I hadn't heard her enter but I did hear the wail that shook the walls of the room.

I searched through tear-logged eyes, making out her face through the moisture.

"Alice," I croaked, "Alice... Are you alright?"

She rushed to my side in a burst of speed, her arms wrapping around me like a vice, although not altogether an unpleasant one.

"Am I alright? Am I alright? Oh my love," Her head fell into the crook of my neck as she mumbled her words breathlessly against my skin.

"Please, Bella. Do not listen to my ignorant sister. Do not dare believe a word out of her treacherous mouth!" She continued to plead with me, her words tingling over my flesh, "She is so often caught up in her own personal theatrics that she fails to see the truth - made bitter by her own losses and misgivings. I dread the thought of you ever allowing her words to hurt you."

"How can I not?" I tugged, pulling out of her grasp, "Nothing she said was a lie. It's like I've been trying to tell you all of this time - I'm not meant for your world and I don't fit into your life. Just look at what I did to Edward! I practically drove him out of house and home because I'm human and he's not. It's unfair of me to be so selfish. To force myself into this world - your life - and tear your family apart in the process."

My words were cold and unfeeling, only the salt fringing my lashes betraying the illusion.

It wouldn't do to show Alice how much I was hurting, because it would only make this harder.

"What on earth are you talking about?" She scrutinized my face, her jaw clenching when she found only more dissatisfaction, "You did not run Edward out of this house! He did that to himself. And I would know - I know him better than anyone else here! My brother is... stuck. In some ways, we are all still stuck. Permanently rooted to the year that we were changed - our development forever frozen in chilling ice and impenetrable stone. He is a seventeen year old boy, regardless of the hundred or so years he has actually lived through. He throws moody temper tantrums endlessly, and this is no different! If Rosalie said anything to you about it she is just trying to manipulate you. Do not listen to her."

"But-," I spluttered, my carefully curated thoughts already starting to reel, along with my once steadfast plans, "Why aren't you upset that Edward's gone? If you are so close, you should hate me!"

"Bella," Alice closed her eyes and exhaled slowly.

Frustration lined her porcelain features so inexorably that her usual appearance - a beautiful and pale doll-like frailty - was replaced with a sturdy and broiling vehemence.

"I told you. This is normal for him. Were you not listening at all? Every twenty or so years, he has this god awful habit of running away, all in search of an idealized meaning that he will never find. His departure was long overdue, and if you were not going to push him to it, something else inevitably would have. He died at a very confusing time - he had recently lost his parents to the Spanish influenza, and he was soon to follow them. He was also caught up in ideals of warfare and battle as if becoming a soldier would make him a man... As if it would give him an honourable identity! As a consequence, Is it at all surprising to you that, given such histories, and his violently underdeveloped prefrontal cortex, that he would pull a stunt like this?"

Alice looked... Tired. Like it drained her to dredge up bitter pasts and open wounds. Like it drained her to have to explain something so brutally obvious to some she had thought had understood.

I'd never felt more scolded in my life. No voice had been raised. No skin stung by the back of a keen hand. Alice's disappointment was the deadliest venom on the planet, and right now it was sinking deep into my veins, right through the bone and into marrow.

"When Carlisle changed him, Edward lost everything. He is forever seeking after a stolen life of chivalry and earned morality - always trying to abandon the losses that continually plague him, but never finding the strength to truly do so. He has never accepted this life, his newfound existence. For some, it takes hundreds of years before a vampire can let go of their human misgivings, and Edward is still shy of those necessary years. I love him, but I am not going to pretend that his antics have any merit aside from immortalized brutishness and a spoiled sense of presumptuous expectation. Being the first to enter into this family has done nothing to curtail his self-righteousness, that is for certain."

"Well, maybe it's true that I'm not the one who forced Edward to leave," I conceded despite the lump in my throat, still stubbornly holding onto arguments that were turning to dust in my hands as my ship continued to sink into frigid waters, "But Rosalie knows I'm not one of you. Your parents - Carlisle and Esme - may try to make me feel welcome but she's right. I'm not cut out for this. Jasper couldn't even face me because all I am is an unnecessary temptation. If I was anything more than that, why didn't anybody come up here to stop Rosalie's onslaught? If I am not such an unbearable inconvenience how come Carlisle, Emmett, even Esme, didn't bother to correct her or, at the very least, reassure me? And don't tell me they couldn't hear the conversation! I know you all have super human hearing."

"Bella, you just said it," Alice's voice softened, her hands reaching out gingerly to comfort me, "Our hearing is superb, you are right. But, quite frankly, not one of us wants to be eternally privy to every single conversation, romantic rendezvous, and blistering argument, our fellow family members have. Each bedroom has been spared no expense - the best sound-proofing money could buy turning our walls into an audio-barring fortress. Honestly, it is militarian. Even if we screamed right now, it would merely be the faintest whisper to my family dwelling below. No one came up to defend you or comfort you, because they genuinely did not hear Rosalie's obnoxious tirade - and this is no fault of their hearing, but rather of our strongest desire for privacy."

"Oh," I gulped, really starting to falter in search of a defence, "I just... I don't get why she hates me so much, then."

"What, Rose?" Alice's eyes widened in surprise as if it all should be so obvious, "I told you, she is jealous of you."

"I remember what you said but it doesn't make one iota of sense, Alice. Like, just look at her! She is a walking-talking Victoria's Secret model. Men would fall on a sword just to spend one night with her, and girls all over the world would kill just to be her. I have nothing that she could possibly want!"

"Stop being so dense for a minute, honey," Her cold finger poked my side, "You are smarter than this. I would know; I have seen your school work and taken account of your overflowing bookshelves. Think harder about everything I have told you, everything you have seen, will you? This wilful ignorance of yours is beginning to frustrate me."

