Mute girl

Chapter twenty five - Better late than never.

A/N I Know, I know, I'm literally months behind on updating, but to be fair I've had a lot going on. I hope to update all of my stories this week, and since I've nearly finished most of them I'll be moving on to some new ones too! Anyway, none of this belongs to me, Stephanie Meyer owns it, blah blah blah.

By the time we'd finally gotten to Port Angeles, I was asleep. I dozed, with my head leaning against the back of the chair and my mouth open just wide enough to let me breathe. "Bella," Rosalie shook me lightly, putting a cold hand to my face and gently cupping my cheek in her hand. "Bella, we're here."

I opened my eyes a little unhappily. It was easier to sleep, because you didn't have to think about anything — I kind of pitied the Cullens for that, since they couldn't sleep at all. We stepped out of the parking lot and into the mall, Alice and Rosalie talking quietly together. Alice glanced at her watch with a thoughtful look on her face before turning to look at me.

"Okay, I think we can make can make it around at least half of the mall before we have to get lunch, but we're going to have to get a move on," she said, taking my hand and pulling me along. I flinched, giving Rosalie a look that quite clearly said 'This is all your fault'.

Rosalie just smiled, taking my other hand and squeezing it gently, trying to reassure me.

Yeah, it's all very well us holding hands, but now I can't sign at all! I thought, but I still squeezed back.

***

It was a while later when Rose handed me a dress — a dark blue with ruffles on it — and told me to go try it on.

"Oh, that is a pretty dress," Alice said, holding it up and examining it. "You look wonderful in blue."

I smiled and took it back, taking it to the changing rooms and locking the door behind me. I slipped into the dress quickly and turned around to look in the mirror. The skirt came to just above my knees, complimenting my figure and making me wish I'd taken the time to properly do my hair this morning, just so that I could see it with this dress. Of course, you could still see the bruises under my eyes from too many nights without sleep, and the way the fabric hung off my hips in a way that definitely wasn't healthy. It was getting easier to eat now, possibly because I had a whole family of vampires to check that I ate every meal, but I still couldn't swallow too much without getting anxious.

The scars my father left ran deep.

I stepped out of the changing room to show the others, even giving Alice a little spin when she asked for it. "You look stunning," said Rose, a wide smile on her face.

"Thanks," I replied timidly, before hopping back into the changing rooms and stripping. I could hear Rose and Alice talking outside, but their voices were too low to actually understand. Once I was dressed I joined them, going to hang the dress back up before Alice stopped me.

"You can't just let that go," Alice said, sounding appalled. "We're getting you that dress, no arguments. Think of it as payment for coming shopping with us, if you really want to, but you will wear that to the next dance."

I tried to back out of it again, but I knew there was no hope so I gave up before it got messy. It looked like Alice was done with this shop, so Rose and I went outside to look for a place to eat lunch. We found a little Café with amazingly good sausage rolls and sat there waiting for Alice to come back.

I sipped my coffee, closing my eyes as I tasted the much needed caffeine. Shopping was exhausting, and I felt even more tired than usual. My stomach hurt, a feeling which had begun in the store and gotten steadily worse since we got out. "Bella, are you alright?" Rose asked, her eyes a dark coal colour.

"Yeah, Rose, why?" I mumbled, not really willing to have a proper conversation.

"It's just, I can smell blood," she whispered, leaning in closer.

I stared at her, trying to see what she was getting at. "Should we go?" I asked, getting a little worried for whoever had just gotten a paper cut.

"No, Bella, it's not that kind of blood," she looked worriedly over my shoulder in search of Alice. "And it's your blood I can smell."

I was still really, really confused. I wasn't bleeding — no paper cuts, scabs or bruises. Nothing. I jumped as felt Alice lightly touch my arm, directing my attention towards her.

"What took you so long?" Rose demanded, which was strange, since Alice had actually been quite quick. "You said you'd be back for when it started."

"I went to go get her some chocolate and things," Alice said, placing a bar of it on the table. She smiled and leant into my ear. "Bella, we probably should find you a bathroom right about now."

It all suddenly clicked into place — my period. I was on my period for the first time in months. I blushed bright red at how stupid I'd been for not putting two and two together, but I hadn't had it in so long that it seemed almost impossible to me.

"Oh," I said, unable to fully express my emotions in any other word. I jumped up and out of my seat, hoping that there wasn't any blood on my jeans.

"Don't worry," Alice handed me her little blue bag. "I've got you covered."

I checked inside to see a pack of pads, some tampons and another bar of chocolate. She was so well prepared that I wondered how long she'd seen this coming. I closed the bag and sped off to the nearest bathroom, trying to hide my blushing face from them.

Usually I wouldn't be so embarrassed about it, but it's seemed so strange, so weird to have it again — especially in front of two vampires who probably remembered nothing about this particular part of being human — that I couldn't help but feel self conscious.

Once I'd finished everything I'd needed to do (no stains, thankfully), I walked back over slowly. Alice and Rose were both ready to leave, waiting for me to come back so they could pass me back the coffee. "Th-thanks," I stuttered, holding it in my hands.

"Right, well, I think you've had enough of shopping," said Rose brightly. "Let's get you home." I nodded and we all headed out, my cheeks still burning red.

The car journey was mostly quiet, Alice and Rosalie talking about this and that in the front while I just sat thinking. It felt weird being looked after again — the Cullen's spent so much time talking, helping and making sure I was alright that I didn't know how to handle it. Carlisle and Esme, especially Esme, were both like proper parents, and Rosalie understood exactly what I was going through.

I liked it, truth be told. I liked how it felt to be hugged in the morning and kissed goodnight. I liked not being responsible for everything and I liked the feeling of being wanted — even if it did sometimes seem like I was the replacement child for the kid they never got to have.

So yeah, I finally thought. It was a weird life, but it was getting better — and I didn't mind waiting for it to do so.