Disclaimer. All publicly recognizable characters, settings etc., are the property of their respective owners. The original characters, ideas and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. I only do this for fun.

Attempting to Covet

A/N: If you have any questions or comments, post them in my reviews and I will answer them in my next Author's Note at the bottom of the chapter.Bellisma -


Previously...

(Laurent's POV: Victoria's home base; Seattle, Washington)

I watched as anger filled Victoria's features as she took Riley's head in her hands and growled loudly after learning of our unsuccessful mission to Texas.

"So, she has been changed?" Victoria growled. "This makes things more complicated."

"But she is not mated to the Mind Reader." I reminded her. "She is the Major's mate! I would rather not attempt to get myself killed by going up against him." I shivered at the thought. "Not only that, but the girl, Bella, she has these…powers…and her eyes! I've never seen such eyes on a vampire before!"

Victoria's head snapped to look at me in surprise. "Were they blue?"

I looked at her perplexed. "What difference does it make what color they are? The point is that I'm not going to leave Irina without a mate because of your crazy trip for revenge, Victoria!"

"Just answer the damn question, Laurent – Were they blue?!" She pressed eagerly.

"For fuck's sake, yes! They were blue, alright?! So blue that you could drowned in them! What's the point!?" I quipped.

A slow, sly smile grew on her face. "I think it's time I paid my dear ole sire a visit."


Chapter 10
(Isabella's POV: The Next Afternoon; Whitlock Ranch in Texas)

I relaxed on the porch swing on Peter and Char's front porch, soaking in the afternoon sun. It felt amazing on my cold skin and I was almost hypnotized every time I looked up to see the rainbows that reflected off of my diamond-like skin. I held my book in front of me on my lap as I pushed myself back and forth with one foot against the porch railing, immersed in the written words on the pages. Rosalie was nice enough to grab some of my books from Charlie's to pack in my bag before we left for Texas.

The sound of the front door opening got my attention and I looked to see Jasper standing there, smiling as he watched me.

"Hey Jazz," I smiled at him.

"Hey darlin'," He stepped out onto the porch, letting the screen door slam close behind him. "Emmett is on Skype upstairs. He'd love to talk to ya."

I grinned at hearing about my bear of a brother. "Is that so?" I extended my senses, picking up Emmett's booming laughter along with Peter's southern drawl as they chatted. "You put Peter on with him?" I laughed.

He chuckled and nodded. "As soon as he saw that I was talkin' to him, he jumped at the chance to say hello. Those two always have gotten along like two pea's in a pod, much to Rosalie and Char's annoyance. They tend to get in a lot of trouble together."

"I can imagine so!" My mind began to drift off with thoughts of the pranks that the two of them could come up with and the silly shit that they could get into when put in the same room together. I couldn't help but to let out a small giggle. "Good thing they can't get into too much trouble over the computer."

Jasper smirked. "You'd be surprised."

Just then, we heard the sound of a loud smack and two men whining about the abuse their women put them through.

"See?" Jasper grinned, pointing upward with his index finger.

"Bella, you'd better get up here and talk to Emmett so I can get teach this big lug a lesson!" Char called down to me from the second story window.

"I'll be right up!" I spoke, not bothering to yell, knowing that she would hear me just fine.

I stood from the porch swing, leaving my Wuthering Heights book on the side table next to it. I made my way past Jasper, only for me to feel a slight sting on my ass, and then turning to throw a playful glare in his direction.

He immediately raised his hands in surrender. "It was callin' out to me, darlin'. I had ta do it!"

I chuckled, shaking my head in exasperation as I opened the screen door and made my way inside, heading immediately for the stairs.

I entered the office to Peter and Char on the computer with Emmett and Rose in the background. From the sound of it, they were making plans for when Em and Rose came down to visit, which I knew would most likely be soon.

"There's my Bellsy!" Emmett's booming voice echoed through the speakers of the computer.

I leaned over Peter's shoulder, waving at the computer screen. "Hi brother bear! Hey Rosalie!"

"Hey Bella!" Rosalie smiled, though it was somewhat hesitant, like she was nervous.

