Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns everything in the Twiverse. I'm just playing around :)

The Twilight Twenty-Five

thetwilight25 dot com

Prompt: #06, "Crush"

Main Character: Rosalie Hale

Rating: T

Word Count: 1,817

"Truth or dare, Rosalie?" Alice asked.

The blithe blonde flipped the page in her magazine, ignoring her sister's intent gaze from the floor. "You've got to be kidding."

"Come on!" Alice bounced on her knees. "There's nothing else to do until Carlisle and Esme come back from parent-teacher night, and I'm bored."

"Don't you have clothes to fold or a brunette human to makeover?"

"My clothes are always folded, thank you, and Bella is home studying for a math exam." She stared off into space. "On which she will earn a respectable B-minus."

"What does any of that…" She turned another page. "Have to do with me?"

Alice swiped the magazine, tossing it to the other side of the room. "I warned you about the very inappropriate gift Emmett was considering for your anniversary. You owe me."

Rosalie stared down her infuriating sister. Alice was at her worse when she wanted something, and with Jasper and the boys off on an evening hunt, she would be terrible until he returned. Rosalie rolled her eyes and reclined against the back of the couch. "Truth."

"How did you feel about Edward when you first met him?"

Rosalie groaned. "Roll the barrel."

"Nope." Alice folded her arms. "I don't play by those rules."

"Then we're not playing at all."

"Rosie!"

"One, don't call me that. Two, if you want me to play, respect my rules."

Alice pouted, her eyes glazing over. "Fine. Different question."

"Thank you."

"Why do you hate Bella so much?"

Rosalie cursed under her breath. "Why do you care?"

"Because I think she's the missing piece to our family, and your opposition doesn't make any sense."

"Doesn't it?" Rosalie got up and walked to the window. "She's human. We're vampires. Do I really need to diagram how this ends?"

"I know how it ends," Alice said softly. "And if you don't cease in your mistreatment of Bella, you may ruin everything."

Rosalie didn't respond as she watched the storm come in. The dark clouds were magnificent in their fury, and she almost smiled at the thought of the damage they might cause. Perhaps that stupid AP Biology trip might get cancelled.

"I liked him," she heard herself say.

"What?"

Rosalie turned toward Alice. "When I first met Edward, I liked him."

"You liked him?"

"Did I stutter?"

Her voice rose to a squeaky pitch. "You liked him?"

"And isn't it my turn to ask a question now?"

"You can't drop something like that on me and expect me to leave it alone."

"You are so annoying." Rosalie inspected her nails. "Yes, I liked him. Okay?"

Alice caught her tone, and her eyes widened. "You mean, you liked him liked him?"

Rosalie didn't reply, and Alice's high-pitched squeal cracked the glass vase on the mantle.

"Esme's going to make you pay for that."

"Oh my god!" Alice blurred to Rosalie's side with dancing eyes. "I can't believe you had a crush on Edward!"

"I never said crush." Rosalie's glare put the kibosh on Alice's glee. "And if you ever use that word in that context again, you will rue the day you were born."

"I don't even remember the day I was born." Rosalie moved to slap Alice, but she danced out of the way. "Oh, this is so fun! Tell me more about your cru—ahem, how you liked Edward."

Rosalie crossed the room and flopped on the couch. "I think I've said more than enough."

"You haven't said a thing, and it's about time you did." Alice joined Rosalie on the sofa, tucking her feet beneath her. "From the time I met you, I never understood your issues with Edward. I mean, yes, he's infuriating and stubborn and dramatic…"

"And moody and prissy and reckless…"

"…and I would expect those traits to aggravate everyone. But you?" Alice shook her head. "Your reactions were visceral, like he offended you on a molecular level. And when I asked Jas about it…"

"You did what?" Rosalie didn't realize she'd grabbed Alice by the throat. "When? What did he say?"

"Could you let me go?" Alice rasped. "I can't choke to death, but this is uncomfortable."

"Sorry." Rosalie released her with a grimace. "But when did you ask him that?"

"After our first week with the family." Alice rubbed her throat, checking for bruises. "Though I lacked Jasper's talent, I sensed how strange your dynamic with Edward was. So I asked Jasper what he felt."

Rosalie lowered her gaze and voice. "And?"

"He said it was complicated. There was understandable annoyance and frustration with a side order of confusion. But underneath them all were things that made less sense."

"Such as?"

Alice scooted to the far end of the couch.

"What are you doing?" Rosalie barked.

"Trying not to get choked again."

"For goodness' sake." Rosalie made a show of sitting on her hands. "Are you satisfied now?"

"Yes, thank you."

"So will you answer me?"

Alice studied her sister, weighing the future. "I can't tell how you'll respond. No matter what I say, I'm pretty sure you'll be pissed."

"Then you might as well tell the whole truth."

