Sam

Edward and Embry were subdued when they arrived back at the house, and Sam immediately noted the scrape across Edward's cheek. He waited until Edward was preoccupied with Emmett, before rounding on Embry.

"Outside," he said. Embry followed him out to the driveway. "What the hell?"

"It wasn't me," Embry signed. "He snapped a bow."

"He what?"

"He has more power than I expected. He over shot the bow, and it snapped. But it's just a scratch. I patched it up myself." Embry pulled the snapped bow and handed it to Sam. Sam took it, and looked at the snapped arm.

"Well then, did you get anywhere with him?" He asked, handing it back.

"I got him angry," Embry signed. "He thinks that Brady's death, and everything else was his fault. I have a feeling we're getting close to tapping into his emotions." He stowed the bow in his bag.

"Any suggestions on where to go from here?"

"I think we need to push him harder," Embry signed.

"That's risky," Jared said, joining them.

"I know, but until he breaks down, he's just going to fall further into this depression. Have any of us seen him eat since we've been here?" Embry pointed out. Sam and Jared had to admit they hadn't been paying enough attention to notice. "Well I have, and apart from a few bites of breakfast, which he more than worked off at the archery range today, he hasn't touched the food we've been pushing at him. We need to take a different tack with that, too."

"I was thinking we should do a bonfire tonight," Jared volunteered. We could do s'mores or something, and maybe it'll get him talking." Sam agreed.

"Let's make a grocery run. You good here?" Embry nodded. The grocery store was busy, and both Sam and Jared eyed the people. "Together," Sam said. Jared nodded.

"I see what you're doing, by the way," Jared said.

"What do you mean?" Sam asked, tossing a bag of marshmallows in the cart.

"Pushing Jacob at Edward. Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"It wasn't my idea. You know how Jacob gets, and Bella and Embry both told me that Edward has this idea that he's unloveable. I don't see the point in stopping Jacob, if it stays as harmless as it has been so far. I told him to be careful, though. But we need to trust him. It's just as likely that Edward could hurt him, as the other way around."

"Can we allow that?" Jared asked. "If it comes to it, who should be our priority?"

"That's not even a question we should be asking. It it all goes to shit, we'll have to play it by ear. And nothing's even happened yet."

"But do we want it to?" Jared pressed.

"I think we want them all to be happy, and if this is what makes them happy, it's worth it."

"I think you're a romantic, and you're enjoying the idea of being matchmaker for one of your boys," Jared said, rolling his eyes.

"Well, there's that too," Sam admitted easily. Jared laughed with a shake of his head.

"Remind me to tell Embry I owe him five bucks."

"Seriously?" Sam rolled his eyes.

"You're the one playing matchmaker."

Edward

Edward watched while Emmett and Embry built the fire. A few months ago, Emmett built the firepit, with the idea that they would all use it regularly, but so far it'd only been used once. It was a wide circle of logs around a smaller circle of rocks for the fire. Jacob came out with blankets and Emmett's guitar case.

"Sam and Jared should be back soon," Jacob said. Edward nodded. He was tired. So tired. Ever since he'd arrived, there was always something to do, someone to talk to, and trying to sleep in Brady's bedroom, alone, with just Jellybean, was almost impossible. But he couldn't say that, not to any of them, since they were working so hard to help him. "What's wrong?" Jacob asked, depositing the blankets and the guitar, and sitting down next to him.

"Nothing," Edward said with a sigh. "I guess it's just… Look, I appreciate what you've all done for me and everything, but it's just a lot. All at once."

"So you're tired," Jacob surmised. Edward nodded. "And you want a break from people trying to fix you." Edward nodded again, more slowly. "And you'd really like everyone to leave you alone for a while." Edward looked at him suspiciously. How was he so accurate? "I felt the same way. My brother pushed and pushed to make sure I was 'recovered.' But you can't keep pushing a person, or you'll end up pushing them away. No one would blame you if you just… took a walk for a while, on your own."

"Yeah?"

"Sure. Go on. I'll make sure you have a couple hours. If you aren't back by then, I can't stop the search parties."

"Thanks," Edward said, getting up. He walked away down the beach.

Jacob

As he watched Edward walk away, Jacob felt a twinge of… something.

"Where's he going?" Emmett asked. Embry, too, was looking at him with narrowed eyes.

"He needs a break. We threw him into the deep end, and if we don't give him time to adjust, it's not going to end the way we want it to. Give him a couple of hours, he'll be back."

