Rain Falling

Bella's POV

"Shit, ouch…I'm so sorry," I say looking up at the girl I basically just attacked with my clumsiness. I can't believe I just did that! What is up with this day already?! I feel my cheeks grow hot as I scramble off the floor. My wrist is sore from trying to catch myself while I was falling. I ask her if she is okay honestly not really caring about anything but getting away from this embarrassing situation as fast as possible.

"I-I'm fine," she answers, stuttering. I look up quickly, thinking I may have actually hurt her, to find the most breathtakingly beautiful honey colored eyes staring back at me. I hold eye contact for a moment before looking at her short, spiky black hair, and then unintentionally doing a quick scan of her body. She is slim, with slight but excellent curves and is a little shorter than me. I make a mental note to myself that I liked that she was shorter than me. I'm not really sure why, but it was a good thing. Her clothing is all name brand and they definitely fit her petite body perfectly. I notice a small change in her expression when my eyes come back to hers; from a tense expression to…excitement? Maybe I don't want to leave as fast as I thought I did…

"Are you okay?" Her voice is unlike anything I can describe. It's like it was made to please my ears, a music just for me. "You fell pretty hard," she tells me, a look of concern on her face. I smile, not really paying close attention to what she said, just listening...

I quickly pull out of my daze, still smiling, and answer automatically, "You don't have to worry about me; I fall down all the time." 'Did I just say that!? How embarrassing!' She raises one eyebrow at my comment, and then reaches down to pick up my bag. She holds it out to me, and I reach for it, brushing her hand on purpose. It's abnormally cool, but pleasant. I zone out, the feel of her skin pulling me into some sort of daydream.

I imagine the tips of her fingers caressing down the side of my face, starting with my right temple, thumb grazing my cheek. Her whole hand cups my face for a second before continuing down past my jaw, stopping at my neck. She gently pulls me to her, and I submit to the slight pressure. I feel her cool breath against my lips…

I shake my head. 'What the hell, Bella…' "Sorry again for running into you like that," I say quickly, feeling my cheeks heat up with yet another blush. I walk past her and for a split-second forget where I'm supposed to be going. Then I remember 'Departure and arrival board. Go.' I begin to walk towards the board. As I am walking away I can almost feel her honey colored eyes watching me. Or maybe I was just hoping she was watching me. 'How did she just do that to me? I don't even know her and just had some sort of awesome, weird, amazingly real fantasy about her.' I stop, reality crashing painfully on me. 'I'll never see this girl again...'

In some weird bout of courage, brought up by the idea of never seeing her again, I turn around and start to head back to where I 'met' her. Doubt quickly set in. 'She doesn't want to talk to me; she doesn't want me like that.' I slow my pace 'Like I want her.' Insecurities pull at me. 'What am I thinking?! Abort!' I stutter step at my mental command, quickly scanning the area ahead. 'She's gone anyway….' Disappointment settles heavily in my heart as I slowly turn back around. I feel my eyes begin to water. 'What is wrong with me? I shouldn't feel like this. If she ever knew… if anyone ever knew…'

Disappointment is replaced with fear and despair as I contemplate anyone finding out my secret; my darkest secret. I take a few steady breaths to try to lighten the painful tightness building in my chest. I feel dirty for feeling how I did about that girl, for imagining what I did. Guilty even.

As I approach the arrival and departure board I can't read it; unshed tears blurring the words. I blinked a few times, and discreetly wiped my eyes. "Fuck!" I spit out angrily, Tourette-like. People look over at my sudden outburst, but almost seem to find it acceptable given the circumstances. All the flights are cancelled. All of them.

I look out the window at the heavy downpour. A streak of lightning flashes across the dense clouds. I walk towards the window taking over the entire wall and when I get to it, lean my head against the cool glass. I focus on the sound of the rain and the feel of the thunder vibrating the glass. I stand there for a few moments 'I need to call Charlie.' I walk back to the arrival and departure board, looking for a pay phone. I see one on the wall across from the board. While walking to it I swing my bag around and begin to search for my wallet.

After the initial sweep through my bag, I begin to panic, searching frantically. 'Where is it?!' I remember it being in my bag before I got on the plane because I had to take my I.D. out for security. I haven't taken it out of this bag since!

"Hey," my ears instantly pick up on the sound of her voice. I know it's her. "Are you looking for this?" she asks. I look up, relief rushing through my body. Not because she is hold up my wallet, but because it's her, and she is walking towards me.

"Oh my God, I thought I lost it!" I say, quickly covering the distance between us, pulling her into a hug. It's such an impulsive movement that I even surprise myself. I'm instantly adrift in the simple pleasure of her contact. She feels good in my arms. She feels right, like she should be here. I breathe in her wintery pine scent. It feels like taking deep breath on a winter morning, and I cough as the chill tickles my lungs. "Thank you" I begin, 'for letting me hug you like that' I think to myself, but actually say, "You have no idea the kind of day I had, if I lost my wallet too..." I let the sentence drop off as she hands me my wallet. She looks kind of stunned, just staring at me. 'Oh shit, I can't believe I just hugged someone I don't even know!' And it wasn't just any hug either; it was one of those lingering hugs. I must have made her so uncomfortable…'idiot' I berate myself, shifting awkwardly.

