twispitefic

Title: The Cold Hard Truth
Author: winki_pop
Fandom(s): Twilight
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 2,413
Inspiration: New Moon Chapter 24: Vote (where Bella demands that the Cullens vote whether she becomes a vampire or not)
Warnings: A few swears, a lot of whining :P
Summary: Stamping your feet and whining that you should be a vampire right now, dammit doesn’t mean you’ll actually get your way… (I actually had to read back through the text to remember who voted what! :D)

Author’s Note: With Das_Mervin about to conduct her sporking of Chapter 24 of New Moon, I was inspired to write this after being disbelieved that the whole family would actually want Bella to be a vampire with them forever and ever and ever. *shudder* Here is a realist’s view of how they would actually vote with legitimate reasons. Suck it, SMeyer :D

Bella sat with a serene smile next to Edward on the red velvet couch in the large lounge room of the Cullens’ eco-friendly home in the middle of the Forks rainforest. After such a hectic and tense few days flying from hell and back to save Edward from the Volturi back in Volterra, she let herself clutch onto Edward’s cold, hard arm just that little bit tighter. She had told herself that she was dreaming, that this was too good to be true that Edward would finally return to her after walking adrift in a fog for so long, but it was happening. She couldn’t lose this moment, lose Edward ever again. She would hold on as tightly as she could.

She was even happier when Edward finally gave in to making his family vote on her becoming a vampire. She had to get it through to him somehow that there was no more time to waste, that she couldn’t stay feeble and fragile and human for too much longer. Finally she had a way out of this mundane tawdry known as her life, to no longer drag her feet as other humans did and make way for her rebirth as a powerful, beautiful and intelligent creature, everything she was not. Soon, humanity would no longer be in the way as Bella was confident the Cullens (bar Edward) would welcome her as they already had into their lives, This would be whole life forever once they had voted.

Carlisle had assembled everyone in the lounge, standing in front of them all solemnly as he had his hands clasped in front of him. Bella smiled back at him, though he returned only a small, tight one to her.

“Everyone, may I please have a little quiet,” he began as everyone began to quieten. “We have an important decision to make concerning Bella and this cannot be taken lightly. Bella has called us all here tonight so we may discuss her becoming a vampire, eventually becoming apart of your lifestyle and, of course, apart of our family.”

Bella smiled broadly upon hearing that last line.

“I want everyone to think carefully about their decision and their reasons why,” continued Carlisle. “I’ll let everyone say their piece and then end with what I believe is best for Bella.”

Edward stood up first, eager to say his piece. “I absolutely do not want Bella becoming a vampire,” he spoke through gritted teeth. “Not if I have anything to do with it.”

“Edward, please!” Bella barked quietly at him.

“The fact that we’re having a vote at all is ridiculous in the extreme,” he continued his little tirade, ignoring Bella. “This will not happen, I strictly forbid it!

“Edward, calm down,” Carlisle told him pointedly. “Do not cause a scene.”

“I’ve seen it happening in my mind,” Alice spoke, standing up next. “But I’m not sure if... it’s just..." She turned to Bella, her eyes wide. “Bella, I remember nothing of my human life. And if I had the chance, just one chance to return to a life where I got to live in peace and not have to hide everything from people all the time, I’d take it, I really would.”

Bella was appalled. “But Alice, you have everything you could ever want as a vampire! You would never be this rich as a human, you’d never get to shop all the time or get to travel to world or be old, why would you say that to me?!”

Alice was a little crestfallen, but she wasn’t backing down. “Sorry, Bella, but despite what I’ve said in the past, I’ve really thought about it this time and I just don’t think you truly know what you’re asking for. So I vote no.”

“But, Alice!...”

“Look, Bella,” Jasper cut in, standing next to Alice, “Alice is right. We talked about it together the other day before you and her ran off to Italy together and I told her straight that I was strictly against the idea…”

“So she’s just agreeing with you, then!” Bella argued. “This is so unfair!”

“She made the decision on her own,” Jasper told her bitterly. “She had the same concerns as I did and we were glad to know we both had the same thoughts on the matter. I think it’s stupid for you to throw away your humanity like this, it’s incredibly foolish.”

