"They usually don't, no," she says, with an attempt at a smile; it rings a little more false than usual.



Upstairs, Alice is dozing, half-aware of his surroundings and mostly not thinking about anything much. In a half-aware dreamy way, he kind of wishes Bella were there, perhaps because in his half-aware dreamy state he doesn't have to consider her (probably quite low) level of desire to add to this cuddlepile.