Rosalie Hale
[Author's Note: I've been writing fanfiction for a long time (I made my first account when I was in middle school back in like 2002 lol) and I think I have 30 to 40 stories spread over 3 accounts. This one, however, is my favorite. Writing Rosalie and Bella and Alice and Edward and everyone else is so much fun. Once again, thank you for the reviews. I hope you guys are enjoying it. Hold on tight because after the next couple of chapters, things will start heating up.]
Rosalie returned to Bella's watchtower every night after that and played twenty questions with her. Of course, the rules were slightly amended to make it so that Bella was the only one actually answering questions. So Rosalie learned early on of Bella's favorite colors, foods, movies, books and television shows. She found out that she'd never been to a concert, but had gone to tons of museums. Bella also told her that she owned an old model truck that she never drove and that she had grown up half her life in Arizona and the rest here in Forks, Washington. Most importantly, Rosalie learned that Bella was, totally and completely gay. That part was particularly interesting to Rosalie, who, having charmed males and females and nonbinary people alike, preferred the company of women. It was also terrifying, however, as Rosalie realized that finding out that Bella could maybe be into her, had her considering possibilities that could never come to fruition.
Days were excruciating. She spent her time with Edward and Alice or with Carlisle and Esme, but her mind was always back in Watchtower 515. Carlisle often peppered her with questions, wondering if she'd found out anything about Bella Swan that would make her ability to withstand vampiric abilities make sense. But Rosalie never came across anything that shed light on the human girl's resilience, and in time she found herself shifting more and more into the realm of dangerous fascination. Though she begged herself to take it slow, to reel in her obsession, to give Bella time to be alone- Rosalie always found herself at Bella's door the moment the sun had set, eager to see her again, to hear her voice, to smell her skin. She just couldn't resist.
That evening, as the day slipped away and prepared to give way to the night, Rosalie and Esme were strolling quietly down the forest path behind their house. Esme had just had lights installed along the cobbled path, and the scenic stroll was lovely.
"When can we meet her?" Esme asked her, taking her daughter's hand and holding it lovingly.
"You can't," Rosalie stated bitterly, "It's dangerous enough for me to be in her life."
"Darling," Esme returned, "You may be the youngest of us all, but you're just as controlled as my Carlilse. You won't hurt her. I'm sure of it."
"I don't want to," the younger vampire mused. "I just want to know her."
"That's perfectly understandable," the vampire matriarch stated. "Though, I do want to ask-"
Rosalie cut her off by lifting her hand, "Esme," she said. "Don't."
"I think it's a very valid question," she went on in spite of her daughter's sour expression. "You've never given this much attention to anyone," she explained. "In our lives together you've never spoken of a romantic connection to us and Carlisle and I just hoped-"
"Esme," the blonde said again, in warning. "Please."
Esme smiled but followed the younger girl's prompting and let the discussion drop. They continued to walk the path in silence, hands still clasped together, lovingly. When the sun began to dip below the horizon, Rosalie took her leave, pressing a kiss against Esme's temple as she did so.
After that, it was exactly twenty minutes until she stood on Bella's balcony and rapped her knuckles lightly on the watchtower door. She'd returned one of the first nights and fixed Bella's door, increasingly worried about the small girl's safety when she wasn't around. Now, she stood by the door and waited for the locks to be undone before she could enter. Bella had offered to leave the door unlocked so she could come and go as she pleased, but Rosalie had insisted that she keep the place secure.
Inside, Bella rose from her seat at the desk and moved quickly to the entrance, her hands quivering as she undid the chain. When the door was pulled open and the blonde vampire was inside the barrier, she sighed expressively.
"God Rosalie," the brunette said, "Do you always have to be dressed like a supermodel when you visit me?"
Rosalie formed her lips into an irresistible pout and replied, "You don't like my outfit? You don't think I look pretty?" She was wearing dark pants, a gray button up sweater, long white boots, and a white scarf. She looked as extravagantly attractive as always.
