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Fic: The Edge (Twilight, Alice/Bella 26/?)
Title: The Edge
Author: Janine
Fandom: Twilight
Pairing: Alice/Bella
Rating: NC-17
Disclaimer: All characters are owned by Stephanie Meyer. I’m just borrowing them.
Summary: Bella and Alice spend some time together, and reflect on the changes in their lives.
Previous chapters here
---
A Week Later
Bella looked up from the book she had been reading and allowed her eyes to scan her small room, which was presently in a state of organized chaos. She had inherited her father’s organizational skills instead of her mothers, and even though the move to Seattle for University wasn’t for over a month, Bella had begun to stockpile some items she’d need like soaps and shampoos and box them, as well as beginning to pack up some of the personal belonging she only used occasionally, in an attempt to lessen the amount of preparation she’d need to do when it got closer to actual moving date.
She was beginning to wish she wasn’t so organized however, because seeing the boxes around her room was beginning to depress her and freak her out. The boxes and bare spots on her shelves made the move seem more imminent than it was. They made it seem real, and the more she thought about it, the more anxious she became about the whole thing.
She liked her life. She liked how things were, right that moment. She didn’t want things to change, because she couldn’t fathom how they could possibly change for the better.
She had a pretty good set up in Forks. She had Angela and Jacob, and occasionally even Mike to hang around with. Things between her and Charlie were better than ever. Her home away from home was just fifteen minutes down the road. She got to see Alice everyday, and sleep in the same bed as her every other night. And, now that Charlie knew about her relationship with Alice, she could even hold her girlfriends hand in the house.
Hers was, at the moment, a very idyllic existence.
Logically, Bella knew that her life didn’t have to, and probably wouldn’t, change too drastically. Even though she wouldn’t see them as much in person, she could still talk to Jake and Angela (though probably not Mike) on the phone and through email. She knew that her moving out wouldn’t sever the connection she had made with Charlie over the past two years. And, the Cullen’s would be moving to Seattle, so she would still see them often as well.
However, even knowing those things, she couldn’t help but be anxious sometimes when she thought about going away to school.
Alice had tried to assure her that everything would be fine, that she would love the less structured system of schooling, that she would love not having to cook for herself or anyone else, that she would meet tons of interesting people, that she would be introduced to all kinds of new ideas and perspectives that would make her mind swim.
And Bella believed Alice, she did. She always bet on her girlfriend. But, Alice had admitted that her visions of Bella’s University life where vague, hazy, more of a vignette than a detailed story of what was to come and that being true, Bella couldn’t stop herself from worrying.
She knew that she would be in an apartment style dorm so space wouldn’t be an issue, and she knew that she would have her own room with a lock and door, so she’d be able to maintain her privacy. But she couldn’t stop herself from wondering about things like:
Would she like her roommate?
Would her roommate like her?
Would her roommate have a problem with her relationship with Alice?
Where would she and Alice spend their free time when Charlie’s living room wasn’t an option anymore?
Would Alice want to hang around the apartment with her or would she find it juvenile?
Would the etiquette police come after her if she started out the year having a ‘sleepover’ guest?
Would they have to start spending more time over at the Cullen’s to get some privacy?
No, they couldn’t do that because Jasper would still be living there, and while the two of them had adopted a ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy towards anything that had to do with Alice when they interacted with each other, that would have been asking for far, far too much understanding.
Besides, could it even be considered privacy with Emmett and Rose in the house (probably listening)?
If the Cullen’s house was out, and her room was out would they have to start going to hotels (probably pretty nice ones because Alice was a princess that way) in order to have alone time together?
Would Carlisle object to paying those bills?
Did she even want Carlisle to know about that kind of bill?
Would Charlie end up eating at the diner or ordering pizza every night instead of utilizing the user friendly cookbook she was preparing for him?
“Lucy, I’m home!”
Bella’s head turned to the side as Alice’s melodic voice registered with her, a slow smile stretching across her lips.
She let the endless litany of questions that had been swirling through her brain fade away, and placed the book she had been reading on the bed. She threw her legs over the edge of the bed and stood.
“You’re late,” Bella drawled as Alice slipped into the room and began to make her way towards her.
“I was hunting,” Alice said softly, golden honey eyes regarding Bella warmly as the younger brunette moved over to her and then gathered her in her arms.
