She stepped out of the car, hugging herself tightly against the bitter cold. She stared up at the two story house in front of her, chocolate brown eyes filled with curiosity. Biting her lip lightly, she inhaled deeply before turning back to the car and hopping in.

I opened my eyes, squinting as the sun filtered through my bedroom window and directly into my face. I blinked a couple times, confused. Was...was it morning? I sat up, looking over at the clock on my bedside table. 7:12. I'd actually slept through the night. I ran a hand through my unruly hair as I stared out my bedroom window thinking about the vision. It had been... different. First of all, nobody had died. I pushed the blankets off myself, sat on the edge of my bed and stretched, before standing up picking up my towel off the back of the chair at my desk and making my way to the bathroom. Half way down the hallway I bumped into Emmett. He beamed his usual smile, but as soon as it was there it was gone and replaced by a serious expression.

"Alice, what was up with the 'whole spear tackling my girlfriend' thing?"

"Uh." I scratched the back of my neck. Emmett removed a hand from his sweat pants pocket and lightly touched my bruised jaw.

"She's got a pretty mean right hook, eh?" He chuckled, tenderly rubbing my jaw with the pad of his thumb. I swatted his hand away.

"Yeah, she does. So what, you just assume I started the whole thing and that she didn't do anything at all?"

"Alice, there was about ten people who saw you jump her. Meg was standing right there chatting with her. You like jumped her and rolled around on the ground and then the car..." he trailed off, as he stared off into space about a foot above my head, his brow furrowed slightly.

"It was like... lucky you chose that moment to tackle her, cause if she'd been standing there she'd have been..." he moved his gaze back to me, "crushed."

"Yeah?" I started, "Yeah, maybe if I'd just waited the bitch would've been crushed. Whatever," I pushed past him and continued down the hall, "I have places to be."

I slammed the bathroom door behind me, locking it before sliding down and sitting on the floor, with my back pressed up against it, feeling like I was suffocating under the huge burden that these visions had become.

Xx

I sat in the car staring out the windshield, watching the rain trickle down the glass. I tapped the steering wheel, barely able to hear the noise above the sound of the rain on the roof of the car. The passenger door opened, and a soaked Mike clambered in.

"Hey."

"Hey." He greeted back, pulling down his hood and letting me get a better look at his face. He looked almost as pale as I did, and the dark circles under his eyes could rival even mine.

"So..." he began, looking over at me.

"So." I repeated, "Any news?"

Mike shook his head, turning to look out the windshield before turning back to me.

"They still won't tell me anything. I had to hear from my mum, whose friends with the receptionist at the hospital, that she's still alive." Mike made a disgusted expression, shaking his head.

"I asked Edward if he could ask his Dad if somehow it'd be possible for us to get in to see her."

"You asked Cullen for a favour?" He asked surprise evident in his voice.

I nodded.

"Yeah, I bet he was real helpful." Mike muttered sarcastically.

I shrugged, "Yeah he was about as helpful as I expected him to be. But I did find out him and his dad are coming over for dinner tonight. So I was thinking 'bout asking him tonight."

"Alice, really, you don't have-"

"Yeah I do," I interrupted, smiling sadly, "she's important to you and, well, you're important to me, ergot, she becomes important to me too. Think of it as one of the many bro code rules."

Mike chuckled quietly, before leaning over and lightly punching me on the shoulder, "Ha yeah, thanks bro."

"Now," I started, turning the engine on, "enough with this mushy crap, I've got places to be. So get out unless you want to come over and have dinner with the Cullen's, Chief Swan and whoever else my parents invited over."

Xx

I closed the door behind me, shaking my damp hair. I removed my shoes and placed them next to the other ones neatly stacked in a line beside the door. I walked down the hallway, pausing at the entranceway to the kitchen. Both my parents and Emmett were busy cooking, preparing for one of their many dinner parties. My mother looked up from the bowel she was stirring and caught sight of me.

"Mary Alice, dear, care to join us? We could use another set of hands."

"Yeah honey," my Father added, removing the tea towel from over his shoulder and drying his hands as he walked towards me, "there's more than enough jobs to go around." He beamed at me, crinkling his hazel eyes, as he placed a hand on my shoulder and steered me into the kitchen. Emmett, with a spoon clamped between his teeth, looked up from the onions he was dicing.

"eh cmon 'ere 'iny, I 'eed sm elp wif he 'nions." Emmett tried speaking with the spoon in his mouth.

"Sweetie you might want to remove the spoon before trying to talk, we couldn't understand a word." My mother laughed her tinkering bell like laugh, accompanied by my Father's deep chuckle.

"I think I heard onion and him calling Mary Alice tiny."

Emmett removed the spoon, "Yeah I said to tiny that I needed help with these onions, I knew you could understand me Pa. Now come on short stack, come help with the dicing," he pointed a finger at me, looking suddenly serious, "but remember, dice not chop. Don't want people thinking I ruined the onions cause you didn't know the instructions."

"Oh I wouldn't dream of it," I said indignantly, picking up the knife and pulling the cutting board towards me over the granite counter top, "but in case I do you better supervise."

I started dicing the onions, but out of the corner of my eye I was watching my parents. My father had his hand on my mother's waist and was whispering something in her ear, a cheeky look in his handsome face. She giggled lightly, swatting him with the dishtowel. I smiled lightly to myself, turning and looking at Emmett who was wiping his teary eyes.

"Damn onions, spoon's stopped working. I haven't cried this much since Titanic."

