A/N: Happy Friday, everyone! I sure hope you enjoy this update. I was so excited to write it and put it up! :)
Continued…
"What?" Bella asked in confusion. She had heard the vampire's words clearly, but did not understand what Alice was trying to say. What exactly did Alice meant by those words? And why did she say it? How could Alice be so understanding? Why wasn't she upset with her?
"I…" Alice stammered as Bella looked into Alice's eyes, searching for some sort of explanation that may or may not be lying in the topaz color that twirled with various emotions. Bella's tears slowed to a gradual flow as she tried to calm herself down to listen to the words Alice had to say.
"I love you." Alice whispered. Bella's eyes widened in shock, not fully understanding Alice's words. Alice saw the fear and doubt in Bella's brown eyes, and she smiled tenderly, caressing Bella's warm and soft features as she stared into her mate's eyes.
"I do." Alice spoke softly, trying to reassure Bella that she heard her right. "More than you've ever known." Alice said before she carefully trailed her fingers down Bella's jawline and traced the small jawbone that reflected not only Bella's lineage but her diet as well. Oh, how that would change in less than a decade give or take.
"B-but…" Bella faltered over the argument that she came up in her head, seeing that her mouth apparently couldn't catch up with her thoughts. Alice smiled and reached up to brush Bella's hair to the side and stroke her face lovingly, feeling so guiltless and free from the restraints on her impulsiveness to do it over the last few years. Each tender touch felt so amazing and innocent, as though a whole new world was opening up for her to explore. Bella slightly shivered as Alice's cold slender fingers trailed down to her neckline, and she closed her eyes and tried to ignore the lump in her throat when her breath quickened at Alice's seemingly sensual touch. Alice watched as Bella's eyes closed shut when she touched her, naturally basking in the innocence and tenderness of the moment they shared. Bella's beauty glowed and lit up the night in Alice's eyes, and she found it hard to tear her eyes away from her mate, not knowing how to pull back and explain to Bella what was happening between them. The irreplaceable spark that she's felt every day since she's met Bella rendered Alice speechless as it escalated to an unfathomable level of inexplicable pleasure.
"Please…" Bella begged as tears continued to stream down her face. She didn't know how to cope with this fear that she felt from within. How was she to brave this confrontation when Alice made her weak with just one single touch? How can Bella love Alice when she felt she stood alone with this fear? It was killing her inside to be so close, yet so far from the one person she loved the most in the world. Alice involuntarily trembled at the single word that held so much more emotion than she has ever heard Bella utter. It scared Alice too of what Bella's reaction might be when she told Bella that she's been dying every day waiting for her. All of Alice's fears and doubts surfaced and time seemed to stand still as she took in Bella's ethereal beauty. Alice knew that she would not let anything take away what was right in front of her, and with every breath that Bella breathed, Alice died with a stronger longing to tell her how much she truly loved her.
"Bella…" Alice whispered ever so softly. It was one step closer.
Bella opened her eyes and held her breath, staring into Alice's glistening topaz eyes and wondered how this would end for the both of them. Tears, perhaps.
"You are the one I've been waiting for." Alice said before Bella let out the breath she's been holding in. Bella stared at Alice with incredulity, not really quite sure how to respond. Alice noticed the pause and closed her eyes, dreading Bella's reaction as she prepared the next words she spoke. Slowly, Alice opened her eyes again and stared into Bella's confused ones, readying herself for everything that had led them to this very moment.
"You are my mate." Alice finally revealed. Silence ensued them without a doubt.
Bella couldn't believe her ears. She blinked furiously at the vampire before her, wondering if this was all a very cruel joke. Bella gulped at the confession and became more afraid than ever to accept this truth. Bella's breaths quickened when she felt Alice's hands slowly withdrawing from her face, and she panicked at what to do. Without thinking, she caught Alice's cold hands between hers and then looked into Alice's eyes right after. Bella's breath hitched when she saw the same pained expression she's caught several times in the past. It hadn't made sense to her before when she's seen them, and Alice had brushed it off when Bella questioned her about what was wrong. But now Bella understood. This time when Bella met the pained expression again, she had stopped wondering. Because she knew what it was now.
"I am." Bella said more than questioned. For the most part, Bella felt terrified of her heart. How it starts and stops when Alice was around. Its constant hunger for something she thought she could never have. What she didn't know was that she's had it all along. Her heart had been the home of a love she's never known of before, and Alice was homesick for the place she's always known from the moment she met Bella in the forest.
Then the tears turned into smiles, the smiles turned into laughs, and the laughs turned into silence as they met each other's intense gaze. This was their time and nothing was going to weigh them down again.
"I love you, Bella, so much." Alice's voice dropped to a whisper again, her tone dripping with desperation Bella's never heard before. Bella blinked away the tears that had escaped her again, and she didn't care that they followed the same path as the other tears this time around. Bella could only stare longingly, and lovingly, at the one she loved, and she basked in the tender moment they currently shared.
"I love you." Bella whispered back before she reached for Alice's face and rested her forehead against Alice's. They closed their eyes and reveled in the perfect moment, knowing they didn't need to utter another single word to express how deeply they felt for each other.
