Too Close | Rosalie Hale

Chapter 21

The sound of some random football game sounded out as the Cullens sat tensely around the room. The air was thick with their concern and unspoken words. Everyone believed with their entire hearts that they were watching Bella live out her final moments. Honestly, Lex wasn't sure how Edward was holding it together as well as he was. She knew for a fact that if it was Rosalie who was dying on the couch, she would be doing worse things than acting like a dick to their family members. Lex would be ripping heads off of people's bodies and destroying everything in her path out of sheer anger and resentment for the world. Lex knew that if she had to live in a world without Rosalie, that she wouldn't want to live at all— which she recognized was an extreme reaction, but everything had been extreme since she became a vampire. So, all things considered, Edward was handling it all surprisingly well.

Bella was in worse condition than before— the baby appeared to be sucking the life out of her. Every once in a while, the Cullens would hear the horrific cracking of bone as the baby moved around. She was pale and sickly, and she looked like she was minutes away from crumbling into a pile of dust and bones. And even though Lex wasn't the biggest fan of Bella, it broke her heart to see the human suffering as much as she was. She was a member of the coven afterall, and just because Lex and Bella weren't close, didn't mean that she wished death on the poor woman. Besides, Bella obviously meant a lot to the coven that had taken Lex in, and she didn't want to see any of them in pain. She loved them too much.

Bella shivered and pulled her sleeves farther down her arms, covering up the IV that was providing her body with the nutrients that the baby was depriving her of. The whole room watched, their eyes filled with concern.

"Are you cold?" Edward asked quietly.

Bella nodded with a quiet groan of discomfort as she cradled her ever-growing stomach. It was incredible how quickly the baby had completely taken over Bella's body.

"I got it," Jacob said as he moved closer to Bella. Lex resisted the urge to roll her eyes. They owned blankets. They had central heating. They could get a space heater. There were so many options, but this arrogant dipshit had to rub it in Edward's face that he could do more for Bella in this moment than Edward could. It was cruel and rude, and quite frankly, Lex thought that it violated so many boundaries. Bella was a married woman, and this mutt refused to stop marking his territory. Lex was appalled.

Bella smiled as her hand connected with Jacob's, and Lex looked away. If she kept watching, she would probably get mad and cause a scene. To Lex, marriage was sacred, and right now, she felt as if Bella and Jacob were disrespecting it. The thing was, girls like Bella had never had to worry about being able to get married. It had always, and would always, be an option for them. But that wasn't the case for Lex.

Same-sex marriage wasn't yet legal in Washington, and Lex wasn't sure that it ever would be. When she had still been a human, Lex knew that there was a decent chance that she would fall in love with, and eventually want to marry a woman, but there was always so much uncertainty about whether she actually would be allowed to or not. While most girls would fantasize about their dream weddings, Lex was left wondering whether or not her love for her partner would ever be legally recognized, and whether it would remain that way if it ever did become legal.

Being immortal, Lex knew for a fact that she was going to live to see the day when it finally happened, but now laws didn't really matter to her. She wasn't even alive anymore— there was no way she would be able to have a legally recognized wedding, no matter who she married. But that didn't change the way she felt about weddings and marriage. And it sure as fuck didn't change the disgust she felt when she saw Bella and Jacob's acts of borderline adultery.

"It feels complete when you're here, Jake," Bella murmured with a smile on her face. Lex shot Edward a sympathetic look as he masked his hurt.

All of a sudden, Bella began to writhe and gasp in pain. Everyone's eyes shot back to her, and they scooted closer to better assess the situation. Jacob rubbed comforting circles on Bella's back in a feeble attempt to soothe her pain.

"We need to find a way to get some food into her system," Esme spoke at last.

"If I could only see the fetus—" Alice was cut off.

"The baby," Rosalie corrected.

"I could see what it wants," Alice continued as if she hadn't heard Rosalie speak.

"I think you may be right," Edward said. "Jacob just had an idea."

"It wasn't an idea," Jacob replied. "It was a snide comment."

"What were you thinking?" Carlisle asked him.

"That it's probably just looking for someone to sink its teeth into," the werewolf replied with a smirk. No one else seemed to find it as amusing as he did, and the vampires shifted uncomfortably as they realized that his joke was probably a reality.

"He's thirsty," Bella whispered as she looked at Edward.

"I know the feeling," Emmett said without looking up. Lex nodded her head in agreement— she would give almost anything to be able to drain a human like she used to.

"If it's craving, it's not gonna want animal blood," Edward said.

"I have some O-Negative laid aside for Bella," Carlisle said as he left the room. Both Jasper and Lex whipped their heads around to watch, the burning sensation in their throats flaring at the mention of blood. Lex could practically taste it.

"Walk with me," Alice said to Jasper as they stood up. They looked at Lex, whose fists and jaw were clenched— she was obviously fighting to keep her composure.

"Come on. You too," Emmett said to Lex as he stood up from the couch. They all knew that Rosalie would want to stay there with Bella, and honestly, Lex wasn't bothered by that. Bella needed a support system right now, and Rosalie was one of the few vampires who was strong enough to be there right now.

"Good call," Lex admitted gruffly as she allowed herself to be pulled from the room. She couldn't wait for the day when she could maintain her control the way everyone else could. Lex gave Emmett's hand a reassuring squeeze. She recognized the look in his eye— he was struggling too. It was good to know that even the older vampires didn't have perfect control all of the time. It made her feel like less of a failure for having to leave the room.

"Ten bucks says that I can catch a deer before you," Emmett said as soon as the fresh air hit their faces.

"You are so on," Lex grinned as they both took off, two blurs heading in the direction of the treeline. 

A/N:

Happy Saturday y'all! I'm hoping to finish off Breaking Dawn Pt. 1 by the next chapter or so (because a lot of it is just Bella being edited to look ill), and I want something exciting to write about lol. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Thank you so much for reading!!!