Disclaimer- I don't own Twilight or its characters and I don't own Way Back Into Love either. Although I do really, really love this film and if you haven't seen it, you should!!!
Oh, and I just want you to know that this may not be the best song for the chapter, but it was really hard to find a song for this one considering that there are three people's POVs. But I love this song and I guess Bella's hoping Edward will be there for her. I dunno. Tell me what you think.
All I want to do is find a way back into love,
I can't make it through without a way back into love
And if I open my heart again,
I guess I'm hoping you'll be there for me in the end.
There are moments when I don't know if it's real
Or if anybody feels the way I feel.
I need inspiration,
Not just another negotiation.
- Way Back Into Love, from the film Music & Lyrics
Alice POV
"I can't stay anymore, Carlisle," I told him the following morning. I was furious with myself inside for not seeing what was happening to Bella before now. Everyone else was hunting; I had insisted that I wasn't thirsty, but I think that Edward, at least, saw through me. Carlisle had agreed to stay with me.
"Why not? Where are you going, Alice?" he asked suspiciously.
Why not? Because Bella was being abused, Bella was suffering. It was only a matter of time before the abuse got out of hand and I had to stop it. I didn't know why my visions hadn't been picking up the abuse before, but this morning I had had a terrifying vision of Bella in a hospital, unconscious, and I strongly suspected that it was Phil's fault. It had taken me longer than it should have to realise that Bella wouldn't stay in Phoenix for long. She would be back in Forks by next week. And so would I. But Carlisle couldn't know this.
"I don't like causing all of this sadness. I don't want to stay in a place where the misery is my fault," I lied.
"You don't have to leave, Alice. If you don't like it, talk it over with Edward, just don't leave. Please," Carlisle begged, and then tacked on: "It's not just your fault."
"Carlisle, I don't want to cause a scene by leaving, that's why I've come to you instead of brining it up in hearing distance of the whole family," I said.
"I don't want you to leave any more than anyone else does. Esme will be distraught if you leave and Edward… Edward will be as well. You know he doesn't want you to go either. He'd much rather stop the fighting and arguing than have you leave, Alice, and you know it."
"I know," I sighed, "But I just have to go. I'm sorry Carlisle. And pass my apologies onto everyone else. And my love."
"I will," he promised, "If you're sure that this is what you want to do."
"It is," I answered immediately.
"And if you promise to come back soon," he added.
"Just to visit." I nodded, unsure as to whether I could promise any more than that.
"Okay. Where will you go?" He had hit the one question I had hoped that he wouldn't.
"I might go back to our house in Forks for a bit until I can find somewhere else," I said semi-truthfully. I was going back to our old home in Forks… for now.
"And you're not doing anything you shouldn't be?" Carlisle checked, raising an eyebrow. I resisted the urge to sigh; just because I had had a few too many plans didn't mean that I couldn't be trusted. Everything usually turned out okay in the end. Usually.
"No," I lied.
"Good," he said, his vice trusting now and I felt a twinge of guilt, "I'll miss you Alice, we all will." He pulled me into a hug and I hugged him back for a long moment.
"Thanks," I whispered in his ear before pulling away from the hug, "And you can tell Jazz where I've gone if he wants to come. Don't let anyone else though."
"Okay." Carlisle smiled sadly, "Goodbye Alice."
"Bye." I mirrored his smile as I turned and left, shutting the door gently behind me. As much as I hated to leave him, to leave them, I had to. For Bella. She needed me now. She needed Edward.
I was heading for Forks to stay, but, before I went there, there was something else I had to get for my plan to be foolproof. I had had a vision of Bella's step-father ripping the letters she had written to my brother and then, later on, another vision of the empty room. There was no one there, but the pieces of letter lay scattered over the floor, abandoned. I knew that, if they stayed there, they would be found by someone who wouldn't understand them.
I headed to Phoenix to get the letters. I would need to stick them back together; they would be necessary in the later stages of my plan. Then I would go on to Forks. Then I would talk to Bella.
I got to the house earlier than anticipated and looked through the crack in Bella's curtain from a distance. It wouldn't have been possible for a human to do, but my extra senses helped. She was sleeping soundly, her back against the wall. The letters she had written to Edward were scattered around her on the floor, but they were not yet in shreds. Whatever was going to happen hadn't happened yet.
