Bella breathed deeply beside me. It was a week after they had put her off active duty and she was doing okay. A pattern had formed for us. Wake up, change her bandages, feed Leo, make sure Bella stayed in bed, tell her to take her meds, feed her and Leo, change bandages, so on and so forth. I hadn't said anything about her first drugged episode. I did, however, make sure to let her know she looked good now and then. Her color was coming back better than ever, she was eating regularly, and her wounds were nearly healed. I finally decided to talk to her about us. Because, dammit, if I wasn't starting to feel something for her, something I felt had always been there, but buried deep. Now I knew why.
Walking into the next room I saw Bella was holding Leo, cooing at him and making soft sounds. My heart melted at the soft look in her eyes as she looked at my son. She loved him, like I did. Like Leo was her own. I wanted so badly to cry, but instead I moved over to the bed and sat beside her, leaning into her side and letting my son grab onto one of my fingers. Bella looked at me and smiled softly.
"Hey." Her voice was low, at the same volume she had spoken to Leo. I smiled back.
"Hey." I looked at the sleeping baby in her arms. "Do you love him?"
"… I think I do."
"Do you still love me?"
"Alice…"
"Just… do you still love me?"
Our eyes connected and she nodded. "I never stopped loving you. Ever."
My eyes watered. "And I went and got married…"
"You didn't remember me. You aren't responsible for that."
"But I think I did remember. In a way, I feel like I did. I still could always feel like there was something wrong. Something missing…"
Bella stood up and I closed my eyes, tears leaking out. She hated me. I was shocked when I felt two strong arms wrap around me. "Alice, please don't cry. I was only setting Leo in his bed. Don't cry, Ali…"
"You're hurting… And I'm the one hurting you. How can you still love me?"
She sighed and pulled away a little and I felt two of her fingers under my chin, lifting my face so she could see me. She smiled softly and cupped my cheek. "Alice, listen to me, okay? I love you, and I don't know why. I never knew why. I just fell in love you, and every little thing you did made me fall more. I just love you, and I can't explain it without sounding like a fool. And dammit if that didn't sound cheesy and cliché but I don't care."
I didn't care either. Because I remembered her… I got sucked into a memory.
"Bella, what are we doing here?" I looked up at my best friend in her football uniform and she coughed, shifting back and forth. She shouldn't be so nervous, she had won us the game.
"Alice, I… Listen… This is way too hard to say…"
I giggled. "Why?"
"If it goes well, things will change for the good, but if it doesn't, I could lose you. I don't want to lose you, Ali-cat…"
I hugged her. "Bell, relax. You won't lose me."
She wrapped her arms around me and choked back a sob. "I can't lose you, Ali… I love you… I can't lose you because I love you."
"I love you, too."
"No, I love you way more than a friend should love another friend."
I looked up at her and kissed her lips. It only took her a moment to hold me against her and kiss back. I tangled my fingers in her hair.
I blinked and Bella was above me. "Alice, are you okay? You just… blanked out…" I blinked again, my eyes flicking between her eyes and lips. My heart beat hard and I whimpered. I wanted to kiss her, but would she kiss me back?
"Alice?"
"What if I kissed you?" I was horrified.
WHAT WAS I, EIGHT?
I JUST ASKED WHAT SHE WOULD DO IF I KISSED HE-
Soft lips connected with mine and I moaned. I'll admit any day that she was a way better kisser than Jasper and I never wanted to stop. I wrapped my arms around her neck and let Bella take over. We kissed until our lungs screamed for air and we broke apart. Panting, she smiled at me.
"I would do that. Why?"
"I remember our first kiss."
She beamed.
XXXX
YES I DID IT
Who loves me?
I can name three of you ^.^