If We Ever Meet Again

I slumped on the sofa, exhausted after playing with Nessie all night long. I glanced at my wristwatch and saw that it was nearly 2 o'clock in the morning. I look around the Cullens' house, wondering where they were. Nessie was snoring gently on my lap.

" Anna?" a familiar voice said from behind. I turned to look at him, who was leaning against the wall with his hands in his pocket. " Are you sleepy yet?"

" No...just a little bit," I said. Jasper was suddenly on the sofa next to me. " How come you're not sleepy?"

" Vampires don't sleep," he chuckled.

" How come Nessie sleeps?"

" Nessie's a hybrid. Half-vampire,half-human," he shrugged. " Do you want to go home now?"

" Yeah...Al's gonna flip. He might even think that we're sleeping together," I yawned. Boy, am I sleepy. He laughed again.

" Let me handle Nessie," another voice murmured softly from behind me. Next second, Bella was kneeling next to her daughter, gently lifting her up off of my lap. " She really loves you, you know," she said softly, smiling fondly at Nessie, who continued to doze off.

" We'll be going now. Anna's gonna need her sleep," Jasper said, pulling me on to my feet. My vision was starting to go all blurry. I guess I'm sleepier than I thought. I just hoped I didn't collapsed or anything in front of them. I took another look around the living room and saw that the other Cullens' were standing near the door.

Jasper pulled me gently to the door where the others were waiting. Esme hugged me, telling me to stop by whenever I feel like it. Carlisle also said that I was welcomed at this house anytime. Edward thanked me for coping up with his daughter, which even none of them had ever managed to do, despite them being vampires. Emmett thumped on my back saying that he had a good time with me. Even Rosalie hugged me, saying that she will see me in school.

Next thing I knew, I was in the car in the front passenger seat, all buckled-up. Jasper had already started his engine and then we're on the road. I yawned again.

" Did you have a good time?" he asked. I nodded.

" Best one yet. I've never been to a friends' or relatives' house as long as I had at yours," I said, stifling yet another yawn. " Your family..do they really like me?"

" Yes. Even Rosalie had admitted that she had had fun with you, dressing up Nessie and all. I think she might even hoped you might come again," Jasper said, grinning widely at me. " Yeah, I know. Hard to believe that Rosalie could be soften easily with you. Bella had a a harder time. It just changed when Nessie came along," he chuckled. " If you ever become a vampire, I would guess that that would be your talent."

" Talent? What's talent got to do with vampires?"

" It's our special ability. I can control my surrounding emotions, like yours for example. Edward can read minds. Bella can repel any mind talents and Nessie can penetrate shields with her thoughts. Alice-" he broke off.

I sat upright, eager to hear more. But I hesitated. " Might I ask you something?" I asked, carefully examining his face to make sure I didn't offend him. " What actually is your relationship with-" I hesitated, " -Alice?"

He let out a sigh. " Alice was...my first love," he admitted. " She was the one brought me to the Cullens. If it hadn't been for her, I might not be here. I'd probably be a savage vampire."

" By savage, you mean-?"

" I'd be feeding on humans. And you'd probably be one of my victims, too," he shuddered.

" But she died? How can you vampires die? I thought you're something like..invincible. Destructible," I said, sounding thoroughly confused.

" I thought you don't believe in vampires," he laughed. I pouted. " Well, you can destroy vampires. By beheading them, then dismember their body parts. Then, you burn them,"

" How did Alice die?" He fell silent. I could feel his hesitation, his emotions at war.

" You should be grateful I can't cry or else your blouse would be dampened by my tears," he joked. I laughed. " Al never told you about Alice?"

" Yeah, he did. But not very detailed, I'm afraid. He just told me that she was mauled by bears when you and your family went hiking."

" She did get mauled to pieces. But not by bears," Jasper said, staring at my face. " She got torn to pieces, unrepairable pieces, by savage wolves," he spat, his tone getting harsher. " Our venoms could repair ourselves back, if it wasn't burned or damaged beyond repair."

