Spring Blossoms
Chapter 20:
Leah walked across the forest, mulling over what she would do. She had insisted on not going home first to put her car in the driveway. She was going straight to Bella's house, knock on the door, and come clean.
"Leah?" Quil and Embry approached her. " I thought you said you wouldn't... Jacob!"
Quil and Embry pass by Leah rushing towards Jacob. They enthusiastically greet him, not noticing that Leah had gone ahead, paying them no mind.
"Yo Leah, wait up!" Jacob calls out to her. He sprints towards her side. "Together, OK?"
"OK." Leah chokes out the words. Quil and Embry look concerned.
"Hey Leah...you OK?" Embry asks. He and Quil exchange looks.
"No..." Leah fights back tears.
"Hey...uh..." Quil stops. "Don't go near Edward's house. He and Bella seem to have had a spat of sorts."
"Huh..." Leah's eyes widen.
"Yeah, I don;t know the details, but he and Bella got into a fight, and she left. Took Nessie with her and everything!" Quil points South. "Heard she took his car too!"
"Quil, stop being such a gossip!" Embry smacks Quil upside the head. "Well, we heard about it from Jared, who saw Edward's car leave town, and Seth told us all that Bella was pissed at Edward!"
"You guys know why?" Jacob places a comforting hand on Leah's shoulder. He didn't need to ask, of course, he already knew.
"Yeah! It's because..."Embry had shut Quil's mouth at that moment.
"Quil! What the hell I just tell you? We don't know that for sure!"
"He cheated on her..." Both boys are shocked at Leah's knowledge of the situation.
"Y-yeah, that's what Seth said...how did you..." Embry was afraid to finish that question.
"Because I'm the other woman..." Leah's face falls upon saying these words.
"What the..." Quil's shocked face speaks a thousand words.
"Leah..." Embry's shock is self evident.
"I know." Leah picks up a stone, and throws it into the air. "I fucked up, I fucked up like none of you has ever fucked up before. Like no one in our entire fucking tribe's ever fucked up before! I'm the biggest fuck up in BOTH fucking packs!"
"I mean...of all people to do that, you're the one person I last expected to do this." Embry speaks up. "I mean, after what happened between you, Sam and Emily..."
"I know..." Leah breaks down in tears, and falls to the ground. She starts crying.
"Wow...first time I ever seen her cry..." Quil whispers to Jacob.
"I know, not a pretty sight..." Jacob whispers back.
"Leah...don't...just tell me...what the hell where you thinking?" Embry stamps his foot.
"I..." Leah tells Embry her story. "I was so scared of losing Edward..."
"A married man, Leah? A fucking married man? Didn't it occur to you that such a guy was not right for you? What the hell?" Embry angrily picks her up. "What the hell made you think he loved you?"
"I..." Leah is shocked.
"Listen to me! He cheated on his WIFE with you! The same woman he'd swore he'd to love for all fucking eternity! His words mean fucking NOTHING! Words, words, words, that's all Edward's fucking good for!" Embry angrily punches a tree. "He and you...just..."
"I loved him because he listened to me. I thought he was such a gentleman...So dedicated to his family, so sincere...so gentle..." Leah's eyes are misty and lulled.
"He wasn't. He isn't." Embry's eyes reflect fury. "Didn't you ever thought you could do BETTER than him? At least do better than a fucking married man? That you DESERVED better?"
"I..." Leah is shocked at Embry's words. So is Quil, but Jacob looks reflective.
"I'm disappointed..." Embry kicks a stone away. "I don't know you at all..."
"Embry's crush on Leah came back recently..." Quil whispers to Jacob. "But...I think it's dead now."
"No shit..." Jacob whispers back.
"I'm sorry..." Leah begins to cry again. "I'm so sorry..."
"Since when do you cry?" Embry doesn't look at Leah. He keeps his eyes looking at the horizon. "Why the hell did you bother coming back?"
"I wanted to come clean..." Leah dries her tears, and stands up. "I wanted to confess everything to Bella."
"Why bother? You could have just run away." Embry sighs.
