I want to thank each of you that has stuck with this story in all of it's difficulties. I apologize for leaving you hanging for so long.

Disclaimer-does not belong to us.

Please welcome lacym3 to this project, as she is now co-writing this story with me. head to her profile and check her out! She is my other half.

Something was poking me.

I squirmed, trying to get away from it, but there it came again, sharp in the side.

An amused voice came from beside me, "Bella, it's time to get up." I rolled over, ignoring the voice.

"Bella." More poking.

"Enough with the poking," I ground out, turning over to crack an eye at a smiling Jasper. "What do you want?"

He chuckled, "Maggie wants to talk to you."

"And it couldn't wait a few more hours?" I asked, looking around with bleary eyes, spotting the cheerful looking redhead staring at me from the other side of the room.

"She's very excited," Jasper said as Maggie crossed the room toward us. She moved as fluidly and as gracefully as Alice. I groaned and pulled myself into a sitting position, wincing as my feet came into contact with the bare stone floor. Maggie plopped down on the couch next to me a smile stretched across her face. She opened her mouth to speak, but I cut across her.

"As much as I'm looking forward to this round of question and answer, which I am, really, I need a human moment first." I grimaced as the old phrase slipped pass my lips. Both Jasper and Maggie looked confused.

"I have to pee," I elaborated, to which they both replied with long, "Oooh,"s. Maggie pointed me in the direction of the bathroom, and I wondered why they even had one. Surely they didn't have many human visitors, well, none that were here long, anyway.

I pushed open the wooden door and walked into the bathroom. It was a tiny room with, like the rest of the house, cobbled together stone walls. A chipped sink stood in front of a mirror next to an equally damaged toilet. A shower stall took up the rest of the room, but this looked fairly new. I would have to try it out later, I still felt grimy from travel and I had been too tired last night to clean up.

I took care of business quickly, and stared out the window as I washed my hands. The view through the warped, rippled glass was amazing. Hills of bright green sloped in every direction, speckled here and there with purple heather. The light that filtered through the heavy clouds was dim, the weather here reminded me of Forks. A knock at the door brought me out of my reverie and I dried my hands quickly and opened the door to a concerned looking Jasper.

"Are you alright?" he asked, "You've been in here for a while."

"Yes, I'm fine," I answered with a roll of my eyes, "let's get this show on the road." I walked past him and back into the living room where Maggie sat on the couch, waiting patiently. She greeted me with a warm smile and patted the spot next to her.

"So Bella-what would you like to know?" she asked politely. Everything. I thought for a minute about what I really wanted to know, and stopped when I realized I'd never met a decent human-drinking vampire before.

"How do you feed from humans? I mean, how to you feel okay with it?" I asked, nothing but polite curiosity showing on my face. She looked at me the whole time I spoke, and I could tell she was really trying to figure out what to say.

"Bella, I am a vampire. Humans are my natural food source. I need blood to live, and I also want to enjoy my meal. I am not human. Do you feel guilty when you eat a hamburger?" she questioned.

"No, but it's not the same," I responded.

"How is it different?" she chided. I knew she was trying to get me to understand, but I just couldn't make the connection.

"I'm a person. A cow is just an animal. It's…different." I fumbled because I knew I wasn't making sense. She saw my hesitation and smiled.

"And I am a vampire. Humans are animals to me, in a general sense. No offense," she added. I smiled and shook my head.

"None taken. You haven't eaten me yet, so I must be doing something right." My comment made her laugh out right, turning to me and placing her hand on my knee in the process.

"Bella, just because you're human doesn't mean I think down on you. I can respect you, and I think you're…rather interesting. Not many humans live around vampires for so long and survive." Odd, but true I suppose. "And now it's my turn for a question," she said, grinning still. I motioned for her to continue. "Why exactly are you doing this? I know the story, but…why?" It wasn't a question from a vampire to a human, more of a question from a girl to a girl.

"I don't want to go for the rest of my life not knowing why. Why did he leave me when he said he wanted no one other than me? If I was his life? And because of Jasper, I want to know what he did to Alice-she was my best friend. I feel as though I deserve to know." I shrugged.

