"Are you angry?"
The room was horrible silent, save for Bella's slow, nervous breaths. Her knees were pressed against her chest, and she watched anxiously as Alice paced the room, her hands twitching and fiddling behind her back. She would stop, frown and open her mouth as if to speak, before thinking better of it and continuing her restless pacing.
Finally she sighed, taking a seat beside Bella on the bed, her eyes tired. "No…" She shook her head, smiling sadly. "I'm not angry." She looked up, and Bella couldn't stop the sigh of relief. She nodded her head, shuffling on the silk sheets before standing. Alice's eyes were light, and golden, and inside she could see the tiredness in her pupils.
"I'm not sorry Alice." She said her eyes determined, refusing to apologies. She watched as the small woman looked up, nodding. "I know you're not, neither is he." She indicated towards the door, where they could hear the sounds of Emmett playing on the Television, a miffed little scowl on her small face. "I just- I want you to be happy Bella!" She exclaimed standing and folding her arms across her chest. "I know you're unhappy with my brother, and Emmett is too, it's just-"
Bella cut her off, placing a warm hand over her shoulder. "I know its unexpected Alice- But I can't have you hating me… And neither can Emmett…" Suddenly her body was crushed by two small arms, Alice's face nestled into her bosom.
"I could never hate you Bella… I love you both dearly, if- if this is what makes you happy then I'm glad for you. I'll always support you." Bella smiled, returning the tight hug. She leaned into Alice's cold body and began to laugh. "I just, I don't want either of you to get hurt, and as much as Edward and Rose piss me off, I know this will affect them badly, I want to avoid a confrontation." Bella nodded in understanding, smiling sadly "I know, Thanks Alice." She smiled, disappointed when arms fell away, her small body moving and sitting on the bed. She clapped her dainty hands, sitting opposite to Bella and leaning forward dramatically. Her sad expression fell away, replaced with an eager smile.
"So how was it?"Bella's face flushed red as she looked down, fiddling with a dark piece of thread on her pant-leg. They both looked up when the bedroom door opened, Jasper walking into the room. Bella blushed, and Jasper seemed to feel her worries because he bowed his head, smiling softly. "Don't worry Bella, I know, I won't snitch." He said soothingly, a wave of calm washing over her. She looked at Alice, catching the sheepish grin on her dainty features. "He is my husband Bella…" She defended, and Bella smiled, shaking her head. Alice dragged her face back, continuing their conversation. The door closed and he was gone, leaving them alone again. "You saw…" She tried to explain, her embarrassment over-whelming her. Alice slapped her thigh gently, grinning, her amber eyes sparkling. "Bella… I didn't want to see anything, I blocked it out because of Edward, and I want you to tell me if it was good."She glanced away, her tongue pressing to her cheek, and couldn't help glancing at the door. She knew she would regret this, who knew how big Emmett's ego could get. She nodded her head, peeking up through her lashes, "It was amazing Alice." She whispered, biting her lip.
"He didn't hurt you?" Alice said seriously, her eyes firm, and Bella shook her head, sighing dreamily. "He was perfect."
The room erupted in a series of laughter as Alice fell to her back, cupping her hands against her mouth. In the distance he could hear the roar as Emmett joined in, his voice traveling up the stairs and through the closed door. "Thanks Bells!" He shouted, and her face lit up, blood flooding her cheeks. "Oh Bella! You're face…" She sat back up, giggling heartily. "And the phone stunt!" She exclaimed, "I was miffed at the time, but that's so hot." She made a show of fanning herself, causing Bella to crack a smile in response. "But what are you going to do about…" She said seriously, and Bella looked away, out the window into the dreary grey sky of Forks. "We can't do anything Alice, you know Edward, and he'll do something really stupid. I don't know how Rosalie will react, but from Emmett's reaction, I'm guessing not so well." Alice nodded, licking her lip and standing.
"Yea, we've gone through something like this before, it didn't end well." She sighed. Bella furrowed a brow, curious. "What happened?" Alice laughed humorlessly. Well, I wasn't there myself, so these are accounts from the others, but apparently…" Bella leaned forward, absorbed.
"It was twenty or so years after Rosalie found Emmett, and the New-born stage had begun to wear down, and with it went the lust."