“Hey, I’ve thought this through, too, you know!” Bella complained. “You have no idea!”

“No, I don’t think you have,” Jasper replied calmly. “I was unlucky. I was young and never got the chance to experience even the smallest of pleasures in life, sent off to fight and willingly walking into a death zone. Now I have to struggle with my bloodlust, scared every time I step out the door that this could be the day I drain the life out of someone! Do you have any idea how guilty I felt after the night of your party, Bella?” If Jasper could cry, he would probably have tears welling in his eyes. “I couldn’t and still can’t forgive myself for it. I have to live on tenterhook every day. Do you really want that for yourself?” He sat back down, slightly distressed as Alice, too, sat back down, trying to comfort him.

Bella, however, still didn’t understand the point. “But… but I’ll be out of the way when I’m turned,” she explained. “You’ll all make sure to keep me out of the way for a year or so until my bloodlust calms down, it’ll be fine.”

Jasper merely shook his head, gritting his teeth in response.

Bella looked over to Rosalie, hoping for a more positive answer despite their friction.

But it wasn’t to be.

“Bella, Jasper’s right!” she barked at her, staring Bella down as she stood up. “Are you insane?! Why the fuck would you want to willingly become a monster for? To forever keep moving around to avoid being detected, to have to hunt all the time like an animal for blood, to remain isolated like this?!”

“Gee, you seem to make all that seem glamourous,” Bella spat back at her, for once gaining the courage to answer back at Rosalie. “You don’t ever seem to complain, not when you’re so rich and beautiful and have everything!”

“See, that’s why I have a problem with you, Bella!” Rosalie rebutted. “You have delusions of grandeur! You’re in love with the idea of being a vampire, looking at all this and all the money and how hot you think Edward is and think that you’ve finally found your way to weasel on in and decide you wanna be a vampire too! It’s the allure of it all, Bella, you’ve romanticised being a monster!”

“I have not!” Bella now stood up angrily, her fists clenched tightly. “I love Edward, I want to be with him, to be with you all forever!”

“No you don’t, Bella!” Rosalie spat. “You don’t know what you want.”

But Bella wasn’t done. “I have nothing as a human, I need to be something more!”

“Oh please, Bella! You don’t know how easy you’ve got it!” Rosalie growled at her. She then took a deep breath to compose herself. “I would give anything to be a human again,” Rosalie explained sadly. “I could have been something. I could have done things. I grew up in a time where I couldn’t think or speak aloud and died in horrible circumstances. Do you know what I would give to turn back time and change things, to say no to Royce and seen him for what he truly was, to have aspired for more, to stand up for myself, to defend myself, to have done more? I miss my family and my friends. I’ve learnt so much and wish I had been able to apply that knowledge when I got older as a human. Choose wisely, Bella, because what you’re saying is crazy. Get out while you still can.” Rosalie then sat back down.

Bella couldn’t breathe, fighting back tears. “This… this… You’re just saying that ‘cos you hate me!” she whined at Rosalie.

Rosalie stayed quiet, refusing to respond to such petulance.

Emmett then stood up, rolling back his broad shoulders. “Rose is right,” he told Bella, his voice quiet. “Seriously, I would love to be human again! For me and Rose to live a good life together, maybe even own a garage, have a few kids and watch them grow up, maybe even go back to school or something. I was changed before I even got a chance to do anything with my life! You still have time to live your life, Bella, what’s the rush to ruin it all now? So no, I can’t allow this.” He sat back down next to Rosalie, glad to finally get all that off his chest.

Bella rolled her eyes. “But I don’t have time!” she snapped. “I need to do this and I need to do it now!”

“Bella, we come from vastly different backgrounds than you do,” Esme began, taking a few steps towards her away from where she stood next to Emmett. “You get to live a normal and happy life with you and your friends and family in Forks.” Her tone then turned grave. ”Whatever would they think when you just suddenly disappear, especially what your father would think when he never gets to see you again, how do you think he’d feel?”

