A/N :
Oh my god I had so much trouble posting this chapter... what's up with the weird format when I copy/paste a chapter in? So annoying.
Anyway, here's another chapter. I really didn't think people still kept up with this ship, and have been super surprised with the traffic this has gotten so far. So for those of you still looking for new Bella/Rosalie trash here you go!
Chapter 2
Bella's week went by much like the first day had. Rosalie would say a few words to her in first period (but mostly sit with a glare directed at everything and everyone, including Bella), Alice bounced around her in the hallways, and Edward just got even more awkward as she talked with him. Emmett bear hugged her every time she saw him, and Jasper still looked like he had a stomach ulcer.
She couldn't get rid of that damn itch. It wouldn't go away. It didn't get any worse, but Bella couldn't tell if it ever got any better. She had to keep escaping away at lunch to ease the discomfort, and she started telling the Cullen's that she was spending lunch in the library.
The boys in the school continued to stare at her as she sat in classes or walked the halls, but Bella was thankful that Rosalie was usually next to her acting as a buffer from their lewd stares. She didn't understand why the blonde kept showing up and it was confusing how quickly her family seemed to take to her. Bella didn't understand it, but she tried not to question it too much for her own sake. She was thankful that she had friends that she actually liked being around, and that's all she tried to focus on.
Bella hopped up from her perch on the window when her alarm went off. She had been enjoying the cool air against her skin, and decided that she wanted to walk to school. It wasn't raining for once and the weather was lovely – so nice and brisk. Charlie tried to protest, but Bella insisted on walking. It felt nice to be outside.
As she walked, the wind blew her hair around her face as she felt a few rain drops hit the top of her head. Bella lifted her head and smiled as the drops hit her nose and cheeks.
She arrived at the school building a little early because she had given herself plenty of time to get there. Bella pulled out a book from her bag and sat down on a patch of grass, deciding to pass the time with one of the new books she had gotten from her recent visit to Fork's small library. She had managed to find a few books from the dismally meager collection when she had walked there during a lazy afternoon.
Someone sat down next to her on the grass, and Bella glanced up.
"Hi." A girl with dark hair said quietly. "Do you mind if I sit next to you?"
Bella smiled and shook her head. "Not at all." She reached out her hand. "I'm Bella."
"Angela." The girl smiled back and shook her hand. She took out her own book from her backpack and started reading next to Bella.
Bella stared at the side of her face. "What are you reading?"
Angela held up the book for Bella to see. "Macbeth." She shrugged. "It's for English, but I'm actually really enjoying it."
Bella hummed and nodded. "I can appreciate a tragedy."
"Are you liking Forks so far?" Angela asked after a moment.
Bella shrugged. "It's very… gloomy." She shot her a grin.
Angela blinked a few times and stared at her for just a few seconds too long, when someone cleared their throat. Bella looked up and saw Rosalie standing above them looking very unamused.
"Hi, Rosalie." Bella said. She waved her hand, "This is my new friend Angela."
"Charmed." Rosalie said flatly. She raised an eyebrow at Bella. "Are you planning on going to class today or are you just going to enjoy the damp grass?"
"It's not that wet." Bella argued, jumping up and reaching out a hand to help Angela. She shot her a smile as she swung her bag around her shoulder. "Well, it was nice meeting you Angela. I'll probably see you around."
Rosalie stalked off towards the main doors and Bella trailed after her.
"What's got you in a mood?" Bella asked as Rosalie slammed through the doors.
She whirled around and Bella took a few steps back. "Nothing!" She snarled, before turning back towards the hallway. Everyone around her gave a very wide birth as Rosalie stalked past them, most glancing at her with fearful looks.
Bella cocked her head as she looked after Rosalie, before shaking her head and walking to class. It was impossible to understand her erratic mood swings.
Bella started sitting with Angela and her friends sometimes at lunch on days when the itch was bearable, and they turned out to be surprisingly decent company. It annoyed her when Mike wouldn't stop staring at her with glossy eyes and when Jessica snuck glares her way when she thought she wasn't looking, but as far as teenagers went they weren't that bad.
