A Winter Walk (Rosalie/Aylen)

With Rosalie, Aylen approached the door to the house. She felt ridiculous wearing nothing but a coat. After what Rosalie had done, Rosalie deserved to give up her pants as well. Aylen scowled at her, but she wasn't looking.

Offended by being called a "stink", Aylen looked desperately at this Alice. She could tell that Alice was the type who would defend her, that sweet girl. She was kind and safe. -- Aylen quickly reminded herself that Alice was not the type she would be friends with; she certainly didn't have the depth of mind. Intellectuals could always spot other intellectuals, and Aylen was sure Alice was not one.

"Stink". Aylen admitted, she needed a nice person like Alice at an instant like this, whether or not she met her usual standards. Oh well. Aylen could not help but be charmed by Alice's universal friendliness.

Alice knew Rosalie knew what she was talking about. Alice knew better then to think Rosalie would just bring home a wolf for no good reason. Alice giggled to herself and looked at the poor girl. What had Rosalie done to make you come all the way here... Alice thought to herself. Alyen... A very pretty unique name, Alice thought. Alice danced towards the girl.

"Well, I'm sorry Roaslie dragged you here for her own selfish-ways" Alice looked back at Rosalie, "Just kidding!". Turning back to Alyen, "I'm sure we can take you inside and get you some clothes for you" Whispering, "I'm sure wearing her clothes isn't too pleasing to you" Alice laughed.

On the inside, Alice could feel the smell of the wolf everywhere. It was disgusting. But Alice reminded herself of what wolves have done for her family, Alice could not turn away a poor girl. Alice would be able to bear a few blank visons to help Alyen out, Alice would be happy to help. Alice danced along towards the house...

Rosalie smiled and let out a small laugh. Alice's upbeat personality truly was contagious. Of everyone in their family, Rosalie could never seem to get upset at Alice. Yes, Jasper and Emmett could calm her down, but she could not remember a time when she was mad at Alice. Something about her made everyone around her happier. And, seeing as she'd been gone for months, everyone seemed to be appreciating Her a lot more.

"I'm sure wearing her clothes isn't too pleasing to you" she heard Alice giggle. She couldn't resist rolling her eyes. But not in an irritated way. She wasn't angry at what Alice was saying, she was just laughing at the fact that Alice said it. Alice really was something.

"Hahaha," Rosalie laughed. "She's just lucky that she's not as tall as most other wolves. Otherwise you wouldn't have wanted to come here. Have all the Cullen boys see more than you'd like."

She knew that Edward, Jasper, Emmett, and Carlisle would never look at a werewolf girl in that way but she just couldn't resist. She also wanted to learn more about this girl without having to actually asking her questions.

Aylen felt quite a bit more comfortable when Rosalie rolled her eyes at Alice. It made Rosalie cease to be scary and seem more human. Well, technically she wasn't a human. Aylen scolded herself for her imprecision of language. What if she had been speaking her thoughts out loud, or writing? Everyone would think her unintelligent. She shivered, thankful that the words were only in her head.

In returning her thoughts to the present situation, she looked at Alice again. Oh, she had such a sweet face. Aylen could not help but relax. Take it easy, Aylen told herself. No one else is judging you; why should yourself?

Aylen smiled, freeing her mouth muscles. She noted that she had not smiled at any time in the last several hours. Was that the longest ever? That probably wasn't psychologically healthy-- oh, stop analyzing yourself, she had to mouth.

Alice let Rosalie walk into the house first. She walked along with Aylen. She whispered towards Aylen, "Don't mind her, these boys will NOT be looking, they all are pleasantly taken", and she smiled. Alice didn't want to scare Aylen. Besides, what harm could this young wolf do?

Alice walked towards the house to go inside. She began to think about what really happened with Aylen and Rosalie. This poor girl was probably wondering around and Rosalie probably scared the living daylights outta her. Alice wanted to try and see the future, and what was going to happen, yet it was still blank... "Shoot" Alice said to herself.

She got closer to the house, and all she hoped was that everyone would stay calm about Aylen, better yet, that Jacob had gone home so that he couldn't start anything. Jasper would be calm as always. It was everyone else she was worried about. But, Alice walked with a smile.