"Fine," Embry said, going back to the firepit. But when Emmett and Embry were both distracted by the fire, Jacob followed Edward, keeping his distance, but keeping him in his sight. Just to make sure he was alright, he told himself. He watched Edward wander for a while, bending down from time to time to pick up a shell or something. Then he turned inland, as if he recognized the area, and wanted to find something he remembered, or maybe something he saw in a picture. There was nothing around that looked specific to anything to Jacob, but Edward seemed to know where he was going, and walked confidently, almost urgently. Jacob followed him, curious now. As far as he knew, there was nothing special this way, just a few stores and the high school. Why would Edward want to go there? Edward finally stopped at the fence to the school. He trailed a hand along the chainlink until he found what he was evidently looking for, a gap, big enough for a thin person to squeeze through. Jacob watched as he crossed the school grounds, heading for a door at the corner. Apparently, it was locked, because when Edward pulled on it, it didn't budge. He stepped back to look at it, and let out a defeated sigh. He trudged back to the fence, unsurprised to see Jacob waiting for him.

"I figured you'd follow me," he said, squeezing back through.

"You're not mad?" Jacob asked, stepping back so he'd have room.

"No, not really."

"What were you looking for?" Jacob asked.

"Well, I was sort of…" Edward sighed, searching for the right words. "This is where Brady went to school. I guess I was looking for some kind of sign that he was here. That probably sounds stupid."

"No, it doesn't."

"But there isn't anything. Everywhere I look, all I see is the absence of him. So if he's not here, then what's the point of me being here?" Jacob looked at him sharply, but Edward wasn't looking at him. "Maybe I should just go home."

"Is that what you want?" Jacob asked, cautious.

"No," Edward said with a defeated sigh. "There's nothing for me there, either."

"Well, maybe you didn't find Brady, but there's more for you here than just him. Besides, you don't have to go anywhere else to find him. He's always with you," Jacob said. They found a bench, and sat, looking across at the school.

"That's the thing people say when they don't realize how dumb it sounds," Edward said bluntly. "He's not with me. That's exactly the problem. And the more I think about it, the more I realize he never was." Edward's voice cracked, and he swallowed hard.

"Edward, that's-"

"Don't. Look, I know you're trying to help, but just don't. Go back to your brother and your friends, and leave me alone." Edward got up.

"I can't."

"Try." Edward walked away, toward the school, and beyond it. Jacob watched him leave, and sat back down heavily. Shit.

Edward

Rage boiled up inside Edward, and he walked without knowing where he was going. They didn't get it. They didn't understand. They thought that talking and shooting arrows and eating were going to make all his problems go away, but they were wrong. None of that helped, and he was still as fucked as he'd been before he left Ohio.

He was so lost in his thoughts that he lost track of where he was, and he found himself in the outskirts of Clearwater, across the street from a drugstore. He looked at it for a long minute, before realizing what he was looking at. Brady knew this drugstore. He crossed the street and went in. It was similar to every other gas station drugstore, but still, he took his time wandering the aisles. He was tempted, so tempted. And no one was here to stop him. Not one person knew where he was. Unless Jacob followed him, but he didn't think so. He looked around, but no one was paying attention. And the temptation was so strong.

So he got a basket from the stack by the door, and filled it with whatever he could reach - junk food, food that would go down easily and come up even more easily. He stayed away from bread and chips, knowing from ample experience that unless he ate them with a lot of liquid, purging them would be a pain. Within five minutes, he had what he wanted, paid for it all, and left. He found a secluded place next to an abandoned parking lot, and this was where he binged, eating everything in a matter of minutes. And once it was gone, he felt nauseous, sick, and in pain. His only goal was to get it all out. He wasn't far from a public restroom, and took advantage of the physical female body he couldn't stand, and went into the women's restroom. It was one of those with just the one open room and a locking door. He made sure it was locked, before going to the trash can - purging into a toilet never appealed to him, backsplash was always more than expected - and made quick work of ridding himself of all the food in his stomach. When he was empty, he took a couple of swallows from a bottle of gatorade, and purged again, to be sure. Then he washed his hands and splashed water on his face, and threw a bunch of paper towels into the trash can. He caught his reflection in the mirror, watery red eyes and perpetually chapped lips and pale skin. He was grotesque, and after how he treated Jacob, it was no wonder he was alone.

"You just have to get through this trip," he told his reflection. "Just a few more days, and they'll get sick of you and send you back." He left the bathroom, looking around carefully for anyone he knew, but he was alone. So profoundly alone, and he didn't know where to go. He reached for his pocket for his phone, only to remember that it was still in his backpack, back in Brady's room. "Shit." What was he going to do now? From somewhere up ahead, he could hear the sound of the ocean, but he wasn't sure which way to go to get back to Esme's house. He figured that staying still was pointless, so he headed toward the sound of waves anyway.