Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.

Rated: T.

Author: xPaige Turnerx

Summary: It's your classic girl finds love in a coffee shop... if you replace girl with tired old immortal and coffee shop with comic shop and love with aggravated endearment that eventually leads to soul-bound devotion and affection.

'Happiness hit her like a train on a track

Coming towards her stuck still no turning back.'

It wasn't that she didn't like spending time with Carlisle, not at all, because honestly, he was one of a handful of people she could actually stomach being around for more than a few minutes at a time. He offered the same calming tranquillity and understanding compassion as Jasper, minus the annoying habit of being able to read her like a book. Not that she held that against her brother, either. She knew it was more of a curse to him than it was to her, and she felt haunted by her gifted siblings. Nowhere to go, nowhere to turn, always stripped bare simply existing near them, her very core exposed.

Every day she was thankful that it was these three generous, kind souls that inherited such gifts.

Still, on this particular day, Rosalie was regretting asking the patriarch along with her. Not only did he want to walk through the city, but he would not stop greeting people on the sidewalk. Every person they passed, he offered a friendly 'hello' or 'good afternoon!' and Rosalie was desperately trying to squash the urge to strangle the man. She had enough people staring at her in a day, she didn't need him to bring extra attention to them. Not even her scowl could deter these strangers from pausing them to have a small chitchat with the pretty doctor, and thus she was forced to wait for him to catch up every few blocks.

As she was now, leaning against the side of the building, arms crossed, scowl at the ready. Watching Carlisle smile and shake the woman's hand again before the two of them parted ways, and he headed over. His smile was wide and he waved what looked like a colourful pamphlet at Rosalie, holding it up when he approached. "Good news! This woman pointed me in the direction of a comic store across the road and down another block. She said they've been there forever, they have a lot of merchandise, exceptional service. Not a chain store, or quite well known, so chances are they're not out of whatever you're looking for."

"Great, another dreary hole in the wall run by a herd of mouthbreathers waiting to ogle me," Rosalie sighed and spun on her heel. She stepped into the street, ignoring the screech of tires from the car skidding to a halt before slamming into her. The prophanities hurled her way morphed into a cat-call halfway through that bounced right off of her, dying in the cold silence of her wake.

Carlisle jogged across the street after her, waving apologies to the few cars who were forced to such a sudden stop. "We don't need to enter if it makes you this uncomfortable," he said thoughtfully. "Perhaps we could find another store, or you could order it online back home?"

"We're already here, might as well look," she shrugged, "and you know how the internet frustrates me. I'd rather find it myself. Besides, if I let the risk of obscene men run me off each time, I'd never get to step foot outside of the house."

The patriarch nodded, staring down at the neon coloured pamphlet in his hands with furrowed brows. "Humanity has taken great strides, both forwards and backwards," he agreed. "It boggles me to try and understand how we've come so far while simultaneously degrading to such harmful attitudes towards fellow demographics."

"People suck."

A small smile curved his lips up and Carlisle sighed, shaking his head fondly. "A perfect way to sum it all up." They stopped in front of an older brick building and looked up at the sign that was nearly falling off, being held up only by the vines that had crawled up the corner of the building and climbed across to the other side.

Fortress of Inked Solitude

Only with her heightened sense of sight, did Rosalie catch the messily scrawled geeks welcome underneath in blue sharpie. She snorted and glanced around the front of the shop, silently appraising, judging, and was... impressed. Over the years, Emmett had dragged her to many comic book shops and they were all... predictably the same. This one felt different. This one had character.

From the doodles scribbled on the windows, both inside and out, to the flyers taped up all over the front of the building. The seriously overgrown potted plants on either side of the door that would impress even Esme. The dragon door handle, and weird elven horn that replaced the bell above the door. Inside was much the same, with the front counter up by the windows to the left, the rest of the floor was left open with shelves and tables full to the brim with merchandise. Comics, books, action figures. Posters lined walls, model aircrafts from various fandoms hung from the ceiling. Mannequins displayed clothes, each with an equally unique and disturbing face drawn on, and randomly found all throughout the area were more plants. Exotic looking flowers, regular house plants, and literally a small tree. Each one thriving, individual scents morphing into one intoxicating, delightful smell.

This... this may have been the nicest space Rosalie had ever stepped into. She felt clean here. Clean, pure, refreshed, and warm. God. Warm. She hadn't felt warm in years, and years, and years. Not since she first met Emmett.

And then someone had to go and snore, the obnoxious sound shattering the peaceful calm that had settled over the shop, over Rosalie, that had felt more like a hug than her boyfriend's arms around her. Spine straightening, Rosalie glared over to the corner of the room and the raised platform. Up the two steps, a large circular table sat, next to a coffee machine and a vending machine. At the table, a young man was hunched over with his head in his arms, chest rising and falling with each breath. He snored again and Rosalie was ready to storm back out of the building.

