Chapter 17

I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT OR CHARACTERS

Bella figured she would have at least until tonight when Alice was supposed to be dropping by to gather herself and figure out a way to fix this mistake before the vampire got too angry.

Nope.

She got about, oh…

Ten minutes?

If that ...

The bell signaling the end of gym rang about five minutes after Alice got benched. Everyone streamed into the locker room to change or shower, depending on what they felt like they needed to freshen up. Some people worked harder than others in the gym.

Everyone also gave Alice a wide berth as they took note of the palpable tension radiating off of her, and having seen the way she demolished that volleyball, they also seemed to be regarding her either with disbelief, respect, or a mild sense of fear.

Bella was one of the ones giving Alice space as she changed her clothes and reapplied deodorant, not having worked up a sweat or anything because she sat out for most of the period anyway. It took a lot of effort not to turn and stare when Alice yanked her shirt off and began furiously switching into her normal clothes, also not needing a shower because she was a vampire and vampires didn't sweat.

I am not a pervert, Bella told herself. And I definitely shouldn't be trying to sneak a peek after that. God, why am I such an idiot? Stupid, stupid, stupid Bella! Why did I do that? Jeez, she really looks mad…Well, no wonder. Wouldn't you be too?

Bella was already thinking of ways to get out of it, and apologize to Alice.

How was she supposed to say sorry for that though?

Maybe if she got down on her knees with her hands together and begged for forgiveness…Or was that too much?

Probably too much.

Bella really hadn't meant to say yes like that. She was just confused about everything and Leah, who was usually so cool and aloof had looked so hopeful, and she had been taking too long to respond, and it just kind of came out like a nasty splurge of word vomit, of which Bella knew she was prone to when she panicked.

Bella did not want to go on a date with Leah, but she really was not the kind of person who was good at hurting other people's feelings, especially people she liked. She certainly wouldn't mind going to a movie as friends with her, but now she was in hot water because going on a date with anybody right now was plain stupid, unwanted, and only bound to make things worse, and she didn't want to date anyone but Alice in the first place.

Was it even technically a date? Bella had said something to the effect of it possibly turning into one, and what did that even mean? Who the hell even did that? That didn't make any sense, and the odds of Leah not seeing it as one were slim to none, not to mention the odds of being able to make Alice understand that were looking increasingly slim as well. Bella watched the girl slam her locker shut with too much force and the sound of it echoed throughout the room.

"Jeez Cullen!" Jessica yelped from beside her as Bella winced and a few other girls flinched in surprise. "What's the matter with you?"

Shut up, Jess, Bella thought desperately when Alice leaned down and yanked up her gym bag, ignoring her altogether.

Leah chose that time to saunter by everyone.

Butt.

Fucking.

Naked.

Bella's cheeks felt like two burning light bulbs as she froze in the middle of zipping up her own gym bag, crouched over and stunned stupid.

Leah had a towel slung over her shoulder, and was shamelessly moving past everyone towards the showers, where normally most people chose to get naked so as to preserve dignity and keep the whole locker room from being awkward, which it was bound to get if everyone just up and decided to traipse around in their birthday suits.

Leah had no such qualms about her body, or anyone else seeing it.

It was easy to see why.

The girl was fit. Leah had a flat set of washboard abs, full breasts with dusky Hershey's kiss nipples and long, lean legs that seemed to go for miles. Bella stared without meaning too, finding it suddenly hard to swallow.

She may have loved Alice, and wanted no one but her.

But how the actual fuck was she supposed to not look?

She didn't want to touch, but wow, Leah had one hell of a body. She was a hormonal teenager, and it was hard not to admire that. She didn't mean to look, but it wasn't like she saw naked girls every day of her life, and seeing them in reality was a whole lot different from fantasies or anything else. She averted her eyes quickly, refusing to look anywhere but at Leah's face.

Leah paused as the sound of Alice's locker door slamming shut echoed, and turned to stare at the vampire with an undeniably smug smirk on her face.

She then turned, looked right at Bella, winked, and kept on going to disappear into the shower stalls on the far side of the room.

Shit.

Bella grimaced, and when her eyes met Alice's across the room, she knew Leah had just pushed her out of the frying pan and into the fire.

Alice was seething.

Why did she do that? Bella thought angrily as she stood up straight and gnawed on the inside of her lip. Why the hell did you do that Leah? She did that on purpose! She totally did that purely to piss Alice off! Great. Just great.