Bella's eyebrows furrowed as she shook her head, "No. No. You look amazing. Absolutely beautiful. You always do. But I'm-" she motioned to herself. She had taken a quick bath, but as she only had ranger outfits to change into, she'd had to put on a pair of park service issued pants and another undershirt. And because the temperature had dipped sort of low in the last few days, she had put on a long sleeved overshirt to stave off the chill. "I'm wearing this."
The vampire smiled. "I think you look really cute with your little monkey suit on," she teased, floating up next to the brunette and circling her in inspection. "Your butt looks really good in those pants."
When Bella blushed, the sudden rush of blood to her cheeks made Rosalie's head spin. That and she considered it to be absolutely adorable.
"It.. it does?"
"Yes," Rosalie replied, her eyes heavy on Bella's frame. "And that shirt. Such a tease. You have to know it's see through."
Bella's hands immediately went to her chest, pulling her overshirt closed to cover her breasts, her eyes horrified. "Ohmygod, I'm so sorry."
"Don't be," Rosalie shrugged, her tone amused. "I like it. It's sexy."
That was it. Bella whimpered in response, her small hands going to her hair, pushing it back from her face in exasperation. She stuttered out, "Wh-what?"
Rosalie leaned in close, closer than she'd ever been before, and she let her lips hover just out of reach of Bella's ear. This close to the brunette, Rosalie could feel the heat of her skin. It was lovely.. "What's the matter Little Bell?" she asked in a sultry purr, "Did I say too much?"
"No. I just-" She paused when Rosalie, with a very steady hand, reached out and slid her fingertips down the edge of Bella's overshirt, pulling it back open, revealing a pair of very hard nipples beneath thin white fabric. "Fuck."
"Bad girl," Rosalie cooed, "You better watch your mouth."
The brunette's eyes were closed and she was trying her best to regulate her breathing. "Why?" she asked, her tone breathy nevertheless. "Why should I watch my mouth?"
The vampire made a sound halfway between a huff and a, "mm", and then she said, "Because it's a turn on and I.." She took the other lapel in her hand and she turned Bella to fully face her. In response, the park ranger opened her eyes in surprise and their eyes met. "Cannot do that with you."
Bella's lips, so soft and pink and warm, mouthed the words, "Why can't you?" almost soundlessly.
"Because," the beautiful blonde responded, in a whisper, "it would destroy us both." She then released Bella and disappeared, coming back into perception perched on the brunette's desk. "Now, what were you up to before I got here?"
The firewatch ranger groaned. "You can't say something like that to me and then flit away and ask me about my day."
Rosalie smiled smugly and crossed her legs elegantly in front of her. "Yes I can," was her return. "I just did. And I saw you writing in a book before I came in- so go on. Don't let me distract you. Go ahead and gush about me in your diary."
Bella was blushing again. "It's not a diary it's-" she came up to the vampire and reached with a shaking hand for the small bound book sitting beside the blonde's thigh. "A nature journal. A field log. It's due tomorrow." She held it up and flipped through it. "I record a week's worth of nature data and then turn it in every Tuesday at the supply drop location."
"Which is where?"
"It's about a twelve hour hike west, halfway to the ranger station."
Rosalie's eyebrows lifted on her beautiful forehead. "Come again?"
"It's not as bad as it sounds," Bella explained. "I make the hike every week. Six hours there, six back."
"No," Rosalie returned. "I don't like that. I don't want you taking a hike that long alone." She was aware of how protective she sounded, but she didn't care.
Bella looked a little surprised by the sudden proclamation of worry. "You don't have to worry about me," she offered, "I'll have my rifle."
"Your rifle," the blonde scoffed. "Bella, you are five foot two and weigh barely more than a hundred pounds. You are the exact opposite of intimidating even with a rifle. I don't want you walking around by yourself for twelve hours in a forest teaming with bears and wolves and snakes."
Bella rolled her eyes playfully, "You sound like Charlie."
"Charlie?" Rosalie repeated, her tone suddenly clipped, her expression suddenly dark. "Excuse me?"
"My dad," Bella explained. "He hates that I have this job."
The blonde softened. "Oh. I thought you were about to tell me about your boyfriend."
Bella laughed. She sat down in the chair pulled out from the desk and looked up at the vampire. "Boyfriend? No. I'm a lesbian remember?"