Just as she turned, however, someone popped up from behind the front counter over by the window, and Rosalie felt the entire world shift on its axis. Her hand shot out, fingers brushing against the glass of the door, steadying herself as she stared at the girl who suddenly appeared in her life from nowhere.

With a grunt, the brunette heaved a large, boxy book up onto the counter and let it land with a bang. The cover had some kind of tacky jewel on the front, big and shiny and red, but Rosalie could not pry her eyes away from the angel who puffed out a breath from pink cheeks. The girl tucked a thick lock of her dark hair behind her ear and the simple action entranced Rosalie. As Mystery Angel pushed large, circular wire-framed glasses back up the bridge of her nose, Rosalie twitched.

Endearing. What? Cute. Mine. What?! Enticing. Run. Go. Away. Leave. Move. BLINK.

The girl finally looked up, equally dark eyes peering across at Rosalie curiously. Lips pulled up into a smile that felt like sunshine and it took everything in Rosalie's power not to step back. Not to grab the nearest shelf, throw it at the girl, and run away. "Hey there," the girl greeted around an amused chuckle. "Is there something I can... something I can... nope, can't do it. We need to address this thing that's happening here. What," she shook her head and actually laughed this time, and Rosalie marvelled at the sensation it caused in her chest, "what has you looking like you've just stepped on a weight-triggered mine?"

Wide eyes shifted to the side, Rosalie looking to Carlisle for help. The man was staring at her with open fascination and bewilderment, his eyebrows reaching high up his forehead, hand on his chin holding his open slacked jaw, the other raised in the air curiously.

The girl snorted and Rosalie's attention was brought back to her. Back to her and those pretty little white flowers in her damn hair. Her head tilted to the side, dark curtain of hair falling over her shoulder, while she fought to tame her smile. "I'm sorry, this is the weirdest encounter of my life, and it's super adorable."

Rosalie's wide golden eyes narrowed into a glare, face contorting back into a scowl as her body relaxed.

The smile aimed her way dimmed down into a light frown. "Oh shoot, clearly the wrong thing to say."

"I'm looking for a comic," Rosalie said brusquely and stalked up to the front counter. She grabbed Carlisle's sleeve on the way, forcing the man into action, disturbing him from his bewildered wonder. "A specific comic."

She slammed down a piece of paper with the title's name on it on the counter before crossing her arms over her chest. The girl hummed with intrigue, brown eyes watching Rosalie with interest until she finally pulled her gaze away to the paper below. She reached up to spin the paper towards her and Rosalie caught sight of ink just under the cuff of her sleeve, hated the way that curiosity ate at her gut. "A good choice," the girl said and glanced back up. Stared up at Rosalie from over her glasses before pushing them back up her nose, eyes crinkling with happiness. "You have excellent taste."

"It's for my-friend," the blonde faltered, tripping over her words, "boy."

"Your... friend boy."

"Yes."

"Friend that is a boy or boyfriend?"

"Yes."

Again, the girl laughed and Rosalie's jaw clenched painfully. "A fountain of knowledge, you are! Either way, it's a great issue. Trust me, I know all about issues." And suddenly she was rolling. Rolling around the counter, on a pair of rollerskates, her form wobbly as she held out her arms to catch herself should she fall. "In fact, I was toying with the slogan I've got issues for the longest time."

"Wordplay," Carlisle piped up finally, with a humorous chuckle. He stepped up to the girl's side, hand up, ready to catch her. "You own this store, then?"

The girl nodded, rolling down through the aisles of shelves, eyes skimming the covers of each comic. "I do," she replied absently. "I suppose you could say I inherited the building, which, looking at it, isn't much."

"Nonsense. You have a lovely establishment here," Carlisle countered.

"Thank you." Another smile warmed the room, and Rosalie dragged her feet after the two. "I was torn on what to do with it until – aha! There you are!" She grabbed the edge of a shelf, coming to an abrupt stop, her body jerking to the side as the skates kept going until she righted herself. Turning back to the two with a beaming face, the girl held up the comic issue in triumph. "Here we-"

The wooden door in the very back corner of the room swung open with a bang, another girl storming out with a stack of papers in each hand. "Bella!" she cried in exasperation and disbelief. "You spent five hundred dollars on tickets to a human zoo?!"

Everyone looked back at the girl, Bella, who shrank back. A powerful blush worked its way up her neck, to her cheeks, and her shoulders rose up defensively. "I'd never heard of it before, I was curious!"

"And?" the girl asked with a slight chuckle to her voice.

A shudder rolled through Bella's body and she shook her head. "Definitely not what I was expecting. I wasn't comfortable looking at people for two weeks after that."

