Hello! Another chapter here. I lost track of the days I was supposed the be updating. I had a plan, but I forgot what was it. So, you know there's a reason if I don't update weekly :)

I really appreciate your support, and your reviews. Keep the love coming!

Also, I have so many ideas for so many different stories that my brain is like on fire. I've been writing like crazy for my other ideas, trying to see if they'll amount to something. Let's hope at leas one does :)

Stay Safe!


KISS PROTOCOL


CHAPTER 6: TAKING SIDES.

At the Cullen mansion, Alice cleaned a little, not sure if the family would move back or not. They knew Bella was alive, but she had asked them to leave Edward to her. He listened to her…well, mostly.

Rosalie was feeling guilty that she had overreacted, but that was to be dealt with later. For now, she stayed in limbo. Her family hadn't decided to move back.

Honestly, she wasn't too sure that Bella would be alright with it. And for sure the wolves would not be ok with them coming back. She hadn't been with the Cullen's when the original treaty was set. But once she became one, she had been intrinsically made a member of the treaty, Jasper as well. The two of them had to respect the treaty with the wolves. Not that she would do anything to go against them. She didn't know anything about them, and she couldn't see them. As an extension, she couldn't see Bella either. The difference is that now, she had disappeared completely. But she was alive, which meant, she had made her choice, and there was no coming back from it.

She looked around the house, deciding to dust everything and wash the sheets that had been covering the furniture. The art that had once decorated the walls were stored in their respective boxes and safely put in the garage. Their most valuable things, those that they couldn't take with them, were put on a secure safe box. She wouldn't be putting the art back on the walls, but at least she could clean everything and turn on the lights. It was very sad to see one of her favorite homes in such an abandoned state.

Normally, Esme had someone on the payroll that maintained the properties they had scattered around the world. But this time, she decided against it. She abandoned the house the same way she abandoned Bella.

Alice's heart broke once again, filling with regret at having followed Edward's whim of moving out. He was very much in love with Bella. But he had never planned on actually turning her. Not even after that summer. Jasper confessed to her in their alone time these months, that he had felt Bella grow apart from Edward, but at the same time trying to hold onto her feelings for him.

Edward had convinced Alice to throw Bella a party, despite her protests of not wanting a party, not wanting to be the center of attention. Alice couldn't see the outcome of the party because Bella never decided to attend to it. She should have been paying more attention. She knew she could get past that barrier. She should have helped Jazz. Instead, she followed Edward like a fool. In the process her Jazz was hurt by his momentary lack of judgement. He was full of regret when Emmett dragged him out of the house. He cried tearlessly on her lap when they were alone. He loved Bella, and he could not believe he had tried to hurt her.

When Edward asked them to leave, Jasper asked Alice to go on their own for a few weeks. She wholeheartedly agreed. As much as she loved her family, Jasper was her number one priority, and he needed her more than the family needed anything. So, they had been on their own for the past five months. The last month they were visiting Carlisle and Esme who stayed with Rose and Emmett. They decided to stay for a while, test the water again. Carlisle received them with open arms, same as Esme, who smothered Jasper with hugs all the time, saying and projecting how happy she was to have him back.

Jasper had looked at Alice at that moment and nodded slightly to her. They would stay.

Alice sighed as she put the sheets in the dryer. The house was clean, the lights were on, their valuables were still intact, and the sheets were on the dryer. She knew she had to call Edward, to tell him about Bella, but she postponed it, deciding instead to work on the garden. Esme's garden was equally abandoned. The flowers that she had grew proudly were surrounded by wilderness, even if they thrived on their own.

The comparison was not lost to Alice. Bella had been abandoned by the people she loved…ok, by some of the people she loved -she still had her father, stepfather, and mother- and like these flowers, she survived, but she is not the same. Wilderness grew around her, claiming her back to the righteous path she is supposed to follow. If you leave nature unattended, it will thrive alone. Nature is not supposed to be so strict, so straight angled. Nature is supposed to be soft, beautiful, unexpected.

It receives the nurture from around, from above and underneath. Bella thrived. Alice knew that much. Jacob was her wilderness; the wolves were her wilderness. And the life she is supposed to live must be her natural path. The family should not intervene again. So, perhaps it would be better if they do not come back.

On that note, when she finished with the garden and with the sheets neatly folded, she debated between telling Edward about Bella or not. Rosalie had been very reckless in telling him that Bella had died. She didn't mean anything bad with it, but it had been reckless. Edward hadn't been thinking straight these last few months.

He made so many different decisions to throw her off. But what he didn't know is that it didn't work. She was too attuned with his way of thinking, that she knew which vision was most likely to come true. That's why she hadn't personally gone and brought him home from his ear like he deserved.

Everyone was sad. He made the decision for them as well. They all loved Bella. They all missed her. It was not a competition on who loved her the most, who missed her the most, or who hurt the most by his decision. He made his bed; it was time he lied in it.

She called incessantly until he picked up. "I have all the time in the world Masen. I can call you every minute of the day and not get tired." She mumbled as she dialed once again after her call was sent to voice message.

And indeed, she had the whole day, and she used it to call him. She didn't even stop when her phone died. She plugged it in, and sat on the floor, calling and calling.