A moment passed during which Rosalie feared Alice might not answer. Then she heard a slow intake of breath. "Jasper felt sadness, betrayal, and deep pain."

Rosalie picked invisible lint from her tights. "I see."

"He was uncomfortable telling me that, knowing how you valued your privacy, so he didn't elaborate. But I always wondered what was behind it."

Rosalie snorted. "And you picked tonight to ask me?"

"Things between Edward and Bella are about to escalate," she said quietly. "And I would like to keep in-house tensions at a minimum if possible."

Rosalie kept her face downcast. Alice decided to stay out of the future and remain in this moment in real-time. Call it sisterly intuition or a good guess, but the raven-haired seer believed it was what Rosalie needed.

"Edward was no stranger, you know," Rosalie said after a while. "We weren't personally acquainted, but we traveled in the same circles in Rochester, attended the same parties and such. He always seemed aloof and bored, and I had no use for him." She smoothed back her hair. "No man should ever outshine his lady."

It was the first time Rose had acknowledged Edward's aesthetic appeal, but Alice wisely kept the observation to herself.

"When I discovered he was a member of Carlisle's 'family,' a secret part of me looked forward to getting to know him. He was…" Rosalie's face changed, and she looked almost youthful. "A scant but happy remnant of my human past, perhaps the only one I would get. When I remembered seeing him at the Smithfield luncheon or the Walters holiday soiree, I could also see my parents and friends. Being around him could allow me to hold on to my memories a little longer. And though I was loath to admit it, he was strangely fascinating, a mystery worth solving. And I guess I thought if I could come to understand him, maybe eternity in this body wouldn't suck and I might find some sort of fairy tale ending after all."

Alice didn't breathe or blink. This was Rosalie unplugged and uncensored. If anything interrupted them now, her mercurial sister might not merely clam up again; she might forever resent Alice for seeing behind her carefully constructed veil. And Alice would sooner drape herself in an off-the-rank tartan muumuu than let that happen.

"One day I was shopping in town with Esme, and she ran into a female acquaintance. I'd had enough humanity for the afternoon and made my way toward the house. While still at some distance, I overheard Carlisle and Edward talking, well, Carlisle mostly. They didn't know I was there as I was supposed to be with Esme, and to my utter surprise, he was confessing how he changed me to become Edward's mate."

She paused, huffing to herself. "Esme had hinted at romantic possibilities with Edward before, but hearing him say it aloud was…strange, you know?" Alice nodded, but Rosalie didn't notice. "As Edward never seemed the sentimental type, I figured he would be embarrassed by the idea, perhaps taken aback by Carlisle's interference in such a private matter. But I…I never expected the rest."

Rosalie expelled a long, harsh breath, and Alice smelled salt in the air. "Edward said he would sooner toss himself into the fiery depths of hell than ever consider me anything more than a perpetual nuisance. Called me vain, entitled, empty-headed, and common." She swallowed past the rising emotions in her throat. "'She is a waste,' he said in summary. 'You should have let her die.'"

Alice's eyes were stinging with unsheddable tears, but she held her tongue.

"I had been attacked and left for dead by my fiancé and his band of brothers. I'd lost my family, my friends, and any hope for the happy, maternal future I'd planned. But hearing Edward say those things…" She bit her quivering bottom lip, clenching her fists. "It crushed me."

"I can only imagine." Alice paused, measuring her words. "If it helps, Edward was in a bad place back then. He'd just come back from his rebellion and was still…"

"We were all in a bad place," Rosalie said without emotion. "And no, it doesn't."

The distant sound of an approach car drew their attention to the window, and Alice looked at Rosalie with soft eyes.

"No one knows about this," Rosalie said hurriedly. "Not Esme, not Emmett, no one. I kept walking home and entered the house as if I hadn't heard a thing. I went on openly despising Edward and felt justified in doing so. I still do." She came to her feet, her mask back in place. "So you'll forgive me if I lack the wherewithal to care how my attitude affects him and his human pet."

Alice's mind raced, and she said the only thing she could think of. "I'm sorry."

"Did your gift tell you I needed to hear that?" Rosalie tossed her hair over her shoulder. "You must be losing your touch." She turned toward the stairs, laying a hand on the railing. "You should know I'm never playing this game again. And as far as I'm concerned, we didn't play tonight."

"Understood."

"Good." And Rosalie carried herself upstairs without another word, slamming her bedroom door behind her as a roll of thunder rumbled outside.

Carlisle and Esme entered the house ten minutes later and found Alice alone on the couch.

"Alice?" Carlisle asked as he helped Esme out of her coat. "Is everything all right?"

"Yes." Alice forced a smile. "I was just enjoying the calm before the storm."

"Oh, don't worry about that." Esme came to kiss her cheek. "We're all safe and sound in here."

Alice watched her walk toward the kitchen, her soul adrift. "That's what you think."