Summary - "Bella is an average girl, struggling with her homosexuality and her life at home. Can the love of not one, but three vampires help show her that she shouldn't be afraid? A/B/R/V".
A/N: Re Edited
Author's Notes - Also Take Note This great story wouldn't be Happening if it wasn't For my dear Friend HG or as some of you know him Hollowgo.
Rating - Older Teen to Mature
By: WDG and Lash_Larue
Beta: SomeRandomBastard
The Garden of Four - Chapter Five - Cullen's
Bella was still wearing the soft cotton button-up shirt Alice had given to her earlier, but now it was on right when she came down the stairs. Her back was still a little tender, even after Carlisle had treated it. Walking over to the couch, she noticed that all the others had gone, but where to, she had no idea. Sitting on the couch, she carefully leaned back and got comfortable.
She jumped slightly when a pair of arms wrapped around her shoulders, but relaxed when she realized it was Alice. Giggling, Alice gently rubbed her shoulders a little bit before moving around to sit beside Bella on the couch.
"Dad gave me this for you," Alice said once she was seated beside Bella. She handed Bella an envelope.
"What's this? It's not a note to Charlie, is it?" Bella asked, worried.
"No, he'll keep quiet about your back. We all will, just as long as you're safe," Alice assured her.
Alice and her family were going to make damn sure that Bella was safe, because she was important to Alice.
"It's an excuse from gym, he doesn't want you participating until your back is healed. Don't worry, the gym teacher never second-guesses dad. You'll still have to show up I guess, but until dad says different you don't have to join in," Alice explained.
"That's great! Thank him for me, please," Bella said happily. This was even better than not having to dress out, and safer for all concerned. They were about to start badminton, and Bella shuddered to think of the damage she could inflict with even a fairly light club like a badminton racquet.
"My mom is going to make you some supper; and she wanted to know if chicken and dumplings is all right with you."
Bella nodded and smiled "Yeah, that sounds really good, it's been forever since I had that."
Alice grinned in return. "Well good, because she is making it from scratch, so it will take a while," scooting closer she ran her fingers through Bella's hair. "So what do you want to do to take up some of the time?"
Bella almost flinched at the soft contact; Alice certainly was a very touchy-feely kind of person. It was going to take a while for Bella to get used to this kind of affection from the pixie-like girl. Bella blushed when her thoughts went astray, when she wondered if Rose and Victoria where just as touchy-feely.
Alice watched Bella with rapt attention, catching all the tiny details on the girl's face. She had just about jerked her hand back when she saw Bella slightly flinch at her touch, but she stopped when she noticed the blush come across Bella's cheeks.
Alice swallowed some venom back down when Bella's sweet scent began to waft around the room. Closing her eyes and holding her breath, she slowly fought for control over the monster inside her. Coming back down, she opened her eyes and saw that Bella was gazing off into the distance, and smiling, she said, "You never did answer me, Bella, what would you like to do to pass the time?"
Bella jumped, coming out of la-la land, and she felt her cheeks heating up once more with a blush. Coughing a little into her hand, she looked around and spotted the tv, "Well, we could, uh …always watch a tv show or something," said Bella.
Alice nodded and got up to get the remote before joining Bella back on the couch, "That sounds like a good idea, what do you want to watch?"
(Rose and Victoria)
"You know what I miss most about being human?" Victoria asked Rosalie as she snuggled up to her on the couch in their room while listening to Alice and Bella downstairs.
"Hot dogs?"
"No, silly, sleeping," Victoria told her, "I wish that I could fall asleep in your arms, and then wake up in the morning with you still there." Victoria kissed Rose softly. "I wish that you could be the last thing I see at night and the first thing that I see in the morning." Rose returned the kiss and smiled at her.
"Well, I can be, but we don't really have to waste all that time sleeping, do we?" Rosalie questioned as she unbuttoned Victoria's blouse.
"Good point," breathed Victoria as Rose's lips found her breast, "really good point…"
Alice's ears twitched a little listening to her sisters upstairs; and she knew that if she still had the ability to blush that she would be doing so right now. Turning her eyes back to Bella and away from the tv for a moment, she watched the Human girl with such longing in her eyes. If only Bella knew, if only Bella liked Alice the same way. She turned back to the tv, sighed, and listened to her sisters for a few more minutes. She knew that she could go join Rose and Victoria any time she wanted. It was something they did every so often.
But since she had seen Bella, touched her skin, she did not want to join her sisters, all that she could see was Bella, right now. She just needed to be near this girl. All that she wanted was Bella at this moment.
Shaking her head a little, she heard Esme coming with Bella's bowl of chicken and dumplings and some bread. Alice smiled, tapped Bella softly on her leg, and said, "Here comes your food, let's move to the floor so we can eat in here and you won't spill any on yourself, okay?"
Bella nodded and moved to sit beside the glass coffee table, Alice grabbed the remote and joined her, and Esme smiled and walked over to the two of them "Here you are, Bella".
"Thank you, Esme, it smells delicious," Bella told her with a shy smile.
"You're most welcome, Bella dear," Esme assured her, and then she walked back into the kitchen and let them be.
Bella looked over at Alice and frowned, "Aren't you going to eat any?"
Alice smiled and shook her head "No, I am on a strict diet. I'll eat something later." Alice hoped Bella believed the lie. Bella looked at Alice a moment before she nodded her head; she decided privately that she would talk with the pixie about it later. Bella dipped her spoon into the thick gravy-like soup, scooped up some dumplings and popped them into her mouth. She chewed thoroughly, enjoying the taste before slowly swallowing.
"Mmmm, it's very good, I'll have to tell your mother she is a great cook when I get the chance."
