Chapter 4.
Alice's POV
I remember the first time I had seen Bella, well in person not in my visions, I had waited in anticipation of her arrival just as my brother had, once I informed him of what was to come, but I hadn't quite expected to be so...well infatuated when I saw her in person, sitting at a table glaring over at us, she was quite enchanting
I knew that I'd grow to love her, I saw us together in my visions we were happy smiling and exuberant, spending time together, doing the things that human friends would do, only I wasn't human but that certainly didn't seem to have any effect on the way we were with each other.
My visions had never shown her being uneasy or awkward with me, we were comfortable, she was very rarely scared, whilst most humans kept their distance partially because instinct told them to but mostly by choice, she made the effort to get to know me, to be close, affectionate, to even touch me, without any hesitation, to count me as a friend, her acceptance of me, it had made me love her unconditionally, and this was when I barely knew her.
I had told Edward prior to meeting her, when he was struggling to make a decision about her, whether he'd the strength to pursue her as his love or to kill her, as temptation became too strong, her blood, resisting it, the hardest challenge he had ever faced.
"I love her too Edward...I don't know why, but I do" I told him before I had the visions of myself and Bella, and our companionship, the warmth and light she had brought into my life, I had always wanted a friend, I had my family all of whom remembered their own human lives, but I couldn't, I don't know whether I had friends or not, but I knew that in my vampire life, I wanted a friend and Bella Swan, she would be that friend.
I would love her dearly.
I remember her birthday party, before the drama, before Edward had made us all leave against my better wishes, I knew deep down that it would do no good, that I couldn't bear to be away from her, my Bella, my best friend, and it may not be important now, but I was right, our families departure, it made her life worse, I watched her making sure she was safe, seeing glimpses of the shell that she had become, watching her complete daily mundane routines out of habit, for the sake of completing them. To the casual observer she was a top grade student, who wasn't very sociable, to those who knew her prior to the fleeing of our family, she was a shell of her former self, the emotion, the love behind her welcoming chocolate eyes had dissipated, leaving a flat uninviting gaze behind.
I tried not to watch but my concern for her, it was overwhelming, I needed to make sure that she was at least alive and not in danger, and as far as I was aware she wasn't. But that party, I had put a great amount of effort into organising it, I knew she would have her qualms, but I knew she would appreciate just how much effort had gone into it, and eventually she would enjoy it and I could see it, she was awkward yes, but she was not upset that I had thrown her such an extravagant party, and this well it made me overcome with joy, I loved it, until things went so very wrong.
Bella took the little package, rolling her eyes at Edward while she stuck her finger under the edge of
the paper and jerked it under the tape.
"Shoot," she muttered when the paper sliced her delicate finger; she pulled it out to examine the damage.
A single drop of blood oozed from the tiny cut.
It all happened very quickly then.
"No!" Edward roared.
He threw himself at Bella, flinging her back across the table.
It fell, as Bella did, scattering the cake and the presents, the flowers and the plates.
Bella landed in the mess of shattered crystal.
Jasper slammed into Edward, and the sound was like the crash of boulders in a rock slide.
There was another noise, a grisly snarling that seemed to be coming from deep in Jasper's Chest.
Jasper tried to shove past Edward, snapping his teeth just inches from Edward's face.
Emmett grabbed Jasper from behind in the next second, locking him into his massive steel grip, but Jasper struggled on; his wild, empty eyes focused only on her.
Her forearm wore a long gash, her blood pulsing out of it, suddenly every vampire in the room had their eyes firmly fixated on her, her blood singing to us all, temptation flowing out of her in steady streams, she sat on the floor amongst the damage, she looked bewildered, eyes wide like a deer in headlights, she began to piece together what had happened.
Emmett was restraining Jasper, he was flailing wildly trying to get to Bella , the blood lust he had worked so hard to control was the only thing his primal instincts could recognise.
Carlisle instructed Emmett and Rosalie to take him outside, Rosalie wore a smug, I told you so expression on her face as they exited, Esme along with them apologising as she did, she was clearly as overwhelmed as the rest of us, by the smell of Bella's oh so appetising blood.
Yet in this moment it was not Jasper who I was concerned about, it was Bella, was she ok?
Would she be safe with Edward next to her, crouched over her defensively as they left the house, would Edward be able to resist the blood that sang to him so powerfully with the strength of a thousand operas.
I could not bear the thought of Edward losing control in that moment, Bella sitting there vulnerable, I knew she was resilient more so than Edward gave her credit for, the pained expression on her face nothing to do with the huge wound she had on her arm, but because she worried that she had put our family into a position where they had to resist to the best of their abilities, drinking the blood of a human.
They may have had it under control, their bloodlust, when they were around other humans but they were very rarely around human wounds, this was a true test, only Carlisle was truly unaffected, even I had felt it perhaps more so than the others, i had fed on humans before, I'd slipped up, but Bella was hurt so I did my best to assist Carlisle in making her better, not out of obligation, but out of love.
I would gladly do as much as possible to resist until I knew that she was safe, and that she was not hurt in any way that was serious, although honestly even the smallest most miniscule amount of damage would still bother me, and after watching for all but a few minutes Edward could no longer handle the scent, and Bella request that he leave but not that I did, so I remained helping Carlisle with whatever I could...why didn't she insist that I leave, and why could I handle it so much better than Edward could, surely it should of been worse for me.
I was not Bella's "true love", I was her best friend, surely I didn't have the love that Edward had for Bella, our connection, Bella and I, it could not have been as strong, could it?
Urging Edward to go I continued, waiting patiently for Carlisle's instructions, the smell it burned my senses, I could taste the particles of her blood in the air, and they entered my throat, and tickled the taste buds on my tongue.
I could smell it and against my will, my mouth filled with venom, it pooled in my mouth, dripping off on my fangs in great volume, but at that moment there was no force on this earth that would allow me to hurt Bella any further than she had already been hurt but it had become too much, hoping that she wouldn't notice, hoping that she would understand, I left, she would realise that I had only done so because, well because I loved her.
I loved her she was my friend, best friend, she was my sister in law, well if Edward didn't change his mind on what he had intended on doing, she would be, and so I loved her for all these reasons, but among everything that had unfolded that night, it was not my extended family that I worried about, it was not Jasper, i could of, no should of been the one calming him down outside, i had calmed him in the house, but after that my attentions where focused else where, i would of done a much better job than the others, helping Jasper, but i didn't, it was her that i wanted to help, because, I loved her, her well being was all I could think about, more than anything in the world, more than even myself, bloodlust meant nothing as long as Bella, my Bella was alright, I could be at ease, because I loved her, because I still do, because I'm in love with her. ..