fembuck | Fic: The Edge (Twilight, Alice/Bella 19/?)

Title: The Edge
Author: Janine
Fandom: Twilight
Pairing: Alice/Bella
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: All characters are owned by Stephanie Meyer. I’m just borrowing them.
Summary: Things are going well with Alice, but other things are happening around her that are making Bella uneasy.

Previous chapters here

A Week Later

Bella felt a now familiar prickling at the edge of her consciousness, and looked up from the sudoku puzzle in front of her.

She felt her heart rate begin to pick up.

Taking a deep breath, Bella turned her head to the side and slowly began to scan the store, her eyes then moving to look at what was visible of the street through the windows. She couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary, yet she couldn’t shake the feeling that …

“What’s up?” Mike asked, walking towards her from the back room.

Bella closed her eyes, releasing the breath she had been holding and turned to look at him, forcing a blank expression onto her face as she did.

For days she hadn’t been able to shake the feeling that she was being watched. A cold, creeping sensation seemed to constantly be tickling her spine, but whenever she looked around nobody was ever there.

However, despite never having actually seen someone watching her, the feeling that she was being watched never quite went away.

She might have thought that she was just being paranoid, that the multiple near death experiences she had had over the past year were finally catching up with her, leaving her constantly expecting danger everywhere she went. But, Alice and Edward had both been tense for the past week, which left her feeling uneasy and suspicious. They told her it was nothing; that they were ‘fine’, that everything was ‘fine’, but it didn’t feel ‘fine’, and the fact that they were both reading from the same script only intensified Bella’s feelings that something was going on.

However, they were immovable on the subject, presenting a united front for the first time since Italy, which left Bella in the dark … and uneasy.

But, these were not fears that she could burden Mike with, so she focused her attention on Mike, and sighed, “Nothing,” before looking back down at the sudoku puzzle in front of her, poking the page a couple of times with her pen before wearily pushing it away from her.

“Right,” Mike drawled in a way that let her know he didn’t believe that she had just been idly daydreaming. “Which of your ‘boyfriends’ are you looking out for?” he asked, smirking.

Bella clamped down on the urge to sigh.

Ever since Alice had returned to Forks and had decided that it was occasionally fun to walk around school holding hands with her, Mike had decided that it would be hilarious to refer to Alice as ‘her boyfriend’, and whenever Alice would pick her up from work he would ask, where they were going on their date, or something equally witty.

Bella usually rolled her eyes, but Alice seemed to find it all terribly amusing and whenever he said something like that, Alice would loop her arm through Bella’s and kiss her on the cheek before saying ‘candle lit dinner on the beach’, ‘romantic stroll through the woods’, or her favorite, ‘a quiet evening at the Have-a-Nap Inn’ or something equally ‘comical’ in response.

Alice and Mike would then laugh, while Bella sighed deeply, Mike would wink at them and tell them ‘Don’t anything I wouldn’t do’, and then mercifully they would be off.

“Alice,” Bella responded, not even bothering to give him the stink-eye. He knew that she didn’t find him as hilarious as Alice did, but whenever she clearly showed her displeasure it only encouraged him to tease her more.

“Oh, sweet,” Mike responded, running his hand through his hair.

Bella turned her head away and smirked at that. For all that he liked to tease the two of them about being ‘special friends’ it never stopped him from trying to flirt with Alice when she came into the store.

“You told her that she can have a discount, right?” he asked, suddenly concerned. “She knows that was my idea, right?”

“Yeah, I told her,” Bella said, her eyes stinging as she tried to hold back tears of humor. “I’m sure she’ll be dropping by for some major shopping any day now,” she muttered under her breath, watching as Mike continued to primp. “She’s not going to be here for a while,” Bella said, hating to see him waste his efforts.

“Then why were you looking out for her?” Mike asked suspiciously.

“I wasn’t,” Bella sighed. “I told you I wasn’t doing anything. I was just … staring. You’re the one that assumed I was waiting for someone,” she continued, watching as he glumly dropped his hands to his side.

