Wilting Roses

Chapter one: The Meeting

A/N: Hey y'all. This is my third attempt at a Rosalie and Bella fanfiction. I would say this one is less dark than my previous stories with this pairing. And I intend to keep it light for as many of the chapters as I can.

Pale smooth porcelain like skin. Big brown doe eyes. A slender yet not too small figure. Delicious pink lips. Brown shiny shoulder length hair. As soon as I had set my eyes upon Bella Swan I had become madly, deeply, and irrevocably in love with her. I had already decided upon making her mine. The only problem? By the time I realized my true feelings she wasn't mine to have.

My obsession with Bella Swan wasn't a gradual thing. Oh no. It hit me all at once, like a truck to my gut and it kept me impaled onto the grill of it, even as it accelerated well past the speed limit, way past what was safe. It was dangerous and I wasn't the only one affected by these vile emotions as they leaked out of my body and corrupted those around me. I wouldn't categorize my feelings for Bella under crush, like, or even admiration. It was like something had possessed me, enraptured my thoughts and bound my beating heart. A crush was something silly and fanciful, something that went away with time as did liking someone or admiring them. But this, this had taken root in my body and was here to stay, sucking away my sanity like a parasite.

The first time I had meet Bella was during the middle of my sophomore year in high school. The school had been abuzz about the chief of police's daughter and what she would look like or act, and I had yet to see her. As any healthy teen I was curious about this new student who was stirring up the student body. Wild rumors flew around. Was she a rebel? Could she shoot a gun? Did she like cops, or hate them? Maybe her boyfriend was a criminal!

My first glimpse of her had been in the hallways between class, but it had been brief, a snippet of her hair, a snapshot of her back. It was during lunch that I got my first real look at her. I was sitting with my friend group of Edward Masen, Emmett Cullen, Alice Brandon and my brother, Jasper Hale. We were the cool kids at school. We had it all. Smarts, looks and money. Other kids wanted badly to be in our group and tried to gain our favor by stealing our fashion sense or by copying the way we interacted. Alice and Emmett had no issue with this. They were the most talkative of all of us and interacted a lot with the rest of the student. They were the most approachable of us all as well and the student body loved them for this. Edward and Jasper were less outgoing, preferring each others company to anyone elses. The two boys were as close as two peas in a pod and this was probably due to their shared moral senses and taste for old fashioned era clothing, music, and lifestyle. They were also quite popular among the girls, because of their more mysterious and gentleman like ways, yet they remained single.

As for me, I was the queen bitch, or ice queen to put it more mildly. I didn't care for being social, or for the opinions of others. I did have many admirers because of my beautiful blonde hair and model's figure but I shut down every attempt at a guy asking me out. I had no interest in dating someone from Forks high. I was too good for that; my standards too high.

Some people didn't understand this, like poor Mike, who after a hundred outright refusals still hasn't gotten the message. He had been on me since freshman year day one and no doubt would continue to pester me until graduation.

Anyways, I was sitting and talking to my friends at lunch about what trip we should go on this weekend when Bella had entered the cafeteria. She looked a bit nervous as she walked into the cavernous eating hall full of wild and rowdy teenagers. She was wearing a black sweater that was two sizes too big on her, jeans cut at the knees and scuffed converse. Her whole look was very humble, and she thumbed the strap of her shoulder bag. With that motion I noticed she wasn't wearing any nail polish, her nails bit down to the quick. Taking in the combination of her features quickly, I deduced that she was pretty but in a subtle way. Her beauty didn't immediately stand out like mine did, it didn't turn heads or call the attention of everyone in the room, but it was there. And it had hit me full force.

That was the moment I fell in love with Bella, and I can never logically explain why it happened. It was just a normal moment like any other and it shouldn't have mattered but it did. The feelings were abrupt, and they span me off my feet, making me grip the table I had been seated at with a white knuckled grip for stability as my mind whirled around chaotically. I had to take a deep shuddering breath to calm myself, and to soothe the deep throb in my chest. What was going on? What were these strange sensations?

I didn't understand at first what happened in that moment, but looking back on it I understood how pivotal it was to the progression of my future. I cursed that moment a thousand times over, wishing that I had never set eyes upon her.

"Hey look, it's Bella." Emmett paused in his conversation and everyone turned at the table to look as the brunette was snatched up by Jessica to sit at her table. "She looks rather normal," he grunted out, sounding a bit disappointed.

"What were you expecting?" Jasper said, his soft voice slightly scathing. "That she would have three heads or something?"

