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Chapter 6

The room cleared out pretty quickly after Alice burst in. I changed out of my robe and threw on a pair of black sweats and a thin white sweater.

Alice sat in the middle of the bed, picking at threads I couldn't see. I sat down quietly beside her, still unsure of what I had done. I looked at my friend, the girl I had once called my sister, and felt that sharp bite of bitterness towards her.

We sat this way for almost an hour. I didn't offer anything, and she didn't look up. My mind ran over every moment I had ever spent with her and came up short on how I could have betrayed her. We had never fought, I always took her advice, and I even had let her torture me on occasions with her curling irons and lip gloss.

"Bella," she began, her voice trembling with emotion. "Why?"

After her breaking the silence and offering nothing on my transgressions, I snapped. "Why what? I haven't done anything."

"Have you forgotten in the time we've been away that I can see the future? Did you think I wouldn't see what you would do?" It was like a switch had flipped, and Alice was no longer the tiny pixie. She looked frightening and ready for a fight.

"I might be able to defend myself better if you would tell me what you're talking about," I screamed at her, probably causing ear damage to the vampires in the house.

"Why should I?" she asked, raising her chin in the air.

"Fine. You know, if anyone has the right to be angry here, it's me. Your husband practically kidnapped me, forced me here, and now I have to deal with something that I have desperately wanted to forget. So, don't get all frosty on me for something I don't even know about."

Her small features twisted in pain at my words. I couldn't regret saying them because they were true. As happy as I was to be here, it wasn't my original choice. Thinking long term, this would probably damage me more than anything else, because they would leave again and there was nothing to bind me to them.

"Why won't you forgive me? Are you really so embittered with me that you won't accept my apology? You'll accept everyone else's, but not mine. Why? Have I hurt you that much?"

I couldn't think of anything to say at the moment to defend myself, because again it was the god honest truth. I could accept Esme and Carlisle's apology along with Rosalie and Emmett's. But, I wasn't as close to them as I was to Alice and Edward. Her desertion had hurt more than the others. I had truly felt that she was my sister, if not by blood, then by trust and love. She didn't try to say goodbye and she hadn't bothered to see me since they left.

"It hurt me more than you can ever know that you left without a word." I felt the corners of my mouth turn up into a sneer. "You call yourself my sister and throw everything in my face, but did you ever stop and think about what you've done? Have any of you?"

Tears now flowed salty and hot, covering my face in moisture. I could taste them as they made their way past my lips. "I thought that you, my sister," I mocked, "would at least say goodbye to me. That you, of all people, would care about my well being. But did you? NO! When the opportunity came up for one of you to see me, it was Jasper who came. He was the only one with the courage to see me, to potentially face me. It should have been you, Alice!"

I watched as she shrank away from me, her eyes hanging in defeat. I didn't bother wiping my tears away; I needed them to wash away the hatred I was feeling.

"You're right," she whispered. I wouldn't have heard her if not for the small squeak she made at the end. "I should have been there. I should have fought harder to keep us together. I saw you in my visions and I did nothing to help what was happening to you."

I hung my head, overwhelmed by the betrayal and unworthiness I felt. It wasn't a good idea for me to be here. I made my way quietly over to the closet and pulled out my suitcases, not caring that Alice was staring at me. She didn't say the one thing I so desperately wanted to hear. The two words that would have redeemed her to me didn't escape her lips. I folded my clothes, ready to put them back into piles to go into the cases.

"If I were truly your sister, you wouldn't have excluded me. If this was all about keeping the family together, then I should have been involved. I always counted myself lucky to be a part of your family, but I see now that I'm only a liability to you, and you're beholden to me now only out of a mistake." My voice was rough as I spoke and soaked with heavy tears. The zipper sounded loudly in the room as I walked out.

I passed Carlisle and Esme in the hall. He held onto her tightly as her body shook uncontrollably with sobs. Carlisle's mouth was set in a grim line as he held his wife. I would have thought he was angry if I didn't see the sadness in the depths of his eyes. I mumbled a quiet 'sorry' to them as I flew past them to the stairs.

I made it outside without catching another member of the Cullen family. I sat the heavy suitcases on the steps, amazed that I had brought them outside without killing myself on the marble floors. I rummaged through my bag and pulled out my phone. Being prepared as I was, I knew I had a number for a cab company in each city I planned on visiting. All I would need was a car to drive me to the airport and then I could be on my way, out of this Cullen infested country and away from the old version of myself I had come to loathe and detest.

A sleek black convertible pulled up in front of the house. I saw Rosalie's blond hair emerge from the driver's seat and grab my luggage. She didn't bother being gentle with it. She just grabbed it all in one hand and threw it, unceremoniously, into the trunk. She walked on around to the driver's side and turned around as she started to slide in.

"Get in the car, Bella." Her voice was firm, giving me no chance at refusal.

