Impasse
Disclaimer: all characters and copyright belong to SM.
Alice Cullen
"What are you doing here?" Bella whispered in disbelief.
"Oh, Bella." There was a strange mingling of relief mixed with frustration in Alice's voice as she carefully navigated Bella's path back inside the house. Her touch was icy cold and made Bella shiver.
Bella was still breathing heavily from all her recent exertions. As she inhaled, she got a strong whiff of Alice's perfume and recoiled. It wasn't like anything she had smelled before – not floral or spice, citrus or musk. Even the most cloying perfume that she knew of couldn't compare to the stink coming off the petite girl's smooth skin.
Alice was very strong for someone her size. She easily dragged Bella to the living room couch -taking on most of her weight as Bella hobbled beside her -and pushed her into a sitting position.
"I mean it, Bella, just stay there. Don't move."
Alice chastised her like a recalcitrant child. Her superior tone irked Bella considerably and she shot Alice an angry glare as the other girl settled gracefully beside her on the couch. Bella found herself recoiling again as she trembled from the cold emanating from Alice's skin. Did the girl have no blood in her at all? It was like sitting next to a marble statue. Her predicament was made worse when Alice began to rub her lower back in a gentle rhythm, which she supposed the smaller girl assumed was comforting, but just alarmed Bella even more.
"I'm…sorry about bursting in like this." Alice chirped in her sing-song voice. "You really didn't give me much choice. But, Bella, I am just so happy to see you!"
"I can't say I share your sentiment." Bella said brutally, edging away from Alice in order to put some space between them. "Were you and that creepy brother of yours staking out my house and spying on me?"
"Bella!" Alice looked pained at this rebuttal. "Please, I am trying to be understanding here. I know you've been through a lot – but the Bella I know would never speak in such a cruel manner."
"The Bella you know?" Bella repeated back incredulously. "You may think you know me, but I absolutely do not know you."
"We are friends." Alice pleaded. "Good friends – more like sisters, really."
"So, you say." Bella retorted suspiciously. "I only have your word for that."
Alice emitted a dramatic sigh. "This memory loss of yours is so frustrating – more so for poor Edward. He is really suffering in your absence. But that doesn't mean he would ever give up on protecting you. Even if it must be from afar for now. Carlisle cautioned that we must be patient and that he was certain you would recover your memories in time, but it is proving challenging, especially when you keep putting yourself in dangerous situations."
"But I wasn't in danger!" Bella protested hotly, her hands balling into fists in her lap.
Alice's throat was tight, her lips pressed firmly together. Her eyes had darkened so they seemed as black as pitch.
"Bella, you were about to approach a wild beast and pet it! Edward and I had no choice but to intervene!"
"Oh!" Bella huffed dismissively. "I could tell I wasn't in any danger. He may have been big, but that poor wolf looked more scared than I did. He looked lost and confused. I was just reaching out to him to show that he didn't need to be afraid – he trusted me, I could see it in his eyes – and then you and that dumb brother of yours came barreling in and ruined everything."
The look that Alice directed Bella's way was a glare. "I ask you to politely refrain from calling my brother names. He only has your best interests at heart. I am really trying to be forgiving here, Bella, but you are really testing my patience!"
"And you're testing mine!" Bella fired back in aggravation. "I neither need or want you and your brother's so-called protection. I didn't ask for it and I don't want it. So can you please leave. I need to go check on my friend. He wasn't feeling very well and is probably upstairs in the bathroom passed out or something."
Her former worry about Jacob clouded her anger at Alice Cullen's unwanted intrusion. Before she kicked her out, she decided to make use of her. "There is something you can do for me if you want to make yourself useful. Can you go upstairs and go to the bathroom and check up on Jacob? He was feeling very unwell before and was running a fever."
That request brought Alice up short. She stared at Bella in bemusement. "You really have no idea, do you?"
"About what?" Bella demanded curtly.
Alice pursed her lips, her eyes narrowing, as if trying to think of a suitable explanation that wouldn't sound nuts.
"Nothing." She said eventually. "Jacob Black has already left. I saw him go with my own eyes."
"What?" Bella exclaimed in disbelief. "Jake would never just leave without telling me. He would at least have left me a note or something."
Alice shook her head, a wry smile now curving her lips upwards. "Maybe you don't know him as well as you think you do, Bella. Everyone has their secrets. I wouldn't worry about him. I expect he is back home by now."
"How dare you say anything against Jake! You don't know him at all!" Bella argued defensively.
"You don't know him, either. Not really." Alice countered. "I know you don't remember anything about me – about Edward – but I swear, we both care about you very much. You are very important to not just to us, but out whole family."
Bella thought about the hostile glare the stunning blonde had given her in the parking lot not that long ago. "Your whole family?" She questioned derisively. "Please, don't take me for a fool, Alice. I've seen the way the blonde ice princess looks at me."
Alice's expression became strained. "Rosalie does care." She said diffidently. "She just has a funny way of showing it – but believe me she does, even if her reasons do not match my own."
"Oh, God, there you go talking in riddles again!" Bella was running out of patience. She was upset that Jacob had left her without even saying goodbye. She was mad that Edward and Alice had been staking out her house like a couple of stalkers – and she was worried about the poor lost wolf.
