Anyway, I hope you guys like this chapter, I'm not too sure how i feel about the chapter but it had to be done and things are certainly picking up. Please let me know what you think of it. But most of all I hope you guys like it.
"I'm sorry I didn't defend you enough" I said placing a kiss on the top of her head "I should have done something more"
"No" She said shaking her head "You were perfect. I love you so much"
"I love you too" I nodded as I squeezed her gently "We should get inside"
"Yeah" Bella mumbled
After a moment longer of silence she broke away from me reluctantly to walk to the door and unlock it.
Things were already turning out to be more difficult for Bella than she expected and it had only just started.
Saturday afternoon came very quickly, though time seems to fly when you spend it with the one you love.
As much as you want the time to stand still, it just seems to speed up.
We didn't do much that day, we stayed in bed for most of it which was Bella's idea and I didn't have a problem with that. It means I could stay wrapped up in her the entire day, which was nice.
Bella had been a little quiet since she had the fight which Jacob and I could understand why.
Even though I hated the mutt, he meant something to Bella and it hurt me to see her sad over it.
Though like the great girlfriend she was, she didn't focus on it and began to get over it quickly for my sake.
I made breakfast for her that morning as well, I didn't burn much this time but I did ignore the measurements for the recipes, so the food didn't taste that good but in my defence I don't know what food tastes like in the first place.
My Bella ate the first few bites before she had to give up so I let her pour herself some cereal, just in case I messed that up as well.
We went to my house where I changed for baseball.
The family were a bit tense that day and for good reason but for that moment I could see nothing going badly.
"So how long have you all been playing baseball like this?" Bella asked as she leaned back on the headboard of my bed
"We've been playing ever since I joined the family. They used to play before I got here as well but some of the best times I've had with my family has been playing baseball" I shrugged as I slipped my shoes on "It's just so good that we can have fun somewhere outside of our house and not have to hold back"
"How much do you not hold back in these games?" Bella raised her eyebrow
"We can get pretty involved" I smirked, placing my foot on my bed so I could tie my laces "Rosalie and Emmett get pretty serious about it but we're all competitive. It's all in good fun though"
"It sounds like you guys have a lot of fun" Bella said with a small smile "I'm sorry you can't play tonight"
I scoffed quietly and looked over at my girl
"Bella I don't care if I don't get to play" I said before I paused and flashed my teeth in a grin "Besides, having you next to me while I officiate will make this a much better baseball game than usual. It should be an even game though while I'm umpiring. I'll see when they plan on cheating"
"They cheat?" She asked in amused tone
"Vampires will do almost anything to win" I replied jokingly "I do admit that I may use my ability to sway the course of the game but Edward and Jazz cheat more than I do so I'm just trying to even out the odds"
"You're way too cute" Bella said chuckling "A little evil though"
I playfully winked at her before I moved to my wardrobe and pulled out two baseball caps. One was old and one was brand new.
Skipping my way back over to Bella, I grinned like a fool as I stopped by the end of the bed.
"I made you a cap too so you fit in with us" I said proudly as I handed Bella the new cap "And I've seen you wearing it, you look unbearably cute. Though that really isn't difficult; you look cute all the time"
"You made this?" Bella asked me raising her eyebrows
"Well...yeah" I replied, feeling myself grow a little shy as she moved off the bed to stand in front of me
"How do you just make a cap, Alice?" Bella asked with a small smile "When did you do this?"
"At the risk of sounding creepy, I made it a few years ago. I saw you watching us play baseball one day and seeing as I had so much spare time before you came along, I made you a baseball uniform that you can use when you can play once you're turned" I replied quickly "Though if you really wanted to you could wear it before, for what I'm not sure but I wouldn't mind"
"Wait, an entire baseball uniform?" She tilted her head slightly "You made me a whole uniform?"
"I really just guessed your size but I kind of had a good idea of what would fit before I met you seeing as I had seen you hundreds of times before" I shrugged with a nervous smile "Just put your hat on and don't laugh at me"
"Why would I laugh Al?" Bella asked shaking her head "I happen to think that it's really sweet of you to have done that. Though I don't have to wear the whole thing now do I?"
