there's a clamor in your whispering tonight [rose]

[Irina Denali]

I burst in the front door, only barely avoiding a catastrophe. The door slammed against the wall and back into its jam once again as I slammed it shut. It shuddered pitifully. I sighed, dropping my bag on the floor. I'd run here after school. Chances were...if luck was with me, Rose would be here. Extending mental tendrils along the connection I had to her, I felt her upstairs somewhere. I smiled to myself. I should have been a character on The X-Files. Just think of all the money I could have saved in special effects.

I started my characteristic pace across the floor, wringing my hands with my sweater but then remembering how many sweaters I ripped that way. I settled for just wringing my hands. I bit my lip, thanking God my heart no longer beat because Rosalie would have been able to hear it. She wasn't going to like what I had to say.

[Rosalie Hale]

It's amazing how quick
We could turn an argument
Into a fight for what is right

Rosalie had skipped school today. It wasn't too odd of a practice in the Cullen household. Mind you, the vampires couldn't just miss most of the school year -although God knows that could easily handle the not so new material the school droned on about- but the seemingly over intelligent students could easily get away with missing a decent amount. Needless to say, Esme and Carlisle didn't exactly condone such actions, but under the excuse that Rosalie needed to hunt (The fact that she had the almost black eyes, that made her grimace, to support her tale helped too.) her adopted parents had reluctantly agreed to permit her to stay home. Not that Esme or Carlisle could really force her to go, although they could most defiantly give her a hard time about it, and with everything else going on in the Cullen household, having Rosalie's adopted parents angry with her was the last thing she needed.

The heavy front door slamming first against the wall and then against its hinges made Rosalie jump slightly. The sudden loud noise contrasted the almost quiet of the large house dramatically. Immediately, Rosalie was put on edge which encouraged her nimble feet to move forward at a pace too fast for any human, even though for Rosalie it was a fairly leisurely stride. There, pacing across the living room floor, was Irina. Her nervous demeanor shocked Rosalie at first but the blond vampire quickly recovered and collected herself. Besides, how many more horrible things could actually happen to the Cullen family? Although, some might argue that Edward falling in love first, as far as Rosalie knew, the first time was actually a good thing, the blond vampire begged to differ. Rosalie was sure that soon enough the fates would run out of things to curse on the mix matched family.

"You're going to wear out the carpet," commented Rosalie as she lingered on the staircase. She was trying to lighten the situation, something that, when Rosalie purposefully tried to do it, didn't always go too pleasantly.

Cause lately it's the same again
As I'm writing to unfold
Just keep turning those pages
There's still stories to be told


((What Are You Doing, Man? That's Weird! by Valencia))

[Irina Denali]

I looked up to Rose, so relieved I actually fell to the ground with wobbly knees. I got up quickly, almost too quickly. "I'm fine, I'm fine," I said. Then I shook my head. "I'm not fine." I couldn't imagine how to explain it...I would just start from the beginning. "Look, I know it's bad and you're going to hate me--well, you already hate me but I met this human and he smells amazing, oh my God, but I was talking and Rose I think I'm in love with a human." I paused for a single breath. "But he likes someone else, and she's a werewolf but she's beautiful and I shouldn't be jealous but I am and..." she couldn't speak any longer before her brain overheated. She stopped and sat down. "D'you hate me Rose? You should, even more, for this."

[Rosalie Hale]

Rosalie stumbled forward as it seemed that Irina's legs gave out beneath her. Only a couple of strides away from her old friend, Rosalie's brow creased with worry. While questioning words over recent success or failure rates of dealing with Jane's little gift began forming themselves on the tip of the beautiful blond vampire's tongue, Irina began reassuring her that she was fine and then not fine. Rosalie's head tilted slightly to the right at the odd proclamation, but motioned for Irina to continue; her curiosity was spiked.

