Enchanted

The next day I woke up in the early to Jake still sleeping beside me. Untangling myself, I was relieved when he didn’t wake up. He must have been exhausted. Walking out into the hall, Alice saw me and immediately beamed. “Let’s get you dressed,” she said excitedly.

“But, Alice, I was just going to lounge in my pajamas all day.”

“Nonsense,” she said, dragging me into her bedroom. Sleepily, I complied and sat down in the chair. I watched Alice shift through the extensive wardrobe she had almost without actually seeing her.

My mind drifted to how Bella was doing. She wasn’t doing very well since she wasn’t able to eat anything. It was good that Carlisle was an excellent doctor though and that Rose was with her all night. Edward too. But she needed to eat something or she was going to die. When you looked at her and saw how sickly she looked, you could tell it was killing her.

“Here we are!” Alice said excitedly and thrust some clothes into my hands. I went back to the room I was using and changed into them. Going back into Alice’s room she quickly ushered me into a chair in front of a vanity.

“How’s Bella today?” I asked her as she began to do my hair.

“She’s much better,” Alice said with a smile. I beamed as Alice managed to untangle my hair. Making it into soft curls, she pulled the front back and secured it with a bow. Before I could protest Alice put a small line of eyeliner on my upper lid and then a swipe of mascara. I studied myself in the mirror and I could tell Alice knew what she was doing. She came back holding a pair of pumps.

“Alice, I’m going to be so uncomfortable wearing those all day,” I said as I took them anyway.

“Not these,” she assured me. Putting them on, I could tell she was right to an extent. They weren’t too horrible on my feet. It was probably easier for her though. Graceful and vampiric. “Plus we should all celebrate by looking nice that Bella is doing so much better. It’s all thanks to Jacob really. Now, come and see,” she said and pulled me in front of a full length mirror. “What do you think?” she asked as I studied myself in the outfit Alice had chosen.

“You sure know what you’re doing,” I said as a smile adorned my lips. “I like it.”

“Let’s go show everyone how pretty you are,” she said with a smile and pulled me out of the room. Downstairs we came into the room where Bella, Rosalie, Edward, and Seth had congregated. Bella was actually sitting and looking quite comfortable as she had a plate of food in front of her. Seth was next to her, eating a plate of food as well with one arm around Bella. Rosalie was on the floor in front of Bella, her head resting against her. Edward was on the other side of Bella.

“You look beautiful today,” Bella told me when she saw me.

“And you’re looking a whole lot better,” I said and offered a smile. My eyes then drifted to the food on their plates. It looked really good and I hadn’t eaten since dinner yesterday.

“I’ll get you some,” Edward said, standing up and moving towards the kitchen.

“I was thinking about the food,” I said guiltily as everyone turned to look at me.

Edward came back in a few seconds later, a plate filled with food. He sat down next to Bella looking at her with a very hopeful expression on his face. He hoped this solution took and really did make her better. Alice went and sat down next to Rosalie at Bella’s feet. Instead of standing around, I went and sat down in the small space next to Seth.

Immediately Seth swiped one of my pieces of bacon. “Hey!”I complained. “Don’t touch the bacon. Anything else. Just not the bacon.” For emphasis I took a bite of one of the other pieces. Eating the rest of the food, I found that someone was a really good cook. This stuff tasted delicious. As a result, I didn’t eat the most mannered. To be honest with Seth beside me, it didn’t take much to look better. Those boys inhaled their food.

I finished the plate quickly and was surprised by how full I felt afterwards. A part of me wanted more because it was so good. But then I probably wouldn’t fit into this dress anymore. I stood up and went to the kitchen, putting my plate in the sink with all the other dishes. Going back into the room, I sat down next to Seth who had just finished his plate.

“Where does it all go?” I teased poking his side.

“The muscle,” he said and flexed. I laughed and took the heels off. Pulling my feet underneath me, I leaned into Seth. He moved his arm so that I could rest comfortably against him.

“You’re warm,” I said with happiness in my voice. There was also a bit of tiredness seeping in. “Convenient for us humans to have around,” I joked.

“You haven’t changed much, have you?” Bella asked with a smile. I simply smiled as well, my eyes closing. “Ally loves to be warm. Pretty much overly warm,” Bella explained to everyone. “But when you put her in a warm and comfortable place, she’ll fall asleep on you. In your case, Seth, it’s quite literal.”

“But he’s so warm! And surprisingly soft for all that muscle…”

“So you admit that I have muscle,” he said and I could hear the smile in his voice. But then again Seth always seemed to be smiling.

“Shut up. I’m trying to sleep,” I said smacking his stomach lightly.

“What were you and Jake doing last night that you’re so tired?”

“Seth!” I gasped instantly more awake. I sat up quickly and gaped at him. “We didn’t do anything!” I said, my voice going higher in pitch. How can he think— In a house full of people!

Seth grinned. “Getting a bit defensive aren’t we?” Everyone else was watching me now and I felt a blush form on my cheeks. “And we’re blushing!”

“Shut up!” I cried, burying my face in my hands.

“Ally and Jake sitting in a tree,” Seth began to sing. “K-I-S—”

I placed my hand over his mouth quickly. “Do not even finish that!” I warned.

“And if I do?”

“I will cause you bodily harm,” I said trying to sound threatening and dangerous. Besides Bella, I was probably the least dangerous one here though so I don’t think it worked out too well.

“I’d like to see you try,” he challenged.

“Are you ticklish?” I asked, holding my fingers threateningly close to his side.

“No,” he said but the nervous look on his face proved otherwise. I made a move to tickle him but Rosalie intervened.