"You talk with the Cullen's a lot." Lauren, a blonde girl with icy eyes, said one day while they were eating.
"Yeah." Bella nodded while she peeled a banana. She looked up as silence met her response. Everyone was staring at her as if they were waiting for something. "So?"
"They don't talk to anyone." Jessica said, leaning in and dropping her voice. "They hang out with each other – even date each other – but no one else is good enough for them."
Bella snorted. "Who turned you down?" She glanced over at the family in question and noticed that they were sitting very still. The Cullen's seemed to have their own table that was situated in the back corner, away from everyone else's. They didn't seem to be moving when Bella glanced over, but as she kept looking Emmett started waving his arms as if he was explaining something and Alice started picking at the food in front of her. Rosalie had a stony face and was staring silently at the wall.
Jessica looked at her with wide eyes. "What?"
"You sound bitter." Bella said, stabbing a piece of watermelon with her fork and eating it, bringing her eyes back to her own table.
"It's not just me." Jessica said, sounding defensive. "He turns everyone down."
"Don't tell me it's Eddy." Bella smiled, raising an eyebrow. Jessica's face gave her all the answer she needed.
"Have you ever been to La Push?" Angela asked her, obviously changing the subject.
"It's been a while." Bella said. That was a bit of an understatement.
"We're going next weekend!" Mike said a little too enthusiastically. "You should come." His puppy dog eyes made her want to gag.
"Maybe." Bella said. She shrugged, "I'll have to see if I have anything planned." That was a lie, but Bella couldn't bring herself to care. She didn't want to be in any situation where she could be cornered alone by Mike Newton.
"They have a nice beach." Angela said. Bella smiled over at her and nodded. She liked Angela – she was quiet and seemed very mature for her age. She wasn't pushy and seemed to read social situations very well.
The bell rang and they stood up to go. "I'll see you later." Bella said as she waved goodbye to them as most of them started walking in the opposite direction of her class.
Bella sat down in her seat and pushed her hair out of her face. She sighed and pulled it up into a messy bun to get it out of her way.
"Bella." Rosalie said as she sat down. Rosalie turned to look at her, and froze as soon as she did. Bella could hear her breathing stop, and she raised her eyebrows slightly as Rosalie blinked a couple of times as if to clear her head. Rosalie looked away and ran a hand through her hair. She took a deep breath before she turned back to Bella. "Hello." She was looking at her with half-lidded eyes that were a deep gold and Bella swallowed hard.
"Hi." Bella said.
Rosalie leaned forward slightly. "Bella, would you –."
She was cut off abruptly as the teacher stood up and started talking loudly, and Rosalie closed her eyes in frustration before turning to the front of the class.
Bella spent that weekend lounging around the house, sometimes watching TV with Charlie and reading some of the books she had brought with her. She spent a good portion of both days outside in different forms, leaping from tree to tree and trying to burn off the itch that was so prevalent.
The next Monday, as Bella walked into the school parking lot, she reached it right as the Cullen's were speeding into the lot. Bella changed directions as the fancy cars parked in the farthest corner.
"Bella!" Alice sang as she bounced out of the silver Volvo and into Bella's arms. "Did you have a nice walk?"
"It was lovely." Bella said.
"You know, we could drive you if you want." Edward said as he locked his car. He waved his hand towards the two vehicles. "We have room."
"I like the fresh air." Bella said, linking arms with Edward as they walked towards the school. She was pleasantly surprised to find that the itch was faint that day, and she breathed a little easier knowing that her discomfort was lessoning as she spent more time with them.
Bella caught a faint growl rumbling through the air, and her ears perked up. She titled her head to the side and also caught Alice whispering, "Rose, if you can't control yourself I'm going to throw you into your car!"
Bella blinked and looked behind them, where she saw Rosalie glaring at the back of Edward's head. Her nostrils flared and she brushed off Emmett's hand as she walked past them and into the school.
