Alice
Alice hummed a familiar tune in her head, grabbing for her calculus book and flipping to a random page. Still humming, she opened to a page bookmarked with notebook paper and began to work the problems as fast as she could. It was a good distraction and the humming muffled the sounds coming from upstairs. Alice distinctly remembered telling Bella that sleeping over tonight was not the best of ideas. For she had seen the vision. She had seen Bella writhing in the sheets and she most definitely heard the name that she whispered into the night. Alice closed her eyes, her humming becoming louder as the voices upstairs rose. Bella was crying, a sound that she hated to hear, and she got up to head outside.
The air was cool and the wind was blowing more forcefully than normal. Accompanied with the walls of the house it all provided a perfect barrier from the ongoing fight in Edward's room. Alice shook her head, watching the spindly branches dance with the wind. She should have been more forceful in her warning. She should have somehow conveyed to Bella what was going to happen, what she was going to dream. Alice then shook her head again for a different reason. Bella was also a big girl. She didn't need protecting all of the time. She had to learn to handle her own. And lord knew Edward wasn't going to allow her to do that so long as he could help it. She smiled softly, rolling her eyes at wonderfully emotional brother. You couldn't help but love him, but you'd also love to throttle him. A wonderful relationship indeed. Alice wouldn't have it any other way.
But, this was turning into quite a mess. The whole family seemed to be crumbling around her feet and Alice was the only one that could see. Well…see before anyone else, that was. Once again her gift toyed with her conscience, swaying it back and forth and testing its limits. Did she try to affect the outcome of her visions, should she tell people of them? Did she have a right to attempt the role of god? A conceited notion that was, and she smiled at herself. The sounds of doors shutting and a car driving off cued the pixie that she was expected, and she turned around and headed back inside and up the stairs.
The crying was loud, but muffled from what was most likely a pillow and Alice glanced at her eyes in a hallway mirror before she reached the door. They were dark, but nothing to worry about and she inhaled deeply as she opened the door into the dark room. As expected, Bella was lying on her bed on her stomach, her face firmly buried into her pillow. When the light of the hallway hit her shining red cheeks, Bella looked up, and Alice saw her face fall as she realized that Edward had not returned. However, seeing Alice did seem to bring a new, sort of hopeful look to her eyes and Alice flashed her a genuine smile as she crawled on the bed and sat next to her. Bella lunged into her sister's waiting arms, falling apart all over again.
Alice laughed softly at the human's impulse but also held her tightly, kissing the top of Bella's freshly washed and still wet hair. When it seemed that Bella's heart rate had slowed down and her breathing had evened (save for a few lung spasms) Alice gave her two short pats on the back and looked down over her. "So, what's the news, Swan?" she whispered, looking into Bella's reddened eyes. Those eyes then rolled and Bella sat up a bit, wiping her nose.
"Alice…did you see this?"
"I saw what caused the argument."
"The whole house probably knows by now!" Bella shouted, burying her head into Alice's shoulder. Alice caught the distinct scent of Bella's blushing cheeks and she stopped breathing, hoping that it would go away after a few moments. One couldn't be too careful, after all. When she dared a breath, all seemed fine and she shook her head.
"Bella, I saw it because it was in a vision. Edward heard it because he was in the room. And if my vision serves me well, which they most often do, you said it too quietly for anyone else to hear, or care about if they heard it."
"Well…that's something, I suppose. Did you hear the argument just now?"
"No, I felt that would be presumptuous of me. I did calculus instead. Your calculus, as a matter of fact. What did he say?"
Bella sniffed again, sitting up to where her back was resting against the headboard. She looked straight ahead and Alice saw her cheeks growing a darker shade of red that wasn't associated with her tears. "Long story short: He wanted to know why I dreamed of…that. When I told him I didn't know, that I had no control over my dreams, he got angry. He said that there must have been some reason as to why I was dreaming of her." Bella paused and dared a glance at Alice before turning to look at the bed sheets once more. "Because…I guess I whispered her name aloud or something." Alice nodded with a soft, understanding smile and Bella found the courage in that to continue.
"And I told him that dreams should never be taken literally. And when I said that he got sad and said that he must not have been satisfying me. I tried to tell him otherwise but that was when he said he needed time alone and left. Alice, what if he doesn't come back?"
The pixie looked over at her friend and saw her eyes shining with fresh tears. Alice placed both of her hands on Bella's cheeks to cool them and kissed the top of her forehead. "You and I both know that Edward can't spend more than eight hours away from you. I think he'll be coming back." Bella smiled at that and nuzzled back into Alice's shoulder. Alice allowed her to lay there for a few minutes before finally speaking again.
