Thank you all for the reviews and favorites and follows and you are all lovely :)
BeautifulAngel: No YOU are an awesome person ;) Thanks for the reviews. I'm sure your story is lovely and if you ever need help, I'd be happy to do so if you'd like. Anyway, here's the update :)
Thank you to Emmy 1995 for telling me that I missed a section! SO SORRY! I fixed it :)
"Bella? Wake up, love." I rolled over, hiding from the voice, and burrowed deeper into the warm, thick covers, avoiding the cold hands that would surely find me. The voice chuckled, and a hand rested on my shoulder over top of the comforter. "Bella, you have to get ready for school." I groaned. Although I didn't remember waking up any time during the night, nor did I remember any nightmares, I was still exhausted. "Are you okay?" The covers were gently pulled away from my head and he touched my cheek. "Bella? Do you feel alright?" I sighed. I didn't want to make him worry, no matter how tired I was.
"M'fine." I mumbled, forcing my eyes open. He smiled a little, smoothing my hair. "Tired." He kissed my cheek.
"Do you want to stay home today?" I glared at the hope in his voice, sitting up and shaking my head.
"No." I said shortly. "What time is it?"
"Six-thirty. You've got a half hour to get ready and eat something." I grimaced at the thought of food, but knew better than to protest. Although I had no idea why I'd been waking up feeling sick for the last two days, I wasn't about to worry them even more…
'That's exactly what Carlisle would want to know.' I told myself sternly, remembering his disappointed expression from the day before when I'd tried to lie to him. But the thought of going up to Carlisle and admitting to feeling sick…honestly it made me feel even worse. 'Why should I worry him even more? Is it even important? Will he want to know, really? Or will he just tell me that I'm probably still feeling anxious? Can he even do anything about it? He said I needed to eat more though…'
"What are you thinking so hard about?" Edward asked, his voice tender as he cupped my cheek, the familiar edge of frustration in his voice. It still bothered him that he couldn't read my mind, and I had to smile a little.
"Nothing…is Carlisle home today?"
"Yes. He and Esme hunted last night, and he has today off, so he'll be home all day. Why?"
"No reason." I mumbled, deciding that I would at least try to eat, and if I couldn't, then I would tell him. I moved away from Edward, standing and stretching a little while he watched, his eyes following my movements. "What?" I asked, amused as I grabbed a pair of jeans.
"Nothing." He grinned, standing and leaving the room. "I'll be downstairs when you're ready." He promised, then shut the door behind him.
Throwing on my jeans and a t-shirt, I ran a brush through my hair, glad that the action didn't cause my shoulder any kind of pain, and threw it into a ponytail. Not bothering with any of the make up that Alice had discreetly placed throughout my bathroom, I shut our bedroom door behind me as I made my way downstairs to join him.
Breakfast was a small pile of eggs and two pieces of toast and as soon as the smell hit my, my stomach rebelled. Clenching my jaw, I gripped the counter. "Bella?" Edward was the only other one in the kitchen, since everyone knew that I felt uncomfortable when they all watched me eat, but his tone had Jasper and Emmett peeking in at the doorway.
"Sorry." I mumbled, not wanted him to be offended. I knew that it was harder for them to cook than for humans…since they couldn't taste the food and it all smelled bad to them, but he was a great cook, and I'm sure the food would have been wonderful had I not felt like I was going to throw up.
"Why? What's wrong?" He had his hands on my shoulders and I sighed.
"I've woken up feeling sick for the last few days." I glared at the floor, not wanted to see his worried or scared or anxious or frustrated…well whatever look would be on his face, I didn't want to see it. "I didn't want to tell you." He sighed, pulling me close and resting his cheek on my head.
"Have you told Carlisle?"
"No." I spun at his voice, and met Carlisle's grim eyes. "But I'm glad you have now." He smiled a little, reaching over and kissing my forehead. "Unfortunately, there isn't much I can do…I think it's just anxiety. The only thing, apart from medicine, would be to have Jasper with you every time you tried to eat…" I shook my head firmly. I wasn't doing that to Jasper…I wasn't going to make him hold my hand every second so that I could keep calm…it wasn't fair to him. He had a life of his own. "No, I don't want to do that either."
