I'm trying to figure out who Bailey Rowe is all over again; the red hair is gone, it isn't her... The piercing is gone, that isn't her either. It's like I'm not me anymore. I've been home almost a week and I'm scared to weigh myself. What if I've lost? Or put on too much? What if being home is making me bad again? What if-
"What if I hold your hand?" A voice says and I jump with fright, spinning around to see Edward sat on the edge of my bed.
I set a hand on my chest and exhale slowly, closing my diary. "Ever heard of knocking?"
"I did, your mom let me in." He smirks and walks over, holding his hand out. "C'mon - together."
I grow nervous as I grip his ice cold, stone hand, letting him drag me to the bathroom. He locks the door and sets the scales up as I take my thick jumper off and my jeans, not caring if he sees my sports bra or Bridget Jones pants.
"Take your time." He says gently. "Want me to look away?"
"N-no. Look at it for me." I whisper as I stare straight ahead and close my eyes stepping on.
I hold my breath as I hear the beep to say it's finished calculating. "You want me to say?" Edward asks and I stiffly nod once. "126."
I look down and exhale slowly, smiling. "I didn't lose."
"You sure didn't. Good job." He smiles as I redress. "I was thinking we could go for coffee like we used to, and I can catch you up on everything. I have your jeep."
I gasp. "I knew she gave it to someone!"
He laughs and throws me the keys as we head out, calling a goodbye to mom. I climb in the drivers seat and stroke the wheel. "Hi baby." I whisper as Edward laughs. "Hey, this car is my one possession that I treasure more than my life." I laugh.
"Humans are crazy."
"Vampires are crazy."
He shakes his head laughing and I begin to drive. "So where do I begin?"
"When you came back."
"Oh well that is one hell of a story. I went to the Volturi to die-"
"What!?" I yell shocked.
"Don't interrupt me dippy." He smirks. "I thought Bella was dead - why would I want to be apart from her? I realised how much if a mistake I had made and I was planning on being with her forever however I could. They refused me, Aro wanted my gift. I planned on exposing myself and Alice saw - she came back for Bella. They came to save me and that's how they discovered a human knew. Remember Aro's gift?"
I nod as I frown at the road and he continues. "Well, he saw Bella. And then you. But Alice's thoughts were so dark, Aro assumed you died and that's why Alice was so low - she had rather just found out about your condition. Anyway. That lead to use having to promise Bella would become immortal."
"Okay. So you came back after. Then?"
"Victoria returned."
I freeze and feel the air leave my lungs. "V-Victoria?" I whisper, gripping the wheel.
Edward rubs my shoulder. "Keep listening, don't panic. Bella had made friends with... werewolves."
I choke on saliva. "What!?!"
He chuckles. "Some of the boys from the res got the gene, it's triggered by us. So Bella and Jacob became friends while I was gone and sort of had a... thing I guess. It's complicated. When we came back her and Jake cut ties and that was that for awhile until we had to team up to stop Victoria. She built an army of newborns, ran by a naive teenager who made the decisions so Alice was oblivious. We fought them, slaughtered them so easy." He shrugs.
"And-and Victoria?" I ask nervously.
"I tore her apart myself." He smirks and I sigh with relief, which is short lived. "The Volturi came by to intervene, obviously too late. They came to check on Bella too."
"Please tell me that's the last of them." I ask as we sit in the same booth we always used to, a coffee clasped in my hands.
"Oh no." He chuckles and leans back. "Next came the wedding... my condition to change Bella myself was marriage. August 13th we married and went on honeymoon. A normal honeymoon..." He says.
I wiggle my eyebrows smirking, biting my muffin. "Oh yeah?"
"Child." He rolls his eyes. "That was a mistake. Bella fell pregnant - something we never thought possible. She... She carried the child for just under a month, it broke her ribs, drained her body, made her sick. Alice couldn't see it, everyone hated it. Rosalie defended Bella though."
My jaw drops and Edward laughs at my expression. "I know. The baby came, a girl called Renesmee. The wolves were set to kill her when Jacob revealed something - he imprinted."
"What's that?" I frown.
"It means he found his soul mate."
"A baby? That's disgusting." I pull a face.
"It was in my eyes... but my Ness, she's different. She ages at an astonishing rate. Currently she's five months old, but she looks about 4 years old." He smiles.
"It's still... wrong." I shake my head.
"It isn't ideal, let's say that." He sighs. "But I can't change it. You should've seen Bella's reaction." He laughs. "Anyway. Renesmee liked to show off, and sadly Irina, one of the Denali's saw and mistook her for an immortal child - an uncontrollable immortal frozen at the age they were changed. They're forbidden. She reported us, and finally Aro had what he needed to hunt us."
I frown, tensing. "Did they... did they hurt any one?"
He shakes his head, watching me. "No. He gathered witnesses as did we - people to show Renesmee's growth. He planned on using his to rave about justice being served but it backfired when we proved our case. Alice rescued us that day - we thought she left us, ran, bailed. But she found another hybrid." He smiles.
I smile gently. "She's always there at the last minute."
He chuckles and nods. "That was on new years. We think they won't bother us anymore." He shrugs. "Now here we are."
I sigh. "Much more eventful than my life."
"May I ask... about treatment?" He asks slowly.
