I sighed as I walked into the house. I could hear the classical music coming from the living room. The living room was decorated by me. It was deep reds and browns. Fireplace on the long wall had candles lined across the mantel with a huge mirror that reflected the light from the candles. They were all lit and the smell of chicken coming from the hallway. I knew that Eddie and Bella were home. I softly closed the front door and started up the steps when I heard Bella's voice, "Alice?" I closed my eyes and took in a deep breathe. Don't take this the wrong way. She's my best friend but I didn't want to talk right now. I had just got back from begging for a job.

"Alice...is that you?" I heard her coming around the corner as I came back down the stairs. "Yes, Bella it's me." I put a fake smile on. She came into the living room and smiled, "How did it go? Is everything okay? You look tense. Did they not give you the job? Oh I'm so sorry..." I stopped her with a hug and started to laugh.

"Bella, they were ecstatic to have me back. I have to go through the training again which I understand. It has been 5years since I have been there. Policies and safety measures have changed since then. Dr. Cullen was so nice too. He said that he'll be taking the refresher course with me. It's weird to call him Dr. Cullen instead of Carlisle." I laughed a little and pulled away from Bella. She was laughing too.

"Come into the kitchen and tell Edward and me all about it. I'm sure he would love to hear about his dad being all professional." She giggled and wrapped her arm around my waist. I did the same and walked with her to the kitchen.

I rethought the day. I was trying to find work before I started back to school for fashion design. I was talking to Eddie about it one day and he told me that his father was transferring back home and was going to work at the hospital that I use too. I took it as an omen and went to talk to my old supervisor in the lab. I was going to beg for the job if I had too. I didn't of course because they were excited to have me back. It's hard to find veterans in that field. I sighed again thinking about dealing with the politics of the hospital. The real reason I left the last time but I was hoping with Carlisle being there it would be tolerable.

As we walked down the hallway to the kitchen I looked at the walls seeing the pictures of Eddie and me in school. I have known him since I was two. We were neighbors and when my parents died he was the only support that I had. Well there was Emmy too, but he was off running after Rosalie. I laughed a little thinking about the stuff that he did to try to win her over. He finally did and they have been married for about 5years now. I saw the picture of Eddie, Carlisle and myself at graduation. I smiled at how we looked like a little family. We were really. Carlisle was like a father to me even though I wasn't really his daughter.

We got to the kitchen and Eddie was sitting at the island chopping up carrots. He smiled at me, dropping the knife and coming over to us. He grabbed my shoulders and pulled me into a big hug. I remember when I was the same height as him, now he over powers me at six foot three. He kissed the top of my head, "So how did it go sis?" I smiled because he always called me sis. "It went good brother." He laughed deep in his chest which shook me. He pulled me away so he could look into my eyes. His green eyes examined me and then he gave me a small hug and walked back over to the island. "Dad called and said that you got the job. So we are cooking your favorite, Chicken Alfredo with a tossed salad." I glared at Bella and she laughed, leaving my side.

"Sit, and tell me all about it." Edward said in his musical voice. I told them everything. There were tons of new faces and the only people that were still there that knew me were the trainer, my supervisor, and a couple of the technologist. I told Eddie about Carlisle telling me he was going to take the refresher course with me. He said that he hasn't done phlebotomy in years. I filled them on the changes that had happened to the hospital.

"So, sounds like Fork's Hospital has changed, or at least since we were here last." I nodded and started to think about my life again. I was never intended to return to this town after what James did to me. A sigh escaped me again and Bella chirped, "Alice, you okay?" I looked up and they were both looking at me with concern.

I smiled and whispered, "I never thought that I would return to this town. Every time that I'm here I think of, you know. I just need to get past this. I'm just glad that they still need phlebotomist here." Edward smirked and whispered, "My little vampire pixie." I rolled my eyes, "Okay get it out of your system now Eddie. Yes, I'm a vampire, leech, blood sucker, and lady of the night, whatever, it's a job." Edward laughed and walked over to me and gave me a half hug. I heard a yell, "Hello, anyone home?"

Another sigh escaped me, Carlisle was here. He walked into the kitchen looking like a god. I had to smile at him because I remember hearing some of the secretaries swooning over him. He came over to me and hugged me tightly and then walked over to Bella and hugged her with a kiss on the head. "So...we are having Alice's favorite right?" Bella nodded to him with a smile. "It smells great Bella and Edward. So how was everything Alice? When do you start? I know that we are classes together but I didn't know if you start sooner than that."

I shook my head no as we both moved over to the table. "I start on Monday, when the classes starts. They said that I don't have to go through the whole class but at least the first part. Drawing blood from people is like riding a bike. You did forget the technique." Carlisle smiled and nodded with agreement. "I will say one thing Alice; you do have an eye for fashion and design. This house looks gorgeous; I'm sure Edward and Bella thank you for the help."

