Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.
Rated: T.
Author: xPaige Turnerx
Sumary: God, I don't know. Another Rosella oneshot based on sometime during Species. Still trying to decide what to do here, dudes. Would a triad take away from Bellice?
'I've been always playing
Solid as I'm waving, solid as I'm waving
So I became a liar, I've been underrating
Overestimated
I made it really hard for you
Hard for you to love me
But there's so many things we could do
And all we need is escaping, escaping'
Alice
"If you have nothing to hide then why are you hiding your phone?"
Tucked into her back pocket, both girls listened to it vibrate again, as if to support her argument. Alice crossed her arms over her chest and gave Bella's hip a pointed look. The teenager ran her hands through her hair, a disbelieving chuckle bubbling out. "Are you kidding me right now? I'm not hiding my phone, I'm just not playing this game. Sitting down and taking you through each and every single one of my texts to prove there's nothing to hide. You should be able to take my word. I'm telling you there's nothing, you should trust me."
"Bella," Alice sighed, her arms falling to her sides again. She stepped forward, grinding her teeth together when Bella scoffed and stepped back, turning to walk around the kitchen island. Distance. The exact opposite of what Alice wanted. Bella was quickly closing off. "I do trust you, you know that. I just don't trust Leah. She texts you all hours of the day, while you're asleep, and she's always flirting."
"So what."
This time it was Alice who scoffed, though it degraded into a growl. Amber eyes darkened shade after shade. "So what? You're not hers to flirt with!"
"I'm not anybody's. Nobody owns me," Bella warned, holding out her hand as if to grab that thought right then and there. She gave Alice a serious look. "I'm with you. That means I'm with you. Leah can flirt all she wants, I'm not flirting back. I'm not doing anything with her that would ever jeopardize what we have."
Instincts tore at the pixie, battling against her logic. She smothered the snarl in her chest when Bella's phone chimed again, hands grabbing her own hips tightly. She took a deep breath, rolling her shoulders, and looked up at the ceiling. "Just tell her to stop."
"I have."
"Then threaten her!"
"Alice!"
"You want her to stop, I want her to stop, but she won't stop. It's either that or stop seeing her!"
Bella groaned. She pushed off away from the island while she tried to tame her frustration. "She's still my friend. Her flirting... it doesn't mean anything, it's not even real flirting, it's just how she is. She's like that with everyone, okay? If it was just me then I could see-"
"It makes me uncomfortable, Bella." Alice blurred into Bella's pacing path, hands resting on the teenager's hips, golden eyes beseeching. "Bella, I don't like it."
"I..." Green eyes swirled into lighter shades, Bella's head tilting to the side. Obviously, she never wanted to make Alice feel uncomfortable, or be part of the reason she did feel that way. "Okay. I'll make it clear that it has to stop. It's gotta stop or we... fuck, I don't know, we need a break from our friendship until she can respect boundaries."
Alice's shoulders sagged with relief, a small little smile lighting up her face. "Thank you, Bella. Thank you. Phew... now I just need to see your phone."
"What." Bella's eyes snapped back up to Alice who was staring at her expectantly, hand held out and waiting. Pools of icy blue exploded from behind Bella's pupils, quickly overtaking the green, and Alice shuffled back warily. "The fuck, Alice? I told you no."
Jaws clenched, both girls staring the other down. "If there's nothing then why won't you show me, Bella?!"
"Fuck this," Bella snarled and turned for the front foyer. Alice followed her down the hall briskly, passing an awkward looking Jasper who stared hard at one of the portraits on the wall. He shrunk towards it, giving the girls as much space in the narrow hallway as he could until they passed. "I shouldn't have to. I don't understand how you're not getting that. Every time you ask for it, you're saying you don't trust me. You're saying I've given you a reason to doubt my loyalty. Now I'm fuckin' pissed, so I'm going home."
