Disclaimers to Stephenie Meyer/Tomoko Hayakawa.
Ooohhhhh...ICT again, and today is World Peace Day. But there's no peace where Bella and Edward are concerned (2 chapters!) Reviews appreciated :P
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School had finally finished for the weekend. This was a relief to Bella, who had adapted a fixed lifestyle since Carlisle told her to open up. She barely spoke. She barely smiled. All she did was wake up, go to school, come home, cook, go to bed and then the routine would start over again. Now all she'd skip the school charade, only replacing it when the boys needed feeding, but she would bring her own food into her own room.
Nobody but Carlisle knew the reason for this, the rest were just glad that Bella went about her chores as well. They daren't talk to her in case she'd snap and they'd suffer a house cleaning crisis again. Carlisle on the other hand was genuinely concerned. So when, Bella received a letter about the holiday he looked over her shoulder and tried to convince her to go. Carlisle then told Emmett and Edward about the idea, Jasper was last to know.
"We could invite Alice to come along," Carlisle whispered to Jasper, Jasper seemed to go forward with the holiday. Edward and Emmett wanted to go as soon as Carlisle told them
There was however, a problem.
Bella was much more reluctant. Bella had no inclination to go on holiday, so Carlisle pulled the trigger. On the day before they were due to leave, Bella lay on the bed.
"Bella!" she heard someone shriek outside her door
"Alice?" Bella asked, her bedroom door slammed open. Bella squinted against the bright light.
"Bella. You. Are. Coming." Alice said to her curtly. She dragged a large suitcase and ransacked Bella's wardrobe. She pulled out several garments out which Bella had never worn and threw them haphazardly into the suitcase.
"No, I'm not," Bella said stubbornly, getting out of her bed. She started to throw the clothes Alice had threw in the suitcase back into the wardrobe. Alice stopped what she was doing and she dropped the clothes. Alice fell onto her knees.
"Alice?" Bella asked worriedly. She ran to Alice's side, and she lay a hand on Alice's arm. Alice violently threw it off. Bella looked at Alice's face. Her eyes had welled up, Alice furiously moved a hand over her eyes wiping all evidence that she wanted to cry.
"Alice, don't tell me you're crying because I'm not going on some random holiday?" Bella said, stifling half a laugh, but she was stricken.
"Please, Bella. Do you realise that if you don't go, no one can go either?" Alice whispered.
"Well, you can hang out with us," Bella smiled, reaching out for Alice. Alice slapped her hand away.
"Do you realise how long I've wanted a chance like this?" Alice said, forcing herself not to cry, gritting her teeth.
"Jasper?" Bella asked, her eyebrows rising. Alice looked up and nodded. A small tear fell down her cheek as she nodded.
"Argh. Alice you're going to kill me one day," Bella growled, throwing the clothes into the suitcase. Alice was confused and then she understood.
"Thank you Bella!" Alice exclaimed, hugging her so tightly that Bella struggled to breathe.
"I'm doing this for you," Bella muttered. She packed a backpack for the journey.
--
"Where are we exactly going?" Alice asked Jasper on the way to the hangar.
"Some island near Italy," Jasper replied happily. They were sitting in a large limo, and they were to go to an island resort near the coast of Italy. It was Bella's Auntie's resort. They had taken the Thursday and the Friday off to go and they were going to return on early Monday morning.
"Have you ever been?" Alice asked Bella excitedly.
"Yes. When I was younger, I expect that it's different now, Auntie can't resist adding some things onto it," Bella remarked, as she plugged her iPod into her ears. A calm rush of music, erasing the gushing of happiness from the rest of them. Carlisle had never left the state before and as for the rest, the nearest to Italy they had been was the Spaghetti Bolognese that Bella made. She picked up a novel and started to read it avidly. This was to the surprise of the rest in the limo. None of them had stretched out to understand Bella to realise that she was a reader. Bella knew that Jasper and Carlisle were readers as well, even though Carlisle was much better at drawing and Jasper was more like a researcher – his speciality being history. Edward was a musician, and Emmett was a flirt. Emmett lived, breathed women, but there was the occasional time when the Volvo broke down and he would fix it so that it would be running in no time. Bella didn't really have a talent, all she did was read. Bella was more of a fighter, a martial arts expert. Huh, but where would that get her in life?
