UNTOUCHABLE FACE

"Think I'm going for a walk now,

I feel a little unsteady.

I don't want nobody to follow me,

except maybe you."

Untouchable Face - Ani DiFranco

PROLOGUE

The red liquid seeped over my fingers, staining them with her life. Tears slipped down my cheeks as I lifted her into my arms, silently praying that she would be okay.

"I really am sorry, Edward," I heard Bella whisper from behind me.

I stopped but didn't turn back to look at her.

"It's a little late for that now, Bella."

ONE

"She's a fucking vampire, Edward. Why the fuck didn't you tell me?" Bella demanded.

I didn't know what to say. I mean, I knew exactly why I didn't tell her, but I'm pretty sure she didn't want to know that I was a hell of a lot more loyal to Rosalie than I was to her.

"Edward, are you going to answer me?"

"I don't know."

Bella's mouth dropped open. "You don't know. You don't know why you didn't think it was important to let your girlfriend know that your best friend is a fucking vampire." She blew her bangs out of her eye as her face became increasingly red. "I thought my biggest problem with Rose would be the slight jealousy I felt towards her because of your close friendship, but this . . . I just can't handle this."

"You were jealous of Rose?"

"Are you seriously bringing that up right now?"

"Right. Sorry. Bad timing."

"Ya think?"

Jesus Christ, she could be sarcastic sometimes. It was quite annoying.

"Look, she's my best friend, and she made me promise not to tell anybody."

"But I'm your girlfriend! You didn't think you could trust me with something like that?"

"The way that you're acting right now is proof that I was right in keeping it a secret."

"But we shouldn't be keeping secrets from each other. Not if we want this relationship to be long-term."

I sighed. We'd only been dating for four weeks and we'd only been exclusive for one. She had been the one who was hesitant about telling everybody and now she was talking long-term? I hadn't thought that far ahead, and it was pretty obvious during my pursuit of Bella that I was more serious about us than she was.

"You're right. We shouldn't. But this wasn't my secret to tell and it's pretty clear that you have been keeping something from me."

She frowned and the small scar between her eyebrows became more prominent.

"What do you mean?"

"How the hell do you know she's a vampire?"

Bella's mouth opened and closed as she struggled to answer my question.

"That's not really the issue here, Edward."

"No, it may not be your issue, but it is mine."

"Edward, don't do this. This is not the time nor the place."

"Yet it is the time to start questioning me about my best friend?"

She narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips. I knew the bitch-fit was coming but that didn't make me any more prepared for it.

"Do you know what? Fuck you, Edward! It's pretty clear that you care more about her than you care about me."

I didn't argue with her. I was pretty sure anything I said would only make the situation worse.

"I think we're done here," she said, picking up her jacket that was draped across my bed.

"What? What do you mean?"

"I don't think it's a good idea for us to see each other anymore."

I swallowed and nodded. "Okay. If that's how you feel."

"It's a shame, Edward. I really thought we'd be good together." She blinked away the tears that had formed in her eyes and opened my bedroom door. "I'll see you around."

She hastily walked down the stairs, through the foyer, and out the front door, passing Rosalie on her way. I was still stood in the doorway to my room when Rose appeared in front of me.

"You okay?" she asked. "I heard what happened."

"Of course you did." I didn't mean to make the words sound so curt and snappy.

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing. It doesn't mean anything," I said.

I sat down on my bed and buried my face in my hands. I'd really screwed up this time.

"I'm really sorry, E," she said as she sat down beside me. "I know how much you liked her and I thought she was really nice. Well... until she tried to out me in front of your family during dinner."

"Yeah. Not really the way I imagined telling my mom that my best friend was a vampire."

"Why are you friends with me?" she asked, throwing herself back so she was lay across my bed.

"What do you mean?" I asked, lying beside her.

"Sometimes I don't feel like I contribute anything to this friendship. I mean, you're a popular guy and there's good reason for that. All those reasons are exactly why I like you so much. But I don't know why you want me around. I only make things worse."

"That's not true," I disagreed. "You're funny - in a witty, sarcastic way - and you've been there for me through some pretty tough shit. Plus, you're smokin' hot."

Rose laughed and punched me lightly in the shoulder. It still hurt.

