Chapter Eight
Rosalie makes good on her promise. At breakfast she bumps purposefully into Bella, making the brunette spill milk all over her shirt front. Then, when Bella is going to the bathroom, Rosalie finds her and jams the bathroom stall lock so Bella has to gracelessly slither under the door, on the dirty floor, to get out.
Bella tries not to be hurt but Rosalie is really being a huge bitch. Bella is tempted to call Edward and whine to him about his sister, hoping that he can do something about it. But she doesn't want to rely on him or go running to him for everything, because then it would just be confirming what Rosalie thought about Bella using Edward.
No, Bella's going to suck it up and be a big girl. And big girls don't cry.
It's only two more days until they can go home and then Bella can forget about this awful trip. At least it's only drizzling now and not as cold and damp as yesterday. Still, their Literature teacher insists that they head out into the woods to find inspiration yet again. Afterwards they have a campfire planned out.
Bella is worried for that, because she doesn't know if Rosalie will sink so low as to do something with it to hurt Bella. She hopes not.
Deep in her thoughts and feeling down, Bella waves off any offer for company as she walks through the woods. She's aching too much to be able to think of writing something. She just wants Rosalie to accept her. Is that so hard to have happen? Did Bella insult Rosalie in a past life or something that Rosalie is acting this cold to her?
Bella wanders off, going off the beaten path and going up some steep inclines. Maybe if she throws herself off of a cliff Rosalie will have to come help her again. But all Bella finds is a pretty view that overlooks the rest of the woods from up here.
It's a bit windy this high up so Bella wraps her coat tighter around herself before she sits down on a damp rock and starts to try to write. But she can only form half sentences and nothing like inspiration strikes her mind.
Bella never was a writer. Edward is the one with words. He knows how to manipulate them until they shone like diamonds and could make anyone feel the way he wanted them to feel. Bella wished she had his ability even ten percent of the time. It would be amazing.
She sits there for another hour before she finally heads back to camp.
Nothing happens at the bonfire which is a blessing, but Rosalie does glare at Bella so hard that it feels hotter than the glow of the bonfire. Bella squirms in her seat and tries to avoid meeting Rosalie's glaring but it makes her want to wilt in her seat.
Angela notices that something is off about Bella and eventually asks her. Bella wishes she wasn't so observant.
"I'm fine, really," Bella promises Angela. "It's just the weather is horrible and I really don't want to be here because of it." An analogy for how Rosalie was being terrible and how Bella didn't want to be here because of her any longer.
"Tomorrow's our last day. We'll be leaving at five pm. You just have to hold onto until then," Angela soothes, rubbing an arm up and down Bella's shoulder.
"I am never going camping again," Bella promises grouchily.
"I am never going camping again," Bella whimpers pitifully this time as the wild animal snarls at her.
The third day just started and they were supposed to be going home! Bella had done the usual, gone wondering off to find some inspiration in the woods but she'd gone too far and found trouble. There weren't supposed to be bears on this mountain!
Just her fucking luck to run into something like this! She's frozen in fear, having no clue as to what to do. Does she run? Does she play dead?
What the fuck does she do?
The bear is pacing closer to her and she's shaking, about to start hyperventilating.
If she calls Edward, would he make it here on time to save her or to see the bear finish eating her?
The grizzly bear snarls at her, shaking it's big head in a show of intimidation. Holy fuck it's huge!
"I can't fucking leave you alone, can I?" an irritated voice sounds off to Bella's right. Bella would look but she's too afraid to. A pissed of Rosalie is no less scary than the bear. "All you do is run head first into danger like it's your fucking job to do so."
The bear snarls at Rosalie now but the blonde calmly strides up to it, flipping her hair over her shoulder like this was a model shoot and not a deadly show down.
"I didn't mean to," Bella breathes out. The bear roars once more and then charges at them. Bella's heart stops for a second and she watches as if slow motion as the following occurs.
Rosalie got in between Bella and the bear, not looking scared at all. The bear snarled at her and she snarled right back, startling it. And then, Rosalie kicked the bear in the fucking face. It whimpered and was flung back and in it's distracted moment, Rosalie scooped Bella up and ran as fast she could out of there.
When they got a good distance away, Rosalie dumped Bella unceremoniously onto the ground. Bella hit it, jarring her elbow hard. "Shit," she cursed under her breath, grabbing the hurt appendage. Then she saw Rosalie and cursed again.
Rosalie was vamping out. Her eyes were black as coal and she was twitching and snarling softly under her breath. Fighting the bear must have done something to her. Pulled out her vampire instincts. Bella could feel fear welling up inside her. Oh god. What was going to happen now?
Before Bella could so much as crawl back, Rosalie was on top of her, hovering over her. Her eyes were dark, lips parted to reveal the tips of her ivory fangs. "Ro-" Bella cut off as suddenly Rosalie dove face first into Bella's neck.
Bella froze entirely. She didn't breath, dare to blink or even think. As if doing any of that would set the vampire off. She wouldn't fault Rosalie for biting her. Bella had been stupid to stumble into the bear and Rosalie had saved her. Bella mentally prepared herself for this because in a way she deserved it for putting herself in trouble, for being friendly with a bunch of vampires who told her her blood smelled too good for her own sake.
Rosalie was running her nose down the tendon of Bella's neck, almost affectionately, and Bella's heart was pounding in her chest. Would Rosalie bite her? What was going to happen? Bella was way too weak to even consider trying to move Rosalie. Could she reason with her somehow? Get through this vamping out session?
