Whatever Bella and Emmett were expecting, it certainly wasn't the chaotic scene unfolding in the living room. Jasper was hiding behind the couch, rocking back and forth with a vacant expression on his face. Alice was picking up shards of ceramic and trying to wipe up a puddle of water with kleenex. Rose was cornered by a hissing Midnight. Most distressing of all, Edward was thrashing around on the ground alternating between screaming and clawing at his bloody mouth. Bella didn't know what to say or how to react. Edward looked like he was either having a seizure or possessed by a horde of demons. How could things have spiraled out of control so quickly?
"We were gone for less than 10 minutes," Emmett exclaimed. "What happened?"
Alice and Rose both started speaking at the same time.
"It's not my fault!"
"Edward said he was hungry."
"He just started screaming.."
"...then the stupid cat attacked me!"
"Something is really wrong with that guy!"
"One at a time," Emmett said. "Rose, what happened?"
"Edward said he was hungry, so I gave him a sandwich and a glass of water. He took one bite, dropped the dishes, and started screaming." Rose gestured wildly to Midnight, who was puffed up like a porcupine. "Then, the cat came flying in and attacked me!"
Bella carefully stepped over the puddle and crouched down next to Edward. "Edward, talk to me, what's wrong?"
"Why are there so many?" Edward cried. "Stop. It hurts. It hurts so much!"
Bella touched his shoulder. "Edward, It's Bella. Can you hear me? Are you okay?"
Edward moaned in response. While his body was safe and sound in their cozy living room, his mind was somewhere else. It must have been a terrifying, dark place where he couldn't imagine ever seeing the light of day again. Bella swallowed hard. She'd been there this morning, and Edward pulled her out. Now it was time for her to return the favor.
Bella started rubbing Edward's shoulder. "You're okay. No one is going to hurt you. You're safe now."
"It's so dirty." Edward whimpered. "They took the baby away. Why did they do that?"
Edward rolled over onto his back and went silent.
"Edward!" Bella exclaimed, feeling his scarred neck for a pulse, "Are you alright?"
Edward didn't respond. Bella wished his eyes weren't fused shut. It was hard to tell whether or not he was still conscious. After what seemed like an eternity, Bella's shaking fingers found a pulse. His heart was beating like he'd just run back to back marathons.
Emmett covered his mouth and stared at Edward. His eyes moved to the ground where there was a soggy sandwich discarded under the coffee table. He nudged it with the tip of his toe and flinched.
"What's on this sandwich?" he asked Rose.
Rose stiffened. "This isn't my fault!"
Midnight hissed and swatted at Rose's legs as if she disagreed.
"I know it's not your fault, but I need to know what was on that sandwich. It's important."
Rose sighed. "It was beef and cheese. I had one too, and you don't see me throwing a tantrum."
Emmett nodded and kneeled next to Edward. "Edward, buddy, listen to me. I'm going to make the pain stop. Everything is going to be okay." He looked up at Rose. "Go get the bottle of mouthwash from the hallway bathroom."
"Why? Rose asked, throwing her hands up. "It was a beef sandwich, not poison! No reason to have a meltdown!"
Edward whimpered and curled into a ball.
"Just do it!" Emmett snapped.
"Fine!" She stepped over Midnight, who rewarded her with a lightning-fast strike on the shin. Rose flipped Midnight the bird and stomped out of the room. While it may have been her imagination, Bella could have sworn the room dropped several degrees after Rose rounded the corner.
Emmett turned to Alice, who was picking up bits of disintegrated kleenex. "Go get a towel and wipe up the water before someone slips." He made eye contact with Jasper. "You're not a dust bunny. Come help me move Edward to the couch." He looked over Edward's shaking body at Bella. "Take Midnight upstairs and make sure she stays there. When you're done, grab the blue blanket out of my room and bring it down here."
"The weighted one?" Bella asked.
Emmett nodded.
While Bella's back ached at the thought of lugging twenty-five pounds of blanket down the stairs, the sad look in Emmett's eyes made her reconsider. It had been a long day for them all. A sore back was worth it to help make things easier for the older brother she never knew she needed.
Three bandaids and ten minutes later, Bella returned to the living room with Emmett's blanket. Edward was lying on the couch, clutching an empty bottle of mouthwash. Emmett was hunched over in one of the armchairs with his hands folded. Bella handed him the blanket and watched in awe as he draped it over Edward. Emmett never shared that blanket
with anyone. Why was he offering it to Edward, a guy he insisted was a monster?
"I'm sorry," Edward whispered.
"It's alright," Emmett said as he tucked the blanket around Edward's shoulders. "No one is upset with you."
All of the Cullen kids, Emmett and Bella included, had experienced their fair share of highs and lows. While loud, Edward's meltdown was far from the worst they'd seen. No one needed to go to the emergency room and the only things broken were dishes. There would be no punishment or cruel jokes. They'd simply move on with their lives as they always did when someone had a rough day.
