Things weren't the same between my brother and me for the days that followed. He was tense and meticulous, not only with his school work, but with me as well. Every day after school, he drove me home and told me to start my homework as he ran to Seattle to clear his mind. The other tempers in the house had cooled though Jasper was still annoyed with my reluctance to listen to him on Monday. On Friday, as Alice had expected, my parents kept me home from school due to the weather. I was thankful, other than the fact that more time home most likely meant more time under Edward's watchful eye. I debated whether to move when someone's voice prompted me to wake up.
"Mia dear, it is 9:30 already," I was surprised to hear my father coaxing me into consciousness, "we're wasting our day," I sat up with a smile on my face.
"What are we doing?" I asked, "No trees, right?" He laughed at me.
"No, I won't frighten you today, I promise. Now, get ready and come down for breakfast," I nodded and he left my room as I headed to shower and get dressed. I proceeded down stairs to the kitchen for breakfast. When I entered, my parents were looking at each other as though they would rather be here, with each other, than any other place in the entire world. They always looked at one another like that; it was one of my favorite things in the world, the look in their eyes when they saw each other. It was almost up to par with the looks that I received from my family from time to time when I wasn't busy making them angry. Just as I thought about it, I received that look from both parents as I took a seat in front of them. Their faces were bright and shinning, though not to the extent that they would be once we stepped outside.
They looked absolutely beautiful standing together before me. My mother's hair, curly and brown, framed her face which was pale, but beautiful. Her eyes were bright gold this morning and she looked absolutely stunning in a light blue blouse and jeans. My father held her next to him. He was close to a foot taller than her and handsome. I had always thought that quite often he looked like an angel. Each member of my family did, really, but my father especially. His hair was blonde and combed back in its usual place. His eyes were that same bright gold as my mother's and they were made to shine brighter by his navy blue sweater. I was glad that I had decided to wear a blue oxford. I was thankful that I matched. Some days, I wished that I matched more. I wished that I had that beautiful pale, smooth skin and those bright gold eyes, but my family liked me the way that I was, blonde, freckled, green-eyed, and a bit scrawny.
"What is it, Mia?" I shook my head.
"Nothing; it's just that I have the most beautiful, loving parents; I'm lucky,"
"We have the most beautiful, loving daughter," I rolled my eyes, "stop rolling those eyes," My father came to kiss me on my forehead forcing a smile, "You are very, very beautiful, Amelia,"
"Thanks Dad," I answered, "What are we doing today?" I questioned again. My father hadn't answered the question when I had asked upstairs.
"We're taking a little walk,"
"A walk?" I asked, "How long will we be walking for?"
"You can just walk until you get tired; I'll carry you after that. I know you don't like it, but it's too far for you to make it on your own,"
"It's okay. I just don't like it when I'm capable and the others think I'm not,"
"I know," he answered.
"Where are we walking then?" I asked.
"The woods," my mother answered. I looked at them skeptically.
"Don't question it, Mia; you'll understand soon enough,"
"Will we be home by dinner time?" I asked.
"So many questions for such a little girl," my father commented inferring that he wanted me to stop.
"Fine; you'll just have to surprise me then,"
"That's the plan," my mother squealed happily. I laughed at her and a smiled spread on my father's face. I hopped down from my stool and headed to grab my boots. I slipped into them and my father held my coat open for me as I shrugged into it. It was the end of January and still quite cold. He pulled my hat down over my head temporarily covering my eyes.
"Dad," I complained as I repositioned the hat and grabbed my scarf and mittens. Throughout the week, rain had succeeded in getting rid of all of the snow on the ground. It never stayed for long and thankfully, the ground had been dried out a bit by the sun which had started to warm the area after school on Thursday. I walked besides my parents as they held hands.
"So, where are we going?" I asked innocently.
"I thought you were going to let us surprise you," my mother said quietly.
"Fine," I answered scuffing my feet. My parents laughed at me. We reached the river and my father picked me up in his arms. We easily made the river. He set me down and we started walking again.
"Are we almost there?" I asked as we trudged up a hill.
"I can carry you," My father offered.