"Come on, Peter. Let's give them some privacy to talk." Char said, though everyone knew that it wasn't a suggestion, but a demand by the look she was giving him.

He gulped and nodded, causing Emmett to laugh. "Haha, you're so pussy-whipped!"

"Oh, and you're not?" Rose snipped, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Of course I am, sweetheart, and I love every second of it." He amended, much to Rosalie's satisfaction.

Peter laughed as he stood up from the large leather computer chair that sat in front of a desk in what looked to be a rather nice study. "We'll talk soon, and remember our plan!" He grinned.

Emmett smiled widely and nodded. "You bet!"

Once Peter and Char were out of the room, I pulled the chair out and took a seat in front of the lap top.

"So," I began, scooting the chair forward anxiously. "How has everything been down there?"

Both of their moods sobered at this.

Rosalie let out a sigh before she spoke. "Your funeral is tomorrow." She informed me.

I looked down sadly. "How's my dad?"

"He's exactly how you'd expect him to be, Bella. But everyone has been there for him, helping him along the way. Esme and Sue Clearwater have been making sure that he has been fed and he has his leaned on." Emmett explained.

I nodded, looking down at the computer keys. "And my mom?"

"She's been up here since yesterday morning. She's obviously upset, but Phil's been her shoulder to cry on. Actually, from what Charlie's told Carlisle, Renee recently found out that she's pregnant." Rose spoke with a wistfulness in her voice when she revealed Renee's news that I didn't miss.

"Really?" My eyebrows shot up at this news. "That's good. This way she will have something to occupy her time with." I couldn't help but to swallow thickly and keep the tears at bay so that they couldn't see me cry, even if I had every right to. Stupid abnormal abilities. I always have to be the freak of the bunch. It was upsetting to me that I would never get to know my little brother or sister. "Will you let me know how the funeral goes?" I asked.

"Of course, lil sis." Em assured me.

I smiled affectionately at my bear of a brother deciding to changer the somber mood into something more pleasant. "Hey, guess what! We went to a club last night and they had a section of the club upstairs hidden away specifically for vampires!" I went on to tell them.

"What? No way!" Emmett leaned forward towards the computer screen eager to hear all about it.

"Yeah, they serve different kinds of blood and everything!" I went into details, coming to the agreement that we would go again when they were down here.

About ten minutes later, Esme called for Emmett to go and clean up a mess that he made in the living room, popping in to say a brief 'hello', leaving just Rose and I to talk. I had to admit that I was a bit nervous, she never made it a secret before of her dislike of me.

Finally, after about thirty seconds of silence staring awkwardly at anywhere but the screen, I heard Rosalie let out a sigh and began to speak. "Bella, can we talk?"

I looked up at the screen and nodded. "Sure, what about?"

"I know you think that I hate you, but I promise that I don't." Rose began.

"Haven't you?" I retorted.

She let out a long sigh. "No." She murmured. "Bella, I've always envied you."

I snorted. Rosalie? Beautiful, perfect, blonde Rosalie? Envy me? "Envied me? What was there to envy? I was a weak human who was constantly tripped over her own feet. You're a beautiful vampire who can make a girl's self-esteem drop by just walking in a room. Why would you envy me?"

"I envied you because you were able to have the choices in life that I had always wanted." She admitted. "Sure, I was afraid for my family's safety at first, but after realizing that you cared about us too much to expose us, I started to care about you in my own way, as well." She paused and swallowed thickly. "Bella, did Edward ever tell you my story?"

I pursed my lips and shook my head. "No. He always said that everyone's stories were their own to tell, but he did say that it was similar to what happened to me in Port Angeles, except there was no one there to help you."

She let out a huff. "I guess that was noble of him. I still care about him. He's my brother, after all. We may not have gotten along, but he couldn't help acting like he did on your birthday. But once he was back to himself, he felt really rotten. I think he was so mad when he left because he was heartbroken more than anything. Even though it doesn't excuse his behavior."

I nodded, knowing exactly what she meant. Things between Edward and I were wonderful and we truly were in love. I knew that he was prone to over-reaction and I was still upset with how he acted at my birthday, but deep inside I knew that it wasn't really him. I can't fault him for acting like a vampire when that's what he is. But that doesn't mean that I would give up my mate to go back with him. I just hoped that one day we could smooth things over and be friends.