"No. But I was hoping one of the rumors could be true. Like how she was actually a punk rebel or something," Emmett clarified, shrugging and everyone at my table turned back inwards to resume conversation.

"That's stupid," Alice wrinkled up her small nose in disgust and Emmett very maturely stuck out his tongue at her. "Well she's not as pretty as I was hoping either," Emmett sighed as if this was indeed a grave matter. "Now who am I going to date?"

"You can just date any of the girls that throw themselves at your feet everyday," Edward said, picking at the salad on his plate. "It's not like you're going to run out of options."

"True." Emmett winked. "What about you Rosie? You've been awfully quiet. Nothing disparaging to say about the new student? Not gonna shit on her fashion sense?"

I had completely been wrapped up in my own world, and in the tumultuous feelings in me, and was only called back now. "What did you ask?" I tried to ask in as normal as a voice as I could muster while my heart raced madly and my hands shook slightly.

"You alright?" Alice asked, concern creasing her brow. "You look a bit pale."

No, I definitely did not feel alright. Inside I felt like I was waging a war that I was rapidly losing; one between my rational and my heart. Why was I feeling this way after looking at a person only once?

I nodded my head, thinning my lips. "I'm fine. Just preoccupied."

"You sure?" Alice was insistent and I exhaled. "Alice, I'm fine."

She wasn't convinced at all. From where she sat next to me, she grabbed my hands. They were cold and clammy and shaking. I tried to keep them out of her grip but it was already too late. She had felt them.

"Rosalie are you coming down with something? Your hands are so cold." Alice frowned. "I think you should go to the nurse."

"She's an ice queen, her hands are always cold," Emmett teased and the boys snickered but Alice was too worried about me to join in. I was going to disagree with her when suddenly it seemed like not such a bad idea. The cafeteria was too loud, too grating on my inner mind. I needed peace to think over what I had just internally experienced. "Alright. I think I'll go visit the nurse."

The boys chortling stopped at me actually admitting I would go to the nurse.

"Must be serious. Maybe the ice queens frozen heart is melting?" Emmett joked. I rolled my eyes at him in disdain as Alice escorted me to the nurse. But as we made our way to the nurse I couldn't help but think about Emmett's words. Was my heart melting? It sure felt like it. Looking at Bella it had started to throb; it felt like it had been struck by something sharp.

Melting. Melting...I mussed. What could make a frozen heart melt? Was it...love?

My face went two shades lighter and I stumbled, feeling light headed. Holy shit. It couldn't be love, right? Love at first sight only happened in movies, right? By the time we made it to the nurse I had worried myself sick and was teetering unsteadily on my feet, Alice holding me by the elbow.

The nurse took one look at my pale face and let me lay down on the cot in her office until I felt better. I lay there, trying to steady my breathing as the nurse typed away on her computer. The pain in my chest was still there but it had greatly subsided. I tried to rifle through my thoughts and make sense of what was happening to me. Was I really in love? Was I certain? I had never been in love before, so it could be that I had just been overwhelmed by Bella. Yes, that was it. For some strange reason I was overwhelmed by her, but that was it. I tried to tell myself I was satisfied with this answer but my body was still antsy. Sighing in annoyance I turned on my side and decided to mull over it some more.

I lost track of time, my thoughts too ingrained in trying to figure out what was happening to me, as well as I lost sense of what was going on in my surroundings. That was why when I finally decided to shift over to my left side to get comfortable, where the nurse had previously sat, I was surprised to find someone else there.

I bolted up in my bed, my heart beating in shock and...excitement? Sitting in the nurses chair with a badly bloodied knee was Bella Swan. She was shocked by my sudden movement and let out a little squeak, elbowing the desk corner with her elbow and letting out a hiss of pain as she grabbed it, rubbing her funny bone.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bother you," she mumbled, her voice soft and melodic like bells. I was still in shock over who was sitting in the same room as me, my heart rate increasing a thousand times as I stared unabashedly at her. She grew uncomfortable under my gaze and coughed. Looking down at her knee she laughed awkwardly. "You're probably wondering how I got this. I'm naturally clumsy. It sucks. Especially since it's my first day at school." She rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment, as I continued to stare at her.

Say something, you dumbass, I hissed at myself. She'll think you're weird if you don't say anything!

"Ah, um, that's fine. People fall." I wanted to roundhouse kick myself so hard right now, Chuck Norris would be impressed. Was that really the best I could come up with? This was now going to be Bella's first impression of me! As a total bimbo! People fall. What a great piece of advice! I could feel heat creep up my neck. And now I was blushing. What was wrong with me? Was I indeed sick? I never blushed. And my heart was racing madly, that certainly wasn't normal. Was I nervous? But I never was nervous talking to others, not even to teachers when I got in trouble.