"Just the hat" I shook my head while chuckling "Unless you feel so inclined"
She placed her hands on my face, cupping my cheeks gently as she brought her face so close to mine that our noses were touching
"Thank you" She whispered
I nodded wordlessly before I sighed quietly, letting my eyes flutter shut
"You're worried" I mumbled furrowing my eyebrows, her forehead rested against mine as she shook her head to say that she wasn't "You are"
"I'm not Al" Bella mumbled back "I'm just a little anxious to get this all done with"
"I can feel that you're worried and I can hear your heartbeat and its okay that you are" I nodded "You have every right to be"
"I can understand why everyone thinks you cheat, you read people too well" Bella said lightly before she cleared her throat quietly "So maybe I am worried...but it's not that I don't trust your family to keep me safe because I know they can. I'm not worried about me"
"Then who are you worried for?" I asked as my eyes opened "If it's me then I'm flattered baby but you don't need to worry about me, I can handle myself and I'm not the human here"
"I know... I just think of all the awful things he did to you and I wish I could have done something to help or do something to help now" Bella protested as she went to move away from me but I wrapped my arms around her neck tightly, keeping her in place
"Bells when James first turned me, it was 1920, how on earth could you have helped when you weren't even alive?" I asked quietly as I shook my head "And besides, you are helping now. You have helped so much but you don't even know that. It's my job to protect you, not the other way around"
"But I want to" Bella replied seriously "I want to be able to protect you and I can't"
"You do protect me. This is so cheesy and so over romantic so don't laugh at me when I tell you this but you have my heart to protect and I'm counting on you to do that" I said with a small smile "It almost scares me sometimes to think of how much I care about you"
I moved my hand to tilt her chin upwards, greeting her warm lips with my cold ones. She gripped my waist tightly and reciprocated with enthusiasm before I reluctantly broke away with a sad smile
"I'm sorry but we should get going. My family will be getting impatient and frankly, I'm getting anxious to have this over with as well" I admitted
"Yeah, we should go" Bella replied, the huskiness in her tone proving that she was only agreeing because of my admittance of anxiousness
She broke from my grip to get her cap from the bed and we made our way down to the jeep that had been left for us to take considering the terrain.
It wasn't my favourite car to drive but it beat dirtying my Porsche
Bella was quiet for most of the drive there but she kept my hand in hers the entire way as it rested on her leg.
Her heartbeat continued to increase as we got closer to the clearing.
"I forgot to tell you that you look really cute in your baseball clothes" Bella said with a hint of a smile as she looked towards me
"Thank you" I nodded while looking at the road "Though you do look cuter when you have your uniform on"
"I can't believe you did that" Bella grinned
"Well I had to do something with my spare time. Everyone else was with their mate and I was left all alone" I shrugged "You're just really lucky that you were well worth the wait"
"I'm glad" Bella said quietly
I could tell there was something else on her mind and it was pretty obvious that it had to do with what was about to happen but I didn't want to push her
"I'm so nervous" Bella admitted after a moment of silence "What if this doesn't work out? What if something goes wrong and someone gets hurt? What if you get hurt? What am I supposed to do then?"
"It will be fine" I said firmly "And you have every right to be nervous and anxious but you should also know that I'll be right beside you the whole time. I promise not to leave your side for anything"
"Yeah, please don't leave my side" Bella said before swallowing hard
"Scouts honour" I nodded before picking up her hand and kissing it gently
"You were never a scout so you can't really make that promise" Bella said trying to pick up her mood
"Not that you know of anyway" I mumbled playfully as the car rolled to a stop at the clearing "The storm is just about to start so we're just in time, though when everyone asks where we have been, I will be blaming you for being a major distraction as usual"
"I think I'm okay with that" Bella replied smiling
"I love you Bella Swan and this is all going to work out" I said seriously, unbuckling myself to look at her square in the eyes "You have my word"
"I love you too" She nodded "I believe you"
"Good, now let's go out there and be the cutest fake umpires my family has ever seen" I said with a big, cheesy grin before pressing my lips to Bella's
She smiled against my lips and she pulled away too lean up and kiss me on the forehead
After a few seconds we both stepped out of the car, I skipped over to Bella's side, linking her fingers in mine comfortably before we walked over to greet my family who were standing out in the middle of the clearing
"I was considering coming home to check if you two had fled the country or something" Jazz teased with a knowing smile
"Well the human here was very distracting" I joked as I nudged Bella playfully
"Are you ready to umpire Bella?" Esme asked "I'm willing to give up my usual position for you two"
"Thank you" Bella replied
"Make sure you keep an eye on Emmett" Esme spoke in a warm, calm voice "I would suggest watching Alice's rulings, I suspect she might become biased to her usual team"
"I'll be calling it like I see it" I replied with a smirk
"I'd suggest you call it straight down the line but I guess you can't do that, can you?" Emmett asked with a proud grin
"Good one Emmett" I rolled my eyes sarcastically "Yeah, but it was funnier when you started using it a decade ago"
"I'll keep an eye on her" Bella replied smirking at me
"We should start" Carlisle said putting an end to the banter
He was always up for having fun, in fact normally he would have joined in but he was very concerned and he was very anxious about how everything was going to go.
