Clean Break

"Alice, it's for the best." His eyes smoldered at me.

"Edward, this is going to kill her." I hastily backtracked as I heard a low rumble in chest begin to build.

"Not literally but Edward! You're her world. To leave so suddenly…"

"She deserves a normal, happy, life. I'm going to give it to her."

"Force it on her, more like," I snapped, fed up with his ideas of right and wrong.

"You're not to go back and say goodbye."

"I will if I want!" I knew my response was childish, but Edward was moving us out of our home. He could at least give a little.

"Alice!" He gripped my arm. "It's got to be a clean break. She's only human. She'll forget about me."

I yanked my arm out of his hold, rubbing it. "Like any human could forget about you," I grumbled. "Especially since she's so in love you."

"Alice, promise me." He gave me a pleading look. "Don't make it harder for her, please."

I couldn't give him an answer just then. "I…don't know Edward."

Like a coward, I ran from the room, before he could insist.

"Alice." Esme came up to my room, quiet as a cat. "Alice, what's the matter?"

I was lying on my stomach, chin on my hands, looking at the dying light outside my window.

"I don't think Edward's making the right decision." My words were quiet, but I knew Esme heard them.

I felt her settle beside me on the bed, and felt her hand run over my short hair. "Between you and me," she whispered, "I don't think he is either. But it's his decision. We have to support him in what he thinks is right."

"But it's not right!" I cried. "Bella is going to go to pieces…when she hears the news…and he's not even letting me say goodbye."

Esme was silent for a few moments, stroking my hair. "I think he knows the risk. But you must try to understand how he feels my dear. He feels like he endangers her very life. At her party…when Jasper lost control…it only reinforced his conviction."

"It wasn't Jasper's fault!" I instinctively defended my beloved.

"I'm not saying it was." Her musical voice was soothing. "It wasn't, after all. Just a gut reaction. But Edward is a very…" She paused, no doubt searching for the right word. "He…is very determined. And he is determined that he can't do this to her."

"Esme. If Jasper ever left…and I didn't know he was ever coming back to me…it would tear me apart. Bella is so sensitive…"

Esme's voice was a whisper in my ear. "I know. But humor him." I could hear the smile in her voice. "We both know he's head over heels in love. I doubt he'll be able to last long without her."

I felt her weight leave the bed and the soft footsteps leave my room.

I closed my eyes and sighed. Without warning, a vision erupted behind my eyelids.

Edward and Bella talking in the forest. He leaves. Bella falls to the ground. She's crying. It's dark and she's all alone. Curled up in a ball. It's raining. A long time passes and a tall, dark man…

I sat up, with a sharp cry. Racing downstairs, I crashed into Rosalie who gave me one of her famous glares.

"Hey. Watch it."

"Where's Edward?" I grabbed her arm.

She rolled her eyes. "How should I know? I don't want to know…he's dragging us along on this madcap adventure…if I hear Bella's name one more time, I swear I'm going to scream."

"Edward?" Carlisle got up from the armchair. "He left a few minutes ago. He's at Bella's."

Rosalie groaned and left the room.

"No!" I wailed. "He can't be…"

If I could have cried, I would have at that moment. Right now, Bella's world was about to fall apart.

I felt Jasper's strong arms around me, and I buried my head in his chest, full of Bella's foreseeable pain. We stood like that for a long time, and only when I heard Edward's car door slam in the driveway did I break free and run to my room once again.