?" Kate asks Bella. "It's not out yet. I know that because I emailed the publishing house."

Bella takes the book from Kate's hands and stuffs it into her handbag. "Someone loaned it to me."

"Who?"

"Alice's father, Dr. Cullen. He told me Cynara Parker is one of his patients. Isn't that fantastic?"

Kate loops her arm through Bella's. "You need to give it to me, so I can read it too. Alice, you should have told me Uncle Carlisle knows the author. Oh, I need to ask him whether I can meet her some time. She's my hero. I am in love with her."

Bella hesitates a bit. Dad has given her the book and told her not to let anyone else see it. She's the kind of person who keeps her promises. My cousin is persistent though. All the Denalis have a tendency to sweet talk people into giving them whatever they desire. Finally, Bella hands Kate the book. "You can give it back to Alice when you are done reading."

I follow Bella outside to the parking lot. Her car is a piece of rust. I doubt it's a safe ride. "I am very sorry about your grandmother." Bella tells me. "Today is her birthday, right?"

How can she know that? Did I tell her? No, why would I?

"There's a planner with all the residents birthdays on it. It's in the kitchen. Sometimes the families bring cake and other food for everyone." I make a mental note to ask Mom to make some cupcakes for our next visit here.

"What have you been doing in the kitchen?" I ask. "From the way my Nana lost weight since she got here, the cooking in this place sucks big time."

Bella nods. "Charlie complains about it too. They are very much about keeping the food low in fat and sugar." She opens the door of her car. "I wanted to ask the kitchen boss, whether I could work some extra hours here." She sighs. "Charlie's bills are killing me. We are always fighting about that. It seems to have no end, ever. He's drowning his sorrows in enough beer for the both of us."

I place my arm on her shoulder and run my fingertips through her ponytail. "He didn't try to hit you again. Did he?"

"He apologized when he saw my eye yesterday. I put make-up on it now. Does it look halfway okay?"

I am tempted to tell her that it matters a lot more on how she feels and less how she looks like. The next time I hear of Mr. Swan raising his hand against his daughter, it will be hell for him to pay. Yes, the situation he is in sucks, but it's not Bella's fault he's in that wheelchair now.

"You are beautiful." I lean closer to her. "Can we meet up again sometime this week? I'd like to see you again."

"Do you want to see me as a friend?" She teases me. A grin flashes over her face. "Or as your date?"

My ears feel warm. "I am sorry. I didn't know what to tell Kate."

"You only have that problem because you choose not to tell people about who you are." She drops her handbag over to the passenger's seat. "I don't like being someone's secret. I had that with Lauren and don't need a repeat."

I nod. "I am going to tell my family soon. I promise."

Bella seems pleased with this news. She cups my face between her hands and caresses my cheekbone. Her hands are rough and warm. The band-aid on her thumb tickles my chin. I hold my breath when it brushes lightly over my bottom lip. Now, she's going to kiss me. My eyelids flutter as I close them. I can feel my lips beginning to prickle with anticipation of feeling her mouth against mine. Slowly, I exhale a sigh through my slightly parted lips.

"Ali!"

I jump back, hurting my ass on the outside mirror of the car parked next to Bella's truck. "Ouch," I hiss through my teeth. "Damn it,"

"Aunt Esme wouldn't like to hear you cursing." Tanya laughs. She holds out her hand to Bella. "Hi, I'm Tanya." She points to Irina who is standing behind her. Irina keeps her eyes glued on her phone and waves her left hand for a moment to mimic the attempt of a greeting. "We aren't disturbing you two. Are we?"

I fucking hate my cousin. She's doing this on purpose. It's embarrassing. "No, we were just saying good bye."

Tanya grins. I make a fist with my hand behind my back. At least they didn't catch us kissing.

"Are you going to ride back with us, Ali?" Kate asks. "Thanks for lending me the book, Bella. I can't wait to read it."

Tanya tugs on her sister's hair. "Prince Charming isn't going to come on his white horse to take you back to the castle. Stop dreaming."

Kate pushes her glasses higher on her nose. It's rare that she doesn't wear her contacts instead of them. She's terribly near-sighted and practically blind without contacts or glasses. "Ali, do you think Bella would like to go out with us on Friday night? You are coming, Bella, aren't you? It's going to be fun."

"Maybe Bella already has a boyfriend." Irina says. "Have you?"

Bella shakes her head. "No, I don't have a boyfriend." Her eyes move to me and she winks. It's just a tiny movement of her eye-lashes fluttering towards her cheeks. I still see it though. I lower my head. This situation sucks. I need to get over with this Coming Out thing as soon as possible.

"Maybe Bella has to work Friday night." I mumble. I want to spend time with Bella. And by that, I mean, I want to spend time alone with her.

"Maybe Bella can speak for herself." Tanya says. "Bella, the club is nice. They make some decent cocktails there."

"Yep, the cocktail are not too bad." I agree.

Irina shakes her head. "Ali, you really shouldn't be drinking alcohol anymore."

I remember the outcome from the last time I drank. The memory makes my head ache. I still don't know all the details of what happened between me and Bambi Eyes. I have a tendency to talk too much when I am drunk.

