Chapter 26: Always

Alice's POV

"Leah!" I exclaimed in a whisper. I didn't know what happened that caused me to suddenly be able to see her. In this case I really wished I couldn't have seen her. She was lying in the snow sobbing hysterically with Edward's head buried in her chest. I couldn't tell what had happened, but I knew she had been harmed. I could see the reddened snow beneath her.

"So much… so much… blood." I couldn't hide the sorrow in my voice. As soon as that first vision ended another vision of misery crept into my brain. It was a stranger in the darkness, circling Bella's house. It seemed like drama and danger were here, and were banging on our front door.

When I awakened from my trance the whole family was surrounding me in the living room. I felt Jasper's hands massaging my shoulders comforting and supporting me as I readjusted to the present. Edward was sitting right in front of me, frowning as he studied me. It was weird for him to have such an aggressive stare. It was almost as if he somehow blamed me for what I saw. I envisioned him saying 'this isn't what I want the future to hold, take it back' and I wished to God I could. "They are coming after Bella first. We have to stop them, hide her or they will kill her." I warned and Edward nodded, the all too familiar expression of guilt was etched all over his face.

"This is not the time to feel guilty. Now is the time for action. We need to move Bella for the night and come up with a plan to shield her from the battle." Edward fixed his face and grabbed his phone and dialed. "Jacob, we have a situation can meet at Bella's house … yes by 3AM."

Emmett, Carlisle, and Edward were already moving toward the door when we all heard Leah's phone go off. Leah had been upstairs sleeping. We listened as she answered her phone. "Dammit! Jacob wants to involve her. Rose, make sure she stays here." Rose didn't say anything she just looked toward the stairs. We knew that it was hard to deter Leah if there was somewhere she wanted to go.

Edward rushed out the door thinking that this was the smartest plan of action. If it were me I would've gone about it a bit differently. Yes, I would have called Jacob but only to keep an eye on Charlie. We had more than enough people to keep Bella safe here. Only a couple of us really needed to go get her. Then there was Leah, he should've explained everything to her before he left. Jasper headed out with Edward and the others while I stayed here to see if I could assist in honoring Edward's wishes regarding convincing Leah to stay here. After barely a minute, Leah bounded downstairs struggling into her jacket as she rushed.

"Hey Leah!" I exclaimed as I tried to divert her from leaving right away.

"Hey, Jacob needs me. Something's up at the Swan's house. I'm surprised you two aren't there."

"I know. Edward already left." I admitted. "He doesn't want you to go. Rose is supposed to stop you from going." Leah looked questioningly at Rose who held her hand out with her palm facing Leah.

"Stop," Rose uttered blandly and rolled her eyes at the stupidity of the situation.

"I have to go. It will cause more alarm if I'm not there after I told him I would be." She had a point; Jacob and the rest of the pack would wonder what was going on. And Bella was going to be really taken aback to see Leah here at such a late hour. I tried to think of something to stop her.

"We should all really be there." Rose contradicted me. "It makes no sense for us to be sitting ducks. I mean, I'm not sure exactly how this is going down, but I don't think we should all be split up." Rosalie looked out the window.

"Thanks for the help, Rose." Rose looked back at me with a sort of smug look.

"I'm not trying to derail anything, I'm just stating the facts. Danger is coming and we're separated. That makes no sense, but you know how Edward gets when he's all riled up. Its best not to argue."

Leah glowered. "He was worked up?" She shook her head as if she was trying to erase a thought from her mind. "I'm going! You're free to tag along, but I'd really advise against trying to stop me." Rose grabbed her keys answering Leah's question. It appeared we were going.

When we got to Bella's house everyone was standing outside, Bella was wrapped up in Edward's arms. Edward looked uncomfortable as he looked apprehensively toward Rose's car. In hindsight, Leah shouldn't have ridden with us if we were worried about appearances. We all got out and approached the crowd.

"So Bella's coming home with us," Carlisle said as he watched the expression on Leah's face. I think he said it so Edward wouldn't have to.

"Great! We can have a slumber party!" I joked, but everyone looked at me as if I'd lost my mind. I was trying to lighten the mood, if there was a chance that I was about to die I wanted to at least find the humor in it.

"We should really get going," Rose urged.

"Agreed. We have to discuss how we are going to handle the attack. We need to figure out how to keep Bella safe," Jacob added. Everyone went back to their respective vehicles. I watched as Edward kept his eyes trained on Leah as he opened the door for Bella to get in his car.

Leah didn't look at him at all; she kept her head down and pretended not to see him. It wasn't until we were driving home that her real frustration was confessed.

"I just want to go home," Leah mumbled with her face in her hands.

"Leah, you only have to deal with this until the battle is over. Then we all can stop pretending. You are strong, you can handle this." Rosalie patted Leah's knee.

"Normally I'd agree with you, but Edward and me- I was just in his bed. I can't watch him with her!" She shook her head frantically, one hand over her eyes. "I'm an emotional wreck and I'm sure I can't deal with this right now." I was shocked Leah was so open with us. She was not generally someone who openly shared her emotions. There was only that one other time that I'd seen her cry, I was pretty sure she hadn't willingly confided in me, I was just the lesser of two evils.

"We could take the long way home and give you some time to get your head straight?" I offered from the back seat.

"Yeah, we should do that." Leah sighed and sank down in her seat. Rose headed toward the highway to drive blissfully into the night, creating a slight detour for our emotional she-wolf friend.

Edward's POV

"So we're agreed? We'll create a path with Bella's scent to lead them there and then we'll use Jacob's uh, his aroma, to hide her true location." Jasper confirmed after Carlisle, Jacob, and I had worked diligently to figure out a plan to keep Bella safe. Bella sat between Jacob and me on the couch. She had her head on my shoulder; I'd wrapped a supportive arm around her. This was wrong. I was really uncomfortable and anxious. Where the hell had Rosalie gone off with Leah? We'd been home for well over a half hour and they weren't back.

