Twilight and its characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. I'm just playing around with them.

Lots of thanks to MelissaMargaret for making this pretty, and to anhanninen and xxluvCarlisleEsmexx for prereading


EPOV

Mom released my ear and looped her arm through mine as we left the warmth of our building. I was tempted to look back and plead with Gianna to save me. She had her head down on her desk, though, attempting to hide her laughter at my expense, so I didn't think she would be much help.

The wind was just as strong as it was before I came inside. Mom dragged me and somehow expected me to lead at the same time. I wasn't stupid enough to ask where we were going. By now, I knew I was expected to find the two girls.

I led us down the street, feeling my body temperature drop with every step. But Mom wasn't deterred by all of the snow or people. She carried herself confidently, keeping a smile on her face even though she was definitely still pissed.

Three minutes later, I finally saw the right buildings. I sped up as I led Mom into the alley. As we disappeared between the buildings, I breathed a sigh of relief to be out of the stinging wind.

"Uh, son. Are you sure this is the right place?" Mom asked.

Immediately, my relief was gone. This alley was empty. Now I was worried – really worried.

I released Mom's arm and backtracked to the sidewalk. This was the right spot. There was no way I could have forgotten.

"Mom, I promise this is where I found them," I said, walking back to her. "I don't know where they went, but they were sitting right over there." I pointed to the wall past the dumpsters, and Mom glanced over before turning back to me. "Are we going back now?"

She scoffed. "Do you really expect us to go back now?"

I knew the answer, so I sighed and let her put her arm back through mine.

Now I had no idea what to do. They could have gone anywhere. And with the snow and people, it would be impossible to see them. I wanted to sleep in my bed tonight, though, so I tried to think of a plan.

I'd given the girl fifty dollars. Maybe she went to spend it. There weren't many restaurants around here that served breakfast. But…

"Pharmacies!" I exclaimed, turning toward my mother. "What if she went to a pharmacy to get food or something?"

She patted my arm and gave me the first smile I'd seen all morning. "There's your brain, son. Shall we split up? I'll take CVS."

"I guess I'll go to Walgreens." It was right across the street from CVS, so splitting up wouldn't put us too far apart.

I headed to the intersection and crossed the street when the blinking sign gave me permission. My pace rapid, I walked toward Walgreens. Nothing could stop me. I had to find those girls so I could make this right. Whatever right was.

I was almost there when I saw something. An almost indistinguishable figure was leaving the pharmacy, but I recognized the thick, dark jacket. I also recognized the lump in the front of this figure as the littler girl.

I'd found them, and I wasn't sure if I wanted to run to them, run to my mother, or just sit on the sidewalk and thank whatever power made this mission successful.

Before I had the chance to do anything, the girls ducked into a different alley. I didn't know what was so great about alleys, but they were a popular destination for me today.

As soon as I made sure they weren't leaving the new spot, I crossed the street again and waited in front of CVS. My mother appeared, looking disappointed, but as soon as she saw me, her expression brightened.

"Well?"

"I found them," I said proudly. "They went into another alley next to Walgreens. Let's go before they leave again."

I wasn't sure if she noticed, but it was way too cold to be out here.

Off again, we were soon in front of the other alley. Mom looked as if she was ready to rush in, but I stopped her.

"Mom, wait," I said, gripping her wrist lightly until she turned to look at me. "This girl…she's…well, she's scared. Don't scare her even more or something, okay? I don't want her to run."

She studied me for a few seconds and then her eyes softened. "Okay, dear. I promise to handle her gently."

I nodded, not knowing what else to say.

It seemed that Mom's goal had changed. She'd said I was going to be doing all the work, but now she was leading and approaching them on her own. Not even dragging me around.

Maybe she thought this wasn't something I could do on my own. I would be inclined to agree since I already messed this up once this morning. Two screw-ups before lunch time wouldn't be great.

But for some reason, I wanted to be involved with helping these girls. I still needed that good deed, after all.

So with a shiver, I followed my mother.

This alley was different. Not as deep and possibly even colder. Why didn't these girls just go inside a building? Who could possibly like this weather?

