AN: Hi All! Hope everyone is enjoying this fic!
Many thanks to all who have been reading, favouriting, and following this story so far! I'm putting a lot of myself into this one, so your interest means a lot!
Huge thanks to, Moondancer1818, catgrl, DxGRAYxMAN, and twi nana, for reviewing last chapter!
Hugs & Blessings,
-BMW
Chapter Three: Don't Bite the Messenger!
Bella's POV
Right away I could tell I was going to have a problem. The original Bella was shy and quiet. I was the exact opposite. Avoiding suspicion from Charlie was going to be very difficult. At least for the first while, I would probably be better off avoiding him as much as possible, if I didn't want to end up having the 'Who are you and what have you done with my daughter?' talk.
Later on, it would be less of a problem, I hoped. That is if the Cullens still wanted anything to do with me. Then I could just pretend Alice was beginning to rub off on me. Hopefully, they would want me in their life, even though I wasn't the girl they would have gotten.
"Bella?" Asked the Pixie who was apparently sitting in my bedroom when I woke the morning after my arrival. I nearly had a heart attack right then, rendering the whole thing a moot point. Right, Alice = No boundaries. Gonna have to remember that.
On the bright side, while original Bella's main goal in life, as a human, seemed to be simply surviving, which was a feat easier said than done, given her clumsiness and penchant for danger...my goal...was plain old fun. Which meant that unlike original Bella, Alice wasn't going to have to drag me along kicking and screaming.
"Alice!" I smiled, kicking my covers off. She must have seen my decision to walk over and hug her because she was grinning ear to ear by the time I did so.
"I'd call this uncharacteristic of you, based on what we read last night, but I'm starting to get the impression there will be a lot of differences?" She asked, raiding my closet for something suitable and not finding much.
"Yes, like for starters, I have no objections to taking your fashion advice. So, lay it on me!" I grinned.
"Really? You mean, for real? Because if you're serious, my advice is to throw out all but three of the items in this closet and let me take you shopping after the family meeting. Can we do that?" She watched me hopefully, clearly expecting me to say no.
"Well I'm not opposed to it, but not without conditions." I hedged, "I like shopping, and I think I will especially like shopping with someone who knows her fashion and can save me from myself, but I also don't want to be a charity project. I know you wouldn't see it that way, of course, but the humans would.
"Especially my new dad because I really don't think that original Bella has enough in the bank to justify a designer shopping spree at the moment. So the only way we'd be able to shop so soon, would be on your dime. And while I happen to know about the centuries of accumulated Cullen wealth sitting virtually untouched in a plethora of very deep bank accounts the world over, under assorted pseudonyms...Charlie doesn't. To him, it would just look like I was taking advantage of my first friend in town simply because her father is a doctor. And that is not the kind of impression I want to make.
"So, unless you can come up with a very believable reason for me to be accepting brand new clothes from you at the low, low price of free, I will have to pass until I have an income. Sorry." I sighed. The thought of missing out on a day of letting Alice spoil me was depressing at best. Pampering was not something I had previously had many opportunities for, and I had always wanted to see what it was like to know how the other half lived.
"That's easy, Bella! One of my elective classes this year is art and another is fashion. We can tell Charlie that I need a model for the semester, for a couple of projects I am doing, and that it would be cheaper for me to let you keep the clothes I have to buy for it anyway than it would be to pay a model by the hour. I'll tell him everyone else has already turned me down, so it looks like you're doing me a tremendous favor. And really, you will be, because even though I don't actually have any assignments like that, I can still take the pictures and whip up something for extra credit," she giggled, happy to have found a solution to my fashion issues.
"Okay, that could work. Do you really need to do something for extra credit though? I would assume your marks would be pretty decent." I laughed.
"Oh they are, for the most part, but we do tend to miss a fair bit of school. Between the weather when it's too sunny and all of the traveling we like to do, it doesn't hurt to have something to submit for extra credit. Besides, I also tend to have to duck out of class on days when my visions overwhelm me. So for all those reasons, you really would be doing me a favor." She nodded.
