Seeing Red

This is a New Moon AU and slightly OOC, for Bella anyway. It starts when Rosalie calls Edward to tell him what Alice saw. Rosalie tells Edward that Bella jumped and that Alice went back to Forks to check on her. Edward decides to come back to find out what is going on. Victoria doesn't create a new born army in Seattle… but we'll worry about that later ;)

I bought a Quotionary a few weeks ago and I need to put it to use *smirk* so I'm going to try to start every chapter with a quote.

Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns all things Twilight. No copyright infringement was intended.

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Despair is a greater deceiver than hope.

-Vauvenargues (1715-1747)

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Chapter 1: EC, phone home…

Edward POV

Bella…Bella…Bella…

My mind was a broken record as I sat at the base of a tree on the edge of a rainforest in Brazil. It had been months since I had seen her, but my resistance had been steadily weakening from the moment I turned my back on her in those woods in September. Now, I was hanging on by a thread. All of my reasoning, that had originally seemed so solid, now appeared to have gaping holes of logic missing and I was running out of reasons to stay away. My cell phone rang. I knew who it was without looking at the screen.

Don't cha wish your girlfriend was hot like me?

Don't cha wish your girlfriend was a freak like me?

Rosalie had stolen my phone shortly after we had moved to Forks and made that song her ringtone. I missed my family almost as much as I missed Bella, but I was no good to them this way. I didn't want to speak to them. They would only worry more if they heard me now. My voice was only a ghost of what it used to be. I was only a ghost of who I had been. Without Bella, I was only a shell. I knew they deserved more of me, but it took everything I had to stay away from Bella…I didn't have anymore to give. I sent Rosalie to voicemail for the fifth time in the last hour.

Don't cha wish your girlfriend was hot like me?

Don't cha wish your girlfriend was a freak like me?

It appeared that Rosalie was not going to give in and I could only take so much of the Pussycat Dolls at a time. Knowing Rose, I would lose this battle eventually. Rose was nothing if not strong willed.

"Yes, Rosalie?" I exhaled heavily as I answered the phone.

"Ha! I knew you'd answer eventually…"

I rolled my eyes. One of the only perks of exile was peace from Rosalie's … personality quirks, but it would seem that I would be unable to escape my sister, even in my darkest hour.

"What do you want, Rose?"

Rosalie's triumphant tone quickly turned to hesitation.

"Edward…there is something you should know. The rest of the family thought it might not be a good idea to tell you, but if I were in your place, I would want to know…"

My patience was slipping and I wasn't sure how much more I could take. Hearing Rosalie's voice reminded me of the last time I saw her…why we had had to separate…Bella. Everything turned my mind to Bella. I could not allow this call to continue much longer.

"Rose, I need to –"

"Edward, its Bella"

I froze. Her tone was careful, as if I would break from whatever news she had to share. Maybe she was right.

"Edward?"

"…what about Bella?" I had never been weak until Bella entered my existence. I had summoned the last of my strength to leave her. To make her safe from my world. I couldn't bear the thought that it had all been for nothing.

"Alice had a vision, Edward. Bella jumped off a cliff."

The world stopped. If my heart had been beating, it would have stopped. The broken record in my head altered slightly.

No…Bella…No…Bella

My voice came out as a whisper with my last defense against despair.

"No…she promised…"

"Alice only saw her jump, Edward, not die. Alice went to check on her. She was going to tell you if it was bad news. Since she hasn't contacted you, I'm sure everything is fine, but like I said…if it was me, I'd want to know…"

The loop returned to its original refrain of Bella's name, but now the need to see her was too strong to fight.

"Rose, I have to go."

"Edward, don't freak – "

I hung up. I had no more time to talk and no more patience to listen. I was going back to Forks. If I left now, I could be with Bella in 24 hours or less.

* * *

Bella's POV

"Oh, Bella…"

Alice's eyes had just been glazed over. Now, she was looking at me like I was in the middle of acting out the greatest tragedy she had ever seen.

This was not a good sign.