"Would you like to hear my story, Bella?" She asked, her voice echoing through the speakers bringing me back out of my thoughts. "It doesn't have a happy ending – but which of ours does? If we had happy endings, we'd all be under gravestones now."

I nodded, though there was an unsettling edge to her voice. It would be nice to know why Rosalie is the way that she is.

"I lived in a different world than you did as a human. My world was a much simpler place. It was nineteen thirty-three. I was eighteen, and I was beautiful. My life was perfect." She stared anywhere but at the computer screen as she spoke. Her expression was far away.

"My parents were thoroughly middle class. My father had a stable job in a bank, something I realize now that he was smug about – he saw his prosperity as a reward for talent and hard work, rather than acknowledging the luck involved. I took it all for granted then, in my home, it was as if the Great Depression was only a troublesome rumor. Of course, I saw the poor people, the ones who weren't as lucky. My father left me with the impression that they'd brought their troubles on themselves.

"It was my mother's job to keep our house – and myself and my two younger brothers – in spotless order. It was clear that I was both her first priority and her favorite. I didn't fully understand at the time, but I was always vaguely aware that my parents weren't satisfied with what they had, even if it was so much more than most. They wanted more. They had social aspirations – social climbers, I suppose you could call them. My beauty was like a gift to them. They saw so much more potential in it than I did.

"They weren't satisfied, but I was. I was thrilled to be me, to be Rosalie Hale. Pleased that men's eyes watched me everywhere I went, from the year I turned twelve. Delighted that my girlfriends sighed with envy when they touched my hair. Happy that my mother was proud of me and that my father liked to buy me pretty dresses.

"I knew what I wanted out of life, and there didn't seem to be any way that I wouldn't get exactly what I wanted. I wanted to be loved, to be adored. I wanted to have a huge, flowery wedding, where everyone in town would watch me walk down the aisle on my father's arm and think I was the most beautiful thing they'd ever seen. Admiration was like air to me, Bella. I was silly and shallow, but I was content." She smiled, amused at her own evaluation.

"My parents' influence had been such that I also wanted the material things of life. I wanted a big house with elegant furnishings that someone else would clean and a modern kitchen that someone else would cook in. As I said, shallow. Young and very shallow. And I didn't see any reason why I wouldn't get these things.

"There were a few things I wanted that were more meaningful. One thing in particular. My very closest friend was a girl named Vera. She married young, just seventeen. She married a man my parents would never have considered for me – a carpenter. A year later she had a son, a beautiful little boy with dimples and curly black hair. It was the first time I was truly jealous of anyone else in my entire life."

She looked at me with unfathomable eyes. "It was a different time. I was the same age as you were when we left Forks, but I was ready for it all. I yearned for my own little baby. I wanted my own house and a husband who would kiss me when he got home from work – just like Vera. Only I had a very different kind of house in mind..."

It was hard for me to imagine the world that Rosalie had known. He story sounded more like a fairy tale than history to me. I wondered – while Rosalie sat silent for a moment – if my world seemed as baffling to her as her's did to me?

Rosalie sighed, and when she spoke again, her voice was different, the wistfulness gone. "In Rochester, there was one royal family – the Kings, ironically enough. Royce King owned the bank my father worked at, and nearly every other really profitable business in town. That's how his son, Royce King the Second" - her mouth twisted around the name, it came out through her teeth - "saw me the first time. He was going to take over at the bank, and so he began overseeing the different positions. Two days later, my mother conveniently forgot to end my father's lunch to work with him. I remember being confused when she insisted that I wear my white organza and roll my hair up just to run over to the bank." Rosalie laughed without humor.

"I didn't notice Royce watching me particularly. Everyone watched me. But that night the first of the roses came. Every night of our courtship, he sent a bouquet of roses to me. My room was always overflowing with them. It got to the point that I would smell like roses when I left the house.

"Royce was handsome, too. He had lighter hair than I did, and pale blue eyes. He said my eyes were like violets, and then those started showing up alongside the roses.