Rosalie walked gracefully alongside Alice and Aylen. A small smile briefly crossed her face. 'Alice and Aylen...' she thought to herself laughing. 'Both start with 'A.'" Shaking her head the slightest bit, she looked forward, loving that the air was smelling more and more like vampires.

"Don't mind her, these boys will NOT be looking, they all are pleasantly taken" Alice said.

"Yep..." Rosalie said, with just a slight smirk in her voice. "Carlisle with Esme, Jasper with Alice, Edward with Bella, Jake with Nessie, and Emmett with me. Not sure now-a-days who's home and who isn't..." Continuing to walk forward she wondered where Emmett might be. He could probably calm her down and he'd help Rosalie not be so mad at this pup. He was always good at distracting her in one way or another. Alice saying "Shoot" however broke her out of her thoughts. Then she remembered who was walking next to them and chuckled only loud enough for Alice to hear her.

"What's the matter sis..." she whispered. "Having trouble seeing something?" Looking over to the girl she got a bit more serious. "If it's just me you were upset at alright, but don't treat my family that way just because of what I'm like. Were not all 'one race.'"

Aylen nervously proceeded into the house. She was walking with vampires into a vampire house! Wasn't this supposed to be a humiliation to a werewolf? She was among a race of people who hated her. She felt rather dirty. And who would she find inside? And what if this was a trap?

Alice seemed to be trying to make her feel more comfortable. Maybe she didn't know Aylen was a werewolf. Aylen stiffened at the thought that Alice wouldn't be so nice when she found out. Despite her attempts at being socially conscious, Aylen wasn't exactly sure about the particular situation between wolves and vampires, mostly because she had never quite had the courage to ask her parents. It was very possible that Rosalie was bringing her home to extract information from her.

Around Aylen were people who were potentially taking advantage of her innocence at the very moment. Did they think she was so innocent? They knew she was physically weak, which could be expected of a young girl, but did they think she was so stupid and easy to manipulate? Aylen felt like screaming, so she did. "I know what you're trying to do!" she yelled as Alice was trying to walk her through the dreadful doorway. "You're. . .!"

Aylen hesitated, for a split second looking again into Alice's kind face. Oh well, it was too late to stop now. ". . . trying to use me for your own personal gain!" She must have looked ridiculous trying to yell intellectually and walk into the house at the same time. A second or two after she had yelled, she figured her body language wasn't well matched with her words, so she repelled herself from the doorway a bit, which was probably even worse.

Everyone was walking into the house. Alice was dancng peacefully along, almost gliding across the ground. "Home sweet home" she thought. Then Rosalie turned to her and said, "What's the matter sis..." whispering. "Having trouble seeing something?""If it's just me you were upset at alright, but don't treat my family that way just because of what I'm like. Were not all 'one race.'" Aliced deep into Rosalie's eyes. "Yeah, I can't see much, but thats fine! As soon as she goes home, the future will be as clear as me".

Alice giggled after she replied to Rosalie. Her sister was very conserned with her, she felt loved. It made her dead heart take a beat. Alice loved her family so much, she couldn't believe she was able to leave them for so long... and all of a sudden, about 2 foot steps from stepping into her home, all Alice heard was screaming...

"I know what you're trying to do!" "You're. . .!" ". . . trying to use me for your own personal gain!"

Alice felt very confused. Where on earth did this... theory come from?? She wasn't sure what to say... Did she do something wrong? Make her uncomfortable? All Alice could do was try and make this better. "No Aylen, not at all!! Its okay! No one inside this house could ever hurt you, no matter what happened earlier today!"

Alice had a good "heart". She wanted to help people, just as Carlisle does. If he can do it, so can Alice. But on the inside, she knew Aylen's outburst was not going to end as well as she had just promised... Rosalie was not going to have a nice reply...

Personal gain! They were taking her stinking little wolf self back to their house for their own personal gain?! What were they gaining? They were helping her get clothing because she had gone into their forest. That was the straw that broke the camels back.