"Bella-"
She yanked the door open and whirled around on the porch. "No, Alice. You have a right to be upset about Leah's flirting, but demanding my phone is unreasonable because you have no fucking cause. No judge would sign the warrant." Bella fished around in her pocket for her keys, face pinched in a scowl, and looked back up at Alice with a huff. "You've offended me and I need some time to cool off, and you need some time to realize you owe me an apology." She stepped forward to press a kiss to Alice's lips quickly. "Love you, you jealous maniac."
Alice watched her go, forcing her body to stand there on the porch and not chase after her girlfriend.
Logically, she knew Bella was right. Even her case against Leah was shaky at best, as she knew from Jacob that the girl was a flirt to anyone under the sun. Still, her instincts would not allow her to stand by and let it happen, risk anyone trying to take her mate from her. The vampire in her demanded action, and while she wanted to go about it with more grace and tact, plans usually flew out the window when it came to Bella. She should have assumed. Should have asked Jasper to help keep her in check. Now they were actively fighting, and really, the entire thing turned out quite the opposite of what she wanted. A deep sigh heaved Alice's shoulders, entire frame drooping.
"Do the two of you seek me out to flaunt your relationship drama in my face or is it just unfathomably bad luck?"
The pixie lifted her head enough to look down towards the corner of the house, where Rosalie sat in a rocking chair on the porch. In her overalls, covered in grease, polishing something made of metal with a cloth in her hands. Alice dragged her feet over towards the bench next to the rocking chair and sat down on the edge. "How much of that did you hear?"
"Despite my best efforts to tune it out," Rosalie sighed, shaking her head while her eyes rolled towards the sky, "all of it. Nobody likes to be called a cheat, Alice."
"I didn't!" she cried. The blonde levelled her a look and Alice pouted, bringing her feet up on the bench to hug her knees. "I didn't mean to. I trust Bella."
"Doesn't sound like it."
"I do! It's everyone else I don't trust," Alice insisted. She rested her chin on her knee, eyes slowly dragging back over to Rosalie who was glaring at the car part in her hands. "My sweet Bella is more tempting than she realizes, I don't think she knows the true effect she has on people. They can't help themselves."
Hard golden eyes threatened to melt the metal in her hands, Rosalie's stiff shoulder rising and falling once in a jerky shrug. "Bit of a twat, your girlfriend is, actually." The mask she wore was cold as ice, devoid of any tells when she glanced up at Alice. "I see your point, however. I cannot help but loathe her very existence."
"I'm aware of your struggle," Alice agreed vaguely. Rosalie blinked, eyes shifting back and forth from each of Alice's, searching, searching, searching. "The issue with being able to see the entire chessboard is that you're aware you're on it. I used to think I was the player, but I'm learning that I'm actually just another piece."
Finally breaking their locked gaze, Rosalie glanced out at the yard. A humourless chuckle shook her chest. "The issue with having psychic and telepathic siblings is that they let their gifts go to their heads and assume every random, cryptic thing they say is some kind of obscure metaphor. We mundanes never have any clue what you're saying."
"It means," Alice stood from the bench and walked over to the railing, leaning against it, "I see you on the board just like me. You can't help the moves you make, they're beyond your control." She offered Rosalie a small, fragile smile. "But at the end of the day, there's a winner and a loser, and I won't lose Bella."
The blonde was up on her feet and in Alice's face faster than the blink of an eye. The silent snarl she had was fearsome, would have most giving in or back down, but Alice stood with determination. Rosalie glared black eyes down at her sister. "Don't drag me into your petulant drama, Alice. I have nothing to do with your fight, Isabella is mad at you because of you. Only cowards shift the blame. Reign in your instincts or risk fracturing your relationship, but don't go looking for outside trouble. You won't like what you find."
Alice's hands flew back down to her hips. As quick as her frustration and fear spiked, endearment wrestled it back down with the memory of Bella telling her how cute she looked with her 'hand-hip power stance' and she struggled to hold onto her scowl. "I know exactly what I'll find. Do you think I'm blind, Rosalie? Did you think I wouldn't notice? It took three years before you even said a word to Jessica's face, and you're already teasing Bella."