I saw the girls, but I didn't think they saw us yet. There was some soft mumbling that became louder as we got closer, but it didn't stop Mom.

Suddenly, a plastic bottle seemed to jump in front of me. Or maybe I just wasn't watching where I was going. Either way, I tripped but fortunately managed to catch myself before I fell onto the wet ground.

Unfortunately, I made a lot of noise while doing it, and now the bigger girl was staring at us in horror.

My mom froze and held her hands out, palms up, showing she came in peace.

Not knowing what to do with my hands, I waved awkwardly.

She seemed to remember me because she relaxed just slightly as she used her body to hide the littler girl.

I started to clear my throat, but mom beat me to it.

"Hello, sweetheart," mom said softly. "We're not going to hurt you."

"Yeah, we won't do anything," I echoed. "I'm Edward, remember?"

She swallowed forcefully, nodding.

Mom took a step closer and waited for the girl to react. When she didn't move, Mom did it again and again until she was only a few feet away. Then Mom surprised me by kneeling down.

Yeah, I was fairly sure that this girl wasn't dangerous, but I wouldn't want to be in my Mom's position, squatting and totally defenseless. I couldn't believe I was the one who had been accused of not using my brain.

"Sweetheart, would you like to come with us?" Mom asked.

The girl shook her head and started to freak out, scooting back some more to protect the littler girl. "Please," she whispered, so softly that I almost couldn't hear her. "Please, don't take my baby. Please, please…"

Mom gasped. "No. Oh no, darling. We're not going to take your baby. No. We were just wondering if you'd like to come inside with us." She looked up at me. Apparently that was my cue.

"Yeah. Um…we have a building – an office building – a few blocks down." I turned and pointed even though there was a brick wall in my way. "It's down close to where I saw you. I'm…sorry I didn't invite you inside before."

The girl's eyes were still wide and she hadn't moved.

I already knew that I sucked in these situations, so I hoped Mom had a plan since she didn't approve of mine.

"Please come with us," Mom pleaded softly. "The wind and cold aren't good for you…or your daughter." That seemed to get her attention. "We'll get you warm and dry if you'll just come with us. Please?"

Laughter threatened to escape me even though this wasn't a funny situation. Somehow, my mother made this sound like a request when it really wasn't. There was no way she'd leave these girls out here even if they refused. She didn't drag me out in the cold for nothing.

The girl was about to give in. That much was clear by the way she looked back and forth from us to the littler girl behind her. Something made up her mind though, and she nodded.

"Yes, that's it, sweetheart," Mom gently praised. "We'll be waiting right over here for you whenever you're ready."

I backed up to the edge of the alley, and Mom followed. We looked away, waiting a few minutes while the girl gathered up her things and the littler girl.

The girl eventually appeared behind us and shuffled around awkwardly. Mom squeezed my arm before moving to stand beside the girl, giving her a reassuring smile. Well, she managed to reassure me at least, but I wasn't sure if this girl would ever relax around us.

How many times would we have to tell her that we weren't dangerous? We wouldn't hurt either of them, and I had no idea what she meant by taking her baby. What use would we have for a baby?

"Are you ready?" Mom asked.

The girl took a deep breath, nodded, and then wrapped her arms even tighter around the littler girl who was attached to the front of her once again.

Without another word, Mom left the alley. I motioned for the girls to go before me. I was dying to get inside, but I wasn't letting them get behind me. Even Mom's threats would fail at getting me outside again, so we were going to get this right.

Mom walked quickly but slow enough for the girl to keep up. She seemed reluctant to follow, but even I understood that. We were complete strangers at this point, and now we were talking her to our building.

I didn't know what was going to happen to these girls when we were inside, but I hoped my job was finished.

I needed coffee. And I wanted to eat another one of those damn bagels that started this whole thing.

The Cullen Family Designs lobby welcomed us. I loved it here, so warm and dry.

I was glad our walk to the office was over quickly and even gladder that the girl didn't try to escape. Not that we'd kidnapped her or anything. My mother might have been a force of nature, but she didn't actually force anything or anyone.