"Edward, you won't leave me will you?" Bella looked at me with worried eyes.

"What?" I didn't understand what she was asking, leave her now?

"You'll stay with me during the fight, won't you? I want you both safe." She looked at both Jacob and then me.

"Do you really think it's fair that we don't risk our lives simply because you don't want us to?" I asked.

"We have to fight Bella." Jacob explained. "I know I feel like I need to be a part of making sure you're safe," She gave him a dough eyed look and I really wished she would release my arm and grab into his.

"Jasper, have you heard from Alice?" I asked.

"Yes I have." He said bluntly.

"Is she okay? I'm surprised they aren't home yet." I'd set up the question perfectly so Jasper knew I was asking about Leah.

"I'm not sure where is Alice is. I think that Rose had to take Leah home."

"Home?" I tried to mask my aversion to what he'd said. "I don't really think its safe Leah being done. We should probably ask her to come back to Forks for the night. Don't you agree, Jacob?" Jacob hunched his shoulders and was kind of indifferent to Leah's whereabouts. "Leah's not being hunted, she's probably safe wherever she is. She could come back though and help with surveillance." I immediately regretted asking him anything. Leah should be protected, hidden, and not put in the eye of danger.

"Well, if I know Leah at all she wouldn't her part downgraded. She semi-feminist that way." Emmett plopped down in the recliner.

"Because you know her so well," I murmured.

"She's my wife's friend so I kinda do. I bet I know her better than you." Emmett was screwing with me.

"I doubt that," I smirked as I thought of today's events. I noticed Bella's curious stare but I really didn't want explain myself. I needed to get out of there before I gave myself away. I was about to excuse myself, claiming needing to hunt, when my two sisters appeared with Leah, who had a greasy burger bag and a drink, in tow. I took the opportunity to stand up and create some distance between Bella and me.

I actually hugged Rosalie and Alice for the sole purpose of making sure it didn't look weird when I hugged Leah, but she denied me. She slipped into the kitchen and away from everybody. Jacob quietly followed after her. He was about to rip her a new one for not being more serious about the battle we were facing. Little did the dense dog know, Leah was very aware of everything at stake. There was so much more to the situation than Jacob knew. It wasn't entirely his fault for not knowing, it just irked me.

I was at a loss as to how to involve myself in their discussion. I knew I wouldn't be able to tolerate listening to Jacob snap at Leah for no good reason but wasn't sure how to stop him. I stood by the couch where Alice and Bella were sitting, my hands tense as they gripped back of their seat. I wished they weren't in the kitchen, where I rarely really had a reason to go. We all could hear him whispering to her in harsh tones, telling her that she was a waste of space and that he didn't know why she was given the ability to phase in the first place. I really didn't know what Bella saw in the guy, I wanted to personally rip out his throat.

"Leah, can you come here in for a minute?" Rose called after her; she'd had enough Jacob's stupidity, too. I saw, through Rose, that Leah had already shed more tears tonight. She was afraid that Leah was not in a strong enough emotional condition to take being beaten up right now.

Leah ignored Rose's request, I heard her whisper to Jacob. "My supernatural abilities and my entitlement to them is none of your business, Black. Believe it or not I'm very focused on the matter at hand. But I'm also hungry so I stopped off to grab something to eat, if that's okay with you. And even if it isn't, like I said, it doesn't matter. Now leave me the hell alone!"

"That's my girl," I whispered and then I felt two familiar arms wrapped around my waist from behind. I'd been so absorbed by what was going on in the other room, I wasn't even aware that Bella had moved from of the couch. I really should've seen that, but her touch actually alarmed me to the point of jumping a little.

"Edward I'm tired, can we go upstairs?" It was at that moment that Leah and Jacob re-entered the living room.

"Uh, why don't you go ahead up? I will check in on you later. I just need to talk to Carlisle about a few things." I felt as Bella frowned before she slowly released me. She headed upstairs by herself. I could tell she was unhappy about my slight rejection, but even if I couldn't make her happy at the very least I could keep her safe.

Eventually Jacob left and the rest of the family went about their business. Leah tried to slip away from me. She had decided to escape into one of the guestrooms and I gently grabbed her elbow to stop her.

"Hey," I murmured and she looked down at her shoes. "Leah?" I knew she couldn't be insecure; we'd just laid together mere hours ago.

"We just made love in that bed, Edward, and now she's laying in it. I know it's necessary, and I'm not complaining, I just…" "I don't know it's unsettling how quickly things can change." I cradled her face with both of my hands and forced her to look at me while she was talking.

"Well, if she's in that bed, then we should occupy this one." I gave her my look that meant we really should be naked right now.

"Edward stop! I'm feeling sort of droopy right now." She whined and I moved my hands to her waist.

"I'm most definitely not droopy at the moment." I pull her closer so she'd get my meaning.

"Edward!" She gasped and then kissed me playfully and wrapped her arms around my neck.

"So about that bed?" I questioned and we kissed once more. I slowly moved her into the room and kicked the door closed. There was no question in my mind which room I wanted to be in.

"Is it time to tuck you in again, Miss Clearwater?" She pouted and nodded. "Oh, I can definitely help with that."

I lay with Leah again, and our bodies did what they do best. While we made love I saw Alice's vision again. I saw Leah screaming crying in pain and I was crying over her. "I can't lose you, Leah, promise you won't leave me." I begged as I tried to focus on the wonderful person beneath me and not to worry about the future. Her eyes were filled with heat and want. "Promise me, woman!" I urged. It took a few attempts at speaking before Leah finally completed her statement.

"I'll always be with you. Edward. Always."