"No, not yet; I'm still okay," I answered. He nodded, but I knew that he was not going to let me walk on my own for much longer. I was getting tired and he could tell. I gave it five more minutes before I surrendered and let him carry me. I thought that he carrying me would result in us picking up the pace, but he didn't.
"How are you and Edward?" my father asked.
"Okay, I guess," I answered, "He's just been stricter since Tuesday," My parents didn't answer, so I kept talking, "He's been ignoring Bella and it makes him miserable. He won't let himself be happy,"
"Your brother is a martyr," my mother said quietly.
"I know he is; I just wish he would allow himself a little happiness. Bella isn't happy either. I can tell. It hasn't even been a week and she wants to talk to him. I just know that it would work,"
"You've been speaking with Alice," my father accused.
"No, I haven't," I answered.
"I know how you two girls are," he answered.
"Okay, so, I have, but we're right. We normally are," He laughed.
"You'll have to let him sort it out on his own,"
"I know; it's just frustrating," I answered, "And no one let's me sort anything out on my own," He laughed a bit, "Dad, it isn't funny,"
"I know; I'm sorry," he answered.
"They don't allow you to have much independence, do they?" my mother asked. I shook my head no.
"No," I answered, "And now that Edward's being extra-protective,"
"I guess that will make it even better when they do finally let up on you," my father suggested.
"That'll never happen and you know it; you've said it yourself that nothing will change,"
"Here we are," my father let me off his back and we walked towards the small cottage.
"Who lives here?" I asked.
"No one, yet," my father replied.
"It's cute; it looks like something out of a fairy tale," I answered.
"Snow white," my mother murmured and I nodded as I left my father's side to join her as she walked towards the little house. She enclosed my hand in hers. My father let the two of us go in before him and gave us our space. He knew how we could be about renovating. My mother had always let me help her with redecorating. When I was five, Rose and Emmett had gotten married again. As a gift, my mother and father purchased them a house; it was gorgeous. My mother and I decorated it together and it had become regular thing, us decorating.
"Dad, this won't be much fun for you," I said as he took a seat at the table. It was the only furniture in the house.
"I always have fun when my girls are having fun; don't worry about me," For the afternoon, we toured the little cottage and made plans.
"You can't tell anyone about this cottage, Mia," my mother said as we reached the house.
"Why not?" I asked, "Who's it for?"
"We'll have to wait and see," She was smiling and something about her smile told me that the two of us were thinking the same thing.
"Oh," I answered smiling back at her.
"Don't go putting all of your eggs in one basket," my father warned us both.
"We aren't," I answered and he turned his head toward me with an eyebrow raised and I smirked at him. It didn't matter anyhow. All of the hoping in the world was not going to make Edward give-up on his stance on the issue. When I entered the house with my parents, it was already 5:00 and Edward was waiting for me.
"What?" I asked warily.
"Nothing," he answered, "What are you planning on doing tonight?"
"Homework," I answered, "since I wasn't in school today, I figured I'd go work on some things,"
"Why don't you go to Port Angeles with me instead?" he asked. Edward wanted to talk to me, that much was obvious. I just wasn't sure if I was ready for an hour long ride alone with him, not with the way that he had been acting. I looked to our mother and father, partially hoping that they would say no.
"You can go with him if you want to; we won't keep you any longer," my father said. 'If I wanted to,' why did he have to go and word it like that?
"Well?" Edward posed. I could tell by the look on his face that there was really only one acceptable answer.
"Fine, I'll go," He immediately began walking out into the garage. I followed him and got into the passenger side of the Volvo.
"You didn't have to sound so miserable about coming with me," he said once I sat down and got myself settled in the car.
"You've been being miserable," I muttered under my breath; he had heard it, but ignored me for the moment. We were already in town when he acknowledged that I had said anything.
"I have not been miserable," he answered. I supposed that he had been thinking long and hard about whether he actually was acting miserable. I had never seen him in a worse state. I had never really disliked spending time with him…until now.
