After a much-needed break for me to do semester exams and finish out my year, I'm ready to start writing again! I've been working on this for a while, but I just haven't had time to finish it off yet. I should be back on track now that I'm on summer break. Thanks guys!
Tanya turned to Edward and stared at him for just a moment. His eyes flickered—with what I couldn't tell—and we were walking toward the door of Tanya's home. We walked straight into the living room, where I saw the couch where I'd be sleeping. It would have looked brand new if it wasn't for the slight amount of cobwebs spinning under the legs to the floor. I knew that they probably never even used the couch, which could mean I'd be sleeping on a thick layer of dust tonight. I was always so paranoid and jumpy, like Tanya was going to turn around and pounce on me, but that was purely comical. I knew better than that. Tanya had no interest in me when it came to my blood. Really, all Tanya cared about was Edward.
"I assume Bella will be sleeping on the couch, since there are no beds here." Tanya spoke courteously, and I tried to ease up a little. Maybe I had imagined her hostility earlier. I was definitely more than paranoid. "And you, Edward—"
"I'll stay on the couch, too." Edward said happily, slipping his arm around my waist and giving me a squeeze. Tanya shrugged, indifferent. Her eyes fell to Alice and her mouth seemed to twitch for just a second—like she was going to sneer at her, but in the end, she thought better of it. She turned to me instead.
"There's not much room on the couch." She told me, not bothering to look at Edward, who was concentrating hard on every word she said. "I'm not sure if the both of you could fit on it."
"We'll make room." Edward promised smoothly, and Tanya seemed to shrink back a little. Something was going on, I could feel it. Obviously, I was the only one who wasn't in on whatever secret this was.
"If you don't mind," Tanya replied, looking up at the clock on the wall, "we're about to go out to hunt. You're more than welcome to join us if you'd like, Edward." She stared into his eyes, and though I usually would have been angry, assuming this was a romantic gesture, I knew his eyes were getting darker with each passing day.
"We'll be saving our appetites for when we get back home, Tanya. But thank you." It wasn't Edward who spoke, but Alice, and she glared at the other female vampire, fists clenched.
"That's fine." Tanya turned away, walking through the room and into the kitchen. "I assume you know where everything is. If you need anything, you know where to find us. The others are already gone." She nodded in Edward's direction, left one fleeting glance toward Alice, and then she was out the door without a sound.
I stared at Alice, confused. She sat down on the couch and, surprisingly, a cloud of dust didn't erupt on the spot. Edward stood still beside me, staring at her as Alice obviously spoke to him in his mind. Edward cracked a smile suddenly, and Alice glared.
"This isn't funny!" she demanded, and Edward tried to keep a straight face.
"Maybe you should tell me what you're talking about." I hinted rudely. "I'll decide if it's funny or not."
Alice looked at me for a moment, and then she smiled. "I assume you are aware that Tanya was being a little less than her usual well-mannered self today?"
"Well, she doesn't want me around, does she?" I reminded her, oblivious. "She wants Edward to herself."
"Yes, she does," Alice replied, staring down at the floor for a moment. "But she was willing to work past that. I must say, however, I didn't help your case, Bella." Her eyebrows were scrunched together in concentration, but I could tell she was amused, despite telling Edward it wasn't funny moments ago. "When I found out Edward's plan to bring us here, I got into contact with Tanya to smooth over some plans. She and I have never gotten along too well—her personality and mine do not work well together. So, when she mentioned something about you—well, I'm very protective of you, Bella, and I let her know right then that she wasn't going to speak about you as if you were just some normal human and were lower than she was."
"You say human like it's a bad thing!" I told her, and Alice smiled, looking up at me.
"Vampires usually assume that humans are rather ignorant—because, well, most of you are. However, you're not like most teenagers, Bella, and I wanted her to know that. Needless to say, I got a bit offensive, and now she's taking it out on you."
I was still confused—why was she being rude to me, if she was really mad at Alice?
"She's trying to get under my skin, so to speak." Alice explained, reading the look on my face. "She's going to spend the whole time treating you like you're terribly dumb, just to emphasize her point, I suppose." She shook her head. "She's not excited about you having Edward, but I think she's over that. She learned long ago she would not be in Edward's company for long."
"Great." I muttered, sliding away from Edward and sitting on the couch beside Alice. "Now not only do I have vampires wanting to kill me, I have vampires wanting to remind me just how dumb I am." I blew a stray piece of hair out of my face and leaned back into the couch. "It just gets better and better."
