Edward

Edward sat, slumped, on a bench near his house, staring at nothing. After a while, he realized it was snowing. When did it start snowing? He looked up at the clouds that somehow stretched across the sky when he wasn't paying attention. Weird. He couldn't feel the cold. He couldn't feel much of anything.

"Hey!" He turned his head slowly. He couldn't make himself move quickly. Eric was standing barely ten feet from him, clearly training for some team. Black sweats and a black jacket, flecked with snowflakes. He concentrated on the contrast of black against the snow, trying to get his mind to focus. Eric said something, and he made himself switch his focus to Eric's face. "What are you doing out here? It's freezing."

"N-nothing." He forced himself upright, but it took so much effort when all he wanted to do was sit back down and go to sleep.

"Come on, you have to get out of this cold. Jesus christ, where's your coat? It's the middle of February." Eric took his arm, pulling him. He tried to pull away.

"D-don't touch me."

"I'm sorry… You just look like you need some help." Eric didn't let his arm go, so he made himself move faster. Eric kept pace easily. "Where are you staying?"

"Home," he said, turning down his street. When they reached the house, it was cold and dark.

"You're here alone?" Eric asked, glancing from the empty driveway to the dark beyond the doorway. "I don't think you should be by yourself right now."

"I d-don't need your help. I think you've done enough," he said, making to go in and shut the door.

"Edward, come on. You need-"

"Don't tell me what I need." Edward wouldn't look at him. "I don't need you. I don't need anyone."

"I just meant… Look, I knew you liked me. Everyone did. But I didn't know they'd do that to you." What the hell was he talking about? It took Edward's foggy brain a minute to catch up.

"Well, I don't like you anymore. So you can go. Don't let the weird, trans kid tarnish your perfect reputation." He practically spit the words through clenched teeth to stop them from chattering. "My friend will be here in a few minutes. Go away."

"I'm sorry," Eric said, but the door was already shut, and his words fell on the empty porch, useless.

Inside, Edward stood against the door, leaning against it, breathing hard, trying to steady himself. He slid down it, figuring that the closer he was to the floor, the less it would hurt if the dizziness didn't subside. He didn't know how much later, but there was a knock, and then the door was pressing against his back. He managed to scoot away from it enough to let Bella in. When she saw him, she gave a sigh that sounded to his ears like exasperation. She was followed by Mike. He said something, but Edward was beyond hearing it. He felt himself being picked up like a baby and carried somewhere. The couch? No, he could feel a rumble of an engine. And then Mike had an arm around him, guiding him into the house. He stood in the doorway, but even from here, the memories assaulted him.

The kitchen table, the first time he'd seen Brady in person. Jellybean had stolen Edward's muffin. He nearly smiled at the memory. The stove, where Edward had made breakfast, with Brady half asleep leaning against him. He could still feel the weight against his shoulder, the arms around his neck. Mike guided him to a chair, and he sat down.

"Edward…" Bella was sitting next to him. When did she sit down? "You need to eat something." He brought his hands up to rub his eyes, and then he shook his head.

"I'm not hungry," he said. She sighed. He knew what she was thinking. Just scream and cry and let it out already. But he couldn't. He didn't want to cry. He didn't know what he wanted, but he knew he wanted the world to leave him alone. He deserved to be as alone as… His hand made an involuntary fist under the table.

"I have to go," he said, getting up abruptly. But as he stood up, the world tilted sideways, and everything went black.

Some time later, he opened his eyes, noting that he was on Bella's couch. His eyes felt so heavy, and the effort to keep them open was monumental. Bella came in, holding a steaming mug of something.

"Hey," she said, pulling up a chair and sitting down. "How are you feeling?" He didn't answer. That was a dumb question. How was he supposed to know? She sighed. "Edward… Are you trying to kill yourself?" He looked away. "He wouldn't want you to die," she said. She set the mug down on the coffee table and bent to kiss his forehead. "Jesus christ, you're burning up. Mike is going out to get some of your clothes. I'll have him stop and get something for a fever. Try and drink that." She nodded toward the mug. He just looked away. "Edward. You need to-"

"What? I need to what?" He nearly spit the question, and she backed up. "I don't need to do shit."

