Chapter 4
Rose and I were sitting in silence. We were driving to the airport to pick up her brother Jasper who had been in Afghanistan for the past year and a half, only coming home once before for about a week. He was something of a black sheep in his family. He always wanted to be a soldier, which was odd for the wealthy white collar family. It was especially disappointing to Mr. Hale who wanted his son to come work at Hale and Becker, the family law firm. But after a while, and seeing their son advance quickly in the ranks, his family couldn't help but be proud of him.
"So, how was your appointment yesterday?" I asked, breaking the silence with a topic I knew Rose would talk about. She turned down the radio and glanced at me before sighing.
"Not as good as I hoped, but I suppose that's typical of every visit where my pregnancy test is negative." I nodded sympathetically, reaching over to squeeze her knee in comfort. My sister in law wants to be a mommy and it absolutely kills her that she is the one at fault for not bearing children. The doctor said her uterus was inhospitable.
"It'll happen." I reassured her.
"I don't want to talk about that, Bella." Rose said, pulling her car into a short term parking spot and turning to face me. Her expression made me a little uneasy.
"Uh, okay, well what do you want to talk about then?" I fidgeted nervously under her gaze and saw her smirk out of the corner of my eye.
"Hmm, how about the giant pink elephant that was following you and Alice around the other day at dinner?" I gaped at her for a moment before swallowing thickly.
"What do you mean?"
"Oh come on, Bella. Don't play dumb. Our little sex elf is quite taken with you. If it wasn't obvious by all the attention she gives you, her glaring daggers at Edward when you guys were talking definitely gave it away. What I want to know is how you feel." She said, staring at me hard, as if trying to forcefully pull the answer from my brain.
"Don't we have to go meet Jasper…" I said turning to grab the door handle, but Rose reached across me, blocking my hand.
"His plane doesn't land for another thirty minutes, now answer the question." She commanded.
I sighed. I really didn't want to talk about this now. The truth was, I wasn't even sure myself what was going on with Alice.
"I don't know Rose. I care about Alice, I mean, I wouldn't sleep with her if I didn't like her, but she's being so…" I stopped, unsure how to phrase her behavior. Obstinate, maybe? Or childish. Well, she was a child, I reminded myself…except in bed. "…complicated." I decided. She didn't respond, but just stared at me, willing me to continue, which I did. "Ok, like when she came over the day after our dinner. I finally got up the nerve to ask her about Edward…um, joining us as a spectator, and she flat out refused!" I complained, losing my sense of decorum as the irritation I had felt that day came bubbling back. "I mean, it doesn't make any sense! She lets Emmett, but not Edward? If she likes me so much, why wouldn't she do this for me?"
Rose gave me a pitying look, but I huffed and sat back into my seat, arms crossed.
"Bella, would you want someone, or better yet, would you want Alice watching while you had sex with Edward?" She asked bluntly, raising her eyebrows when I didn't respond immediately.
"No, I suppose not, but that's completely different. Edward is my husband and our love making is private."
"So what's Alice then?"
"Huh?" I asked dumbly. I wasn't following…
"You make love with Edward, your husband. So what are you doing with Alice?"
I opened my mouth to respond, but nothing came out. What did I do with Alice? On her more vulgar days she would say we fuck; but most times she's tender and sweet and I couldn't possibly reconcile those actions with such a brazen choice of diction. So I was stuck.
"I don't know. She's Alice."
Rose laughed at the obviousness of my answer, shaking her head and gathering her purse from the backseat. Just before I thought she was going to get out of the car, she turned back to me.
"Listen, Bells. I know you love Edward and I'm not entirely certain how much you care about Alice, but you seem to really like her. Regardless, what I know for sure is that Alice doesn't see you as just another woman to fuck. She has real feelings for you and I think you need to figure out how you want to handle that, because if you ignore this, it's going to blow up in your face. I guarantee it." With that, Rose got out of the car, leaving me sitting in stunned silence.
"JASPER!" Rose and I screamed when we saw the blonde haired man come into baggage claim. We were both holding huge signs welcoming him home. Rose, Jasper and I have known each other since we were in diapers. I could remember the shaggy haired, laid back kid in high school who lit up joints behind the gym. So seeing Jazz with a crew cut and his fatigues always seemed a little strange, even after five years of him in the army.
A huge grin spread his face and he hustled over to us, dropping his duffle and grabbing us both in a hug.