Several moments later, Alice was the first to open her eyes and she felt the most wondrous feeling staring at her mate. For one second, she saw her life and how perfect it was. It was never lost on her how beautiful Bella is. She just wasn't prepared to be so awestruck by how inhumanly beautiful Bella looked in this blissful moment. Bella unexpectedly opened her eyes a second after, and she slowly pulled away several inches before her gaze fell momentarily on Alice's lips. Alice noticed the slight movement of Bella's eyes, and she knew exactly where Bella's thoughts were. Bella looked up into Alice's eyes again and she bit down onto her lower lip, not knowing how to initiate something she's never done before. Alice's topaz eyes darkened slightly at the sensual gesture, trying to control herself from rushing anything when it came to her Bella.
Bella leaned in slowly, glancing down at Alice's lips once more, and smiled inwardly when she caught Alice wetting her lips. Alice could feel the venom on the tip of her tongue and swallowed the pool of it in her mouth before she could allow it to overwhelm her senses. Bella's cheeks reddened slightly as she continued forward at a slow pace, indulging herself in the tortuous distance to Alice's lips. Alice felt a whisper of sweet poetry echo in the space between them as Bella gained another inch towards her, and she closed her eyes to listen to the beautiful melody that surrounded the two of them. Bella felt the butterflies in her stomach drawing her to an edge she's never gone to before, and she moved her hands to the back of Alice's neck before she drew handfuls of Alice's hair and tugged Alice forward towards her and closed her eyes. Before Alice could see what she had coming for her, she felt the softest pair of lips pressed against her own and she moaned in delight at the warmth that tattooed itself on her cold lips, a feeling she knew she'd never be able to forget. Alice wrapped her arms around Bella's middle and held Bella tight against her body as she moved her lips against Bella's, hearing the louder echoes of Bella's heartbeats when she did so. Bella instantly melted when their lips touched, not expecting for Alice's lips to feel so soft and cold all at once. Alice's lips felt like silk against hers and Bella felt her eyes wanting to roll back from the incredible sensation. All Bella wanted to do was to love Alice's lips, pressing herself against it until the brink of pure bliss, but before Bella could capture Alice's lips between hers again, Alice had pulled away, letting Bella catch the breaths Bella didn't know she needed as they stared intently into each other's hazy eyes. Alice bit down on her bottom lip as she watched Bella's chest heaved and her gaze trailed up to Bella's swollen lips and flushed face, stopping in time to look into Bella's slightly darkened brown eyes. Alice instantly wanted to let out a feral snarl, making it known that Bella was hers and hers alone, but she suppressed the growl immediately and untighten her arms around Bella before she completely drew herself away from her human mate. Bella frowned in response and wondered why Alice was retreating from her, and Alice smiled lovingly at her to reassure Bella that nothing was wrong and also to not give her the wrong impression of her action.
"You're driving me crazy, Bella. I really need a moment here." Alice breathed before Bella's cheeks reddened even more at Alice's words. Bella merely nodded and stared at Alice as she tried to regain her even breathing, still feeling desperate for Alice's love and affection. Minutes passed as they stared at each other in silence, taking in the others' slightly disheveled appearance from their little moment.
"What happens now?" The words escaped Bella before she could take them back, not really sure how to feel about what she just said. In that very moment, Bella only knew that Alice's love was terrifying and beautiful, and it wasn't something everyone knew how to love.
"I have so much to say to you, and I want to start at the beginning, because that is what you deserve and I want to tell you everything without leaving out a single detail. It's just…we need the whole family here to have the mate discussion, because there is a very important conversation aside from being mates that we need to talk about." Alice said with concern. She honestly didn't know how Bella would take to a vampire talk right after Alice flung this whole mate situation on the sixteen-year-old human girl. Bella needed to know what was in store for her whether she had accepted Alice as her mate or not. They did have an agreement with the Volturi after all, and it just seemed to be the right time to disclose this important information to Bella. If not now, Alice really didn't know when to reveal the truth to her mate. Bella deserved to know everything.
"Okay." Bella simply said before she looked down at the hands in her lap. She felt giddy sitting there across from Alice and couldn't stop the churning inside her stomach as the butterflies flew comfortably around. Alice watched on adoringly as her mate fell back into her shy self, shaking her head as she slowly inched closer towards Bella.
"Bella…" Alice playfully whined, causing Bella to look up at her curiously. Bella quirked her eyebrows in response, wondering why the vampire was suddenly pouting at her.
"What?" Bella asked, not entirely sure what it was that Alice wanted from her.
"I want to hear you tell me all the things you told Emmett. Every single word." Alice demanded. Bella smiled in response and gave Alice a thoughtful look as the vampire squirmed in one place, waiting for Bella to begin.
"Where do I start?" Bella inquired as Alice perked up when Bella agreed to retell how she fell in love with Alice.
"The beginning, of course!" Alice giggled, and Bella rolled her eyes at the vampire.
Some things just never seem to change between them.
Disclaimers: I do not own Twilight.