Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight.
Bella walked across the street to her neighbours' porch and knocked on the baby blue door four times, clasping Alice's clean plate in her hand.
When the door opened, she was met with the ever scowling face of Rosalie Cullen, which almost made her want to recoil.
"Who kicked your puppy?" She blurted and then she almost smacked herself, Idiot, you don't poke the already angry blonde bear.
Rosalie leaned against the door frame and crossed her arms, clearly not amused by her neighbours greeting, however, as it were, she had more important matters at hand, "I'm going to kill Alice if she doesn't stop whining," she admitted.
Bella frowned; surely Rose knew that Alice was a whiner by now "Why?"
The blonde woman gave an exasperated sigh, "She has a date and something about a torn blouse."
Bella snapped to attention, "Where is she?"
Rose quirked an eyebrow at the sudden change in demeanour, "In her room."
Bella sought permission to enter her neighbour's dwellings with her eyes and Rose stepped aside. She took a few steps into the house and then became aware that she had never crossed this line so she turned around for guidance.
"Second door on the left."
Bella nodded and then made her way to Alice's door, throwing a quick hello to Leah who was sitting on the couch and safely out of Alice's warpath.
The purple door that greeted Bella made her smirk and for a fleeting second she thought that the colour suited her.
She knocked on the door, "Alice, I'm coming in ok?" And, without waiting for a response, she opened the door and walked inside.
The room was an absolute mess, clothes were strewn everywhere so much so, that Bella didn't know whether Alice had a bed, photos plagued the walls, papers masquerading as carpet and then, there she was. The only living thing that Bella was looking for was sitting on a chair in front of a vanity, holding a blouse and currently giving her a confused look.
"W-What are you doing Bella?" the form asked her.
Bella noticed the state of undress of Alice who was clad in a bra and jeans, but decided to ignore it, "How long until your date?" she asked.
The other woman just glanced at the clock adorning her hall and held the offending clothing tighter, "A-An hour."
Without hesitation Bella strode toward Alice, snatched the bloused, turned and then walked away.
"Bella, what are you…"
"Just trust me, I'll be back."
Rose was in the living room quietly talking with Leah when she heard Alice's door slam, she then heard footsteps accompanied by an order.
"Rosalie, help her get ready will you?" the blonde saw the retreating form of her neighbour and, it wasn't until the front door was shut did she decide to go to her sisters room.
One Hour Later
Tanya checked the time again, it was 7.25, she was five minutes early for her date but surely that didn't matter. She fixed her attire once again, for the hundredth time that night and then brought her hand up to rasp on the blue coloured door.
However, before she could bring her knuckles to the wood, she felt a body stand next to her.
"'Sup?" the form said hastily.
And, before she could even glance at the form, the person opened the door, quickly moved inside and then slammed it shut. The entire event took five seconds, but it made her blink twice.
Inside
"Rose, distract the date," Bella ordered, making a beeline towards Alice's room.
When Bella entered again, Alice was still clad in her bra and jeans. She once again ignored her neighbour's state of undress and impeccably applied make up.
"Bella, w-what's…" she was cut off when Bella shoved her blouse in front of her.
"No time, your date is here and if you do not want to give her the wrong impression about us, I suggest that you get in this thing," Bella informed.
Alice regarded the blouse and then her neighbour whose face was currently downcast and turning a bright red. She decided to just heed the brunette's demands and place on what was offered to her.
"So, how do I look?" Alice asked after a few minutes of fluffing.
Bella, who hadn't looked at her once since entering, turned her head up and gaped for a few seconds. So her neighbour was attractive? Come on, as if you haven't appreciated a good-looking female before.
"Fucking breathtaking," Bella whispered in reply.
At this the two stared at each other in awe, Alice, due to the sincerity of her neighbour's words and at how she was able to fix her clothing in the first place and Bella who was asking herself how anyone could look that good in jeans and a blouse. Yes, she had just gotten out of a long term relationship and found people as attractive as spoons, however she could appreciate beauty when she saw it.
She snapped out of her thoughts and then took Alice by the hand, "Come on," she said, effectively breaking the reverie they were in and dragging the other woman through the house.
When they entered the living room Bella let go of Alice's hand, who acted her part and embraced Tanya, her date.
Rose and Leah were standing in the kitchen watching the scene closely.
