DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THE CHARACTERS FROM TWILIGHT. THEY ALL BELONG TO STEPHENIE MEYER.
I know it was mean to end Chapter 8 like that, but the meanie in me couldn't resist. :P Sorry about that. I'll try not to be mean again. I can't make any promises though. :D
This chapter is going to focus on the POV's of Edward's family from just after Bella left their home. I may reveal what Emmett is planning, but then again I may not *evil grin*. You'll just have to read to find out.
EmPOV
I couldn't believe what Edward had done!
How could he tell someone. Especially someone he hardly knew, when he couldn't even tell us what was going on! His own family!
I don't know how much more of this I can take. I thought, pacing my room, trying to calm down. It wasn't working.
All I could think was how news of Edward's self-harm was going to be spread around school. Everyone would know by the end of the week. I just knew it. It wasn't that I was worried about our "reputation" as it were. Hey, we didn't really have one at that point. We were still the new kids as far as everyone else was concerned. I was worried about Edward. I didn't want to think of what he might do to himself if people at school found out. It would be all his fault anyway. Who cares if she saw the bandage. He could have lied for heaven's sake!! He'd been doing it long enough.
All that bull about not being able to lie to her! He was able to lie to us for God knows how long!
Why the fuck couldn't he just accept the fact that he needs help and go to the hospital?!
I hated seeing the way my brother was treating himself. He might not be my biological brother but I still loved him like a brother. Hell, I do love him! I thought. Which is why it hurt so much to see him destroy himself this way.
I'd heard the truck pull up and I knew the girl had arrived. I didn't want to go down and introduce myself because I didn't want to put my foot in it with her or Edward. He'd said that she didn't know about his eating problems. I believed him on that one, but I knew that if I went downstairs I'd probably let some snide comment slip that would give everything away. I loved Edward too much to let that happen. So I'd stayed in my room while she was here, keeping out of the way.
Which was best in my book.
I couldn't look at Edward at the moment. I couldn't stand to look at him. It seemed like he was wasting away right in front of my eyes. Because he is! I mentally slapped myself. He barely eats! No wonder he's disappearing!! When I thought about it, I realised that I hadn't seen Edward eat anything - anything proper at least - for a long time. In fact I couldn't remember the last time he did. Probably part of his act! I thought bitterly. Because that was what it was with Edward. It was all an act. To be honest he'd become a bloody good liar.
When he was still in the hospital Carlisle had told us what was going on. He'd said that test results said that Edward was severly underweight and undernourished. That it looked like he hadn't eaten a proper meal in months. Which he probably hadn't. Carlisle had said Edward's test results looked like they should belong to a starving child in Africa, not a seventeen year old boy, who came from a relatively wealthy family in the USA!
I'd heard the truck pull out of the driveway and knew that Edward's Biology partner had left. This was closely followed by Esme announcing that dinner was ready. I wonder if he'll have anything tonight. He hasn't for the last three nights, so why get my hopes up. Because that was all I wanted. I wanted Edward to eat. I wanted him to "recover" as Carlisle had put it when he spoke to us.
I wanted my brother back.
I passed Edward on the stairs. He looked so gaunt and fragile, I was wondering how he was still standing. It must be taking a lot of effort I thought. I stopped at the bottom of the stares and turned to face him.
"Not even going to grace us with your presence tonight then?" I asked, with more malic in my voice than I'd wanted. He didn't even turn around, but just kept on walking. I sighed and stormed into the dining room.
"Emmett," Carlisle said giving me a disapproving look. "That was unnecessary. I know that you're worried. Hell, we all are." I looked at him with a mixture of anger and surprise. Carlisle never swore, even mildly. "But we need to think of Edward. We don't want to upset him."
"We have to think of Edward?!" I spat back. I didn't mean to take it out on Carlisle, but the words just came out before I could stop them. "Do you really think he's thinking of us?! HE'S NOT THINKING OF US!!! WHY SHOULD WE THINK OF HIM?! HE'S ONLY THINKING ABOUT HIMSELF! HE DOESN'T CARE HOW HE HURTS US!!!" Before I knew it I was shouting. I hadn't meant to, but I was just so angry about how he was affecting the family I couldn't help it. Before I knew it I'd picked up the plate that Esme had put in the place where Edward usually sat and thrown it against the wall. "YOU REALLY THINK THAT HE'S GOING TO NEED THAT?!"
"Emmett, CALM DOWN!" It was Jasper that responded to my outburst. "You're forgetting that Edward's really fragile at the moment. You remember what he did when you had a go at him yesterday?! Nothing you do while you're in this sort of state is going to help Emmett!"
"Jasper's right Emmett," Carlisle said. "Calm down and then I think we need to have a family meeting, with Edward, to discuss further action." He looked at Esme, who in turn nodded at him in agreement.
"Further action?!" I scoffed. I couldn't stand being in the room with them anymore. My little brother was killing himself and it seemed like they didn't care.
I walked back into the living room and noticed a bag sat on the coffee table.
Knowing exactly what was in the bag, I grabbed it and ran upstairs before any of them could stop me. I went up to Edward's door and opened it without even bothering to knock.
