Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Author's notes: Thanks for the engagement and comments folks! For those of you cringing at the gross baby stuff, it's all real - or, it was, when my children were younger :-) Don't worry, no videos or pictures. If it hadn't happened to me, I wouldn't believe it. Trust me. The gross Dr. Carr is all made up, but I've met my fair share of physicians who swim in the swill of misogyny. Chewer - have you read Midnight Sun? I took my inspiration from the incident there. I felt it kept things in character. Frostedglaze - yes, yes Edward *did* strong arm Alice into leaving (at least in this story).
It was its own, particular torture to be made to be around the people who knew her well.
Edward's family didn't want him to suffer, but they weren't sparing him the consequences of his choice, either.
"Jasper and Carlisle are busy," Esme said, "and Alice and Emmett are keeping an eye on her."
He didn't bother with suggesting Rose. She would just rub his nose in it.
"Hunting first," Esme said, looking at him, worried, but stern too.
He wanted to argue, not be away more than he thought necessary, but Esme's eyes told him there was an argument brewing. After the words he'd had with Jasper, it would be hypocritical to argue otherwise.
"Fine," he said, going and returning as quickly as he could. He changed, and went to retrieve the Volvo from the garage. Opening the driver side door, he paused, looking at the latest addition in the backseat. It smelled new, and expensive. He wondered if Bella would approve.
Probably not.
He avoided greeting anyone he saw in town. It didn't lessen the torture of what their minds showed him, though.
It was challenging to move through the grocery store at an acceptable pace, putting things in the cart from the list Esme had thought at him as he'd walked from the house.
At the checkout, Edward found himself unavoidably confronted by one of Bella's acquaintances—the clerk knew her from school.
Whoa, the boy thought. So he's back. Wonder if they're together again.
As he began tallying Edward's order, he drew his own conclusions.
Well, either he's got his own kid, or he's shopping for hers. Weird.
His thoughts centred on how different Bella looked with a baby. Edward didn't like these much. They were entirely gratuitous.
Then the boy remembered what Bella had looked like, those months after Edward left.
The shift was remarkable.
Edward tried to drown out those thoughts with the ones of the nearest people. It didn't work well, and he felt himself sickened, watching the horrors afresh.
Walking into the school was no better.
Jasper had left a laptop behind, in their speedy departure from town.
It hadn't been something they'd missed, but Esme had insisted. "People don't just leave things like that. We need to collect it," she'd said. "You were liked there. It shouldn't be a problem."
Had been liked. Yes.
Then they'd left.
Mrs. Cope, so enthralled before by his charms, was less receptive now.
Her memories of Bella were much more vivid. She'd seen her often, and what she'd seen had been ugly indeed.
He was not spared in judgement, or memory.
"Thank you," he mumbled, when she handed over the laptop.
He'd sought the quiet of the forest after dropping the things off at home, relieving Emmett, and joining Alice.
"No," she said, "that would not be a good idea," and shook her head. "Don't."
He said nothing, but watched with her, the silence equally weighted between them.
