Bella's Babe

18) With or Without Part II

Lemon alert in this one as well; don't read if you're not interested in nice things that two girls can do with or to each other.

I sighed deeply and pressed the cooling pillow against my throbbing left wrist. It still hurt badly and I thought about swallowing one of the painkillers in my handbag.

Then I stepped out of my rusty truck and slammed the door behind me. With trembling fingers I fumbled out my keys and turned them around in the lock.

Alice was sitting on her bed with her nose stuck in one of her beloved fashion magazines. She looked so incredibly gorgeous in that tiny ruby shirt that formed a strong contrast to the creamy color of her skin.

She didn't wear a bra and so I could see the contours of her perky breasts underneath the thin cotton fabric.

I felt the butterflies in my stomach flustering and hoped that my cheeks wouldn't turn red now.

"Hi Alice," I greeted her and tried to make my voice sound calm.

She looked up from her magazine and her lips twisted upwards into that breathtaking smile that could make my insides melt like snow in the sunshine.

"Hello Bella. Didn't you tell me that you were going to stay with your fiancé until Sunday?"

Then she recognized the cooling pillow and stood up from the bed to examine my wrist carefully.

"It's not broken." She stated after a few moments. "Just sprained,"

I sat down on the edge of her bed and enjoyed the gentle caresses of her fingertips on my palm.

"How did that happen?" She asked me as she rubbed some salve into my skin.

I cleared my throat.

"Edward and I had a fight."

Her beautiful green eyes narrowed into tiny slits.

"Did he do that to you?"

"No, of course not," I stumbled out and stared down at the floor to avoid eye contact with her. This was so embarrassing.

"It's my own fault. We had a fight. I broke off the engagement and he said some very nasty things to me."

"You broke of the engagement?" Her voice raised two octaves and there was an unfamiliar trembling in it.

Why should she care about that or not?

"Yeah, I did. Then I fell down the stairs in his apartment and hurt my wrist. God, I'm so clumsy."

She shook her head and took my hand to her lips to plant gentle kisses on each of my knuckles. Why was she doing this? It sent shivers down my spine. Was it possible that she felt like I felt?

No, I couldn't risk it.

"I'm really sorry that you're hurt, Bella." She whispered softly and put a wisp of my long chestnut hair behind my ear.

"But I'm not sorry that you broke up with him."

My mouth fell open and it took me a moment to remember how to close it again.

"Alice," I stumbled out anxiously.

"Bella, there is something that I should have told you a long time ago." Then she sighed deeply and put both of my hands in hers, carefully making sure that she didn't hurt my injured wrist.

"I love you." The words were barely a whisper when they left her ruby tinted lips.

They echoed in my ears over and over again.