"Rosie! Bells! I didn't know you were coming!" He said, pulling back, still grinning.
"Well you didn't think we'd actually let you take a cab home, did you? God, what kind of sister do you think I am?" Rose exclaimed, playfully shoving her brother. They were twins, but unlike some, they got along really well. They looked at each other for another minute before Rose shrieked again. "I can't believe you're home!" She crushed Jasper in another hug as I looked on in amusement.
"How long are you home for?" I asked, still giddy over my friend's arrival, but dreading his inevitable departure as well.
Jazz rubbed his short hair, in a gesture that reminded me of Edward and my smile faltered slightly.
"Actually, I have two weeks off and then I'm based out of Fort Worth for a few months. I'm going to be helping train some new recruits." Jasper said, obviously excited about the task.
Rose and I both grinned before he grabbed his bag and we headed back to the car.
"So what's new around here?" Jazz asked once everyone was situated in the BMW. "You two have been slacking in your emails."
"Aww, I'm sorry. I've been so distracted lately…" I started to say, only to be cut off by a laughing sister in law.
"Distracted is the understatement of the century." She said through her chuckles, causing Jasper to raise his eyebrows at me curiously.
"Oh? Have you been keeping something from me." He asked with a sly grin. The three of us don't really keep secrets, or we didn't, until Alice. Rose opened her mouth to speak, but I quickly pinched her in the arm and she scowled at me.
"Don't Rose." I half warned, half begged.
"Oh come on, Bells! Now I have to know! Is it something to do with Edward?" He asked, looking thoughtful.
"Indirectly." I mumbled.
"Just tell him Bella. I mean, he already knows about Emmett and my arrangement with her." Rose said, and I glared at her. That was neither subtle nor discreet.
"NO WAY!" Jasper gasped before breaking into a fit of laughter.
"WAY!" Rose answered, joining in, completely unaffected by my eyes burning into her skull.
"Our little Bella Swan turned Cullen is fucking the infamous Alice Brandon? I can't believe it!" Jasper rattled off, still laughing uproariously. I huffed, pretending to ignore both of them.
"It's not that hard to believe." I muttered, staring out the window, but of course they both heard me.
"Oh yes it is." Rose said, shaking her head while she looked back to change lanes on the highway.
"Yeah, or are you not the same Bella who turns bright red and covers her ears at the very mention of sex?" Jasper asked, still cackling. I turned around and punched him in the leg.
"I do not!" I shouted indignantly.
"Yes you do." The siblings responded together
"Can we talk about something else?" I pleaded, to their eye rolls.
"Fine. Have there been any outrageous Bella moments while I've been away?" Jazz asked, looking to his sister while I continued scowling at them both. Bella moments were how they referred to my clumsy accidents. They've been documenting them since we were in fourth grade.
"Hmm, let me think. I emailed you about when she walked into the glass door at Esme and Carlisle's, right? She got a bloody nose and then passed out at the sight." Rose elaborated and I groaned. That had been two months ago!
"Ha! Yeah, you told me that one." Jasper chuckled. Rose smiled at me, while I continued to glare at them.
"Actually, she's been pretty good lately. I haven't seen much." Rose admitted looking at me as if concerned by this fact. They didn't know that I had misjudged my location on the bed and fallen off the side during a session with Alice…twice, but I certainly wasn't about to mention it either.
"Hmm." Jasper agreed, and then we lapsed into silence for a while.
"So, what about you and Maria? Are you still seeing her?" I finally asked, grasping at a new topic. Jasper sighed and sat back in his seat.
"It's complicated. Our relationship isn't exactly favorable, given that she is my most direct superior officer. If people knew, it would open a whole slew of problems, which could hurt both our careers."
"So, you're still getting it on in closets and hummers?" Rose clarified. Jazz groaned.
"I wish. Where we were stationed, we were basically living out of tents and a few borrowed buildings, but everything is very public. Plus, you know, there was the whole war thing happening that really limited our time together." Jasper answered, sarcastically. I had only met Maria once before, but she seemed nice enough and it was obvious she adored Jasper. Although, her personality is a little bit hardcore for me personally. She values skills as a soldier and loyalty above everything else, which is why she likes Jasper so much, I assume. She has short black hair and blue eyes. Actually, besides her actual face, she's very similar to Alice.
Alice.
My mind was lost again in a torrent of images of my little bundle of energy, so much so that I didn't hear Rose calling my name.
