Boys like You
"Bella?" the voice was familiar, "Are you okay?"
"What?" Bella's eyes got wide with fear as she peered into the darkened shrubbery. She couldn't distinguish the voice and she didn't want to venture into the woods, she wasn't that stupid.
"I said, are you okay? I heard everything…" Alice glided out of the forest. "I am sorry to startle you, but I didn't want Edward to see me."
Bella was stunned, she hadn't spoken to Alice since before her and Edward broke up. Bella had missed her immensely, but understood that she was just one of the losses due to the relationship ending.
"I'm…I'm…" Bella's voice trailed off, she wasn't quite prepared for this sort of a reunion today. Losing Alice as a friend was something she hadn't dealt with yet, and this was far too much to deal with on any single night.
"Aw. Don't cry." Alice's arms circled her into a hug and rocked her slowly, "It's okay. I know it hurts, and I know he's like my brother, but he can be such a douche bag sometimes. He never deserved you. Do you understand that?" Alice had pushed Bella back so that they were making eye contact with each other. "Bella, I have missed you immensely."
Bella continued to sob, but somehow produced a short lived smile as she nodded in accordance with Alice's statement.
"I've, I've miss you too, so much. You have no idea…" Bella furiously wiped her eyes of tears that seemed to be in a constant stream down her face. "I just didn't think that I could call and even if I did call, why would you want to talk to me?" Bella shook her head in agreement with her statement. It was true, why would Alice want to talk to her when she was a member of Edward's family? Her alliances lay with Edward.
"Bella, don't ever think that I wouldn't want to talk to you. Don't ever think that. You were my sister for two years, how could I not want to talk to you. After you guys broke up, our family mourned. Don't think that you weren't missed, and Edward knew what we were thinking. How could he not? We were practically screaming it at him!" Alice laughed at her last statement, it was true. After Bella stopped visiting, no one spoke of it, just thinking it was enough. He heard every word they had wanted to say.
Bella's face instantly brightened, "Are you being serious?" She had never once thought of the possibility that his family might miss her; she had always assumed that she would be a memory, immortalized to them in pictures.
"Yes, I am being serious. Emmett was the worst. He reminded Edward of everything that he wasn't going to be able to do again and reminded him that he would probably never find someone to love him selflessly again."
Bella shook her head as she tried to sort out her thoughts, was this true? Was Alice being serious? This opened the door to so many questions, to which Bella had no answers. She wanted to confront Edward about all of this, but she knew that he would tune her out and they would get into a huge argument, something that she wasn't ready for yet.
"Bella, I don't want to see you like this. Edward doesn't deserve the time you are spending on him, not at all. You have to stop thinking about him, because, to be honest, he is not thinking about you like that." Alice shook her finger for effect, "As a matter of fact, let's go out this weekend, just me and you. We can get dressed up and go out, screw everyone else, especially Edward. Come on, let's do it." Alice pouted her lips out.
Bella giggled, going out with Alice would be nice and she hadn't had actual real fun for a while, "Okay, sure, I guess…"