Alice sighed softly as she looked down the street, to a house with two cars parked in front of it. She recognized Bella's red truck, but the other car was one she only seen once before. She had seen it when she was leaving Bella's house, and Billy Black and his son, Jacob Black, had arrived.
Deep inside, she knew that she really couldn't risk going to Bella's house when one of those dogs was there. It was simply too risky, and Bella might get hurt if the dog couldn't control himself. There was no way that she could risk that. She hadn't left for half a year just so that she could get Bella killed when she finally came home.
The car idled underneath her as she thought, weighing the risks against the benefits of going straight to Bella. There was always a chance that the dog would be able to control himself; it wasn't completely certain that Bella would be hurt. Subconsciously, she knew that she was twisting her thinking, but she didn't care.
The door opened, and for the first time in six and a half months, Alice felt nervous. When she saw Billy Black and Charlie walk out, closing the door behind them, she beat her head against the steering wheel. When she heard a sharp crack, she stopped, sheepishly examining the mechanism.
Charlie opened the door of Billy's car, climbing into the driver's seat. Billy complained; Alice could hear the words from down the street. "Charlie, I'm still in my wheelchair!" She shook her head grinning wryly. Half a year hadn't changed Charlie at all.
Minutes later, and seventeen swear-words after, Charlie had managed to get Billy into the car, and the wheelchair was loaded into the rear of the car. She swore quietly when they reversed and starteed heading her way. Thinking quickly, she reversed the car into a random driveway. Charlie glanced in curiously, wondering who would be able to afford that car, but they quickly lost interest.
One more obstacle was now removed from her path. Really, there were only two things stopping her now; fear that Jacob may not be able to control himself, and her own cowardice. Disgusted with herself, and yearning to see Bella again, she drove out of the pathway and headed to Bella's house.
Jacob laughed as Bella made a face. "Come on, Bella!" he protested. "My cooking's not that bad!" He paused as a thought struck him. "It's not that bad, is it?"
Inwardly, he was anxious. He knew that Bella cooked a lot, and if he wasn't able to cook, then that would make the chances that she would take him even less.
She paused, putting on her thinking face. He cringed slightly; if she had to think about it, then he would have to go back to watching cooking shows again. The shows bored him, but if they brought Bella closer to him, then he would watch them non-stop for a week.
"It's not that bad," she said, putting emphasis on the 'that'. "For a first attempt, it could've been worse. But I think you had the toaster's setting up too high."
He sighed. "This cooking thing is harder than it looks," Jacob crouched. "I had to look that up on YouTube, you know. It took me hours to get it without burning it."
Bella choked on her mouthful of soda. "You had to look up how to cook toast?" she spluttered, rolling over to avoid getting anything on her notes. "Seriously? All you have to do is put some bread in it and push down the button!"
He scowled. "It's not that easy, Bella," he said disdainfully. "You have to twist the dial, too."
She burst out laughing. "And it took you hours to learn that?" she asked, her face bright red.
"It's my first time," he defended himself. "I had to make sure I got it right."
She opened her mouth to retort, when we heard a car pulling up in the driveway. She looked at me questioningly. I shrugged. Charlie and Dad weren't due back for several more hours. But no-one else, according to her, had come in months. Ever since Alice had left.
Alice. The name left a bitter taste in my mouth. Before Alice had left, I had had nothing against the pixie-like girl; she was always charming, neat, and she was one of the most controlled of the Cullens. Even when she had hooked up with Bella, I had still respected her. But then Alice had left, and I had seen what Bella was like after that; the way she held her arms aroound herself, stopping herself from falling to pieces. The way she avoided looking at anyone, in case they reminded her of Alice. The way she locked herself up, afraid to let herself feel anything.
It was only in recent weeks, when she had come to see me, that she had started to look better. As much as it pained me to say it, I knew the reason, too. I was as different as you could get from Alice. I was big, I was a man, I had absolutely no fashion sense. When she was around me, there was nothing to remind herself of Alice.
"Who could that be?" I asked, as we walked together to the door. She shrugged, and twisted the handle.
Alice knocked on the door, filled with nervousness and trepidation. She could hear Bella and Jacob, somewhere in the house, bantering about Jacob's lack of culinary skills. As much as she wanted to hate the dog, she couldn't. By the sound of it, he made Bella happy, and she couldn't hate anyone who did that.
Footsteps approached the door, and she heard Jacob say, "Who could that be?" Alice pasted a huge smile on her face, and waited on the edge of her feet for Bella to open the door.
Jacob was the first one to see her, as Bella had turned to see Jacob's face. She saw the way his face hardened, the way he moved slightly as if to protect the clumsy girl. Alice's smile slipped a bit before she moved it back up.
Bella turned to look at her. Alice saw emotions flicker over her face; sadness, anger, hapiness, disbelief, and above all, a heart-broken look that made her want to scoop her up and kiss her until she felt better.
"Alice." Her voice was cold, remote. "What do you want?"
Alice swallowed nervously. "Surprise?" she said weakly.
Her face shut down. Alice could almost see walls raising. "Get off my property," she said coldly, turning to shut the door.
"Wait!" Jacob lifted an eyebrow as he heard the panic in her voice. "I didn't really come bck to throw you a surprise party! I came to ask if you'd take me back!"
Surprise flitted across her face, before her walls went back up. "Get away, Alice," she said. Her smile slipped again, and she couldn't raise it to quite the same level it was on before.
"I'll beg," Alice offered. "Would that work?" She crouched down, slipping down until she was on her knees. She placed my hands in front of her, clasping them together. It was uncomfortable, but from down here, she was in the perfect begging position. "Please, Bella," she wheedled. "Please take me back?"
"You're acting stupid," she said coolly. "Get up."
"Come oooooon," Alice whined. "Why won't you take me back? Come oooon!"
She looked consideringly at her again, before turning to Jacob. Alice watched, horrified, as she leaned up and kissed him, carressing his jaw. Alice could swear she felt her heart break.
"I'll just..." she said, pointing out the door to her car. "I can see I'm only making an idiot of myself."
"That would be best," Bella said coldly. The door shuddered as it slammed into Alice.
Jacob traced his lips with his finger. He could still feel Bella's lips pressed against his. His jaw was still warm from where Bella had caressed him.
He waited until Alice's car was gone from earshot before he spoke up. "What was that?" he asked. "Why did you do that?"
Bella sat on the couch and buried her face in her hands. "I had to," she sighed. "It's just... too much, Jacob. I can't risk taking her back. What if she leaves me again?"
Jacob sighed, kneading his forehead. The bloodsucker would owe him big time for this. "Bella, she came to your door and begged you to take her back," he said, hating himself for every word that came out of his mouth. "Really, what are the chances that she would ever leave you again?"
Bella looked at him, her eyebrows lifted. "Aren't you supposed to hate the Cullens?" she asked dryly.
He frowned sullenly. "Sort of..." he edged. "I might hate the Cullens, but I care about you, Bella. And I can see that you won't really be happy unless you're with Alice. I think you should go and talk to her."
Bella frowned at him. "I can't," she said softly. "It hurts too much."
Jacob's next words felt like punching himself in the gut. "But it'll hurt more if you don't."
She grimaced.