SM Owns Twilight

PART 4

CH # 3

XXX

"How was your trip to Forks?" Alice asked as she cracked a dozen eggs in three seconds.

Rosalie walked over to the counter and picked up the chocolate chips, smelling them.

"Fine." Alice looked up at her sister, trying to read her face.

"What are you up to, Rosalie?"

"Nothing."

"One word answers? Really?"

"She told the dog she's in love with him."

"And?" Alice didn't understand Rosalie, even after all these years.

"Oh, Alice, for someone who seems to know everything, you really are dense!" she hissed. "Bella chose him, she chose a mortal life!"

"Well of course she's going to have a mortal life, Rosalie. Edward left her, no one else is going to change her!"

"You weren't there, so you can't know what I'm talking about. I'm not a fan of Bella's, everyone knows that, but I never wanted her to choose immortality. She was so wrapped up with Edward that I could never get her to see it, even after I told her my story. Edward, Edward, Edward...that's all she chanted. I'm sure she would have continued chanting his name if I didn't snap some sense into her, and now look," she said, her eyes blazing with excitement, "she found the path she was always supposed to take!"

"Why do you care, Rosalie? You wanted to kill the girl once upon a time, and now you go to Forks to spy on her!"

"I saw the look on her face, I head it in her voice. There's no going back for her. She's going to be human; Edward's lost her for good," she said happily.

"Seriously, Rosalie? Are you that happy that our brother lost the girl he loved more than anything in this world? How can you be so cruel?"

"I'm cruel? I'm cruel? Alice, Edward had no right to interfere in her life! Especially when he decided that he wouldn't change her! I'll bet you anything that if Bella hadn't begged him to change her, Edward would have been more than happy to spend however many years with her, knowing that she would never leave him. He would have let her get old, and watched as she wasted her life away with him. She would never have children, never have a real human life because she had to live around his needs. She'd never get to experience what her human life would naturally offer her."

She snapped a spoon in half, remembering what had been taken away from her.

"The minute he realized he loved her, he should have left."

"Rosalie, why are we talking about the past? It doesn't do anyone any good!" Alice asked as she took out the croissants

"The past has everything to do with the future! Don't think that I haven't seen you having visions here and there. You never speak of them; that's how I know they're about Edward. He's fighting with himself, isn't he? He's wondering whether or not he should come back to her. Isn't that right, Alice?"

Alice sat down on a stool, and buried her head in her hands.

"I'm not trying to get Bella to go back to him, if that's what you're thinking," she said quietly.

"Your interaction with Bella seems to be a frequent thing these days, Alice. They usually happen after I see you have a vision. Why is that, Alice?"

"His desire to come back is very strong now, as strong as his desire had been to remain in Forks and try to have a relationship with her when he realized he loved her."

"What else, Alice?" Rosalie knew Alice well enough to know that she was keeping something from her.

"He will change her."

XXX

At a loss for words, Rosalie finally decided to make herself useful in the kitchen and helped Alice with the baking.

"It's okay, Alice," she said after an hour of silence.

"What is?"

"That you're living vicariously through her. We all did, at one point. When else have you known the Cullen family to mingle with people on a daily basis? Especially as workers in a bakery?"

"I realize what you mean, now, about a human life. She's the only human friend I'll ever have, so I'm trying to enjoy what I can, when I can. Is that wrong of me?"

"No, Alice, trust me, I get it."

"I'm afraid, Rosalie. I'm afraid for her, I'm afraid for him. They've grown apart so much that I'm afraid she'll never remember the good things in him."

"This is Bella we're talking about. I'm sure there's a part of her that still thinks that the Earth revolves around Edward."

Alice let out a tinkering giggle.

"Are you sure of his decision?"

"Yes. That decision has been made. The only other thing he needs to decide is when he's coming back."

Rosalie remained quiet for a few minutes.

"Will she be happy as a vampire?"

"Why are you asking, Rosalie? Are you finally accepting the idea that she might be one of us?"

"No. I'm asking if she'll be happy."

"I can't answer that. I can only answer it when she decides what to do."

"She's already decided, Alice. I know this for a fact. What happened to her that night-it's done."

"It's young love, Rosalie. True love, but still very, very raw. They're in a delicate balance

right now."

"Are you ever going to tell her?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"She doesn't need to be influenced by anything or anyone."

Rosalie suspected Alice was still holding on to the hope of Edward and Bella reconciling and uniting.

"Do you think Edward's going to think it will be just as easy to get back with her as he did the last time he left her?" Rosalie asked hastily. She always hated how quickly Bella had forgiven her brother. The woman had no backbone, whatsoever.

"I think, and I'm just guessing here-based on our knowledge of Edward-that he hopes she's moved on, but is terrified at the thought of being left behind. If there's an opening, he'll take it."

"Do you support him, Alice?"

Alice ignored the question.

"Alice, do you support Edward's decision to come back into her life and possibly change her?"

"I...I don't know, Rosalie. He's my brother, I want him to be happy, but at the same time, I want Bella to have the life she has right now."

"Remember that, Alice. Remember the life she has now, the one that she's built for herself after Edward abandoned her for a second time. That is what I'm trying to protect here. Alice, you better listen to me. I want to know when he decides. Don't lie to me, either, I'll know. I want to know when he's coming back so I can save her human life. You owe her that much!"

Alice nodded wordlessly.