I tried to reassure him that everything will be okay because I had seen it but he continued to pull me back down to reality when he told me that James' decision could change anytime.
Esme took my place in the team along with Edward and Emmett, with Jazz, Rosalie and Carlisle opposing them.
I stood by home plate, Bella glued to my side, my arm around her waist.
I loud clap of thunder rang through the air which was the signal that we could start playing.
Carlisle moved to the plate and smiled at his wife before she pitched him a fast ball.
He hit the ball with a thunderous shot; Bella flinched slightly so I gripped the material of her jacket to ensure her that she could be calm.
"I see why you need thunder" Bella said with a small smile as she watched Carlisle take off for first base while Emmett followed the ball quickly.
With a lazy run and leap, Emmett had the ball in his hand and Carlisle had been caught out.
"Not my best shot" Carlisle said as he returned to us "Alice?"
"Nothing yet" I mumbled as I looked around the clearing
"He'll come" Carlisle muttered
"It's okay Carlisle, I'll carry the team" Jazz said as she swung the bat over her shoulder while she walked to home plate "Yet again"
"You're just lucky I can't strike you out" I said jokingly
She looked back to me with one her eyebrows raised and a smile on her face
"Would you care to back up that statement?" Jazz asked "I'm sure Esme could handle Bella for a moment"
"I promised Bella I wouldn't leave her side tonight" I shook my head
Jazz nodded, her smile fading slightly
We tended to get into competitive spirits when we played baseball, forgetting a lot of what was going on around us so we could just play.
This time though we weren't just playing, we were just acting
"Swing away Jasmine" Carlisle said nodding
Esme pitched to Jazz who easily connected with the ball, her shot was softer in volume but she had hit the ball faster than what Carlisle had done.
She took off and Bella's head jerked towards Edward who began to run
"That has to be a homerun right?" Bella asked, leaning over slightly
"I don't think so, Edward might get there before" I whispered as I let her watch what was going on in front of her
Jazz made her way towards home plate but Edward threw the ball to Esme who tagged Jazz just before she touched.
"What's the decision?" I asked Bella as I looked to her
"Out" Bella said with a small smile as she looked to Jazz "Sorry"
"It's okay" Jazz said as she stood up, dusting herself off in the process "I'll just have to remember that for when you play baseball with us after graduation"
Jazz laughed harmlessly and tugged Bella's baseball cap so it covered her eyes
I smiled as Bella huffed with a grin and she fixed her cap back up
"Rose, you're up" I announced
As Rosalie struck the ball I felt myself becoming pulled away from the game and sucked into a different place
The redheaded vampire took off in the area and a few of my family followed, leaving Esme, Carlisle, Edward and I standing in the clearing with Bella. I placed Bella behind me, holding both of her hands behind my back tightly. James was yet to show up
"He's not here" I whispered before realizing that my family was surrounding me
"Well where is he?" Edward asked
"I don't know" I shook my head frantically "But the other vampire that was with him, the redhead, she'll be here any moment"
As if on cue the redhead ran past the edge of the clearing so Jazz, Rose and Emmett left after her, leaving the rest of the family with Bella and I
"It's a trap" Edward said obviously
"Yes but if we don't go after her as well then things could end badly" Carlisle said
Things blurred again as I was pulled back into a vision
James considered coming into the clearing but decided against it considering the difference in numbers so he turned to exit the area he had just arrived in, running in a different direction to where the redhead had gone
"He's leaving" I said frantically
"Where?" Carlisle asked
I pointed wordlessly before Esme and Edward rushed off into the distance to follow him.
Carlisle stood in front of me, placing his hands firmly on my shoulders.