They stood around in silence for a few seconds and then Mike brightened up again.

“Maybe she’ll be early,” he said.

“Maybe,” Bella allowed turning back to look outside the window, actually looking for Alice this time. She wouldn’t have minded at all if Alice was a little early. Things were slow in the shop that afternoon, and because of Mike’s crushes of them she was pretty sure he’d let her go a little early if it meant that both she and Alice would smile at him.

They stood looking out the window.

“Are you sure you told her about the discount?” Mike asked looking over at Bella.

“Yes,” Bella sighed. “You know, you could just talk to her at school if you’re that starved for contact. She’s not an ogre, Mike. She’s not going to ignore you in the middle of the hallway or try to pants you. In fact she seems to think you’re hilarious,” she went on rolling her eyes.

“Really?” Mike asked sounding pleased. “I thought maybe she was just being nice, but … really?” he asked, and Bella realized that it was bad idea to have given him hope like that.

“Yeah, sure,” Bella replied non-committal, turning her attention back to the window.

“She’s still around that guy all the time,” Mike commented a minute later, frowning.

“That guy?” Bella asked smirking a little. She was aware that Mike knew what Jasper’s name was. He was just being passive aggressive.

“Yeah, the blond one,” Mike said, making a face.

“He has a name you know,” Bella said smiling.

“Yeah, I know,” Mike responded and Bella knew that he would never refer to Jasper as anything but ‘that guy’ or ‘the blond one’ from that moment on.

“Well, he is her boyfriend,” Bella said once Mike had stopped scowling. “When I said you should talk to her, I meant talk to her, not hit on her,” she continued giving him a pointed look. “If there’s one thing Alice loves as much as shopping, it’s talking, and for some reason everyone at school seems afraid of her.”

“It’s not her really,” Mike said leaning against the counter. “Alice is really tiny and cute, and seems friendly,” he continued, and Bella could practically hear the dreamy sigh in his voice. “It’s the others that are creepy,” he went on, glancing over at Bella. “No offense,” he added, not that it fooled Bella for a moment. As much as Mike loved Alice, he hated Edward, and he never missed an opportunity to take a shot at him. “The two of you should sit with us every once in a while, and leave Abercrombie and Fitch to brood on their own.”

“Mike,” Bella said warningly, really not in the mood for one of his Edward rants.

“I’m just saying that they’re not the most personable guys in the world,” Mike said holding up his hands. “There’s no reason you and Alice should be social outcasts because your boyfriends don’t know how to make small talk.”

“You don’t know what you’re,” Bella began irritably before cutting herself off.

She was a blade of grass blowing in the wind.

She was the gently rippling breeze over a body of water.

Woosah.

“You know what, never mind. Just never mind,” Bella said lifting her hands up in the air in the universal sign of peace. “If there’s nothing you need me to do, I’m just going to go back to my sudoku puzzle, okay?”

And with that Bella turned away from Mike, determined to remain serene.

She was the delicately fluttering wings of a butterfly.

Woosah.

She was the babbling brook running over moss covered stones.

Woosah.

She was calm.

She was serenity.

She was not going to get into a fight with Mike, twenty minutes before quitting time.

“I was just making an observation,” Mike mumbled.

Bella ignored him.

“Fine. I don’t care. Ignore me,” he went on.

Bella followed his suggestion and continued to ignore him.

“Whatever. You’re being a baby,” Mike declared, and he turned his back on her.

Keeping his face carefully angled away from Bella, Mike then proceeded to stick his finger into the jar of safety clamps sitting by the register. He swirled it around for a few seconds and then pulled it out and stared at it for a moment, before sticking it back in, repeating the process all over again.

Bella looked at her watch and sighed. It was going to be a long twenty minutes.

“What’s she doing?” Mike complained as he looked out the window. He was staring at Alice’s unmoving figure just in front of the door. His voice was comically whiny and if Bella hadn’t been wondering the same thing she probably would have smiled.

