Jacob drops Bella off at Charlie's house shortly after the cliff diving incident. Bella comes home to more than she expected.

Filling the void

Bella let out a shocked gasp as she noticed Carlisles car pulled up in her houses driveway. There was no one around and the house was clean of all the lights. She jumped out as quickly as she grabbed the door handle of her old truck and slammed the door hard behind her. She immediately decided what she's doing.

Jake reached for Bella's arm, pulling at her elbow to stop her from going any further. Bella was taken aback by the speed with which Jacob was able to catch up to her.

''Bella wait, it could be a trap! You don't know for sure, just please –'' Jacob tried his hardest to make his voice sound calm and relaxed his grip into a gentle touch as she stopped and turned around to meet his nearly-black worried eyes.

''I can't Jake –'' she whispered, tears in her eyes beginning to roll down her cheeks quickly as she breathed faster and faster each second of uncertainty and question. The thought of seeing any of them has been a lost hope to her these long and lonely months, but now it rushed back as quickly as it had left her in the first place. '' Please just let me go, it's Carlisle's car, he won't hurt me. You don't have to worry about me anymore'' she exhaled, kicking herself for making her last word sound so final and cold. As much as she was scared of getting her false hopes up, she turned away from Jacob and raced to her front door without looking back. She didn't know if he would understand this but she was sure that she didn't care about that at the present moment, as harsh as it may sound.

It was now dark when she entered the front hall and searched around with her hand for a light switch. ''Why is it always so hard to find that stupid switch'' she thought to herself. It was quiet and the only sound she could hear was Bella's very own increasing heart rate, she swallowed her tears and even though she was not able to locate the switch the light has suddenly flashed making her blind for just a second. She waited impatiently for her eyes to adjust to this sudden change in light.

''Bella!'' an angelic voice whispered in disbelief, surprised and much too close to where Bella was standing. Without thinking first, Bella launched herself at Alice, crying. Even with the seemingly strong force with which Bella hugged Alice, she did not move an inch.

Alice could feel Bella's heart beat racing faster and faster, beating it's way out of her chest. Her tears have fallen softly and soundlessly onto Alice's white cardigan, disappearing as they soaked in the soft material.

''Alice I'm so glad…so…happy…Alice…'' and she broke down, squeezing her arms tight around Alice's back, hoping to never let her go. She was cold and hard, yet Bella could feel her heart warming up, filling up with happiness, but not slowing down. She pulled away and Alice brushed Bella's wet hair off her pale face with a single stroke of her rigid fingers. She noticed hurt in her eyes, which was definitely present, yet fading quickly as if it was healing instantly. Alice then picked Bella up, without a question, effortlessly and started walking up the stairs towards Bella's bedroom. Graciously she managed to place her on the edge of the bed, eyes fixed on hers, gazing in amazement.

''Would you like to explain to me how you're still alive?'' Alice demanded finally, with an obviously happy-to-be-wrong facial expression. Her eyes, russet in colour and shiny as ever, wandered all around Bella's body, as if trying to feed them the truth they would not believe, trying to satisfy them with long looks.

Bella gazed at Alice's flawless face for a short moment before quickly hugging her again, and letting go softly but with an un-easy feeling.

''I was cliff diving, for fun. The current got the better of me and Jake pulled me out'' she said trying to make it seem as if it was just harmless fun, and as if she had done this million times before. Suddenly she realized she will have to explain Jake to her after all this.

As Alice listened in silence, with her face still, to Bella's further explanations and reassurances, she started to relax. She has never felt this relieved in her entire vampire life. She had been so afraid of never seeing that beautiful face filled with life again. Even though Bella looked like a mess, her hair damp, frizzy and tangled, her clothes soaked with freezing sea water, and her eyes, eyes still watering down heavy tears. To Alice she was the most beautiful person in the world and also the only person she cared about right now. And her slender body, clothes clinging to her perfect figure made it all that much harder to bear, as she fought the sudden urge to comfort her coldness by her touch.

She could not understand where her thoughts have taken her but she did nothing to stop them.

''Promise me you'll stay. For me. If that means anything to you…please…'' Bella pleaded, now looking up trying on a puppy-face without any effort involved. And how could Alice ever refuse. How could she ever say no to Bella?

''I promise'' she whispered gently in Bella's ear as she moved her face slightly to touch her cheek with hers. It felt warm and so very soft, something Alice has been missing for months… It felt good. She touched her cold, perfectly full lips on Bella's cheek, staying there for just a second longer than they should have before quickly taking them back. She let Bella make herself comfortable in her stone arms, which were now fastened around Bella's waist. They stood still, for a long minute, and Bella couldn't get enough of it, of the feeling of happiness and joy that she felt when Alice was right here with her, and the butterflies in her stomach multiplied each second. For a brief moment she forgot why she was ever sad, and began breathing normally, at easy, finally.

''You need some sleep…'' Alice said looking at Bella's room. It was dark, except for a small lamp that was still lit, providing them with just enough light to see each other. Bella nodded, wiped the tears from her eyes and cheeks with the back of her wet sleeve, which then she realized was useless, so Alice done that for her. Otherwise, Bella remained still. It was like she was holding onto her dear life, the only one she ever had and that is how she truly felt.

''And preferably a shower too, you smell awful!'' Alice joked, beginning to pull a face of discomfort at the smell Bella had on herself but the quickly smiling as to reassure Bella that she didn't mean to offend her. Bella stopped the hug and put her arms around herself, shivering.

''I'm going to take a hot bath instead'' smiling as she lightly brushed against the back of Alice's hand that now extended to hold Bella's for a second longer, until she disappeared behind the door and into the bathroom.

Bella did not care that once Alice has left, a massive hole will tear her chest and heart into pieces. She knew that she will come back to being a 'zombie', living to please others but living without her soul. But she did not care, what she wanted most right now was to get back into her room and fall into Alice's comforting arms, and stay with her forever.

This is the first chapter, so have a look at the second one if you are interested in how this will continue. I would appreciate reviews or whatever, as honest as possible, so I can hopefully improve my work. I hope you enjoyed it, and thank you for reading!