fembuck | Fic: The Edge (Twilight, Alice/Bella 20/?)

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: Bella has learned that there are people watching her, and now she learns that she should be afraid of the dark.

Previous chapters here

Bella rested her head on Alice’s shoulder contentedly, her eyes idly watching Alice’s hand as her thumb pressed the ‘4’ button on her cell phone.

They had left the clearing where they had parked to talk ten minutes before and were almost at her house. She was looking forward to disappearing upstairs with Alice and just laying together for a while. The talk they’d had that afternoon after a long day at work had tired her out, and she just wanted to snuggle with her favorite vampire pillow.

“Hey,” Alice said into the receiver. “I’m not saying that,” Alice groaned. “No, I’m not. It’s stupid Em,” she continued rolling her eyes. “Oh for the love of … Iceman this is Tiny Dancer, do you read?” Alice finally muttered.

Beside her Bella started to chuckle and Alice couldn’t help but smile a little as well.

“We’re almost there. Yeah … yeah, just take off when you see the car. No … Charlie might be watching … don’t want him wondering why we have an escort. Yeah, right here … uh huh, I know, I know. Oh, cause he loves me so much right now anyway. Yeah … yeah, alright. Bye … I mean, over,” Alice said flipping the phone closed a moment later.

“Tiny Dancer,” Bella said laughing as Alice put the phone away.

“I didn’t pick it,” Alice complained defensively.

“What would you have picked if you could have?” Bella asked curiously, seeing Alice’s body relax beside her.

“Holly Golightly,” Alice responded without hesitation, sounding quite pleased with herself.

“Does that make me Fred?” Bella asked tilting her head up so that she could see Alice’s smiling face.

“Ooh, new nickname,” Alice said happily.

“I’m sorry I ever learned how to speak,” Bella murmured, the only thing offering her any comfort at the moment being that Alice was likely to forget about the nickname after a week or so.

Alice laughed and turned her head to the side, bending down to press her lips against the top of Bella’s head.

Bella breathed in and out slowly, happy and relaxed as they pulled up to the house.

“Is Emmett still here?” Bella asked lifting her head off of Alice’s shoulder.

“He just left,” she said her eyes focused on a spot in the darkness. Bella assumed it was where he had been standing when they pulled up, not that it mattered much to her since she couldn’t see the spot anyway.

“So we’re alone out here?” Bella asked unbuckling her seatbelt.

“Just us and the crickets,” Alice responded turning to face Bella, her lips turning up into a smile when she saw the expression on Bella’s face.

“No father’s at the window?” Bella asked.

Alice was silent for a second, concentrating, and then she shook her head.

“Mm, good,” Bella mumbled, and then she was moving, climbing onto Alice’s lap before she pressed her lips against the raven-haired beauties.

“Mm, Bella,” Alice moaned, placing her hands on Bella’s hips as the brunette’s lips trailed across her neck, nipping at the cool skin in a way that always made her purr. “It’s almost nine,” she continued, her chest rumbling as Bella’s teeth scrapped against her throat.

“So?” Bella murmured, her hand inching higher under Alice’s shirt.

“I promised Charlie I’d have you home,” Alice said, her own hand snaking under her shirt to capture Bella’s. “We’ll go straight up to your room,” Alice continued, her voice husky and full of promise as she drew Bella’s hand out from under her shirt.

“Ugh, spoil my fun,” Bella muttered, but she pulled back from Alice, giving her enough room to open up the car door.

“Just delaying it … briefly,” Alice promised, holding Bella’s hand as she climbed off of her and onto the ground. “Besides, it’ll be more fun lying down,” she continued climbing out of the car herself.

“Is that so?” Bella asked arching her eyebrow at Alice.

“More maneuverability,” Alice replied meeting Bella’s gaze, grinning as she wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

“That does sound … fun,” Bella breathed out, her hand slipping into Alice’s.

“The fun …nest,” Alice said, her body going completely still as her head snapped around to the side.

The movement was so fast that Bella almost wanted to reach out and check to see if Alice’s head was still attached.

Alice’s lips curled, revealing her teeth and she shoved Bella behind her.

“Inside, walk quickly,” Alice said her hand on Bella’s stomach pushing her backward as her eyes remained trained on the woods that surrounded the property, her teeth bared as she crouched down.

“What,” Bella began to say.

“Now,” Alice growled.

Bella shut her mouth and turned, walking as quickly as she could towards the door, Alice keeping pace with her even though she was walking backwards, so that she could keep her eyes on the tree line.

“Inside!” Alice barked and then a flash of red streaked across Bella’s field of vision and Alice was gone.

