"Y/N." Heidi greets me, her eyebrows rising.
Edward puts a hand in front of me.
"Stay away from her. We're leaving." He says, and Heidi's face pulls into a frown.
"Don't speak to her like that. Let her do as she wishes." Felix warns. Even if Edward is strong, he is not as big or as trained as Felix is. Edward backs, eyes still steady on me and Heidi.
"I didn't know you were here." She says finally.
"Yeah, it was pretty short notice." I say, still on the defense.
"I like your hair."
"Yeah, me too." I agree curtly.
"Listen, Y/N, I care for you. I want to be friends."
"You don't know me, Heidi. I don't want to talk anymore."
"I know that part of you that I saw."
"You mean the half-concious weak and dying part of me?" She is silent after that.
"That's what I thought." I tell her, pulling Bella and Edward to leave. This time Felix allows us to, walking us along until we get back into the alleyway. Felix hands Edward a long cloak with a hood so that he can be shielded from the sun.
"Thank you." I tell Felix, even if it hurts to thank someone who had me imprisoned. He nods acknowledging my thanks.
"You're welcome." The words hold weight that I don't want to look into, and instead I help Edwadd with his cloak. Once he has it on properly, he nods to Demetri and Felix, and then grabs my hand and pulls me. I grab Bella's hand, giving us a little juvenile chain of hands.
I still don't forgive them for what they did, however, and I don't plan on it any time soon. Maybe they will have Bella right away, but they will not have me. I watch Edward's face, he winces. I wonder why, and then I remember the raw feeling of vulnerability in my chest. There is no barrier. Edward can hear my thoughts.
When I come to this realization I reach to put the barrier of my mind back up, and not completely sure if it worked, I move subjects. Edward leads us to the outskirts of Volterra where I see a familiar yellow Porsche. Alice gets out of the car, her skin faintly glittering from the shade, but still the glare of the sun.
She walks toward us, relief clearly flooding her as she runs to hug Edward.
"Well, I'm glad you survived." She tells him, smiling, and he smiles too.
She reaches to hug me and Bella, but I duck out of the way and she just hugs Bella instead.
"Shall we go?" I ask before she can try to make a move for me again, and Alice nods.
"Yes, while you guys were gone I got more gas." Alice says enthusiastically.
"So while we were dying, you were out taking a pleasant drive to get some gas?" I ask, an eyebrow raised.
"Well, I knew you weren't going to die." Alice says.
"And you couldn't have told us that?" At this, Alice's smile drops momentarily, and returns again. For a moment I almost feel bad about this, and I remember sweet Alice, I remember her doing my hair on prom night and I remember her wind-chime laugh. And then I remember how easily she left all of that with me.
Alice turns and starts the car, and one by one we all load in. I'm seated by Bella in the backseat, Edward in the passanger and Alice in the driver's.
"Do you think I'll be able to keep this?" Alice asks Edward about her yellow Porsche.
"I'm not sure, Alice, let me think about it."
"Will do!" And with that, we start driving back home.
●●●
"Yes. Mhm. Yeah, I'll be home soon. Sure, I'll come see you. Anything you want, Jake. Okay. Okay, bye, see you!" I end the call with Jacob.
Edward's grimacing in the rear-view mirror.
"Why did you have to call him?" Edward asks, his voice filling with disgust.
"Because he didn't leave me, Edward." I tell him, ditching my old nickname for him in my memories.
Bella's sleeping, and it's dark out. Alice is still driving.
"Y/N can we talk? The three of us?" Alice asks.
"I don't think I really have a choice, so sure."
"I want.. I want to explain why we left. We only wanted things to be better for you guys. We only wanted you to have something normal.
"And with everything that happened with the Volturi, and Carlisle, and Jasper was having control issues around you two- and, we couldn't stay. We only wanted what was best for you two. That's all we wanted.
"And if for one second I had known that Bella would go into that state.. we would have never left." Edward finishes his speech.
"You don't have to forgive us yet, but, I want you to understand why." Alice adds quietly.
"Maybe.. maybe I can come around. Sometime I the future. But not yet." I agree.
"Not yet."
●●●
"Well, are you girls alright?" Charlie asks once he's done yelling at me and Bella for leaving him with no explanation.
"We're okay." I tell him quietly.
"Well, uh, good. Now, go- go to your rooms and think about what you've done." It takes a bit not to laugh at him, but me and Bella walk up the stairs anyway.
"Hey, are you okay?" I whisper to us when we reach the top.
"I'm fine. And I'm.. um.. I'm really sorry for slapping you."
"Don't worry about it." I tell her and she smiles and nods at me before we part ways.
I do some things around my room for a while. I read, I call some people, I draw, and finally, I tuck myself in for bed.
It felt like two seconds that I got to sleep.
"30 more seconds please." I beg as someone taps my shoulder.
My eyes open gently to see Edward sitting over me, an eager look in his eyes.
"Marry me."