Even though I knew she was telling the truth, I also knew she was emphasizing the point, so I wouldn't feel like a mooch for spending her money. It was very sweet of her and I began to feel bad that the books had downplayed how considerate Alice was, choosing instead to focus on her more materialistic tendencies.
"Thank you, Alice!" I said sincerely, hugging her again. They would all learn soon that I was a very huggy person. Hopefully being that way around vampires wouldn't get me killed. I knew better than to rush it with Edward or Jasper though since original Bella was Edward's singer and Jasper's gift caused his thirst to be amplified, especially when Edward was around. I had to wonder why they didn't give him more credit in the books, given all he had to contend with but it was at least implied, if not spelled out, anyways.
We left Charlie's shortly thereafter to go to the Cullen house. I was nervous at first, but not for either the reasons I should have been or the reasons that Bella was. Instead, I was nervous because I was meeting the beautiful people. In my former life, up until joining original Bella in her body, I was not necessarily a gorgeous individual.
I wasn't hideous or homely by any means and I did have nice features. But I was always overweight, sometimes to the point of obesity, like many of us in the western world today. And I had other things that made me feel less attractive, like eyeglasses, and somewhat misaligned teeth. Bella's body was definitely an upgrade.
So, I knew that until I got used to looking in the mirror and feeling beautiful, I was bound to feel a little uncomfortable around the aesthetically perfect Cullens. Alice was so boisterous that you hardly noticed her perfection right off the bat. But being around so many of them at one time was bound to be a bit intimidating.
I was also a little worried about how I would live up to the Bella in the books. She and I were quite different and I wasn't sure if they would end up liking me less or more. And some of the decisions I knew I would make differently than she did worried me too. I knew right off the bat that I was about to gain a most unlikely ally but that I would probably upset others instead. Oh well, I'd just have to hope that I inherited Bella's shield so that I could take my time leading into that particular discussion properly, not have it pulled from my head before I'm ready.
"Bella? We're here." Alice said as we pulled up in front of the architectural marvel that was the Cullen home. I stopped her before she could get out of the car. I was already sick of being called Bella. For starters, it didn't mesh well with my aforementioned issues with beauty. For another reason, it was far too serious and proper a name for someone like me.
"You know what? I think I'm going to change that. I don't want to be Bella and it should be easy enough to blame the change on teenage hormones. So let's figure this out right now, you and me. Do you think I'd make a better Izzy or an Ella?" I pondered, liking either of those alternatives better. I didn't want to change original Bella's name, just what people called me.
"Ooh, that's a tough choice! On one hand, Izzy is more fun, but on the other, Ella sounds so much more classy! But hey, you know, if you do decide to become one of us, it might not hurt to have a few names to choose from, since we usually change them on occasion. I've been Ally, Alison, and Alisa before, in addition to Alice.
"Jasper has been Jesse, Jackson, and Jason. Rosalie has been Rosalind, Rosamund, and Roseanne. Emmett has tried Emery, Emerson, and Emeril. Carlisle has been Carl, Carlson, Carlton, and we all laugh at him for it, Lyle, which really does not suit him. Esme has been Esmerelda, Esther, and Essie. And Edward has been Edwin, Edgar, and Edmund.
"Why don't you start with Izzy, because I can tell it suits you, and if you ever feel like projecting a more sophisticated vibe for a while, you can switch to Ella. I knew a Katherine who said she went by Kitty as a baby, Katy as a little girl, Kit during her preteen years, Kate as a teenager, and Kathy as an adult. She sold me a car once, so it isn't that uncommon to switch it up." She advised.
"Good point! Izzy, it is then. Think we can sell the others on it?" I asked as we headed into the house.
"We probably won't have to, they most likely all heard our discussion anyway." She smirked.
Before I could answer, I was pulled away from Alice and abruptly smushed by a friendly giant. Emmett, of course, who else?
"Let me guess, Emmett?" I laughed.
"Yep! But you can call me Brother Bear, or The Hottest Cullen, whatever you prefer."