"Lust?" Bella asked confused, and Alice smiled. "When we're newly transformed, our cravings are heightened, for a male, which means that those little cravings they get sometimes are multiplied tenfold. However Apparently, Emmett began to realize that he wanted to live his own existence, explore… have fun- you know?" Bella nodded in understanding. "He tried to leave, branch out, but Rosalie would have none of it, she went on this insane killing spree in the village close to where they lived, no one could stop her. I'm sure you've heard of the case of 'Magdalena Solis'?" Bella's eyes widened, her body moving back in shock. Alice nodded in confirmation. "Exactly, they still think they caught the killer, as if…" Bella recoiled, her eyes slightly fearful of the blond. "Emmett felt obligated to return and he convinced her to stop, he hasn't left since..."
They sat in closed silence, Alice letting the information absorb in, Bella struggling to cope with her new found fear for her lover's wife. "At least Edward will be better to deal with." She whispered, and looked up when Alice laughed shaking her head.
"Oh Bella… So naïve." Bella watched her, something akin to horror building in her stomach; what did she mean by that? She could not honestly be so unlucky. Alice glanced at her, grinning toothily. "You think that because he dealt with the Jacob escapade well that he'll do so this time… No Bella, I don't think so…" She pulled herself up, her small body standing in front of Bella.
"Bella, how much do you know about Male vampires…" She asked delicately, and Bella responded with a shrug, not thinking there was much to know. They were male, and vampire… But Alice shook her head, tutting like a disappointed school teacher and clapping her hands.
"Bella let me explain something… Male vampires are a lot like animals in the way they think. When a male vampire mates with a female, they immediately form a unit." She threaded her fingers together, "The female represents the weak and most precious part of the unit, whilst the male represents the hardest and most dominant one. His purpose is to protect and defend his unit."Bella watched fascinated, "So you can imagine what will happen when another male comes and threatens that unit." Bella interrupted, confused, "But he didn't do that with Jacob." Alice smiled, "Jacob isn't a vampire, it's like a male lion and a male zebra. The male lion won't feel threatened by the zebra; because he knows his females will stay with him." Bella frowned, "That's rather arrogant…" She muttered. Alice laughed, "However if another male lion came along and began attracting the females attention-"
"The lion will attack to defend." She breathed, understanding. Alice nodded, clapping with a smile on her face. "Exactly! So if this happens, the males will have no choice but to fight it out until one backs out. That's the only way this will end when Edward finds out, he's not as righteous as you may think and he will try his best to get you back."Bella sighed, leaning back and staring at her lap, everything becoming so surreal in her understanding. "What am I going to do Alice?" She breathed, biting her nail. Alice sat beside her, "There is nothing you can do Bella, you're dealing with nature, and in nature only the strongest comes out on top." She nodded shoulders slumping in defeat "What would you do Alice?" She said desperately, wishing there was some way to avoid a confrontation, but from the view of things there was only one path, and that led to either Emmett or Edward hitting the dust. She looked back at the pixie and was shocked by the smile on her face. "Bella, listen and listen closely. There is only one thing you can do in this situation-" She crooked her finger and Bella leaned close, their noses pressing together as she listened.
"All you can do is sit, enjoying the sight of Emmett topless and feral giving your fiancé a beating which is long-deserved." She burst out laughing at Bella's wide, shocked eyes and her pink cheeks, falling back on the bed, ignoring Bella's un-amused expression. Finally her tense expression broke into a small smile and she released a small chuckle.
She stepped back, her eyes soft and shook her head. "Thank You Alice, I really needed that." Alice laughed, grinning and jumped to her feet, her arms wrapping around Bella's waist. "Oh Bella, you're like a sister to me, and all I want for you is to be happy-" Her sentence was cut off when they heard the rumble of a car engine in the distance. Bella's eyes widened and she looked at Alice, "He's home..." The black-head nodded, her eyes turning serious; but a smile on her face. "Remember what I told you Bella." She nodded, allowing the young woman to usher her from the room.
With the promise of more talking later on, Bella made a slow descent down the stairs. She was met with two cold arms. "Hello Love." He purred, leaning down to press a kiss against her lips. Bella dodged it smiling softly, her gut twisting in resentment, the last thing she wanted was him kissing her with Emmett so close at hand "Sorry Edward, gotta run, I promised Emmett I would play with him." There was never such a promise, but he didn't know that, and Bella wasn't going to tell him. She saw the slightly annoyed expression on his angelic face, and had to bite down the spiteful response, was he honestly so arrogant as to assume that everything revolved around him. She bit her lip to hold back the laughter.