"Uh oh," Jessica muttered next to her when Alice stormed over to them, several girls looking around at the scene. "You're in for it now," Jessica actually had the gall to giggle at her.

"We need to talk," Alice growled the moment she reached her.

Bella stared, close to swallowing her tongue as she squirmed anxiously, shrugging her gym bag uncertainly onto her shoulder.

"Now."

With that, Alice stalked off, clearly expecting her to follow.

And follow Bella did, helplessly, knowing that Jessica was completely right.

She was definitely in for it now. She felt a surge of irritation for Leah. Her little wink was not appreciated.

I should have just said no. Who cares if she got her feelings hurt? If she's acting like that then I wouldn't even feel bad for rejecting her, she thought as Jessica gave her a sympathetic look and a playful, "Good luck, Bells."

She was really going to need it as she ignored all the staring eyes and followed after Alice, having to speed walk to keep up with the vampire as she barged out of the locker room and kept going without looking back.

She could practically see the wrath pulsing off of Alice in the air, the tight hunch of her shoulders as they walked out of the gymnasium, headed somewhere Bella didn't know. Technically, they were supposed to remain in the gym. They had about ten more minutes of free time before the next period would start considering the fact that neither of them had showered, so she wasn't worried about being late. She only hesitated for a moment before she realized the coaches weren't even looking in their direction and then she hurried after an uncaring Alice.

She was just worried about what Alice was going to say, or do.

The girl was pissed, as pissed as Bella had ever seen her…Or at least at herself.

She supposed she was going to deserve it, whatever it would turn out to be. Bella could feel the dread creeping up on her as Alice moved through the mostly empty hallways, walking so fast that the brunette practically had to jog to keep up.

Alice led her on and on, and Bella was just to the point where she was going to risk asking where they were going when the vampire cut down a dead end hallway and walked up to a janitor's closet, which she promptly ripped open and gestured for Bella to enter.

"Are you serious?" Bella frowned, peering into the gloom of it, wrinkling her nose at the dusty smell. The closet looked like it hadn't been opened in years. Did Forks even have a janitor? She had never seen one if they did.

Alice said nothing, only glared at her, and Bella decided that yes, she must be serious

She sighed apprehensively but walked into the tiny closet anyway, wondering how smart of an idea this really was. Probably not at all, but she didn't have much choice, considering this was her own fault anyway.

Bella turned around quickly at the sound of the door snapping shut hard behind her, and winced when Alice swiftly reached up and yanked on the chain that flickered the old light bulb to life, filling the place with a dull, yellow light.

"Uh…" Bella muttered, dropping her stuff on the floor as Alice did the same and rubbing nervously at the back of her neck when Alice only continued to glare at her with dark eyes.

Well.

This was awkward.

I'm so screwed, Bella thought and shifted from foot to foot, trying to ignore the aura Alice's pheromones were creating in her agitation. She was made even more nervous by them, but she knew Alice would never hurt her or lose her control or anything.

Not unless she bit her or something.

"Sooo…" Bella mumbled and squirmed, suffocating under the tension when Alice remained silent. "You wanted to talk?"

"What the hell was that?" Alice snapped, folding her arms and cocking one hip out.

Here we go, Bella tensed up at the aggressive posture.

Ugh, this totally wasn't fair.

Why did Alice have to look even sexier when she was pissed off? With her eyes hard and glinting in the dim light, her lithe ballerina's form stiff with her anger, her fae-like features drawn tightly…

Stop it, Bella told herself in annoyance.

It was hard, though. Alice was so, so beautiful, and it honestly boggled her how she was more attracted to a fully clothed, irate Alice than a completely naked, sultry Leah.

Love does funny things to people, apparently.

Funny, wonderful things that twisted her belly with both shame and arousal.

How could anyone else ever compare to this girl? They couldn't. Now somehow she had to convince Alice of that.

"Er-Well, you see…I uh, I kinda-I mean…You heard?" Bella said meekly, uselessly, because obviously the vampire had, and Alice's scowl almost melted her where she stood.

"Every word," Alice locked her jaw, and Bella felt herself sink a little deeper into the mess she had made when she saw that familiar muscle going in it.

Alice's hearing was better than she thought.

For the briefest moment, Bella's mind cycled through any possible way to make it seem like it had been anything other than what it was, but not only would that be ineffectual, but that was not how she wanted things to be between her and Alice.