"So, who are you?" Tanya asked once she regarded the form that ignored her at the door.
Bella looked at Alice and then her date; she closed her eyes and shook her head.
"I'm just the neighbour," Bella supplied slowly.
Alice gave her a smile one filled with gratitude and hope for the night; in return the brunette just strode to door and opened it to let the couple go out. When Alice exited Bella made a slight motion to the date, causing Tanya to withdraw for a second.
"You better take care of her," Bella whispered and then closed the door, faintly noticing the way Alice had thanked her with her eyes before they were separated by the blue wooden door.
Bella breathed a deep sigh, lost in her own thoughts, not noticing the steps getting closer towards her.
"So, why are you here?" Rosalie asked after a few moments silence, Bella had never visited them of her own violation; in fact, the brunette had never initiated any sort of contact or communication, especially one that warranted a visit.
Bella snapped out of her thoughts and remembered why she had come in the first place.
"Huh? Oh yeah, I just wanted to give Alice's plate back to her." She replied frowning at her empty hands and Rose spared her an amused glance.
The blonde motioned Bella to follow her into the kitchen and she did so diligently, Leah resumed her position on the couch.
"So, who's this girl Alice is dating?" Bella asked curiously as Rose procured a drink from the fridge.
The blonde sipped her water slowly and then peered at Bella, "I don't even know anymore, a work mate I believe, she always goes out on dates."
Bella raised an eyebrow at that comment, "Is Alice okay?"
Rose assessed Bella slowly, "You know, people would be more concerned that my sister was dating so many people rather than making sure that she was okay."
Bella just shrugged in response, Rose had just allowed her to stay, however, for what reasons, she couldn't decipher.
"What does Alice do?" Bella asked, only realizing now that she didn't know.
"She's a speech pathologist."
Bella's eyebrows rose, "Seriously?"
In return, Rose gave a fond smile, "As a child Alice had the most terrible stutter and, it wasn't until she was ten after much therapy did she learn to stop."
"I never would have picked that Alice was a stutterer."
"Of course you wouldn't, she was always embarrassed about it and took great pains to make that particular trait go away."
Bella took a few moments to gather her next words, "Is that why she sometimes talks as if she's rehearsed her lines before?"
Rose nodded her head, approving of her neighbours assessment, "Correct, although, I do believe that is also the way Alice is, she plans everything, from the clothes she wears to the interactions she has with people. It only comes back when she's under high anxiety, though; she usually shies away from people if that is the case."
Bella frowned, she couldn't imagine Alice hiding from people but then, she couldn't imagine the smaller woman stuttering so badly that it warranted therapy. In fact, none of this conversation warranted such an execution to occur, so Bella regarded the blonde carefully.
"Why are you telling me this?"
"Alice really likes you," was Rose's immediate reply.
"Isn't that her prerogative to inform me of who she was?" Bella asked, and, much to her bewilderment Rose just smirked, it was a knowing smirk, one that expressed that she was pleased; it was as if the brunette had just unknowingly passed some test.
"I talked to my dad last night," Rose continued, completely ignoring the question, the statement itself however, almost caused Bella to gasp.
"Oh yeah?" Bella tried to muster coolly, even though her heart was palpitating outside of itself. This particular conversation was not for Rose, not for Alice, not for anyone. Not now and maybe not ever.
The blonde nodded her head and watched Bella intently, "He wouldn't tell me anything and neither would Leah."
Bella released the air that she had been holding.
"Your sigh of relief however, says that there's something that needs to be said," Rosalie assessed.
"No, nothing."
"Look, I don't know what your connection is with my father, but if he is covering for you then it must not have been that bad."
The blonde noticed her neighbour frowning and it was now that she realized that if her neighbour had any ill intentions toward her little sister, then she probably would have done so by now.
"Just don't hurt Alice."
In return her neighbour just smiled a sad smile, "I can't promise that," she stood up and pushed her seat in, "I gotta go now, tell Alice I said thanks for the cookies and that I enjoyed them."
Bella bid her neighbours goodnight.
It wasn't until she heard the door close did Leah crane her neck towards the form of her girlfriend. Rose, ever the epitome of a lioness, slowly stalking her way to where Leah was with a sway of her hips.
"Rose, was that really necessary? You almost gave the poor girl a heart attack with your inquisition," Leah asked.