"My parents approved – that's putting it mildly. This was everything they'd dreamed of. And Royce seemed to be everything I'd dreamed of. The fairy tale prince, come to make me a princess. Everything I wanted, yet it was still no more than I expected. We were engaged before I'd known him for two months.

"We didn't spend a great deal of time alone with each other. Royce told me he had many responsibilities at work, and, when we were together, he liked people to look at us, to see me on his arm. I liked that, too. There were lots of parties and dresses. When you were a King, every door was open for you, every red carpet rolled out to greet you.

"It wasn't a long engagement. Plans went ahead for the most lavish wedding. It was going to be everything I'd ever wanted. I was completely happy. When I called at Vera's, I no longer felt jealous. I pictured my fair-haired children playing on the huge lawns of the Kings' estate, and I pitied her." Rosalie broke off suddenly, clenching her teeth together. It pulled me out of her story, and I realized that the horror was not far off. There would be no happy ending, as she'd promised. I wondered if this was why she had so much more bitterness in her than the rest of them did – because she'd been within reach of everything she'd wanted when her human life was cut short.

"I was at Vera's that night." Rosalie whispered. Her face was smooth as marble like all of us vampires, yet it was just as hard. "Her little Henry really was adorable, all smiles and dimples – he was just sitting up on his own. Vera walked me to the door as I was leaving, her baby in her arms and her husband at her side, his arm around her waist. He kissed her on the cheek when he thought I wasn't looking. That bothered me. When Royce kissed me, it wasn't quite the same – not so sweet somehow... I shoved that thought aside. Royce was my prince. Someday, I would be queen."

I could see her face get even paler as the light from the room that she was in reflected upon her face through the computer's screen.

"It was dark in the streets, the lamps already on. I hadn't realized how late it was." She continued to whisper almost inaudibly. "It was cold, too. Very cold for late April. The wedding was only a week away, and I was worrying about the weather as I hurried home – I can remember that clearly. I remember every detail about that night. I clung to it so hard... in the beginning. I thought of nothing else. And so I remember this, when so many pleasant memories have faded away completely, just as you remember what happened to you..."

She sighed, and began whispering again. "Yes, I was worrying about the weather... I didn't want to have to move the wedding indoors...

"I was a few streets from my house when I heard them. A cluster of men under a broken streetlamp, laughing too loud. Drunk. I wished I'd called my father to escort e home, but the way was so short, it seemed silly. And then he called my name...

"'Rose!'he yelled, and the others laughed stupidly.

"I didn't realized the dunks were so well dressed. It was Royce and some of his friends, sons of other rich men.

"'Here's my Rose!'Royce shouted, laughing with them, sounding just as stupid. 'You're late. We're cold, you've kept us waiting so long.'

"I'd never seen him drink before. A toast, now and then, at a party. He'd told me he didn't like champagne. I hadn't realized that he preferred something much stronger.

"He had a new friend – the friend of a friend, come up from Atlanta.

"'What did I tell you, John,' Royce crowed, grabbing my arm and pulling me closer. 'Isn't she lovelier than all your Georgia peaches?'

"The man named John was dark-haired and suntanned. He looked me over like I was a horse he was buying.

"'It' hard to tell,' he drawled slowly. 'She' all covered up.'

"They laughed, Royce like the rest.

"Suddenly, Royce ripped my jacket from my shoulders – it was a gift from him – popping the brass buttons off. They scattered all over the street.

"'Show him what you look like, Rose!' He laughed again and then he tore my hat out of my hair. The pins wrenched my hair from the roots, and I cried out in pain. They seemed to enjoy that – the sound of my pain..." Rosalie looked at me suddenly, as if she'd forgotten I was there.

"I won't make you listen to the rest," she said quietly. "They left me in the street, still laughing as they stumbled away. They thought I was dead. They were teasing Royce that he would have to find a new bride. He laughed and said he'd have to learn some patience first.

"I waited in the road to die. It was cold, though there was so much pain that I was surprised it bothered me. It started to snow, and I wondered why I wasn't dying. I was impatient for death, to end the pain. It was taking so long...