Bella turned and blinked, just able to make out a mass tumbling away from her on the ground.

She breathed in sharply and backed up, pressing herself against the front door. Her eyes focused on the lawn as Alice hopped to her feet and crouched. Victoria was standing in front of her, and they moved together in a circle, growling, occasionally making a movement as if to pounce before they pulled back and continued to circle each other.

Bella jumped, her elbow knocking against the door painfully as she heard what sounded like a clap of thunder.

Bella shivered.

The night sky was clear. She knew that meant one of the women had landed a blow.

Focusing forward again, Bella saw Alice on the ground. She had her feet poised behind her as her finger tips were digging into the soil. She was coiled and ready for action once more, but she had been knocked down by Victoria.

“Get inside, Bella!” Alice yelled, her eyes never moving from Victoria.

Bella fumbled behind her for the door knob and twisted.

It was locked.

Bella’s head swam as her heart thundered in her chest. She needed her keys. She felt her pockets, her eyes closing in frustration.

She had dropped them.

Bella picked up a flash of movement out of the corner of her eyes and turned to look. Alice had launched herself at Victoria and they were both on the ground, rolling and struggling against each other fiercely before Alice managed to climb on top of Victoria.

CRACK!

Bella flinched and shivered.

CRACK!

She could just barely make out Alice’s arms as they rained down on Victoria viciously, pounding her face like an enraged great ape.

Bella turned around to face the door and began to ring the doorbell, pushing it again and again in rapid succession until it opened. She barreled in; ignoring Charlie’s gasp of surprise and shut the door behind her, immediately heading for the window.

“Bella, what’s …” Charlie began as he followed her to the window.

A streak of movement caught his eye however and he stopped talking. There was something moving by the tree line, but he couldn’t see what it was. It was nothing but a blur. He strained forward, his nose practically pressing against the window.

It almost looked like there were two of them.

Charlie turned his head to the side, his eyes spotting Alice’s car in the drive. Immediately, he turned to look behind him, but he knew Alice wasn’t in the house.

A loud noise like thunder sounded again and Charlie looked up.

The sky was as clear as he had ever seen it. There wasn’t even the hint of rain.

Charlie looked towards the trees again. Something had just tumbled out onto the lawn, but before he could register what it was it had hurdled itself back into the bushes.

“Bella,” Charlie said turning his attention to his daughter. “Bella!”

Bella turned to look at him, blinking rapidly.

“Is Alice out there?” he asked.

Bella’s eyes began to pool with tears, and she started to shake. Charlie could just barely make out her nod.

He moved away from the window, and into the living room. Unlocking the drawer to his desk, he took out his gun and moved into the foyer to grab his holster, strapping it on before he headed for the door.

“No! Charlie, no!” Bella said, grasping his arm with both of hers, tugging as hard as she could, trying to hold him back. “Dad!”

“Bella there is some sort of animal out there,” Charlie said trying to shake her off, but she maintained her grip. “Honey, you said Alice is out there. I’m just gonna go get her okay,” Charlie tried, hoping that mentioning Alice would grab her attention. “I’m gonna go get Alice,” he repeated.

Bella shook her head back and forth. She didn’t know how Alice was faring in the fight, but she did know that if Charlie got caught up in the middle of it that Victoria would kill him. Alice was as strong and fast as her opponent. Charlie was just … human, and his gun would do no good against Victoria and her marble skin.

Charlie tried to walk towards the door, but Bella held on. He kept on walking, dragging her with him towards the door.

At the door Charlie stopped and turned around. Reaching out he put his hand over Bella’s and carefully pried her fingers away from his wrist, blocking her hands as they tried to grab at him again.

“Stay here,” Charlie said, stepping out of the door, his hand reaching for his holstered gun. He put a warning finger up in front of Bella and then turned, facing forward, moving towards the spot where he had last seen movement.

“Charlie!” Bella called out, watching him go. She stumbled out onto the porch after him. “Charlie!” she called again. But he kept on walking.

“What are you?” Victoria hissed, favoring her right arm as she circled Alice.

“Better than you,” Alice responded, her lips curving up into a smile.

Her eyes were closed, and despite the blood and dirt covering her face, she looked almost serene.

Victoria growled and her arm shot out.

Eyes still closed, Alice dodged to the side, her leg shooting out catching Victoria in the knee.

Victoria sucked in a deep breath as her knee buckled and quickly stumbled back out of the range of Alice’s feet so that she couldn’t strike her again.

Victoria just barely controlled the urge to howl in frustration. The fight had started out well for her, but about halfway through the little one had started countering all of her moves, blocking them almost before she could even strike. It was as if Alice knew what she was going to do before she did, and she couldn’t catch a break.

