Chapter 6: Satin and Lace

I entered the Mercedes, and Alice smiled at me with perfectly white teeth. Her eyes were liquid gold – the same as Edward's. She looked very small and willowy, but I knew that her appearance was misleading. Underneath she was just as strong as Edward was. She had the same pale skin, and delicate features that I'd come to expect from all vampires. She had short black hair, but it was kind of styled so that it stuck out from her head, in gradual curves. She really did look like a Pixie though. She was so beautiful too. And to hear her voice was like to listen to a chorus of Angels. I smiled back at her as I buckled my seatbelt. She saw the seatbelt, and laughed her musical laugh.

"Bella...I'm a vampire! Do you think I am going to get into an accident?" she giggled to herself. The idea was completely foreign to her. No matter what happened, she was confident her superhuman reflexes and speed could handle it. She was probably right.

"Well no...but my dad is the Chief of Police after all..." I replied with a sheepish grin.

"Oh alright! Fine!" she pretended to be annoyed and put hers on too. I laughed at that. Spending so much time with Edward made me realize I'd been neglecting Alice a bit. It wasn't intentional, but she was just so fun to be around that I just now realized how much I had missed her. She had an infectious smile, and an excitement that I realized I had missed in the last few days. I made a mental note to pay more attention to Edward's sister – who was also my best friend. Besides, after today, I would owe her big time!

She slammed the accelerator down, and the Mercedes responded instantly. I was pushed back into my seat, as Alice sped down the street and towards the highway that would take us towards Port Angeles. After a minute or so we were on the highway, and moving towards our destination at a ridiculous(to me) speed – 130 mph! I was glad that the windows were tinted limo black in the Mercedes. It made it less noticeable that the other cars and the trees on the side of the highway were passing in a continuous blur to either side. I was so nervous about the upcoming shopping, I couldn't talk. Alice broke the silence.

"So Bella...how was your shower this morning?" she said with her trilling laugh.

My eyes opened as big as saucers as my head whipped around to stare at her. Her visions! She'd seen me in the bathroom! My cheeks went flame red in an instant, and I struggled to breathe. Oh God...

"Now, now Bella..." she patted my head soothingly. "Nothing to be embarassed about..." she said reassuringly.

I couldn't reply. My mouth wouldn't open. Nothing would work. I just sat there in a stunned silence as she barely kept her glance on the road, and smiled at me with adoring eyes. Truth be told, I knew Alice loved me. Not in the same way Edward did of course, but she was the most supportive of him when he began to explore a relationship with me. She'd seen a vision beforehand of course, and before she even met me, she knew that we would be best friends, and one day I would really be her sister. I was pretty certain that most of the vampires in Edward's family felt the same way towards me as Alice did, if not to the same degree. Well, except for Rosalie, of course.

We drove in silence. Alice kept her eyes on the road, but occasionally cast her glance towards me with a big smile on her face. Oh God! What if she thought about my morning shower session sometime when Edward was in the same room! I started to feel sick to my stomach. I decided that the best way to distract myself from thinking about this was to talk with Alice.

"So Alice...I know this must be weird for you...helping your brother's girlfriend shop for some underwear..." I began.

"Oh! Not at all! I'm happy to help Bella. And besides...I know how this turns out..." she began, and pointed to her temple. "Oh, and you can thank me later!" she said with a grin. I decided against asking her about how it turned out. If it was even remotely physical, she would have seen a vision about it. My heartbeat increased a bit. Had she seen Edward and I "together" in one of her visions? Oh God...

The rest of the drive was uneventful. We arrived at the mall, and Alice parked the car expertly. We made our way inside, and I began to drag my feet slightly. I really did hate shopping. Alice sensed that my forward velocity had decreased however slightly, and snapped her fingers.

"Come on Bella! The mall closes in 12 hours!" she said, as if that was nowhere near enough time for us to complete our shopping. See Alice has a different idea of shopping than me. I like to know what I want, go into a store, get it and leave. Alice likes to know what she wants, and then check out every store that sells it, and compare. Then she looks at everything else, and decides if there is something else available that is better. If there is, then she begins again using her newfound item as the base for comparison. It can take a looooong time for her to find one item.

Thinking of Alice's methodical way to shop made my plan seem inadequate. My plan was to find one matching set that I liked, and then buy 3 or 4 of them in varying sexy colours. I could see right now that Alice would never approve of that plan. For one...it would only take probably 45 minutes, and secondly, there would be no variety. I was pretty sure I'd never even seen Alice wear the same outfit more than once.