"What's into her?" Bella asked. That growl had sounded just like some of the more ferocious animals Bella ran into when she shifted. She frowned at Rosalie as she stalked away.
"Oh, just the usual." Alice said. "Rose can be quite awful to be around when she doesn't get her way."
Bella hummed and gazed after Rosalie. She was gone within seconds and Bella turned towards Edward. She patted down his hair a little bit and swatted his hand away as he tried to fix it.
Emmett laughed. "We've been trying to hint that Eddy here uses too much hair product for years, Bella." He swung an arm around her shoulder and pulled her away from Edward. "I don't know how you think you're going to be more successful."
"I have full confidence in myself." Bella said seriously. "He needs to be helped, and I think I can be the one to put my foot down."
"You would have all of our gratitude." A deep voice drawled from next to Alice. Jasper smiled wryly at her. "He makes the house smell awful every morning."
Edward groaned. "Guys, stop making fun of me." He ran a hand through his hair and stalked off, similar to how Rosalie had. "I don't have to deal with this."
Alice's laugh sounded like a bunch of bells tinkling together. "Oh, get over yourself, brother." Bella looked up at the sky and smiled as the gray clouds danced to Alice's laughter.
They reached the school building and said their goodbyes as they went to their respective classes. Bella's eyes went straight to Rosalie as she walked into her class. She was gazing out of the window beside their table with her arms crossed, looking like she would bite anyone who dared disturb her bad mood.
Bella sighed as she sat down and Rosalie moved her gaze to the opposite wall, refusing to look at her. "What's up?"
One of Rosalie's eyebrows raised.
Bella waited, but Rosalie didn't say anything.
She turned away.
Rosalie was quiet for the rest of class, and she didn't look like she was even breathing. She sat perfectly still – like she had been chiseled out of stone right there in front of Bella. Bella found herself lost in thought during the class period. The gold eyes and beautiful features that the Cullen's shared confused her. Sometimes she couldn't hear them breathing for long periods of time, and Bella kept replaying that growl she heard over and over in her head. She felt warmth start spreading in her stomach and she could feel her fingers start to tingle. Bella sat up straighter and took a deep breath. She cast her mind around for something else to think about, and started memorizing the formula that the teacher had written on the board. She repeated it over and over in her head until the heat had gone down and the trembling in her body had stopped.
When the bell rang, Rosalie didn't move and neither did Bella. The class cleared out and without a glance the teacher left too.
Bella glanced at her warily and cautiously reached her hand out. Rosalie jumped as Bella laid her hand on her knee, and Rosalie's head whipped around to stare at her.
"Did I do something to offend you?" Bella asked, frowning and scrunching her eyebrows together.
Rosalie shook her head.
"Okay." Bella said, searching her gaze. "Then why in the world are you ignoring me?"
Rosalie closed her eyes and turned her face partially away. She let out a breath through her nose and turned around. "I apologize." She grabbed the hand that was still on her knee and used it to help Bella to her feet. They grabbed their stuff and Rosalie led Bella to the hallway, where she dropped her hand as they started walking towards Bella's next class.
"It's fine." Bella said. "But what-?"
"I am a jealous person, Bella." Rosalie interrupted her. "You should know that."
"Okay." Bella said, cursing herself for not having anything else to say.
Rosalie looked as if she was going to say something else, but the bell interrupted her. "I should be going to class." Rosalie said. She gave Bella's arm a soft squeeze before spinning around and rushing off.
"What are you doing this weekend?" Rosalie asked as she walked Bella to her last class of the day, where Bella knew Edward was waiting for her. Bella was still thinking about what Rosalie had said earlier that day. She had been surprised to see Rosalie show up to walk her to her classes every time she walked out of a room, and she hadn't missed the glares Rosalie sent her sibling's way whenever they got Bella's attention.