"Fine, what am I missing, then?" I snapped, looking down at my hands as I fumbled with the hem of my shirt and jutted my lip sullenly.

"It always comes down to the same thing - the thing you consider a handicap, but the one thing many of us enviously crave. You are human and she is not! I will not tell you what happened to Rosalie. After all, it is not my place to say. But I will tell you that her turning was one of the hardest out of all of us. She lives with a lot of regret and anger. One thing she still has not been able to let go of, is her inability to bear children. The dead cannot bring forth life, and this haunts her viciously."

Alice stalled for a moment, her voice thick with emotion when she finally decided to continue.

"Edward once told me that she constantly daydreams of what life would be like if she and Emmett could grow old together - her children and her children's children frolicking on a front porch somewhere with cloudless skies," She looked to me, her eyes wandering over my salt-stained cheeks, almost as if she wished she could know the feeling herself.

"It is a constant for her. She never goes a day without pining for a life she will never be able to have. Jasper, Carlisle and Esme, myself, even Emmett, we are not like Edward and Rosalie. We have found meaning in our lives even though unchanging immortality grips us. We withstand the test of time and remain constant when everything else fades and evolves. Edward and Rosalie still have a while to go before they settle their debts and let go of the past. I see it happening one day. Sometimes it is closer and sometimes it is further away. But I can never wrap my hands around the catalyst - the words, the moment, the circumstances - that will finally bring them their peace. I have stopped seeking it now. It is their path to travel and no amount of interference will aid or hinder them. "

She let her gaze hang heavily over me. Reverentially. I forced myself to face her head on, even though the weight of her gaze made me feel like I'd crumble.

"Just because they have not found their peace, does not mean I must feel guilty for having found mine. You should not let them make you feel guilty for it, either."

I opened my mouth to speak, not quite sure what would come out of it.

"Okay."

Just two syllables. Almost too airy to hear. It sounded so inconsequential and unimportant. Yet, it admitted defeat. It admitted to my inability to stay away - to live a mundane life and allow Alice to lead a wonderfully exciting one without me dragging her down.

Maybe, somehow, I would prove Edward and Rosalie wrong. Maybe, I could find a way to be more than I am, and less of what they thought me to be.

Truthfully, though? It didn't matter.

Right or wrong, I just couldn't let go.

─── ・ 。゚ : *. .* : ゚. ───

I got in just before the clock struck nine. I could hear Charlie snoring down the hall in the living room, the faint sound of a crime show filtering down the hallway.

"Do you want me to spend the night?" Alice whispered, helping me out of my coat, "Also, we totally need to get you a new raincoat because this is-," She held up the worn fabric in disgust, "-disgusting."

I snorted as she flung the coat onto the rack with supernatural speed, her nose crinkling with distaste.

"Um, maybe not tonight," I chewed my lip, "I kind of just want time to think and, uh, whenever you're here I don't really think much about anything. Like, at all."

She raised an eyebrow, looking at me questioningly.

"Well, I do!" I stammered nervously, "Think, I mean."

Her perfectly sculped brows rose ever higher.

"Just not about things that... I feel comfortable actually talking about right now," I blurted out, cheeks heating up.

"Ooh, why not?" Alice's mouth twitched, a mischievous grin sweeping across her plump, rose-coloured, lips. Oh God. Why did I have to focus on them now?

"Alice," I warned.

"Alright, I will leave this conversation for another night. But, I hope you know that is a promise, my dear."

With the mischievous grin still holding firm, she planted a hard, passionate, kiss on my lips, "In fact, I expect you to reveal all by tomorrow. I am not a very patient woman."

"Mm," I hummed giddily, cheeks flushing, abdomen flooding with warmth, "We'll see. Goodnight, Alice."

"Goodnight."

I watched forlornly as she returned to her car, locking eyes one last time before she sped down the road.

I wished I'd been less rational. I wish I'd asked her to stay. But time apart was the one thing that I knew would help me to orient myself.

I wasn't used to being so emotional and intense. I wanted to find my footing again - land on solid earth. Find some semblance of well-maintained apathy that could remind me of who I was and who I am.

I walked down the hall and peered inside to find Charlie snoozing on the couch. I pulled the throw off the back of the sofa and gently placed it over him, tucking in his feet so he didn't get too cold during the night.

A little 'harrumph' and an accompanying garbled snore was my only thanks.

I climbed up the stairs slowly and as quietly as I could muster - the creaking floorboards doing everything in their power to jeopardize my slinking.

I cursed under my breath when I stubbed my toe trying to reach the landing. That damned step! What the hell was wrong with it?

It was a relief when I made it to my room, Charlie's snores still carrying their way up throughout the house, and no more steps trying to break my bones.

I fell into my chair and spun around to face my computer, a heavy sigh ready to burst from my lips at the slightest provocation.

I switched on the computer, the deep recessed 'On' button getting stuck briefly before finally bedding down with a comforting click, and allowing the yellowing monitor to flicker to life.

The thought of slogging through homework was uninviting, yet, all the same, compelling. If I started to get behind now I doubted I'd be able to catch up, and then where would I be? I wasn't one to scrounge for grades - I wanted to earn them fair and square. It had to be done.

A litany of pages describing Edwardian England and the influence of the industrial era, how best to solve algebraic equations, and which of the Bronte' sisters' prose was the best according to a gaggle of arguing academics, swirled before my eyes.

Blocks of text and blindingly-white web-pages flowed in front of me - never-ending and retina-scorching - with each hesitant click of the mouse. My only reprieve were the blissful moments I ducked my head down to scratch pencil over paper.

A handful of pages down and numerous web-pages scrolled and textbook passages highlighted, I looked over to the clock in the bottom-left of my computer screen. Practically midnight.

