Chapter 7- Found
Edward was run off his feet at work. The evening shift the night before seemed to have been a busy one and he'd spent the morning having to restock the shelves. Then they'd had a delivery of posters come in which had to be sorted and put away all at the same time as serving the customers that kept coming though the door. He was glad for his break at lunch time and was sat in the back reading a magazine when Garret came in looking flustered.
"Edward, I know this is short notice but could you cover a shift tonight? You can bring Lucy as normal. " he asked and Edward looked up, a sinking feeling setting in his stomach. After the week he'd had so far he just wasn't in the mood for overtime. He was tired and although he'd been ok the last couple of days he was starting to feel some of the aches from the weekend return after all the running around in the park and being on his feet at work. He'd been looking forward to a quiet, early night with Lucy but he couldn't turn down overtime, any extra money was good money.
"Sure." he answered, plastering a fake smile across his face and Garret looked relieved.
"Thanks, I'll pay you double as it's such short notice and a Friday night." he said and Edwards's smile changed into a genuine one. It would definitely be worth it at double time as he could get Lucy the new dress she wanted. The afternoon continued on in much the same way as his morning had and he knew the evening would be the same. Garret let him leave half an hour early so he could run to the nearby grocery store and get some snack foods for Lucy to keep her happy until they got home and he dropped them off into the staff fridge in the back of the shop before he left to pick her up.
When he reached the school the bell was just ringing and he got to the gates in time to catch an excited Lucy.
"Anna's mum said I could go play at her house!" she told him before he'd even managed to say hello and he couldn't help but smile at her excitement.
"I guess I'll have to talk to Bella to arrange that then at some point won't I?" he asked and she nodded while hugging him.
"It'll have to wait until next week though as I have to work another shift tonight so we need to get back to the shop."
"Will Garret be there?"
"Yup and I'm sure he'll want to play with you for a little while and you can look at all the new CD covers." He told her as he put her down and she grabbed his hand. Lucy chatted to him all the way to the shop, telling him everything Anna had said they could do at her house. He hoped Bella and her mum were ready for two hyperactive five year olds running around as it sounded like they'd made a lot of plans already.
When they got the shop Edward took Lucy through the back to let her say hello to Garret and Ben who were also working that night. They hadn't seen her for a while and she couldn't really remember Ben that well so she went shy, half hiding behind Edward as they said hello to her. Ben left them too it to check on the front of the shop and Lucy ran over to give Garret a hug while Edward went to the fridge to get her the carton of juice and yoghurt he'd bought her earlier. Once he settled her with that Garret sat down to chat with her and Edward went out front to help Ben.
They'd been there for a couple of hours and Lucy had joined them out front as Garret had some paper work he needed to do. She was wandering around looking at all the CDs and had noticed one that had a duck on the front of it. She wanted to look at it closer but it was too high up so she was looking around for Edward to help her but he was busy serving someone and she couldn't see Ben anywhere so she sighed and looked back up to it wishing she was taller.
"You want that down?" she suddenly heard a voice ask and looked up to see a large man pointing to the CD case she'd been looking at. He was huge, taller than her dad was and three times as broad, he'd got dark hair that was cut short and bright blue eyes. He was wearing black suit trousers and a light blue shirt which was unbuttoned at the collar but the brightly coloured hooded top that seemed to be covered in a comic strip lightened his whole appearance so instead of looking harsh and intimidating he looked cheerful and friendly. She looked up at him warily, remembering how Edward always told her not to have anything to do with strangers but she wanted to see the CD and couldn't see how anything bad could happen from that so nodded. The guy did look friendly and reminded her slightly of Edward for some reason so as he passed her the CD she smiled slightly.
"Where are your parents?" the man asked, thinking it was strange for such a young girl to be on her own. She didn't appear to be lost and looking for anyone though so he assumed her parents had to be around somewhere.
"Lucy? What are you doing?" Edward interrupted them and Lucy looked up to see him stood next to her. "I've told you not to have anything to do with strangers, you ask me." He scolded as he looked at her closely, checking she was ok.
"Sorry." she mumbled and he softened, happy that she seemed to be fine and no harm had been done.
"It's ok." he smiled, letting her know he wasn't mad at her as he stroked her hair back from her face making her smile too.
"Edward?" the guy questioned and they both looked to him, Edward taking a proper look at him for the first time. As he realised just who it was he glared at him, his hand tightening on Lucy's shoulder where it had come to rest as Lucy looked between them both confused by Edwards reaction to the stranger.
"What are you doing here Emmet?" he asked, not letting up on his glare as he felt the anger inside of him growing. He wasn't allowed to walk into their lives anymore so why could they just walk into his like this? Lucy was looking up at Edward for some kind of explanation, not having a clue what was going on and who this guy her dad apparently knew and disliked was. She didn't know him and didn't know how Edward did as she knew most of the people he did even if only to recognise a face.