And then Rosalie parted her lips and Bella gasped, waiting for the killing strike. It didn't come. What came instead was a soft kiss. A soft open mouthed kiss. And then another. And another. Bella's insides quivered and turned to liquid. Oh fuck, what was going on?
What. Was. Going. On?
Rosalie began to kiss frantically, in a worshiping sort of manner like Bella was something to be reveled in. Bella didn't know what the hell she should do. All she knew was this was turning her on and fuck, she shouldn't be this turned on. Was she...did she like Rosalie?
A tad late to ask, since said woman was sucking on her neck but not in a vampire way.
It would explain why Bella felt so compelled to be next to her. Why she kept trying to be her friend. Because she wanted to be more than friends. Her own thoughts were cut off by the surprising mewl that came from her mouth as Rosalie pressed more tightly into Bella, slipping a thigh in between the brunette's.
Shit. Bella was so fucked. This had to stop. "Rosalie," she breathed out as the vampire continued her ardent make out session with Bella's neck as her hands pinned Bella's hips, thigh softly grinding in. Bella had to squeeze her eyes shut as she felt overwhelmed again. Every hair on her body was standing up in pleasure. "Rosalie. Stop." Bella whines out, starting to pant.
Rosalie just grunted at this, making her way down to Bella's clavicle. "Edward," Bella chokes out and this freezes Rosalie who looks up, searching Bella's eyes. "Edward is my boyfriend," Bella states again and this time Rosalie gasps and throws herself off of Bella.
She rakes hands through her locks, anguish covering her features. "Fuck!" she hollers out. "Fuck!" she screams out again and then runs off.
She doesn't come back and Bella is left there to collect herself and find the way back to the others. Luckily she's not too far this time. "Bella, what happened to you?" Angela asks.
"I got lost," Bella mumbles, feeling cold inside where she had felt smoldering hot minutes ago.
"Your neck looks brutal. Did something attack you?"
Bella clamps a self conscious hand on her neck. Rosalie must have left monster sized hickies. "Uh, I think I may have touched some plant or something and it gave me a rash."
"Come with me, I have some cream that might help."
Bella stumbled after Angela but she didn't think a cream could fix whatever the hell had happened. And for the rest of the trip, Rosalie stays as far away from Bella as she can.
Edward stares questioningly at the marks on Bella's neck. "Poison ivy," she shoots off in answer and prays that it holds and that he won't ask more questions. He seems to buy it and when they're in his room the night she comes back from the trip and he's kissing her neck and voicing thoughts on how he's missed her, she shivers violently as he ghosts over the spots where Rosalie's lips had been mere moments ago.
She can't help the flash of arousal inside her and she needs to push Edward off out of a guilty conscience. What had happened between her and Rosalie hadn't been cheating. It had been an accidental thing. Rosalie had vamped out; they hadn't kissed on the lips. But it feels like cheating, only because Bella is now left with the crushing realization that she may be falling for Rosalie and not for Rosalie's brother.
Rosalie doesn't go to Literature class for the next two weeks, and every time Bella is at the Cullens mansion, the blonde is not there, but out hunting. No one knows what's up with Rosalie.
"Probably moody," Emmett comments. Emmett is Rosalie's mate. Shouldn't he know more, or care more about this situation?
"She's your mate. Aren't you worried?" Bella asks him. He gives her this funny look that she doesn't know how to read.
"She'll be fine. There isn't anything scarier than Rosie when she puts her mind to something," he comments easily.
Bella doesn't feel reassured by this. Because she knows Rosalie's long absence is a result of what happened on that camping trip and Bella can't stop thinking about it. It's run through her mind so many times that it's driving her insane. Yet, she knows that there is no point in looking for Rosalie because the blonde does not want to be found and Bella won't be able to find her at all. Bella's not going to ask any of the other Cullens to find Rosalie either because it'll look too suspicious if she does.
In the end, Bella and Rosalie don't talk for a solid month after this. It's a good thing Alice can't see into the past otherwise there would be a lot of odd questions. Bella just sticks close to Eddy, kissing him every chance she gets so she's affirming her love for him. And she definitely does not come and bother Rosalie. Rosalie who stays hidden and this time Bella lets her.
What Bella doesn't expect is Rosalie to show up in Bella's bedroom one night right after Bella has taken a shower. She screams and nearly drops the towel around her naked and dripping body. "What are you doing here?" she hisses, her heart galloping in her chest like a stallion.
For a second it looks like Rosalie doesn't know either, until she drags her eyes up from Bella's legs, clearing her throat. "I came to...to apologize."
"What?" Bella asks though she heard. She just can't believe that The Rosalie Hale is apologizing. And to someone like her.
"I...shouldn't have let that bear rile up my instincts. And it made me...act all weird. I'm sorry for making you uncomfortable. For making you think I would hurt you." Rosalie looks so awkward to be here, to say this. Bella takes pity on her and forgives her, even though she necessarily didn't mind the kisses. They had felt nice. They had inspired some secret feelings inside her to come out and now Bella can see her relationship more clearly with Rosalie.
Bella doesn't know what to say. She doesn't want to address the elephant in the room any longer. Because to do so would dredge up points of contention that neither of them are ready to address. Like how aroused Bella got. How into it all Rosalie was. A lot goes unspoken and it's the fact that Rosalie doesn't mention she didn't like all this, or try to explain why she had tried to make out with Bella rather than drink her blood like any other normal vampire would, that gives Bella a strange gleaming hope.
"Thank you," she settles on at last. For the apology and for the hope.
Rosalie nods her head awkwardly and then slips out the window she came in.