Tell her, you coward. Just say it. Own up to your mistakes. You owe her that much. Don't be a hypocrite. You wanted to talk, now it's time to talk.

"Look-Jesus, Alice, I didn't mean to, alright? Don't be mad. I fucked up, I know. I just panicked. I panicked!" Bella stammered desperately.

"You didn't mean to?"

The pitch of Alice's voice was going up a little, and Bella knew she was on thin ice that was cracking with every step she took.

"No! I was just-I didn't want to hurt her feelings, and I was so confused about what was happening between us, and I spoke without thinking!" Bella exclaimed, knowing how feeble she sounded.

Alice's scoff was enough to let her know how feeble she thought it sounded too, and Bella felt her panic rising.

"Are you serious?" she said, uncrossing her arms and staring in disbelief. "After everything we've been through-After what we said? Do you like her? You want to go and date someone else after-After all that? After we-After I-"

Alice, who was always so articulate and poised, was struggling to put into words exactly what she thought of that, and so Bella knew exactly how much shit she was in because of it.

"No! No, I don't want to date Leah! I tried to take it back! You must have heard me say no, too!" Bella reminded her frantically as Alice scowled.

I suck, I suck, I suck, she thought, furiously kicking herself. Everything she said was just making it worse.

"Yeah, after you said yes first! Bella-For God's sake, I told you! I asked you flat out if you meant it when you said-when you said you loved me! And you-You told me you did, and now you do this? Why? All you had to do was tell me you didn't mean it! I needed the truth from you. If you didn't love me, why didn't you just say so instead of- Instead of doing this?"

"Alice," Bella breathed, her heart stopping as the girl's voice cracked. The angry front she was putting up was concealing a much more hurt interior, and a horrible feeling of guilt and shame welled up in her at it.

Oh Alice. Oh Alice, no. Why did I do that? I'm such an idiot!

Alice was reading way more into this than she assumed, and Bella rushed to stop that train of thought before it went any further, even if it meant throwing herself head first into the moving train itself.

"No, no, no. No, Alice. Listen to me, listen," Bella demanded, stepping towards the vampire, whose eyes she hated to see were shining.

Fix it. Fix it, right now, you idiot. Fix it!

"You think I didn't mean it? You think I don't love you?" Bella said, ducking her head to catch Alice's eyes when the girl scowled and looked away from her. "Because I do. I love you, Alice. You think I want Leah? Because I don't. I don't want to date Leah. I messed up, I know, and I'm so, so sorry. Please, you've got to believe that."

If her declaration did anything, Bella couldn't see it, because Alice whipped her gaze back to her and hissed, "Then why did you say yes to her? And you sure weren't saying that when you saw her naked, were you?"

"That's not fair," Bella protested. "I looked for like, half a second, because I was surprised. And then I looked away, because I don't want her, Alice. You think I could have looked away if that had been you standing there with no clothes on?"

Alice's glare was infuriating at the same time that it was terrifying as she scrambled to explain herself.

"I just panicked, okay? I didn't know what to do, and I was so confused because we haven't talked about anything! All we've done is make out and pretend like nothing ever happened, and I was so-so fucking scared that you didn't mean it, and I panicked. I said yes because I didn't want to hurt her feelings, and because I was taking too long to answer because all I could think of was you, and how much I loved you and how much I didn't know what the hell was going on with us!" Bella ranted, trying to make her understand.

"Then why didn't you talk to me about it?" Alice shouted, and the volume of her voice cut through Bella, down to the quick. "If you wanted to, I was around plenty of times! There was no reason you couldn't come to me! I wasn't running from you or any of this. If you were so confused, why didn't you-"

"Because of what happened the first time I tried to talk to you about all of this!" Bella broke in furiously, heart hammering. "Or did you forget how I almost died? It was hard enough to put my heart on the line the first time, and when I did, I screwed everything up. You and Jasper are over because of me, and I was trying to give you time, space, because I thought you needed it, but the more time that went by and you never brought it up, I thought-I thought you were regretting it, and I didn't know if you were only kissing me because you'd given up on Jasper, or-God, I don't know, Alice!" Bella cried.

"I didn't know where we were supposed to go from there, and I was waiting for you to take the lead because I-I have no idea what I'm doing and I love you so much, but I have no idea what you really feel, or if you really love me back, and I've never felt anything like this before for anyone, and I just…" Bella trailed away as she felt hot tears stream down her face at an alarming rate, her heart seconds away from breaking.