Bella couldn't figure it out. Rosalie was definitely not the friendliest of the Cullen family. Alice and Emmett beat her by far, and Bella sometimes doubted that Rosalie even liked her very much. She was very rude sometimes, and not just to Bella. She was rude to everybody, it seemed, and Bella just seemed to get the dialed down version of Rosalie most of the time. She couldn't figure out why.
Bella shrugged. "My dad mentioned going over to see one of his old friends, Billy, and he has a son that I used to be really good friends with." Bella bit her lip. "I guess I am still good friends with."
"You guess?" Rosalie raised an eyebrow.
"I haven't seen him in a long time." Bella said quietly.
Rosalie nodded.
Bella opened her mouth to say something, when someone knocked her shoulder roughly as he walked past. Rosalie turned back quickly – too quickly, Bella noted – and pushed the boy towards the lockers on the wall. She snarled at him and he gazed at her with wide, frightened eyes. Bella took a step back.
She snarled at him, her face inches from his. The sound of her growls sent icy shivers down Bella's spine, and her hands started trembling again.
The boy looked like he was going to wet his pants.
A pale arm wrapped itself around her shoulders and held her back. "Woah, Rosie." Emmett smiled at her. "Hang on." He looked back over to Bella. "Bella needs to get to class."
Rosalie glared at the boy for another second before stepping back. She slipped her arm around Bella's waist as she led them down the hall, away from Emmett who seemed to be trying to talk to the boy who still looked like he might have an accident right there in the hallway.
Bella looked over at Rosalie, noticed her stony expression and her dark eyes, and decided not to say anything about the arm around her waist. She clenched her fists as hard as she could as she tried to stop the trembling.
They arrived at the classroom door and Rosalie had still not let go of Bella.
"Hey, Rosalie?" Bella asked.
Rosalie looked at her.
"If you don't let me go, I can't go to class." She pointed at the door. "It's right there."
Rosalie looked at the door and then back to Bella. Her eyes were definitely black now, Bella noted. She frowned.
"Bella." Edward had walked up to them. "Would you like to come over to our house on Sunday?"
"What?" Bella asked, more startled than confused.
"I heard that you and your father are busy on Saturday, and I'm sure my parents would love to meet you." Edward explained, edging closer to them slowly. He kept glancing at Rosalie as he spoke, as if trying to get her attention. "Wouldn't that be nice, Rose? To have Bella at the house with us?"
Rosalie closed her eyes and tightened her grip on Bella.
"Yes." She said.
Edward nodded. "Okay." He motioned awkwardly to the door next to them. "Well, we have class now."
Rosalie let go of Bella and turned away abruptly. She started walking down the hall without another word or glance.
"That was weird." Bella said, looking after her.
Edward ran a hand through his hair, making it stand up even more. Bella reached up and tried to pat it down. He looked at her incredulously.
"You know you can't do that to your hair – you look ridiculous."
"I do not!" He said, affronted and patted worryingly at his hair.
She snorted and grabbed his arm. "Let's go to class before your sister captures me again." She looked at him as they walked in the door. "She literally looked like she was going to rip that guy's head off."
"Yes." Edward nodded as they sat down.
"And that doesn't concern you?" Bella asked. "He didn't even do anything. It was obviously an accident."
"Rosalie is…" He trailed off. "One of the more complicated people I have ever met." He shifted in his seat. "I think that boy wasn't watching where he was going."
"Probably." Bella said. "But that doesn't really warrant the head-ripping, does it?"
"Well, she didn't actually…" He waived his hand in the air.
"Yes, because Emmett saved the poor soul." Bella sighed. "He didn't even run into her. It was me. What does she care?"
Edward looked at her incredulously.
Bella stared at him. "What?"
He looked away, arranging his face into a neutral expression, and shrugged his shoulders.
"Rosalie is…" Bella trailed off, looking out of the window beyond Edward.
"Yeah." Edward agreed, fixing his hair again.
"Smells good, Bells." Charlie said as he walked in the door that evening. She had taken to making dinner for them both, as Charlie's usual diet consisted of take-out and beer.