"Bella, I know its hard for you to understand when there is so much you don't remember." Alice reached out to her, causing Bella to recoil again. She dropped her hand, her next sigh filled with a deep sorrow. "I wish I could explain it, but Carlisle specifically forbade me not to interfere, and that it might hinder your recovery. But, please, Bella, did you even stop for a minute to think what your reckless actions would have done to Charlie? Or worse yet, my brother? Do you have any idea the torment that Edward was going through watching you carelessly put your life on the line by approaching that wild beast – "
Bella cut her off then, as soon as she name-dropped Edward again, the last of her patience was used up. "I want you to leave now."
"But, Bella, I need you to – "
"I said get out!" Bella raised her voice, her steely gaze boring into Alice's. "If you don't, I'll be forced to ring Charlie at work and make him come home to remove you. I think he would be very interested to learn that you and your brother have been spying on me."
"Bella, you wouldn't!" Alice was clearly in shock.
"Oh, I would!" Bella said dryly. "So don't test me!"
Alice went still for a few seconds, her eyes and face clouding over. Her hands clenched tightly in her lap. Sitting there she looked more and more like a marble statue than ever, with her face showing no animation at all. Then just as abruptly her eyes became clear again, her expression hardening as she eyed Bella dubiously.
"I can see that you mean what you say."
"You say such weird things." Bella muttered. "What does that mean – you can see that I mean what I say? Of course I mean it."
Alice cocked her head to one side, gazing at Bella with such sadness that it made her feel a slight twinge of guilt – but it was very, very slight.
"I'll go. Goodnight, Bella, and please be more careful."
Then without saying another word, she rose gracefully to her feet and walked at a very fast pace out of the house, this time using the front door.
As soon as she was sure that Alice was truly gone, Bella stood up, balancing precariously by using various pieces of furniture, she managed to hobble clumsily toward the phone in the hallway. She called Jacob straightaway.
Much to her relief, he was the one who answered, almost as if he had been expecting her call. But when she heard his exhausted greeting, she knew there was something very wrong.
"Hello?" His voice was broken, cracking.
"Oh, Jake, so you did go home." Bella cried in relief. "I've been tearing myself to bits, worried that you were passed out in the bathroom upstairs and I couldn't reach you. You sound horrible."
"Oh, Bells, I feel horrible."
"I'm so sorry that I made you come to prom with me. I didn't know you were running a fever. It seemed to come on so suddenly. This sucks."
Jacob drew in a sharp breath, almost as if surprised that she hadn't cottoned onto something. His voice sank to a low whisper. "I'm glad I went. Don't blame yourself. This isn't your fault."
"You'll get better soon." Bella promised. "I'm going to make up some fortifying meals for you. I'll keep them simple so all Billy has to do is reheat them."
"Thanks, Bella." Jacob sounded a little confused, as if he had been expecting her to say something else.
"Although, I wish you had just woken me up. I was totally freaking out until Alice Cullen showed up and told me you left already."
"Alice Cullen?" Jacob repeated sharply.
"Yes, oh jeez, Jake, you are not going to believe this, but Alice and that creepy brother of hers have only been staking out my house for most of the night. I was going from room to room, calling your name, when I happened to peek outside the kitchen window and saw this ginormous wolf – "
"Wolf." Jacob repeated dully, unintentionally interrupting her.
"Yes." Bella continued breathlessly; she was talking fast in her haste to tell him everything. "It was huge but so magnificent. I know you're gonna think I'm crazy, but it I knew he wasn't dangerous. If you just saw him, Jacob, he had the most beautiful red-brown fur. He looked lost, just wandering around in circles, stumbling all over the place." She laughed nervously. "I guess I felt an affinity with him as he seemed a little clumsy, just like me, he even tripped over his own large paws when I went outside to get a closer look."
"You – you weren't afraid?" Jacob sounded as if he was – afraid of her answer that is.
"No way!" Bella scoffed. "I told you I knew he wasn't dangerous. I'm braver than you give me credit for."
"Yeah." Jacob's voice sounded a little lighter now. "You've always been good with weird."
"Very funny." Bella complained irritably. "I tell you, you really missed out. Next time let me know when you're gonna leave. I know I was sleeping, but you could have left a note."
"I'm sorry." Jacob mumbled.
"So you'll probably be better in a few hours." Bella encouraged.
She could barely hear his answer. "We'll see."
"Jake, what's wrong with you? I thought it might be that stomach flu that's been doing the rounds."
"Everything." Jacob whispered. "Every part of me hurts."
The pain his voice cut through Bella like a knife.
"Oh, Jake, what can I do? Besides food what can I bring you?"
"Nothing. You can't come here." Jacob was abrupt now.
"I've already been exposed to what you have." Bella pointed out dismissively.
Jacob ignored her. "I'll call you when I can. I'll let you know when I can see you."
"Jacob – "
"And, Bella, make sure to tell Charlie about Edward and Alice Cullen spying on you. He needs to know. We'll be watching – but its complicated." Jacob cut in, his exhaustion creeping back in.
"I will." Bella promised. "But, Jacob – "
"I've got to go." Jacob cut in again with sudden urgency.
"Okay. Call me when you feel better."
"Right." He agreed, and his voice had a strange, bitter edge.
He was silent for a moment. Bella was waiting for him to say goodbye, but he waited too, as if desperate to keep the connection going, no matter how small.
"I'll see you soon." Bella finally said.
"Wait for me to call." Jacob reminded her.
"Okay…Bye, Jacob."
"Bella." He whispered her name, then hung up the phone.
A/N-thanks for reading!