Now that we were inside, the girl was even more paranoid. She constantly looked over her shoulder, and I didn't know what she was looking for. As far as I knew, no one in our building was dangerous. Yeah, we had a security guard at the front door, but Alice said that was mostly because Mom thought Gianna needed someone to talk to all day. Not because we had actually been threatened before.

But at this time of morning, the office was pretty empty. Alice wasn't even here yet, and my sister was always on time. So really, this girl had nothing to worry about. We only passed one other person as we headed to the elevator.

Getting them into the elevator was another challenge altogether. They were both scared, that much I could tell, and as soon as the ride was over and the doors opened on our floor, Girl 1 flew out. Mom was right behind her and gently placed her hand on her arm to lead her.

"Let's go into my office and we'll get you some dry clothes to wear, okay?" she suggested.

The girl didn't have a chance to disagree as Mom pulled her down the hallway and into her office.

Mom's expectations of me were a mystery at this point. I wanted to go back to my office and finish eating, but since I didn't have Mom's permission, I figured I should just follow her. Pissing her off once this morning was more than enough.

Mom worked in fast-forward once she was in her office. Somehow, she conjured up some towels and clothing from her coat closet. Maybe it was a woman thing because all I had in my closet was an umbrella and some hangers. Maybe an empty box or two, but definitely nothing useful for a girl and a littler girl.

"Here you are, dear," Mom said as she motioned with her head for the girls to follow her. "I have some towels for you to dry off with and some clothing for both of you. It might be a little big, but it's warm and dry. Take as long as you need in the bathroom, and we'll be right out here waiting for you."

Girl 1's eyes were huge as she entered the bathroom, probably too startled to refuse at this point. Once they went into the bathroom, Mom placed the clothes on the counter and exited with a smile, closing the door behind her.

"Let's give them some privacy," she instructed me, and I followed her out the door again.

This time, we went to the break room. Mom told me to make more coffee and pour a small cup of juice while she headed downstairs to the café to get some more breakfast. Past arguing, I made the coffee and even found one of the cups with a lid for the littler girl. After I had a fresh cup of coffee and a cup of apple juice, I walked back to Mom's office and stood awkwardly by the desk.

Everything was quiet for the most part until I started to hear whimpers coming from the bathroom. A minute later, the door cracked open, and Girl 1 peaked her head out slowly.

When she noticed me, she jumped but then looked almost relieved. I had no idea why.

I shuffled awkwardly. "Uh…I have some coffee and juice for you whenever you're finished." I sounded awkward too. "So…yeah. Take your time."

She nodded and paused before opening the door further. "Um…I need to change, but she doesn't like closed spaces," she murmured, her voice so soft that I could barely hear it. "Can she stay out here? For just a minute, please?"

Now it was my turn for widened eyes. Little people scared me. Not people with dwarfism, but the kid kind of little people. The small, crying, messy kind. But this one looked a lot cleaner now that she was dressed in dry clothes, and as she looked up at me, her eyes seemed to look through me. It would have been scary if she wasn't so clearly terrified.

"Sure," I said, not very convincingly. "Can she have some juice?" I held up the cup, and Girl 1 nodded.

None of us moved for a few seconds, so apparently I needed to make the first move. I approached the bathroom door slowly, and held out the juice for the littler girl. She looked up at the bigger girl who nodded her approval, and when I reached them, she took the cup from me.

I didn't know how to separate them, but I needed to do this because Mom would be back soon. I couldn't fail. Taking a deep breath, I lifted the littler girl into my arms. She made a whining sound but didn't fight me as I walked over to sit in Mom's desk chair.

I carefully situated her in my lap as her whimpers grew louder. She was panicking which made me want to panic too.

Shit, what was I supposed to do now?


A/N: Wow. WOW. You guys are so amazing! I never imagined I'd get this kind of response, and I can never thank you enough for giving this fic a chance. Your reviews/alerts/favorites have put the biggest smile on my face.

And just to address this one point, yes, Edward is immature and a bit selfish. But it's never too late to learn and grow. ;)

The next update will be in two weeks. Sorry for the longish wait, but I'll try my best to post a teaser or two on twitter in the mean time. I'm KelleyRachelle there.

Thanks again for reading!