BELLA’S POV
The car ride was silent as I’d thought about a good way to bring up the conversation. But I was coming up with nada and zilch. All I knew was that it was best to distract her with clothes before I brought up the topic.
I walked straight into a French store that looked expensive. I hated fancy expensive new clothes. But wasted money was a willing sacrifice for Alice’s wisdom. I picked out a purple dress and handed it to Alice while walking over and looking at a nice white dress. “You’re looking at a thousand dollar dress Bella. And this if five hundred and far too short for your tastes. You would think of it as immodest. Also, you haven’t looked at any price tags, complained, or said one word since we got in. And than there’s the little fact that you chose a French store, when you would normally walk towards GAP. Spill Bella.” I sighed. She wanted to do this the hard way. “I thought you already saw what I was going to talk to you about?” “No. I didn’t. Are you involving the wolves in our conversation Bella?” I paused, confused. “You should have seen it. The wolves are part of the conversation but they are not talking in our conversation. We’re just talking about them. Just the two of us. So you should be able to see it.” “When did you decide you needed my help Bella? And why would you need help with the wolves anyway?” “Well, it was a split second decision and-” “That would explain why I didn’t see you before.” “-and this doesn’t just involve the wolves. It involves Edward too.” “Bella,” she was exasperated. “You are never going to get the two of them to stop fighting.” “I know that. That’s not what I want.” She laughed. “Bella, you’ve always tried to get them to stop fighting.” “Not this time.” Her sharp eyes narrowed minutely. “Okay, what do you want? And how does this involve me?” I let out a long breath. Maybe asking Alice hadn’t been such a good idea after all. I mean, I was Edward’s fiancé but Edward was her brother. What would she think of this? I suddenly felt very nervous, as though I’d swallowed a wad full of fluttering butterflies. I was thankful I hadn’t eaten lunch. “Bella, your pulse is racing. Would you stop acting so nervous and just tell me what’s going on?” I blushed. “I can’t choose between them Alice.” “Well your going to have to.” “But what if I didn’t?” She looked utterly confused. “What if you didn’t what?” “What if I didn’t have to choose?” She looked at me sideways, as though she was trying to figure something out. “What do you mean Bella?” “I mean, what if I didn’t have to choose…between the two of them.” I trailed off to a whisper, wishing I could take back the words that came from my mouth. Alice’s reaction was just as bad as I’d feared. “Isabella Marie Swan!!! Are you telling me that you are so selfish and stupidly blinded enough as to think that you could bring Edward Cullen and Jacob Black together simply because you don’t want to let either of them go?” “Alice, it’s more than that, it’s-” “Do you honestly think you could get Jacob Black and Edward Cullen to fall for each other? Do you really want my brother to have a faggot relationship Bella? Vampires and werewolves don’t even like each other, much less love each other. And some of them outright hate us Bella! Did you ever think of that? Did you ever think of what the tribe would do to Jacob if they found out? You are selfish Bella and I can’t believe that you would even think that you-hey! Where do you think your going?” “I’m glad you didn’t buy anything because I’m through Alice. You can keep your mouth shut because I’m calling your brother to take me the fuck home. I should never have talked to you and I should have kept my mouth shut. I realize that now.” She sighed out a long angry breath. “Look I’ll try to calm my tone and voice because we’re in public, but I’m not in the wrong here Bella. You are. And you have no reason to be talking to me like this.” “Actually I have every reason. And you know what Alice? If anyone is in the wrong here, its you. Have fun planning my wedding without me. From now on, no more Bella Barbie. No more shopping excursions. And no more anything. And let me point out something! Do you know that you didn’t even stop to hear my side of this! Do you even realize that Alice? Just what kind of friend are you?” “The best friend who is planning your wedding.” “You are planning my wedding yet you wont even take two seconds to listen to me? Do you know how wrong that is? If anything, if we are that close, you should stop to hear my side before jumping to conclusions.” She looked ashamed. “You have a point.” “Your right.” Her eyes turned pleading. “Look, I guess that just really caught me off guard. Don’t call off the shopping trip Bella.” “Fine. But I want Olive Garden for lunch and I WILL order what I want no matter how fattening. And you will not make me work out. You owe me that much.” She continued to stand there as she thought over my lunch proposal. I knew that Alice would find another time and another way to make me work out. But for now, it was worth it. For now, it didn’t matter. Her shoulders crumpled in defeat and I immediately felt guilty. “Ok. I’ll take