Instead Bella laughed, a sweet sound that my ears drank up greedily. "That's some pretty solid advice."

"Thanks," I muttered out, blushing even more and wishing I could just bury my face in a pillow. That actually sounded like a perfectly reasonable thing to do now.

"I thought I was the only one who blushed like a beet. Glad to see I'm not the only one," Bella added. I groaned loudly at this and buried my face in my hands. Oh god she had noticed. I wanted to bury myself into a ditch, forget the pillow. This was so mortifying! But why was I obsessing over this conversation with her so much?

"Sorry, I didn't mean to make you feel bad. I blush pretty badly too. I just wanted to make you feel better." Bella rubbed the back of her head in discomfort, a slight blush to her pretty features. Luckily the nurse came in at the moment, sparing us from any more embarrassing talk.

"I have some alcohol swabs here, Ms. Swan. Grit your teeth, it may hurt." The nurse got to work cleaning Bella's wound and plastering it. I laid down back on my bed at this, trying to refrain from looking at Bella. I wanted badly to talk more to her, despite being afraid of doing so. Gritting my teeth in annoyance I let out a huge exhale. What was going on with me?! I was always poised and refined, not this mess of emotion!

As soon as Bella left the nurse turned her attention to me. "You look all healthier now. Your face is a bit flushed but that's good. Drink some water if you don't feel well and stay at home if you feel worse tomorrow," the nurse commented and I cursed myself again for blushing like an idiot before. "Off to class with you now." The nurse shooed me out. I shot her a nasty look. She didn't have to rush me out. It wasn't like I wanted to feel this way.

I made my way to class with a heavy heart, upset at still not having reached an effective conclusion to my dilemma. It was already ten minutes under way and I handed the teacher a note from the nurse explaining where I had been. He barely gave the note a second glance before resuming his biology lesson. So I went to sit at my desk and froze right before it. Sitting behind me was Bella. She noticed my gaze on her and smiled tentatively, waving her hand at me. I gulped, panicked, and dove to my chair, not waving back to her. My heart was racing again and I could feel a warm blush crawl up my cheeks.

Alice, who was my desk partner, leaned over and whispered in a not too quite voice, "are you feeling better?" For some reason I felt too panicked still to answer that question so I mumbled out a hasty "shut up," and pulled out my notebook before hunching over it and focusing intensely on writing down the teachers notes, my blonde locks falling like a curtain around my face. I remained in that stiff position, never once daring to look behind me or at Alice for fear that they could tell something was wrong. I couldn't help but curse my luck. Of course Bella had to be in my class with me, and of course she just had to have the seat behind me. What the fuck kind of shit luck was this?

What was the world coming to? Was today gang up on Rosalie day and make her confused? A throb was growing between my brows and I wasn't any closer from all my stressing to understanding what was happening.

After class was over, I made sure to wait until I had seen from the corner of my eye that Bella had left the class first. Only then could I relax and pack up my stuff. She was gone. I was free. Yet I felt disappointment in my chest. Why was I disappointed?

As I packed up my things I felt Alice's soft hand on my shoulder, making me jump. "Rosalie, are you sure you feel better? You actually paid attention to class today." She looked pointedly at my notebook, page full of meticulous notes.

I shook my head at her worry, shoving the notebook away. "It's fine. I'm just a bit off," I rubbed my forehead at this and she didn't look any more convinced than before, but gave it up. "Let's go get ice cream then. That always makes you feel better."

"Only if you're paying," I smirked.

Alice rolled her eyes in exaggeration. "Fine. But only because I love you, bitch," she bumped hips with me and my heart jumped into my throat. Love. Love. Was it love I felt for Bella?

"And how exactly do you love me?" I asked, trying to sound nonchalant. What were the conditions for love?

"I just do," Alice answered. "I wouldn't talk to you if I didn't, or hang out with you, or let you freeload off of me all the time." She smiled up at me as I followed her out of the school. Alice's response was vague. I had hoped for something with more substance, that would help me figure out the geometric equation that were my feelings right now.

Enough thinking about Bella! I scolded myself. I barely knew her yet here she was taking over my thoughts already. Shaking my head free, I tried to put a bright smile on my face as I went to get my free scoop of ice cream.

A/N: I'd love to hear thoughts on this, as its my first time attempting to write from the I perspective.