A/N It's not that I'm not grateful to all 3 of my loyal reviewers but there are quite a few people who are adding this story to their favourites and not reviewing. So without sounding desperate please read and review.

Only Fools Fall In Love

Chapter X

Realisation

EPOV

Fuck me!

This evening was not turning out as I had imagined one little bit.

My expectations were not overly unrealistic. I'd assumed I'd pick Bella up, she would be sober, and we'd go to dinner, make interesting conversation and perhaps share a kiss or two. Then, I'd drop her home after arranging to see her tomorrow.

Instead, I'd learnt that Bella shared her home with a strange little pixie who had a twisted sense of humour, which was neither funny nor clever. I'd discovered that Bella was a drunk who had poor table manners, did not like my choice in cars and she was now lying unconscious in a heap on the floor with a four-inch gash across her head, which was bleeding profusely.

Could my night be any worse?

"Alice!" I shouted as loudly as I could.

No response

"Alice!"

Still no response.

Oh well, desperate times call for desperate measures.

"Alice, you fucking irritating imp get your ass out here now." I screamed.

I watched as the porch light flickered and Alice appear at the door and then I watched mesmerised as the porch lights on the neighbouring homes illuminated the street one by one.

Fucking great!

Just what I need an audience.

"What the fuck have you done to her?" Alice screeched running towards where I sat.

"Me? I didn't touch her." I replied my tone full of indignation.

"Do you have a problem little lady?" I glanced up to see a bald middle aged guy with a beer gut stood over me one eye focused down the barrel of a shot gun the other glaring down at me.

Shit!

And here I was thinking that my night couldn't get any worse.

I looked pleadingly at Alice who had now joined me on the floor. "I swear I didn't touch her. She banged her head as she was getting into the car."

Just then, Bella stirred.

Thank fuck!

She opened her eyes for a brief second and then closed them. "Shit! I'm blind," she screamed unexpectedly, frightening me so much I nearly fell backwards on to the asphalt.

"Give me that! " Alice demanded pointing at the bald chap with the shotgun.

Frigging hell!

She was going to shoot me herself.

I was just about to object in the strongest way possible when I noticed fat guy pull out a handkerchief from his pants pocket.

Alice snatched it from his chubby little hand and attempted to stem the flow of blood, which was still seeping slowly from Bella's head.

Bella flinched as she continued to dab the wound. "Stop fucking fidgeting Bella."

"I'm fucking blind!" She screamed again frantically. I could hear the panic in her voice and it tore into my heart and all I knew was that I needed to make this okay.

She looked so vulnerable.

I bent down to tell her everything was going to be okay. I wanted to soothe her with my voice, tell her to breathe, not to panic. It was then that I noticed that her eyelids were caked in blood. "Frigging hell Alice, wipe the blood from her eyes. She can't fucking see."

Alice took the handkerchief and softly wiped the Bella's eyes. I leaned in again and whispered softly in to her ear so not to alarm her, "open your eyes Bella."

She did as she was told opening her eyes slowly and I swore to myself there and then that I would never leave her. It didn't matter that she was cuckoo, it didn't matter that she was a drunk or had a penchant for pixies. It just didn't matter.

"Edward, I'm cured," she sobbed before passing out again.

"Alice, we need to call 911 now." I instructed.

She snatched Bella's purse from the sidewalk and rummaged through pulling out a cell phone. I didn't see her dial the numbers or hear the conversation, which must have ensued because I was too busy looking at the angel cradled in my arms.

Five minutes later, and my thoughts were disrupted by the arrival of an ambulance. I can't really remember what happened next but there was a flurry of activity and the next thing I recall was that my arms were empty.

I think that's when it hit me.

Realisation.

It wasn't the gravity of the accident or the sight of Bella unconscious on the floor or being strapped to a gurney and driven off at high speed that filled me with dread and apprehension.

I knew instinctively that she would be okay.

Although, I acknowledged, it may be feasible that I was suffering from a little shock.

It wasn't even because in the past few minutes I'd realised for the second time in as many days that I was in love with Bella Swan although that was certainly something that filled me with trepidation but only in a good way.

That was just fear of the unknown.

No, it was none of those things.

It was the realisation that Fork's answer to the Terminator with a beer gut still had his shotgun aimed directly at me.

I addressed him as earnestly as I could muster. "I would never hurt her." Rambo just eyed me suspiciously and readjusted his aim.

Shit, this was going to be bad.

Very bad.

"You love her? " A small voice chimed beside me. I'd forgotten about the pixie assuming that she had gone with Bella.

"I think it's a little early to say." I lied but it was true I did love her it just felt a little premature to say aloud… in front of an audience.

She eyed me knowingly. "Yeah, you love her." Before turning to Robocop whose finger was now twitching against the trigger. "Thanks for your help but I think I've got this under control. "

What the hell?

This woman was freaking me out again and now it would appear that she was some kind of frigging mind reader!

"Come on we have to go." Alice urged. "I'll drive. You look as if you're in shock."

Usually no one but no one drove my car but for someone so small this woman was demanding and she was right, I was feeling a little fragile.

I threw her the keys to the Volvo and slipped into the passenger seat and a few moments later, she climbed in beside me throwing her purse, which she must have retrieved, from the house over her shoulder into the backseat.

My earlier analysis of Alice being a woman of few words was extremely inaccurate because no sooner had she put the car into drive and pulled off the sidewalk the talking began.

Non-stop!

She just would not shut up.

There was a lot of mundane chat about Bella and her clumsiness which any other time would have been mildly amusing. This was interlaced with some nonsense about interior design and fashion, basically just random crap that wasn't really important.

I didn't want to be rude so I nodded in all the appropriate places but I wasn't really listening. I was too busy thinking about Bella and wishing that one of us had gone in the ambulance with her just in case she woke up alone.

"So, you love her then?" It wasn't really a question more of a statement but it grabbed my attention.

I turned to face her noticing that she had repositioned the driver's seat so that she could reach the pedals. "How can you love someone you don't know?" I bowed my head and began to play with the cup holder flipping it up and down. The conversation should have felt awkward but somehow it didn't.

"You know enough." She said.

"I know she likes Debussy and Jane Austin. " I smiled as I thought back to that day when I met her in park for the very first time.

Alice just smirked and raised her eyebrows.

What was that about?

"Why the smirk?" I asked intrigued.

"What smirk? "

"Just now." I reminded her.

"I find you amusing."

Sure you do!

So, why do I get the distinct impression that there was something else going on here that I wasn't party to.

I just couldn't quite put my finger on it.

But that smirk…

Alice, does Bella really like Debussy?

There was a moments silence as if Alice was deliberating whether to answer my question or not.

"No!"

Of course not!

"Jane Austin? "

"Again, no, although she may have been telling you the truth about Dr Seuss. "

I knew it!

How I knew it was a mystery was indeed a mystery but nonetheless I knew that things didn't add up.

"So, why would she say those things? "

"To impress you of course!"

I sat there, a little bewildered, so many things were whirling in my head yet I couldn't find nothing to say.

I suppose in a warped sort of a way, I was flattered that she felt that needed to go to those sorts of lengths to impress me. I also speculated how she knew what would impress me?

For the second time tonight, I decided that none of that mattered now.

"Edward, please don't break her heart."

"I won't. " I said emphatically and I meant it.

"Good because I hate to have to kill you."

And I knew she meant what she was saying too!