Ebb and Flow (Twilight x Reader)

Chapter 11

I looked down at myself. I was still wearing Esme's clothes, and they didn't fit very well at all.

A light tap sounded on the door.

"Can I come in?" Alice asked.

I took a deep breath. "Sure."

She walked in, and looked me over cautiously.

"You look like you could sleep longer," she said.

I just shook my head.

She drifted silently to the curtains and closed them securely before turning back to me. "We'll need to stay inside," she told me.

"Okay." My voice was hoarse; it cracked.

"Thirsty?" she asked.

I shrugged. "I'm okay. How about you?"

"Nothing unmanageable." She smiled. With her it was so easy to forget that they had a different diet. So far, Alice was the only one out of all of them who had made things feel the most normal.

A brief silence fell.

"Thank you," I said suddenly.

She looked at me, confused. "For what?"

"Doing all of this to save Bella. Really, you have no idea how much I appreciate that."

Alice smiled. "Thank you. And. . . you're not stupid, by the way."

"Huh?"

"For wanting to come with Bella, like Edward said you were," she clarified. "It's actually very brave."

"Oh. Well, thanks."

She peered at me. "You don't like Edward very much, do you?"

I was saved from answering when Bella's soft voice filled the room. "Y/n?"

I turned to see her sitting up in bed.

"Hey," I said. "How are you feeling?"

She just shook her head.

"I ordered some food for you two, it's in the front room. Edward reminded me that you have to eat a lot more frequently than we do."

Bella was instantly more alert. "He called?"

"No," she said, and we both watched as Bella's face fell. "It was before we left."

She took Bella's hand carefully and led her through the door into the living room of the hotel suite, and I followed. I could hear a low buzz of voices coming from the TV. Jasper sat motionlessly at the desk in the corner, his eyes watching the news with no glimmer of interest.

Bella and I sat on the floor next to the coffee table, where a tray of food waited, and began picking at it. Alice perched on the arm of the sofa and stared blankly at the TV like Jasper.

I ate slowly, watching her, turning now and then to glance quickly at Jasper. It began to dawn on me that they were too still. They never looked away from the screen, though commercials were playing now. I pushed the tray away, my stomach abruptly uneasy.

Alice looked down at me.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Nothing's wrong." Her eyes were wide, honest.

"What do we do now?" Bella asked.

"We wait for Carlisle to call."

"And should he have called by now?" I could see that I was near the mark. Alice's eyes flitted from mine to the phone on top of her leather bag and back.