Spend Forever

Hunt

Rosalie ripped her hand out of Alice's and began running faster. She found she was stronger than Alice, and could go faster than she did. She didn't have to stop. She could keep going, far away from this place and these people she didn't trust. She darted on ahead, testing out just how fast she could run. Alice trailed behind her, moving her shorter legs as fast as she could in an attempt to keep up. They wove through the trees of the forest, moving far away from the clearing they had been waiting in and the house they weren't sure they would come back to.

Rosalie stopped, without any signs of slowing down. Alice flew past her before realizing that she had stopped. She turned and was back at her side in an instant, like they had stopped at the same time. She waited for Rosalie to say or do something else. They were silent for a while before she did.

"What are we doing out here?" Rosalie asked. They had traveled quite far in the few hours they had been running, and they were clearly alone for miles around.

"The goal was to hunt, but whatever else you need," Alice explained. "We can keep running, or talk, or you can run off and we'll never see each other again. I can explain to you how to hunt if you want, but it's mostly instinctual."

"Okay. How do I hunt then?" Rosalie asked. Alice explained the simple steps of finding an animal, sneaking up on it, and pouncing before it knew you were there and quickly draining it. Rosalie winced at the violent act, but appeared ready to try it.

"Do you want me to go with you or to wait here?" Alice asked. It had been a while since she had last hunted, but she would be fine for longer if Rosalie needed her in any way.

"I want to do it alone," Rosalie said, before turning through the trees. She started slow, before picking up the pace and it wasn't long before Alice couldn't see her. She struggled to hear sounds of Rosalie in the woods, but she had gone too far to be heard. Alice settled in to wait. She thought about hunting herself, but couldn't really focus on that. All she could do was worry about Rosalie. She began to pace the small clearing, her mind going blank as she tried to follow what Rosalie was doing. She still couldn't, which was weird. She had never been unable to see someone before. She reasoned that Rosalie's future must be so undecided that nothing could be seen of it.

After a long time, Alice heard Rosalie slowly moving through the trees. She didn't look any different now, although Alice thought that she looked just slightly more alert and her eyes were a tiny fraction less red. They stood in silence for a moment before Alice spoke.

"How was it?" she asked, trying to subtly examine Rosalie for any easily visible issues or clues to how she was feeling. She couldn't see anything.

"Fine," Rosalie answered abruptly. They fell into silence again.

"I want to ask if you're okay, but I think that answer would be obvious," Alice said, trying to break the silence. She had to know how Rosalie was feeling but had no idea how to help her.

"It's not that I'm not okay. I guess I am. Physically, at least. I just... don't know what I want from my life anymore," Rosalie said, walking to lean against a tree. She slid down it, sitting on the ground with her head in her hands.

"What did you want before this?" Alice walked to sit next to her,but then thought better of it and sat a few feet away.

"I... I wanted to be married with a family. To continue being exactly who I was. But now? How can I do any of that? He stole everything from me."

"I'm sorry about what happened to you. I would've done anything I could have to stop it. I tried, but I was too late."

"I know, I know. It's not you I blame. Or at least, I know I shouldn't. I'll get there eventually."

"That's fair." They sat without speaking again, listening to the sounds of the forest. The wind whistled through the trees, causing the leaves to rustle. Small mammals and bugs scurried away from them, clearly sensing the danger the two women posed. Alice took a deep breath, but then hesitated, trying to figure out how to phrase what she wanted to say.

"Maybe you can still have that life?" she finally said.

"Not like this."

"Says who? You can still have a family. We could be your family, or you could find others like us. Nothing about who you are needs to change."

"Everything's changed now."

"Your personality, interests, all of that didn't change. Your mind is still there. The outside is just different." Rosalie didn't respond just continued looking at the ground. Alice still couldn't exactly see her future, but it wasn't as blank now. She was seeing flashes, small bits of various possible futures she could see for the woman. She couldn't seem to settle on a path. Alice pulled herself out of the visions, allowing Rosalie the privacy to think it through.

Rosalie stood up and began walking away. Alice hesitated, then got up to follow her. She didn't want her to leave without saying goodbye. "This isn't what I wanted," Rosalie said again, so quiet this time Alice wasn't sure she was meant to hear it. "I don't know what to do. I'm scared," she added turning towards Alice, studying the ground in front of them.

"You have every right to be scared." She reached out a hand towards Rosalie. She took it and they began walking through the forest, further away from the Cullen house. "It's okay. We'll be safe here." Rosalie shook her head. "I've been watching these people. They are kind and open. They'll help us. We can stay with them" She hesitated before adding the next part. "I know this isn't the life you wanted, but I've seen our future. We're happy together, with them. They'll become our family." Rosalie shook her head, pulling away from Alice. She wasn't sure she wanted these strangers to become her family. She already had a family. But she was beginning to understand she couldn't go back to them.

"Are you sure? Is this where I belong?" She kept looking at the ground. She couldn't look at Alice now. "I've never felt at home anywhere. Not here. How do I know I will feel it with them?" As she said the words, she knew they were true. She rarely had the chance to choose how she wanted to be, who she wanted to be. As such, she hadn't been able to be comfortable anywhere because it was never what she truly wanted. But if she was forced into this life, could it really be the answer she had been looking for?

Alice stumbled over how she wanted to respond. She could see the reason in Rosalie's words, the truth in them. She had seen her going through the motions of her life for years now. It was clear she had always struggled with it. Alice found the words from her vision so many years ago.

"Because I'm here. I'm your home now. I promise you, you'll find your happiness and home here. This is where you belong."

Rosalie took a deep breath. "I still don't know. But I do trust you. I belong wherever you are, Alice," she said, looking up into Alice's eyes for the first time. She stepped closer to Alice, so close their bodies were almost touching. Alice took a shaky breath, surprised by Rosalie's sudden proximity, the truth in her words, and the power in them.

She took a step back.

"Are you ready to go home now?" she asked, glancing quickly into Rosalie's eyes before looking away.

"Yes," Rosalie said, reaching forward and taking Alice's hand.