"I don't mind." Jasper put in from the doorway, his anxious eyes on his father.
"I know you don't." Carlisle smiled at him. "But if she gets too dependent on that…"
"She can't even eat, Carlisle."
"She's standing right here." I grumbled a little snappishly, and Jasper laughed aloud, flitting to my side and kissed my temple, pulling me into a one armed hug.
"Sorry." He grinned. "You're right. But I wish you'd let me help." He glanced back up at Carlisle.
"Jasper, it's not fair to you." I said quietly. He frowned, turning to look into my eyes, both hands on my shoulders.
"Bella, I said that I didn't care to help. I want to." The fact that he didn't threaten to do it without my consent made me feel another wave of love and gratitude toward my brother who gave a surprised smile in response. He didn't know why I was feeling the way I was, but he could certainly feel my love for him, and my gratitude.
Carlisle stepped in, putting a hand on my back to get my attention. "You need to leave soon…here." He dropped a granola bar into my hand. "Take this with you, and eat it as soon as you feel better. If you're still sick by lunch, tell Jasper. Okay?" I nodded reluctantly, tucking the snack into my backpack. "I mean it Bella." He said firmly. "You need to eat."
I nodded again, and I guess he knew that I meant it this time, because he smiled a little, reaching out and squeezing my arm. "Call if you need anything." He told me quietly, then nodded to the others with a smirk. "Have fun at school." They all groaned or rolled their eyes, making it abundantly clear that what they thought of high school, and Edward put his arm around me, leading me to the car.
Once again, my attempts to pay strict attention in class failed, but I was able to distract myself well enough throughout English and History. Halfway through another Civil War battle, I caught Jasper eyeing me, and decided to try the granola bar, managing to eat about half of it, picking at the nuts and raisins, before I could no longer stomach the food. Tucking it back in my bag, I ignored Edward and Jasper who were staring at me and went back to taking notes that I would never read about the Civil War.
Jessica glanced up when I entered the room, but before I could reach my seat, Esme was beckoning me forward. I walked up to the front of the classroom, giving her a hesitant smile that she didn't return, and instantly I realized that she was going to punish me now. "Do you have the extra homework?" She asked in a voice just loud enough for a few people in the front to hear. I felt blood rise to my cheeks against my will. Reaching into my backpack, I smiled when I realized that Emmett had put all my papers in the correct folders. Silently I handed over the math problems. "And the essay?"
"Yes ma'am." I said quietly, not having to pretend to be sorry. I'd put Esme in this position…she had every right to feel upset with me.
"Bella, I don't think I have to tell you not to make me do this again." I nodded, catching her meaning easily. "Good. And this afternoon, you'll be staying after school with me for detention. Understood?"
"Yes ma'am." She sighed, her eyes softening, and I caught a glimpse of her pained expression, knowing how much she hated doing this to me, and had to fight the urge to throw my arms around her. "I'm sorry." I added quietly, and her teeth caught her bottom lip for a moment.
"I know. Take a seat, Bella." I lowered my eyes and sat down beside Jessica who glanced at me from the corner of her eye.
"Bella…" She started to whisper, but Esme began speaking, eyeing her sternly, and instructing us to open our books and for the rest of the class to pass up their homework.
As soon as class was over, Jessica turned to me, catching my sleeve. Sighing I stared at her, lifting an eyebrow. "What?" I demanded.
"Bella, I'm…I mean, I didn't…"
"Don't worry about it." I told her flatly, pulling away and starting to stand.
"Bella! I'm sorry, okay! I know Lauren's being a b…" She glanced up at Esme and flinched. "Um, I know Lauren's being awful to you. I shouldn't have…you know." She trailed off, looking uncomfortable, and I shrugged.
"I said don't worry about it." She bit her lip and put her hands in her lap awkwardly.
