Asteraceae

SEVENTY

Alice couldn't do anything but smile through the chaos that ensured around her, teeth clenched, and fist balled as she stood in the middle of what was once a beautifully decorated gift pile. It had always been a big fear of hers to miss something big in the future, and this alone just confirmed her suspiciousness that not knowing what could happen would always leave her in a loop considering she couldn't always be knowledgeable. She hated not knowing what was going to happen next, being left in the dark, and how what she thought was going well wasn't going anywhere close to how she pictured it. This bloodied mess wasn't in any of her predictions, the ruined cake, smashed presents, and the sticky mess of wine and glass that pooled around the wine cabinet which her poor mother was busy trying to clean up to prevent another accident while the other was still ongoing.

"Baby." Joshua, ever so loving, had a gentle hand on her hip, massaging his thump into that soft spot in hopes that maybe she'll relax a bit. "It's not that bad." It was horrendous. Blood, glass, and wood chunks everywhere as everyone rushed around either trying to strap Jasper in place or stop the bleeding that was flowing down the back of Bella's head and arm.

"But it's ruined...all of it." A little dejected and stunned in silence was enough for Joshua to sigh and mutter something under his breath. Edward did that cake a favor by putting it out its sickly-sweet mess of a life, he barely had a fork full before he spit it back out and onto some tissue to be thrown away out of sight of his distressed mate. Obviously, he knew nothing about parties and why this one meant so much to her, but he guessed maybe she really did like humans and wanted things to go well for them.

"It's not your fault. Having the human here to begin with was a bad idea." Plus, the fact that the bloodlust from all the other coven members had strung Jasper up to the point of almost killing the poor girl. It really wasn't anyone's fault that this happened, but Joshua liked to point fingers, so he'll say it was Bella's for coming here when she knew the potential dangers that lurked within.

"She was supposed to be safe though." Safe enough being in a room full of predators, but they weren't going to hurt her, or at least not on purpose.

"Isabella." He called out to the girl who lifted her head at the sound of her name, confused on why he would even talk to her considering he hadn't said anything since she arrived. "See alive." He flicked his wrist and began pulling her out of the mess of a living room, pulling her towards her own bedroom she had long since abandoned. At this point everyone was busy doing their own thing with only one of them, Emmett, out in the woods looking for Edward who had rushed off somewhere out of fear after realizing what he had done. This whole situation was a mess, and while it wasn't their job to fix it, he knew that maybe a little time away from this would be best for them both. So, with an idea already formed in his head, he decided to pack his little mate a bag filled with her irreplaceable jewelry. Necklaces, rings, earrings, and even bracelets fill the bag as the girl relaxed on the small sofa in the corner of her room.

"Joshua." She had no complaints didn't mind him basically tearing apart her bedroom, but she had so many questions on why this was the first thing that popped in his head when the scent of Bella's blood was starting to get downright nauseating at this point.

"Relax, we're going to be getting ready for a little trip. Figured you could use it and it'll do us some good to get out of this mess." And he also didn't want to deal with any more drama then. He was tired and while he wasn't the one to run from his problems, it had always been a thought in the back of his mind to properly mate his lover with the blessing of his family like he should've done a while back.

"Trip?"

"Yeah, after Bella's all patched up, we'll inform your family before heading out." Which was unnecessary as it was, for the family was already in a shambles and left to discuss the events that just fell flat on their tongues. No one had anything to say and the guilt everyone felt was strong.