Jacob

Jacob sat at the kitchen table the next morning, stirring a cup of tea that had gone cold over an hour ago. Embry had come and gone, and so had Jared. But finally Sam came down, towelling his hair dry. He tossed the towel in the washing machine, and slid into the seat across from Jacob.

"Talk," he said, sparing them both by not wasting time with pointless small talk.

"I just… It's so obvious what he needs," Jacob said. "I could give you a list. But he's so walled off, and every time I think we've figured his walls out, they evolve into something new. I want to help him, and I know we can, but I'm afraid that if we do it the wrong way, it's going to push him over an edge that we'll never get him back from."

"You always surprise me with your empathy," Sam said. "I hope you never lose that. Do you have any ideas for how to move forward?"

"I've been thinking about last night. Bella said that Edward doesn't cry, but when Emmett gave him a hug, he did. I think we can use that. I didn't think about it until now, but maybe physical touch is part of the answer. Hugs," he clarified at Sam's confused look.

"And how are you feeling about the other part of yesterday?" Sam asked. Jacob shrugged.

"He was right, for one thing. Those pointless platitudes are useless, and Brady isn't here. Words aren't going to change that, and to say he's here when he isn't, just sounds insensitive. And he's right about another thing. We've always had each other when it mattered. Even Emmett has always had someone. But Edward's been alone for so long that he doesn't think that people will stay around for him. He's lashing out because he thinks that if he pushes us away first, he won't get hurt when we leave."

"So your plan is to… What?"

"Prove our resilience. Especially mine."

"Be-" Sam started, but Jacob shook his head.

"Careful, I know. But think about it. He won't get close to anyone if they show him they'll leave. And I'm the only one in a position to do exactly that. You and Jared have a lot to deal with. Embry will always prefer his own company. Emmett is straight. Bella and Mike have their own responsibilities. That just leaves me. Plus, he already pushed me away once, and I'm willing to bet that I can use that to try to reach him."

"Just remember that at the end of the day, you matter too," Sam said. Jacob cocked his head, confused for a second.

"Trust me," he said. "I have my own personal interests at heart here as much as his. If I can break through his shell, then maybe he'll see that, too."

Edward

Edward woke up in a room he didn't recognize, and when he took stock of himself, he realize that what he was wearing, pajama bottoms and a tshirt, weren't what he'd fallen asleep in. What was going on? His eyes and throat ached, and when he sat up, he had the headache from hell. Gingerly, he stood up and made his way out of the room, and down the hall. Slowly, yesterday began to surface in his mind, and he cringed at how awful he'd been to Jacob. He also vaguely remembered getting changed, and Emmett letting him sleep in his bed. He went to the bathroom to find something for a headache, and struck lucky with some ibuprofen. When he closed the mirror, he caught his reflection, and god damn, he looked awful. His skin was chalky, pale, with deep, dark circles under his eyes. His lips were chapped, and even he could see how painfully thin he was. For him, gaining weight wasn't the nightmare. The nightmare was losing the control he clung to. But christ, he looked sick. He swallowed the medicine, and went to the living room to wait for it to kick in. Or he would have, but he heard voices.

"We can't put too many expectations on him. Pushing him too far, too fast is going to do more harm than good."

"But if we don't, how much longer can he really keep going the way he is? How much do you think he weighs? 90 pounds? We need to get him to eat something, something he'll keep down." Edward tried to listen to what they were saying, but his headache wasn't going away, and being upright was proving difficult. Maybe some fresh air would help. He walked through the kitchen to the back door, and down to the beach, sitting down near the water's edge. He hugged his knees and looked out at the water, and the morbid game he played in his head came to mind. Would this be the place he wanted to die? Maybe drowning was how he wanted to go. Or maybe he could just sit here long enough and disappear. He rested his chin on his knees. Maybe he'd get lucky, and it would happen when he was asleep. Maybe he'd just go to sleep, and peace would find him. He nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt Jellybean's cheek rubbing on his shoulder. She put her paws on his knees, and her great big amber eyes looked into his reproachfully. He stared back, convinced she was yelling at him in cat.

"I'm sorry," he said. "There's just no coming back from this. Can't you understand that? I don't want to, but everyone says this will go away, and it just doesn't. I'm so tired of everything, and I can't make it better. Maybe this will." She jumped into his lap, forcing him to cross his legs to make her a lap. Which she then proceeded to curl up in. She stretched, revealing her fluffy stomach, and looked up at him with adoring eyes. Some commotion back at the house made him turn, and his mouth went dry. Was that his mom? She was walking toward him, working on keeping her face devoid of the anger he knew was boiling inside her.

"Elizabeth, get your things," she said. Her use of his birth name sent a pang through his chest. Still, he stood up and carried the cat inside. He handed her to Emmett without a word, and went to Brady's bedroom to get his backpack. From somewhere, Bella was arguing with someone, probably his dad, but Edward couldn't fight reality. Their life here, Clearwater, this was not his reality. And this was probably the last time he'd have a chance to come here. Someone, Jacob, brushed past him, searching the room quickly for something.

"Take this with you," he said, sliding a black journal into the front pocket of Edward's backpack.

"I'm sorry," Edward said. "About yesterday. I didn't mean it."

