Disclaimer: I'm still not in possession of any rights to the Twilight Saga. Nope, nope.
AN: Ooooooooooooookie dokie, hello readers, it's been much too long. I won't bore you with excuses, just a quick apology for the delay. Blows my mind how many there are of you now, I never thought I'd get this sort of feedback! For those of you following my other stories, I'll try to update them as soon as I can. LEGGO.
The training I'd undergone with Jasper and Emmett kicked into gear as I launched myself at Edward, my world seeming a blur to my conscious mind as my instincts led the way. In my protective rage I was unpredictable, and caught him off guard, knocking him away from Alice immediately.
He tried to block my attacks, but my shield hid my intentions. Without his gift, my newborn strength overpowered him quickly. A vicious snarl erupted from my chest as I slammed him into the ground. You will not touch her! My inner vampire screamed, echoing inside my head.
"Bella!" He cried out as my hands pinned him by the neck.
"What," I replied, grave and monotone. My crimson eyes were like steel against his pained brown-black.
"Don't you love me?" He gasped, struggling to speak against the pressure I held him with. "Was I not the perfect mate? Was I not everything to you?"
The desperation and hurt in his voice—tinted with fear—broke through my hard exterior. I softened a little and rose to my feet, contemplating.
"You...you were, Edward, but...that was a long time ago. You made me happy once, and I do love you. But it hasn't been as it used to be...Alice has always been here. When you left, it was Alice that I wrote to, and Alice who came back. And yes, I married you, because I've always told myself that you were the one. And I knew that marrying you would make me a permanent part of your family. Because I love you all...but I never gave thought to exactly how much Alice means to me. And maybe I still don't know, but what I do know is that her devotion to me is unwavering. And that she has always been concerned about my feelings and my thoughts and has always given me the chance to decide and she never, not once questioned her ability to protect me, and–"
"Enough!" He cried, pain etched into his stone features as he slowly rose to his feet. "I hear you...and you're right. It kills me, and I don't agree with this...your...the two of you, but what you said? You're right, Bella. And I'm so sorry for letting you down. I'm sorry."
My heart felt as though it seized in my dead chest as he removed his wedding band and slipped it into his jeans pocket. It felt as though my legs were going to give out.
It's over, I thought. Just like that, it's over.
I glanced at Alice, needing her unwavering strength, but she was frozen—locked in a vision.
"Edward!" She gasped, reaching out to him suddenly. "Don't! Don't you dare."
"Alice, what–" I began.
"You can't just leave us!"
"Watch me, Alice. Watch me."
And with that, he was gone. I felt my unneeded breath rush out of my lungs as I collapsed, mind racing, into Alice's arms. She pulled me close, tucking my head under her chin.
"I don't know what to do," I whispered. "It hurts, to see him go, but it hurts me more that he would treat us like this...that he would be so disapproving."
"Oh, Bella," she murmured into my hair, her fingers tracing patterns on my back.
"Is it so bad of me to wish he would accept us?" I asked, leaning back to look at Alice's eyes as they slowly returned to a shade of honey. "Is it so bad of me to feel this relief that he's gone?" My voice wavered, nearly unable to give life to the feelings that were leaving me so conflicted.
"No, Bella," She replied, almost immediately. "Don't you for a second think anything you're feeling is wrong. Everything you feel is real, and is for a reason. Of course you feel relieved—you just said you married him because of what you told yourself. Not what you felt. Tell me what you feel right now, Bella. Don't be afraid."
I hesitated, searching her eyes and finding nothing but conviction and trust, and that undying love I'd always seen but never known.
"I feel...safe here, Alice. I feel safe with you. I can feel how much you love me just in the way that you hold me. God, how could I have been so blind?"
"You're not the one with the gift," she cut in, winking and tapping her temple with a smile. I couldn't help but give a weak one in return.
"But how could I have not seen everything you are to me? Every feeling I brushed off in favor of friendship? How desperately I needed you when you all left?" I shook my head, exasperated.
"It doesn't matter now, Bella. Not anymore with you in my arms," she murmured, pulling me close again. I basked in her embrace, allowing myself to just feel the two of us—no interruptions, no one to tell us what was right or wrong. Speaking of others…
"What will we do about the rest of the family, Alice?" I whispered. She shrugged.
"They'll just have to accept it. I'm not leaving your side." She spoke with such conviction, such devotion, that I would have cried if I could. It felt so corny, but I couldn't believe she'd give up her family, her home, of decades just for me.
"I can't believe you'd give it all up for plain ol' me," I mumbled, voicing my thoughts.
"Of course I would," she replied, lifting my chin to look at me again. "I'd give it all up just to see you. You're all I've seen for years." I paused, unsure what to say. What she said felt so heavy, but at the same time so freeing.
"I love you so much, Alice," I murmured, leaning in and pressing our lips together once more. It still felt like the first time, so much love and so many butterflies flying through my chest.
We embraced for a while—I'm not sure how long, but it felt like hours. Eventually, however, we knew we had to return to reality. We slowly moved towards the door, knowing we had to but not wanting to face the rest of the family.
"Can you see their reactions yet?" I asked as we slipped our shoes on. She shook her head.
"They don't know what we're going to tell them, and we haven't decided how we're going to. I can't know until someone decides something." I could hear the discomfort in her voice.
"You feel blind not knowing." She nodded and sighed quietly. I kissed her forehead gently, hoping to soothe her for the time being, and opened the door. She gasped quietly upon looking outside, so nearly silent I hardly noticed.
"What is it, Alice?" I asked, my anxiety spiking at the thought of another vision.
"It's...you chose my car. Why not yours? Or his?"
I hesitated, trying not to stammer. "I don't know, I just...grabbed your keys, I was in a rush." If I could have blushed, I would have. She smiled, kissed my cheek, and hopped in the driver's side. I looked at her in confusion before patting my back pocket gently. She noticed this, and giggled, holding up the keys.
"I can't believe you didn't notice, little miss newborn!" I rolled my eyes at her and slid into the passenger's seat. Leave it to Alice to make a joke before we go face her entire family with news like this.
"You just couldn't resist touching my butt, you little minx," I jested in return.
"Oh you know I can barely keep my hands off of you," she husked back in a tone that sent electricity straight to my core.
"Don't test me or we'll never get back," I growled quietly. She simply chuckled, tossing her head back before peeling out of the driveway.
AN: Yaaaaaay, chapter! It's a bit longer than the others, I hope it was almost worth the wait ;-; Also...we're going into uncharted territory! There is more to the original "Chapter 3" than this, but I didn't like how I wrote it and I really didn't like how I "resolved" things, so I'm going to be completely reworking that in Chapter 4, which was never even finished in the original. I'm trying to make Alice a little more bubbly and three-dimensional than the way I originally wrote her. Hopefully it's working out. Leave me a review and let me know how I'm doing!