Oh, me and my side projects. Another Alice/Bella story coming up because I just watched New Moon again. Let's see how long I can keep this one up . . . Note, there are 6 started and unfinished Twilight stories on my laptop at the moment. So I'm sorry if updates are infrequent.

Going from writing 'Hot and Cold' in all its humorous, grammar-defying glory, to this slightly angsty fic was a little bit weird. Go easy on me. :)

(Side note: I used the exact same words from the movie for half of the reunion scene; oh Megavideo, you are so helpful.)

I let my body hang from the tree, hooked onto a branch with the crook of my legs. I think I was meant to be reincarnated as a monkey - if death had allowed that to happen. Clearly it hadn't, as I was now a vampire forever frozen in the body of a teenager. One would think that after a hundred years, and promise of even more years to come, life would get easier; that time would pass by faster and patience would become a natural virtue. On the contrary, the past year had been hellish and painfully slow with the latest 'addition' to our coven. Bella Swan.

Now, I couldn't really say 'addition', seeing as she was still human, but since every event and focused action seemed to revolve around her lately, she seemed as much part of the family as I was. Her and Edward; so innocently in love with one another. Inseparable, intense, so alive when they were together . . . and all that jazz.

I didn't know when it started, or how it started. I just knew that it happened and it was still happening, no matter how hard I fought it. It began as a simple feeling: I liked being around her. I liked the fact that she was simple, unlike my extravagant family; that she was accepting of us; that she was easy and enjoyable to be with. But it became more than that.

I didn't notice that I had started to grow an affinity to the little things. Not just the way that she couldn't walk on her own two feet without creating her own impending doom, but the way that she bit her lip when she was thinking hard, or the way that she tapped her fingers when she was nervous. I liked how in everything she did, she did it in a way that was so . . . 'Bella' of her. I couldn't explain it if I tried; hell, I couldn't figure it out for myself and I had been trying.

Somewhere along the lines of me becoming her friend, to her becoming Edward's girlfriend, and then me becoming her best friend, I started falling.

It wasn't just a fall. It was a free fall. Before I knew it, I was thrust into a world where everything mattered and everything was unique, all in relation to her. I felt like a newborn when I was around her - as if I was exploring the world with new eyes for the first time. It didn't make sense to me; and here I was, thinking I had it all figured out.

I'd come to terms with a couple of things between then and now. One; that I was utterly, hopelessly, and unwillingly in love with Bella Swan. Two; that no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't not be in love with Bella Swan. And three; that Bella Swan was in love with Edward, as he was with her, and I was in no way in the equation at all.

I sighed. C'est la vie.

I wondered how long I could stay out here in the tree. Technically, I could stay forever, providing that an animal waltzed its way into my fangs every now and then - but I knew my family would come looking for me before it could come to that point. They were protective of me and it wouldn't sit well if I stayed out without telling them where I was headed. Or wasn't headed. Whatever.

The family was, in the best terms I could think of, fragile right now. It had only been a few months since Edward made the decision to leave Forks and his dearest Bella behind, and move us to a town where she wouldn't be able to find us. Nobody talked about it much; the family was okay with moving away so quickly - seeing as we do it every 4 years or so anyways; but the dynamics had completely changed. Carlisle and Esme stayed their usual caring selves, though the rest of us weren't doing so well. Edward brooded in his room all day, asking to be left alone; I took to the forest, finding it a nice place to clear my thoughts; the result of Edward and I's isolation had thence caused Emmett to lose some of his usual spark and thinned his patience to even Rosalie these days - Rosalie, her naturally bitter self even more angry now that she had pegged Bella as a 'homewrecker'. Then there was Jasper . . . Oh, Jasper.

He knew exactly what I was feeling, exactly when I felt it. His gift was an amazing ability, though in this case it seemed moreso like a curse. He knew everything I felt for Bella and probably understood it even more than I did. We both acknowledged this, knowing that it was none of our faults. Bella just. . . happened. Jasper continued to call himself my mate for my own sake, allowing me to keep up my facade against Edward this entire time. He was willing to do that because he loved me. He loved me, even though I no longer loved him back.

If only things were simple. If only Bella Swan could give me my heart back.

...

"How was your day?" Esme asked, as I walked into the house.

"Fine." I replied. I knew I sounded deflated, but I didn't bother to mask it. Those types of things don't pass under Esme these days.

The skin beside Esme's eyes crinkled with concern.

I felt horrible for her - she had watched her children, her family, slowly fall to pieces before her eyes. Nobody could blame Bella of course, well, except for Rosalie; but it was all in silent agreement that without her entrance into our lives, we'd all be back in Forks living happily as we had for decades.

That human had package, to say the least.

Esme smiled sadly at me, and we both knew there was nothing she could do. Had we been human she could've offered to make some tea and maybe we'd sip it in bonding silence; but being vampires had its own isolating effects. She nodded to me in silent understanding and I walked upstairs to my room - not that I would sleep, but maybe I'd busy myself with a book. All this incessant thinking about Bella was tiresome.