"I'm starving." I mumbled, rubbing my stomach lamely, like somehow that would stop it from growling. Edward and I had spent the day lying around on the couch while Alice ran around Tanya's house snooping. Edward had tried to talk her out of it, even threatening to try and chase her, but it would have been useless—Alice would have known his attacks before he did them, and Edward would be trying to think quickly, changing tactics. They could go like that for hours. Edward gave up before it even started and made Alice promise not to break anything valuable or hurt anything important, and though he looked very irritable about the idea, Alice was obviously bored and in need of something to do. It seemed she was used to having a lot on her mind, since she was usually dashing around trying to prepare my wedding.
Edward laughed, getting up out of his spot beside me and walking over to his bag. Out of his bag he pulled a lunchbox, and I rolled my eyes.
"You seriously packed my lunch?" I asked, my voice dripping with sarcasm. "What, am I back in Kindergarten?"
"Well, it's coming in handy, isn't it?" Edward replied smoothly, not at all interested in the fact that I was being mean. He simply smiled and tossed the bag to me—it was one of those fancy ones that either sealed in the heat or the cold, which ever it was you needed. Leave it to Edward to buy the nicest of silly human things like a lunchbox.
I pulled it open and found that Edward had packed me something very simple—a turkey sandwich and an apple. I laughed out loud. I couldn't help it, I really felt like I was back in grade school. Renee had never packed my lunch, though, so I always had to do it myself. Then I looked at him and laughed harder.
"What?" he asked, trying to act nonchalant. He stared at me for a second, and while I kept laughing, he made a face. "Bella…" he started, and I cut him off before he could say anything else.
"You made me a sandwich!" I told him, and I giggled again, but he didn't seem to find the humor in this. "You hate human food. I can't believe you took the time to put turkey, mayonnaise, lettuce, and bread together."
Edward rolled his eyes. "Bella, you're such an odd girl. That's what you think is so funny?"
"Well, yeah." I told him, but it came out with a mouthful of food, because I was already digging into my sandwich. Edward made a face like I had disgusted him, but I ignored this and continued eating. Once I was done with my sandwich, I played with the apple in my hands. I didn't really want it, but I felt weird wasting it, like I would hurt his feelings if I didn't eat it. I spun it around in my fingers, popping the stem off and throwing it across the room. I looked up at the clock and yawned—it was definitely getting late.
"Ready for bed?!" Edward asked happily. He had been excited by this prospect all day. He knew that, for both of us to fit on the couch, I'd have to lie on top of him and curl myself into him, which he seemed to think would be the perfect way to spend the evening—so much, in fact, he seemed like he really wanted me to go to bed.
I grabbed his hand and pulled him over to the couch where he stretched out across the cushions, then pulled me over to him. I pushed my face against his cold chest and sighed. Being in Tanya's house was a lot easier with Tanya not here.
"What is today?" I asked finally, yawning. Edward ran his hands through my hair, staring down at me.
"It's August 10th." He reminded me.
"And tomorrow will be the 11th…" I concluded. "So by tomorrow, we'll be getting married in two days."
"I'm counting down the minutes." He told me. He kissed me on the forehead, and then tried to get me to go to sleep.
"Well, wake her up!" I could hear Alice before I could see her, and I was vaguely aware of the blanket covering my back. I could feel Edward under me, though he didn't seem to move. He was perfectly still.
"I'm not waking her up for your benefit." Edward whispered in a soft, soothing voice. "And stop yelling, it won't work."
"It already has!" Alice said happily. "She's awake."
As if on cue, I turned around and stretched, looking up at Alice, who was standing ready to go. All my things were packed and beside the door. Tanya was leaned against the doorway, watching the entire scene.
"Well, what do you want?" I asked Alice, trying to ignore the audience.
"We have to leave!" Alice told me quickly. "The wedding rehearsal is today, and this is our first one! The real one is tomorrow, you know, the one where we'll play the music and show off some of the tricks I have in mind—but, today's important too."
I got up and ran my hands through my hair—I was distinctly aware that I looked extra hideous today. This was probably because I was in a room full of gorgeous vampires. That would never get old.
"I assume," I heard Tanya from her place in the doorway; "my wedding invitation still stands?"
Alice turned to look at her, obviously about to speak, but Edward started before she could.
"You will understand that we cannot have any more vampires than our necessary at the wedding—as we are expecting… visitors." He explained to her, and a knowing smile fell across Tanya's face.
"Yes." She said bitterly. "Your little dog friend, Bella?"
I flinched. "Big dog friends, actually." I replied, trying to sound tough. Alice laughed.
"She's right. And we must be going." She stared at Tanya for a second, her eyes scrunched up in concentration. "Thank you for letting us stay here last night, Tanya."
"Next time you need a hideout, you know where you can find me." Tanya told them. I stared at her for a second, and her mouth twitched at the sides—she was trying to hide a smile. With that, she disappeared down the hall. My stomach turned over a little at that smile, and I turned on my heel and started out the door. I flung it open so hard that I didn't have time to step back, and the door hit me in the face.