Great. That's all my time used up.

With dark under-eyes and heavy shoulders I got changed and ready for bed.

I slipped under the sheets, my gaze drifting to the window... yearning for her to sneak into my room even though I knew she wouldn't. Lamenting my sorry excuse of 'wanting to think', when I'd done anything but.

─── ・ 。゚ : *. .* : ゚. ───

"Mom, I don't know where your cerulean sweatshirt is," I tried to keep my tone light and airy, but irritation was only one small misstep away, "I didn't pack your bags for Florida. I was in Forks before you guys set off."

I slopped milk into my cereal bowl, my cell phone clamped taut between shoulder and ear.

It was the following morning. Mom had called just after I'd hopped out of the shower - droplets still sopping from my hair, and the clock reading an early seven thirty.

I'd answered it immediately, worried something had happened. It was Phil's number glaring out from the caller ID. Turns out Renee had just lost her phone, and hadn't gotten around to notifying her network or buying a new one. It was perfectly in trend for her.

I rushed around the house, trying to juggle the winding and ever-chaotic ramblings of my Mother as I stuffed my bag with books and shovelled cereal down my throat, my early start already well and truly wasted. I was just thankful Charlie had left for work before I'd woken up - I didn't want him to see Mom and I's strange dynamic.

"Anyway, Jacksonville is absolutely divine, Bella. You will love it here! Phil and I are already discussing colours for your bedroom. I am thinking a nice light green, or perhaps a deep vermilion for some pop. What do you think?"

"Mom, I like it here. I thought we agreed that I would spend the year with Dad and then we'd talk about moving back. And that was only if I wanted to," I muffled curses with the palm of my hand, spilled milk dribbling down my top.

Dammit.

I rushed back upstairs to find something else to pull over my head and call clothes.

"But, Bella!" I could practically hear Renee's round-eyed expression barrelling through the phone, "You hate the wet and cold! Why would you ever want to stay in Forks, even for a year?"

"Um, because it's what we agreed on? Don't tell me you're not enjoying having Phil all to yourself. I thought you were honestly excited to be rid of me."

"Honey, don't talk like that. You know I love you," Her voice was more of a hurt accusation than softened empathy, "And of course I'm enjoying the travelling and being able to spend time with him. But, I miss you... It's hard without another girl in the house. Plus, Phil can't spend all day everyday with me, he has a life, too."

"Mom, so do I? I have school, homework, friends, college to worry about. If I move back it's not like much will change," I clenched the phone in my hand, trying to keep the grit out of my voice as I struggled to pull my arms through the sleeves of a sweatshirt without dropping the phone or getting myself stuck.

"What is this really about, Bella? Do you want to stay because of a boy? Oh my God. I know you do! Why didn't you tell me? Are you being safe? Please tell me you are being safe. Gosh, I'm surprised Charlie didn't call and tell me. This is serious. This is a huge development and you need to-"

"Mom, it's not about a boy."

I obviously wasn't going to tell her that she was sort of right - I had no idea how she would handle it and, right at this very moment, I didn't really care to know.

"It's just... Forks is starting to grow on me. The weather's not so bad, either. I kind of like the doom and gloom, actually. I finally fit in. Everyone's so pale here."

"Hm, well, I hope if things change you will be safe about it."

"Of course," I let out an exasperated whoosh of air as I flew down the stairs and miraculously avoided plummeting to my death, flipping my bag onto my back and chucking my half-eaten cereal bowl into the sink. I could feel some of it trying to come back up my throat but I swallowed it down, refusing to let the acid tear the back of my throat.

"I just miss you so much, Bella. It's not the same without you. I can never find my keys anywhere, and Phil's hopeless. Did you know I once spent the whole day inside, and we'd left grocery shopping to the last minute, because I couldn't find them anywhere? We had to order takeout for the 4th time that week. So embarrassing."

"Mom. I've always told you to get some sort of bowl or container and leave them by the front door as soon as you come in. That way, you will always know where to find them," I trudged down the stoop and raced over slick pavement.

Fuck! My luck had clearly run out.

I skidded across the ground before I smacked down onto hard, icy, concrete, bouncing once, twice, before sliding to a halt on a wet and very sore backside.

I pulled myself to a stand, legs shaking, mind full of expletives, before wrapping my hands around the cold metal of my truck's door.

"Yeah, I know. I just keep forgetting. You know how I am, Bella. Always so much to do and so little time."

I tried to hide my outraged scoff.

She had plenty of time to do everything and anything! It's just whether or not she'd focus and get round to any of it, was the problem.

"Anyway, I'm quite angry with you, you know? Why haven't you called, Isabella?"

I slammed the door shut with an angry burst, thrusting my bag off my shoulders and onto the cool leather of the passenger seat.

"Well, why didn't you call?"

"I'm calling now."

Renee always had this habit of pinning the blame on me. Somehow, she could dig her way out of anything - ever guiltless and unscathed.

"If you remember, Mother, I texted you. Left messages. Emailed. You never got back to me."

"Oh, Bella! You know how I am with technology. My email client always crashes and I never know how to find the send button. It's so ridiculous."

"But you were able to reply perfectly fine to me when I first got here?"

"Bella! Please talk to your Mother with a little more respect."

Here comes the sting.

"I've been so busy down in Florida trying to get Phil and I settled, and it's all been very hard on me. I would have expected you to be able to empathize. The cold weather is making you frigid and harsh. This is why I think you should come home. It'll make you feel a whole lot better and perhaps then you won't be so cruel to your own Mother!"

"The cold weather isn't the problem at all, and I feel fine. As I've said already, I'm happy here. I don't want to come down and visit. This is my home, now. I have school work and I have a life here - I can't just up and leave simply because you want me to."

