The Definition of Love
After new moon. When Alice makes a terrible mistake, how will it affect the Cullens? And more importantly how will it affect Bella? Told from Bella's POV.
Don't own anything.
AN: Thanks to Avarenda, zoelol, Melanie-Kisaragi, gooby and 1WiththeButterfly for the reviews. I really like to read what you have to say.
I got two reviews, one wanted them to get together soon, another wanted not to get together until they dealt with all their issues. This is the way I found to comply with both. Thing will work themselves out, but it might take a while.
And don't worry about Jasper, he will show his opinion soon enough. As will the others'.
Alice's situation is a little more complicated, and her feelings won't be shown up until the very end.
Edward is another story. For starts, I really didn't like him (specially on the third book), because he really was too controlling, but there won't be any Edward bashing. At least, there won't be any bashing without reason. lol
Gooby, do you say villain as someone that keeps them apart or do you mean someone that wants to kill them all, or something?
And 1WiththeButterfly, you got the line right. I guess you just didn't see it on the story… I guess I hid it well. :^D. This chapter won't have pitch forks and torches, but I hope this will be enough. And considering that this chapter didn't really exist (it was like 5 lines on the next chapter), it is dedicated to you.
I hope you all like it.
Chapter 5 - Goodbye My Friend
Alice just looked at me for a moment, that could have lasted hours for all I cared, and then she pulled me into her lap, kissing me fervently. And there it was. The lust. Again.
And that's how we spent the entire day and night. I didn't know what the others were doing, and, truthfully? I didn't really care.
The next day, Carlisle asked for a meeting with the wolves. He told them he wanted to explain what really happened to me, I'm sure they had already heard the rumors of mine and Edward's leaving. The wolves accepted and we agreed to have it into the woods, in a clearing, far away from the city in case things got out of hand. I was thankful for that, I wasn't sure that I could handle being close to humans, and me losing control wasn't going to go well with them, I'm sure.
We met with the pack of werewolves at the same day, but it was already dark by the time we were all gathered in front of each other.
You know, they really do stink; no away in Hell I'm gonna drink that.
A few wolves, Jacob - I think - and some others I could not recognize, wanted to attack when they confirmed that I was no longer human, but they were stopped by an order from their Alpha. At least that's what I thought, because suddenly they stopped mid strike and went back to their side.
The Alpha, Sam, was easy to spot; he was in the middle, standing in all his splendor. He was also the biggest one of them. To his right side, there was the one I thought was Jacob, almost as big. The others I could not distinguish. I just knew there were more of them than the last time I had been in La Push, and they were all growling. That's not good.
On our side Carlisle was in the middle with Emmett and Jasper by his side. Rosalie was beside her husband, and Esme was beside Jasper. Alice was behind them, holding me back. We didn't want to appear threatening to them, but everyone knew we were in position to defend ourselves.
Alice's hands were wrapped around my body, as her front touched by back. I had to restrain myself from turning around and kissing her with all my strength when I felt her breath on my neck. It was a habit that I noticed that Alice had kept even though she didn't actually need the air anymore. I hadn't realized that before, when I was human, but after I was changed it became easy to detect.
To tell you the truth, I found that quite cute, it was the little things she like that that she did that made her so different from the others. So unique. So special.
It didn't escape anyone's notice that Edward wasn't around. It made things more difficult, especially to us. Edward's ability to read minds allowed him to translate the wolves' thoughts into words so that we could communicate.
I'm not sure I mentioned this before, but the Quileute pack could communicate among themselves using only their minds while they were in wolf form. They read each others' thoughts, and I imagine that could be kind of annoying, not having any privacy at all. I was always glad that Edward couldn't read my mind.
Actually, thanks to Edward's ability, he was the one the wolves most feared among us. Edward knew what you were thinking and how you were gonna attack and that allowed him to be one step ahead of them.
Unfortunately, Alice's power only worked on humans and vampires.
Carlisle's ability, on the other hand, was as a pacifist. He was able to stay calm in all situations and he could argue a deal that could serve everyone. Let's hope he could make this work, I didn't want to leave Forks, I kinda of liked Forks now, even if I couldn't go into the city where there were tasty humans.
Sam, noticing the situation, made a run into the forest to turn back into his human form and came back quickly wearing clothes. He was the leader of his pack and probably decided that if someone had to risk their lives by going to a meeting with vampires in their human form, it had to be him. He had to protect the others, fortunately for him, we had no intention of hunting them.
Sam stood two feet in front of his pack and Carlisle did the same in front of us. There were about a 400 ft between the two groups, but with our enhanced hearing that wouldn't be a problem.
"Thank you for meeting us here. It is a really important matter we have to discuss." Carlisle started in his usual calm and collected tone.
"Yes." Sam declared, his eyes were glued on mine. "But it seems that this will be our last reunion."
The wolf that I thought was Jacob roared. He wasn't too happy about my transformation. I saw it in his eyes that he wanted to end the treaty. He was trying to break out of his Alpha's orders.
