To say Port Angeles was busy on that particular Saturday morning would have been an understatement. As the first weekend in November dawned crisp and early, eager Christmas shoppers flocked to the stores in their thousands in search of the perfect presents for their loved ones.
Alice was uninterested in the commotion around her, but the crowds that gathered were having the opposite effect on Bella, who was barely treading water in a raging sea of concerned, hurried thoughts.
'Make it stop,' she whispered to Alice desperately, 'I literally can't hear myself think.'
The pixie, clad fashionably in dungarees and a pair of skyscraper heels, pulled Bella roughly into an unused alleyway and sat her on the floor in front of her. Unconcerned with the fact that the dirty, wet concrete would stain her khaki combat trousers; she did as she was told.
Alice stood behind her and requested, no ordered, that she tune out all of the commotion around her to the best of her ability. When she was done, the vampire covered Bella's eyes with her small, cold hands and projected her vision through her thoughts, telling Bella to focus only on what she could see.
The vision was of a happy family sat around an oversized, decorated tree sharing colourfully wrapped parcels. It was clearly a vision of Christmas day, and as it progressed Bella recognised herself at the scene, wrapped around Carlisle who was lounging on the three-piece leather sofa as though he didn't have a care in the world. Behind them, Edward was pulling a beautiful blonde woman under the mistletoe joyfully, but before their lips made contact Emmett appeared, taking the opportunity to rugby tackle him to the floor. He fought back half-heartedly and the two rolled into the kitchen before Jazz grabbed Edward by the collar of his shirt and dropped him casually back underneath the tree so Alice could watch him open his presents. Bella was holding a small box, decorated in silver foil and tied neatly with a single blue ribbon. Without looking at the tag she knew already who it was from. As she pulled apart the bow excitedly, Alice stopped projecting.
'That's enough for now, I think. I don't want to ruin the surprise!' She smiled cheerfully and lifted Bella to her feet as though she weighed no more than the handbag she was carrying. Bella was fit to burst as she registered what she had just seen.
'You know what he has got me? Has he got it already? Who was the girl that Edward was with? Was that this Christmas? I think I look the same. Alice!'
The girl turned back to her with a blank expression and flicked her wrist to indicate that the conversation was over.
'This is not question time, Bella. I showed you that because you needed to calm down and it worked, right? I bet you can't hear all of the voices anymore now that you have regained control over what you can do. There is nothing you can say or do that will make me tell you what Carlisle has got you for Christmas, but what you should know is that it isn't something that we usually celebrate, so this is going to be really special. Now you promised me some shopping, and on this matter my lips are sealed!' She motioned the zipping, making a small buzzing noise that made Bella giggle and then pulled her into the first clothes store that she saw, remembering Bella's earlier promise that she would try on anything Alice wanted.
Three hours and seven bags of clothing later, Bella was ready to drop. They distributed the clothes fairly between them and carried them back to the black Mercedes that Carlisle had loaned to Alice, upon her insistence that her Porsche wouldn't have enough boot space. The shirt and combats that Bella had left the house in had been strewn across one of the many changing room floors that they had occupied and replaced with a jade prom dress that cascaded in silky waves to Bella's knees and a pair of four inch silver heels that she could barely walk in.
'How come you get to keep your normal clothes on?' Bella protested childishly, 'I am far too overdressed for shopping, I look ridiculous.'
'You look stunning,' Alice replied bluntly, the complement throwing Bella off-guard, 'I don't have any other plans today, so I don't need to change.'
'Neither do I!' She exclaimed argumentatively, earning her a sufficiently pointed stare from Alice, 'do I?'
Alice grinned like a Cheshire cat and bundled all of the bags into the boot of the car unceremoniously. Tapping her nose in a conspiratorial manner she muttered,
'That would be telling,' before hopping into the driver's seat.
Instead of driving back towards Forks, Alice accelerated in the opposite direction, refusing to listen to any of Bella's directions.
'You are far too curious for your own good,' she observed honestly, taking corners at a speed that made her passenger's stomach turn.
They pulled up outside a little store just on the outskirts of Port Angeles. It was fairly unspectacular in its presentation, but Alice insisted it was the best. Bella bit back another enquiry, knowing it would remain unanswered.
The pixie led the way through the single, unnumbered door into a large room that was surrounded with mirrors. Bright lighting illuminated the space and reflected on the glass, highlighting little booths that were separated with wooden privacy walls and an array of products that Bella didn't recognise.