The blond vampire's face immediately fell. It was one thing to crave the smell of a human; that, after all, was a completely normal concept for a vampire. However, for Irina to liken herself to be in love with a human, that was. . .that was. . . That was beyond words. That blow hurt even more so than when her own brother started devoting all of his free time to his human thing. Irina was, after all, one of Rosalie's closest friends, and this new idea was unbelievable: quite literally.

Rosalie laughed dryly. She forced a smile. Surely, Irina had to be playing a joke on her. At times, Irina could be just as bad about her sense of humor as Emmett, or at least that was what Rosalie was reassuring herself of. It was all a joke, but Rosalie's old friend wouldn't pull the wool over her eyes this time. No, Rosalie was onto Irina's little charade. The blond vampire was fully convinced that Irina was trying to pull this little stunt simply for Edward's sake. Maybe Irina thought that Rosalie was just coming down on her brother so hard because Edward and Rosalie had always had such a unique relationship that involved more than their fair share of bickering.

"Nice try, Irina, but I'm not that gullible. But you really had me worried there for a second."

[Irina Denali]

I lifted my face from my hands to look at Rose. "I know, it seems like a joke. And I'd completely understand why you don't want to believe it...hell, I don't want to believe it myself." And then I did a bad thing...I took all my thoughts of Cary and put them in Rose's mind. I tried to keep my feelings from leaking through them, so Rose would be impartial...I didn't want to jerk with Rose's heart too, didn't want her to be forcibly interested in Cary because I was...but I was pretty sure I hadn't been able to. I didn't normally feel so strongly...Rose knew how subdued and controlling I so usually was. For me to feel passion...it drove me up the wall. I couldn't take it. My stilled heart shuddered, it ached to beat at the speed of one hundred miles an hour, it wanted to race and spread sweet blood through my veins but couldn't. My voice whispered. "Rose...it's not a charade. Not this time."

[Rosalie Hale]

Rosalie might not have had any special ability that made her stand out from the rest of the vampire population, but there were many characteristics about the vampire that made her stand out from those around her, both good and bad. The most obvious one being, of course, her excessive amount of beauty that, as a general rule of thumb, caused human and vampire's necks to turn in awe. That was one of her more proud things about herself. On a more negative side, Rosalie was almost unbearably vain, superficial and self-centered: an unfortunate side effect of her beauty. Not to mention she had a tendency to take everything personally and an uncanny talent for dramatics. Both things tended to make giving her information that she didn't want to hear a tricky process.

If Rosalie was a cartoon, her jaw would have hit he floor as Irina forced a wave of memories and hints of emotion into her mind. For a moment, Rosalie looked as if she had been smacked in the face. To her, this was betrayal on Irina's part. The feelings behind Irina's actions were so raw is was almost unbelievable. They were the sort of thing the blond vampire felt whenever she was around Emmett, which shocked Rosalie to no end. Therefore, there was only one logical conclusion the vampire could draw from such evidence.

"You're delusional," commented Rosalie cruelly, her profile hardening considerably. It was too much for her to take in. This was Irina. It was bad enough that Edward had fallen into some fit of insanity, but Rosalie could barely bare to stand that Irina had fallen victim to the same incident. But the emotion played so close to how she felt for Emmett. . .

It was an odd problem to say the least.

[Irina Denali]

I looked up at her wide-eyed. Truthfully, I had expected this cruelty from Rosalie. I'd braced my heart for it, and thank God, because even so the poor thing was trembling like it was beating. I shook my head. "Rose. I don't get delusional. You know that. I just...I have no idea what I'm doing." I sighed, and movd to punch the wall, stopping only inches before it hit the wood. I moved my fist and slid my back down the wall. I looked up at Rose. "Ice queen? May I request your assistance in this debaccle?" I asked teasingly, but with a somber expression.