"Yes you have, Edward," I replied, "It hasn't even been a week and you've been completely insufferable because you aren't talking to her. Not to mention the fact that you've been on my case all week,"
"I cannot talk to her," he answered, "and as for you, Amelia, maybe need this,"
"No, I don't need you being a jerk to me. It's bad enough that Jasper is still angry with me. I don't need you to be mean to me too,"
"I have not treated you in a mean way," he answered.
"Edward, you've been bossing me around all week. Has the thought occurred to you that I am perfectly capable of scheduling my own time and that you don't need to have someone babysitting me every second?"
"They aren't babysitting you nor am I,"
"Yes, when you go on your run-,"
"Fine, Mia, I get that you don't like it, but I do not know what else to do,"
"Something else. Be creative," I answered sarcastically, "I haven't had more than five minutes to myself for the entire week. Not even in school,"
"You are exaggerating," I was, but he or one of my siblings had made a point of checking on me between classes. Edward even showed up during chemistry because there was a "family emergency." In reality he just wanted to check on how I was doing.
"It's not like I'm going to go and get myself changed into a vampire or killed or something if you don't watch me every second,"
"The possibility is always there,"
"Stop it," I complained, "This is ridiculous!"
"You are only fourteen, Amelia. I have to watch out for you whether you like it or not. If that means that you miss out on a few social things, then so be it,"
"Will this ever stop?" I asked.
"What are you talking about?"
"You pretending, Edward; you're living in your own little world and trying to act like this isn't bothering you, like you don't love her,"
"Really?" he asked in a patronizing tone, "I'm sorry, but as I said, you're a fourteen year old, Amelia and you are less than an expert on this as far as I'm concerned,"
"I'm not a toddler, Edward. You can't do this to me anymore. You can't just keep me out of things. You're no better than Jasper was on Tuesday. I am not a child,"
"You are doing a very poor job of proving otherwise,"
"I want to go home," I answered.
"No, you and I are going to dinner,"
"I'm not hungry,"
"I thought you were an adult, Amelia? Adults would discuss this,"
"It's not like you're an adult. Last time I checked, you were still seventeen," He didn't answer me, "What are you going to do when I'm eighteen and you're seventeen?"
"You will always be my little sister," I looked out the window, "Do not ever forget that," I continued to look away from him, "I thought that you'd be thankful for a bit of time away from the house. I know that I've kept you locked up all week and that you do not enjoy it, but that is the little that I can do to keep you safe. When you're home, I'm sure that you're safe,"
"I am in no more danger now than I was before you saw Alice's vision,"
"Do you even know what Alice saw?" he asked. I didn't answer him. I wasn't sure of the exact contents of Alice's vision. She didn't tell me and Edward certainly hadn't, "It was the hardest thing I've ever had to see, Mia. Bella had two options; one involved me being a monster, the monster that I am deep down-,"
"You aren't-,"
"Mia- stop," I shut my mouth, "Her other option was becoming a vampire. I'm sure that she was in pain, but she was with Alice when she was a vampire and if I-," he stopped, appearing disgusted with himself, "but you, you were in pain, either way. Either the Volturi will kill you or they'll change you. Either way, you will not be happy; you'll be in insufferable amounts of pain, and away from us. I could see that,"
"Why don't you change me then?" I asked.
"Because you are still too young and I don't know if I could ever do that to you,"
"Then, why doesn't Daddy do it?"
"He doesn't want to either, Mia,"
"Well, I'm not in any immediate danger right now. Can't you just let up a little-,"
"I cannot and you know it,"
"And I still can't talk to Nate…or Bella?"
"No," he answered simply. I went silent and turned up his stereo. In Port Angeles, he took me to a small café for dinner, not that he was planning on eating.
"Bella loves you, too, Edward," I said after a long and quiet pause at the table.
"We are not talking about this," he answered, "pick something else," I put my menu down and leaned back in my chair while folding my arms tightly across my chest.
"Are you ready to order?" the waitress asked Edward.
"She'll have the chicken parmigiana and an iced tea, unsweetened," He looked at me for approval and I nodded reluctantly. I hated that he knew me well enough to do things like that. He couldn't read my mind, but in most cases he didn't need to.
"Anything for you?" she asked Edward seductively. I giggled and he shot me a glance.