that. C’mon Bella. Let’s go get you fed. Maybe you can explain all of this to me to where it will actually make sense. Because right now, I’m just not understanding.” “Don’t worry. When you see things from a soul perspective, you will.” And we were out of the mall and on our way to Olive Garden. The silver Volvo following behind us only made me wish Edward could have this all explained to him. Maybe Alice could help with that once she understood? JACOB’S POV Edward refused to be within hearing distance of Alice and Bella, believing that Bella’s privacy was just as important as her safety. I personal would have screwed her privacy. She needed protection. But when I thought about it from Bella’s point of view, as Edward suggested, I realized he was right. Bella went with Alice to have girl time and to divulge her deepest darkest personal thoughts. Alice was like a vault of information and comfort for Bella and she didn’t need that being spied on or interrupted. This was her time to get everything out and to get her head straight. And I could appreciate that. I did the same thing when I ran with my pack. And besides, she apparently didn’t need that much protection. “Alice said that the vampire was only coming to forks, not that he was following any special scent. If Bella is there, things could take a turn for the worst. If she’s not, he’ll know we allow humans in our home but not that any of them are particularly important. He’ll just know we’re different and pass on through. Besides, he’s not hungry. His eyes are blood red.” “That’s…comforting.” It was also really uncomfortable that he’d leeched a human dry. When Edward’s body stiffened, I found he felt the same as I did. Interesting. Not enough to convince me the bloodsucker is human. But its interesting. We continued on into the mall, looking through clothing stores and a book store. Not surprisingly, Edward liked the classics. But he also liked Stephen King and Lisa Jackson, some of the newer authors. He didn’t buy much. And before I knew it, we were out of the book shop. He hadn’t kept me there long. That was oddly…courteous. Did he do that on purpose? The music store was the one we spent the longest at. I watched Cullen play piano. He watched me have a shot at a nice sounding Fender. We even tried to duet and surprisingly, did really well. The store clerk even gave us the thumbs up. I was playing a hard riff from Disturbed when Edward froze, which made me nervous. I mean, it made sense for them to freeze since they were already frozen and dead anyway. But it didn’t make me any less nervous. “Bella is leaving.” And he turned around and walked away from me, cold as ice. Who crapped in his cornflakes? I hung up the guitar and prepared myself to follow. I would follow Bella to the ends of the Earth. Maybe not her bloodsucker, but her? Hell yeah! I walked out the shop and we got out into the parking lot and into the car quickly, following the Porsche from far behind. It really was a nice car. EDWARD’S POV I’d had inklings that Jacob could play well from his thoughts. But not nearly as well as he showed me he could play. I was astonished as his dark long fingers flew across the neck of the delicate looking Taylor. And I was more than happy to duet with him. To my amusement, we even gained the approval of the store clerk. And that was when I heard a very uncharacteristic Alice. That stupid little slut! That skunk bag! That skank! If I’d known that she was using Edward for a one way ticket to immortality only to keep Jacob on the side if things didn’t work out, I would never have planned this wedding. At all. This just isn’t like Bella! How could she use Edward like that after all he’s done for her? I just don’t get that! This is going to break Edward’s heart. I didn’t know what to think when I heard Alice’s thoughts. Was Bella really cheating on me with Jacob? But if she was, than why was Jacob still resorting to fantasies of her? Or was he thinking about the night before? Flames boiled in my blood and I was ready to smash Jacob’s head against a wall. I almost didn’t hear Alice’s thoughts. Calm down. Deep breathes. Ok, so this isn’t what I think. She’s not cheating but…this is so insane. How could Bella think he would ever accept this? That this would ever work? It’s so unheard of…but than again, only Bella would think of something like this. Ugh! But Olive Garden!? Honestly, that girl knows how to push my buttons. She better still fit in that wedding dress! And if that day comes and she doesn’t than I will- I pulled out of Alice’s thoughts. They were going to Olive Garden, Bella wasn’t cheating on me with Jacob, and Bella had a trick up her sleeve. I could tell because Alice’s thoughts were adding up to nothing. I was confused, my head was rushing, and I wanted in on the dirty secret. But I respected Bella’s privacy too much to listen in on them. She didn’t deserve it. I didn’t mean for my voice to come out sounding so cold when I spoke to Jacob, but my head was still reeling. “Bella is leaving.” I guess I was still sore over the thought of her being with another man.…I shivered. Hopefully after this day, I would be getting some answers.