"BELLA!" She eventually yelled, snapping me out of my thoughts. "What the hell were you thinking about that you completely spaced out for five minutes?" She asked, honestly curious. She and Jasper were both watching me carefully and I blushed under the attention.
"Well, it could be one of two people, given how much she looks like a tomato. If I were to guess, I'd say it was Alice, though."
"We're here!" I shouted, stumbling as I escaped the car. We had just pulled up to Rose and Emmett's house and I couldn't have asked for better timing. Rose and Jasper were still laughing while they collected everything and followed me inside. To my surprise, as soon as I opened the door I found my husband and brother in law playing Call of Duty on the Xbox.
"Edward! What are you doing here?" They both turned around at my exclamation and beamed, Emmett getting up and moving quickly to the door where a surprised Rosalie and Jasper were filing in behind me.
"I took the afternoon off so I could play a round with Emmett and Jazz." He said beaming, moving around me to give Jasper a hug hello.
"Edward, I think Jasper is probably tired. I mean, he just flew half way around the world." I said, interrupting the guys' hellos. Emmett scoffed and rolled his eyes.
"He's a soldier Bella. I think he can handle a little golf." I made to object again, but Jasper stopped me.
"It's fine. Actually, it'll help keep me awake so that I can get on a normal sleep schedule here." With little choice left, I had to relent. Even so, I couldn't help but smile while watching the boys joke around.
While our husbands discussed Jasper's golf technique in middle eastern desert, Rose pulled me aside.
"Since the boys are going to the club anyway, do you want to swim a bit and have a steam?"
I agreed and a couple hours later, Rose and I had finished laps and were heading to the sauna. There was only a couple older women inside when we entered, so I leaned against the wall and closed my eyes, just relaxing for a moment.
"You know how I had to change my time from Tuesdays to Saturdays because of Marvin's golf league…Well, she called Friday night to say she couldn't make it. I thought maybe we could reschedule, but she said she wasn't sure she had time?" Victoria's voice brought me out of my stupor and I looked up to see her walking in with Tanya.
"That's very odd. She's never cancelled anyone before, that I know of." Tanya said, trying to console her friend.
"Do you think it's me?" The red head asked in disbelief.
"Of course not! Alice has been acting strangely for a while now." Tanya answered, looking thoughtful. "In fact she's been pretty subdued even with me, and leaves earlier than normal."
By now I was all ears, blatantly listening in to their conversation. Not only because they were talking about Alice, but it just so happened that last Saturday she had been with me and we had our fight.
"Well that wasn't even the strangest bit. She called me and said she could make it after all, and came over Saturday evening. I had to find a last minute sitter to take the kids out because I'd given the nanny a day off. Truthfully, she wasn't even that great. It was actually kind of depressing and ruined the mood, so I sent her home." Victoria said, shaking her head in disappointment. I grimaced, both at the how much I'd hurt Alice and the fact that she'd run off to another woman after our disagreement. I guess I was a little more upset about that latter than I realized because Rose had to nudge me out of glaring at the red head across from me.
The movement must have caught Tanya's eye because she looked up and smiled at us. It was fake, of course. Everyone knew Tanya hated both Rosalie and I. Rose because she was so pretty and me because Edward is my husband.
"Oh, Rosalie! Bella! I didn't even see you there."
"You both know Alice don't you? Do you know what's wrong with her?" Victoria cut in, still stuck on the reason for her unsatisfactory pleasure session. I shrugged, examining my feet closely.
"It sounds to me like our little Alice may have found someone she cares about." Rose said, and I saw her glance sideways at me, but I pointedly ignored it.
"I hope not!" Tanya gasped, causing me to look up in surprise. "If she did, she might not want to see me anymore! Then what would I do?" I rolled my eyes. I should have expected a selfish answer like that.
"I think it's a good thing. Alice needs someone steady to take care of her for once." I blurted out before my filter could catch it. Crap.
Rose was staring at me, one perfectly sculpted eyebrow raised questioningly, while the other two women just looked at me in confusion.
"I mean, don't you think she should be with someone her own age?" I asked, trying to cover myself a little. When no one answered it left me with only my own thoughts and they weren't particularly friendly to me. I couldn't be selfish anymore. Alice deserved better, and letting this go on any longer will just hurt her more. I needed to end it.
A/N I know the ending is crappy, but I have already started the next chapter and it should be up soon. Also, sorry if you thought the war talk was a little juvenile. It's not meant to be a large part of the story, so I downplayed the issue.