The Tale of the Brokenhearted

Chapter 18: Leah - The Nasty

Alice's POV

The 'meeting' broke up, but Edward and I remained behind in the living room. He was slouching in the seat he'd occupied with Bella, with his head leaning back and his arm over his eyes. He was acting like the world was ending, and not because of the logical reason – the upcoming battle, but because he had girl issues. This wasn't the best time for him to be going through this. He seriously needed to snap out of it and I willing to help as much as he'd let me.

"Alright brother dear, here's my shoulder, you may begin to lean," I teased. He chuckled a little and lifted his arm to peak at me.

"I don't need a shoulder, but I do need some insight. What do you see happening, Alice?" I paused and took a moment to consider the situation. Lately, all I could think about was war and newborns. It took me a moment to really focus on anything besides that. I thought of Edward, I saw him and Bella holding hands in a meadow, smiling at each other lovingly. They seemed at peace and looked together. That thought, surprisingly, saddened me. I wished that I could read Leah. I honestly felt that she was a better fit for Edward; she was more loyal and real. She forced him outside of his comfort zone, and he allowed her to do it. I wanted to know if she would be okay with this; if she would end up being friends with Edward, even if he chose Bella.

"I choose Bella?" He seemed to be in disbelief. I watched him, gauging his expression as he read my thoughts. I knew that by now he'd realized that I preferred Leah for him. I just thought he needed her in his life; maybe they would stay friends or maybe things changed.

"That's not what I saw, Edward. I saw the two of you in a meadow. That doesn't mean that you choose her. I can't give you those types of answers, Edward. You have to decide, and it's clear you haven't. Anything I see is irrelevant until you make some concrete decisions."

"Decide? What's there to decide? Bella is the one that needs to decide!" He countered angrily. I rolled my eyes and wondered why he was trying to lie to me. My opinion didn't matter, plus I knew that he was full of shit right now.

"I'm not full of it, Alice, I chose Bella." His eyes seemed stressed.

"And she hasn't chosen you yet. I love Bella, but she's kind of… she's being a jerk, both to you and Jacob. But if she's going to make you wait, you can check out other options."

"Alice, stop," Edward warned. I didn't know why he wanted to talk to me, he wasn't listening to me. If he wanted me to just agree with what he was thinking, or sit here and watch him brood, he had another thing coming. I had some place I had to be. I stood up and headed toward the door.

"Where are you going?" I didn't answer. He knew full well where I was headed. He was quick on my heels and tried to stop me from opening the door. "What are you doing, Alice?" He hissed. I knew he probably didn't want me interfering or even talking to Leah at this point but again it was one of those things he just didn't have any control over.

"I'm going to talk to my friend, Leah. The one that Bella thinks I've been hanging out so much with. I think she needs to know about everything that's about to happen. She needs to decide for herself what she's going to do. I already know she's going to fight, you might as well accept it. She is loyal; she'll fight to protect her tribe and her brother. Not everything is about you and what you want." I started out the door and he followed me outside. Luckily, I'd parked out front so he would have the chance to do something stupid like block the garage door. I pressed the button on my keys to unlock the doors.

"I know that! I just really don't want Leah in this mess!" I didn't know why he was telling me this. I'd already told him what was going to happen. Leah would fight. I didn't need to be a mind reader or be able to predict the future to know that; I just knew her, I thought he did, too. Apparently I was wrong; there was no way that he was going to be able to convince her to stay away from the fight.