Rosalie got into the Volvo with the rest of her family. Today had been interesting to say the least and she was caught up in her thoughts, ignoring the joking and talking the rest of the Cullen children were doing. I'm mated to a human, she thought. Her mind was spinning, trying to come to terms with this new development. They hadn't even been in Washington for more than a week and she had already possibly messed everything up. Their treaty with the dogs on the reservation was quite specific: they couldn't bite another human or else the treaty would be off. This was going to create a problem when she inevitably had to change Bella. But they would cross that bridge when they came to it.
"You know we need to tell Carlisle and Esme, right?" Edward, forever the sensible one, said. He had been listening to Rosalie's thoughts and had caught a glimpse of her mate. He was incredibly happy for Rosalie but was disturbed by the way the rest of the kids in school seemed to treat her. He had heard what they had been thinking about her and it shocked him how much hatred they seemed to harbor for a girl that had never done anything to them. He was baffled by it and it made him angry. Jasper, who was beside Edward in the passenger seat, stiffened when he felt the anger rolling off of Edward.
"What has you so angry, Edward?" Jasper, without Edward's gift, had no idea that Rosalie had mated to a human. He was confused by the feelings coming from Rosalie and he couldn't quite place the feeling.
"The way they treat that Bella girl is horrific. And they do it for no reason other than because she's poor…they're barbaric." Rosalie started growling, not at Edward but at the mention of the way this town treated her mate. She wouldn't allow them to hurt her, she would kill them all before she let that happen. Her emotions were taking a dark turn and Jasper put out waves of calm to keep it from getting too out of hand. In the mirror Jasper watched Rosalie relax into the seat and give him an appreciative nod.
They pulled into the driveway that lead through the woods to the Cullen house. As the trees thinned and they came into the clearing the house came into view. It was massive but it was something that they all had gotten used to. When your "father" has been alive longer than the country you lived in, it wasn't hard to collect a lot of money. Especially when there was hardly anything for him to spend it on.
The car had barely come to a stop before Rosalie was out the door and running into the house and into her room. Edward shared a look with Jasper, Alice and Victoria. Jasper quirked his eyebrow and looked at Edward.
"So why was she so angry in the car after you said what you said?" Jasper had been confused by Rosalie's attitude ever since she had gotten in the car and had been dying to ask his mate. It hit him the second he had that thought and he gasped.
"She's mated? To who? That Bella girl you said something about?" Jasper's eyes were as wide as saucers but inside he was elated. They had been waiting Rosalie to find her mate for quite some time now. She hid it very well from the others but she couldn't hide it from Jasper. She was growing bitter living with three happy couples and she just wanted a mate of her own. It seemed that she had found that in this small Washington town. He was excited for her and couldn't wait to tell Carlisle and Esme this wonderful news. He knew Esme would be thrilled to hear it because she had suffered the most seeing Rosalie slowly grow unhappy.
"Yes but the way the town treats Bella is horrendous and it may cause Rosalie to do something stupid. We need to find a way to protect Bella from those little monsters. I won't let my sister's mate be bullied the way she is." Edward's eyes flashed with protective rage as he spoke. He wouldn't let this Bella be hurt if he could stop it.
"I think we should go discuss this in the house with Carlisle and Esme. They need to know that this has happened." Alice said. She was holding Victoria's hand and tugged her towards the front door after saying that. Jasper and Edward shared a glance before following them into the house. Carlisle and Esme were waiting for them in the living room with questioning looks on their faces. It seemed that Rosalie hadn't said much when she rushed into the house.
"What happened to Rosalie? She ran in her and up to her room without saying a word to either of us. Is she alright?" Esme, ever the worrier, said when the rest of her children entered the house.
"She's fine but she found her mate at school." Jasper said while looking at Edward. Edward, thankfully, took the hint and started to explain the situation to them.
"Turns out that Rosalie is mated to a human girl that lives here named Bella. Bella isn't liked very much here. Almost everyone, even some of the teachers, take every chance they can to make fun of or hurt her simply because of her family being poor. She lives on the other side of town in a rundown trailer with her mother. She walks to school every day." Edward could see Esme's heart break the more he spoke about how Bella lived. It hurt him too to know that his sister's mate was struggling as hard as she was. Just then they heard Rosalie's door open and she flashed down the stairs to stand in front of him, her eyes blazing with anger.
"Why didn't you tell me that she walked home?! She doesn't need to be walking out in this weather!" Rosalie was livid that she wasn't told that Bella was forced to walk home from school. Before she could rush off to go save the girl, presumably, Edward caught her arm.