She led me to Victoria's Secret. I grimaced. This store did not make me feel comfortable at all. My eyes glanced at all the assorted silk and lace garments and I blushed. Some of the skimpier and more risque items I couldn't even see myself working up the courage to even bring to the counter, let alone wear for Edward! I gulped. What had I gotten myself into?

Alice began scanning the racks. Her eyes moved lightning fast side to side until she smiled. Her face took on a serious expression, and her voice sounded ominous.

"I have foreseen..." she began, and I playfully punched her shoulder. She was so funny when she did that whole "I have foreseen" spiel. I winced slightly as I realized my playful punch against Alice's granite hard skin had probably bruised my knuckle.

Alice gave up on her fortune-teller schtick, and continued as if nothing had happened. "Ahh...how about this one...?" she asked me as she held the skimpy black underwear up for my inspection.

"Uhh...where's the rest of it?" I asked innocently. Alice shook her head sadly. I felt like I was a kid again I realized glumly. I was completely out of my element here. She took my hand, and led me around the store. She held up a sexy light blue thong for me now with just a tiny trail of cotton in the back. I shook my head furisouly at her.

"What's the matter Bella? You have a nice butt. Afraid to show it off?" Alice whispered in my ear. I blushed crimson then. Alice laughed, and then shook her head as my blush deepened as her own laughter only served to heighten my discomfort. I could only imagine what Charlie would ever say if he found those in the laundry one day. I would die of embarassment, and Charlie would probably have a heart attack. I could see the headlines now: Two dead in Forks. Underwear to blame! Bah...this was hopeless. I was going for daring here...not deadly!

Alice, sensing my mood, began to pick out more sensible pieces for me to look at. I balked at anything see through however. I thought the point was to cover your intimate areas anyways. Maybe I should just give up...

She then brought over a light purple camisole and some matching boy shorts. Okay...this was getting better. It provided adequate....cover....and was still sexy. It had a little bow on it, and had a little bit of lace around the edges. I could actually see myself wearing that. I smiled appreciatively as I held out my hand to feel the soft material. Alice was beaming now that she had found something I hadn't dismissed instantly.

"It's a definite maybe...." I told her.

"Okay. We'll put it up at the front then." she explained.

"Alright. We'll have to see some more though. I think I can only afford to get three outfits today" I admitted.

Alice's eyes opened wide. "Bella! No. You are not paying for one thing today! It's all on me silly! I practically insist!"

I couldn't let Alice pay for anything. It was good enough of her to help me shop, let alone pay for it.

"Alice..." I began.

"Uh uh uh!" she said, and placed her cool fingers against my lips shushing my protest. "If you only knew how much happier Edward is now that he has found you Bella! You've given him something that neither time, money or any one of us could ever buy him! It's the least I, and the family can do! You don't know how grateful we are that he has found happiness now. And it's all because of you..." she explained.

I smiled a bit. Hearing her say those words made my heart almost burst with joy. I really had that effect on Edward? I really made him happy? I was positively glowing now. Alice took my beaming smile as confirmation that I would allow her to pay.

"There. It's settled then." she said triumphantly. I decided not to argue.

Several hours later, we had 5 outfits picked out. I decided to go with the purple camisole, with matching boy shorts. I really liked that one. Another "yes" was a light green pair of bikini panties with a matching bra. It was much like the blue one I already owned only this one had more lace on it, and was sexier as a result.

The third one was a red silk push up bra, with matching high cut panties. I imagined that the striking red colour would complement my pale skin tone. It should make for a interesting colour contrast, and it exposed more of my legs which I was hoping that Edward would eventually appreciate if he saw me in them. When he saw me in them, I had to mentally correct myself.

Fourth was a normal pair of jockey briefs, and a pretty plain jane cotton bra. It was a lot like my boring other underwear, but was a light pink. So it was familiar and comfortable to me, but also a little more sexy also.

Fifth...well...huh. I couldn't imagine myself wearing it. Alice had picked it out. It was a black thong (cringe!) with a barely-there see through lacy bra, and it came with a garter belt, and stockings. I had not picked this outfit out, of course. I couldn't see myself ever wearing it at all. Alice just handed the garments to the saleswoman and told her to wrap it all up. She hadn't even asked me what I thought about the scary lingerie she'd picked up and decided to purchase without my help. I glanced at her questioningly, wondering if she was buying something for herself as well. Alice merely smirked at me, and moved close to me. I could feel her icy vampire breath in my ear as she spoke in a whisper. It sent a chill down my spine.

"For Emergency Use Only Bella" she said in a musical whisper, and then winked knowingly. My eyes opened wide with the realization that she had picked it out for me...!

A/N: Chapter 7 will probably be up tomorrow night. I'm taking a bit of a break from this story this evening. Thanks for reading...