"You selfish, conceited little brat!" she yelled at her turning around. "How dare you say I brought you for our personal gain! You were in our woods and after you transformed I was nice enough to give you my jacket and take you back to our house. You have the nerve to say that were doing this for our own personal gain? Do you think we want another wolf here? The only reason we like Jake being here is because he makes Nessie so happy."

Getting a rush of adrenaline, she grabbed her by the arms and lifted her a good 6 inches about the ground. A low growl came out of her throat as she dug her fingers deep into her arms. She then leaned in closer and through gritted teeth, said "Don't you dare say were doing this for our good. We don't need you for any reason. Your just another annoying wolf we have to deal with." Loosening her grip just a little she let go but tossed her just slightly forward, her golden eyes feeling like they were newborn red.

Aylen was angry at herself. This was all her own fault. Before even knowing them, she had corrupted her future relationship with this family.

Aylen closed her awareness to the house around her and the grip of Rosalie's vampiric hand. All she felt now was regret. She was guilty of making life harder for herself and for these vampires. Was it a good enough excuse that she didn't really know the extent of the situation between wolves and vampires? Don't make excuses, she thought. She was tempted to lash out at Rosalie again. And don't take your anger out on them! she told herself. This is only your fault.

Well, it wasn't completely my fault, Aylen defended. It's also Rosalie's for not forgiving her.

Aylen took a look at Rosalie. If Aylen had not been so pretentious for all of today, would Rosalie actually turn out to be nice to her? No, not so; Rosalie seemed like a person who was truly mean. But Alice. . . Aylen looked at Alice, hoping she would forgive her.

Alice signed. Rosalie did what she thought she would. Her anger could kill someone... without even Rosalie tasting their blood. Alice wasnt't too sure what to do. Back up Rosalie, or... try and help this poor young wolf... It made her head spin trying to choose...

Alice quickly said, "Rosalie, put her down. We do NOT need anymore hurt wolves around here, you hear me? Put her down NOW" in the smoothest voice she could. She wasn't angry, Rosalie had a temper. But Aylen meant no harm... Who wouldn't be scared to come into a home full of vampires after one tried to kill you? Minus Bella... Alice giggled at that thought. "What if they don't like me", was all Bella ever worried about...

Alice looked at Aylen and saw the fear, or regret in her eyes. She really meant no harm to us... Alice was going to help this girl as much as she could. Rosalie would still love Alice no matter what she did, they had all eternity together, so she pretty muh had no choice. Alice gently stared at Rosalie waiting for her to react to her statement...

Rosalie saw the fear in the girls eyes and upon hearing Alice, felt extremely immature and guilty. She was better than this. She knew better than to snap like this. Looking away, a mixture of embarrassment and guilt on her face, she backed away from the wolf, her stomach feeling like a humans after going on a spinning carnival ride.

She took a deep breath in and then out, knowing what she had to do now. Turning back to look at the girl, she shook her head, 'Not 'girl' she thought to herself. 'Aylen,' her name is Aylen.' Being sure not to scare her, she gently placed her hand on her shoulder and looking into her eyes, began to talk.

"Aylen," she said a mixture of kindness and regret in her voice. "I'm not denying that you made some mistakes today... but how I acted was unacceptable and..." Rosalie stopped. Was this really that hard to say? Just two little words... But she couldn't say it. She took two more breathes in and out and looked back at Aylen. "And... I'm sorry." She breathed a sigh or relief as she finally got it out. A small smirk however spread across her face as she looked at how Aylen was. "But enough chitter chatter..." she said coyly. "Unless you'd like to stand outside our house half-naked some more?"

"We don't need any more wolves around here," Alice said. Aylen's dread washed up even higher. Wait, did she say hurt wolves? Thank you, thank you, Aylen wanted to say out loud.

Aylen knew she had done wrong. "I'm not denying that you made some mistakes today," she heard Rosalie say. Yes, I know that already! Aylen screamed mentally. Without opening her mouth, she moved her tongue so as to utter, Stop rubbing it in!

Wait, what if one of the vampires had the power to hear tongues moving inside mouths? Or worse, what if there was one around here who could read minds? Well if that was true, the damage would have already been done.