Alice stayed crouched, her eyes still closed, waiting for Victoria to decide what to do next.

Victoria had started out the fight striking wildly, impulsively, without thought. But once Alice had landed a couple of blows and Victoria had started to ache and bleed, the redhead had slowed down her attacks. She began to think about what she wanted to do, she began to plan, and when she started thinking about it, Alice was able to see what she was going to do the moment she decided to do it.

It wasn’t much notice, but it was something, and it had certainly helped Alice out.

Victoria struck again and Alice blocked it, taking the opportunity to land her own blow.

“Tonight is not your night,” Alice said softly, her head moving from side to side as Victoria swayed in front of her, angry, raging, and indecisive. “Run. While you still can,” she continued, sharp teeth glinting in the moonlight.

Victoria growled softly.

It was a sound of defeat.

She and Alice were at a stand still. She couldn’t seem to get a drop on the Alice now, but she had injured her earlier in the fight and because of that Alice was unable to press her advantage. And so, they had been dancing around each other for the last few minutes, striking and counter-striking, neither able to gain any ground.

As much as it frustrated her, she knew her opponent was right. They could have stayed in the woods for hours fighting and nothing would have changed. It was a waste of time to continue.

“This isn’t over,” Victoria hissed.

“Of course not,” Alice murmured, opening her eyes. She kept her body crouched and ready to fight, but she knew that Victoria was going to retreat. She had seen it the moment the redhead had realized she couldn’t win the fight.

Victoria stared at her for a second, and then she turned her back to Alice and disappeared into the trees.

Alice remained crouched and battle ready for a minute after she disappeared, waiting to see if she would return, and then she sighed, her shoulders slumping as pain rolled over her.

It had been a long time since she’d had to fight another vampire, which meant that it had been a long time since she had felt physical pain.

Alice pressed her hand against her ribs, wincing slightly as the pressure caused them to throb. She didn’t know how humans did it. Being bruised and battered was a horrible sensation and they seemed to spend most of their lives with something bruised, cut, sprained, twisted, concussed, wrapped or otherwise injured.

Alice lifted her hand to her face, swiping it over her eyes to clear away the blood the running into it from the wound above her eyebrow, and then she began to move forward, towards the house, and Bella.

Bella whimpered as Alice’s figure stumbled out of the bushes and collapsed to the ground. She shivered, and then lurched forward, stumbling off of the porch onto the lawn, her mind barely registering Charlie moving over towards Alice as she broke out into a run.

“Alice,” Bella whispered, hurtling herself onto the ground beside her father.

Alice was kneeling on the grass, her head bowed down. Her body was unnaturally still.

“Oh, Alice,” Bella said again, her voice panicked and anxious.

She moved closer to Alice, reaching out for her tentatively, wrapping her arms around her, pulling her into her body when Alice didn’t resist the touch.

Bella bent her head and kissed the top of Alice’s, mindless of Charlie kneeling less than a meter away from them.

“It’s okay,” Alice said lifting her head. Even as Bella hugged her she could feel her body shaking with fear. Her heartbeat was erratic, and she was sweating. Alice was worried she was going to have a panic attack, and tried her best to reassure her.

Bella gasped; her hand flying to her mouth as she took in the damage that had been done to Alice’s face.

There were three long, nasty looking gashes above Alice’s left eyebrow. It looked like she had been slashed by animal claws, and the wounds had coated the entire left side of her face in blood. Dirt was spackled all over her face, and her right eye was bruised and swollen – almost shut. There was another smaller gash on her right cheek, and her lip was split, a small trail of blood trickling from it, leaving a trail of red down to her chin.

“Jesus,” Charlie whispered, eying Alice’s injuries with almost as much horror as Bella was.

He had seen people pretty smashed up in his days, both on force and through playing sports and bar fights, but it had been quite some time since he had seen a woman with her face looking like that, let alone a teenage girl.

“Alice I’m going to call an ambulance,” he said, forcing himself into his official Police Chief voice. “You’re going to be okay.”

“No,” Bella said as Alice’s lips parted to respond. “No ambulance,” she said shaking her head at Charlie.

“Bella, what are you talking about?” Charlie asked his eyes narrowing as he stared at her, dumbfounded. “She needs medical attention, and I don’t want to move her with a head wound like that.”

“It’s not so bad Charlie,” Alice said, forcing a smile onto her face as she looked over at him. “Head wounds bleed a lot. I don’t even feel dizzy. Really,” she insisted, gently untangling herself from Bella’s arms.