I grabbed my bag without thinking and followed her into the car. I laughed humorlessly to myself. As nice as she had been it was all probably an act. I was sure she was happy to get rid of me, the pathetic human, the girl who had torn her family apart and herself.

She sped out of the driveway, pushing the car to its limits as I watched the trees pass by in a blur of black, brown and green. I didn't bother trying to talk to her. What was there to say? 'I'm sorry I can't be good enough? I'm sorry I wasn't important enough.' It would be pointless to say these things to her because she already knew the truth. That was why she had never accepted me into the family.

"You're being selfish, Bella. It's always the same with you and Edward." Her hands were flying as she spoke. "Always self sacrificing, always so fucking noble."

She turned to look at me and there was pure annoyance written all over her face. No wonder Emmett loved her so much. When she was in a rage, she was stunning. "Neither of you ever stop to think of what your decisions do to the rest of us. I'm glad I can't read minds or see the future and thank god I can't feel your emotions, because honestly it's the biggest load of bull shit I have ever had the horror of witnessing. Lucky for Emmett, Carlisle, Esme and I we only have to watch the things unfold. But, in watching that, I watch my family fall apart at the seams."

I could almost see her face turning bright red. If she were human I was sure her face would have been crimson and she would have been gasping for air after her tirade. Unfortunately for me, she wasn't done.

"Who do you think you are? What gives you the right to step in and condemn the rest of us for something out of our control? Yes, you've sacrificed for us, and yes you and Edward had this epic love, but that's over. Edward is gone and we're trying to make up for what we did to you. What do you want us to do? Rip our dead hearts out and serve them on a platter to you?"

We pulled up to the airport within minutes. She got out of the car and grabbed my suitcases, dumping them onto the ground without a care.

"Rose," I said quietly.

She turned to look at me, fury ingrained in her angelic features. "What?"

"I'm sorry." There was nothing else I could say.

Her face softened, but her mouth kept the hard line. She grabbed one of my suitcases and I grabbed the other to follow her in. She tossed the keys to the waiting valet. She hadn't intended on staying, but had obviously changed her mind. She gave the poor man a dazzling smile. "Don't scratch it, love." The boy hopped into the car and shut the door with a quiet click.

She walked purposely into the airport and didn't stop walking until she got to a small seating area. I had to practically run to keep up with her. Lucky girl had never had to walk ungracefully. I sat down next to her with a grunt. I was out of breath, and if I told the truth, a little sweaty from my recent lack of exercise.

"I will only say this once, Bella, so listen good." She didn't look at me while she spoke. She took in the people in the room, probably assuring herself that she was better looking. "If you leave and get on that plane, don't come looking for us. If you go, you don't deserve to be a part of this family. I won't let you break us up any further. Esme and Carlisle are trying to be the parents you should have had all along. I won't see them hurt further by you tossing their apology in their faces."

"Rose," I replied.

"No, you're going to listen to me. Emmett is your brother and has never done anything to try and hurt you. I refuse to see his reaction when I tell him you left. I don't want to see the hurt cross his adorable face. So, you either come back with me now and apologize, to everyone, or don't come back at all."

We sat in silence for a few minutes while I contemplated her words. Each one of them spoke the truth. If I left I would lose out on a family, a real family. I would never see them again, and who was to say I would ever be able to forget them.

She didn't wait for me to give her my decision. "I don't need to hear what you're going to say. If I have to threaten you every day with dismemberment, I will. You're coming back with me and you're going to like it. You will fix the things you said and you will give everyone the Bella they love."

I nodded and grabbed my suitcases.

When we were back in the car I kept my silence. I would do what she said and I would try to remember, this was what they needed to heal. I wouldn't hurt them the way they had hurt me. I had seen the regret in each of their faces when they looked at me. I wouldn't be responsible for hurting them further.

"This is what you're going to do." I could almost see her checklist as she rattled it off in her mind. "Tomorrow you're going to go shopping with Esme, Alice and I. You won't protest what they buy you and you will fucking smile at everything they pick out, even if it's lime green overalls. The next day you're going to sit in the living room and play video games with Emmett and Jasper, I don't care if your fucking thumbs fall off from pushing the buttons on the controller. After that you will ask Carlisle to take you to buy a car. I know he won't say anything, but he never got to experience that as a father. You'll make him happy if you let him fuss over you and pick out your first car as a Cullen. When that's all done you and I are going to spend some time together getting to know one another. If you're going to be with us for a while you can sure as fucking bet we're going to be friends. I'll even sleep with you at night if that's what it takes for us to get along."

I just nodded and went along with what she had to say. She pulled into the garage and opened her door with purpose. She didn't get my bags out or even smile at me. What she did shocked me more than anything else.

Her stone arms circled around me as she embraced me for the first time. I felt myself tense up, but relaxed as her words whispered into my ear.

"Welcome to the family, sister."

Hope you all enjoyed the new chapter. Thank you as always for my beta. DollyBigMama (Catherine)! She rocks and you should def. check out her stories. Review my loves.