"Unless you'd like to stand outside our house half-naked some more?" Rosalie said.

Aylen smiled, a little too eager to emphasize any lightness in the situation. Then she looked into Rosalie's face and saw that she wasn't smiling. Aylen muscled her mouth back to a neutral position. Was this a neutral position? Perhaps she should relax her lower lip a bit more? Once again, Aylen's confidence deficiency forced her to overanalyze. I'm still more intellectual, she told herself.

To prove to herself just how much more intellectual she was than the vampires, she began to plan out her next sentence carefully, choosing just the right words for a persuasive and logically sound argument. When she had finished, she spoke aloud, "Thanks for accepting my mistakes; I'll come in." Or did that sound too formal?

Alice was so happy to see Rosalie back down without a fight and that Aylen was going to come inside and accept our help. She could not wait until Alice could help. Alice danced inside waiting to see who was home tonight. Alice began to think about Aylen... She was such a young wolf... and she reacted in a way that she did not know anything about "my" kind... How young was she? Where could she be from where she doesn't know the relatioship between us and them?Alice wondered...

On a happy note, Alice was excited to be able to helped Aylen. She looked back at Rosalie, hoping she wouldn't be upset at herself for what just happened. She took a step back towards her to ask her. "Hey..." she whispered,"You okay? I know you don't like to back down, but it was totally the right thing to do."

Alice hoped Rosalie was okay. She also hoped Aylen would forgive Rosalie for her behavior. Besides, we would help, she should forgive, right? Alice hated when people didn't like her because of something that happened within the past with her family. She felt sick just thinking about it... She shook her head and looked back at Rosalie, while looking at Aylen in the corner of her eye.

Rosalie looked at Alice. "Hey..." Alice whispered,"You okay? I know you don't like to back down, but it was totally the right thing to do."

Rosalie smiled a little. She felt happy that Alice was worried about her. It made her feel cared about, which most people didn't do, or at least it didn't seem like they did. Loud enough for both Alice and Aylen to hear, she replied "Yeah, I'm alright." a bit jokingly. "It's not like being nice is going to kill me. Royce already did that a few decades ago."

She instantly regretted saying his name. As if she was human again, the place where her heart would be started throbbing. What had made her say that? She had only told Emmett and Bella about that, though Alice, Edward, Carlisle, and Esme had found it out on their own, either form others or from her thoughts. She bit her lip, breathing heavily through her nose. She hoped that Emmett was close. She needed him. Was that why she had said it? An excuse to be with Emmett? No, if she needed him she could just go to him. She didn't need to have an excuse.

But then she realized how loud she had said it. What would Aylen say? Why had she even said it. She furrowed her brows in anger but knew if she was human, tears would be flowing out of them.

Aylen walked into the house with Alice and Rosalie. Rosalie said something about being killed by someone named Royce. She actually sounded a little sad. Aylen kept walking without making eye contact. She didn't deserve to make eye contact with them. Or they didn't deserve her eye contact. Either way, she didn't look at them.

But who was Royce? Obviously he was important to Rosalie; she sounded really hurt by him even after "decades". And being a vampire, Rosalie probably wasn't even exaggerating when she said "decades". Aylen had heard that vampires could "die" somehow. How common was it for a vampire to go on existing for decades? Well then, Rosalie was half justified for acting the way she did, and the other half of the justification came from Aylen's own faults. Now she could understand.

Aylen came to the notion that perhaps it was impossible to judge anybody, knowing that everybody's flaws came from their past somehow. What about Aylen's own miscomposure towards the vampires today? She honestly couldn't think of anything in her own life that would have caused her to make such mistakes. What a bad person she really was. I'm still intellectual, she thought. . . Aylen squeezed her eyes shut for a second. The word "intellectual" was beginning to get very annoying to herself. Were there any good synonyms for "intellectual?" She felt as if she had been saying the word for so long that it had lost its meaning.

Scholarly, she decided. Aylen was still scholarly. No, that didn't sound quite as good. Wow, she really disapproved of herself.