"But I'm your best friend, Edward, and you have to lie for me everyday."

"I don't like to think of it as lying. More like witholding information."

"Yeah. Pretty big information. If the rest of the town knew that I liked to drink blood and couldn't go out in the sunlight for long periods of time I'm not sure they'd be so forgiving."

"I guess you're right."

We lay there in a silence for a while, not touching just enjoying each other's presence.

"Are you sad that you and Bella broke up?"

"Of course I'm sad, but I'm not as affected by it as I thought I would be. I guess I just didn't like her as much as I thought I did."

"Well I wouldn't worry about it too much. There's plenty of girls in Forks who are willing to date you."

"I don't think it would be wise to start dating again so soon."

"Hmm. You're probably right."

x x x x x

I took a shower before bed after spending the rest of the night with Rose. Thank God tomorrow was Sunday and I could sleep in. I was glad that I didn't have to face Bella at school.

I had just slipped my t-shirt over my head when my phone vibrated on my nightstand. I picked it up and checked the Caller ID.

"Why are you calling so late, Rose?" I asked when I answered the call.

"Edward, get over here! You're fucking psycho girlfriend is trying to kill me and I'm not sure how long I can hold her off. She's going fucking crazy, man!"

"What? Shit! I'll be right over."

I slipped on my sneakers, put my phone in the pocket of my sweatpants and ran downstairs.

"Sweetie, where are you going?" my mom asked from the couch.

I paused with my hand on the handle of the front door.

"I'm just going to see Rose. She left her car keys in my room and I thought I'd give run across the street and give them to her."

"Oh. Okay. Well, give Tanya my love. And don't spend hours over there! It's late!" she called out to me but I was already out the door.

It was pretty convenient living across the street form your best friend, especially during times like this.

I skillfully climbed the tree outside her window, as I had done many, many times before. The window was open when I reached the top, so I assumed that was how Bella had got inside.

I swung myself into Rosalie's room and landed with a light thud. As I braced myself against the ledge so I could straighten myself out, I saw Rosalie infront of her closed bedroom door, pinning Bella up against it. In Bella's right hand, was a wooden stake.

"Holy shit, a stake! Do those things actually work?"

"Yeah, they do, but that's not really important right now, Edward!"

I could see her point. "Right. Sorry. What do you want me to do?"

"Take it out of her hands and make sure she doesn't get anywhere near it once I release her."

"Okay."

I pulled the wooden object out of Bella's vice-like grip and hid it behind my back, before backing up against the wall. Rosalie pulled her arms away from Bella and watched as she slumped forward.

Bruises were already forming on her skin.

"Would you like to explain yourself?" Rosalie asked, hands on her hips.

"I don't have to explain myself to you," Bella spat.

"Hey! You're really fucking rude, you know that?"

She grabbed Bella's face in her hand and forced her to look at her. I'd never seen Rosalie so agressive before. It would probably be hot if I wasn't worried that she was going to crush Bella with her bare hands.

"You come into my room, uninvited, try to stab with a fucking stake, and then spit on me when I was trying to make conversation with you." Rose sneered at Bella. "I don't know what Edward ever saw in you. You're cute I suppose, but you've got a horrible attitude."

"Who do you think you are? My mom?"

Rose tutted. "You just don't know when to stop." She shook her head disapprovingly. "I could kill you right now if I wanted to, and no one would ever know. I could put your body inside your truck, roll it down a hill, and no one would ever fucking know."

"So do it. Kill me."

"Oh, chillax, Buffy. Nobody's gonna give a shit if you try to die a hero."

"Well at least I would be dead and not undead like yourself. You're not fucking natural. Everything you are goes against nature."

Rose turned to me and laughed. "She really doesn't know when to shut up, does she?"

I just stood by the wall in silence, watching everything unfold in front of me.

Rosalie pushed Bella back up against the door and leaned her face in so they were nose-to-nose.

"I'm warning you, little girl. If you don't shut the fuck up I will kill you. Now if you promise not tell anybody else about this and never go anywhere near me, ever again, we can forget all about this. Got it?"

Bella snorted. "You don't scare me, Rosalie. And don't worry, I'm not going to reveal your secret to anybody, but somebody else might."

"What do you mean?" Rose demanded.

