"Are you okay?" Jasper murmured in my ear as we sat down, waiting for their plane to arrive. I nodded, trying to show as little pain as possible. He gave me a small squeeze. "It'll be fine, Alice." he whispered, and Carlisle and Esme both shot me reassuring glances. Rosalie didn't miss them.
"What?" she asked, twisting in my direction.
"She's got a headache," Carlisle explained. Rosalie's eyebrow arched.
"We don't get headaches." she said, stating the fact I also thought was true before this.
"Well she does," Jasper growled under his breath. I smiled wryly. Carlisle pulled out his phone.
"Their plane should be here soon, maybe five minutes?" he said. I flinched as my once-controlled headache returned. Esme looked at me with worried eyes. I gritted my teeth, reining in screams as I smiled at her like nothing was wrong. She moved to my side and rubbed my back reassuringly. Another half-vision took me and in that moment, my control slipped and a small moan slipped out from my gritted teeth. Jasper immediately grasped me tighter.
"It's fine," he soothed. A little while later, Emmett got up. "There's my little sister!" he exclaimed, a grin breaking out across his face. And there she was, supported by Edward as they moved through the sea of faces. My headache increased again, and I fought to keep my calm mask intact. I reluculantly decided I had to stay away from Bella, as being in close proximity with her just made the headache worse.
We all got up to greet her as she neared, big smiles on our faces. To our surprise, she ran straight into Rosalie's arms. Rosalie's! I looked at the two of them, embracing as if old friends. I'd thought Rose hated Bella, and here she was, acting like they were best friends. A sudden realization flashed across my mind, and Edward immediately looked at me, the same thought having crossed his mind. His mouth widened with horror. "No," he whispered under his breath.
"What?" Carlisle asked in confusion. Edward quickly filled him in and Carlisle's eyes widened. Behind me, Jasper stiffened. Rosalie casually slung her arm over Bella's shoulder and began walking her to the car. We followed in silence. Once we'd got in the car, Edward, Rosalie and Jasper began to argue, Esme's peacemaking protests falling on deaf ears. "Bella, can't you see? It's way too dangerous... we don't even know what the thing is!" Edward ranted. Rosalie's eyes flashed.
"It's not a thing, it's a baby, Edward!" she hissed back. The argument went on. My teeth were still clenched, holding in screams. I could feel the façade I'd so carefully constructed beginning to fall apart. The car finally slowed to a halt. I watched Rosalie help Bella out of the car, a smile on her face as she ushered Bella to the door. Once we were all inside, Carlisle gestured to the stairs.
"We should hold a family meeting before we do anything. Rosalie, you can stay with Bella." Edward was about to protest, but he held silent and followed us anyway. "Carlisle, the thing's killing her! We should kill it before it has a chance to develop." Edward said. Carlisle nodded in silent agreement, though his face was full of guilt. Carlisle detested violence. "It's a baby, Edward!" came Rosalie's voice from downstairs and he sighed heavily. He turned to me, his face expectant. "Alice?" he asked. I shook my head.
"Edward, I can't."
"Please, Alice! Just try!" he implored, his face twisted with pain and agony, his eyes begging. I couldn't do this to him, he was my brother. And even though the current headache was more than I could bear while ignoring the visions, I would try anyway. Jasper opened his mouth to protest, but I put my finger on his lips, silencing him before I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. It was just the same kind of half-vision, a different scene. The pounding in my head picked up again, pacing itself so exactly with the tick of the clock as if to mock me.
I knew the feelings I was exuding was making Jasper more and more tense, and I tried futilely to supress the pain that was boiling to the surface. I didn't even realize that I had collapsed to the floor until I felt Jasper's hand, slowly brushing away a lock of hair. Edward and the others were kneeling down around us. "I'm so sorry," Edward breathed, having seen my thoughts and witnessed my pain. "It's fine," I managed to sigh. I made no protest as Jasper delicately lifted me off the floorboards, cradling me in his arms.