"Of course we did. That's why we told her that she can stay here while she works to get money for school." I glared at Bella for bringing up the money thing. She knew that Carlisle had offered several times to help me but I refused the offer. "Oh, I didn't know you were having money problems. Alice, sweetheart you could have came to me. I have told you that I will help you. How much you need to go to school? I'll be more than happy to help you get your degree." He started to reach in his pocket for his check book and I reached across the table to stop him. "Please Carlisle, don't! I want to do this on my own." He huffed and took his hand out of his packet. "If you need money Alice, just say so. You don't have to pay me back, you know that." I nodded and looked down at the empty plate in front of me. I felt like I had let my father down. I mean, Carlisle has been my father figure since I was ten. I lived with him and Edward since then. He bought me clothes, food and kept a roof over my head. Yet, he still wasn't my father and I didn't want to 'use' him.

"Time to eat," Bella chimed in as she placed the Chicken Alfredo on the table. Edward walked in with the salad and dressings. We all sat down and passed the dishes around to fill our plates and talked about Bella's new job. Edward told us about the medical program he was in. Of course he would follow in his father's foot steps. I sat there quietly eating. "Oh Alice, I need to ask a favor of you." Edward spoke up and broke me out of my trans. "What's that Eddie?"

"Oh, a friend of mine is coming in from L.A. and he needs a place to stay. I was wondering if you could transform the basement into an apartment. Don't worry about cost, you do your thing and just tell me how much you need." I looked up from my plate to him; he smiled as my eyes twinkled. "Really," I whispered to him. He nodded his head, "I want it to have a bathroom, small kitchen, a living room and bedroom. Do you think you could organize that? Is the basement big enough?" I nodded in excitement. His smile got bigger; he knew what to do to make me happy.

"I'll start tonight. I'll call the contractors that built this house and get it started. Oh, this is so great. Who is this friend? Do I know him?" Edward shook his head no, "No, you don't know him. I met him when I was UCLA for one of my conference. He is a great singer and he wanted to go to school somewhere small. I told him about WSU..." He looked at me with a smile in his eyes. Oh no, he's trying to fix me up with someone. "Edward," I mumbled. He continued, "He wants to get a degree in music. That's one of the best schools to do it at." Carlisle spoke then, "Is this Jasper you're talking about?"

Edward nodded to his father, "Yep, he is tired of UCLA and wants to get out of the big town life." I snorted and kept eating. Of course he is Eddie, you little cupid you. I know what your plan is and it's not going to work. I all of a sudden lost my appetite. "How long do I have Eddie, until he is here?" Edward could tell that I wasn't happy now, "He will be here next weekend, if not sooner. He was still trying to get rid of his loft." Oh great, he lives in a loft so that means that his stuff was a typical bachelor. It was not good enough for this house. "Tell him to leave his furniture there. I'm going to get him stuff that matches; it's not a bachelor pad here, sorry."

Edward laughed and nodded his head yes. "I'm going to my room and start to work. Excuse me. Dr. Cullen I'll see you later." Carlisle looked up at me, "See you Ms. Brannon." I smirked at him as I left the dinning room. I ran down the stairs to the basement and started measuring everything. I did the figures in my head; I could easily get a living room, dinning room, kitchen, and a bedroom. I still had some room for a recreation area. I would close the laundry room in and put a laundry chute from upstairs; make the bathroom right beside it so that they wouldn't have plumbing be a problem. I'll make the bathroom double door, one leading into the living area and the other into the bedroom. It would be big enough for a standing shower, toilet and sink but also some dressing area. The bedroom would be a decent size, big enough for a king size bed, dresser, closet, a couple of nightstands and a television. The living room would be the biggest. I would leave the kitchen open which it would be on the other side of the laundry room. The stairs, I will change to make them come to a landing and then turn to the left for a couple of steps into the living room. That would make it a nice transition into it. I figured we would make a wall on the side of the stairs, closing in half of the basement. Half of that area would be the bed room and the other would a recreation room. Eddie has always wanted one. Could get a nice slate pool table for him? Yea, I'll do that and the room would be big enough for a couch and television too.

Satisfied with the drawling and plans I raced upstairs to make some phone calls. I got a hold of every one that I needed too. The contractors would come tomorrow, which was great. He said that it shouldn't be a problem doing my plans since I had already set it up with plumbing in mind. He would be here at 9am to go through my plans and change anything that was needed. I called Esme at the Decorative Designer in Seattle. She was my inspiration for going back to school. Even though she wasn't a clothing designer, she still had an eye. She said that she could come tomorrow around 5pm to look at the set up and see what kind of colors to go with.