If she wanted to dish it out then I would return it right back to her. Even if my eyes were prickling from unshed tears, and my lip quivered from both hurt and rage alike.

"Bella, don't you think you're being just a little unreasonable?" Her pitch rose an octave and I could start to hear the frantic desperation creep in - it always sounded the same when she wasn't getting her way, "I love you. I have a right to see my daughter."

"Then come down here! I am tired of doing everything your way. I left for Forks so I could catch a break but still you won't let me go, even now. Please, just let me live a little before you start trying to drag me back! Holy s-. You don't call, you ignore my messages, and then you demand I fly out to you in FLORIDA, and I'm the one being unreasonable?"

I started to laugh, the absurdity of it all - the manic, bubbling, absurdity - finally getting the better of me.

"You know what? I'm done. I'm just so done."

My thumb mashed down onto the button, its red outline completely hidden underneath my whitening skin. I chucked my cell phone to the side, leaving it to get lost somewhere in the back of the truck behind the seats.

I wiped the back of my hand over my eyes before starting the engine and pulling out, wet streaks lining the skin of my knuckles as I held on tightly to the wheel.

This week was turning out to be a real mirror to the soul. I'd never cried so much in my life, and I really wasn't enjoying the development.

Trees blurred past my window - green formless streaks marring my peripheral. I kept wiping my eyes as fresh tears fell, silent sobs wracking through my body. Eventually it got too much and I was forced to turn off the road before I piled into a ditch.

I rubbed at my eyes aggressively, as if I could somehow rip all the tears away and then I'd be completely fine again. I knew it didn't work that way but I wanted it to.

I wanted my Mother to be normal and I didn't want to be so weak. I wanted to not care. I wanted everything to be alright. I want everything, and nothing at all.

I heard a loud thud on the roof and immediately jerked my head up from my hands. Was a tree falling on my truck? God, that would be just my luck!

I looked around blearily through unshed tears, unsure of whether to scream in terror or shout something appropriately intimidating, although I wasn't sure a tree would be inclined to listen to threats.

My door creaked open and she slipped inside.

"Bella, talk to me," He lithe body, defying logic and agilely sliding over to sit on my lap, draped over me.

Her lips moved gently into my hair, "It will be okay. I am here now."

"God, I'm so pathetic," I half-laughed, sobs clogging up my throat.

"No, you are not. I... heard. I heard what happened. You are not pathetic at all. Is she always like that?" Her concern nearly gave way to shameful discomfort, but managed to hold strong.

"Were you watching me?" I lifted my head to meet her sheepish gaze.

"Yes," She dug her teeth into her lower lip, letting the pink flesh bounce back when silence dragged, "I missed you and I wanted to surprise you this morning. I was going to knock, but then I heard your conversation and, well, I could tell you were stressed. I thought maybe I should just hang back? And then things just devolved and-... Do you forgive me? I should not have spied on you like that. I am really sorry, Bella."

"Wait, did you see me slip? That is so embarrassing," I groaned, head falling into her shoulder with an audible thunk.

She slid her arm behind me and rubbed my back with a firm and comforting hand, her fingers digging satisfyingly into the fleshy plains of my shoulder blades.

"I was going to swoop in and stop it but I-. Well, if I am to be entirely honest with you, the look on your face was quite frightening. I was not so keen on being on the receiving end of it. Apologies for my cowardice... And, of course, the sore bottom."

I let out a defeated sigh. My fight wasn't with her, anyway - aching backside, withstanding.

"She's just so-... So fucking much. Like, all the time. She hasn't even bothered to call since I've been here, yet, somehow, she thinks I should just dump everything and go right back to her? It's ridiculous. Whenever I am with her I just feel like I'm something to be used. Either I'm running around doing errands for her like her private PA, or I'm listening to her complain about the most inconsequential things like a damned therapist. Or, even more humiliatingly? I'm just there to entertain her while she hops between friends and relationships! I can't go back to her. I just can't."

More sobs quaked through my body and I burrowed further into the crook of Alice's neck, desperate for refuge.

Her hands gently stroked through my hair, her fingers doing all that they possibly could to work away the heartache.

"I must admit, I do not know what it must feel like to have such a careless Mother - Esme has always been so kind and nurturing. But, I do know that you are not alone in this, anymore. We are here for you. I am here for you. I always will be."

She trailed kisses down the side of my temple, skimming over my cheekbone.

"You will get through this. And when you feel like you cannot, know that I will carry that burden for you. Esme is also more than willing to welcome another under her wing. She loves, as damning as it may seem, collecting new children to dote on and to love. Perhaps her gift - what makes her unique - is simply to be the perfect Mother. As it stands, you do not just have Charlie, and you must not weather Renee alone. You have all of us. Even Rosalie and Edward... when they cease their childish whining, I must preface."

"Hm," A snort cut through the sobbing before I could stifle it, "Somehow I doubt that'll ever happen. Not sure I want to count Edward as family, just yet"

Alice lifted my head, her smooth cold hands caressing my cheeks as her gaze ran lovingly over my tear-stained features. A razer sharp spike plunged into my heart. How many times would I force her to see me like this?

"Am I so reprehensible - so shallow - to think that you are still cute even when you are crying?" She placed a light kiss atop my lips, barely grazing my flesh with her pink mouth.

"Cute? I'm a mess," I shirked out from under her grasp, hurriedly trying to wipe away the tears smeared all across my face.

"Yes, but you are my cute mess," Alice grinned, tucking a lock of her wild hair behind her ear before doing the same to mine.

A small smile hesitantly picked at the corners of my lips. I tried to keep my eyes away but I couldn't. They always fell right back to her - pulling me right into her orbit.

Far too soon, that curious little smile that sought valuable real-estate on my puckered lips, won its battle.

"Damn you."