"Yea…okay." Standing, she put her backpack on and headed for the door, glancing back at me every now and then.
The door was shut behind her and Esme stepped over to me, placing a hand on my shoulder and crouching down beside me. "Sweetheart?" I wondered what my face looked like to make her sound so worried. Reaching out, I caught her hand, squeezing tightly. "Okay?"
"Was that wrong?" I asked quietly, my eyes meeting hers almost desperately.
"Bella, if you don't think you can forgive her for what she's done, then that is your decision. I'm certainly not going to tell you want to do." Her voice was a little hesitant and I shook my head.
"But do you think I should forgive her?" She sighed, cupping my cheek.
"I think you should think about it…maybe wait until you're sure she means it. You're usually very quick to forgive people, which is usually a wonderful quality, but you have to be careful about trusting people sometimes, or they can hurt you." I nodded, lowering my eyes, and she kissed my forehead. "You'd better get to lunch, Bella. Edward is waiting outside."
Edward held me closer than normal, keeping his arm firmly around me as we walked to the cafeteria. A few people glanced our way, but I was glad to see that I seemed to be loosing my appeal for gossip…then again that could have been because of the look on Edward's face practically daring anyone to speak to me. Lunch was pizza, as usual, along with some unappetizing looking pieces of plastic that looked sort of like corn, and a white mound of mashed potatoes drizzled in gravy. I shook my head, catching Edward's hand. "Don't bother." I mumbled. "There's no way I can eat that." He sighed, grabbing a bottle of lemonade and an apple, paying for it quickly, then led me to the table where I pulled out the other half of my granola bar.
"I'll be right back." He kissed my cheek and slipped out of the cafeteria, leaving me with the others. I wasn't feeling quite as sick, and the lemonade helped, but the thought of eating that disgusting cafeteria food at the moment was too much. So I ate the rest of the granola bar, then bit into the apple, glancing up at Jasper who was having a nearly silent conversation with Alice.
"Where'd he go?" I asked, looking over at Emmett.
"To talk to Esme." I lifted an eyebrow and he grinned. "He wanted to ask about having you bring a lunch from now on. I don't blame you…this crap looks nasty." I followed his gaze down to his own tray with a slice of greasy peperoni pizza and I clenched my jaw, looking away before my stomach could rebel. "Sorry." He mumbled, grabbing the plate and dumping it into a trashcan behind him. "You feeling any better?"
"Yea…the apple's fine." I took another bite, looking absently around the cafeteria, unsurprised to find Lauren at the center of a table full of football players, grinning and stealing glances at me. Rosalie lifted an eyebrow in the girl's direction. "Do I want to know?" I asked the blonde who narrowed her eyes in distaste.
"No." Nodding, I pushed the thought away, pulling out Jane Eyre and flipping to my most recent page and skimming the words until I found my place. I only looked up when Edward took his seat beside me again, putting an arm around me and pulling me over while I continued to read, our chairs as close together as they could get.
"God, Lauren, would you give it a rest?" Edward turned in surprise, which in turn surprised me more than Jessica's annoyed voice. Apparently he hadn't been reading Jessica's thoughts. The two girls stared at each other from across their table and I turned back to my book, pointedly ignoring their suddenly hushed conversation from there on. I wasn't going to think about Jessica…not now. I had enough confusing things to think about…well, avoid thinking about. So right now, I was going to think about Jane Eyre and try to finish an apple.
Jasper walked beside me to the gym, his hands in his pockets as he lazily made his way through the crowds of people that seemed to part for him, and I wondered if he realized that they were avoiding him. Then again, he probably did…there wasn't much that escaped my family's notice. Jasper reminded me of Edward in the way he moved…Emmett seemed to lumber like a bear, although he was just as precise in his movements as the others, but Jasper moved like a large, long cat, sharp eyes taking in every detail and muscles ready to spring at a second's notice…something that worried me when a few football players eyed me, and one made to approach.