"Looking at CDs, but I'm in this area looking for you." He answered as he looked at Edward, noticing the fading bruises and healing cuts that still showed on his face. He looked down to the little girl whose shoulder Edward's hand was still resting on. He could see she was looking to Edward for an explanation of what was going on but Edward wasn't noticing, too busy glaring at him. He guessed that little girl, Lucy, was his niece, although how he'd missed that before he wasn't sure, studying her now he could see her eyes and hair were the exact same shade as Edward's and even her expressions matched his. He'd been looking for Edward for a while now, wanting to know how he was doing but he was surprised he had actually found him, no one they knew had heard anything from him for years, he'd managed to completely vanish. After not finding any leads from their friends Emmet had resorted to spending his spare time wandering around random places with an old photo of Edward hoping to spot him or find someone who had. He hadn't had any luck until now and it was purely a coincidence, he had just been looking for some new music after someone at his work had recommended this store.
"Well you've found me, you can go now." Edward replied shortly, pulling Emmet from his thoughts with a reaction he hadn't expected.
"What?" he asked, not understanding, he had always thought Edward would have been pleased to see him when he finally managed to track him down and was totally thrown by his apparent anger.
"I'm not allowed to walk into your lives when I feel like it so why can you do that to me? Just go." He answered, he'd had a lot of anger and bitterness stored up inside him for years after what had happened with his family and unfortunately for Emmet he was providing the target to vent it.
"I never agreed with our parents Edward. I kept arguing with them about it, trying to get them to change their minds. I wanted to find you to make sure you were ok. Alice really misses you too. She'd love to see you again." Emmet told him, trying to placate him even though he knew Edward had a very good reason for his anger. Edward ignored him, looking down at Lucy instead who was starting to look a little scared.
"Go into the back and draw some pictures or something. You have your paper and pens don't you?" he asked her and she nodded. He didn't want Lucy around if he was going to be arguing with Emmet, and he didn't want to be answering the questions he knew she'd have if she stayed with them.
"Ok then, go through the back and I'll explain at home." he said so Lucy smiled slightly, still wary of what was going on but she didn't want to upset Edward even more than he appeared to be, she hadn't seen him react like this to anyone before. Once Edward had returned her smile, even if it hadn't quite reached his eyes, she wandered through the shop and into the back where she sat down on the floor and pulled out the paper and pens from her bag. Edward watched her leave before rounding back on Emmet.
"Look, I don't know what you expect now you've found me but I am not going back home. Not now, I can't mess Lucy up like that. Mum and Dad won't want me there and it'll only get Lucy excited and then disappointed." he said bluntly but Emmet shook his head.
"It's been nearly five years Edward, a lot changes in that time. They haven't said anything but I think they'd be pleased to see you. Alice really wants to see you again and doesn't Lucy deserve the chance to meet her family?" Emmet argued, he hadn't spent months searching for him just to let Edward push him away. He knew he and the rest of their family had a lot to make up for and that Edward was unlikely to trust them again but he had to try and he wasn't going to leave until they'd at least talked and he knew Edward and Lucy were ok.
"They didn't want her then, they won't want her now. I'm not taking her somewhere she's not wanted." Edward replied stubbornly "I have to get back to work."
"When do you finish?" Emmet asked, following Edward as he headed towards the counter.
"In an hour." Edward answered as he looked up at the clock, hoping that Emmet would just leave so he could finish his shift in peace then get Lucy home and pray his nightmares wouldn't reappear that night as he knew it was likely Emmet's appearance would dredge them up.
"I'll wait then, and we can talk after you finish work." Emmet said, ruining Edward's hopes of finishing his shift in peace.
"Fine." he muttered with a scowl while he pretended to be busy sorting out the CD drawer below the counter. For the rest of Edward's shift Emmet stood at the side trying to get Edward to talk to him when no one else was in the shop but he was being stubborn and didn't want to know. The hour passed slowly but it finally did and Edward went through to the back to get his jacket and Lucy. When he came back out he looked at Emmet still looking annoyed and grumpy.
"Well we're going home so you can go back to where ever you're staying." he said as he took hold of Lucy's hand and started to head out of the shop, not even waiting for Emmet to say anything.
"Edward I'm coming with you whether you want me to or not." Emmet insisted as he followed them and Edward span around to glare at him again.
"There's no point. Just go back to Mum and Dad and leave us alone." he hissed before stepping out of the shop and onto the street. Lucy was looking from Edward to Emmet confused. Edward was getting so angry and Lucy had never seen him angry, it scared her, she tried tugging on his hand to get his attention but it didn't seem to make any difference as he continued walking.
"I just want to talk and find out how you've been so I can tell Alice and stop her worrying about you. For all we knew you could have been dead by now." Emmet shouted after them bringing Edward to a stop. He took in a deep breath before looking down to Lucy who looked like she was on the verge of tears and gave in. He didn't want to upset Lucy and he knew Emmet wouldn't give in, they were both as stubborn as each other, it was a family trait.
"Fine." he muttered and started walking again expecting Emmet to follow if he wanted to go with them but he'd stopped by a car.