Throwing herself on the cushion, she grinned at Emmett and grabbed a controller, ignoring his amused smile. "Nicely done Bells, that was really hard core, who knew you had the balls." She chuckled, and leant her back against his body, shivering softly as his jeans caused the material of her top to push up, her skin bearing.
Edward sat on the loveseat alone, his eyes dark and his mouth twisted into an unhappy frown which he directed at his brother. And on sight, Bella would understand her fear when looking at him, but on comparison it was like a bunny glaring at a wolf, he had no chance and Bella could see that he knew it.
He hit play and as the theme-music of the game began to play the tension in the room began to rise. It began to grow unimaginably uncomfortable the more she played and ignored his glare. The game paused and Emmett placed his controller down, his smile staying on his face, curling dangerously until Bella couldn't tell if it was a snarl or a smile anymore. "That frown of yours is disturbing our play-time Eddie; I suggest you share your problem or leave. If you're on your period I'm sure Alice will have supplies she can lend you." Bella had to hold her laughter behind her palm, her shoulders shaking as she looked at Edward, feeling slightly guilty for picking on him like this. But he was a grown vampire, and bitching like this wasn't going to get him anywhere. He snarled, standing from the seat and disappearing from the room, leaving nothing but a gust of cold wind in his place. Bella shook her head, her amusement morphing into irritation. "He's like a small child." She murmured.
"He's gone." Emmett muttered, Bella sighed, her shoulders slumping at the unhappiness on Emmett's face. "Alice said you'll have to confront him…" She whispered, and her well balanced happiness tumbled when he nodded.
"He had you first Bella… It's natural that I'll have to fight to get you…" She gritted her teeth, "But I'm not property." She snapped, slamming her fists into the couch angrily, "I should have the right to decide." He smiled; his body leaning over her till their faces were pressed together. "Of course you do Bella." He whispered grinning, and she fought not to smile in return. "Are you mocking me Emmett McCartney Cullen, because I should hope you would know better." She said sternly, her brow lifting, a small smile curling her small lips. He chuckled, his dimples showing and she struggled not to gasp at how adorable he looked when he smiled. He leaned forward. Her breath caught in anticipation, and his lips brushed over hers, "Of course not Swan." He said, their mouths pressing together, catching her response. She sighed, pressing back, her hands threading through his dark hair, feeling the messy curls in her fingers.
It was soft and gentle, and disappointingly short. "Incoming!" Alice shouted down the stairs, causing their mouths to break apart, Emmett quickly pushing himself back and away. Her breath was coming out in quick pants, her heart beating erratically in her chest and she fought desperately to calm down. Emmet grinned beside her, and she scowled, "Proud of yourself aren't you." She said irritably, and he nodded, eyes missing the previous unhappiness it held before. A minute later, the door slammed shut, and two occupants entered the room, diminishing their happiness.
"Hey Edward, Rosalie!" Alice shouted down the staircase, and Bella had to shake her head at how excited the pixie sounded over their predicament. Rosalie stared icily at the pair on the couch, before stepping forward dangerously. "If you would be so kind, I would like to sit beside my husband." Bella made to stand, the lump in her throat progressively growing larger and larger the more nervous she became. This was Rosalie, she could swipe Bella's head off her shoulder in a second, she had killed an entire Village, it was not wise of her to test the blond. But the hand over her knee pushed her back down. "Sorry Rose, she was here first, she calls dibs." Emmett replied, picking up his control nonchalantly and pressing play. His dark eyes were firm, and the hand over her knee kept her stable in her growing panic. Rosalie's eyes flashed.
She turned, her blond hair flicking behind her as she waltzed from the room, calling over her shoulder arrogantly."Yes well, perhaps you and Bella can share the couch tonight Emmett, cause you won't be welcome in our bedroom." Bella had to choke down her laughter at the punishment, and turned to see Emmett grinning happily.
They both turned to Edward, and Emmett arched an unimpressed brow, watching as his brother followed after Rosalie, a scowl on his face.