"Alice, I need you to take Bella home. Pack her a bag and get her back to our house. We'll meet you there" Carlisle said and I nodded wordlessly "It'll be okay, we'll get him"
With that he followed Edward and Esme in pursuit of James. I turned to Bella who was looking extremely stressed to say the least, and suddenly I felt really small in the huge clearing when it was just me left to defend her.
"Come on" I said as I tugged her gently towards the car "This was a bad idea, I should have seen it. I'm sorry"
"Sorry for what?" Bella asked
"We've just made him really angry by dangling you in front of him" I said in a pained tone "I should have killed him when I first had the chance"
"Baby this isn't your fault" Bella said as soon as I got to the car
I reached out to open the door for her before I felt something come over me once again
It was just me. I was the only one left between James and Bella, I had no intention of moving either
"Alice?" Bella asked me with concerned eyes
"He's been playing with me this entire time" I muttered to myself "He tricked me into thinking that he had no idea about the plan to catch him tonight"
"Correct" James said from behind me
I quickly spun around; I heard Bella's heartbeat increase to a stage where I thought it would be possible for her to have a heart attack.
I pushed Bella backwards until her back was against the door of the jeep.
I took a step forward but I felt her hand grip mine, trying to pull me back towards her.
"A little too easy Alice" James said shaking his head "Clearly you aren't used to someone poking holes in your vision. You haven't changed her so you should just give her up to me. I'll change her before my patients run out and I just decide to kill her instead"
"You can't have her" I growled as I felt protectiveness and my territorial side spring out "She's mine"
"I'm never going to stop. You can run for as long as you want but you can't hide from me" James replied
"I'm not going to change her anytime soon just because you want me to, nor am I going to give her to you" I said shakily but I was trying to make my voice sound as strong as it could manage
I should have realized what I was saying before I said it, what I had said only angered James.
What I had said only provoked him further into a stage where he wasn't going to stop until Bella had been killed.
James hissed before he rushed towards me, I raised my arms quickly, catching him right on the chest so I was able to push him away.
He tumbled to the floor in front of me and I crouched very defensively, eyeing him off as he scrambled to his feet, my reaction had caught him off guard and honestly it had caught me off guard as well.
James' head snapped towards what I could sense was my family coming back and he smirked at me before he rushed off again.
I was getting really frustrated with his cat and mouse games but I made a promise to Bella to stay with her.
I turned to her, she looked terrified and she shook slightly
"Are you okay?" I asked, taking her into my arms and embracing her tenderly as I rubbed circles over her back "I'm so sorry"
"I'm fine" Bella mumbled "Are you okay? I thought he was going to hurt you"
"I can look after myself" I nodded
"Alice!" Carlisle exclaimed as he got to us "Are you both alright?"
"We're fine but we have to get Bella out of here. He made it clear that he isn't going to stop so we have to leave" I said as I felt Bella nuzzle into my neck for further comfort
"She escaped over the treaty line and James was too fast" Carlisle said "Edward is following him now though"
"Bella, sweetheart, we're going to need your jacket" Esme said as she placed a gentle hand on Bella's shoulder
"Her jacket?" I asked furrowing my eyebrows "Why?"
"James knows that you would never leave Bella so we're going to split you two up" Carlisle said
"No" I said firmly "Just, no!"
Bella pulled away from my body slowly after giving me a tight squeeze, walking to Carlisle
"Do you think that will work?" Bella asked
"Bella it doesn't matter if it works or not, I'll protect you when he comes back" I replied very quickly
"No...Al this isn't about me. This is about you and I don't want you getting hurt trying to defend me when there is something I can actually do to help this" Bella said cautiously "I don't want to be useless. I said before I could help and if I can do this to help then I'll do it"
"Why do you need her jacket though?" I asked wearily
"Rosalie is going to put it on and you two are going to run through the forest. Rosalie will carry Bella's scent around the woods so James will be chasing your combined scents seeing as he thinks you two would never part. We'll lead him away just until we can find Bella a safe place" Carlisle said slowly so I could try and process everything
"Okay so where is Bella going to go?" I asked looking to my girlfriend
"We don't know yet. Jazz is going to take her home to pack a bag. Once you and Rosalie are done I want you to come home because you and Bella are going to go away somewhere while the rest of us stay and hunt him down" Carlisle said calmly
"I don't want to leave her Carlisle" I shook my head before I looked directly at Bella "I'm really scared of losing her"
"You won't" Jazz said as she walked to Bella, looping her arm in Bella's "I'll keep her safe, I promise"
"We need to make a move" Carlisle said anxiously "He won't stay away for too long"
Jazz went to the jeep, opening the door up for Bella who just stood there looking towards me.