“I don’t know,” Bella said, tilting her head to the side as she watched Alice as well.

“Is she going to come in?” Mike asked. When Bella was ignoring him, he’d gone to the back room and combed his hair and everything.

“I don’t think so,” Bella said taking off her orange work vest, wondering what could possibly be captivating Alice so.

“That’s bullshit,” Mike muttered, and Bella did crack a smile at that.

“You could come outside with me, walk me to the door, you know,” she said moving around the counter. “You could probably get a few minutes small talk in.”

Mike shook his head. “Whatever, I don’t even care. I was just gonna say hello so it doesn’t even matter. Besides, she seems distracted,” he responded, and Bella knew that the real reason he didn’t want to come to the door with her was because he was afraid that Alice would be too distracted to pay attention to him.

“Suit yourself,” Bella said starting towards the door. “See ya,” she said spinning around briefly to wave, and then she made a beeline for the door.

“So, either Mars finally attacked,” Bella began as she stepped outside of Newton’s, “or the machines finally took control of Skynet and judgment day is upon us,” she continued, waiting for Alice to smirk. She didn’t and Bella frowned. Truthfully, it wasn’t her best material, but Alice could have at least turned to look at her.

A little annoyed Bella turned her head, following Alice’s gaze to see what was holding her girlfriend’s attention, a small gasp falling from her lips a second later.

“Jake,” she whispered, her eyes taking in all 6’7 inches of Jacob Black as he leaned against his motorcycle, which was parked across the street near the lights.

From where he was parked he had an unobstructed view of the door to Newton’s, but he was far enough down the street that she wouldn’t have been able to see him from inside the store. It was the perfect position to watch out for someone without them seeing you, and Bella remembered the feeling she had had of being watched earlier and wondered if Jacob was the source.

“We’re watching her.”

Bella started, her eyes shooting from Jacob over to Alice, about to ask her what she meant, but when she turned she saw that Alice was still staring forward, her eyes trained on Jacob.

Bella looked back over to Jacob, her face a mask of confusion. Alice was just using a regular speaking voice, and Jake was maybe 50 yards away. There was no way that he could have …

Jacob inclined his head, acknowledging Alice’s statement.

“You should tell her,” Jacob said. “She deserves to know. It’s her life,” he continued, his voice a low grumble. “She’s stronger than your brother gives her credit for. She’s not going to break,” he finished sounding offended on Bella’s behalf.

She might not have had the best co-ordination, but Bella wasn’t made of glass. She’d managed to survive for seventeen years before she had met Edward Cullen, and she could survive a hell of lot more without him.

Bella squinted, leaning forward. It looked like Jacob was talking but he was too far away for her to even be sure his lips were moving, let alone to hear what he was (possibly) saying.

“Yes, I know,” Alice said. Her voice was firm and certain as she held Jacob’s gaze.

“Are you talking?” Bella asked staring at Alice. “Are you talking to him? What’s he saying?” she continued, her eyes moving back and forth between the two of them rapidly, looking very much like a spectator at a very exciting tennis match.

“Go ahead,” Jacob said gesturing towards Bella. “She’s going to get mad at you if you don’t answer her,” he continued with a touch of amusement in his voice.

Alice smirked. He did know Bella well, she’d give him that.

“We’re talking,” Alice confirmed, finally turning her head to look at Bella. “We’re almost done,” she continued glancing back over at Jacob. “I’ll tell you everything on the way home,” she added, the comment directed at Bella, but also for Jacob’s ears. “I promise.”

“You’re not like him,” Jacob said watching Alice closely.

She was still standing beside Bella, but she hadn’t moved protectively in front of her as if she expected him to come charging across the street at any moment. And while she was a little guarded while talking to him she hadn’t been threatening or hostile. In fact, she had been the one to first acknowledge him when she had spotted him on her way into the store. She hadn’t seemed happy to see him there, but her tone had been more curious than anything, and she had been very polite during the entire conversation. She had even thanked him for saving Bella’s life, which had absolutely stunned him.