"No thank you," He placed the menus in her hand, "Why do you always do that?" he asked me.
"Do what?"
"The giggling," he answered
"Because, you must know how completely in love with you that girl is. It's like how it is with Irina,"
"We are not talking about this either," he answered firmly, "pick something else," I smirked at him. As much as I enjoyed getting under his skin, I didn't want to push it any further if he was going to be harsh about it.
"You pick something suitable then. I'm much less picky than you are," I replied. He rolled his eyes at my response.
"What did you do with our mother and father today?"
"We went for a hike," I answered simply. He studied me for a second.
"Would you care to elaborate on that?" he asked.
"There isn't much to say," I replied, "we just went for a walk in the woods,"
"All day?" he asked skeptically, "You walked around the woods all day?"
"No, we had a picnic lunch, too," I answered, "and we talked,"
"But, you walked-,"
"No, I let Dad carry me for a little while," I interrupted. He smirked and I rolled my eyes.
"Well, where did you go?" he pressed.
"Around, I don't know where exactly," he nodded. My answers appeared to satisfy him, "Where were you?" I asked.
"Here and there," I narrowed my eyes at him.
"That isn't fair," I answered.
"What isn't?" he asked, "That I can go wherever I please?"
"No," I rolled my eyes, "The fact that you won't answer my questions, but I answered yours,"
"I don't think that you told me the whole truth,"
"Why not?" I asked. I wasn't telling him everything, but I didn't plan on doing so. Firstly, I had promised my mother that I wouldn't and secondly, if Edward knew why we were doing it, he would not have been pleased. I didn't want to face his reaction to that all on my own. I would need my mother for that. Though I was certain that he wouldn't stay angry at me for long, no one ever did, but he would be angry, annoyed, and stern. I wasn't up for the yelling.
"I may not be able to tell for sure, but I just have an inkling," I shrugged my shoulders.
"Oh well. A suspicion's not enough to do anything about it," I answered.
"Now I know you aren't telling me something,"
"No you don't," I answered, "You think that you know, but I might be fooling with you for the sake of conversation or maybe I didn't tell you everything. We'll never know," He exhaled with vexation before glancing at me. I smiled.
"You are impossible some days," he answered quietly.
"I suppose I'm like my brother then, aren't I?" I replied.
"Yes, Emmett is quite exasperating some days,"
"Ha-ha," I answered, but the waitress had returned with my food and I didn't want to say anything sarcastic in front of her. Surely, Edward would not have thought that would be appropriate. The waitress left overwhelmed, again, by Edward. I merely let a smile pull across my mouth.
"Stop that. It is not amusing,"
"Yes, sir," I responded sarcastically, "Whatever you say, sir," He chuckled at me and glanced at his watch.
"You had better get eating. It's already 6:30,"
"It's a Friday, I don't have any other plans tonight. What's the hurry?" He shrugged.
"Fine, don't tell me; I'll just take my time,"
"Feel free to do so; you will be missing out, not me," He left just enough mystery that I was curious, "I've seen this before," I raised an eyebrow questioningly, "Just eat," he answered. I finished as much of my food as I could possibly eat and we left.
"Now, where are we going?" I asked. He stopped outside of a movie theatre.
"Classic Movies Month?" I asked skeptically. He nodded. I looked at the title of the movie showing and stopped, "No, Edward," I said. I didn't want to see this. I knew what he was trying to do, but he placed an arm around me and steered me in the direction of the theatre. I hadn't ever seen the movie before, but he had to referred to it during conversations that we had had about changing me. It was about a woman who wanted to go to war for her father during the draft because he was in such poor health, but he wouldn't let her. He wanted her to get married and to have a family and a life.
"I want you to see this for a reason; you don't have a choice,"
"I'm not talking to you," I answered. I moved away from him, but followed regardless. As he had said, I did not have a choice in the matter. He lectured the whole way home about why he wanted that life for me, about why I deserved that life, but I did not care. I ran up the stairs to my room once we were home and slammed the door behind me. I was surprised that he had not followed me there to finish his one sided conversation. I was surprised, but relieved that he had decided not to push it with me. I fell asleep immediately after lying down.