"Edward wait!" he yelled and as Edward turned around he pointed to the car. "You might as well get in. I'm going to need directions to where ever you live." Edward sighed and walked back to him. He opened one of the back doors and helped Lucy in watching as she put the seatbelt on to make sure she did it right before he walked around to the passenger door and got in himself.
"It's not far, we normally walk." he muttered as Emmet started the car up.
"Do you have a car?" Emmet asked curiously, wanting to start a normal conversation since Edward had agreed to get into the car. They had to start somewhere if they were going to talk.
"Nope, never learnt to drive." he answered and Emmet missed the unhappy look on Edwards face as he concentrated on the road so pushed on with the questions.
"Why?"
"When you're struggling to pay bills and buy food and have a kid to look after you don't tend to blow money on things like driving lessons." Edward muttered and Emmet nodded slightly, wishing he hadn't asked because it was quite obvious really and hadn't improved Edward's mood with him. The car was silent except for the occasional mutterings from Edward telling Emmet where to go. They finally pulled up in the parking for the block of flats and Edward got out, went round to Lucy's door and opened it for her so she could jump out. He then took hold of her hand again as they walked into the building, Emmet following after locking his car. Emmet looked around as they went up the flights of stairs, noticing that the place seemed quite run down. When they finally turned away from the stairs and walked along a corridor with doors either side he could hear the arguing that was normal for Edward and stared at all the rubbish, graffiti and just the general state of the flats. This, to Emmet, did not look like the kind of place you would want to live. He noticed they had stopped outside a slightly cleaner looking door which Edward was now unlocking. When it was open Lucy ran in and to her room as she always did and Emmet didn't say anything as he watched them fall into their normal routine. Emmet followed Edward and looked around the room they were now in, seeing it was the kitchen. Everything in it looked like it had seen better days a long time ago. Edward left the kitchen but Emmet stayed put as Lucy came in and sat down in a chair at the table before Edward returned minus his jacket and got Lucy a drink and biscuit as usual which she ate as he started to cook them tea. The whole time it was like Emmet wasn't there, Edward appeared to be ignoring him so didn't talk to him and Emmet couldn't think what to say as he just watched them.
"Do you want any?" Edward finally spoke for the first time as he started to serve out the spaghetti bolognaise he had made.
"Err...yes please." Emmet answered and sat down in a chair on the opposite side from Lucy. Lucy had been watching the both of them the whole time Edward had been cooking. She was wondering who Emmet was and why Edward was being so cold towards him. She could tell that Edward wasn't happy and wanted to know why. She didn't like it when he was like this although he did seemed to have calmed down a bit since they'd got into the car. Edward finished serving out their dinner and sat one plate down in front of Lucy, one in front of Emmet then one at the end of the table in between the two of them. He then went to a drawer and got out cutlery which he handed to everyone before finally sitting down. All the time they were eating Edward kept looking to Lucy to make sure she was ok and not getting into too bigger a mess with it. She was managing ok this time though and had managed not to spill sauce all over her clothes. Emmet was watching Edward, wishing he could think of something to say to break the really awkward silence.
"How long have you lived here?" he finally asked, unable to take sitting in silence any longer and Edward looked at him. Just the glare in his eyes told Emmet it was going to be a very long time before Edward even thought about forgiving him for the things that happened in the past.
"Since I was thrown out." he answered and Emmet looked down into his plate then. It was fairly obvious from the state of the building and the appearance of the inside of the flat that Edward had had a hard time. It was hardly surprising though when he thought about it. He'd been thrown out with a baby without a clue how to look after himself really never mind the baby. He couldn't help but feel Edward was right to be angry with him. He should have done something sooner to help. Lucy was looking at them again, still wanting Edward to explain and this time he noticed.
"Lucy this is your Uncle, my older brother Emmet." Edward said dully and he saw the spark of recognition in her eyes as she flicked her gaze to Emmet before looking back to him.
"The photo people?" she asked and Edward nodded. He was a lot bigger than the boy in that photo had been, but now it had been pointed out Lucy could see the eyes were the same and it explained why he'd reminded her slightly of Edward when he'd first appeared in the shop. They were far from identical but they had enough similarities in their faces to show they were brothers.
"Photo?" Emmet asked and Edward looked to him, not looking quite so hostile anymore but still far from happy.
"She caught me looking at some photos so I had to explain to her who everyone in them was." he replied and Emmet nodded, slightly surprised to hear he even had pictures of them, he hadn't been given much time to pack before he'd been thrown out.
"Lucy, me and Emmet need to talk so can you go and play in your room for a while?" Edward asked, knowing he'd have to talk to Emmet and not wanting Lucy around if it got out of hand, he didn't know how long he'd be able to hold his temper in and Lucy did not need to see him yelling at his brother, there were also aspects of his past he did not want Lucy to hear and he didn't know what Emmet would stir up, he tended to speak first and think later. Lucy just nodded before she jumped down from her seat, briefly hugged Edward and left the kitchen. Once she was gone Edward stood up and collected all the plates then put them into the sink and Emmet decided he was going to have to ask questions as it didn't look like Edward was just going to talk.