"How was work?" Bella asked.
Charlie grunted. "Same old, same old." He slumped down into a chair at the table and closed his eyes.
"Don't you think you should have retired by now, Dad?" Bella asked. He was about 10 years past the age most people do it.
"Oh no." He shook his head. "I just sit in the station all day, joking with my buddies and answering phone calls." He chuckled. "Most of the time it's old Phyllis trying to convince us that her cat's missing."
"Is it?" Bella asked as she put the food down on the table.
"Never." He shook his head. "Always on the porch or up a tree."
They ate in silence for a while.
"What do you know about the Cullen's?" Bella asked.
"The Cullen's?" Charlie asked. "They're good people." He nodded and didn't add anything else.
"Well, what do you know about them?" Bella asked impatiently.
"Carlisle is the best doctor that Forks has ever seen." Charlie said. "And his wife's real sweet – I've seen her around town a few times and she always asks how I'm doing." He took another bite of spaghetti. "Don't know much about the kids though. There has been talk going around about them," He shrugged, "but there's talk about everybody."
"They are very nice." Bella said. "Their kids, I mean. I've been hanging out with them at school."
"Really?" Charlie smiled. "I'm glad you're making friends." He paused. "I know that's hard for you, but it's important."
"I know, Dad." She smiled tightly at him. She changed the topic before it got too close to something she didn't want to talk about. "Are we going to Billy's tomorrow?"
"If that's okay with you." Charlie said.
"Sure." Bella said. "Edward asked if I wanted to come over on Sunday."
At Charlie's confused look Bella elaborated, "Edward Cullen."
"Oh." Charlie nodded, chewing his food slowly. "Edward, huh?"
"God, no." Bella shook her head quickly. "Don't even think about it. No, no, no, never." She shuddered. "He is this awkward boy I have befriended and nothing more."
Charlie laughed. "Okay, okay."
Bella stood up and started washing off the dishes. She shook her head at the thought of Edward being anything more than a friend.
"How old is Jacob?" Bella asked. She hadn't seen him in around forty years, and he was probably old enough to look like he could be her father now.
"Well," Charlie frowned. "I don't actually know." He looked over at her. "He's kinda like you, Bells. Looks the same as he did forty years ago."
Bella frowned at him. "What do you mean?"
Charlie shrugged. They were driving in his police cruiser towards the reservation where Billy lived. "I mean that he doesn't look a day over twenty."
"But that's impossible."
"Wouldn't people say that about you?" Charlie smiled.
"You've never asked how?" Bella asked incredulously. "You've never told me?"
"I have a daughter that is also a giant cat who hasn't aged a day since she was nineteen." Charlie said. "Weird is not new to me, and I'm not one to pry. It's their business."
Bella laughed incredulously and stared out of the window at the dark forest they were driving through. She could remember meeting Jake when she was smaller, back when Charlie and Renee were so clueless and they searched for help anywhere that seemed safe. They didn't know what to do with Bella, and Charlie had remembered the old legends about shifters Billy had told him when they were younger. Bella and Charlie had spent a few months at the reservation, trying to figure out as much as they could.
They arrived at Billy's little house and Bella jumped out of the car after seeing the large figure sitting on the steps to the porch. "Jake?"
She grinned back at the boy – man? – who was grinning at her as she walked towards him. She jumped up into his arms and he twirled her around. He was hot, like burning with the heat from the sun, and Bella, who was used to the Cullen's perpetual chill, stepped back quickly as he set her down. "Damn, dude." She looked him up and down. "You're ripped." Charlie was right – he hadn't aged a day – and he looked like he would fare pretty well against someone the size of Emmett.
He grinned and raised his arm up to flex it. "You know it, babe." He started posing for her. "I got guns of steel."
She shoved his shoulder and laughed. "Shut it, asshole."