I don't know how long I waited and watched, but suddenly Bella's step-father came in. I didn't know what he was planning; I hadn't seen anything. Whether that meant I was becoming blind (which I wouldn't have doubted considering I'd missed the times that he had hurt her), or whether that meant that this was a spur-of-the-moment decision, I wasn't sure.
I watched with bated breath as he slowly read each of the letters. Then he left the room. At first, I was relieved, but then I had a vision of him with a knife and my stomach dropped out of me. He was going to kill her? I couldn't let this happen.
But I couldn't do anything as the scene unfolded in front of my eyes and I watched helplessly. I felt my anger towards both Phil and myself turning into pure hatred. And, as he lifted the kitchen knife above his head, I couldn't watch any longer. I leapt from the tree I was in and flew across the road and silently in through her window.
"Bella!" I cried, just in time to see her eyes roll back into her head and her head loll. Was I too late?
"What the…?" Phil turned round, having heard my scream, and I couldn't bear to even look at his face.
"There are not words bad enough to describe you," I growled, before my fist connected with his head; knocking him out. I didn't have the heart to kill.
I stood alone in Bella's room for a second, waiting for a vision to come into my head. As soon as I saw Bella again, in Forks, I smiled to myself. She would be fine and Phil would get what was coming to him. And, for now, that was all that mattered. I gathered Edward's torn letters together and took off once again out of the window, making sure to slam it behind me, so that Renee would hear and come up momentarily.
I went back to the tree I had been sat in before and, as I had presumed, it was a matter of seconds before Renee burst into the room. I didn't stay to watch her reaction, instead leaping lithely from the tree and heading for Forks.
Bella POV
I ached all over. What happened? I couldn't remember anything. I thought hard and it slowly came back to me: the letters strewn around me; Phil yelling at me; Phil ripping the letters; the knife; the pain; the scream.
My eyes snapped open. I was in a hospital and Renee was asleep in a chair by my bedside. I wondered how I had got here and how long I had been here. What about Phil? What about Jacob? Had he stayed true to his word and gone a Jake with a knife as well? What had happened to my letters? Edward's letters?
"Ah, Bella, you're awake," a doctor came in.
"Uh… yeah," I answered, a bit dazed.
Renee stirred in her chair as the doctor bustled round the tiny room and then she woke.
"Bella?" she said as soon as she saw that I was awake, "Oh, Bella, my poor baby!" She immediately burst into tears and hugged me tightly, "Oh, Bella, I'm so sorry! Why didn't you say something, Bella?"
"What… what happened?" I stuttered as the doctor left the room to give us some privacy, I presumed.
"Oh, Bella." Renee burst into fresh sobs, "It was Phil. The whole time, it was him that was hurting you. I can't believe it, Bella."
"No, what happened afterwards?" I asked.
"Phil's been arrested, Bells," Renee told me and I didn't know whether or not I imagined the hint of sadness in her voice. It took a little while for me to process this and then I felt a huge sense of relief.
Suddenly, the door opened and Charlie came in.
"Dad?" I asked, "What are you doing here?"
"Bella, I didn't get to tell you…" Renee started, biting on her lip, "Your injuries were minimal because Phil was unconscious after the first stab – we don't know how he came to be unconscious – so the doctors have agreed to let you go as soon as you feel well enough. We're taking you back to Forks, Bella. That's what you want isn't it?"
"We?" I hadn't missed that.
"Yes." Renee nodded, "I'm coming back to help you settle in, Bella. I don't want you to be unhappy."
I couldn't say anything for a moment, but my face broke into a broad smile. I was going to Forks. Did that mean that I could see Edward?
"Oh, and there's someone here to see you," Renee remembered just as someone knocked on the door timidly.
I felt my heart jump in my chest. Who was it? Jacob? Maybe even… but then she came in.
"Bella, I'm really sorry," Leila apologised, her eyes red from crying, "I was horrible to you and I'm really sorry," she said.
"Leila, it's fine, I'm okay," I replied easily. Leila had never really been my worst problem; she had just been someone to make school worse than it already was.