[Rosalie Hale]

Rosalie knew there was a certain amount of truth behind Irina's words. After all, the much older vampire had never lost all traces of sanity -which was more than what Rosalie could say- in Rosalie's presence before, which was part of the reason everything that was happening right then was so hard for the blond vampire to accept. However, believing that her friend was simply delusional rather than actually infatuated with a human was a much easier task. The former would eventually come to an end, or at least Rosalie hoped it would. However, if Irina actually believed herself to be in love with the human thing, then that presented more issues. Then, as out of character as it seemed to the blond vampire, Irina might make some rash decision that would end with the human boy being dead, or even worse, damned to live forever. Rosalie just couldn't comprehend how anyone could come to grounds with such an act. She could barely believe she did it to Emmett all those years ago (Even though he constantly reassured her that he was happy.), and he was dying. Not to mention they eventually fell into love. Real love. Natural love. Not love with some sort of expiration date or the sort of love that required flirting with danger anytime you're together. What kind of love is that, anyway?

Rosalie visibly cringed at the name. Under normal circumstances, the blond vampire would have brushed it off with a chuckle. It was the sort of thing Irina normally did and hardly a reason to take offense, but with everything that had just taken place in the last five minutes, it seemed incredibly out of place. Rosalie was still in denial; this half crazed creature she was dealing with was not her Irina.

"Stay away from him. Ignore him. Don't take his calls. Let him be human," stated Rosalie matter of factually. Her words were cold and sharp, but the composed manner of her facial features indicated just how serious she was being. To her, this was the only reasonable solution.

[Irina Denali]

Irina chuckled. The expression on her face was heartbreakingly beautiful. She knew what people said, that she was every bit as beautiful as Rosalie but in a different way. Irina was dark and soft, a beauty that didn't beg to be noticed. Rosalie was golden and striking. She lit up rooms with her face while Irina refused to smile to avoid being noticed. Irina turned back to Rose. "Already one step ahead of you, love," she said. The ice in her voice cut little daggers into Irina's eyes and wrists. That seemed to be where she hurt most. She sighed and leaned back against the wall, having stood up in her "ungovernable paroxysm of passion" as Nelly would say. She turned to Rose with the saddest smile in the world on her face. "He doesn't know how I feel. I pulled a couple strings in his mind, made him a little bit closer to this werewolf who likes him. She's beautiful, looks a lot like Adriana, only maybe not as beautiful as her. And maybe not as nice, but anyway, they'll probably be getting together so I'll be out of the picture. He doesn't know how I feel, and as far as I know he sure as hell doesn't love me." Her voice was so acidic it could have peeled paint. She turned her burning golden eyes to Rosalie. "I made sure everything ends up alright for him. Somewhere in there I realized that that meant I loved him. I've never touched him. I've just...wanted to. I've never been in love, Rose. Is it like this?" She suddenly felt young and vulnerable although she was approximately ten times Rosalie's age. Her lower lip trembled. "One thousand years, and I've never felt like this about any of our kind...so why him? Even I don't know what's so special. Other than his smell...Rose, the first time I ran into him was when I hadn't fed in three months. He would never end up dead because of me...I became immune centuries ago. But no...I'm not going to make excuses of how we could be together. You're right...you're right."

[Rosalie Hale]

Rosalie cringed slightly at the saddened look on Irina's face as she spoke about the human boy and the emotions she consequently had for him.

"It's better of that way. You'd never be any good for him. You know that." It sounded cruel, although Rosalie's intention was for heartfelt. Deep down though, the blond vampire knew it was the truth. It simply had to be. After all, vampires and humans were not meant to be together; it was against everything their instincts told them. At a certain point this emotion that the people around Rosalie were so eager to call love became insanity. Rosalie was sure of that. After all, what person in their right mind actually thought they could make a lover out of what many people could make a nice meal? It just hurt that this was Irina they were talking about. Rosalie wasn't too fond of the idea of Irina feeling so forlorn over the concept, but at least she seemed to be taking it correctly.

The thought of Edward flashed through her mind. Somehow it just seemed right to blame this whole mess on him, no matter how unfair that idea was. After all, he had started this whole ordeal with his crazed infatuation with the Isabella Swan girl. Since it was easier to blame her adopted brother for such matters than Irina, it was a much simpler process to place the blame on Edward for Irina's infatuation with a human for Rosalie. Although the idea that in the beginning Rosalie and the other Cullens had had a conversation with a seemingly similar outcome and look at where Edward had ended up.

