Carlisle stood, staring at his son, and to Edward his face rang with a weariness and a fear. Carlisle could not look tired, nor older, but Edward had been around him long enough to know his moods. Even without his special ability, Edward would have known this face- he had seen it in Bella's father's own eyes before, in a thousand other men's as he had waltzed through the decades.
Carlisle was disappointed in him.
"Edward," he began, and cut off, shaking his head. Rosalie sat, looking worried. Edward had expected a smugness, or anger. Instead, every face- save Alice's- roiled with a deep anxiety. Alice just stared at him, half-horrified and half-angry. She was replaying the scene in her head, with perfect recall. Edward swooping to Bella, his smile turning feral, and then the soft, almost inaudible sound of teeth tearing into the soft flesh of a human. He winced at the rest, wishing for once he could turn off his extra hearing and sight. But Alice, determined, kept looping it in her head, her tiny body wrapped into a tight knot on the couch, Jasper standing behind her, his eyes darting to Edward warily.
He could see Jasper's thoughts, too, and the military precision behind them. What to do if Edward DID do this. How to contain the damage. Before that, however, how to protect Bella. That stung Edward deeply- the idea of his brother, he who had the least control of them all- thinking he needed to protect the frail human girl from him.
He sat at the table. Carlisle was finding it easier to communicate with their thoughts, knowing Edward preferred these questions asked privately. There was no privacy outside their heads in the Cullen house, where everyone could hear the leaves swaying to the ground outside in the crisp fall air. School would be starting soon. Edward answered every volley with a quirk of an eyebrow or a miniscule nod, a slight shake of the head that the rest failed to notice as they concerned themselves with their worries over whether Edward had simply lost his mind. Carlisle understood to some degree what Edward had been thinking, but it was the solidity of the plan that concerned him.
At last, the intense interrogation session ended. Carlisle sat at the table, opposite Edward, and sank his head into his hands. He was intentionally keeping his mind blank, for all intents and purposes. This pained Edward, but he got the message. He rose, and suddenly the rest of the family moved, as if jerked awake by his movement. So lost in their thoughts and worries, a human would have mistaken them for statues, still as the grave and nearly as quiet.
A pang shot through Edward as he realized that this was all due to his own action, due to his determination regarding Bella. Like a string of bells, one disrupted had caused an emotional clamor in all of them. Then he was leaving, snagging his keys on the way out, and drove towards Seattle as if the devil were at his heels.
Carlisle listened carefully, waiting for the moment that he knew Edward was out of range both aurally and mentally. "Esme. Alice. Please go to the Swan house, and bring Bella here."