Disclaimer: I do not own Alice, Bella or Edward. Trust me, if I had written Twilight, Alice and Bella would have been together a long time ago.
Author: Leo500
Title: Make Up Your Mind
Rating: K+
Genre: Romance/Angst
Summary: "She can't deal with it, you know. You always making your decision and then going back on it. You're making her crazy. Fix this, or I will." Takes place right after New Moon.
Note: This is my first fic, so please be merciful in critiquing it.
Make Up Your Mind:
All was quiet in the Cullen home. This fact was due to the two of the three noisiest children of the household; Emmett and Jasper were out hunting. Rosalie and Carlisle had joined them not too long ago, and Esme was out with Bella, doing the "baby-sitting" job.
Edward and Alice were the only ones in the house. All that could be heard now, if one listened closely, was the sound of Edward tapping the keys of his grand piano again and again.
Anyone who knew Edward Cullen personally would know that he had a dreary view of himself and his entire species even.
This was his eternal life. Soon he'd write something for his angel once again….his lamb…
His thoughts, however, were disrupted with a knock on the door to the study/music room. Forcing himself not to growl too loudly, Edward whirled around on the seat to look at the door, at the same time picking up the lively, yet determined thoughts of his youngest sister, Alice as she danced through the door.
Edward was unable to help himself from smiling at his dearest sister. Unfortunately, his smile soon faded when he sensed her thoughts. Alice's thoughts, though blocked at this moment by some mental wall that she had erected, were playful, yet also very dangerous.
Edward's face became a deep frown as he spoke.
"Alice?" He breathed, "What are you here for? I'm trying to concentra-"
"Since when aren't you trying to concentrate or at work, Edward?" Alice spoke up finally, her usually chipper voice now almost annoyed as she regarded her brother. Edward was unable to prevent himself from being startled. Alice never was this blunt, at least almost never.
Alice's usually bright gold eyes seemed darker as she projected more aggressive thoughts.
Edward deepened the look of his brow as he tried to read Alice's mind, but the mental barrier was too strong.
"Stop it, Edward," Alice said in a simple, neutral tone, "You won't be able to read my mind. Instead of trying to read something that's none of your business, why don't you ask me why I'm here?"
Edward blinked again at the pixie's harsh voice. Had he done something to offend her? They were back in Bella's life, he hadn't been destroyed by the Volturi, they were all safe, what could have angered Alice now?
Before Edward could inquire further, Alice answered his dumbfounded expression.
"I think I should get this out while Bella isn't here, so as not to upset her." Alice stated, staring hard at her brother, Edward only gave her a questioning look.
"Edward, I want you to stop it already." Alice answered, once again, making it impossible for Edward to read her mind, and once again, making this situation completely confusing for him.
"Stop what, Alice?" Edward demanded, his voice more dangerous than before. What was his sister playing at?
"Stop it," Alice repeated coolly, "Stop it. Stop being so arrogant and acting like you know what's best for her, stop forcing her to do as you say, Edward. She deserves better than this, better than you."
"Alice, what?" Edward asked, his voice full of confusion, till he saw the image in Alice's mind of Bella, completely the opposite of how he imagined her; lying down on the bed, smirking at him, eyes amused.
Shock flashed through the mind reader's mind at the image that Alice had created in her mind. Anger and rage soon replaced shock as Edward started growling at Alice.
"How dare you imagine my Bella like that, Alice?!" Edward growled, jumping up from his seat immediately.
All that was given to Edward as a result was a smirk.
"No," Alice said simply, "I want you to see Bella the way she really is. Not as some obedient girl that is supposed to do as you say, but a woman with needs, including sexual and love needs on top of everything else, which you also have neglected."
Both bewildered and enraged, Edward was about to say something, before Alice cut him off.
"You're hurting her. You know that? You're hurting her by not making your decision." Alice remarked.
Once again, before Edward could say anything, Alice continued, "You're either in Bella's life or you're not, Edward. Make up your mind. Bella can't deal with it for much longer. Being so deeply involved with her life and then making the decision to leave, furthermore, doing it by saying that she wasn't wanted? Edward, she can't do this anymore. You are either in her life or not. She needs you to make your decision."
"I have made my decision," Edward snapped, "I'm going to stay, I know that. And now you know it too."
Alice smirked, tapping her finger to her temple, chuckling, "Future seer, remember? You staying in Bella's life isn't an absolute future. I've seen you consider leaving again."
Edward growled, louder than usual. Was Alice saying that she had seen him go back on his word to never leave Bella again? That was ridiculous. He devoted everything to her the moment he had seen that she was still alive at Volterra.