"Alice is cute when she's drunk." Bella says. I feel my face beginning to get hot when she continues. "Her voice gets all rough and sexy." Stop it, Swan, I yell in my head. By now my face is glowing. I pull the hairband out of my ponytail and push my hair forward to hide my cheeks.

"Good bye, Bella." I tell her, barely able to resist the urge to pull her into an embrace. If I hold her now, I will not be able to let go fast enough.

"Bye, Ali." Bella waves her hand at us. "Bye ladies. It was nice to meet you. See you around."

I stare after her like a puppy being left behind outside some motorway restaurant. When Tanya places her hand on my shoulder, I jump.

"She's seems nice. Doesn't she, girls?" Tanya asks her sister. "You are going to be nice to her and behave."

Irina frowns. "When are we not nice to people?"

"There's not enough time to sum all occasions up. Don't make her sing in public. Don't molest her with your sorry excuse of a love life. Just be nice to her for Ali's sake."

Kate giggles. My cousin's mood is way better since Bella gave that stupid book to her. "Why for Ali's sake? Oh wait, is Bella Edward's new girlfriend? The poor thing!"

The thought of my brother putting his hands on my Bambi Eyes, makes me livid. I replay the scene of him looking at her at the hospital in my head. He sure would dare to make a move on her. "Bella is not Edward's type."

"Everything that has a vagina is his type." Irina states. She wrinkles her nose I disgust. "It's a wonder he never caught any STD's."

"Stop it." I whisper. "He's still my brother. I don't want him to get sick."

During the ride back to the restaurant, I'm quiet. I am sad because it's Nana's birthday, and she doesn't know it. They need to change something about her meds. She's too tired from them.

Tanya waves her hand at me as I climb out of the car. "Call me, Sugar, and tell Bella we said hi." She gives me a silly wink when she says the last part. Then, my three cousins drive off, giggling and with the stereo turned on way too loud. I shake my head and smile. It would probably be much nicer to have a sister instead of a brother. Too bad Mom and Dad didn't want any more kids after I was born.

I press the door handle to the back entrance down. Mom is going to be in the kitchen anyway. Something shatters. There's flour all over the floor. The trail leads to the pantry. I hear my mother giggling. "Stop, stop it, Carlisle, we are going to get caught."

Crap. This is gross. My parents are the two most embarrassing people on earth. What are they? Fifteen year old teenagers or fifty year old adults?

I cover my eyes and call out. "Mom, are you here? Mom!"

There's a bit of hissing and some more shattering noises coming from the pantry. Then my parents walk out. Dad's hair has flour in it. Mom's blouse is buttoned-up wrong.

"Ali, princess, we didn't expect you back so early."

I can fucking see that.

"Am I disturbing you with anything important?"

Dad runs his fingers though his hair and tries to shake out the flour. "I was just helping your mother to clean the pantry. It's too crowded."

I chew the inside of my cheek. "So, it's crowded. Well, whatever." I don't want any details about their love life. That's simply disgusting. They are old and my parents.

Mom laughs. She reaches out her hand and wipes a bit more flour from Dad's head. "Now, we have to clean you up, too. Oh look, you are getting grey. Ali, look, your father has lots of grey hairs. What happened to the young man who came to the diner I worked at?"

"He had too much bad coffee. The place sucked. I only spent my time studying there to look at you." He cups her face in his hands and kisses her. "You know that, Miss Denali."

Now, I smile. They are embarrassing, but they are cute. My parents love each other in a way that fascinates me. I never felt this way about another person. It must be amazing.

"Sweetheart, I'm sorry." Mom says. She wraps her arms around me and pulls me against her chest. "We must just pretend she knows who we are and who she is. Otherwise, we turn crazy."

I hop on the kitchen counter and bounce my legs against the hard wood, hurting my left ankle. "Dad, can't you check Nana's medication again? She's like stoned. It's scary."

He nods. Now, I have his attention. That's good. "I am going to speak to the doctor there when your Mom and I go to visit Di later."

"We should not have put her into this awful place. It smells like death mixed with antiseptic soap in there." I state. "She looks awful and sad."

One of the waitresses rushes in to call Mom for help. I can see tears blinking in the corners of her eyes. Damn it. I should have held my tongue and not make that comment about death in front of her.

"It's okay," Dad whispers. "Your Mom is strong. " He pets my shoulder with the palm of his hand. "We need to be even stronger for her. Right, princess?"

"Yes, Dad." I promise, swallowing back a lump in my throat. I need to do something to distract myself. After all the sweet cake, I need something different to eat.

I cut a slice of fresh baked bread off and spread some butter on top of it. "Oh, just so you know, Bella gave the book to Kate."

"Crap. I mean why? Alistair won't like this." He takes the other half of the bread and stuffs it between his lips like he's starving. "Did she like it?"

I shrug my shoulders. "I didn't ask her. Should I have?" I lick a bit of salty butter from the corner of my mouth. "I'm sure she liked it. Bella's a big fan."

Dad opens a bottle of apple juice and lifts it to his mouth to take a gulp. "You didn't tell her you know what, did you? Nobody would read—"

"We have glasses, Carlisle." Mom states as she enters the kitchen again. "You know I can't stand it when you drink out of the bottle. There are half-empty bottles all over the house. It's bad manners." She gets a glass from one of the cupboards and fills it up. "Here."

"Thanks, Darling." He mumbles. "I'd be lost without you."