Disclaimer: Not mine. Lalalala.
Bella's POV
Cold lips pressed gently against mine. I smiled but kept my eyes closed. I was so tired. The lips kissed my cheek, my jaw, down my throat, pausing there ever so slightly. A cold, tentative hand snaked inside my shirt, tracing shy circles on my stomach. I gasped at the cold skin against my warm stomach. His other hand went between my legs, rubbing me through my jeans. I moaned and opened my eyes to look at my lover. I screamed. He had no face.
"Bella?" Two anxious, worried voices called my name. Two pairs of cold hands held both of mine. My eyelids fluttered open. Where was I? I looked around, saw the worried faces of Edward and Jasper. My body ached. I heard the heart beat monitor. Felt the generic bed that I was on. I was in the hospital. What had…? And then it all came crashing down on me. I remembered everything. Edward had caught us. He tried to kill Jasper. I tried to save him. I marveled for a second at the fact that I was alive.
"Bella, love, how are you feeling?" Edward asked. I wanted to scream at him to get out. But I found I wasn't really that mad at him. I had expected his reaction, were he to ever find out. And everyone was okay. Both of them were still alive…well, undead. And I was a little sore, but I didn't blame Edward for that. I knew he hadn't done that on purpose. He would never hurt me on purpose. Well except for that one time when he left and literally broke my heart in two…but I wasn't going to dwell on the past now.
"A little sore," I admitted. He started to apologize over and over again, but I cut him off. I didn't want to hear it. I'd already forgiven him, despite threatening before to never do so if he hurt Jasper. "Just promise me that this won't happen. Ever. Again," I said, looking at both of them but glaring at Edward.
"I don't think it will," Edward said, giving Jasper a strange look that I didn't understand. "Bella, darlin', we have some things to tell you," Jasper said calmly, though Edward snarled quietly when he called me his pet name.
"What? What's going on?" They proceeded to explain to me the situation with Alice. I heard it all, processing only bits and pieces of it. I was so happy.
"Alice is back! Can I see her?" I asked exuberantly. There was that shared look again. What were they hiding from me? I asked as much.
Jasper paused then answered, "Look, Bella…Alice, well…she's strayed away from our family's…beliefs now that she's become part of the Volturi." I furrowed my eyebrows to show that I didn't understand. "She is no longer a practicing…vegetarian." My eyes widened in horror as the meaning of the words sunk in. He continued, "She will be able to control herself around you. But she's not the same person she used to be. She's different. And not for the better, in my opinion. But she's happy, and that's really all I can ask for. So we've asked her not to visit you, not yet. You will see her before she leaves, but I'm afraid it won't be under the happiest of circumstances."
"What do you mean?" Edward squeezed my hand a little tighter. "Alice has asked us to go with her. To join the Volturi. Jasper has flat out refused. But I…I'm thinking about it. But before I make my decision, I have to know yours," he said, his black eyes looking at me, almost pleading with me. "My decision? For what?"
"Given…recent events…" he stammered. I could see he was struggling to maintain control over his rage once again. He continued, "I can see that I am not the only…man in your life. And I don't know if you love him, or if you were just so frustrated with me that you went to him. I don't know where I went wrong. But I can't let this go on." He paused, his body shaking now. "So I'm asking you to make the choice, Bella. Him, or me." I could see how much pain the words put him in. And even now I wanted to kiss the pain away. I didn't want to see him hurting so. I looked over to Jasper; his face was a mask, showing no emotion. I opened my mouth to speak, but Edward put a finger to my lips, silencing them. "Not right now, love. We know you need time to think." They both left the room, each of them kissing me on the forehead before departing and leaving me with my miserable thoughts.
**********
It was time to face the music. I had had a week to go over my thoughts. I had made my choice almost instantly. Now I had to face them. They were all in the living room. Rosalie, Emmett, Edward, Jasper, Alice and Walter. This was my first time seeing Alice since she left. I couldn't help myself. I ran to give her a hug, but I was blocked by none other than Rosalie. She looked at me apologetically, a new look from her. "That's just really not a good idea, Bella. Sorry." I nodded, feeling myself tear up, but backed away. I sat on the couch furthest from Alice and Walter.
"Um…." I began eloquently. I didn't know where to begin. I wished Alice could just tell them. She knew already. But her newly beloved Aro had forbidden to her. I shuttered at my memory of him but quickly composed myself.
"I love both of you. So much. But I've come to realize that it's two different kinds of love, one stronger than the other. I will always love both of you, no matter what. But I've been asked to make a choice. And I have." I paused. "Edward," I said. And the hope in his eyes ripped right through me, sharper than any razor. Oh, God. How could I do this? "I will…I will always love you. But not in the way that you want me to, I'm afraid. I—I love Jasper," I finished. I felt the joy rolling off of Jasper in waves; this must be one of those occasions where his power was working. I didn't look at him though.
I was focused on Edward. We all were, waiting for him to spring. But he was frozen. The look of pain on his face was frozen like the rest of him. And then suddenly he ran out the door. He was gone in less time than it took for me to blink, just a blur. Emmett made to follow after him, but Alice put a hand on his shoulder to stop him. "Let him be," she said. The first words I had heard her speak in such a long time. Her voice was different. I didn't know if I trusted it.
"What's he doing?" I asked. She looked up at me, her blood red eyes surprised that I had addressed her. "He's…running," she said, her voice oily and scheming. "What's he going to do?" She didn't answer. Jasper cut in. "Alice, please. Just tell us. Or have you no love for this family anymore?" he finished quietly. I could tell that it hurt him a lot to say those last words.
Before I had time to comprehend what she had said, Jasper and Emmett were already gone, running after him. "He's gone to provoke the wolves. He's gone to get himself killed." Comprehension dawned over me, overwhelmed me. I fainted.
A/N Sorry for the cliffy again. But not really. Heh heh. Just thank your lucky stars that I didn't do what I really wanted to…I was going to have Bella reject both of them, claim she was in love with Jacob and then end the chapter. And start the next chapter off with a big PSYCH!!! Got ya! But I decided not to mess with you all like that since you've been so lovely to read and review! ^_^
Like I said before, I'm not a doctor/nurse/whatever so I have no idea how long these things take. Bella's out of the hospital now, recovered. If that's fantastical, well…this is a work of fiction haha.
I repeat my mantra: review, review, review!
