Rosalie POV
Alice had been insistent on a girls shopping trip. And when she said girls, she meant all the girls. Bree and I drove to Seattle in my car to give her a bit of a break from Bella's scent, while Esme drove Alice and Bella in Carlisle's car. I turned to glance at Bree as I drove at breakneck speed down the familiar road to Seattle. She was fiddling with the radio to find a station she liked that didn't lose signal every 5 minutes. She settled on one, and started quietly humming along to the song. I smiled. I really liked having a little sister. It didn't quite make up for not having any children, but it came close. Her friendship with Emmett filled me with joy too; they got on so well, and it was funny to see my giant, hulking husband next to Bree's tiny frame playing on the PlayStation, or whatever else they fancied.
It didn't take long to cover the 140 miles to Seattle, and before we knew it, Alice had tipped us into a fancy boutique she'd had her eye on. It didn't take long for the day to turn into Alice dressing up Bree. Bree was amazingly patient with her, allowing Alice to dress her up in some outrageous dresses, and actually let Alice buy a couple of them.
"How are you doing?" I asked Bree quietly as we came out of the third shop of the day. She looked up at me, questioning. "Being around lots of humans." I added, clarifying my question.
"Oh. It's not as bad as I thought actually. It's easier to ignore them than I expected. I can feel the thirst in my throat, but I've not been sorely tempted to attack anyone yet." She grinned, flashing her razor sharp teeth, and I laughed.
"I'm impressed. Carlisle must be right, it's a gift. And a damn handy one too; maybe you'll be even be able to go back to school in September." Bree looked at me in horror, and I laughed again. "Believe me, lounging round the house all day every day will eventually get boring. You might actually want to be able to go to school. Though, I'm glad I've finished high school for a few years now. College is way more fun." Bree looked a little sad.
"I'm gonna miss you all when you disappear off to college." She whined.
"Bree, Em and I are only gonna be in Seattle! You saw how quickly we got here today – you can come and visit all the time, and we'll probably come home on weekends."
"I guess. But Alice and Jasper are going to be all the way in New York! And Edward and Bella at Harvard." She still sounded slightly in awe at the college they'd chosen to go to.
"It won't be for long. And they'll come back to visit all the time too. You'll barely notice we're gone once you're at school all day, and you'll get Esme and Carlisle all to yourself."
"What's that about me you're saying?" Esme caught up with us, and gave me a gentle, joking shove.
"Oh, just that once all the big kids move out to college again, you'll still have Bree to lather in all your motherly love and affection." I grinned, and Esme shoved me again, before wrapping an arm over Bree's shoulders. "My point exactly!" I exclaimed. "You can't help yourself!" Bree and Esme joined me in laughing.
We headed to a café so Bella could have some lunch. Bree amused us all by deciding to actually eat her food rather than pretending like the rest of us, which involved some interesting facial expressions as she attempted to enjoy a plate of spaghetti.
"Bree that is actually disgusting!" I exclaimed as she ate her final forkful. "You know you're gonna have to puke that up again later, right?!" I said, and she whipped around to stare at me.
"What?!" she exclaimed, and Alice burst out laughing.
"Nobody told you?" I asked, amused again. Bree looked from Alice to me to Esme, and Esme took pity on her.
"We can't digest human food, so it will just sit in your stomach until you, er, remove it." Esme explained delicately, a shadow of a smile on her face.
"Well that's disgusting. Why didn't you stop me?!" Bree demanded, and we laughed again.
"Because your face while you ate was priceless." I said, shrugging. Bree shoved me into a wall, and I felt the bricks crumble a little on impact. I straightened myself out, brushing the crumbs of brick off my shoulder, as we headed back through the city towards the cars.
"What is that smell?" Alice remarked, and I took a breath in. The air did smell kinda gross.
"Probably a blocked drain or burst pipe or something." Esme said, nonchalantly.
"Whatever it is, it's revolting!" Bella added, and I had to agree. If that was a drain issue, something truly nasty was blocking them. I shuddered and sped up slightly so we could get past it. The smell lingered for longer than I expected it to, and suddenly Bree stopped dead. I turned to see what was wrong, and was surprised to see that somehow, Bree looked kinda ill.
"I do not feel good." She said, weakly, and leant on the wall for support. I quickly grabbed the bags of shopping off her as the others turned back to see what was holding us up.
"What's wrong?" Esme asked, a slight hint of panic in her voice as Bree slid down the wall and sat in a ball at the bottom.
"Could it be the food?!" I asked, alarmed. Bree really did look ill.
"Surely not?!" Esme answered. "We can't digest it, but it's not harmful to us to eat human food."
"What else could it be though?" I asked, and Esme's brow furrowed. "Alice?" I asked, turning to my other sister.
"I don't know." Alice said, and she sounded frustrated. "I can't really see anything." She explained.
"I feel really sick." Bree's quiet, pained voice interrupted our fast conversation.
"We need to ring Carlisle." Esme announced, pulling out her phone and dialling her husband's number. She moved away slightly so she could speak rapidly into the phone without distressing Bree, and I sat down on the floor next to my little sister. I put my arm around her and pulled her into a hug. She leant her head against my chest, and groaned slightly, like she was in pain. This was disturbing; I didn't know vampires could get sick?
Esme arrived back a few moments later, looking worried. I guess Carlisle was none the wiser as to what was wrong.
"Let's just get her home as quickly as possible." Esme said. She sounded worried too. "Then Carlisle can get a better look at her and he might know what's wrong."
"Bree, do you think you can walk?" Bree shook her head in response, one hand clamped over her mouth. I gently pulled her onto my back, and we set off a the fastest reasonable pace towards the parking lot.
"Alice, take Bella home." Esme instructed, throwing Alice the keys to Carlisle's car. "I'll go with Rose and Bree." I opened the car, and gently popped Bree into the back seat as Esme climbed in the other side. Bree nestled into Esme's arms, and I shut the doors, climbed in the front, and threw the car into reverse, desperate to get Bree home. The drive seemed so much longer now I was in a hurry. Once we were out of the city traffic and across the ferry, I stepped on the gas, and drove as fast as the car could handle on the quiet highway along the coastline of the Olympic peninsula. I was thankful we'd brought my car; it was by far the fastest one we owned, and though it felt like ages, it barely took us a couple of hours to make it home.
As soon as I shut the engine off, Esme was out of the car with Bree in her arms. She raced up the steps to the front door, and Carlisle opened the door, looking worried. He guided Esme to the fully equipped medical room (you could never be too prepared when the clumsiest human alive was dating your eldest vampire son), and Esme laid Bree down on the bed, before taking a few steps back and hovering anxiously. I moved across the room and stood by her side. I wanted to console my mother, but in truth, I was about as nervous as she was. Esme wrapped and arm around my waist, and we stood, waiting.
dun dun duUUuuUUuUun! any guesses?
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