"My nose!" I screamed, clutching at it. I felt like I was on the Brady Bunch, but I could already feel it swelling, I was sure it was broken, and soon it would start bleeding…
However, Edward seemed less than worried. "Did you really just hit yourself in the face with the door?" he demanded of me, and I groaned, still holding my nose. "That's a new one, even for you, Bella."
"It's gong to bleed. My nose is going to bleed." How come our roles seemed reversed by this point?
"Oh, no it's not." Alice told me, shrugging. "It's just going to be bruised, which means a little more makeup on the wedding day. We don't want anyone thinking Edward punched you in the face. Then again… I doubt anyone would be surprised to know you smashed your nose opening a door."
Once my nose stopped pulsing and I was securely in the car and getting farther and farther away from Tanya, I had time to think back on what had been bothering before. That feeling that Tanya knew something I didn't. I wasn't going to be able to deal with that.
"Tanya said something about a hideout?" I asked, watching from my passenger's spot for Edward's reaction. His hands tensed on the wheel, and then he exhaled slowly.
"Yes, well, I thought maybe you nearly breaking your nose on a door would help you forget about that." Though usually he'd be laughing at me, he seemed unhappy. He always seemed so unhappy lately. At least we wouldn't have to worry any more soon. "Alice's visions went black before we left yesterday… they stayed black until some time last night. I didn't like not knowing what was going on. I thought it best to get you out oft there. Alice didn't trust us alone, of course, so she came with us." He smiled sadly. "I needed to make sure you liked the house, anyway."
"So…" I said, trying to sound nonchalant, radiating calm like Edward and Alice always seemed to be able to do. "Do you know--?"
"Alice called them this morning. Apparently," Edward said his words slowly. He was picking carefully. "The wolves came to Carlisle to speak to him about what they think might be going on. They're worried there's another wolf. They're coming to the wedding, doing a little damage control if anything goes wrong. Nothing's going to go wrong, because this day is going to be special, but they refuse to say no." he shrugged. "It doesn't matter. What matters is that we have rehearsals today."
Alice started humming a little song at the thought of it, and I groaned as Edward smiled and accelerated on the gas. "Try not to run into anything else for a couple days, okay?" he asked. "If you can manage it, I'd like to have you in one piece when we're married."
"Mostly just for the honeymooooon." Alice sang, and I laughed.
They didn't even give me time to stop off at home and rest. By the time we were back in Forks, Edward was driving to the hotel. I immediately felt my stomach clench—I was going to puke, right there, in Edward's car. He'd kill me. My nose still felt kind of swelled, and if I poked at it, it felt bruised, but I couldn't see it. Maybe I was just being paranoid. This growing paranoia was unusual. It seemed to happen all the time. So what? I told myself. I was talking to myself—never a good sign. So what if I was practicing for the wedding? It honestly didn't mean anything at all. It was just a rehearsal. No one would even be there.
Alice was getting out of the car when she froze, her hands clenching a little on the door. She released it just as quickly, and suddenly she was striding with fierceness. I was glad no one was around, they wouldn't have been able to understand why she was moving quite so quickly—Edward stared after her as she opened the door and her pace slowed. He sighed.
"They're here." He told me simply, unbuckling my seatbelt and opening my door for me. Before I was out he took my hand and pulled me out softly, lacing his fingers with mine and walking me toward the hotel.
"Who's here?" I asked nonchalantly. The only thing I could think of was the Volturi—they couldn't wait a few more days? I didn't understand. Maybe they'd have to go ahead and go through with it now—I tightened a little. I didn't know if I wanted it to be so sudden. Planning it had made it easier, but out of nowhere? I might have a panic attack…
"Calm down. Bella." Edward stopped, turning me to him and running his fingers through my hair. "They're here to protect you, really. This is nothing short of ignorance, because I can protect you just fine…" he growled a little, and I ignored his need to always watch over me like a hawk for just a minute.
"The Volturi are here to protect me?" I asked, aghast.
Edward smiled a little. "Not the Volturi, Bella. We have a few visitors from La Push."
We were in the lobby and starting to open the doors to the room, but I couldn't think straight. Why would they be here to protect me? Protect me from what?
"You made me stay at Tanya's." I heard Alice's voice before I saw her. Edward was cringing—if I could hear Alice so clearly, she was very obviously yelling in his ears. "You made me stay at Tanya's so that Bella would be safe and away from any of them getting near her—" she jabbed her finger at our visitors. "And now, you bring them here, Jasper?"
"I didn't bring them here." Jasper said calmly, and a wave of calm filled the entire room—Alice's body relaxed, though she looked like she hated it that it did. "They came on their own, and we obliged. They're afraid a new werewolf is somewhere they're not aware of, and they want to make sure nothing comes at us."
