I was in the Shofreys department store. Sure, it wasn’t my usual store, but leaving Bella had taken me from shopping in the private stores to...these. Jasper was at home, I was buying my own clothes. He didn’t need to be here for this, and besides, he was controlling the emotional environment at home. It had been two months, but nothing had gotten easier.

Edward was a mess. He was getting well acquainted with the wall in his bedroom, never taking his eyes off it, never talking to any of us.

We had moved down to Bellevue, getting away from her, but we were still fairly close; whether that was Carlisle’s or Edward’s idea, I didn’t know.

I picked out a light blue dress in exactly my size and purple leggings to go under it.

Moving quickly to the dressing room, I admired my reflection in the mirror.

I was at the counter paying for my garments when a bedraggled orphan stumbled on to me.

Clutching at the neck of my shirt, tears flowed down her face as she fell forward, supporting all of her body weight on me.

“Alice, Alice, please, you have to help me,” she cried.

I inhaled to answer her, but what I found took me completely by surprise.

“Bella?” I asked, incredulous.

She didn’t answer me, instead looking frantically around the store. “Please, please, you have to help me,” she begged.

“Excuse me miss, do you want us to take care of her?” the store attendant enquired politely.

I shook my head. “No, no, she’s with me,” I murmured.

“Well, then here are your purchases.” She put a couple of bags on the counter.

“Thanks,” I muttered, hooking them on one arm. Looking at Bella, I saw how horrible she really looked. She was dirty, her clothes were torn and baggy, and she was bruised as well.

“Please, please,” she begged.

I sighed and, since it was clear she couldn’t walk, scooped her up in my arms, then quickly exited. She locked her arms in a death grip around my neck, muttering to herself, her eyes locked on my face.

When we were at the car I tried to get her off me, but she wouldn’t let go, instead tightening her hands around my neck, if that was even possible. She seemed to be cooler than usual, but maybe that was just because I hadn’t seen her in months.

“Bella, I have to let go if we’re going to get home. I’ll always be here, I promise,” I tried to explain to her. I opened the passenger seat, having thrown my bags in the boot, and prised her arms off me, locking her into the seat with seatbelt and child lock. Amazingly, they had child lock on passenger seats now.

Her desperate eyes as she clawed at the handle ripped my heart into pieces. “Hang on,” I murmured to myself. “We’ll get home soon.”

I ran around the car, not bothering who saw, and let myself in as quickly as I could.

Bella threw herself on me sobbing as soon as I had sat down. “Shhh, shh,” I murmured, rubbing her back. “I told you I was going to be here. I always keep my promises.”

As I was saying this, I had managed to start the car and was speeding towards our house. I flipped my phone open, and called Carlisle.

“Alice?” he answered in surprise. “What’s happening?”

The sobs could easily be heard through the phone. “Look, I don’t have time to explain. Just get Edward to hunt, away from the house. Let Emmett go with him. Everyone else needs to be at home. Oh, and you’ll have a new patient.”

I hung up before I let anything else slip, because if Edward knew Bella was here than he would make us move again. And I couldn’t leave her like this.

The sobs quieted a small bit, and I saw Bella’s tear-streaked face looking up at me. “Is it really you?” she asked.

“Of course it is,” I replied. “Who else could it be? Who else would be like me, cold skin, pale face-“

This was obviously the wrong thing to say because she threw herself back sobbing into my lap.

After a few minutes I was pulling into our driveway. The sobs stopped, although the death grip on my clothes continued.

I untangled us and shot around to the other side of the car, hoisting her back up. She returned her hands to the vice around my neck.

Kicking the door open with my foot, I trilled, “I’m home,”

Instantly all heads were turned, and a single exclamation of surprise from many people was uttered. “Bella?”