"Ego much, Babe?" Rose rolled her eyes at him. She gave me a look that implied she probably already had a lot of questions for me and was politely biding her time. I knew what that was going to be about and was willing to bet Edward had a lot of the same questions but for very different reasons. Which reminded me…
"Edward, can you please tell me if I inherited original Bella's power? I'm dying to know if I can stop singing The Ants Go Marching in my head or not." I grinned, looking him in the eye.
He was wisely standing at the top of the stairs with the more controlled vampires located between him and me, but he was still in my line of sight, for which I was grateful. If we were going to see whether we had a spark or not, it was better to know sooner than later, but at a safe enough distance he couldn't eat me.
"It's interesting. I'm getting the occasional snippet. More like, the way that Charlie was in the books, rather than the total blackout that was Bella." He smiled, with that strangely adorable, crooked, half-grin he was famous for.
"Huh, so that's another sign things are as I suspected then," I said to everyone after Esme introduced herself and ushered me into the living room where she had generously prepared an assortment of finger foods for me. I began eating and drinking the coffee they offered me, as I explained.
"I have complete access to all of Bella's memories. Between that, and this, it would suggest that she is still in here, somewhere, and her shield must be partially functioning. I have all of my own memories, and none of her personality seems to be seeping in, although I suppose time will tell whether I've gained any of her soft skills. So far, my clumsiness hasn't increased. Although I was always a little clumsy, to begin with. Anyway, my own observations can wait, as I'm sure you all have questions?" I concluded, preparing myself for the deluge.
"Me first? Is it too soon to ask if you feel anything?" Edward asked, which I would have probably been offended by if he hadn't looked so adorably vulnerable in the asking.
"There's definitely something. I'd call it more than the regular human reaction to a sexy vampire, but still somewhat less than original Bella's all-consuming connection. You?"
He slowly took steps gradually toward me. The others stayed close by in case of trouble. "Sorry, it feels too weird having this conversation from across the room. Plus, I think your scent must be somewhat reduced from what hers would have been because it burns a lot more than the average human but not quite to catastrophic levels. Although part of that could be that I was more prepared for it.
"But aside from the blood, it feels like I'm probably experiencing closer to what Bella felt in the books. Book Edward was going to walk into the sun without her whereas she went catatonic for a few months and then began to recover." He explained, standing just out of arm's reach.
"Hmm, so earth shattering but not life ending? Okay, I can work with that. That is if you have any desire to go down that road?" I asked carefully, attempting not to sound too hopeful or too dismissive. It was a fine line. I already knew he wasn't going to be my be all, end all, per se. But I definitely knew I still wanted him in my life. I just didn't know if that would be enough for him.
"Yes, I do, but from the snippets I'm catching, I think we're going to have a lot to hash out. I get the impression I am a lot more…conservative, than you are?" He teased. Edward, teasing about something like that? He must have lightened up some from reading the books!
I mean, okay, so...my ideas about love and romance are pretty liberal. I'm generally what you'd call a polyamorously minded person. I believe in true love and commitment. I also believe that true love and commitment to more than one person at a time is equally plausible to monogamy.
It's like the idea of saying you love your first child less when you gain another one. No, I believe the magic penny song. Love is something, if you give it away, you end up having more. And I don't believe that applies any less to romantic love than it does to familial love.
I also think if Bella in the books had taken Edward up on his offer to have 'puppies' with Jacob and be with both of them, that they would have figured out a way to make it work. I couldn't help but wonder how much of those beliefs he was picking up on through his 'snippets'.
"Yeah, we'll sit down and discuss things after everyone gets a chance to have their most pressing questions answered." I smiled. "Who's next?"
"I'm just going to address the elephant in the room." Rose spoke up, "Knowing what you know about what the Bella in the books went through, are you still considering the eventual possibility of pregnancy?"
I sighed. "I was kind of hoping this wouldn't be asked right away, before I had a chance to discuss my wishes about this with Edward, but give me a minute to make an official decision, so that he can pick it out of Alice's thoughts and if he doesn't freak out, I will tell you, okay?"
She nodded and I focused really hard on how I wanted things to go on that front. Omitting a few of the more personal details. Edward gasped as the images must have hit him, but then he looked so happy, I knew the future I wanted must be possible.
