"It's time."
"Are you sure babe?"
"It's time."
Rosalie grabbed Emmett's hand and they ran downstairs to where they were sure Alice had gathered the family already. As they entered the room they saw they had assumed correctly, everyone was gathered round the table, Carlisle and Esme looked over at them, curious, Jasper and Edward were focused on Alice, Jasper looking concerned for his mate and Edward looking shocked, though the shock was slowly turning to anger, as he obviously saw what they had to say in Alice's mind and Alice simply squinted at the table in front of her, clearly devastated by what she had seen.
Rosalie and Emmett crossed the room slowly for themselves, but still much faster than even the most talented human athlete could ever hope to move, and took their places at the table.
Carlisle's eyes had followed them and taking in the tense atmosphere in the room spoke up "Alice mentioned that you would like to speak with the family as a whole."
"Yes." Rosalie paused, as much as she had rehearsed this moment in her mind, it was difficult to disappoint those she was close to, "we're leaving."
Confusion flitted across Esme's face as she heard this, "what do you mean Rose? You have less than a year at this high school before you can move on without suspicion if you're unhappy here."
"That's not what I mean Esme. We're leaving, tonight, and I'm not sure if we'll come back."
A look of pure heartbreak crossed Esme's face as she processed the meaning of Rosalie's words and Edward growled "how can you be so selfish?" across the table.
"You're so petty" he continued, "just get over your jealousy, Bella's done nothing to deserve this."
"Shut it mate" Emmett snapped, speaking for the first time and half rising from the table so he could defend Rosalie if needed.
"Let's all calm down" Carlisle spoke softly, trying to keep the peace "Rosalie could you explain and Edward please refrain from interrupting". Knowing his family so well he tried to head off his first son from making the situation any worse.
Rosalie was silent as she made sure her thoughts were in order, Edward blowing up was not unexpected but she had hoped that it would not be so soon after the conversation had begun, "This is just not the place for me anymore, I ned to take some time away with my husband and find somewhere I can try to be happy."
"Stop being such a child! Your ridiculous ultimatum is going to make everyone miserable, I found someone who I want instead of you. Get over it, I can hear it constantly, the jealousy of Bella under the surface. Why do you have such a problem?" Edward roared.
Carlisle shot him a disappointed look and Esme recoiled at the harsh words being spoken between her children.
Rosalie looked at each member of the family in turn, hoping to find some support. Edward looked furious, Alice was still looking at the table, no doubt searching the future for a way to make them stay, with Jasper only concerned with his wife, Esme and Carlisle looked at her, waiting for her to respond to the accusations that had thrown.
Edward snorted as he heard the response she was formulating in her thoughts.
"Shut it and let me speak Edward" she hissed "This is a large part of my problem here. You're so arrogant, you hear half formulated and long discarded thoughts in people's minds and form your judgements on them, telling everyone around you and leaving us no privacy."
"Now, Rosalie, Edward can't help that he is gifted." Carlisle interjected.
"No Carlisle, but he can control his behaviour. He doesn't have to share our thoughts with everyone and can let us consider how we will respond to a situation before reacting to the first idea that crosses our mind." Rosalie addressed the leader of their family directly.
"We have discussed this as a family before and reached agreement Rosalie."
"That does not mean that I can't change my mind and have to live unhappily for the rest of my existence Carlisle. We agree to respect each other but the thoughts he has chosen to share here show a clear lack of respect for me. He is being utterly misleading. Yes, I am jealous of Isabella Swan, you all know my history and I'll freely admit that I'm jealous of her humanity and the options she has that I never will again. It is not some misplaced romantic jealousy, I am aware of why you changed me but have been with Emmett for eighty years for goodness sake. I have no desire to be wanted by a brooding, short sighted, child."
"Rose, is that truly why you're doing this?" Esme asked quietly.
"No Esme, not entirely. This lifestyle has many difficulties that we put up with for our own reasons, but I just don't think I can deal with it anymore. I can't go on surrounding myself with humans for eight hours a day, repeatedly going through the same charade and going to high school. Carlisle loves his job so can deal with the scent every day and your work is often solitary so you don't understand what it's like. I've done this over and over for you all, because I love you but it's not what I want, especially now you've voted to allow Isabella into our home."
"I told you to get over it!" Edward interrupted again.
"No, Edward, I won't. My home should be somewhere I can be comfortable, feel safe. Letting a human in stops this place from being that. I don't want my throat to burn in my own home. I don't want to have to be careful and be constantly on edge in case she bleeds. If our home stops being a place I can be myself and feel free, then I need to find somewhere else."
"Dear, Edward has found someone to make him happy after all of this time, you can't ask us not to include her in our lives." Esme begged.
Alice finally looked up, with a glimmer of hope in her eyes, "You haven't decided where you'll go."
"We're going to explore Alice, that's probably why you can't see, we don't have specifics planned. We're not going to settle down anytime soon." Emmett explained gently, dashing the hope he saw in his sister.
"Is this what you want Emmett" Esme tried something different.
"Really, Esme? Rose and I have decided. We're going to travel the world, if we don't mix with humans we can enjoy the sun, we can see and experience things others can only dream of. And I get to do all this with the most incredible woman in the world. Of course I want to do this. Don't try to get me to disagree with my wife. I'll miss you all, we both will, but we can stay in touch and see you over the years."
Rosalie grabbed Emmett's hand and squeezed it, forever grateful that she had found someone so wonderful.
"I have to say that I am disappointed with your decision." Carlisle spoke softly.
"Look, I understand that last time one of us left you he started feeding on humans but that's not our plan. I'll always be grateful that you showed me that I could feed on animals and I have no intention of becoming that kind of monster but we're not human and I want to spend some time without having to pretend that I am." Rosalie explained.
Jasper caught Rosalie's eye and nodded slightly and she relaxed immediately, just knowing that someone understood was a huge weight off her shoulders. Alice was incredibly excited about having a new member in the family but Jasper was understandably wary about having a human around and the pressure that would put on them.
"This is not an ultimatum, I'm not asking you to side with me over Edward, I'm just telling you my decision."
"You're being selfish! Can't you see what this will do to the family, and Esme especially?"
"Stop repeating yourself Edward." Rosalie sighed, "You asking me to stay and be unhappy in order to keep the peace is not fair. Seven vampires living together is uncommon for a reason, we're all so different and it's just not working. Esme, I hope you can understand why I need to do this."
Alice stood and rushed around the table to embrace Rosalie and Emmett just as she decided that it was time to end the conversation and leave. Jasper, Carlisle and Esme stood and joined the hug, Esme seeming too emotional to speak further.
Carlisle looked Rosalie then Emmett in the eyes and spoke in a tone heavier than she had heard in a long time "I hope you find the happiness you're looking for."
"Thanks, man. We'll keep our phones so you can call but they'll probably be off a lot, at least at first" Emmett replied before untangling himself from the group and heading upstairs to grab the backpacks they had packed a few days ago.
"We'll see you again, I'm not sure when but this is not goodbye forever. It's just a change." Rosalie said while clinging to Esme but speaking to the whole family.
She headed to where Emmett was waiting by the door, grabbed his hand, smiled up at him and they ran.