Prologue

I let the mismatch of fabrics fall through my fingers; a cascade of chaotic, billowing, colour.

An airy sigh slipped past my lips before I began the arduous task of neatly nestling them away.

As I folded a sweater absentmindedly, my gaze drifted and lingered on my bedroom window.

Soft rays of golden light filtered through my room; little particles of dust dancing in the splintered rays as they made their slow, eddying, journey towards the floor.

I was going to miss Phoenix.

I would miss the heat. The warmth. The blazing sun that covered every inch of this place in burnt orange. Most of all, I'd miss the life that Mom and I had built for ourselves here. It had taken so much work. Letting go was more than bittersweet.

However, I wasn't naïve.

In the end it would be worth it. It had to be. We both needed to branch out. Forge our own paths. Her with her new boyfriend, and me with... well, whatever.

Huh. But then again. It was Forks. If I thought that I'd find more than a few evergreen trees and muddy sidewalks I was kidding myself.

Life wasn't a fairy-tale.

At least there would be Charlie. No fairytale, but the promise of something more important.

Ferreting away more of my clothes into the suitcase, a soft smile gently pulled at my lips.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ : *. .* : ﾟ. ───

Unearthly pale legs swayed gently with the breeze, barely hidden up above in the treetops.

Leaf and moss-covered forest floor peeked out from between my muddied toes. The feel of rough bark underneath my probing fingers bending and folding beneath my touch. I slackened my grip, afraid I'd break the boughs.

I loved coming here.

I loved tasting the fresh air on my tongue - the musky scent of wild fauna and untamed florals. I adored the grassiness, too.

The Olympic peninsula was something else.

Every place we settled had its own unique scent. A note or two that just hung in the air, conveying its very essence to all that dared take a breath. Stamping its identity firmly and indomitably.

I think Washington smelled the best. Something about the rain... It coated everyone and everything, always leaving a comforting sweetness behind that somehow balmed all wounds.

My ears prickled, my brief rapture now ripped from me, and instinctively angled myself towards the oncoming sound.

I could hear him approaching but I didn't bother to look.

There were much more important things to pay attention to than my incorrigible brother.

Although I had witnessed the forest's beauty countless times before - shimmering green leaves dangling above, haloed by soft cool light splintering through heavy grey clouds - I forced myself to remain its captive.

A small smile picked at the corners of my ruby lips.

The beauty of life still called to the dead, it seemed.

"I am surprised, Alice. I thought you would be sketching some more designs. What, fashion no longer holds your fancy?"

His gold scrutinizing eyes attempted to pry, probing at my expressionless features as they had so often done before. I was more than certain that he was attempting to force a revealing thought or two from my iron-clad mind.

It was so much easier than getting me to speak of my own volition; Provided him with so much more. Much to his annoyance, though, I had grown rather adept at concealing my thoughts from his oh-so-curious mind.

Arithmetic and complicated algebraic calculations always did the trick.

If I kept the mathematics at the forefront, he struggled to weed out the truth dwelling hidden in the depths.

"Not going to tell, huh?" He tried to hide his frustration, but the hint of a grumble in his chest gave him away. It always gave him away.

"I am just thinking," I leaned back, my laughter bouncing up into the canopy, "I do not need to tell you everything, Edward."

His eyes creased with guilt for a millisecond, but soon caved under characteristic indignation.

"I know that. I am not your keeper, and I do not pretend to be! I am just worried about you," He leaped up from the ground to crouch beside me, leaning back on his heels - perfectly balanced upon the branch, "Perhaps you think I am none the wiser, but I have noticed."

He watched me silently for a beat before whistling out another frustrated breath.

"You have become more sullen these past few days and it is not like you. I will not pretend to know... or understand... why you will not confide in me. You know I only want to help," He stalled briefly, undoubtedly drawn to the natural perfume of florals and, more notably, the throat-burning scent of hot-blooded prey a mile west.

A buck.

I could hear the crunch and squelching of grass mincing under teeth, the slapping of a tongue, and the churning of a stomach.

Most of all, I could hear the steady thump of a large meaty heart; The channeling of blood through thick, pulsing, muscle.

I swallowed audibly.

