A wave of nervousness flooded Bella as she and Edward arrived at his house in the woods. She latched on to him so she wouldn't fall and to feel safe once out of his Volvo. Most of his siblings intimidated Bella and sometimes even Edward still made her felt that way. She shouldn't have felt that way about Edward since she was so in love with him. There was a pull to him that she hadn't experienced in anyone…well there was another and it felt just as strong if stronger. In all her glances of the Cullen siblings in the school cafeteria, there was one she felt drawn to and not even Bella understood why. She recalled the moment where she did lock eyes on Edward for the first time, but wandered just a tad to lock eyes on another golden eyed angel. An angel with black hair in pixie cut, slim petite body, great fashion tastes, and a warmth despite the coldness from the rest of the family. They shared a smile as well, as if the pixie saw a future with her and turns out, she had seen one if what Edward told her was true. If anything, she was finally going to meet Alice and get to know her and the rest of the Cullen coven.
On the way to the house Bella asked,
"Isn't this too soon Edward?"
He grinned a bit and shook his head.
"I know I want you to be my life now so that means getting to know my family. Alice especially has waited long enough to meet you."
Bella couldn't understand why she had to wait to meet her. After all, she seemed very sweet if a bit spritely for Bella. There was a strong feeling Bella had for Alice and perhaps it was a vibe for a strong friendship. She did have friends at Forks High School but their connections didn't feel as strong as Bella's intrigue for Alice. The fact Alice had to wait made Bella slightly annoyed even if she would have been nervous if Alice had approached her sooner.
"And why was she waiting Edward?" Bella scoffed.
Edward raised a curious eyebrow at her. He didn't think Bella would have wanted anyone from his family to approach her, let alone Alice. She was the most…. abrasive so to speak but in a meaningful way. He wanted to be sure Bella was his before committing her to a life interacting with vampires. Her blood sang to him and she was truly one of a kind for a human.
"I wanted to be sure we were serious before letting her and the rest of my family get to know you. You were an odd one to be drawn to me." He teased.
Bella rolled her eyes. Everyone would be drawn to you Bella thought; he was a Greek god among men. Edward's eyes lingered on her and really wondered what she was thinking. Blush came across her cheek since she still wasn't used to the attention Edward gave her. A part of her wondered if it related back to a conversation they had, about her being his prey. Everything about him drew her in, his voice, his face, even his smell as Edward put it. Though Bella couldn't lie, Edward did make her feel something; something she hadn't felt for anyone before.
"Bella?" he questioned.
"Hm?" Bella mused.
He chuckled and kissed the top of her head.
"Your mind is full of thoughts and it's a real shame I can't read them."
Probably for the best Bella thought, after all it's bad enough he watched her sleep; perhaps it is good her mind is closed to him.
"Well, I guess that gives me some sense of being extraordinary if I'm immune to your mind reading."
Bella took a deep breath as she and Edward walked into the house. It was very clean, pristine, and elegant and Bella felt out of place. Slowly, they made their way into the kitchen where they saw four of the Cullens. Bella frowned slightly as Alice wasn't one of them. Edward noticed the pout on his girlfriend's lips and he smiled. Bella glanced at him and she felt odd about the smile, almost like it was forced.
"You feeling, okay?" Bella asked him.
"Why wouldn't I be?"
Bella shrugged and maybe her thoughts were playing tricks on her. She remembered Doctor Cullen as he treated her from an accident with Tyler's van that Edward saved her from. He still had a warm demeanor to him as did his wife, Esme. Rosalie was helping Esme make food for Bella since she had a different diet from them. Her golden eyes glared at Bella for being here and at Edward for lulling her into their lives. Emmet didn't seem bothered at all and enjoyed that Edward finally stopped sulking after the decades everyone lived as a family.
"Welcome Bella. It's so finally nice to meet you." Esme spoke softly,
"How are things going Bella? Charlie doing, okay?"
"Yep, everything's been good Dr. Cullen."
He chuckled and shook his head.
"You can call me Carlisle. Now I hope you'll have an appetite, Esme and Rosalie have been working all day on this meal for you."
Bella bit her lip and Edward sighed. He didn't want his family to go to such extremes, especially since Bella knew that only she would need to eat human food.
"She already ate Carlisle." Edward informed them.
With that, Rosalie broke the bowl she was making salad in and intensified her gaze.
"Great, just great." she commented.
"Just ignore Rosalie, she's always dramatic." Edward told her.
