..::.. Chapter 31 - Alice ..::..

Young - high school, continued ...

I make my way down the stairs from Edward's third-floor bedroom in the attic. My clothes a little askew, my hair quite a bit tousled. Edward behind me is slipping his belt into the loop to keep his too-relaxed jeans on—and my stomach plummets to the sole of my feet. They were tingling just a minute ago. I came over him like I never have after all morning stuck like glue on his bed, and he watched me make that face I always make.

There's this spark between us after my night out with him. I gained his trust. Maybe not the trust of my idea. Those, he keeps and makes with his uncles; they live by them. The Cullen's have accountants. Plenty of them. They have everything they need. He just wanted to see where my head was.

I was shocked, maybe a little pissed. Everything is a lesson with him. Though, the hacker part he's willing to consider.

So, I came to him. I snuck out of my house before the sun came up and snuck into his room on his fresh-start Sunday. Warm skin, nose pressed to his chest and hands everywhere. All those darts behind me as I took charge. It's a fresh-start Sunday for both of us.

I come down from the attic and ran into her.

Then the pain.

In my chest.

Alice.

I think she just came out of her mother's room. She stares at me.

She's been hiding. No one has seen or heard from her in weeks. She spends her time with her mother. She hasn't been to school. She hasn't contacted anyone. Neither Vick nor Bree ask about her anymore. I haven't seen her since she walked away from me at the funeral.

My stomach knots. I'm guilty of not reaching out. I hoped I wouldn't run into her, maybe never. Alice and my mother ground me from the bubble I've been in. I avoid being in their presence at all costs. Now, it's like she's seen all we've done in his room.

Our eyes seem to lock. I'm frozen by the stairs going down to the foyer where Edward went. Unbeknownst, he keeps moving. When I don't follow, he looks up from halfway down the grand staircase.

His gaze turns from me to his sister beyond the banister above him.

"Alice, go to your room," he says, an underlining of authority in his voice.

She ignores him. What sister wouldn't? Then again, what brother wouldn't bark an order? Her crazed state means she probably needs direction.

Her sunken eyes look deeper since I've seen her. Her hair grew, the edges unshapen, her complexion pale and dry. She wears the same dress and sweater the day I found her in her room. Feet bare, no manicured nails; chipped and plain. I drop my gaze to her fist, knowing the blade she keeps is probably tucked there, and my heart pounds.

"Hey. You okay?" I ask her. I wring my hands nervously.

I take a step closer when her eyes water. A single tear makes its way down her cheek. She doesn't blink.

My throat closes instantly. My eyes prickle, and I'm crying, too.

"I'm sorry," I beg. I shake my head. My face crumbles, and hers stays the same. She exudes this deeply unhinged demeanor. And my heart is a ton of bricks at all the grief of missing out and not being a friend when she needed one.

I look back at Edward who's yelling her name. He's red, pissed. The snarl on his lips boggles me. How could he treat her like this?

I lift a hand to him. "Wait," I snap. But his expression pales instantly. He tenses and moves to run up the stairs. He's not fast enough. It seems as if a wall crashes into me. I look, and Alice is screaming in my face. With another blow to my chest, I lose my footing and the floor beneath me. I tumble down the stairs. It's like trying to find the light in whirls and blurs. Everything rushes past and flips upside down.

And maybe I've been in this upside down for far too long.

I've been flipped back into reality.

I can't find my bearings as I continue to fall.

Edward's legs stop me from reaching the bottom. He catches me just in time. My head mere inches from smacking onto the hard landing.

"Fuck," he murmurs, panic laced in his voice. He pushes my hair away to look at me.

He pulls me by my arms, secures me over the steps, and rushes past me like a bullet.

"Wait. Edward, wait!" I scream after him. He'll kill her. I crawl up, but it's no use. He's already advancing as Alice staggers back, fear in her eyes. The backhanded slap is sharp and loud against the apple of her cheek.

Then, again and again.

She shrills.

I make it to the top on my hands and knees in time to see her fall to her side.

"Leave her alone!" I yell when he bends over to shake her.

She cries and cries and writhes on the floor holding her face.

"Wake the fuck up, Alice. You could've killed her!"

"I'm fine. I'm okay, just leave her," I beg in the background.

"You're not the only one in this house, you spoiled shit! You and Mom; you're the victims now? What the fuck have you done but encourage her? You haven't done shit in this house! I'm fucking angry, too. But I'm standing." He bangs a fist against his chest. "I could kill the fuckers who did this to us!" He yells. His voice breaks. He shuffles above her until he leans over his knees to breathe.

I'm frozen where I sit. I listen to her laments echoing down the hallways. I watch him, and I watch her; siblings mourning a loss, anger turning to numbness, surrendering to sadness. Maybe they're finally letting it all out. Well, I do. I cry, too. They're my family. They're all I have and all I've known since we were kids. I'd follow them around, enchanted by their every move and mighty family name.

Alice slowly lets the anger go until she's completely silent. This heavy presence takes over all of us. The silence is deafening. My tears are endless.

I tense. Edward gets close to her, but I see he hooks her legs and curls an arm around her back. He simply scoops her up.

She curls around him and buries her face on his shoulder. Maybe it's a truce, maybe a hug; either way, it's a quiet surrender for both. He slowly walks across the floor and takes her to their mother's bedroom where she spends her days with her.

He appears, closes the doors behind him, and swings my arm over his shoulder to help me up without a word. I hiss. My hip screams in pain, my neck the same. He looks at me, and I tightly say, "I'm fine." We slowly make it to the bottom floor where uncle Jasper and Major in his wheelchair look on.

I pull away from Edward's hold. I look at him. I look at him real hard.

He shakes his head. "You don't live with her, both of them," he says, as a way of justifying his actions.

I dig a finger in his chest hard enough to jolt him. "You ever touch her or me the way you did up there, I'll cut your fucking hand off. You got me?"

His nostrils flare with a breath.

"She needs you, not the back of your hand. They're all you have left. Take care of them, or I swear, you'll see your grave sooner than you'll ever see me again."

In all the time I've known him, he's never let his eyes flicker away in shame. He says nothing as Jasper opens the front door, helps me down the threshold, and lets me limp my way back home. I get a last glimpse of Major, and he's watching me.

From that day forward, Edward never hit anything out of anger.

He teaches me things, I teach him also.

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