"I hoped it was not. We are here to try to arrange some sort of understanding concerning Bella's situation." Carlisle continued, his voice completely calm.
"I'm not sure I understand. The treaty is simple. It doesn't leave much to interpretation." Sam stated, his words had a hint of irrevocability that I dreaded. At least he still had a clear head. I could see that he was the only thing holding back the pack. "And you broke it." His statement was followed by growling and barking, but he hadn't let the wolves loose. Yet.
"Still, you are here listening to me. There must be something that could change your mind. Maybe we can find a solution. A peaceful one." Carlisle pleaded, I knew that this was not how he hoped this meeting would go, even if he didn't let it show.
"Don't go making assumptions, leech. I agreed to meet you here because we wanted to make sure you had broken the treaty. And now it is obvious that you did. Bella is dead. In her place, there is this thing you turned her into." Sam said that as if he was disgusted by me, like I was beneath him.
Beside me, Alice growled, and I had to prevent her from attacking them and making an even bigger mess out of things. Wait, wasn't SHE supposed to be holding ME back, so that I wouldn't attack them?
She was struggling, trying to break free from my hold. If it wasn't for my superior newborn strength I would never be able to hold her back, it was like she was possessed.
I don't think I mentioned it before, but it was common knowledge that newborn vampires were stronger and faster than older vampires. It faded away after the first year, unfortunately. I would have enjoyed being the strongest among them, after all the times of hearing the Cullens telling me how weak I was, or how easily they could hurt me if they didn't pay enough attention. Loser was what people called me back in Phoenix.
There was only one problem though. Alice's twisting and wriggling was making me remember my earlier feelings of lust. And I almost let her go when her knee hit my hot center. I held her back at the last second, at the same time as I suppress a moan.
The wolves roared in return to her behavior, they wanted our heads burning in a fire.
Out of nowhere a wave of calm swept through the clearing. Alice quieted down and the wolves quit barking, they all seemed more relaxed. I looked at Jasper when I realized that it was his doing. He was using his power to control people's emotions to try to get them to listen. Too bad I was too worked up for it to work on me.
"And yet, you have not attacked us. You wish to end this as peaceful as I do, neither one of us wants to lose a member of our family. Tell me how we can make that happen." Carlisle continued, ignoring the looks of death in each one of their faces.
"Be careful, bloodsucker, you are stepping over the line. We will not attack, this is a peaceful meeting. But this is where it ends. The treaty is over, if we ever meet again, we will not hold back." Sam's words was final, he turned his back on us, preparing to leave.
And that's where it all went to hell.
I let go of Alice, and jumped over Carlisle and the others. With three strides, I was on the wolves' side.
"No! Wait! I can explain." I yelled. Sam was already back in his wolf form, and I couldn't understand him anymore. All I knew was that they didn't really seem all too friendly. "I asked for it. I wanted to turn into a vampire. It was all me, don't blame them." I was begging, but I didn't care. I needed to make them change their minds.
I heard growls and roars all around me. Both the thought that I was lying and that I was telling the truth bothered them. Because if I was lying, for some reason, I was covering up for someone, and if I was telling the truth, that made me a human that wanted to become a murderer. I think neither one of them went all that well with them.
They were preparing for the attack, and Sam wasn't holding them back anymore. I didn't know what to do, I had never gotten into a fight, not even when I was human. How could I defend myself against someone that was trained to kill me?
I saw one of them leap in my direction at the same time as I saw Alice by my side, standing between me and them.
I couldn't believe my eyes, she wasn't supposed to do this. She was going to get herself killed trying to protect me. I couldn't let that happen, just the thought of her being hurt torn my insides to pieces. But before I could do anything, the wolf that had leaped toward us stopped.
And I do mean that, it stopped.
In the air.
Like it hit a brick wall and fell to the ground. The others followed him, but they were all stopped by this invisible barrier. Confusion was written on all of their faces, and probably on mine too.
Alice curled up against me, I could feel her unnecessary breathe on my neck as we watched them try to break through the barrier. They were trying to gain momentum by taking a few extra steps back, but the barrier seemed to be holding. They were barking, growling and howling. Some of the wolves were even starting to bleed from hitting so hard.
If I could sleep, I would say that I was dreaming. This didn't seem real. It was like a weird apocalyptic movie. Like the dogs of hell, or something. I knew different though, I knew that we were the demons, we were the monsters. And they were trying to protect mankind. From us.
Maybe the treaty was not only an agreement of words, maybe it was more. Supernatural, who knows. After finding out that vampires and werewolves existed, I wouldn't put it past them to create a deal with its own powers. One deal that could protect itself. And maybe the treaty didn't think it had been broken after all.
But if that was the case, why would the wolves be so confused? Wouldn't they know this? Maybe not, none of them were alive when the deal was created. It had been their ancestors. But it could have been something else entirely. I needed to ask someone about this.
"Come on." Emmett yelled and someone pulled me back, I didn't know who. I wasn't looking at it.