It had taken a lot of persuasion to convinced Jacob and Alice to sit in the same room. With Victoria still trying to kill me, it made sense for Jacob and Alice to get together and compare notes. It was a testament to their love for me that this meeting was actually happening. As it was they were as far away from each other as they could get, while still being in the same small room. Jacob was sitting on the floor beside the fireplace. Alice was in the armchair that my father normally occupied near the kitchen doorway. Both had their noses wrinkled in disgust, but had been doing their bests to be civil. I was sitting on the couch between them. The conversation had just started and I was following it like a tennis match.

Now this.

"Bella…"

"What is it, Alice?" My heart began to race. Had she seen Victoria? Was this conversation futile because she just saw Victoria kill me anyway? The pain in Alice's face was worse than when she had seen James kill me in her vision last year. The look Alice was giving me now had "bad business" written all over it.

"Bella, I need you to breathe and trust me, okay?" Alice leaned toward me and placed her cool fingertips on my knee.

"What's up?" Jacob asked, moving quickly to my side. I made a concentrated effort to breathe in and out.

"Nothing," Alice looked at Jacob as if seeing him for the first time, "Bella and I need to have some girl talk. Could you leave us for little while?"

"What about – "

"Don't worry about Victoria right this minute. I don't see her anywhere near here at the moment. After I speak to Bella, you and I can finish up, okay?"

Jake looked at me, as if asking permission.

"Um….okay. Just go for a run, Jake. We should be done by the time you get back…?" I turned to look at Alice again for conformation. She nodded. Jacob quickly rose and left through the back door. I watched him run into the forest through the living room window. I had the sneaking suspicion that he was thrilled at the opportunity to breathe some air that wasn't saturated with the smell of vampires.

Once Jake was safely out of sight, I turned back to Alice. She was now kneeling in front of me with her icy hands holding mine.

"Okay, what's going on?"

"Rosalie called Edward. " I flinched at his name, but Alice kept going.

"She told him about me seeing you jump off of the cliff and… Bella, he's coming to check on you."

A painful moan escaped my throat, but before I could decipher whether it was from longing or dread, Alice continued her newsflash.

"Bella, Edward is on his way back to Forks. He'll be here soon. The others are on their way too."

"What…?" My mind was suddenly swimming. I couldn't get my mind around her words. All of the stress of the past few weeks was catching up with me and I was suddenly lost in my own head again. I had broken my promise to him. He could be coming back merely to yell at me for reneging on my side of the bargain. The anger that I had felt when I first saw those guys in Port Angeles with Jess and decided to break my promise was still swimming around within me, but there were too many other emotions in the mix to precisely put a finger on what I was feeling.

"Bella…I think it would be best if you came to my house to see Edward."

"Alice…" My eyes began to overflow with tears, but I wasn't sure if they were tears of joy or pain or some combination of the two.

"Bella, I think you know that Edward will look for you here first. I don't think it wise for that to happen…now that your social circle has expanded."

Oh God, Jake…

"That would be bad…"

"I agree…Bella, will you come with me to my house? Now?"

In my haze, I had already made my decision. I would go. Even as a melting pot of emotion, I knew that going to him would be the best option. I already knew he didn't love me… that he didn't want me… what else could he possible do?

"That's my girl...ready?" I hadn't spoken since she had asked me, but of course, Alice knew once I had made the decision.

Random thoughts began to bounce around in my head.

Thank God I showered...and brushed my teeth…

I shook my head to stop that ridiculous train of thought. As if Edward would care if my breath stank or not... I didn't even know if I was going to be able to speak in his presence, so my lack of onion breath was kind of irrelevant at this point. Besides, I had always been less than perfect… especially in comparison to him…he had known that from the beginning, so it couldn't possibly surprise him now…

Alice misinterpreted the shake of my head.

"Don't worry, Bella. I'll be there with you the whole time."

I trusted Alice. She was my best friend, and knowing she would be by my side gave me the strength of will to stand up. Alice stayed in her crouched position, but looked up at me.

"Let's go before I change my mind."