"Carlisle found me then. He'd smelled the blood, and come to investigate. I remember being vaguely irritated as he worked over me, trying to save my life. I'd never liked Dr. Cullen or his wife and her brother – as Edward pretended to be then. It had upset me that they were all more beautiful than I was, especially that the men were. But they didn't mingle in society, so I'd only seen them once or twice.

"I thought I'd died when he pulled me from the ground and ran with me – because of the speed – it felt like I was flying. I remembered being horrified that the pain didn't stop...

"Then I was in a bright room, and it was warm. I was slipping away, and I was grateful as the pain began to dull. But suddenly something sharp was cutting me, my throat, my wrists, my ankles. I screamed in shock, thinking he'd brought me there to hurt me more. Then fire started burning through me, and I didn't care about anything else. I begged him to kill me. When Esme and Edward returned home, I begged them to kill me, too.

"Carlisle sat with me. He held my hand and said that he was so sorry, promising that it would end. He told me everything, and sometimes I listened. He told me what he was, what I was becoming. I didn't believe him. He apologized each time I screamed.

"Edward wasn't happy. I remember hearing them discuss me. I stopped screaming sometimes. It did no good to scream.

"'What were you thinking, Carlisle?'Edward said. 'Rosalie Hale?'" Rosalie imitated Edward' irritated tone to perfection. "I didn't like the way he said my name, like there was something wrong with me.

"'I couldn't just let her die,'Carlisle said quietly. 'It was too much – too horrible, too much waste.'

"'I know,' Edward said, and I thought he sounded dismissive. It angered me. I didn't know then that he really could see exactly what Carlisle had seen.

"'Of course you couldn't,'Esme agreed.

"'People die all the time,'Edward reminded him in a hard voice.'Don't you think she's just a little recognizable, though? The Kings will have to put up a huge search – not that anyone suspects the fiend.' He growled.

"It pleased me that they seemed to know that Royce was guilty.

"I didn't realize that it was almost over – that I was getting stronger and that was why I was able to concentrate on what they were saying. The pain was beginning to fade from my fingertips.

"'What are we going to do with her?'Edward said disgustedly – or that's how it sounded to me, at least.

"Carlisle sighed. 'That's up to her, of course. She may want to go her own way.'

"I'd believed enough of what he'd told me that he words terrified me. I knew that my life was ended, and there was no going back for me. I couldn't stand the thought of being alone...

"The pain finally ended and they explained to me again what I was. This time I believed. I felt the thirst, my hard skin, I saw my brilliant red eyes." She reached up to touch her golden eyes and smiled sadly.

"Shallow as I was, I felt better when I saw my reflection in the mirror the first time. Despite the eyes, I was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen." She laughed at herself for a moment. "It took some time before I began to blame the beauty for what had happened to me – for me to see the curse of it. To wish that I had been... well, not ugly, but normal. Like Vera. So I could have been allowed to marry someone who loved me, and have pretty babies. That's what I'd really wanted, all along. It still doesn't seem like too much to have asked for."

She was thoughtful for a moment, and I wondered if she'd forgotten my presence again. But then she smiled at me through the computer screen, her expression suddenly triumphant.

"You know, my record is almost as clean as Carlisle's," She told me. "Better than Esme. A thousand times better than Edward. I've never tasted human blood," she announced proudly.

She understood my puzzled expression as I wondered why her record was only almost as clean.

"I murdered five humans," she told me in a complacent tone. "If you can really call them human. But I was very careful not to pill their blood – I knew I wouldn't be able to resist that and I didn't want any part of them in me.

"I saved Royce for last. I hoped that he would hear of his friends' deaths and understand, know what was coming for him. I hoped the fear would make the end worse for him. I think it worked. He was hiding inside a windowless room behind a door as thick as a bank vault's, guarded outside by armed men, when I caught up with him. Oops – seven murders," she corrected herself. "I forgot about his guards. They only took a second.

"I was overly theatrical. It was kind of childish, really. I wore a wedding dress I'd stolen for the occasion.

"He screamed when he saw me. He screamed a lot that night. Saving him for last was a good idea – it made it easier for me to control myself, to make it slower -"

She broke off suddenly and sighed. "I was never fair to you, Bella. Did Edward or Jasper ever tell you why?"