"I've done nothing to infringe on your relationship," Rosalie hissed. She pinned Alice to the railing, her hand locked down on either side of the pixie, a hair away from touching. "And I don't know what you're talking about anyway. Perhaps I've muttered a few insults in passing to your insufferable girlfriend, but she hardly captures my interest, let alone my... what, affection? You think I care for the moronic human?"
The blonde scoffed and finally backed away, returning to her rocking chair with newfound indifference. Alice blinked at her sister, at the total shift in attitude and atmosphere. "I think you need to realize I'm not trying to pick a fight," Alice said softly. Her chest ached at the pain she knew her sister suffered on the daily, and the last thing she wanted to do was make it even worse.
"Yes, well, look where your intentions have gotten you. A girlfriend who's mad at you and a sister you've thoroughly annoyed." Rosalie shook her head and scooped up the metal piece again, refusing to meet her sister's eye. "Just because you don't want to fight doesn't mean you are not instigating them."
Head hung, Alice sighed. She wrapped her arms around herself in a loose hug, wishing they were a warmer pair. That Bella was there to tell her she was being a dramatic little ass and to snap out of it. "I can't stop," she croaked. Rosalie huffed at the sniffle that accompanied it. "I can't... I'm losing the battle against myself, my instincts. Rosalie, how do you fight it?"
"I was already a bitch," the blonde said simply while she worked at polishing the engine part. "It's in my nature, I already had that instinct for every aspect of my life, and I've been fighting it since the day I was born." Golden eyes glanced up at her sister, softening infinitesimally. "I've had more practice. The difference between us is that you're a very good person, Alice, quite easy to forgive, and you're capable of apologizing."
A pout slid onto Alice's face. "So are you."
"We both know that's not true." Rosalie Hale did not apologize. "Now run along and makeup with your little pet, I'm sure she's expecting you to beat her home."
A small hand clasped Rosalie's shoulder and the blonde froze, every muscle in her body locking. Her eyes glanced to the side, staring at Alice's expensive shoes, and she swallowed down the snarl in her throat. "Rose, I'm so, so sorry."
"Whatever."
Twice she was left, her companions walking away from her, and Alice watched as Rosalie disappeared back into the house with a scowl on her face. Just another thing she would have to fix later, but for now, she needed to go apologize to Bella.
.
.
.
Rosalie
Some semblance of her control came back to her as the tree came crashing down to the forest floor, kicking up a wave of snow not unlike Shamu in the water. Black eyes glared at the fallen tree and, were it possible, the mere look itself would have set the bark aflame. Alas, she had to resort to kicking it, listening to the satisfying crack! as it snapped in half and the two pieces collided with more trees.
Before she could set her fury on another unsuspecting tree, large stone arms wrapped around her and she was hugged to a muscular chest. While normally her mighty bear of a husband would provide comfort, a safe haven from the world and her own chaos, now all he brought was the despair of betrayal and guilt. Her mind was already replacing his large stoney arms with another slender, soft pair. His broad, muscled chest with a curvy, welcoming one. His sweet, fumbling words, with a reassuring silence that Bella brought with her everywhere she went.
Rosalie dug her elbow into Emmett's chest, listened to him yelp, and wrestled her way out of his arms. The hurt look on his face was like a kick to her heart and she hissed at him, instincts flaring, telling her to lash out. Attack the source of her pain. She desperately tried to reign in it, tried to tell him she needed time to cool down, to - "Don't touch me, you giant oaf!"
...to insult him. Great.
The large boy flinched and ducked his head, nodding to himself. "Right, sorry. Sorry."
"No, just," Rosalie staggered forward, lifting her hand, wanting to comfort, "just use your head next time. You were given a brain for a reason," she snapped when he eagerly looked up at her with those big hopeful eyes. She watched his face fall again. "What do you want, why did you follow me?"
Why would he seek her out when she was like this, why risk the fight? Why torture himself like this, her like this?
Emmett sighed and ran a hand through his hair, pointing back towards the house. "You can't treat her like that, Rosie! Boo is Alice's girlfriend, and she's a super awesome chick, okay? She's gonna be part of the family one day, so you can't keep going after her like that."
"You have no right to tell me what to do," Rosalie growled, low in her chest, a warning. "I do as I please."