“Why?” Bella asked as her arms wrapped around Alice. She breathed in deeply, taking in her lover’s scent, the smell causing a shiver of contentment to pulse through her. “You just hunted a few days ago,” Bella continued, somewhat distracted as Alice’s hand began to caress her back.
Usually the Cullen’s only had to hunt every two weeks or so. She knew that when she and Alice had first become lovers that Alice had hunted more than usual, but for the last month or so she had seemed to go back to a more regular pattern, only hunting once a week.
“I did,” Alice agreed smiling as she brushed her lips against Bella’s cheek. “But …” she continued trailing off soon after.
“But what?” Bella asked pulling back to look at her curiously.
“Charlie’s poker game is going to run pretty late,” Alice said.
Bella was silent for a moment, waiting for Alice to add more, but more was not to come.
“Okay,” Bella finally breathed out, her tone curious and hesitant.
If Alice said that the poker game was going to run late, then Bella believed that it was going to run late. She just didn’t understand why that had compelled Alice to go hunting.
“We have the house all to ourselves,” Alice said softly, the timber of her voice dropping minutely, but in a way that caught Bella’s attention.
They’d always had to be careful not to make too much noise in the past when they were together in the house, but since Charlie had found out that they were dating, Bella had been extra paranoid about him hearing them, and they’d had to be even more cautious.
As well, since finding out about them, Charlie had severely cut back on late shifts and was even more hesitant to stay out late – no doubt assuming that they’d use the opportunities to indulge in some sinful touching in his absence, which was exactly what they would have done.
That meant that it’d been quite a while since they’d been able to make love to each other freely – not to mention vocally – and Alice wanted to make the most of the opportunity while they could.
“Oh,” Bella breathed out knowing exactly what was on Alice’s mind.
Her eyes dropped immediately and began to run over Alice’s body. The raven-haired beauty was wearing a dark trench coat that Bella had never seen before, which left the lower part of her calves revealed. The coat was parted at the top, and the tantalizing ‘v’ it created hinted at the pale cleavage below in the most enticing way.
Bella licked her lips.
“I went hunting,” Alice said, drawing Bella’s attention up to her eyes, which were now darker, almost copper coloured, “because I plan to make the most of this … rare occasion,” Alice purred.
She moved her hands then to the belt holding the coat together, and in that instant, Bella knew that Alice wasn’t wearing anything underneath it.
“How?” she asked her voice breathy and weak as she looked back up at Alice.
“Showing is so much more fun than telling,” Alice responded with a smile.
Then, with a flick of her wrist, she undid the belt and rolled her shoulders back, allowing the coat to slide from her body and pool at her feet.
---
Bella’s heart thundered in her chest as Alice’s hand trailed roughly up her thigh. She knew that Alice was barely using a fraction of her strength, but the caress was much rougher than she usually employed, and it made Bella quiver.
She loved it when Alice was in a mood like this. She suspected that she shouldn’t. That it was her strange lack of an instinct for self-preservation at work again, but when Alice looked at her and touched her with that nearly wild look in her eyes, Bella dripped.
“I shouldn’t be touching you in a mood like this,” Alice breathed out, her nails racking along Bella’s hips, the touch hard enough to feel, but not to draw blood. Alice was always very careful not to draw blood.
“I don’t care if you’re already dead, I’ll find a way to murder you if you stop,” Bella replied, her eyes holding Alice’s.
Alice always said things like that when she was in a more aggressive mood, but she never actually left. Bella knew that if Alice came to her room and started to touch her that Alice was certain that she would be able to control herself. If there had been any doubt in Alice’s mind about whether or not she would lose control she would have stayed away.
Alice smiled, and then laughed softly, her eyes lightening in colour for a moment before she lowered her head to kiss Bella.
The touch started off slow and gentle, but Alice soon deepened the kiss, the contact becoming harder and more ardent as her body shifted against Bella’s restlessly.
Bella smiled and allowed her hands to begin roaming over Alice’s body.
Alice was wet already. Bella could feel it and she knew that Alice’s vision of Charlie being away at the poker game had come to her very early on in the day, and that Alice had been thinking about what they were going to do that night for hours and hours, getting herself incredibly worked up.
Bella’s hands moved over Alice’s back and down to her ass, squeezing the firm cool globes in a way that made Alice moan and nuzzle her cheek against Bella’s.
It was one of the ways Alice controlled the urge to nip at her, and it always made Bella flush with affection and desire.
