Just realized I've been forgetting something important - Disclaimer: I am NOT Stephenie Meyer. And I do NOT own these characters!
BPOV
"Okay, I think I'm done now Alice. My hand is aching from this" I explained as I dropped my pencil and flexed my hand, attempting to work the kinks out of it. We'd been drawing for over an hour, and to Alice's credit, I actually had had a good time. It was relaxing and distracting to do something so carefree. Alice heaved a sigh of sadness and I rolled my eyes at her with a smile. "What'd you draw?" I asked as I leaned over to look. She slid multiple pieces of paper around to face me, and my mouth fell open. She had drawn absolutely beautiful fashion ideas for clothing. I wasn't big on that kind of stuff, but there was no denying what she'd created was spectacular. "Alice," I breathed "you need to become a designer." Her face fell slightly at my words, and she turned the drawings back around to face her. "I've always wanted to. But I can't. I'd become well known, and then it'd be made public and raise questions how I never aged, or died, for that matter." she explained slowly, for Alice. My smile disappeared as that sunk in. I felt for her. I knew how much she loved fashion, I couldn't imagine how frustrating it must be to be immortal and capable of doing anything - except the one thing you would really love to do. I reached out and hugged her. "I'm sorry."
She hugged me back, but as fast as her mood had fallen, it rose. "It's okay. Just as long as I get to buy clothes I'll always be happy." She flashed me a sparkling smile, and I couldn't help but laugh at her sudden change of mood. The sound slipped through my lips and both Edward and Alice froze for a split second, before both their bodies relaxed more than they had all day. They both smiled at me, and I suddenly felt extremely awkward. To ward it off, I slid my drawing towards Alice and told her she could have it, before I cautiously lifted myself off my bed and headed for the door. It dawned on me I hadn't heard either of them move, and I turned around to see Alice still staring at my drawing, looking at it like it held the key to unlocking life's secret code. "What?" I asked, feeling self conscious. Now Edward was standing next to Alice, peering over her shoulder at it. "This is intense, Bella…" Alice spoke softly, traces of sadness littering her words. I felt myself blush, now embarrassed and wishing I'd just thrown the it out. Truthfully, I hadn't thought too much about it while I was drawing it, but the finished product wasn't something I wanted to keep. I'd drawn a girl lying in front of a headstone in a cemetery, the ground caving beneath her as she slowly fell into her grave. Even with lifeless eyes, her hands were slightly reached out, fingers down and embedded into the ground in an attempt to save herself. The drag marks on the ground from her hands held the answer that she was still slipping away, regardless how she tried to stop it.
It all felt far too close for comfort the more I thought about it, and I let out a fast and hard sigh before turning back around and heading out my door. "What would you like to eat?" Edward was suddenly slightly ahead of me, walking down the stairs while looking back at me. "I don't know yet. I can make it, though." I told him, holding back the bitterness I was now feeling from the embarrassment of their reaction to my drawing. I wanted to shred that drawing, now. Edward looked like he was about to insist on cooking for me, when I heard Alice casually clear her throat behind me. He glanced back at her and appeared to think better of his protests. As I walked into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator door, the phone rang shrilly next to me on the wall, and I jumped so high I nearly fell. I caught myself on the counter and stared at the phone, the thought of who it could be making my heart thump unevenly. "It's just Charlie." Alice reassured me, and I hesitantly picked up the phone. "Hello?"
"Hey, Bells!" Charlie's happy voice replied. "Did you have fun with Alice this weekend?" "Hey, dad. Um.. Yeah, I had a really nice time." I lied. "That's great. I've been out fishing with Billy, and was going to go back to his place to watch the game with him, but I wanted to check in with you. I'll be home around 7:30, does that sound alright?" He sounded a little nervous, my guess was he felt bad about leaving me home alone all day. If only he knew.. "That sounds fine, dad. Can, uh, Edward come over for a while?" I questioned as I glanced up at Edward. He was smirking. But I figured I might as well sound like a good kid asking permission, even though it was pointless. "Fine. But I want him gone by 7, okay? You let him know that." Charlie grumbled. "Alright, dad. Thanks. I'll see you tonight. Love you." I mumbled back into the receiver. "Love you too, Bells." Charlie said before we both hung up.
I turned to face Edward. "Good news, Edward - you can come over now," I grinned mischievously. He laughed shortly before holding my hand up to kiss it, gently letting it fall back by my side. I turned my attention to Alice, enjoying the sudden lightness of emotions in the room and hoping to extend it. "He didn't say anything about you though, Alice..so…" I faded off, smiling at her. She laughed. "Charlie actually likes me. I don't think it'll be a problem if I stick around." Edward rolled his eyes at her and she responded by sticking her tongue out at him. I giggled and turned back to my search for food, settling for a bowl of cereal. I sat down at the table and after a few minutes, it occurred to me I'd been playing with it more than eating it. I looked up at Edward across the table from me. "Where'd Alice run off to?" I asked curiously, noting her absence and not recalling her leaving. He looked upwards for a second, before looking back at me to reply. "She's currently raiding your closet." My mouth fell open as I stared at him. He couldn't be serious. Was she really that addicted to clothing? Edward laughed at my expression. "She's incorrigible." he stated. "Bella!" Alice yelled from upstairs. "You SERIOUSLY need my help clothes shopping!"