"I remember you told me that," Rosalie said. "But some people throw that term around."
"I don't."
"I believe you."
"And I would never do that again," Bella went on. "I dated one guy in my entire life and it was miserable. His name was Jasper and we were together sophomore and part of junior year. He was the son of a friend of my step dad's. He hooked us up and well.. We didn't see eye to eye on anything."
"Is that why you broke up?" the vampire wanted to know, her head slightly tilted as she listened to Bella's story.
"No." The brunette ran her hands through her hair and leaned back. When she realized how it made her shirt fall open, she fought another heated blush, and quickly sat back forward. "We broke up because I moved to Washington."
"Oh." Rosalie licked her lips and remained silent for a moment chewing on the smaller girl's words. Then she said, "So if you hadn't moved to Washington, do you think you'd still be together?"
Bella's eyes were bright with interest as she gazed into Rosalie's face. "No," she said. "We fought about everything. And looking back, I think politically we were completely incompatible." She scrunched her nose at that in an absolutely endearing way. "But you're missing the point Rose. I'm gay. I'm not into men."
Rosalie didn't miss the utteration of her nickname, and as much as it excited her to hear Bella say it, she couldn't keep the coldness from her voice when she replied, "Okay."
"What?" the park ranger wanted to know. "Why are you upset?" Seconds ticked by and her eyes widened with realization. "Ohmygod, you hate the idea of me being with someone, don't you?"
The vampire wouldn't make eye contact. She jumped down from the desk in real time, and then dashed across the watchtower to the opposite side of the room to lean against a countertop. "I just think there's no human on this planet that deserves you," she finally said.
Bella got up from her chair and strolled towards the other woman. "Well I think you're exaggerating," she presented calmly.
"I'm not," Rosalie argued, indignantly.
"Okay," Bella said, now standing directly in front of her, "Maybe there's not. But I can think of a vampire that would deserve me."
Rosalie's face immediately darkened as Bella's words had the adverse reaction. "No. They. Don't. No vampire should ever be given the chance to even touch you.. To corrupt you. Take it back." She stood up straight and bent so that her face was very close to Bella's. When she spoke, her sweet breath pushed into the other girl's face. "Take it back Bella."
There was fear in the brunette's eyes when she spoke again. "Rose," she said, gently, "I meant you."
The vampire's yellow eyes may as well have been tinted with red when she hissed, "Especially me."
A couple of moments passed as the two stared into each other's eyes, Rosalie heated in defense, Bella shaking slightly with fear and anxiety. The vampire considered turning and leaving but she saw the worry in the park ranger's eyes and to her utmost surprise, she felt her temper breaking.
"I'm sorry," she said through clenched teeth, "I don't want to lose my cool with you."
"I didn't mean to upset you," Bella offered, her voice small and innocent. She reached up then, and without prompting, put her hand on Rosalie's shoulder. "Relax Rose."
The vampire hissed at the contact and her eyes immediately went to where Bella's hand touched her. The heat of the girl's hand radiated through her shirt to her skin and then spread all through her. It was like heaven to Rosalie, almost feeling the human's touch. She had thought that the contact would send her over the edge but it had done the opposite- it had calmed her.
"You are fascinating," the vampire said to the smaller girl. "And wonderful." She breathed in the brunette's scent, marveling at how intoxicating it was. "You have no idea how you make me feel.." She pushed her luck then and extended her own hand to the front of Bella's shirt, walking the tips of her pale, marble smooth fingertips along the park ranger's abdomen.
Bella whimpered, her eyelids temporarily closing. After a moment, when Rosalie had pulled back, she opened them again and asked, "Would it be so bad if we.." But a sudden frantic buzz stopped her question as a staticy voice came through her walkie.
The brunette excused herself to get the walkie from the desk, and then she turned up the volume.
"Bella," a voice said in gruff annoyance, "Isabella Swan if you don't fucking answer in the next minute I'm going to-"
"Hey," Bella said, cutting her off, holding the receiver to her lips. "I'm here, hey."