“How so?” Alice asked curiously knowing that Jacob was referring to Edward.

“You’re … nice,” Jacob said after a second. “Really,” he added sounding almost surprised. “For a bloodsucking leech you’re not half bad.”

Alice smiled, and Jacob returned the expression.

Bella stared at Alice as she smiled at Jake, and then threw up her hands annoyance.

Now they were smiling?

She looked around the street as if she hoped to catch the eyes of someone else who found this as mind-boggling as she did, but there was nobody immediately around them.

Bella sighed and dropped her arms morosely.

She had no idea what was going on.

“Nice dog,” Alice murmured still smiling. “Good boy,” she cooed as if she was actually talking to an adorable puppy.

“Ruff,” Jacob said in response, still grinning. He couldn’t quite believe that he had just discovered a bloodsucker with a decent sense of humor. “Listen,” he started a few moments later, his tone serious once again. “Tell Bella she’s still welcome at La Push … if she wants. Please,” he added, remembering his manners.

If he had been talking to one of the other leeches he wouldn’t have bothered with the message, but Alice seemed not completely vile, so he decided to give it a shot.

“I will,” Alice said, nodding her head in his direction. His voice was a little strained and she knew that it was probably hard for him to ask a favor of her. “You have my word.”

Jacob stared at her for a second torn between excitement and disbelief. “You’re not going to try and keep her away?”

Alice glanced over at Bella and sighed. “She does what she wants,” she replied. “Honestly, I’d rather you met at Fran’s for pancakes, but …” Alice shrugged and sighed again. “Frankly, that’s more about me than you,” she added, knowing that the majority of her unease about Bella going to La Push came from the fact that the werewolves blocked her visions. If Bella got into trouble around them she wouldn’t know about it, and she didn’t like that at all.

“You wouldn’t follow?” Jacob asked, very tempted to believe her.

“I can’t,” Alice responded. La Push was forbidden territory. Even if she wanted to keep an eye on Bella she wouldn’t have been able to.

“I meant if we were in town,” he clarified.

“No,” Alice said decisively. The werewolves made her nervous in general, but she knew that Jacob cared about Bella and that he wouldn’t hurt her. And, truly, he wasn’t any more of a danger to Bella than she or her family was. Vampires were quite a bit less hairy and quite a bit more sparkly, but it would have been disingenuous to resent him because he was a bit of an animal when they were too.

“I’m gonna hold you to that,” Jacob responded, staring at Alice for a second longer.

Then he turned around and climbed onto his bike. Once he was astride it, he looked at them once last time, lifting his hand to wave at Bella, and then he popped the clutch, spun and bike around and he was gone.

“Okay,” Bella started when Jacob was out of sight. “What?”

“Not here,” Alice murmured, placing her hand lightly on Bella’s shoulder. “Let’s go for a drive.”

“Spill,” Bella said the moment they were both seated in the car and the doors were closed.

“Why hello, it’s nice to see you too,” Alice responded glancing over at Bella as she started up the car.

“Don’t be cute,” Bella said, meeting Alice’s gaze. “That,” she said waving her hand about, “was powerfully weird. I want to know what you two were talking about. I thought you couldn’t stand each other!”

“He’s not so bad when I can’t smell him,” Alice said, pulling away from the curb, her body tense as she tried to obey the speed limit for the time being. “As for what we were talking about, I suppose the first thing is … Jacob says that you’re still welcome at La Push, if you want,” Alice continued. “His exact words,” she added, stepping on the gas peddle as they made their way out of the populated part of town and hit more open road.

“Really?” Bella asked softly, her voice tentatively hopeful.

She had tried calling Jacob after the day of Harry’s funeral, but he either hadn’t been getting her messages or had been choosing to ignore them because he hadn’t returned any of her calls. She knew that he had a lot on his plate, and had decided to give him some time. After all, he had learned quite a few things that he would need time to digest after the last time they had seen each other. But as the weeks went on and her calls were still ignored, she had really and truly been beginning to think that their friendship was over, and the thought of that had devastated her.

