Explanations abound here on in...
Alice's cold hands roamed Bella's warm skin, drifting under her shirt, their owners lost in their illicit kiss. Alice's hands drifted across a cool ridge in the human's back. Bella froze. Alice pulled away slightly, but not far enough for Bella to escape. One finger gently touched the raised, and slightly cooler skin. The human clenched her eyes closed, breathing heavily and suddenly pale. "Bella? What is this?" The ridge appeared to be made up of a group of breaks in the otherwise smooth skin. Concern blossomed in Alice's chest. "Bella?"
"I fell." The girl blushed and Alice instantly knew it was a lie. "Outside." She ducked under Alice's arms and made for the door. "Edward'll be wondering where I got to." Alice grabbed hold of the human's arm and spun her around. With vampire speed she pulled Bella's shirt up to reveal the girl's back. She gasped. Scattered across her back was a series of scars that were obviously bite marks. Alice passed a hand gently over the scars and closed her eyes as anger bubbled in her chest. The scars were cold and some were fresh. Fresh vampire bites.
"Did Edward do this?" The terrifying thought that Edward might have hurt Bella settled upon Alice's heart. The human looked down at the floor, which only increased her fear, and her anger.
"He'll be waiting." She muttered. Alice turned her around and forced Bella to look at her.
"Is Edward hurting you?" She had to know, she had to know so she could stop it. So she could stop before Edward killed the girl. The series of bites had all had at least a tiny push of venom in the scar tissue; she could smell it. Each and every bite pushed Isabella Swan closer to becoming a vampire and they certainly explained how Bella had managed to crack Alice's skin. The human's breath hitched, Alice's dark gold eyes burned bright with hellfire and the effect was hypnotising. But a sharp clear pain in her upper arm kept her grounded.
"You're hurting me." She whispered, adopting a frosty tone. Alice flinched and stepped back, releasing her as if she'd been burned, there would be a bruise later nonetheless. Bella took the vampires shock and the momentary distance to flee. Alice let out a frustrated scream, knowing that it would echo through the corridors to Bella's ears.
/
Alice refused to spend her lunch break with her family, knowing that she wouldn't be able to look Edward in the eyes without him knowing she'd seen Bella's scars. Without wanting to tear him limb from limb. So she sought refuge in Forks High's gym, running laps around the hall at a painstakingly human pace. Running was good for her thoughts, she'd found, leaving her legs on autopilot she lost herself in troubling thoughts.
The only vampire she could think of that would even consider biting Bella was Edward, or James but the latter was dead. The Volturi were an option but she couldn't see why Bella wouldn't speak up about it. Unless they were threatening to destroy Edward. Or her. Her mind drifted to the memory of the kiss and her lips twitched into a smile. "Hey Cullen!" A male voice echoed through the otherwise silent hall, she cast the speaker a cursory glance but kept running, only slowing her pace a little. The boy's name was Jethro Cain but everyone called him Jet, he was the school's number one troublemaker. His name was synonymous with trouble in Forks. The boys flanking him that could give Emmett a run for his money in the tall, dark and intimidating department were called Mac Johnson and Tim Craig.
"Hey Jet." She called back her greeting as the trio set foot on her track. Alice danced around them and continued on. "How's tricks?"
"Good Cullen. Tricks are good." Jet smiled starting up a run beside her; she dropped her pace again for him. "How 'bout you?"
"Sure." She couldn't help wondering what the boy wanted; they very rarely spoke and that was so he could talk over a new idea or an old one. Once, not long after she'd arrived in Forks, she'd actually helped carry out one of his plans. "What do you want Jet?" She chuckled at the innocent face he pulled at the accusation.
"What if I just wanted to know what colour your eyes were under those contacts you always wear?" He grinned when she increased her speed.
"Brown." She replied without missing a beat. "Now what do you really want?" Jet stopped and Alice stopped beside him.
"Ok here's the thing Cullen, there's a soccer match here in a few days. Mixed teams on their request. We're playing the school from the Res." She nodded, not seeing where it was going. "Coach wants you." Finally she caught sight of the jacket he was wearing. The school's colours and team; he'd actually switched to the rule abiding side. Alice laughed.
"You know I can't do that Jet." He smiled, holding out a jacket identical to his own.
"And why not? Big brother wouldn't approve?" The old familiar mischief danced in the dark green eyes.
"No, he wouldn't." She took the jacket from his hand and slipped it over her shoulders. Jet grinned. "That's a very good point."
"Knew I could count on you Cullen. Even Coach knows you're the fastest we've got, good reflexes too. Practice is tomorrow night." His grin grew to Cheshire proportions. "See if you can get that sister of yours into a cheerleading outfit." Jet dodged the punch Alice sent his way and jogged back to his friends. "See you at practice Cullen."
"Yeah, see you Jet." She returned to her run with a broad smile on her face.
/
Alice was bombarded with questions when she returned home, not least from her brothers but she slipped through their anger with ease, promising to keep her involvement to a minimum and her fitness level to strictly human parameters. Even though she'd probably be up against werewolves. She wandered upstairs after a congratulatory hug from Emmett and relaying Jet's comment to Rosalie with a smile on her face. All in all her day hadn't been as bad as she'd thought it would be. Once she reached her room she saw that Jasper was lying on their bed, hands cushioning his head. "Hey Jazz."
"Good evening Alice." He smiled as she danced into the room, sitting on the bed beside him. "Congratulations on being chosen for the team." She shrugged.
"Thanks. Jethro Cain's the captain I think and I've got a feeling Jacob might be on the other team. Leah maybe. You'll come and watch right?" He laughed at the excitement in her eyes, happy to see it back and knowing who was responsible.
"Does he make you happy?" Alice's smile fell from her lips. "Jacob I mean." Jasper sighed, sitting up and taking his wife's hands into his own. "It's ok for you to love him, I don't mind. In fact I understand completely."
"I don't love Jacob." She whispered. He smiled.
"I can feel that your love has changed Allie. I know you still love me but you're in love with him. It happens all the time dear." He ran a calloused thumb across the back of her knuckles.
"Jazz. I'm not in love with Jacob." She held a delicate finger to his lips and took a deep breath to steady herself. "I'm in love with Bella. And I think Edward's hurting her."
Aw isn't Jasper sweet? I like Jasper. Edward not so much though.