"She'll be fine, I had Alice check. But we need to talk about this and what the implications are for the treaty with the wolves. They won't just accept that you've mated to her. They'll only see you as a threat to her." Edward put his hands up in a placating manner after his last sentence because of Rosalie's growl at being called a threat to her mate.
"I know that you aren't but they don't know how mating works for us. They hate our kind, Rosalie. I doubt they'll be able to look past that hate." Edward was being reasonable and Rosalie hated it. She just wanted to sprint out into the forest, find Bella and run away with her. At the same time, she wanted to eliminate the perceived threat of the wolves to her mate. She was giving Jasper a hard time of dealing with all of the conflicting emotions she was feeling.
"So what do we do? Do we tell them?" Rosalie huffed in annoyance and collapsed into the loveseat closest to her. She looked at Carlisle in questioning, waiting for him to answer her questions.
"I believe it would be best to keep this development to ourselves for now. We can't be sure of how the pack will react to you mating to a human so we'll tread with caution. With that being said, we're so happy for you Rosalie. We can't wait to meet her." Carlisle was beaming at Rosalie and if she could blush she would have. She hadn't even thought of bringing Bella to meet her parents but she knew that eventually she would have to.
"I think there's something else we need to decide regarding Bella, Rosalie." Edward had a thoughtful look on his face. "From what I've heard, the students don't treat her very well. You stopped one girl from hurting her just today. I think at least one of us needs to be in every one of her classes to make sure no one hurts her."
"Someone tried to hurt her?" Jasper looked absolutely murderous. He had never taken kindly to bullies and this was no different. It was made worse by the fact that it was his baby sister's mate that people were hurting. He wouldn't stand for it and he was going to make sure it ended.
"Yes. I found a girl, Lauren Mallory, trying to drag her into a bathroom by her hair. She's lucky I didn't drain her dry right there." If Jasper looked murderous, Rosalie looked like a destroying angel at that moment. Even though it was over, she couldn't help but wonder how much abuse Bella had suffered before she had found her. She felt like it was her failure for not being able to protect her own mate. But she knew that that was ridiculous because they just met.
"Why do they bully her?" Esme looked appalled. Out of all of them, she had the kindest heart and couldn't fathom the pain people inflicted upon others for seemingly no reason. Sometimes it seemed that she had too big of a heart but they all loved her for it.
"Because she's poor. Or at least that's what I gathered from the thoughts of the kids in school today. They all feel better about themselves by hurting her. Some of the teachers even give her a hard time and those that don't never stick up for her. She has no one in that school to defend her. Well she didn't until now." It warmed Rosalie's dead heart to see all of her siblings nod their heads in agreement to Edward's words. She was so thankful that her family immediately accepted her mate even though they hadn't met her. She couldn't have asked for a better family than this one. She smiled up at all of them and the elation on her face was clear for all to see.
"I love all of you. I'm going to go make sure Bella got home safe. I'll let you guys know what I find when I get back." And with that she was out of the house, headed towards the school to pick up and follow Bella's scent. It didn't take her long, Bella's scent called out to her baser instincts. She followed the trail through the town and past the city limits to a lonely trailer nestled on the edge of the forest on the opposite side of the town. Seeing the trailer almost broke Rosalie's heart. It looked like it was falling apart. There was a tree that was conveniently placed for Rosalie to perch in and get a glimpse inside of the house. What she saw inside would have made her cry if she still could. Bella was sitting on the floor doing her homework by the light of a flashlight. It didn't seem as though there was power inside of the trailer. Does Bella live like this, Rosalie thought with horror. There were no lights on in the trailer which led Rosalie to believe that the power had gotten shut off. Rosalie wanted nothing more than to be able to go save Bella from this but she knew she couldn't. Not yet, at least. She vowed to herself that she would.
Just then, Rosalie heard the sound of shoes crunching on gravel and she spotted a middle-aged, haggard looking woman walking towards the house. Rosalie hid herself deeper in the forest to keep from being seen and watched the woman walk up to the front door and unlock it with a key from under the mat. She walked in and Rosalie had to shift her position to be able to see into the trailer. Bella looked up from her homework and smiled the most beautiful smile Rosalie had ever seen and she was incredibly jealous that the smile wasn't directed at her. A crunching sound let her know that in her momentary jealousy she had crushed a chunk of the tree she was perched in.
"Hey mom. How was work today? Here, let me get your bags." Bella got up and helped her mother with her bags and lead her to the couch. She went into the kitchen and got her mom a glass of water.
