No One's Bet Against Me and Won
I no own, you no sue.
I heard knocking at out door. Knocking is extremely rare. No one in the family bothered, our nearest neighbors were (thankfully) miles away, we were far too distant from town for door-to-door solicitors, and we didn't need any repairmen; we had Emmett. I hadn't seen anything either, which hopefully meant that this wasn't another family come to inquire about our lifestyle. Besides, it was pouring rain outside. No one in their right mind would be outside if they had any other choice.
I sped down the stairs to open the door as cautiously as I could and not seem overly slow. But once the door was open a crack, one of Washington's breezes blew in the visitor's familiar scent along with the metallic smell of new rain.
"Bella!" I exclaimed, giving said (soaked) human a hug. I didn't bother with being "human paced" around her; she actually seemed amused at my perceived eagerness when dealing with my best friend—well, best human friend, certainly.
"Edward's out hunting today," I told her, probably unnecessarily, as I took her raincoat to hang on a hook where it could drip without disturbing Esme's sense of where dripping raincoats should be placed and handed her the towel we kept specifically for drying her dripping hair, which was a necessary activity almost every time she came to visit. It was a traditional exchange any time she chose to visit when Edward wasn't there.
"I know he's gone; he told me yesterday after school that he was leaving for the weekend," she said, taking the towel. "That's why I came today; I need to talk to you."
"About what?"
"Edward." I must have looked concerned, because she added hastily, "We aren't fighting or anything like that. Well, not fighting more than usual. I—I just need to talk to you and ask you something."
"Come on then." Sensing that she wanted to talk to me alone, I went up the stairs, pausing at the top for her to follow carefully. She always took especial care on stairs since she didn't want to have a real accident like the one we staged to cover up her injuries in Phoenix. I didn't try to rush her or show my impatience; Edward would literally kill me if I were even partially responsible for an injury to her. Besides, Esme didn't like cleaning blood off the floor; in fact, she hated it.
I led the way up to my room; she'd never been in there before. Despite the fact that the center of the room was clear, it was probably the messiest room in the house, edges rimmed by various objects, mostly in the twenties style. The twenties were the last decade where real dance was appreciated. The twist is not dance. Disco is not dance. Charleston is dance. Foxtrot is—
"I need to ask you a favor," she said as she sat down on the carpet, clasping her hands together.
"What?" I asked as I sat beside her.
"About Edward—" she began.
"Yes?"
Breathing deeply, she continued in a rush. "If and when I get bitten again, stop him."
"What?" I was confused and, probably visibly, alarmed. Surely by now she didn't think Edward would, or could, give into that instinct—
"I mean don't let him suck out the venom. You see," she spoke in a rushed way, "it should have happened the first time. I just know it in my blood that I'm living a human life on borrowed time, thanks to Edward. But Edward is too stubborn to think of making things the way they should be. He says he won't condemn me, but he is, forcing me to look on."
I smiled wryly. "I daresay he thinks he's the one watching on."
She scowled back at me momentarily. "You don't know how hard it is for him, having to be so careful," she accused. "I mean, he's so scared I could break he's afraid to touch me sometimes!"
"Well, you are breakable, more breakable than most, as far as he's seen," I pointed out.
"Alice, do you honestly think he did the right thing?" she demanded suddenly, her eyes savage.
I knew the answer to that question. I'd thought about it probably as much as either she or Edward had. I'd rehearsed my answer over and over, since I knew she was going to ask me at some point. "No. He should not have tried to suck out the venom. It was too risky for both of you. The venom could have already reached your heart in which case it would have been too late. He could have misjudged the safe level of venom in your blood and left too much in it or taken too much blood out. He could have accidentally added venom of his own when trying to remove James's venom, making the whole process futile." And we both knew the other reason that neither of us would say because it was best left unsaid, that he may not have been able to stop himself in time, that he might have killed her and lived for eternity in sorrow with no way to escape.
She sighed. "I just want what's best for him, so he won't have to worry."
"But worrying about you gives him something to do all night," I teased. "You know, before he met you he was horribly bored all the time between new CDs. And then you came and made his life interesting."
"Har har," her eyes narrowed.
"But, in all seriousness, it is good for him to have something to care about. His worrying is his way of caring."
"But he hovers, and it's annoying," she said, but I could tell that she secretly felt slightly flattered that she had a knight in shining armor. And she should be. As an impartial judge (well, as impartial as you were likely to find), I could say with honesty that Edward was perfect. I could also say with complete honesty that Bella was perfect for Edward. She made him think, occasionally frustrating him, which he needed practice with. She made him have to be careful, which he had usually not had to do. And she also loved him unconditionally, which he needed desperately. Knights in shining honor need their damsels in distress after all; they would get incurably lonely and bored otherwise.
"I don't think you'll stop him anytime soon," I pointed out gently.
"I know," she replied, sighing. "At least he's there when I need him."
"—which is most of the time," I amended.
"Well, if it was beating I'd be worried about the condition of his heart," she said sullenly. I chuckled at that statement. How often had we, the family, made the same joke to Edward! He'd always scowled and acted sullen every time we'd tell him that, just like Bella was acting now, including the glare that she was attempting to throw my way.
A sudden beeping sound wrecked any hope she'd ever had for a successful glare. She whipped her cell phone out of her pocket. Chief Swan had been seriously encouraging her to get one so she could call for help, should it prove necessary, since she seemed so accident prone. Edward agreed with the Chief completely, even threatening to buy her one if she wouldn't get one herself. The staunchly self-sufficient Bella had no choice but to relent.
"Yes, Cha-Dad?" she said, looking at me. She knew I could hear every word of her conversation.
"Bella, where are you?" he asked.
"I'm at the Cullen's, talking to Alice," she said.
"Oh," he sounded relieved. I was one of the top two people in the world Chief Swan trusted with his daughter; Carlisle was the other. Edward might be in the top one hundred, if he was lucky.
"Your mother called the house, wanting to talk to you. She says she sent you several emails that you didn't reply to; I told her the computer wasn't working right now, so you wouldn't have the chance to email for a while." I could hear the pained undertone in his voice. He was still in love with Renee, poor man, and it hurt to talk to or about her. I may not be Jasper or Edward, but I've enough experience with humans in general to know emotional pain when I heard it.
"I think you should go home, he'll need you," I said in a low voice.
She nodded. "I'll call her as soon as I get home. I was about to leave anyways." She looked up and mouthed the word sorry as her father began talking again.
"Okay. See you soon, then."
"Okay. I love you, Dad."
"Love you too." He hung up.
"Well, I've got to go," she said as she picked herself off my floor, checking to see that her still dripping hair hadn't left a puddle on the wood. It hadn't. We walked back down the stairs (carefully, as always) and down to the door. I handed her her raincoat and a spare umbrella we had. "Here, borrow this. Maybe your hair won't get as wet."
She looked at me wryly, then took it. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're worried I'd catch a cold."
I shook my head. "You may be accident prone, but your immune system seems to be something to be admired."
"Well, goodbye," she said, opening the door to go out to her old truck.
"Bye!" I said, watching her go out into the rain. As she got halfway, I suddenly remembered something. "Bella!" I yelled.
She turned. "What?" she asked irritably, rain rolling off the umbrella.
"No one's ever bet against me and won," I said, smiling and waving.
Her returned grin was priceless.
Please review if you have the time! Keep in mind this is my first Twilight fanfic, so I need all the criticism that is justified. I need to improve my writing, not my ego!