The Only Exception, a twilight fanfic

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.

Rated: T. Why? Because I wanna.

Author: Paige Turner.

Summary: A one-shot, song-fic to The Only Exception by Paramore. Alice/Bella AH AU R&R! ^^

I took a shaky breath, clutching my guitar in my hands with a death grip brought on by my nervous state. It was insane that I even thought of doing this. Hell, I was insane if I thought that I could do this. I couldn't do this. No way. I should just back away slowly and pray no one saw me. Just leave and find Charlie in the crowd and pretend I never even got on the damn stage in the first place.

But I couldn't, for a few different reasons. The first; because I wanted to do this and I had to, I told myself I had to and that I would. The second; because everyone already saw me. All my graduating class and all their parents. Whose dumb idea was it to have a student/parent pre graduation lunch at school anyways? If I found them, I'd pop them in the nose. As far as I was concerned, this was their fault.

Okay, it wasn't really their fault. They had nothing to do with it; they just planned a nice lunch on one of the rare sunny days here in Forks, not even knowing I was about to do this. No one knew I was going to do this but Edward, that's why it was such a shock when I took the microphone from the paid singer of the band the school hired.

And now here I was, standing in front of all these people who were staring at me. But it's okay, because I found who I was looking for, and I wasn't so scared anymore. She was sitting at her family's table that was right next to mine where my Dad, Charlie, and my mom, Renee, were sitting at opposite ends. Oh yeah, and where Phil had really no idea what was going on, looking around curiously.

You want to know why I was here? Why I was nearly killing myself from this nervousness? I'll tell you; because of her. Because she had to go ahead and say those three little words. And also because I couldn't say them back. And also because she thought since I didn't say them, I didn't feel anything for her. And because of that, she ran from my house, crying. And because I evidently broke her heart.

I was here because she wouldn't take my calls, or text me back, or even look at me at school, and I really needed to talk to her.

I took one last deep breath, stepping up to the microphone. "Um, hi." I said, my cheeks felt like they were on fire from my blush. A few people laughed while others gave me curious looks. I caught the gaze of my friends. Rosalie seemed to have a knowing smirk, Emmett looked confused but gave me an encouraging smile, and Jasper nodded at me, the corner of his mouth curving up in a smirk similar to Rose's. I looked over to my shoulder quickly at Edward, the only one who knew what I was doing, and who helped me work up the courage in the first place.

I cleared my throat again. "Sorry to interrupt your meals everyone. I just have something to say." I continued on, wiping my sweaty hands on my jeans. I looked back up from my feet again, catching Alice's eye. She was watching me like a hawk, seemingly oblivious to her mom, Esme, that was asking her something. "Alice, you wouldn't call me back, or text me; you'd pretend you weren't home whenever I came over, and you won't even look at me at school." I said, swallowing the lump in my throat.

Alice's eyes widened and more people looked confused. Her father, Carlisle looked at me for a moment before looking at Alice, and then leaned over to whisper something to Esme. Esme's eyes widened and she looked at Alice and then me before smiling. But then her brow furrowed as she registered what I had said and she looked concerned.

See, the thing is that Alice and I had met when we were really little, at school. We clicked right away, she talked a lot, was outgoing, and confident even at that age, and I was shy, barely spoke, and listened pretty well. You know what they say about opposites attracting. Anyway, we became best friends right away and were pretty much glued to each others side.

Only a few months ago did I find out she felt about me the way I did about her and we had been dating ever since. Secretly, of course. We didn't know how people would take it if they knew; I was fairly certain that her parents would be okay with it and just happy she found someone. But my parents were a different story; Charlie was already awkward as it was, and my mom, well, you could never anticipate her. So, for my sake, we kept it on the down low.

I took a deep breath. "You think I don't care…" I trailed off, looking down at the stage before putting all that I felt for her into my eyes, looking back up at her. "But you're wrong."

I strummed down on the guitar, feeling my heart pounding hard in my chest, like it might just jump out of my throat and slap me in the face.

'When I was younger

I saw my daddy cry

And curse at the wind

He broke his own heart

And I watched

As he tried to reassemble it.'

I looked over to Charlie, watching his face turned three shades of red as he looked down at his plate. He wiped his face with his napkin and I could see him clear his throat rather than hear him over my guitar, and he looked up at me with a look in his eye that I hadn't seen before.