"So, it can be done then?" I asked him and Alice.
"Yes, and surprisingly, I don't foresee nearly as many complications as there were in the books," Alice confirmed and with a nod from Edward, I turn to Rose and took her hands in mine.
"It looks like with the right prenatal care, and with all hands on deck for the deliveries, this body is capable of surviving multiple hybrid pregnancies before having to be turned. So, Rose, I want to offer to be a surrogate for you, as soon as I finish high school. We can find out for sure if your eggs are medically viable, and if they aren't you're welcome to use mine. We can discuss the details another time and you have plenty of time to decide, but I wanted you to know the offer was there." I told her, crying the tears that I knew she would have cried if she could.
"You seriously want to go through almost dying, for me?" She whispered.
"Rose, as the only woman in the world capable of doing this for you, it would be my honor and my privilege. So yes, I am one hundred percent serious." And a millisecond after I fished saying that, I was being hugged tightly, by none other than Rosalie Hale.
Carlisle's questions were mostly medical, revolving around old Bella versus new Izzy (since I had told him the pregnancy logistics could wait) and Jasper's questions were mostly logistical, pertaining to the various battles and enemies the Cullens faced in the books. Alice didn't have anything pressing since she knew she'd have me all to herself shopping afterward, and Esme just wanted to know what kinds of foods I liked.
Emmett's questions were the ones I liked the best because he was even funnier than the books described.
"So, what was your world like?"
"Essentially the same as this one." I shrugged.
"So no little green men, huh?"
"Sadly not, sorry." I smiled.
"That's okay. Any jolly green giants?"
"Only at the grocery store."
"Lol!"
"Um, Emmett, you know LOL stands for laugh out loud and that it isn't actually a word, right?" I smirked.
"Yeah, but people say it." He pouted.
"No, they really don't, actually."
"So, should I be asking when you come from?" he pondered.
"Oh, yeah, maybe. It was 2003 in my world when I left there."
"But, the books take place later than that.."
"Yes, but in my world, the last book came out in 2003. So I guess they were written about events that hadn't happened yet in my world but had already happened elsewhere, maybe?"
"Okay, so who is the sexiest Cullen in your estimation?"
"That was out of left field..." I laughed.
"Oh really? I thought it was out of the ballpark!" He snickered at his own joke.
"How do you expect me to answer that? You're all abnormally sexy," I reminded him.
"Even my dad?"
"Of course."
"Ewww, Izzy thinks my dad is sexy." I tried not to laugh and encourage him.
"Yeah, so? I think your mom is sexy too. You're all vampires, Em. Vampires are supposed to be sexy, they're supposed to exude sexy. It's in the genes."
"You think my mom is sexy. Mind. Blown…Okay, so if we weren't vampires, which of us would be sexy? Like based on your type, or whatever."
"Okay no, this...is going to blow your mind. In my world, they started making movies based on these stories, and they had almost all of the actors change their appearance to fit the descriptions in the books, even though they already basically looked like human versions of you all. But in doing so, they actually succeeded in making them less attractive in my opinion. So, my answer is this.
"A human Carlisle would look better with darker hair. A human Esme would look better with bangs. Human Edward, would look better if he just shaved his head, I think. Human Alice, long, medium brown waves. Human Jasper, short, dark brown and spiked a bit. Human Rose, tanned with straight brown hair. And human Emmett, slightly lighter color hair and add in a couple of days stubble."
"Really, you think I should quit shaving?"
"Umm…vampires shave? I thought your hair didn't grow anymore..."
"Nah, I'm just fuckin' wit'cha Iz." He grinned, showing off those movie star dimples.
"Emmett, language!" Esme admonished.
"Ugh, I thought so!" I huffed, feigning anger and chucking a pillow at him.
"So what you are saying is that if we weren't vampires, we'd all need a trip to the salon?" Alice asked, looking puzzled.