It's like nothing has changed, Bella thought as they all sat around the table having dinner later that day. Bella and Jake had gone out to the garage and messed around with his motorbikes, joking around like they were twelve years old again. They had pizza and beer, and afterwards sat in the living room with a basketball game on. Bella hadn't laughed this much in years. Decades, maybe.
"So," Bella said as they walked around the back yard. It was a lot later, and she was sure that Charlie would want to go home soon. "Are you going to tell me?"
"Tell you what?" Jake asked, looking up at the sky above them.
She scoffed and punched his arm. "Why you look like a Calvin Klein model and not some old geezer."
He put a hand over his heart. "You think I look like a model?"
She glared at him.
"Come on, Bella." He shook his head. "You have your secrets, and I have mine."
"Not really." She said. "You know pretty much everything I do about me." When Charlie had figured out that this changing stuff wasn't going to change for her when she was a teenager, he had confided in his best friend that his daughter was a little strange. Billy, someone who believed every legend his tribe passed down, took them in for a while to try and help them figure out what it was that made Bella like this. Jacob was there, of course, and Bella had often snuck out with him while their fathers were talking so that she could chase him around the woods, nipping at his feet with her fangs and leaping tree to tree in order to get him to laugh.
Jacob looked down at his feet. "I can't tell you." He glanced at her. "There are rules."
"What if I guessed?" She asked.
"If you think about it," He said. "It's pretty easy to figure out." He rolled his eyes at the look she gave him. "You know all of the legends, Bella. Think."
She frowned at him. "Are you like me?"
"Sorta." He said. "But you're not in our legends, are you?"
"But something close is." She said. "The wolves."
He nodded. "The wolves."
They walked around in silence for a few minutes.
"Does that mean you think you can outrun me now?" Bella asked.
Jake barked a laugh. "Obviously."
She made an affronted noise. "I am offended."
Jake twirled gracefully around to face her and cocked an eyebrow. "Race you?"
Bella grinned and took off, letting her body lower itself to the ground as she felt her hands turn into giant paws that pounded along the earth. She glanced over at the giant wolf running beside her with his tongue hanging out. She growled at him and pushed even faster.
They raced through the woods in La Push, trying to trip each other or, in Bella's case, trying to swipe a fallen tree up into Jake's face. It stopped him long enough for Bella to take the lead right was they were entering back into the clearing behind his house.
She laid down, panting, and let her body change back. She laughed up at the sky as she stretched her arms out behind her. "I won!"
"You cheated." Jake said grumpily from where he was trying to put some shorts on. Bella snorted and looked away from him.
"Why don't your clothes burst like mine do?" Jake asked as he laid down beside her.
She shrugged. "I have no idea." She looked down at her shirt. "Maybe this is just like human fur, you know?"
He laughed and shook his head.
Bella and Charlie left not long after that, and Bela couldn't stop smiling as they drove home.
A silver Volvo pulled up outside of the house the next morning as Bella was cleaning up the kitchen. She gazed out of the window above the sink as the vehicle pulled up by Charlie's cruiser. Red, gravity defying hair could be seen in the driver's seat, and Bella grinned as she grabbed her jacket before walking outside. Charlie had gone upstairs to take a nap, so she hurried out through the rain towards Edward's car after locking up.
"Hey, Eddy."
"Bella." He said. They backed out of the drive-way and into the road. "How has your morning fared?"
"Good." She laughed at him. "You talk like an old man."
"I resent that." He said.
"I'm flattered that I was able to stir up such a strong emotion from you." Bella smiled. "You are usually a rock."
"You have no idea." He grumbled. Bella looked at him strangely, but noticed that he had thought that she couldn't hear what he said.
"Emmett is very excited that you are coming over today." Edward said. "He really wants you to play his video games with him." Bella could tell how much displeasure Edward felt towards these video games with the way that he said it.
"I've never played before."
"Good luck, then." Edward shook his head. "Emmett is a child."
"So I've been told." Bella said. She was curious about his giant "child" brother. She only shared one class with him, and the only contact other than that was in the hallways between classes where he usually gave her a bear hug and a grin before running off. He was always very friendly, but she was looking forward to actually spending some time with him.