“Really,” Alice replied. “I think he misses you a lot,” she added knowing that Bella missed Jacob terribly as well, and that she was one of the reasons that they had been staying away from each other.

“Edward won’t be happy about that,” Bella said angling her head towards Alice, watching the raven-haired beauty closely.

“No, he won’t,” Alice replied, her response simple and matter-of-fact.

“What about you?” Bella asked carefully. “How do you feel?”

Alice glanced over at Bella, watching her keenly for a moment before returning her eyes to the road.

“You being around the werewolves makes me uneasy,” she admitted. “It’s not that I think they’re inherently bad people,” she continued speaking quickly. “In fact, despite our rocky start, I think I like your Jacob.”

“When you can’t smell him,” Bella interjected smiling, Alice’s phrase ‘your Jacob’ charming her for some reason.

“When I can’t smell him,” Alice repeated, looking over at Bella and returning her smile. “It’s just … I can’t see them,” she went on, her voice sobering. “That makes me uneasy. I don’t like the fact that I won’t know if you’re in trouble. That I won’t know if you need my help,” she said, the distress she felt at the possibly showing in her voice. “I’m not used to feeling helpless,” Alice sighed looking over at Bella again. “And when I think of you there, that’s how I feel.”

“Jacob would never let anything happen to me,” Bella said, reaching out for Alice’s hand.

Alice nodded, but didn’t say anything for a few moments.

“I won’t stop you if you want to go visit him,” she said finally, her words slow and measured. “I would prefer it if you met somewhere in town though, neutral territory as it were. Somewhere where I could reach you,” she went on carefully. “I don’t think that Jacob would hurt you, but I don’t have the same confidence in the others and …” Alice paused and sighed. “The thought of you there scares me, Bella. I can’t help it. I won’t try to stop you, but I don’t like it. I know it’s not really rational, but I can’t help it. I love you, and I want to keep you safe.”

Bella breathed in deeply, her eyes fluttering closed as they did.

“Why did you say ‘no’ to him at the end?” Bella asked opening her eyes once more, trying to buy some time to digest what Alice had just said before responding to it.

She knew that Alice was trying to be open, that she was trying to be supportive and reasonable even though she was actually very worried. Bella didn’t think she had reason to be worried, but the fact that Alice was making an effort to understand her point of view and accommodate her made it hard for Bella to dismiss her concerns entirely.

“He asked if I would follow you,” Alice replied, “if you two were in town. I told him that I wouldn’t.”

“Did you mean it?” Bella asked carefully.

“Yes,” Alice sighed tiredly, the exhalation making Bella’s eyes narrow in concern.

“But you still don’t like it,” Bella said, trying to figure out what was still bothering Alice.

“No,” Alice admitted checking her side mirror. “But I am more comfortable with it. Like I said before, I don’t think that Jacob would hurt you.”

“Edward still wouldn’t like it,” Bella said leaning back against the seat.

“No, I don’t think he would,” Alice replied somberly.

Bella was silent for a moment.

“Well … I don’t care,” Bella declared a minute later, her voice a little louder than was necessary in the confines of the car. “I’m tired of him telling me what to do,” she said, folding her arms across her chest. “I’m a grown ass person and I can talk to whoever I want.”

Alice sighed deeply and pulled off the road.

“Where are we going?” Bella asked, watching as trees began to run parallel to the car on both sides.

“There’s a clearing just up ahead,” Alice said keeping her eyes focused forward. “It’s beautiful at sunset.”

“You have more to tell me,” Bella said anxiously, realizing that Alice didn’t want to be driving when they got down to what her conversation with Jacob had really been about.

Alice nodded silently.

“I’m not going to like it am I?” Bella asked.

“No,” Alice breathed out. “I don’t think you will.”

Alice climbed up onto the warm hood of the car, settling her back against the windshield and then held out her hand for Bella.

“Sit with me?” she requested softly.