Emmett winced when he noticed the bandages on Edward's wrists. The one on his left arm had a dime-sized spot of crimson on it. Someone, hopefully not Bella, would need to change them soon.
"Try to get some rest," Emmett said to Edward. "We'll wake you up when it's time for dinner. I'll make sure it's something you can eat."
"Thank you," Edward replied, snuggling into the arm of the couch.
Emmett gestured for Bella to follow him into the dining room. Bella's heart quickened. They only ever used the dining room for Thanksgiving and family meetings.
Emmett sat down in his spot near the head of the table. Bella looked both ways before sitting down in Rose's chair. Bella waited for Emmett to speak, but he remained silent, lost in his own thoughts. He started picking at the skin around his nails, a bad habit he'd since they were kids. Bella began drumming her fingers on the table. Unable to take the silence any longer, she broke the science with a question.
"Do you think we should call Carlisle?"
"No!" Emmett exclaimed. Hearing Edward stir in the living room, he lowered his voice to a whisper. "No, let's not bother him at work. Edward is fine. He's just ...like me...a vegetarian. He'll be fine once he gets some sleep."
Although not entirely convinced, Bella nodded. "Then what should we do?"
Emmett looked down at the floor and muttered something Bella couldn't quite make out.
"Can you speak up?" she asked.
Emmett took a deep breath. "I think you should kiss him again."
"Why?"
"If one kiss woke up then maybe another will open his eyes."
She couldn't have heard him right. Emmett was the one who feared Edward was going to slit their throats. There was no way he expected her to kiss him again. While Edward seemed harmless now, there was still a non-zero chance of things changing when he got his vision back. There were also a few questions Edward needed to answer. Who put him in that coffin? How did he know what color Midnight's collar was? Why did his touch feel like sinking into a warm bath?
"Do you remember that time you got glitter in your eyes?" Emmett asked.
That was one of many middle school memories Bella wished she could forget. While she was all for a harmless prank, the glitter bomb planted in her locker took things way too far.
"Do you remember what happened at the doctor's office?"
Bella winced. The doctor had to wash her eyes and dilate her pupils to check for damage. While she was fortunate not to need surgery, the experience left her disoriented and half-blind. Light felt like acid and everything became a tripping hazard.
"Do you remember when you fell down the stairs?"
Bella woke up in the middle of the night with an upset stomach. The bathroom was just down the hall. She was confident she could make it on her own without waking her siblings. Somehow, she got turned around and ended falling down the stairs. She ended up with a concussion and a fractured wrist.
"You were pretty scared, weren't you," Emmett said.
They were all scared. Emmett and Alice thought Bella was dead when they found her crumpled body on the landing.
"Think about how Edward feels," Emmett continued. "He has no idea where he is. He's surrounded by potentially dangerous strangers and unable to defend himself. He must be scared out of his mind."
While Bella wanted to protest, citing the face scared animals were the most likely to bite, she found herself unable to argue.
Bella heard a series of thunks. Emmett looked up at the ceiling. Rose's room was right above where they were sitting. She was throwing a baseball against the wall, never a good sign when it came to Rose.
"I have to go check on the others," Emmett said as the thunks grew louder. "In the meantime, go sit with Edward and think about what we've discussed."
Bella returned to the living room and fought Midnight curled up on Edward's chest. She didn't bother taking her back upstairs, if three padlocks and a stack of textbooks couldn't keep the clever cat contained then nothing would. For the time being, Bella decided to leave Midnight where she was and curled up in the recliner with her biology book. While death no longer seemed certain, she could still count on taxes and Monday morning biology quizzes. Bella made it to the end of the chapter only to realize she had absorbed a single word. Edward's snoring and the way his nose flared with every second breath was far more intriguing than anything Intro to Biology had to offer.
"Get a grip," Bella told herself. "He's just a guy, a very handsome possible back from the dead guy. You'll never make it to NYU if you fail biology class."
She angled herself away from Edward and went back to studying. The storm was getting worse, making it dark and dreary in the living room. She stood up to turn on the lamp. It was a simple action that would change the course of her life.
Alice's law states that nothing, especially cleaning up spilled water, is more important than a flash sale at her favorite online clothing boutique. Bella's law states that if a room contains a tripping hazard, Bella is sure to find it. On that stormy afternoon, Bella and Alice's law collided with catastrophic results.
Bella slipped on the puddle and bumped into the end table knocking over the lamp. The lamp hit the ground and shattered. Midnight hissed and ran out of the room. Bella landed on the couch on top of Edward. While her lips only touched his for a fraction of a second, it was enough to set things in motion. Edward bolted upright and his eyes opened.