"Well, I… I… uh… talked to Jacob and your Mum…" she looked at Renee, who nodded for her to continue, "And we… well… here." She handed me a little white box.
I peered at her curiously, but then opened the box. My necklace was inside, the chain fixed and the diamond polished.
"You fixed it?" I gasped.
"Well, I broke it, so it was only fair…" she trailed off as I gestured for her to come closer.
"Thank you," I said, hugging her.
"Where did you get it?" Leila asked, "Just interested," she added, "Both your Mum and Jacob say they don't know."
"I told you, a friend gave it to me," I said truthfully, trying to fight the smile that threatened to break out on my face. Jake knew where I had got it from and he hadn't told.
"Honey, who gave it to you? You do know that that's a real diamond, don't you?" Renee checked. Charlie looked at the necklace, not saying anything.
"Just a friend," I replied.
Nobody said anything more as I put it back round my neck, where it belonged.
"I… I'll go now," Leila said awkwardly.
"Sure. Thanks, Leila. Really," I smiled at her and she smiled timidly back. Wow, I had never thought I'd see the day when Leila Jones would be shy.
"Bye," she whispered, before leaving.
I looked at the shut door for a minute before turning to my parents, "Did she really come all this way just to apologise?"
"Yes, she feels really bad. She came here before, when you were unconscious, crying her eyes out apologising to me. It really should be me apologising though, baby. I am so, so sorry." Renee's eyes watered again.
"Mum, it wasn't your fault. And I'm fine now," I promised.
"Bella, I have some good news," Charlie said suddenly, "As long as you rest for the next few days, you can leave now."
"Rest?" My spirits sunk, "That means no school, right?"
"That's right," Charlie confirmed and I sighed.
"Do you want to go to school?" Renee wondered, confused.
"Well, kinda," I admitted, "I miss my friends." And I desperately wanted to see Edward.
"When we get back to Forks, see how you feel. If you feel better, you can go back on Wednesday, if you want," Charlie said.
"Yeah, okay." I nodded, nervousness and anticipation already mixing in my stomach at the idea of going to school. Wednesday was only four days away. Maybe everything would be okay now?
Jasper POV
I wasn't really concentrating on the hunting trip. I was certain that Alice was up to something. Why else would she want to stay behind? And why was she hiding her thoughts from me? Yes, she was planning something… and I wanted to know what. I would get it out of her as soon as we got back home. I just hoped that she wasn't planning something stupid that would get her hurt.
But, when I got back with everyone else, she had already gone.
"What do you mean gone?" Edward asked Carlisle, infuriated. We were both glaring at him.
"She doesn't like being here where everyone's unhappy. She thinks that it's her fault so she's left."
"Where has she gone?" I demanded.
"I can't tell you. It would betray her trust," Carlisle said and I felt my heart sink. What if Alice had done something dangerous? What if she got hurt?
"Oh, come on, Carlisle!" Edward cried. I looked at his face to see that, though he was thinking along the same lines as me, he was thinking about it from a completely different angle.
"You can't honestly believe that she's actually left because she's unhappy, do you?" he threw his hands up, looking angry. He thought that Alice had put us in danger or something. At this realisation, I felt a growl trying to erupt from my throat. Alice would never hurt us. Yeah, so she occasionally had the odd plan that would go a bit out of hand…
"Occasionally?" Edward glared at me, "A bit out of hand?"
"She'd never hurt us, Edward, not intentionally. She loves us too much," I said defensive of the girl I loved. Besides, I added in my mind, she only does these things because she thinks they'll help.
"The last time she tried to help, Jasper, I ended up in a florescent pink tutu and she ended up almost arrested for stalking someone," Edward snapped. I tried, and failed, not to smile at the memory of Edward in a bright pink tutu and Alice's face when that Suzanne had accused her of stalking.
"See? Admit it, Jazz, we would have been much better off without that ingenious plan of hers," Edward pointed out, rolling his eyes. This was much more like the old Edward before Bella… But as soon as I thought her name, his deep-rooted depression flared. I sighed.