Gripping Jasper's arm as quickly as I could while knowing that I could never hold him back, I squeezed as tightly as I could. He grumbled irritably under his breath but covered my hand with his, leading me away from the group of jocks and toward the gym doors. Although neither of us could read minds, Jasper obviously didn't like their emotions, and so we avoided them, something that apparently went against Jasper's nature. "Please don't." I begged softly as we headed for the bleachers.
"Don't worry, Bella." He soothed me, his words accompanied by a gentle rush of calm. "I won't do anything here." He sat beside me on the blue plastic seats a little apart from the rest of the class, and our teacher entered.
"Alright, we're running today. Four laps around the gym is a mile. Everybody get changed and start stretching." I sat on the bleachers while the others moved, Jasper glancing back at me as he followed the other boys to the locker room. "Swan, you waiting for a written invitation?"
I stared at him blankly. "I'm excused from physical activity until my doctor says so…"
"Excused?" He lifted an eyebrow.
"Yea…I got shot." I reminded him slowly and he glared.
"Don't get smart with me. You were shot in the arm, right?" I bit my lip, fighting back a wave of frustration.
"I'm supposed to have alternate assignments. There should be a note from Dr. Cullen in the office." I'd never particularly liked my gym teacher, and he considered me a menace, but I had no idea what his problem was with giving me an alternate assignment for today.
He turned and left, heading for his office which was by the boy's locker room, passing an irritated looking Jasper on his way. My brother took a seat beside me once again, his shoulder touching mine as the office door shut. "What's he doing?" I asked.
Jasper sighed, waiting for a second. "Calling the office. He's confirming that Carlisle gave them a note….which he did." He reassured me.
"Why's he angry?" I wondered.
"He believes you're receiving special treatment because you're living with us. He's upset because he thinks Carlisle is just taking you out of gym because you don't want to participate." Shaking his head, he glared in the direction of the door. "I'm not sure why, but some of our teachers have been hostile lately, and I believe it's extending to you. I'm sorry about that." I shook my head.
"Why? What would they have against you?" He shrugged.
"It happens sometimes. Instinct kicking in maybe?" He chuckled. "We don't mind…we usually don't stay in one place too long anyway, and we're graduating soon. I just hate that you have to put up with it." He sighed, glancing around when the others began to emerge from the locker room wearing shorts and t-shirts. "He has to give you a different assignment though. I think we'll pretend to be home schooled in the next place we go." He said wryly. "Less trouble with the humans."
"Hale!" Jasper glanced up. "Would you like to be excused from class as well?" He asked a little snidely and Jasper bit back a sigh, clenching his jaw. Wordlessly he stood and joined the other students who were stretching, halfheartedly gripping one ankle and bending his leg upwards as though this was going to be any kind of challenge for him. I smiled a little, knowing he could run this mile in a few seconds. "Swan, I don't have anything for you today. Just work on other homework for now." He seemed a little more resigned than irritated now, and I nodded, walking up to the top of the bleachers and pulling out my English text, glancing up now and again as Jasper jogged around the track, keeping in the middle of the other students with a pained look on his face. I stifled a giggle when he sent me a wave of exasperation and boredom, staring down at my textbook with a smile.
After they all finished running, cooling down, and then stretching a little again, everyone was sent back to the bleachers to listen to a lecture about running, cardiovascular fitness, and the fitness test we would all have to do. Everyone groaned irritably and I sighed, knowing that this would be humiliating. Apparently push ups, sit ups, and running were going to be forced upon me by the end of the semester. Jasper glanced at me in a amusement and I let him feel my dread. I hated physical activity…mostly because I was bad at it, a fact that amused my superhuman siblings, Emmett especially.
"Maybe Carlisle will let you get out of it." He murmured with a grin.
"Doubt it." I mumbled irritably. Carlisle was probably above using his doctor privileges to get me out of a fitness test. Unfortunately.
After a painfully long lecture, we were finally dismissed with the final bell, and I headed toward the Calculus classroom. Jasper eyed me strangely and I sighed.
"Esme gave me detention." He lifted an eyebrow, then turned to follow me.