Bella eyed her wearily, but took her hand anyway, allowing Alice to pull her up onto the hood of the car as well. She settled herself between the vampire’s legs, the heat of the machine under her contrasting with Alice’s lower body temperature in a way that made Bella shiver.

“I want to preface what I’m about to tell you by asking you to remember that we love you, and that we were just trying to do the right thing,” Alice said softly, resting her chin on Bella’s shoulder.

“Okay,” Bella said softly, Alice’s words alarming her more than they comforted her. That was not a promising way to start off a conversation.

Another shiver ran through Bella’s body, and this time it had nothing to do with contrasting temperatures.

“Victoria is back,” Alice said, holding Bella tightly in her arms. “She’s been nosing around, like she was before we came back,” Alice continued, her vampire ears detecting an increase in Bella’s heartbeat.

Bella shuddered a little. That must have been why she felt like she was being watched. Victoria was stalking her again. Watching, waiting for an opportunity to kill her and make Edward suffer, just like she had suffered when Edward killed her mate, James, in order to stop him from killing her.

“I’ve felt her,” Bella said quietly. “I’ve felt like I was being watched.”

Alice exhaled, her sweet breath tickling Bella’s neck in a familiar way that actually comforted her for a moment.

“Yes, that’s probably part of it,” Alice said, her hand rubbing against Bella’s stomach absently.

“What do you mean ‘part of it’?” Bella asked, craning her head so that she could see Alice’s face.

Alice sighed deeply turned her head to meet Bella’s gaze.

“We’ve been watching you too,” Alice said. “When Edward or I aren’t around, the rest of the family has been keeping an eye on you … and Charlie,” she continued glancing away for a moment. “Rose was watching you at the store before I came to pick you up, and Emmett’s watching Charlie now,” she said glancing up to look at the sky as it burned violently above them, orange and red and brown fighting of dominance as night slowly approached. “Esme was watching him earlier, and Jasper will be on watch tomorrow,” she finished turning to face Bella once more.

Bella’s jaw clenched and she blinked rapidly, trying to control her rising anger. It was no wonder she felt like she was being watched all of the time. She was! She had been under constant surveillance and Alice and Edward had been lying to her about it. She had thought that she was going crazy, and early on she had very nearly blamed Jake for stalking her, but the entire time it had been her second family that was to blame.

“Why am I only finding out about his now?” Bella asked, unable to keep all of the anger she was feeling out of her voice.

“Edward didn’t want to scare you,” Alice murmured, her voice hesitant as if she knew exactly how Bella was going to react to her statement.

“This is what I was talking about in the car!” Bella exclaimed angrily. “Edward is not the boss of me! This is my life! My life and I deserve to know what the hell is going on in it,” Bella continued, struggling in Alice’s arms until Alice released her hold on her. “Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked, turning around so that she was facing Alice, her eyes flashing.

“I wanted to,” Alice murmured. She agreed with everything Jacob had said earlier. Bella would have been scared, but she knew that Bella was strong enough to deal with it, and she was fairly certain that it would have been easier to protect her if she knew that she was in danger. But Edward …

“Then why didn’t you?” Bella shot at her.

“He … he’s mad enough at me, Bella,” Alice said looking over at the younger woman beseechingly. “He barely even looks at me,” she whispered, her voice incredibly pained. “I didn’t want to give him even more reason to detest me. I hoped that if I supported him on this that maybe … I don’t know, maybe it would make things a little better between us. He barely even looks at me,” Alice repeated, her eyes closing as she dropped her head down.

Bella stared at Alice for a moment and then moved forward, her ire evaporating in the face of Alice’s distress. She didn’t like that she had been kept in the dark, but she understood why Alice had gone along with it, and could sympathize with her feelings on the matter. Alice and Edward had been so close before, and while Alice didn’t talk about it much, she knew that the rift that had formed between them once he had found about their relationship had deeply upset her.