"Miss Swan, we're here now," the driver said, almost pompously. Bella nodded, and motioned for everyone else to get out of the limo. They were surprised that they weren't going to an airport. Bella used a key to open the doors. With the help of the two pilots she managed to push the doors of the hangar open. The pilots hadn't been able to get in as they needed the key. What awaited Jasper, Alice, Edward, Carlisle and Emmett was an utter and complete surprise. Never had they anticipated a private jet.
"Luke, Stuart," Bella said briskly, "Help with the luggage please,"
They nodded and helped Alice in particular who had packed two suitcases of clothes for the holiday. Everyone was wearing scarves as the snow drifted around them. Bella supervised everyone getting on the plane. She then signalled for the pilots that it was save to go. The limo pulled away and drove off. Bella clambered onto the plane and it closed behind her.
Could all passengers please put on their seatbelts, we're taking off. Thank you.
Bella sat next to Alice, who was disgruntled about the current seating arrangements; Edward had grabbed the first opportunity to grab a seat next to Jasper to irritate Alice. It worked.
Bella had no patience to listen to Alice talking to Jasper over the seats, and Alice complaining to her. She plugged her iPod again and raised the volume. She delved into her bag, and pulled out her book.
There were going to be a break after every four hours of flying, give or take half an hour. For the first four hours of flying, everything was relatively calm. Everyone enjoyed their comfortable seats. Emmett and Carlisle were playing chess. Jasper was talking to Alice, and Edward was sleeping.
They descended, and they landed in a deserted field. The pilots went out and checked the engines. Emmett and Carlisle stood up, stretching and yawning. Edward had just woken up and he had no need to wish to stand up and stayed sitting down, causing Alice to get more irritating.
"Edward..." Alice started.
"No."
"Please..."
"No."
Alice fumed.
"Jasper is mine only," Edward said, holding Jasper close to him. Too close for Jasper. Jasper tried to get out of his grip.
"Besides, I'm not letting you sit alone with Jasper, who knows what you'll do to his pure, untainted soul?" Edward said to Alice. Alice was surpassed red with fury. She was mauve with anger. It was not a good sign. Edward let go of Jasper.
Bella was oblivious to it all. Her novel had entranced her. She loved it. Edward turned around in his seat.
"Wuthering Heights," he smirked, reading the title. Bella, listening to her iPod couldn't hear him properly. She was paying too much attention to her book. In a fluid movement her book out snatched out of her fingers. The sudden jarring of the engine coming to life, the removal of her book and the pilot's voice startled Bella.
Bella removed her earphones.
"Give that back," she snarled. Edward simply closed the book, to Bella's rage. She had lost the page.
"Why are you reading this anyway? It's so pessimistic," Edward stated. Bella glowered at him.
"It shows you what people are capable of, when they're so absorbed in love, judgement overrides every other sense." Bella summarised.
"Meaning it's a hate story," Edward said, summarising Bella's summary.
"No. It's a love story."
"It is not."
"The everlasting love of Heathcliff and Catherine makes it count as a love story," Bella snapped. Edward opened a page and quoted a part of the book.
"'May you not rest, as long as I am living?' Does that sound like love to you?" Edward retorted. They were safely in the air and able to move around. Bella took her seatbelt off and stood in the space in front of Edward. She took the book back and quoted,
"'If all else perished, and he remained, I should still continue to be; and, if all else remained and he were annihilated, the Universe would turn into an almighty stranger.'" She recited. Edward was stunned by her memory of the quote, "That sound like hate?"
"At the end of the day, Heathcliff was pure evil towards everyone else. That's not love to me," Edward declared to her. Jasper taking the chance to move, sat next to Alice in the row behind.
"So what is love to you?" Bella asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Love is..." Edward began, "being complete with someone else. The feeling that without that person you'd be empty. And love for me is being to love eternally, and seeing past all flaws, and seeing the perfect things about that person."
Bella was astounded. She never knew that Edward felt so strongly about that particular feeling. It was almost as similar as she put it.
She frowned as she saw Jasper and Alice sat innocently next to each other. She miserably sat next to Edward who took it to prod her every so often whilst she read.