Esme glanced up when Bella entered the room, followed by Jasper, Edward, and Alice. She sighed a little, then crossed her arms. "Jasper, Alice, Edward, why don't you go on home. I'll take Bella home with me when we finish up here." She locked eyes with Edward, then glanced at the classroom where two other boys sat, both watching the family interaction. She would have let Edward stay with them if it hadn't been for their audience, but she couldn't let them think Bella was getting special treatment, and her son hadn't done anything to earn a detention. Edward sighed and nodded, knowing as well as she did that they had to leave, and kissed Bella gently, his arms wrapping around her.
"I'll see you at home." He promised, touching her face. "Esme will give you a ride home." Bella nodded, trying to smile and failing, and Jasper moved to the human girl's side, hugging her tightly, then kissed the top of her head.
"See you Bella." Alice kissed the girl's cheek then took Jasper's hand, following Edward out to the car.
"Take a seat, Bella. Here." She tapped a desk toward the front, away from the boys, and placed a piece of paper on the desk, then went back to sit behind her own, shifting through a stack of papers.
'I know you're sorry, sweetheart, and I don't want you to think that Carlisle or I are upset with you. But we can't let people think I'm giving you special treatment so you'll stay with me for an hour. You can work on your homework if you like. I love you, Bella.'
Esme glanced up to see Bella wipe at her eyes, one hand covering her mouth as her breath caught, then she visibly calmed, pulling out her history textbook and flipped to a page in the middle, concentrating on the text for the next hour. Esme sighed, glancing over at the two football players she'd caught texting for the third time in her class who were staring at Bella with expressions that she didn't like. pushing back the urge to get up and protect her daughter from the perceived threat, she focused on grading the papers.
Carlisle crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, strictly a habit. Esme stood at his side, one arm slipped between his arm and his side, gripping his elbow. He smiled down at her briefly. Emmett sat on the sofa on the other side of the room, Rosalie in his lap, one arm around his neck, the other hand holding his. Jasper sat with Alice on the adjacent sofa, their eyes on Carlisle. "How was she today?" The question was for all of them, but he was looking at Jasper.
"A little better." Jasper offered, his eyes thoughtful. "Her emotions are still unstable, and she's still afraid sometimes, although she hides it well." He grimaced. "She's trying to suppress it still, although I think she's more aware of what she's doing." He tried to explain, grasping at words to describe what he could only feel with his gift. "She doesn't want to disappoint us…or worry us. She's still guilty about feeling afraid or anxious…and she knows that suppressing it upsets me…or that I can tell…" He sighed, shaking his head. "I think she just feels trapped." Carlisle nodded, his eyes sad.
"She's participating in class." Edward spoke up. "She's talking more…doesn't that mean she's healing?"
"Yes…I believe so." Carlisle told them. "I'm worried about her anxiety making her sick, but she's getting better about telling us when she's not feeling well. She's trying. Like I told her, there isn't a timeline on this. It's going to take a while for her to go back to normal."
"Are we doing the right thing?" Esme asked softly. "Letting her go back?"
"We don't exactly have the right to forbid her…"
"We're her parents." Esme reminded him. When he started to speak she stopped him, squeezing his arm. "Carlisle, she needs parents right now, just as much as she needs brothers and sisters and Edward. She needs us to be her parents all of the time…not just when we comfort her or help her. She needs someone to look out for her best interests as well."
"You think we should tell her what to do?"
"Of course not. I think we should advise her, just like we do the others." Although everyone in the room could hear their conversation, they looked away, giving the illusion of privacy, and Carlisle glanced around the room.
"She's a little different than the others." He reminded her softly.
"Because she's human? Or because you don't think of her as your daughter?'
"Of course I think of her as my daughter." His voice rose a little as he turned to look at Esme fully. "She is my daughter. Just as much as Alice or Rosalie."
"Exactly. She's ours. She chose us, and we accepted her, and so she is our daughter. So are we doing the right thing?" She asked again. He pulled her closer, kissing the top of her head, then resting his forehead against hers, glancing up when he heard Bella on the stiars.