Alice shifted slightly, moving her head down so that she could kiss Bella’s shoulders and chest.
Being around Bella’s neck was too tempting, but she needed her lips on Bella’s body.
Bella felt her head beginning to swim as Alice’s lips moved over her shoulders and collarbone, licking and trailing haphazardly across the skin as her hand trailed up her side, nails digging lightly into her as Alice’s hand made its way up to her breast.
She squeezed the globes of Alice’s ass again, her body thrumming as Alice moaned against her. The sound sent of shot of electricity straight to the apex of her thighs and Bella felt her sex throb and clench in the most delightful way.
Impulsively, without even consciously thinking of it, Bella’s fingers dipped between cheeks of Alice’s bum. Alice shivered at the touch, and when Bella’s fingers brushed over the puckered ring hidden back there, Alice’s hips jerked into her and she pressed her head against Bella’s shoulder and groaned.
Bella’s fingers stilled, and Alice lifted her head and pulled back to look down at Bella. Her eyes were wide and dark as she gazed down at the younger brunette, and her bottom lip was firmly ensnared between her teeth as she watched Bella contemplatively.
Bella watched Alice watch her. She had no idea what the vampire was thinking, and as the silence went on she began to worry.
“Sorry,” Bella said murmured, her hand sliding from where it had been resting on the firm globe of Alice’s ass up to her hip. “I didn’t mean to … I shouldn’t have … I …”
Alice blinked and then released her lip, a rough breath following a second later.
“You don’t have to be sorry,” Alice said softly, her eyes regarding Bella warmly even though they were inky black. “You just surprised me,” she continued gently, her lips curving up into a smile.
“Good surprised or bad surprised?” Bella asked, though the smile that was still on Alice’s lips gave her a strong indication what her lovers answer would be.
“Good surprised,” Alice said softly. “I liked it,” she said leaning down to press a kiss against Bella’s jaw. “I liked it a lot.”
Bella’s thumb began to stroke Alice’s hip as she considered her lover’s words.
At first, Bella had just been happy to be invited to the party and had been so thrilled to be touching Alice in anyway, that couldn’t possible conceive of any way their lovemaking could be any more incredible. But as Alice’s control had strengthened, and Bella had become more comfortable being naked around Alice, and touching her, and voicing her desires to Alice, they had begun to branch out more.
One night, as they lay together, Bella trying to catch her breath after Alice had demonstrated just how much she had been looking forward to seeing her, Alice had leaned over the edge of her bed to dig around in the purse she had brought with her. She had rummaged around for a few seconds, and when she pulled back up a small black vibrator lay nestled in her hand. Bella had stared at it for a second before her eyes had drifted back up to Alice’s, and Alice had smiled at her and wiggled her eyebrows playfully before resting her hand on Bella’s hip, breathing out “just a thought”.
It was a thought Bella liked, and she had leaned forward, kissing Alice softly as her hand moved to stroke the one Alice held the vibrator in. Still kissing Alice, she had then slowly guided their hands between her legs and whispered, “I like the way your mind works.”
After that night the vibrator had become a good friend of theirs that visited them on numerous occasions. And, since then, an accident while Bella was eating ice-cream in her bed at lead to Bella eating ice-cream off of Alice, and to Alice’s scarf collection becoming handy as a blindfold for Alice, and on one particularly adventurous night, as make-shift handcuffs for Bella.
However, until a couple minutes before, Bella had never entertained the idea of … but now there was the opportunity to try … and Alice certainly seemed willing to let her … and she had been kind of curious about … in fact the idea had always left her feeling kind of … tingly … but …
“Won’t it hurt?” Bella asked thinking out loud, her cheeks flushing pink a second after the question left her mouth.
Alice saw the blush, and brushed her lips against Bella’s again, kissing her softly until she felt Bella begin to relax once more.
“No,” she said softly, against Bella’s mouth, “not if it’s done right,” she purred, her eye lashes fluttering against Bella’s cheek.
“Have you done this before?” Bella asked knowing that the answer was probably yes. Alice had been alive for a long time, and she’d had a lot of nights to fill.
“Do you really want me to answer that?” Alice asked, running her nose across Bella’s cheek.
Bella thought about it for a minute. They didn’t have much cause to talk a lot about Alice’s past sexual activity, but Alice was one-hundred and seven years old, and had been married/coupled/partnered for a least the last sixty years, and Bella was quite aware that meant that Alice was extremely experienced.