All I saw was that it was Jasper who pulling Alice back. It annoyed me, seeing him holding her, but I had enough of self control to realize that it was not my place to say anything. Instead I turned away, and continued to watch Sam and the others trying to break through.
Something struck me though. I could see their spit and their blood slide down the invisible wall. It was weird, it made it feel real, like whatever it was, the wall really existed. Because up until now, it was air to me. And suddenly I could almost feel it, see its outline. It wasn't really clear, it was like something was off.
Entranced by what I saw I pulled away from whoever was holding me and ran to the barrier, I wanted to touch it, I wanted to feel it. My hand was half an inch away from the place the wolves could not cross when someone took hold of my arm and I lost whatever I was feeling or seeing on that weird barrier.
"Bella!" It was Emmett's voice again and I turned to see him. He was the one holding onto my arm. "Come on!" He pulled me again, and this time I let him lead me back.
Jasper was dragging an unwilling Alice to the others. Carlisle, Esme and Rosalie were just waiting to see that Emmett had gotten me under control to start running. Emmett saw that I was no longer gonna run to the barrier and let me go, and I started to run with them. Alice, noticing the same thing, stopped fighting Jasper and ran toward us, with him following closely behind.
In a second, all 7 of us were making our way back to our house, running like crazy. It wasn't really a problem to me, newborns were faster and stronger than other vampires, so I had to hold back to keep myself on their speed.
"Take only what can't be replaced." Carlisle stated calmly, and I wondered if there was something that could make him lose his cool.
I didn't really have anything there. When I moved in the day before I owned nothing, I for the last few hours I hadn't grown attached to anything there. The only thing precious to me now was my pixie-like best friend. And I really didn't need to take her anywhere, Jasper seemed to be doing a great job of dragging her on his own.
This though came unbidden and I rapidly pushed it back. Nothing good would come out of me thinking like that.
I stood in front of the house, waiting for them to finish. I distracted myself by trying to hear what they were taking. I wanted to test how good my hearing really was.
I may have been wrong, but Esme took some pictures. Carlisle found some old books. Rosalie took a pendent. Emmett took his… X-Box? Jasper took his medals. And before I could work out what Alice had taken with her, I was assaulted with an awful scent.
I knew what was behind me without needing to look. It was easy really, I had just gotten so focused on the Cullens that I forgot to pay attention to my surroundings.
I turned around and I was met with huge dark eyes staring back at me. I couldn't really run, he would catch me for certain, but I also didn't want to fight. He was only trying to protect humans and I thought that was a nice purpose. But I didn't know if that weird invisible wall was going to protect me or if they had gotten it broken for good.
If I ever doubted that it was Jacob at the clearing beside Sam, all my doubts were erased now. I could see him clearly now, he was the same guy that I spend most of my afternoons with for almost a year.
I gave him a sad smile and he returned with a crook of his neck. He took a step forward but I wasn't afraid, he was my best friend again. Jacob would never hurt me. He continued to walk in my direction, and I met him half way.
I held out my hand and I caressed his fur. He seemed to enjoy it. There was no longer the anger and the hatred I had seen in all of their eyes in the clearing. It was no longer the vampire and the werewolf. It was just Bella and Jacob, best friends, hanging out together.
A noise to our side broke our reunion. The Cullens were ready. And I say the Cullens because I didn't consider myself one of them, at least not yet.
And just like that, werewolf Jacob was back, ready to attack. He wanted revenge over my death. Jacob fixed his eyes in Alice and prepared to pounce on her.
"Please, Jake. DON'T!" I yelled and begged. "Don't. Please, don't hurt her."
He tensed, but complied. I knew he would never intentionally hurt me. And harming one of the Cullens would indirectly hurt me.
"We need to go Bella." Carlisle told me. His voice was firm, but still composed. The other wolves were approaching quickly. Good thing Jacob was the fastest, he would let us go.
I nodded and they all started to run, one by one. All but Alice. She stayed with me until I finally said goodbye to Jake and followed the others. We caught up without much trouble and I confirmed that Carlisle had taken books with them and Emmett had indeed taken his X-Box. The others had already hidden their most prized possessions on their clothes, including Alice. I guess I'll never know what she took.
Emmett explained his choice once he realized that everyone was staring at his choice. "It has all my saved games in here. Do you know how hard it would be to do it all again?"
The others laughed at his unusual preference, but I could barely show a smile.
Seeing Jacob reminded me of everyone I lost. Jacob. Maybe someday very, very, very far away, when I was able to control my thirst, I would be able to see my mom, my dad, Angela, Mike and the others again. But Jacob, he was another story. I could not see how Jacob could get over the fact that I was a vampire, the very creature that he was supposed to hate and destroy.
The Cullens were all happy that we had gotten out of there unharmed. I knew things could have gone much worse; someone could have been killed if that weird wall hadn't stopped them. But even though I should have been happy and thankful that everyone was fine, I was feeling miserable.
I was mourning the loss of my friend.
And that was it. Sorry it took so long to post it, but I wasn't really happy how it was, and I didn't have time to change it. Hope you all liked how it turned out.
Please review.