In response, Rose straddled her girlfriend and began to massage the base of Leah's neck, "Of course it was, my sister deserves the best and I was just trying to gauge her reaction to my questions," she replied impishly.
"Yes, those very personal questions and what pray tell does your sister deserve?" Leah asked, at the moment, she was very much enjoying the ministrations on her neck. Rose smirked and bent ever so close.
"Anything her heart desires," she ghosted over Leah's lips.
"And you believe that to be Bella?" Leah inquired; her ability to speak steadily becoming hindered by the angelic touch of her girlfriends very adept fingers and the intimacy.
The blonde gave Leah a knowing smirk, "You know what my heart desires right now?"
Leah knew that her girlfriend was trying to change the topic and by the way the blonde's eyes became hooded and the breath on her lips, who was she to intervene in her lover's life? Especially when it came to Alice, so, like the good girlfriend she was, she played into Rose's ploy.
"What's that?" she husked.
Rose tugged at Leah's collar and her smirk just grew wider.
Bella was blowing a smoke ring when she noticed a car pull up from across the road. She looked at the occupants carefully and then turned her head when she realized that they were sharing a goodnight kiss.
When she heard the car door slam she inclined her head and instantly noticed Alice's form waving at her with her usual exuberance.
Across the road, Alice had noticed Bella's form outside smoking when they had pulled up in front of her house. Taking her neighbours curiosity as a positive sign, she walked across the street and sat next to her neighbour breathing a contented sigh.
"How was the date?" Bella asked.
"It was something," The smaller woman said, the slight inflection was not lost on either of them.
"Something good or something bad?"
Alice just shrugged her shoulders in response, "I didn't feel it." She simply replied with an innocent shrug of the shoulders.
Bella smirked, "You didn't feel it or you didn't get felt up?"
The other woman squawked at the comment, "The former you perv."
Her companion just chuckled, "Just making sure."
They sat in comfortable silence for a while, just gazing up at the stars and absorbing the quiet atmosphere, it permeated of cliché scenes from coming of age movies.
"How did you fix this anyway? It was ripped," asked Alice, the current clothes she was wearing demonstrated no such wounds in the sleek chiffon and lace.
Bella shrugged, "I used to work in a haberdashery store, you learn to pick up a few things." She replied as nonchalantly as she could.
Alice looked at her neighbours' attire of old sweats and ragged t-shirt, "Seriously?" she asked sceptically.
Bella rolled her eyes, for it had not been the first time someone had the same doubt.
"Yes I know, the girl who wears jeans and a t-shirt from six years ago, worked at a fucking fabric store."
"Seriously? " Alice asked again, the mirth flowing from her voice and then she proceeded to laugh, long and hard.
"Shut up," was Bella's reply and then, infected by the smaller woman's laughter also began to chuckle.
Alice regarded her neighbour's features, she noticed the prominent laugh lines on her stoic face, the way the moon's light reflected on her porcelain skin and the way her eyes twinkled like firebugs dancing to and fro. The woman smiled and decided to voice the thought that had been in her mind since she had noticed the feature, "You know, you should do that more often."
Bella stopped chuckling and regarded her companion, "Do what?"
"Smile."
Bella frowned at that comment; it hadn't occurred to her that she hadn't smiled without precaution with someone in a while, "I, haven't heard that one, usually people are telling me to stop smiling because they find it creepy."
It was Alice's turn to be in frown, "You? Smiling? Really?"
Bella laughed and smacked her neighbours arm, "Yes really you dwarf."
In return the smaller woman just laughed and rubbed her arm, "Hey! No need to get abusive."
She gave Bella a cheesy grin, "Aaaaaand this is where I take my leave, Good night Bella," Alice said and then crossed the road towards her house.
"Goodnight Alice," Bella easily replied.
Alice was in the middle of the road when she heard her neighbour call out her name, causing her to complete a 180 degree pirouette.
"What, what didn't you feel?" Bella asked after a moment's hesitation.
In response, Alice just smiled that smile, one that was full of wistful longing, of hope, of fear, one that was procured from the soul and brought into reality by two ruby painted lips.
"Love" she simply responded.
She turned around and walked into her home without turning back to look at her neighbour.
Bella frowned and reclined in her seat; she stared up at the stars and closed her eyes thinking about the night's turn of events.
What an odd thing to say she finally thought with a smile tugging at her lips.
Thank you for reading.