My Heart Beats For You // Alice Cullen

45. The Start Of The End

Alice and I sit on the porch, watching Lily and Lorenzo build a snowman; Jane is hunting, far far away from here, so we decided to keep Lils busy - she isn't quite sure how to feel about Jane's diet. We hate it, but we can't force her to change. Her being here is dangerous enough, so making her change a diet she has been on for over a thousand years? Bad idea.

"It's almost 11 years since we got Lily." Alice muses.

I smile. "It is - should we celebrate?" I lean my head on her shoulder.

"I don't know... It's her birthday a few days after, we always celebrate then but... Everything's so off still. I don't know if it's a good idea."

I sigh. "Me neither."

Her arm around me rubs my back gently. "We can celebrate in our own way. And we'll go all out for her sweet sixteen next year." She smiles.

I smile and kiss her gently, thinking back to the day we go Lily. She was so small, and sweet, and innocent. She made everything feel okay once again - we both felt whole. Lil had these little pigtails in, mismatched scrunchies holding them in place, while her hoodie and joggers hung from her little figure. She held a dirty, floppy eared bunny in her arms. And she was still the most beautiful, scruffy little thing I'd ever seen - Alice and I fell instantly in love with her.

"You know now things have calmed down a little, maybe we should talk about where you went." I say in a small voice.

Alice sighs deeply. "As long as it doesn't cause an argument then fine, I'm all for it. Promise it won't?" She sits up and looks at me in the eyes.

I nod small. "Yeah. Promise." I'll probably regret saying that...

Alice takes a deep breath before reaching over and tucking my long hair back. "I was finding a way to fix this... By either taking your gift away or taking away your immortality. I think I found a way to do either." She says confidently.

I laugh a little. "Oh right OK, just like that." I roll my eyes. She watches me silently and it dawns on me. "Wait - you're serious?"

She nods. "Yes ma'am. Very much so."

"H-How..?" I frown. I don't know if I want to lose either.. But I have to, right? To keep my family safe. Yet, I feel selfish - this is my life, this is mine and Alice's shot at being equal and being together for longer than one measly lifetime. I want forever.

She takes my hands. "A witch and a very old vampire. Depending on which you want to choose."

I frown deeply. "What if I don't want to choose either... I mean, I know its for our family b-but this is our life Alice, every decision we made in the past was so we could be together. This could be like taking 100 steps back."

"Could be, yes, but don't we always come out the otherside? It could bide us some time." She reasons.

I look into her eyes. "What's to stopping Aro from changing me? If I'm human I'd be easier to take, to manipulate. It wouldn't stop him."

"Then we go for the other option." She shrugs. "But we really need to do something. I will not just sit around and wait. I'm tired of that - I promised you a life of travel, of fun, of freedom. We don't have any of that, we have no opportunity. I want our lives back however damn possible."

I smile small and touch her cheek when she huffs a little. "I know... I know a lot of your life has been with held from you and I want us to have that too, I want you to be free. This needs to be dealt with head on - we can defeat them." I say with confidence, even if it is a wee bit forced.

"Baby... We barely escaped with our lives the last time we faced the Volturi. We won't be so lucky again. Trust me."

I sigh and stands, shaking my head. "We are stronger than you think-"