"Don't worry about that. Water under the bridge."

"Elizabeth. Let's go." His mother stood in the doorway. Edward looked up at Jacob finally, green eyes meeting blue, and tried to smile.

"It was nice to meet you," he said. He wanted to say something else, something more, but he didn't have the time. "Goodbye," was all he could manage. He followed his mom out to the car, where his dad was waiting. The car door closed behind him, and he knew, he just knew that he would never see any of them again. He couldn't make himself look at them. They'd tried so hard to help him, and he hadn't done enough. It was so typical, he though, wasting this opportunity. And to top it off, he never even got to say goodbye to Brady. And now he'd never get that chance.

"You ever pull a stunt like that again, leaving the state without telling anyone, we'll send the police after you," his mom said, once they pulled away from the house. Edward didn't say anything. He watched Clearwater pass in mostly a blur. The last thing to go past was the cemetery. Another blow to his heart. He forced the tears away. He would not cry in front of his family. In the front seat, his parents were still raging about having to go so far out of their way, and missing some big tournament Tony was in, to go get him. He didn't listen. They stopped for food halfway back to Orlando. Edward ate quietly, and excused himself to go to the bathroom. His parents didn't notice. Once back in the car, he put earbuds in and stretched out on the back seat, sleep overtaking him quickly. That was how his mother found him when they reached the hotel an hour later, not asleep, but unresponsive.

"David!" She all but screamed his dad's name. "David, what's wrong? I bet they gave her something. Drugs or something. She's lost so much weight, I bet it's drugs." His dad called 911.

"Yes, hi, my daughter. We're on a road trip, and we thought she was sleeping, but she won't wake up. Is she breathing? Uh, let me… Shit, no, I think she's not. Wait, yes, but it's shallow." He stayed on the call until an ambulance arrived. His parents hovered as EMTs pulled Edward out of the car, and laid his on a stretcher.

"I have a pulse," one of them said, a gloved hand at Edward's neck. "Let's get oxygen on her. What's her name?"

"Elizabeth," his mother said from her spot next to the car.

"Alright, Elizabeth, stay with us, okay honey?"

They wheeled him away to the waiting ambulance, and his mother followed them.

"How old is she?" One of them asked once they'd loaded her into the ambulance.

"Seventeen. Could it be drugs? She's lost a lot of weight the past few months, and she's so secretive. She used to talk to me. We were like best friends. And now she's always closed off, and never talks."

"We're going to look into everything, ma'am," he said. He tried several times to draw blood, finally managing it, and getting several vials, and checked blood pressure and the rest of the kid's vitals.

It was a flurry of activity when they reached the hospital. Edward wasn't responding to any attempts to wake him up. They ran tox screens, but there were no drugs anywhere in his system. They got him on IVs to get electrolytes and fluids. Some of his color began to return, but he still wasn't waking up. His breathing skipped and slowed so low that they decided he needed a breathing tube, and once they weighed him, at 96 pounds, they decided a feeding tube was necessary as well.

"There has to be more to this," one of the doctors said to another, reviewing the case. Even with severe eating disorders, they usually don't stay out this long. I'm going to talk to the parents again." She found Edward's parents, together with his brother, in the waiting room. His mother was making no secret of how annoyed she was that she had to wait. "Hi Mr. and Mrs. Masen, we just have a few questions." She indicated a set of chairs off to the side, and they all sat down to talk. "Can you tell me anything that's been going on in Elizabeth's life? What was she doing the last week or so?" Edward's mom sighed in exasperation.

"We don't know. We left her home while we went with our son to a tournament in Orlando. The next thing we know, her friend Bella is calling us, saying that she's taking Elizabeth to Florida to meet some friends. So we went and got her, and then when we arrive back at our hotel, she won't wake up. Typical."

"Excuse me, ma'am, but there is nothing typical about your daughter's case," the doctor said with a frown. "We found no drugs in her system, but she is extremely underweight and dehydrated. Were you aware that your daughter is in the midst of a life-threatening eating disorder? Which does not explain why, even with fluids and a feeding tube, she still hasn't woken up."

"It's not life-threatening. People recover from eating disorders all the time," Edward's dad said dismissively.

"And they die from them every day. And it is my professional opinion that if we don't figure out what exactly she's dealing with quickly, then your daughter is going to be one of them. Soon. I need the number for your daughter's friend." Edward's dad pulled out his phone, and wrote down the number on a napkin.

"Thank you." The doctor took the napkin, and went back to her office. She dialed the number, and it rang twice before Bella answered.

"Hello?" She sounded upset, but she was working to keep her voice calm.

"Hi, is this Bella? I'm Dr. Evans and Mercy Health hospital in Orlando. I'm afraid I can't tell you too much over the phone except that your friend, Elizabeth-"

"It's Edward," she corrected.

"Alright then, well you friend has been admitted as a patient here, and we have some questions that need answers."

"Yes, I imagine you do," she said, her voice grim. "Just, can you tell me, is Edward alright?"

"I'm afraid that over the phone, there's not much information I can give you."

"I thought it was worth a try. We'll be there in… how long of a drive is it from Clearwater? A couple of hours? We'll be there soon."

"Your speed would be much appreciated," Dr. Evans said.

"I understand," she said. "And thank you."