In the end of last year, with the pleasant visit that the Volturi awarded us- trying to steal some of my family and destroying the rest- ringing in the new year hardly seemed like an occasion. Everyone assured me this year would be astonishingly different. Emmett and I were at a fireworks tent in the next town over. He almost cleaned out two places before this one.

"Aside from Christmas and April Fools Day, New Year's Eve is my favorite holiday."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yep," he replied smugly.

"Well April Fools is obvious, and I'm assuming that Christmas is because of the presents, but-"

"BELLA!" He stopped in the middle of the tent and stared at me, disgusted and offended. I was completely taken aback. "How could you say such a thing? Do honestly believe that I am that shallow that I care nothing of the other joys of Christmas? You think I don't love giving more than recieving? You think I don't care about giving others the happiness they deserve?" We stared at each other for a second, my eyebrow raised at him, and then we both burst into laughter. I shook my head as we started walking again.

"Idiot."

"Alright, I do like to give and all that crap, but getting is definitely better."

"That's what I thought. Anyway, as I was saying before I was rudely interrupted, why New Year's Eve? The fireworks?"

"No…" He thought for a minute, then spoke, this time seeming completely serious. "See, everyone else in the family isn't as fond of the New Year as I am- apart from Alice- but she just likes the parties. Bella, all we are, all that we can be, are statues in time. We don't move forward, we don't change, we don't age. To them, New Years represents just how long we've been sitting on the shelf of time, and that we'll never be moved from that spot. Forever is a long time, Bella."

"So what makes you think different?"

"I don't really know, to be honest. Maybe it's just my glass-half-full outlook. I mean, I feel a little the way they do, but I love being alive. Or dead. Or dead-alive. Or whatever we are. To me, the New Year represents another year that we were able to give from the enormous fortune that we've been given, or to make little differences in people's lives for the better, whether we're supposed to lay low or not. Did you know that Edward and I secretly got Ben and Angela together?"