A frustrated laugh escaped Emmett's lips, his eyebrows high up on his forehead in disbelief. "Not when it hurts someone else, you can't!"
The blonde lifted her chin in the air. "Perhaps she should not be so sensitive."
"We both know sensitive is the last word anybody would use to describe Bella," Emmett scoffed. He huffed and stepped forward, holding up his hand when Rosalie's hackles rose. "You're being mean to her on purpose. I know you, Rosie, I can tell when you're trying."
I know you, Rosie. A reminder of all their years together, everything they'd been through. The guilt cut deep, as deep as the betrayal would when he found out. Rosalie felt her chest threaten to cave in, sucked in a sharp breath, and had to turn away from him.
He would be crushed. Devastated. She was going to ruin three people's lives, three of her favourite people. Three of the best people she knew. All because she was selfish, because fate was cruel, and life was sadistic.
Rosalie whirled back around on him, jabbing her finger into his chest hard enough to leave a crack. Emmett winced and staggered backwards. "Maybe you don't know me as well as you thought then, Emmett. You're surprised I'm a bitch, all of the sudden? Like this is anything new? As your wife, I'm actually a little insulted. Do you care that little you can't be bothered to pay attention?"
"I care a whole lot!" Emmett cried defensively. "Enough to notice you're not wearing your ring anymore. What's that about? What did I do now that you're mad at me?"
Another scoff, a roll of her eyes, almost automatic these days, it came to her so naturally. "Yes, because it's all about you."
"No, it's all about you apparently," he growled. Actually growled. At her. For the first time in over thirty years. It was enough to make her pause. "When's the last time you actually paid any attention to me? We haven't slept together in months."
"Are you kidding? You're pouting because we're not fucking?!" Rosalie threw her hands into the air, turning her back on him once again to pace the small clearing she'd made during her tantrum. "Grow up."
Emmett stepped into her path, dark eyes glaring at her. "It's not about the sex. It's about you not kissing me. Snapping at me when I touch you. Shying away from any form of intimacy. It's about you not wearing your ring."
"News flash, Emmett, we're not mates. We're not destined to be together forever, the ring isn't an accurate symbol of our bond."
"You're still my wife," he muttered quietly. Dull anger, and a tired resignation. The fire of their fight died out in him quickly, and Rosalie watched a sad man staring back at her. "I know we're not mates. It wouldn't be this hard to love you if we were." He shook his head, shoulders drooping, and turned from her. "I think you should go apologize to Bella. You were particularly hurtful this time."
With that, he was gone, and Rosalie was left in the aftermath of her actions and words.
.
.
.
It took a few more destroyed trees, and two hours of running before Rosalie found herself in the middle of the Swan driveway, staring at the red truck. Bella was laying on the roof of the cab, her legs hanging down the windshield while she stared up at the sky, arms stretched to the sides. Something inside Rosalie's chest fluttered until she squashed it and approached the side of the truck, her eyes level with the teenager.
Though she knew Bella knew she was there, she watched the girl ignore her. Bella kept staring up at the sky, her green eyes dark and angry. Emmett was right, Rosalie realized with a small sigh. She'd been particularly mean this time. "You were bothering me."
A long, obnoxiously drawn out sigh heaved Bella's chest up and down, her warm breath curling in the air like smoke. Her pink fingers wiggled and Rosalie fought the urge to lace them with her own. Not only would it look ridiculous with how the girl was currently positioned, but it was wildly inappropriate.
"It was an innocent joke," Bella said with a huff. She scowled up at the sky, still refusing to look at the vampire. "One everybody makes. You don't spot a mistletoe and not at least pretend to kiss the closest person."
Rosalie still felt empty, aching, void when she thought back to the incident. Bella there, her eyes the faintest pink she'd ever seen, staring up at Rosalie playfully. Playfully, but with something else, something hiding behind it all. Awe, perhaps, wonder, excitement. Something that beckoned the blonde in, that promised she would find everything she ever sought after, everything she never knew she wanted to needed. And that was all besides that enticing heat rolling off Bella, the welcoming warmth that surrounded her. Those lips, impossibly soft (she'd heard Alice gush about them often enough) curled up in a happy, if not mischievous, smile.