“Okay,” Bella said softly, taking Alice’s hand in hers. “Okay,” she said shifting on the hood again, moving forward, settling herself between Alice’s legs again as a peace offering. “Why was Jacob waiting by the store?” she asked as Alice wrapped her arms around her once more.

“He wanted to tell you about Victoria,” Alice responded, the gratitude she felt for the renewed physical contact clear in her voice. “He wasn’t sure if we were watching out for you or not,” she continued. “But I think that mostly he just wanted you to know. He … he seemed to know that Edward wouldn’t have told you, and he just wanted to make sure that you knew.”

Bella closed her eyes, her heart warming at the thought. Jacob was always honest with her. He never treated her with kid gloves. She missed that now that Edward was back. She missed having someone trust that she knew what she was doing, and that she could take care of herself. Even Alice, considerate and understanding as she was sometimes treated her like she was made of glass, and it could be incredibly frustrating.

“Bella,” Alice said softly, a few minutes after Bella had failed to respond to her previous statement.

She brushed her lips against Bella’s shoulder a moment after she spoke, her tone and actions hesitant and apologetic.

Bella sighed and concentrated, forcing her body to relax until she was leaning heavily against Alice’s body, allowing the vampire to support her weight.

“You two were joking with other,” Bella said, her lips curving up a little as she remembered Alice saying ‘Nice dog, good boy” and Jacob’s answering smile.

She had been a little worried when she had heard Alice say that, but she realized now that they had found some common ground by that point, and were testing each other to see just how cool the other really was.

“Don’t get your hopes up,” Alice mumbled though her tone was brighter than before. “We’re not exactly about to sit up all night playing Dream Phone, or listening to the Jonas Brothers while we braid each others hair.”

Bella cocked her head to the side curiously, trying to picture that before she laughed softly, her body shaking in Alice’s arms.

“You know, they do make skinny jeans look good,” Bella murmured, laughing again as Alice snorted behind her.

“I make skinny jeans look good,” Alice muttered.

Bella couldn’t argue with that.

“I told you he wasn’t such a bad guy,” Bella said softly, her voice more serious as she brought the conversation back around to Jake.

Alice made a soft sound in her throat. “No, he doesn’t seem to be,” she breathed out finally, pressing her lips against Bella’s cheek. “It’s a shame about the smell though,” she murmured, her lips curving up a little.

“You know, I think he’d say the same thing about you,” Bella replied smiling.

Jacob hadn’t exactly been fond of Alice’s scent either.

“Perish the thought!” Alice declared in mock horror. “I’m intoxicating! I’m … I’m like an apple cinnamon candle, mixed with lilac and … baby’s hair right after a bath. A bath full of orange blossoms,” Alice continued smiling as Bella’s body shook with laugher in her arms.

“Baby’s hair right after a bath,” Bella repeated still laughing. “Your brain is a strange place sometimes, Tink,” she declared, tilting her head to the side, giving Alice better access to her neck as the raven-haired beauty, pressed kisses to the warm flesh.

Alice sighed in faux sorrow. “I knew I should have gone with ‘the smell of rain falling on a late-September slash early-October evening’.”

Bella grinned.

“Weirdo,” she whispered happily.

And then she shifted in Alice’s arms so that she could reach the vampire’s lips with her own.

“Eh, nobody’s perfect,” Alice sighed into Bella’s mouth, her hands moving up and down Bella’s back as the younger woman deepened the kiss.

“You’re close enough,” Bella murmured, and that was the last thing either of them said for a while.

To be continued…

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

hyperandblonde.livejournal.com

You.

Are brilliant. As always. And here I was a few hours ago skimming around thinking "I wonder when we'll have another Bells and Al update..." And we did. I love you for reading my mind, among other things.

Awesome chapter. I always thought Alice and Jake could be rather good friends.
I also love how nonchalent the physical contact between Alice and Bella is now. Its amazing. Like you and your writing amazing. Which is pretty damn amazing.

From:

Best Damn Tapper!

Fic: The Edge (Twilight, Alice/Bella 19/?)

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