'It's a salon,' Alice finally explained, 'Camilla is the best in all of the state and she is going to make you look wonderful. Now, come and sit over here so we can get started.'
Bella resigned herself to an hour of hair tugging and boredom by throwing herself into the swivel chair that Alice offered her dejectedly. She was pleasantly surprised when the raven-haired, curvy stylist appeared with her fangs bared and eyes glowing crimson.
'You're a vampire?' She asked, it was an unnecessary comment, she already knew what the woman was.
Camilla smiled brightly, a gesture that turned her glossy, cherry lips upwards and lit up her entire face.
'Finally Alice, you've brought me a client that knows what we are. Tell me exactly where you found this one?'
They talked animatedly for the first twenty minutes while the friendly vampire cut Bella's hair into a style that framed her face. At the same time as Camilla carried out her work, Alice pulled up a chair and started to work on Bella's nails, which she scrubbed so hard that Bella thought she might not be able to maintain the use of her hands. She didn't dare complain, knowing she would receive a lecture on how it was both a necessary and worthwhile activity. Her hands were then oiled with a soothing balm and Alice coated each of her nails individually with a glossy silver paint that matched the shoes she had previously complained about.
When she finally rose from her chair, waves of silky, loosely-curled hair trailed down towards the small of Bella's back and her highlights of red and amber reflected the light beautifully. Having been sufficiently preened and pampered, both women left the store in good spirits, in admiration of the transformation that had taken place within Bella Swan.
'I thought you said all of this was a waste of time?' Alice questioned jovially as Bella pleaded for her to reapply her mascara for the fourth time. She was a nervous wreck as she examined her reflection in the mirror, contemplating if there were any way she could avoid what she knew was about to be the most embarrassing experience of her life.
'Just do it, Alice,' Bella begged, desperate, 'I don't know where I'm going but I imagine everybody else is going to look amazing, and it's not my fault I've got stumpy eyelashes.'
Twenty minutes later, Alice looked around her bedroom that was now littered with beauty products and raised an eyebrow; she hadn't expected that Bella would be at all co-operative.
'Right, I'm done,' she finally declared, dropping her blusher on her bedside table with an air of achievement. Bella reached for the mirror but it was snatched out of her hand before she could catch a glance at her own reflection. When Alice spoke, her tone was that of chastisement. 'No, you are not ruining this by overanalysing everything I have done. You've seen what you look like and you know it's amazing so get downstairs before he goes without you!'
Bella stood at the top of the staircase of the Cullen household with one hand resting on the banner supportively. Not daring to lose her focus for fear of mislaying her footing, she held her gaze steady on the floor in front of her until she was certain she had mastered the manoeuvre in her spectacularly high heels. Her face flushed as she felt his gaze lingering on her and her heart pounded painfully against her ribcage as she wondered what his response would be.
When she was halfway down the stairs she finally found the courage to peek through her unusually long eyelashes, and what she saw held her frozen on that step for a split second before she regained her composure and continued walking. He looked incredible, his wonderfully fair features contrasting starkly with a midnight suit, his chiselled features defined with ochre irises that were fixed hungrily on her unmoving form.
The cut of his clothing looked as though it had been tailored specifically to his broad, muscular frame and for the first time the sleeves of his shirt hadn't been pushed back, revealing tiny fanged cufflinks underneath his jacket. His jade shirt that matched the very dress she was wearing highlighted how he and Alice had conspired against her, but on this occasion she could honestly say that she didn't mind, if anything she was grateful. His top button was done up and his shirt tucked in and when he smiled at her she saw two predominant canines obscuring his bottom lip, the presence of which emphasised his approval of what he saw. He had swept his hair to one side in that fashion that showed he was something entirely other and she almost swooned as he took her by the elbow in a gentlemanly fashion and escorted her to the front door.
'Why, miss Swan,' he began in that voice that sent shivers up her spine, 'I do believe I owe you a date.'
I don't normally do author notes but I just wanted to take the opportunity to thank everyone who has reviewed so far, you guys are the reason I'm up at night putting Bella's story down on paper : )
I hope you are enjoying where this is going, please make the most of the calm before the storm as unfortunately things are going to get a little rough for Bella (but don't feel too bad for her, she has got Carlisle after all)!
If you have any ideas / suggestions about where you want this to go just let me know in a PM. I'd love to hear what you all think the famous Doctor Cullen has gone and brought her for Christmas!