"So, now that there's no pressure, do you know why you dreamt of that?" Alice felt Bella's heartbeat quickening and turned her head to meet the human's eyes. Fear was all that the vampire could see in them and she put on her most neutral face, knowing that Bella wouldn't last too long before telling her. And, like always, Alice was right. Bella closed her eyes and made a face, but also opened her mouth to speak.
"I've just been…feeling…drawn, or something, to Rosalie." Bella's eyes then widened and her next words came out in a whisper. "She's not here, is she?"
"No, I believe she and Emmett went out with Carlisle and Esme to hunt."
"And Jasper?"
"Is very good at minding his own business, unlike his much shorter companion." Bella smiled and Alice couldn't help but feel a bit relieved at that.
"Oh, good. Well, I've just…I don't know. I like spending time with her, even though she scares the crap out of me sometimes. There's something fascinating about her. And I don't think it's…romantic or anything," to this Bella blushed again, "but I liked what happened in the dream."
"I think it's safe to say that most people like what happens in those kinds of dreams, Bella."
"You know what I mean, Alice. This is serious. I love Edward but he is seriously mad at me and himself. And I just don't know what to do. And, like I said, dreams are often metaphorical. They could often not be about sex at all."
"Really?"
Bella looked up at her sister, slightly shocked that she knew something that a Cullen didn't. Under different circumstances she would have gloated a little. But Alice's chipper face was the only thing keeping her from breaking down for the moment and she thought it best not to press her luck…even if this was the most patient vampire ever created. "Yeah, they're often metaphorical, dreams. Like, if you dream about falling it means that there are some insecurities that need to be addressed and that you consider yourself a failure at something. You…don't know about dreams?"
"Oh, that's fascinating," Alice said with genuine interest. "And no, it's been so long since I would have had a dream, I can't imagine how they are. I have to believe that they're different from my visions because dreams are wrought from your own mind. It would be so wonderful to have one, it seems. I don't know if the others, remembering their pasts, can remember dreams. I'll have to ask them sometime. What do they say about this particular kind of dream?" Alice made some sort of hand motion that Bella didn't understand. Alice smiled and made the hand motion again. "It's sign language. It means what you probably think it means." Bella blushed again and Alice fought the urge to smile. She was being entirely to mean right now, despite how adorable Bella looked when she overreacted.
"I'm afraid I don't know that one off of the top of my head," Bella answered finally, looking rather crestfallen. Alice looked around for a moment and found Edward's laptop nestled neatly under a couple of pages of sight reading sheets. She opened it up and set it between herself and Bella, typing in the obvious, but rather long, password. When Bella looked at her in question, Alice shrugged and pulled up the internet.
"Isabella Maria Swan is the password. I try to refrain from spreading that, however, as buckets of cheese might fall on us at any moment." Bella laughed and Alice searched for what she desired. "Okay, so to be heterosexual," her eyes darted to Bella's then, and resulted in Bella making a squeaking noise, "and have a dream with the same sex is an expression of greater self acceptance." Alice hummed for a moment, thinking it over and Bella watched her rather impatiently, waiting for her advice. Finally, Alice made a 'tsk' noise and shook her head. "I just don't like that. I don't think it fits. At least, it's not the center of what your mind's trying to tell you. Of course, it's your dream." Bella shrugged and Alice hid her annoyance as she searched some more. Before she could find her next clue, Bella spoke.
"Why would Edward take the blame of the dream and place it on himself? He said that I didn't satisfy him. Why is it suddenly his fault? He should be mad at me, Alice!" Frustration was evident in Bella's voice and Alice smiled with relief. At least there was one flaw in their perfect romance. Alice was just as much of a hopeless romantic as the next sap, but even she and Jasper disagreed on some matters. It was nice to know that Bella did too. Who knew what Edward thought.
"Edward, I guess, doesn't seem to possess the ability understand that you are flawed. I mean, to him, you're Bella!" She raised her arms up in praise. "His muse, his song, his love, his everything. You…have a flaw? Perish the thought. So, when he finds out that you do, he suppresses the reality. He switches the blame, brings it upon himself to keep you in your pristinely state. Of course, he may also be unsatisfying you." Alice looked to her friend, hoping she would accept that lead-up, but Bella stared right back into hers, telling the pixie of her defiance to answer. So Alice merely sighed and pulled up what she'd found.
"Okay, here, it says that to have sex with someone not your significant other shows your reservations about embarking on a new relationship. Oh, and look here it says most people dream of this before an upcoming wedding. It must be completely normal." Alice looked over at Bella, who smiled. However, the pixie, ever observant, saw right through it.