I rolled my eyes. "Sorry, Alice! But I don't see the point in buying designer clothes when I know I'm going to fall and rip them at some point." I told her honestly. I heard her bell like laugh as she descended the stairs and came back into the kitchen. "Like I said; you need my help." She informed me. I got up and cleaned my dishes before turning back to Edward and Alice. Seeing them both standing there, I felt guilty for having them stay with me. Just because I was such a big baby didn't mean they should have to be bored like this. "So!" Alice chirped, breaking my train of thought. "We have 6 hours before Charlie gets home. What would you like to do?"
Edward stood up from the couch to face me. "Charlie is about to pull into the driveway. I'll be upstairs, okay? Don't worry." He contradicted himself by looking worried, though he was trying to hide it. "Okay." I said, trying to be brave. I was scared sick about facing Charlie, whether I was telling him or not, it was the first time I'd seen him since it happened. I looked over and noticed Alice was now sitting back on the couch with me, looking right at home. I raised my eyebrows at her, questioning why she wasn't hiding, too. "He won't care I'm here," She grinned widely "I checked." I might have laughed if I hadn't been so nervous about Charlie being home, but instead I just shook my head and gave her a weak smile. As I heard Charlie open the front door, I felt the sourness in my stomach and decided in that moment that the excuse of me being sick was perfect. Then my off behavior wouldn't be nearly as suspicious. At least, I hoped it wouldn't.
"Hi, Bella" Charlie announced as he entered the living room. "oh! And hi to you too, Alice" he said, surprised. "Hi, Charlie!" Alice gave him her most charming smile, and it was obvious she was correct in that he wasn't bothered by her being here. "It's great to see you! How long are you staying?" Charlie adored Alice. He had lectured me many times since Italy on how Alice was a great influence for me, but Edward, however, was not. "Oh, not too long. Just for another half hour or so." She replied politely. Even though I knew she was only saying it for his sake, the thought made me uneasy and I tried to push it away. Charlie gave her another smile before turning to look at me, frowning as soon as his eyes landed on my face. "Bella, are you okay?" It was nice to see I was doing such a good job at faking nothing being wrong, I thought sarcastically. "Yeah, dad. I just feel pretty sick. Did you have a good day?" I asked, changing the subject as subtly as I could manage. It worked. "Yeah! It was a great game. I lost $10 to Billy on a bet, though," he laughed. Charlie started to turn around towards the kitchen, and then as if remembering something important, he whipped back around towards me.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Alice go board stiff and sit up straighter. She casually slid herself closer to me and grabbed my hand tightly. I was instantly afraid of whatever she had seen. "OH! I almost forgot. I saw Jacob at Billy's, and he told me to tell you he had a really good time hanging out on Friday, and he already misses you," Charlie said in a way that I believe was supposed to make me feel guilty for not seeing him more often. On normal conditions, that would have worked. Instead, I was feeling light headed and I felt more than sick now. "He said to tell you to give him a call, or he can just drop by school next week and see you real quick." Charlie smiled at having delivered the message, and it only made me feel more disgusted. I wrenched myself away from Alice, scrambling off the couch and ignoring the pain as I made a dash for the stairs. That pain was nothing to the pain inside of me from Jacob's words to my father. I heard Charlie call me, and Alice was already at my side trying to help me up the stairs. I heard her curse multiple times under her breath, angry at having to keep up the human pretence in front of Charlie.
Once we were out of Charlie's sight, Alice picked me up and had me in the bathroom before I could take another breath. Thank god for that, because in less than a second I was throwing up everything. My sanity, my peace, my happiness. All of it gone. It was entirely overwhelming, this lack of everything I used to be. I couldn't adjust to this new world. I didn't want to adjust to it. I wanted to abandon it completely, but I could find no way out. When I was finally done, I curled up on my side, reveling in the coolness of the tiled floor against my cheeks. Alice was sitting next to me still, my pain nearly mirrored in her eyes. I wasn't sure how long I laid there before she swiftly stood up and I heard her bound down the stairs, explaining to Charlie I was sick, but would be okay. Assuring him she would take care of me. I listened as she made her way back upstairs, but couldn't find it in me to care enough to sit up. Or even to pretend to be okay anymore. I might as well just stay here. I let myself drift into nothing… at least it was peaceful here.
I heard Alice as she walked into the bathroom, and knew she was purposefully being loud for my benefit. I let go of the last strands of consciousness I was holding onto as I felt her arms slip around me as she lifted me up. I had the sense I was moving, and felt myself laid onto something soft, which I recognized after a while was my bed. I heard Edward's velvety voice upset, and heard him say my name, but still did not try to reach out to consciousness. I rolled to my side, curling my legs up to my chest, and let sleep overtake me. I simply wanted to forget everything about Jacob. But all night the thoughts swirled around my head, incapacitating me. His attack, his words, now his subtle threat: if I didn't call him, he would come to my school. And I knew it wouldn't end there. The thought that disturbed me the most, was the one I kept coming back to.
This would not end until I was dead.