"Thanks honey. Work is work. I'm so tired, I was wondering if you could take the EBT card and go to the store for groceries? I paid the electric bill so the power should be back on by the time you get home." Bella nodded at her mom and put her shoes and jacket on. Even from her position in the trees Rosalie could see the holes in Bella's jacket and it hurt her heart that Bella would have to walk all the way to the store and back wearing it. At that moment she realized that she couldn't let her. She hopped out of the tree and sprinted back to the Cullen house. She went in the front door and immediately headed to the garage.
"Rosalie where are you going?" Esme questioned. She got up and followed Rosalie to the garage to see her getting into her red Mercedes. Rosalie barely spared Esme a glance as she started her car and opened the garage door.
"I'm about to go give Bella a ride to the store. I can't let her walk, it's too cold outside." And with that, Rosalie took off down the winding Cullen driveway and headed towards Bella's house. She made it in record time and was able to see Bella had already started walking to the store. Rosalie made sure to stay out of sight until Bella was closer to the main roads. When she thought it was safe, Rosalie pulled up next to a shivering Bella and rolled down her passenger window.
"Bella? What are you doing walking in this cold weather? Come on and get in. Where are you headed?" Bella had stopped in surprise at seeing Rosalie sitting in a car idling next to her. She looked towards the town and knew that it would be another hour's walk to get to the store if she didn't accept the ride. So she leaned down and opened the passenger door to Rosalie's car and got in. The seats were heated leather and the car felt like heaven to Bella. She looked over at Rosalie gratefully.
"Thank you so much for giving me a ride. I was just headed to the store to get groceries." Rosalie was lost in the scent of Bella. It was so unique and it was causing a stir to Rosalie's insides. It wasn't a feeding hunger but a different kind. One that left her confused and, if she was being completely honest with herself, incredibly aroused.
"It's no problem at all, Bella. I can't let you walk when it's this cold outside." Rosalie began heading to the store and turned the radio on for background noise. She pretended to keep her eyes on the road but was secretly stealing glances at the enchanting girl in the passenger seat. She was over the moon that this magnificent creature was hers. All mine, she purred in her head. They stayed in silence until they got to the store and Rosalie parked the car. Bella gathered her things and opened the passenger door.
"Thanks for the ride Rosalie. It means a lot to me." Bella got out and closed the door. Rosalie shut the car off and got out with her. Bella looked confused that she was getting out of the car too.
"Did you think I was going to leave you here? I told you I can't let you walk out in this weather. I'll take you home after you shop." Bella blushed and looked away. Rosalie didn't understand why she was acting the way she was until Bella spoke next.
"You don't have to do that Rosalie. I'll be fine walking home." Rosalie realized at that moment that Bella was embarrassed and didn't want her to see where she lived or see that she had to shop with an EBT card. It broke Rosalie's heart that her Bella was ashamed of something she had no control over and it made her even angrier at the people in this town who had treated her the way she was afraid Rosalie would treat her.
"Bella…is this about you not having money?" Rosalie asked hesitantly. She needed Bella to understand that she didn't care about her financial status. She was only concerned with Bella's health. Bella blushed and looked down. Rosalie could smell the tears as they built up in Bella's eyes.
"I'm guessing someone in the school told you?" She sniffed and tried to subtly wipe the tears from her eyes. Rosalie walked around the car and pulled Bella into a tight hug. Bella immediately relaxed into Rosalie's embrace and tried to keep from sobbing.
"I heard all of the nasty things people were saying about you today and I just want you to know that they're awful for saying those things. You are a gorgeous girl who is sweet and kind. Don't let the actions of small minded people shape your view of the world. I would never judge you for something you can't control. Don't ever feel like you can't tell me or show me something because you're embarrassed." Rosalie was rubbing Bella's back the whole time she was speaking and she didn't stop until Bella started to pull away. Instead of making her cry less, it seemed that her words had prompted Bella to cry harder. Rosalie held the girl as she cried in her arms and thought about how she could take her revenge out on everyone who had ever put her beloved Bella down.
"Thank you Rosalie. That means more to me than you will ever know." Bella sniffed again and Rosalie reached into her purse and pulled out some tissues for her. Bella smiled and blew her nose into one and then looked at Rosalie with a somewhat hopeful smile.
"So you'll seriously shop with me and then take me home?" Bella asked, still unsure of how to handle this type of kindness. Rosalie nodded and offered her hand to Bella which she took. They began walking to the store and Rosalie couldn't help but think that their hands fit together perfectly. Little did she know that Bella was thinking the same thing.