"We can take care of ourselves." Rosalie said with finality, and her voice just made me feel worse. I was always causing so many problems with her. Jasper's wave of calm was wearing off. Everything was much too tense.
The Quilete boys stood in the corner, arms behind their backs, waiting. Sam stood in front, and though Paul looked at any time ready to go into his wolf form, it seemed Sam had given him distinct orders, as he did not attack. A shiver ran down my spine—I hated seeing them all there without Jake and knowing it was my fault.
Carlisle coughed to get everyone's attention, and they all turned to him. However, it was not he who spoke, but Esme, who stood patiently beside him.
"This is a wedding rehearsal, if you don't recall." She said, her voice filled with nothing but love. It was like she had her own power of calming everyone else down—but it was a power that had nothing to do with being a vampire. "The wedding is in two days, and I'm quite sure none of us know what we're doing yet." She smiled, and Alice nodded. Suddenly she had the clipboard again—I couldn't figure out where she was constantly keeping that thing.
"Yes, well. Wedding rehearsal." As she began to speak, I faintly realized all the chairs were in place for the people that had accepted their invitations. There were so many chairs—did I know this many people? I knew the answer was no, but I didn't believe the town of Forks could hold this many people, either. It seemed impossible.
We were there for hours. After a good dose of the monotony, the wolves left to sniff out the rest of the place. Everyone seemed visibly more relaxed after they were gone. The Cullens had stood stiffly, talking swiftly in reply to questions. Emmett made it a point to talk quickly, and often, maybe trying to make the visitors feel unwelcome. Then, after all that, my mother walked into the room. They had obviously told her a later time so that they could talk freely for a while. The wolves, of course, were gone, so they didn't have to worry about that. She had her arms linked with Phil's, but then she released him so she could run at me and wrap me up in a hug.
"Oh, Bella!" she said happily, looking around the room, soaking it all in. "Only two more days!"
It kind of amused me how excited she really seemed to be—she seemed like she had really, really accepted it. I hadn't planned on seeing that for a few years. I suddenly noticed I hadn't seen Charlie in a long time—not only that; he had made a promise to spend a day talking to me. Those days were dwindling. I'd have to go talk to him tonight.
"Renee, you'll be coming to the bachleorette party tomorrow, right?!" Alice asked happily, and Jasper made a very angry face. I sighed. She wasn't going to let this go.
"No, no, I don't think so." Renee shook her head. "I'll let me little girl have her fun without her Mom poking her nose in!"
"Moooom." I whined, "I'm not going to…"
"Now, now now!" she said, rolling her eyes in Phil's direction. "Phil and I will spend whatever night that is out on the town ourselves, I think!"
Alice went through the plans with my mother, who thought everything seemed absolutely perfect. She couldn't seem to find one flaw. I checked my watch—it was getting late. I stared at Edward for a second.
"If you don't mind," I told everyone, still staring at Edward, waiting for a reaction. "I'd like to go see my father. Alone."
Alice started to talk, and Renee looked kind of unhappy when I turned to her, but Edward nodded. "Yes, well. I assume that would be best. We'll see you later." And, before anyone could say anything else to him, he was pulling me out the door.
"I won't leave." He reminded me in the car. I nodded, but he kept talking. "I'm not going anywhere. They'll be expecting you to go to Charlie's—everyone will. So I'll be around. You can stay as long as you like—it's not like I have anywhere to be." I just kept nodding, trying to formulate a plan in my head. I missed my Dad terribly. I just wanted to know what was going on.
"It seems like he's been avoiding me lately." I told him, though I was really talking to myself. He reached over and squeezed my hand.
"He misses you, he's just scared." Edward explained, his voice soft.
"Scared of what?" I asked him, though I think I knew.
"He's scared of losing you." I could hear the smile in his voice.
"That's silly, he should…" I started, but I didn't know what he should do. He was losing me, wasn't he? I could never see him again.
"Things will work out." Edward promised, parking the car in front of my house. It scared me that Dad hadn't been fazed by how much I had been out lately. It made things so much worse in my mind. "I mean it." He leaned over and kissed my forehead, inhaling the scent of my hair. "Whenever you're ready, love." He told me. He opened the door for me, pulled me close to him for just a second, and then he was gone.
I nodded, even though he wasn't there any more. I walked up the house, it looked like the shell of the house I used to know—and I opened the door. Why did I feel like I should knock?
"Dad?" I called through the house. "Dad, it's me. Bella."
"Bells?" he called from the living room, but the TV wasn't on. "Hi, Bells. I'm in here."
When I found him, he was sitting on the couch, staring at the blank screen. "Bells, they're worried about Billy."
I hadn't even had time to sit down.