Edward

Edward didn't know how long they lay in bed. They were under blankets, but neither of them felt like moving, so their clothes still lay in crumpled piles on the floor. Jacob held him, safe and close, one hand stroking his hair, and the other arm around him, not to keep him confined, but to give him a sense of security.

"Edward," he said finally, breaking the silence.

"Hmm?"

"What happened to your face?"

"My face?" Edward had no idea what he was talking about, until Jacob touched his jaw. Edward had completely forgotten about that. "Oh… it was just something dumb," he said. It was such a complicated situation. Jacob waited, and it was clear he wanted to hear it. Edward sighed. "This past season, at my school, I made the Varsity soccer team, and the coach took the captain C from another guy and said that because some of us were pulling our weight and others weren't, he was going to hold tryouts and see which one of us deserved the C. My parents all but insisted I try for it, and what the hell, it's not like I had any chance. No one in their right mind would make me captain. Except the coach did, because Tony was the team captain until he graduated last year, and I'm a legacy. So the former captain was pissed, and at Tony's party last night, he hit me."

"That's stupid."

"That's high school," Edward corrected. "Whatever. He got it out of his system, I think, and it could have been a lot worse." Jacob looked at him sharply at that.

"So because it could have been worse, you're going to ignore that it happened?" He asked

"Mhm. Have you seen the size of him? He's got a foot and easily a hundred pounds on me. I'm going to consider myself lucky. It's not like I can play soccer anymore, anyway." He sat up, and almost immediately cringed and lay back against the pillows.

"What's wrong?"

"Alcohol. Alcohol is very wrong, and a horrible thing." He rolled over on his stomach, burying his face in the pillow.

"Maybe next time lay off the alcohol, then," Jacob suggested.

"I didn't drink it by choice."

"But then how…" Realization dawned on Jacob, and his expression grew dark. "You're never going back there," he said firmly.

"I have to," he said, forcing himself to sit up and look for his clothes as his mood sank like a rock. "I need clothes. And stuff." He pulled on the pajama pants and the t shirt he was wearing last night. Now that he was upright, his headache pounded, and he gritted his teeth. Jacob pulled on his own pants and shirt, and followed Edward out to the kitchen.

"Then you're not going alone," he said. Bella sat at the kitchen table, feeding Michael.

"Morning," she said.

"Hi," Jacob said. "Do you have any aspirin?" But Edward was already in the bathroom, swallowing several Ibuprofen with a mouthful of water from the tap. He pulled on the coat that wasn't his, and braced himself for the cold.

"Edward, at least have breakfast before you go," Bella called after him.

"Not hungry," Edward said. Jacob grabbed his coat, too, and jogged the few steps to catch up to him.

"Hey," he said, catching up to Edward and turning him around so they were facing each other. "Talk to me. What happened?" Edward hesitated. Finally, he sighed in resignation.

"This," he gestured between them. "This is not reality. Not for me. My reality is that," he pointed at his house. "My reality doesn't get to include you. That's why Brady died. I get it now. Other people get the relationship with who they want. Other people get someone in their lives who cares if they're taking care of themselves or not. Other people can eat what they want, and live the way they want. But not. Me."

"But you have me."

"For how long, though? Because sooner or later, you're going to leave, and then it'll all be over." Tears welled up, and he dashed them away angrily. "Why do you care? What do you want?"

"I don't know," Jacob said slowly. "I want someone to love. And when Brady told us about you, and you showed him over and over how much you cared about him, no matter what he'd gone through, I knew that was what I wanted. Someone like you who could love me the way you love him. And I tried not to fall for you. What kind of person would I be if I screwed up one of the best things to happen to one of my best friends? But after he died, and you were so sad, and just needed someone, I decided that if I could give you some kind of comfort, and show you that you still had people, then that would be enough for me." Edward sighed.

"That doesn't make any sense," he said.

"Is it really so hard to believe that someone would care about you? Or do you really not see yourself clearly?" Edward gave him a slanted look. "I'm serious," Jacob said. "If you don't believe that I would care about you, then you're seriously missing something about yourself. But I'm not giving up on you."