"I am already damned, baby, did you not know?" Her eyes glinted with mischief, and a lazy smirk - the one that sent ripples of heat firing down below my navel - spread ravenously across plump lips.

I became increasingly aware of her body wrapped around mine, her legs locking me in place in the driver's seat. My hands slid forward, dragging across her firm thighs.

My breath hitched when she pressed herself forward, her back arching so that she could let her chest skim dangerously over my own.

"Well, if this is not an interesting turn of events, I do not know what is," She husked, her words trailing over my mouth.

Driven by something far more primal than I could ever rationalize, I bridged the gap, moulding our mouths together in a heated kiss.

She was quick to succumb, our lips moving in tandem in an effortless yet passionate dance of fire and ice.

"God, Bella... You are trouble," Alice pulled away, eyes hooded and unnaturally dark.

Her fingers probed and pried their way down the front of my sweatshirt, tracing the curvature of my sternum over fabric, almost like she had mapped it out and could trace it by memory alone. I could feel the chill of her hands seep through the fabric, and it sent a shiver of pleasure rippling down my body.

"Says the vampire," I leaned forward to murmur against her lips, instinctively dragging my teeth over her lower lip.

On the surface, her skin was so supple and soft but, beneath it all, hard stone lingered. It was the strangest thing. And yet, I couldn't get enough of the exhilarating sensation.

At the feel of my grazing teeth Alice's chest hummed and emitted the oddest of sounds. It sounded like a purr, but there was something more. Something possessive. Volatile.

The sound felt deeply sensual.

"Mmm," The purr in Alice's chest faded into a moan, her tongue running across my mouth with a tempting flick.

"We better stop, it is getting terribly dangerous," She squeezed her eyes tightly shut and, with great difficulty, dragged her face away from mine.

She leaned back, our bodies no longer flushed, separated by an unbearable inch of space.

"Why do you have to be the responsible one all the time?" I grumbled, my fingers delicately grazing down the length of her jawline, urging her against better judgements to return to me.

"Because, sadly, if I do not take the reins, you will inevitably take advantage of me. Tsk-tsk," She wagged her finger, her brow quirking upwards in mock reproval.

"Hm," I scoffed, rolling my eyes, "Like you're the vulnerable one. I'm the one who was just balling her eyes out a moment ago over something so utterly stupid."

"Firstly, it was not stupid," She flicked me lightly on the shoulder, a slight sting from the cold skirting my skin, "And secondly, that is one of the reasons, although there are many more, why I am not pushing things. Another reason would be that, if you had not noticed, we are still parked on the side of the road. Unless you are into voyeurism, I do not think you want to give this sweet little town a show they will never forget."

Her melodious, hypnotic, laughter echoed throughout the truck, the joyous sound full of abandoned diablerie. It made my heart skip a beat. It was moments like these where I just stared in awe and stole myself a piece of heaven.

"Come on, let us be bad and skip first period. I think you need a better distraction than English class. How boring."

Without waiting for me to argue, she leaned herself up against my dashboard, balancing the balls of her feet on the carpet of my truck. She unbuckled me in a blur and heaved me out of my seat, gently shoving me into the passenger side so she could take control of the vehicle.

"Alice! This is kidnapping!" I squeaked, buckling myself in as soon as she took off the brakes and swerved back onto the road.

"But you love it," She glanced over to me, eyes sparkling. She had absolutely no shame.

"Well, where are you taking me, then?" I leaned back into the aged leather, tossing some of my hair behind my shoulder. Maybe if I feigned indifference she would lose her fight and we would turn back around.

"Back to the forest... Back from where we came. Back to where we must DIE... OooOooOOoh," Alice's voice took on a hollow and ethereal timbre - she was enjoying herself a little too much, in my humble opinion.

"Nice," I rolled my eyes.

I turned to look out the window, my arms folded loosely over my chest.

If I let her see my smile it would only get worse, and then it would be practically impossible for me to pretend that I actually wanted her to drive us back to school in the first place.

"This truck is t," Alice drawled in frustration, her foot hammering down on the pedal - the truck blissfully ignoring her and chugging along at its characteristically slow trundle, "I miss my Porsche."

"Mm, there's always time to turn around," I shrugged, biting back a smile.

"No, there definitely is not!" Alice breathed out through her nose, her brows pinching together, "It would take us just as long turning back as it would to keep on going. God, please let me buy you a better car? Audi A6, maybe? It is respectable and not too extravagant. The main allure is that I will actually be able to get past 50 miles per hour - darn it, this stupid thing!"

She rapped her knuckles across the dashboard, her eyes squinting angrily as if the truck could hear her, and somehow took sadistic pleasure in her torture.

"Hey, lay off her. She can't help that she is old! Also, how would it look to everybody if I suddenly rock up in a new car bought and paid for by the Cullens? What would my Dad think? The town would get suspicious so, I am afraid, if you are in the habit of kidnapping me on a regular basis, you will just have to get used to the old girl."

"No!" She howled dramatically, her body shuddering from the incredibly dark - at least, according to her - reality.

"Stop being such a vampire. We can't all race everywhere at 100 miles per hour."

"Never!" She bit back, pouting as she tried to coax the truck over 50, "Yes, 51!"

"Mhm, if my engine dies I am holding you personally responsible."

She ignored my threat and spent the rest of the drive trying to find ways to torture my truck into rolling down the road that little bit faster. She didn't achieve much - only getting the poor thing up to 52 before we had to crawl back to a slow roll. She jerked the handbrake with an irritated flourish, folding her arms over her chest as she scowled darkly out the front window.

"There, there," I patted her shoulder, not bothering to hide the teasing lilt in my voice, "We'll take your speedster hot-rod of a Porsche, next time."

Her frown dropped in favour of an appraising side-eye.