'And my momma swore that

She would never let herself forget

And that was the day that I promised

I'd never sing of love

If it does not exist.'

My eyes landed on Renee next who was watching Charlie with a gaze full of sorrow. Her eyes looked watery and she had a frown were she usually wore her bright, happy smile. And though I had thought she did forget sometimes over the years, I knew now, that she hadn't, even for a single day. Because though she might not love Charlie anymore, she still cared about him a lot.

'But darling,

You, are, the only exception

You, are, the only exception.'

I jumped as the paid band got into the music, picking up their instruments and playing along with me. Edward laughed at my reaction, like some of the crowd had, and I smiled at him, shaking my head. I hadn't expected that they'd play along. If anything, I thought they'd kick me off their stage.

'Maybe I know, somewhere

Deep in my soul

That love never lasts

And we've got to find other ways

To make it alone

Keep a straight face.'

I looked away from Charlie and Renee who were smiling up at me with tear filled eyes. I hadn't meant to make them cry… I couldn't focus on that now; I'd apologize later for it. I chanced a glance at my friends again, all sitting with their families. Emmett looked shocked right out of his socks, Jasper winked at me and I tried not to smile or laugh, and Rose was looking across the tables, I'm assuming at Alice.

'And I've always lived like this

Keeping a comfortable, distance

And up until now

I had sworn to myself that I'm

Content with loneliness.'

I got the same look from both Charlie and Renee, a look any parent would give their child. One that said "you shouldn't be lonely and settle for it." I glanced at Esme and Carlisle to see them giving me the exact same look as well and almost smiled. They were always like my parents as well; they treated me like their own.

'Because none of it was ever worth the risk.'

The music had built up with that line and I could see everyone sitting on the edge of their seats, into the song. I locked eyes with Alice who looked just as shocked as Emmett.

'Well, you, are, the only exception

You, are, the only exception

You, are, the only exception.'

I leaned back from the microphone, nodding my head along as to the music so I could catch my breath. Hey - I wasn't a professional here. I licked my lips, raising my voice as I sang again.

'I've got a tight grip on reality

But I can't

Let go of what's in front of me here

I know you're leaving

In the morning, when you wake up

Leave me with some kind of proof it's not a dream

Ohh---'

I could recall all the times I had fallen asleep with her in my arms after she had climbed up through my window at night. It was a regular occurrence because I was at the point of not even being able to sleep without her with me. But, still, she had to leave early in the morning so we wouldn't get caught. But being with her was so incredible that I always wondered if I had just dreamt everything up.

I looked back to Alice with my own tears in my eyes; though mine were happy tears. She too was crying, but she had the biggest grin I had ever seen on. She pushed her chair back, causing people to look at her, and ran to the isle that lead to the stage. She grabbed her dress, picking it up so she could run faster towards the stage.

'You, are, the only exception

You, are, the only exception

You, are, the only exception.'

Alice reached the stage and glided up the steps. She was out of breath as she jogged up to me, letting her dress fall from her hands as she stared at me with tears in her eyes. I lowered my voice, smiling at her lovingly.

'And I'm on my way to believing

Oh, And I'm on my way to believing.'

It got really quiet, everyone staring; the musicians, Edward, Jasper, Rosalie, Emmett, Esme and Carlisle, Charlie and Renee, the student body and their parents. Quite a lot of eyes on us, a lot of people…but I only had my eyes on one person. And she was looking back at me with so much love and adoration in her tearing eyes. I smiled and she nearly bawled, laughing at herself. "Alice, you mean more than the world to me, and if it's three little words you want, then I'm more than happy to give you that and more. I love you, and I have loved you ever since I first laid eyes on you back in kindergarten when you asked me for my grey crayon -and by the way, eleven years later, I still find it odd that grey is your favourite colour."

Alice closed what little distance was between us as I slid the guitar strap slip off my shoulder and let it fall to the ground. I could have cared less about it right then. She looked up into my face, smiling. "I love you." And with that, she captured my lips with a kiss in front of everyone.

Maybe now Mike Newton would back the hell off of me.

A songfic oneshot because I really, really love this song. It's The Only Exception by Paramore. ^^ It's soooo good! And I swear, the first time I heard it, I immediately thought of Bella and Alice and writing a fic. I was listening to it and it was like *BAM* Insta-inspiration!

Okay, leave a review please! ^^

-Paige-