Emmett didn't even flinch as the picture frame shattered against his chest. He did; however, look very sadly at the frame on the floor. He remembered picking it out with the rest of the family. Alice and Edward had argued over the exact color it had to be; while Emmett merely through suggestions into the midst as the rest of the family had looked on in amusement. The good times seemed to have disappeared after they had left the town… after they had left her.
He had personally disagreed with the choice to leave. The thought of leaving the girl he considered his sister with no protection from the rogues and werewolves that were literally sniffing for Bella's blood was horrifying to say the least. Still, with both Esme and Carlisle persuaded by Edward along with the surprising vote of Alice, it had been obvious that he was outvoted.
Slowly, the family had drifted apart as they moved rapidly from city to city and town to town across the world. Edward had lost himself so to speak; he intermittently chased Victoria and drove himself to the brink with self pity when she just evaded him. Similarly, Alice had chosen to drown herself in clothes and fashion when not tending to his pity party. The rest of the family had for the most part accepted it or at least hiding their feelings behind literally granite faces, Esme, Carlisle, and Rosalie were going on with their normal lives. Excepting, of course, the brief moments where they would call for a missing family member or ask a question only to find the thin air behind them would not materialize a loved one.
Still, even this would have been acceptable. Emmett had no doubt that eventually the cards would fold. The family realizing that the only option to be a family would be moving back to Forks and regaining and protecting their final member. All of it would be fine. Only one member of the family had not been satisfied.
Jasper had suffered immensely for his actions, both literally and figuratively. Emmett had called together the remaining members of the family and forcibly sat through (or on) him through varying tasks that involved blood whether through an open window and a sliced thumb; until, finally Jasper had been able to withstand being outside a hospital room with only minimal difficulty. This had done nothing for him emotionally though. Jasper knew that his actions had irreversibly changed their lives. The guilt ate at him like he was the one being sucked dry of life instead of the animals that lived forests and parks around their new homes and apartments.
After months of the silent torture that was now his home, Emmett had decided that they needed some brotherly bonding. Carlisle and Esme had merely shrugged as Rosalie pouted about his absence, but Alice had peered oddly at him for not even a second. Shrugging her slight shoulders finally she seemed to be agreeable to the idea. Together, they dragged Jasper out of the old library which seemed to be his nest of meditation with taunts and bribes until he relented. The family had waved as they set off like they were adventuring new land instead of the same paths they would invariably end up on.
They had jaunted and pushed their way from coast to coast trying to find which way pulled them best. It hadn't been a difficult choice. Jasper had wanted to see his old home; Emmett had wanted to try Texas Longhorn. After, they meandered around the Western coast, and quickly found themselves nearing a place neither was sure they wanted to visit. The coast had turned cold and gray as they continued north; as they continued back to the town that is seemed they had only left.
Finally, there had been nowhere else to go to. They both stood in front of the old, white house solemnly. Jasper stood rigidly as they had approached the window on the side. He had taken a deep breath only to realize that they had missed an important fact through their hesitation and wariness. Bella was not in the house.
Grinning at his brother, he had set off into the woods, hot on her trail smelling and searching for his lost sister. They laughed together as they ran. It had been too long since they had been home and as much as their memory allowed them to remember in perfect detail the places they had been it was not quite the same feeling as actually being there. Yes, it had been far too long…
Suddenly, he halted. The stop was so sudden that, were it not for vampiric reflexes, Jasper would have crashed into his back. The world tilted as he saw that he had finally, finally, found his sister. She was sleeping against a tree that he had never bothered to read in the gardening books that Esme and Alice had bought ages ago. Her head lolled to the side, but he could see her discomfort from his viewpoint even as her body went tense as the cold air flew past her. Tentatively, he stepped forward looking between his now frozen brother and the girl on the ground.
"It's all right. I know her." Jasper said calmly after a moment. Emmett nodded pleased. He had suspected that Jasper could be closer to her than other humans due to her familiarity. He inched forward quietly and efficiently until she coughed once or twice. They both froze, and to his great shock, Jasper suddenly moved and was beside Bella in an almost embrace.