Edward sighed annoyed. Alice was not going to stop until he picked up. She was resilient like that.

"What do you want Alice?" was his greeting.

Alice ignored his rudeness. She was upset with him, but he deserved to know that Bella was alive, happy and had moved on. Perhaps she was taking too much enjoyment in sharing the last part of the news. It was because of him, that Jazz doubted himself, that he felt like a failure. That, she was going to take a long time to forget. Even if Jasper forgot about it.

"She's alive." She simply said.

There was silence on the line, but Edward was still there. "What happened?"

She summarized Bella's last six months. She may have been mad at him, but she didn't mention her catatonic, zombie months. Instead, she told him about the wolves, abut Bella's friendship with them. She told him about the bikes, and cliff diving. She wasn't trying to kill herself. It had been for fun.

She stopped there. How do you tell someone that the person they love is in love with someone else?

"You're editing; What else happened, Alice?"

Better rip the band-aid. "She's in a relationship. A happy one."

He tensed. She had moved on? Logically, he knew that might happen. It was what he told her to do. But he couldn't shake the feeling of betrayal and disappointment. He had asked her to have a human life. That's what she did.

"With whom?" He asked. It was a matter of great importance to him. Please don't let it be Newton.

"Jacob Black." Edward took an intake of air. The kid that had crashed their prom. He hadn't paid too much attention to his thoughts when he appeared at prom and danced with Bella. He never considered him a threat. Guess, he was wrong.

Edward's mind was a hurricane of thoughts, decisions, emotions. "Don't you dare, Edward Masen." You knew Alice was seriously pissed when she called Edward by his human name. "She moved on, she's happy. Let her be. You've already hurt her enough."

That means she saw him going back. "Goodbye, Alice." He didn't give her time to complain. He squeezed the phone in his hand and threw the remains in the nearest trash can. He rushed to the airport, secured a ticket to Seattle, and from there a car to go directly to Chief Swan's house.

Alice cursed her brother. She called him to let him know that Bella was alive, and that most importantly, she was happy, as she much so deserved. She never meant for Edward to come back to Forks. But there was not stopping him. He was closest to Forks than any other member of the family, so there was no chance that Jazz or Emmett could get here in time to help her deal with Edward.

But she knew who could help her.

"Alice?" Bella was surprised to see her friend again. She thought she had left, after four days of not hearing from her.

Alice stood at the door, not making any motion to come inside the house, respecting the fact that Bella hadn't asked her to.

"Edward is coming back."

Bella frowned confused. Alice should be happier that her brother was coming back, even if she herself was not. Alice looked mad. No, she looked angry.

"I called to tell him that you were alive." Bella nodded, understanding Alice's need to put his brother's conscience at peace. "I told him you were happy in a relationship with Jacob." She continued. "Then he started planning different things, and he settled on coming back. I asked him not to come. To leave you alone, but he disconnected the call and destroyed his phone."

Bella was surprised. Very much so. She stood aside and motioned for Alice to come inside. "I don't know what he's planning Bella. He's not making any decisions right now. I don't know if he's going to try and do something stupid, or if he just wants to talk to you. I don't know." Alice looked tortured.

Bella took Alice's hands in hers, trying to calm her friend down. This is what Jasper usually did when Alice was upset. "Calm down, Alice." She pleaded softly. "I'll let the pack know that Edward's coming back in the next day or so. They'll know what to do. Don't worry."

"I'm not worried about him, Bella. I'm worried about you."

Bella opened her eyes in surprise. "Me?"

Alice tightened her grip on Bella's hand, conscious of not inflicting too much force into her grip. "He made his choices, Bella. I know he loves you, but it's not fair of him to barge into your life again, knowing that you moved on…"Alice grew silent a few seconds. "You moved on, right?"

Bella's answering smile was all the answered she needed. "I haven't seen you smile like that in a long time." Bella nodded nostalgically. "I'm sorry for what happened at your birthday. Jazz was beyond himself with guilt, and remorse. He wants you to know that he never meant to hurt you in any way. He was too overcome with everyone's emotions that day." She sighed sadly. "And I couldn't see anything of the party, because you never decided to come." Bella understood what she was saying. And she appreciated her apology.

"No need to apologize, Alice. I know Jasper, and I know he has a good heart." Alice smiled thinking of her Jazz. He had the purest heart of them all. "Thank you for warning me about Edward. You didn't have to."

Alice stayed silent for a few seconds, taking the silence to look briefly into Edward's future, but nothing new came by. She felt as if she was failing Bella by not being able to provide more information. Bella dismissed that thought. She had always been so good. She didn't deserve the kind of pain that Edward had inflicted. They should have left her alone in the first place. But she didn't regret knowing Bella. She was what gave her hope in the future. Good hearted people like her were worth meeting.

Alice shook her head, coming back to reality. "I'm on your side." She vowed and kissed Bella's forehead, shrugging her nose when the smell of wet dog hit her nose. "Your wolf is here. Call me if you need anything."

They both stood up and Alice took off running through the back yard. Bella smiled. Alice was crazy, but she was a good person…vampire…supernatural entity.

Jake barged in the house, looking frantically for her. He breathed relieved when he saw her walking towards the kitchen. She stopped mid-way, allowing him to catch up to her.