Please don't hate me, she thought miserably. Alice, please, listen to me. Please believe me.

Alice drew back at the sight of her tears and inhaled sharply, looking anguished and uncertain. The same way Bella could not stand when Alice cried, her own tears always hit the vampire hard.

What else could she say? Bella didn't know how else to say it anyway. She wiped at her eyes, feeling as if she wasn't the one who got to cry here.

She knew she messed up. She knew she couldn't really take it back. All she could do was hope and pray that Alice believed her, and did not think for certain that Bella really didn't love her.

Because she did. She knew it deep in her bones that she did. All she wanted was fall into Alice's arms, cling to her and never let go again.

Now she was ruining any chance of that. Like she always did.

"Please believe me," Bella breathed when Alice looked away from her, her eyes glimmering with tears she couldn't shed. "Alice, please. I'm telling you the truth. Please say you believe me. Please say you still-Please say you still love me too."

That did it.

Alice's eyes snapped back to her, and they blazed so hotly that Bella could hardly stand it.

"You're really asking me that?" she hissed, and shoved her hand out, bewildering Bella. "Do you see a ring on my finger, Bella?" Alice snapped.

Bella stared, her throat closing as she shook her head, staring at Alice's bare ring finger, comprehension dawning on her, and she felt even worse.

"No, you don't," Alice went on, and yanked her hand back. "And you know why? Because I gave it up for you. I gave up everything for you. I ended things with Jasper, not the other way around. I wasn't kissing you as a last resort, I was kissing you because I love you. How can you think for even a second that I didn't mean it?"

Bella shrank further, biting on her bottom lip. She closed her eyes for a bit longer than a standard blink, basking in Alice's declaration, feeling it warm her insides as it had before, even as she began to feel cold from her mistake, fearing, and not for the first time, that she was going to lose Alice despite all of that.

Why do I have to fuck everything up? Bella thought morosely when she opened her eyes again and saw Alice staring at her with shiny, hard amber eyes.

Just because Alice loved her didn't mean Bella couldn't ruin that by making that stupid, stupid mistake by saying yes to Leah.

So she gave it one last try.

"Alice, I love you, and you love me. I don't want Leah. When I said yes to her, it was not because I wanted to date her. I was trying to say we could go as friends, and it all came out wrong, because while I was sitting there, looking at her, all I could see was you. That's all I ever see when I look at someone else. I think of you, and how no one can compare to you. You're all I ever think about anymore Alice, and…And I don't want anyone else. All I want is you."

Alice looked right into her eyes, and swore.

"Jesus Christ, Bella. Why don't you get it?" Alice whispered, and then she leaned in and kissed her.

Bella whimpered in surprise as she inhaled Alice's aroma, tasted the softness of her lips, even as Alice growled into her mouth and pushed her backwards.

What-?

She yelped and then groaned in bewildered delight when her back smacked into the shelving behind her and Alice's arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her close as she kissed her firmly, insistently, folding her body close to her own cool one.

"Al-Alice-Mmph-" Bella shivered as their lips broke a moment later and she shuddered at the feel of Alice against her, heart racing as it did every time Alice's lips met hers.

"You've got me, Bella. You want me? You've got me," Alice whispered against her mouth, brushing their noses together in an intimate move that made Bella's breath hitch.

"Alice," she murmured, and moaned lightly when Alice kissed her again, this time letting her tongue delve into the cavern of her mouth. When they brushed, electricity lit through Bella and she wrapped her arms around Alice's neck eagerly, hungrily, lovingly.

I've got her. Does she mean that? What does that mean?

Alice rumbled again, her chest vibrating in a delicious way as her hands squeezed Bella's hips, making them tremble.

"You've had me all along Bella," she breathed when she pulled back a second later. "From the moment we've met, you had me. But I want you too, baby, I do," Alice continued, shuddering when Bella couldn't resist peppering soft little kisses to the corner of her mouth, aroused and elated at every word coming out of Alice's mouth and their closeness.

Oh god, she really does love me, she thought. I haven't ruined us.

"You've got me," Bella said quickly, rushing to reassure her. "How could you not Alice? You have me too. I'm yours."