"You're right," she said. "But people here still love you, and we want you to stick around for the rest of us."

Bella sat at the table with a mug of tea when Mike returned with clothes and medicine. Edward was asleep, had been for a while now. Mike set the bag down on the table.

"I've been talking to your mom," he said, pouring himself a cup of coffee. "I think we need to go visit your aunt."

"But we can't leave now, with Edward the way he is."

"I know. We need to take him with us."

"His parents will kill us," Bella said, but already, she knew that this was the right choice. From the nursery, Michael started to fuss, so she went to pick him up, but when she brought him to the living room where Edward slept on the couch, he squirmed to get down, and climbed up onto the sofa to snuggle with him. Edward stirred and cuddled closer with him. "Edward," Bella said, shaking his shoulder. "Wake up, we need to talk."

"Whatsamatter?" He asked, his voice hoarse with sleep.

"We're planning a trip," she said. He looked up.

"Where to?"

"Clearwater," she answered, and in the look that passed between them, she knew that he knew what that meant. Clearwater meant Esme. It meant Jellybean. It meant Emmett. And it meant Brady.

Emmett

Emmett stared numbly at the flames, lost in thought. He'd been sitting there for a while, but he knew that no one was looking for him. He spent most of his time on the beach these days. He got up and dusted off his pants, and looked down at the fire. It'd almost burned itself out, but he still dumped a bucket of water over it. He put his headphones on and started jogging down the beach. He was lost in thought, so he was taken by surprise when he was almost knocked over by something gold and furry. He realized it was a dog when it jumped up on him and tried to lick his face.

"Well hey there," he said, an easy smile spreading across his face.

"Charlie, no! I'm so sorry," he looked up to see a girl running toward him.

"Nah, don't worry about it," he said. "He's got good taste. You new here?"

"Yeah, I just moved here. I'm Kaitlyn, and this is Charlie." She said, picking up the red leash that was trailing behind Charlie.

"I'm Emmett." He offered his hand, and Charlie jumped up as if he had a treat.

"I'm so sorry. He's just never seen the beach before, and-"

"Hey, relax. It's no big deal," he said, scratching behind Charlie's ear. "You wanna get a coffee or somethin'?" They walked down the beach, and he found it easy to talk to her. She was in college for marine biology, studying sea turtles on an internship.

"How long are you here for?" He asked. They'd found an outdoor cafe near the beach, and they were sitting at a table, with Charlie laying at their feet. "You probably need someone to show you around."

"We're here for six months, unless we get a grant to stay longer." Emmett's phone buzzed, and he glanced at it and stood up.

"Crap, I gotta run. It was nice meetin' you. Maybe we can get together again soon."

"Do you want to go diving with us? To see what we do?" She offered, and it was an offer he couldn't refuse.

"Well, now, that sounds pretty cool. Give me a call when you want to do it." He scribbled down his number, and headed back toward Esme and Carlisle's house. Esme texted him earlier that she wanted to talk to him about something. He let himself in the back door, and knocked on the door of her office.

"Hey," she said, turning to him. They went to the dining room table, and he knew that this must be serious. "I've been on the phone with Bella and Hannah all day. We want Edward to come stay with us for a while."

"Edward? Brady's…?"

"Yeah, Bella said he's not doing well, and you've met his family," Esme said, her eyes flashing with anger.

"Yeah. Well, I think it's a great idea. Carlisle's on board too?" She didn't answer right away.

"Carlisle is… as on board as he can be," she said. He nodded. They'd all taken Brady's death hard.

"Well, when are they coming?" He asked.

"They're leaving this evening, and they should be here sometime tomorrow or Wednesday."

"Well alright then."