"She's cold." Jasper's face barely twitched as Bella leaned closer to him. Emmett chuckled inwardly at the entirely bemused look on his face as she nearly stuffed her face into his jacket. She must have been freezing to want warmth from two dusty vampires. She murmured again, and Emmett laughed aloud at the now frantic look on Jasper's face. She had moved herself directly on top of his legs and wrapped her arms around him limiting his options of escape from her human death grip. Emmett rolled on the ground laughing as Jasper shot him a simultaneously nasty and pleading look.
"You're fine." He mouthed at him still chuckling. He had faith in his abilities. Jasper could handle this. Sighing, Jasper leaned against the tree bark as he watched his brother make faces at him from across the clearing knowing he was doomed to the situation for at least a couple of hours.
Finally, dawn rose against the sky. The pink and gray streams of light seemed to set something off in Bella's sleep. Slowly, she turned her face against Jasper's jacket to hide her eyes, and quickly opened them again as she realized there was someone else that was near. It was too late. They both watched as she stalked back to her house. Well, Jasper had watched anyway. He had nearly fallen off the thirty foot tree that they had been hiding on after hearing some of Bella's choicer expressions about what her opinions of vampires and their anatomy were like.
The days seemed much quicker in Forks. He had returned to their former house hoping to see some item left behind as he considered the place affectionately. There were good memories in this town. Occasionally, he ventured off with Jasper to spy and discuss the news and gossip that had occurred. More so, he listened to Jasper give an increasingly worried diatribe about Bella. The gossip had said that Bella had been withdrawn after their departure, and Emmett could understand this because of his own family bonds to her but he doubted that she was really as bad as they were claiming.
Jasper convinced him to check on her some days later as they discussed their plans for returning to the family or continuing north to the Denali's coven. He wanted to check on her one last time before they continued on for updates on Victoria and perhaps apologize to assuage his guilt. Quickly, they started to the Swan house finding themselves in the same positions they had days ago. They looked at each other before Jasper inclined his head towards the window indicating that he should enter the room first. Emmett nodded enthusiastically and made to leap forward when she peered out warily of the room.
She looked around again with narrow eyes and finally lit upon them catching Jasper's eyes in the bushes. Her mouth opened slightly as she stared down. Finally, she smiled widely at them, and they could hear her walk back slowly towards her bed. They looked at each again as if to say it was too late to change their minds, and Emmett leaped towards the window.
Catching himself on the sill, he carefully lifted his foot, then leg, and finally body into the room so as to not break anything. Bella was still sitting on the bed. Her eyes were vacant as she took him in from head to toe.
Suddenly, she threw back her head and laughed. He shuddered. This laugh was not normal; it was not Bella's happy, excited laugh. Rather, it reminded him of scraping nails on a chalkboard rather grating to his sensitive ears and desperation. He stared dismayed at her as she rocked back and forth on her bed. She seemed entirely unhinged as she finally stopped laughing with her mouth still open and something dangerously unbalanced lurking in her eyes. He doubted that she even realized her actions as she finally opened her mouth.
"You weren't who I thought would come at all." Her voice cracked as she glared at him, and he could hear Jasper's vampiric words of alarm as she threw a picture frame at him. He stared now at the frame on the ground, as the entire journey he had taken back to her flashed before his eyes. She laughed again as he sat bewildered on the floor, and he could hear Jasper crouching on the ground outside preparing to jump inside. The wild laughter seemed more dangerous now. Like her eyes, they seemed angry and disappointed and sad all at once. Still, as Emmett sat on the floor staring at the frame, he did not notice his brother crawl in attempting to make sense of the situation or make sense of the current situation. Rather, he recalled vividly the expression on Alice's face as they set off. Her wave had been slow compared to her normally energetic goodbyes and Emmett could not help but remember due to his perfect recall that the look on her face had been odd. Regret and Sadness had flashed over the elfin face so quickly that he had disregarded it. Now, he could not help but wonder if she had known.