"You know how dangerous this is Edward. It's really something that we are just ignoring the fact Bella is human. No one is really going to say anything?" Rosalie complained.
"Rose, calm down babe. Edward's happy, let him be for a while k?" Emmett told her.
Rosalie sighed and started to clean up the mess. Edward finally noticed both Alice and Jasper weren't there and asked,
"Where's Alice and Jasper?"
No one answered but Edward could hear Alice's thoughts coming from the staircase in the living room.
Bella's here! Finally, I get to meet her! Yay! Edward could hear Alice's thoughts say.
She was on top of the stairs with Jasper and she gracefully ran to Bella, wrapping her arms around Bella. Both women felt natural hugging each other and Alice gave Bella a kiss on the cheek, getting surprised looks from Jasper, Esme, and Carlisle. Edward just chuckled since his sister was very taken with Bella and that they would be good friends.
"Hi Bella! I'm so glad Edward brought you over. You have no idea how it killed me not to be able to talk to you. Edward here wouldn't allow it." Alice spoke softly.
Edward stiffened next to Bella at that comment. Bella glanced his way and asked,
"Again, may I ask why? It seems rather selfish of you to rob your sister of a friend."
Edward chuckled though it didn't appear warm to Bella. He cracked a smile and mentioned,
"Alice...tends to go overboard a lot. I just wanted to be sure we would be a thing and not have Alice feel bad if things went sour between us."
"They won't Edward since I see us being close friends, best friends in fact. Would you care for an overdue chat Bella? We need to catch up on the time we were robbed thanks to my dear brother." Alice smiled.
"I would like that thanks. Lead the way to your room Alice."
Edward slowly released his hold on Bella and Alice took Bella's hand. It was small and dainty like the rest of her, but Bella was still able to fit in nicely. It might have been Bella's imagination but Edward's laughter seemed to be laced with bitterness. She cast that thought aside as Alice led her upstairs to first introduce Bella to Jasper. He waved slightly and Bella gently smiled at him.
"This is Jasper, he's my partner of sorts. Always there for me when I need him, right Jas?" Alice said in a sing-song voice.
Partner Bella thought. It made sense since most of the family was paired off yet why did that word bother Bella? Jasper was also taken aback by the word choice but he let that roll off his back.
"Of course, Alice. Very nice to finally be properly introduced. I was wondering when Edward would stop hiding you away from us. You should see how his emotions are when you're on his mind. It can be quite distracting." Jasper joked.
"Well now he has to share since Bella and I are going to be super close." Alice smiled.
Bella smiled and nodded in agreement. They walked to one of the rooms down a long hallway and Alice smiled as she opened the room. Bella at a first glance could tell this was Alice's room. Rose color carpet covered the floors of her room and had a large mirror behind her door. The back of her wall was a glass window which showed a nice picturesque view of the woods behind the room. The eastern side of her room had shelves filled with books and CDs to Bella's liking. Edward wasn't the only reader she thought and continued to look around the room. Alice had a massive closet, two of them in fact causing Bella's mouth to drop when Alice showed Bella dozens upon dozens of outfits.
"Something tells me we will be having a lot of shopping trips?" Bella asked.
Alice giggled softly but nodded at Bella's question.
"Of course, we will, it's my favorite pastime among other things. I'm so happy you're here with me." Alice commented.
There was a dresser that had a bunch of accessories ranging from scarves, sunglasses, jewelry, and hats. Bella was astounded that Alice had such tastes for fashion that she could possibly rival Rosalie in beauty if in full force. The walls were decorated with art, fashion and business degrees, and sketches of clothes Alice had drawn herself. Bella did notice one picture that was out of place and it caught her off guard. It was of a human Alice with a little girl with dark brown hair and brown eyes. It was interesting to see this side of Alice, a human side and Alice went by Bella's side.
"This is the only picture I have of my past. I don't have many memories of my human life, but thankfully I know of this girl because of the writing on the back...my little sister Cynthia. Kept it close to my heart when I was left... Sorry I don't want to sad specifics on my small remembrance of life before becoming a vampire. We should be catching up with happier times to share."
Bella can tell Alice was trying to be cheerful, but it was clear to Bella that Alice misses to this day since there was no way Cynthia could be alive now. Not wanting to upset Alice, she looked around and noticed something crucial was missing.
"No bed in this room, how do you sleep?"
Alice chuckled and shook her head.
"We don't sleep Bella, like at all. Which means we have a lot of time on our hands, too much at times. Thankfully a lot of that time will be with you."