She didn’t really like to think about Jasper and Alice having sex. It led to unpleasant mental images and stirred up feelings of jealousy that were useless and counterproductive. But, she knew that they had done it a lot in the past, and that they were likely still doing it, and, well, knowing that and having accepted that – for the most part – there was really no reason for Alice not to respond.
“Yes,” Bella said finally.
Alice nodded and murmured, “Then, yes,” in response to Bella’s question, a slight purr registering in her voice.
“And you liked it?” Bella asked, pleased that her body thrummed with excitement instead of jealousy at the response; pleased that even though she hadn’t been responsible for Alice’s pleasurable memory, that the thought of Alice aroused and excited couldn’t help but arouse and excite her too.
Bella’s hand moved restlessly, caressing Alice’s side as it slowly inched behind her.
“Yes,” Alice said again, her purr more pronounced as she bit her bottom lip.
“Do you want me to …” Bella said, blushing again as she looked up at Alice inquisitively.
“Only if you want to,” Alice said softly, her eyes serious as she held Bella’s gaze. “You certainly don’t have to,” she added quietly, her eyes unwavering as she looked at Bella.
“But you’d like it if,” Bella replied, her fingers grazing the curve of Alice’s ass once more.
Alice’s eyes closed and her body trembled slightly.
“Bella,” she breathed out opening her eyes again. “I’ll like whatever you want to do,” she said softly. “Trust me,” she continued winking at Bella as a slow smile spread across her face.
“You already know what I’m going to do, don’t you?” Bella asked pouting a little as she gazed up at Alice.
Alice shook her head. “No, not really,” she admitted. “I know the options you’re toying with though,” she continued, her lips curving up again. “And all of them are very, very nice,” she went on, running her hand up and down Bella’s side.
Bella was silent for a moment. She believed Alice when she said that she would get pleasure from whatever she choose to do, but she also remembered the excited moan Alice had given when she had first touched her back there and the way her hips had jerked uncontrollably at the touch.
Alice would like anything she did, but she’d like that most.
They had never talked about it much, but Bella knew that Alice had to exercise a lot of control when they were together, and she suspected that there were quite a few things Alice wouldn’t have minded doing that she held off on, or had to dial back because they might hurt her.
This was one thing Bella could do however; it was one desire of Alice’s that she could satisfy before being turned.
“How do I do it, right?” Bella asked.
Alice chewed on her bottom lip for a moment, her eyes burning into Bella’s and then she smiled, her hand moving around to grasp Bella’s, drawing it between her legs.
---
Bella watched, mesmerized, as Alice moved beneath her, still stunned after all of this time by the vampire’s beauty.
Alice was breathtaking all of the time, but it was at moments like that – naked, her body glittering in the moonlight, breasts swaying; her face a mask of pleasure – that Bella thought her heart could stop from the beauty; that she truly believed that she could die from the sheer exquisiteness of Alice’s beauty.
Bella reached out with her free arm, running her hand over Alice’s cool, taut stomach, and then over her small, pert breasts, caressing, and kneading and squeezing as her fingers pumped inside of Alice.
It felt different, being inside of Alice this way, but it was an extremely pleasant kind of different. She was excited beyond belief and she knew that when Alice came that she would too, that the feel of Alice’s muscles clenching at her fingers, and the soft breathy pants that she would release, would take her over the edge with Alice.
Bella leaned down, pressing her lips against Alice’s, kissing her slowly and deeply as they moved together, their bodies bathed in the pale glow of the moon, glistening and glittering as they strained together.
Bella’s tongue brushed against a sharp canine tooth, her brain barely registering her fact that Alice’s fangs had dropped before Alice ripped her mouth away from Bella’s, angling her head to the side as her hands gripped the sheets bunched at her side.
Bella chewed on her bottom lip, careful not to break the skin or bruise it too much, as she watched Alice’s eyes flutter shut. She knew that Alice was close to coming, her fangs only ever showed when she was nearing to orgasm, and the way she was gripping the sheets indicated that she was very close as well.
“Bella,” Alice gasped, the word caught somewhere between breathy exclamation and growl.
Her chest was vibrating as a constant, keening purr radiated from deep within her. Bella pressed her lips against Alice’s jaw, needing to kiss her even though she couldn’t risk going near her mouth. As always, the sound of Alice’s purr sent an electric thrill straight to Bella’s sex.
