Chapter 6: Victim

Alice waited impatiently outside the bathroom in the hall. It was never used, or only used when they decided to give Bella a make-over. Recently Alice had sworn to leave Bella alone until the wedding, which she regretted. But that was long forgotten, as Natasha, her new victim, was trying on the perfect dress inside.

Natasha slowly turned the knob of the bathroom door, peering out. She had hoped that Alice would give up on her after the first fifteen minutes, yet the pixie was still out there, grinning.

"Oh, it's so beautiful! Emmett will just love you!"

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Is this still about him? God, Alice, he's married!"

"Oh, I know...I was Rosalie's bridesmaid!"

"So I am just a product of your boredom?" Natasha groaned dramatically.

"For the most part. Now hurry up with the next one!"

Natasha thrust her arm through the second sleeve, and then stuck her head out the door. Cautiously stepping out, she had very little time before Alice tackled her and began fooling with the diamond on the front.

"I like the first one best. The dark purple halter with the dance skirt..." She rambled on in designer-speak. "And I've fitted it so that it will fit Rosalie with only minor alterations!"

Natasha gulped. She knew what Alice meant. That if she became dinner, her designer outfits could be recycled. Which was strange, considering that Alice usually threw out new outfits like the morning newspaper.

Alice took a needle and seam-ripper to the dress, making all kinds of adjustments to the once conservative style.

Then Bella walked into the hall, a cheerful expression on her face. Her cheeks glowed in opposition to her normal human-pale exterior.

"Bella!" Alice screamed. "I'm glad to see you're so happy!"

Bella grinned even wider. "I'm just happy that I'm not the victim this time."

"Victim...?" Natasha frowned.

"Time for your makeup!" Alice disappeared, returning with her arms full of powders and paints.

Natasha backed away. "This wasn't part of the deal..."

"What deal?" Alice tilted her head to the side.

"See you two later!" Bella laughed, skipping down the hall.

Natasha shook her head, now pinned to a chair by Alice. "She's getting more like you each day," she mumbled to Alice, who beamed.

"That was the original plan! Now be still!"

Several painful hours later, Natasha and Alice moved out of the bathroom. Alice had curled Natasha's hair, and swept it into some shoulder-covering mass. The thousands of bobby pins that kept the hair together somehow didn't show.

Her makeup was done to perfection, eyelids in teal powder, and white eyeshadow underneath her brow. She was wearing blood red lip-stain, and her cheeks sparkled with a pale shimmer that had obviously been inspired by Alice's vision of what Natasha should be. The only thing wrong were her eyelashes, because Alice had deemed them impossible to curl. Besides that, she had used all the good mascara on Bella the last time she had demonstrated her makeup expertise.

Alice sighed with frustration as she stared at Natasha, wearing the purple halter. For any normal person, she would be considered beautiful. By Alice's standards... "You'll do," she huffed.

"Where am I going, anyway? I guess going out to dinner is out of the question..." Natasha smiled.

"Well I think you two should go to a movie," Alice reasoned.

It seemed like a good idea, until a thought dawned on her. "If Rosalie shows up and attacks me, there'll be a lesser chance that someone will save me in the dark." She gulped.

"You'll be fine!" Alice secretly bit her lip.

They walked down the stairs and into the living room where Emmett and Rosalie were watching Nascar races.

"What'd you do to her, Alice?" Emmett turned away from the television. Rosalie smirked.

"I made her pretty!"

"You didn't need to do all that to make her pretty. She already is." He walked over to Natasha and fluffed her hair until it resembled the coiffure of a normal human being. He turned his head away from the scent of shampoo, afraid of how the luscious scent would make him react. He vaguely remembered Edward's warning about shampoo.

Natasha smiled at him, skin on her cheeks glowing a faint pink. Emmett's hunting instinct went wild at the more prominent scent of blood. He settled for holding his breath.

"If you put on a normal tee shirt and jeans, I'll take you to the ice cream shop." And you'll be the flavour of the month, he thought, smiling.

Rosalie stood up from the couch, furious at Emmett. She crossed her arms impatiently.

"It's not a date, Rose, I just want to be her friend." he kissed her gently on the mouth. Well, as gently as he could manage. "And she will be my friend, whether you like it or not."

An honourary member of the Cullen clan.

Alice smiled triumphantly, and Rosalie nodded with grim acceptance. Edward walked in, a crooked smile on his pale face. No doubt he had read the girl's mind. He held Bella in front of his chest, and she was grinning, happy to have herself out of the family spotlight and in the presence of another human who understood. Jasper stood his usual distance, and Esme and Carlisle tried to prepare themselves for another addition to their enormous foster family.

And Emmett smiled, too

THE END!