Bella felt her chest tighten. “I’d… I’d see him again eventually, wouldn’t I?” she said, barely a whisper. “I mean… when I get over being a newborn and all that.”

Esme shook her head. “It is most assuredly not that simple,” she told Bella, now irritated. “Do you think you can just go and be a vampire when you fell like it? You think you’re never going to wonder what he or your mother is up to or where your friends have moved onto or what you’re missing out on.”

Bella opened her mouth to argue, but Esme wasn’t finished.

“You can’t turn back from being a vampire, Bella. You don’t get to say you’ve had enough. What you’re saying is incredibly selfish and I will have no part of it.”

Bella was getting desperate now, looking to Carlisle for hope. Surely he would she reason and guide his family to the right decision…

“Well, Bella, all my family has said no,” he told her, his arms folded. “And I will have to vote no on the matter as well.”

Bella was at a loss. “But… but… you can’t do this to me!” she cried. “I need to be a vampire and I need to be one now!”

“Stamping your feet and making demands isn’t going to change anyone’s mind,” Carlisle simply replied. “Don’t think I’m not aware of your manipulative ways…”

Bella was highly offended. “I am not manipulative,” she spoke through gritted teeth. “I know what I want!”

“You are manipulative, Bella,” Carlisle replied bluntly. “You cling onto Edward as soon as you meet him, manipulate your way into our family, happily take our money and whatever gifts we provide you with not even a thank you and you have the gall to just stroll on in here and demand we make you a vampire, a soulless monster forever lusting after blood? How dare you! Frankly, we have tolerated your being in our lives long enough.”

Bella was now letting loose. “You let me into your home and gave me those things, and I can go out with Edward if I want to, I’m 18 now!”

“That makes no difference,” Carlisle replied. “Obviously we have been too generous with you and you have taken advantage of our goodwill. I believe Rosalie when she tells us you do not love Edward, using your supposed romance as an excuse for your superficiality and letting it cloud your judgement without remorse. To think you want to become a soulless monster when you do not possess a soul at all.”

“This is stupid!” Bella whined. “You’re all supposed to say yes! Don’t you think I’ve proved myself enough?! You all don’t have a probably living without humanity, so why should I? I don’ care about being human anymore!”

“Indeed you don’t…” said Carlisle, which irked him so.

“And how can I possibly love Edward as a mere human,” Bella continued, “when love between vampires is so much more powerful? Humans cannot love as we do!”

“Don’t you dare group yourself with us!” spat Carlisle, frightening Bella. “Your simple, dimwitted ideas shame me, but what shames me more is how low you regard humanity, like you think of it as a disease, as fallible, as some kind of handicap. You are the one who cannot recognise love when you see it, whether it be between vampires or humans or otherwise. You will never be able to because your narcissism is your curse, to dare question love as a human and dismiss it as nothing but weak compared to that of soulless creatures. What a horrible contradiction!”

Carlisle came closer to Bella, she flinching as his face was mere inches from hers, his gaze fiery. “Love doesn’t weaken your humanity, Bella,” he explained sternly, almost offended, “it proves it.”**

“Bu-but…” Bella had run out of ideas. She looked around the room, at all the cold faces looking at her providing no remorse. No one was coming to her defence.

“I’d like it if you left, Bella,” Carlisle told her dismissively. “I’ll call your father to come pick you up. And I think it’s best if you do not come over anymore. We do not take kindly to being order about, by either vampires or humans.”

Carlisle then turned his attentions to Alice and Edward.

“And as for you two,” he spoke pointedly. “We’re going to have a talk about boundaries after your little adventure in Italy, especially you, Edward.”

Edward tried to speak up, but Carlisle never gave him the chance.

“Don’t bother,” he told him. “It’s about time we established some real boundaries for you to comply by. While you’re under my roof, you’ll do as Esme and I say, nothing more and nothing less…”

**This is actually a line paraphrased from the last episode of Being Human, Season 1, spoken by George (the werewolf) before he defeats evil vamp Herrick. I always liked this line and wish I could email that to SMeyer (but evil Seth will just erase my message, for sure :D)