The Edge

Queen of the Castle

Summary: Alice takes some steps towards moving on.

A Week Later

Bella paused briefly in her reading as Alice shifted against her, the raven-haired beauties thigh moving to cover Bella's own as Alice's head settled on her shoulder, her breath warming Bella's skin as Alice breathed in and out slowly.

Bella allowed the hand she had resting on Alice's hip to stroke it softly for a moment, luxuriating in the close contact. In the days immediately following Jasper's departure, Alice had been distant with her, with them all. And, after their first talk upon Bella's return home, Alice had rebuked any sort of physical comfort Bella tried to offer, no matter how benign.

In the early hours of the morning, when the occupants of the house were usually quiet, resting in their rooms preparing for the day to come, Alice had sat on the floor, as far away from the bed as possible brooding, while Bella lay on the bed, watching her worriedly.

On the fourth day of this type of behavior from Alice, Bella had sat on the bed with her back resting against the headboard, her knees drawn up to her chest, while her arms were wrapped tightly around her legs. Staring at Alice she had then addressed her, her voice cracking as she spoke haltingly, begging Alice not to shut her out, begging her to let her help her, whispering her love to Alice as her eyes squeezed shut, fighting off impossible tears.

Alice had stared at her silently for a long time after that, and then finally, she had uncrossed her legs and stood, moving over towards the bed, snuggling against Bella's back a few moments later.

Since then, Alice had maintained some physical contact with her while they were in private, she held her tenderly, and stroked her hands and back, and hip gently. And every once in a while, she would murmur "I love you" without any sort of prompt. They had not made love, but Bella didn't worry about that. She was simply glad to have Alice in her arms again, to have Alice accept what comforting gestures she could make. She knew that Alice needed time, and she would and could give Alice all the time she needed now that they were waiting it out together.

"Love is no hot-house flower," Bella continued softly, reading from the Forsythe Saga as Alice settled against her, "but a wild plant, born of a wet night, born of an hour of sunshine; sprung from wild seed, blown along the road by a wild wind."

Alice's thumb began to stroke Bella's hip, and she nuzzled Bella with her cheek softly, as her hand caressed Bella's stomach.

Bella's eyes fluttered shut for a moment, enjoying the sweet contact. Then she continued to read.

"A wild plant that, when it blooms by chance within the hedge of our gardens, we call a flower; and when it blooms outside we call a weed; but, flower or weed, whose scent and colour are always, wild," Bella read, the last word coming out as a shivering sigh as Alice's hand slipped underneath her shirt, and moved up her stomach until her small hand was cupping Bella's breast.

"Alice?" Bella asked softly, her voice uncertain as she lowered the book and turned a pair of questioning honey eyes towards her lover.

"Hmm," Alice murmured, nestling her face against Bella's neck for a moment before she pulled back to meet the younger woman's gaze. "Is this okay?" Alice asked, her eyes serious, as her hand gently massaged Bella's breast from under her shirt.

She knew that Bella was uncertain what to make of the touch. She had refused all of her lover' sexual advances over the past week, grasping Bella's hand as it tried to sneak under shirt and lifting it to her lips, kissing it softly before wrapping Bella's arm safely around her waist. She couldn't resist being close to Bella, she needed to touch her, to feel the warmth of her, to smell her scent, but she hadn't been able to give herself permission to touch Bella anymore intimately.