Alice was finally home. And she could feel it would not be a good night. Rosalie was thinking about Royce. It was never good when he came up. Alice closed her eyes and smiled trying to calm herself, to clear her mind. Alice did not want to see Rosalie hurting as she knew she would. Alice walked towards the window to see if she could see what would happened next…

She stared out the window. She had a clear thought…. A clear mind. Yet… nothing? Ugh, Alice thought. Wolves. Aylen was fogging up her mind yet again. But, she knew no better. How could Alice be mad? She wouldn’t be.

Alice turned back around and felt the cold wind from the window brush her skin. A soft blow, but nice. She looked at Rosalie and walked over to her. Alice just hugged her. And held her tight. She watched Aylen from one eye too. Alice whispered to Rosalie, “Don’t think about it, it was too long ago. Emmett is here now” and kissed her cheek…

Rosalie let Alice's hug consume her. Closing her eyes, she wished just one more time she could cry. 'Yet another human quality I'm envious of...' she thought to herself. She breathed in through her nose and out through her mouth listening to Alice's soothing words.

"To be human one more time..." Rosalie thought out loud, only loud enough for one of her own kind to hear. Then a thought occurred to her; How often did Alice wonder about her human life?

Shaking her head just slightly she looked at Aylen who was a few feet away from them. She could see that Alice was looking at her... Why wasn't she saying anything? Did she not hear her? Was she being polite and not asking questions? Did she think what Rosalie had said wasn't important?

Taking a deeper breath, she stood up and walked over to Aylen. Stopping just a few feet in front of her, she looked at her and asked "You want me and Alice to pick something out for you, or do you want to come up to the 'Mall of Alice'." somehow mustering a smile.

Aylen was too involved in her inconfident self-absorbed fantasies to notice anything was going on between the "sisters". She walked ahead. Alice asked her whether she wanted to come to her room. Aylen was partly relieved, partly insulted. Of course she didn't want to go to Alice's room, but she appreciated her kindness. "You just pick something out for me," Aylen mumbled. Oh, she should show a bit more respect for someone doing her such a favor. She forced a fake smile. Then she wished she hadn't. It probably looked ridiculous.

But wait. She wasn't going to let Alice pick out something for her. What if it was something ugly? What if it was a trick, vampiric-envenomed clothes or something? Or what if it contained a tracking device? She had better go with her. "Never mind, let me see your room."

Aylen didn't want to judge anyone. She wanted very much to just be a carefree individual amusing herself with intellectual pursuits. She was determined to be like that one day, starting after these vampires.

Alice looked at Aylen, with her “happy” smile, and turned to walk towards her room. She said, without looking back, “Right this way”. Alice walked a few steps ahead of Aylen, not to be rude, but to lead the way. She didn’t want Aylen to be uncomfortable or to think she was a bad vampire. “I am good”, Alice whispered to herself. Once they reached the door to her room, she looked at Aylen. While opening the door, “Welcome to the mall of ALICE!” and she giggled.
Alice walked into her room, showing Aylen around. Where dresses were, jeans, pants, shorts, shirts, tanks, shoes, anything you could find in a mall, she had. She was proud to show off all her stuff, she loved it. And besides, she didn’t wear one thing more than once, so everything was pretty unique!
Alice hoped Aylen would like her choices. She looked at Aylen and smiled, “Pick anything you’d like, we look the same size, so everything should fit. I hope you like it!”
Alice walked towards the door to let Aylen pick something alone so she wouldn’t feel ackward. She looked down at her feet as she walked and she sighed, then she looked up towards the door and smiled.

Rosalie saw Alice start to walk and followed her, walking somewhat behind Aylen. Boy was this girl in for a surprise. "Right this way." she heard Alice say to the girl but a few seconds later she heard her say, not really to anyone "I am good." Rosalie's eyes opened just a tad bit more upon hearing this. Did Alice really need to tell herself that? Rosalie laughed just the slightest, a genuine smile spreading across her face.

"Of course you are..." Rosalie whispered back to Alice, a soft laugh in her voice. "I wouldn't trade you for any other sister in the world."