He was lying on his bed, listening to his iPod. If it hadn't been for the slight rise and fall of his chest, I would have thought he was dead. Hell, a corspe would probably look better. I thought sadly. At that moment I realised that I had tears running down my cheeks. I didn't bother to wipe them away. I wanted Edward to see how upset I was, then maybe he'd take this whole thing seriously.
After a moment, Edward slowly opened his eyes. He turned to look at me and slowly started to sit up. He turned off his iPod and took out his headphones before sitting up completely. "Emmett," he said cautiously. "What're you doing?"
I didn't answer him. Looking at him, I couldn't speak. I just gripped the bag in my hand even tighter and slowly stepped into his room, shaking my head, tears still streaming down my face. I still didn't bother to wipe them away as Edward looked from my face to the bag in my hand and then back again.
Realisation suddenly dawned in his eyes and in his expression. "Emmett," he croaked. There was fear in his voice as he realised what I was going to do. "Don't."
CPOV
I thought that it was good that Edward was finally interacting with people around him. Even if it was only for a school project, I knew it would do him some good.
I wasn't so sure about the fact that Edward had told her about his self-harm. Even so, I was proud of him and believed him when he said that he knew she wouldn't tell. Emmett storming off and refusing to meet the girl didn't help matters. Althought I wasn't about to say so I was very proud of Edward. It was a very brave thing for him to do on his part.
Personally I thought the girl, Bella, I think her name was, was very charming. She seemed sweet and I was glad that Edward was partnered with her for this project.
After she left, Esme called everyone down for dinner. Edward didn't stay. He turned and went up the stairs, obviously wanting no part in the charade we all played in pretending everything was fine. I heard Emmett coming down the stairs. "Not even going to grace us with your presence tonight then?" I heard him say to Edward. This is not what we needed. We did not need a repeat of last night, which was, from what I heard, very heated and ended up with my having to bandage Edward's arm while he slept.
"Emmett," I said, hoping that the expression on my face matched my disapproving tone. "That was unnecessary. I know that you're worried. Hell, we all are." He glared at me, his expression a mixture of anger and surprise. I hated cursing, even mildly, but I knew that the situation with Edward required it. "But we need to think of Edward. We don't want to upset him."
"We have to think of Edward?!" He spat back at me. I knew that it wasn't me he was upset with. It was Edward. It was the whole situation revolving around my adopted son, it was getting to everyone. I knew we had to take action soon, before he was really beyond help. "Do you really think he's thinking of us?! HE'S NOT THINKING OF US!!! WHY SHOULD WE THINK OF HIM?! HE'S ONLY THINKING ABOUT HIMSELF! HE DOESN'T CARE HOW HE HURTS US!!!" Suddenly a loud smash interrupted my worried thoughts. Emmett had picked up the plate that Esme had put in the place where Edward usually sat and thrown it against the wall. "YOU REALLY THINK THAT HE'S GOING TO NEED THAT?!"
"Emmett, CALM DOWN!" It was Jasper that responded to Emmett's sudden outburst. "You're forgetting that Edward's really fragile at the moment. You remember what he did when you had a go at him yesterday?! Nothing you do while you're in this sort of state is going to help Emmett!"
"Jasper's right Emmett," I said, calmly trying to reason with Emmett, though I knew that there was no reasoning with him when he was in this state. "Calm down and then I think we need to have a family meeting, with Edward, to discuss further action." I turned to look at Esme, who's delicate features were a mixture of anguish and fear of what would become of Edward. She nodded at me, tears welling up in her eyes, knowing as well as I did that this situation needed dealing with as soon as possible.
"Further action?!" Emmett scoffed and with that he turned and left the room. None of us were really in the mood to eat anymore. I for one wasn't hungry anymore and I doubted the children wanted any food after Emmett's outburst. Looking around at the rest of my family I saw the looks of anguish and sadness that lay there.
Rosalie had silent tears streaking down her face, ruining the make-up she had spent forever perfecting this morning. "Dad," she said in a voice that was barely above a whisper. "What's going to happen to Edward?"
I looked at my children and wife, who were all looking at me, possibly expecting me to know the answer to that question. I shook my head. "I don't know, Rose." More tears streamed down her face. I looked and saw that Alice was crying too and Jasper had tears welling up in his face, his expression that of extreme worry and fear. "I just don't know."
I wanted to tell them that everything was going to be okay. That Edward was going to get better, but I just didn't believe that to be true. I jsut didn't know.
Jasper left the room, probably going to check and see if Emmett was okay. He walked back in with a look of confusion on his face. "Did any of you move the bag that was on the coffee table?" He asked. We all looked at him, confused. The girls shook their heads. "No," Esme replied. I shook my head. "Well, its gone."
Realisation dawned on me. "EMMETT!!!!" I cried, rushing up the stairs to Edward's room, where, no doubt Emmett would also be. "STOP!!"
NO!!!!! My mind cried. NO!!!
DON'T HATE ME!!!!
PLEASE!!!!
I know you all want to know what Emmett is planning. What he's going to do to Edward, but I wanted to focus on the others in his family before revealing what was going on.
I promise you'll find out what Emmett's going to do in the next chapter! I PROMISE!!!! *crosses heart*
Please Review. Much love xx