But it was a joke.
A joke.
She'd heard Emmett's laughter, Jessica's giggles, saw Bella's smile turn into a smirk as Rosalie stood there, frozen. Unable or unwilling to move.
A joke.
"A stupid joke," she repeated to Bella. Her arms crossed over her chest, glare finding its way home. "I didn't appreciate it."
"Clearly," Bella scoffed sarcastically.
She still wouldn't look at the blonde and Rosalie's mood soured even more. They'd never even be friends at this rate. Bella was bound to hate her, sooner or later. As much as Rosalie wanted to brush it off, claim she didn't care, tell herself it was for the best, and walk away... the thought made her dizzy with grief and alarm. If Bella ever well and truly hated her... it may just kill Rosalie.
An aggravated sigh tore from the vampire and she stomped forward, closer to the truck. "Look, I'm... I didn't mean to hurt your dumb feelings, okay? I was in a bad mood and your little joke was too much, it set me off, and I reacted. Poorly. I didn't intend to say those things, and I certainly didn't intend to hurt you, as I have. I'm severe but... it's usually not without cause." She paused, watched Bella's eyes turn thoughtful, and worked her jaw a few times. Embarrassment burned her edges and she rolled her eyes. Out. Away. She needed to get away. "So, yes. Sorry, or whatever. I know I'm a bitch and hard to love," she added bitterly, the words out before she could take them back.
Her breath caught in her throat, surprised that she'd actually said those words to Bella. That she'd let something personal slip out. Had, essentially, vented to Bella, or as close to venting as Rosalie Hale would ever get.
Mind still reeling over how easy it was to actually talk to Bella (when she wasn't actively trying to reject her), she almost missed when the teenager finally looked at her. Bella let her head roll to the side, brown eyes appraising Rosalie silently, biting her bottom lip while she thought. Seeming to come to a decision, Bella shrugged.
"Please," she scoffed and rolled her own dark eyes. "I mean, yeah, I can see how dating you and actually being in a relationship with you would be hella hard because you're such a bitch, but don't kid yourself." Bella's eyes locked onto Rosalie's, rendering the blonde immobile. That thing, that thing from before, behind it all in her eyes, was back. "You're dangerously easy to love."
The two stared at each other in heavy silence for a couple of heartbeats. Until Bella blinked and looked away, the moment released. She grinned at Rosalie, rolling sideways off the cab of the truck, and her boots crunched against the gravel when she landed.
With a nod and a pat on Rosalie's shoulder, Bella headed towards the house. By the time she got to her front door, Rosalie's body was listening to her again, and she turned towards the teenager. Bella's smile was cheek to cheek, full of teeth, and Rosalie felt her heart thud against her ribcage. "I forgive you, Rosalie," Bella called back with another weak shrug and a wink. "You're a bit of a bitch and I'm a bit of a bastard, we're bound to clash more in the future. It's how we handle it after we've cooled off that matters."
As the door swung shut after her, as she stood there in the driveway, as she struggled to pick up her jaw from the ground, Rosalie knew she would never again put on her wedding ring. She would not ruin Bella and Alice's relationship, would not take action against it, cause its destruction... but she also would never ruin her own chance to be loved by Bella Swan.
.
.
.
Okay, so this is basically a little oneshot showcasing what makes it hard to love each of our lovely ladies. Alice's jealousy and Rosalie's defensive hurtful nature. But that despite this, Bella still loves them.
Also, because I need input, my dudes! I know in your reviews for If I Had A Heart a lot of you said I should have Bella and Rosalie get together in Species, like a triad or what-have-you, but I don't know if y'all were just saying that or being serious? Would a triad take away from Bellice, from their relationship? Is this something you guys really, actually want? I don't know if I do Rosalie and therefore Rosella justice? I don't know.
Anyway, same goes for this one. If you wanna read it as canon or an au to Species, it's up to you. I got stuff to consider.
peace
Paige