"Come on, out we go," And out she hopped, materializing at my door in a startling flash of vampiric speed.

"More forest?" I puzzled, sliding out of the car and setting foot onto compacted dirt.

Towering evergreens surrounded us on all sides. I felt like an ant in a world of giants, craning my neck to get a better view of the firs that loomed overhead. They were the tallest I had ever seen. I wondered how old they were as I looked to and fro - trying my best to locate the tallest on sheer instinct.

It was a humbling experience, and I had never felt smaller. Yet, surprisingly, also more at peace with the notion of my own personal insignificance.

"Sort of," Alice shrugged nonchalantly, "You will see."

"Am I going to need to uh...," I trailed off as my eyes roved over her firm yet minuscule shoulders, flashbacks of wind-whipped hair and a queasy stomach clouding my thoughts.

"Oh shh. I promise that I will be more gentle this time," She flashed a reassuring smile, her expression penitent as she turned to give me her back.

She tensed and relaxed her shoulder muscles with inhuman control - letting them ripple before my eyes. I supposed she was trying to offer up some form of encouragement.

"I swear it will be fine, Bella. You can trust me."

"Mm, I hope so," I mumbled, sidling up to stand behind her.

I ran my hands over her shoulders, attempting to muster the courage to hop on.

I didn't know whether to thank her for bringing me out of my comfort zone, or curse her out for it.

"Here goes nothing," I breathed, lunging upwards so that Alice's hands could support me from behind. I wrapped my legs around her waist and threw my arms over her shoulders.

"Hold on tight, okay? No Gwen Stacy action. Unlike Spiderman, I can save you easily enough, but I would prefer to not waste time doing so. We have some serious climbing to do."

I was about to share my disinterest in further participation, the comic book references a step too far, but she bolted up from the ground in a forceful show of strength, stealing the derisive words right out of my mouth.

I let out a shrill squeal as we jumped high into the boughs above.

With a soft thud, Alice and I landed perfectly on a thick branch, twenty or so metres above the ground. She rolled on the balls of her feet, not losing balance for even a millisecond.

She looked over her shoulder, a wicked smile stretching her lips.

"If you don't stop smirking like that, people will start to mistake you for Narcissus, you know?" I nuzzled into her neck, my grip tightening around her waist and shoulders.

"From that Greek story? No they will not! But, if you continue showing off your 'cool intellect' - gushing about ancient mythology as if those losers have not been dead for a millennia - they will definitely start calling you a nerd," She retorted over her shoulder.

I could feel the giggles vibrating throughout her body and into mine, her trilling soprano reverberating right up into the treetops to touch the clouds above.

She steeled herself just before the next jump, her body loosening and growing languid - her melodic giggling now stifled as she readied her taut muscles for the leap ahead.

Her amusement wasn't completely gone, however - I could still feel her smug grin regardless of whether or not I could actually see it.

More air whipped around my face as we surged upwards, the tips of her shoes digging into bark to propel us ever higher.

Eventually, she let go of her hold on me - my legs and arms tightening around her small frame - so that she could use her arms as well as her legs to take us deeper and higher into the canopy.

I kept my head nestled into her neck, avoiding the twigs and leaves that sought to prickle at my skin and snag against my wind-whipped hair.

"Bella," Her body stilled, and cool air nipped against the back of my neck, "Open your eyes."

I gingerly lifted my head, moving away from the cool sanctuary of her skin, and hesitantly opened one eye at a time.

Blinding light hit me first, catching me off guard.

I blinked over and over.

Swathes of green dragged out below, meeting its end at a huge basin surrounded by mountainous hills. A large flowing river carved through the landscape, slicing a path through the trees. The only thing that interfered with the picture in front of us was a branch from our own tree on the ridge line, doing its best to conceal the golden beams that filtered through broken clouds to shower the emerald jungle below in its blazing hue.

"Well, this simply will not do, now will it?" Alice snapped the branch at the base of the trunk, tossing it aside like it was no heavier than a yellowing paperback.

"Alice!" I gasped, "There was really no need for that!"

"Hush, it ruined our pretty view. Also, look," She rubbed her fingers along the break, "I tore it away flush to the trunk. This tree is sturdy and certainly old enough to take on a lot more stress than one flimsy branch snapping. Now, if you will excuse me, I am trying to dazzle you here!"

"You," I breathed down into her neck, peppering kisses along her skin until I skimmed over her jaw, "Are absolutely impossible."

"Mm," She hummed, leaning back into my touch, "I hope you mean that in a good way?"

"Definitely good. Very good," I finished at her earlobe, my lips grazing up against her cheek so that my teeth could skate across the surprisingly malleable flesh.

In an instant, that same wild purr that I'd heard earlier, thrummed throughout her whole body.

"You really like biting, don't you?" I mused, now letting my teeth skate over my lower lip instead of her marble skin.

Her purr became muffled as loud barking laughter tore through rustling leaves.

"Are you really surprised by that?" She chuckled, "I would think it would be quite obvious, actually."

"Hey!" I defended, "Usually vampires are the ones doing the biting, not begging to be bitten!"

"Who said I was begging?" Alice turned her head, our eyes locking over her shoulder.

"You don't have to say it, I can just tell," I teased, smirking down at her.

Her eyes narrowed.

"I am trying to help you - taking your mind off of a less than adequate start to the day - and this is how you treat me? Teasing me for things out of my control? Humph! I am hurt," She tossed her head back with dramatic flourish, false anguish rippling across her unblemished features before her face disappeared from view.

"Well, seeing as your attempt is working, who are you to judge whether I tease you or not?" I whispered once more into her ear, squeezing her a little tighter.

"Hm," She let her theatrics slip, her eyes crinkling in pleased approval as she turned back to me, "I guess I will take the teasing if, and only if, it helps you to feel better."

