The Edge

Good Work, Gone Bad

Summary: At school Bella discovers why she woke up alone.

When Bella arrived at school she forced herself to stay calm and keep breathing, to put one foot in front of the other, and repeated to herself over and over again that everything was fine as she made her way to Edward.

When she arrived at the Cullen's Volvo she couldn't see Alice around anywhere, but that didn't mean anything, she told herself. That was perfectly normal. Alice very rarely waited for her with Edward in the morning, that was his routine, not hers. There was no reason to worry because she wasn't there.

There was no reason to worry, just like there was no reason to worry that Alice had left before she had woken up. Her crying that morning meant nothing. She wasn't Alice, she wasn't prescient. She didn't know anything. Her fear, her crying, they were just brought on by lack of sleep. There was nothing to worry about. Nothing. Alice had probably just had to return home, to hunt, or to tell Esme and Carlisle where she had been. Unlike Edward, Alice didn't spend most of her nights away from the house, and after the events of the party her extended absence might have worried them. There was nothing to worry about.

Everything was fine.

Everything was fine.

"Morning," Bella said, forcing a smile on her face as she reached Edward, the smile wavering as she took in his straight back and stoic features.

"Good morning," Edward said. The timber of his voice was as sweet as ever but his posture remained rigid and his tone formal.

'There is nothing to worry about, nothing', Bella chanted in her mind.

"Is Alice around?" Bella asked, trying to keep her voice as casual as possible. "I was hoping to talk to her before class," she continued, thinking 'everything is fine, everything is fine' again and again.

Edward looked down at her, staring at her for a moment and then reached into his jacket, removing an envelope from its inner pocket. He held the envelope in his hand, his thumb stroking the paper thoughtfully for a second, and then he handed it over to Bella.

Bella looked down at it curiously.

Her name was written on it in Alice's beautiful antiquated hand-writing.

"No," Bella said automatically. She shoved the envelope into Edward's body, and began to shake her head back and forth. "No," she said again, pressing the envelope against his granite chest, trying to get him to take it away.

She wasn't going to read it. She wasn't even going to open it. She didn't want it in her possession. She didn't even want it in her sight. 'It doesn't exist', Bella thought squeezing her eyes shut. 'It doesn't exist'.

"Bella," Edward said softly, pressing the envelope back into her hand, curling her fingers around it. "She ..." he started to say, but Bella continued to shake her head back and forth, again and again.

Edward stopped talking. He knew that she wasn't listening to him.

"I don't accept it," Bella said, looking at him, focusing on him finally. "You tell her that I don't accept it," she continued as tears beginning to form in her eyes. "You tell her that I want to talk to her. You tell her ..." Bella went on, her voice rising as the first few tears began to fall, her tone becoming hysterical enough that passerbys were beginning to look at her.

"I can't," Edward interjected regretfully, placing a hand on her shoulder to try and calm her down.

He glanced around them, nodding at a few people who were watching them curiously, willing them to go on their way. A few seconds later he turned his eyes back to Bella, watching her keenly, surprised by the panic in her eyes.