"No." Alice sneered, once again seeming to predict what Edward would say, "You did promise everything to Bella, including immortality, but only under your conditions. That's not fair, Edward. She's been through enough."
"I'm going to give her everything she wants! She asked for this." Edward snapped in defense.
"Under your conditions." Alice repeated, snapping this time.
"I will not leave her, I've decided that already."
"You're still indecisive, Edward. I can see that easily."
"What do you want me to do?!"
"Make up your mind already, Edward. You're either in or out of Bella's life. You're either going to stay and change Bella, or you're going to leave and break Bella's heart and let her move on. Either one, Edward."
Edward stared at his sister, not believing that she was giving him this declaration of anger. She had always respected his opinion. The two of them had been the closest of the siblings. Being vampires was hard enough; being vampires and one of them having mind reading abilities and the other being a future seer made them feel even weirder than that.
Amongst the family, they were the ones that kept each other, and the family's secrets safe.
Edward had thought that his friendship and love with Alice would overcome any issue the two of them had with each other, it seemed insane that it would be different now, even with Bella involved.
"But Edward," Alice continued, before Edward could respond, "If you leave, don't tell Bella to keep out of trouble. She has every right to do as she wants. If you're going to leave her life, you have no right to tell her what to do when you give her up."
Edward scanned Alice's mind, almost desperately. Upon finding what was there, he was happy that there was a piano stool behind him as he watched himself in Alice's mind, once more saying that he would never re-enter Bella's life, Bella looking numb, but then smiling.
Wait, smiling?
"You're saying that it's already a possibility that I'll leave again." Edward demanded, slowly dropping back onto the piano stool, still staring at Alice in disbelief. However, he was still confounded, if not disturbed by Bella's smile in the vision.
Alice simply smiled as she said, "Yes, yes I have seen that possibility. And a million others. I've seen you choose to leave and never come back, I've seen you change Bella as she wants, I've seen you go to the Volturi because you regret turning her, I've seen dozens."
Alice stopped there, closed her eyes for a few moments before opening her eyes again as she regarded her brother, a cynical smile coming on her face as she continued, "That sort of thing happens normally with my powers, but it happens now especially given how indecisive the person that the visions are about."
Alice fixed her eyes on Edward, speaking coolly, "You can never make up your mind Edward, that's what's so aggravating about you. You constantly have a mess in your mind when it comes to decisions. That's why my visions are now jumbled."
Once again, Alice stopped for a moment before continuing, her voice much more firmer than before, "But Edward? Your indecisions are hurting Bella too. In fact, I'm just witnessing the pain, she's experiencing all of it."
Almost as soon as he heard that he was hurting Bella (again) Edward flinched, thinking about how she must always suffer because of him, and once again he considered that maybe it would be better if she never met him.
"There you go again!" Alice snapped, almost roaring in the process, "Thinking it's better to abandon Bella than stay and face your problems. I saw the vision just now of you possibly leaving, again. If you're going to leave, then do it already. Stop wasting your, my and most importantly Bella's time."
Edward scowled.
"You'd rather me stay and hurt her further?" Edward demanded, "All so that I can keep her forever? Isn't that selfish?"
Alice showed no emotion this time.
Simply shrugging, Alice said, again calmly, "I don't want you to do anything except to make up your mind. But stop dancing around, Edward. You say that it's selfish to change her and keep her forever, but you seem to keep on forgetting, Edward, it's what she wants.
"If you don't want to be the one responsible for changing her, then leave. I'll take care of it."
That sentence alone would have made Edward's heart freeze, if it wasn't already frozen.
"What?!" Edward roared, holding back no outrage this time.
Seeing Edward's shocked look, Alice held none of her arrogance back. Her smirk came full blown on her face, her voice all knowing as she spoke once again, "I said, I'll take care of it. I'll change Bella myself. That will make it easier for you, right? After all, you won't have to do any work like facing Bella and making your own decisions."
A snarl ripped through the room once more and Edward gritted his teeth as he smashed his hand flat down onto the piano's keyboard, destroying five of the pure white keys, their cracked shards scattering all over the floor as Edward stared hatefully at his sister.
Glancing her eyes to the floor at all the broken piano keys, Alice looked back at Edward, noting the shattered remains of the keys and the now broken frame of the keyboard.
"Graceful as always, Edward." She mocked, her smirk only widening.
"You…..," Edward seethed, almost painfully, "you…..how dare you judge my feelings, Alice. You left too."