Bella moaned and bite at Alice’s jaw before pressing her lips against the column of her throat, her mouth alternating between nipping and sucking at the cool skin there.
“Bell …” Alice rasped, her eyes squeezing shut. However, before she could finish saying her lovers name she began to crash over the edge.
Alice’s hips bucked and her lips parted in a silent cry. Her back arched, and her body began to shake, her inner-muscles clenching at Bella’s fingers as Bella pressed against her and shivered, dying a little bit herself.
---
An Hour Later
Alice wrapped her arm around Bella’s body, pulling the younger brunette against her before sighing contently. The fire that had been burning inside of her all day had finally cooled, and she could enjoy being close to Bella again without wanting to rip her clothes off, or dive between her legs.
“Are you sleepy?” Alice asked.
“Uh uh,” Bella said shaking her head as much as she could in the position she was in. “But you keep your hands to yourself,” she added a moment later, when Alice rubbed against her.
Alice smiled against her bare back, and nodded obediently.
Bella may not have been sleepy, but she was tuckered out. Bella usually kept up with her so well that Alice sometimes had to force herself to remember that Bella didn’t have endless stamina, like she did.
“How did it go this afternoon?” Bella asked as Alice stroked her stomach lightly, the touch intended to soothe now instead of arouse.
“It was short,” Alice said sighing a little.
“Were you having trouble?” Bella asked curiously, trying to keep the note of anxiousness out of her voice. Alice had told her that Carlisle said the lessons were going quite well, and that she would probably be ready sooner than they had thought. The news had excited her, and she was worried that there might be a delay.
“No,” Alice said. “We just got interrupted,” she continued shifting a little uncomfortably. “A call came after we started. From Edward,” she added after a pause.
“Oh,” Bella breathed out softly, and then she was shifting in Alice’s arms, turning around so that she could see her. “How is he?” she asked, the familiar guilt she felt whenever Edward’s name was mentioned rising inside of her.
She didn’t think she would ever be able to forget the way he had looked the last time she had seen him.
Bella’s eyes fluttered open, her brain distantly registering the touch of icy fingers on her cheek.
When her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she jerked back in surprise before forcing herself to relax as she looked at Edward’s sad, perfect face.
“Edward,” she breathed out, some of the surprise she felt showing in her voice.
When she had gone to sleep a few hours earlier, Alice had been lying beside her.
“Where’s …” she began to ask.
“She’s at home,” Edward said withdrawing his hand from Bella’s face. “She had a vision.”
Bella gasped and Edward smiled a sad smile.
“Don’t worry,” he said sitting down on the edge of the bed. “It’s nothing terrible.”
Bella sat up in the bed, clutching the covers tightly against her front as she propped herself against her head board, watching him closely. Something was different about him, but she couldn’t pinpoint what it was.
“What was the vision?” Bella asked realizing that whatever caused Alice to leave and Edward to come was probably at the heart of the matter.
“Me,” Edward said turning to look at her, “leaving.”
“Leaving?” Bella breathed out, staring at him in confusion.
“Yes,” Edward said standing up again. He began to pace by the side of her bed. “I just came by because I wanted to say goodbye,” he continued a minute later glancing over at her again.
“Edward! Why?” Bella asked shifting on the bed, making a move to stand up before she remembered that she was naked under the covers.
“Because,” he sighed softly, his eyes closing tightly as he spoke. “You love her. And you don’t love me,” he continued opening his eyes again.
He was blinking, his eyes quivering with tears that he hadn’t been able to shed in over a hundred years. He had never sounded as young to her as he did at that moment.
“Don’t,” he said shaking his head again.
Bella hadn’t even realized that she had begun to speak.
“I know it’s true,” he went on looking away. “I know you care about me, but that you’re feeling have irrevocably changed. Mine haven’t however,” he continued, his voice unimaginably pained. “And I can’t stay here … I can’t be around the two of you. Perhaps in some ways Jasper is a better man than I,” he sighed shaking his head. “In any case, I need to leave,” he said turning to face Bella once more. “I …” he began, but he stopped and brought his hands up to his face, covering it for a moment. “I wish I could have been the man I should have been. The man you needed me to be,” he breathed out shakily a few moments later, his hands falling to his sides.
His back straightened then and he met her eyes straight on.
“I love you. Be happy,” he whispered.
And then, before Bella could say a word he was gone.
Alice sighed, and ran a few tapered and elegant fingers through her hair.