"I don't know."
'Distraction seems to be working…well, more than anything else has. I still feel so anxious every morning when I know I have to go to school that I can't bear the though of eating. I know that worries Carlisle, although I eat well enough after school. I think Esme is going to pack a lunch for me to eat instead of buying cafeteria food. I hate to inconvenience her, but she wouldn't hear of letting me do it. After I finish my homework, I think I'll make my own food…I miss cooking. But Jessica apologized today and then stood up to Lauren. I think Lauren hates me more than ever. I'm not sure what she gets out of hurting me. Maybe she's just a cruel person. Or maybe I did something to her…no, I don't think anything I could have done would merit this. She's got everyone at school talking about my family and me. Today there were some football players staring at me while I was walking to class with Jasper. It reminded me of the way…Mom's friends would stare at me. It made me think of them, and I stayed close to Jasper. He was angry, I could tell.
My gym teacher is the only one that's treated me like that…he thinks I'm getting special treatment or something, which is ridiculous. My shoulder is healing okay…it's still sore sometimes. But Carlisle is still worried about my weight and I think my blood pressure? I'm not sure. He said I have to eat more…I lost weight when they left. I lost interest in food…in life for that matter. I've never felt so abandoned in my life. And then Charlie was going to send me away…
I've thought more and more about speaking with Charlie. He's not really my father anymore…I think after everything that's happened, Esme and Carlisle are my parents. They're going to be for the rest of my existence, but I think if Charlie dies and I don't resolve things with him…I'll never forgive myself. I think if I could talk to him, I might feel better. Or maybe I won't. I'm not sure really. My emotions are…scary. Sometimes I feel so afraid and I don't know why, and then sometimes I feel numb, which is worse. Spending time with my family makes it better, and talking to Rosalie helped…she's been so much nicer recently. I'm glad to have two such wonderful sisters.'
I clicked the little 'x' in left corner of the screen, declining the offer to save the document, and shut the top of the silver computer. Putting my hand over my eyes, I stared absently at the back of my lids while the tears ran down my face. 'I don't understand.' It felt a little better, writing it all out…but seeing it all typed up brought a new kind of pain.
Standing abruptly, I left the little study where I was supposed to be working on homework and made my way down to the kitchen. I heard soft voices and glancing into the living room I found my family gathered around the sofas. Emmett was staring at the TV and Edward was absently running his fingers over the keys of the piano, while Esme and Carlisle stood by the wall. All seemed absorbed in their own activities but I had a feeling that they had been having some kind of meeting. 'About me?' My mind immediately supplied, but I shook my head. 'Don't be so self absorbed. Not everything is about you.' Sure that they heard me come downstairs, I went into the kitchen. If they needed to have some kind of secret family meeting…'No…remember what Alice said? I am a member of their family.' I scolded myself as I opened the refrigerator. 'Surely they wouldn't discuss anything important without me. Maybe they're all just spending time together. Stop imagining conspiracies. You're being ridiculous.' Pushing the thoughts away, I jumped a little when Esme's soft voice sounded behind me.
"Are you hungry, Bella? I can fix you something." She offered.
"I like cooking." I told her with a smile. "I haven't got to do much of it lately." She smiled ruefully.
"I suppose I haven't given you much of a chance." Grinning, I turned and hugged her quickly.
"Somehow, I'm not nearly as good of a cook as you." She laughed. "But I thought I'd make myself something tonight." I hesitated. "If it's okay…"
"Of course it's okay, Bella. This is your home. Make yourself whatever you'd like." She moved over to the counter while I gathered ingredients for chicken Parmesan, preheating the oven and pulling out a package of chicken to defrost in the microwave. Soon, soft music began to waft through the kitchen and I paused, closing my eyes and breathing it in. "I do love it when he plays." Esme said with a happy sigh.
"Rosalie plays as well, doesn't she?"