The girl sighed deeply, turning back to the back office. "Five hundred dollars... human zoo... how you got this far in life, you giant walking ball of naivety..."

Bella turned back to the others with a sheepish look. "Pay no mind to Angela, she likes to grumble about 'my antics' daily." She let out a breath and nodded, looking between the two. Her eyes drifted back to Rosalie, drawn back by an invisible force. "Was this everything?"

"Yes," the blonde answered gruffly.

"Great. If you could just give me a little push towards the counter, I'll ring you right up."

Carlisle took the girl's hand and pulled her back towards the front of the store. "A new hobby you've taken up?"

"God no," Bella laughed. Her face scrunched up in amusement and Rosalie growled lightly in her chest, glaring down at her boots. "Well, I guess so. I don't have a car -carbon footprints, and all- but it takes forever to get around Seattle on foot. So Charlie and I are gonna see if we can cut down some of that time if we add wheels to the equation."

Rosalie stepped up to the counter, careful not to slam her hands down on the surface too hard. "Who's Charlie?"

The three of them decided to ignore the hint of demanding in her voice, and Bella lifted her fingers to her mouth and gave a sharp whistle. "Just the purest soul to ever walk this damned planet."

A hulking behemoth covered in black fur trotted around one of the shelves and into view, massive paws slapping the ground with a thud each time. Carlisle shuffled backwards from instinct when the mighty beast approached. A large head swung sideways into Rosalie's hip, the muzzle shaggy enough to leave a distinct moustache impression, and, were she human, she was certain the beast would have knocked her right off her feet. Big brown eyes stared up at her and she quickly looked away, back to Bella-

-where another pair of big brown eyes stared back at her. A grin that rivalled the sun was beaming at her. "He likes you!" she gushed and leaned forward on the counter. "He's usually so wary of people, bit of an awkward lump. I think he can sense their fear."

"Yes, well, that happens when you have a bear for a pet."

Bella frowned. "He's a dog."

"It's a bear."

"A dog!"

Rosalie touched a finger to the top of his massive head, having to bend her elbow, and raised a golden brow at the girl. "He's as tall as the counter, just on all fours."

"You're as tall as the counter!"

This time it was Rosalie who tilted her head to the side and gave the girl a look. "Very mature. How old are you, twenty-two, twenty-three?"

"Sure."

A sigh heaved her shoulders. "Can I just buy the damn comic so I can be on my way and get on with my life?"

"Well," Bella pressed her palms against the countertop, leaning back to puff out a breath of air again, "that depends. Are you okay with pretending you didn't fall madly and irrevocably in love with me the moment our eyes met? Good luck going back to your empty shell of a life now that you've gotten a little taste of heaven."

The glare on Rosalie's face collided with the shit-eating grin on Bella's, the two staring each other down. "You're a smartass."

"If that's what you're into, then for you I would be."

Rosalie scoffed. She snatched up the comic and tossed down a wad of cash, turning on her heel and storming towards the front door. The elven horn rang as she opened it and beckoned Carlisle to follow with a look.

Fumbling to catch the wad of cash, trying to keep it all together, Bella looked up like a gaping fish out of water. "This is too much money!"

"Keep it," Rosalie huffed as she struggled to keep her lips from curling up in a smile. "Visit another human petting zoo, for all I care," she called back just before the door swung closed again.

Through the window, she watched this strange, enchanting girl's face screw up in disgust and finally let out a quiet chuckle. "The mental picture! Oh god! Angela! Google Image bunnies and kittens, quick!"

.

.

.

-long drawn out, tired sigh-

Right. Okay. Here we go. NEW STORY. Yeah. I know a lot of you made a case for making Species a triad, or somehow having Rosalie and Bella together in there, but honestly I just don't see it fitting properly. I mean, some of you made really great cases, and I was very tempted, but I just don't think it would have worked out. So Species will be staying strictly Bellice (or as strictly as it has because apparently platonic is a struggle for me), and I'll probably do a couple more oneshots au's like I have already.

That being said, WELCOME TO MY FIRST EVER ROSELLA STORY. A short introduction that really introduces nothing, but I like it, it's something. I don't know what, but something. Was gonna keep going but I kinda like ending it here, with them meeting. So yeah, this is gonna be a full length multi-chapter story that I do while I work on the sequel for Species.

So no worries there, I am still working on Species as well. I just think I'm gonna do what I did the first time, write it all out, and then post it at once. This one, I'll do updates as they're written, just so you guys don't have to wait so long for something to read.

Anyway, I know this is kinda choppy? I need to settle into my new Rosella groove, I'm still finding my footing. Trying to decide if I wanna do this from Rosalie's perspective or Bella's, or a little bit of both. I'm also running on very little sleep, it's hella late here, and I got distracted every few minutes looking up dogs. So... yeah.

peace

paige