“He sounded in better spirits than last time,” she said, reaching out for Bella’s hand. “He’s beginning to enjoy traveling a bit a think,” she continued. “He talked mostly about the places he had visited since he called last.”
“Have you seen anything?” Bella asked enjoying the feel of Alice restlessly toying with her fingers.
“No,” Alice said shaking her head. “Nothing solid anyway,” she continued. “His future is constantly in flux. He doesn’t know what he wants, where he wants to go, what he wants to do. He’s living from day to day right now, sometimes moment to moment. It’s impossible to say what is down the road for him.”
They were silent for a long time.
“Do you feel as terrible as I do?” Bella asked finally, shifting closer to Alice so she could rest her head on her shoulder.
It seemed strange, but whenever she thought of Edward she had an intense desire to get closer to Alice, to feel the bond between them. It was like she needed to feel Alice’s love for her, to remind herself of the bond between them. She needed feel Alice against her to know that the pain they had caused Edward was worth it.
“Yes,” Alice said softly.
She felt terribly guilty, and ashamed. She loved Edward, and she never thought that it was inside of her to hurt him so badly. But, she hadn’t meant to hurt him. She had only felt, she had only lived, and once the feelings were known there was nothing she could do to stop them, or tame them.
She felt terribly about how things had worked out, but she loved Bella, and she couldn’t, she wouldn’t stop, because Bella loved her too, and that was special … even if the way it came about hadn’t been ideal.
“What do we do?” Bella asked, wrapping her arms more tightly around Alice.
“We love each other,” Alice said softly, brushing her lips against Bella’s forehead. “And we love him. And we hope that one day that will be enough.”
Bella nodded and wrapped her arms more securely around Alice’s waist, and then tilted her head up so that she could place a soft kiss on the underside of the vampire’s jaw.
“I don’t want to talk about Edward anymore,” Bella murmured softly.
“No?” Alice asked, feigning surprise.
Bella shook her head as she could while pressed against Alice’s side.
“How bizarre,” Alice mused sarcastically.
Bella swatted her lightly, and she quieted down for a moment … but only a moment.
“Hmm,” Alice hummed a few seconds later, her hand moving up to stroke at her chin, her expression a caricature of thoughtfulness. “Can we talk about these boxes, then?” Alice asked looking over at Bella, her tone light and playful. “I mean, you know that it’s July, right?”
“Shut up,” Bella grumbled good-naturedly. “I just like to be prepared, okay?” she continued in a disgruntled tone of voice, though she was smiling against Alice’s shoulder as she spoke.
“You’re nervous,” Alice said knowingly, stroking Bella’s back softly. “You always get obsessive compulsive when you’re nervous.”
“I do not get obsessive compulsive,” Bella said pushing up on her arm a little so that she could glare down at Alice.
Alice simply met her gaze with wide, innocent eyes and said nothing.
Bella sighed and lay back down. “Maybe a little obsessive compulsive,” she acknowledged, unconsciously tightening her hold on Alice.
“A very miniscule amount,” Alice agreed. “It’s gonna be okay,” Alice breathed out a few moments later, her fingers gently playing with Bella’s. “After the first week, you’ll feel like you’ve been there forever.”
“I know,” Bella said, intertwining her fingers with Alice’s. “I just … I guess I won’t really feel that way, until I get there and experience it myself,” she continued as gently as she could, hoping that Alice wouldn’t take her comment to mean that she didn’t trust in her visions, because she did. She believed Alice when she said things would be fine, her mind just wouldn’t stop worrying about it until she actually made it through the situation.
Alice smiled and laughed lightly before turning her head to the side to kiss Bella’s forehead.
“What?” Bella asked, trying to sound peevish and failing miserably at it. It just wasn’t possible for her to sound annoyed while she was lying in bed with Alice’s arms wrapped around her.
“I know you need to experience it,” Alice said gently, her thumb stroking Bella’s softly. “I saw that too,” she continued, her lips curving up into a smile once more. “I know telling you it’ll be okay is a losing battle but, well, call me a fool if you must, but it’s just not within my power to see you sad without trying to do or say something to cheer you up.”
Bella’s body trembled lightly in response to Alice’s words, and her eyes began to tear up. The fingers she still had entwined with Alice’s squeezed the vampire’s hand tightly, and then Bella shifted and leaned forward so that she could brush her lips against Alice’s, kissing her softly as her tears wetted both of their cheeks.
