Before the New Moon

Chapter 7

 The last time I saw Alice and Jasper interact with Rosalie and Emmet was before junior prom, and at that point everything seemed alright. But it was apparent that I missed a memo, because this new dynamic between the siblings was completely different.

Jasper still had me firmly held to his chest and Alice and Rosalie looked at each other as if hoping for the other to combust. Edward had Bella stand behind him, almost protectively. What was this?

I thought back to all my interactions with Rosalie and nothing really stood out to me as dangerous. Sure, she wasn't the most welcoming of the Cullens, let alone nice, but she'd never been openly hostile. The best way I could describe Rosalie was apathetic and disinterested in anything related to Bella or me. Carlisle and Esme seemed to be desperately trying to deescalate the interaction, sparing sympathetic glances to all of their children. So whatever had happened was between the siblings, not the coven as a whole.

Bella and I shared a look, it seemed like we'd reached the same conclusion. I nodded my head towards Edward, she looked from him to me and nodded. She motioned to Alice and I returned her nod. The way this was going, it'd be up to us humans to deescalate the situation.

"Alice-" I tried to step over to her but Jasper's firm hands on my hips prevented me from moving away from him. I sighed. Okay, one thing at a time. "Alice." I said again, this time more firmly, holding my hand out to her. If i couldn't go to her, i could make her come to me. This could actually work better, creating some more distance between her and Rosalie. My gaze was focused on Alice, but from my peripheral I could see Emmet trying to soothe Rosalie also. So it wasnt Rosalie and Emmet. Just Rosalie. "Please?" I continued.

That finally made Alice turn her head, she looked from my outstretched hand to my eyes. She gave one last look at Rosalie, as if she were afraid of letting her out of her sight, and took my hand. I relaxed and pulled her closer, and she let me. I brought her hands to my mouth and kissed her fingers. Okay, that's one down, one to go.

I turned in Jasper's grasp to face him, not letting go of Alice's hand. For a moment I saw Bella was talking to Edward, she'd managed to maneuver him a bit away from the confrontation. Good, now hopefully Carlisle and Esme could deal with Rosalie and we could avoid a fight. By the time I finished turning in his arms Jasper was already looking at me, unblinking. And unlike Alice's angry gaze, his seemed almost scared and frenzied. That caught me off guard.

"Jasper, what's wrong?" He didn't react, just kept looking at me. Alice finally stepped forward and placed a hand on his cheek.

"Jazz?" Alice's tone was worried, but secretly I was glad she was focused on Jasper now and not ripping out Rosalie's hair. "It's okay, Jazz. Everything's okay, I'm sorry." Her voice was low, and it calmed him down some, he blinked repeatedly and finally breathed. He leaned down and pressed his face to the side of my neck, he took slow deep breaths and one of his hands left my hip and circled around Alice's bringing her closer into the hug. He kept repeating 'it's okay' and 'it's alright'. And I knew he wasn't reassuring us.

"Maybe we should call it a night!" Balla's voice cut through the tense atmosphere.

"Yes, it's getting late and you girls need to go on home!" Esme agreed, trying to bring some normalcy to the moment. Her voice high and smile tight. "Edward, Alice and Jasper, you should take the girls home!" She clapped her hands, setting her brooding children into motion.

Edward quickly and wordlessly escorted Bella out of the home, not sparing anyone any farewell glances. Bella waved politely, but otherwise left without much fanfare. Rosalie made a displeased noise, but still made her way up the stairs of the home, Emmet trailing behind her.