She sucked in a lungful of air, much more left to say.

"That is all I want, Bella," Her tone lost its playfulness, falling sombre, "I want you to be happy. I actually brought you here because I wanted to show you what you have now. You are not on your own. When everything else fails, you will always have me. And, I am willing to give you the whole world."

My eyes flittered back to the stretch of forest and mountainous valleys that ranged below, and something inside me stirred. I swallowed it back, knowing that if I didn't, surely more tears would fall and I'd really had enough of that.

I'd never experienced a love without conditions before. And, I had certainly never experienced something as beautiful as this - something that we both now shared together. A forbidden world consigned to the birds alone, yet, somehow, we'd stolen ourselves away alongside them.

"Alice," I called softly, tugging at her to turn herself around. It was as easy as breathing for her, and she shimmied positions so that we now faced each other - my legs wrapped around her hips as she supported my thighs.

"I love you."

"I love you too, Bella," Her breath hitched, eyes melting into warm, mesmerising, gold.

She moved forward, her eyelashes fluttering as she sought to claim my lips.

A soft moan of pleasure, and vulnerability, hummed in the back of my throat. Nothing had ever made more sense to me than kissing Alice.

Alice let a wistful smile drift over her lips as she trailed her chilling fingers down my side.

"Do you want to get out of here? We do not have to go back to school if you do not desire it. I am not opposed to missing some more classes."

"Hm, I don't know how I feel about ditching... Pretty sure I have a pop quiz in trig if Mrs Varner's not-so-subtle hints are anything to go by."

"Really?" Alice breathed, her mouth dropping, "You know for a fact you have a quiz, yet that iswhat is enticing you to return? Scratch the 'they might call you a nerd' for 'they already do call you a nerd'."

"Excuse me," I tapped her nose with the tip of my finger, brows pinching, "Not everybody can cheat exams and grades with supernatural foresight and all the age-old benefits of immortality. I actually have to try! At least, if I want to make anything of myself. I don't exactly want to waste my chances of getting into a good college because I'm too busy fraternizing."

"Mm, well... I suppose a woman with goals, and the willpower to seek them, is sort of sexy," Her mouth curled into another lazy smirk, "Fine, we will go back. But - and I want this notarized - only because I am being compelled to by a very gorgeous, and apparently studious, woman."

"Shh," I stifled her teasing with a chaste kiss, using all of my strength to stop myself from running my tongue over her lower lip as my cheeks flamed a brilliant scarlet.

With a sigh, Alice rearranged herself, positioning me once more on her back, her hands reaching around to support my bottom.

I'd have focused on that last part a whole lot more, but the nagging anxiety swirling in my gut begged me to focus on the jumps, leaps, and climbing that awaited us below.

"Ready?" Alice murmured, priming herself to dash down to the lower branches.

"Mhm," I swallowed audibly, "As ready as I'll ever be. Just don't drop me, okay?"

Alice let out an even louder snort, "Like I would ever! Gosh, have some faith. I am a natural at this whole tree hopping thing!"

"Yeah, a real spider monkey over here. Got it," My words dripped with sarcasm, but it just seemed to make Alice laugh.

Once again I was bombarded with the lashing sting of wind as it ripped through my hair and sucked the air out of my lungs. My grip tightened around Alice and I kept my eyes squeezed tightly shut.

If I didn't look, what was there to be scared of... right?

It wasn't long before we made the last jump, a solitary thud reverberating through the canopy overhead and stirring the dry leaves on the forest floor.

"You can open your eyes now, honey," Alice gently coaxed, lightly squeezing my forearms which were still wrapped firmly around her chest.

I exhaled the stale air I'd unwittingly been holding and shakily slid back onto my feet, tentatively putting pressure on each foot just to make sure I wouldn't keel over.

Once I was satisfied that I could stand, I opened my eyes, surveying my now ordinary surroundings with great relief.

"Alice," I said quietly, the words bubbling up from the back of my throat, "What is it like? To be a vampire? I mean, is blood... Does it-."

A sigh tore through my meandering questions.

I shook my head and turned away from her, shoving my hands into my jacket pockets.

She ignored my dismissals and moved behind me, leaning her head on my shoulder as we both stared out into the murky green forest that sprawled before us.

"It is hard for me to say. This life is the only one that I have ever known. The others have added to my knowledge - sharing with me their human experiences and how vastly they all differ from immortality - but it is still hard for me to compare. Hm. I suppose I could still give it a try, though. How should I put this?" She paused for a moment.

"We do not seem to suffer the taxes of bodily exertion in the same way your kind seems to. It is more or less that we hit a wall - our abilities are capped - as opposed to we feel genuinely tired or our muscles strain from the pressure. We also have no need to breathe. We do so more because it is instinctual than necessary; We rely heavily on our heightened sense of smell to alert us of threat or... prey," She rushed over the last word.

"So in that sense, breathing has purpose. We can even taste scents in the air with our tongue. It is all rather... primal, to say the least. We are naturally, or unnaturally, depending on how you look at it, the perfect predator," She pulled away, her golden gaze searching.

It felt like she was always preparing for fear or disgust. Ever looking for warning signs.

"Time passes us by - at least according to my brothers and sisters - very differently to when we were all human," She continued, apparently finding nothing concerning, "It seems almost never-ending, forever cursed to walk the earth as we have always done and always will. Somehow, animal blood makes it all that little bit easier. With animal blood, it appears that we are more susceptible to shifts in perspective - adaptations. Even our capacity for relationships is enhanced by our unique dietary choices."

"What do you mean?" I tilted my head towards her, our lips terribly close, "How does it enhance relationships?"

She let out a soft chuckle, her fingers lacing through mine.