"Let's just say, me and my father are pretty good friends with the guys at the reservation."

Rosalie released Bella and stumbled back. Bella smirked and stalked past Rosalie, to the window. She didn't once look at me.

"Cat got your tongue, Rose?"

She let out this horrible laugh like a villain from a bad superhero movie and disappeared out of the window.

I dropped the stake on the floor and ran to Rosalie, who was curled up on the floor next to her bed.

"Rose, what's wrong? What was Bella talking about?"

"They know," she mumbled.

"Who's knows? What do they know?"

"The Indians on the reservation. They know about me. They know I'm a vampire and they're gonna hunt me down." She looked up at me, and if vampires could cry, she would be sobbing right now. "They're going to kill me, Edward."

I felt the blood drain from my face. "No. No, they can't do that. You're a vampire. Vampires don't die."

"Bella had a stake - she knew it would kill me. They must have told her. They know how to kill a vampire."

"But I thought that shit only happened in the movies."

"Aren't vampires only supposed to be real in the movies?"

Good point. Well made.

"I need to leave, Edward."

I snapped my head towards her. "No. You're not leaving."

"I have to. I can't stay here."

"I'm not letting you go. You can't leave me, Rose."

"But I need to, Edward. I'm not the only one who could get hurt. If they find out that you knew, they'll kill you too. It's better if I just leave."

"Then I'm coming with you."

"No, Ed-"

"Shut up. I'm coming with you and there's nothing you can do about it."

Rosalie sighed, defeated. "Fine. If you must."

"So where are we going?"

"There's a vampire coven in Seattle. They're practicing 'vegetarians' like me. They seem like my best option."

"When are we leaving? 'Cause it takes at least four hours to get there."

"I know, so we'll have to probably have to leave tomorrow morning."

"That soon?"

"You can always back out if you want to."

"No way. I've already told you I'm coming, and I'm not changing my mind."

Rosalie sighed and lay her head on my shoulder. "You're too loyal for your own good sometimes, Cullen."

I kissed her temple. "I care about you, Rose. I don't know what I'd do if you got hurt."

"Me, neither. Which is way I don't think this is the best idea. I mean, what are you going to do when we get there? You can't live in a house full of vampires."

"I'll buy an apartment in the city. I'm going to UofW in the fall, anyway. And I have my trust fund to pay for everything. I'll just have to do online classes until I graduate."

"You're lucky that you're such a spolied brat, Cullen, or you'd be staying here on your own." Rose wrapped her arms around my waist and hugged me. "I'm glad coming with me, though. It makes everything a little less... scary."

x x x x x

My parents were still asleep when I left the following morning. I had written a note to my parents, explaining that I had gone to Seattle and probably wouldn't be back, but told them not to worry about me.

I hadn't packed up much of my stuff. I had clothes, my toothbrush, my iPod and some other essentials as well as my credit card. Rosalie's bag looked relatively small, too.

She had explained to Tanya what had happened the night before and begrudgingly, Tanya agreed that her daughter should leave town. I always wondered how one copes with having a vampire for a teenage daughter. I don't know what I'd do if my kid was bitten by a vampire at seventeen.

"Take care of yourselves and try not to get into any trouble. I'm only a phone call away if you need me."

"I know, Mom. Don't worry about us," Rose said as she hugged her mother for a third time.

"And Edward, don't fret about your mother. I'll make sure she doesn't run after you."

"Thanks, Tanya."

She hugged me and Rose once more before Rose started up the car. Tears silently fell down Tanya's cheeks as she waved us off and I could see the tight expression on Rose's face that suggested that she would be crying right now if she could.

I reached across the console and took her hand in mine.

"It's gonna be okay, Rose."

She nodded but didn't say anything.

As we passed the "welcome to Forks" sign I felt tears sting my own eyes, but refused to let them fall. I had to be strong for Rose, not think about everything I was leaving behind.

A/N: As you may have noticed, Rosalie is not like SMeyer's vampires. She can die if she stabbed in the heart with a stake but that is one of the few similarities that she has with 'traditional' vampires. All of her vampire traits will be revealed in due course.

The title of this fic originates from the Ani DiFranco song, "Untouchable Face". I suggest you listen to it, not only because it's a great song, but it will explain the plot of the story a bit more.