Just as I had entered my room, I felt the familiar tugging in my stomach and suddenly my vision changed. The room faded away and was replaced with swirling waves and an angry wind. The picture backed up and I could feel myself freeze, seeing Bella peering over the cliff. I wanted to scream 'No!' as I watched Bella remove her shoes and the items in her pockets carefully before edging closer to the drop. She was going to kill herself, Bella was going to jump off and kill herself! The brunette closed her eyes for a bit longer than a standard blink, before propelling herself off the edge. I watched in horror as she fell through the air with nothing to catch her; body hitting the water with a huge splash. 'Get up, get up, get up.' I pleaded to the unhearing Bella. The vision showed the water lap over her and her shape was lost. I searched the water wildy, feeling myself being pulled away from the scene, my bedroom coming back into my view. Bella didn't resurface.

I ran down the stairs with vampiric speed, stopping inside Carlisle's study. He looked up at me curiously, immediately knowing something was wrong. He was the only person I wanted to tell before going to see for myself. I wouldn't tell the others, and certainly not Edward - his reaction could be fatal. Instead, I looked into the eyes of one of the only people I could trust these days.

"Yes?" Said Carlisle, concern edging at his voice.

I took a deep breath that I didn't need.

"I'm going to Forks."

"I can't protect you if you go in there, Bella!" Roared Jacob, willing me to come back to him.

But I'd seen Carlisle's car in my driveway; if they had come back, if he had come back, then I was going inside. "I'm going in, Jacob." I said, and I could see him start to shake with anger. But that didn't matter to me right now, right now what mattered was that the Cullens were back. I gave Jake another look that told him exactly what my intentions were, and he spun on his heel angrily walking into the forest.

I turned to my door and twisted the knob, feeling anxiety build up in my stomach. The sweet smell of wild flowers hit my nose immediately as I walked in and I came face to face with Alice.

"Alice? Oh my God-" I threw my arms around her, relishing the feeling of her cold skin. She was here, she was actually here!

"Bella?" she croaked.

When I pulled away from her, she looked like she had seen a ghost. "I'm sorry, I- I just can't believe you're here, it – is-"

"Do you mind explaining to me how you're still alive?" She asked, her eyes wide with disbelief.

"What?" I didn't understand what she was saying, and there were so many thoughts and questions swirling around in my head.

"I saw a vision of you – you jumped off a cliff. Why in the hell would you try to kill yourself? I mean, what about Charlie? What about-"

"I didn't try to kill myself," I said, cutting her off. Was that what she thought? Is that the only reason she came back? "I was cliff jumping, recreationally. It was . . . fun." I said, my motor functions weren't quite working right now.

Alice looked off to the side, seeming more angry than shocked. I still couldn't believe it though - Alice Cullen was standing in my house. I took in her beauty; it had been so long since I'd seen the vampiric beauty of a Cullen, so long since my eyes had grazed the pale flawlessness. Her golden eyes were so much like Edward's, they were so familiar yet it felt as if they were just a vague memory.

Alice looked as if she didn't know what to do. "I'd better go," She said quietly, motioning towards the door.

"No!" I cried, horrified. "Please, please don't leave me." I said almost automatically, my hands wrapping around her cold, stone ones. The thought of her leaving was terrifying, unacceptable even.

"It was a mistake, Bella." Alice tried to say. She could have pulled away easily, but she stayed grounded; something I was grateful for. I couldn't take it - I couldn't lose the Cullens again, not when they had just returned. Even if it was only Alice, I needed her, I needed something to tell me it wasn't all a dream. Right now, she was my only link to the happiness I'd found in Edward. She was here, in the flesh - not just voices in my head, not just memories; she was here and she was my hope. "The rest don't know I'm here, I wasn't supposed to come back. I'm just happy you're alive." She said, her features taken over by some undecipherable emotion.

"Please don't," I begged again. "I can't lose you, I-I just can't. You're too important!" I threw my arms around her for the second time and let the tears that had been welling up in my eyes finally fall. I sobbed quietly into her shoulder, she'd couldn't leave, she just couldn't. Not while I was like this; not while I needed her.

Alice sighed, pulling away from the hug and looking me in the eye. "Oh, Bella . . ." She said, her voice coming out as a feathery whisper. The voice was a mixture of pity and sadness, maybe even something else. I wanted to hug her again, I wanted to be as close to her as possible; latching onto her so that if she left, she would have to take me with her.

Her face was troubled, as if she was debating something internally; I stared back with pleading eyes. It was as if my panic and utter hopelessness had broken her resolve, because she cupped my face in her hands comfortingly and wiped away the tears from my cheeks. "I'm not going anywhere, Bella." She said, and I could see that she was being genuine. "Not until you tell me to."