CHAPTER TWELVE
ʏᴏᴜ ʟᴇғᴛ

The smell of the wolves stayed with me for the rest of the night. I shook with anger. It was all getting too much. The wolves. Bella's suicidal streak. The lack of control I'd been feeling over everything. It all stemmed from their absence. Then, more than ever, I just wanted them to return, to come home. Was it so much to ask for?

It didn't feel like it too much to want. Not when Alice had once been upset by my absence. Not when wolves - a vampire's enemy - were running wild around Forks.

Bella didn't phone until late the next morning.

I was still angry with her. Though it wasn't her fault I'd decided to agree to go with her, it was by her own free will that she jumped from the cliff.

"Bella? Are you alright?"

There was a crackling sound on the other side of the phone as Bella shushed someone. I waited to hear Charlie's complaining or at least a shout of greeting from him, but for a moment there was nothing but silence.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," she dismissed, becoming louder again. I frowned.

"What happened?"

"Nothing. I'm at home now. But can I meet you by the woods near your place?" she asked.

"Is everything alright?"

"Will you meet me there? Now?" she pushed, her voice remaining level.

"Yes. I'll be there."

It was raining again. Not enough to soak through to my skin, but enough to leave my clothes damp and cool to touch.

Everywhere I looked, as I walked through the edge of woods waiting for Bella, was coated in silvery beads of water, sparkling in the low light of the sun, which hid behind swelling clouds. As I walked, trailing my fingers against the pools of leaves, I found myself drifting toward the tree.

It was the scene of so many memories and of many more daydreams I'd created in my head. It was the tree where I'd first spilt the truth to Alice- where I'd first seen her sparkle. The memory still caught my attention. She was radiant, looking as if she was born to be nothing other, no matter how sad that thought was.

I sat down, paying no attention to the crunch of leaves beneath my hands. Bella was due to be close any minute. I would hear or smell her before she could wander around lost. But it was not Bella that I sensed. Only metres away, another person stood, the old but familiar scent drifting welcomingly my way.

Unnaturally still, with wide eyes resting calmly on my face, Alice Cullen stood across the clearing, more beautiful than any of the images my mind brought up. Her eyes were as black as charcoal- I'd forgotten how dark they were. Her hair was styled differently too, as it lay flatter against the nape of her neck, curled only slightly.

"Alice?"

Even her name sounded foreign to my lips now. I both liked and loathed how it sounded. I loved the fact that I could finally say it with meaning, in a way in which she would hear it and all the emotions that poured behind it. But at the same time, I hated the fact that it fell so flatly as if I was learning it for the first time, all thanks to the fact that she'd left.

She blinked quickly, lips lifting into a crooked smile. "Yeah. It's me."

She moved forward but stopped as I stepped backwards.

"You left," I whispered.

"I know but-"

"You could have told me. I wouldn't have said anything that would stop you," I said, unable to stop myself. "But I wish you had."

Alice paused. For once in her life, she must have been unsure of what to say. I wondered if she'd seen my reaction in a vision already. but her reaction seemed too pure to not be initial.

"Bella asked me to stay with her," she decided to say.

I nodded. "I think she'd like that."

"I said no," she said quickly, stepping forward once again. I remained still. "I've got a place of my own."

"It's a big house to be alone in," I said, watching her moved forward another step.

Alice's shoulders lifted slightly. "I hoped I wouldn't be alone," she said, before adding on swiftly. "It'll save you the money and the hassle. A house is meant to be lived in."

"But then I'll be the one alone there soon," I said, bitterness flowing from my lips far too easily for it to be anything but natural. "You'll leave in a few days."

Alice didn't say anything.

"It doesn't matter. Once Bella has moved on, I'll be going too."

Her eyes widened, brows dropping. "You're leaving forks?"

"Can't stay in one place too long."

"I guess I deserve that," she said, smiling sadly. "I'm sorry. An apology is all I can offer you."

I looked at Alice, at her hopeful glint and relaxed hands.

"It's enough," I whispered, shoulders dropping weakly. "That's enough for me."