Something about this word made Alice growl aloud, a low sound that made the hairs on the back of her neck raise, but in a good way, and when Alice kissed her again, it was deep and hard and breathtaking. Bella moaned helplessly as Alice pressed harder into her, lifted her by her waist and set her down on the low set shelf jutting out from the wall.

"You're mine," Alice hissed, cupping the side of her neck and dragging her lips from Bella's mouth, down to her neck, where she smothered the sensitive skin there with her mouth.

Ah.

Bella recognized the possessiveness in Alice's tone, and it made a solid flush of heat flash to her sex as her stomach got all knotted up in arousal as the vampire's instincts were revealed in entirety. Vampires were notoriously possessive, and territorial. No wonder Alice was so pissed off and jealous all the time, especially this time.

She probably shouldn't be so turned on by it, but she couldn't help it. Being Alice's sounded so fucking good, and giving Alice that certainty was really…

Hot.

"You're mine, and not anyone else's. Not Edward's, or Leah's, mine. And only mine," Alice growled as Bella squirmed and fisted a handful of those silky black locks in her hand, trembling and closing her thighs on Alice's waist.

"Yours," Bella repeated, just to taste it on her tongue, and Alice shuddered against her. It felt so right to say it, so right to know it.

I am hers. I am Alice's, she thought, feeling it fill up her heart, and Alice's mouth met hers again in a blindingly delicious kiss that curled her toes.

But when they broke apart, she had to say it.

"And you're mine," Bella said softly, causing Alice to pause as her hands braced on the shelf besides Bella's hips.

You're mine too, right Alice? Not Jasper's…Are you mine now? Please say you are…

"Yes," Alice groaned. "I'm yours, Bella. I'm all yours."

Bella almost squealed, but she contained herself, because that would have been totally uncool.

She just loved Alice so much, and now together really meant together. She was with Alice. She was with Alice, and so nothing else in the world mattered.

"God, Bella, I can't stand it," Alice suddenly gasped and pressed their foreheads together, her voice husky and unbelievably erotic. "I can't stand the thought of you with someone else. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have gotten so mad, but Bella baby, you don't know…You don't know the things you do to me…"

Oh god, Bella thought, Alice's words lapping provocatively at her ear drums. She sounds so…

The thing she did to Alice? Could they even be a fraction of what Alice did to her, was doing to her with just the sound of her voice?

Alice pressed closer to her, if it was possible, and Bella could feel the pheromones thickening as Alice hooked her fingers into the belt loops of her jeans and yanked her forward.

Fuck, that was hot.

"I can't stand the thought of you with someone else Bella. It drives me insane. To think of someone else having you, holding you, touching you…God, no."

"They won't. Nobody will but you, Alice. I don't want anyone else but you," Bella vowed, and when their eyes locked up again, it flipped her stomach fully over.

This time when Alice kissed her, they did not break apart. Alice's tongue dove back into her mouth and she whimpered when she felt the vibrations of her growl run through her body. The fire Alice kindled inside her surged and flames licked at Bella, hunger.

She couldn't help but cry out when Alice's hands slipped under her and grabbed her ass, hauling her literally off the shelf and upwards, so that Bella's face had to tilt completely down to keep kissing her as she fell into the girl, arms around her neck to stay steady.

Damn, she really loved this girl. Alice's strength was one of the perks of being with a vampire.

Alice squeezed her, and Bella moaned desperately, wantonly, turned on with her heart soaring in bliss.

They were together now.

They loved each other, and now Alice had finally solidified it into something real.

It felt perfect.

When Alice set her back down, it was only so that she could run her hands up Bella's sides, brushing against her breasts in a way that made her groan. She ran her own hands down Alice's back, over the silky material of her blouse and loved the way Alice arched inward at her touch. She could not resist slipping her hands up under it, just to feel the smooth muscles that tensed under her touch, and knew it was worth it when Alice let out this high pitched moan of delight into her mouth.

Alice, of course, had to meet this by ducking her head down to latch onto the underside of Bella's chin, forcing the girl's head to fall back and thud into the wall with a gasp as the vampire suckled at a spot she had never known could be so sensitive, and then cupped her breasts in both hands.

That was a bit of a surprise, in the sense that it made Bella mewl and arch, but not because she didn't welcome it.

The chemistry between them seemed to have no inhibitions.

Alice had the deftest touch, and when she squeezed Bella with just the right amount of pressure, the human melted.

"Alice," she swooned, staring up at the dusty ceiling, throat bobbing. "Jesus, Alice."