She looks away towards the arrival and departure board saying, "Don't worry about it." I hear her gasp. "All the flights are canceled!" She looks back at me and groans "I can't believe this…"

"Tell me about it…" I say shaking my head. I hear her sigh and get pulled into a sort of lull. 'What an effect this woman has on me,' I think, 'and I don't even know her name…' I notice she is still watching me and blurt out, "Oh, by the way, I'm Bella." I hold out my hand. 'Smooth, Bella…'

"Alice," I hear her say shaking my hand. I've been waiting for it. The feel of her cool skin is addicting. Her hand lingers in mine before she pulls it away.

"Looks like we're gonna be stuck in the airport for a while," I say, walking over to a wall and sitting against it. She follows me and I almost pump my fist at this small victory. 'She doesn't think you're a creeper…this is good,' I decide to relax and just talk to her, be myself.

"Mind if I keep you company?" she asks. I smile at her and pat the ground to my left. "Do you need to call anybody?" she asks, sitting down and pulling out a small silver cell phone. She sits down right next to me, barely a centimeter away, almost touching me. I can feel an excited energy pulse through me, just beneath my skin, even with the beat of my heart, from being so close to her. Her close proximity to me was like chugging 10 energy drinks.

Then I remember Charlie. "Oh! My dad." She hands me her cell phone and I ask her if she is sure I can use it and she tells me it's okay. So I dial Charlie. I hear the phone ring twice before I hear my dad's gruff voice answer.

"Hello?"

"Hey Cha-Dad, it's me, Bella," I answer, almost slipping and calling him Charlie.

"Oh, hey, Bells, what's up? I was just about to leave for the airport."

"No, don't, the airport has canceled all the flights into or out of Seattle because of the storm." I switch the phone over to my other ear. "I think we're going to be stuck here overnight."

"Do you need me to get you a hotel? I could call someplace," he answers.

"A hotel?" I ask. I didn't think about that. How long would this storm last? Overnight? I notice Alice trying to get my attention. "Wait, hold on a sec, dad." I put the phone against my chest and give her my complete attention.

"My dad will get me a hotel room; we could share if you want."

I feel a panic creep into my chest. 'Fuck, fuck, fuck' I didn't hear anything after her offering to share a hotel room with me. 'Play cool, play cool, it's okay,' I tell myself trying to calm down.

I nod my head to her and somehow am able to speak "Hey dad, my friend Alice…?" I look over to her questioningly. What is her last name?

"Cullen," she answers.

"Alice Cullen," I say, the name rolling off my tongue pleasantly. "Her dad is going to book her a-

My dad cuts me off before I can say anything else.

"Alice Cullen? Dr. Carlisle Cullen's kid?" he asks. 'What's going on? Does my dad know her?'

"You know her?" I ask. I look over to her and ask, "Is your dad Dr. Carlisle Cullen?" She nods once slowly, looking just as confused as I am. "Yeah," I answer, still looking at Alice. "How do you know her dad?"

"Oh, well he's the doctor here in Forks." He answers nonchalant, like it's not a big deal. But to me, it is a big deal.

"Oh…" I say, pausing. She is from Forks! Alice is from Forks! Maybe this move won't be so bad after all…'Stop it,' I think, trying to rein myself in from my momentary high. "Well do you mind if I stay with her? Her dad is going to get her a hotel room," I ask him, breaking eye contact with Alice, looking to the floor instead. Alice. Me. Hotel room. Alone. I begin to feel nervous.

"Yeah, Bells, no problem. I'm glad you two met. The Cullen kids are great," he answers "Just call me when you find out the new flight times, kay?"

"Okay thanks, dad, bye," I tell him.

"Bye, Bells, be safe." I hear before snapping close the cell phone and handing it back to Alice.

"Thanks, my dad said it was okay." I turn my head to look at her. "You're from Forks?" I ask.

"Yeah," she answers. "And you must be Charlie's daughter."

'How does she know who I am?'

"Everyone has been talking about you showing up for weeks now," Ah, small town….She smiles, distracting me. "You're the talk of the town."

I roll my eyes and laugh. "Great," I say, the word dripping in sarcasm.

"Let me call my dad real quickly." She opens her cell phone and dials a number. I listen to her talk to her dad, not really listening to the words, but listening to the sounds of her voice, and watching her lips and hands move. I was mesmerized, pulled in somehow.

"Oh!" I hear her say happily after snapping her phone shut, bringing me back to reality. "It's still early, we can go shopping!"

'Shopping? Where did that come from?' I cringe inwardly; I hate shopping. "Shopping?" I ask her weakly. She brings her left arm across her body to let it rest on my, turning slightly towards me.

"Don't worry, it'll be fun!" she tells me excitedly. As she pulls her hand away, it drags lightly across my arm. It was like a gentle current sweeping outwards, her touch the epicenter of the intense pleasure causing all my hair to stand on end. I shiver, starting from what feels like the very middle of my heart to the tips of my toes.

With my heart beating wildly I manage to stutter out some sort of agreement. I doubt very seriously if I could ever say no to this angel.

A/N: I did a Bella POV, but I am not sure if that was a good idea. I'm contemplating just omitting this chapter and going straight to the shopping/hotel from Alice's POV. I don't know if I like going over the same stuff just from different POV's…it just seems redundant to me. I was just trying it out, so send me a P.M. and let me know what you think.

Jade