She stood up and spread her arms out in front of her.

“See? I could even touch my nose with my index finger if you want,” she continued, shooting him a playful smirk before doing just that.

“I …” Charlie said before trailing off, genuinely surprised to see her on her feet and joking.

“Call Carlisle please,” Alice said requested softly. “The hospital will end up calling him in anyway,” she continued. “Despite Carlisle being a doctor I don’t really like hospitals and I’m not that badly hurt. I’ll just end up going home with him anyway.”

“I …” Charlie tried again.

“Please Dad,” Bella interjected, cutting him off. “Carlisle can be here just as soon as an ambulance, and if he thinks she really badly off then he can call one. I mean, look at her,” Bella said waving at Alice. “She’s hardly on her death bed.”

“Fine,” Charlie said standing as well. “Fine,” he added in a more exasperated tone, not really happy with the situation even though he was going along with it. “Let’s get you into the house at least,” he said to Alice, moving to her side to help her to the house.

“Thanks Charlie,” Alice said, allowing him to half carry her even though she was capable of walking on her own. It would make him feel better, and it would be less suspicious. She knew she was already acting far too capable for someone who had the injuries she appeared to have.

“Yeah, yeah,” Charlie murmured, though he did look down and give her a weak smile.

Bella took up the spot on Alice’s other side, her hand immediately slipping in to her lovers, and together the three of them made their way into the house.

Fifteen Minutes Later

Bella’s foot tapped compulsively on the floor as she kept her eyes focused on the couch. Carlisle was leaning beside it while Alice lay on it. Their heads were bowed together, and they were talking softly. She couldn’t make out what they were saying, but she suspected that everyone else in the room – besides herself and Charlie that was – could hear everything clear as crystal.

Bella shivered slightly as she felt a cool hand brush against her own.

Apprehensively, she turned her head to the side, her body relaxing when she saw Jasper standing beside her. She had thought that it might have been Edward trying to comfort her again. Almost as soon as he’d arrived in the house he’d started trying to cocoon her in his arms, but she didn’t want to be held and cooed at like a baby. Alice had been attacked and hurt and she wanted to be able to worry about her without being made to feel like a foolish child.

“It’s really not as bad as it looks,” Jasper said softly, his eyes trained on the couch as he spoke. “She’ll be fine,” he said, his voice confident though his eyes were worried and sad as he watched the two figures by the couch.

“How can you be sure?” Bella asked, Jasper’s worry about Alice oddly making her feel better about her own. Jasper was a vampire and knew much better than her whether Alice’s injuries were serious or not, and if he felt anxious about the state she was in then there was no reason for her to try and pretend like she wasn’t worried.

After all, she’d never seen a vampire injured before. Before Alice’s altercation with Victoria it had never really occurred to her that the Cullen’s could really be hurt, that they could bleed, and ache, bruise. Her world had just been turned topsy turvy. There was no reason why she shouldn’t be anxious.

“We heal quickly,” Jasper said turning his gaze to Bella. “She’ll be good as new once she feeds,” he continued, holding Bella’s eyes so that she could see how serious he was. “Really, in a few hours you won’t even be able to tell she was hurt.”

“For real?” Bella asked hopefully, her hand unconsciously clutching Jasper’s. The feel of the cool appendage against her made her feel a little better, it reminded her of Alice.

“For real,” Jasper said, smiling, squeezing her hand gently. “She’s angrier than she is worried.”

“Angry?” Bella asked looking over towards the couch. “Why?”

“At herself,” Jasper responded, following Bella’s gaze back over to Alice, “for almost letting Victoria get the drop on you.”

“But,” Bella began, her voice trailing off as she saw Edward’s back stiffen where he was leaning against the wall. She realized that he was listening in on their conversation, or perhaps scanning Jasper’s mind, and that he was blaming Alice for what happened too.

“She saved me. There was nothing else she could do,” Bella said, her voice still lowered so that her father wouldn’t overhear, but loud enough that she knew Edward could.

“Logic isn’t really a factor when it comes to the people we love,” Jasper cut in, squeezing Bella’s hand again. She felt a calming wave wash over her and realized that Jasper must have picked up on her irritation with Edward and was trying to soothe her. “Even if the fight had lasted ten seconds and Victoria had limped away whimpering, she still would have been mad at herself for letting Victoria even get that close to you.”

“Yeah,” Jasper sighed drawing Bella’s eyes over to him.