The sound of her name on Bella's lips was enough to pull the vampire right back to them, and they kissed once more, tongues dueling, Bella pressing her chest further into those hands and clinging to Alice with a hot pulsating throbbing between her thighs.

When Bella let her own hands drop boldly to Alice's ass and cup it, however, the daze was ruined.

"Slow!" Alice gasped, rearing back, and Bella whimpered in confusion when the vampire grasped at her wrists, squeezing lightly.

"Alice?"

Confused, and fearing that somehow she had been the one to push them too far, Bella stared at her with her chest heaving.

Crap, was that too much? Did I do something wrong? She wondered frantically, but Alice only shook her head and put her hands back on the shelf as Bella pulled her own back to place them on the vampire's shoulders.

"Slow, Bella," Alice repeated softly, and Bella shivered when the girl kissed her cheek, the side of her head, the shell of her ear.

What? Bella tilted her head, enjoying the kisses either way, but still perplexed as to what Alice was getting at.

And melting into her underwear. Oh wow, she was really turned on. She could feel the slickness between her thighs, and wondered vaguely if Alice could actually smell her arousal.

That didn't help, and Bella had to shut her eyes to fight off another wave of it.

"Slowly…" Alice murmured against her mouth. "We have to slow down…"

Why? Bella's libido protested, but she took a heavy breath, which also turned out to be a mistake because all she inhaled was Alice's white chocolate and berries scent.

"Slow," Bella parroted weakly as Alice pulled away from her to gaze into her eyes.

Slow was not what her sex was screaming for.

Alice's irises were the color of a midnight sky, and her pupils were dilated. Bella remembered then that she was locked in a tiny closet, making out with a vampire, and probably severely testing the girl's instincts.

Oops.

"Bella…You have no idea…It's not that I don't want to keep going, because God, I do. I want you, but…" Alice sighed heavily and shifted back. She did not seem to be physically breathing anymore.

"Not here. I don't want to go too far, especially not in a place like this," Alice told her, her voice sounding thick and raspy in a way that Bella knew meant there was a part of Alice that didn't give a damn that they were in a janitor's closet and would gladly go all the way.

Bella hadn't really been thinking about that, or what they were doing at all really. It was hard to think with Alice's lips on hers, when the girl was so sexy and beautiful, and she loved her so much.

As she stopped and looked around though, she saw the point Alice was trying to make, and why she had pulled back.

This was definitely not the place to get ahead of themselves.

"So let's slow down baby," Alice murmured, and leaned in to give her a much softer, sweeter kiss, which Bella died a little under.

Alice calling her baby did wonderful things to the butterflies that fluttered in her belly. She had always thought if someone were to call her that pet name that it would irritate her, but no. She loved it from Alice.

"We have all the time in the world now…Let's settle in first. Settle in with me, Bella, before we do anything else. You're mine…And I am yours. Let's not rush anything," Alice continued.

"Okay," Bella agreed, shifting to sit up straighter as Alice took a step back and put her hands on the brunette's knees, squeezing them gently. She ran a hand through her hair, trying to compose herself (which wasn't really working, she was still beyond turned on after that little interaction) as Alice straightened out her blouse, and when they looked at each other, Bella felt that shift their relationship had taken shift one more time…

And it all just fell into place.

It wasn't weird anymore.

It was perfect.

"Alice," Bella spoke, and had to clear her throat when it came out lower than she meant to. Alice's eyes twinkled knowingly at it, and she blushed, suddenly shy.

They were together now, and Bella did not want any doubts lingering in Alice's mind. None at all.

"Um…You're right. We should move slower, but…I love you, you know that right? Leah doesn't mean anything at all to me, not compared to you. I'm going to make it right. I won't go to the movies with her, or even…I won't even talk to her anymore, if that's what it takes to make it up to, to prove to you that you're the only one I want, that I need."

Alice smiled then, a nose crinkling smile that made her heart skip a beat, even though her eyes seemed kind of sad.

"Oh, Bells…Don't worry about it, honey. I think I knew the whole time that you only said yes because you're too nice, and because you were confused. And you were right. I should have come to you first. The ball was in my court, and it was my turn to step up. You were giving me all the time I needed. I was just…I was just trying to let the dust settle. It felt wrong to jump into your arms right after everything ended with Jasper…Even if that was all I wanted to do."

Bella opened her mouth to tell her that she was the one to blame, not Alice, but Alice kept going.