I swear if she tries to bring him here I'll. . . I'll. . . Rosalie wasn't completely sure what she would do, although it would probably end with her throwing a tantrum.

But Irina's more level headed than Edward, right? I mean she would never. . . Would she?

But who knew what people would do for love.

[Irina Denali]

Irina sighed. She could always see past Rose's cruel facade and into the vampire's mind, even when she didn't mean to. She tried to keep the mental interference to a minimum, though. Eventually Edward would get to the point where his mind-reading wouldn't be nearly so noticeable. Irina knew it was slightly uncomfortable for the person being violated.

And there was another way her gift became a detriment. No one had any secrets from her, none whatsoever. Sometimes people needed secrets. Sometimes long passed occurences should remain secret, so she could assess who they were as people presently rather than who they had been or done. She sighed. Eternal life shouldn't be nearly so complicated. She looked to Rose with pained eyes. "In the end, I don't think I would have gotten him anyway. I'm sure you'll love to know I was bested by a werewolf." She smiled sadly. "And yes. I'm more levelheaded than Edward. I'd never steal him. But if he wanted me...I think I'd try my best to play hard to get? Maybe? But I don't know...in the end, I won't deny him one experience if he wants it. It's probably just a passing fancy anyway." Even Rosalie, in all her prejudice, could have heard the total and utter lack of conviction in Irina's voice. The vampire was bordering on misery. But it was well contained misery, so it didn't count.

[Rosalie Hale]

Rosalie didn't bother to bite back the slight growl that emerged menacingly from her throat as she realized that her thoughts had just been violated. It wasn't something she appreciated: a fact that Rosalie knew Irina was more than well aware of. Therefore, the blond vampire held back any further comments on the matter, although she knew if it had been Edward she would have come down much harder on him than a simple growl she was letting Irina off with. For some reason, the thought confounded the beautiful creature.

It was an odd and utterly pointless thought to waste one's time on, but Rosalie couldn't help but entertain it, no matter for how brief intervals she did it for. Her instincts were telling her that Irina and Edward had committed the same blind crime, although for unknown reasons to Rosalie's one tract mindedness, most of the blond vampire's anger was directed toward her brother while her hurt and feeling of betrayal were saved for Irina. It was an oddly torn and exhausting thing. Rosalie knew she should want to yell at Irina: to burst into an uncontrollable fit of rage to try to scream reason into deft ears. Well, at least the blond vampire wanted to want to scream at Irina, but instead something inside her wanted her to break down at the act that Rosalie took as betrayal. It was a confusing concoction of emotions to say the least.

"Irina," Rosalie began softly with obvious intentions of trying to comfort her old friend despite her torn emotions while trying to keep her voice steady. However, words suddenly escaped Rosalie. For some reason, she felt defeated. It was unexplainable, but Rosalie couldn't fight the weariness that crept into her voice.

"He's human. Human. Human. Human." It was like if she said it enough times suddenly Irina would perk up with newly found emotion and realization at the word and realize how foolish she was being over the whole matter.

[Irina Denali]

I smiled softly to myself. I could hear Rose's almost growl and know why she was upset. I understood everything, it was what I did best. And for once I had a chance to better understand myself. I rarely felt anything of this sort, so the idea that someone would be interested in me now was slightly ridiculous. In some ways, I didn't believe it. But in so many ways, I did. And there was my Schism, my Great Divide. My issue was only that I had less scuples about changing a lover than Edward...but I refused to entertain that thought. I caged it harshly as it whined to be set free. "I know he's human Rose. That actually doesn't help my situation in the slightest. What makes them so different than us? In terms of the characteristics that make you fall in love, that is. Nothing really seperates them from us, in fact, there is no them. In any case, I'm not going to eat him. You know I couldn't possibly." I hadn't thirsted for blood like a real vampire in almost 900 years.