Disclaimer: Characters contained within do not belong to me.

Author's Notes: Thank you so much for all the kind, kind words on my last few stories. I appreciate them more than you know.

You'll Never Walk Alone

by Kristen Elizabeth

1950

Blinking, Edward stared at the sight in front of him. Chaise lounging chair, record player, his entire 45 collection, his clothes still on the hangers, school books, framed diplomas…everything he owned in the world.

But instead of in his bedroom where he'd left it all to go hunting with Emmett, his worldly possessions were now in the garage.

He couldn't even complain that they'd been mistreated. Everything was neatly stacked and protected from the concrete floor by a tarp. His records were still organized by genre; his books by subject matter. Nothing was missing or broken. Great care had been taken with his things.

They had simply been moved. From his bedroom…to the garage. For some unfathomable reason.

"I think I might have gotten carried away."

The voice that spoke behind him was delicate and musical. And startling. For the first time ever, Edward felt like he'd been ambushed. He'd been so wrapped up in the puzzle in front of him that he hadn't even sensed anyone coming up behind him.

He spun around. The girl standing in the driveway might have been tiny, but her smile was huge and just a touch guilty. Her hair was dark and spiky around her face, a style he'd never seen on a woman before. She wore denim pants with the cuffs rolled halfway up her calves, a striped halter top that bared her trim, pale stomach and deeply scuffed saddle shoes. Her hands were clasped behind her back and she eagerly rocked up and down on the balls of her feet, as if physically unable to keep still for long.

"Did you…?" Edward asked, pointing to his things.

She nodded. "Esme said you wouldn't mind and Rosalie helped me. She insisted, actually." He gritted his teeth, but before he could say anything else, the girl held out her hand to him. "I'm Alice. I'm going to be your favorite sister."

Although his deeply engrained manners told him to introduce himself, Edward suddenly saw that he didn't need to. His name was already in her thoughts. With a frown, he concentrated on her mind, as was his custom with strangers, searching for anything negative, any wrong intentions towards his family. Certainly there must be something. She'd shown up out of the blue, with a companion according to Carlisle's all-too brief breakdown of the day's strange events. What was she after? And were she and her mate going to be a threat?

"Look all you want," she told him cheerfully. "But you really are going to love me."

Having lost the upper hand, Edward's golden eyes narrowed. "I suppose Rosalie told you to watch your thoughts?"

Alice shook her head. "Nope." With steps that were more like little leaps, she danced her way over to his record collection. "I always saw you either playing the piano or putting on a new record." She crouched down, hugging her knees as she examined the stacks. "You love music. That's how I knew you had a good soul, even if you always seemed so sad."

It took him a minute to put the pieces together. "You see the future."

"And you read minds." She beamed up at him. Her smile was like the warm glow of a fire. Impossible to resist. I know all about you, Edward. Including that your room has the best view.

Irresistible smile or not, he was still annoyed. "Is that why you moved my stuff?"

Alice lifted her bare shoulders. I probably should have waited to ask you. I was just so excited to be here! I've been waiting forever!

Edward ran his hands through his hair, mussing it beyond the repair of any comb. He'd never had a mental conversation like this. Most of his family, Rosalie especially, preferred to overlook the fact that he could read their thoughts. They certainly never encouraged him to do nothing but. "You've been looking for us?"

For years. Ever since I found Jasper.

"Jasper?" he repeated her thought. "Your friend?"

Friend, apparently, was too inadequate of a label. In the girl's mind, Edward could see flashes of images, a tall man with blonde hair and multiple scars. Some of the memories were innocent. Some…were not.

"Okay!" Edward threw up a hand. "I think I get the picture."

Alice's nose crinkled merrily. Sorry. Got carried away again.

He sighed. There didn't seem to be any point in being irritated with this girl. She was just too happy. "Don't worry. I'm used to it."

It must be hard. She tilted her head to one side, studying him. The lone wolf in a pack of matched pairs.

"That's how you've seen me in your…what are they…visions?" Edward folded his arms over his white undershirt. "Alone?" He hesitated just a second too long. "Always?"

She never got a chance to answer, either mentally or verbally. They were interrupted by the sudden appearance of the man Edward had seen in her mind.

"Jasper!" Alice called out, leaping to her feet. "Come meet Edward!"

If Alice was a breath of fresh spring air, then Jasper was a cool winter wind. His hands were buried deep in the pockets of his well-worn jeans. His hair was a mess of tawny curls and the expression on his scarred face was somber. At least until Alice reached his side. The mere touch of her tiny hand on his arm melted his icy edges. The corners of his lips turned up into something resembling a smile.

Alice made the introductions with glee. "Jasper Whitlock…Edward Cullen." She tugged on her mate's sleeve. "Edward's letting us have his bedroom, so we should thank him."

Annoyance flared up again. "I didn't say you could…"

But as quickly as he'd felt it, Edward's exasperation faded and a strange sense of calm washed over him. Jasper withdrew one hand from his pocket and held it out to him. "Thank you, Edward."

We're not the only ones with gifts, Edward. Alice spoke to him through her thoughts, snapping him back to attention as he mechanically shook the man's hand. Jasper has his own talents.

And so he did. It wasn't so much a literal order to calm down that he read in Jasper's mind, but the general sense of serenity he exuded on command. An empath with the ability to project.

"No wonder you two found each other," Edward said with a frown.

"Alice found me," Jasper corrected him. "And you needn't give up your room." Alice pouted, but he continued, "We'll do just fine somewhere else."

Edward shook his head. "It doesn't matter. I could stand a change of scenery."

For the second time that day, he was caught completely off guard when Alice threw her arms around him and squeezed with all the might in her tiny body. "Oh, I knew I was going to love you, too!" She looked back at Jasper, her eyes shining. "We're home, Jazz! Finally!"

Jasper was uncertain about all of it, from the Cullens themselves to the life of self-discipline they led and whether or not he'd ever be able to adhere to it, but wild horses couldn't have dragged a single pessimistic word from his lips. Edward could see one thing clearly in the man's mind: Alice was his entire world. Her happiness was the most important thing to him, far outranking his own.

For that alone, Edward decided to give this scarred stranger a chance. Selflessness was a rare trait amongst their kind.

Edward eased himself out of Alice's eager, sisterly embrace. "So, can you have a vision of someone taking my stuff back into the house?"

For a split second, her eyes glassed over, and he wondered if she really was. But then, the blurred image in her mind appeared to him as clearly as if he was having the vision along with her. A flash of dark hair against a background of green grass and wildflowers.

But as soon as it came, it was gone.

Alice offered him a mysterious smile. You won't be alone forever, Edward. Because you don't want to be. With that, she looped her arm through Jasper's and began urging him back towards the house, leaving Edward with nothing but a tantalizing, frustrating glimpse of a future that seemed so far out of his reach.

And his stuff. Still in stacks. In the garage.

With clenched teeth, Edward grabbed a box.

Fin