“You may be a fool, but you’re my fool and I love you,” Bella breathed out against Alice’s lips long moments later, her lips curving up into a smile as Alice stared up at her with an adorably goofy grin on her face.
“Life is one fool thing after another whereas love is two fool things after each other,” Alice whispered, still smiling happily as the recited one of her favorite Oscar Wilde quotes.
Bella bent her head back down and kissed Alice again, and then again.
“And they said tomfoolery doesn’t pay,” Alice rasped, her voice breathy and content as she stared up at Bella dreamily.
“I think that’s crime, dear,” Bella replied, smirking at Alice for a second before she rested her head back on the pillow beside her lovers.
“Oh, no, crime is very lucrative. There’s lots of money to be made there. It’s fairly easy to get away with too,” Alice responded without a trace of sarcasm in her voice. “Or at least it was before the invention of video surveillance and forensics.”
Bella remained silent for a moment, simply staring into Alice’s honey-brown eyes. “You’re messing around with me,” she declared a few moments later, though she wasn’t completely convinced.
Alice shook her head gravely, and Bella’s eyes widened.
Alice smiled, and then her body began to shake as she tried to contain her laugher.
“I was a producer for a speakeasy in The Big Easy starting in ‘27. I was dressing like a boy back then, and went by the name of Rex Rothschild,” Alice began, drawling the name in a southern accent and punctuating it with a dramatic hand motion. “Producers worked by night, by ‘moonshine’ as they used to say,” Alice continued, smirking, “which was perfect for me. Because of my height I had to pretend to just be a runner, not The Man himself, but that worked out well enough. People didn’t mess with me because they didn’t want ‘my boss’ to come after them – I made sure Marco ‘The Crank’ Marino had particular sort of reputation you see – and the stuff I delivered was always on time and to the quantity ordered. I was able to make a pretty penny, enough to see me through The Depression and longer.”
“Seriously?” Bella asked. Her eyes were wide and her tone was hushed and awed.
Alice nodded and grinned. “It was a hell of a time,” she sighed nostalgically. “Great music,” she continued wistfully. “My control wasn’t as good then as it now, but every once in a while I used to make it into a club and Charleston the night away. I got to dress up for that, which you know I love. And the bob was in then, so this,” Alice said running her fingers through her hair, “wasn’t even a problem.”
“What was your name when you hit the town?” Bella asked curiously, settling herself more comfortably along Alice’s side.
“Alice Adams,” Alice said thoughtfully before smirking. “I’m a big fan of alliteration. I was absolutely crushed when Jazz and I caught up with the others and I learned what their last name was,” she continued forlornly. “I almost changed by name to Clara. I went by it for a while in fact, but it didn’t feel right … and I kept on forgetting to answer when people called my name.”
Bella laughed at the last part, completely able to picture Alice staring dreamily off into the distance as a teacher called out, “Clara. Clara! Clara!” over and over again while getting no response.
“Tell me more about being a producer,” Bella requested softly, when her laugher calmed down. “I remember Mr. Gibson saying something about absinthe being popular in New Orleans during prohibition. Did you make that as well as hooch?”
“No,” Alice said laughing lightly. “I stayed away from that. In New Orleans Old Absinthe House on Bourbon Street took care of that. They served it in the French style...”
“What’s that?” Bella asked absorbed in Alice’s tale in a way she rarely was in history class.
“They had these marble fountains that would drip cold water onto lumps of sugar that were suspended on perforated spoons over glasses of absinthe. When the mixture reached the tippler's desired level of sweetness and dilution, it was then bottom’s up,” Alice responded.
“That’s so crazy,” Bella breathed out excitedly. “Tell me more.”
Alice breathed in deeply and then exhaled, as her eyes scanned the ceiling thoughtfully.
“Well, my game was White Lightening. I really was Alice the Slack-Jawed Yokel back then,” Alice began, chuckling softly as she spoke. “You really can’t get more backwoods than White Lightening, but back then when bathtub whiskey was your other main option, people didn’t mind so much about keepin’ up appearances …”
Bella closed her eyes, allowing Alice’s voice to wash over her, her brain creating visuals to go along with what Alice was saying, making the story come alive behind her eyes. She loved listening to Alice talk, and she knew that if she kept on prodding her lover that she would keep it up for hours.
With her eyes still closed, Bella smiled and snuggled against Alice.
She was never so happy not to have school in the morning.
To be continued…
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