Storm

When 2am came and I knew she hadn't slept, I did the only thing I could. I wrapped my arm around her and pulled her back against my chest.

I didn't question her when she started crying.

I didn't ask her why she grabbed a hold of my arm and and pulled it tightly against her, as though I'd slip away.

"I love you so much." I whispered into her ear.

She held me tighter.

In this world she would always have to wonder who to trust. She knew better than most that the answer was never black and white.

Friend, Wolf, her attacker. Vampire, now her fiancé.

How could she trust anyone to be what they appeared?

How could she still trust me?

Since the day I met her that naivety that all girls had, was chipped away, piece by piece. The fairy tales with happy endings, she knew now only belonged in the pages of her books.

She knew that people could leave, they could die, they could hurt you. And you'd just have to endure it. Let it push you, tare at you, until you couldn't even remember the person you used to be.

"I'm right here with you." I promised her. "You can do this."

I'd said those words to her more times than I could count, more than I could remember. But never before had she repelled from me at the sound of them.

She jumped to her feet, leaving me stunned on the bed watching her. "Don't you say that" she sobbed out, curling her arms around her stomach as though she might be sick.

I reached over and turned the lamp on, but stayed on the bed, looking up at her with wide concerned eyes.

"You don't know that. You don't even see me" she choked out, leaning forward.

I shook my head, confused as she spoke.

I made a move to stand, but she quickly stepped back.

I froze. My hand uselessly reaching out for her.

"I see you, Bella. I do." I assured her, my words straining against the ache in my throat.

She shook her head continuously, as though she was trying to stop my words from going into her head.

"You don't." She snapped.

In that same moment, she reached up and ripped the dressing off.

I didn't even flinch at the sight of her scars. I'd seen them. I knew exactly what was beneath the layers of cotton.

"How can you want this?" She yelled, her voice revealing more pain than I knew she was holding.

"I want you." I told her rising to my feet and stepping toward her. I lightly braced her shoulders and leaned down, wanting to line my eyes with hers. "I love you, Bella. You know I do."

And she did know it. But was it enough?

She pulled herself from my hold and spun around. Face to face with the full-length mirror.

She'd needed to see it. But I hadn't wanted it to be like this.

Her shaking hand covering her mouth as she took it all in.

The muffled scream that had escaped her.

Having to catch her before she fell forward to the ground.

This was a nightmare I couldn't pull us from.

I led her back to the bed and dragged her unwillingly into my arms. While she weakly pushing against me, but with no real fight left in her.

She stayed there all-night crying out in the most agonising way. Telling me she couldn't do this, that she didn't want to. That she wanted it all to stop. She wanted me to make it stop.

It wasn't until the early hours of the morning that she went silent. She didn't fall asleep and drift off into her dreams, like I wished she would.

She just laid there.

In my arms but out of my reach.

It wasn't until her phone started ringing that she showed any sign of life. I reached over to pick it up, knowing who it was. She turned away from me and clamped her eyes shut, wishing it all away.

I got up and went into the hallway, answering Renee's call with a calm voice as I slid my back against the wall, until I was sitting on the floor. Elbow against my knees, so I could bury my face into my palm.

Exchanging pleasantries and listening to Renee recount her latest adventure. Believing her daughter to be in school, living an average and quiet life.

"She just had a late night. I'll make sure she calls you when she gets up."

If only Renee wasn't so easy to lie to. If only she was someone Bella could confide in. When I hung up and put the phone down, I stayed there on the floor.

Then with my face in my hands a sudden rush of relief ran over me.

The night Charlie died; Alice had a vision.

But the time that lay between Charlie deciding to go to that house and arriving at it, hadn't given her enough time to reach him.

She'd ran there as fast as she could, but it all just happened too quickly.

One small piece of metal and it was over. There was no coming back from it.

She'd heard the gun being fired when she was only seconds away and she knew he was gone.

She had told me, that she would never be able to erase that feeling of failure. The guilt had consumed a piece of her, and she knew that she'd never be able to get it back.

As though she'd pulled the trigger herself.

There were no number of logical arguments that could help Alice. She knew them all. Realistically, she said she knew it wasn't her fault. But that knowledge didn't help lift that sense of blame. She said she'd keep it with her forever.

So, I knew that finding answers for Bella had meant more to Alice then simply wanting to help her friend. She didn't want to feel as though she had failed her again.

But there was no answer to find. She knew that now. Just as she knew she was needed here.

She walked into the house heading straight for Bella. I felt her palm smooth down my hair as she passed me in the hall, not a word exchanged between us.

She walked into the bedroom like a fresh breeze blowing in. Bella turned as though she felt a shift in the air around her. Choking out a pained sob as she rose to her knees on the bed, arms extended, reaching for her.

When they collided, Alice held her as she fell back down onto bed.

She cradled Bella against her chest, resting her cheek against her hair. Rocking her slightly and hushing her softly, attempting to soothe her.

And succeeding.

Finally, she fell asleep.