I stare at the table before I eventually look at him, showing him silently what happened. I remember the day I was forced on to a feeding tube, the day I broke and gave up hope. Then the day it begun to grow which was the day I put on 3 pounds. I then show him the lows of losing and gaining, how draining it was. And then I show him the happier times if the last few months when I finally got to see my family for a visit, when I got to call them and write to them. And then when I finally got the clearance to leave and come home.
A grimace is on his face as he sees it all. He swallows hard and looks at me dead in the eyes. "I've never met someone so strong." He whispers and squeezes my hand. "And I've never been so proud to have known someone."
I smile small. "Thank you... if it wasn't for Carlisle, I wouldn't be here. He came all that way to help me and I'm forever grateful." I say gently, remembering the visit.
"He remembers that day all the time. It haunts him..."
I frown a little. "I hate that I caused him distress."
"Don't. Need I remind you we all care?"
I smile small. "I know. I know. Where's Emmett been lately?"
He smirks. "He's been fixing the jeep for you, making sure it's all tuned. He took care of her for you, ready for when you came back."
I smile a little. "He truly is a sweetheart."
"He won't like to be called that." Edward grins. "Why don't you come back to the house for a while? Esme will make you dinner."
I hesitate. "Edward... that'll give Alice the wrong idea."
"Not at all. She knows you don't want her - yet. I know you want to take your time and we all understand that - slow, steady; we don't have to go back to normal, or like before, but we can still hang out right?" He asks hopeful.
I sigh and smile small. "Of course we can."
-
As I pull up to the Cullen house, I see a small girl and two tanned boys playing as Bella watches from the porch. Rosalie's legs stick out from under a car while Emmett leans deep into the engine. I smile and close my door loudly. "I heard you looked after my baby while I was gone. Thanks Shrek."
Emmett drops his wrench and runs over. "Thumbelina!" He grabs me in a bear hug and spins me around, holding me close.
I giggle and hug back. "I've needed an Emmett hug for a while."
He squeezes me gently before setting me down. "You can have them whenever you need honey." He smiles. "You better take care of her." He pats the hood of the jeep. "The twin to mine."
I laugh. "I bet Rosalie did most of the work." I tease.
Rose grins as she wipes her hands off from oil coming over. "Of course I did. I'm so glad you came over." She hugs me gently.
I smile and hug back. "I'm glad I came. Can I smell Esme cooking?" I look forward the kitchen.
"You sure do. Renesmee eats human food so she's always cooking something. Speaking of - Nessie, this is Bailey, our friend." Edward says as he picks the copper haired girl up.
She looks at me and smiles gently. She holds her hand out and I look at Edward. "Let her touch you." He says gently.
I let her do so, watching as she puts her hand on my cheek. I gasp as I'm suddenly seeing something.. Alice. Quiet, sitting alone as everyone talks. A bunch of vampires, a huge social event - her kind of thing - yet she stays clear.
I frown deeply and step back a little in shock. "W-what was that?" I whisper.
"She showed you what she was thinking..." Rose says gently. "What was it?"
"A memory of Alice. When Bailey was mentioned." Edward says gently.
I take a deep breath and turn away. "Where's Esme?" I change the subject, heading inside.
"Did I upset her daddy?" I hear a angelic voice says.
"No baby not at all - Bailey understands why you showed her." He says gently before kissing Renesmee's cheek.
I head up the stairs and make my way to the kitchen; Esme stands by the cooker as Alice helps her chop vegetables. Both look up as I come in. "Hi." I smile gently.
"Bails!" Esme grins and immediately hugs me. "I hope you're hungry."
"I wasn't until I smelt your cooking." I giggle small. "Hi Alice." I say gently.
She waves with a small smile and goes back to staring at the chopping board. "Why don't you girls go watch TV?" Esme probes.
"Sure." I smile gently and see Alice look between us. I extend my hand to her, unsure where this confidence has come from. I swear to god if this is Jasper meddling.....
Alice's eyes light up and she wipes her hands off taking mine. I pull her to the couch and flick the TV on leaning back. "Friends?"
"Of course." She giggles small. "Don't you ever get bored of this show?"
"I'm offended that you could even ask such a thing." I gasp.
She giggles gently and we relax into a comfortable silence. My eyes focus on the screen and I find myself relax; comfortable. I've missed her company and I'll happily admit that. I'm just a little concerned at how being around all this again will affect me.
"Until I was 25 I thought the only response to ‘I love you’ was ‘Oh crap!'” Chandler yells on the tv.
I giggle small. "Pretty sure you said something like that when I said that the first time."
Alice covers her face. "I was shocked!" She groans/laughs embarrassed.
I smirk and nod. "Ohhh uh huh."
"I'm almost certain you didn't actually say that first." Alice says.
"How many times have we had this argument?"
"13."
I laugh. "You said 'I love spending time with you' that isn't the same as 'I love you'." I shake my head.
"Potatoe potato." She waves me off.
"You really are just plain stubborn." I shove her playfully.
She smirks innocently. "Me? Nooo. Family trait."
"That's for sure."
"Rude." She smirks.
"Family trait."
Hey guys, sorry to be a pain {it's my last name, gotta live up to it!} but can I please have some feedback? Where do you guys see this book heading? What kind of things do you want Alice and Bailey to go through? Like, I've written to chapter 30 but I'm not digging the direction it's gone in and I would loveee to see what you guys have in mind. Feel free to comment or message me, many thanks guys ❤️