"He said it was because I was human. He said it was harder for you to have someone on the outside who knew." I mumbled.

She nodded. "I wanted you to have the life that I didn't. I guess you could say that I was almost trying to live through you, as wrong as that was." She paused. "But that's only part of it. It's embarrassing. You see, at first, I was mostly jealous because he wanted you and not me."

Her words shocked me. "But you love Emmett!"

She shook her head back and forth, amused. "I don't want Edward that way, Bella. I never did – I love him as a brother, but he's irritated me from the first moment I heard him speak. You have to understand though... I was so used to people wanting me. And Edward wasn't the least bit interested. It frustrated me, even offended me in the beginning. But he never wanted anyone, so it didn't bother me long. Even when we first me Tanya's clan in Denali – all those females! - Edward never showed the slightest preference. And then he met you." She looked at me with confused eyes.

"It wasn't that you weren't pretty as a human, Bella," she said, misreading my expression. "But it just meant that he found you more attractive than me. I'm vain enough that I minded. Even Jasper has always been that way and even though he was with Alice when I met him, he didn't act like he was truly in love with her. I didn't like how he paid me no mind. But it paid off in the end because he really is like a brother to me now."

"Rose, you're the most beautiful person on the planet." I laughed at having to say the words – it was so obvious.

Rosalie laughed, too. "Thanks, Bella. But I think I have a run for my money now." She gestured at me through the screen and I couldn't help but to blush. "But no, it doesn't really bother me any more."

I nodded. "I just thought you acted like you did because you resented me because I put Emmett and the rest of your family in danger."

"No, you haven't done anything," she murmured. "You just had everything. You had a whole life ahead of you – everything I want. And you wanted to just throw it away. I would have traded everything I have to be you. You had the choice that I didn't have, and I thought that you were choosing wrong."

"But Rose, you did get some of your happy ending." I reminded her. "You got Emmett."

"I got half." She grinned. "You know that I saved Emmett from a bear that was mauling him, and carried him home to Carlisle. But can you guess why I stopped the bear from eating him?"

I shook my head.

"With the dark curls... the dimples that showed even while he was grimacing in pain... the strange innocence that seemed so out of place on a grown man's face... he reminded me of Vera's little Henry. I didn't want to see him die – so much that, even though I hated this life, I was selfish enough to ask Carlisle to change him for me.

"I got luckier than I deserved. Emmett is everything I would have asked for if I'd known myself well enough to know what to ask for. He's exactly the kind of person someone like me needs. And, oddly enough, he needs me, too. He's my mate. That part worked out better than I could have hoped for. But there will never be more than the two of us. And I'll never sit on a porch somewhere, with him gray-haired by my side, surrounded by our grandchildren."

Her smile was kind now. "That sounds quite bizarre to you, doesn't it? In some ways, you were much more mature than I was when I was human at eighteen. But in other ways... there are many things you probably wouldn't have thought about seriously. You were too young to know what you'd want in ten years, fifteen years – and too young to make the decision to give it all up without thinking it through. I didn't want you to be rash about permanent things, Bella."

"I understand, Rose. It's nice to know you better, now."

She smiled affectionately. "I'd really like it if we could become friends."

I shook my head. "Rose, you could never be my friend. You're my sister."

Her smile widened. "Thanks, Bella."

"Anytime, Rosalie."

"Bella," she chided me. "Family calls me Rose."


A/N: So, we found out a little bit about what's happening back in Forks! We also got to mend the bridges between Bella and Rosalie. Don't worry, Em and Rose will be coming into the story soon! I promise! Imagine all of the trouble Peter and Em will get into! Any ideas on what's going to happen next?! Review!

If you have any questions or comments, post them in my reviews and I will answer them in my next Author's Note!

To see more, go to my page: Xo Bella Italiana oX

If you enjoyed this story so far, check out some of my other stories on my FanFiction page! Also, I am still accepting Stories that need beta'ing. I will accept OC characters as well as other Fan Fiction stories aside from Twilight depending on the other lead character. PM me for details!
- Bellisma -
Xo Bella Italiana oX