"Carlisle thinks that, because we are actively choosing to dampen our predatory natures - actively seeking out less satisfying prey and gorging ourselves on weakness - it has made us more docile than others of our kind," She shrugged, letting her thumb drag over the back of my hand in practiced swirls.

"Those that do not share in our moral quest, of course, see it as a hindrance. However, in the same token, we all see it as a blessing. It has allowed us to have a sizeable coven - a family. And it has allowed us to live a somewhat ordinary life. Or as ordinary a life as one can lead while remaining in a perpetually fixed state of mind and body. There are, of course, drawbacks. Although I have never tried human blood myself, and animals leave us full and appear to meet our basic needs, the others often complain about its lacklustre palatability. Edward and Jasper decry its stale taste, saying it is incomparable to the complexities of human blood. But I do not necessarily agree. You cannot miss what you have never had, right?"

"Haven't you ever wanted to? I mean-," I inserted, stalling for a short while as I searched for the right words, "Doesn't it 'call' to you or something? I know about singers - no thanks to Edward - but surely you all experience something similar? The desire?"

"Hm," She tutted, pressing one of her fingers to her lips as she pondered my question, "In a way, I suppose it does? But I have always known since my awakening what I would become - the family I would find. The lover I would meet," She squeezed my hand, her eyes full of gentle yearning.

"I never bothered to think much on it or give myself room to indulge in the idea. Sure, my throat feels like it has a devilishly hot soldering iron jammed down its length whenever fresh blood is spilt. But, for the most part, I am good at controlling my baser urges. With you, for instance, the need is so far to the back of my mind it is almost like it is not even there. I could never dare let myself hurt you."

I cringed. Guilt raced through me, white-hot.

"I don't want to hurt anybody."

Alice grew tense behind my back, her jaw clenching against my cheek.

"The others struggle with it so much more because most have succumbed - particularly at the very beginning. Consequently, they know what it is like to indulge in such perilous temptations. I do not, and it is my greatest strength. I also think there is something to be said about perspective. I do not think we are monsters, so I do not feel like I need to act like one. For some of my family, they detest what they are and they allow all the ugly aspects of this life to dominate them-."

I couldn't help but interject.

"Like Edward?"

She nodded, pursing her lips forlornly.

"Yes, Edward is the most notorious. I refuse to waste my time joining them all - joining him - in purposeless melancholy. If we are to live an immortal life, one without end, I feel that it is only right that I spend this... infinity... or whatever you would like to call it, enjoying myself and doing right by others. Lamenting my monstrous capacities seems like an incredibly dull way to wile away the hours, let alone achieve one's goals."

"So, even in the world of the supernatural, you are still so... hm. Even with all of this excitement and power, you manage to find a way to stand out all on your own," I smiled dreamily, leaning further into her.

"It's funny, although you can't remember your past, I think you still feel it in here," I shifted around and let my hand drop to rest on her chest, right where her heart should have been beating, "I would have loved to meet the human you. I bet she was just as kind and just as courageous."

Alice's lower lip quivered. She looked so vulnerable. So breakable. I was unsure whether she was moved by my words or harmed by them.

She stared with wide topaz, her gaze speedily flittering across my features before finally locking back onto my eyes.

The change was so sudden, almost imperceptible.

She lunged forward, ensnaring me in her stony embrace - tight and possessive. Her lips claimed mine with ferocity, devouring.

Our mouths moved roughly, both of us caught in a fiery battle as we cleaved onto each other, seeking to get closer and closer until we were completely flush.

Her tongue slid into my mouth and I let out a guttural moan. Her chest rumbled at the sound, her tongue flicking and swirling, pulling and falling back with merciless abandon.

I couldn't stop her if I wanted to, but nothing inside of me wanted her to stop.

Underneath her icy touch I was aflame, my abdomen fluttering with exhilaration and my mouth swollen and hungry as she plundered. The control, the power, her unhindered touch and vicelike grip, left me reeling with desire - reeling with the need for more.

We fell back onto the earthen floor, Alice cradling me down to the ground so gently that the change was barely noticeable - her mouth continuing to move roughly against mine and compelling me to remain enraptured.

Her fingers drifted down my sides, squeezing and massaging until she reached my hips. Her touch flittered across to my abdomen, slowly and arduously moving up my stomach to rest just below my breasts.

I gasped and whimpered against her lips, her husky, corresponding groans, my only respite as her hands refused to venture where I craved most.

"Alice!" I keened, my cry muffled by her mouth.

I dug my fingers into her hair, my mind fixed on one thing and one thing only.

Will they commit the ultimate sin atop of rotten twigs and dirt? You just never know... Love and lust tend to go hand-in-hand and bode interesting results. It's funny writing the spicy portions of this fic because I never know if it's steamy enough or flows well? Mostly I just want to cover my eyes and plug my ears because I feel like some sort of voyeuristic deviant, watching two strangers get down and dirty. I am disgusted with myself, ahhhh. On to other news, I loved the comments from the last chapter. You guys had so much to say, especially regarding Rosalie. I honestly didn't know it'd be as controversial as it was to make her live out her canon angst, but I was so happy to have some wonderful conversations with you guys. I may not have agreed with everyone, but it definitely gave me some things to think about/ideas to rework, so I appreciate every single one of you who left their opinions. You are helping to make this fanfiction the best it can be and that makes my heart really happy! Anywayyyys, hopefully everyone caught my very obvious on-the-nose reference to Devil Wears Prada... I love that movie :') Also the spider monkey thing. I thought it was funny, sue me!

If you would like to follow me on my socials, check out my Twitter and Tumblr handles on my profile page! And ooh thank you so much for reading. It really means a lot... I hope you're enjoying the story so far! If you have any criticisms or just want to say something positive, comment down below. I read every single one :)

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