Bella gasped when the house came into view. It was a mansion set right in the middle of the woods. It had taken them a while to get there, and Bella was sure that they had spent the last fifteen minutes driving deep into the forest on a dirt road.
"This is your house?" She asked.
Edward nodded as he parked the car in front of the garage to the side of the house. He looked over at her. "Be sure to tell Esme how much you seem to appreciate it."
"Is that your mom?" She asked as they got out of the car.
Edward nodded. "In a sense, yes."
They walked up the front porch, but the door opened before Edward could reach it. A small bundle of energy launched herself out of the house and into Bella's arms. "Bella!" Alice leapt back down and gave her a bright smile. "I'm so glad you're here!"
"Hey, Alice." Bella stepped back and ran a hand through her hair.
"Are you going to let us in, dear Sister?" Edward asked.
"Of course she is." A new voice said from inside the door. Alice stepped back as a slightly older – but not by much – looking woman stepped into view. "You must be Bella." She walked forward and pulled her into a hug.
"Oh." Bella said as she awkwardly patted the woman on the back. "Hi."
She pulled back and smiled warmly at Bella.
"You must be Esme." Bella said. "You have a beautiful home."
"Oh thank you, dear." She looped her arm through Bella's and walked them into the house. It was just as beautiful inside – it opened into the large living room, with the huge staircase right in front of them. To the right, Bella could see a few steps leading up to what looked like the kitchen.
"This is my husband, Carlisle." Esme said. Bella looked over to the other unfamiliar face in the room.
"Hello, Bella." A blonde man, again only slightly older than his "children," stepped forward to shake her hand.
Bella smiled, trying to ignore how cold his hands were. Esme's hug was just as chilly. She noted that they both had inhuman bright gold eyes, just like everyone else in the "adopted" family.
Bella felt a chill run down her spine as she realized fairly quickly what was impossible to ignore now. She couldn't brush it off as coincidence – there was a reason that everyone in this family had ice cold skin and gold eyes that changed colors sometimes.
They weren't human.
She looked around for something to distract herself from this realization and found Emmett grinning at her from the couch. He leapt up as soon as her eyes landed on him. "Bella Bear!" He wrapped her up in a hug. "You know what we're gonna do today?" She looked at his grinning face and decided that even if they weren't human, they were probably the nicest creatures she had ever met.
"Let me take a guess." Her eyes roamed over the living area where the television was paused on a game, more games strewn around the console, and two controls sitting on the couch. "Play video games?"
"See, she's smart!" Emmett shouted as he pulled her over to the couch. Bella didn't know who he was talking to.
"Emmett." Alice whined. "I want to play dress up with Bella!"
Bella's eyes widened in horror and Emmett guffawed next to her. "Doesn't look like Bella wants to do that."
"Bella." Alice drew her name out. She danced over – like, literally danced – and pouted at her from the side of the couch. "Please."
Bella rolled her eyes. "Later." She picked up the controller and started studying it. "Maybe." She said faintly, glancing up at her with a little grin.
Emmett taught her how to play the game that was already on, and after dying a few hundred times Bella finally felt like she was getting the hand of it. She was even enjoying herself.
Wait until Jake hears about this, she thought wryly. He had tried to get her to play video games with him many times before, but Bella had always refused.
Edward had drifted over to the piano in the back corner of the room, and Esme and Carlisle had disappeared towards the kitchen. Bella cast a look around every once and a while, hoping to catch sight of Rosalie. She didn't show the whole time Bella was playing games with Emmett. Bella found that the urge to shift had lessoned the longer she had known the Cullen's, and it had become nothing more than a slight shiver that went down her spine every once and a while.
Alice finally pulled her away, tugging at her arm impatiently as they went up the stairs. Alice's room was huge, but Bella was trying not to be surprised at the extravagance with which the Cullen's lived.