Her eyebrows were creased and her eyes were sad, though they held a look of determination as well.
I took a few steps into her, gripping the sides of her jacket very tightly
"I'm sorry that I'm breaking my promise" I mumbled with a strained voice "Go home and pack, I'll be there soon"
"Just be careful okay?" Bella asked "And you better hurry up as well"
"I will" I nodded before I leaned up on my tippy toes to place a gentle yet passionate kiss on her lips "I love you Bella Swan"
"I love you too" Bella nodded
I let go of her jacket so she could take it off and give it to me.
She hurried over to the jeep, getting in while Jazz said a quick goodbye to Edward.
I could only watch helplessly as Bella was driven further and further away from me.
I handed Rosalie the jacket, she put it on very quickly before Carlisle placed a hand on my shoulder
"I hope this works" I said sighing heavily "What are you guys going to do?"
"Esme will return home to wait for Bella and Jazz. I will be staying with Emmett to make sure that the redhead does not come back" Carlisle said "If Edward cannot catch up with James he will come back here to meet us. As soon as you have finished go home. You'll find Bella there and get to the airport as quickly as possible"
"What about Charlie though?" I asked "What are we going to tell Charlie?"
"I'll call Charlie and handle everything" Carlisle replied "Now go"
I looked to Rosalie before she nodded and we took off very quickly. We weaved our way through the forest, Bella's scent was being dragged all around the trees. It comforted me to smell her scent but I was also disturbed that if wasn't actually her.
Rosalie stopped every so often to rub the jacket against the trees but she was going slower than I had wanted her too and I was starting to grow impatient.
"You have to run faster" I said stopping in my tracks
"How is stopping going to make you go any faster?" Rosalie asked as she caught up to me "I'm going as fast as I can while spreading as much of her scent as I can so you need to calm down"
"Don't tell me to calm down. If you really want Bella dead this much then give me the jacket and go find Emmett" I snapped angrily
"What are you talking about?" Rosalie asked raising her eyebrows "I have done nothing but protect this girl"
"Because you were forced to!" I exclaimed in a frustrated voice "You have protected her but every minute you were doing it with such attitude that I was beginning to wonder whether it was you whose life was completely changed by James instead of it being Bella's or mine. You may be okay with her dying but she's all I have so either you're in or you go home right now"
"Alice I don't want Bella to die, I would never want that to happen because of what that would do to you" Rosalie said seriously "And I'm sorry that you thought that I hated her, because I don't. I actually like Bella for being able to make you so happy but I don't want her to have to be this. We're saving her from James but he was just going to do what you're going to do to her after graduation"
"Do you really think that this is what I want for her?" I asked furrowing my eyebrows "This is what she wants and I can't let her go. I would love her to grow old but until she is changed there will always be danger. Even if we kill James, there's that other vampire we have to deal with now, not to mention that the Volturi could find out about this and come to kill Bella because she knows too much. I've waited for her for so long that I don't ever want to be apart from her again and I don't like being apart from her now. Can we just keep going please?"
For the 3rd time that day I was pulled into a vision, though this one was fuzzy, almost impossible to understand completely
James rushed towards Bella's house, he clearly had not fallen for our plan and once again he had made a snap decision to toy with me.
I was pushed from the vision and I blinked a couple of times
"I don't...I don't understand" I muttered
"What's wrong?" Rosalie asked
"I can't see Bella's house anymore" I furrowed my eyebrows "I can't see anything to do with Bella. It just stopped"
"Were you looking for her?" Rosalie asked
"I was watching her and her house but I can't see either Rose" I said shaking my head "I should be able to see. There is no way that James could get to her house without me seeing. He can punch holes through my visions but he can't make himself disappear. The only reason I can't...Jacob"
"What?" Rosalie asked
I didn't answer, I didn't really have the time so I just took off knowing that Rosalie would follow me as I left.
So? I'm anxious to find out what you think because this didn't come out like I had wanted it to but I hope you liked it anyway.