Xx

I sprawled out on the couch, putting my earphones in and turning on my ipod, drowning out the laughter and clattering noise of the table being set. I stared up at the ceiling, thinking of the vision from last night. The girl wasn't familiar. I couldn't think of anyone I'd met with chocolate brown eyes and dark brown hair. I closed my eyes, trying to remember the vision in greater detail. She had hopped out of an old red truck, like really old, probably from the fifties or around that era. The truck wasn't familiar either. There was something important about this dream though, something I was forgetting or missing or just not noticing. It was like part of me knew the answer, I just couldn't think right now. Classical music was playing and I was warm and cosy. My breathing was becoming even and deep and I felt like I was sinking into the couch.

She stood next to the truck, biting her lip lightly as she stared up at the two story house, studying it with extreme curiosity. She inhaled deeply, closing her eyes briefly, before turning around and hopping back into the truck. She took one last look at the house before she closed the door and drove away.

Loud music erupted from my earphones, causing me to yelp and fall of the couch, frantically tearing them out of my ears. I shook my head, picking my ipod off the carpeted floor and pressing pause.

"You alright?"

I looked over at the entrance to the living room. Edward was leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed over his chest, watching me with a mildly entertained expression. I huffed as I stood up.

"Yeah," I held up the ipod, "loud song, startled me."

"I see." He inspected me with dark eyes. They looked softer somehow, kinder than they usually did.

"Yeah, well, I better go," I pointed to the hallway, "get changed for dinner,"

I looked Edward over, "I feel very underdressed all of a sudden." I smirked as Edward glanced down at his attire of dress slacks, shiny belt, white button up shirt and black vest. Although to look less formal he had the top two buttons of his shirt open and had his sleeves rolled up past his elbows.

"Yeah," he looked up at me, smirking slightly, "I look good." He flashed his signature white toothed grin.

"Yeah," I said sarcastically, as I walked past him, adding over my shoulder as I headed up the stairs, "just not as good as you think."

Xx

"Dude, you suck! No, don't just- ha you blew yourself up. Nice one."

Emmett thrust the xbox controller to the side, pressing the button forcefully, grinning widely with the tip of his tongue protruding between his teeth. Edward, sitting to his right on the couch directly in front of the T.V, moved his controller through the air as well, eyes focused on the screen, bumping his elbow into Emmett's side. No matter how much they moved the controllers, it didn't actually help in any way with the game.

"Aw... where's my head?"

"I think it rolled under the car. Dude, you suck!"

I sat on one of the armchairs off to the side, watching the guys play one of Emmett's many xbox games with little to no interest. I fiddled with the hem of my denim skirt.

"You both suck equally, actually."

Emmett smirked, moving his controller to the side and knocking Edward with his elbow, like his tactic was to knock Edward of the couch. The things that guy'll do to win.

"That's only 'cause you can't play, so you're just jealous of our mad skills."

"Word." They both fist bumped, looking like even bigger idiots than before. Which, seeing as Emmett had tied his tie around his head, was saying something.

"Wow, yeah I so am. Excuse me, I'm going to go deal with my jealousy elsewhere."

I climbed off the armchair and walked out into the hallway and then into the kitchen, poking my head into the dining room where the adults were still seated, eating dessert and chatting.

"-so she calls me up, out of the blue, and asks if she can come stay with me. Now I'm not complaining or nothing, it's just kinda surprising is all. Bella's never really liked Forks. I guess she's growing up."

"That's great Charlie; you must be thrilled to get to spend time with her. How long has it been since she was last here?" Esme asked.

I was still waiting to speak to Dr. Cullen, or as he'd asked us all to call him, Carlisle. So I decided to just wait outside the dining room, and ambush him when he got up to use the restroom or something. I listened to the adults idle chit chat, finding mild interest in their conversation.

"Hmm well it's gotta be 'bout five years, yeah five years cause she was twelve when she last visited. Came for a week or two in the summer. Complained about the weather the whole time."

"Eavesdropping I see?" I jumped, spinning around quickly. Edward was standing behind me, eyebrow raised and with that smirk plastered on his face.

"Sneaking behind girls and creeping them out I see?" I countered, mirroring his smirk. He chuckled, scratching his chin.

"Waiting to ambush him on the way to the loo?" he asked, nodding towards the dining room.

"No, I'm brushing up on my spying skills. See I'm thinking of going into the Private detective business. I'm a really big Veronica Mars fan and thought I'd give it a shot." I deadpanned, my voice literally dripping with sarcasm.

"Yeah, right. You do realise sarcasm is the lowest form of wit?"

I quirked an eyebrow, crossing my arms and mimicking his stance.

"Is that rhetorical, or do you expect me to answer?"

He stared at me for a moment, his facial expression unreadable, before his lips turned up in a smirk.

"You're funny."

"Just one of my many good qualities."

"And you're a good friend too. Going out of your way to get Newton in to see his girlfriend."

"Uh... thanks." I said, taken aback slightly.

"But it's not gonna help. I already asked him. He said hospital rules and all that crap. He said he's sorry but there's nothing he can do. And for what it's worth, I'm sorry too."

Emmett chose that moment to interrupt.

"Hey Cullen, c'mon man, I'm getting bored here."

I walked past them, heading up the staircase and up to my room.

Xx

I opened my eyes, sitting up quickly and resisting the urge to slap my forehead.

"Of course!" I muttered excitedly, bounding off my bed and grabbing the nearest jacket on my way out of my room. I descended the staircase, my bare feet barely making a light pitter-patter on the carpeted stairs, as I hurried to the front door, yanking it open and walking backwards across the front yard, all the while keeping my eyes glued on my house.

The thing that had been bugging me about the dream; the thing that I had been missing and that been driving me insane.

The house in the dream, it was mine.

XxXx