"I hate shopping." Bella said over Alice, who was trying to already trying to make plans with her for a shopping trip next weekend.
"But I love it." Alice said. "And we can bring Rosalie along."
Bella shot her a look. "Why would that change anything?"
Alice shrugged, but didn't look at her from where she was going through her closet. Bella grumbled and looked out the large window by Alice's bed. She wasn't about to admit that as soon as Rosalie's name came up, shopping didn't seem like the torture it had always been. She frowned while looking down at her hands. Why did she care so much? Bella shook her head slightly.
"Try this on." Alice threw a shirt onto Bella's lap and grinned. Bella flopped back on the bed and groaned.
"Are you hungry?" Alice asked hesitantly as she put away all of the clothes she had made Bella try on. Bella was very thankful that most of Alice's clothes were too small for her, or she knew they would have been stuck in her giant walk-in closet all day.
Bella hummed. "Not really."
"Oh, good." Alice looked strangely relieved at her answer. Bella added "revulsion to food" to the list she had running in her head for the strange and inhuman characteristics her friends displayed.
She wasn't afraid of them, she thought as they went back down the stairs to find Edward. What right did she have to judge? She barely counted as human herself, and she doubted that they could hurt her. The only thing worrying her at the moment was the possibility of her hurting them. She moved her shoulders around and flexed her muscles. That run with Jake did her good, but she needed out again soon. The itch to shift was starting to run through her blood.
It got worse when she didn't let out all of the energy in her body. Her control slipped out of her fingertips the longer she went without shifting, and she never wanted to experience that again.
She had lost control once, a long time ago. And that blood would always be on her hands.
Bella tried to shake herself out of the dark thoughts going through her mind as they entered the living room.
Jasper had joined Emmett by the television, and Bella really couldn't help how her eyes automatically drifted over to the back door, where Rosalie was walking inside. She blinked and looked away, over towards Edward, and tried not to think about how her heart had started beating very fast as soon as their eyes had locked.
Edward waved her over to the piano, and she gladly let him distract her from Rosalie, who had sat down on one of the couches in the living room.
"Do you play?" Edward asked.
"A little." Bella swallowed hard and tried to focus on her hands that were placed on the keys. "Years ago."
Renee had bought them a piano a couple of decades ago, and she had begged and begged Bella to learn how to play for her. Bella had obliged, and had played for her mother almost every day. She blinked back tears as she took a deep breath and pressed down on the keys.
"Why don't you play us something?" Rosalie asked from the couch behind them. She was facing away from the piano, but Bella physically felt her attention on them.
Edward took his hands off the keys and nodded to her. She took a deep breath and started playing one of her favorite songs. It was easy to remember – her fingers seemed to know where to go faster than her brain could tell them.
"That was good." Edward said from her side. He smiled down at the keys. "Have you ever played a duet before?"
"Never." She said. "Let's do it."
He immediately began playing a song that was vaguely familiar to her, and she jumped right in with him, trying to remember what she could but mostly making up the notes she felt would harmonize. She could feel Edward grinning at her side as they played, and she couldn't deny the warm feeling that came over her as she tucked a leg underneath her and let herself relax into the music.
She and Edward played around on the piano for a while, it seemed, because when they were done everyone but Rosalie had left the room.
Edward cleared his throat and stood up abruptly. "That was very fun."
"Yeah." Bella laughed.
"I am going to go upstairs because it is time for me to…" He trailed off and gazed around as if looking for a reason. "It is time to play chess with Jasper."
"You have a set time that you play chess?"
"Every Sunday at 2:00."
"Okay." Bella smiled at him as he walked upstairs. "What a strange boy."
She tried to pretend like she didn't hear him stumble on the top step.
Bella looked around the room and her eyes couldn't help – again – but be drawn to Rosalie. She was sitting in the same spot that she was before, but with a magazine in her lap now. She was flicking through it lazily as Bella walked towards her.
She looked uncertainly at the space beside Rosalie before deciding to sit down.