Chapter Text
One of the first things Alice saw when she woke up in her new life was Rosalie. The visions were short; she just saw flashes of a beautiful human woman. She didn’t know who the woman was, or why she was seeing her, but as she began to explore the future further over the next few months and years, she saw herself building a life with this woman and joining another group of vampires. She couldn’t wait to meet her, but she unfortunately had to.
Rosalie never saw Alice coming. She of course had her whole life planned out: marry Royce, have as many children as she could, become a housewife while Royce was the successful businessman. Never mind the fact that she never felt right with him, and that she barely knew him. She could see her future with him. She didn’t need to reveal that she didn’t like what she saw. This was what she was supposed to want. Right?
Alice was the one to save Rosalie. She still wasn’t sure if she would call it “saving,” though. That was an argument for another day. But she saw, through her vision, what happened to Rosalie. She ran as fast as she could through the streets, desperate to save this woman and the future they may have together. She arrived just in time; Rosalie asked Alice to save her by any means necessary.
It was rocky at first. Rosalie had asked for the change, but hadn’t been fully aware of what it would mean for her, and thus resented Alice. She stayed with the Cullens for convenience, not wanting to be along but also unable to trust anyone. It was a difficult line to walk. Alice kept her distance, hoping that Rosalie would eventually accept her again but knowing it could take time.
And it did. It was months before Rosalie took the time to greet Alice when she walked into the room; many more before they could have a conversation longer than a few basic pleasantries. Alice was happy to wait; she understood the reasons behind Rosalie’s hesitations and wouldn’t make it any worse than it already was. She would wait as long as Rosalie needed, even if that was forever.
Their conversations grew more frequent, going from casual “how was your day?”s and “what are your favorite things?”s to larger questions that revolved around how they met and what brought Rosalie to this life. Alice knew what had happened, but wouldn’t reveal it to the others, and waited until Rosalie was comfortable talking about her experience before they spoke about it. It was Rosalie’s history to tell, her pain to share. She didn’t have to until she was ready.
It wasn’t long after this before the two women were inseparable. They spent as much time as they could with each other: they hunted together, Alice sat with Rosalie while she worked on her cars, Rosalie was happy to be Alice’s model. They went shopping and exploring together, constantly joking and talking with each other. They felt like they knew everything about the other. Although vampire memories were perfect, they could barely remember a time when they hadn’t been like this. With how they were together, it wasn’t very believable that they had once been unable to even look at each other.
Deeper feelings were quick to come, but slow to be spoken. Alice felt and acknowledged them first; she tried to be open with Rosalie about how she felt. She had always felt something more with Rosalie, and it was only once they started spending time together that she knew for sure Rosalie was who she wanted to be with. She took her time showing this, slowly revealing to Rosalie how much she meant to her. She didn’t want to pressure or push her into anything, letting her feelings sit out in the open until Rosalie was ready to acknowledge her own.
Rosalie couldn’t deny how she felt about Alice, no matter how much she tried to hide, fight, or ignore it. She didn’t want to be with anyone. She was building a life on her own, without a romantic partner. One had always been such a large part of her plan; it was refreshing now to plan a life that was fully her own. But she couldn’t deny how tangled her life was with Alice’s. Without realizing it, she had fallen in love with the woman who had saved her. She acknowledged this, allowed it to sit inside her heart and mind. She loved Alice, but she couldn’t show it yet. She wouldn’t start a new relationship while she was still healing; Alice was the friend she needed. She saved her in more ways than one.
Their slip from friendship to something more was so simple, so quick, so like the two of them that they each barely noticed it, except for the fact that everything finally felt so right. They had been sitting in the garage, Alice on the floor leaning against the tired of the car, while Rosalie worked on the engine from the top. She called Alice over, showing her all the intricacies of the machinery. Alice found all the lines and shapes fascinating, and wanted to corporate some of them into clothing designs. Rosalie was pointing out specific parts, explaining what they were and what they did with her right hand, while her left hand reached to take Alice’s right.
She barely noticed what she had done until Alice softly squeezed her hand, unable to hold back her smile. They had held hands before, while walking around various stores, sitting up late at night talking so close together, sitting at the movies together. But this time felt different. Each noticed the change, the electricity that now hung in the air. Rosalie couldn’t move, unable to tear herself away from this new realization that she wanted to be with Alice.
“I love you,” Alice had said, squeezing her hand again before leaning her head to lay on Rosalie’s shoulder. Rosalie turned her head to kiss the top of Alice’s murmuring “I know,” as she did so. Alice couldn’t hold back her smile at Rosalie’s words, or the displays of affection. This would go at her pace, as it always had. Alice didn’t need any more than what Rosalie was willing to give; every moment with her had been a gift, from her first glance in her visions, to the painful moments of her transformation, to this gentle moment in the garage now. It was all she wanted.
“I love you, too,” Rosalie had said, louder now as she was sure of the words she was saying. She smiled again, bending to kiss Alice’s on the forehead before returning to explain the parts of the car again. More could happen between them later, whether that was more confirmations of their feelings for each other, more physical actions, or simply more discussions as they had always had together. For now, it was enough that they were together, both doing something they loved with the person they loved.