Upon reaching Alice's room however, she went speechless. No matter how many times Rosalie visited Alice's room, she was still shocked at the number of shirts, shorts, pants, skirts, shoes, dresses, bracelets and necklaces Alice managed to collect. Each time she came in she swore no more clothes could fit in the next time yet, somehow, it always did.

"Pick anything you’d like, we look the same size, so everything should fit. I hope you like it!" Alice chimed in her sweet bell-like voice. Alice walked out of the room and Rosalie followed, but leaned on the door, listening to the werewolf inside, making sure she didn't run off and steal clothes from Alice.

"But kid..." she somewhat laughed from outside the door. "Don't try anything funny with us. Alice might not be able to see what you'll do but we have our ways of finding out..."

Aylen was amazed by the hyperchoix of clothing in Alice's room. Aylen had been wondering what it was like to live eternally. Wouldn't mortal life get old after a while? She had seen old people bored with the monotony of the days and ready to die. But apparently that sensation had not hit Alice. Maybe being a vampire and having superpowers was part of it. However it was, Alice was still well prepared for living with her vast assortment of outfits.

Aylen bent down at a stack of clothes and began to select something to wear. She was quite a bit taller than Alice, so she figured she would choose a skirt.

Rosalie warned Aylen not to "try anything funny with us". Aylen was shocked. Why would the vampires be wary of her? She would think she could trust them less than they could trust her. But the mutual suspicion did make Aylen feel more comfortable around them. Maybe Rosalie did that on purpose.

Alice watching Aylen from the doorway while she picked through her clothes. She giggled to herself, it was nice to help someone out. Rosalie had said don’t try anything funny with us to Aylen. Did Rosalie really think Aylen could do something? Alice looked at Rosalie and said “Do you REALLY think she could pull something?” Alice and Rosalie could totally take her if it was needed. And besides, there were how many vampires in this house right now? No... she wouldn’t dare...

She tried to hide her inner laughter towards Aylen causing any trouble. Alice didn’t think she would... Why would she? We took her in... I’m sharing my clothes... There is no reason to do anything wrong. Alice sighed, wolves weren’t supposed to be trusted... Damn Jacob and his friends... Why did they have to ruin the rules... crush all that we ever knew... UGH?!

Alice felt a sudden sadness overwhelm her. Why? She had no idea. But she had the urge to cry... Alice sighed deeply again and held back what would have been tears... She swallowed hard... she felt she swallowed her heart... Something was coming... or was it already here? Alice shook her head and came outta her “thought cloud”.

"Do you REALLY think she could pull something?" Alice asked Rosalie, a tad bit of worry in her voice.

"Nah..." Rosalie quietly chuckled, just loud enough for Alice to hear. "Just trying to show our new wolf buddy not to mess with my sister's stuff. We all know how much you love your clothing."

Rosalie stopped for a moment as she thought over what she had just said. She had only known this girl for what, a little over an hour, and she was already calling her a buddy? True, she was being slightly sarcastic and it was slightly because Rosalie felt guilty for how she had been acting but this was a brand new werewolf. She paused for a moment and realized that she was the only Cullen who seemed to try and have werewolves dislike her.

Why was she like that? True, she wasn't always mean to the wolves but she definitely was the meanest of the Cullen's to the wolves. Was it just due to her stereotype of being mean and bitter? 'They all see me as a shrewd, so I have to be a shrewd to all of them?' she thought to herself.
Maybe this girl was different. She sure seemed more even tempered than most wolves, especially for a new wolf. She fought with her mind, not with her body. Could Rosalie be nice to this one wolf?

It would give her a chance to seem like a “better person.” Additionally, there were hardly any female werewolves. Leah wasn't “mean” to Rosalie but she would definitely find it weird if Rosalie just all of a sudden was nice to her. She hadn't gotten along well with the male wolves but maybe females were different. Was she really going to ruin the chances of having a decent relationship with a female werewolf?

'How can I become friends with her though after the way I've treated her.' Rosalie contemplated to herself. Rosalie quietly slipped into the room as she spoke outloud "I started it" definitely loud enough for Aylen to hear it.