absolute silence –
but still he hears voices
chattering away


The forest has quickly become his sanctuary; it's the only place he can truly get a reprieve from the hustle and bustle of the world. He comes here whenever the voices become too difficult to endure. His adopted father likes to immerse himself in the world in order to feel normal, as if being among humans and making himself useful to them will make him one of them again, but Edward finds that the only time he achieves even a semblance of normality is when he's totally alone. The prospect of moving to the wilderness somewhere has always appealed to him. Alas, his parents and youngest sister crave human company too much for that to ever be a viable option for them. They've tried it multiple times in the past, but their minds and thoughts grew restless each time, and his eventual offer to return to civilisation was invariably met with poorly veiled joy.

Still, he could see his family living on the outskirts of some city while he lived in a forest a few miles away from them. Their vampiric speed means that travel is never a concern for them, and it would give him enough distance to escape their thoughts.

Especially at night-time. To his dismay, the thoughts he most wants to avoid are the ones they are least equipped to filter out.

In the midst of everything, Bella is his absolution and his reprieve. With her, he can talk to someone without being automatically privy to the hundreds of little unvoiced observations that run through a person's head on a daily basis. It frustrates him that he can't know her as absolutely as he knows strangers passed on the street, but it grants him relief nevertheless. She feels like his second chance at life.

But, however much they both wish it, she can't be with him all of the time. She has obligations and friends and a life of her own. And, at the moment, part of that life is visiting Florida to celebrate her mother's birthday.

Ever since she left, he's been spending his nights at home again. His productivity has increased exponentially, but it's come at a steep price; he isn't sure if his family's thoughts have become louder or if he's merely lost his tolerance for it, but not even the tempestuous sounds of the piano as he pounds out brooding note after brooding note have been able to drone out their rowdy thoughts.

Out there, everything is loud and incessant. School is like a high school dance party; the music might have its surges and lulls, but it's always there and almost always quick to emotion. Even the outskirts of the forest is like a minefield peppered with random bursts of noise that he could stumble across at any moment.

This deep in its depths, however, the voices are too far away to reach him. Birds chirrup and branches creak and mammals rustle, but none of that bothers him. Those little sounds, after all, are completely natural. Having the chance to enjoy them with a quiet mind feels like bliss; he can close his eyes and let everything else slip away. Questions about fate and moral culpability, thoughts about duty and expectations, and even feelings about Bella and his family fade into the background until he's merely there, just being, no strings attached. In the woods, after all, real life fades away until all that's left are mere moments. And, in those unconnected moments, he can be free.

Guys, I smell a leech. I think it's one of the Cullens, but I'm going in to check.

He flinches as the sound of the rapidly approaching shape-shifter assaults his mind, shattering his tranquillity with the tact of a gunshot piercing through the night.

Sometimes, not even his wood-moments guarantee solitude.


A/N: Written for the If You Dare Challenge for the prompt, 'Tricks of the Mind'. Also, I watched Into the Woods for the first time not long before I first wrote this, which shone through a bit at the end.

Thank you to everyone who has favourited, followed or reviewed this. This chapter is slightly AU in that the only time Bella actually visits Florida in the books is with Edward.