"Well, when you put it that way, it sounds rude. Basically, you were all born in an Era before changing your hairstyle all that much was common. People would style their hair of course, but they didn't dye it or cut it elaborately or gel it or wear wigs, etc. That's why. Not because I'm trying to say you all have bad hair." I attempted to explain, getting a bit frustrated with Emmett for putting me in this position. "Does anyone else have any real questions?"
"I do!" Emmett smirked mischievously.
"Yes, Emmett? This is your last one, so you'd better make it good."
"Okay, hmm, let's see…how did you get here?"
Oh wow. I didn't think he'd actually have a serious question.
"You really want to know? This isn't a joke? Because it was reasonably traumatic, although it hasn't really hit me yet. So I don't want to tell you if you're going to make light of it." I sighed.
"Scout's honor," he vowed.
"Some woman, whom I had never met before, barged into my house. She drew a Portal on my wall and told me that whoever was after her, was after me too. She told me to throw the books through and that the books would take me to their world which was real. She said the Portal would be permanently sealed and I could never return. When I said I didn't want to leave my family, she sent me through anyway and I'm pretty sure whoever I was supposed to be running from, killed her and my family as I was going through the Portal. I could hear the screaming even after it was sealed. In hindsight, I think it was a vampire and not the vegetarian kind."
"Well fuck."
"Yeah, pretty much."
"I'm sorry, Iz."
"S'okay. I lost people who I cared about, yes, but I have a feeling I'm most likely gaining some new ones. Not to mention the fact that I'm pretty sure this new life will afford better opportunities for me than my old one did. Even if you disregard all of the supernatural stuff and all the new people in my life here, I think I would still have it better.
"Bella applied herself more in school than me, so I have a better academic history now, and the memories of everything she learned. She was healthier and in better physical shape, so there's that. She had a choice of two cities to live in, and two choices of parents to live with. She seems to have a much easier time attracting people to her and making friends, and she had her driver's license and the required know-how which I can now make use of. So, all in all, I'd say I traded up.
"And as for my family, I don't have it in me to grieve just yet anyway. There are too many other changes to get acclimated to for right now. I'll deal with that side of things when I'm settled in, and I'm used to everything here." I attempted a half smile that was meant to be reassuring but felt a little forced.
"Anyway, if no one has any other questions, I believe Edward and I should talk, and then Alice wants me to go shopping with her. Are we good with everything for now?" I asked.
"Yes, but just so we know up front, do you have any problems with us discussing some of the more important things with our family in Alaska?" Carlisle asked gently.
"Oh, yeah it makes sense to fill them in, but could one of you please do it? I don't feel like having to try to summarize the books for anyone, and my memory isn't really adequate to do it justice. Plus, some of the things you will want to tell them should come from family anyway." I replied, hoping not to sound like I was squirming out of it.
"Yes, that's fine, Dear." Esme assured me, "We wouldn't put any of that on you. We will talk to them. In fact, it might be better if Carlisle and I went up there in person and allowed them to read the books. Would that be alright, Izzy? I think maybe they should hear some parts of this in person."
"Good point, yes, I agree." I nodded, still getting used to being called Izzy, which I liked hands down better than Bella.
"Great, now I am stealing the star of this show away for a while. I will bring Alice and Jasper with us as a precaution, but I don't think I'm going to have as many issues with her blood as I was worried I might have." Edward reassured his family, offering me his arm while Alice took my other and Jasper walked alongside Edward.
We went outside and walked into the woods that surrounded the Cullen property for aways. When we reached what looked to be a sort of outdoor living room, in a small clearing, we sat down. There were chairs and end tables carved from single pieces of wood. There was also a covered table and shelf with a few outdoor activities. Such as a guitar, which I later learned was Jasper's, and a collection of Emmett's water guns. There was also a water spigot for filling the guns and water balloons.
"This must be Esme's work?" I appreciated what I saw, looking around.
"Yes, it most certainly is. She wanted us out of the house more often." Edward chuckled.
"Alright, so, where should we start?" I asked him, already feeling slightly nervous but not uncomfortable. Well, here goes!
AN: Eager to know what you think of Izzy's approach and ideas etc.!
Next chapter, we'll get a look at Edward's POV!
