Something is wrong.

This afternoon, when I got back from hunting with Esme, everything was quiet. Not that my family is particularly loud, but still.

Alice was coming out of Carlisle's office, her eyes distant. I noticed mildly that she looked like hell. Her irises were pitch black, the bruises under them were more prominent than usual. And there was something else—some new, implacable sorrow that she seemed to be trying to hide.

I repressed the impending 'What's wrong with you?' with difficulty, and instead gave her my most cheery, encouraging smile. "Hey, Alice!" I saluted her, with enthusiasm.

In an uncharacteristic action, my sister averted her eyes. "Hello, Emmett," she replied absently. Evidently this was meant to signify the end f our conversation; she kept walking, heading toward the stairs.

I was too curious, though, to be polite. "What were you and Carlisle talking about?" I asked casually, as if prying into her private converstions were an everyday occurrence.

Alice whirled to face me, her face bitter. "Nothing!" she snapped. Then, apparently grasping some irony that escaped me, she laughed. The laugh was cutting and sardonic, not Alice's chimy laugh at all.

"Nothing?" I repeated, incredulously. "You must be having a pretty damn bad day, Alice, if 'nothing' is getting you so wound up..."

At my words, she checked herself. "I'm sorry, Emmett," she apologized, suddenly seeming more like herself again. "I just—I need to talk to Jasper, that's all. Please, just leave me alone."

"What's up with you?" I asked, more out of curiosity than anything else.

"Alone, Emmett," she insisted, not so cordially this time. With a parting glare, she darted up the stairs.

"…What the hell?" I muttered to myself.

Esme's kind voice was sounding in Carlisle's study. "Are you alright, Carlisle?" she asked. There was faint worry in her tone.

"Oh—yes, darling. Of course I am," Carlisle replied. His own voice had a nervous edge, and the same sort of hidden sadness that I'd seen in Alice's face.

"You've been in the office too long," Esme observed knowingly. "Take a break, love."

I stepped to the side and tried not to be conspicuous as they left the room.

Esme simply smiled when she saw me, her light eyes full of good humor. I was forced to quail, however, under Carlisle's probing gaze. I was certain he was going to admonish me for eavesdropping—but it seemed he didn't have the energy.

Carlisle's face, if anything, was tired. There was no other word to describe it sufficiently. His features were the same, but he looked like his three-hundred-and-something years—I didn't keep count—were finally catching up to him.

Esme seemed to notice, as well. She led him to a couch and laid a worried hand on his pale cheek. "You're sure, dear, that you're quite alright?" Carlisle smiled and pulled her to him. "I'm sure, Esme," he responded, but his face was pensive, even pained, as he stared past her shoulder.

What was wrong with everyone!

Still alight with curiosity, I clambered up the stairs and slipped into my and Rose's room. Rosalie was perched on a chair, her golden locks falling into her face as she read from a fashion magazine. Her air was profoundly disdainful.

"Rose," I greeted her, pulling her hair away from her face.

"Emmett," she responded, raising her head from the magazine for a moment to meet my lips. She allowed me the chair, and made herself comfortable in my lap. Her head rested against my chest as she continued flipping through the pages.

"Darling?" I said, going over today's recent events in my head.

She replied, "Mmmm."

"Have you noticed anything strange about Alice or Carlisle today?"

Rosalie honored me by looking up for a moment. "No, I don't think so," she murmured, absently stroking my hair.

"Humph," said I.

She went back to her reading. Or looking, or whatever women do with those magazines. A couple of rooms away from us, I could hear Jasper's impatient voice: "Alice, are you alright?"

Oh, Yes, there is something wrong in the Cullen household. And I'm going to find out what.

Author's Note: This one is also dedicated to Lomesir, my awesome editor. I think I might start doing one-shots in alternate POVs that tie into Beauty and the Beast--I miss the Cullens, too! Please review if you enjoyed it.

--Poola