"I know," I sighed in defeat, resting back onto my palms so that bark dug deeper into stony skin, "It is the same as always, Edward. Nothing new. I am lonely. I apologize that I have not confided in you about it, but it did not make much sense to bother you with the unchanging."

"Alice, as am I," He returned my morosity with a clipped smile, "Loneliness is an inescapable inevitability. A... symptom of our condition. At the very least, we should try to band together. To force each other to see what the other refuses. For instance, we have a fantastic family. Excusing, of course, Rosalie's egocentric tantrums and - as much as I hate to admit it - my moody concertos on the piano, we have more than most. If it were not for our soulless state, I would even go so far as to say that we are much better off than most humans! Very few have a family like ours. Loyal to a fault. I think it is important to be grateful, even when it seems too hard to do so."

I laughed sharply, this time in disbelief, the sound trilling high up into the treetops until it floated away, stolen by the wind.

"Trying positivity for a change, Edward? That is certainly new."

He grimaced, tossing his auburn locks back.

"If I can help it, I would rather bear the burden for both of us. Only one of us should succumb to melancholy, not two. And, do not get me wrong, this is more of a selfish thing than one of self-sacrifice! I do not think I can make it through this cursed immortality without you. If your laughter and joy ever were to go mute and become hard to find, I would surely perish. You are the only one, aside from myself, to understand this life without another," He stopped briefly, pausing in thought.

"Jasper comes close, to be sure. But his affairs with the Denali sisters leave him hopeful and unbothered by it all. I know it is unfair of me to think or say so but, for this reason, I sometimes find him... infuriating," His jaw clenched and I could hear his teeth grinding behind thinned lips.

Calm stoicism released the tension just as quickly as it had come.

"It makes it easier to breathe seeing my sister endure the perils and pitfalls of this life with mirth and mischief. You drag me away from teetering over the edge - from falling into the abyss. I need you. So, I suppose what I am poorly trying to convey to you is... do not go leaving me, Alice."

Despite knowing all the words before he ever sucked in the breath to utter them, I waited to let the smile that was bursting behind my cheeks spread.

On one hand, I didn't know if I wanted to be the mast that steered both of our ships - the anchor that rooted us in place so we did not seek out the alluring peace of destruction. However, on the other hand, if I wasn't that person, we would both fall.

If I could do it for both of us - hold everything together - it had to be my God-given duty. That wasn't something to be treated lightly. Something to be dismissed.

I scoffed, the irony of my thoughts surfacing into consciousness.

Edward's brows furrowed at the sound. My scoff subsequently transformed into cackling laughter.

Oh, my poor blissfully unaware brother!

Surely he would have balked at the reference to divinity! No, not quite. If he could wade successfully through my mind, he'd have hurled obscenities.

Although... truth be told, as amusing as his neurosies were when glanced upon from its rippling surface, I dreamt of a day when he recognised that his existence was worthy.

Irrespective of his human flesh having long since calcified and his heart having stopped its lively beating, he deserved to feel, as confusing as it sounds, alive.

I dreamt of a day where he finally saw reason and, in so doing, became a voyeur to his own brilliant and oh-so-intact soul.

But that day was a long way away.

Perhaps it would never come. That thought quickly soured my mood.

"Again, I know. Need not worry," I reached out and rested my hand on his forearm, "I will be fine. I am always fine. It is just-," I closed my eyes, her face dancing behind fluttering lids, "With yet another year passing since my awakening, I feel restless. When will she come, Edward? When will I find her?"

"It will happen. Give it time, Alice," His smile hid a grimace. I pretended not to notice.

"With each year that passes, the closer your union nears its fruition. Who knows? Perhaps it will be this year that you find your long-lost mate," He placed his hand over the top of mine, "Perhaps, my dear Alice, this year will be the year that loneliness stings no more!"

"And when that happens," I bit back a smirk, "You will have to learn to be less solemn. Even, mayhaps, find something else to obsess about instead of the shortcomings of immortality! I will want to show off my favorite brother, after all. I cannot do that if you are forever brooding, no?"

He rolled his golden eyes and, with a near-inaudible thud, jumped back down onto leaf litter, his form gracefully elegant.

"We shall see."