"It's just so unreal how much I feel for you Bella. I've never felt like this for anyone before, not even Jasper. And when Leah asked you out, and you said yes…I freaked. I thought I was going to lose you because I couldn't get it together. I knew you were confused, but I didn't know how to tell you how much I really do love you. I was afraid you didn't really love me, too…"

"I do though. I do love you Alice," Bella said, leaning towards her and slipping off the shelf, back to her feet.

Alice had to know that. She needed her to know.

"I know. I know that now. I believe you Bella. You being with me is the only proof I need," Alice said, and leaned in to kiss her to soothe the panic beginning on Bella's face. "But yeah, if you cancel things with Leah, that would be great. I don't want to be the person that tries to tell you who you can and can't be friends with though, even though I really wish you wouldn't be friends with her…"

"I will. I definitely will. The first chance that I get," Bella declared, and caught Alice's hand in her own, her libido dying down slowly. It felt so good to be able to touch Alice like this, lace their fingers together when she knew what it really meant now. "No more Leah. I won't go to the movies with her at all, or hang out with her anywhere but at school."

She didn't want to fuck Leah over completely, but she knew if Alice had asked her too, she probably would have in her love struck daze. She knew that probably wasn't a good outtake to have on it, so it was a good thing Alice wasn't a controlling type of person.

Bella was pretty sure she would do anything for the girl, if only she asked. She wasn't sure if there was anything she wouldn't do.

She felt awful about doing that to Alice, for scaring her like that and making her think for even the briefest moment that she was going back on what she'd told her that day in the rain.

She just wished she could understand why Alice hated Leah so much, jealousy aside. This certainly wouldn't help matters. She was still annoyed with the Clearwater girl for fucking with Alice like that when she knew it would piss her off.

"Good. Because I meant it, Bella. When I said together, this was the together I meant," Alice said, and Bella softened immensely when Alice took her hand and pressed it to her chest, right where her heart was. "My heart may not beat, Bella, but it certainly still feels. I love you, and I need you to be mine. Only mine. Because I'm already yours," Alice reminded her with a fierce look in her eyes that rekindled her arousal in about two seconds flat.

You're pathetic, Swan, she told herself, but couldn't stop the goofy grin on her face.

"I'm yours," Bella agreed. "And you are mine."

Alice's smile matched hers brilliantly, and when they realized how dopey they looked just grinning at each other, they giggled. But still, when the urge overtook her, Bella could not resist kissing Alice softly on the mouth.

It was a long, intimate kiss, one that Bella seemed to just really seal the deal, and set her heart pounding joyously.

When they broke apart, she felt like she had to say something.

"But Alice," she said, and almost cooed at how freaking adorable the girl looked when she cocked her head to the side.

"Yeah?"

"If we hadn't stopped, even if we didn't go slow…It would still be perfect for me. No matter how it happens, or when or where, it will be perfect, because I'll be with you. I don't care if we go slow or fast, because I love you, and that's all I need," Bella said, and for the first time, she realized she had the ability to make Alice swoon, too.

And swoon she did.

Alice's expression filled with that gooey look Bella's friends had told her about before, and when Alice swayed forward and locked their lips, she knew it was on her face too.

Ugh. I'm going to be auditioning for a Hallmark movie if we keep this up, she thought, but she loved it.

"Bella," Alice groaned against her mouth. "I agree wholeheartedly, but still…I'm going to give you better than that. I won't give you anything less than you deserve. And baby-"

Bella blushed and shivered when Alice squeezed her hips and pulled her close.

Oh.

Well then.

"When it does happen, and it will happen," Alice murmured, her voice silky smooth as she lowered her lips to Bella's ear and made her stiffen in shock of eroticism. "I'm going to give you everything you deserve. I'm going to worship you, Bella, the way you should be worshiped. And I'm going to do it in a warm, comfortable bed, not in some disgusting janitor's closet. I'm going to etch it into every inch of your skin with my hands, my lips, my tongue. I'm going to love you, baby…When the time is right."

Dead.

Dead, dead, dead.

Bella was already six feet under at Alice's whispered promise in her ear, and when Alice pulled back and gave her one of those beaming smiles that was tinged with her minxish, mischievous smirk, she was sure she was gawking unattractively.

Her brain was shut down, and she scrambled to recover as the apex of her thighs filled with her wetness all over again.

Jesus, she thought.