Alice was unaffected by Edward's accusation, simply stating, "Yes, Edward, I did leave. I left for the same reason you did. When Jasper attacked, I thought leaving was what was best for her too. I thought we were protecting her. But now that I know what it is she wants, I'll stay no matter what. My decision has been made completely. Yours on the other hand has not been made. You're still indecisive, brother."
"Don't call me 'brother,'" Edward sneered, removing his arm from the crushed keys and keyboard frame, leaving only dust and pieces of the keys there as he looked at Alice, "You would stay and change Bella even if I left her?"
Alice said nothing, just stared. It almost felt like another eternity had passed the two of them as the stared each other down. Finally, Alice spoke up once again, and once more shocking Edward nearly to ashes.
"I love her, Edward." Alice stated, just staring the mind reader vampire in the eye.
Before Edward had time to ponder what Alice was trying to say, she let all of the walls that she had used against him down and let Edward see everything. See what she felt for Bella, see what she wanted with the human, see that his feelings were nothing but an infatuation compared to hers.
It wasn't even that, Edward was getting the onslaught of all of Alice's love for Bella, seeing every fiber of the pixie vampire's passion for the human. Edward nearly choked out a sob as he saw the memories and emotions that forced their way into his mind, making him collapse right off of the piano stool, his mental senses being overtaken by both emotional sights and sounds of the memories between the two.
Trying not to sob again at the emotions and memories filling his head, Edward tried to crawl forwards as he stared in desperation at Alice, who remained unmoved by his discovery.
Alice didn't just love Bella. She was in love with the human. And knowing this pained him.
"I'm sorry that I'm hurting you, Edward," Alice said, this time in an even more cold tone than before, her gold eyes burning, and almost darkening in their finality, "But these are my true feelings. And as you can see, even though I have not yet expressed my love to Bella, she feels the pull to me just as I do to her. Now the only deciding factor is whether or not you'll leave and let us be. Or you could stay and still let us be, either way, Edward, don't think that you were ever competition."
Edward, still on the floor, grounded literally as it were, growled even louder and tried to force himself up, but what he had seen in Alice's memories, the looks on Bella's face, how she always was trying hard to restrain herself from returning Alice's advances, wanting to return them furthermore.
Edward lowered his head to the ground, trying to hold back his sobs. Bella had never been good at hiding her emotions, and she wasn't any better now. Her feelings were more than easy to read as he saw them in Alice's memories.
Bella was in love with Alice too.
What was worse, Alice knew.
As Edward panted, still trying to recover what little pride he had left, Alice quickly crushed whatever recovery he had.
"So, in other words, Edward," Alice said, her tone far calmer than ever before, "you can stay and let the two of us be. Or you can leave and let us be, but I won't come with you. Whether you leave or not is not my concern, so long as you let Bella decide who she wants to be with. If you don't change her into a vampire……then I will.
"She can't deal with it, you know? You always making your decision and then going back on it. You're making her crazy. Fix this, or I will."
With that, Alice turned and walked away, her visions guarding her from any attack that Edward gave to the rear.
Fortunately, Edward was in no position to fight back. Panting with rage and pain as his head was against the floor, Edward snarled, "What gives you the right?!"
Alice stopped at the doorway, she glanced back calmly.
(It's not what gives me the right, Edward, but who,) Alice thought, projecting her mental thoughts like everything else at him like weapons, smirking as he flinched when he read her thought, (And to let you know who, Bella gives me the right. She's the one that wants this, she's the one with the right to decide her fate, not you. )
Alice was about to walk through the doorway, when Edward spat out, trying to get some explanation for this, "Jasper! Have you no love for Jasper any longer?!"
It was a low blow, and even he knew that, but he was desperate for some way of holding onto Bella.
He heard an exasperated groan at the doorway, and the smaller vampire growled out, "There? You see, Edward? There you go again. You were so ready to let Bella go just a few seconds ago when I said that you were hurting her, and now, when you know that Bella might move on with someone she loves, you desperately want to hold onto her? That is just not fair, Edward."
"And for your information," Alice continued, looking over her shoulder completely now as she scowled at her brother, "Jasper is an empathy, or need I remind you? Do you really think he didn't know about this? Let me show you what he had to say."
Again, came the mental attack of the memories. This time they were filled of Alice trying to express her love for Bella to Jasper, as an explanation, Jasper smiling an understanding smile and wishing that both she and Bella would be happy.
"He…..he just accepted it?!" Edward demanded, looking up at Alice's back now, looking completely confused.