"Do I look like the kind of girl who runs away?" Leah's fiery spirit came back at that moment. "I know I fucked up! But I'm not gonna ignore what I did! I need to make amends, guys. I need to come clean to Bella..."
"She already found out..." Embry turns his gaze towards Leah.
"I know..." Leah looks away. "I'm too late..."
"Seth did seem pretty pissed off this morning..." Quil speaks up. "Hey...shit that must have been why... He put two and two together.."
"Huh?" Jacob looks at Quil.
"See, Leah and Edward hung around a lot. Edward cheated on his wife. Ergo..." Quil slaps his forehead. "Shit, why didn't I think of that?"
"Because if you did, all of La Push would have found out by now." Embry slaps Quil upside the head, then laughs. "You can't ever keep your mouth shut!"
"Come on guys." Jacob says mid laughter. "Let's go home. I need to visit my family."
"Yeah! Everyone's missed y, bro!" Quil puts his arm around his best friend.
"Yeah guys, let's go home." Embry also wraps his arm around Jacob. He notices Leah standing deep in thought. "Come on Leah, let's go home."
"I was so selfish..." Leah whispers. "I destroyed a family..."
"Hey." Jacob speaks up. "You messed up, Edward messed up. The past is the past. But the future still waits for us."
"Yeah..." Leah wipes away the last of her tears. "Time for me to face the music..."
…
…
Meanwhile...
Carlisle walked towards Edward's cottage. He sees Emmett and Jasper restraining their wives, who looked like they were ready to cut someone's head off. He walks towards Esme.
"Uh...so they got their hands on him?" Carlisle sighs.
"Yeah..." Esme rubs her temple. "Carlisle...I think it's time you and I told him THAT story..."
"Yeah..." Carlisle straightens his tie. "Never thought I'd have to tell this tale..."
Carlisle and Esme make their way towards Edward's house, but Carlisle stops his wife. "I think...it's better if I speak to him, alone..."
Carlisle enters the cottage. He sees some tables and bookcases that have been broken. He sees Edward, laying on the ground by himself.
"Hey..." Carlisle offers his son a hand.
"Hey..." Edward doesn't get up. "You heard..."
"Yep." Carlisle takes a seat. "I never expected you to take it that far..."
"I know..." Edward sits up. "I messed up..."
"Understatement of the century." Carlisle looks away. "Eighty Twenty."
"What?" Edward is puzzled.
"The Eighty Twenty Rule, ever heard of it?" Carlisle rubs his chin while Edward shakes his head. "Basically, it means that in life, we fall in love, right? But, no matter what, we will always have individual needs. No partner in life could ever satisfy these needs one hundred percent. The most that can be achieved is eighty percent. And that's OK, because even though life is not perfect, that eighty percent is still wonderful, and worth having."
Edward nods his head, fascinated by Carlisle's speech.
"But we sometimes feel that 20 percent. We get greedy, and start wishing for that twenty. And that's OK too. That's life, and it is unrealistic to think we can live with just 80. And sometimes, we meet someone who fulfills that twenty percent. And we get this urge, this feeling that says 'I want that twenty.' And that's OK."
Edward cocks his eyebrow. Where was Carlisle going with this?
"But what's not OK is pursuing that twenty. You already have your eighty, right? But you get greedy, and start messing around with your twenty. And that is not OK, it's not OK to cheat on your wife for some woman who gives you a temporary thrill... It's not OK to cheat on your wife, even if the other woman fascinates you, or does things your wife just doesn't do..."
Edward remains shocked at Carlisle's speech. "How..."
"I never told any of you what I am about to tell you... Edward, I know what it's like to feel tempted...back in the Sixties...I met a woman..."
Edward's eyes bulge out. He gets up.
"Her name was Spring Blossoms. She was a hippie, you see. Played tambourine with a band... She was beautiful. She had blue eyes like the sky, hair as yellow as sunshine..." Carlisle closes his eyes, remembering Spring Blossoms. "She always wore flowers in her hair...her skin was pure white, and her smile...God it shone brighter than any star in Heaven..."
Edward shakes in anger. "You cheated on Esme...?"