Alice smiled when she heard Esme gasp with joy in the kitchen, before giving her attention back to Bella. "I am sure she will appreciate it." Bella nodded and went back to work on her food. When she was done with her first bowl she asked for another politely, and ate it in silence with Alice.
After a few shows that they both pretended to watch, it was time for Bella to leave. Bella told Esme that she was a great cook and received a hug in return, both women were careful not to aggravate Bella's sore back. Smiling, Alice walked Bella out the door and to her truck, "You sure you don't want me to ride back with you? I can have Rose follow us and get a ride back with her," asked Alice as she opened Bella's door.
Bella climbed up onto the seat of the truck. She shut the door and then rolled her window down so that she could still talk to Alice "No need, don't worry about it, I will be fine." Alice nodded, but didn't want to leave the girl's side just yet
"Okay….guess I will see you tomorrow then…you know, at school."
Bella nodded and started up her truck, she turned back to Alice, smiled, and was about to say good bye when soft cool lips met her cheek. Alice grinned and quickly waved goodbye and went back inside her house. Bella blushed, lifted a hand to her cheek, and smiled.
Backing up and turning around, she made her way to the road and headed to her house. She pulled up into her driveway, cut the engine, and climbed out. Walking in, she saw that Charlie was home, asleep on the couch. She went up to her dad and patted him softly on the shoulder, so as not to startle him. Charlie woke up slowly and smiled upon seeing Bella. "Did you have a nice time at the Cullens? Did you and Alice study hard?" Bella grinned and nodded
"Yeah I had a great time dad, now let's get you to bed, and the same for me, it's pretty late."
After getting Charlie to bed, Bella changed into her pj's and got into bed herself. She touched her cheek where Alice had kissed her, smiled at the memory, and fell happily asleep. Her back already felt much better, and the pain from her injuries did not disturb her dreams of a pixie with golden eyes, and cool lips, and gentle hands that seemed to want to touch her.
In the woods surrounding the house, tawny golden eyes kept watch.
Bella woke up refreshed, having slept better than she had since coming to Forks. She looked out the window and saw a tiny patch of blue sky, and she had a good feeling about the day. Her back felt better, she had an excuse from gym, and she was nearly whistling as she headed downstairs to fix breakfast.
She stopped short upon entering the kitchen, however, because Charlie was busily cracking eggs into a bowl.
"Do you hate my cooking, dad?" Bella asked him.
"Huh? No, Bells, of course not! Just thought I could take a turn once in a while, and I can scramble eggs and fry bacon with the best of them. Get yourself some juice and sit down." Charlie worked busily for a time and Bella got her juice and sat to watch her dad cook. She thought it was sort of cute of him. "So what did you think of the Cullens?" Charlie asked her.
"They're great, Carlisle and Esme especially, and you were right dad, it was a good idea to meet him before I see him in the Emergency Room." Charlie's face crinkled in a grin.
"No need to hurry on that Bella, here you go, the toast will pop any time," Charlie said as he handed a plate to Bella. Bella took a cautious taste.
"These eggs really are good!"
"You don't have to sound so surprised," Charlie said, pretending to be insulted, but he was pleased with the compliment. He got the toast and sat down with his own plate.
"Alice sure seems like a nice girl," he began. Bella cut her eyes up at him, afraid of what was coming next. "Bells - I've - I've been doing a lot of thinking since your Mom called." He fell silent, and Bella could see a familiar flush rising up his neck.
"Oh, no, please, no," she begged silently.
"You liked Dr. Cullen okay, right?" Bella nodded. "Well, like I said, I've been thinking... Bells, I know growing up has been tougher on you than a lot of kids. Your mom, well, I guess she blamed me for your - condition, that was part of why she left me I guess. But it doesn't matter about that, what matters is you." He swallowed heavily, and the blush deepened, and Bella could feel her own cheeks flame. "You're a real pretty girl, Bells, and you should be able to enjoy that, being a girl I mean. I've - I've managed to put away a pretty good bit of money, there's not much to spend it on in Forks. Dr. Cullen is a really good surgeon, and you seem to like him and all, and if you wanted to..." Charlie fell silent. "I just want you to be happy, Bells. We couldn't afford it when you were little, and they weren't really all that sure how you'd turn out, and..."
"It's okay dad," Bella mumbled, "I guess I'm kind of used to it now, and I do enjoy being a girl. I can't take your retirement money for something so selfish. Besides, I'm not really sure I'd want 's part of who I am."
"Do you suppose that has anything to do with you, you know, liking girls?" Charlie asked as he stared at his plate.
"No way to tell, dad. Lots of girls like other girls, and they don't have a..." Bella just couldn't bring herself to say it, but she didn't need to. Charlie nodded.
"I've been thinking about that too, Bells. And I still think it will make life harder for you, times have changed, but not all that much. But I've been doing some reading up on stuff, and..." he trailed off into silence. He really had talked about all he could stand to just now, and he sat quietly, pushing his eggs around his plate.
"Dad," Bella said softly, "I appreciate your offer, and I appreciate even more you being willing to talk to me about this. Mom never would, she just tried to ignore the whole thing. But I've had about all I can stand for today. How about I think things over for a while, okay?"
"Okay, Bells," he answered, and he tried to smile at her, but years of guilt over how Bella had had to go through her life without his help made it hard for him to do. And he was still afraid of what life might be like for her, he was trying as hard as he knew how, but he still wasn't comfortable with Bella being - gay - he forced himself to think it. "Come right down to it, though," he thought, "that ain't so much beside the other."
"Breakfast was great, dad," Bella said as she rinsed her plate. She went around behind Charlie and hugged him briefly, got her books and left for school.
Charlie just sat and shoved his breakfast around his plate some more, and wished that he could do something to help his daughter.
The End of Chapter Five