" What? I don't get it," I said, confused.

" Let's say Emmett tore my arm off. I can fix it back into place with my venoms, if he didn't had the time to burn it to ashes," he said sourly. " Alice could've been saved if she wasn't torn to pieces. Small pieces. Like paper being torn bit by bit," he said it one by one.

" You still miss her." It wasn't a question. It was me understanding why it caused him pain whenever someone mentioned about Alice.

" Yes. It was hard at the beginning. It felt like my soul had followed her. Vampires aren't forgiving when you killed their mates," he said, smiling half-heartedly.

" And did you go and kick her murderer's ass?" I asked, trying to be funny to lift the suddenly gloomy mood.

" Nope. Emmett and Edward wanted to follow them but I was too devastated seeing her in pieces. Even more devastated when my venom couldn't do anything to repair her. Then, I got mad. But it was too late to go and chase the morons who did it. Anyhow, Carlisle didn't want me doing reckless things," he went on tonelessly, as though he regreted Carlisle interfering.

" Wolves can kill vampires?"

" Not any wolves. These wolves are specially built to destroy vampires. And they're pretty close to us. To Forks." I fell silent. Wolves. Here, I thought. Near to Forks.

" Have they ever..attacked people?"

" No. Unless you count vampires as people," he chuckled again. That was when I realized that the car had stopped in front of my house. I sighed. Time to go and probably face Albert's wrath.

" Can I ask you something?" I asked, suddenly remembering something.

" Obviously you've done so. Shoot it anyway," he added, chuckling slightly when my fist hit him on the shoulder. I thought I had broken my knuckles because I had hit a rock when he took my fist and gently caressed it with his cool palms.

" WHy me in particular?" The question startled him. Clearly he didn't expected it.

" I don't understand," he said quietly. His hands still caressing mine.

" Why did you pick me to be Alice's substitute?" I continued. " I mean, there are a lot of other girls who are simply dying to get to know you. Even Lana, and she's not that hideous!" I ranted on. He was silent for a moment before he bursted out laughing.

" I'm sorry. That was tactless," he apologized when I opened the door. He reached across me towards the door that was already half-opened and slammed it shut. " I'm sorry for laughing. It's just...I mean, Lana? Seriously? You have got to be kidding me."

" If you don't want to tell me, then I'll just skip into the house. Albert's probably waiting to pounce on me," I muttered darkly.

" Okay, okay..," he sighed. " Let me see. Where do I start? Oh, yeah. You remember your first day in Forks?" he suddenly asked.

" How could I not? That's the day when you picked me up on the way to school!" I said, feeling impatient.

" No, no..," he said gently. " The day you arrived in Forks. Not the day we first me. Well, second, actually," he added.

" Second?"

" The first time I saw you was when you were in Albert's car from the airport. I was hunting but stopped when I saw the car. I was rather curious because there was some rumour saying that you were coming home," he said, still playing with my hand. " Your window was rolled down and the wind was blowing pretty hard. That was when I caught your scent. After that, I saw your face. All blotchy and red," he chuckled again.

" You saw that?" I asked in disbelief.

" Hard to not notice for a vampire, even if your dad's car was going what? 120?" he shrugged. " When I caught your scent, it kinda triggered something in me. At first I couldn't think what it was. When I saw you walking alone on that road, it somehow triggered another memory," he went on. " After I sent you home, I quickly went home, to ask Carlisle what it could mean. Then, he pulled out a picture of Alice and told me to compare it with you. That's when I found that you remind me of Alice."

" I remind you of Alice?"

" You smell like her. And you do some stuff just like her. Everyone in my family said that. Bella especially since she was close to her."

" I remind you of Alice?"

" Anna..please, don't despise me for doing this. I just can't help it. I fell in love with you ever since the first time I saw you," he said quickly.