Alice met me halfway, pulling me into her arms. My hands snaked around her waist, resting on her back as I tugged her closer, my nose resting in the crook of her neck. She smelled stunning- of unnamable florals and sweets, far more expensive smelling than the fanciest of perfumes. Her own arms wrapped around my neck, resting against the lengths of my hair.

"I missed you," I said finally, letting the air of my speech brush against the ends of her dark hair. "And you've missed a lot."

She chuckled lightly. "I can tell."

She pulled away, hand gravitating toward my wrist as she led me back toward the tree. Alice sat at the base, leaning against the trunk as I sat in front of her, closer to the centre of the clearing. The smile never left my face.

"I saw Bella jump by the reservation. I saw you follow. But then everything just stopped. I was afraid something had happened," she said, glaring slightly.

I laughed. "There's no killing us. I've learned that already."

"I'm serious. I was scared," she whined, shaking my arm so I would listen.

"So was I."

"Wolves. Jacob and his friends are wolves," she said bluntly, her face turning serious.

"I know."

Her eyes widened. "How? What happened?"

"That's not important right now," I said, shaking my head dismissively.

"Are you hurt?"

She pulled my face closer to hers, her fingers wrapping gently around my chin. Sometimes I wondered if she forgot what we were: ruthless animals that could kill with a bite. But perhaps, this time, she was merely cautious. I didn't want to think about how much damage the wolves could do. Especially with so many in numbers.

"Barely a scratch," I said with a grin.

She hugged me again, catching me off guard. As she went to pull away, I wrapped my arms around her, not letting her remove herself from against my body.

"Wait. Don't pull away. Not yet."

"I'm not leaving," she said in a sing-song voice.

I finally pulled away, lips thinning. "How am I supposed to know?"

Alice scowled playfully. "I can't tell if you're flirting with me or trying to start an argument."

Had I been human, my face would have burned an embarrassing shade of red. I turned my head, hiding the choke of my words.

"What? I-"

Alice shrugged it off with a smirk, pulling me up. "Come on. I have things to tell you."

We moved further into the woods and towards higher ground, where the trees were higher and where what little sun peeked out from behind the clouds could reach. Her skin sparkled and my own skin tingled. I kept my eyes on her as I lay against the mossy ground. She faced the sky.

"You have to tell me everything," I said. "About everyone."

She laughed, face pulling into a light grin. "I will," she teased. "When you let me speak."

I returned her smile. "Sorry."

"Well, let's see. Carlise is working in Ithica and teaching part-time at Cornell. Esme is doing up this beautiful seventeenth-century house. Jasper is at Cornell too- he's studying philosophy. Emmett and Rosalie went on a second honeymoon backpacking across Europe. They're back now though," she explained. "We're all back in Alaska now. Everyone except Edward, of course. Last I'd heard, he was in South America."

I hadn't had much time to really know the rest of the Cullens, except Bella's dreaded birthday party, but from Alice's stories from both now and before, I felt as if I knew them as close as a friend.

"What about you? You talked about everyone but yourself," I said, nudging her carefully.

She took a moment for a thoughtful pause. "My name was Mary Alice Brandon," she said slowly, testing the words on her lips as she shuffled to face me.

"You went searching?"

She nodded. "I had a sister called Cynthia. My niece is still alive in Biloxi," she said. The names sounded uncomfortable from her lips. "My birth was announced, as was my death. I found my grave. I found the admissions sheet from the old asylum archives. The dates are the same."

"Do you know why they sent you there?"

She shook her head, frowning only slightly. "No. Nothing like that."

My hand flew to my neck for comfort, feeling for the silver necklace that once hugged my skin nicely. With a drop of my heart, I remembered its absence. Alice watched me, her eyes gazing knowingly at my exposed neck.

"I got your necklace. And the note," I said, voice quickening."I lost it. I'm so sorry, Alice. I treasured it, I did. I refused to take it off from around my neck. But when I jumped after Bella-"

She placed a finger to my lips, silencing me. "Shh. Don't worry about it," she said. "I wanted you to have something of mine. So we both knew I'd always come back."

I watched her finger fall, feeling the need for her touch once again. She smiled, her dark eyes casting down for the first time.

"I can't explain it," I said, the words surprising even me.

"Explain what?"

"How I felt when you were gone."

☾