"Yes," Alice breathed out, now again calm, "he did. He loves me and wanted me to be happy. Unlike you. He loves Bella as well, and wants her to be happy too. He did this for both of us.
"So, the only two who haven't made their final decision yet are you and Bella. Don't prolong this for Bella, okay? Let her make up her mind on her own. However, the fact remains that you need to make your choice about whether to be in our lives or not."
"Do you want me to leave……?" Edward spoke out again, now looking at the floor again.
"I personally no longer care," Alice said calmly, "If you leave, I'll be here for Bella, if you stay I'll still be here for her. Either way Edward, it's time to make up your mind."
Alice was at the threshold of the door, but stopped and turned around, fixing her eyes again on the other vampire. Her eyes no longer burned or were dark, but held a conclusion that no vampire, even one as full of accusation as Edward could break.
"However," Alice continued, her voice now holding a surprisingly dangerous tone, "I must warn you that I will not tolerate you not changing Bella into a vampire, getting between Bella and myself, or not making up your mind anymore. You can't make up your mind whether you want to stay or leave, you can't make up your mind whether or not you'll allow Bella to be one of us. I can't stand it anymore than Bella can.
"It's torturing Bella and it's becoming torture for me too. I'll just take matters into my own hands this time. I'll be whatever Bella needs me to be, and if you won't do it then I'll be the one to change Bella."
Alice turned back to the doorway as she stated, now walking through, "Make up your mind, brother. But whatever you do, stop hurting my beloved, or I will kill you."
Edward let out a gasp of shock, nearly relieved now that Alice was out of the room, though he could still smell her everywhere, and worse yet, could hear her thoughts clear as day.
(Don't forget what I said, Edward) were Alice's dangerous thoughts, (I'm not beyond killing my own brother for Bella's sake. I will be there for Bella in any way I can be, but you need to decide what to do. But don't make me lose my patience.)
Edward snarled out, loud enough that Alice could practically feel the snarl around the house, and he heard a cheery laugh from his sister in response, though to him it sounded much more mocking than cheerful.
Edward sighed, getting up and standing straight as he thought deeply about what he heard. Despite whatever he was feeling now, and despite all of his anger and conflict, Alice unfortunately was right.
His indecisions were hurting everyone. Not just Alice and Bella, but everyone else. The family was being pulled into this conflict, Bella felt stressed from how much he couldn't make up his mind, as was Alice, as he was himself.
Sighing once again, he realized that this conflict that he could never make terminal decision about was putting stress on him too.
He closed his eyes, thinking. But really, even if he made the decision to change Bella himself or stay with Bella, it really wouldn't make a difference would it? Bella was in love with Alice.
If Bella was in love with Alice, what right did he have to interfere? If Alice really made Bella happy…….
Edward stiffened, forcing himself not to react as he nearly felt dry sobs wracking his body. Bella had chosen Alice over him. Maybe not out loud, but it was crystal clear in Alice's memories.
He didn't stand a chance.
The next five minutes, which to Edward felt like five years, were filled with Edward clenching his stomach, jaws and everything else on his body to stop himself from whimpering as he replayed and replayed the images in his brain from what Alice had cruelly shown him.
He shook hard, growling and dry sobbing some more at the memories of Bella looking longingly at Alice whenever she thought Alice wasn't looking, at the sound of Bella's voice when she embraced Alice, not seeming to ever want to let go of the vampire.
So unlike how Bella acted with him.
Finally, the supposedly five minutes passed and Edward forced himself to relax and opened his eyes.
At that moment, Edward had decided. He would leave, asking Alice to change Bella into a vampire, but he would come back after a trip, that would be what he would use as an excuse to get away, a trip, but he would come back as Bella's brother and friend.
Edward nodded to himself, understanding already, he would leave Alice and Bella alone. When he came back, he knew that he shouldn't be surprised to see them as lovers.
From downstairs, Edward heard a gentle sing song voice reach his ears.
"Thank you, Edward." Alice said gently. Clearly she was relishing in the vision she was having of Edward leaving Bella to her, accepting that the two of them were mates, allowing Alice to change Bella.
Edward rolled his eyes.
"Smartass." He grumbled, earning him another cheery laugh in response.
Edward looked to his more or less shattered piano. He was going to have to get that fixed. But first, he needed to get packed.
Author's note: sorry if that I kept repeating things and it was slow or anything like that. Remember, this was my first fic ever, so please don't hold too much over me.
In case you didn't notice, I'm pro-AlicexBella. I just do not like Edward