"Oh yes…most of us have picked up an instrument at some point…you tend to develop a lot of hobbies over the years." She laughed a little. "You know, Jasper is fairly adept with a guitar, and Emmett plays a banjo." I stared at her in silence for a minute, then snorted.
"Emmett? A banjo?"
She giggled. "Oh yes. Apparently it made him very popular among the ladies in his human life." I laughed aloud, trying to imagine giant Emmett sitting in a barn, surrounded by swooning women as he played Dueling Banjos. "And Alice plays a few wind instruments…she's best with a flute, as well as with a trumpet. And you should hear Carlisle with a violin." I could believe that. He seemed like someone who would enjoy music.
Carlisle joined us in the kitchen then, sitting beside Esme and watching me move around the kitchen. I fought back a blush and tried to ignore my absorbed audience, having no idea what they found so fascinating about cooking. After finishing the preparations and putting the dish in the oven, I turned to face them. "You cook very well." Carlisle told me with a smile, and I lost the fight with the blush. Charlie had told me a hundred times that I was a good cook, so I had no idea why Carlisle's praise brought that reaction. He chuckled at my reaction, and the music stopped. Edward appeared at my side then, running the back of his hand over my warm face and smiling tenderly at me.
"Thanks." I mumbled, staring at the floor. Edward cupped my face then, and kissed my forehead.
"It's true." He assured me softly, and I shook my head with teasing grin.
"And yet somehow, I can't cook as well as any of you."
He shrugged. "I don't know…I think you're better than Emmett."
I had to laugh at that and he joined me. "Charlie was better than Emmett."
"Hey!" Emmett shouted from the living room, his booming voice echoing in the kitchen.
"I'll take it back if you eat anything you cook." Edward offered in a conversational tone, and Emmett gagged.
"No thanks. Human food is awful." He appeared in the doorway then. "Speaking of which, what is that terrible smell?" I laughed at his grimace and chucked a towel at him, which he easily caught and dropped on the counter.
"Chicken Parmesan." I informed him haughtily. His grin confused me until Edward's hand shot out in front of my face, holding the towel he'd thrown aloft. He growled softly and Emmett leaned forward eagerly, his lips pulled back.
"Boys…" Esme warned, her eyes going back and forth between them warily, and Carlisle smirked. Emmett growled irritably and crossed his arms, mumbling about never being allowed to have any fun. Edward relaxed but eyes him with anticipation, and I knew that they'd have it out later…probably outside and far enough away that Esme wouldn't hear. I smirked, wondering if they'd let me watch.
Watching Edward and my brothers play was a mix of terrifying and amazing. They almost never became truly angry with one another, but it was always funny when Emmett lost since he was such a bad sport about it. Once to retaliate against Edward after a loss, he'd lunged at me where I was sitting safely on a fallen tree a few feet away, grabbing me gently around the waist and leaping into a tall tree, ignoring my screams of protest as I immediately locked my arms around his neck, and Edward had followed furiously, snarling instinctively at his brother.
Emmett had continued to play the part, knowing that Edward wouldn't chance getting too close when I was dangling over the branch, and had bared his teeth at me, making me realize that he was letting me in on the game. Grinning, I'd bared my teeth back and growled, making him lose his composure and roar with laughter. Suddenly Jasper had appeared behind us silently, shoving at Emmett who was tackled by a grinning Edward, and catching me easily before I was even aware that I was falling. I'd laughed then as Jasper had sat me carefully on the branch to sit beside him, both of us watching in amusement as Edward beat his brother again.
Half hoping for a repeat performance, I pulled the dish from the oven when the timer beeped, carefully folding the towel around my hand as I touched the hot pan. The smell made my stomach rumble and everyone in the room grinned. "Don't you have somewhere to be?" I asked Emmett with a glare as I spooned the chicken onto my plate. He laughed and ruffled my hair, then went off in search of Rosalie. Carlisle and Esme smiled as well, pausing touch my arm or hug me, then headed upstairs to their room. Edward sat beside me at the counter, his shoulder touching mine, and made small talk while I ate.
Thank you all for reading. I hope you liked it! :D