“Not next to Bella,” she warned. “If the mutt reacts badly and hurts Bella, it could hurt the baby.”

“You aren’t next to Bella,” Seth pointed out looking devious. “Are you ticklish?”

“No, not at all. Why do you ask?” I may have said a bit too quickly. Seth didn’t waste any time in tickling my sides. I squealed and threw myself over the arm of the couch to escape his clutches. I landed with a thud. Standing up awkwardly and fixing my dress I tried not to pay attention to everyone looking at me. As old as I am, I definitely was more than a bit childish at times.

Next everybody who had supernatural hearing snapped their heads in the other direction. Jake stood there looking at everyone curiously. I couldn’t help but notice his gaze kept flicking back to me every few seconds though.

He looked at Seth curiously and Edward answered a question that must have popped into his head. “He came to find you and Esme convinced him to stay for breakfast.”

“Yeah, Jake,” Seth hurried to explain. “I was just checking to see if you were okay ‘cause you didn’t ever phase back. Leah got worried. I told her you probably just crashed human, but you know how she is. Anyway, they had all this food and, dang,” he turned to Edward, “man, you can cook.”

“Thank you,” Edward murmured.

“Leah running patrol?” Jake asked Seth. His voice was still thick with sleep.

“Yeah,” he said. “She’s on it. No worries. She’ll howl if there’s anything. We traded off around midnight. I ran twelve hours.” He was proud of that, and it showed in his tone.

“Midnight? Wait a minute—what time is it now?”

“About seven or so.”

“Crap. Sorry about that, Seth. Really. You shoulda kicked me awake.”

“Naw, man, you needed some serious sleep. You haven’t taken a break since when? Night before your last patrol for Sam? Like forty hours? Fifty? You’re not a machine, Jake. ‘Sides, you were with Ally.”

Jake’s gaze then went to me and I felt my heart skip a beat. He smiled then and in fact most of the people tried very hard to keep their expressions neutral. It took me a second before I realized they probably heard that. You really couldn’t keep anything to yourself around here. Or you just get really good at lying.

Jake came over and stood beside me. “You look beautiful today,” he said quietly to me and I couldn’t help the huge smile that broke out over my face.

“Don’t you know it,” I said. “But just look at Bella! Her transformation is practically miraculous!” I held out my hand towards her like in a showcase.

“How’s your rib?” Jake asked her.

“Taped up nice and tight. I don’t even feel it.” I looked at Bella critically.

“What happened to your rib?” I asked.

“Nothing too bad,” Bella assured me.

“The fetus broke it yesterday,” Jake answered.

“Bella, are you sure you’re okay?” I asked worriedly. Here I was having fun and she was getting broken ribs.

“Yes, yes,” she said throwing away my concern. “Carlisle makes sure I’m perfectly comfy.”

“What’d he give you for breakfast?” Jake asked sarcastically. “O negative or AB positive?”

Bella stuck out her tongue at him. “Omelets,” she said.

“She’s not a vampire yet, Jake. Plus she’s going to feed on poor defenseless animals once she is.” Everybody simply stared at me and I could feel a sort of tension build. “What?” I asked.

“The reason for Bella’s miraculous transformation,” Edward explained, “is because she’s been drinking blood.”

“Gross,” I said in disgust, wrinkling my nose.

“It’s not so bad once you try it,” Bella said sheepishly.

“No thanks,” I assured her. “I’ll stick to omelets.”

“Speaking of, Jake, you should get some breakfast,” Seth said. “There’s a bunch in the kitchen. You’ve got to be empty.”

“What’s Leah having for breakfast?” Jake asked Seth critically.

“Hey, I took food to her before I ate anything,” he defended himself. “She said she’d rather eat roadkill, but I bet she caves. These cinnamon rolls…”

“I’ll go hunt with her, then.” Seth sighed as Jake moved to leave.

Carlisle stopped Jake though and they discussed a plan for the Cullens’ hunting. They eventually decided that three at a time would leave while three stay here with the pack.

“Okay, then,” Jake said. “That’s settled. I’ll just be on my way. Seth, I’ll expect you back on at dusk, so get a nap in there somewhere, all right?”

“Sure, Jake. I’ll phase back soon as I’m done. Unless…” he hesitated looking at Bella. “Do you need me?”

“I’m fine, Seth, thanks,” Bella said quickly looking at Jake worriedly. I did too but he seemed impassive. And then Esme flitted back into the room, a big covered dish in her hands.

“Jacob,” she said quietly. “I know it’s…unappetizing to you, the idea of eating here, where it smells so unpleasant. But I would feel much better if you take some food with you when you go. I know you can’t go home, and that’s because of us. Please—ease some of my remorse. Take something to eat.” She handed the food over to Jake.

“Uh, sure, sure,” he mumbled. “I guess. Maybe Leah’s still hungry or something.” He took the food with one hand, holding it away, at arm’s length.

“Thank you, Jacob,” Esme said smiling.

“Um, thank you,” Jacob returned.

“Will you come back later, Jake?” Bella asked as he tried to exit.

“Uh, I don’t know.”

“Please?” she asked.

“Maybe,” Jacob said.

“Jacob?” Esme asked. “I left a basket of clothes on the front porch. They’re for Leah. They’re freshly washed—I tried to touch them as little as possible.” She frowned. “Do you mind taking them to her?”

“On it,” Jake muttered and then ducked out the door.

“K-I-S-S-I-N-G!” Seth said quickly.

“Oh, you are going to pay for that,” I said to Seth in as much of a threatening tone as I could muster. “Just you wait.”