Bella loved the sound of that as they made their way to Alice's violet couch with a lovely black coffee table. Both teens talked about Edward at first before slowly changing the conversation to Alice's powers.
"Edward tells me you see the future...what do you see with us?"
Alice smiled since Bella was into their friendship. They had this instant connection that really sparked within them and Alice wondered that fact herself. When she tried to see a vision, she chuckled.
"We haven't firmly made decisions yet on that Bella. Maybe we need to have a shopping trip tomorrow so I can fully see our future together."
Bella chuckled since Alice was toying with her in a fun way.
"Sounds fun, but I'm not really good at shopping. I mean I'm not exactly comfortable with being all dressy." Bella spoke softly.
Alice smiled softly back and nodded.
"I'll pick the outfits out while I help you to style and try them on. Shopping can be fun when you have people you really want to be with. Maybe I can pick you up in my car and we can make a day of it. I'm sure Edward would like you to feel like family, right?"
Bella did see a future with Edward and that would mean getting closer to his family. She can already tell Alice was making such an effort to make her feel included and that made Bella's heart flutter ever so quickly. Even her shopping trips with Angela and Jessica couldn't compare to this strong instant connection with Alice and maybe it would be fun to shop with her.
"Would Rose join us? It would be rude if you didn't ask her, right?" Bella offered.
"I already see her saying no, which is sad but understandable. That just means I will have you all to myself since we can use a girl's day before school Monday, right?"
All to herself, Bella should have felt a bit uneasy yet she's been the calmest with Alice and her ideas. There was a knock on the door and both women looked to see it was Edward. He chuckled as he read Alice's mind about their shopping trip tomorrow.
"Alright jumping at the chance to hang out with Bella? I knew you would be quick to be friends with her." Edward playfully teased.
Alice rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.
"We would have been friends sooner if you'd just let us. Don't know why you were so afraid of us meeting. Bella is really nice and I want to get to know my new bestie."
Edward looked at Bella and she managed to laugh.
"It's all fine Edward. I do want to go shopping with Alice and she's not forcing me. I would probably feel just as safe with her as I am with you."
"But of course, Alice and I are close siblings. Just be sure you don't buy out the store for Bella. She's not used to attention or having such lavish shopping sprees."
"Not yet but she will. I've seen it that Bella will slowly love these shopping trips and our time together." Alice said with glee.
Edward was caught off guard with what she read from Alice's mind.
Relax Edward, Bella is already warmed up to me. We just have this thing I can't explain but it's really something special.
Bella's focus shifted between Alice and Edward but he nodded.
"I'm glad she will. Now can I take my girlfriend so we can have a moment to chat. She should know what she's getting into and get to know me a bit more." Edward told her.
Alice nodded but before Bella got up from the couch, she motioned Bella to stay. Alice moved with such grace that it almost seemed like she was dancing with her swift yet pretty movements. She wrote down an email address and a phone number for Bella and slid it in her jacket pocket.
"See you around Bella." Alice spoke softly.
"See you later or soon Alice." Bella told her softly.
Edward walked in the room and took Bella's hand. After feeling Alice's touch, Edward's almost seemed a bit strong if rigid. He wrapped an arm around Bella as he took her to his room. In the back of Bella's mind, she was thinking about how fun tomorrow would be with Alice. She kind of wondered if Alice would take dressing her up like a Barbie doll would be serious, but a part of her liked the idea a lot. One thing Bella knew was that Alice was another part of wanting to be with Edward since it meant a lifetime with her. The instant connection was like moths to a flame and one that will last forever once Edward someday turns her.
Note from the author-To get this out of the way, yes, I am more than a decade late in making a Twilight fan fic. This is more so for myself and to try something new in fanfiction, particularly this ship. This story is going to be a bit of a slow burn and there will be many set pieces, new characters and spotlight on others, and developments as the story goes on. I did crack open Twilight for the first time in years and I know I am going off script. I know the night of the vampire baseball scene that leads to James's hunting Bella would be the same one as meeting the Cullens. However, for the sake of my reimagining of sorts I want Alice and Bella to develop more of their friendship. It was heavily glossed over in the series for the clear focus of the romance and eventually Team Jacob vs Team Edward conflicts starting from New Moon. So, the vampire baseball scene, which is my favorite part of the film version, will be included just later on. Plus, shopping trips are always fun, especially with Alice, yes? Continue if you wish and if not, thanks for giving it a shot.