"Hold on a second there, son. We're getting ahead of ourselves. I met Spring in a hospital I worked at... She was bringing in the drummer of her band, who had fallen off a stage or something. The drummer, she broke her leg, so I patched her up. Anyway, Spring gives me that smile of hers, and she just hugs me, right out of the blue. I was too shocked to do anything, so I hugged her back... I found myself entranced by her beauty. It was so...Heavenly, yet down to Earth at the same time. She wore simple clothing, sandals instead of shoes, short cloth sheets instead of gowns, or dresses, flowers instead of hats, never a drop of makeup on her..."
"What the hell..." Edward is at a loss for words.
"So...I find myself attending one of her concerts. I was entranced by her singing. I thought about so many things of turning her into a vampire, and giving her to you as a mate...but...the idea of anyone ELSE receiving that smile of hers...it filled me with such a jealousy..."
Edward is too stunned to say anything.
"For the record she and I never did anything physical, but I begin to get ahead of myself. I began to hang out with her with increasing frequency. I attended all her concerts, without fail. Maybe you noticed, or maybe you didn't, but that was when Esme and I began to somewhat drift apart. I began taking her for granted at the time...Well, anyway, one day, I'm with Spring in her dressing room..."
Carlisle closes his eyes, as he remembers that day...
"So pretty..." Spring admires the tie dye T-Shirt Carlisle had given her. She starts singing. "Picture yourself on a boat in a river, with tangerine trees and marmalade skies..."
"Is that a new song, Spring?" Carlisle smiles at her.
"No, John Lennon wrote it. I love the Beatles..." Spring spins around the room, and falls into Carlisle's arms. "Your like the Sun and Moon, man..."
"I am?" Carlisle chuckles. "How so?"
"Your skin is like, so white, but your hair is like, so yellow..." Spring stares into Carlisle's eyes. "You got kaleidoscope eyes..."
Having her in his arms, staring at his eyes, Carlisle feels a strong force within him. He finally comes to terms with the fact that he had fallen for her...
"I fell in love with Spring Blossoms." Carlisle sighs. "One day, as I was at one of her concerts, Esme followed me, saw me with her, and stormed off. Of course, I wouldn't find out about it until later, when a hippie told me."
"What..." Edward analyzes the story. "But you and Esme are still together!"
"Hear me out. So it turns out that Fudge, a fellow member of Spring's band, had seen Esme. He asked me if she was my wife, and I said yes. Then he goes on a long speech about marriage, love, and basically the Eighty Twenty rule I told you about. So, I go home, and confess everything to Esme. She was mad, of course. It took me years to undo the damage I had done to our marriage, and even then there were still a few scars. I saw Spring one more time...in the year 1973. June 14, 1973 to be precise. That was the day Fudge came to this new hospital I worked in, carrying Spring. She was dying...drug overdose. There was nothing I could do... She and I had one last moment together. She looked into my eyes, and said 'You have kaleidoscope eyes.' Then she passed away..."
Edward sits down, shocked at the story.
"Esme and I mourned her passing in secret from the rest of you. We kept this secret, and I'm sorry... Esme never wished any ill will against Spring, I was the one she was mad at most. I almost gave her up, Edward...but when I looked into Esme's eyes, I saw something. Every time I look into her eyes, there was always this element I saw in her, that I never saw in anyone else. But I could never put my finger in it, until I got involved with Spring. Esme had kaleidoscope eyes, Edward. She has kaleidoscope eyes. I know it doesn't make sense to the mind, but it makes sense to me. It reminded me what I almost threw away, and I swore I'd never again stray."
"There was this song... 'Kaleidoscope Eyes' by this band called The Peaches..." Suddenly, it's all clear to Edward. "What was the name of her band?"
"The Peaches." Carlisle chuckles. "Yep, that song is about me and her..."
"How..." Edward is contemplative.
"Edward, some loves are temporary, but they leave a lasting impression on you. Help make you a better man, I mean. I think that becoming better people is mankind's reason to exist..." Carlisle gets up. "I managed to fix my marriage with hard work and self improvement. Don't give up, son."