They held each others eyes for a moment, and Bella began to feel awkward. She and Jasper interacted, but it was usually very brief, and as a rule they tended to avoid Alice as a topic of conversation. Jasper had been very understanding of her relationship with Alice, and – unlike how Edward had been treating Alice – Jasper had been nothing but polite and kind to her. But, as always when they spent too much time together she began to feel like an interloper. She began to feel like a heel, a home-wrecker and she wondered how Jasper could possibly be so … nice.

“Very silly at times,” Jasper said a few seconds later, though it seemed like much longer to Bella. “She’s cute though,” he continued, his lips curving up in a smile as Bella turned to look at him.

Bella held his gaze for a moment and then smiled back, appreciating the responding wave of serenity that Jasper sent to her.

“I’m still all knotted up,” Bella admitted when the moment passed, though she knew that she was more at ease than she had been before.

“So am I,” Jasper told her, before directing his gaze towards Alice once more.

Bella stared at his profile for a moment and then turned her eyes back to the couch as well. And so they continued their vigil over the woman that owned both of their hearts, Bella’s hand securely held in Jasper’s all the while.

Carlisle stood and all of the eyes in the room turned to him.

“She’s fine,” he said reassuringly. Bella was sure that the words were mostly for Charlie’s benefit. “She’s banged up, and has got a pretty nasty cut there. But it’s nothing too serious. Some Advil, a few stitches, a couple band aids and some hydrogen peroxide, and she’ll be almost as good as new.”

“It looks pretty bad,” Charlie mumbled moving closer to the couch.

“Head wounds,” Carlisle sighed. “They bleed quite a bit,” he continued shaking his head. “Don’t you worry, I’ll take good care of her.”

Charlie nodded and stepped back, his eyes still on Alice’s tiny, bloody frame.

“Emmett,” Carlisle said turning his attention to the largest of his children. “Take her out to the car?” he requested. “Gently,” he added.

Emmett knew that Alice wasn’t badly hurt and Carlisle didn’t want him to throw her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. They had to all appear to be extremely worried while in Charlie’s presence.

“You got it, Pop,” Emmett responded moving over to Alice. Slowly, and gently he picked her up, cradling her in his arms like a little baby. “Up we go … Tiny Dancer,” he said smiling down at her.

“Ugh, can I get some morphine now?” Alice asked rolling her good eye at him. “Emmett’s jokes are worse than the beating.”

Emmett glared down at her. “Have you put on weight?” he asked pretending to struggle with her body.

“Emmett, really,” Esme sighed moving over to their side. “Alice is hurt. She doesn’t need you making fun.”

“Yeah, but …” Emmett started but Esme raised her finger.

“The car … without the comedic stylings,” she said pointing in the direction of the door.

“Yes ma’am,” Emmett sighed, giving Alice the stink-eye as she smiled up at him sweetly.

Carefully, Emmett began to make his way towards the door.

“Dr. Cullen,” Charlie began once Emmett and Alice were out of the room.

“Carlisle, please,” Carlisle said looking up at Charlie, before going back to closing up his field bag.

“I’m going to have to talk to Alice,” Charlie began sounding deeply uncomfortable, “about what happened in the woods.”

Carlisle nodded and stood up once again.

“Yes, of course,” he responded meeting Charlie’s eyes, his expression as serious as Bella had ever seen it. “I … of course I want you to find out who did this to,” he paused there, his voice cracking and he looked down at the ground for a second.

Bella gaped at him, wondering if the other Cullen’s were as good at lying and acting as Alice and Carlisle were. Somehow she didn’t think Emmett was.

“If you could wait until morning, however, it would be greatly appreciated. She’s still in shock but very soon the experience is going to hit home and …”

“Of course,” Charlie said nodding. “I understand completely. I’ll call.”

Carlisle tipped his head thankfully and then turned to look around the room at his family. They began to stir then, pushing away from the walls they had been resting against or the chairs they had been sitting in, and Bella knew that they were getting ready to leave.

“Charlie,” Bella said stepping forward, her hand falling from Jasper’s.

“Go,” Charlie said already knowing that Bella was going to ask to go with them.

“Thank you,” Bella said, intensely grateful that she didn’t have to fight with him over it. She was drained as it was, and fighting with Charlie probably would have caused her to collapse into tears.

She moved over to him and flung her arms around him, hugging him fiercely. “Thank you,” she whispered again.

Charlie kissed her cheek and patted her shoulder.

Esme moved behind Bella and placed her hand on the small of her back.

“Call me … if you need anything,” Charlie said as Bella began to move towards the door with Esme.

“I will,” Bella said turning around to face him. “I promise.”

And with that she continued through the door and disappeared into the night.

To be continued …

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Fic: The Edge (Twilight, Alice/Bella 20/?)

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