"If she's done anything that involves her…" Edward muttered darkly and then shook his head, unwilling to think up a threat bad enough. Nobody else knew that I had just thought of Bella, but from the burning in Edward's eyes, it was clear enough. He was just getting worse. Whenever any of us thought of Bella, his eyes would show how bad he was really hurting inside. Whenever that happened, everyone else felt bad for him. But it didn't make any difference to me. I felt his hurt every minute of every day. And it was one of the worst hurts I'd ever felt.
If I was honest, even I had to admit that, wherever Alice was, she was indeed probably doing something that evolved around Bella, but, for once, I didn't think that this plan could come to anything bad. Edward was terrible like this and none of us could stand it for much longer, especially not Alice who, though she would never admit it, I think blamed herself partly for the accident because she had never seen it coming until just seconds before. It was only a matter of time before Edward realised how much he needed to be with Bella and went back to her… even if he needed a little persuasion…
"I will never do that," he hissed, baring his teeth at me, "She's better off without me. She doesn't need a monster like me in her life. She doesn't want it." With that, he took off out of the window. He always did that whenever he needed some time to think without others thoughts intruding. He's run off somewhere and sit for hours on end sobbing tearlessly or thinking. Just thinking.
"Jasper," Carlisle said my name quietly and I looked up. He passed me a sheet of paper with a note written on it. The rest of the family watched our exchange with quiet confusion, but Carlisle shook his head at them, "Bye Jasper," he said, "Make sure you keep her under control."
I nodded, suddenly understanding what was on the sheet of paper and followed Edward out of the window. Standing outside, I unfolded the paper and read Alice's familiar writing.
Jasper,
I'm at our old house in Forks. Only you and Carlisle know. Don't tell anyone. Come and find me if you want to.
Lots of love
Alice
I folded it back up again, and started to run in the direction of Forks. I doubted I'd be able to rein Alice in from whatever plan she had this time, but if it was a plan that would make Edward happier, would it really be that bad? Well, it was time to find out.
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More than 3,000 words for this chapter, guys. That's the longest one yet. Do you think I could get the most reviews yet??? The most I've had for one chapter so far is 26. Could we possibly boost that to 30??? 30 more reviews and we'll hit 200. Please. Please. Please. That would just be... amazing. There are not words.
Quote (Alice's POV):
I looked away from the group of people and back out of the window as I went through my timetable in my head to see who I had what lessons with. I couldn't see whether they'd pay any attention to me or what they'd say until they'd made up their minds what to do, which was irritating. Stupid, subjective visions. But then, I saw what I'd been looking for. In Biology, Mr Banner would sit me right next to Bella, in Edward's old seat. Bingo.
Thank you all so much for all of your lovely reviews so far. I love reading them and always reply- it's the least I can do.
Special thanks to:
Hannah (Stargirl H) ;)- I may be beginning to forgive you for your stupid prank now... (yes- she hid 6 – SIX!! – Jacob pictures in my bedroom for me to find when she had gone. You all know how stupidly Team Edward I am so you can probably guess how irritated I was. Also, one of the pictures was half-naked and the majority had speech bubbles saying "Hey Steph" or something stupid like that. It was almost as bad as the April Fool my Dad played on me- it involved pretending to sell my dog, whom I love very, very much. I will not say any more on that.)
SleepThroughTheStatic- Haha. Our lovely PMs brighten up my day ;) And of course, the wet robward ;)
EdwardCullenLove25- For reviewing (without exception) every single chapter. Also for the awesome story.
Bonnie (Sorry- I forgot your penname. I know it's something to do with oreos lol)- Thank you so much for all your reviews their so nice. XD
Oh just everybody. Thank you thank you thank you. I love you all.
And what did you think of the Jasper POV??? Was it any good? I probably won't do anymore of it, but I might do. I'm not sure yet. I'm trying to concentrate on Bella and Edward right now, tbh cos it is a BXE fic so... fair enough. If anyone REALLY REALLY wants a Jasper POV bit, then review or PM me or something and I'll see what I can do. I might just do a Jasper POV of another bit in the story and post it as a one-shot or something. Dunno. Open for debate and suggestions.
PLEASE CAN WE GET TO 200 BEFORE THE NEXT UPDATE???!!! I know it's a long-shot, but if I believe in anybody, I believe in you guys. ;) Please. 30 reviews for one chapter? It's not that many, is it?
Thanks.
Steph