"How will you feel when you do know?" She asked.

"I don't really know. All I can feel is that I have to know or I won't be happy…it's something that would always be in the back of my mind. I don't want to live like that. So I'll take whatever comes with it." She watched me for a moment before rising and heading towards the door.

"I see your point. I'm going out for a bit, getting kind of thirsty. Jasper is with Liam right now, but I'll let him know you're alone." She grinned and waggled her eyebrows at me. My answering look was enough to quell it.

Jasper

I sat across from Liam, watching as he flipped through a thick book with various names and addresses scribbled in it. He sat in an old wooden chair outside the back door of their cottage, and I sat in one that matched. He was mumbling to himself under his breath as he flipped, occasionally he would stop, shake his head, and start flipping pages again. I had never seen a vampire with such poor organizational skills.

I let my gaze wonder to the sprawling Irish countryside that surrounded us and I let my mind wonder to Bella. I wondered how her conversation with Maggie was going. I was kind of worried over what Maggie would tell her.

"Ah!" Liam exclaimed and I looked to see that he was standing, pointing at a page of the book with a triumphant smile. "I've found it!" he said. Then his smile faded. "Oh, no, wait," he sat back down, "this address is from back in 1924..." He began flipping again and I propped my elbow on one of the arms of the chair and rested my chin in my hand.

"Oh for heaven's sakes Liam!" Came Siobhan's lilting voice from the back door way of the house. She walked to Liam, snatched the book from his hands and turned to a page in the back of the book then thrust the book my way. Liam shrugged and chuckled.

"I'm sorry Jasper. Organization is not my strong suit." Siobhan laughed and shook her head, walking back into the house. I looked down at the page.

Carlisle and Esme Cullen

1257 Meadowview Drive.

Boston Ma. 02101

(United States)

Hope flared briefly in my chest; we finally had a lead. Thinking of what we might find there, though, threw water on the small sparks of hope. I rose and clapped Liam on the shoulder.

"Thank you, Liam. Hopefully," I glanced down at the page again, "hopefully they're still there. Now, I've got to go tell Bella." Walking back into the house, I passed Maggie who winked at me and gestured toward the living room.

"She's waiting for you, Jasper." Maggie giggled and bounded outside. What the hell? Shaking my head in confusion, I walked into the living room.

"Liam, well, rather Siobhan found the address," I lifted the scrap of paper I had ripped out of the book. "They're in Boston." A sad smile crossed her face and I felt her physically trying to buck up.

"When do you want to leave, then?" she asked.

"As soon as possible," I answered. "Did Maggie answer all your questions?" Bella snorted.

"Oh, she answered them alright. Do you have any idea how strange it is to be compared to a cheeseburger?" I laughed at the look on her face.

"No, no I don't," I said, still laughing.

"All right, all right, that's enough," she said, glowering. "I guess we should hit the road then, huh?" I nodded and held out my hand to help her off the couch. She glared at my proffered hand until I dropped it and then she rose, trying for all she was worth to be graceful. An effort that was completely wasted when she tripped as she took her first step and would have face planted on the stone floor if I hadn't reached out and caught her. With one hand fisted in the back of her shirt, I lifted her off the ground until her feet dangled and brought her closer to me. I looked at her face, and bit my lip to hold back my laughter.

Her face was red, her eyes wide and blazing in a way that could have possibly been intimidating if she hadn't been dangling a foot off the ground. Her eyes narrowed into slits and she glared at me.

"Put. Me. Down," she seethed, radiating indignation and embarrassment. I did as she asked and set her on her feet and she stormed out of the room. I followed behind, a small smile playing at my lips at the sight of her stomping down through the house.

After saying our goodbyes to Liam, Siobhan and Maggie (and thanking them again profusely) we drove back to the airport and boarded the first flight to Boston.

"Jasper?" Bella asked, turning in her seat to look at me. I cocked my head to the side in question. "What are you going to say to Alice? When we get there?" I leaned my head back to rest on the seat and closed my eyes.

"I don't know," I murmured. I cracked an eye open at her. "What are you going to say to Edward?" She mirrored my position.

"I don't know."

The rest of the flight was spent in silence.