"Sheesh," the other ranger replied. "Want to wait a few more minutes next time and scare me the rest of the way to death? What were you doing that was so important?"
Bella's eyes went to Rosalie, who was now floating across the room to her bed.
"I was filling out my field journal."
"That probably coulda waited considering."
"What's wrong?"
"There's a grizzly sighting," The woman on the walkie revealed without any more prompting. "Headed your direction actually."
"Shit."
"Shit," She agreed. "And I know tomorrow's supply drop day but I want to make sure you got your rifle ready-"
"It is."
"Good," the ranger replied. "You got your flares too? And that bear repellant stuff?"
"Yes," Bella urged, incredibly eager to go back to Rosalie's side and maybe touch her again.
"Okay Bells, be careful tomorrow and radio if you see anything."
"I will."
"Promise me," the voice insisted.
Bella sighed. And then into the walkie she said, "I promise Leah."
She said goodnight, put the walkie back on the desk and then turned back to where Rosalie had just been. The blonde was immediately next to her, her body almost touching Bella's. Their eyes were immediately locked in an intense gaze and Rosalie could hear the smaller girl's heart pounding in her chest. Very slowly, she lifted her hand and caught a single strand of brilliant chestnut hair with her middle finger. Gently, she began to twine it around her finger. "Do you know what I'm about to say?" the vampire asked, her voice once again a sultry, seductive purr. "Hmm Bella?"
Bella swallowed, overcome with the scent of Rosalie's breath- there were hint of cinnamon in there too- and the fact that the beautiful vampire was playing with her hair. "What?" she asked. "What are you about to say?"
Rosalie brought her lips close to Bella's ear again and she whispered, "You're not going on your hike tomorrow."
A quiet whimper once again escaped the smaller girl's lips. "But I have to go," she reasoned weakly, "my food for the week is in the drop and I have to turn in my journal.."
"Something will be arranged," Rosalie cooed. "You're not going and that's final." She let go of her hair and once again used both hands to smooth the front of Bella's overshirt, this time letting her thumbs brush the shirt beneath very gently. "Now be a good girl and say okay."
"Okay," Bella breathed.
Rosalie stepped back and put her hands at her sides. "Now," she said, her tone normal again, less enticing. "Who is Leah?"
"My best friend," Bella replied. "We've been friends since we were kids. She was one of my dad's best friend's daughters. His name was Harry Clearwater. He died when I was seventeen and Charlie sort of just took over and helped raise them. He doesn't have anything going on with their mom but Leah and I are practically like sisters."
"Sisters," Rosalie replied, feeling a little better about the situation. "Alright."
Once again the conversation's hidden meaning donned on Bella. "There's nothing going on between Leah and I," she told Rosalie. And then her eyes suddenly became bright. "But I.. I would like you to meet her."
Rosalie scoffed. She turned and walked to the door and back again. "Bella," she said, "Bella, Bella, Bella."
"What?"
"I can't meet your friends."
"Why not?"
The vampire sighed. "What would you say Bella? That you happened to stumble across me in the forest? That we formed an unlikely friendship?"
"I'm sure there are crazier stories."
Rosalie thought about it, really imagined it. She saw her walking in somewhere side by side with Bella Swan. She saw a blurred collection of faces as she was paraded around to them by Bella as her friend? Her date? It would have to be night and- She shook her head, realizing that she'd gotten far ahead of herself. She felt anger burning once again within her as she accepted how impossible any of that really would be. She felt sick with disappointment at something that would never- could never- happen. "I'm sorry," she presented simply. "I have to go."
Bella's face was immediately awash of panic as she spewed off a collection of words, "No! Rosalie please, don't go. Please."
But the vampire was out the door in an instant and standing on the balcony. How their nights usually ended was with Bella walking Rosalie out to the balcony and watching the vampire leap the railing and disappear into the night. But they never ended like this. Rosalie never left Bella upset.
The brunette went outside to where she was and reached for her. Rosalie stepped away, turned from Bella and put one hand on the banister.
"I'm sorry," she said again. And then, before another second could be lost in time, the beautiful vampire was gone, racing across ONP, desperate to be anywhere else, desperate to be anyone else.
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