Jacob

They walked the rest of the way in silence, and maybe it was just that neither knew what to say. Edward unlocked the door with the spare key, and led the way inside. The house was picture perfect. You never would have guessed that a big party happened here just hours ago. Jacob wondered about the house Edward grew up in, but Edward didn't waste time looking around. He took the stairs two at a time, and went to the second door, his bedroom. Compared to the rest of the house, it was sparse. A bed, a closet, a small loveseat, a guitar, and an older model keyboard. A few nicknacks were arranged on the keyboard, but all together, there was little to show that this room was inhabited by anyone. Edward unzipped his backpack, and tossed the crumpled clothes into the hamper, before pulling some jeans and hoodies out of the closet. He folded them and packed them in the backpack, and slid his laptop in the back pocket. Finally, he looked at Jacob, and it was all Jacob could do not to go to him and kiss him.

"I keep expecting you to realize you've reached your limit," Edward said. Just then, they heard the front door slam, and Tony's footsteps thunder up the stairs. Edward froze, barely breathing, but Tony just went to his room, was there for about a minute, and then left again. Once the front door had again slammed shut and they were alone, Jacob could see him visibly relax. What was it about his brother that scared him so much? Jacob had some idea, but it was all just speculation at this point.

"I want to tell you a story," he said. He looked around the room, and settled on the loveseat. He patted the cushion next to him. Edward sat down. "I know you know some of how and when my brother and I were taken, but I want to tell you the whole thing. I grew up in Russia, with my brother and our parents. My dad was strict, but he was a good dad. He always made sure we had everything he needed, and a lot of what we wanted. He and Embry butted heads a lot. Embry was being groomed to take over the business, but he had little interest in working in a suit and tie. Can you imagine him doing a boardroom meeting?" Jacob flashed a grin at the idea. "So the summer I turned eight, they were planning this big trip to the USA. We were so excited. It was going to be a big business opportunity for my dad, and he wanted to give up a big vacation to celebrate. So we arrived in Orlando, and went to the big theme parks. It was the trip of a lifetime. On the last day, Dad had a meeting, the big one he was there for, so Mom took us to one of the parks, just the three of us. She went to get something, food, maybe? While we were in line for a ride, and once she walked off, this guy came up to us, and said something that we didn't understand. Our English wasn't what it is now. He was dressed like a security guard, so we thought we had to go with him. I remember this feeling of dread that came over me as he took us away. We were going the opposite way to where Mom went. I wish that we'd fought him while we had the chance, or made some kind of a scene. But we were just kids, and how were we supposed to know that there was real evil in the world? We were at the happiest place on earth. Once we were out of the park, of course we were both asking him where we were going, but who knows if he understood us, or if he was just ignoring us. But he put us in the back of one of those panel vans, the ones without windows. There was a sort of cage front just behind the front seats, so we could scream all we wanted, but the only way to get out of that van was if someone on the outside opened the door. I'm not sure how long they drove, but we ended up somewhere in Clearwater. They took Embry, but they left me behind. He told me he'd be back for me, and not to be afraid. That was the last time I heard his voice. The next time I saw him was a year later. I was in a holding cell in a basement. When the door opened, and one by one, the others came in. Sam was first, then Jared, then Brady, and finally Embry, but there was blood streaming down his neck, soaking his clothes. I didn't recognize him at first. Apart from what they described as my work, I was almost completely isolated for that first year. I mean, he was absolutely covered in blood. And they told us that if he died, then one by one, we'd get the same punishment. He'd tried to escape, and almost succeeded. We kept him alive. They gave us a first aid kit, with just the bare essentials, some gauze, a few bandages. Sam and I managed to get the bleeding to stop, and bandage the injury so that as long as he didn't move much, the bleeding wouldn't start up again. But they'd severed his vocal chords, and even after he healed, he was never able to speak again. We helped him to develop a sign language, and since he was learning it, we all did. The worst times were when we didn't have each other, but eventually, they always put us back in the holding cell together. Every time, I was sure I wasn't going to see any of them again. And you know from Brady what was going on in the meantime. We never thought we'd be rescued. We were all convinced that we'd age out, and they'd kill up or we'd end up in some red light district. And then one day, our handlers were panicking. We were all in the holding cell, but Brady wasn't there. And then someone was banging on the door, and it blasted open, and all these police in black with guns drawn were swarming the room. There was shouting, and confusion, and they told us to get on the ground. When the dust cleared, and they realized what they were seeing, they got us all in a police van. None of us knew what was happening, and it didn't dawn on us for a long time that it was all over. Even when Brady and Esme came to talk to us in the hospital, none of us truly believed that we were safe. It took months for some of us.

"So my limit," he said, "is a lot higher than you might expect. If all of us could come back from what happened to us, I have no doubt that you can, too."