"I thought you'd be happier about this, Bella. You seemed so worried before."
Bella took her bottom lip in her teeth and chewed on it so forcefully that for a moment Alice thought she would draw blood. Luckily, before it got to that, Bella let her lip go and ran a hand through her soaking hair. Alice said nothing, hoping it would encourage Bella to continue and after a moment of contemplative silence, Bella spoke. Her voice was just barely above a whisper and Alice could see the tears forming in her eyes again.
"Alice…what if, like, what if maybe, or what would you say if I, sort of…liked the idea or something." The last five words came out rapidly before Bella found a pillow and shoved her mortified face into it. Alice couldn't help but be a bit thankful at that, as the girl was probably blushing beyond her wildest and darkest fantasies. She might be able to smell it just the same, but it did help to not see the blood just beneath that all too weak skin.
"But I love Edward!" The voice was muffled from the pillow, but still very clear. "I really do, Alice! I can't fathom the idea of him not being here yet when Rosalie is here in person or in my thoughts he, like everything else, is at the back of mind. I mean, what would you say to that? That I'm a terrible, selfish person?"
Alice took shallow breaths, gauging Bella's 'calm down' factor on the potency of blood in the air. When it was tolerable, Alice grabbed the pillow and gently lowered it from her friend's face. Bella allowed it to fall but wouldn't meet Alice's eyes. The pixie tried to read her, but she seemed to have made herself catatonic. What the point of that was, she'd probably never know. In an attempt to wake her up, Alice gently grabbed for Bella's chin, lifting her face so that their eyes could meet.
"I would say that nothing has ever been easy with you, Bella Swan. And you should take that as a compliment, like I intended." Bella nodded and reached out to hug Alice again. It was a less desperate hug this time. It was Bella's way of thanking her and Alice could hardly complain. "You're also not terrible and you're also not selfish. This very breakdown you're having tells us that," the pixie murmured into Bella's heated ear. She felt Bella's cheek sliding against her own as she nodded at her words.
When Bella pulled away, she was looking down again. It didn't take a genius or an overly observant pixie to realize that she was about to say something else that was rather uncomfortable for her. "I…what should I do about it?"
Alice sighed, putting an arm around Bella's shoulders. She looked straight ahead, searching for a vision that would tell her which way to steer the conversation, but none came at the moment. So she resorted to speaking with what she felt was right. "First off, I'd say you need to decide what exactly it is that's going on between you and Rosalie. Something tells me that you know the answer to that already." Bella blushed again and Alice nodded.
"But, then you've got to decide if these newfound feelings are worth sacrificing what's going to be your marriage. Also, how does Rosalie fit into all of this? Something tells me that, as smart as the girl is, she's probably a little clueless to your intentions. Are the feelings requited? And of course, there's Emmett…." Alice drifted, her brow furrowing as she remembered her visions and the conversations between Rosalie and Emmett that she didn't mean to eavesdrop on, but ended up doing so anyway. Perhaps Emmett wouldn't be a factor much longer.
Bella, however, didn't seem to catch the pause and instead she reached out and clung to Alice again. Their eyes met and Bella shut hers tightly for a moment. "What do you think, Alice?"
Alice and shook her head, watching as the brunette's eyes filled with disappointment. "There are some things you have to figure out for yourself, Bella. But I will say this:" She paused, her eyes growing hard. Bella noticed this and sat up straight, eager to please and eager for any words of wisdom on the matter. "Be careful. There are a lot of hearts at stake, Bella, mine included. I don't want you to do anything you don't want to do and by all means pursue what makes you happy. But don't you forget that love, in all forms, is all about compromise. Remember that."
Bella nodded, then looked up again. "I know I have to figure this out myself, Alice, but do you see all of this ending happily?"
"I haven't seen anything. No one's made a decision. Though, in this case, I don't think I'm going to go searching for the spoiler, just in case it's a bad one."
"Will you…will you still be my friend, no matter what happens?"
"I'll always be your friend, Bella. I'll always love you. And most likely, so will everyone else. Just take it as it comes. You're smart. You're compassionate. This will all sort itself out, no doubt with some bumps along the way. But, I'm positive."
Bella laughed then. "When aren't you positive?"
"Good question."
"Well, I'm so glad you are," Bella said, wrapping her arms around her friend once more. Alice returned the hug and as she closed her eyes, a vision hit her. There were no words to this scene, so clearly the person that provoked this vision hadn't thought of what to say. But judging by the expressions of the two characters involved, it didn't look like it was going to turn out well. Alice thought for a moment before deciding that Bella didn't need to know about this upcoming chat. It would all unfold sooner or later.