How could Alice physically collapse her and emotionally lift her all at the same time?

"But every time is right when it's with you," Bella finally choked out the only thing she could think, and Alice rolled her eyes and laughed her tinkling laugh.

"You're just a horn dog," she joked, and Bella pouted at her in protest.

"I am not!"

"I'm just kidding Bells. Aww, you're so cute!" Alice cooed at the expression, and Bella gave her a playful scowl.

She frowned, however, when Alice's face suddenly twisted into an expression of horror.

"Oh my god," Alice whispered, eyes wide.

"What?" Bella tensed.

Hell, what was the matter now? What could possibly have gone wrong in the past three seconds-

"Spider!" Alice squeaked and jumped back, pointing one frantic finger at Bella.

"Spider?"

Bella froze, and felt something tickle the side of her neck…Like a tiny leg, perhaps?

Oh my god.

"Spider!" Bella squealed and they both shrieked as she immediately began to flail, hysterically slapping at her neck to get that little monster off of her.

"Oh my god-Alice, get it! Get if off me!"

"Stop it, you're going to get it on me!"

"Jesus-Fucking-Kill it, kill it! Ew, ew, ew!"

"No, get away from me!"

Bella and Alice screamed at the same time as the human desperately spun in circles, trying to see the spider she had felt crawling on her neck, and in her desperation, she fell into Alice, and the vampire lost it.

They tumbled back into the door, which broke open from their combined weight and Alice's frantic backwards scramble to avoid her. They staggered into the hallway as the door made a splintering sound, Alice darting out of her reach with vampiric speed as Bella hopped around and swore, slapping all over herself and shaking out her shirt.

"Is it gone? Where is it?" she stammered, feeling all over herself as Alice stood a safe five feet away, looking both horrified and beyond amused.

"There it is!" Alice suddenly yelped and Bella jumped a foot away as the vampire pointed to the floor at her feet.

A tiny, minuscule little dot on the floor was skittering back towards the safety of the closet, having somehow survived Bella's flailing limbs. It could be no bigger than Bella's pinky nail, and Bella watched it crawl with disgust.

"Little shit," she growled, shuddering as Alice finally collapsed into peals of laughter. "You jerk, why didn't you help me?" Bella demanded as the vampire giggled wildly.

"Like I was going to touch that thing? Ew, no way. I hate spiders," Alice grimaced as Bella glared at her.

"You're a vampire!" Bella threw up her hands in disbelief, and Alice snorted.

"So?"

"So how can you be afraid of spiders?"

"Because they're gross?" Alice shrugged, eyes twinkling as Bella huffed, torn between annoyance and amusement at how ridiculous they were both being.

"So you're telling me you'd go toe to toe for Victoria for me, but you won't even get a tiny spider for me?"

Apparently even being supernatural could not override arachnophobia.

"I can kill it now, if you want," Alice pouted when Bella glowered playfully at her. "If you really want me to…"

"No, don't kill him! Look, he's going away. He's probably freaking out even more than we are," Bella waved her off, watching as the little guy scrambled back into the closet and disappeared.

She had no real issue with spiders. As long as they stayed away from her. And she couldn't see them. And basically pretend like they didn't exist.

"Seconds ago you were begging me to squish him, and now you're feeling bad for him?" Alice stared at her, the corners of her lips quirked up.

"Well…Yeah, I mean…It's different when he's not actually on me, ya know? I don't really want him to die," Bella shrugged, and was mildly confused when Alice shook her head at her, smiling wryly.

The vampire blurred into the closet and slung both of their bags over her shoulders before she came back out and shut the damaged door, which failed to close completely. Alice chose to ignore that.

"Come on, Tiger. Now that we're done playing with Charlotte's web over there, we should probably get to class," Alice motioned for her with a laugh, and Bella willingly slipped up against her, both of them wrapping their arms around each other's waist.

"Wait," she paused as Alice leaned her head into her shoulder. "Did the bell already ring?"

"Yep. That's gonna be another detention, babe. Boy, you're really racking them up lately, aren't ya?" Alice snickered as Bella swore.

"Damn it!" She stomped her foot, and it was only the sound of Alice laughing and pulling her along that consoled her.

Yeah.

Alice was totally worth detention. In fact, she was worth a whole lot more.

She was worth everything, really.

All the drama with Leah, Cassie, Victoria, and even the Volturi…

Alice was worth all of it, and more.